He therefore resolved
to make all his preparations for a start, so as to
avail himself of the first opportunity. The feeding-tank
and the water-tank were both completely filled.
Then he had to reestablish the equilibrium of the balloon,
and Joe was obliged to part with another considerable
portion of his precious quartz. With restored health,
his ambitious notions had come back to him, and he made
more than one wry face before obeying his master; but
the latter convinced him that he could not carry so considerable
a weight with him through the air, and gave
him his choice between the water and the gold. Joe
hesitated no longer, but flung out the requisite quantity
of his much-prized ore upon the sand.
"The next people who come this way," he remarked,
"will be rather surprised to find a fortune in such a
place."
"And suppose some learned traveller should come
across these specimens, eh?" suggested Kennedy.
"You may be certain, Dick, that they would take him
by surprise, and that he would publish his astonishment
in several folios; so that some day we shall hear of a
wonderful deposit of gold-bearing quartz in the midst of the
African sands!"
"And Joe there, will be the cause of it all!"
This idea of mystifying some learned sage tickled Joe
hugely, and made him laugh.
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