An effort was required to leave it, and he had not much expectation of
making a capture that would stand to his credit. Jepson and his brother
were cunning rogues; Glover had escaped once or twice already, and Curtis
realized that the chances were in favor of his returning after a
fruitless ride. Nevertheless, his duty was plain; he had been trained to
disregard fatigue and most physical weaknesses, and he went out
resignedly into the arctic frost.

They set off a few minutes later, and Curtis had the depressing feeling
that he was riding a worn-out mount, though there was some consolation in
the thought that the range of the service carbine might, in case of
necessity, make up for his lack of speed. When he met the biting north
wind that swept the plain the warmth seemed to leave his body; his
mittened hands stiffened on the bridle, and it was only resolution that
kept him in the saddle. He would run less risk of frost-bite if he
walked, but time would not permit this and the claims of the service are
more important than the loss of a trooper's feet or hands. If he were
crippled and incapacitated, there was a small pension; it was his
business to face the risks of the weather.

They rode on with lowered heads, fine snow stinging their faces now and
then, and though its touch was inexpressibly painful they were glad they
retained the power of feeling. When that went, more serious trouble would
begin. For a while a half moon shone down, and their black shadows sped
on before them across the glittering plain, but by and by clouds drove up
and the prairie grew dim. It changed to a stretch of soft grayish-blue,
with the trail they followed running across it a narrow stretch of darker
color. The light, however, was not wholly obscured; they could see a
bluff stand out, a bank of shadow, a mile away. Once they saw the
cheerful lights of a farm in the distance and a longing for warmth and
the company of their fellow-creatures seized them, but this was a desire
that must be subdued, and, leaving the beaten trail they pressed on into
the waste. Save for the faint, doleful sound the wind made it was
dauntingly silent and desolate. There was not a bush to break its gray
surface, and the frost was intense. They bore it uncomplainingly for an
hour or two, and then Stanton broke out:

"I'll have to get down or I'll lose my foot! I'll run a while beside my
horse and then catch you up."

Curtis nodded and trotted on, breasting the w