e done before him--left what he
ought to do for what he wanted to do; that is to say, he went into the
hall, took down his hat and coat, and went out into the frosty garden.
He opened the wicket gate into the field, and the first person he saw
there was Nancy Rogers, looking like a Christmas card with her red
cloak and hood and a basket on her arm, as she came up the steep, snowy
path which led across the field to the village.

Godfrey and Nancy were great friends, and she came running directly he
called to her.

'Would you like to come for a cruise with me and the _Victory_, Nancy?'
he asked.

Nancy knew as well as Godfrey that she had no business to go. Her
mother and Patty had their Christmas preparations to make as well, and
wanted the eggs she had been to fetch. But, like Godfrey, she put
'want' before 'ought' that afternoon.

'Mother always likes me to do what the young ladies and Master Godfrey
want,' she said to herself, and so she turned her face away from home
with Godfrey and the _Victory_.

'Please, where is the cruise, Master Godfrey?' she asked, as she
trotted along on the frozen snow.

'We are going to sail the _Victory_ on Farmer White's pond,' said
Godfrey, 'and to watch those white ducks' harbours, for they've got
ships building there I know.'

'Oh but, Master Godfrey, please we can't,' exclaimed Nancy; 'the pond's
frozen and the ship won't float.'

'Frozen!' exclaimed Godfrey; 'do you mean to say all that water's ice
like these puddles?'

Nancy nodded.

'I see it as I come along,' she said. 'Pete says two more nights'
frost and we'll be going sliding.'

Godfrey had never been sliding, his thoughts were of Arctic discoverers.

'Very well, Nancy,' he said, 'if we can't watch the harbours we'll find
the North-west Passage.'

'Yes, Master Godfrey,' said Nancy readily, and without the least idea
what he meant.

'Do you know about the Arctic Circle?' asked Godfrey.

Nancy shook her head doubtfully; at the Oakfield Dame School there was
not much taught beyond the 'three R's.'

'Please, is it quite round?' she asked respectfully.

'I don't know about round,' said Godfrey, who didn't quite understand
the words himself, 'but I think it is a kind of fairy place. The sea
is all ice, they have frost and snow there always.'

'Dear now, how bad for the early potatoes!' remarked Nancy, 'and as for
sowing beans, why you might as well leave it alone. I suppose they
just keep the cows on tu