ncle Frank. "I'll
have a look, though."

He pulled the board loose. It hung by one nail only. Then, stooping down
so he could look into the hole, which seemed to have been dug in the
snow outside, and flashing his lantern into it, Uncle Frank called:

"Here, Nicknack! Are you there? Come here!"

There was no answer, the only sound being the howl of the wind and the
swish of the snowflakes in the storm.

"Isn't he there?" asked Teddy, his voice sounding as though he wanted to
cry.

"I can't see him," answered Uncle Frank. "But I think he must be in the
snow somewhere around here. We'll have to dig him out just as we dug you
out of the big drift, Teddy."

"Is Nicknack in a drift?" Janet whispered. Somehow, if Nicknack were in
a drift, it seemed better to Jan to talk in whisper.

"I can't imagine where else he would be," Uncle Frank said. "He must
have gotten tired of staying here all alone, so, with his horns and head
he just knocked this big board loose. That gave him room enough to get
out, and then he began to dig his way through the snow. There was a
little hollow place in the edge of the drift that is on this side of his
stable, and that gave him a chance to start. He didn't paw any snow
inside his stable, and that's why I didn't at first see which way he had
gone."

"But how can we get him?" asked Jan, who felt the tears coming into her
eyes.

"Oh, we can dig him out," her father said. "Don't worry. We'll soon get
Nicknack for you."

"To-night?" Teddy demanded.

"Well, maybe not to-night," his father answered. "It's pretty late now,
and getting colder. And there's no telling how far away Nicknack has dug
himself into the snow bank. He's a strong goat, Nicknack is, and once he
started to burrow through the snow, one couldn't say when he'd stop. He
might even dig his way to the house."

"Honest and truly?" asked Teddy.

"Well, he might," said Mr. Martin. "Anyhow, we'll wait until morning
before we start digging for him."

"But won't he die?" asked Janet.

"No, he can get air under the snow for quite a while, just as Teddy
could when he jumped into the drift. And if he gets hungry he can wiggle
his way back to his stable the same way he wiggled out. The way is open
and we'll leave this board off so he can get in easily. There is hay and
water here. The water didn't freeze, being warm under so much snow and
down in the hay where you put the pail, Teddy. So Nicknack will be all
right until morning I