“It’s getting wilder instead of moderating,” he thought. “This must be something like a Western blizzard. How bleak and desolate it looks on all sides!” Fortunately, Harry found a streak of land almost clear of snow, and stretching away toward where the creek ran. Along this stretch he now pursued his course, stopping only occasionally, to catch his breath and prepare for the coming of an extra-heavy blast. The snow was blinding, and it was a wonder that he did not become turned around. But he kept on in a straight line from the cliff, and this was bound, sooner or later, to bring him to the watercourse he was seeking. Presently the bared streak was passed, and now he was compelled to force his way along through snow that was from two inches to two feet deep. The deep places tired him not a little, and by the time the vicinity of the creek was reached he could scarcely drag one foot after the other. “Thank fortune I am this far!” he exclaimed, half-aloud, as the trees which lined the watercourse came into sight through the driving snow. “Now, there is at least no danger of getting lost, no matter what other peril confronts me.” The thought had hardly passed through his mind when he stepped into a snowdrift and sank down to his waist. He struggled to get out, but only went the deeper. “My gracious! this won’t do,” he cried, in alarm. “There must be a hollow below me that has been filled up.” He struggled on for a step or two, and then went down to his armpits, and only saved himself from going down still farther by putting out his arms and hands flatly on the snow around him. He was now thoroughly scared, expecting every instant to be smothered to death in the snow. There was no use in trying to go ahead farther. He must get back to the high ground. It was a hard and precarious struggle the lad had to leave the deep snow. But at last he wormed his way around, and half-stepped, half-rolled back to where he had stood a few minutes before. The loose snow had gotten into his sleeves and his collar, and this chilled him, despite the exertions he had made. After this experience, he was cautious in his further forward movements. He walked along the edge of the hollow for several hundred feet, and did not attempt to gain the creek until a pathway that was nearly bare presented itself. Then he passed the thin belt of timber, and finally found himself on the ice of the watercourse. Here he stopped for a rest, crouching behind a number of trees and rocks for protection. He had covered about one-third of the distance to camp, and it had taken nearly an hour to do it. At this rate it would be long after dark ere his journey came to an end. Harry did not dare to rest too long, fearing that the cold would make him drowsy and cause him to go to sleep, from which he would probably never awaken. He remained behind the trees and rocks just long enough to “catch his wind,” and then set off as rapidly as he could down the creek.