"What was your fault?" interposed her mother. "What has happened? Explain, Nellie."
"Bob Wills has met with an accident, mother. He might have been drowned, but he wasn't; he's all right, except that he's soaking wet, and all of a shiver. Oh. I do hope he'll hurry and not catch his death of cold! If he does, I-I shall never get over it!" And Nellie finished her sentence with an excited sob.
"You have been to the pond in the lower meadow, and Bob has fallen into the water?" questioned Mrs. Coker.
"I pushed him in," admitted Nellie. "Oh, mother, I didn't think the ice would give way."
"What took you to the pond? I quite thought you had gone with your father this afternoon!"
"Yes, mother. Father took us to see the Christmas tree cut down, and Bob was there and Farmer Wills too. We selected the tree—such a pretty shape it is, not too tall, but with nice thick branches. And, after it had been cut down, father and Farmer Wills went off together and told us to go home—father had asked Bob back to tea with us. Then Bob said there was a coating of ice on the pond in the lower meadow, and we thought we'd go and have a look at it; so we did. It looked quite firm, and the stones we threw at it just slid along and didn't go through; but I remembered that father had said it wouldn't bear properly for a few days, so I wouldn't go on it, though the boys did. They laughed at me and said I was afraid, but I think they were a bit afraid themselves, for they kept close to the edge. I didn't say anything, but I was vexed, and by-and-by, when Bob came up close to where I was standing, I gave him a push—just a very little push—and he fell and went right through the ice into the water!"
"Oh, Nellie!" cried Lilian. "If it had been a deep part, he might have been drowned!"
"Yes, I know," said Nellie, her eyes drooping beneath her mother's reproachful gaze. "But he clutched hold of a clump of grass at the edge of the pond, and Rupert and I managed to pull him out. They told me to hurry on and tell Mrs. Wills; they're coming behind."
Even as she spoke, the boys appeared round the corner of the road. Bob was in a pitiable condition. He was soaked to the skin, his teeth were chattering, and he was shivering with cold. His eyes flashed wrathfully as they encountered Nellie's.
"Oh, mother, it was not Bob's fault," Rupert was commencing, as they neared the pony-carriage, but his mother cut him short.