But they were almost as glad as the infantry when the camping place was reached, for nothing is more fatiguing to a horseman than to be obliged to travel in the saddle for ten hours at the pace of footmen.

The halting place this time was near the upper edge of the forest which then clothed the lower slopes of the mountains.
Enough meat had been killed on the previous evening for three days' rations for the troops, and there was therefore no loss of time in preparing the meal.

Wood, of course, was in abundance, and the pots were soon hanging from thick poles placed above the fires.

The night was exceedingly cold, and the soldiers were grateful for the shelter which the trees afforded from the piercing wind which blew across the snow covered peaks of the higher range of mountains.
"What is that noise ?" Malchus asked one of the officers as, after the meal was finished and silence began to reign in the camp, a deep sound was heard in the forest.
"That is the howling of a pack of wolves," the officer said.

"They are savage brutes, and when in company will not hesitate to attack small parties of men.