The ice was thick on the creek, and every new pool and lake was covered.

The trees and bushes that had been dripping the day before were sheathed in silver mail.

Breath curled away like smoke from the lips.
"If Tayoga stayed in his canoe," said Wilton, "he's frozen solidly in the middle of the river, and he won't be able to move it until a thaw comes." Robert laughed with genuine amusement and also with a certain scorn.
"I've told you many times, Will," he said, "that you didn't know all about Tayoga, but now it seems that you know nothing about him." "Well, then, wherein am I wrong, Sir Robert the Omniscient ?" asked Wilton.
"In your assumption that Tayoga would not foresee what was coming.

Having spent nearly all his life with nature he has naturally been forced to observe all of its manifestations, even the most delicate.

And when you add to these necessities the powers of an exceedingly strong and penetrating mind you have developed faculties that can cope with almost anything.