Now and then one of them would stumble and fall, and come up
dripping. All day long they tramped dismally on through that endless
waste of icy water. Here and there were islands of dry land over which
they were glad enough to trudge, but at night they often had trouble to
find a dry spot to build their fires and cook their food, and to sleep
on beside the welcome blaze. It was hard enough to find game in that
dreary waste, and their food ran out, so that for two whole days they
had to go hungry. Thus they went on till they came to the point where
White River runs into the Wabash.

Here they found some friends who had come by a much easier way. On
setting out Colonel Clark had sent Captain Rogers and forty men, with
two small cannon, in a boat up Wabash River, telling them to stop at the
White River fork, about fifteen or twenty miles below Vincennes. Here
their trudging friends found them, and from this point they resumed
their march in company. It was easy enough now to transport the cannon
by dragging or rowing the boat through the deep water which they had to
traverse.

The worst of their difficult journey lay before them, for surrounding
the fort was a sheet of water four miles wide which was deeper than any
they had yet gone through. They had waded to their knees, and at times
to their waists, but now they might have to wade to their necks. Some of
them thrust their hands into the water and shivered at the touch, saying
that it was freezing cold. There were men among them who held back,
exclaiming that it was folly to think of crossing that icy lake.

"We have not come so far to turn back now," said Colonel Clark, sternly.
"Yonder lies the fort, and a few hours will take us there. Follow me,"
and he walked boldly into the flood. As he did so he told one of his
officers to shoot the first man who refused to follow. That settled the
matter; they all plunged in.

It was the most frightful part of their journey. The water at places, as
we have said, came at times almost to their necks. Much of it reached
their waists. They struggled resolutely on, almost benumbed with the
cold, now stumbling and catching themselves again, holding their guns
and powder above their heads to keep them from becoming wet, and glad
enough when they found the water growing shallower. At length dry land
was reached once more, and none too soon, for some of the men were so
faint and weak that they fell flat on the ground. Colonel Clark set