There was another silence around the fire, another whirl and
turmoil without. There was no attempt to combat the opinions of
their leader; possibly the same sense of disappointed hopes was
felt by all, only they preferred to let the man of greater
experience voice it. He went on:--

"We've had our little game, boys, ever since we left Rawlin's a
week ago; we've had our ups and downs; we've been starved and
parched, snowed up and half drowned, shot at by road-agents and
horse-thieves, kicked by mules and played with by grizzlies. We've
had a heap o' fun, boys, for our money, but I reckon the picnic is
about over. So we'll shake hands to-morrow all round and call it
square, and go on our ways separately."

"And what do you think you'll do, Uncle Dick?" said his close-
shaven companion listlessly.

"I'll make tracks for a square meal, a bed that a man can
comfortably take off his boots and die in, and some violet-scented
soap. Civilization's good enough for me! I even reckon I wouldn't
mind 'the sound of the church-going bell' ef there was a theatre
handy, as there likely would be. But the wilderness is played
out."

"You'll be back to it again in six months, Uncle Dick," retorted
the other quickly.

Uncle Dick did not reply. It was a peculiarity of the party that
in their isolated companionship they had already exhausted