"I waited for the rest of you; thought you were coming back." "No," said Howard, "we just _ain't_.

We appointed a committee to find out how many were frozen up altogether entirely, and found that every single one of us were; so we're going in to the library fire to get thawed out by tea-time." "All right," said Ellis, shouldering his sled; "Howard, where's your skates ?" "Oh, bother! they're at the top of that awful hill.

Never mind; you walk on slowly, and I'll run back and get them." The boys obeyed, and Ellis Holbrook was just swinging open the little gate that led to Mr.Minturn's grounds, when Howard called, as he ran down the hill, "Hold on! Don't go that way, it will lead you right through the deepest snow there is; take the big gate." And by the time he reached them, panting and breathless, they were at the big gate.
"This is jolly," said Will Bailey, throwing himself into a great arm-chair before the glowing fire.

"My! I believe I'm a snowball." "You'd have been an icicle if you had gone the way Ellis was leading you; why, the snow is so high," said Howard, raising his hand almost on a level with his head.
Ellis laughed.

"I'm sure I thought I was going right," he said.