nowadays--wish he had 'em--he'd show 'em--bread and water--good thick
stick!--" Rudolf was obliged to run with his fingers in his ears
before that disagreeable voice died away in the distance.

At last he saw Peter and Ann waiting for him at a turn in the passage
just ahead, and in another moment he flung himself panting on the
ground beside them. "What a beast he was!" Rudolf exclaimed.

"Dreadful!" said Ann. "I shall tell Aunt Jane never, never to let
Betsy put him in our bed again." And then, after she had thanked
Rudolf very prettily for saving her life, and that hero had recovered
his breath and rested a little after the excitement of the battle,
they all felt ready to start on their way again.

No sooner had they turned the corner ahead of them than they found
themselves in broad daylight. The passage was now so wide that all
three could walk abreast, holding hands; a moment more and they stood
at the mouth of the long white cave or tunnel they had been walking
through. There was open country beyond them, and just opposite to
where the children stood was the queerest little house that they had
ever seen. It was long and very low, hardly more than one story high,
and was painted blue and white in stripes running lengthwise. In the
middle was a little front door with a window on either side of it and
three square blue and white striped steps leading up to it. From the
chimney a trail of thick white smoke poured out. As the three children
stood staring at the house, Peter cried out: "It's snowing!"

Sure enough the air was full of thick white flakes.

"Oh, dear, oh, dear!" Ann wailed, "what shall we do now? We can't go
back in the cave because the Warming-pan might catch us, and if we
stay here Peter will catch his death of cold out in the snow in his
night drawers--and so will we all. Oh, what _would_ mother say!"

"But we are not out in the snow, Ann," began Rudolf in his arguing
voice. "We are _in_ in the snow."

"And it is not wet," added Peter who was trying to roll a snowball out
of the white flakes that were piling themselves on the ground with
amazing quickness.

"I don't care," said Ann. "I know mother wouldn't like us to be in in
it or out in it. I'm going to knock at the door of that house this
minute and ask if they won't let us stay there till the storm's over."

"All right," said Rudolf, "only I hope the people who live there don't
happen to be any relation of the Warming-pan."

It was a dre