All this time the storm drew rapidly nearer, the wind blew in icy
cold gusts, the hail came down in large stones, pelting our faces
till they tingled again; it was nearly an hour before we rode up to
the hospitable, ever-open porch door of Rockwood. I was immediately
lifted off my saddle by kind and strong arms, and carried with
frozen limbs and streaming habit into the kitchen, for I was as
unfit for the drawing-room as my own water-spaniel. A blazing wood
fire was hastily lighted in one of the bed-rooms, and thither the
good hostess conveyed me. I emerged from that apartment the most
extraordinary figure you ever saw. Imagine me arrayed in a short
and very wide crinoline, over which was a bright-coloured linsey
petticoat; an old pilot-coat for a jacket, huge carpet slippers on
my feet, and my dripping hair hanging loose over my shoulders! I
assure you, I looked like the portraits in books of travel, of the
Tahitian women when they first assumed clothes; and the worst of it
was, that I had to remain in this costume for three whole days. To
return was impossible, the storm from the S.W. raged all that
evening. When we opened our eyes next morning, snow was lying some
inches deep, and still falling fast; there was no cessation for
forty-eight hours, and then we had to give it time to thaw a little,
so that it was Sunday morning before we started on our homeward
ride. In the meantime, nothing could afford a greater contrast to
the wild weather out of doors than the snug brightness within.
Blazing logs of pine and black birch made every room warm and
cheery; all day we chatted and amused ourselves in different ways (I
learned to make a capital pudding, and acquainted myself with the
mysteries of "junket"); in the evenings we had whist for an hour,
and then either round games or songs. The young men of the house
have nice voices and a great feeling for music, and some of the