a wagon sheet stretched in such a manner that it kept off the sleet. He
fixed a bed under the poor shelter and did all he could to keep the
fire from blowing away, and there, a few hours later, a little girl
baby was born. They melted sleet in the frying-pan to get water to wash
it. "Mis' Lane" kept feeling no better fast, and about the time they
got the poor baby dressed a second little one came.

That she told me herself is proof she didn't die, I guess, but it is
right hard to believe she didn't. Luckily the fire lasted until the
babies were dressed and the mother began to feel better, for there was
no wood. Soon the wind stopped and the snow fell steadily. It was
warmer, and the whole family snuggled up under the wagon sheet and
slept.

Mr. Lane is a powerful good husband. He waited two whole days for his
wife to gain strength before he resumed the journey, and on the third
morning he actually carried her to the wagon. Just think of it! Could
more be asked of any man?

Every turn of the wheels made poor "Mis' Lane" more homesick. Like Mrs.
Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, she had a taste for geographical names,
and "Mis' Lane" is very loyal, so she wanted to call the little
first-born "Missouri." Mr. Lane said she might, but that if she did he
would call the other one "Arkansas." Sometimes homesickness would
almost master her. She would hug up the little red baby and murmur
"Missouri," and then daddy would growl playfully to "Arkansas." It went
on that way for a long time and at last she remembered that Sedalia was
in Missouri, so she felt glad and really named the older baby
"Sedalia." But she could think of nothing to match the name and was in
constant fear the father would name the other baby "Little Rock."