“We must be off, Dick,” said the doctor; “we cannot remain in this situation.” “But, doctor, what of Joe?” “I am not likely to abandon him. No, indeed! and should the hurricane carry me a thousand miles to the northward, I will return! But here we are endangering the safety of all.” “Must we go without him?” asked the Scot, with an accent of profound grief. “And do you think, then,” rejoined Ferguson, “that my heart does not bleed like your own? Am I not merely obeying an imperious necessity?” “I am entirely at your orders,” replied the hunter; “let us start!” But their departure was surrounded with unusual difficulty. The anchor, which had caught very deeply, resisted all their efforts to disengage it; while the balloon, drawing in the opposite direction, increased its tension. Kennedy could not get it free. Besides, in his present position, the manœuvre had become a very perilous one, for the _Victoria_ threatened to break away before he should be able to get into the car again. The doctor, unwilling to run such a risk, made his friend get into his place, and resigned himself to the alternative of cutting the anchor-rope. The _Victoria_ made one bound of three hundred feet into the air, and took her route directly northward. Ferguson had no other choice than to scud before the storm. He folded his arms, and soon became absorbed in his own melancholy reflections. After a few moments of profound silence, he turned to Kennedy, who sat there no less taciturn. “We have, perhaps, been tempting Providence,” said he; “it does not belong to man to undertake such a journey!”—and a sigh of grief escaped him as he spoke. “It is but a few days,” replied the sportsman, “since we were congratulating ourselves upon having escaped so many dangers! All three of us were shaking hands!” “Poor Joe! kindly and excellent disposition! brave and candid heart! Dazzled for a moment by his sudden discovery of wealth, he willingly sacrificed his treasures! And now, he is far from us; and the wind is carrying us still farther away with resistless speed!” “Come, doctor, admitting that he may have found refuge among the lake tribes, can he not do as the travellers who visited them before us, did;—like Denham, like Barth? Both of those men got back to their own country.” “Ah! my dear Dick! Joe doesn’t know one word of the language; he is alone, and without resources. The travellers of whom you speak did not attempt to go forward without sending many presents in advance of them to the chiefs, and surrounded by an escort armed and trained for these expeditions. Yet, they could not avoid sufferings of the worst description! What, then, can you expect the fate of our companion to be? It is horrible to think of, and this is one of the worst calamities that it has ever been my lot to endure!” “But, we’ll come back again, doctor!”