te, and have it off my mind, as soon as I see who this is coming up
the avenue."

A tall young fellow had turned in at the gate, and was striding along
toward the house as if in a great hurry.

"It's Rob Moore!" she exclaimed, in surprise. "I thought he wasn't
coming home until Christmas eve."

"So did I," answered Lloyd, crossing the room to look over Betty's
shoulder. "I'll beat you to the front doah, Betty."

There was a wild dash through the hall. Both slim figures bounced
against the door at the same instant. There was a laughing scuffle over
the latch, and then the two girls stood arm in arm between the white
pillars of the porch, gaily calling a greeting.

Rob waved a pair of skates in reply, and quickened his stride until he
came within speaking distance. One would have thought from his greeting
that they had seen each other only the day before. Rob never wasted time
on formalities.

"Hurry up, girls! Get your skates. The ice is fine on the creek, and
there's a crowd waiting for us down at the depot."

"Who?" demanded Lloyd.

"Oh, the MacIntyre boys and the Walton girls and that little red-headed
thing that they brought home from school with them. Kitty's going to
have a picnic on the creek bank for her."

"A picnic in Decembah!" ejaculated Lloyd.

"That's what she said," Rob answered, clicking his skates together as he
followed the girls into the house. "They telephoned over to me to hustle
up here and get you girls. They're on their way to the station now.
We're to meet them in the waiting-room."

"They should have let us know soonah," began Lloyd, "so that we could
have had a lunch ready. There'll be nothing cooked to take this time of
day."

"They didn't know it themselves," he interrupted. "Kitty proposed it at
the breakfast-table, and they just grabbed up whatever they could get
their hands on and started off."

"We have so much to do to-day," said Betty. "I don't see how we can ever
get through if we stop for this."

"Let everything slide!" begged Rob. "Do your work to-morrow. This will
be lots of fun. The ice may not last more than a day or so, and the
MacIntyre boys are not going to be out here all vacation."

"I suppose we could tie up those packages to-night," said Lloyd, with an
inquiring look at Betty.

"Of course," Rob answered for her. "And I'll help you with anything you
have to do. Come on."

"Well, then, you run out to the kitchen and ask Aunt Cindy to give you
something