Towards morning as they stood around the fire a stray cloud
appeared and hid the stars, and shortly after began to unload a cargo of
snow it carried. They spread out every blanket, and brushed up every bit
they could from the smooth places, kindled a little fire of brush under
the camp kettles and melted all the snow all of them could gather,
besides filling their mouths as fast as ever they could, hoping that it
would full in sufficient quantities to satisfy themselves and the oxen,
and quench their dreadful thirst. Slowly the cloud moved scattering the
snowflakes till they felt relieved. The last time the Author conversed
with a member of this party was in 1892, and it was conceded that this
storm saved the lives of both man and beast in that little band of
Jayhawkers. It was like manna falling from Heaven, and as surely saved
their lives as did the manna of the Bible save the lives of the tribes
of Israel. They had no reason to expect a storm of rain or snow, but
came to them just as they were perishing. A little further on they came
to a small stream of water, and as the bed showed only a recent flow it
must also have come from the little local storm further up the mountain.
They used this water freely, even though it was not very good, and it
acted on them very much like a solution of Glanber Salts.
They decided at first that they had better follow the stream southward,
but after a little time, feeling the sickness caused by the water, they
saw it was no advantage and turned west again, bearing to the north
toward a sort of pass they could now see in the mountains in that
direction.
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