Boots and Saddles 239 



Presently they could all be seen standing 

 about eating venison and hardtack and 

 drinking steaming coffee. After supper 

 great camp-fires were kindled and the 

 troopers played cards, told stories and had 

 a generally gay time until taps sounded. 

 Then in a few minutes the noisy company 

 would have all disappeared, with the ex- 

 ception of the sentry, who paced steadily 

 up and down watching the stars and listen- 

 ing to the night sounds of this wilder- 

 ness. 



Although it was only late October, 

 yet they had not penetrated far into Mon- 

 tana when a heavy snowfall overtook them. 

 It was a soft, sticky snow about two feet on 

 the level, but in some of the gulches it was 

 piled up many feet deep. The day after 

 the storm it grew warm again and all the 

 mountain streams in these steep, shut-in 

 valleys ran riot. 



Such conditions added greatly to the 



