!" cried his sister. "Won't
that be the finest ever!"

"It certainly will be!" came from Jessie, her eyes beaming. But then
she turned suddenly to Dave, her face clouding a little. "Who is
going to drive--you?"

"No, we're going to have a regular man from the livery stable," he
answered. And then as his sister turned away, he added in a low tone:
"I didn't want to spend my time on the horses--I wanted to spend it on
you."

"Oh, Dave!" murmured the girl, and blushed. Then she gave him a look
that meant a great deal.

The sleighing-party was to start off about two o'clock the next
afternoon, and did not expect to return to Crumville until well
towards midnight. They were to go to the town of Lamont, about
seventeen miles away. A new restaurant had been opened in this town,
in connection with the hotel, and Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth had stopped
there for a meal and had pronounced it excellent, the food being of
first-class quality and an orchestra being present to liven matters
up. Ben had thought at first that he could not accompany the others,
his father having been taken sick; but as Mr. Basswood's illness was
not of a serious nature, Mrs. Basswood, knowing how disappointed the
youth would be, urged that he go along anyhow.

"Your father is resting quite comfortably," she told Ben; "and the
doctor says he will be around again inside of a week, so you may as
well take in this sleighride while you have the chance."

"But there are those miniatures, mother," returned Ben. "Wasn't father
going to let Mr. Wadsworth see them?"

"Mr. Wadsworth is going to have several art critics at his home in a
day or two, and then your father is to let all of them examine the
miniatures carefully to see if he can get an idea of what they are
worth. But you need not bother your head about that. If Mr. Wadsworth
sends word that the critics have arrived at his house I'll take care
of the matter." And so this was arranged, and Ben went off to prepare
for the sleigh-ride.

At the appointed hour, the big sleigh came dashing up to the door of
the Wadsworth mansion. All of the young folks, including Ben, were on
hand and ready for the trip, each bundled up well for protection
against the cold. The sun had been shining in the morning, but towards
noon it had gone under a heavy bank of clouds.

"Looks a little to me like more snow," observed Dunston Porter, who
was present to see them depart. "I shouldn't be surprised to see you
coming back