And as they went the wind arose, and the storm clouds drove over the sky
and lowered and darkened around them.
Marian urged him to walk fast on account of the approaching tempest, and
the anxiety the family at the cottage would feel upon her account.
They hurried onward, but just as they reached the neighborhood of Old
Fields a terrible storm of hail and snow burst upon the earth.
It was as much as they could do to make any progress forward, or even to
keep themselves upon their feet. While struggling and plunging blindly
through the storm, amid the rushing of the wind and the rattling of the
hail, and the crackling and creaking of the dry trees in the forest, and
the rush of waters, and all the din of the tempest, Marian's ear caught
the sound of a child wailing and sobbing. A pang shot through her heart.
She listened breathlessly--and then in the pauses of the storm she heard
a child crying, "Marian, Marian! Oh! where are you, Marian?"
It was Miriam's voice! It was Miriam wandering in night and storm in
search of her beloved nurse.
Marian dropped Thurston's arm and plunged blindly forward through the
snow, in the direction of the voice, crying, "Here I am, my darling, my
treasure--here I am.
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