Howard Roger Garis

“ See what you did!" cried Janet.
"Spoiled our nice snow house!" added Lola.
"We'll build you another," promised Ted. "Say, I never knew our goat was such a good jumper."
"He's strong all right," agreed Tom.
"Nicknack a funny goat!" laughed Trouble, as his brother set him down on a smooth place in the snow.
"I guess Trouble thinks it was all just for fun," said Tom. "He isn't scared a bit."
"Oh, Trouble doesn't get scared very easy," answered Jan. "He's always laughing. Aren't you, Trouble?" and she hugged him. ”

“ For that is what the sled did after it upset.
Kicking and scrambling his way out of the snow bank, Nicknack climbed up the hill again. He could easily do this, even without the pieces of rubber tied on his hoofs, for they were sharp hoofs, and he could dig them in the soft snow, as boys stick their skates into the ice.
Up came Nicknack, and then with a little waggle of his funny, short, stubby tail he walked over to a little hay still left near his feeding place, and began to eat.
"Say, he's a good goat all right!" cried Tom Taylor. "He's a regular trick goat! He ought to be in a circus." ”

“ She told them stories and made up little games for them, while outside the storm raged and the snow came down faster than ever.
"Come on!" cried Teddy after waiting a bit, "let's play that guessing game some more."
"Oh, let's!" agreed Jan. "It's lots of fun!"
This was a game in which one of them would think of something in the attic—the old spinning wheel, the steamboat chair or maybe a string of sleigh bells. Then the one who had the turn of thinking would tell the others the first letter of the name of the thing thought of, and perhaps something about it. ”

“ Then they began the finishing touches on the snow bungalow. They piled the masses of white flakes on top of and on all sides of the board shack, or cabin, Uncle Frank and Aunt Jo had built. Soon none of the boards, except those where the door was fastened on, could be seen. They were covered with snow.
"There!" cried Uncle Frank, when the last shovelful had been tossed on. "There's as fine a snow bungalow as you could want. It will be nice and warm, too, even on a cold day."
"And Nicknack can't knock it down, either," added Ted. ”

“ A snowstorm came a few days later, and, for a time, the Curlytops thought it might be the big one Grandpa Martin's hermit had spoken of. But the snow soon changed to rain and then came a thaw, so that there was not a bit of snow left on the ground, all being washed away.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Jan, as she looked out of the window. "This isn't like winter at all! We can't have any fun!"
"Wait till it freezes," said Ted. "Then we'll have lots of fun skating on the pond." ”

“ Don't you, Curlytops?"
"Yes!" cried Jan and Ted.
"And I want to go out, too," went on Uncle Frank, "for I'm not used to staying in the house so much, especially after I've eaten such a big dinner. So come on out and we'll have some fun."
"I'm coming, too!" cried Aunt Jo. "I love it in the fresh air and the snow."
"Come on, Mother Martin!" called Mr. Martin to his wife. "We'll go out with them. It will do us good to frolic in the snow." ”

“ Of course we will!" cried Uncle Frank. "Where's my shovel? Come on, Dick! We've got to dig him out! Come on, everybody!"
"I want to help!" cried Teddy.
"So do I!" added Janet.
"Let me dig!" begged Aunt Jo. "I can handle a snow shovel as good as a man, and you must be tired, Uncle Frank."
[237] "No, we'll soon dig him out," said Daddy Martin. "The rest of you stay here. Ruth," he went on to his wife, "get some hot water ready, and a bed. If that poor boy has been snowed up in that bungalow for two or three days he must be almost dead, and half starved, too." ”

“ That evening, as they sat in their warm house playing games and listening to the crackling of the corn which Aunt Jo popped, the Curlytops were very thankful for the nice home they had to stay in.
"How the wind blows!" cried Aunt Jo as she took the children up to bed.
"Is it snowing yet?" asked Teddy.
"I can't see," his aunt answered. "It's so dark and the snow covers the windows. But I wouldn't be surprised if it were. The storm is not over yet. I guess you children will have all the snow you want for once."
"We can have rides downhill for a long while," remarked Janet. ”

“ The Martins had lately bought a cow, and they had had a horse for some time, though the children would rather ride behind their goat Nicknack than in the carriage with old Jim, who was not a very fast horse.
"Come on, Jan!" called Ted. "We'll get dressed and we'll go out and have some fun."
"Oh, no, you can't go out!" exclaimed his mother. "And please don't make much noise."
"Why can't we go out?" asked Janet at once.
"Because the snow is too deep. It's over your heads in some of the drifts, and it's so cold and still snowing so hard that I wouldn't dream of letting you Curlytops go out." ”

