Well, the darkness began to thicken all over the country, and we concluded not to shoot any more that night. We found an old _well_ in the ravine, and dug it several feet deeper, but found no water. From what we had heard _hunters_ say, we expected to find _water_ here, and had brought none along, so that ours that night was a dry camp. We skinned and cut up four of the buffaloes that night, and taking some of the fresh meat we heated it up a little in the frying-pan, leaving the juice in it; and a supper of this did _very well_, so we retired for the night. The wolves were howling in every direction, and hurrying to the fresh blood; and the snorting and bellowing of the buffaloes could be heard away in the night. Up to twelve o’clock there was not a cloud in the sky; but at that time a purple veil was drawn across the heavens almost as quick as thought, and the wind began to blow cold. We had a _good bed_, and placing two of our green hides upon the ground flesh sides together, we built upon them, and in spite of the cold kept comfortable. Toward morning the gale _increased_, and at daylight we were in the midst of a _blizzard_. This is a _heavy gale_ in which sharp ice, as fine as salt, falls so thickly that you can not see two feet ahead; and it is not safe to leave camp twenty steps without a rope around the waist. We were in a deep ravine; and having tied the horses to the wagon they were somewhat sheltered; then throwing a robe over the _dog_, we lay quietly in our snug bed. The tempest raged and roared over the plain all that day, and the snow fell, more or less, continually. Twilight began to gather, and the storm was still howling. We had nothing to eat that day, but we had quenched our thirst with snow and felt very well. Morning came, and it was yet too cold to live; and the blizzard had renewed its fury. We had brought a little _corn_ along, to feed in a _pinch_; but this was a bigger pinch than we had _bargained for_, and our horses began to look pretty hollow. About noon the snow ceased falling; but the wind was as cold as ice and past all endurance. At sundown we crawled from our retreat, and found the snow a foot in depth over all the prairie. We shoveled it away from the side of a ledge, and trimming down a few hackberry bushes that grew upon the side of a bluff, we started a fire. They were green, and burned very _poorly_; but the _buffalo-chips_ were all covered, and it was the best we had. Our meat was like stone; and for supper we chopped it off with the ax. We did not _fry_ it much, but it was good any how. We also melted a little _snow_ for the _horses_, and after giving them the last corn we had, we crept into bed.