It was nearly noon, and, having failed so completely in his efforts to
regain the pass, Fred determined to devote a little time to procuring
food. He was certain that he would soon require it and might postpone
his hunt too long. Although now and then he suffered somewhat from want
of water, yet it was not for any length of time. There was an abundance
of streams and rivulets, and he frequently stumbled upon them, when he
had no expectation of doing so. Quaffing his fill from one of these, he
rested a few minutes, for he had been laboring unceasingly for hours.
“What a pity a fellow, when he got caught in such a fix as this, wasn't
like a camel, so that he might store away enough water to last him a
week, and then if he could do the same with what he ate, he needn't feel
scared when he got lost like me.”
His gun, of course, was as useless to him as a stick, and although in
his long tramping it became onerous and oppressive, he had no thought of
abandoning it.
“I don't see as there is any chance of killing any animals to eat, and,
if I did, I haven't got any matches to start a fire to cook them, so I
must get what I want some other way.”
He had noticed in his wanderings here and there a species of scarlet
berry, about the size of the common cherry, but he refrained from eating
any, fearing that they were poisonous. He now ventured to taste two or
three, and found them by no means unpleasant to the palate; but, fearful
of the consequence, he swallowed but a little, waiting to see the result
before going into the eating line any more extensively.
A half hour having passed without any internal disturbance, he fell to
and ate fully a pint. There was not much nourishment in them, but
they seemed to serve his purpose very well, and when he resumed his
wandering, he felt somewhat like a giant refreshed with new wine.
As it seemed useless to lay out any definite line to follow, Fred made
no attempt to do so, believing he was as likely to reach the ravine
by aimless traveling as by acting upon any theory of his own as to the
location of the place he desired to reach. This he continued to do until
the afternoon was about half spent. He was still plodding along, with
some hope of success, when he became aware of a sickness stealing over
him. The thought of the berries, and the fear that he had been poisoned,
gave him such a shock that the slight nausea was greatly intensified,
and he reclined upon the ground in the hope that it would soon pass
over.
Instead of doing so, he grew worse, and he stretched out upon the
ground, firmly persuaded that his last hour had came. He was deathly
pale, and had he espied a cougar peering over the corner of the rock, he
would n't have paid him the least attention--no, not if there had been a
dozen of them!
What alarmed Fred as much as anything was some of the accompaniments of
his trouble. As he laid his head upon the ground, it seemed to him that
he could catch the faint sound of falling water, just as if there was
a little cascade a mile away, and the gentle wind brought him the soft,
musical cadence. Then, too, when he flung himself upon the ground, it
gave forth a hollow sound, such as he had never heard before. Several
times he banged his heel against the earth, and the same peculiarity was
noticed.
All this the poor fellow took as one of the accompaniments of the
poisoning, and as additional proof that he was beyond hope. He rolled
upon the ground in misery, and wondered whether he would have his mind
about him when the last dreadful moment should come; but after a half
hour or more had passed, and he was still himself, he began to feel a
renewal of hope.
“It may be that I ate too many of them,” he reflected, as he found
himself able to sit up, “and there's nothing poisonous about them, after
all. If that's so, I've got a good meal, anyway, and know where to get
another.”
It was nearly dark, and, as he was still weak, he concluded to spend the
night where he was.
A rod or so away was a dense clump of bushes, which seemed to offer an
inviting shelter, and he gained his feet with the intention of walking
to them. He had taken no more than a couple of steps, however, when
such a dizziness overcame him that he sank at once to the ground, and
stretched out for relief. It was a case of poisoning beyond question,
but not of a dangerous nature; and Fred had about time to lie flat when
he experienced a grateful relief.
“I guess I'll stay here a while,” he muttered, recalling his experience.
“I can crawl in among the bushes in the night, if I find it getting
cold, or any rain falls.”
Darkness had scarcely descended, when the lad sank into a quiet,
dreamless slumber. His rest of the night previous had not been of a
refreshing character, and his traveling during the day had been very
exhaustive, so that his wearied system was greatly in need of rest.
