ge. When the triplets were taken
ashore at New York, he had, as he said, "to carry some of them." The trip
to Chicago was even worse than the ocean voyage. On the train it was very
difficult to get milk for the babies and to keep their bottles clean. The
mother did her best, but no woman, out of her natural resources, could
feed three babies. The husband, in Chicago, was working in a furniture
factory for modest wages, and when he met his family at the station he was
rather crushed by the size of it. He, too, seemed to consider Fuchs in
some fashion to blame. "I was sure glad," Otto concluded, "that he did n't
take his hard feeling out on that poor woman; but he had a sullen eye for
me, all right! Now, did you ever hear of a young feller's having such hard
luck, Mrs. Burden?"

Grandmother told him she was sure the Lord had remembered these things to
his credit, and had helped him out of many a scrape when he did n't
realize that he was being protected by Providence.

X

FOR several weeks after my sleigh-ride, we heard nothing from the
Shimerdas. My sore throat kept me indoors, and grandmother had a cold
which made the housework heavy for her. When Sunday came she was glad to
have a day of rest. One night at supper Fuchs told us he had seen Mr.
Shimerda out hunting.

"He's made himself a rabbit-skin cap, Jim, and a rabbit-skin collar that
he buttons on outside his coat. They ain't got but one overcoat among 'em
over there, and they take turns wearing it. They seem awful scared of
cold, and stick in that hole in the bank like badgers."

"All but the crazy boy," Jake put in. "He never wears the coat. Krajiek
says he's turrible strong and can stand anything. I guess rabbits must be
getting scarce in this locality. Ambrosch come along by the cornfield
yesterday where I was at work and showed me three prairie dogs he'd shot.
He asked me if they was good to eat. I spit and made a face and took on,
to scare him, but he just looked like he was smarter'n me and put 'em back
in his sack and walked off."

Grandmother looked up in alarm and spoke to grandfather. "Josiah, you
don't suppose Krajiek would let them poor creatures eat prairie dogs, do
you?"

"You had better go over and see our neighbors to-morrow, Emmaline," he
replied gravely.

Fuchs put in a cheerful word and said prairie dogs were clean beasts and
ought to be good for food, but their family connections were against them.
I asked what he meant, and he