to-morrow morning, and I shall begin dreaming about what we went
through over yonder."

"Poor old chap!"

"Ah, you may laugh, but it'll all come back like a nightmare, with the
burning thirst and giddiness, and the black spots before one's eyes."

"That's biliousness," said Chris, speaking authoritatively, like a
doctor's son.

"I don't care what it is. It's very horrible," said Ned, "and if I
thought we were going through a time like that again I should want to
stop at home."

"Where's that?" said Chris dryly.

"Ah, to be sure," said Ned, with a sigh. "I forgot where we were. I
suppose there'll be no home again till we've found the gold."

"And that won't be to-night," said Chris, as a shrill whistle rang out
through the clear evening air. "There's old Griggs calling us just as
if we were dogs. I've a good mind not to hear."

But Chris answered the whistle all the same, and the boys were soon
after joined by the American, who had come to meet them, and his first
words were--

"Now, boys, bed and a good long sleep. We're off again at daybreak."

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

PETRA THE SECOND.

Daybreak came all too soon for Chris, who sprang up rubbing his eyes and
yawning, in response to a summons from Griggs, who stood over the boy
like a black figure cut out of cardboard showing against a ruddy glow.

"Why--oh bother! It can't be time," cried the boy.

"Yes, it is, and we're late."

"So we are. You said daylight, and the sun's rising."

"Is it?" said Griggs. "Then it's before its time. There, unbutton your
eyelids and look again. The sun doesn't crackle and spit when it gets
over the world's edge."

"Humph!" grunted Chris, as he realised the truth that a roaring fire of
pinewood was burning in a sheltered spot. "Have you woke Ned?"

"Yes, and he's growling for his breakfast. Going to have a sluice
first? You'll just have time."

Griggs went back to see after the breakfast, and Chris turned to where
Ned had lain down on a fragrant pine-bough couch.

"Here, look sharp," he said. "I suppose we must have a dose of cold
water."

Ned grunted and seemed as ill-humoured as his companion at being
awakened from sleep, and the pair hurried through the gloom to the side
of the gully, where there was a soft, splashing roar caused by water
falling like so much foam from a ledge about a hundred feet above their
heads into a rock-pool at their feet.

The boys' preparations did not take long, ne