I now turned my attention to the prospects for the night; and having arranged a comfortable shake-down with the cushions of the carriage, I stretched myself on a bench; where our late exposure to the cold, added to the anxiety of the circumstances, aided and encouraged by the heat of a superb fire composed of roots and peat, lulled me into a profound sleep.
During this state of unconsciousness I travelled over miles of snow, the surface being sufficiently hard to carry my horses and sleigh without perforating it. I saw myriads of wolves and bears, which grinned and snarled at me as I passed, but did not interrupt my progress; on the contrary, they encouraged me by their gestures to proceed, always pointing onwards. It would have been well for me if I had disregarded their direction, as I flew on, urging my horses to a gallop, always ascending the hill, though I did not appear to get any higher; at length I turned upon the trackless height, out of consideration for my horses; and was about to descend into a ravine, when I found myself surrounded by hundreds of savages engaged in hot warfare. I was in the thick of the fight.
No firearms, no smoke; but a great deal of yelling and screaming.
I was surrounded by both sides; and though my appearance upon the field caused a momentary truce, hostilities were soon resumed, and I was struck in the chest by an arrow—which, being barbed, could not be extricated. I made great efforts to protect my lame friend from being trampled upon in the mêlée. No more violence was offered, and I hoped, from the more subdued tones of the contending warriors, that negotiations for a peaceful solution of the strife—whatever it might be—were taking the place of the fight.
I tried to persuade myself that I had been dreaming, and that the barbed arrow in my breast was the effect of the hard savoyard upon which I had supped; but there was the reality. There was my poor friend imploring me to keep them off his broken limb. There were the savages, yelling and disputing in unknown languages, covered by their shields, and encased in armour which looked like straw bands bound round their legs to the knee.
The reader will have guessed the solution; and he is right. The savoyard and black bread upon which I supped, succeeded by the heavy sleep which was induced by the roaring fire, occasioned the dream which supplies the story. Late in the night the Refuge was invaded by a crowd of Piedmontese peasants, who are engaged to cut passes in the snow to enable the traffic to be carried on. These gangs are hired without reference to character or conduct; consequently, when the first deep snow of the winter occurs, it brings together many opposite feuds and factions, who take this opportunity of settling, either by stiletto or by words and wrangling, all existing differences.
Finding the snow not sufficiently settled to proceed with their operations, they had sought the nearest refuge to their work to await the lulling of the storm, their huge wooden shovels slung across their shoulders, and the straw bands round their legs doing duty for the shields and armour of the contending savages.