falling! There had not been such a storm in
the ten years my grandfather had lived in
Nebraska. He said at dinner that we would
not try to reach the cattle -- they were fat
enough to go without their corn for a day or
two; but tomorrow we must feed them and
thaw out their water-tap so that they could
drink. We could not so much as see the cor-
rals, but we knew the steers were over there,
huddled together under the north bank. Our
ferocious bulls, subdued enough by this time,
were probably warming each other's backs.
"This'll take the bile out of 'em!" Fuchs
remarked gleefully.

At noon that day the hens had not been
heard from. After dinner Jake and Otto, their
damp clothes now dried on them, stretched
their stiff arms and plunged again into the
drifts. They made a tunnel under the snow to
the henhouse, with walls so solid that grand-
mother and I could walk back and forth in it.
We found the chickens asleep; perhaps they
thought night had come to stay. One old
rooster was stirring about, pecking at the
solid lump of ice in their water-tin. When we
flashed the lantern in their eyes, the hens set
up a great cackling and flew about clumsily,

[[106]]

p105 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p106w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p107

v?