ains, was cold, clear, and pure.

Oh! the refreshing draught! None but those whose frames have been
consumed with flaming fever can appreciate the delicious nectar, the
invigorating, permeating life that lay in that wonderful fluid, which is
without smell, taste or color, and to which no other liquid can be
compared.

"Oh dear!" groaned the lad, as he raised his head. "Another drink like
that and there'll be nothing left in the creek."

But thirst satisfied left him with such a tormenting sense of hunger
that the question of something to eat speedily became paramount to all
others. He almost ceased to think of Apaches in his wild desire for
something with which to satisfy the cravings within.

The heavy trunk, covered with a few knotty protuberances, kept very
nearly in the center of the stream and shifted on below the wood, across
the open space and around the curve which has been already referred to,
by which time it was fairly dark. Beyond this he could discern the
outlines of the grove in the encampment of the day before, and where his
own rush for liberty had been made. Were the Apaches still there,
awaiting the conclusion of the hunt for him? This was the question, and,
in his desire to answer it, he carefully steadied himself until he stood
upright upon the log, so as to look across the intervening space to the
wood beyond.

"If they're there, they'd be sure to have a camp fire," was the truthful
conclusion; "but I can't catch sight of anything."

Had a point of light twinkled through the foliage, it is doubtful
whether he could have had the courage to continue on down the stream to
the point where it passed so close to the camp. No doubt he would have
dodged it. But all continued dark and silent, and he was quite confident
that they had gone. He crouched upon the raft again, and drifted with
the current.

As he neared the rapids and narrow places where the water dashed over
its rocky bed, it looked as if he would be unable to keep his seat upon
the raft; but as this was the very section, where, above all others, he
wished to keep his feet off the ground, he grasped the limbs and held
on. He went safely on, although considerable water was splashed over
him, and in a few minutes was in the broad, smooth current below, and so
close to the grove that he trembled with fear.

In the dim moonlight he easily recognized the place, and for a few
seconds he believed he had committed a fatal error in retracing his