t us see if you will
escape me again."

Archie looked up, and saw Antoine Mercedes advancing upon him.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CONCLUSION.

Archie had been so fully occupied with the traitor that he had not
thought of his other enemies, and for a moment he lay upon the ground
beside his antagonist, gazing at Antoine in speechless amazement.
Resistance, of course, was not to be thought of, and it also seemed
useless to make any attempts at escape; for he had been so nearly
exhausted by his struggle with Arthur, that he scarcely possessed the
power to rise from the ground. "I am caught easy enough," thought he,
"and I might as well give up first as last."

"I see before me twenty thousand dollars," said Antoine, hastily coiling
up his lasso as he approached.

These words acted like a spur upon Archie's flagging spirits. He no
longer thought of surrender: on the contrary, almost before he knew it,
he found himself on his feet and going down the mountain like the wind.

"_Carrajo!_" yelled the Ranchero, swinging his lasso around his head.

Archie was afraid of that lasso, for he knew that he was in danger as
long as he was within reach of it; but fortunately he had been too quick
for Antoine. He heard the lariat whistle through the air behind him, and
snap like a whip close to his ear, and then he knew that his enemy had
missed his mark.

"Santa Maria!" shouted the robber. "Stop, you young vagabond, or I'll
shoot you."

The fugitive was not frightened by this threat. He was not afraid of
being shot, nor did he believe that he could be overtaken in a fair
race; for, now that he got started, he found that he had wind enough
left for a long run. He had lived among the Rancheros long enough to
know that they were very poor marksmen, and that they could not boast of
their swiftness of foot; and, having escaped the lasso, his spirits rose
again, and hope lent him wings. He heard Antoine crushing through the
bushes in pursuit, but the sound grew fainter and fainter as he sped on
his way. He jumped over rocks and logs, and cleared ravines that at
almost any other time would have effectually checked his progress, and
when he reached the thick woods at the base of the mountains, the
Ranchero was out of sight and hearing.

Archie was well aware of the fact that he had now reached the most
dangerous part of his route homeward. The chief had ordered the band to
"scatter out" when they reached the end of the pass, and he k