side to side. And then, all of a sudden, the _Bird_ shot ahead more
swiftly than before.

The wind was blowing more strongly, and when Freddie moved the rudder he
steered the ice-boat so that the wind sent it straight ahead instead of a
little to one side.

"Oh! oh!" cried Flossie, "this is too fast! How can we stop the ice-boat,
Freddie?"

"I--I don't know," answered the little boy. "Don't you like to go fast,
Flossie?"

"Not so fast as this. I can't make my nose work--I can't get any air!"

Indeed they were sailing even more swiftly than when Bert was steering,
and Flossie was frightened. So was Freddie, but he was not so quick to say
so.

"Please stop the boat!" cried Flossie again.

"Well, I'll try," promised Freddie. "I guess this is the rope you pull
on," and he took hold of the one fast to the end of the sail--the rope
that kept the big piece of white canvas from blowing away.

Freddie pulled on this, but it could not have been the right rope, or else
he pulled it the wrong way, for, in an instant, the ice-boat seemed to
"stand on its ear," as Bert spoke of it afterward. Flossie and Freddie
were almost tossed out.

"Oh, don't do that!" cried the little girl.

"I--I didn't mean to," Freddie told her. "I guess I pulled on the wrong
rope. Here's another. I'll try that."

By this time the ice-boat was more than two miles down the lake, for the
wind was blowing hard and the _Bird_ sailed swiftly. The children could
not see their father, mother, Bert or Nan now. They would soon be at the
end of the lake, and before them Flossie and Freddie could see big drifts
of snow near the edge of the frozen lake and between it and the forest
beyond.

"I--I guess we'd better stop pretty soon," faltered Freddie. "If we don't
we'll run ashore."

With all his strength, he pulled on another rope, at the same time shoving
the tiller over as far from him as it would go. The result was a surprise
to him and to Flossie. The ice-boat turned quickly, and then, like a
frightened horse, it darted toward shore.

Over the ice it skimmed. Then it turned up on one side, buried the bow, or
front part, deep in a big snow drift and with another motion sent Flossie
and Freddie, together with the robes and blankets, flying into a pile of
soft snow. Down came the Bobbsey twins with a soft thud, not being in the
least hurt.

For a moment neither of the children spoke. Then Flossie, brushing the
snow from her face, looked around, and s