“And we set out through that curtain, through that dense unceasing fall, through that powder that filled the night and the air, that moved, floated, fell, and froze the flesh as it melted, froze as if it would burn, with a short sharp sting on the skin at each touch of the tiny white flakes.
“We sank to the knees in the soft chill dust, and had to step very high to walk at all. As we advanced the dog’s bark became clearer and louder. My uncle cried, ‛There it is!’ We halted to observe it, as one ought to do on encountering an unknown enemy in the dark.
“For my part I could see nothing; then I made up with the others, and I made it out. The dog was a fearful and fantastic sight; a great black dog, a sheepdog, with shaggy hair and a head like a wolf, standing on all fours at the very end of the long beam of light cast by the lantern on the snow. He did not move; he was quiet now, and was looking at us.
“My uncle said, ‛It is strange, he does not come at us, and he does not run away. I have a good mind to take a shot at him.’
“But my father said decidedly, ‛No, we must catch him.’
“Thereupon my brother Jacques said, ‛But he is not alone. There’s something beside him.’
“And there was something beside him, something grey, indistinct. We began to advance again carefully.
“When the dog saw us approaching, he squatted down on his hindquarters. He did not look savage, rather he seemed pleased that he had succeeded in attracting somebody.
“My father went straight up to him and caressed him. The dog licked his hands, and we saw that he was tied to the wheel of a little carriage, a sort of toy carriage completely enveloped in three or four woollen wraps. We took these cloths off carefully, and when Baptiste held his lantern to the door of the go-cart, which was like a kennel on wheels, we saw a little baby inside asleep.
“We were so dumbfounded that we could not utter a word. My father was the first to recover himself, and, as he was a large-hearted man, and somewhat of a visionary, he laid his hand on the top of the carriage and said, ‛Poor forsaken child, you shall be one of us!’ And he ordered my brother Jacques to wheel our find in front of us.