Beside its banks arose stately cotton-mills, and from their many windows hundreds of lights were shining.

Behind them, tier above tier, were the houses of the town; and crowning the hill was the academy, with its great dome gleaming on its top like a silver cap upon a mountain of snow.

The merry sleigh-bells and the crisp tramp of the horses upon the frozen ground were all calculated to make a striking impression on one beholding such a scene for the first time.
Clarence followed Mr.Balch into the sleigh, delighted and bewildered with the surrounding objects.

The driver whipped up his horses, they clattered over the bridge, dashed swiftly through the town, and in a very short period arrived at the dwelling of Mr.Eustis.
The horses had scarcely stopped, when the door flew open, and a stream of light from the hall shone down the pathway to the gate.

Mr.Eustis came out on the step to welcome them.