"We could fly if we had an aeroplane. Oh, dear!" sighed Bobby. "Why didn't we think of that? And now the telephone wires are down."
But Betty was thoughtful. She only pinched Ida's arm and begged her to keep up her courage--perhaps something would turn up. She disappeared then and was absent from the house, cold as the morning was, until breakfast time.
The whole party had gathered then, excited and voluble. It was not only regarding Ida's need that they chattered so eagerly. In spite of the fun they were having at Mountain Camp, the thought that Shadyside and Salsette might begin classes before they could get there was, after all, rather shocking.
"Measles is one thing," said Bob. "But being out of bounds when classes really begin is another. The other fellows will learn some tricks that we don't know."
"And somebody else may be put in our room, Betty!" wailed Bobby, as her chum now appeared.
Betty was very rosy and full of something that was bound to spill over at once. As soon as she had bidden Mr. and Mrs. Canary good morning she cried to all:
"Just as little as possible," declared Tommy Tucker. "Thinking tires me dreadfully."
"Behave, Tommy!" said Louise admonishingly.
"There's a big two-horse pung here. I found it in the barn. Like Mr. Jaroth's. It has a deep box like his. And a tongue. It's like a double-runner sled, Bob--you know. The front runners are independent of the rear."
"I know what it is, Betty," said Bob, while the others stared at her. "I've seen that pung."
"Your observations are correct, Miss Betty," said Mr. Canary, smiling at the girl. "I own such a pung. But I do not own two horses to draw it. And I am sorry to say that the horse I have got cannot stand on this ice."
"Gee!" exclaimed Teddy, "if we got old Bobsky started down that hill he'd never stop till he got to the bottom. How far do you say it is to the station, Mr. Canary?"
"It is quite twenty miles down grade. Of course there are several places where the road is level--or was level before the snow fell. But once started there would not be many places where you would have to get out and push," and the gentleman laughed.
Betty's mind was fixed upon her argument. Her face still glowed and she scarcely tasted her breakfast.