not sure about either one yet," replied her mother. "But grandpa
sends his love, and he also sends a bit of news."

"What is it?" asked Ted.

"Grandpa Martin writes that an old hermit, who lives in a lonely log
cabin in the woods back of Cherry Farm, says this is going to be the
worst winter in many years. There will be big snowstorms, the hermit
says, and Grandpa Martin adds that the hermit is a good weather prophet.
That is, he seems to know what is going to happen."

"A big snowstorm! That will be fun!" cried Teddy.

"Maybe not, if it is too big," warned his mother. "Grandpa Martin says
we ought to put away an abundance of coal and plenty of things to eat."

"Why?" asked Janet.

"Because we may be snowed in," answered her mother.

CHAPTER II

A RUNAWAY SLED

For a moment Ted and Janet looked at their mother. Sometimes she told
them strange things, and she did it with such a serious face that they
could not always tell whether or not she was in earnest.

"Do you mean that the snow will come up over the top of the house so we
can't go out?" asked Teddy.

He remembered a picture his mother had once showed him of a lonely log
cabin in the woods, almost hidden under a big white drift, and beneath
the picture were the words: "Snowed in."

"If it comes up over the top of the house we can't ever get out till it
melts," went on Jan. "Will it happen that way, Mother? What fun!"

"Dandy!" cried Ted.

"Oh, indeed! Being snowed in isn't such fun as you may think," said
Mrs. Martin, and then the Curlytops knew their mother was now a little
bit in earnest at least.

"Of course," she went on, "the snow will hardly cover our house, as it
is much larger than the one in the picture I showed Teddy. But being
snowed in means that so much snow falls that the roads are covered, and
the piles, or drifts, of the white flakes may be high enough to come
over the lower doors and windows.

"When so much snow falls it is hard to get out. Even automobiles and
horses can not go along the roads, and it is then people are 'snowed
in.' They can not get out to buy things to eat, and unless they have
plenty in the house they may go hungry.

"That is what Grandpa Martin meant when he said we might be snowed in,
and why he warned us to get in a quantity of food to eat."

"But shall we really be snowed in, Mother?" asked Ted.

"I don't know, I'm sure. Grandpa was only telling us what the hermit
told him. Sometimes those old