240 The King of the Thundering Herd 



work of the soldiers, and what had been 

 merely pleasure before now became heart- 

 breaking labor. They could not make over 

 half the distance they had made in the 

 good weather. All day from five o'clock 

 in the morning until after sunset they 

 floundered along, for they now had to 

 make longer days, if they were to accom- 

 plish that for which they came. 



At night men and horses were completely 

 worn out. Often the troopers fell asleep 

 with their mess-plates in their hands. To 

 add to the difficulty it was now hard to 

 find feed for the horses. Within a day or 

 two the south slopes were again bare of 

 snow, but the grass was soggy, frozen stuff, 

 and the mounts would not have eaten it 

 had they not been so famished. 



But good luck or ill had ordained that 

 they were near to their journey's end as far 

 as the march north was concerned, for the 

 fifth day after the coming of the snow, 



