The winters are long and cold; and it snows and snows! You never saw such deep drifts nor such big fields of ice.
But the summer is beautiful,—the sky is blue and the sun is bright; and far away the mountain peaks are capped with glistening snow.
Then the grass is green and the flowers blossom everywhere. These are happy days for the children.
In summer Louis and Marie go out every morning with the goats. Marie is just a tiny bit of a girl only four years old, but Louis is a big boy. He is almost nine, and that is very old when one has such a little sister.
Louis lets the goats out of their yard. They jump and run and caper about, and Marie hides behind her mother’s dress. She is afraid of the goats at first.
One of the big goats always runs to the vineyard, he is so fond of grapes. Louis drives him out with a long stick.
Then the whole herd runs to the wheat field, and Louis runs after them, shouting at them and driving them away toward the mountain pasture.
Marie runs along with him and Patte Blanche goes, too. Patte Blanche is their dog, and his name means White Foot.
When the goats reach the pasture land they clamber over the rocks and eat the moss and the bushes and the sweet, green grass.