d see it as before. At some
moments it was dimly seen, at others its outline was sharp and distinct;
but while the clouds around it were shifting, changing, and dissolving
away, it still towered aloft in the midst of them, fixed and immovable.
It must, thought I, be the summit of a mountain, and yet its heights
staggered me. My conclusion was right, however. It was Long's Peak, once
believed to be one of the highest of the Rocky Mountain chain, though
more recent discoveries have proved the contrary. The thickening gloom
soon hid it from view and we never saw it again, for on the following
day and for some time after, the air was so full of mist that the view
of distant objects was entirely intercepted.

It grew very late. Turning from our direct course we made for the river
at its nearest point, though in the utter darkness it was not easy to
direct our way with much precision. Raymond rode on one side and Henry
on the other. We could hear each of them shouting that he had come upon
a deep ravine. We steered at random between Scylla and Charybdis, and
soon after became, as it seemed, inextricably involved with deep chasms
all around us, while the darkness was such that we could not see a rod
in any direction. We partially extricated ourselves by scrambling, cart
and all, through a shallow ravine. We came next to a steep descent down
which we plunged without well knowing what was at the bottom. There was
a great crackling of sticks and dry twigs. Over our heads were certain
large shadowy objects, and in front something like the faint gleaming
of a dark sheet of water. Raymond ran his horse against a tree; Henry
alighted, and feeling on the ground declared that there was grass enough
for the horses. Before taking off his saddle each man led his own horses
down to the water in the best way he could. Then picketing two or three
of the evil-disposed we turned the rest loose and lay down among the dry
sticks to sleep. In the morning we found ourselves close to the South
Fork of the Platte on a spot surrounded by bushes and rank grass.
Compensating ourselves with a hearty breakfast for the ill fare of the
previous night, we set forward again on our journey. When only two or
three rods from the camp I saw Shaw stop his mule, level his gun, and
after a long aim fire at some object in the grass. Delorier next jumped
forward and began to dance about, belaboring the unseen enemy with a
whip. Then he stooped down and drew out of the