Page:In Desert and Wilderness (Sienkiewicz, tr. Drezmal).djvu/449

 Rh that this was some kind of European caravan, appealing, from unknown reasons, for help.

The captain and the doctor raced forward, swept alternately by fear and hope. Would they find the children or would they not? The doctor said in his soul that, if not, they in the further journey could seek only for their remains amid those terrible heather-bushes.

After a half-hour one of those knobs, of which they had spoken before, obstructed the further view of the friends. But they were already so near that they heard distinctly the clatter of a horse's hoofs. In a few minutes, and on the top of the elevation, appeared a rider, holding before him a white object.

"Torches up," commanded Glenn.

In the same moment the rider brought his horse into the circle of light.

"Water! Water!"

"The children!" Doctor Clary cried.

"Water!" Stas repeated.

And he almost hurled Nell into the captain's arms and leaped out of the saddle.

But immediately he staggered, and fell like a corpse upon the ground.