270 A DRAUGHT OF WATER. 



rently about three miles off. Poor ' Faust's' doom 

 was sealed ; he was seized with fits, and Mr. Pyltseff, 

 finding- it was impossible to hurry on, and too far to 

 ride back to the caravan for a glass of water, waited 

 till we came up, laying ' Faust ' under a clump of 

 saxatil and covering him with saddle-felt. The poor 

 dog became less conscious every minute, gasped two 

 or three times, and expired. Placing his body on 

 "^ one of the packs, we moved on again, sorely doubting 

 whether there were really any well in the place 

 pointed out to us by the guide ; for he had already 

 deceived us more than once. Our situation at this 

 moment was desperate. Only a few glasses of water 

 were left, of which we took into our mouths j'ust 

 enough to moisten our parched tongues ; our bodies 

 seemed on fire, our heads swam, and we were close 

 upon fainting. In this last extremity I desired a 

 Cossack to take a small vessel and to ride as hard 

 as he could to the well, accompanied by the guide, 

 ordering him to fire at the latter if he attempted to 

 run away. They were soon hidden in a cloud of 

 dust which filled the air, and we toiled onwards in 

 their tracks in the most anxious suspense. At length, 

 after half an hour, the Cossack appeared. What 

 news does he bring ? and spurring our jaded horses, 

 which could hardly move their legs to meet him, we 

 learned with the joy of a man who has been snatched 

 from the jaws of death, that the well had been found ! 

 After a draught of fresh water from the vesselfull 

 that he brought, and having wet our heads, we rode 

 in the direction pointed out, and soon reached tlie 