Fred was really in the most delightful climate in the world. New Mexico
is so far south that the heat in many portions, at certain seasons of
the year, assumes a tropical fervor. On some of the arid plains the
sun's rays have an intensity like that of the Sahara; but numerous
ranges of mountains traverse the territory north and south, with spurs
in all directions, and the elevation of many of these give a temperature
as cool and pleasant as can be desired.
As the lad stretched out upon the ground, he was without a blanket, or
any covering except his ordinary clothes; and he needed nothing more.
The surrounding rocks shut out all wind, and the air was not warm enough
to cause perspiration. The fact was, he had struck that golden mean
which leaves nothing to be desired as regards the atmosphere.
The sky remained clear, and, as the moon climbed higher and higher in
the sky, it was only at intervals that a fleecy cloud floated before it,
causing fantastic shadows to glide over the ground, and making strange
phantom-like formations among the mountain peaks and along the chasms,
gorges, ravines, and precipices. Had the sleeping lad awoke and risen to
his feet, he would have seen nothing of wolf, catamount, or Indian,
nor would the straining vision have caught the glimmer of any solitary
camp-fire. He was alone in the great solitude, with no eye but the
all-seeing One to watch over him.
It was a curious fact connected with the boy's wanderings that more
than once he was within a stone's throw of the pass for which he was
so anxiously searching; and yet he never suspected it, owing to his
unfamiliarity with the territory. As is nearly always the case with
an inexperienced hunter, he showed a continual tendency to travel in a
circle, the nature of the ground only preventing him from doing so.
Fred slept, without disturbance, until after midnight. An hour or
so previous to his waking, when the moon was in the best position
to lighten up the earth below, the figure of a man appeared upon an
eminence, a hundred yards or more away, and stood motionless for several
minutes, as though he were engaged in reverie.
Could one have looked more closely, he would have seen that the
stranger's action and manner showed that he was hunting for something.
He turned slowly around several times, scanning the ravines, gorges,
peaks, and declivities as best he could; but he did not expect to gain
much, without the daylight to assist him, and the result of the attempt
was anything but satisfactory.
Muttering some impatient exclamation, he turned about and walked slowly
away, taking a direction almost the opposite of that which led toward
the sleeping boy. He moved with caution, like one accustomed to the
wilderness, and was soon lost to view in the gloom.
Then Fred Munson awoke, it was with the impression upon him that he was
near some waterfall. He raised his head, but could detect nothing; but
when he placed his ear to the ground, he caught it once again.
“I have it!” he said to himself; “there is a waterfall somewhere about
here under the ground. That's what makes it sound so hollow when I stamp
on it.”
He was greatly relieved to find that no results of his afternoon's
nausea remained by him. He had recovered entirely, and when he rather
doubtingly assumed the sitting position and felt that his head and
stomach remained clear he was considerably elated in spirits.
“That shows that I can get a meal at any time, if I want it bad enough
to take a few hours' sickness in pay. Maybe I can find something else
to eat which won't be so hard on me. It must be very near morning, for I
have slept a great while.”
The hour, however, was earlier then he supposed, and he found, after
sitting awhile, that his old drowsiness was returning.
Before giving way to it, he recalled the clump of bushes, which was so
near that it was easily seen from where he sat.
“I forgot that I meant to make my bed there.”
With which he rose and moved toward it, not feeling altogether certain
of the wisdom of what he was doing.
“That looks very much like the place where the cougar was waiting for
me, but I didn't think there were enough in this country to furnish one
for every bush.”
He reconnoitered it for several minutes, but finally ventured upon a
closer acquaintance. There certainly was no wild animal there, and he
stooped down and began crawling toward the centre.
He was near the middle when he was alarmed at finding the ground giving
way beneath him. It was sinking rapidly downward, and he clutched
desperately at the bushes to save himself, but those that he grasped
yielded and went, too.
In his terror and despair he cried out, and fought like a madman to save
himself; but there was nothing firm or substantial upon which he could
lay hold, and he was helpless to check his descent.
Down, down, down he went in the pulseless darkness, lower and lower,
until he found himself going through the dizzying air--to where?