What has
become of the passenger? Oh, he is unhurt; the shock did not even
unseat him. There he sits on the sledge, which stretches like a little
bridge from bank to bank. It is freed from the earth, and the dogs are
again attached, after a fierce little quarrel between two or three of
them, just to keep up their credit as quarrelsome creatures. Order and
obedience restored, "Hoo-eet," away we go homeward, but at a more
moderate pace, for it is uphill. By the mission-house the road bends
to the left, "Ra, Ra, Ra." At the corner a number of women are
standing and laughing, and as the sledge approaches, they ran,
according to their usual custom, and throw themselves on to it, so the
poor dogs finish their course with an extra load, and are quite
willing to lie down in obedience to the final command, "Ah, Ah." If
you were on a real journey, you would learn by experience to avoid
that interjection in your conversation, for the weary animals would at
once take the permission to stop and lie down.
Now the dogs are released from their harness and run away to their
respective homes with glee. The sledge is unloaded, and its contents
carried off by their owners.
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