n and sunburned men dressed in semi-Indian costume with
their powder-horns slung from their shoulders and long sheath-knives
in their beaded belts. One after the other they addressed the crowd
and each gave it as his opinion that the short cut was impractical.
The country was too rough, they said.

The murmur of many voices arose among the audience. Most of the men
there were nearing middle age and doubt showed on the bearded faces of
the great majority; doubt and disappointment, for they were eager to
see their journey's end and that Williams map had aroused high hopes.
Here and there a woman stood beside her husband, listening anxiously
to what he said, watching his eyes as he harkened to the talk of those
about.

But there was one portion of the circle which stood out in marked
contrast to the rest. The men here were for the most part in their
early twenties; their faces were serene, their eyes untroubled by any
doubt; and there were no women with them. While the others stood
weighed down by uncertainty, they lounged full length on the ground
basking in the heat of the flames, or sat in groups on near-by
wagon-tongues, laughing and whispering jests among themselves. Several
of them were wearing bits of Indian finery, after the manner of the
guides, and this sprinkling of buckskin shirts, fringed leggings, and
beaded moccasins, together with an occasional crop of thick hair that
reached to a pair of broad young shoulders, gave a dash of savage
picturesqueness to their section of the audience. They were a company
of bachelors from Illinois and called themselves the Jayhawkers. Their
end of the camp had been the scene of wrestling matches and frolic
every night since the train had left Salt Lake City; and, as one
might expect, it was one of their number who had gotten that map of
the Williams Short Route. They were unanimous in advocating it.

Now Ed Doty, their captain, stepped forward into the open space by the
fire. Fixing his bold young eyes on John Hunt, whom he addressed
rather than the audience, "We haven't found the country yet," he said,
"that could stop us and we're not afraid of that over there." He
pointed out into the darkness where the summit of the divide showed
black against the western sky. "We're going to try the Williams Short
Route."

Hunt nodded. "All right," he answered quietly, "and if the rest try
it, I'm going through with you if I have to pass through hell to reach
the other end of the tra