I  went  on  :  night  and  darkness  overtook  me.  No  sight or  sound  of  a  village  was  to  be  met  with.  The  country  was covered  with  snow,  and  I  was  unacquainted  with  the  road.

Tired,  I  alighted,  and  fastened  my  horse  to  something  like a  pointed  stump  of  a  tree,  which  appeared  above  the  snow  ;  for the  sake  of  safety,  I  placed  my  pistols  under  my  arm,  and  laid down  on  the  snow,  where  I  slept  so  soundly  that  I  did  not open  my  eyes  till  full  daylight.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  my astonishment,  to  find  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  village,  lying  in  a churchyard  ;  nor  was  my  horse  to  be  seen,  but  I  heard  him  soon after  neigh  somewhere  above  me.  On  looking  upwards,  I  beheld him  hanging  by  his  bridle  to  the  weathercock  of  the  steeple. Matters  were  now  very  plain  to  me ;  the  village  had  been  covered with  snow  over-night ;  a  sudden  change  of  weather  had  taken  place  ; I  had  sunk  down  to  the  churchyard  whilst  asleep,  gently,  and  in  the same  proportion  as  the  snow  had  melted  away  ;  and  what  in  the dark  I  had  taken  to  be  a  stump  of  a  little  tree  appearing  above the  snow,  to  which  I  had  tied  my  horse,  proved  to  have  been the  cross  or  weathercock  of  the  steeple !

Without  long  consideration,  I  took  one  of  my  pistols,  shot the  bridle  in  two,  brought  down  the  horse,  and  proceeded  on my  journey.

Chapter 1