"An' the mother?"
"She's—" Here the little one stirred slightly as he leaned forward, and Ans said, with a wink, "She's asleep." He winked significantly, and Bert understood what the sleep was. "Be a little careful what y' say—jes' now; the little rat is listenin'. Jest say relative when y' mean her—the woman, y' know."
"Yes, sir," he resumed after a moment; "I was scart when I saw that house—when I knocked, an' no one stirred 'r come to the door. They wasn't a track around, an' the barn an' house was all drifted up. I pushed the door open; it was cold as a barn, an' dark. I couldn't see anythin' f'r a minute, but I heard a sound o' cryin' from the bed that made my hair stand up. I rushed over there, an' there lay the mother on the bed, with nothin' on but some kind of a night-dress, an' everythin'—dress, shawl, an' all—piled on an' around that blessed child."
"She was sleepin'?"
"Like a stone. I couldn't believe it at first. I raved around there, split up a chair an' the shelves, an' made a fire. Then I started to rub the woman's hands an' feet, but she was cold an' hard as iron." Bert shuddered in sympathy. "Then I took the child up an' rubbed her; tried to find somethin' f'r her to eat—not a blessed thing in that house! Finally I thought I better bolt f'r home—"
"Lucky you did. Hear that wind! Great heavens! We are in for another two-days' blow of it. That woman, of course, stripped herself to save the child."
"Yes: she did."
"Jes' like a woman! Why didn't she rip down the shelf an' split up the chairs for fuel, or keep walkin' up an' down the room?"
"Now, there it is! She had burnt up a lot o' stuff, then took to bed with the child. She rolled her up in all the quilts an' shawls an' dresses they was in the house; then laid down by the side of her, an' put her arm over her—an' froze—jes' like a mother—no judgment!"
"Well, lay her down now, an' eat somethin' y'rself, while I go out an' look after the chores. Lord! it makes me crawl to think of that woman layin' there in the shanty all alone!" he turned and said in a peculiar hesitating voice. He shivered a little as he spoke. "Say, did y' shut the door?"