(goc^g (mountain TI?onber£anb 



snow became thinner as we advanced. Near 

 Ophir Loop, we passed over the pathway of a 

 slide where the ground had been swept bare. 

 Having long been vigilant with eyes and ears 

 for slides, while on this slide-swept stretch, I 

 ceased to be alert. Fortunately Cricket's vigi- 

 lance did not cease. Suddenly she wheeled, and, 

 with a quickness that almost took her from be- 

 neath me, she made a frantic retreat, as a slide 

 with thunderous roar shot down into the canon. 

 So narrowly did it miss us that we were heavily 

 splashed with snow - fragments and almost 

 smothered by the thick, prolonged whirl of snow- 

 dust. Cricket's vigilance had saved my life. 



The masses of snow, stones, and broken tim- 

 ber brought down by this slide blockaded the 

 cafion from wall to wall. These walls were too 

 steep to be climbed, and, after trying until dark 

 to make a way through the wreckage, we had to 

 give it up. 



We spent a cold night alongside a cliff. 

 Cricket and I each ate a few willow twigs. The 

 night was of refined clearness, and from time to 

 time I moved away from the pungent camp- 



i8o 