“ Teddy said when he had looked at them as well as he could, and felt of the parts that stuck out from under Nicknack's body. "Why doesn't he stand up?"
"What's the matter, Curlytop?" asked Harry Morris.
"My goat won't stand up on the ice," Ted answered. "He fell down and his legs are all right, but he won't stand up."
"Maybe it's because he knows he can't," said Harry. "Goats aren't made to stand on slippery ice you know. ”

“ Then it won't be so easy to knock down. We build low houses out West so the wind storms won't knock them down so easily, and you can pretend your goat is a wind storm."
"That'll be fun!" laughed Ted.
"And we'll make the bungalow with sides and a roof of wood," went on Aunt Jo, "and cover the boards with snow. Then it will look just like a snow house, but it will be stronger. I'll help you. I'm going to build a bungalow myself this summer," she went on, "and I'd like to practise on a snow one first."
"Come on!" cried Ted. "We'll build the snow bungalow!" ”

“ Into the warm house they went, stamping and brushing off the snow that clung to them. As they gathered about the supper table, which was well filled with good things to eat, Nora came in to say that it was snowing again.
"I thought it would," remarked Daddy Martin. "We surely must finish that snow tunnel to-morrow," he said to Uncle Frank. "We may need the horse to help us break a way to the road." ”

“ For some of the windows from which they had had a glimpse of the outer world the day before were completely covered now.
"We'll have to do some digging to get to the opening of the tunnel," said Daddy Martin to Uncle Frank, "and we'll have to dig all day to get to the barn. But we've got to do it."
"That's right!" agreed Uncle Frank.
"Couldn't I help?" asked Teddy.
"No, I'm afraid not, Curlytop," answered his father. "It's pretty hard work for us men."
"But will you let me go out and see Nicknack as soon as you dig to his stable?" the little boy asked. ”

“ Martin had bought a large, second-hand sled to which the goat could be harnessed. The sled would hold five children, with a little squeezing, and Trouble was often taken for a ride with his brother and sister, Tom and Lola also being invited.
"Come to supper, children!" called Mrs. Martin, as Ted and Jan came in from having spent most of the afternoon in the snow bungalow. "I don't suppose you are hungry after the big dinner you ate," she went on, "but maybe you can eat a little."
"I can eat a lot!" cried Ted. ”

“ Perhaps, too, this dog was so surprised at seeing a goat ride downhill that he ran away on that account, and not because Janet threw a snowball at him. For a goat riding down a snow hill in a sled is certainly a funny sight. I never saw one myself, though I have seen a goat in a circus ride down a wooden hill made of planks and this goat sat on a seat in a wagon that, afterward, he drew about the ring with a clown in it. ”

“ Being snowed in is no fun when one has to freeze and starve."
Teddy and Janet were glad they were so comfortable. They, too, hoped no one was suffering, and if they had known that not far away a poor boy was in great distress they would not have slept as well as they did that night. But they did not know until afterward, when they found out the secret about the snow bungalow.
"Well, come on out now," called Daddy Martin, as the Curlytops were looking at the snow tunnel. "It's time to go in. You've been out in the cold long enough."
"It is very cold," agreed Aunt Jo. ”

“ Martin laughed.
The weather grew colder as Thanksgiving came nearer. There were two or three flurries of snow, but no big storm, though Jan and Ted looked anxiously for one, as they wanted a big pile of the white flakes in the yard so they could make a snow house.
"We'll make the biggest one ever!" declared Ted. "And maybe we'll turn it into a fort and have an Indian fight!"
"I don't like Indian fights," said Janet.
"They'll only be make-believe," Ted went on. "Me an' Tom Taylor an' some of the fellows'll be the Indians." ”

“ Jan queried.
"Oh, yes, I guess so," answered Daddy Martin. "Don't worry about that."
"Can those hermits really tell when there's going to be a big storm with lots of snow?" asked Ted.
"Well, sometimes," admitted Mr. Martin. "Men who live in the woods or mountains all their lives know more about the weather than those of us who live in houses in towns or cities most of the time. Sometimes the hermits and woodsmen can tell by the way the squirrels and other animals act and store away food, whether or not it is going to be a hard winter. But don't worry about being snowed in. ”

