That river had to be crossed that night.

I undressed and determined to swim it, and went in, but the little thin ice at the bank cut my feet.

I waded in a little further, but soon found I would cramp if I tried to swim it.

I came out and put my clothes on, and thought of a gate about a mile back.

We went back and took the gate off its hinges and carried it to the river and put it in the water, but soon found out that all three of us could not ride on it; so one of the party got on it and started across.