ch he took to be the outlet of the little
lake that had been overcharged by the recent severe storm. So far as he
could see by the moonlight, great masses of rock, boulders and broken
prairie stretched out before him, and he asked himself how he was to
make his way.

He concluded not to make the attempt just then, but, hunting out a place
among the rocks, he crawled into it, first making sure, by a careful
reconnaissance that no rattlesnakes had crept in ahead of him. He was
permitted to remain undisturbed through the night, and when he opened
his eyes the sun was shining directly in upon him. The boy then hastily
sprang up, his heart full of gratitude to God for the wondrous manner in
which his life had been preserved, and the remarkable success which had
followed his attempt at escape from the Apaches.

With the coming of the glorious sunlight, Ned naturally felt buoyant and
hopeful. He was not without considerable appetite, but he had eaten so
heartily, on the previous evening, that he felt that he could afford to
wait until night again; and he still had that impatient, almost
unreasoning desire to get forward, which made him feel like breaking
into a run, and keeping it up until he was out of breath.

But, young as was the little fellow, he was old enough to feel that the
time had come when he must use all the brains in his command. Up to that
hour, as will be understood, he had been journeying entirely at random,
his sole purpose being to get beyond reach of Lone Wolf and his band. He
had accomplished this, and a radical change of tactics must be made.

If Ned Chadmund had been a half dozen years older, he would have
recoiled at the prospect before him; but he was so young and full of
animal spirits that he did not really comprehend the difficulty and
danger. He had traveled very little more than half the distance between
Santa Fe and Fort Havens, and his purpose was to press ahead until the
latter was reached. To do this, it was necessary that he should make his
way through the mountains in which he now found himself, and then to
journey a couple of hundred miles through or over prairie, and across
streams, before he could reach the frontier post, where his father was
so anxiously awaiting his coming. The project seemed nothing short of
madness; but its justification lay in the fact that the wanderer had the
choice of attempting that or lying down and dying where he was. He could
do nothing but choose the forme