alertness, skill, and strength have saved me either 

 from injury or from the clutches of that great 

 white terror the snow-slide. 



The February morning that I rode " Midget " 

 out of Alma began what proved to be by far 

 the most delightful association that I have ever 

 had with a return horse, and one of the happiest 

 experiences with nature and a dumb animal that 

 has ever come into my life. 



I was in government experiment work as " State 

 Snow Observer," and wanted to make some ob- 

 servations on the summit peaks of the " Twelve- 

 Mile " and other ranges. Midget was to carry me 

 far up the side of these mountains to the summit 

 of Hoosier Pass. A heavy snow had fallen a few 

 days before I started out. The wind had drifted 

 most of this out of the open and piled it deeply 

 in the woods and gulches. Midget galloped mer- 

 rily away over the wind-swept ground. We came 

 to a gulch, I know not how deep, that was filled 

 with snow, and here I began to appreciate 

 Midget. Across this gulch it was necessary for 

 us to go. The snow was so deep and so soft that 



I dismounted and put on my snowshoes and 



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