Now youth and even middle age were far behind me, and although a very
strong man for my years, I could not run as I used to do. Also I was
most weary, and my limbs were stiff and chafed with long riding, so
I made but slow progress, and to worsen matters I struck my left foot
against a stone and hurt it much. I implored Leo to go on and leave me,
for we thought that if we could once reach the river our scent would be
lost in the water; at any rate that it would give us a chance of life.
Just then too, I heard the belling bay of the hound Master, and waited
for the next. Yes, it was nearer to us. The Khan had made a cast and
found our line. Presently we must face the end.
"Go, go!" I said. "I can keep them back for a few minutes and you may
escape. It is your quest, not mine. Ayesha awaits you, not me, and I am
weary of life. I wish to die and have done with it."
Thus I gasped, not all at once, but in broken words, as I hobbled along
clinging to Leo's arm. But he only answered in a low voice--"Be quiet,
or they will hear you," and on he went, dragging me with him.
We were quite near the water now, for we could see it gleaming below us,
and oh! how I longed for one deep drink. I remember that this was the
uppermost desire in my mind, to drink and drink. But the hounds were
nearer still to us, so near that we could hear the pattering of their
feet on the dry ground mingled with the thud of the hoofs of the Khan's
galloping horse.
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