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Page 42
"Yes. Let's be going. Things at the camp are not very encouraging.
Much of the equipment has been blown away or buried, but that
isn't the worst of the situation."
"You mean water?" questioned Grace, regarding him inquiringly.
"Yes. We haven't been able to locate a tank to-day, and there
isn't more than a quart altogether left in the canteens."
"What are we to do now?" asked Grace.
"We've got to pull up stakes and move. All hands must search for
water--search until water is found, and keep moving forward at the
same time. If we don't find it by night---" The guide shrugged his
shoulders and clucked to his pony. Grace, her face reflecting the
concern she felt, followed at a gallop and they were soon raising
a cloud of dust on the baking desert.
CHAPTER XII
A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
A wan and considerably mussed up party of girls met Grace and the
guide when the two rode into what was left of their camp.
"Well, here we are at last," cried Grace cheerily.
"We thought you were lost. How could you have missed such an
opportunity?" wondered Miss Briggs.
"I did not miss it, Elfreda dear. I got beautifully lost and
didn't know it. Most persons when they get lost are very much
alive to the fact, but I traveled on in blissful ignorance of the
fact that I was headed straight for Death Valley."
"I wish you wouldn't talk about it. Death Valley reminds me of the
experience we had last night," complained Emma.
"Oh, then you have been to Death Valley?" questioned Anne.
"No, I said--I mean I said--I mean I meant to have said that---"
"Let it go at that. You will get tongue-tied if you keep on,"
warned Hippy Wingate. "We have something more serious on hand than
to listen to your--"
"Yes, girls," interrupted Grace. "Mr. Lang tells me that we MUST
move on immediately, that we MUST find water, and that, too,
without delay. What shape are we in with regard to equipment?"
"We have our tents," answered Elfreda.
"Some cooking utensils, and our food, which Ping had the foresight
to take to bed with him," said Anne Nesbit whimsically.
"Were the rifles saved?"
"All secure, and the ammunition too," replied Lieutenant Wingate.
"I believe that a few blankets were blown away and lost, together
with numerous odds and ends that weren't nailed down. What could
you expect with a wind strong enough to blow our horses far out on
the desert. Got any water?"
"I have some. Do you mean to tell me, Hippy Wingate, that an old
campaigner like yourself has drunk up all the water he had in his
canteen, and in the face of a great drouth?" demanded Grace,
trying hard not to smile.
"Every last drop of it," admitted Hippy. "But what's a fellow to
do when he is thirsty and his throat is cracking open?"
"Use the precious stuff sparingly. Here! Take a sip from my
canteen. Only a sip, Lieutenant."
With the eyes of the entire party on him, Hippy dared not take
more than enough water to moisten his throat. Grace then took the
canteen from him, passing it to Emma.
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