Romeo was as delighted as they, and sped along as if shod with wings, his mane and tail floating gracefully as he almost flew along.
Dorothy and Nancy, nestled in a white fur robe, felt only the frosty touch of the sharp wind upon their cheeks, and they laughed and talked as if it had been a summer day.
On the dry bushes by the roadside great flocks of tiny sparrows hopped from twig to twig, chattering and twittering as they pecked at the little dried berries. A great crow flew out from a bit of woodland, making a noisy protest that any one should drive over the quiet road, and thus disturb his musings.
The icicles were glittering in the sunlight, and the crust sparkled as if powdered with diamond dust, while the rough bark of the trees still held a coating of frost which the sunlight had not been warm enough to melt.
“We'll tell them how beautiful it looked when we get home,” said Dorothy, her eyes bright with delight.
“It will take two of us to even half tell it,” laughed Nancy.
And while Dorothy and Nancy were gliding rapidly over the frosty highway, Arabella was standing at Patricia's door, ringing the bell, and wondering why no one replied. Then some one came around the corner.
“Hello!” she cried. “Ma's gone to spend the afternoon with a friend, and I've just been out to see about our sleigh, so nobody heard you ring. The sleigh'll be here in just a minute; you come up with me and help me bring down some shawls.”
Without stopping to question, Arabella followed her up the three flights of stairs, and such an array of shawls as Patricia brought out!
“These sofa cushions I'll throw downstairs, and we can pick them up afterwards,” she said.