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50 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
forward every time to stretching myself full length on
the sand, for the heat of the day had gone out of it, and
the night had made it cool.
At length, however, after a long, long tramp we caught
sight of the faint reflection of a fire. Have you ever tried
to walk towards a bright fire on a dark night ? It keeps
drawing you on in a most expectant way ;
you always
imagine you are quite close to the goal. Hour after hour
passes, and yet you seem to get no nearer. At length
you begin to doubt whether it really is a fire you see. So
it was now ; but at length, after surmounting a little hill,
we were able to see the bright flames quite distinctly.
We raised a shout ; but no answer came. We quickened
our steps, yet once more we had to rest for a few minutes.
Then we shouted again, and this time we were heard.
As soon as my men heard that we were coming, they
got up a brilliant illumination in our honour. They had
halted in a part of the forest where there was an abundance
of dead dried-up trees still standing upright on their roots.
Some of these they set fire to. A long time before we reached
them we could hear the dry timber crackling and bursting
with noisy vigour. After a while we made our state entry
into camp ; the tree-trunks, all of a red glow, were leaning
over in every direction, threatening to fall, and the heat
was unbearable. Then, guided by two or three of the
men carrying torches, we reached the ferry-boat at a very
late hour, and thus brought to an end a long hard march,
and oh ! we were tired !
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