Stand up and I'll fold them so you can sit on them."

Arabella meekly did as she was told. If any other girl had done the same
thing, she would have obstinately rebelled, but Betty had a way that was
compelling, and Arabella, after she was seated, wondered why she had
been so meek.

Patricia Levine had brought a big box of fudge, and she now passed it
around. Arabella said she knew it would make her sick, but she took two
pieces instead of one, lest the box might not come around again.

The route took them over a long roadway that had been cut through a
forest, and on either side the great trees towered above them, their
branches heaped with snow. The underbrush was beautified with what
looked like patches of swan's-down, and a tiny, ice-bound brook wound
its way in among the giant trees, disappearing behind a clump of
evergreens.

It had been possible to see all these things because the road had been
so rough that Marcus had been obliged to drive rather slowly.

Now, as they emerged from the wood-road, he touched the whip to the
flank of one of his horses, and with one accord they sprang forward,
giving the chattering occupants of the sleigh a decided "bounce," and
stopping Elf Carleton in the middle of the story that she was telling.

"O dear! Where was I when that jolt came?" she asked.

"I don't know what you were telling," said Vera, "but it's my turn now,
and I'm going to tell how awfully you acted this morning.

"Girls, Mrs. Marvin was perfectly lovely. She just talked and talked
about how good I _ought_ to be, but I didn't mind that, so long as she
didn't say she was going to send me home. She never said a single word
about that, but I didn't know she was going to be such a perfect dear. I
woke before daylight, and much comfort Elf was to me! I tell you truly,
girls, I poked her, I called to her, I shook her, but couldn't get her
enough awake to say a word.

"Well, we're about even, for one morning last week when I kept telling
her my tooth was aching, she paid no attention until I gave her an
outrageous poke, and shouted into her ear, 'My tooth aches!'

"She didn't open her eyes, but what she said was a great comfort."

"What did she say?" questioned Betty.

"She said it might stop aching if I kept my mouth closed," said Vera,
"and it took me five minutes to realize that her advice was more for
her benefit than mine. She wanted another nap, and closing my mouth to
shield my aching tooth would also