ed the ladder and went to sleep
upstairs. A bed was given me, and the rest of the family slept in their
own, two girls sleeping in one bed. Then we bade each other good-night.
How warm and comfortable were my sheepskins!

In the middle of the night I heard the howling of the wind; a terrific
gale was blowing. How thankful I felt to be under shelter! Early in the
morning, while still in bed, I was startled by the shouts of one of the
boys: "Father, we are snowed in! We cannot get out of the house!"

"Are we snowed in?" I exclaimed.

"Yes," shouted the two boys at the same time. I jumped out of bed to
find out if it was a joke. It was true!

The boys were delighted, and said with great glee: "The wind has filled
all the trenches with snow. We shall have to get out through the
chimney. What fun that will be!"

I thought also that it would be fun. I had never got out of a house
through the chimney, and I was anxious now to do it, for I might never
get another chance.

Everybody was now out of bed. "It is good that the cellar is full of
potatoes and that a sack of the Russian flour has not been touched, so
we have plenty of food," said the father. "Besides, there is bacon,
cheese, and butter," said one of the girls. Another added, "We have
inside firewood for three days without being obliged to go to the
woodshed."

The farmer said, "There has never been so much snow during living man's
memory. Old Pehr, my neighbor, whom I went to see yesterday, and who is
eighty-four years old, said that he never remembered such a snowstorm."

I thought of the poor horse that had worked so hard to bring us here.
"Boys, we must make the way clear to the stable and feed your horse and
mine," I said. "Let us hurry and go out through the chimney."

"They are all right," said the father; "I left so much fodder before
them that they will not starve even if we could not reach them to-day."

"Dear horses, how useful to us," I said. "I often wonder that there are
some men so cruel and so hard-hearted as to beat the poor animals when
they have not strength enough to carry the heavy load put upon them, or
to make them work when they are ill. It is a good thing that there are
societies in many countries for the prevention of cruelty to horses and
other animals."

"It is so," said they all with one voice; "we do not know of any one
among our neighbors who is unkind to his horse. We do not know what we
should do if our poor horse were ill."