Kate found her sister, as the stranger had intimated, fully prepared.

A hasty inventory of provisions and means of subsistence showed that they had ample resources for a much longer isolation.
"They tell me it is by no means an uncommon case, Kate; somebody over at somebody's place was snowed in for four weeks, and now it appears that even the Summit House is not always accessible.

John ought to have known it when he bought the place; in fact, I was ashamed to admit that he did not.

But that is like John to prefer his own theories to the experience of others.

However, I don't suppose we should even notice the privation except for the mails.