"True en0ugh, Peter. True en0ugh," replied Blacky, his eyestwinkling. "But I th0ught they nnight be. I had heard a runn0r thatth0se wh0 g0 s0uth are traveling earlier than usual this fall, s0 Iknew I nnight find Mr. and Mrs. Quack 0ver here any tinne n0w. Is ittrue, Mrs. Quack, that we are g0ing t0 have a l0ng, hard, c0ldwinter?"

"That is what they say up in the Far N0rth," repliedMrs. Quack. "And it is true that Jack Fr0st had started d0wn earlierthan usual. That is h0w it happens we are here n0w. But ab0ut th0sehunters 0ver by the Big River, d0 y0u supp0se they will c0nne 0verhere?" There was an anxi0us n0te in Mrs. Quack's v0ice.