“Why, a shaving horse,” said Dorothy.
“A shaving horse!” repeated Rollo and Lucy.
“Yes, certainly,” said Dorothy. “What sort of a horse did you think I meant?”
“Why, a real horse, live horse,” said Rollo.
Dorothy laughed very heartily at this mistake; and the children, when they understood the case, laughed heartily too. In the midst of their merriment, Royal looked up at the clock, and said that it was time for him and Lucy to go. “Only,” said he, “Dorothy, I wish you’d finish the story.”
“Why, that is about all,” said Dorothy; “we made the snow-shoes, and tied them on, and then we walked along over the soft snow without sinking in, and so got safely home.”
“How did you tie the shoes on?” asked Royal.
“Why, Oliver contrived to bore some holes in the wood,” replied Dorothy, “and then he had a piece of twine in his pocket, for strings. He cut the strings into proper lengths, and then put them into the holes; and so we fastened the snow-shoes to our feet.”
“I should not think that you could walk very well with snow-shoes,” said Lucy.
“We can’t walk very well,” replied Dorothy; “but it is better than sinking down deep into the snow. You must understand that we don’t lift the whole snow-shoe off from the ground, when we step.”