Paul laughed, too.

"I just tell things as they are," he said. "Maybe they are right."

Henry went to the door and looked out. The air was full of raw chill, and
he heard the leafless boughs rustling in the winter wind. All around him
was the dark wilderness, and, natural hunter and warrior though he was, he
was glad to have the shelter, the fire, and his comrades. He turned back
and closed the door tightly, in order to shut out any stray gust that
might be of an unusually penetrating quality.

"I'm thinking that we'd better start away hunting again very early in the
morning," he said. "The big snows are bound to come soon. That first
little one was only a taste of what we're going to get."

They were off again at daybreak, and this time Paul went with them. The
party turned to the southward, in order to avoid the chance of meeting
Shawnees or Miamis, and soon had the luck to run into a small buffalo
herd. They killed only what they could carry, and then returned with it
toward the island. Henry continually watched the skies as they traveled,
and he uttered an exclamation of relief when they landed. The heavens all
the while had been leaden and somber, and there was no wind stirring.

"See," he said, "the great snow comes!"

The sullen skies opened, and big white flakes dropped down as they hurried
with their fresh supplies to the cabin.

CHAPTER XVI

NOEL

The snow fell three days and nights without ceasing, and they rejoiced
greatly over their foresight in preparing so well for it, because it was a
big snow, a very big snow. "It ain't jest snowin'," said Shif'less Sol;
"the bottom o' the sky hez dropped out, an' all the snow's tumblin' down."

The great flakes never ceased for a moment to fall. The sun did not get a
single chance to shine, and as fast as one cloud was emptied, another,
huge and black, was drawn in its place across the sky. The island ceased
to be an island, because the snow heaped up on the frozen surface of the
lake, and it was impossible to tell where land ended and water began. The
boughs of the trees bent and cracked beneath their load, and some fell to
the ground. At times the sound of snapping boughs was like stray rifle
shots.

Paul watched the snow deepen before their door. First an inch, then two,
then four, then six, and on and on. The roof began to strain and creak
ominously beneath the great weight. All rushed forth at once into the
storm, and with poles and their rude