It did not seem a likely place for outlaws to hide in; the sun poured down on every hill and hollow of the sand.
Caius explained then that his portmanteaus, with the stores, had arrived safely; but that he had reason to think that the man O'Shea was not trusty, that, either out of malice or fear of the companions among whom he found himself, he had threatened his, Dr.Simpson's, life in the most unwarrantable manner.

He then presented the statement which he had drawn up, and commended it to her attention.
Madame Le Maitre had listened to his words without obvious interest; in fact, he doubted if she had got her mind off the sick children before she opened the paper.

He would have liked to go away now, leaving the paper with her, but she did not give him that opportunity.
"Ah! this is----" Then, more understandingly, "This is an account you have written of your journey hither ?" Caius intimated that it was merely a complaint against O'Shea.

Yet he felt sure, while she was reading it, that, if she had any liveliness of fancy, she must be interested in its contents, and if she had proper appreciation, she must know that he had expressed himself well.

When she had finished, however, instead of coveting the possession of the document, she gently gave it back to him.
"I am sorry," she said sincerely, "that you were put to inconvenience.
It was so kind of you to come, that I had hoped to make your journey as comfortable as possible; but the sands are very treacherous, not because the quicksands are large or deep, but because they shift in stormy weather, sometimes appearing in one place, and sometimes in another.