"Well, now that we have enjoyed this punk view, suppose we get down to some place where we can make camp and sleep," suggested Stacy.
"This is where we are to sleep to-night," answered Tom.
"Yes. Did we not come up here for that purpose?"
Stacy shivered, and glanced down over the glittering snow field, then shivered some more, but made no further comment.
"This will be the first time that I ever slept in a snow bank, and I trust it may be the last," observed Emma resignedly. "Last night we found a nice dry spot for our beds, but up here--Br-r-r-r!"
"You will be as comfortable as though you were in your own bed at home," promised Grace.
"I wish to goodness I had your imagination," grumbled Chunky. "It must be beautiful to be able to dream things the way you do."
No fuel for a fire had been brought along on this last leg of the climb above timber line, so supper was a cold meal. Everyone felt so miserable after supper that the Overlanders with one accord began preparing to roll up in their blankets for the night. Hippy had already dug trenches in the snow for the party to sleep in, so they might be out of the wind. The girls talked chatteringly of everything they could think of, to assist them in forgetting their misery, then crawled into their trenches and tightly rolled themselves up in their blankets.
"This is the first time I ever went to bed with my boots on," complained Elfreda. "Should I live until morning I surely shall have something to brag about."
"Why, girls, this is an ideal summer resort," laughingly chided Grace.
The response was a chorus of dismal groans. For a few moments after that the Overlanders lay gazing up at the bright stars, then a gradual warmth overspread their shivering bodies, and one by one they dropped off to sleep, now nearly thirteen thousand feet above sea level.
Contrary to expectations the Overland Riders slept soundly all through the night, but the moment they crawled from under their blankets in the morning, they began to shiver.
"Come on! Take a run with me," urged Tom.
"Please go away and let me die," moaned Emma.
"We must have exercise to start our blood circulating," reminded Hippy.
"I don't want exercise. I want something to warm me up on the inside," protested Stacy.