All the winters she had ever lived had not brought such a day as this.

Hard and cold, wet and windy, at an increasing elevation--that was the explanation.

The air did not have sufficient oxygen for her blood.
Still, during all those interminable hours, Helen watched where she was traveling, and if she ever returned over that trail she would recognize it.

The afternoon appeared far advanced when Dale and Roy led down into an immense basin where a reedy lake spread over the flats.

They rode along its margin, splashing up to the knees of the horses.