358 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



him, now whirling in eddies, and now falling so thick as 

 to obscure the air. I called to the poor boy, and bade 

 him beware of the deep hollow by the style, and the 

 slippery surface of the frozen brook; and he did his 

 best to find the road ; but all in vain. The old pollard 

 oak, with its huge, grey, misshapen head, could not help 

 him to find the way, nor yet the hay- stack, nor the 

 open shed, important waymarks among snowy fields ; 

 they were all obscured alike ; still I hoped that he might 

 get safe ; but at length he fell, benumbed with the cold, 

 and snow began to settle upon him like a winding sheet. 



I heard a loud halloo, ringing through the frozen valley, 

 and lights began to gleam in all directions, for by this time 

 the snow-storm was moving slowly off; had it been otherwise, 

 all search would have been fruitless. I knew the voice of 

 your grandfather, then a strong young man, calling wildly 

 on his child, and with him came all his village neighbours. 

 They even climbed up to my growing-place, and held up 

 their lanterns to look for the boy ; but him they saw not, 



