life," said Harry, his eyes shining
with pleasure. He wished his mother might have shared in some of his and
his sister's enjoyment, and how he wished that he had a father, such as
the other boys had, only he himself knew. But he said nothing of this.

"Hold on tightly now, boys!" called Uncle Toby.

"We will!" they answered, and away they went.

At first everything was all right. The road was slightly uphill and the
toboggan kept well back from the wheels of the automobile, so there was
no danger of bumping into them. But when the automobile started down
grade toward Uncle Toby's cabin, the wooden sled slid faster than the
automobile was pulling it.

"Put on brakes! Put on brakes!" shouted Ted.

"Stick your feet in the snow!" echoed Tom.

The three boys thrust their feet out on either side of the toboggan,
digging their heels into the snow, and in this way they made themselves
slow up, so they did not hit the wheels. Even if they had done so no
harm would have resulted, because the wheels had large rubber tires on
them, and the front of the toboggan came up in a big curve.

Soon they were going uphill again, and the boys did not have to "put on
brakes." But as Uncle Toby made the automobile go a bit faster, when
they were near his cabin, he and the girls suddenly heard laughing
shouts from the boys behind them.

"Oh, something has happened!" exclaimed Jan, looking out of the rear
window of the closed car.

"They've fallen off!" added Mary. "I hope they aren't hurt!"

"Can't be much hurt, falling off in the snow," laughed Uncle Toby, as
he brought the car to a stop, got out, and went back, followed by the
girls. The toboggan had turned upside down, but was not damaged. The
boys, laughing so joyously that they could hardly walk, were coming
along, covered with snow.

"What happened?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.

"Oh, the toboggan struck a big lump of snow in the middle of the road
and turned right over. It spilled us off!" explained Ted.

"But it was fun!" added Harry. And so it was.

"Well, we're almost there. Better walk the rest of the way," advised
Uncle Toby. "Take the toboggan off and pull it."

This was done, two of the boys taking turns pulling the third over the
short distance remaining.

"And now for some real tobogganing!" cried Ted, as the cabin was
reached.

Uncle Toby, however, would not let the children go down alone for the
first few times. He wanted to be sure the boys knew how to ma