My brother, I saw, was more guided by Lassie and the
way she took than anything else, trusting to her instinct. It was too
dark to see far before us; but he called her back continually, and noted
from what quarter she returned, and shaped our slow steps accordingly.
But the tedious motion scarcely kept my very blood from freezing. Every
bone, every fibre in my body seemed first to ache, and then to swell, and
then to turn numb with the intense cold. My brother bore it better than
I, from having been more out upon the hills. He did not speak, except to
call Lassie. I strove to be brave, and not complain; but now I felt the
deadly fatal sleep stealing over me.
"I can go no farther," I said, in a drowsy tone. I remember I suddenly
became dogged and resolved. Sleep I would, were it only for five
minutes. If death were to be the consequence, sleep I would. Gregory
stood still. I suppose, he recognized the peculiar phase of suffering to
which I had been brought by the cold.
"It is of no use," said he, as if to himself.
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