ad now taken a
different form. He was still inside the cottage, coaxing Karin to let
Decima have her share in the frolic. He would hold fast to her
himself, he said, and see that she came to no harm.

By two o'clock in the afternoon the slide was ready. Many hands had
made light work, and Frans had proved an admirable engineer. He now
took his place on the long sled as steersman and captain of the whole
affair. Decima, rolled in her mother's red shawl, was placed in the
midst of the group of merry boys, Nono's willing arms holding her as
firmly as it was possible to grasp such an uncertain kind of a bundle.

All went on merrily. Far out on to the ice-covered bay the great sled
rushed with wonderful swiftness. Then there was the return trip
uphill, Decima riding with only Nono beside her, as her humble
servitor, to keep her steady.

The sport went on and time flew by. Grown more and more daring, the
strong heels of the boys urged on the descending sled till it moved at
the pace of a swift locomotive. Suddenly there came a clumsy
old-fashioned sleigh along the shore road, which crossed the slide at a
right angle. Frans braked with heel and staff, and the other boys in
vain did their best to help him. The sled struck the sleigh, and was
emptied in a moment. The boys who were unencumbered fell here and
there in the soft snow or on the road. Nono held desperately fast to
his precious bundle, but could not save little Decima. While the rest
of the party were jumping up and rubbing their bruises, or declaring
they were "all right," Nono, half stunned, lay helpless with little
Decima still in his arms. She was screaming terribly, and would hardly
submit to being lifted up by the boys, even when Nono had rallied and
was giving her a helping hand.

The accident was followed by a weary, sorrowful time at the cottage.
Decima's broken leg was set by the doctor, and she was laid on the box
couch, her usual bed, with a brick dangling from her ankle to keep the
injured limb straight while it was healing.

If Decima had been a queen before, she now became a despot of the most
arbitrary sort. She was not patient by nature, and as to her habits of
obedience, they seemed broken as well as her leg. There was no limit
to her exactions. Her brothers she treated like worthless slaves, and
they soon learned to keep out of her reach, and when possible out of
the cottage. Nono spent his spare time faithfully beside her,
c