He would remark upon the favorable signs of water in the hills before them, and the hope that there might be some game to provide better meat than that of starving oxen.

Thus he renewed their hope and kept alive their courage.

He must have had a great deal of fortitude to hide his own sad feelings, for they must as surely have come to him as to any one, and to keep up always an air of hope, courage, and determination to succeed.

If he had been a man of less spirit and good judgment it is very probable that many more would have been left by the wayside to die.
About this point the trail which had been growing fainter and fainter, seemed to vanish entirely.

One could move in almost any direction to right or left as he chose, and because of this, previous travel had doubtless scattered and thus left no trail.