These looked quiet close, but in fact were still far off.

Feebly and ever more feebly we staggered on, meeting no one and finding no water, though here and there we came across little bushes, of which we chewed the stringy and aromatic leaves that contained some moisture, but drew up our mouths and throats like alum.
Higgs, who was the softest of us, gave out the first, though to the last he struggled forward with surprising pluck, even after he had been obliged to throw away his rifle, because he could no longer carry it, though this we did not notice at the time.

When he could not support himself upon his feet, Orme took him by one arm, and I by the other, and helped him on, much as I have seen two elephants do by a wounded companion of the herd.
Half-an-hour or so later my strength failed me also.

Although advanced in years, I am tough and accustomed to the desert and hardships; who would not be who had been a slave to the Khalifa?
But now I could do no more, and halting, begged the others to go on and leave me.

Orme's only answer was to proffer me his left arm.