hemselves sore and stiff in their limbs, and
their beasts' hoofs torn and swollen. Towards noon, however, much
refreshed, they once more started, and after proceeding on their
journey about two hours, they came to a dangerous pass--the path being
not over three feet wide, steep, and difficult of descent.[15] Directing
Sidney, Jane, and Edward ahead, Howe and Jones began the descent with
the horses; when in the most difficult place, one of the animals became
restive, and rearing, was precipitated below, dragging Jones, who had
hold of the bridle, with him. One terrible cry of distress was heard as
the horse went over the side, and then a crash on the jagged rocks, and
the noble beast was dashed to atoms two hundred feet below them.
Frightened at the plunge and cries of mortal anguish, the rest of the
horses broke, and bounded wildly down the path. Howe, seeing he could
not control them, sprang close to the wall of rock, thus saving himself
from being crowded over the abyss by the terrified beasts who, in their
headlong career, heeded nothing before them. As they came to a sharp
angle in the trail, as it wound down the mountain, the two foremost
horses, instead of turning, plunged over the side, and with a neigh of
terror, were soon crushed, like their companion, on the rocks in the
deep abyss below. The others seeing the two disappear, paused
sufficiently to avert the danger, and turning the angle, landed safely
on the table, where the children had preceded them.

[15] Since 1840 this pass over the Sierra has been abandoned, and
one far easier and less difficult discovered twenty miles below
it. It was originally used by the Indians, as the shortest route
to the valley beyond.

Terrified at seeing the horses without Howe and Jones, they hastened up
the mountain to where the first catastrophe had occurred, and arrived
in time to see their uncle assist Jones into the path from a jutting
rock a few feet below, where he had landed in no wise hurt, with the
exception of a few bruises. The rock that had caught him was but a few
feet broad, and it was nearer a miracle that he was not dashed to the
bottom of the abyss than we are accustomed to experience. The poor
beast was a pitiful sight to look upon, and at a glance at his mangled
body they turned sickened away. The other two had also been crushed
instantly and lay lifeless where they had fallen. Thankful for their
own escape, yet grieving for the fat