ill be out early scouting--for, mind you, this is a
likely place to be attacked by the redskins; they will know there is a
bad spot here, and will guess as you will be in confusion and divided,
some on one side of the gulch, some on the other. Give particular charge
to the men to have their rifles handy, and to prepare to defend the
waggons to the last, and pass round word among the women and children
not to be scared in case of an attack, as we shall drive the Injins off
handsomely if they come."

At daybreak, Abe, Dick, and Frank crossed the gulch, the other two
hunters remaining behind.

"We must not go far from the crossing," Abe said. "We don't know which
way the tarnal critters may come, and in case of attack, all our guns
will be wanted. They will guess as we shall begin to cross the first
thing in the morning, and that it will take three or four hours to get
over. So, if they are coming, it will be in a couple of hours, so as to
catch us divided."

They took their station on a rise a few hundred yards from the crossing,
one of them riding back from time to time to see how the operation of
crossing was going on. It was one of immense difficulty. The oxen were
mired almost up to their chests, and the waggons sunk axle-deep. The
waggons stuck fast in spite of the efforts of all the men in the party.
Frank looked on for some time, and then a thought struck him.

"Look here, you will never get the waggons on in that way, the oxen
cannot pull an ounce. The best way will be to unyoke them, take them
across, and get them up on the level ground on the top; then fasten your
ropes together and hitch them to the waggon. The bullocks, on firm
ground, can easily pull it across."

The suggestion was at once acted upon. The bottom was some fifty yards
wide, and there were plenty of ropes in the waggons which had been
brought for lowering them down difficult places, and for replacing any
of the long rope traces which might be broken and worn out. Two of these
were attached to the waggon, and the oxen were taken over and up the
further side. A team was attached to each rope, and as the whip cracked
the ponderous waggon was at once set in motion, and was soon dragged
through the mud and up the incline.

"That's a capital plan of yourn, young fellow," John Little said. "I
don't know how we ever should have got across the other way, and I had
just made up my mind to give it up and move down this hollow till we
came to firmer