WINTER IN THE BACKWOODS 269 



bare, and elsewhere piled up with several feet of 

 snow. More than once I collided with a huge 

 tree and received painful blows ; but as time 

 went on, these sufferings ceased, and I became 

 conscious that the nature of the ground had 

 changed. Some idea can be formed of the 

 density of the snow when I state that I could 

 neither see my feet nor a yard ahead. When 

 danger has passed, one is apt think of one's friends. 

 For my part the welfare of Herbert never 

 entered my mind ; possibly the nerves and 

 brain were too benumbed to enable me to 

 think. Even the ambition to live had vanished, 

 and the struggle was more physical than 

 rational and predetermined. The clouds of snow 

 occasionally lifted, and became in appearance 

 lighter and more transparent. These half-lulls 

 were followed by whirlwinds of snow, each darker 

 and fiercer than its predecessor. I trembled 

 fearfully at every repeated sign of a cessation, 

 believing that these swiftly following snow-clouds 

 would ultimately destroy me. They did not last 

 long barely perhaps a minute, but to me the 

 sufferings and dread of them rendered the time 

 incalculable. It was at the end of one of these 

 terrible outbursts of the storm that I found myself 



