Sammy came in and fixed the sled again to keep out the snow. He felt pretty serious--for him. Sammy Pinkney was not in the habit of looking for the worst to happen. Quite the contrary.
Yet he could not throw off anxiety as easily as Dot could. As long as she was not hungry, and was warm, the smallest Corner House girl felt quite cheerful.
They could see a little better in their cozy nest now, and being assured that there were no mice, thought of other wild creatures of the forest did not disturb Dot Kenway.
"Let's play something," said Dot. "Cum-ge-cum!"
"What do you come by?" asked Tess quickly. This was an old, old game of guessing that Aunt Sarah Maltby had taught the little folks.
"I come by the letter 'S,'" declared Dot.
"It's got to be the 'nitial of something in this--this house," Tess observed. "Shoes, Dottie?"
"No. 'Tisn't shoes. And 'tis in the house--if you call this a house."
"No, it is not 'sled,'" said the littlest girl.
"Stockin's?" suggested Sammy. "I've got a hole in one o' mine. Feels like my big toe was stranglin' to death, so it does."
"Oh, stop!" shrieked Dot suddenly. "What's that at the door?"
The two little girls shrieked again and scrambled behind the trunk of the tree. Sammy was just as scared as a child could be, but he sat right where he was and watched the dim light grow at the hole over which he had pulled the sled.
Something was scratching there, dragging the sled away from over the hole in the snowdrift. Sammy did not know that even the hungriest animal in the forest was snugly housed during this storm. The creatures of the wild do not hunt when the weather is so boisterous.
It might have been a wolf, or a bear, or a lynx, _or a tiger_, as far as the small boy knew. Just the same, having the responsibility of Tess and Dot on his mind, he had to stay and face the unknown.
Suddenly a voice spoke from without. It said with much disgust:
"Oh, shut up your squalling. I'm not going to bite you."
"Je-ru-sa-_lem_!" murmured Sammy. "What's this?"
In a minute he was reassured, for the sled was torn away and a head and shoulders appeared down the opening through the drift.
"Hello!" exclaimed the voice again. "How did you get here? How many of you are there?"
"Two girls and a boy. And we slid here," said Sammy, gulping down a big lump in his throat.