“And maybe not there, if we get going too fast,” spoke Bony grimly.
They had taken off their snowshoes, and piled them on the bob, with their guns and packages of food. Then the boys took their places.
“All ready?” asked Jack as he took his seat in front.
“As ready as we ever shall be,” replied Will, who was a trifle nervous.
“Then push off, Sam,” called Jack, for Sam and Nat had taken their places at the two brake poles. They used them to shove the sled nearer the edge of the hill, and then, as the sled began to move, they slipped the sharpened saplings into the holes again.
Slowly the sled began to go down the hill. At first the slope was gradual, and the speed was not great. Then, as the side of the mountain became more steep, the bob gathered headway, until it was moving along swiftly.
“Hold on, everybody!” cried Jack. “There’s a bump just ahead of us!”
The warning came only just in time, for the sled reached a sort of ridge in the slope, and bounded up in the air. The boys went with it, and as they stayed up a little longer than the sled did, when they came down they did so with considerable force, so that the breath was nearly shaken out of them.
“Ouch!” cried Nat. “I bit my tongue.”
“Lucky it’s no worse,” spoke Jack. “Did we lose anything off the sled, Will?”