Well wrapped up, and wearing warm gloves, Hal and Mab went to their lessons. It was so cold that wintry day, though there was no snow, that they ran instead of walking. Running made them warm.
"Is my nose red?" asked Mab, when they were near the school.
"Oh, it's awful red!" cried Hal. "Is mine?"
"As red as a boiled lobster!" laughed Mab. "Let's run faster!"
So they ran, and soon they were in a glow of warmth.
"Oh!" cried Mab, as she and her brother entered the school-yard, "we forgot to ask Daddy why we get warm when we run."
When the two children reached their house, after lessons were over for the day, they found their father waiting for them. He had his skates over his shoulder, dangling from a strap, and he had Hal's and Mab's in his hand.
"Come, we are going to look for the frozen pond!" he said.
Then Hal and Mab forgot all about asking why they became warm when they ran. They cried out joyfully:
"Oh, Daddy is going to take us skating! Daddy is going to take us skating!"