At no time had they been able to accumulate any amount ahead of their constant needs; so that very soon they hardly knew where to turn for money with which to purchase the few necessities of life.
Robert and Sandy sold what few skins they had collected; then they busied themselves hunting, and trying to trap more animals; but the winter had been unusually severe, and trappers reported a scarcity of pelts.
Recently even little Kate, just fourteen, had hired out to a neighboring family, as the daughters of the pioneers often did, without losing any of their self-respect, or standing.
Mrs. Armstrong worked at her various tasks as the day advanced. Noon came and went, and the sky clouded up with evil portents of snow, for the air was raw and had all the ominous attributes which these woods-dwellers knew presaged a storm.
Frequently she would step outside the humble log cabin to look around, and see whether either the boys or her husband could be coming. Then her troubled eyes would scan the bleak heavens, and note that already the first flakes of snow, forerunners of the mighty storm to come, were drifting along on the rising wind that was moaning through the sentinel oak at the back of the cabin.
She wished the boys were safe at home, though she was so confident of their ability to take care of themselves, no matter under what difficulties, that she did not as yet once allow herself to fear actual danger to them.
They had all their lives been accustomed to roaming the woods, and knew how to grapple with such emergencies as hunters may expect to meet.
The afternoon had begun to decline, and the snow was coming down heavily, when David arrived home. Little need for his wife to look twice to understand what his dejected manner indicated.
"It's no use, wife," he said, moodily, a frown on his strong face; "everything's working against me here, and I doubt if I have a single real friend in all the community. The poison has done its work, and there is no employment here for a man suspected of being a barn-burner. I've been turned away by a man I believed would take my word as quick as my bond. And I tell you I'm done. Never again will I demean myself asking favors on my knees, just because my family may be in need."