"That's what!" murmured Freddie, his nose deep in his cup.
"Don't forget about my strap," came from Flossie.
"Oh, yes," agreed Bert. "We don't want to have to drag you all the way home." The man who sold the chocolate and candy in the cabin also had skate straps for sale and one was soon found that would do for Flossie.
"Now my skate won't come off!" she cried, as once more they were on the ice. "I can skate as good as you, Freddie Bobbsey!"
"Let's have a race!" proposed Freddie. "Bert and Nan can give Flossie and me a head start, 'cause they're bigger than us. Will you?" he asked his brother.
"Yes, I guess so. A race will get us home quicker, and we're a little late."
"We'll let Flossie and Freddie start ahead of me," suggested Tommy, who, being a little elder than the two smaller twins, was a little better skater.
"All right," agreed Bert. "Any way you like. Go ahead, Floss and Fred. Skate on until I tell you to wait. Then I'll give Tommy a starting place and, when we're all ready, I'll give the word to begin."
Flossie and Freddie, hand in hand, skated ahead a little way. But Freddie's skate went over a little piece of wood on the ice and he tripped and fell, pulling Flossie down with him. The two plump twins were in a heap on the ice.
"Hurt yourself?" asked Bert, as he started toward them, to help them up.
"No--no--I--I guess not," answered Flossie, who was the first to get up.
"We're all right," replied Freddie. "The ice was soft right there."
"I guess it's because they're so fat, that they're soft, like a feather pillow," laughed Tommy. "They're getting fatter every day."
"That's what they are," agreed Nan with a smile. "But they are pretty good skaters for such small children."
"Everybody ready?" asked Bert, when the two small twins had taken their places, and Tommy Todd was between them and Bert and Nan.
The skating race was started. Merrily clicked the runners on the hard ice, leaving long white streaks where the children passed over. Flossie and Freddie were skating as fast and as hard as they could.
"They are very anxious to win," said Nan, who was skating beside her brother.
"Yes, but they can't keep going as fast as that all the way home."
"You're going to let them win, aren't you?" asked Nan.