s heavily. A bitter wind succeeded; the soft snow began
to stiffen and crackle under the horses' hoofs; they were no longer
weighted and encumbered by the drifts upon their bodies; the smaller
flakes now rustled and rasped against them like sand, or bounded from
them like hail. They seemed to be moving more easily and rapidly, their
spirits were rising with the stimulus of cold and motion, when suddenly
their leader halted.

"It's no use, boys. It can't be done! This is no blizzard, but a regular
two days' snifter! It's no longer meltin', but packin' and driftin'
now. Even if we get over the divide, we're sure to be blocked up in the
pass."

It was true! To their bitter disappointment they could now see that
the snow had not really diminished in quantity, but that the now
finely-powdered particles were rapidly filling all inequalities of
the surface, packing closely against projections, and swirling in
long furrows across the levels. They looked with anxiety at their
self-constituted leader.

"We must make a break to get down in the woods again before it's too
late," he said briefly.

But they had already drifted away from the fringe of larches and dwarf
pines that marked the sides of the Ridge, and lower down merged into
the dense forest that clothed the flank of the mountain they had lately
climbed, and it was with the greatest difficulty that they again reached
it, only to find that at that point it was too precipitous for the
descent of their horses. Benumbed and speechless, they continued to toil
on, opposed to the full fury of the stinging snow, and at times obliged
to turn their horses to the blast to keep from being blown over the
Ridge. At the end of half an hour the ostler dismounted, and, beckoning
to the others, took his horse by the bridle, and began the descent. When
it came to Hale's turn to dismount he could not help at first recoiling
from the prospect before him. The trail--if it could be so called--was
merely the track or furrow of some fallen tree dragged, by accident
or design, diagonally across the sides of the mountain. At times it
appeared scarcely a foot in width; at other times a mere crumbling
gully, or a narrow shelf made by the projections of dead boughs and
collected debris. It seemed perilous for a foot passenger, it appeared
impossible for a horse. Nevertheless, he had taken a step forward when
Clinch laid his hand on his arm.

"You'll bring up the rear," he said not unkindly, "ez y