McTeague drew breath again, and his eyes once more beheld the illimitable leagues of quivering sand and alkali.
"Good Lord! What a country!" he exclaimed.

But his voice was trembling as he urged forward the mule once more.
Fiercer and fiercer grew the heat as the afternoon advanced.

At four McTeague stopped again.

He was dripping at every pore, but there was no relief in perspiration.

The very touch of his clothes upon his body was unendurable.