CHAPTER IV. 



The Railway Car, the Sleigh, and the Saddle- 

 horse. — Preparations for the Ride. — New 

 York Surroundings. — Reminiscence of Irv- 

 ing. — English and American Country 

 Homes. 



" O Winter, ruler of the inverted year ; 

 Thy scattered hair with sleet like ashes filled, 

 Thy breath congealed upon thy lips ; thy cheek, 

 Fringed with a beard made white with other snows 

 Than those of age, thy forehead wrapped in clouds, 

 A leafless branch thy sceptre — and thy throne, 

 A sliding car, indebted to no wheels. 

 But urged by storms along its slippery way, 

 I love thee, all unlovely as thou seem'st, 

 And dreaded as thou art." 



It was a cold January day when I started 

 from the stable in Fifty-ninth Street for a 

 visit to the country. Railway travelling at 

 this season of the year is especially dangerous. 

 Axles are more liable to break. Three fearful 

 accidents from this cause had lately been 

 recorded. For years after the introduction of 



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