Yet here and there at any
time, undiscoverable to the eye, were watery pitfalls where the sand was
washed out, and in places there was shifting quicksand, dangerous for
man or animal.
"We'll have to boat across," said Auberry finally. "We couldn't get the
wagons over loaded." Wherefore we presently resorted to the old Plains
makeshift of calking the wagon bodies and turning them into boats, it
being thought probable that two or three days would be required to make
the crossing in this way. By noon of the following day our rude boats
were ready and our work began.
I was not yet strong enough to be of much assistance, so I sat on the
bank watching the busy scene. Our men were stripped to the skin, some of
the mountaineers brown almost as Indians, for even in those days white
hunters often rode with no covering but the blanket, and not that when
the sun was warm. They were now in, now out of the water, straining at
the lines which steadied the rude boxes that bore our goods, pulling at
the heads of the horses and mules, shouting, steadying, encouraging,
always getting forward. It took them nearly an hour to make the first
crossing, and presently we could see the fire of their farther camp, now
occupied by some of those not engaged in the work.
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