As soon as the horses stopped,
I dropped the lines, jerked the door of the cutter back,
and jumped to the ground.
Then I stood transfixed. That very moment the door of
the cottage opened. There stood my wife, and between her
knee and the door-post a curly head pushed through, and
a child's voice shouted, "Daddy, come to the house! Daddy,
come to the house!"
A turn to the better had set in sometime during the
morning. The fever had dropped, and quickly, as children's
illness will come, it had gone. But the message had sped
on its way, irrevocable and, therefore, unrevoked. My
wife, when she told me the tale, thought, well had she
reason to smile, for had I not thus gained an additional
holiday?
SEVEN
Skies and Scares
We had a "soft spell" over a week end, and on Monday it
had been followed by a fearful storm--snowstorm and
blizzard, both coming from the southeast and lasting
their traditional three days before they subsided. On
Thursday, a report came in that the trail across the wild
land west of Bell's corner was closed completely--in
fact, would be impassable for the rest of the winter.
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