CHAPTER XXVI
LISLE TURNS AUTOCRAT
On the morning after his arrival, Lisle called the company together and first of all addressed Millicent.
“It’s your wish that I should act as guide to this expedition?”
Millicent answered in the affirmative and he went on:
“The guide must be commander-in-chief, with undisputed authority. Before we start, I must ask if any one objects to that?”
They gave him full power, with acclamation, and he nodded.
“Well,” he continued, “I’d better explain that the main difficulty attending any expedition into an almost uninhabited region is to keep it supplied with food and means of shelter; it’s a question of transport. There are two ways of getting over the difficulty—by reducing the weight, or by increasing the number of packers; and the latter are useful only when each man can transport more than will satisfy his personal requirements. I think that’s clear?”
They assented with some curiosity mixed with a slight uneasiness.