their excursion
when they did. Had they delayed it, as might have been the case, until
they had turned their attention to the seals--which it had been Mr
Meldrum's intention first to have hunted, in order to obtain as many
furs as possible before the severe cold weather, that he expected soon
to set in--they might have starved; for, the very day that succeeded the
one on which they brought home the rabbits, a heavy fall of snow
commenced that completely blocked up all the approaches to the creek,
and compelled them to remain indoors during the ensuing week. The wind
blew so terribly keen and strong from the north-east, right over the
cliffs on the opposite side of the bay, during the whole time the snow
continued to fall, that it was painful in the extreme to be exposed to
it; while, if the door of the house happened to be left open but for a
few minutes, the driving snow-flakes made their way within and banked
themselves up like a heap of frozen drift in their midst.

"Ah!" said Mr Meldrum, "I told you that the fine weather we had was
very exceptional, and could not last. It was providential that we were
prepared for this, or we should have been in a miserable plight."

"You're right, boss," observed Mr Lathrope. "This air snow-storm is
jest like one of them blizzards I told you about when we were aboard the
old ship that I had noticed in Minnesota. I didn't kinder think then
that I should come across another o' them this side of the globe! I'd
ha' bet agin it any day."

"Aye," responded the other, "it is a fortunate thing for all of us that
we cannot foresee the future, and that our strength is apportioned by
degrees to the burdens sent us to bear. The great majority of us would
succumb at once if we only knew the struggle that lay before us, the
griefs, the trials, the mental weariness, the physical pain!"

"Oh, papa," said Kate, "don't speak so sadly! Let us rather think of
the joy and unlooked-for happiness which so frequently comes to our lot
when we have the least cause to expect them; and--and--" but here the
girl's voice faltered.

Kate well knew the reason of her father taking so sombre a view of life,
and she shared the sorrow that filled his heart, for her mother had but
died a short period before they left England.

"Think, papa," she added, after a pause, "of the glorious hope of
eternity, and the city within the golden gates, where we shall all of us
meet the loved ones who have gone before!