He had eaten nothing for twenty-four hours, and he had the normal appetite of a healthy boy.

The snow had perceptibly increased in depth since his escape from the lean-to, and walking was correspondingly hard.

He was so hungry and so weary that at length he could scarcely force one foot ahead of the other.
The wind was rising, and in crossing an open frozen marsh the snow drifted before the gale in clouds so dense as to be suffocating.

The storm was attaining the proportions of a blizzard, and when Jamie again reached the shelter of the forest beyond the marsh he found it necessary to stop to rest and regain his breath.
"'Twill never do to try to cross another mesh," he decided.

"I'm like to be overcome with un and perish before I finds my way out of un to the timber.