f the fort. Still I could not
tell how much out of our proper course we had gone during the last two
days, and we might possibly pass the fort, either to the north or south,
without seeing it. Had the ground been free from snow, I should have
hoped, without much difficulty, to have struck the trail running east
and west, followed by emigrants; but none were likely to have passed
since the snow had fallen, and the country was generally so level that
there were no land-marks to steer for; all we could do, therefore, was
to push on, and keep up our spirits. Had I not been anxious about my
mother, I should have cared much less for the delay; but as it was, I
determined that no difficulties or dangers should stop us. As we went
on, I looked out eagerly for marks of footsteps; of either men or
horses, but the same uniform sheet of white appeared on every side,
though our own feet left their impression more clearly than we desired
on the snow, showing that two men and a dog had passed that way. Should
any Indians come across our trail, knowing that they could obtain an
easy victory, they would too probably follow us up. At length I saw the
snow disturbed by a long line running at right angles to our course. On
reaching it, I at once saw that the trail was that of a herd of buffalo
moving southward, but none of the animals were in sight, though from the
marks I calculated that they could only just before have passed. Soon
after we met with the tracks of several deer, but they too had
disappeared. The country ahead had a more hilly aspect, and I observed
that the snow had melted from the southern sides of the slopes. It was
of the greatest importance that we should reach another wood before
nightfall, and hoping to find one on the other side of the range, we
hurried on. I became conscious of my decrease of strength by finding a
greater difficulty than usual in climbing the slopes, and on looking at
Dio, I found that he too was toiling on with less activity than was his
wont. We had only enough meat for one more meal for ourselves and dog,
and I saw that it would be necessary, for the sake of our future
progress, to bring our day's journey to an end as soon as possible.
There was another reason for this. As we looked northward, we saw the
clouds again gathering in the sky; and the wind, shifting round to that
quarter, quickly drove them towards us, blowing as keenly as before.
Once more the snow began to fall. When I