But they had passed through so much that they did not fear it.
They hunted for an hour after sunrise, before they found a small brook, at which they drank, and, in spirit, returned the thanks which Obed had said so emphatically were due.

Then, wrapped in the useful serapes, they went to sleep once more in a thicket.

They had been sure that the Mexicans could not trail them, and their confidence was justified.

When they awoke in the afternoon no human being was in sight, and their loaded rifles lay undisturbed beside them.
Then they entered upon the plain, plodding steadily on over a dusty gray landscape, but feeling that their rifles would be ample protection against anything that they might meet.

The sun became very hot, and they longed at times for the shade of the forest that they had left behind, but they did not cease their march.