My wretched feet, flayed and swollen to lameness by the sharp air of January, began to heal and subside under the gentler breathings of April; the nights and mornings no longer by their Canadian temperature froze the very blood in our veins; we could now endure the play-hour passed in the garden: sometimes on a sunny day it began even to be pleasant and genial, and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.
A reggelek és esték kanadai hidege már nem fagyasztotta meg ereinkben a vért, már könnyen kibírtunk egyórai játékot, futkározást a kertben, sőt, ha sütött a nap, már élveztük is a szabad levegőt. A kopár földet, bokrokat mintha zöld fátyol vonta volna be, napról napra élénkebb zöld.