n found room farther back, with his legs in the snow,
and amidst some laughter and joking the others pushed; them off. The
surface was hard, and for a time the toboggan ran smoothly and steadily;
then the pace got faster, and showers of snow flew up like spray. It beat
into Grace's eyes and whipped her face, until she bent her head in the
shelter of the curled front.

The sharp hiss the steel runners made was louder, the wind began to
scream, and she got something of a shock when she cautiously looked up.
It was hard to see through the snowy spray, but the top of the crag
looked ominously near. Glancing down hill with smarting eyes, she thought
the slope, which, from the top, had seemed to fall evenly to the dale,
was also inclined towards the crag. She could not see much of the latter,
but there was a fringe of dark rock where the white declivity broke off.

"Aren't we getting too near?" she shouted.

"Nearer than I thought," Thorn gasped. "Not sure I can swing the sledge.
Can you get back and help?"

Grace braced herself. Alan's nerve was good, but there was a disturbed
note in his voice; besides he would not have asked her help unless it was
needed. Wriggling back cautiously, she got level with Thorn, although
there was not much room for them side by side. Her feet and the seam of
her short dress brushed in the snow and tore up the surface. She felt the
looser stuff beneath foam about her gaiters, but this was an advantage.
The drag would help to stop the sledge, and if she could put an extra
pressure on one side, to some extent direct it. Still they were going
very fast and at first she was nearly pulled off. She tightened her grasp
with her hands until she felt her gloves split, and then risked another
glance ahead.

The rocks were very close, but the sledge had passed the top, and she
could see a few yards down the dark side as they followed the curving
edge of the crag. The sledge was now running nearly straight down the
hill, but the curve bent in towards them, and she could not tell if they
would shoot past the widest spot or plunge over.

"Perhaps you had better let go," Thorn said hoarsely.

Grace shook her head. If she dropped off, it was uncertain whether she
would stop until she had rolled some distance; perhaps she might not stop
before she reached the edge of the crag. Anyhow, she did not mean to let
go, and tried to catch the snow with her toes in an effort to help Thorn
to steer the sledge. It s