e lieutenant had once
more lifted his cap to Clarice, who stood at the door watching us, we
set off down the hill, each of us leading a baggage mule by the bridle.

Every inch of the way, for some miles, was known to me, so that we could
move on without troubling ourselves about the road. We had occasionally
hills to go over, spurs of the big mountains on our left; but we kept
as much we could on the level ground,--sometimes having to make a detour
for the sake of avoiding the rocky heights, which were inaccessible to
our animals.

As the day advanced we began to look out for the runaways, although the
lieutenant was of opinion that they must be still some way ahead of us.
We also kept our eyes open on the chance of any Indians coming down upon
us,--although I did not think that there was much risk of that; for
every one at the farm had been convinced that the Arrapahas had long
since gone away to the southward, and that we should hear no more of
them.

That night we encamped at a snug spot near a stream, with a wood to the
southward almost surrounding us, so that the light of our fire could not
be seen by any one on that side. There was rich grass for our animals,
and they were therefore not likely to stray. We were both young, in good
health and spirits, and with no cares to oppress us, so we greatly
enjoyed our bivouac. We sat by the fire chatting away for some time;
then we lay down, wrapped in our buffalo robes, to sleep, resolving to
awake at intervals, in order to put on fresh fuel, as it was important
not to let our fire get low. Fortunately, we awoke as often as was
needful, and by maintaining a good blaze we kept at a distance any bears
or wolves which might have been prowling about.

The next morning, at daybreak, we once more moved on. As yet, we had
discovered no signs of the runaways; indeed, when we came to think over
the matter, we considered that they would probably have kept out of the
beaten track, in order to avoid discovery should they be pursued. From
the nature of the ground, they would not have gone to the left; and I
therefore suggested that we should keep to the right, where, if they
really were making for the pass, we should be pretty certain of coming
upon them. We accordingly struck off at an angle in the direction I
proposed, and then once more continued our former course northward,
keeping a bright look-out ahead and on either side.

"If the fellows are still before us, they deserve c