Now, the eye wandered over a plain of dingy black, unbroken by a
single prominence, undisturbed by living creatures except
themselves. As Hubert remarked to his father, "It looked as if it
had been snowing black all night."
Both men and horses were anxious to get over these dreary plains,
and the pace was faster, and the halts less frequent, than they had
been the day before.
It was fortunate that the fire had not taken place at an earlier
hour of the evening, as the horses would have been weakened by want
of food. As it was, they had had five hours to feed after their
arrival.
Both men and horses, however, suffered much from thirst; and the
former had good reason to congratulate themselves on having
filled every water-skin at the first halting-place of the preceding
day.
Clouds of black impalpable dust rose as they rode along. The eyes,
mouth, and nostrils were filled with it, and they were literally as
black as the ground over which they rode.
Twice they stopped and drank, and sparingly washed out the nostrils
and mouths of the horses, which was a great relief to them, for
they suffered as much as did their masters, as also did Dash, who,
owing to his head being so near the ground, was almost suffocated;
indeed, Hubert at last dismounted, and took the poor animal up on
to the saddle before him.
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