"But there aren't no
'stop conductor,' while a battery's changing ground." No man has
any business to go on such a trip as ours unless he will refuse to
jeopardize the welfare of his associates by any delay caused by a
weakness or ailment of his. It is his duty to go forward, if
necessary on all fours, until he drops. Fortunately, I was put to
no such test. I remained in good shape until we had passed the
last of the rapids of the chasms. When my serious trouble came we
had only canoe-riding ahead of us. It is not ideal for a sick man
to spend the hottest hours of the day stretched on the boxes in
the bottom of a small open dugout, under the well-nigh intolerable
heat of the torrid sun of the mid-tropics, varied by blinding,
drenching downpours of rain, but I could not be sufficiently
grateful for the chance. Kermit and Cherrie took care of me as if
they had been trained nurses; and Colonel Rondon and Lyra were no
less thoughtful. [Footnote: "Through the Brazilian Wilderness," p.
319.]
It is known that his illness was more serious, and his conduct
much more unselfish than he told in his book. When he could not be
moved, he asked the others to go forward for their own safety and
leave him. They refused, naturally, and he secretly resolved to
shoot himself if his condition did not soon improve, rather than
be a drag on the party.
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