194 EXCITING QUESTION. 
furnished ; a carpet of boughs was laid on the 
floor, the blankets for two beds spread, and into 
the space between them the saddles, bridles, 
guns, ammunition, provisions, and their only 
cooking utensils — a coffee-pot and frying-pan — 
were placed. Though they had not an inch of 
space to spare, they passed the night as com- 
fortably as though a wild storm of wind and rain 
had not swept around them. 
The exciting question for the next few days 
was, “ Where is Willow creek ?” They found, 
upon comparing notes, that no two of them had 
been directed to follow the same route, and it 
was doubtful if they had been told of the same 
place. There were no houses at which to in- 
quire, and the two or three hunters they met 
gave such conflicting directions, that it was prob- 
able each of them meant a different stream. 
All the creeks in Jhat vicinity emptied into Grand 
river, and all were edged with willows, so that 
the name could properly be applied to any one 
of them. 
After spending two days in the search and 
fording the Grand — at this point a dangerous feat, 
as its bottom is formed of large, round, slippery 
stones, and its waters are very swift and deep — 
chancing to meet a traveller, they learned from 
him that a man with a team, answering the de- 
scription of Mr. Maxwell and his outfit, was on 
