the marks and have taken a wrong turning somewhere.

From this time they had put aside the map, and made their way as nearly
east as the inequalities of the ground permitted. They had no
difficulties as to forage for their horses. In many of the valleys there
was an abundance of coarse grass, and among the rocks the aloe and
cactus grew thickly, and when, as was sometimes the case, no water was
to be found, they peeled the thorny skin from the thick juicy leaves and
gave the pulp to the animals.

For themselves they shot three bears and several small mountain deer.
There was little fear of the sound of their rifles being heard in these
mountain gorges, and should the report have reached the ear of an Indian
he would have supposed that it was the gun of some red hunters. There
were indeed only two villages marked on the map anywhere near the line
they were following, as the great bulk of the Indians lived on the
slopes of the hills on either side of the Gila, whence they could make
their raids into Mexico to the south or to New Mexico to the east.

Here among the mountains they could subsist on the proceeds of the chase
and the little plantations tended by the women, but this offered small
attractions to the restless and warlike Indians, who preferred depending
upon the plunder that they could always gather by a raid upon the
defenseless Mexican villages. Thus during the whole journey they had not
once caught sight of an Indian, though they had two or three times made
out, with the aid of a telescope Tom had brought with him, little
clusters of wigwams far away among the hills.

"There will be more danger when we get near the place," 'Zekel said one
evening when they were talking it over. "The redskins know well enough