Two Thirds Of The Tents Were Flat On The Ground, Others Were
Badly Torn, And The Unfinished Log Quarters Only Added To The
Desolation.
Snow was over everything ten or twelve inches deep.
But
the wind had gone down and the atmosphere was wonderfully clear, and
sparkling, and full of frost.
Dinner the evening before had not been a success, so we were very
prompt to the nice hot breakfast Charlie gave us. That Chinaman has
certainly been a great comfort on this trip. The doctor came over
looking cross and sick. He said at once that we had been wise in
remaining in our comfortable tents, that everybody in the log houses
was sneezing and complaining of stiff joints. The logs have not been
chinked yet, and, as might have been expected, wind and snow swept
through them. The stoves have not been set up, so even one fire was
impossible. Two or three of their tents did go down, however, the
doctor's included, and perhaps they were safer in a breezy house,
after all.
The mail has been held back, and will start with us. The time of going
was determined at Department Headquarters, and we will have to leave
here on the first - day after to-morrow - if such a thing is possible.
We return by the way of Benton. It is perfectly exasperating to see
prairie chicken all around us on the snow. Early this morning there
was a large covey up in a tree just across the creek from our tent,
looking over at us in a most insolent manner.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 286 of 410
Words from 76742 to 77006
of 110651