On the Trail of Geronimo — page 300: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

286 ON THE TRAIL OF GERONIMO. the leap, rather than surrender to his enemies. That blow square in the face of Geronimo could never be forgiven. Ray Bedford ran with all the desperate energy of his nature, knowing that it was do or die. It seemed to him that he had taken less than twenty paces, when all support vanished from under him. He had dashed off the edge of the plateau and was falling down, down, down, he did not know whither. The descent was enough to injure him badly, even if he fell upon the soft earth, but that kind Providence that had stood by him thus far did not desert him now. He struck some lmbs, which turned him over upon a clump of bushes, and so broke his fall that when he came to rest on the ground he was only shghtly jarred. His Apache pursuers were familiar with the place, and were too wise to imitate the leap, when the consequences were sure to be less favorable ; but there was only a short distance to run to reach the spot where they knew he had struck. But Ray Bedford wanted no one to apprise him of this danger. With an ejaculation of thanks for his extraordinary escape, he rose to his feet to leave the spot. COnnicloOoks (CO)