The stout farmer was
soon on foot--men sleep lightly in these troublous times--proffering
food, fire, and shelter. Our guide strongly advised our remaining there
till we could gain some tidings of our lost companions; it seemed so
unlikely that they should have passed or missed us on the road, that he
could not but fear lest accident or treachery should have detained them;
he offered himself to retrace our track, and make all inquiries, which
he alone could do safely. So it was settled; and, after making the
horses as comfortable as rude accommodation would allow, my squire and I
betook ourselves to rest, not unwillingly, about three, A. M.
The traveler's first waking impulse leads him straight to the window or
to the weather-glass. I turned away from the look-out in utter disgust;
a hundred yards off, through the cloud of driving snow-flakes, and a
level white mantel, rising up to the tower bars of the snake-fences,
merged tillage into pasture undistinguishably. I chronicled that same
day as the dreariest of all _then_ remembered Sabbaths. Besides some odd
numbers of an ancient Methodist magazine, there was no literature
available, and all the letters that I cared to write had been dispatched
before I left Baltimore.
A visit to the shed which sheltered our horses, did not greatly raise
one's spirits.
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