room was whirling round him. Nevertheless
equipment. He had it saddled and bridled in a
he succeeded in standing without support.
few moments. Then he filled his water-flasks,
“I’m going after him. Which way did
found and reloaded his revolver and picked up
he go?”
the rifle lying on the floor with which
“Into the desert. There is a water-hole
Duplessis had shot the last of his assailants.
twenty miles away, but it is a hard ride—too
“I’ll get her!” he told the old man.
hard for you. Once there he can circle back to
Mounting, he took up the trail indicated by the
the road that runs south thirty miles east of
horse’s hoofs in the heavy sand.
Boskop. If you untie these ropes, we can go
There was only one route Van Reenen
together.”
could have taken. It ran straight between the
The sergeant tugged at the ropes, two ranges of low, flanking hills toward the which had become knotted fast by the old
water-hole of which Duplessis had spoken,
man’s struggles. He worked furiously. Each
and of which Luke had heard, though it had
moment was carrying Emmy farther away never been patrolled. This was the most from him. In five minutes he succeeded in
hideous part of the Ngami. Not a scrap of
loosening the main strand. After that it was
vegetation grew amid these parched and
not a difficult matter to free Duplessis from
shifting sands.
the remainder of the cot.
From the water-hole there ran an old
“We shall go. There are horses—” Bushman trail toward civilization. This was Duplessis began, but suddenly toppled the trail by which Van Reenen hoped to return backward in a dead faint. The loss of blood
with the diamonds.
had overcome him.
And
Emmy?
A glance into the old man’s pallid face
The thought made Luke quicken his
showed Luke that Duplessis was in no horse’s gait despite the heat which, at eight in condition to take up the pursuit. He must
the morning, had already become
follow alone. He must key up all his strength
insupportable. He rode toward the neck of the
and enterprise to that last accomplishment.
hills, feeling more comfortable than he had
He lifted Duplessis up and staggered
expected in spite of the dull ache in his head.
with him into the smaller room where he laid
He was forced to drink repeatedly from the
him upon the mattress from the cot. The old
water-bottle, for all his resolution not to use
man opened his eyes and fixed them on the precious supply until it became essential.
Luke’s face with intense anxiety.
The heat seemed to suck every drop of
“You’ll
get
her?”
moisture out of his body.
Action Stories
18
Long before noon the desert had past his head, the distant crack of the become a shimmering waste alive with discharge a moment later. Again—again! Van mirages. Here on the horizon was a lake of
Reenen was shooting wildly through the
sparkling water, there a great mountain where
mirage. How far away was he?
was nothing but the flat. The sand, stirred by a
Even as the horse made his last spurt
hot wind, rose up and filled his nostrils.
Van Reenen appeared, looming immense
Luke felt himself a part of this mirage.
through the wavering air, with Emmy on the
It all seemed like a dream to him, that ride, or
horse beside him, her hands bound to her
a play which he was witnessing, Only the
sides.
realization of the prize at stake kept him upon
Next moment the two horses crashed
his course.
together. Both went down. Luke felt the sting
At last, when he had surmounted the
of the powder as Van Reenen’s bullet brushed
low rise of land at the neck, where the lines of
his cheek. He fired into the Dutchman’s
kopjes came together, he came back to reality.
savage face, that grinned with bared teeth into
There, far in the distance, were two little black his own. He saw the blue hole that suddenly
specks, outlined against the vast face of the
appeared between the mouth and nostrils. Van
desert.
Reenen’s body crumpled.
Emmy and Van Reenen!
After that Luke was only dimly aware
He urged his tired horse on. He had
of Emmy beside him, calling to him, shaking
drunk one of his canteens, but now, seeing
him. Several times he tried to rise, but the
that the beast was faltering for lack of water,
raging thirst and fever that had hold of him
he unscrewed the top of the other, and, after
were stronger than his limbs.
moistening his own lips, poured the whole
Hours must have passed under that
contents down the horse’s throat.
inferno of burning blue sky, with the inferno
How far the water-hole was he could
of molten copper blazing down. Then it was
not know, but from that moment he lived only
night. Emmy lay very quiet beside him. She
in the two figures an immeasurable distance
still breathed faintly, but her lips were swollen ahead of him.
out of all recognition, as he knew his own
There was no possibility of taking must be.
cover in the flat of the desert, smooth as a
Hours of half-consciousness mixed
billiard table save where the winds ruffled it,
with coma, then the terror of the dawn, now
that now unveiled itself before him. They flooding the east with gold.
must have seen him.
The sun was coming up. His last day,
Again he urged on his horse, but the
and Emmy’s. Even if he had known the secret
distance between himself and the fugitives
of the water-hole, he could hot have risen to
seemed hardly to decrease, and he had a his feet. And that secret was hidden in the nightmare feeling of standing still.
pulseless brain of that bloated thing not far
It was not until of a sudden, a shifting
away.
of the wind cleared away the haze and the
Shouts rang in Luke’s ears. He closed
mirage that he realized he had been steadily
his eyes, not to credit that hallucination. But
gaining on them. They were perhaps a little
they were strangely persistent.
over half-a-mile distant.
Out of the depths of coma Luke came
Luke spurred his horse recklessly, to himself as water was poured down his driving it to the utmost.
throat, to find himself looking into the face of
A puff of smoke, the whistle of a bullet
Lieutenant Connell.
Sand and Diamonds
19
“It’s all right, old man. Keep still. Yes,
force him to assign it.”
she’s recovering, and we’ve brought spare
Weak as he was Luke gaped at the bag
horses. We’ll st
art back tonight. Jantje’s of stones, brilliant even in their uncut state, putting up the tent. He came back and notified
that Connell displayed.
the post just as I was opening a wire saying
But he forgot them as his eyes met
you’d gone to Kimberley. Here’s the clue. The
Emmy’s.
pipe was on Duplessis’ land, and they tried to
Sand and Diamonds By Victor Rousseau Page 5
