A STORM. 81 



served, that his suppliant was on her part no less thick-headed, 



having thought, poor silly creature ! to strengthen her claim by 



a delicate allusion to former kindnesses, received at her hands 



by certain of Ids kindred. For this, her folly, she was only 



treated as she deserved perhaps she thought so too, for without 



applying to any one else of all her "many friends," whose 



looks were not encouraging, she turned away, hungrier and 



sadder than ever, meaning to try and crawl back again to her 



unprovisioned home, that she might die at least among her own 



people. But alas ! she soon found that this backward step, 



hard enough to contemplate, was one yet harder to execute. 



While her " friends " had been busy feasting with their hollow 



pipes, and she with her hollow eyes, the sun had been busy 



with the snow, of which, by this time, he had made what to 



her was an impassable lake between herself and home. How 



wistfully did she try, but in vain, to look across it from that 



barbarous and inhospitable shore where she must now lie down 



and perish with hunger. But no ; a death more speedy soon 



threatened to swallow up the atom that now remained of our 



poor little villager's wasted body. The great sun having 



stooped from his meridian height to do her all the harm 



he could, had now shrunk behind a dark cloudy screen, 



whence presently (and as if lie was still at the bottom of the 



mischief) there came pouring down a tremendous torrent. The 



intercepting lake soon spread into a sea ; the sea soon swelled 



into an ocean; and the wind/no longer a soft south-wester, 



