ther has been very strict lately, so I
don't dare do anything to worry him. But if he attacks me I'll defend
myself, don't you fear!" added Nat, boastfully. It may be added here
that Nat and Shadow met the very next afternoon, back of the boathouse,
and though the money-lender's son tried to get away, Shadow pounced
upon him and knocked him down, and ended up by blackening Nat's left
eye, and making his nose bleed. Later on, Nat tried to "square himself"
with his friends by stating that Shadow had attacked him while he was
feeling sick, but it is doubtful if anybody believed this statement.

By Wednesday the storm cleared away, and the air became clear and
bracing. Word was sent in from Rockville that, unless another storm
followed, the ice on the river would be cleared off for the game of
hockey as scheduled.

"Well, we must get into practice," said Dave, and that very afternoon a
portion of the river near the Oak Hall boathouse was scraped clear, and
the seven got to work, under the eyes of Mr. Dodsworth and Andrew Dale.

"Rockville will do its best to win," said Roger. "If for no other reason
than to wipe out the football defeat."

"And we must do our best to down 'em!" cried Dave.

"I am going for a sleigh ride to-morrow," announced Phil. "I've hired a
big sleigh from Oakdale, and I want the whole bunch to go."

"Bully for Phil!" cried Ben. "A sleigh ride will suit me first-rate."

"Where will you go?" asked Shadow.

"I thought of going to Hopperville and back. That is about as far as we
can go between four o'clock and ten. I'll telephone to the Hopperville
Hotel to have supper ready for us."

"Phil, you're a brick!" cried Roger.

"Will the doctor let us go?" asked Ben.

"Yes, I asked him before I hired the sleigh."

The thought of a sleigh ride was a pleasant one, and Phil had little
difficulty in making up a party of eight, including Roger, Dave, and
Ben.

"It will be moonlight," said Dave. "And that will make the riding extra
fine."

It was a merry crowd that climbed into the big sleigh on the following
afternoon. The turnout was filled with straw, so that they might keep
warm, and was drawn by four good horses.

"Now then, let her go!" cried Phil, and the driver cracked his whip, and
they were off, the envy of all the students who had been left behind.

The road to Hopperville lay through Oakdale and Rockville, and as each
town was passed the boys set up a cheer and blew the horns that had bee