dismally through the treetops. It was a dark, moonless night. The
cabin was in the fields, half a mile from the road along which the
wagons had passed. This boy of twelve years, alone in the darkness,
was to breast the gale and wade through the snow, amid forest
glooms, a distance of seven miles, before he could reach the
appointed rendezvous.

For a moment his heart sank within him. Then recovering his
resolution, he pushed out boldly into the storm. For three hours he
toiled along, the snow rapidly increasing in depth until it reached
up to his knees. Just before the dawn of the morning he reached the
wagons. The men were up, harnessing their teams. The Dunns were
astounded at the appearance of the little boy amid the darkness and
the tempest. They took him into the house, warmed him by the fire,
and gave him a good breakfast, speaking to him words of sympathy and
encouragement. The affectionate heart of David was deeply moved by
this tenderness, to which he was quite unaccustomed.

And then, though exhausted by the toil of a three hours' wading
through the drifts, he commenced, in the midst of a mountain storm,
a long day's journey upon foot. It was as much as the horses could
do to drag the heavily laden wagons over the encumbered road.
However weary, he could not ride. However exhausted, the wagons
could not wait for him; neither was there any place in the
smothering snow for rest.

Day after day they toiled along, in the endurance of hardships now
with difficulty comprehended. Sometimes they were gladdened with
sunny skies and smooth paths. Again the clouds would gather, and the
rain, the sleet, and the snow would envelop them in glooms truly