78 ON THE WYE 



morning lovely, but with a keenish north- 

 westerly wind in our faces. This was the first time 

 he had been out for some weeks, and the warm 

 and keen air brightened him up surprisingly. 



The country was quite new to me, not far 

 from the Wye, to our left, as we drove along 

 the Hay road. He soon became chatty and 

 garrulous ; he told me about the beautiful country 

 we were driving through, the owners of the 

 estates, the tenants, their holdings and the rent 

 they paid, and various stories about the men 

 themselves. Then, when he had exhausted that 

 subject, he told me of the terrible snowstorm 

 tragedy they had last December on the Mont- 

 gomery side of the county. He knew the two 

 young men well, the one nineteen and un- 

 married, the other twenty-three and married ; 

 they had been to an auction with his own man, 

 and returned home by train ; landed at a station 

 on the railway towards Llandrindod, and then 

 started to walk over a mountain to their homes 

 it was dark, and the snow was falling fast; 

 they lost their way and wandered about. There 

 was no anxiety felt at either of their homes, 

 which were not far apart the parents thinking 

 they may have reached the son's house safely, 



