t out in search of my beloved brother. Accordingly, with great
difficulty I made my way out of the house; but my distress was much
increased upon finding the snow so deep upon the ground, that it was
impossible for me to attempt to stir, as upon stepping one foot out to
try, I found it far too deep for me to fathom the bottom. This greatly
distressed me. 'Alas!' said I to myself, 'what shall I do now? To
proceed is impossible; and to return is very melancholy, without any
tidings of my dear, dear Longtail.' But I was interrupted in the midst
of these reflections, by the appearance of two cats, who came running
with such violence as to pass by without observing me: however, it
put me in such consternation, that regardless where I went, I sprung
forward, and sunk so deep in the snow that I must inevitably soon have
perished, had not a boy come to the very place where I was, to gather
snow for making snowballs to throw at his companions. Happily for me, he
took me up in his hand, in the midst of the snow, which not less alarmed
me, when I considered the sufferings I had before endured, and the cruel
death of my brother Brighteyes, from the hands of boys. Oh! thought I to
myself, what new tortures shall I now experience? Better had I perished
in the cold snow, than be spared only to be tormented by the cruel hands
of unthinking children.

Scarcely had I made this reflection, when the boy called out, upon
seeing me move, 'Lud! what have I got here?' at the same instant tossing
the handful of snow from him in a violent hurry, without attempting
to press it into a ball. Over I turned head and heels, wondering what
further would be my fate, when I was happy to find I fell unhurt upon
some hay, which was laid in the yard to fodder the cows and horses. Here
I lay some time, so frightened by my adventure, as to be unable to move,
and my little heart beat as if it would have burst its way through my
breast; nor were my apprehensions at all diminished by the approach of a
man, who gathered the hay up in his arms, and carried it (with me in the
midst of it) into the stable; where, after littering down the horses, he
left me once more to my own reflections.

After he had been gone some time, and all things were quiet, I began
to look about me, and soon found my way into a corn bin, where I made
a most delicious supper, and slept free from any disturbance till the
morning, when fearing I might be discovered, in case he should want any