The three travellers did not speak. They gazed, and
hoped, and even felt refreshed by the breath of the tempest.
About three o'clock, the whirlwind ceased; the sand,
falling again upon the desert, formed numberless little
hillocks, and the sky resumed its former tranquillity.
The balloon, which had again lost its momentum, was
floating in sight of an oasis, a sort of islet studded with
green trees, thrown up upon the surface of this sandy
ocean.
"Water! we'll find water there!" said the doctor.
And, instantly, opening the upper valve, he let some
hydrogen escape, and slowly descended, taking the ground
at about two hundred feet from the edge of the oasis.
In four hours the travellers had swept over a distance
of two hundred and forty miles!
The car was at once ballasted, and Kennedy, closely
followed by Joe, leaped out.
"Take your guns with you!" said the doctor; "take
your guns, and be careful!"
Dick grasped his rifle, and Joe took one of the fowling-pieces.
They then rapidly made for the trees, and disappeared under
the fresh verdure, which announced the presence of abundant
springs. As they hurried on, they had not taken notice of
certain large footprints and fresh tracks of some living
creature marked here and there in the damp soil.
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