"You'll soon see," said Lavie, walking up to the mound he had marked. "Ay, there is the hole where the bee went in. Just hand me the knife, Ernest." He cleared away the earth, avoiding, as much as possible, any injury to the work of the bees, and presently laid bare a great mass of comb, full of honey and pollen; of this he cut off several large pieces, as much as they could conveniently carry; the bees, in complete justification of his assurances, offering no kind of interference--a fact which drew forth a second eulogium from Nick, who only deplored, he said, that they couldn't be conveyed to England, to instruct their brethren there. They now resumed their journey, resolving to camp for the night at the first spot where shade and water were to be found. But their quest was not fortunate. The afternoon was unusually scorching and dry; and though they came to several patches of trees and shrubs, they could find neither fount nor pool. At length the sun had declined so low in the horizon, that it was plain that scarcely more than an hour of daylight remained; and they would have to pass the night without having quenched their thirst, unless water should very speedily be discovered. Under these circumstances they were greatly rejoiced to see Lion, who had been trotting along soberly by Frank's side ever since they left the ant-hills, suddenly throw up his head and snuff the air, which were his modes of indicating that there was a spring at no great distance. "Hurrah! old fellow," shouted Frank; "off then, and find it. We'll have a race, Nick, which shall reach it first." They started off, the other two following at a somewhat slower pace. Lion soon went ahead, directing the course of the boys towards a small kloof, visible about a mile off, containing a grove of palms and date trees, with a thick belt of underwood surrounding it. Heedless of the heat, which by this time, however, was a little tempered by the cool breeze that had sprung up at sunset, they bounded gaily along, and presently reached the kloof. It appeared to Frank--who, closely following Lion, was the first of the four to enter it--quite a little Paradise. Under the shade of the palms, surrounded by delicious verdure, was a large spring bubbling up from the ground, and stealing away in a brook, which ran babbling through the thicket, until lost to sight. "Hurrah!" he shouted. "Now for a jolly drink! What is the matter, old boy?" he added a moment afterwards, as Lion instead of plunging into the cool water, as was his ordinary habit, stood still on the brink, looking up into Frank's face, with a perplexed and wistful look. "What's the matter, Lion, why don't you drink? I suppose, poor beast," he added, "he hasn't quite recovered even yet. Get out of the way, Lion; what are you about? If you are not thirsty, at all events I am!"