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<h2>XIV<br/>STUCK IN A DRIFT</h2></div>
<p>Outside the barn, in the snow-covered farmyard, Johnnie Green mounted
Twinkleheels and rode him beyond the gate, where he could watch the fun
up the road.</p>
<p>Yoked to a sort of plough, Bright and Broad, the oxen, tore through the
piled-up snow and threw it to either side in great ridges.</p>
<p>"I'm going ahead to the crossroads," Johnnie Green told his father.</p>
<p>That plan pleased Twinkleheels. Before Farmer Green could speak he
plunged out of the broken road and wallowed<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</SPAN></span> in snow up to his neck. He
was going to show Bright and Broad that he could get to the crossroads
before they did.</p>
<p>"Don't do that!" Farmer Green shouted to Johnnie.</p>
<p>He was too late. The words were scarcely out of his mouth before
Twinkleheels was reaching desperately for a footing. His toes found
nothing firm beneath them—nothing but yielding snow. And his frantic
struggles only made him sink the deeper.</p>
<p>Johnnie Green slid off Twinkleheels' back and tried to help him.</p>
<p>He could do nothing. And he turned a somewhat frightened face to his
father.</p>
<p>"We're stuck!" he faltered. "I can get out; but Twinkleheels can't. Do
you suppose Bright and Broad could pull him out?"<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"They could yank twenty of him back on the road," Farmer Green declared.
"But we don't need them. I'll dig the pony out."</p>
<p>Seizing a shovel, Johnnie's father slowly dug his way to Twinkleheels,
who had stopped struggling and was waiting glumly for help. In a few
minutes more he had scrambled out of the ditch and gained the road
again, through the path that Farmer Green made for him.</p>
<p>"Now," said Farmer Green, "don't leave the broken road. This pony's too
small to handle himself in these drifts. I wouldn't try to put even a
full-sized horse through them. It takes oxen in such going. They're
slow; but they're strong and sure-footed, too. And they can go where
horses couldn't do anything but flounder and probably cut themselves
with their own feet. That's why we always<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</SPAN></span> use Bright and Broad to
gather sap in the sugar-bush."</p>
<p>"I'll put Twinkleheels in the barn again," said Johnnie. "Then I'll come
back on foot and help you."</p>
<p>So he rode Twinkleheels back and hitched him in his stall once more.</p>
<p>Old Ebenezer woke up as Twinkleheels pattered over the barn floor.</p>
<p>"What!" cried the old horse. "Back again so soon? Did you race with
Bright and Broad?"</p>
<p>"The snow's too deep for a good race," Twinkleheels told him.</p>
<p>"Bright and Broad don't mind the snow much, do they?" Ebenezer asked.</p>
<p>"Oh, no!" Twinkleheels answered. "They're getting on slowly, up the
road. They take their time, of course."</p>
<p>"Couldn't they beat you to the crossroads if you raced with them
to-day?"<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"Well—yes!" Twinkleheels admitted. And he gave Ebenezer a sharp look.
"Who's been talking with you?" he demanded.</p>
<p>"Nobody!" said Ebenezer. "I've been dozing here all the morning."</p>
<p>"Not even a sparrow?" Twinkleheels asked.</p>
<p>"No! Nobody has said a word to me."</p>
<p>"That's strange," Twinkleheels mused. "I was almost sure a little bird
had told you something."<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</SPAN></span></p>
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