Ned again constituted himself our guide, and led the way swiftly but noiselessly. Several times we knocked our heads against the pendent creepers and the low branches of the trees, and abraded our shins against fallen trunks and half-hidden rocks; but these little mishaps did not really delay our progress much. The hue and cry in our rear was too terrible a reality, and made us strain every nerve, every muscle.
Could we baffle our relentless enemies? could we outstrip them?
They had dogs, swift of foot and unerring of scent, pertinacious, inured to fatigue, accustomed to the hunting of human beings; and they themselves were active, wiry fellows, fired with angry and revengeful feelings, and thoroughly acquainted with the geography of the country. The odds were largely in their favour; no one could deny that.
Suddenly Ned turned to us with a triumphant look in his face.
“A stream!” he gasped out; “keep up this spurt for a spell, my hearties.”
For some few seconds I had heard the sound of a rushing torrent ahead of us, but had not attached any importance to the fact.
In another minute we were wading knee-deep in a brawling stream, some of the waters of which we scooped up with our hands, and thus quenched the burning thirst which was consuming us.
By Ned’s direction we began wading down-stream, keeping in Indian file, and avoiding snags and rocks as best we could. In some of the pools the water was up to our waists, and we could make but slow progress, especially as it was necessary to make as little noise as possible.
We knew only too well that our pertinacious pursuers had already entered the forest. Occasionally we could hear their shouts and the deep bay of the bloodhounds.
Ned’s plan was to baffle them, and throw the dogs off the scent, by wading for some little distance down the bed of the torrent. Mr. Triggs approved warmly of the plan, for he saw clearly enough that we should soon be hunted down if we kept to our original plan of flight, whereas we might possibly gain half an hour by utilizing Ned’s strategy. That half-hour might save our lives.