I-XI

During the week before Christmas, Jake was
the most important person of our household,
for he was to go to town and do all our Christ-
mas shopping. But on the 21st of December,
the snow began to fall. The flakes came down
so thickly that from the sitting-room win-
dows I could not see beyond the windmill --
its frame looked dim and gray, unsubstantial
like a shadow. The snow did not stop falling
all day, or during the night that followed. The
cold was not severe, but the storm was quiet
and resistless. The men could not go farther
than the barns and corral. They sat about
the house most of the day as if it were Sun-
day; greasing their boots, mending their sus-
penders, plaiting whiplashes.

On the morning of the 22nd, grandfather an-
nounced at breakfast that it would be impos-
sible to go to Black Hawk for Christmas pur-
chases. Jake was sure he could get through
on horseback, and bring home our things in
saddle-bags; but grandfather told him the
roads would be obliterated, and a newcomer

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