Georgies Present | Page 7

thought was owing to the fact that he had kept a black gauze veil over his face at mid-day, and had resolutely adhered to his purpose of not rubbing his eyes. He was, therefore, best able to guide his companions. He thus describes the plan on which he proceeded:--'Maurice, the Indian, would open his eyes now and then to look at my compass;--we could not see for fog more than one hundred yards; he would fix on some object as far as the eye could reach, and then shut his eyes again, when I would lead him up to it. On reaching it he would take another look, and we then started for the next point. It was literally a case of the blind leading the blind.
"In this manner, by forced marches, we were enabled to reach, by seven or eight in the evening, the same spots at which we had halted on our outward march at four each day. Thus we were spared the labour of digging and clearing away the snow, to which, in our enfeebled condition, we were quite unequal. The stint of food was now so small that I advised my companions not to eat any quantity at a time, but to take a piece the size of a nutmeg when hunger was most craving. We gathered also each day, on our return, about as many partridge berries as would fill a wine glass apiece, and these we found both refreshing and nutritive. They had ripened in the autumn, and had been buried under the snow all the winter, so that they resembled preserved fruit in flavour, and reminded me of a rich, clarety grape.
"One great privation in this winter travelling is the want of water. We were obliged to content ourselves with the supply gotten from the snow, melted by the smoky fire. This water, together with the wind, had the effect of parching and cracking my swollen lips to such a degree, that when, after an interval of eight days, I had an opportunity of surveying my face in a piece of broken glass, I was at a loss to recognise my own features. The most scorching heat of summer is not so injurious to the skin as the effect of travelling in the snow at this season.'
"After this tedious fashion, stage by stage, the wanderers slowly proceeded, until at length, by God's mercy, they reached the place where the Indian wigwams had been left. During the latter part of their route they heard continually the noise of the woodpeckers upon the bark of the trees, which is considered a certain sign of approaching rain, a downfall of which they much feared. The weather was beginning to soften, and consequently the ice lost its firmness, and it became both difficult and dangerous to get so far as this place, but by great effort they accomplished it. Nor was your grandfather satisfied to trust to the imperfect shelter the tents afforded, but persevered in journeying on to the hut built for the winter crew, and which he knew was at no great distance from thence.
"Scarcely had he reached this spot when the rain fell in torrents, and truly thankful did he feel that he had a roof to protect him, instead of being in one of those miserable un-roofed snow-caves, which had for so many nights been his only retreat during all weathers. For a time he suffered greatly both in his eyes and from the smarting of his cold-blistered face, which, together with the fatigue he had endured, rendered it necessary that he should repose for some days before venturing on his journeyings again. I shall not trace his onward progress, which continued to be attended with much difficulty and danger. His nerves became at length so shattered by his great exertions, that, when travelling along the coast, where he had to pass over very lofty cliffs, the sight of these dizzy precipices would so affect him that he burst into tears, and experienced all the symptoms of fainting. Once when clinging by his hands and knees upon the edge of a steep cliff, he felt as though he must inevitably loose his hold, in which case the fall would have been certain death. Closing his eyes, he breathed an earnest ejaculatory prayer, and supported by an invisible arm, and strengthened with new vigour, he felt empowered to maintain his hold, and, gradually advancing, reached the bottom in safety."
[Illustration]
"Oh, how glad you must have felt when you saw him home again, safe and sound, dear granny."
"I did, indeed, my love, and with thankful heart acknowledged the goodness of our heavenly Father. Nothing but the strong sense of duty can sustain the heart under such anxiety as falls to the lot of the faithful missionary