The snow, he had been told, lay to a great depth
in the passes of the mountains, and difficulties would increase as
he proceeded. He begged Captain Bonneville, therefore, to travel very
slowly, so as to keep the horses in strength and spirit for the
hard times they would have to encounter. The captain surrendered the
regulation of the march entirely to his discretion, and pushed on in the
advance, amusing himself with hunting, so as generally to kill a deer
or two in the course of the day, and arriving, before the rest of the
party, at the spot designated by the guide for the evening's encampment.
In the meantime, the others plodded on at the heels of the guide,
accompanied by that merry vagabond, She-wee-she. The primitive garb worn
by this droll left all his nether man exposed to the biting blasts of
the mountains. Still his wit was never frozen, nor his sunshiny temper
beclouded; and his innumerable antics and practical jokes, while they
quickened the circulation of his own blood, kept his companions in high
good-humor.
So passed the first day after the departure from the patriarch's. The
second day commenced in the same manner; the captain in the advance, the
rest of the party following on slowly. She-wee-she, for the greater part
of the time, trudged on foot over the snow, keeping himself warm by hard
exercise, and all kinds of crazy capers. In the height of his foolery,
the patriarchal colt, which, unbroken to the saddle, was suffered to
follow on at large, happened to come within his reach.
Pages:
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336