ON THE PRAIRIE 69 



increased to a regular hurricane. With its 

 canvas top on, the wagon would certainly 

 have been blown over if on open ground, and 

 it was impossible to start or keep a fire ex- 

 cept under the sheltered lee of the cliff. 

 Moreover, the wind kept shifting, and we 

 had to shift too, as fast as ever it started to 

 blow from a new quarter; and thus in the 

 course of the twenty-four hours we made 

 a complete circle of the cliff at whose base 

 we were. Our blankets got wet during the 

 night ; and they got no drier during the day ; 

 and the second night, as we slept on them 

 they got steadily damper. Our provisions 

 were pretty nearly out, and so, with little to 

 eat and less to do, wet and uncomfortable, 

 we cowered over the sputtering fire, and 

 whiled the long day away as best we might 

 with our own thoughts ; fortunately we had 

 all learned that no matter how bad things 

 are, grumbling and bad temper can always 

 be depended upon to 'make them worse, and 

 so bore our ill-fortune, if not with stoical in- 

 difference, at least in perfect quiet. Next 



