That evening when I tramped over the moor to Lyndardy the snow fell
heavily--a driving, drifting snow that penetrated into every cranny
it had access to, and collected in deep wreaths on meadow and moor.
The cold wind blew hard from the north, carrying the fine snow past
me in great clouds that curled and swept along the hard ground,
forming in some places high barriers that were almost impassable,
in other places leaving the ground perfectly bare.
Chapter XXXV. A Search And A Discovery.
All through that night the snow fell unceasingly, and the drifts
grew deeper and deeper in the hollows.
At bedtime, after our chapter from the Bible had been read, my
mother barred the door, and said:
"Let us be thankful, bairns, that we are all at home this night. I
couldna sleep in my bed if I thought there was kith or kin o' mine
outside on such a night o' blind drift. It's just terrible."
And I think we all slept the more comfortably, feeling that we knew
of no one who was suffering in the storm.
Some hours before daylight, while I lay dreaming in my cosy box
bed, I was awakened by hearing a rapping noise. I listened,
fancying it was but the noise of some rat behind the wainscot that
had come for shelter into the warm house; but the loud knocking
came again. I hurriedly drew on some clothes and opened the outer
door.
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