" Bye-and-bye the tired children
fell asleep, and Mrs. W. was left alone by her fireside. She endeavoured
to quiet her fears by thinking him safe in the house of his friend, but
she could not drive away the thought that he had set out upon his return
home, and she feared, if such was the case, he had met his death in that
pitiless storm. She was two miles from any neighbour, surrounded by her
family of young children; so all she could do was to wait and watch as
the hours wore on. Sleep was out of the question, and the dawn of day
found her still keeping her lonely vigil. As the sun rose the wind
calmed, but the thick drifts of snow rendered it impossible for her to
leave the house, and she watched anxiously if any one might chance to
pass, to whom she could apply for assistance in gaining tidings of her
husband. Alas! her fears of the previous night were but too well
founded. He had perished in the storm. His friend tried his utmost to
persuade him to remain for the night when the storm began, but he was
anxious to return to his home, fearing the anxiety of his family: and he
left his friend's house about four o'clock in the afternoon. The weather
was intensely cold, as well as stormy, and, owing to the depth of snow
which had already fallen, he could make but slow progress, and, when
overtaken by darkness and the increasing tempest, benumbed with cold,
and blinded by the whirling drifts of snow, he sank down by the roadside
to die, and the suspense of his wife was at length relieved by the
painful certainty of his fate.
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