LXIV. First Snow 



THE snow was a surprise to all the young- 

 sters of the barnyard. There had been 

 flurries earlier in the season, but nothing 

 to compare with the depth that now covers 

 everything. When the colt was turned out he left 

 the stable door at a run. His hoofs threw up a 

 cloud of snow that frightened him, and he ran 

 through the gate to the pasture field. The more he 

 ran the more snow he threw up and the more scared 

 he got. He galloped around the field until he was 

 winded or decided that there was nothing to be 

 frightened about. Then he obeyed an old instinct, 

 pawed away a little patch of snow and began to eat 

 the frozen grass. It was his first experience of 

 snow, but he knew what to do in case he should be 

 obliged to live on the pasture it covered. The colt 

 was not the only youngster to have a first experi- 

 ence of snow on that morning. A flock of young 

 pullets that have been accustomed to ranging freely 

 over the farm were completely flabbergasted by the 



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