At St. Mary's 



standing timber, getting a leg scnaped here, 

 a knee struck there, now leading our horses 

 up a steep incline, now riding them with 

 a delicious sense of rest over a level bit of 

 trail for a few hundred yards so we 



4 



plodded along, and finally reached the up- 

 per timber-line, emerging from the gloom 

 of the forest into the cheerful light of the 

 open, and leaving very willingly behind us 

 both our " plain, blazed trail " and the 

 necessity for it. 



But we had not reached the top of the 

 mountain yet by any means; and the ques- 

 tion now presented itself, - - which direc- 

 tion to take. We had come out of the 

 wood near the wedgelike end of Flat Top. 

 Should we turn to our right, and pass 

 around the jutting spur to the farther side 

 of the mountain, or should we keep on 

 the side where we were, and take our way 

 to the left ? Hardeman, who had with his 

 Indian scouts done considerable mountain 

 trailing in Arizona, and was just in his ele- 

 ment now, proposed to do neither, but 

 to climb straight to the top from where 

 we were. Accordingly we dismounted, 

 and then ensued the most difficult piece 

 of infantry work I ever took part in. But 

 we persevered, panting and struggling, 

 slipping and recovering, but always going 



271 



