e came along, and swung past him with an easy
stride, flinging back over her shoulder, "Take another sprint, and you
may catch me yet!"

"I'll catch you, no matter how much I have to sprint," Philip called
after her, but he walked slowly for a few paces. Then, having regained
his breath, he strode after her, and rapidly gained upon her progress.
Patty looked over her shoulder, saw him coming, and began to run. But
running uphill is not an easy task, and Patty's strength began to give
out. Philip saw this, and fell back a bit on purpose to give her an
advantage. Then as they were very near the top, Patty broke into a
desperate run. Philip ran swiftly, overtook her, picked her up in his
arms as he passed, and plumped her down into a soft snowbank at the
very top of the hill.

"There!" he cried; "that's the goal, and you reached it first!"

"With your help," and Patty pouted a little.

"My help is always at your disposal, when you can't get up a hill."

"That would be a fine help, if I ever had hills to climb. But I never
do. This is a great exception."

"But there are other hills than snow hills."

"Oh, I suppose now you're talking in allegories. I never _could_
understand those."

"Some day, when I get a real good chance, I'll explain them to you.
May I?"

Philip's face was laughing, but there was a touch of seriousness in
his tone that made Patty look up quickly. She found his dark eyes
looking straight into her own. She jumped up from her snowbank,
saying: "I want to go down again. Where's a sled?"

"Come on this one with me," said Hal, who had a long, toboggan sort of
an affair.

"This is great!" said Patty. "Where did you get this double-rigged
thing?"

"It's been here all the time, but you've been so wrapped up in that
Van Reypen chap that you had no eyes for anybody else, or anybody
else's sled! I'm downright jealous of that man, and I'll be glad when
he goes home."

"Ah, now, Chub," said Patty, coaxingly, "don't talk to me scoldy!
Don't now; will you, Chubsy?"

"Yes, I will, if you like him better than you do me."

"Why, goodness, gracious, sakes alive! I've known him for _years_, and
I've only known you a few days!"

"That doesn't matter. I've only known you a few days, and I'm head
over heels in love with you!"

"Wow!" exclaimed Patty, "but this is sudden! Do you know, it's so
awful swift, I don't believe it can be the real thing!"

"Do you know what the Real Thing is?"

"Haven't a not