“I don’t see how it can last long,” shouted Ned in reply.

“It can’t.  It’s too violent.  But it’s the way down here, rushing from one extreme to another.  As soon as it begins to ease up, we’ll move.”

The darkness presently began to thin rapidly, and the heavy drumming of the rain on the rocks and forest turned to a patter.

“I think it’s a good time to go, Ned,” said Obed.  “In fifteen minutes it will stop raining entirely and the Mexicans, if they are not drowned, may come back for us.  We can’t keep ourselves dry, but we’ll protect our rifles and ammunition.  We’ve got a good chance to escape now, especially since night will soon be here.”

They left the overhanging cliff which had guarded them so well in more ways than one, and entered the forest, veering off to the left, and picking their way carefully through the underbrush.  Ned suddenly sprang aside, shuddering.  A Mexican, slain in the battle, lay upon his side.  But Obed was practical.

“I know it’s unpleasant to touch him,” he said, “but he may have what we need.  Ah, here is a pistol and bullets for it, and a flask of powder which his own body has helped to keep dry.  It’s likely that we’ll have use for these before we get through, and so I’ll take ’em.”

He quickly secured the pistol and ammunition, and they went on, traveling rapidly westward.  The rain ceased entirely in twenty minutes, and all the clouds passed away, but night came in their place, covering their flight with its friendly mantle.  They were wet to the waist and the water dripped from the trees upon them, but these things did not trouble them.  They felt all the joy of escape.  Ned knew that neither of them, if taken, could expect much mercy from the brutal Cos.

They came after a while to a gorge, through which a torrent rushed, cutting off their way.  It was midnight now.  They saw that the stream was very muddy and that it bore on its current much debris.

“We’ll just sit down here and rest,” said Obed.  “This is nothing more than a brook raised to a river by the storm, and, in another hour or two, it will be a brook again.  Rise fast, fall fast holds true.”

They sat on a log near the stream and watched it go down.  As their muscles relaxed they began to feel cold, and had it not been for the serapes they would have been chilled.  In two hours the muddy little river was a muddy little brook and they walked across.  All the while now, a warm, drying wind was blowing, but they kept on for some time longer in order that the vigorous circulation of the blood might warm their bodies.  Then, seeking the best place they could find, they lay down among the bushes, despite the damp, and slept.

Ned was the first to awake the next day, and he saw, by a high sun, that they were on a slope, leading to a pretty valley well grown in grass.  He took a few steps and also stretched both arms.  He found that his muscles were neither stiff nor sore and his delight was great.  Obed still slumbered peacefully, his head upon his arm.