l was like thin jelly, slimy and nauseating, and they could
drink only a mouthful. Supper consisted of a dry biscuit, previously
baked by Lincoln under direction of his father, who insisted that the
use of a certain kind of grease whose name is lost to history would
keep the biscuits soft. They were hard as horn.[2] There was not a
twig with which to make a fire, nor a bush to which they could fasten
their horses. When they lay down to sleep, thirsty and famished, they
had to tie their horses with the lariat to the saddles which were
their pillows.

[Footnote 2: "I would start to make biscuits and as
usual go about putting shortening into them, which
father didn't like. We'd argue over it a little, and I
would say, 'Good biscuits can't be made without grease.'
Then he'd say, 'Well, use elbow grease.' I'd say then,
'Well, all right, I'll try it.' Then I'd go to work and
knead the dough _hard_ (on purpose), understanding, of
course, that kneading utterly spoils biscuit dough,
whether there is shortening in it or not. The result is
a pan of adamantine biscuits which, of course, I blame
on him."--_Lincoln Lang._]

They did not go quickly to sleep. The horses were nervous, restless,
alert, in spite of their fatigue, continually snorting or standing
with their ears forward, peering out into the night, as though
conscious of the presence of danger. Roosevelt remembered some
half-breed Crees they had encountered the day before. It was quite
possible that some roving bucks might come for their horses, and
perhaps their scalps, for the Indians, who were still unsettled on
their reservations, had a way of stealing off whenever they found a
chance and doing what damage they could. Stories he had heard of
various bands of horse-thieves that operated in the region between the
Little Missouri and the Black Hills likewise returned to mind to
plague him. The wilderness in which Roosevelt and Ferris had pitched
their meager camp was in the very heart of the region infested by the
bandits. They dozed fitfully, waking with a start whenever the sound
of the grazing of the horses ceased for a moment, and they knew that
the nervous animals were watching for the approach of a foe. It was
late when at last they fell asleep.

They were rudely wakened at midnight by having their pillows whipp