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Show 82 WESTERN WILDS. our first trouble was passed, sank to sleep upon a sand- heap at the base of an immense rock. Soon after midnight we awoke stiff with cold, and now beginning to feel the sharper promptings of thirst, I proposed to search for water down the cafion, but on turning we saw our animals, like us revived by the night air, slowly making their way up the dry arroyo, as if they would seek relief near its head. Some-thing in this manifestation of instinct decided me. The arroyo showed plainly that at some seasons it contained a large stream ; might there not remain a little near its source? " For hours we toiled on up the dry channel, soon leaving the animals far behind ; now stumbling over the immense stones which choked the dry bed, and now searching every clump of grass that showed the faintest tinge of green. The sun rose red and fiery, the air was filled with light haze, and another sultry day began. But with every hour's advance new signs encouraged us : there were clumps of dwarfish pines, and occasionally a shrub of other timber ; the grass in places had an unmistakably green tinge, and occasional tracks showed that various small animals habitually made this passage. But every moment our thirst increased. I glanced at Dolores; her eyes gleamed with that unwholesome fire which is the precursor of delirium. I felt my own head grow giddy ; my eyes were so dry it seemed I could feel the balls grate as they turned in their sockets; my tongue was swollen, my lips cracked, and I spoke with difficulty. Hastily seeking the shade of an immense rock, I broke some splinters from a mountain pine ; these, rolled about in the mouth, soon created a moist-ure, which sensibly relieved our sufferings, and again we toiled on. " It was now noon. The hot sun glared upon the white sand and red rocks, and our sufferings rapidly increased. Almost exhausted, I hap-pened to turn my gaze down the cafion, and saw our animals far below/ still feebly struggling up the ascent. The sight gave me renewed hope, and, with fierce energy, I rushed from side to side of the gorge, search-ing every spot that bore signs of the presence of moisture ; but in vain. An hour longer we toiled on, then Dolores suddenly reeled, and sank, apparently lifeless, in my arms. With loud cries, I bore her hastily to the shade of a projecting rock; I chafed her hands, and implored her to look up and live. She revived, only to relapse into a half- dead condition, scarcely sensible of my presence, but babbling in Spanish of green fields and the cool brooks about her home. I pressed her to my heart, and prayed that death might come at once and end our in-tolerable sufferings. An hour passed thus, then suddenly we seemed to revive again Dolores with alternate sobs and hysterical laughter, |