friendly face. She had feared.... She didn't know
what she dreaded so much--perhaps a face repellent--a man who would
look at her and in whose eyes she might discern insult or contempt.

The big Swede held an armful of heavy clothing.

"Ye can't stay here, leddy," he said. "You come ofer to my house since
Ennis he no coming. Dese clothes is from my ole vomans. Mebbe ye look
like--like de dooce in dem, but dat's better as to freeze to death. An
you vants a big breakfass so you goes vid me along. Hey dere! Joe! If
Ennis he come you tell him come ofer to me, ye hear?"

A few minutes later Madge was trudging over the beaten snow by the
side of her huge companion. Her head was ensconced within the folds
of a knitted shawl and over her thin cloak she wore an immense
mackinaw of flaming hues whose skirts fell 'way below her knees.
Over her boots, protestingly, she had drawn on an amazing pair of
things made of heavy felt and ending in thick rubber feet, that
were huge and unwieldy. Her hands were lost in great scarlet mitts. It
is possible that at this time there was little feminine vanity left in
her, yet she looked furtively to one side or the other, expecting
scoffing glances. She felt sure that she looked like one of the
fantastically-clad ragamuffins she had seen in the streets of New
York, at Christmas and Thanksgiving. But the pair met but one or two
Indian women who wore a garb that was none too aesthetic and who paid
not the slightest attention to them, and a few men who may possibly
have wondered but, with the instinctive civility of the North, never
revealed their feelings.

As a matter of fact she had hardly believed in this cold, at first.
The station agent's announcement had possessed little meaning for her.
There was no wind; the sun was shining brightly now; during the minute
she had remained on the station platform she had felt nothing unusual.
As a matter of fact she had enjoyed the keen brisk air after the tepid
stuffiness of the cars. But presently she began to realize a certain
tingling and sharp quality of the air. The little of her face that was
exposed began to feel stiff and queer. Even through the heavy clothing
she now wore she seemed to have been plunged in a strange atmosphere.
For an instant, after she finally reached Stefan's house, the contrast
between the cold outside and the warm living-room, that was also the
kitchen, appeared to suffocate her.

A tall stout woman waddled towards her, s