206 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



With a roar and almost irresistible force, the 

 slide smashed its way through the forest and 

 came thundering down upon the prospectors. 



McClain had awakened O'Brien, and was in 

 the door of Clark's cabin, calling him and Wil- 

 liams, when the slide swept over all. The one 

 cabin left standing was the one in which O'Brien 

 had slept. All the others were crushed, and 

 parts of them were carried far down the gulch, 

 and left mingled with rocks and pieces of trees 

 which the slide brought down from above. 



Clark was carried, rolled in his blankets, 

 several rods down the gulch, and then dropped 

 in the snow without a scratch. He and O'Brien 

 at once began a hasty search for the others. A 

 quarter of a mile down the gulch they discovered 

 one of Williams's feet sticking up through the 

 snow. Quickly digging him out, they found him 

 uninjured. Though he had been half smothered, 

 a rest of an hour enabled him to join in the 

 search for McClain. 



A little while after daylight they came upon 

 the wreck of McClain's cabin. On tearing this 

 to pieces, they found Joe beneath with one 

 forefoot crushed. They continued the search 

 without cessation until mid-afternoon; but no 

 trace of McClain could be found. The last 

 spot examined was just below where Clark's 

 cabin had stood. Here was a mass of snow, 



