shovels they thrust the great mass of
accumulated snow from the roof. This task they repeated at intervals
throughout the three days, but they had little else to do, except cook,
eat, and sleep. They had recourse again to the chessmen and Paul's
stories, and they reverted often to their friends and relatives at
Wareville.

"At any rate," said Henry, "Kentucky is safe so long as this great snow
lasts. What holds us holds the Shawnees and the Miamis, too; they can't go
south through it."

"That's so," said Paul, with intense satisfaction, as he ran over all the
chances of success or failure in their great task.

At the end of the third day the snow ceased. It lay three feet deep on the
level, and deeper in the hollows and gullies. Then all the clouds floated
away, the sun came out, and the whole world was a dazzling globe of white,
so intense that it hurt Paul's eyes.

"We've got to guard against snow-blindness," said Shif'less Sol, "an' I'm
thinkin' o' a plan that'll keep us from sufferin'."

He procured small pieces of wood, and fitted them together so there would
be only a narrow slit between. These were placed over the eyes like
spectacles, and fastened with deerskin string, tied behind the head. The
range of vision was then very narrow, but all the glare from the snow was
shut out. Shif'less Sol unconsciously had imitated a device employed by
the Esquimaux of the far north to protect their eyesight. Sets were made
for all, and they used them a few days until their eyes grew accustomed to
the glare.

All had a great sense of coziness and warmth. The snow pushed from the
roof had gone to reinforce that on the ground, and it now lay heaped up
beside the house to a depth of five or six feet, adding to the snugness
and security of their walls. They had gathered an ample supply of
firewood, and a deep bed of coals always threw out a mellow and satisfying
glow.

They did not spend their time in idleness. The narrow confines of their
house would soon grow irksome to five able-bodied boys and men, and every
one of them knew it. They went forth with rude wooden shovels, and began
to clear paths in the snow--one to a point among the trees where the
fallen brushwood lay thickest, another to the edge of the lake, where they
broke holes in the ice and caught pickerel, and two or three more to
various points around their little domain. This task gave them healthy
occupation for two or three days, and on the fourth day, whi