io6 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



never once been realized. Even in the most terrible 

 storms my tent has stood securely, and I have es- 

 caped without serious inconvenience. 



On this trip, however, we did have a disagreeable 

 experience. A cold rain continued for four days, 

 and the tent sprang a leak right over my bed. More- 

 over, the buffalo chips were so wet that we could 

 not build a fire, and had to eat cold food and sleep 

 in wet blankets. 



Among the difficulties with which we had to con- 

 tend on this expedition was a defective wagon 

 wheel. One day, as we were driving along a slope, 

 our lower wheel dished out, and dumped us, load 

 and all, to the ground. Upon examination, we 

 found that the maker had used a hub whose mortises 

 were too large for the spokes. The latter had been 

 held in place by wedges which had been painted over 

 so that they should not be detected. The man who 

 sold us the wagon had guaranteed it for a year, but 

 unfortunately, he lived two hundred miles away. 

 When the necessity arises, however, one can solve 

 any problem somehow; so we took off the tire, put 

 back the spokes and wedges, heated the tire in a fire 

 of buffalo chips, and reset it. We tried to drive 

 carefully after this and avoid sloping places, but it 

 generally happened that when we least expected it, 

 we would fall by the wayside. Most aggravating 

 of all, when we did take the defective wheel back 



