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He held the torch nearer the camel. "She is rattle-brained," he continued. "She only saddled him. No water, no food. At this hour, three days from now, all three of you would have been dead on the road, and on what a road!" Tanit-Zerga's teeth no longer chattered. She was looking at the Targa with a mixture of terror and hope.
Privation and great fatigue had chiselled the brown face where her great eyes shone.... Since then, I have had time to assemble the maps and compasses, and to fix forever the spot where, for the first time, I understood the beauty of Tanit-Zerga's eyes. There was a deep silence between us. It was she who broke it. "Night is coming. We must eat so as to leave as soon as possible."
In an hour, the moon will have circled behind the mountain. That will be the time." She sat silent, her haik wrapped completely about her dark little figure. Was she praying? Perhaps. Suddenly I no longer saw her. Darkness had crept in the window. The moon had turned. Tanit-Zerga's hand was on my arm. She drew me toward the abyss. I tried not to tremble. Everything below us was in shadow.
During our short walk, I heard Tanit-Zerga's teeth chattering with terror. We reached a little cave. "Go in," said the Targa. He lighted a torch. The red light showed a superb mehari peacefully chewing his cud. "The little one is not stupid," said Ceghéir-ben-Cheikh, pointing to the animal. "She knows enough to pick out the best and the strongest. But she is rattle-brained."
Indeed, along the shimmering horizon rose a fantastic city with mighty buildings that towered, tier on tier, until they formed a rainbow. Wide-eyed, we stood and watched the terrible mirage quiver feverishly before us. "Gâo!" I cried. "Gâo!" And almost immediately I uttered another cry, of sorrow and of horror. Tanit-Zerga's little hand relaxed in mine.
I realized again with joy that his itinerary was exact and that I had followed it scrupulously. "The evening of the day after to-morrow," I said, "we shall be setting out on the stage which will take us, by the next dawn, to the waters at Telemsi. Once there, we shall not have to worry any more about water." Tanit-Zerga's eyes danced in her thin face. "And Gâo?" she asked.
King Hiram showed his contentment by stretching out at full length and uncurling his great amber claws. The mat on the floor had much to suffer. "Galé is here, too," said the little girl. "Galé! Who may he be?" At the same time, I saw on Tanit-Zerga's knees a strange animal, about the size of a big cat, with flat ears, and a long muzzle. Its pale gray fur was rough.
I sat down on the sill of the window, my feet in the void. A breath of cool air from the peaks refreshed me. I felt little Tanit-Zerga's hand in my vest pocket. "Here is a box. I must know when you are down, so I can follow. You will open the box. There are fire-flies in it; I shall see them and follow you." She held my hand a moment. "Now go," she murmured. I went.
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