.

THE MYSTERIOUS PURSUER.
Young Munson made a sudden bound outward, and, just as he did so, a mass of rock weighing fully a dozen tons, fell upon the precise spot where he had stood, missing him so narrowly that the blast of wind, or rather concussion of the air, was plainly felt.

The boulder broke into several pieces, its momentum being so terrific that the ground for several feet around was jarred as if by an earthquake.
The lad was overcome for a moment or two, for he realized how narrow his escape was from a terrible and instantaneous death.
"That was a little closer than I ever want to come again," he exclaimed.
"It seems to me that a person is always likely to get killed, no matter where he is or what he is doing.

I don't suppose that anybody threw that down at me," he continued, in a half-doubting voice, as he stepped a few paces back and again peered into the gloom.
If it had been during the day-time, he might have suspected that some scamp had managed to pry the mass loose, and to send it crashing downward straight for his head.

But as the case stood, such a thing could not have taken place.
Fred continued his flight until nearly midnight, by which time his fatigue became so great that he began to hunt a place in which to spend the remainder of the night.