“I should n’t think those Apaches would consider a boy like me of much account,” he muttered; “but if they have a chance to grab me, I s’pose they will.  I’m sure I saw Lone Wolf at tht head of the attacking party, and he’ll want to pay me up for that big scare I gave him last night.”

The afternoon was well advanced, and he finally concluded to stay where he was, provided the red-skins permitted him to do so; so he crawled into the place, where he seemed the best protected by the surrounding vegetation and branches, and, crouching down, he awaited the coming of darkness with an anxiety which can scarcely be described.

It will be understood that he had come down so low in the tree that he could see nothing of his friends on the other side of the wood.  He was so near the margin that his view on the right was comparatively unobstructed.  Occasionally he caught sight of a horseman in the distance, but the majority of the red-skins were in other directions.  Now and then the crack of a rifle broke the stillness, which was so perfect that he distinctly caught the sound of the hoofs of the mustangs, as they whirled and spun hither and thither.

When one is placed in such a position as was Fred, his imagination is sure to be very active, and, time and again, he was sure that he heard the stealthy tread of a moccasin upon the leaves below.  All this, however, was not imagination; for he had not been on his perch more than half an hour, when, peering downward through the leaves, he saw the unmistakable figure of an Indian, gliding along in the stealthy manner peculiar to that race.  The heart of the lad throbbed violently, and he grasped the limb more tightly, watching every movement of the red-skin.

“He must be looking for me,” was his thought.  “He saw me in the tree, and he has now come to kill or take me away.”

He was sure that that particular Apache was not Lone Wolf, although he could not be certain that any advantage was to be reaped from that.  The chief was not likely to be more devoid of anything like mercy than was the greatest or humblest of his warriors.

The red-skin was on foot, and bore a rifle in his hand.  Instead of the fanciful scalp-lock ornamenting his crown, his black, wiry hair straggled down around his shoulders, over which was thrown a dirty army blanket, that had once belonged to the United States government.  The hideous paint upon his face was easily seen from the perch of the lad, and the red-skin was as repulsive and dreaded an object as can be imagined.

The scamp was moving along with that stealthy, cat-like tread which is characteristic of all his race; but although directly under the tree when first seen by the lad, he did not look up nor act in any way which would suggest that he suspected the presence of anyone over him.  He did not hesitate in his movement, and thus it was that he was scarcely seen when he disappeared in the wood beyond, and the boy was alone.