Hitherto he had met with no human being. The desert became less arid.
A scanty vegetation sprang up from a more genial soil; the ground broke
into gentle undulations; his senses were invigorated with the odour
of wild plants, and his sight refreshed by the glancing form of some
wandering bird, a pilgrim like himself, but more at ease.
Soon sprang up a grove of graceful palm-trees, with their tall thin
stems, and bending feathery crowns, languid and beautiful. Around, the
verdant sod gleamed like an emerald: silver streams, flowing from a
bubbling parent spring, wound their white forms within the bright green
turf. From the grove arose the softening song of doves, and showers of
gay and sparkling butterflies, borne on their tinted wings of shifting
light, danced without danger in the liquid air. A fair and fresh Oasis!
Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat for two days, feeding on the
living dates, and drinking of the fresh water. Fain would he have
lingered, nor indeed, until he rested, had he been sufficiently
conscious of his previous exertion. But the remembrance of his great
mission made him restless, and steeled him to the sufferings which yet
awaited him.
At the dawn of the second day of his journey from the Oasis he beheld to
his astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced on the far horizon, the
walls and turrets of an extensive city.
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