“I thought I saw food just now,” Six Bottles said. “I must have been dreaming.”
So they mounted again and pushed on.
“Danger threatens us,” said Log. “We must hurry and not dismount no matter what the temptation.”
They agreed but presently one of them cried out and then the other:
“Water! Water! We shall soon perish unless we have water!”
Instantly by the wayside appeared a spring of cool sparkling water and it was all Log could do to reach it before his fellows. He did get there first and make the sign of the cross three times whereat the spring disappeared and with it the thirst which had but now consumed them all.
“I thought I was thirsty,” Three Bottles said, “but I’m not!”
“Why did we dismount?” Six Bottles asked. “There’s no water here.”
So again they mounted and went forward and Log, warning them again that danger threatened, begged them not to dismount a third time no matter what the temptation.
They promised they would not but presently, complaining of fatigue, they wanted to. Their brides, too, swayed in the saddle, overcome with weariness and sleep.