heavily for some days, was blown in immense drifts across the roads,
rendering them almost impassable. The groom, being accustomed to obey,
brought the horses round with alacrity when ordered to do so, but he
shook his head ominously as he handed the reins to Captain O'Grady,
and jumped into the dickey.

Off they flew through the blinding snowdrifts, the fine horses going
at a tremendous speed, and threatening to overthrow the sleigh every
instant. The hot breath of the horses froze to the head-gear and
harness, rendering it perfectly white, and the three men were
obliged to pull their fur caps over their ears to avoid their being
frozen. They had not proceeded far on their journey when the road,
which in summer was clearly defined by fences on either side,
diverged somewhat from the ordinary course, and was made, for
convenience, through an adjoining farm, being marked with pine
branches, stuck at intervals in the snow. As our party proceeded,
even these slight indications were invisible, the drifts rising in
some places to a height of twelve or fourteen feet. In one of the
latter the sleigh stuck fast, and the occupants were obliged to get
out, and wading up to their knees in snow to assist the horses to
regain _terra firma_, or at least a more compact body of snow.
Whilst engaged in this operation, Mr. Churchill noticed that the
groom's nose was perfectly white, and on examination it was found to
be frozen; they accordingly set to work to rub it with snow, and at
Captain O'Grady's suggestion he held a large body of snow to it for
the remainder of the journey, which had the effect of thawing it out.

In a short time they regained the high road, and went along at a
tremendous pace for three or four miles, when they entered the
village of Longueuil, which is situated on the south bank of the St.