“May we bring in more wood, Mrs. Gordon?” she suggested.
“Why, yes, if you care to,” replied Grandmother Gordon. “Grandpa usually keeps the box filled, but this time he failed me.”
Veve and Connie put on their snowsuits, mittens and galoshes and went outside.
On the porch they paused for a moment to look at the frozen lake, the white-clad hills, and the ghostlike evergreens. All the world seemed white with snow.
Following the shoveled path, the girls came to the woodpile near the barn. A brown squirrel, disturbed by their approach, scampered off leaving a trail of dainty tracks.
Veve and Connie filled their arms with chopped wood and carried it back to the house. After they had made a second trip, the woodbox was filled to overflowing.
By this time, all of the Brownies except Jane were up and dressed. Veve and Connie helped pull her out of bed, and then it was time for breakfast.
“Girls,” said Miss Gordon, when the dishes had been done and morning work was out of the way, “how would you like to take a hike into the woods?”
“Now?” asked Eileen eagerly. She always liked hikes and nature study.
“It’s quite cold so early in the day. Suppose we start at ten o’clock after the sun is higher.”