ld yet remain for a day or two. Large cakes and masses of
ice came floating down the current, which, though not very violent,
hurried along at a much swifter pace than the ordinary one of our
sluggish river-god. These ice-masses, when they struck the barrier of
ice above mentioned, acted upon it like a battering-ram, and were
themselves forced high out of the water, or sometimes carried beneath
the main sheet of ice. At last, down the stream came an immense mass of
ice, and, striking the barrier about at its centre, it gave way, and the
whole was swept onward together, leaving the river entirely free, with
only here and there a cake of ice floating quietly along. The great
accumulation, in its downward course, hit against a tree that stood in
mid-current, and caused it to quiver like a reed; and it swept quite
over the shrubbery that bordered what, in summer-time, is the river's
bank, but which is now nearly the centre of the stream. Our river in its
present state has quite a noble breadth. The little hillock which formed
the abutment of the old bridge is now an island with its tuft of trees.
Along the hither shore a row of trees stand up to their knees, and the
smaller ones to their middles, in the water; and afar off, on the
surface of the stream, we see tufts of bushes emerging, thrusting up
their heads, as it were, to breathe. The water comes over the stone
wall, and encroaches several yards on the boundaries of our orchard.
[Here the supper-bell rang.] If our boat were in good order, I should
now set forth on voyages of discovery, and visit nooks on the borders of
the meadows, which by and by will be a mile or two from the water's
edge. But she is in very bad condition, full of water, and, doubtless,
as leaky as a sieve.

On coming from supper, I found that little Puss had established herself
in the study, probably with intent to pass the night here. She now lies
on the footstool between my feet, purring most obstreperously. The day
of my wife's departure, she came to me, talking with the greatest
earnestness; but whether it was to condole with me on my loss, or to
demand my redoubled care for herself, I could not well make out. As
Puss now constitutes a third part of the family, this mention of her
will not appear amiss. How Molly employs herself, I know not. Once in a
while, I hear a door slam like a thunder-clap; but she never shows her
face, nor speaks a word, unless to announce a visitor or deliver a
letter. T