ngs. Still the
boys were just the same--happy, healthy, and free, ready for anything the
trip might bring. Old Peanuts raised sad eyes as he was led forth and
saddled. To think that such as he should tramp through all that snow
on such a night. Tuberculosis was disgusted beyond all measure. It was
only by much bribing from his bag of precious pinion nuts that Sleepy was
able to get him to even move. The snow was dry and fluffy, so walking was
not really disagreeable, but necessarily very slow. Somehow Peanuts
seemed to have grown old with the season, and many times Ham almost gave
up in desperation, declaring they would not reach the cabin by morning.
Darkness settled very early that night, and with it came the clear, cold
breeze from the snowy peaks beyond. How white everything looked, and how
quiet! Even the stream seemed to have been buried under a white blanket.
On the hogsback the snow had drifted badly, completely obliterating the
trail. It seemed like it took hours to climb that rugged hill. Twice
the donkeys slipped from the trail, floundered in the fluffy drifts,
and then lay down. Twice they both refused to go another step; then
darkness--the black darkness of a stormy winter night, settled about them
just as they entered the Park. Who knew the trail--that narrow pathway
that led between trees, around buried stumps, across shallow fords, and
back again? Who could now general this little disheartened army and lead
it on to warmth and shelter? Sleepy complained bitterly because the trail
was long, and many times threatened to go back when he was taunted with
"Baby!" First it was a false step, then a splash into the cold stream;
next it was a false lead into the heart of an aspen thicket, only to
return and try again. Ham broke the trail until he was too tired to go
another step, while Mr. Allen brought up the discouraged rear.

It was a gloomy line that worked its way up the snow-filled canyon
that night. Minutes seemed like hours, and already the cold winds were
making every fellow weak and hungry. Ham was the life of the party, and
kept the fellows hopeful at his end of the line, even when he was so
tired from breaking trail that it seemed that he could not go another
pace. Willis was behind him, ready to lend a hand whenever he tripped on
treacherously-covered poles or slipped from the trail into the icy
stream. At last the little belt of thick timber was reached, and Ham's
heart rejoiced, for he knew the cabi