After all the dangers he had incurred, and the bruises and scratches he had received, he had accomplished but little.

He was still thirty miles from home, hungry and thirsty, and pursued by crafty enemies, who might even then be watching him from some secret covert.
"Oh, if I were only there!" said he, casting a longing glance toward the rancho, whose inmates, just then sitting down to a dainty breakfast, little dreamed how much good a small portion of their bounty would have done the fugitive on the mountain-top.

"But, as the rancho can't come to me, I must go to it." Archie found the descent of the mountain comparatively easy.

There were not so many bushes and logs to impede his progress, the slope was more gradual, and he had not gone more than half a mile when he found a cool spring bubbling out from under the rocks.

He bathed his hands and face, drank a little of the water, and when he set out again he felt much refreshed.