ficulty that remained was to leave the water in such a way that
his pursuers should be baffled in any attempt to discover the point.
This was an exceedingly difficult question to solve, and while he was
searching for some suitable place, and growing terribly frightened lest
his two foes should pounce down upon him, he noticed a large tree that
projected over the water. The foliage was dense and the tree seemed to
be hollow. Besides this, one of the limbs hung so low that, by making an
upward spring, he was able to catch it with both hands. He then drew
himself upward, and carefully crawled along until he reached the trunk.
To his surprise and delight, he found it the very concealment he needed
above all others. The trunk was large and hollow, and on the upper side
was an aperture, probably caused by the rotting away of a limb, large
enough to permit the passage of his body.

After peering for a few seconds into the impenetrable darkness, Ned
shoved his feet through, and carefully followed with his body. He
cautiously shoved himself along, until his head was below the level of
the opening, when he paused, believing that he was concealed in the best
manner possible. The lad had absolutely left no trace behind him; the
searching Apaches were without any means of discovering what he had
done, and all he had to do was to remain where he was until the hunt was
over. The tree, slanting out over the water, made his posture a half
reclining one, and as comfortable as it is possible to imagine. His
limbs were somewhat chilled by the wetting they had received, but that
troubled him very little, his whole thoughts, naturally, being centered
upon the one of getting away from the Apaches. It seemed to him that his
senses were preternaturally sharpened, and the rustling of a fallen leaf
startled him into the belief that one of the redskins was crawling out
upon the trunk; but a full half hour passed without presenting anything
of a tangible nature, and hope became very strong in his breast again.

"I wonder whether those horsemen were hunting for me?" he muttered, as
he became more deliberate in his speculations. "I was sure a little
while ago that they were, but it may be that I was mistaken. I don't
think they would come on their mustangs if they wanted to find me, for
they couldn't make much use of them in following me to a place like
this."

Whether or not these two men were his pursuers mattered very little; for
there could be