"Come on, boys, help the girls all you can!" came from Jack, as he managed, though not without considerable effort, to bring Ruth to her feet.
Fred and Randy were already assisting May to arise, and soon the other girls and boys were doing what they could to scramble through the deep snow toward the highway. Here there was a slippery slope of several feet.
Jack was the first boy up, and Randy came behind him. Then, while the two Rovers, assisted by Spouter, held fast to each other, they pulled up one girl after another. In the meanwhile, the other cadets made something of a chain, and soon all stood at the spot where the box-sled had overturned.
"All here?" queried Gif.
"I guess so," answered Spouter, knocking some snow from his cap.
The driver of the box-sled, assisted by several of the cadets, had managed to quiet the horses, some of which were inclined to bolt. The box-sled was all right, and the boys picked up what they could of the dry straw, and also shook out and replaced the robes.
"Oh, my, what a dreadful experience!" remarked Annie Larkins.
"Oh, I don't know that it was so very dreadful," returned Ruth. "No one was hurt."
"But we might have been," added Jennie Mason.
"Oh, I thought it was fun," laughed Ruth.