never done before and seemed a good omen
for the winter.

As soon as the snow had packed hard I be-
gan to drive about the country in a clumsy
sleigh that Otto Fuchs made for me by
fastening a wooden goods-box on bobs. Fuchs
had been apprenticed to a cabinet-maker in
the old country and was very handy with
tools. He would have done a better job if I
hadn't hurried him. My first trip was to the
post-office, and the next day I went over to
take Yulka and Antonia for a sleigh-ride.

It was a bright, cold day. I piled straw and
buffalo robes into the box, and took two hot
bricks wrapped in old blankets. When I got
to the Shimerdas' I did not go up to the house,
but sat in my sleigh at the bottom of the draw
and called. Antonia and Yulka came running
out, wearing little rabbit-skin hats their father
had made for them. They had heard about
my sledge from Ambrosch and knew why I
had come. They tumbled in beside me and we
set off toward the north, along a road that
happened to be broken.

The sky was brilliantly blue, and the sun-
light on the glittering white stretches of prai-
rie was almost blinding. As Antonia said, the

[[71]]

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v?