Árdís - 01.01.1966, Page 50

48
ÁRDÍ S
time for the noon meal. All of a sudden Veiga looked up and
exclaimed.
“Beta! Look! It is getting very cloudy. Did you notice the sun-
shine disappear?”
“No, Veiga, I did not notice it. I could only see the brook
skipping over the pebbles and going on forever. Then I began
thinking of the little brook out in your field; how it freezes up in
the winter and can’t go on forever though it chatters mighty
loudly in the spring. It will be chattering pretty soon now if the
thaw keeps on.”
“I guess we had better fill those barrels now, Beta. Give me
the dishpan.”
Beta put away the books and out they went to their uni-
finished work. What a difference in. the weather! There was no
wind whatsoever. Nothing stirred. The sky was overcast. The clouds
hung so low that it seemed as if they could be touched if the arms
were raised. The very stillness was oppressing, Beta, who without
realizing it spoke to her sister in whispers. Even the daylight seemed
to be paling. Both girls silently filled her barrel and just as silently
decided to leave the third one, for by now snow had begun to
fall gently. Both started toward the house without a word and
once inside, quietly closed the door, hung up their coats, went
over to the window to watch for Arni’s return, still without uttering
one word. A blanket of silence seemed to hang over the entire
universe. Time seemed to be suspended.
Presently, they saw him come over the brow of the little
hillock some distance away.
“I am glad he will reach home before the storm gets worse.
It is getting quite dark overhead.”
“Yes, indeed. But look Veiga it is not snowing out there where
Arni is.”
All of a sudden while the girls stood by the window, the
snow began falling so heavily that nothing could be seen, nothing
at all but whiteness. Even the woodpile jusí outside the window
which served as a windbreak, was obliterated. As they watched
the white solid curtain turned to a pale grey one with never a
íold or a break. Owing to the absence of wind the snow came
straight down like tiny atoms of lead.