"'Speed on, speed on, good master;
The camp lies far away;
We must cross the haunted valley
Before the close of day.'"
"That has a Canadian sound," said Aaron; "give us more of it."
"'How the snow-blight came upon me
I will tell you as we go,—
The blight of the shadow hunter
Who walks the midnight snow.'"
And so on. The intent seems to be to personify the fearful cold that overtakes and benumbs the traveler in the great Canadian forests in winter. This stanza brings out the silence or desolation of the scene very effectively,—a scene without sound or motion:—
"'Save the wailing of the moose-bird
With a plaintive note and low;
And the skating of the red leaf
Upon the frozen snow.'
"The rest of the poem runs thus:—
"'And said I, Though dark is falling,
And far the camp must be,
Yet my heart it would be lightsome
If I had but company.
"'And then I sang and shouted,
Keeping measure as I sped,
To the harp-twang of the snow-shoe
As it sprang beneath my tread.
"'Nor far into the valley
Had I dipped upon my way,
When a dusky figure joined me
In a capuchin of gray,
"'Bending upon the snow-shoes
With a long and limber stride;
And I hailed the dusky stranger,
As we traveled side by side.