"I only hope the snow ain't so bright it'll blind his eyes," said Barby.
"There he is this minute," said Hugh. "It is impossible to tell from his countenance whether successful or not."
"Well where are the cows, Mr. Skillcorn?" said Barby as he came in.
"I have went all over town," said the person addressed, "and they ain't no place."
"Have you asked news of them, Philetus?"
"I have asked the hull town, and I have went all over, 'till I was a'most beat out with the cold,--and I ha'n't seen the first sight of 'em yet!"
Fleda and Hugh exchanged looks, while Barby and Mr. Skillcorn entered into an animated discussion of probabilities and impossibilities.
"If we should be driven from our coffee dinners to tea with no milk in it!"--said Hugh softly in mock dismay.
"Wouldn't!" said Fleda. "We'd beat up an egg and put it in the coffee."
"We couldn't afford it," said Hugh smiling.