. "I think the girls ought to get
in the wagon and ride and we'll stay and walk with the horse. Then
he'll go home and we'll find out where he lives."

They argued a few minutes about this plan, but as no one could think of
a better one, the girls, Helen and Jessie and Dorothy, climbed into the
wagon and the four boys trudged along beside the horse who started to
walk slowly the minute Sunny Boy called "gid-ap" to him.

He wasn't a fast horse, and it did seem as though his home must be at
the very end of Centronia, for he continued to walk long after the boys
were lame and tired from slipping around in the snow. The three little
girls were more comfortable, for while the wagon was not warm, the
cover kept the snow off them.

"I never saw much a slow horse," grumbled Jessie, putting her head out
to see where they were, though it was impossible to tell because the
whirling snow hid everything.

"My feet are cold!" cried Dorothy Peters.

"I don't think this horse lives anywhere," shouted Helen, so that the
boys could bear her. "He's probably going out into the country and
we'll all freeze and Miss May will wonder where we went, and is she
does come looking for us, she'll never find us!"

Sunny Boy patted the horse gently.

"I guess you're cold, too," he said gently. "I wish I had a blanket
for you Mr. Horse. Maybe there is one in the wagon."

He said "whoa" and the horse stopped. Then Sunny Boy climbed into the
wagon and felt under the seat. Sure enough there was a blanket.

"What are you going to do with that, Sunny Boy?" asked Helen Graham.

"Put it on the horse," replied Sunny Boy. "I think he must be awfully
cold. He's a pretty tall horse, but I guess Jimmie will help me."

Jimmie helped him and so did Perry and Carleton, and it took them all
to get the blanket spread over the horse. They got it on wrong and
there was no way to fasten it, so they took turns holding it around the
horse's neck as he walked. Sunny Boy held the blanket in place till
his hands were cold, then Jimmie held it while Sunny warmed his hands.
When Jimmie's hands were cold, Perry held the blanket, and then
Carleton. The horse looked surprised at such kindness, but he did not
walk any faster. He couldn't.

[Illustration: Sunny Boy held the blanket in place.]

"I guess we've walked a hundred miles," said Sunny Boy wearily, when
they had trudged through the wind and snow for a long, long time.

Then, as though he had hea