Thus addressing his mute companion, Dick threw it over his shoulder, and turning his back upon the abode of the Wizard, he dashed away through the forest at a pace that few could imitate.
Already since the moment when he had been started from his resting-place by the appearance of the first savage that afternoon, he had traversed many miles, a portion of which he had been obliged, as the reader already knows, to run for his life.
Still he felt not the first inclination of weariness, as most any man would have done. His powers of endurance were great, and he had been schooled in the work until it was a second nature with him.
The long rest he had had through the heat of the day was greatly in his favor, and at this moment he would have said that he felt as fresh as he did when he first rose from the earth from his nap.
Of only one thing did he think he stood in need, and that was food.
He had not broke his fast since morning. But he had often gone longer than this without eating, and now there was neither time nor opportunity for him to do so.
He knew that the safety of Sam Wilson and his family depended upon his reaching their cabin as soon as he could.
Over two hours had elapsed since he had given his pursuers the slip, and the distance they were in advance depended upon how much time they had spent in searching for him after they had lost his trail.
But be that as it might, he knew well that he had no time to lose, and therefore he bent every energy to the task of getting over the ground as fast as possible.
The moon had now risen high above the tree-tops, throwing a flood of silver light down into the forest, rendering it in places almost as light as day.