The wild pig, whose back had been so kindly scratched by the chair, the squirrel for whom Racky had cracked a nut, and the mother rabbit whose little bunny had been rocked to sleep, were no longer in the cave, so they could not tell the children where Racky had gone.
"But Thump will find him!" declared Rodney. "Go on!" he called to his pet, and the dog, looking back to see that the children were following, led the way deeper into the forest.
And then, all of a sudden, it began to snow. The storm swooped down over the children, just as it had done over Racky, who was swaying his way along, hardly knowing where he was going or what to do.
But while Racky did not like the swirling, white flakes, the children did, laughing and shouting in glee as they felt the melting, white crystals cool their warm, red cheeks.
"Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!" they shouted. "It's snowing! It's snowing! Soon it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas! Santa Claus will come with his sleigh and reindeer when it snows! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!"
But as the snow came down thicker and faster, the children could not see which way to go. They were in the middle of the woods. Even Thump did not know what to do, for now he could no longer sniff at the track, or trail, made by the runaway rocker. The snow had quite covered it.
"I thought it would be easier in the snow, but it's harder," said Nat.
"What are we going to do?" asked his sister. "I like the snow, but I don't want to be lost in the storm."
"I guess we'd better go home," murmured Addie.
"Yes," agreed Weezie. "Do you know which way home is?" she inquired of her brother.