And, having witnessed so many of their acts of kindness, both
to ourselves and others, I entertained for them a sincere respect
and affection, and truly rejoiced that Providence had once more led
me to the shelter of their roof.
Mr. S - - was absent, but I found little Mary - the sweet child who
used to listen with such delight to Moodie's flute - grown up into a
beautiful girl; and the baby that was, a fine child of eight years
old. The next morning was so intensely cold that my brother would
not resume the journey until past ten o'clock, and even then it was
a hazardous experiment.
We had not proceeded four miles before the horses were covered
with icicles. Our hair was frozen as white as old Time's solitary
forelock, our eyelids stiff, and every limb aching with cold.
"This will never do," said my brother, turning to me; "the children
will freeze. I never felt the cold more severe than this."
"Where can we stop?" said I; "we are miles from C - -, and I see no
prospect of the weather becoming milder."
"Yes, yes; I know, by the very intensity of the cold, that a change
is at hand. We seldom have more than three very severe days running,
and this is the third. At all events, it is much warmer at night in
this country than during the day; the wind drops, and the frost is
more bearable.