“ Ford was not coasting on the little hill, being too big a boy. But he liked the Curlytops and was always helping them when he could, even before he helped get Janet out of the frozen pond when she broke through the ice.
The heavy sled, to which Nicknack could be hitched, was not easy to pull up the hill, but Ford managed to do it. Then, after Ted, his sister and their playmates had coasted all they wanted to, the goat was harnessed again, and back home he trotted over the snow, pulling the Curlytops. ”

“ It'll be a great big snowstorm, and we can go sleigh-riding."
"And skating, too!" added Ted, his nose pressed flat against the window pane.
[2] "You can't skate when there's snow on the pond," objected Jan. "Anyhow it hasn't frozen ice yet. Has it, Mother?"
"No, I think it hasn't been quite cold enough for that," answered Mrs. Martin.
"But it'll be a big snowstorm, won't it?" asked Jan. "There'll be a lot of big drifts, and we can wear our rubber boots and make snowballs! Oh, what fun, Ted!" and she danced up and down.
"And we can make a snow man, too," went on Teddy. "And a big snowball!" ”

“ So I'll ride Trouble up and down the street for a while."
"Oh, all right. And I'll take him coasting some other time," promised Ted, a little bit ashamed of the fuss he had made. "We'll go on and get the hill worn down nice and smooth."
It was still snowing, but not very hard, and the ground was now two or three inches deep with the white flakes—enough to make good coasting when it had been packed down smooth and hard on the hill which was not far from the home of the Curlytops. There were two hills, the larger, long one being farther away. ”

“ The horse and cow will be glad to see us."
"Can't you make a place so the children can watch you?" asked Mother Martin. "I can't have them in the playroom now as the window is broken. Scrape off some snow [203] around the front windows so they can see what you're doing."
"We will," promised Uncle Frank.
So before he and Daddy Martin began to dig the tunnel they made a cleared place in front of one of the parlor windows so a view could be had of the big drift where the tunnel was to be started.
"Oh, I wish I could dig!" cried Ted.
"So do I!" echoed Janet. ”

“ Ted and Jan looked anxiously at each other. Their father had gone with Uncle Frank and Aunt Jo to inquire in the houses next door and those across the street. Sometimes Trouble wandered to the neighbors', but this was in the summer, when doors were open and he could easily get out. He had never before been known to run away in winter.
"Oh, where can he be?" exclaimed Janet.
"We'll find him," declared Teddy.
He saw that Janet was almost ready to cry.
"Help me look, children," said Mrs. Martin. [154] "He may be in one of the rooms here. We must look in every one." ”

“ Martin took Ted and Jan to the shoestore a few doors down the street. There were many other boys and girls, and men and women, too, getting boots or rubbers.
"Well, Mr. Martin," said the clerk who had come to wait on the Curlytops, "I see you're getting ready for a hard winter. If you get snowed in out at your house, these youngsters can wade out and buy a loaf of bread."
"We're going to have a lot to eat in our house," put in Ted, "'cause a hermit my grandpa knows said we might get snowed in."
"Indeed!" exclaimed the clerk. "Well, it looks as though we would have plenty of snow. ”

“ Martin, as her husband and Uncle Frank sat near the stove in the kitchen warming their feet, for they were very cold, having come in after a second attempt to make a path to the barn.
"We're going to try a tunnel," said Mr. Martin. "The snow is too deep between the back door and the barn to try to shovel a path through it. As fast as we toss the snow away it blows in again and fills up the path so we can hardly get back to the starting place. Now if we begin in front of the house, where there is a big drift, we can tunnel out to the side of the barn." ”

“ Don't you know? Mother lets us make it sometimes. You take a lot of snow—clean snow in a pail—and you stir some eggs and milk and sugar and flavoring in it, and that makes almost the same as ice-cream."
"How're we going to do it?" asked Ted, as the goat pulled him and his sister slowly along the snow-lined street. "We haven't got any sugar or milk or eggs or flavoring—not even a pail."
"We can stop at Aunt Sallie's and get 'em all," said Janet. "She'll like us to make [42] snow-cream, I guess. She can help us eat it."
"Then let's!" cried Teddy. "Go on, Nicknack, we're going to make snow-cream! ”

“ With their shovels the Curlytops and the others were soon piling snow up around the inside walls of the white house. Then the benches were cut into shape, and they did make good places to sit on; though it was too cold to lie down, Mrs. Martin said when she came out to look at the playhouse, and she warned the children not to do this.
"We ought to have a chimney on the house," suggested Tom, after he had gone outside to see how it looked.
"We can't build a fire, can we?" asked Jan, somewhat surprised.
"No, of course not!" laughed Ted. "A fire would melt the snow. ”