nutes they
deliberated, uncertain how to act. Would they ride along its edge, and
endeavour to find a crossing-place? Or would it be better to retrace
their steps, and attempt to reach the stream which they had left in the
morning? The latter was a fearful alternative, as they knew they could
not pass the marmot hillocks in the darkness without losing time and
encountering danger. It is discouraging at all times to _go back_,
particularly as they had ridden so far--they believed that water would
be found near the butte. They resolved, at length, to search for a
crossing.

With this intention they made a fresh start, and kept along the edge of
the barranca. They chose the path that appeared to lead upward--as by
so doing they believed they would the sooner reach a point where the
chasm was shallower. They rode on for miles; but still the fissure,
with its steep cliffs, yawned below them, and no crossing could be
found. The sun went down, and the night came on as dark as pitch. They
halted. They dared ride no farther. They dared not even go back--lest
they might chance upon some outlying angle of the crooked chasm, and
ride headlong into it! They dismounted from their horses, and sunk down
upon the prairie with feelings almost of despair.

It would be impossible to picture their sufferings throughout that long
night. They did not sleep even for a moment. The agonising pangs of
thirst as well as the uncertainty of what was before them on the morrow
kept them awake. They did not even picket their horses--for there was
no grass near the spot where they were--but sat up all night holding
their bridles. Their poor horses, like themselves, suffered both from
thirst and hunger; and the mule Jeanette occasionally uttered a wild
hinnying that was painful to hear.

As soon as day broke they remounted, and continued on along the edge of
the barranca. They saw that it still turned in various directions; and,
to add to their terror, they now discovered that they could not even
retrace the path upon which they had come, without going all the way
back on their own tracks. The sun was obscured by clouds, and they knew
not in what direction lay the stream they had left--even had they
possessed strength enough to have reached it.

They were advancing and discussing whether they should make the attempt,
when they came upon a deep buffalo-road that crossed their path. It was
beaten with tracks apparently fresh. They h