II
11. On the second morning Philip begged Florinda to let him take his hand sled and go to the store and get some meal and some bacon for themselves and Mrs. Moore. Florinda felt loāth to let him go. It was a long distance; there was snow in the woods and no track.
12. But Philip said that he wasn't afraid: the oldest boy ought to take care of the family.
And at last Florinda said he might go. Indeed, there seemed no other way; for, unless he did, they might all starve, especially if there should come on a heavy snowstorm.
13. Mrs. Moore had him start from her house, because she wanted to be sure he was well wrapped up. He left home in good spirits about nine o'clock in the morning on the thirty-first day of December, promising to be back before evening.
14. Florinda spent the day in spinning and in other work for the family. As soon as it began to grow dark, she barred the door and shut all the window shutters but one. She left that open so that Philip might see the firelight shining through.
She set him letters to copy.
The children began to cry because Philip was out all alone in the dark woods, and Florinda did everything she could to occupy their minds.
15. Nathaniel told afterward of her rolling up the cradle quilt into a baby for little Polly and pinning an apron on it; and of her setting him letters to copy on the bellows with chalk. He said she tied a strip of cloth round his head to keep the hair out of his eyes when he bent over to make the letters. He remembered her stopping her wheel very often to listen for Philip.
16. At last little Polly fell asleep and was placed on the bed. Nathaniel laid his head on Florinda's lap and dropped asleep there, and slept till she got up to put more wood on. It was then nearly twelve o'clock. He woke in a fright, and crying. He had been dreaming about wolves.
17. After a while Nathaniel climbed up and looked through a knot-hole in the door and told Florinda he saw a fire in the woods.
Florinda said she thought not, that maybe it was the moon rising; and kept on with her spinning.
18. By and by he looked again, and said he did see a fire and some Indians sitting down by it.
Florinda left her wheel then and looked through, and said yes, it was so.
19. She kept watch afterward and saw them put out the fire and go away into the woods toward the Point. She told Nathaniel of this, and then held him in her arms and sang songs, low, in a language he could not understand. By this time the night was far spent.
20. At the side of the hut, near the fireplace, there had been in the summer a hole or tunnel dug through to the outside under the logs. It was begun by a tame rabbit that belonged to Nathaniel. The rabbit burrowed out and got away.
21. The children at play dug the hole deeper and wider, and it came quite handy in getting in fire-wood. This passage was about four feet deep. They called it the back doorway. When winter came on, it was filled up with sand and moss.
22. Florinda thought it well to be prepared for anything which might happen; and, therefore, she spent the latter part of that night in taking the filling from the back doorway. The outer part was frozen hard and had to be thawed with hot water.
When this was done, she took the workbag out of her clothes box and put into it Mr. Bowen's papers and the teaspoons.
23. She said a great deal to Nathaniel about taking care of little Polly; told him that if any bad Indians came to the door, he must catch hold of her hand and run just as quickly as he could through the back doorway to Mrs. Moore's.
24. While she was talking to Nathaniel in the way I have said, they heard a step outside. It was then a little after daybreak.
Some one tapped at the door, and a strange voice said: "A friend; open, quick!"
25. She opened the door and found a white man standing there. This white man told her that unfriendly Indians were prowling about to rob, to kill, and to burn dwelling houses, and that several were known to be in that very neighborhood. The man was a messenger sent to warn people. He could not stop a moment.