Page:Ossendowski - From President to Prison.djvu/127

Rh rain. In our search for the Chinese carter with our food, we entirely lost ourselves and began moving in the fatal circles that proved our want of compasses.

The captain waxed more profane with each hour of the night, while the Cossack at one time sighed so piteously that my heart grew sad for him.

"What ails you?" I asked with some concern, for I thought he must be in pain.

"I put my sugar in my pocket. It has melted and now I am sticky all over."

"Damn it!" shouted the captain. "This is the limit! Comfits made of Cossacks!"

In spite of all our fatigue we roared with laughter.

Somehow we dragged the night through and at dawn, more dead than alive, we finally discovered our cart and the genial old driver with a kettle of tea swinging over a sputtering fire, ready to welcome and revive us.

An hour later, after we had dried our clothes somewhat, we were once more in our cart on our way back to the village where we had our working headquarters. On arriving, I found I could not get down without assistance and that my right leg and swollen joint could not be moved without giving me excruciating pain. For about a week I had to remain on my back in the dirty Chinese fang-tzu, doctoring myself for the indiscretions committed. Meantime the prospecting work turned out favourably, and I estimated that the ground under exploration had four seams of coal, each of about six feet in thickness, and that the area of the deposit was sufficiently large to justify exploitation. As the aim of my exploration trip was thus accomplished, it only remained for the technical division of the Railway Administration or of the General Staff to continue the work, and my part as adviser was at an end.