A BED OF BOUGHS. 183 



" 'And then I sang and shouted, 



Keeping measure as I sped, 

 To the harp-twang of the snow-shoe 

 As it sprang beneath my tread. 



" * Nor far into the valley 



Had I dipped upon my way, 

 When a dusky figure joined me 

 In a capuchin of gray, 



" 'Bending upon the snow-shoes 



With a long and limber stride ; 

 And I hailed the dusky stranger, 

 As we traveled side by side- 



" ' But no token of communion 

 Gave he by word or look, 

 And the fear-chill fell upon me 

 At. the crossing of the brook. 



" ' For I saw by the sickly moonlight, 



As I followed, bending low, 

 That the walking of the stranger 

 Left no foot-marks on the snow. 



" ' Then the fear-chill gathered o'er me, 



Like a shroud around me cast, 

 As I sank upon the snow-drift 

 Where the shadow hunter passed. 



" And the otter-trappers found me, 



Before the break of day, 

 With my dark hair blanched and whitened 

 As the snow in which I lay. 



11 ' But they spoke not as they raised me; 



For they knew that in the night 

 I had seen the shadow hunter 

 And had withered in his sight. 



