It was as much as the horses could do to drag the heavily laden wagons over the encumbered road.

However weary, he could not ride.

However exhausted, the wagons could not wait for him; neither was there any place in the smothering snow for rest.
Day after day they toiled along, in the endurance of hardships now with difficulty comprehended.

Sometimes they were gladdened with sunny skies and smooth paths.

Again the clouds would gather, and the rain, the sleet, and the snow would envelop them in glooms truly dismal.