They could easily have thrust their darts through him, but their object was to take him alive, and gratify the revenge of the tribes with torture.
Felix doubled from the firs, and made towards the far-distant camp; but he was faced by three more gipsies.

He turned again and made for the steep hill he had descended.

With all his strength he raced up it; his lightness of foot carried him in advance, and he reached the summit a hundred yards ahead; but he knew he must be overtaken presently, unless he could hit upon some stratagem.

In the instant that he paused to breathe on the summit a thought struck him.

Like the wind he raced along the ridge, making for the great Sweet Water, the same path he had followed in the morning.