He struggled to his feet and flung up his quivering hands to moon and stars and black sky in passionate 314 invocation––“O God! You say that vengeance is Yours; that You will repay! Take me, if You will––I give myself! Only destroy him too! Save her! save her!”
Again Blake stirred, and this time he opened his eyes. Ashton had sunk down in a huddled silent heap. Blake gazed up at the watchfire on the heights, smiled, and turned over to again fall asleep.
CHAPTER XXVII
LOWER DEPTHS
Beetling precipices shut off the direct light of the moonbeams and left the abyss again in dense darkness long before the coming of the laggard dawn. Blake slept on, storing up strength for the renewal of the battle. Yet even he could not outsleep the reluctant lingering of night. He awoke while the tiny flame of the watchfire still flickered bright against the inky darkness of the sky.
Ashton had fallen into a fitful doze. The engineer stood up and silently groped his way to and fro on the shelf of rock, stretching and limbering his cramped muscles. He wasted no particle of energy; the moment he had relieved his stiffness he stretched out again. He lay contemplating that flame of love on the heights until it faded against the lessening blackness of the sky and the rays of the morning sun began to angle down the upper precipices.
He rose to take out two portions of food from the single pack in which he had bound up all the provisions. The portion for Ashton was small; his own was 316 smaller. He roused the dozing man and placed the larger share of food in his hand.
“Don’t drop it,” he cautioned. “That’s all I can let you have. We must go on rations until we can see a way out of this hole.”