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To her it meant nothing, but she felt him start. "What is it?" she whispered. "The ploughs!" "The ploughs?" "The snow-ploughs that followed us. Twenty minutes behind twenty minutes between us and death, Gertrude, in that blizzard, think of it. That must mean we are to live."
Then he turned to the right and entered a yard. He had reached home! The next morning it was still snowing; nevertheless I started. On the road were many snow-ploughs at work levelling the snow. These ploughs were of triangular form, made of heavy timber braced with crossbeams.
"Bad night, Jawn," said Mr. Dooley. "It is that," said Mr. McKenna. "Blowin' an' storming', yes," said Mr. Dooley. "There hasn' been a can in tonight but wan, an' that was a pop bottle. Is the snow-ploughs out, I dinnaw?" "They are," said Mr. McKenna. "I suppose Doherty is dhrivin'," said Mr. Dooley. "He's a good dhriver. They do say he do be wan iv the best dhrivers on th' road.
I wished sometimes to join in the fray, for I love fun. The snow was deep, and the snow-ploughs, drawn by three horses, were seen pretty often on the road. The streets in the little hamlets or towns were often blocked.
All that long winter, when the snow was deep in the fields, and the engines carried snow-ploughs, and the loungers about the station wore buffalo coats, Zilda was very happy. Gilby wore a dogskin cap and collar and cuffs; Zilda thought them very becoming. Then spring came, and Gilby wore an Inverness cape, which was the fashion in those days.
The farmer said: "What are you doing, stranger, on the highroad with snow so deep, and when travelling is suspended, snow-ploughs abandoned, horses belonging to them gone to the nearest farms? You cannot go further until the snow packs itself with its own weight, and the snow-ploughs and rollers are able to work on the road. Did you come here on skees?" "No, I drove," I replied.
Supplying himself with provisions, blankets, etc., he took the first northerly train, travelled as far as he could by rail, then hired conveyances to carry him to where men and snow-ploughs were cutting a road to the imprisoned cars. Mr. Thorne joined them in their work. His strength seemed superhuman. Muscular men were amazed at his swift, dexterous movements. All day they toiled.
It was such hard work that the perspiration was dripping from our faces, though it was 23 degrees below zero. "I have had enough of this travelling," I said to the driver; "the snow is too deep and soft to go on. The snow-ploughs have not done much good here. They evidently could not go far."
The struggles of the poor animals as they sank continually in the deep soft snow and tried to extricate themselves, were sometimes painful to behold. We always had to be careful to drive in the middle of the road, where the snow had been cleared and packed by the snow-ploughs and the rollers.
I said to myself, "I have to cross this 'Snow Land' before I reach 'The Land of the Long Night. What hard work it will be!" A little further on we came to the post station and how glad I was to spend the night there to get into a feather bed. The following day the snow-ploughs and the rollers were busy, and the centre of the highway was made passable for some miles further north.
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