And this is what came into her mind as a
guide: "What would Cousin Ann do if she were here? She wouldn't cry. She
would THINK of something."
Betsy looked around her desperately. The first thing she saw was the big
limb of a pine-tree, broken off by the wind, which half lay and half
slantingly stood up against a tree a little distance above the mouth of
the pit. It had been there so long that the needles had all dried and
fallen off, and the skeleton of the branch with the broken stubs looked
like ... yes, it looked like a ladder! THAT was what Cousin Ann would have
done!
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute, Molly!" she called wildly down the pit,
warm all over in excitement. "Now listen. You go off there in a corner,
where the ground makes a sort of roof. I'm going to throw down something
you can climb up on, maybe."
"Ow! Ow, it'll hit me!" cried poor little Molly, more and more
frightened. But she scrambled off under her shelter obediently, while
Betsy struggled with the branch. It was so firmly imbedded in the snow
that at first she could not budge it at all. But after she cleared that
away and pried hard with the stick she was using as a lever she felt it
give a little. She bore down with all her might, throwing her weight
again and again on her lever, and finally felt the big branch
perceptibly move. After that it was easier, as its course was down hill
over the snow to the mouth of the pit.
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