ilst we amused ourselves. Although
my beloved Helen was not there, having been exchanged for the day in
favour of Master Mouse, a shaggy pony, whose paces were as rough as
its coat, I begged a red blanket from Mr. K----, and covered up Helen's
stable companion, whose sleek skin spoke of a milder temperature than
that on Lake Ida's "gloomy shore." Our simple arrangements were
soon made. Mr. K---- left directions to his mate to prepare a repast
consisting of tea, bread, and mutton for us, and, each carrying our
skates, we made the best of our way across the frozen tussocks to the
lake. Mr. K---- proved an admirable guide over its surface, for he was
in the habit during the winter of getting all his firewood out of the
opposite "bush," and bringing it across the lake on sledges drawn by
bullocks. We accused him of having cut up our ice dreadfully by these
means; but he took us to a part of the vast expanse where an unbroken
field of at least ten acres of ice stretched smoothly before us. Here
were no boards marked "DANGEROUS," nor any intimation of the depth of
water beneath. The most timid person could feel no apprehension on ice
which seemed more solid than the earth; so accordingly in a few moments
we had buckled and strapped on our skates, and were skimming and
gliding--and I must add, falling--in all directions. We were very much
out of practice at first, except Mr. K----, who skated every day, taking
short cuts across the lake to track a stray heifer or explore a blind
gully.

I despair of making my readers see the scene as I saw it, or of
conveying any adequate idea of the intense, the appalling loneliness of
the spot. It really seemed to me as if our voices and laughter, so
far from breaking the deep eternal silence, only brought it out into
stronger relief. On either hand rose up, shear from the waters edge, a
great, barren, shingly mountain; before us loomed a dark pine forest,
whose black shadows crept up until they merged in the deep _crevasses_
and fissures of the Snowy Range. Behind us stretched the winding gullies
by which we had climbed to this mountain tarn, and Mr. K----'s little
hut and scrap of a garden and paddock gave the one touch of life, or
possibility of life, to this desolate region. In spite of all scenic
wet blankets we tried hard to be gay, and no one but myself would
acknowledge that we found the lonely grandeur of our "rink" too much for
us. We skated away perseveringly until we were both ti