"Every tree and shrub was likewise encrusted with ice, the bare boughs and slender twigs all standing out in full relief, under a sky of purest blue, glittered in the sun-beams, as if covered with rubies and diamonds.
"Those who have never experienced a northern winter, can form no idea of the effect of sun-rise over such a scene as this.
"The day was severe enough to require all the aids of lion skin, buffalo robes, and fine furs, to preserve the vital fluid from stagnation. I had gone about a quarter of a mile ahead when I met a little urchin of four or five years, carrying a small pail of milk.
"'Why, my little fellow,' said I, 'where are your stockings this cold morning?'
"'The deuce it is!' Why, my man, your name is very like a jelly-bag, larger at the top than it is at the bottom.'
"'I never seed a jelly-bag,' said the youngster, 'but that is exactly the shape of our Tom's kite; it's proper big at the top, and tapers off at the end in a _leetle_ peak.'
"'Well, you're a smart boy for a simile. Run home and get your stockings, quick step, and here is a shilling toward another pair.'
"On I ran, but was soon compelled to leave the faint traces of a road to avoid a cutter that came hurrying on at the heels of a frightened market-horse. One thing after another came bouncing out, strewing the path, and, last of all, apparently much against his will, out popped the driver himself, heels over head, his capes flying about his ears, his cap tossed into a gully, and his temper not a little discomposed. He sprang upon his feet.
"'Now, that 'are skittish colt of our Dick's--what on 'arth can a fellow do to stop the trollup--she goes like a jack-o'-lantern. Hullo there! Stop that 'are mare, will ye? My stars--what 'ill our Nab say?'
"But the strong and lively perception of the ludicrous, that characterizes the New-Englander, even of the roughest mould, seemed to overpower his vexation. Springing up from the hollow, into which his fur-cap had rolled, he swung it round his head, and burst out into a fit of obstreperous laughter.
"How the adventure ended, history does not record; the coach came up, and we were soon beyond the region of buttered roads."
A New-England country-wedding is admirably depicted in the subjoined paragraphs: