girls held forth.

There was little for Ted Franklin, Mr. Ford's man, to do, save to keep a
watch over the camp, visiting the distant points on different days. In
his trips he was often accompanied by some of the young people, who much
enjoyed his company, for Mr. Franklin was an old woodsman, and many an
interesting bit of information, or lore, he gave out, to the profit of
the boys and girls.

"Hurray!" exclaimed Will one day, when a belated mail had come in.
"Here's a letter from Mr. Blackford. He says he's coming up to pay us a
visit soon."

"That will be nice," spoke Mollie. She had taken quite a liking to the
young business man, and he seemed fond of her.

"We'll have some fun," said Frank. "We'll show him the woods, all
right."

"Oh, he is no tenderfoot," declared Allen.

It was several days after this that Will proposed an ice boat trip. The
river was in fine condition, and the wind was just right.

"The only thing is that it looks like a storm," said Betty. "We don't
want to go too far."

"We won't," promised Will.

They got an early start, and took some food with them, intending to
stay until afternoon. Though they did not plan to sail far, it was so
glorious, once they started to glide along, that there was a temptation
to continue, and when, by consulting her watch, Mollie discovered it to
be some minutes after noon, they were many miles from camp.

"Oh, we must stop!" she exclaimed. "The wind may die out and we can't
get back!"

"All right--let's have the eats then," proposed Will. A halt was made,
and on the bank, under the shelter of some big trees, they built a fire,
made chocolate and partook of the sandwiches they had brought.

"This is all right!" exclaimed Frank, munching on some bread and
chicken, a sentiment with which they all agreed.

Betty was nervously glancing at the sky now and then.

"Do hurry!" she urged her chums.

"Oh, don't fuss so," advised Mollie. "You won't enjoy your food if you
do."

"But I'm sure it's going to storm."

"Let it!" said Will recklessly.

Five minutes later the first flakes began falling. This brought even
Will to a sense of possible danger. The things were hurriedly collected,
the young people got into the _Spider_ and the sail was hoisted. Off
they glided down the river toward their camp.

"We'll beat the storm there!" boasted Will.

"I don't know about that," said Allen slowly, as he cast a glance aloft.
"It looks to me as though it was go