at half past four in the morning，the travelers met in the courtyard of hotel normandie，where they were to take the carriage．
they were still full of sleep，and shivering with cold under their wraps．they could only see each other dimly in the obscure light，and the accumulation of heavy winter garments made them all resemble fat cu-rates in long cassocks．only two of the men were acquainted；a third accosted them and they chatted：“i'm going to take my wife，” said one．“i too，”said another．“and i，”said the third．the first added：“we shall not return to rouen，and if the prussians approach havre，we shall go over to england．”all had the same projects，being of the same mind．
as yet the horses were not harnessed．a little lantern，carried by a stable boy，went out one door from time to time，to immediately appear at another．the feet of the horses striking the floor could be heard，al－though deadened by the straw and litter，and the voice of a man talking to the beasts，sometimes swearing，came from the end of the building． a light tinkling of bells announced that they were taking down the harness；this murmur soon became a clear and continuous rhythm by the movement of the animal，stopping some－times，then breaking into a brusque shake which was accompanied by the dull stamp of a sabot upon the hard earth．
the door suddenly closed．all noise ceased．the frozen citizens were silent；they remained immovable and stiff．
a curtain of uninterrupted white flakes constantly sparkled in its descent to the ground．it effaced forms，and powdered everything with a downy moss．and nothing could be heard in the great silence．the town was calm，and buried under the wintry frost，as this fall of snow，unnamable and floating，a sensation rather than a sound（trembling atoms which only seem to fill all space），came to cover the earth．
the man reappeared with his lantern，pulling at the end of a rope a sad horse which would not come willingly．he placed him against the pole，fastened the traces，walked about a long time adjusting the harness，for he had the use of but one hand，the other carrying the lantern．as he went for the second horse，he noticed the travelers，motionless，already white with snow，and said to them：“why not get into the carriage？you will be under cover，at least．”
they had evidently not thought of it，and they hastened to do so．the three men installed their wives at the back and then followed them．then the other forms，undecided and veiled，took in their turn the last places without exchanging a word．
the floor was covered with straw，in which the feet ensconced themselves．the ladies at the back having brought little copper foot stoves，with a carbon fire，lighted them and for some time，in low voices，enumerated the advantages of the appliances，repeating things that they had known for a long time．
finally，the carriage was harnessed with six horses instead of four．because the traveling was very bad，and a voice called out：
“is everybody aboard？”
and a voice within answered：“yes．”
they were off．the carriage moved slowly，slowly for a little way．the wheels were imbedded in the snow；the whole body groaned with heavy cracking sounds；the horses glistened，puffed，and smoked；and the great whip of the driver snapped without ceasing，hovering about on all sides，knotting and unrolling itself like a thin serpent，lashing brusquely some horse on the rebound，which then put forth its most violent effort．
now the day was imperceptibly dawning．the light flakes，which one of the travelers，a rouenese by birth，said looked like a shower of cotton，no longer fell．a faint light filtered through the great dull clouds，which rendered more brilliant the white of the fields，where appeared a line of great trees clothed in whiteness，or a chimney with a cap of snow．
in the carriage，each looked at the others curiously，in the sad light of this dawn．
at the back，in the best places，mr．loiseau，wholesale merchant of wine，of grand-pont street，and mrs．loiseau were sleeping opposite each other．loiseau had bought out his former patron who failed in business，and made his fortune．he sold bad wine at a good price to small retailers in the country and passed among his friends and acquaintances as a knavish wag， a true norman full of deceit and joviality．
his reputation as a sharper was so well established that one evening at the residence of the prefect，mr．tournel，author of some fables and songs，of keen，satirical mind，a local celebrity，having proposed to some ladies，who seemed to be getting a little sleepy，that they make up a game of“loiseau tricks，the joke traversed the rooms of the prefect，reached those of the town，and then，in the months to come，made many a face in the province expand with laughter．
loiseau was especially known for his love of farce of every kind，for his jokes，good and bad；and no one could ever talk with him without thinking：“he is in－valuable，this loiseau．”of tall figure，his balloon－shaped front was surmounted by a ruddy face surrounded by gray whiskers．
his wife，large，strong，and resolute，with a quick，decisive manner was the order and arithmetic of this house of commerce，while he was the life of it through his joyous activity．
beside them，mr．carré-lamadon held himself with great dignity，as if belonging to a superior caste；a considerable man，in cottons，proprietor of three mills，officer of the legion of honor，and member of the general council．he had remained，during the empire，chief of the friendly opposition，famous for making the emperor pay dearer for rallying to the cause than if he had combated it with blunted arms，according to his own story．madame carré-lamadon，much younger than her husband，was the consolation of officers of good family sent to rouen in garrison．she sat opposite her husband，very dainty，petite，and pretty，wrapped closely in furs and looking with sad eyes at the interior of the carriage．
her neighbors，the count and countess hubert de breville，bore the name of one of the most ancient and noble families of normandy．the count，an old gentle-man of good figure，accentuated，by the artifices of his toilette，his resemblance to king henry iv．，who，following a glorious legend of the family，had impregnated one of the de breville ladies，whose husband，for this reason，was made a count and governor of the province．
