y fellow, when
the liquor bottle is kept out of his way."

I do not think Clarice liked this plan, but she had no valid objection
to urge against it; indeed, when she looked up at the snowy mountains
before us, and the vast chasms which yawned on each side, she must have
owned to herself that she was unfitted to travel through such a region.

Next morning we sent the two men for the deer skins, and a further
supply of venison; but when they came back they brought the skin of the
panther as well. They had found the animal close to the body of the
deer, by the scent of which he must have been attracted; but he must
have died of his wounds before he had begun to eat the flesh.

We spent the rest of the day in making pemmican, and in doing up our
packages in a more compact form. The larger part of our stores we left
for the party in camp--only taking powder and shot, a small quantity of
coffee, and a few simple cooking utensils, so that we might travel as
lightly as possible. We had little doubt about being able to obtain a
sufficient supply of game; and Sergeant Custis, who was a bit of a
botanist, said that he hoped to find roots which would serve as
vegetables.

Early in the morning, having said good-bye to our friends, we set out.
The valley was soon crossed, and we then proceeded along the base of the
mountains to the southward, in the hope of finding some opening in the
cliffs, or a practicable path up which we might climb. Our rifles were
slung at our backs, and we each carried a long pole, on the strength of
which we could thoroughly depend.

At length we came to an opening. It did not look very promising, but it
was the only one which offered us any means of penetrating into the
mountains, and ultimately, as we hoped, of getting over them. For some
distance we kept along a ledge which gradually ascended, with a steep
precipice on one side and an almost perpendicular cliff on the other.
Gradually, however, the ledge became broader, and we forced our way
among the trees which grew on it.

Manley proved himself an excellent mountaineer; and as I had for many
years been accustomed to climbing, I ventured along paths which many
would have hesitated to follow.

I cannot describe the whole of that day's journey--the dreadful
precipices along which we scrambled, the profound gorges into which it
almost made the head giddy to look down, the rugged heights we climbed,
the thick forests of pine through which we penetr