When the men had finished drinking, they glanced about the cave. Their flashlights fell on the body of the tiger cat, and they looked up in surprise. "What's this?" inquired Mr. Lewis, pointing to the bullet-riddled carcass. Bob and Joe smiled. "That old boy tried to make us remain for dinner, but we fooled him," explained Bob. "We had to empty our revolvers to stop him, though." There was a clamor of excited questions, and the youths were forced to relate every detail of the encounter. When they had finished, the naturalists bent over to examine the striped skin. "Too bad, but I'm afraid you've put too many bullets in him for us to use the skin," said Mr. Holton regretfully. "And a large specimen, too. But then," he went on, "we won't think of that when your lives hung in the balance." The explorers spent a few minutes sitting in the cool white sand. Then they went back outside to get the water containers. They had had an uneasy feeling that perhaps the camels had been molested during their stay in the cavern, and gave a sigh of relief upon seeing them sitting peacefully near the tent. As it was getting late, camp was broken, and the dromedaries were led to the entrance of the cave. The water containers were carried in to the pool and filled to capacity with what stood between the explorers and death. "Now that everything is in readiness, I suppose we must be getting on our way," said Dr. Kirshner. "But I must admit I hate to leave that pool behind. Somehow I've become greatly attached to it." "Does seem too bad," Mr. Lewis agreed. "But I suppose we will find other wells and sources of water. Where is the next one, Fekmah?" "Many miles away," the Arab returned. "But come to think of it, Tishmak says one around here near. If it very far away, we go to it." When the question was put to him, the guide replied that the well was but a few miles away. He considered it unnecessary to find it, as another was a day's journey in their direction. He informed them that since it was very large, it could not be easily covered up by the two thieves. With one last look at the high precipice, the explorers turned the camels back on the lane between the mountains. With the right kind of luck they would come to the gorge of Arak some time the next day, and another landmark on Fekmah's duplicate map would have been noted. As they penetrated farther into the mountains, the scenery became more beautiful. There were many wonders that caused the explorers to gasp in astonishment. "The Ahaggar range is of larger extent than the Alps," said Dr. Kirshner, as they circled about among the rugged cliffs. "And although not of extremely high altitude, these Saharan mountains have many show points that cannot be found elsewhere." "And they are comparatively unknown to the outside world," put in Bob. "Why, the average person doesn't even dream of mountains being in the heart of the old Sahara."