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Show , DOLORES. 81 sank into a profound sleep. When we awoke late next morning, the scene had changed. A dense mist, rare at that season, hung upon the mountains, and heavy clouds drifted eastward over the plain. Never-theless, I marked what I thought the right course, and we traveled on. Before noon we were bewildered among the projecting ridges, where the trail was obscured upon the rocky flats, and ere long were completely lost. " Should we descend to the lower plain for a shorter route, or turn toward the mountains to be sure of grass and water? I determined to continue a due north course as far as possible, trusting either to come again upon the trail, or find water in some of the limestone ' pockets/ which occur here and there even in the red sand hills. By noon the water in the canteens I had provided was nauseating, having been almost stagnant when taken from the pool ; before the next morning it was all gone, while our animals gave unmistakable signs of approaching exhaustion. Still we pressed on. It was now mid August, and the hot, dry season was at its worst. The bunch- grass was dried to a coppery hue, and though it nourished our animals, they must have water also. The stinging plants and thorny cactus con-stantly impeded our way, and we soon came to regard the broad flats of bare rock as a glad relief. But water, water we must have. 1 was then too ignorant of wood- craft to know that in the Rockv Mountains one hunts up- hill for water instead of down upon H>?. plain ; and felt keenly my need of that sixth sense wherewith thfc Indian and plainsman can discern the locality of a brook or pool by the appearance of surrounding hills or vegetation. " Night drew on. There was a dead calm and oppressive air. The animals at length refused to move a step further, and I had barely time to spring from my saddle and receive her, when Dolores fainted in my arms. For a moment my agony was terrible the agony at once of fear and indecision. But in a moment " DOLORES FAINTED ls MY ABMS'" fierce energy returned; I raised her, recalled her to consciousness, and now leading, now carrying her, toiled up and over the rocks to the mouth of a gorge that opened upon the side of a precipice a thousand feet above. Why, I scarcely knew, but had a vague hope of protection and rest in the defile. Night came on suddenly, and its coolness greatly revived us. We had as yet suffered little with actual thirst, and when |