SNOW 191 
while the house rocked with the tempest, hop- 
ing it might prove only a hurricane; but as 
there was no abatement, he wakened his com- 
panion shepherd, telling him “it was come on 
such a night or morning as never blew from 
the heavens.” The other at once arose, and, 
opening the door of the shed where they slept, 
found a drift as high as the farmhouse already 
heaped between them and its walls, a distance 
of only fourteen yards. He floundered through, 
Hogg soon following, and, finding all the fam- 
ily up, they agreed that they must reach the 
sheep as soon as possible, especially eight hun- 
dred ewes that were in one lot together, at the 
farthest end of the farm. So after family 
prayers and breakfast, four of them stuffed 
their pockets with bread and cheese, sewed 
their plaids about them, tied down their hats, 
and, taking each his staff, set out on their tre- 
mendous undertaking, two hours before day. 
Day dawned before they got three hundred 
yards from the house. They could not see 
each other, and kept together with the greatest 
difficulty. They had to make paths with their 
staves, rolled themselves over drifts otherwise 
impassable, and every three or four minutes 
had to hold their heads down between their 
knees to recover breath. They went in single 
file. taking the lead by turns, The master 
