minated in darkness.
Hemmed in from the world in all directions, it might have been their
tomb.

But although THEY could see nothing beyond their prison walls, they
themselves were perfectly visible from the heights above them. And Jack
Tenbrook, quartz miner, who was sinking a tunnel in the rocky ledge of
shelf above the gorge, stepping out from his cabin at ten o'clock
to take a look at the weather before turning in, could observe quite
distinctly the outline of the black wagon, the floundering horses, and
the crouching figures by their side, scarcely larger than pygmies on the
white surface of the snow, six hundred feet below him. Jack had courage
and strength, and the good humor that accompanies them, but he
contented himself for a few moments with lazily observing the travelers'
discomfiture. He had taken in the situation with a glance; he would have
helped a brother miner or mountaineer, although he knew that it could
only have been drink or bravado that brought HIM into the gorge in a
snowstorm, but it was very evident that these were "greenhorns," or
eastern tourists, and it served their stupidity and arrogance right! He
remembered also how he, having once helped an Eastern visitor catch the
mustang that had "bucked" him, had been called "my man," and presented
with five dollars; he recalled how he had once spread the humble
resources of his cabin before some straying members of the San Francisco
party who were "opening" the new railroad, and heard the audible wonder
of a lady that a civilized being could live so "coarsely"? With these
recollections in his mind, he managed to survey the distant struggling
horses with a fine sense of humor, not unmixed with self-righteousness.
There was no real danger in the situation; it meant at the worst a delay
and a camping in the snow till morning, when he would go down to their
assistance. They had a spacious traveling equipage, and were, no doubt,
well supplied with furs, robes, and provisions for a several hours'
journey; his own pork barrel was quite empty, and his blankets worn. He
half smiled, extended his long arms in a decided yawn, and turned back
into his cabin to go to bed. Then he cast a final glance around the
interior. Everything was all right; his loaded rifle stood against the
wall; he had just raked ashes over the embers of his fire to keep it
intact till morning. Only one thing slightly troubled him; a grizzly
bear, two-thirds grown, but only half tamed, w