Ted and Janet were quiet for a little while, and then Janet called in a loud whisper:
"Teddy, when you're a hermit will you have to eat?"
"I guess so, Jan. Everybody has to eat."
"Children!" warned Mrs. Martin again, and then Jan and Ted became quiet for the rest of the night.
It was very cold when the children awoke in the morning, and as soon as they were up they ran to the windows to look out. It had stopped snowing and the air was clear and bright with sunshine.
"We didn't get snowed in," called Janet, in some disappointment.
"No," answered Ted. "But it's so cold I guess the pond is frozen and we can go skating."
"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Jan. "Will you help me skate, Ted? 'Cause I can't do it very well yet." She had just learned the winter before.
"I'll help you," her brother promised.
There was a pond not far from the Martin home, and it was so shallow that it froze more quickly than the larger lake, which was just outside the town, and where the best skating was. The smaller boys and girls used the little pond, though sometimes they went to the lake when it was perfectly safe.