trunk until he
reached the land, when he scampered away into the woods, and nothing
more was seen of him.

"If I had plenty of ammunition, I would not begrudge that shot,"
muttered Ned, as he carefully worked his way along the hollow again.
"But that leaves me only four shots, and there's no telling how soon
I'll have to use the rest."

He found, upon reaching the opening again, that the night was past and
the day was breaking. He had obtained a good night's rest, but he was
anxious to get ahead.

"I wonder where Lone Wolf is?" he thought, hesitating whether he had
better descend from his hiding place or not. "It is all of twelve hours
since I ran away and they must have done a good deal of hunting. Some of
them have passed close to where I am, and they must be lurking about
this very minute."

It was this uncertainty which caused the lad to wait some little time
longer before venturing forth. He had been so fortunate up to this time
that he could not afford to throw the chances away. When he found that
the sun was far above the treetops, however, he began to grow impatient,
and finally came to the conclusion that he was losing valuable time. So
he began crawling carefully out, with the idea of resuming his flight
homeward.

Ned was not yet fairly out from the tree, when he paused, for his ear
detected something alarming. It was the soft splash of water, such as is
made by a person who is carefully wading along, and it sounded fearfully
near to where he was.

He assumed at once, because of the peculiar sound, that it must be
caused by some one who was hunting for him, and no one could be hunting
for him except some of the Apaches from whom he fled. If any doubt
remained in his mind, it was removed a moment later, when he heard a
whistle from the same quarter whence came the sound of the wading. The
signal was instantly responded to in the same manner by some one upon
shore.

"They're Indians," he said. "They know that I must be somewhere in this
neighborhood and they've made up their minds to search until they find
me."

For two or three minutes all was as still as the tomb. It seemed as if
the redskins were listening, in the hope of learning something of the
fugitive through their sense of hearing when their eyes had failed them
so long. If such were the case, they were disappointed, for the boy
crouching in the gnarled tree would have suspended his very breathing,
had it been in his power to do so, lest he