into more than one treacherous pool. The
dark blue of the sky had turned to grey when Roldan raised his arm and
pointed to a squat dark object on the summit of the cliff.

"A hut," he said. "We are at the pueblo."

The boys crawled softly up the almost perpendicular bank and peered
over the edge. To all appearances the pueblo was deserted. If the
soldiers were there--and their horses were not--they slept within the
huts. The animal instinct, so bravely repressed, overcame the
adventurers. They ran across the open to the hut where the food was
kept, and ate for fifteen minutes without speaking or taking the
trouble to hide themselves.

XII

When they had satisfied their appetites they made two large packages of
dried meat and fruit, tying them securely with straw to their right
arms: saddle-bags there were none.

"Not a horse," whispered Adan. "Do you think the soldiers have gone?"

"I think they are lost, and as they did not stop to tie their horses
when they started after us, they won't see them again until they get
back to camp. Come."

Roldan peered cautiously into each of the huts in turn; all were empty.
Then the boys started for the corral, which the soldiers would not have
passed either on their way to the pueblo or in pursuit of the runaways.
They found the Indians in charge sound asleep in their hut, and did not
think it worth while to awaken them. The two mustangs they led forth,
vicious brutes at best, were very restless from prolonged inactivity.
Roldan's submitted to the saddle, but bolted as soon as he felt a
determined pair of legs about his sides; and as our adventurer had
neither whip nor spurs, all he could do was to hang on and shout to
Adan to follow close. This was the only thing that Adan's mustang was
willing to do, and the boys were borne blindly on, down one path, up
another, plunging deeper into the black recesses of the forest until
they knew no more of their whereabouts than if they had dropped from
another sphere.

After many weary miles the mustangs slackened, and the boys dismounted
and cut two slender but stinging whips. After that they rose once more
to the proud supremacy of man over brute. But the situation was full of
peril. They were hopelessly lost, the redwoods were the home of the
grizzly and the panther, and they might come upon the soldiers at any
moment. But there was nothing to do but to ride on, and at least they
had horses and food.

They descended whenever