“Sam, you saved us from utter annihilation,” said Joseph Morris, when the two parts of the expedition had been once more united. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” and he gave the old frontiersman’s hand a tight squeeze.
“I wish I had been in that fight,” said Dave to Henry. “It must have been exciting.”
“It was, but not as much so as some of the fights we had during the war,” answered his cousin. “We had the Indians on the run from the very start.”
No time was now lost in moving forward, it being Joseph Morris’s wish to leave the Indians as far behind as possible. They traveled until late at night, when they reached a safe shelter among the rocks and trees. It was now cloudy once more, and soon after they went into camp it began to snow.
“We are in for a heavy fall,” said Dave, and he was right. The snow continued all night and all of the next day, and still there was no let-up to the storm. They remained in the temporary camp, watching the fall anxiously.
“Dave, I really believe we are going to be snowed in!” cried Henry, as he walked outside, to get a good look at the sky. “It doesn’t seem to brighten up a bit!”
“Just what I am thinking,” answered his cousin. “It is certainly coming down as thickly as ever.”
All were now watching the snowfall, and they went to bed with anxious hearts. Dave woke up just at dawn. The snow had stopped, but there was more overhead, as he could easily see.
“If only this storm had kept off a few days longer,” sighed Joseph Morris. Three days of fair traveling would have brought the expedition to the vicinity of the trading post.
Breakfast was had, and all were wondering if they could make any headway in such a depth of snow when the flakes began to come down again. The whole landscape was blotted out in a sea of whirling flakes.
“That settles it; we remain here,” grumbled Dave. The nearer he drew to the trading post the more anxious he became to learn the whole truth of the situation there.
The men of the expedition made themselves as comfortable as possible, and not to be caught without provisions, some went out on a short hunt. They managed to bring down a few birds, but that was all—not worth the powder and shot, as Barringford declared.