And usually they've covered a heap of actual distance." "That's so," agreed Denton.
"Now, I've always figured that it would be a good deal better to start right out for some particular place, even if it's ten thousand miles away.

A man is just as likely to strike water going in a straight line as he is going in a circle; and then, besides, he's getting somewhere." "Correct," said Denton, "So," I finished, "I reckon we'd better follow the coast south and try to get to Mollyhay." "How far is that ?" asked Schwartz.
"I don't rightly know.

But somewheres between three and five hundred miles, at a guess." At that he fell to glowering and grooming with himself, brooding over what a hard time it was going to be.

That is the way with a German.
First off he's plumb scared at the prospect of suffering anything, and would rather die right off than take long chances.

After he gets into the swing of it, he behaves as well as any man.
We took stock of what we had to depend on.