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