A Little Norsk Or Ol' Paps' Flaxen By Hamlin Garland Author of Main Traveled Roads, A Member of the Third House, A Spoil of Office, Jason Edwards, etc. Publisher's logo New York D. Appleton and Company 1892 Copyright, 1892, By D. Appleton and Company. Printed at the Appleton Press, U.S.A. On the Plain. My cabin cowers in the pathless sweep Of the terrible northern blast; Above its roof the wild clouds leap And shriek as they hurtle past. The snow-waves hiss along the plain, Like spectral wolves they stretch and strain And race and ramp--with hissing beat, Like stealthy tread of myriad feet, I hear them pass; upon the roof The icy showers swirl and rattle; At times the moon, from storms aloof, Shines white and wan within the room-- Then swift clouds drive across the light And all the plain is lost to sight, The cabin rocks, and on my palm The sifted snow falls, cold and calm. God! What a power is in the wind! I lay my cheek to the cabin side To feel the weight of his giant hands-- A speck, a fly in the blasting tide Of streaming, pitiless, icy sands; A single heart with its feeble beat-- A mouse in the lion's throat-- A swimmer at sea--a sunbeam's mote In the grasp of a tempest of hail and sleet! Table of Contents. A Little Norsk Page CHAPTER I Her Adoptive Parents 1 CHAPTER II. Her First Trip in a Blizzard 9 CHAPTER III. The Burial of her Dead Mother 22 CHAPTER IV. Flaxen Adopts Anson as "Pap" 32 CHAPTER V. Flaxen Becomes Indispensable to the Two Old Bachelors 38 CHAPTER VI. A Question of Dress 46 CHAPTER VII. After Harvest 69 CHAPTER VIII. An Empty House 78 CHAPTER IX. "Baching" it Again 86 CHAPTER X. Flaxen Comes Home on a Vacation 105 CHAPTER XI. Flaxen Grows Restless 113 CHAPTER XII. Flaxen Says Good-bye 124 CHAPTER XIII. Flaxen's Great Need 133 CHAPTER XIV. Kendall Steps Out 148 CHAPTER XV. Bert Comes Back 153 A LITTLE NORSK. CHAPTER I. HER ADOPTIVE PARENTS.