154 THE AUTHOR LOSES HIS WAY. 



On the morning of our departure a bitterly cold wind 

 swept over the dreary wastes, and suddenly reminded us of 

 the approach of the winter season. Hitherto a shirt and a 

 pair of trowsers had been enough to protect our bodies, but 

 this day an addition of thick flannel and a warm pea-jacket 

 was found to be insufficient. 



One evening, as Hans and myself were giving chase to a 

 troop of giraffes, we were overtaken by darkness, and, in the 

 heat of pursuit, had completely lost our way. Hans being the 

 most experienced of the two, I blindly abandoned myself to his 

 instinct and guidance. After a while, however, it struck me 

 we were actually retracing our steps to Omatako, and I told 

 him so, but he only laughed at my apprehensions. Still, the 

 more I considered the matter, the more I became convinced 

 that we wiere pursuing a wrong course. In order, therefore, 

 to split the difference, I proposed to Hans that if in about 

 an hour he did not find any indications of our whereabouts, 

 he should permit me to act as " pilot" for the same space of 

 time, and that if I were equally unsuccessful as himself, we 

 should quietly wait for the return of daylight. Hans was 

 skeptical, and, shaking his head, grudgingly gave his con- 

 sent. His hour having elapsed without gaining the object 

 of our search, I wheeled right round, to his great disapproval, 

 and walked as hard as I could in an exactly opposite direc- 

 tion. Singularly enough, only two or three minutes were 

 wanting in completing my hour when I was suddenly and 

 agreeably surprised to find my foot in the deep track made 

 by the wheels of the wagons. Nothing could have been more 

 fortunate, for I struck it precisely at a right angle. Anoth- 

 er half an hour's walk brought us safe back to our bivouac, 

 where, over a substantial dinner, we joked Hans on his sin- 

 gular obstinacy. His pride as a skillful woodsman had re- 

 ceived a severe blow, and he would at intervals shrug his 

 shoulders and repeat broken sentences of, " Well, I am sure ! 

 It's too bad !" and so forth. 



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