Fred kept moving forward upon his hands and knees, climbing higher and further away from the point of danger.
Everything remained as silent as the tomb.
The Apache that Fred fancied was so close upon him was, in reality, playing hide and seek with the Kiowas, a business which is generally conducted in silence, unless the stillness be broken by the occasional crack of the rifle, or the death-yell of one of the participants.

The footsteps which the boy fancied he heard were all in his imagination.
In fact, he was alone.

No human eye saw him, or took cognizance of his movements.

For the present he was left to himself.
There was but One who held him in view and remembrance at this critical juncture.

To Him Fred appealed again and again to lead him through the labyrinth of peril, and to permit him to return in safety to his friends.
Still the boy picked his way along as does the frightened animal, and still he failed to see or hear anything of his enemy.