; my
voice was good, and a supper and bed to the pedlar-boy, were the
purchase of my songs, at the cottar's or the farmer's ingle. During the
first year my two groats had grown to nearly a pound, and my ambition
had grown with it. Pins, tapes, and thread were added to my store; my
excursions were extended, and Bill Wilson was a known and a welcome
guest over the whole county of Mid-Lothian. My toil was great, but my
strength seemed to increase with my load. I had now in view my second
step in advance, a horse and cart to carry my load. Years had passed on;
my pack, worth twenty pounds, was all my own, and I had two pounds in my
pocket; it was far on in the year, and the day was short and louring. I
had some goods bespoke for a bridal, which required to be delivered on
the following day. My route lay over the Soutra Hill; and had the
weather kept up, my task was easy of accomplishment--so I cheerily
plodded on, counting my gains; but scarce had I reached the ascent, when
the wind began to moan along the dreary waste, and thin flakes of snow
to fall, while the blast, from the east, blew right in my face. I
quickened my pace; but the storm increased before I reached the top, the
drifting snow blinding me, and the fitful gusts almost lifting me off my
feet. Cold and biting as was the air, I was wet with perspiration, from
my load and my struggles against the blast. I could not see two yards
before me; I was truly alone in the howling waste, yet I yielded not to
despondency, but struggled on for life. I had, it seemed, deviated from
the road, for all was now a trackless waste, when suddenly I stumbled
and fell on the edge of a declivity, and my pack, the whole of my
wealth, bounded from me, in what direction I knew not. It was vain to
look for it in such a situation, in such a storm; but what is wealth
under such circumstances, when life is scarcely to be hoped for?

"When I recovered my feet, I was bruised, and began to chill. Hope of
escape had nearly fled; despondency was stealing fast upon me; but life
is sweet, and so I urged on, as much to overcome the intense cold I
felt, as with any hope of finding a shelter from the pitiless storm. The
magnitude of my loss never once entered my mind in this struggle for
existence. I would have given all the remainder of my hard earnings for
the sight of a cottage, in which to preserve my life. In this, my hour
of need, I was snatched from death. As I stood, unable to move a step
far