ion, and that I should be able at last to
get on horseback.

I looked round, but could nowhere see the wood of which I was in search;
though the snow was not falling as thickly as it had done during the
night, the weather still looked very threatening. Dark masses of
snow-clouds obscured the sky like a canopy but a few feet, it seemed,
above my head.

The wind was still piercingly cold, and at any moment the snow might
again come down and overwhelm me. The rough training I had gone
through, however, had taught me never to despair, but to struggle on to
the last. I had no thoughts of doing otherwise, though every limb
ached, and I had scarcely strength to draw one leg after the other.

At last, finding that I could walk no longer, I made another effort to
mount, and succeeded, though not without great pain, in climbing into
the saddle; when I was there, however, my poor horse showed his utter
inability to carry me, and refused to lift a leg; indeed, his strength
was insufficient for the task. In vain I patted his neck and tried to
make him go forward. The only movement he made was to sink down on his
knees. To prevent him from falling altogether, when I might not have
been able to get him up again, I threw myself off his back.

At the same moment the storm burst forth with greater fury than before.
I began to believe that I should perish; but still I had some strength
left in me, and resolved to exert it to the utmost. As to facing the
storm, that was impossible, so all I could do was to turn my back to it
and move forward.

I might be going further and further from the wood, but I trusted that
Providence, which had hitherto preserved me, would direct my steps
towards some other shelter. Still I in vain looked out for any object
rising above the apparently interminable plain of snow. The
saddle-cloth drawn tightly over my shoulders somewhat protected my back,
but the wind whistled past my ears, which had now lost all sensation.

On and on I went, I knew not for how long. I could scarcely think,
indeed I could scarcely feel, except that I was suffering all over from
pain. The storm sent me along, in what direction I could not tell,
though I supposed that it was towards the south. The thick-falling snow
hid all objects, if any there were, from sight. My companions might be
in the neighbourhood, but I was not likely to see them, nor they me.

I tried occasionally to shout out, but I had not power to send