own and took
the rope and Ruth sat down behind him and grasped the belt of his coat.

"Here, I'll start you," offered a boy, who came up behind them.

"Wait a--" began Sunny Boy. He meant to say, "Wait a minute," but the
boy gave him a tremendous push and the sled slid over the hill and
began to go down.

"Ow!" shrieked Ruth, closing her eyes and opening her mouth very wide.
"Ow! Stop Sunny Boy! Ow! Ow!"

Sunny Boy couldn't stop. But he was steering nicely and they would
probably have had a fine coast if Ruth had not grown more frightened
and thrown her arms around his neck. Her elbow knocked Sunny Boy's cap
over his eye and he felt himself being pulled over backward. The sled
went zigzagging down the hill for a moment, then a big sled tore past
it and knocked it to one side. Ruth fell off and dragged Sunny Boy
with her and the sled went on down the hill alone.

Nelson had seen the spill at the bottom of the hill and he came running
up to them.

"Are you hurt, Ruth?" he asked his sister. "Did another sled hit you?
There's Jimmie Butterworth with your sled, Sunny Boy."

Ruth was not hurt, and neither was Sunny Boy. And tumbling off a sled
when you are coasting is rather fun if you do not get frightened.
Unfortunately, Ruth was frightened and she began to cry and say she
wanted to go home.

"I knew you'd want to go home," scolded Nelson. "You can't go. I
haven't had but one coast. Come on, and ride down on my sled."

"I don't want to ride on your sled," sobbed Ruth. "I want to go home;
my feet are cold."

"Well, you'll have to wait till I have some fun," said Nelson. "What
did you do with your sled?"

"I don't know," wailed Ruth. "My feet are cold."

"Step on them and they won't be," said Sunny Boy kindly. He meant that
Ruth should walk or run a little and then her feet would be warmer.

"I don't want to step on them!" Ruth cried. She was very unhappy
indeed. "I want my sled. I want to go home. My feet are cold."

"I'll find your sled," Sunny Boy promised, and he went up to the top of
the hill. After a little tramping around in the snow he found Ruth's
sled where she had left it. No one had touched it.

Sunny Boy came running back to Nelson and Ruth, dragging the sled, and
just as he came up to them he heard Ruth say: "I'll go home by myself,
then."

"You can't!" scolded Nelson. "Mother said you musn't cross streets
without me. And I'm not going home as soon as I get here. I w