MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE. 55 



present life of long hours, hard work, and contented state of 

 mind. 



He has many stories of various curious events, which have 

 occurred on his route during the past half century, and these he' 

 tells with much natural humour, and action when gesture is likely to 

 improve the story. But I will only record one event, which 

 illustrates the endurance of the human body and the force of habit. 



Tom had gone over his route of twenty-five miles the day of the 

 great snowstorm in January, 188 1, and on presenting himself at the 

 Churchill Post-office at seven p.m. found that he was the only officer 

 who had faced the storm. He then had to return home, and on the 

 way he got into a snowdrift which had filled the road breast high. 

 Through this he struggled for an hour, incased in a sheet of ice 

 which fitted him like a suit of armour ; but at length he got through 

 the drift. At that point there is an outlying cottage, the inmates of 

 which, hearing him call for help, ran out, and, as they told me 

 afterwards, found the postman very nearly " cast away." They 

 assisted him to his house, which was close by, and there his clothes 

 were cut off him, and he was lifted into bed, where he remained 

 apparently unconscious of all that was going on around. 



Commodore Wilks tells a story of a sailor who fell from a 

 yard-arm upon the deck, and everyone thought the man was dead ; 

 the usual restoratives having been tried in vain. At length the 

 grog-bell rang," and then the man opened his eyes and requested that 

 he might be furnished with his share. 



The clock striking at the usual hour had a similar effect on Tom, 

 for hearing it he sprang up, put on his private clothes — his 

 uniform suit had been cut to shreds — and going a different road to 

 that which had caused him so much trouble the previous night, he 

 presented himself, much to the astonishment of the postmaster, at 

 the usual hour. He was ordered to return, as no mails had come ; 

 and indeed he needed rest, as his hands were frost-bitten and 

 covered with large blisters. The nails also fell off his fingers, and 

 to use his own expression, " they never came in any form again." 



