d I hope."

"Couldn't he have some bread and jam with it, Mother?" asked Janet, as
she sipped her warm drink. "Maybe he's hungry."

"Maybe he is!" laughed Mrs. Martin.

"Oh, don't bother!" exclaimed Ford.

But Mrs. Martin got it ready and Ford ate the bread and jam as though he
liked it. So did Ted, and then Nora took some cookies out to the boys
and girls from the pond who had gathered in front of the Martin home to
talk about Janet's having gone through the ice and of how Ford had
pulled her out of the mud.

Altogether there was a great deal of excitement, and many people in town
talked about the Curlytops that night when the boys and girls went to
their homes with the news.

"Some one ought to look after the ice on the little pond as well as on
the lake when there is skating," said Mr. Martin, when he heard what had
happened. "We want our little boys and girls to be safe as well as the
larger ones. I'll see about it."

So he did, and after that, for the rest of the winter and each winter
following, a man was sent to see how thick the ice on the little pond
was, and if it would not hold up a big crowd of little boys and girls
none was allowed on until it had frozen more thickly.

"But when are we going to build the big snow house?" asked Jan one night
at supper, when she and Ted had played hard on the hill after school.

"You can't build it until there's more snow," said her mother. "You'll
have to wait until another storm comes. I expect there'll be one soon,
for Thanksgiving is next week, and we usually have a good snow then."

"Oh, is it Thanksgiving?" cried Ted. "What fun we'll have!"

"Is grandpa or grandma coming to see us this year?" asked Jan.

"No, they have to stay on Cherry Farm. I asked them to come, but grandpa
says if there is going to be a blizzard, and any danger of his getting
snowed in, he wants to be at home where he can feed the cows and
horses."

"Aren't we going to have any company over Thanksgiving?" asked Ted.

"Well, maybe," and his mother smiled.

"Oh, somebody is coming!" cried Jan joyfully. "It's going to be a
surprise, Ted! I can tell by the way mother laughs with her eyes!"

"Is it going to be a surprise?" Ted asked.

"Well, maybe," and Mrs. Martin laughed.

The weather grew colder as Thanksgiving came nearer. There were two or
three flurries of snow, but no big storm, though Jan and Ted looked
anxiously for one, as they wanted a big pile of the white flakes in the
y