heir father and Uncle Frank try to dig their way
to the barn. And the men really had to dig their way, for between the
barn and the house the drifts were too deep to wade through. Many of
them were over the heads of Daddy Martin.

The Curlytops could see little, as the snow was still blowing and
drifting. Now and then they saw their father or their Uncle Frank for
just a moment, but the men were so covered with the white flakes that
they looked like snow men.

Finally there was a stamping of feet in the back entry, and when Nora
opened the door there stood Uncle Frank and Daddy Martin. They were
covered with snow and looked very tired.

"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Martin. "Couldn't you get to the barn,
Dick?"

"No, we were driven back," her husband answered. "It is a terrible
storm, and very cold. We dug a path part way to the barn, but the wind
blew the snow in it, filling it up as fast as we could dig it out. I
guess we can't get to the barn. We surely are snowed in!"

CHAPTER XVI

DIGGING A TUNNEL

Even seeing their father and uncle so tired out from shoveling snow and
from struggling with the storm did not make the Curlytops think how bad
it was to be snowed in. They still thought it was going to be fun. And
so, in a way, it was, I suppose. At any rate they had a warm house in
which to stay and plenty of good things to eat.

"Well, what are you going to do?" asked Mrs. Martin of her husband as,
standing in the entry, he brushed some of the snow off his boots with
the broom.

"We'll have to try again," said Uncle Frank.

"Is it like your out-West blizzards, Uncle Frank?" asked Teddy.

"Yes, this is almost as bad as the ones we have out there," he said.
"Only this isn't quite so cold."

"It's cold enough for me!" exclaimed Mr. Martin. "Here, Jan," he called
to his little girl. "Just take hold of my nose, will you, my dear?"

"What for, Daddy?" asked the little girl.

"I want to see if it is still fast to my face," answered her father. "It
got so cold when I was shoveling snow that I thought maybe it had frozen
and dropped off."

Janet grasped her father's nose in her warm hands.

"Oh, it's awful cold!" she cried with a little shiver.

"I know it is!" laughed Mr. Martin. "That's what made me afraid it was
going to drop off. I'm glad I still have it."

"Are you cold, too, Uncle Frank?" asked Teddy.

"A little, yes. But I shoveled hard at the snow and I'm warmer now."

"Take some hot