direction to go had I been left by myself, except I
had trusted to the wind. As long as that blew it would have served as a
guide, though a somewhat uncertain one. Even that guide proved fickle.
The wind fell and the snow came down perpendicularly, or rather on all
sides, floating here and there, and completely surrounding us. Still my
companion went on without hesitation. At first I had walked by his
side, now I dropped behind him and trod in his footsteps. This enabled
me to keep up with him better. As far as I could judge, I believe his
course was straight as an arrow for the point at which he was aiming.
The cold was less intense than it had been before the snow began to
fall, still I felt that if we were to stop we should very likely be
frozen to death. Though I kept as close as I could to my companion,
almost touching him indeed, so thickly did the snow come down that often
I could barely distinguish his misty form before me.

"I never felt so helpless; my manhood seemed to have deserted me. I
thought if I should stumble and fall, before I could cry out he might be
out of sight and be unable to find me. I confess that all sorts of
dreadful fancies came into my head. At last I got ashamed of them, and
tried to get a better heart in my body. I began to whistle, but that
would not do, then I tried to sing; I got on badly enough in that way
also. I don't think the Delaware quite approved of the attempt. He
grunted out something once or twice. Perhaps he was trying to join in
the chorus. My voice, indeed, grew fainter and fainter, and at last I
was obliged to give up the attempt. My knees, too, were less and less
able to support me; I felt them trembling under my weight. Still I
toiled on. I would not complain, that would have lowered me in the
estimation of my guide, and I would not ask questions, so I remained
ignorant as to what prospect there was of our reaching shelter from the
storm.

"At last I found that we were going up hill over rugged ground, and I
concluded that we had reached the hill I had seen before it grew dark.
We went on for some way up and then down, and then along a level place,
and then up again, and I saw a dark object rising on my right side, high
above our heads it seemed. It looked to me like a precipice. Presently
my guide stopped, so suddenly that I ran against him. Then he turned to
the right without speaking, and I followed him. We went on a few paces,
and I found t