who had been a fur-worker in Vienna, made
the coat. From the windmill I watched Jeli-
nek come out of the barn with the blacks, and
work his way up the hillside toward the corn-
field. Sometimes he was completely hidden
by the clouds of snow that rose about him;
then he and the horses would emerge black
and shining.
Our heavy carpenter's bench had to be
brought from the barn and carried down into
the kitchen. Fuchs selected boards from a
pile of planks grandfather had hauled out from
town in the fall to make a new floor for the
oats bin. When at last the lumber and tools
were assembled, and the doors were closed
again and the cold drafts shut out, grand-
father rode away to meet the coroner at the
Shimerdas', and Fuchs took off his coat and
settled down to work. I sat on his work-table
and watched him. He did not touch his tools
at first, but figured for a long while on a piece
of paper, and measured the planks and made
marks on them. While he was thus engaged, he
whistled softly to himself, or teasingly pulled
at his half-ear. Grandmother moved about
quietly, so as not to disturb him. At last he
folded his ruler and turned a beerful face to us.