aking all safe, would load the mules with the furs and
goods, proceed to Santa Fe, and dispose of his booty for one-third of
its value. None cared how it had been obtained; it was cheap,
consequently it was welcome.

His open robberies and tricks of this description were so numerous that
Overton became the terror of the mountains. The savages swore that they
would scalp him; the Canadians vowed that they would make him dance to
death; the English declared that they would hang him; and the Yankees,
they would put him to Indian torture. The Mexicans, not being able any
more to protect their favourite, put a price upon his head. Under these
circumstances, Overton took an aversion to society, concealed himself,
and during two years nothing was heard of him, when, one day, as a party
of Comanches and Tonquewas were returning from some expedition, they
perceived a man on horseback. They knew him to be Overton, and gave
chase immediately.

The chase was a long one. Overton was mounted upon a powerful and noble
steed, but the ground was broken and uneven; he could not get out of the
sight of his pursuers. However, he reached a platform covered with fine
pine trees, and thought himself safe, as on the other side of the wood
there was a long level valley extending for many miles; and there he
would be able to distance his pursuers, and escape. Away he darted like
lightning, their horrible yell still ringing in his ears; he spurred his
horse, already covered with foam, entered the plain, and, to his horror
and amazement, found that between him and the valley there was a
horrible chasm, twenty-five feet in breadth and two hundred feet in
depth, with acute angles of rocks, as numerous as the thorns upon a
prickly pear. What could he do? His tired horse refused to take the
leap, and he could plainly hear the voice of the Indians encouraging
each other in the pursuit.

Along the edge of the precipice there lay a long hollow log, which had
been probably dragged there with the intention of making a bridge across
the chasm. Overton dismounted, led his horse to the very brink, and
pricked him with his knife the noble animal leaped, but his strength was
too far gone for him to clear it; his breast struck the other edge, and
he fell from crag to crag into the abyss below. This over, the fugitive
crawled to the log, and concealed himself under it, hoping that he would
yet escape. He was mistaken, for he had been seen; at that moment, the