The _walk_ would have been nothing if we could have had _water;_ but I tell you we were pretty well dried out when a little after _sunset_ we came among the Bear Creek hills. A little stream came crystalling down from a spring away up in the bluff; and after drinking of its beautiful waters and taking a good wash, we looked around for the horses, knowing that if they had struck the creek they would not leave the water for _several hours_ at least. Anxious to intercept their further travel to the north, we went up and down the creek by the moonlight for several miles; but no horses. We came upon an old picket _cow-ranch_ among the hills, and concluded to stop there until morning. We were met at the door by three or four skunks, which in spite cf our friendly salute opened a double-barrel fire upon us with their heads the other way. They were very obstinate, and we were compelled to kill them. We then had control of the shanty, which smelled like a reservoir of cologne for the rest of the night. There was a little stone fireplace in one end of the house, and we built a fire to keep away the wolves and skunks. We had no _blankets_, but were doing very well, when about eleven o’clock the wind arose and it turned cold. We then needed a fire; but the little trees were mostly _green_, and there was no _loose wood_, and we had no _ax_. There were two holes for windows and a big place for a door, and these being open the cold wind went howling through our house like a breeze from the north pole. The house was made with poles put in the ground close together, and we began at the door to tear out the posts for fuel. The wind blew colder and colder, and toward morning a light snow fell. There was very little of the _house left_ when the morning dawned, and we could not help thinking of the man along the Arkansas who was living in the house that belonged to our doors. We had not seen any _game_, so a biscuit was our breakfast. We felt _first-rate_, but one of my feet being one blister from heel to toe, and the other terribly _rubbed_, a long walk was to me a little disagreeable; and I determined to patronize the first shoe-maker I crossed.