Storm-clouds had been gathering about one great snow-covered peak, far in the distance.  These clouds spread and darkened, moving rapidly forward.  We had taken the hint and were already making all possible haste toward the town, hoping to reach it before the storm broke.  But it was useless.  Long before we had gained the edge of the valley the rain had commenced in the mountains,—­small local storms, resembling delicate violet-coloured veils, hung in the dense pall of the clouds.  There were far flashes of lightning, and the subdued roar of distant thunder, rapidly growing louder as the storm approached.  Unable to escape a drenching, we paused a moment to wonder at the sight; to marvel—­and shrink a little too—­at the wild, incessant lightning.  The peaks themselves seemed to be tumbling together, such was the continuous roar of thunder, punctuated by frequent deafening crashes.

Then the storm came down upon us.  Such torrents of rain we have seldom witnessed:  such gusts of driving wind!  At times we could scarcely make headway against it, but after most strenuous effort we neared the village.  We hoped to find shelter under a bridge, but found innumerable muddy streams running through the planks.  So we resumed our plodding, slipping and sliding in the black, bottomless mud.

The storm by this time had passed as quickly as it came.  Wet to our skins, we crawled into the little store and post-office combined, and found it filled with ranch hands, waiting for the weekly mail.  We made a few purchases, wrote some letters, then went to a large boarding-house near by and fortified ourselves with a generous, hot supper.

There were comments by some of the men on our venture, but they lacked the true Green River tang.  Here, close to the upper canyons, the unreasonable fear of the rapids gave way to a reasonable respect for them.  Here we heard again of the two young men from St. Louis, and the mishaps that had befallen them.  Here too we were to hear for the first time of the two Snyders, father and son, and the misfortunes that had overtaken them in Lodore Canyon, twenty years before.  We were to hear more of these men later.

We made what haste we could back to our boats, soon being overtaken by a horseman, a big-hearted Swede who insisted on carrying our load as long as we were going in his direction.  How many just such instances of kindliness we were to experience on our journey down the river!  How the West abounds with such men!  It was dark when he left us a mile from the river.  Here there was no road to follow, and we found that what had been numerous dry gullies before were now streams of muddy water.  Two or three of these streams had to be crossed, and we had a disagreeable half hour in a marsh.  Finally we reached the river, but not at the point where we had left our boats.  We were uncertain whether the camp was above or below us, and called loudly for Jimmy, but received no answer.