They now held a consultation, in terms of which it was decided that Ghamba should go forward and reconnoiter. So Whitson and Langley sat down close together and waited, conversing in low tones.
Whitson felt very uneasy, but Langley tried to argue him out of his fears. The more Whitson saw of Ghamba, the more he disliked and distrusted him and his teeth. The instinct which detects danger in the absence of any apparent evidence of its existence is a faculty developed in some men by an adventurous life. This faculty Whitson possessed in a high degree.
"Did you keep awake all the time I slept this afternoon?" he asked.
Langley feared Whitson, and felt inclined to lie, but something impelled him, almost against his will, to speak the truth now.
"No," he replied, "I slept for a few minutes."
Whitson drew his revolver and opened the breech.
"By God!" he said, "the cartridges are gone."
Langley took his weapon out of the leather case and opened it. He found the cartridges were there right enough.
"Have you any spare cartridges?" asked Whitson.
Whitson had already loaded his revolver with the five cartridges which he had removed in the afternoon, but he again took these out and replaced them in his waistcoat pocket, and then he re-loaded with some which Langley passed over to him with a trembling hand.