utterly.

The next morning found them fully refreshed. No clouds hung above them,
and the sun's rays awoke them early. Aside from their intense thirst,
neither felt any the worse for his hard experience.

"It's still early," said Lew, as he looked at the sun that had hardly more
than cleared the summit of the eastern hills. "Let's push on down to the
bottom and cook breakfast after we reach water. It won't take very long
to get down, and then we can have some coffee. Oh boy! I never knew how
good coffee was."

"I could drink anything--even medicine," smiled Charley, "so it was wet."

Rapidly the packs were assembled and the blankets rolled. "Put things
together good," said Lew, "for it will be a tough journey even if we are
going down-hill. I've been looking at some of the tangles we came through
last night and I don't see how we ever made it."

"Sometimes," replied Charley, "it's a good thing a fellow can't know
exactly what he's attempting. If he did know, maybe he'd never have the
nerve to try."

They started down the slope, their packs and blankets securely slung about
them and even tied fast with strings, to prevent them from catching among
the fallen trees. Unintentionally they followed the dry bed of the stream.
It led along a slight depression that ran diagonally down the
mountainside. But quickly they realized that this was the most difficult
path they could have chosen. For along the margins of the brook, the
timber, fed by the flow of water, had been much denser and larger than the