The girls pulled and dragged her, child and all, out on the more solid ice. They set the child on his poor shivering little feet and then went back for the next one. A moment more and all three of the little things were standing huddled together on the ice, shivering and crying miserably.
“I wanna do home!” wailed the little boy. “I wanna do home.”
CHAPTER III—POLLY HADDON
“Where do you live?” asked Billie, turning to the oldest of the three children. “Tell us quick, so we can get you there.”
“We live wiv our muvver, Polly Haddon,” said the little one quaintly, pointing with a shivering finger out across the lake. “We runned away dis mornin’.”
“So we see,” said Laura, adding, as she turned to Billie: “I think I know where they live. Teddy pointed the house out to me one day when we were taking a hike through the woods. Said he and the boys had stopped there one day and had bought some waffles and real maple syrup from Mrs. Haddon. Of course, I don’t know whether it is the same one or not——”
“Well, come on—we’ll find out,” said Billie, lifting the largest of the three children in her strong arms. “You and Vi can manage the other two kiddies, I guess. You lead the way, Laura, if you know where the house is.”
“But hadn’t we better take our skates off and walk around?” suggested Vi.
“We can make it quicker on skates,” said Billie impatiently, “because we can cut across the lake——”
“But the ice!” Laura objected. “It may not be solid——”