on a broad, flat bowlder, which formed the summit of
the cliff.

On his right, between him and a huge rock that rose for fifty feet
without a single break or crevice, was a narrow but deep chasm which ran
down the cliff he had just ascended, and into which he had more than
once been in imminent danger of falling as he stumbled about in the
darkness. Far below him was the glade, a thin wreath of smoke rising
from the smouldering camp-fire, and on his left was the gorge, a
hundred times more frightful in his eyes now than it had ever seemed
before. In front of him the mountain sloped gently down to the valley
below, its base clothed with a thick wood, which at that height looked
like an unbroken mass of green sward, and beyond that, so far away that
it could be but dimly seen, was a broad expanse of prairie, from which
arose the whitewashed walls of his uncle's rancho. It was a view that
would have put an artist into ecstasies, but the fugitive was in no mood
to appreciate it. He had no eye for the beauties of nature then--he had
other things to think of; and he regarded the picturesque mountains and
rocks, and the luxuriant woods, as so many grim monsters that stood
between him and his home.

But Archie could not remain long inactive. After all the dangers he had
incurred, and the bruises and scratches he had received, he had
accomplished but little. He was still thirty miles from home, hungry and
thirsty, and pursued by crafty enemies, who might even then be watching
him from some secret covert.

"Oh, if I were only there!" said he, casting a longing glance toward
the rancho, whose inmates, just then sitting down to a dainty breakfast,
little dreamed how much good a small portion of their bounty would have
done the fugitive on the mountain-top. "But, as the rancho can't come to
me, I must go to it."

Archie found the descent of the mountain comparatively easy. There were
not so many bushes and logs to impede his progress, the slope was more
gradual, and he had not gone more than half a mile when he found a cool
spring bubbling out from under the rocks. He bathed his hands and face,
drank a little of the water, and when he set out again he felt much
refreshed. He followed the course of the stream, which ran from the
spring down the mountain, keeping a bright lookout for enemies all the
while, and stopping now and then to listen for sounds of pursuit, when
suddenly, as he came around the base of a rock, he found himse