1 When Ethan drove into Hale's yard the builder was just getting out of his sleigh.
2 He flung the bearskin into the sleigh, climbed to the seat, and drove up to the house.
3 As they drove away the sun sank behind the hill and the pine-boles turned from red to grey.
4 There seemed to be no answer to this, and again they drove on for a while without speaking.
5 The sled swerved in response, but he righted it again, kept it straight, and drove down on the black projecting mass.
6 "Jotham Powell brought some goods over from the Flats for his wife, and he drove right on home with them," she explained.
7 He stretched out his legs, drove his heels into the road to keep the sled from slipping forward, and bent her head back between his hands.
8 They drove slowly up the road between fields glistening under the pale sun, and then bent to the right down a lane edged with spruce and larch.
9 Ethan drove on in silence till they reached a part of the wood where the pines were more widely spaced, then he drew up and helped Mattie to get out of the sleigh.
10 She gave him a last nod of sympathy while her son chirped to the horse; and Ethan, as she drove off, stood in the middle of the road and stared after the retreating sleigh.
11 The sweetness of the picture, and the relief of knowing that his fears of "trouble" with Zeena were unfounded, sent up his spirits with a rush, and he, who was usually so silent, whistled and sang aloud as he drove through the snowy fields.