Finally the blankets and sheets were pronounced dry, the beds made up again, and, leaning on Fred and Polly, Mrs. Wicks hobbled to her own room. In two minutes after they had lain down, the six members of the Riddle Club were fast asleep, and though the wind howled all night and shook the windows and rattled loose shutters, not a sound did they hear.
CHAPTER XXIII
MRS. WICKS
Polly was the first to wake in the morning. She opened one eye sleepily, saw her dress hanging over a chair back, caught a glimpse of unfamiliar wall paper on the side of the room, and sat up with a jerk.
“What’s the matter?” asked Jess, drowsily.
“Oh!” said Polly. “I remember now. We’re here. Say, Jess, it must be late; the sun is shining.”
“Then it’s stopped snowing,” said Jess. “We can go home. Let’s get dressed in a jiffy.”
Margy woke up, and it did not take the three girls long to dress, for they had slept in their underclothes, having removed only their dresses and stockings.
Polly peeped out into the kitchen and saw Fred pumping water at the sink.
“Want to wash your face?” he whispered. “Here’s a towel. It’s stopped snowing, but you ought to see the snow!”
Polly stood on tiptoe to glance out of the window over the sink. The sun was dazzling, and trees and fences and outbuildings were plastered with drifts of snow, flung against them by the wind.