But little brandy left.Good，Sir Henry，and Umbopa bear up wonderfully，but Ventv?gel is in a very bad way.Like most Hottentots，he cannot stand cold.Pangs of hunger not so bad，but have a sort of numb feeling about the stomach.Others say the same.We are now on a level with the precipitous chain，or wall of lava，connecting the two breasts，and the view is glorious.Behind us the great glowing desert rolls away to the horizon，and before us lies mile upon mile of smooth，hard snow almost level，but swelling gently upward，out of the centre of which the nipple of the mountain，which appears to be some miles in circumference，rises about four thousand feet into the sky.Not a living thing is to be seen.
God help us，I fear our time has come.
And now I will drop the journal，partly because it is not very interesting reading，and partly because what follows requires perhaps rather more accurate telling.
All that day (the 23d May)we struggled slowly on up the incline of snow，lying down.from time to time to rest.A strange，gaunt crew we must have looked，as，laden as we were，we dragged our weary feet over the dazzling plain，glaring round us with hungry eyes.Not that there was much use in glaring，for there was nothing to eat.We did not do more than seven miles that day.Just before sunset we found ourselves right under the nipple of Sheba's left breast，which towered up thousands of feet-into the air above us，a vast，smooth hillock of frozen snow.Bad as we felt，we could not but appreciate the wonderful scene，made even more wonderful by the flying rays of light from the setting sun，which here and there stained the snow blood red，and crowned the towering mass above us with a diadem of glory.
"I say，"gasped Good，presently，"we ought to be somewhere near the cave the old gentleman wrote about.""Yes，"said I，"if there is a cave."
"Come，Quatermain，"groaned Sir Henry，"don't talk like that；I have every faith in the don；remember the water.We shall find the place soon.""If we don't find it before dark we are dead men，that is all about it，"was my consolatory reply.
For the next ten minutes we trudged on in silence，when suddenly Umbopa，who was marching along beside me，wrapped up in his blanket and with a leather belt strapped so tight round his stomach，to "make his hunger small，"as he said，that his waist looked like a girl's，caught me by the arm.
"Look！"he said，pointing towards the springing slope of the nipple.
I followed his glance，and perceived，some two hundred yards from us，what appeared to be a hole in the snow.
"It is the cave，"said Umbopa.
We made the best of our way to the spot，and found，sure enough，that the hole was the mouth of a cave，no doubt the same as that of which Da Silvestra wrote.We were none too soon，for just as we reached shelter the sun went down with startling rapidity，leaving the whole place nearly dark.In these latitudes there is but little twilight.We crept into the cave，which did not appear to be very big，and，huddling ourselves together for warmth，swallowed what remained of our brandy -barely a mouthful each --and tried to forget our miseries in sleep.But this the cold was too intense to allow us to do.I am convinced that at that great altitude the thermometer cannot have been less than fourteen or fifteen degrees below freezing-point.What this meant to us，enervated as we were by hardship，want of food，and the great heat of the desert，my reader can imagine better than I can describe.Suffice it to say that it was something as near death from exposure as I have ever felt.There we sat hour after hour through the bitter night，feeling the frost wander round and nip us now in the finger，now in the foot，and now in the face.In vain did we huddle up closer and closer；there was no warmth in our miserable，starved carcasses.
Sometimes one of us would drop into an uneasy slumber for a few minutes，but we could not sleep long，and perhaps it was fortunate，for I doubt if we should ever have woke again.I believe it was only by force of will that we kept ourselves alive at all.
Not very long before dawn I heard the Hottentot Ventv?gel，whose teeth had been chattering all night like castanets，give a deep sigh，and then his teeth stopped chattering.I did not think anything of it at the time，concluding that he had gone to sleep.His back was resting against mine，and it seemed to grow colder，and colder，till at last it was like ice.
At length the air began to grow gray with light，then swift golden arrows came flashing across the snow，and at last the glorious sun peeped up above the lava wall and looked in upon our half-frozen forms and upon Ventv?gel，sitting there among us stone dead.No wonder his back had felt cold，poor fellow.He had died when I heard him sigh，and was now almost frozen stiff.Shocked beyond measure，we dragged ourselves from the corpse (strange the horror we all have of the companionship of a dead body)，and left it still sitting there，with its arms clasped round its knees.
By this time the sunlight was pouring its cold rays (for here they were cold)straight in at the mouth of the cave.Suddenly I heard an exclamation of fear from some one，and turned my head down the cave.
And this was what I saw.Sitting at the end of it，for it was not more than twenty feet long，was another form，of which the head rested on the chest and the long arms hung down.I stared at it，and saw that it，too，was a dead man ，and what was more，a white man.
The others saw it，too，and the sight proved too much for our shattered nerves.One and all we scrambled out of the cave as fast as our half-frozen limbs would allow.