"It is wise in these mountains to
prepare for all kinds of weather. It has been bad enough already, but it
may be a great deal worse, for to-day the mountains we are to cross are
very high."

"Goodness gracious!" I exclaimed. "Is it possible that we can have worse
weather than we have seen, John?" "Certainly," he replied. I wondered
what sort of weather it could be!

John attended himself to my toilet; he would not trust me. He put my
stockings on, put an extra quantity of Lapp grass round them, and saw
that every part of my foot to my ankle was well protected, tied the
shoes over my ankles and my reindeer-skin trousers most carefully, saw
that my belt was well fastened, that my "pesh" or fur blouse was
carefully made fast round my neck, and that my gloves were well secured
to my wrists with bands used for that purpose and my hood tied tightly.
When he had finished, he said, with a smile:

"Paulus, you are ready to stand the strongest windstorm that can blow;
everything on your body is made as secure as it can be!"

Our reindeer being harnessed we bade good-bye to the people of the house
of refuge, and a number of parties left together for self-protection.

John was not mistaken about the weather. Three or four hours after our
departure the wind increased, and terrific squalls followed each other
and threatened to upset our sleighs. The blinding snow dust prevented my
seeing my reindeer, and at times I could not even see the head of my
sleigh. Night seemed to have taken the place of daylight,--a thick fog
could not have been worse. Then, to add to my discomfort, I had
continually to break through the mask of ice, which formed again quickly
after being broken. It was of no use to look for the furrows of the
sleighs that had preceded us, for their tracks were filled at once with
snow.

Once more I thought I was lost, when I saw John standing still; he was
waiting for me, and attached my sleigh to his, so that the mishap of
being parted again could not occur. When he had tied the two sleighs, he
said: "If we are lost we will be together." Dear John, what a glorious
fellow he was!

I thought of what I imagined the "Long Night" had said to me after the
disappearance of the sun: "I send terrific gales and mighty snowstorms
upon ocean and lands." It seemed to me that I could hear her sardonic
laugh after telling me of her power. The storm continued to increase,
and swept down upon us from the higher mountain sides with