He Takes Command
point, to come suddenly upon what seemed to be, at first glance, a broad bay and a natural harbor.
The captain of the vessel was the first to discover its true nature; after a hasty inspection of the chart, he announced:
"The mouth of the Wadi Saglat."
"A river!" cried Lemercier triumphantly.
"A dead river," amended the captain; "its mouth forms an estuary of a kind. There should be anchorage here."
"But the oasis?"
At this moment Prince Felix entered the chartroom.
"The lookout," he said, "reports a large clump of trees a considerable distance inland."
Lemercier danced with excitement, shrilling out orders; Monsieur le Prince watched him with an amusement tempered with disdain—which, however, he took care to hide.
When the ship was brought to a stop within the mouth of the Wadi, the anchor was dropped and the surmise of the captain proved correct; a good holding was there.
Boats were lowered, and the troops piled into them, Monsieur le petit Lemercier in the foremost, standing at the prow with the pose of the heroic leader of an invading army, a pith helmet in his hand, his hair, the color of tow, tossed back in strings from his narrow forehead, his head high, eyes fixed, lips mechanically smiling—an object, in short, of derision to the more light-minded members of his expedition, of pity to all.
O'Rourke followed, in the second boat, with a portion of his command. He was the second to step ashore, and at that opportunely to catch the arm of the impetuous Lemercier and save him a fall in the sands.
For this Frenchman who would be emperor, in his overwhelming desire to set foot upon the lands he designed for
[ 89 ]
