THE ESCAPE. 193 



cliff, hidden by a shelf that cropped out jest over our 

 heads, an' waited. The Injuns o' coorse arruv on the 

 edge of the barranca the minute arter we clurred off it; 

 an' we cud hear the varmints talkin' quite plain, an' 

 wonderin' what'n thunder hed become o' us. 



" You may stake high we kep close an' didn't tell 

 'em ; an' arter a leetle while, as they cudn't see a sign 

 o' us, they toted thurselves right away, an' we seed 

 'em no more. I reckin they thort we wur killed or 

 drownded with the leap, an' concluded that 'twurn't 

 worth their while to ride round twenty mile, as they'd 

 hev to did, to git down to see what had become o' us." 



" What about the silver mine, Jake ? " asked Pierre. 

 " Did you find it ? " 



" I guess," replied Jake, " that wur the wust o' the 

 hull business. We cudn't make head or tail o' the 

 country whur we concluded it to be ; an' arter all our 

 trouble an' danger, we jest had to take the back track 

 south, wi' our tails between our legs, as I may say, an' 

 hevin' lost our hosses an' everything we hed, 'cept what 

 we stood up in. 'Twur a nasty job altogether, an' this 

 coon don't overly like to think more about it." 



Pierre and Gaultier thanked the old hunter for his 

 exciting narrative ; and as it was now very late, they 

 disposed of themselves for the night as comfortably as 

 their circumstances would permit. 



