ing. Tom and Harry took their places toward the front of
the toboggan, inside the tent. There was a hole in the bagging so they
could look out. Ted sat behind to steer.
"All ready?" he asked his chums.
"Let her go!" cried Tom.
Ted pushed off, and for a little way the toboggan went down the hill all
right. The boys were laughing and shouting, for it was fun to coast
inside a tent that kept off the cold wind.
"It's like riding in a closed auto!" yelled Tom.
But just then something happened. The toboggan struck a lump of ice on
the hill, slued around, though Ted did his best to steer it, and began
going sideways.
Just then the three girls, with Trouble, came out to see what the boys
were doing, and seeing the strange tent-covered toboggan going downhill
sideways Janet, Lola, and Mary, all three, screamed, while Trouble
yelled in delight, as he always did at anything new or strange.
Ted declared afterward that the girls' screams made him steer crooked,
but in the girls' opinion the toboggan would have upset anyhow. And
that's what it did.
Over it turned, when half way down the hill. The bean poles snapped and
broke, and a moment later the boys were tangled up in the pieces of
carpet and bagging, rolling off the toboggan which coasted the rest of
the way downhill by itself, and probably it was very glad to be rid of
the tent-house.
"Oh, are you hurt?" cried Jan, as she saw the tangled mass of boys.
"I'll call Uncle Toby!" exclaimed Lola.
"Oh, what a dreadful accident!" wailed Mary.
But an instant later the boys jumped up, laughing, not in the least
hurt, though they were disappointed because their invention did not
work.
"Don't try any more tricks like that," said Uncle Toby, when he heard
what had happened. "The next time some of you may be hurt."
The boys promised to obey, and they didn't do any thing just like that
again, but they did other things almost as risky. However, no one was
hurt, and they certainly had lots of fun at Uncle Toby's.
There was so much to do that they almost forgot about the lost
Skyrocket, though every now and then Ted and his chums would go off in
the woods, whistling and calling. But the dog did not come back.
As the snow did not melt away, Uncle Toby, with the help of some of his
men friends at the camp, cleared a place on the frozen lake where the
children could skate. And with this fun, with coasting, making snowmen,
another snow house, having snowball battl
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