of 



added. After a few minutes I partly recovered 

 from these effects and set off sadly for the near- 

 est house of which I had heard. This was eight 

 or ten miles distant and I hoped to find it 

 through the guidance of a crude map which a 

 prospector had prepared for me. I had not be- 

 fore explored this mountainous section. 



The gulches and ridges which descended the 

 slope at right angles to my course gave me a 

 rough sea which kept me stirred up. I ad- 

 vanced in tottering installments; a slow, short 

 advance would be made on wobbly legs, then a 

 heave-to, as pay for the advance gained. 



Now and then there was smoothness, and I 

 took an occasional look at severe Sierra Blanca 

 now looming big before me. It was mostly bare 

 and brown with a number of icy plates and orna- 

 ments shining in the sun. 



At last in the evening light, from the top of 

 a gigantic moraine, I looked down upon the 

 river and a log ranch-house nestling in a grassy 

 open bordered with clumps of spruces. An old 

 lady and gentleman with real sympathy in their 

 faces stood in the doorway and for a moment 



no 



