Flossie to help her if she should need it. Tommy was a sort of chum of both pairs of twins, sometimes going with the older ones, Nan and Bert, and again with Flossie and Freddie. In fact, he played with these latter more often than with Nan and her twin, for Flossie and Freddie had played a large part in helping Tommy at one time, as I'll explain a little later.
It was a fine Winter's day, not too cold, and the sun was shining from a clear sky, but not warmly enough to melt the ice. The steel skates of the five children rang out a merry tune as they clicked over the frozen surface of the lake.
"Hurrah! Here we are!" cried Bert at last, as he skated on ahead and sat down on a bench in front of the "Chocolate Cabin," as they called the place. He began taking off his skates.
"Come on!" he called to the others. "I'll order the chocolate for you and have it cooling," for there was more trouble with Flossie's skate and Nan had stopped to help her fix it.
"Don't order chocolate for me, Bert!" called Nan. "I want malted milk. The chocolate is too sweet."
"Guess you're afraid of your complexion, Sis!" laughed Bert, as he went inside the little wooden house.
"Oh, Flossie, take both your skates off and walk the rest of the way," advised Nan, after she had tried, without much success, to fix the troublesome strap. "We'll get there sooner."
"All right," agreed Flossie. "It's a bother--this skate. I'm going to get a new pair."
"Maybe a new strap is all you need," said Tommy. "You can get one in there," and he nodded toward the little cabin.
A little later the five children were seated on stools in front of the counter, sipping the warm drinks which made their cheeks glow with brighter color and caused a deeper sparkle in their eyes.
"This is great!" cried Tommy Todd.
"That's what!" murmured Freddie, his nose deep in his cup.
"Don't forget about my strap," came from Flossie.
"Oh, yes," agreed Bert. "We don't want to have to drag you all the way home." The man who sold the chocolate and candy in the cabin also had skate straps for sale and one was soon found that would do for Flossie.
"Now my skate won't come off!" she cried, as once more they were on the ice. "I can skate as good as you, Freddie Bobbsey!"
"Let's have a race!" proposed Freddie. "Bert and Nan can give Flossie and me a head start, 'cause they're bigger than us. Will you?" he asked his brother.
"Yes, I guess so. A race will get us home quicker, and we're a little late."
"We'll let Flossie and Freddie start ahead of me," suggested Tommy, who, being a little elder than the two smaller twins, was a little better skater.
"All right," agreed Bert. "Any way you like. Go ahead, Floss and Fred. Skate on until I tell you to wait. Then I'll give Tommy a starting place and, when we're all ready, I'll give the word to begin."
Flossie and Freddie, hand in hand, skated ahead a little way. But Freddie's skate went over a little piece of wood on the ice and he tripped and fell, pulling Flossie down with him. The two plump twins were in a heap on the ice.
"Hurt yourself?" asked Bert, as he started toward them, to help them up.
"No--no--I--I guess not," answered Flossie, who was the first to get up.
"We're all right," replied Freddie. "The ice was soft right there."
"I guess it's because they're so fat, that they're soft, like a feather pillow," laughed Tommy. "They're getting fatter every day."
"That's what they are," agreed Nan with a smile. "But they are pretty good skaters for such small children."
"Everybody ready?" asked Bert, when the two small twins had taken their places, and Tommy Todd was between them and Bert and Nan.
"All right," answered Freddie.
"I am, too," came from Tommy.
"Then go!" cried Bert, suddenly.
The skating race was started. Merrily clicked the runners on the hard ice, leaving long white streaks where the children passed over. Flossie and Freddie were skating as fast and as hard as they could.
"They are very anxious to win," said Nan, who was skating beside her brother.
"Yes, but they can't keep going as fast as that all the way home."
"You're going to let them win, aren't you?" asked Nan.
"Sure I am! But they're so sharp we don't dare lag much behind. We must make a spurt toward the end, and pretend we did our best to beat them. Tommy Todd may come in ahead of them, though."
"We can skate up to him and tell him not to," suggested Nan.
"Good idea!" declared Bert. "We'll do it."
The older twins skated a little faster to overtake Tommy, who was some distance behind Flossie
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