MAROONED 135 



herself into it, pressing back the snow on 

 every side, till she had room to turn around. 

 Then turn around she did several times, as 

 so many dogs do in getting their beds arranged 

 to their liking. In this process she not only 

 packed down the snow beneath her, but she 

 rounded out for herself a snug chamber with 

 a comparatively narrow doorway. From 

 this snowy retreat she gazed forth with a 

 solemn air of possession, then went to sleep 

 with a sense of comfort, of " homeyness," 

 such as she had never before felt since the 

 disappearance of her friends. 



Having thus conquered her environment, 

 and won herself the freedom of the winter 

 wild, her life, though strenuous, was no 

 longer one of any terrible hardship. With 

 patience at the mouse-holes, she could catch 

 enough to eat, and in her snowy den she 

 slept warm and secure. In a little while, 

 when a crust had formed over the surface, 

 the mice took to coming out at night and 

 holding revels on the snow. Then the owls, 

 too, came back, and the cat, having tried to 

 catch one, got sharply bitten and clawed 

 before she realized the propriety of letting it 

 go. After this experience she decided that 

 owls, on the whole, were meant to be let 

 alone. But, for all that, she found it fine 



