George laughed heartily. The girls shrugged up their shoulders,
expressive of nervous twitchings.

"And in winter," continued H., "it is so intensely cold that every river
to its foundation is frozen into ice. It snows sometimes for weeks
without ceasing; it is then generally followed by fierce winds which
drift the snow into heaps like mountains, frequently burying houses and
their inhabitants a hundred feet deep."

"Horrible! horrible!" ejaculated Mrs. C.

"The air is sometimes so intensely cold that the mercury in the
thermometer is congealed into ice at 150 degrees below zero; and it
frequently occurs during those frosty periods that travellers, with
their horses and vehicles, are found petrified into ice, so hard that
they never can be thawed out again. Hundreds of such groups are
preserved in the Canadian museums, and shown as curiosities to foreign
travellers."

"Oh! Charlie, for pity's sake, don't horrify us so!" shouted Mrs. C.

"Do stop, Charlie, you'll frighten us to death," exclaimed the girls,
fearfully excited.

Mr. Charlston and George laughed heartily. Fred muttered out something
condemnatory; while George cried out, "Go on Charlie, tell the whole
story."

"I haven't told you the one-half yet; but this will do for the
present;--only I might merely add,--that if Fred goes out for a