of* 



about as serious as to be adrift in a lifeboat 

 without food or oars in the ocean's wide waste. 

 In a few minutes the large, almost pelt-like 

 flakes were falling thick and fast. Hastily I put 

 the two kodaks and the treasured films into 

 water-tight cases, pocketed my only food, a 

 handful of raisins, adjusted hatchet and barome- 

 ter, then started across the strange, snowy moun- 

 tains through the night. 



The nearest and apparently the speediest 

 way out lay across the mountains to Ridgway; 

 the first half of this fifteen miles was through a 

 rough section that was new to me. After the 

 lapse of several years this night expedition ap- 

 pears a serious one, though at the time it gave me 

 no concern that I recall. How I ever managed 

 to go through that black, storm-filled night 

 without breaking my neck amid the innumerable 

 opportunities for accident, is a thing that I can- 

 not explain. 



I descended a steep, rugged slope for a thou- 

 sand feet or more with my eyes useless in the 

 eager falling of mingled rain and snow. Nothing 

 could be seen, but despite slow, careful going 



226 



