He pulled the board loose. It hung by one nail only. Then, stooping down so he could look into the hole, which seemed to have been dug in the snow outside, and flashing his lantern into it, Uncle Frank called:
"Here, Nicknack! Are you there? Come here!"
There was no answer, the only sound being the howl of the wind and the swish of the snowflakes in the storm.
"Isn't he there?" asked Teddy, his voice sounding as though he wanted to cry.
"I can't see him," answered Uncle Frank. "But I think he must be in the snow somewhere around here. We'll have to dig him out just as we dug you out of the big drift, Teddy."
"Is Nicknack in a drift?" Janet whispered. Somehow, if Nicknack were in a drift, it seemed better to Jan to talk in whisper.
"I can't imagine where else he would be," Uncle Frank said. "He must have gotten tired of staying here all alone, so, with his horns and head he just knocked this big board loose. That gave him room enough to get out, and then he began to dig his way through the snow. There was a little hollow place in the edge of the drift that is on this side of his stable, and that gave him a chance to start. He didn't paw any snow inside his stable, and that's why I didn't at first see which way he had gone."
"But how can we get him?" asked Jan, who felt the tears coming into her eyes.
"Oh, we can dig him out," her father said. "Don't worry. We'll soon get Nicknack for you."
"To-night?" Teddy demanded.