in triumph through the States, and the slightly wounded soldiers on the
ammunition-carts declared, after the triumphal entry into St. Louis,
that the tumultuous embraces and thousands of handclasps from the
enthusiastic crowds had used them up more than the three days' battle.

The capture of Granger had interrupted the communication between the
Union Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Short Line branching off to the
northwest; but this didn't bother the enemy much, for he simply sent his
transports over the line from Pocatello to the South via Ogden, so that
when the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Army renewed the attack on
the Japanese positions, he found them stronger than he had anticipated.

The attack on Fort Bridger began on the second of February, but the
enemy's position on the mountain heights remained unshaken. Several
captive balloons and two motor air-ships (one of which was destroyed,
shortly after its ascent, by hostile shots) brought the information that
the Japanese artillery and entrenchments on the face of the mountain
formed an almost impregnable position. Thus while the people were still
rejoicing over the latest victory, the Pacific Army was in a position
where each step forward was sure to be accompanied by a severe loss of
life.

Six fresh divisions from different encampments arrived on the field of
battle on the fourth and fifth of February. They received orders to
attack the seemingly weak positions of the enemy near Bell's Pass, and
then to cross the snow-covered pass and fall upon the left flank of the
Japanese center. All manner of obstacles interfered with the advance,
which was at last begun. Whole companies had to be harnessed to the
guns; but they pressed forward somehow. The small detachments of
Japanese cavalry defending the pass were compelled to retreat, and the
pass itself was taken by a night assault. Frost now set in, and the guns
and baggage wagons were drawn up the mountain paths by means of ropes.
The men suffered terribly from the cold, but the knowledge that they
were making progress prevented them from grumbling.

On the seventh of February, just as Fisher's division, the first of
General Elliott's army to pass Bell's Pass, had reached the valley of
the Bear River preparatory to marching southward, via Almy and Evanston,
in the rear of the Japanese positions, cavalry scouts, who had been
patrolling downstream as far as Georgetown, reported that large bodies
of hostile tro