This He Ate, Or Rather Bolted, Raw, Like A
Wild Beast.
My share I never touched till after I lay down
to sleep.
And so tired have I been, that once or twice I
woke in the morning with my hand at my mouth, the unswallowed
morsel between my teeth. For three weeks we went on in this
way, never exchanging a word. I cannot say how I might have
behaved had Fred been in Samson's place. I hope I should
have been at least humane. But I was labouring for my life,
and was not over tender-hearted.
Certainly there was enough to try the patience of a better
man. Take an instance. Unable one morning to find my own
horse, I saddled his and started him off, so as not to waste
time, with his spare animal and the three mules. It so
happened that our line of march was rather tortuous, owing to
some hills we had to round. Still, as there were high
mountains in the distance which we were making for, it seemed
impossible that anyone could miss his way. It was twenty
minutes, perhaps, before I found my horse; this would give
him about a mile or more start of me. I hurried on, but
failed to overtake him. At the end of an hour I rode to the
top of a hill which commanded a view of the course he should
have taken. Not a moving speck was to be seen. I knew then
that he had gone astray.
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