SNOWED IN 



are moving their chattels and families from the 

 vicinity of the red-hot hearthstone,&quot; I said. 



&quot; Perhaps it s afire,&quot; said Charlie. 



&quot;Well, don t clap your hands. If it is, we 

 shall have to move ourselves. Suppose you look 

 around the surbase and see if there s any smoke, 

 while I get a pail of water.&quot; 



I h)ok back at those hours now with placid 

 enjoyment. We were snowed in for a week, but 

 we came to know each other with an intimacy 

 that has lasted through many years. 



While I have been writing this, Charlie has 

 come in. He is almost as tall as I am now. He 

 came over and put his arm on my shoulder, for 

 I called him &quot; Comrade,&quot; as I did in those jolly 

 vagabond days, and it must have brought back 

 some tacit pledges that we made to each other 

 when we were shut up together, and which I am 

 proud to say we have never broken. 



But to go back. I was about to say that the 

 enforced solitude drove me in on myself with a 

 finer scrutiny ; and as that was, after all, the prin 

 cipal result that the Doctor had in view, I ought 

 to emphasize it as much as possible for the bene 

 fit of all my brother acrobats and contortionists 

 in the great circus. The Doctor was quite right 

 when he said that to &quot; stop &quot; was little less than a 

 miracle, and I now feel convinced that he drew 

 me into this box, where I was compelled to 

 &quot;stop&quot; whether I would or not. And there he 

 showed his sagacity. Meditative as the snow 

 storm made me, I confess that if I could have 



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