"Why, Miss Grey," said Harry, "I suppose every man in the village is out now trying to get to us--surely every man who has a child in school."
"I suppose every mother is half crazy," said Miss Grey.
"No doubt she is," said Harry.
Now when all was quiet inside the room, Miss Grey had leisure to listen to the rage of the elements outside. How the savage wind roared and beat upon the lonely little building as if it would tear it to pieces and scatter its ruins over the pitiless prairie; how the icy storm beat against the staring great windows as if in its fury it would crash them in and bury them all. It was fearful, and Miss Grey, unused to storms of such violence, shuddered as she listened.
"Harry," she whispered with white lips, "isn"t this the worst storm you ever knew? It seems as if it must blow the house down."
"No," said Harry, "I think they"re all about alike. I was caught out in one once."
"Were you? Did you get lost?"
"Oh, yes indeed; my father was with me and we wandered around, it seemed for hours, till we saw a light and got to a farmhouse, miles away from where we thought we were. I was so stiff with cold I couldn"t walk. I was a kid then"--he hastily added, "and my father had to carry me to the house. He froze his ears and his nose that time."
"Well, this is the most awful storm I ever knew," said Miss Grey. "I feel now as if I should run away from this place as soon as my term is up."
"Don"t," said Harry earnestly; "you"re the best teacher we ever had--don"t go away!"
For some time not much was said between the two watchers. The children--most of them--slept.
"Harry," said Miss Grey, after a while, "you didn"t answer my question of how long these storms usually last."
Harry looked a little confused, for he had purposely not answered it, fearing to discourage her.
"Sometimes," he said, hesitatingly, "it is over in a few hours, but sometimes," he added more slowly, "one has lasted two or three days."
"Oh!" cried Miss Grey in horror, "what can I do with the children!
They"ll be hungry as bears when they wake!"
"Oh, they"ll surely find us as soon as morning comes," said Harry. "I wish we could show a light now; they might be right on us and not see us."
"That"s true--but there"s no possible way of making one. We ought to have candles and matches, and I"ll see that we have--if we ever get out of this," she added, in a lower tone.
After what seemed interminable hours, daylight began to creep through the windows. It gave little hope, for the wind was strong as ever, and nothing could be seen but a world of whirling, rushing, blinding snow.
And before it was fully light the children began to wake; soon they were all awake and most of them crying with hunger and fright.
Then the scenes of the afternoon were repeated. The worn-out teacher sang and told stories, and led in games till she was ready to drop with exhaustion.
About noon a shout startled them, and Harry rushed to the door; indeed all started for it in a mad rush, but Miss Grey ordered them back so sternly that they obeyed.
In a moment the room was full of men--or were they some strange snow-monsters?--clad in white from head to foot, and so disguised by the snow that no child could know his own father.
With joy and relief, Miss Grey almost fainted, while the men, after a.s.suring themselves that all the children were safe, listened to Harry"s animated story of the terrible night, and then applauded Miss Grey for her heroic labors.
She did not look heroic now, for she had sunk back in her chair almost as white as the world outside the windows. When the weary men had rested a little and warmed themselves, the children were wrapped up in extra wraps the men had brought, and Miss Grey rallied and prepared to set out on her fight for life, through the still raging storm.
They had made some sort of a path through the drifts as they came, and though little signs of it were left, there was enough to guide these hardy men used to such storms. Every man took his child in his arms and all started out, Miss Grey under the care of her faithful Harry.
At first she clung to his arm, but the snow was everywhere; it filled her eyes and took away her breath, the wind blew her skirts and impeded her steps, and in her state of nervous exhaustion she was very soon overcome. A dull stupor came over her, and, letting go her hold on the arm of her protector, she sank down into the snow unconscious.
From that state she would never have roused but for the efforts of Harry. There was not a moment to lose; the rest of the party were almost out of sight, and to lose them would be to be without a guide in this wilderness of snow.
It was no time for ceremony. With a hasty "You must excuse me, then,"
Harry took her light form up in his arms and trudged on as well as he could, striving only to keep the men in sight.
When, after efforts that tried his strength to its limits, he reached the farmhouse where Miss Grey boarded, he staggered up the steps, burst open the door, and almost fell on the floor with his unconscious burden.
The family rushed to his aid; took Miss Grey"s limp form, laid it on a lounge, and some set to work to restore her, while others helped Harry to free himself from snow and thaw himself out.
When, after some time, Miss Grey was fully recovered, and both she and Harry had eaten a very welcome breakfast, he rose to go to his own home not far away, she rose, too, and said earnestly:--
"Harry, I don"t know what to say! I believe you have saved my life--what can I say--what can I ever do"--
"Promise that you won"t give up the school and go away!" burst eagerly from Harry"s lips.
"Do you really care so much to have me stay?" she asked, somewhat surprised, for she had sometimes been obliged to a.s.sert her authority very sternly.
"Yes, I do!" he said, bluntly. "I--I"--he went on embarra.s.sed, "I"ve been a donkey and given you trouble--I"d like to kick myself--but you"re a brick and I"ll behave myself--if you"ll stay."
"I will," said Miss Grey cordially, "and I depend on you to be the help you were last night. I might never"--here she broke down.
"You"ll see," said Harry bluntly, as he opened the door to go.
She did. He was better than his word, for he seemed to have shaken off all his boyishness from that terrible day. He not only attended to his studies, but he became her aid and a.s.sistant on all occasions, and his example as well as his influence made the little school far different from what it had been. Before spring, Miss Grey had become so attached to her scholars and the little town that she had no wish to leave them. She, however, learned to see in time the coming of a storm and she provided herself with the means of getting help, so that she was never again made prisoner with a roomful of children by a blizzard.
"Mamma," said Kristy, after a few moments" silence, "why did you never tell me anything about that Bessie before?"
Mamma smiled. "I didn"t want to tell you everything at once; I wanted to save some till you were a little older."
"I guess there"s another reason, too," said Kristy, looking very wise; "I guess they are about some one I know." Mamma smiled again, but said nothing for a moment till Kristy began again.
"Tell me another."
"Well; let me see," said Mrs. Crawford. "I don"t think of anything else interesting that happened to Bessie while she was in the city, and soon after the affair of the dead kitten she went home. But I remember another thing that happened about that time which I will tell you after lunch."
"Oh, tell it now!" demanded Kristy, looking at the clock which pointed to ten minutes after twelve.
"Well; perhaps there is time," said her mother.
CHAPTER V
MOLLY"S SECRET ROOM