READY TO ATTACK There was a ford but it was rocky and dangerous, and so narrow that horse after horse slipped aside into the swift current, bearing his rider with him into the icy water.

Comrades hauled the unfortunate ones forth, and fires were hastily built under shelter of the south bank.

Those who reached the landing dry shared their extra clothing with those water-soaked, and hot coffee was hastily served to all alike.

Eager as the men were to push forward, more than an hour was lost in passage, for the stream was bank full, the current rapid and littered with quantities of floating ice.

Some of these ice cakes startled the struggling horses and inflicted painful wounds, and it was only by a free use of ropes and lariats that the entire command finally succeeded in attaining the southern shore.