“A foot deep. Shall you drive or ride?”
“I never ride.”
“You’ll need both horses to get through, and I can lend you a spent third.”
“Thank you. How did he look?”
“He knew what had happened, I think, but could not speak or move.”
“Of course. Suppose you and I do the latter, and postpone the former till we are under weigh.”
In less than ten minutes, the doctor’s gig was trundling through the snow, with three horses to drag it, and Mr Armstrong in charge of the reins.
“Yes,” said the doctor, “he’s been leading up to this for a long time, as you have probably observed.”
“I can’t say I have,” said Mr Armstrong.
“Ah! well, you’ve only known him a year. I knew him twenty years ago.”