The whole surface of the ground, and every thing lying upon it, was covered with the snow; for the branches, and the stumps, and the stems trimmed up for timber, and the places where the old snow had been trampled down by the oxen and by the woodcutters, were now all whitened over again and concealed.
"Who would think," said Jonas, "that there could be any thing alive here ?" "Is there any thing ?" said Josey.
"Yes, thousands of animals, all covered up in the snow,--mice in the ground, and squirrels in the hollow logs, and millions of insects, frozen up in the bark of the dead trees." "And they'll be covered up deeper before morning," said Josey.
"Yes," said Jonas, "and so would our rafters, if we didn't get them out.
We could not have found half of them, if we had left them till after this storm." The rafters were lying around upon the old snow, wherever small trees, from which they had been formed, had fallen.

They could be distinguished very plainly now, although covered with an inch of snow.
Jonas and Josey immediately went to work, getting them together, and placing them upon the sled.

When they had been at work in this way for some time, Jonas said,-- "We shall not get half of them, at this load." "Then what shall you do ?" said Josey.
"O, come up again, and get the rest." "But then it will be dark before you get home." "That will be no matter," said Jonas.
"Only you'll get lost, and buried up in the snow." "No," said Jonas; "there might be some danger to-morrow evening, after it shall have been snowing four and twenty hours; but not to-night.

The snow will not be more than a foot deep at midnight." When they had got as many of the rafters upon the sled as Jonas thought the oxen could conveniently draw, he secured the load by the chains, and collected the rest of the sticks together a little, on the ground.

Then he told Josey to climb up to the top of the load and ride.