OUT IN THE COLD 



There isn t a team in this place that we can hire 

 or steal.&quot; 



Then, it so happened that we received a good 

 deal of wholesome irony from the butcher and 

 others, instead of sympathy- They were wholly 

 unable to comprehend how anybody could get 

 somewhere without purpose, and not know how 

 to get somewhere else. 



The exultation of these inhabitants over a frost 

 that had gone, grew into something like a wild 

 delight at the prospect of a coming &quot; twister.&quot; 

 They informed us on all sides that a big storm 

 was brooding and as our vagabondage had ex 

 tended as far as the Doctor s engagements per 

 mitted, we began to think about a conveyance 

 to rattle us back before the storm broke. The 

 landlord of the tavern looked at us in blank help 

 lessness. cc You ll find it pretty hard to get a rig, 

 I guess,&quot; he said. &quot; I don t know of anybody 

 who could spare a team just to drive you twenty 

 miles, unless it s the young man over there that 

 works in the wheelwright s shop. He s got a 

 horse that ain t in use, but J don t think he d 

 stop work to harness him up.&quot; 



The Doctor was studying a New York paper, 

 and he called out to me as I set out to find 

 the young wheelwright &quot;The weather bureau 

 predicts a fierce spell of weather a big storm 

 coming from the northwest.&quot; 



Slocum at the best was not a desirable place in 

 which to be storm-bound. I hurried away and 

 entered the wheelwright s shop. An old man at 



221 



