Page:Taylor - In the Dwellings of the Wilderness.djvu/194

 had slipped out of his sight, behind a mound into the shadows not a dozen yards away; something, if his eyes did not deceive him, which was not a goat at large, nor a hyena, nor any creature that walked upon four legs. And there was no noise in the camps to indicate that men were stirring there.

Once more there fell a silence. Out of it Deane suddenly spoke again, with a jarring laugh.

"This is a hell of a place, isn't it?" And then, "Oh, boy, boy! If we hadn't scoffed and been quite so confoundedly cocksure of ourselves and our theories!"

Morning broke. Before the sky had wholly lost its veil of night, Merritt called Ibraheem. He came; but if he drew conclusions from the two grey and drawn faces before him, he made no sign. To