lling.

At noon, having made about eleven miles (he figured), he came to the
brink of a coulee wider and deeper than any they had crossed hitherto;
and which contained a stream in the bottom, running blackly around
snow-capped stones. As he refreshed himself, and allowed his horse to
drink, he reflected that Grylls would have reached this stream the day
before about the time the snow commenced; and that it was likely the
outfit had camped on its bank until the storm passed. He determined to
search up and down before pushing ahead.

Sure enough, no more than two hundred yards down-stream he began to come
upon the tracks of horses and saw the bare patches they had pawed to
reach the grass; and a little farther he ran plump upon the fresh
remains of the camp; two bare spots where tents had been pitched, the
ashes of a fire, and innumerable tracks of men and horses--the whole
startlingly conspicuous in the sweep of unbroken snow.

Garth's heart swelled with rage and mortification to think what a little
distance had separated them during the night; and how by rising only
three hours earlier, he might perhaps have caught them. But presently
cooler counsels came to his aid; and when he considered the well-beaten
track that led over the hill beyond, he was thankful for so much luck.
He knew that at least until more snow should fall, they could never
shake him off again; and he rode after with a renewed courage. His
horse, too, freed of the entangling drifts, and sensing the other horses
ahead, seemed to overcome his weakness for a while; and loped over the
beaten trail with a good will.

Beyond this coulee the character of the country began to change.
Crossing a height, Garth saw a range of gleaming mountains off to the
west at no great distance; his course was heading him obliquely into the
foothills. The prairie gradually broke up; the mounds became hills; and
the hollows deepened into valleys. With every mile, almost, the hills
became higher and more conical; outcroppings of rock began to appear;
and the little streams ran in gorges now, instead of coulees.

In the rougher country the horse's access of courage soon failed. His
wind was gone, he sobbed for breath; and Garth was presently reduced to
the necessity of leading him up every incline. On a wide flat between
two ranges, he mounted after a long walk, and urged him into a run over
this easy piece. The slack-twisted animal was not equal to the effort;
halfway acros