When for the third or fourth time I saw Dthemetri thus planted, I
lost my patience, and went on without him. For about two hours, I
think, I advanced without once looking behind me. I then paused,
and cast my eyes back to the western horizon. There was no sign of
Dthemetri, nor of any other living creature. This I expected, for
I knew that I must have far out-distanced all my followers. I had
ridden away from my party merely by way of gratifying my
impatience, and with the intention of stopping as soon as I felt
tired, until I was overtaken. I now observed, however (this I had
not been able to do whilst advancing so rapidly), that the track
which I had been following was seemingly the track of only one or
two camels. I did not fear that I had diverged very largely from
the true route, but still I could not feel any reasonable certainty
that my party would follow any line of march within sight of me.
I had to consider, therefore, whether I should remain where I was,
upon the chance of seeing my people come up, or whether I would
push on alone, and find my way to Suez. I had now learned that I
could not rely upon the continued guidance of any track, but I knew
that (if maps were right) the point for which I was bound bore just
due east of Cairo, and I thought that, although I might miss the
line leading most directly to Suez, I could not well fail to find
my way sooner or later to the Red Sea.
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