Guert _was_ impatient, and no sooner was I in the sleigh than we were once
more in rapid motion. I said a few words to encourage the girls, and then
no sound of a human voice mingled with the gloomy scene.




CHAPTER XVI.

He started up, each limb convulsed
With agonizing fear,
He only heard the storm of night--
'Twas music to his ear.

_Lord William_.


Away we went! Guert's aim was the islands, which carried him nearer home,
while it offered a place of retreat, in the event of the danger's becoming
more serious. The fierce rapidity with which we now moved prevented all
conversation, or even much reflection. The reports of the rending ice,
however, became more and more frequent, first coming from above, and then
from below. More than once it seemed as if the immense mass of weight that
had evidently collected somewhere near the town of Albany, was about to
pour down upon us in a flood--when the river would have been swept for
miles, by a resistless torrent. Nevertheless, Guert held on his way;
firstly, because he knew it would be impossible to get on either of the
main shores, anywhere near the point where we happened to be; and secondly,
because, having often seen similar dammings of the waters, he fancied
we were still safe. That the distant reader may understand the precise