9 A.M.
The evening paper contained a column of despatches concerning the blockade , now serious , in the eighth district . Half the first page was given to alarming reports from the cattle ranges . Two mail-carriers were reported lost in the Sweetgrass country , and a ski runner from Fort Steadman , which had been cut off for eight days , told of thirty-five feet of snow in the Whitewater hills . Sleepy Cat reported eighteen inches of fresh snow , and a second delayed despatch under the same date-line reported that a bucking special from Medicine Bend , composed of a rotary , a flanger , and five locomotives had passed that point at 9 A.M. for the eighth district . Gertrude found no interest in the news or the discussion . She could only wonder why she did not see Glover during the day , and when he made no appearance at dinner she grew sick with uncertainty . Leaving the dining-room ahead of the party in some vague hope of seeing him , Solomon hurried up with the note that Glover had left to be given her in the morning .