Part 32 (1/2)

”There's no chance of that. Every square foot of the country will be searched, and sooner or later they'll come across our trail.”

”How long will it take us to get over the range?” Neal asked.

”It is impossible to say: but we must keep moving nearly all the time, for the small amount of water we have with us now is the last that'll be seen until we are on the other side.”

”I feel as if I could drink the entire supply, and then want more,”

Teddy said, the knowledge that they were cut off from all means of adding to the store making him thirsty.

”I reckon every one in the party feels much the same way,” c.u.mmings replied grimly. ”If it was possible to find a stream now and then the journey across the range would not be such a dangerous one.”

With the exception of the suggestion he made when they first halted, Jake did not join in the conversation. His eyes had closed in slumber almost instantly after lying down, and during half an hour he was allowed to sleep uninterruptedly.

Then Poyor awakened him, and the weary march was resumed, the advance becoming more difficult each moment as they climbed higher up on the range.

About two hours before nightfall the sun was hidden from view by dense ma.s.ses of dark clouds, and the boys hailed with joy this relief from the burning heat.

”If we could only have it like this all the time!” Neal exclaimed.

”Better the sun than the clouds,” c.u.mmings said in a tone of anxiety, and Poyor increased his pace, no longer searching with his eyes for the enemy; but casting quick glances from side to side as if hunting for some particular object.

A south wind came up, and the boys were trudging along right merrily, despite their fatigue, when it was as if a solid sheet of water descended upon them.

There had been no warning drops to give notice of the coming storm; but the rain literally fell in torrents, drenching the fugitives at the first downpour.

It was now impossible to see twenty feet in either direction. The driving rain and the white clouds which completely enveloped the mountain shut out everything from view.

The enemy might have crept close upon them without being aware of the fact.

There was no place in which to shelter themselves, and the boys had a thorough ill.u.s.tration of what a tropical rain-storm may be during the time Poyor was hunting for such a place as would serve to s.h.i.+eld them from the flood.

Not until half an hour had pa.s.sed did they make a halt, and then the Indian led them under an overhanging ledge, in front of which was a sheer descent of eighty feet or more to the valley beneath.

”Here we can wait until the worst of the gale has blown over,” he said, as he threw down his burden and prepared to enjoy a long rest. ”It is not likely we shall be able to move to-night, and there is no fear the enemy will come upon us while the storm rages.”

”We shall at least be where the canteens can be filled,” c.u.mmings replied in a tone of content, ”and by gaining a fresh supply of water the journey will be robbed of half its dangers, consequently a wetting is of but little consequence.”

To have seen the mountain at this moment one would hardly have thought that the party could have suffered from thirst. Every crevice of the rocks was now a stream, and by reaching out in a dozen different directions a quant.i.ty of the precious liquid could be obtained.

The only thing to cause alarm was the fact that this storm was but the beginning of the summer season, during which rain might be expected each day, and thus the danger of fever while crossing the low lands would be greatly increased.

”The sentinels will certainly keep under cover during such weather as this,” c.u.mmings said in a tone of satisfaction, ”and we may be able to get over the range without a hand to hand fight, as I had antic.i.p.ated.”

Under such climatic conditions the meat would not keep sweet many hours, and Poyor set the entire stock before his companions, saying as he did so:

”What cannot be eaten must be thrown away, therefore he is fortunate who can now swallow enough to prevent the pangs of hunger from being felt during the next forty-eight hours.”

”But we certainly won't be forced to stay here that length of time,”

Neal replied. ”It can't rain all the day and night.”