We hoped to be home before it began to storm , but we had hardly reached the hill above the village when a fine , driving snow began to fall . It would have been wiser to have turned back even then ; but we had already come a mile and we thought we would have ample time to reach home before it became really bad . We were sadly mistaken ; by the time we had gone another half-mile we were in the thick of a bewildering , blinding snowstorm . But it was by now just as far back to Cousin Mattie 's as it was to Uncle Alec 's , so we struggled on , growing more frightened at every step . We could hardly face the stinging snow , and we could not see ten feet ahead of us . It had turned bitterly cold and the tempest howled all around us in white desolation under the fast-darkening night . The narrow path we were trying to follow soon became entirely obliterated and we stumbled blindly on , holding to each other , and trying to peer through the furious whirl that filled the air . Our plight had come upon us so suddenly that we could not realize it . Presently Peter , who was leading the van because he was supposed to know the path best , stopped . `` I ca n't see the road any longer , '' he shouted . `` I do n't know where we are . '' We all stopped and huddled together in a miserable group . Fear filled our hearts . It seemed ages ago that we had been snug and safe and warm at Cousin Mattie 's . Cecily began to cry with cold . Dan , in spite of her protests , dragged off his overcoat and made her put it on . `` We ca n't stay here , '' he said . `` We 'll all freeze to death if we do . Come on -- we 've got to keep moving . The snow ai n't so deep yet .
Take hold XXXXX my hand , Cecily .
above as because in of so that to under upon