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Are we going by steamer? Agnes wanted to know. Is there a channel open through the ice? I never did !
If there were two feet of ice on the Arlington Pond so that they could not drag it for the poor Birdsall twins, Ruth said, surely this lake must be frozen quite as thick.
But theres a sailboat! I see one! cried Tess, pointing between the buildings as they approached the waterfront.
And theres another, said Sammy. Oh, Je-ru-sa-lem ! Looky, Aggie! That boats sailing on the ice!
Oh-ee! squealed Agnes, clasping her hands and letting her bag fall to the ground. Ice-boats! Neale! Are they really ice-boats?
And are we going to sail on them? murmured Ruth.
For mercys sake! gasped the housekeeper. Heres a fine thing! Have you gone daft, Mr. Howbridge?
It will be a new experience for you and me, Mrs. MacCall, said the lawyer calmly. But they tell me it is very invigorating.
Its the nearest thing to flying, as far as the sensation goes, that there is, I guess, Luke Shepard put in.
I used to have a scooter when we were in winter quarters, said Neale ONeil to Agnes. Dont be afraid, Aggie.
Oh, I wont be afraid if you are along, Neale, promptly declared the little beauty. I know you will take care of me.
You bet! responded Neale, his eyes shining.
As they came down to the big wharf the party got a better view of the lake front. There were at least a dozen ice-boats, large and small, in motion. Those farthest out from the shore had caught the full sweep of the wind and were darting about, as Mrs. MacCall said, like water-bugs on the surface of a pond.
Ruth looked around keenly as they came out on the wharf.
Why! she said to Mr. Howbridge, this is the lumber companys wharf. The company you said had bought the timber on the Birdsall Estate.
It is the Neven Lumber Company, as you can see by the sign over the offices yonder, agreed their guardian. And here comes Neven himself.
A red-faced man with a red vest on which were small yellow dots and some grease spots, and who chewed a big and black cigar and wore his hard hat on one side of his head, approached the group as Mr. Howbridge spoke. He hailed the latter jovially.
Hey, Howbridge! Glad to see you. So these are your folks, are they? Hope youll have a merry Christmas up there in the woods. Nice place, Birdsalls Lodge.
Thank you, said the lawyer quietly.
Which of ems Birdsalls young ones? continued the lumber dealer, staring about with very bold eyes, and especially at Ruth Kenway and Cecile Shepard.
I am sorry to say, Mr. Neven, said the lawyer, that the Birdsall twins are not with us. The children have run away from their home a home with people who have known them since they were born. It is a very strange affair, and is causing me much worry.
You dont say! exclaimed Neven. Too bad! Too bad! But theyll turn up. Young uns always do. I ran away myself when I was a kid; and look at me now, and the lumberman puffed out his chest proudly, as though satisfied that Lem Neven was a good deal of a man.
I reckon, pursued the lumberman, that you think its your duty to go up to the Birdsall place and look over the piece Ive got stumpage on. But you dont relly need to. My men are scientific, I tell you. I dont hire no old has-beens like Ike MGraw. Those old timber cruisers are a hundred years behind the times.
They have one very good attribute. At least, Ike has, Mr. Howbridge said quietly.
Whats that? asked Neven.
He is perfectly honest, was the dry response. I shall base my demands for the Birdsall estate on Ikes report. I assure you of that now, Mr. Neven, so that you need build no false hopes upon the reports of your own cruisers. As the contract stands we can close it out and deal with another company if it seems best to do so. And some company either yours or another will go in there right after New Years and begin to cut.
He turned promptly away from the red-faced man and followed his party along the wharf to its end. Here lay two large ice-boats. There was a boxlike cockpit on each that would hold four
passengers comfortably, besides the tiller men and the boy who trimmed ship. A crew of two went with each boat.
How will the other two of our party travel? asked Ruth, when these arrangements were explained.
Already Neale ONeil had beckoned Agnes to one side. There lay behind the two big boats a skeleton-like arrangement, with a seat at the stern no wider than a bobsled, and another on the outrigger, or crossbeam. This scooter carried a huge boom for a leg-o-mutton sail, and it was a type of the very fastest ice-boats on the lake.
Neale helped the eager Agnes down a rude ladder to the ice. She was just reckless enough to desire to try the new means of locomotion. Her exclamations of delight drew Ruth to the edge of the wharf over their heads.
What are you two doing down there? asked the older girl.
Oh, now, Ruthie! murmured Agnes, do let me go with Neale in this pretty boat. There isnt room for us in the bigger boats. Do!
Ruth knew very little about racing ice-boats. The scooter looked no more dangerous to her than did the lumbering craft that Hedden had engaged for the rest of the party.