that
house. In fact, that poor little cabin alone on the wide prairie seemed
to be the object of their sport. They sifted through the cracks in the
walls, around the windows, and under the door, and made pretty little
drifts on the floor. They piled up against it outside, covered the
steps, and then the door, and then the windows, and then the roof, and
at last buried it completely out of sight under the soft, white mass.

And all the time the mother and her three children lay snugly covered up
in their beds fast asleep, and knew nothing about it.

The night passed away and morning came, but no light broke through the
windows of the cabin. Mrs. Barnes woke at the usual time, but finding it
still dark and perfectly quiet outside, she concluded that the storm was
over, and with a sigh of relief turned over to sleep again. About eight
o'clock, however, she could sleep no more, and became wide awake enough
to think the darkness strange. At that moment the clock struck, and the
truth flashed over her.

Being buried under snow is no uncommon thing on the wide prairies, and
since they had wood and cornmeal in plenty, she would not have been much
alarmed if her husband had been home. But snow deep enough to bury them
must cover up all landmarks, and she knew her husband would not rest
till he had found them. To get lost on the trackless prairie was
fearfully easy, and to suffer and die almost in sight of home was no
unusual thing, and was her one dread in living there.

A few moments she lay quiet in bed, to calm herself and get control of
her own anxieties before she spoke to the children.

"Willie," she said at last, "are you awake?"

"Yes, mamma," said Willie; "I've been awake ever so long; isn't it most
morning?"

"Willie," said the mother quietly, "we mustn't be frightened, but I
think--I'm afraid--we are snowed in."

Willie bounded to his feet and ran to the door.

"Don't open it!" said mamma hastily; "the snow may fall in. Light a
candle and look out the window."

In a moment the flickering rays of the candle fell upon the window.
Willie drew back the curtain. Snow was tightly banked up against it to
the top.

"Why, mamma," he exclaimed, "so we are! and how can papa find us? and
what shall we do?"

"We must do the best we can," said mamma, in a voice which she tried to
make steady, "and trust that it isn't very deep, and that Tim and papa
will find us, and dig us out."

By this time the little girls wer