During the winter that now came upon them, it became even a greater wonder to her; for it was a time when all of them were drawn closer in a common suffering—­a time of dark days which she felt they might have lightened for each other, and a time when she knew that more than ever she drew him.

For hardly had the feast of the Harvest Home gone by when food once more became scarce.  The heaven-sent gulls had, after all, saved but half a crop.  Drought and early frost had diminished this; and those who came in from the East came all too trustingly with empty meal-sacks.

By the beginning of winter there were five thousand people in the valley to be fed with miraculous loaves and fishes.  Half of these were without decent shelter, dwelling under wagon-covers or in flimsy tents, and forced much of the time to be without fuel; for wood had to be hauled through the snow from the distant canons, and so was precious stuff.  For three months the cutting winds came down from the north, and the pitiless winter snows raged about them.  An inventory was early taken of the food-stuffs, and thereafter rations were issued alike to all, whether rich or poor.  Otherwise many of the latter must have perished.  It was a time of hard expedients, such as men are content to face only for the love of God.  They ranged the hills and benches to dig sego and thistle roots, and in the last days of winter many took the rawhides from their roofs, boiling and eating them.  When spring came, they watched hungrily for the first green vegetation, which they gathered and cooked.  Truly it seemed they had stopped in a desert as cruel in its way as the human foes from whom they had fled.

It was now that the genius of their leader showed.  He was no longer Brigham Young, the preacher, but a father in Israel to his starving children.  When prayers availed not for a miracle, his indomitable spirit saved them.  Starvation was upon them and nakedness to the blast; yet when they desponded or complained, the Lion of the Lord was there to check them.  He scolded, pleaded, threatened, roared prophecies, and overcame them, silencing every murmur.  He made them work, and worked himself, a daily example before them of tireless energy.  He told them what to do, and how, both for their material salvation and their spiritual; when to haul wood, and how to distinguish between false and true spirits; how to thatch roofs and in what manner the resurrection would occur; how to cook thistle roots to best advantage, and how God was man made perfect; he reminded them of the day of wrath, and told them mirthful anecdotes to make them laugh.  He pictured God’s anger upon the sinful, and encouraged them to dance and to make merry; instructed them in the mysteries of the Kingdom and instigated theatrical performances to distract their minds.  He was bland and bullying by turns; affable and gruff; jocose and solemn—­always what he thought their fainting spirits needed.  He was feared and loved—­feared first.