st and prettiest
goes first-----"

"Like the ham, I s'pose?" sniffed Nan, in some anger, and just then Tom
reached over the back of the front seat and seized his brother by the
shoulder with a grip that made Rafe shriek with pain.

Nan was almost as startled as was Rafe. In the half-darkness Tom's dull
face blazed with anger, and he held his writhing brother as though he
were a child.

"You ornery scamp!" he said, almost under his breath. "You try to scare
that little girl, and I'll break you in two!"

Nan was horrified. She begged Tom to let his brother alone. "I was only
fooling her," snarled Rafe, rubbing his injured shoulder, for Tom had
the grip of a pipe wrench.

Uncle Henry never turned around at all; but he said: "If I had a gun
I'd be tempted to shoot that old wolf hound of Toby Vanderwiller's. He's
always running after sleds and yelling his head off."

Nan was glad the creature following them was not really a wolf; but she
knew she should be just as much afraid of him if she met him alone, as
though he really were a wolf. However, mostly, she was troubled by the
passionate nature of her two cousins. She had never seen Tom show any
anger before; but it was evident that he had plenty of spirit if it were
called up. And she was, secretly, proud that the slow-witted young giant
should have displayed his interest in her welfare so plainly. Rafe sat
and nursed his shoulder in silence for several miles.

The cold was intense. As the sky lightened along the eastern horizon it
seemed to Nan as though the frost increased each moment. The bricks at
their feet were getting cool; and they had already had recourse to the
thermos bottle, which was now empty of the gratefully hot drink it had
contained.

As the light gradually increased Nan saw Rafe watching her with sudden
attention. After his recent trick she was a little afraid of Rafe. Still
it did not seem possible that the reckless fellow would attempt any
second piece of fooling so soon after his brother's threat.

But suddenly Rafe yelled to his father to pull down the roans, and as
the ponies stopped, he reached from the sled into a drift and secured a
big handful of snow. Seizing Nan quickly around the shoulders he began
to rub her cheek vigorously with the snow. Nan gasped and almost lost
her breath; but she realized immediately what Rafe was about.

The frost had nipped her cheek, and her cousin had seen the white spot
appear. "The rubbing stung awfull