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Mounted on Dale's strongest horses, with only a light pack, an ax, and their weapons, the two men had reached the snow-line on the pass by noon that day To in the rear

The crust of the sno half thawed by the sun, would not hold the weight of a horse, though it upheld thethe horses Travel was not difficult until the snow began to deepen; then progress slackened materially John had not been able to pick out the line of the trail, so Dale did not follow his tracks An old blaze on the trees enabled Dale to keep fairly well to the trail; and at length the height of the pass was reached, where the snoas deep Here the horses labored, plowing through foot by foot When, finally, they sank to their flanks, they had to be dragged and goaded on, and helped by thick flat bunches of spruce boughs placed under their hoofs It took three hours of breaking toil to do the few hundred yards of deep snow on the height of the pass The cougar did not have great difficulty in following, though it was evident he did not like such traveling

That behind thee of the steep descent, where they had all they could do to hold back fro Fast tian a dense forest with snow still deep in places and windfalls hard to locate The h to a park where the snoas gone The ground, however, soft and boggy, in places was more treacherous than the snow; and the travelers had to skirt the edge of the park to a point opposite, and then go on through the forest When they reached bare and solid ground, just before dark that night, it was high time, for the horses were ready to drop, and the men likewise

Camp wason bough beds, feet to the fire, with To where they had been unsaddled Morning, however, discovered therass John shook his head when he looked at thehtfall How far is it--the way you'll go?"

"Fifty mile or thereabouts," replied Dale

"Wal, we can't ride it on them critters"