"Mine is all gone now," spoke up Emma Dean. "May I have a drink of yours, Grace? My throat is burning."
"One little swallow," admonished Grace, passing her canteen to
Emma. "You heard what the guide said."
"Yes, you'll wish you were a camel before you have done with this journey," added Lieutenant Wingate.
Too weary to talk, Anne and Nora were nodding on their saddles, but Elfreda was wide awake and alert, filled with a wonder that was akin to awe at the vast mysteriousness of the desert night.
It was shortly after midnight when Hi Lang halted and sat surveying his surroundings.
"Dismount and rest!" was his brief command.
The Overland girls slid from their saddles, and the guide, after handing his bridle-rein to Ping, strode off into the darkness.
"Oh, this is terrible!" wailed Emma. "I know I shall expire."
"Good! Then we shall have a little peace," retorted Hippy laughingly.
"Don't," begged Grace. "The poor girl really is suffering, but when she gets used to the heat and discomforts out here I think she will really enjoy it." Grace petted the wet neck of her pony and he nosed her cheek and nibbled at the brim of her sombrero. "How do you feel, Elfreda?"