The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City | Page 8

them.

The boat had been tried out on the ice, and had sailed well. Mr.
Bobbsey had Mr. Watson look at it, and that gentleman had said it was
safe to ride in. Then Bert had finally gotten his father and mother to
promise to take a trip in the boat, bringing Nan, Flossie and Freddie
with them. Mr. Bobbsey had, before this, been given a ride with Bert
and Tommy, so he knew the two boys could manage the boat fairly
well. Tommy and Bert had had several rides by themselves. Now they
had company.
"Are you all ready?" asked Bert, after he had seen his father and mother,
his sisters and brother, get on board the Bird.
"All ready," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "Don't go too fast at first, and take
your mother's breath away."
"I won't!" promised Bert. "Are those two little ones covered up all
right?" he asked, nodding toward Flossie and Freddie.
"Yep! We're as warm as--as popcorn!" cried Flossie.
"With butter on!" added Freddie.
"Well, you certainly ought to be good and warm," laughed Mrs.
Bobbsey, as she tucked the robes closer around the two smaller twins.
"All aboard!" called Bert, and then, moving slowly at first, the ice-boat
glided away from the lumber wharf, skimming over the lake with the
entire Bobbsey family, not counting, of course, fat Dinah and her
husband, who stayed at home. Nor was Snoop, the black cat, along.
Snap, the dog, ran a little way, but when he found the ice-boat was
going too fast for him, and when he noticed that he was slipping too
much, he gave a sort of good-bye howl and went slowly back to shore.
"Isn't this great?" cried Bert, as he steered the ice-boat out into the
middle of the lake.
"Wonderful!" cried Nan, her hair flying in the wind and her cheeks
almost as red as roses. "I don't see how you made it, Bert."

"Well, it wasn't easy. How do you like it, Freddie?"
"All right. When can I steer?"
"Oh, maybe after a while," said Bert, with a laugh. "Say, we're going
fast, all right."
"Yes," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "I think the wind is getting stronger
instead of dying out, Bert."
"It does seem so. Well, all the better. We won't have to walk back if it
keeps on this way. We can sail to the end of the lake and ride back."
"Are you sure you can manage the boat yourself?" asked Bert's father,
"She seems pretty big."
"Oh, Tommy and I sailed her in a stronger wind than this. And we have
a heavier load on now, which makes it all the safer."
Mr. Bobbsey himself knew how to sail an ice-boat, but he wanted to let
Bert do as much alone as he could, for this is a good way for a boy to
learn, if there is not too much danger.
"And the worst that can happen," said Mr. Bobbsey, in a whisper to his
wife, "is that we may upset and spill out."
"Oh! But do you really think there is any danger of _that?_"
"Well, there may be. Ice-boats often upset, but we can't fall very far,"
and he looked down at the ice, which was only a few inches below
them. "And we have so many robes and blankets that falling would be
like tumbling into bed. There is no danger."
The wind was blowing harder and harder. It was sweeping right across
the lake and forcing the boat down. The steel runners clinked on the ice,
now and then scraping up a shower of icy splinters that sparkled in the
sun. On the other side of the lake were other ice-boats, and Bert wished
he could have a race with some of them. But he knew his mother would
not like that now.

"Can't you make it go a little slower?" asked Flossie, after a bit. "Every
time I open my mouth it gets filled with cold air, and it makes me want
to sneeze."
"I can't go any slower than the wind blows," answered Bert. "Turn your
back to the bow, or front end of the boat, and you can open your mouth
easier then."
Flossie did as she was told and felt better. Meanwhile the Bird was
living up to her name, and skimming along swiftly. Bert held to the
steering handle, now and then tightening or loosening the rope that was
fast to the sail.
"Want any help?" asked his father.
"No, thank you, Dad. I want to manage it all by myself as long as I
can."
"Isn't it my turn to steer?" asked Freddie, when they were half-way
down the lake, toward the end farthest from the town, where there were
deep woods on either side.
"No, not yet!" exclaimed