The first few weeks of winter are beautiful but bitter, and Jim takes Ántonia and Yulka in a sled, which Otto built, to the Russians' old house. When they start back, around four, the wind has come up, howling across the plains, and the sky has become gray. The girls begin shivering because their clothes aren't warm enough, and Jim gives Yulka his neck scarf, which she forgets to return. Quinsy, an acute inflammation of the tonsils, keeps Jim inside for two weeks after the sled ride, and he reads to his grandmother. On Saturday nights, she pops corn and makes taffy. Sometimes, Otto tells stories.
From Jake's remarks, Grandmother thinks the Shimerdas may be reduced to eating prairie dogs, so she and Jake and Jim take food to their neighbors and are appalled at their wretched living conditions. Mrs. Shimerda reproaches them for their lack of neighborliness, but after Jake brings in the hamper of food, she breaks down and cries.
Mr. Shimerda tells them that they were not beggars in the Old Country. In fact, they have plans for a new log house in the spring, but now the girls must sleep in an alcove dug into the wall of the dugout. Grandmother worries that the Shimerdas don't have enough "horse-sense" to survive on the Nebraska prairie.
Before the guests leave, Mrs. Shimerda gives Grandmother a small sack of something and gives little explanation — except to indicate that it is good to eat. When she gets home, Grandmother tosses the package into the stove, but not before Jim samples one of the items inside; it will be years before he realizes that the sack contained dried mushrooms, gathered "in some deep Bohemian forest."
