Árdís - 01.01.1966, Blaðsíða 53

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
51
read some more. This pattern repeated itself many times that long
afternoon in the lonely cabin on the prairie.
All of a sudden a crunching, scraping sound broke the stillness.
Yes, something had hit the wall near the window. The girls
jumped up and flew to it. There was Tom’s long, black face close
to the pane.
“Thank God,” the girls cried in unsion.
Presently Arni’s face beamed at them through the pane. They
could hear how the procession outside travelled around the corner
of the cabin and around to the door. Veiga was going to open the
door when Arni called to her to wait until he had dug some of
the snow away from it. When it was safe to do so, he opened the
door and told her he must unhitch the horses and get them into
the barn before he came in.
“But how will you find your way back from the barn?” called
Beta.
Veiga walked to the shelf behind the door and brought back
a ball of binder twine and told him to carry it to the barn with
him. She tied the end to the door latch and now he could be sure
of getting back safely. Arni let the horses lead the way to the
barn while he followed, armed with a ball of twine and the milk
pail.
Inside the cabin the girls began preparing a meal. Neither of
them had thought of food nor even felt any hunger that inter-
minably long day. Or so it seemed to them ... an age since the
far away sunny morning when Arni had driven off in high glee.
In reality it had been only a few hours.
When Arni returned after finishing the chores they were all
very hungry and very weary. Even Trig fell sound asleep just as
he had eaten his food.
Never had any king or warrior been welcomed more warmly
or gratefully than Arni was that evening.
“Beta, please bring me the book of Sagas from the shelf,”
asked Arni, “tonight is a good night to read about the heroic ex-
ploits of the ancient Vikings. We have the same courage among us
here, as that which the Vikings had, here in a March blizzard on the
prairies, but here it is done up in wrappings of dainty femininity.”