horse's hind-quarters that sent him off at full gallop, the snow flying
in clouds from his plunging feet into the faces of his passengers.

The hours crept by as the sleigh made its slow way over the heavy ground,
and Frank, as might be expected after the big dinner he had eaten, began
to feel very sleepy. There was no reason why he should not yield to the
seductive influence of the drowsy god, so, sinking down low into the seat
and drawing the buffalo-robe up over his head, he soon was lost to sight
and sense. While he slept the night fell, and they were still many miles
from home. The cold was great, but not a breath of wind stirred the
intense stillness. The stars shone out like flashing diamonds set in
lapis-lazuli. Silence reigned supreme, save as it was intruded upon by
the heavy breathing of the frost-flaked horse and the crunching of the
runners through the crisp snow.

Johnston felt glad when they breasted the hill on the other side of which
was Deep Gully, crossed by a rude corduroy bridge; for that bridge was
just five miles from the camp, and another hour, at the farthest, would
bring them to the end of their journey.

When the top of the hill was reached, the foreman gathered up the reins,
called upon the horse to quicken his pace, and away they went down the
slope at a tearing gallop.

Deep Gully well deserved the name that had been given it when the road
was made. A turbulent torrent among the hills had in the course of time
eaten a way for itself, which, although very narrow, made up for its lack
of breadth by a great degree of depth. It was a rather picturesque place
in summer time, when abundant foliage softened its steep sides; but in
winter, when it seemed more like a crevasse in a glacier than anything