nd leave them in the wagon," said
Sunny Boy. "And then we'll eat lunch and walk the other way. I don't
think there is much fun around here."

Nelson Baker had a pocket knife, so he cut the pussy willows and the
boys carried a large bunch back to the tree where Bob had tied the
horse and wagon. But the horse was gone, and, of course, the wagon,
when they reached the tree, and neither Bob or Mr. Parkney was in sight.

"They've gone home to eat their dinner," said Sunny Boy. "Let's leave
the pussy willows under this tree. Mr. Parkney said he would be back
by half-past one, you know."

"I'm starving," declared Leslie Bradin. "Come on, let's eat now. My
mother put two stuffed eggs in my box."

Seven very hungry small boys may dispose of seven hearty lunches in
almost seven minutes. It did take Sunny Boy and his friends a little
longer, but in much less than half an hour they were through eating and
had tossed the boxes into the brook and seen them rushed swiftly down
stream.

"What's on the other side of that fence?" asked Oliver Dunlap, pointing
to a wire fence that ran across the pasture, dipped into the brook, and
continued on the other side.

"Mr. Parkney said nobody lives there," Sunny Boy reminded Oliver.
"Let's explore where nobody lives. Come on, fellows!"

They ran toward the fence, intending to climb over it, but before they
reached it, Sunny Boy saw something that made him cry out in surprise.

"Look, Oliver!" he shouted. "Carleton, look! See the fence in the
water!"

The boys looked toward the brook. Part of the fence that was in the
water had broken and hung wobbling. But what had attracted Sunny Boy's
attention was a pile of ice cakes that were jammed against the fence.
They were a yellowish-white, not at all like the ice cakes the iceman
left in the refrigerator on summer mornings.

"It'll break in a minute," declared Nelson Baker. "Let's watch."

The boys stood waiting a few moments, and with a dull roar, the ice was
forced through the fence, carrying a part of it along, and the water,
as though angry at being held back, raced madly by, tossing cakes of
ice on either bank. A large piece was tossed right on the toe of Sunny
Boy's boot.

"There must be more ice where that came from," said Nelson. "Maybe we
can find the beginning of the brook. Hurry up! Let's try to find it."

They could not run, or even walk very fast, because at every step they
sank into the soft ground. But,