text: The next day the men went back to felling trees and stacking wood by the side of the river.
  
  "How many cords have we got?" Grit asked.
  
  "I think there's 56," Paulie said. "By the time the first boat comes, we should have at least two hundred more. While you were gone I sharpened all the saws and my axes, so they're all ready to go." He hadn't sharpened Grit's double-bit axes because he knew Grit liked to do it himself.
  
  "That's good," Grit said. "What did you do with Astrid while you worked?"
  
  "Oh, I bundled her up, and she played in the woodyard and asked me a thousand questions," Paulie said. "I swear she's the most curious child I've ever known."
  
  Grit laughed. "I've noticed that."
  
  "You think we could make five thousand dollars this year?" Paulie asked.
  
  "If we work hard, we could, but we'll have to take some time off to resupply too," Grit said.
  
  Over the next few weeks, they fell into a routine, working when the weather permitted for six or eight hours a day. Colleen fixed excellent meals, took care of Astrid and washed clothes and hung them about the house during the day.
  
  When they were together inside, they played games and read stories to Astrid, who loved all the attention. She was a sweet girl who wanted to please, and she was obedient when asked to do something. Colleen worried that everyone was growing very attached to her. Astrid had blonde hair and a pale complexion that in daylight seemed almost translucent. Her blue eyes never missed a thing, and she always had a question on her mind.
  
  In the early morning hours, Astrid had taken to waking up, leaving her room and crawling quietly into bed with Paulie before falling back to sleep. At daylight, Colleen and Grit would often hear the two of them talking, or they'd hear Astrid giggling.
  
  Colleen had written a letter to an address in Minnesota that they'd found on an envelope in the Knudsens' sod house. Grit had given the letter to an Army patrol, who'd taken it to Fort Randall, then on to Yankton, where it would go by train to Minnesota.
  
  Secretly, Colleen was hoping they'd never hear anything, but she feared somebody would come and tear Astrid away from them someday. She was sure that either Leif's or Inga's relatives would undoubtedly want to raise Astrid. Colleen did her best to maintain a neutral attitude toward the little girl as if she were only a nanny, but it was hard not to love Astrid. She was a beautiful child, usually cheerful, and she seemed to blossom with all the attention she received.
  
  Grit worked out with Paulie for an hour almost daily in the barn to develop the boxing skills Paulie wanted so badly. Sometimes Colleen and Astrid came out to the barn to watch.
  
  "You're getting lots better, Paulie," Grit told him in mid-February. "You may not realize it, but you can block most of my punches now, and you're growing stronger every day. I'm thinkin' they may have a boxing team at the college, and if they do, you should join it."
  
  They wrapped their hands in thick rags each day and sparred. It was something they both enjoyed, even though Grit pulled his punches, refusing to hit Paulie hard, but Paulie exulted each time he got through Grit's defenses.
  
  "Ha, I gotcha that time," Paulie said after he'd managed to hit Grit's nose.
  
  Grit laughed. "Yeah, I gotta watch you. You're gettin' kinda sneaky."