We became so chilled that we could hardly speak; and at sunset, when we stopped work, we could hardly get across to the camp.

The farmers, who were coming twice a day with their teams for ice, complained constantly of the cold; several of them stopped drawing altogether for the time.

Willis also stopped work on Thursday at noon.
The people at home knew that we were having a hard time.

Grandmother and the girls did all they could for us; and every day at noon and again at night the old Squire, bundled up in his buffalo-skin coat, drove down to the lake with horse and pung, and brought us a warm meal, packed in a large box with half a dozen hot bricks.
Only one who has been chilled through all day can imagine how glad we were to reach that warm camp at night.

Indeed, except for the camp, we could never have worked there as we did.