"I can't tell yet," was the answer. "Here, can someone hold the reins while I get out?" he asked.
"I will," offered Russ, and he held the rear team. The horses who had fallen had struggled to their feet and were quiet now. But the front part of the sled seemed to have sagged into the snow.
"I thought so!" exclaimed Mr. Macksey, as he got up after peering under the vehicle. "No going on like this."
"What happened?" asked Alice.
"One of the forward runners has broken. There must have been a defect in it I didn't notice."
"Can't we go on?" asked Mr. Sneed.
"Not very well," was the answer. "We've broken down, and unfortunately we're the leading sleigh. I don't know how to get the others past it."
"Well, I knew something would happen," sighed the human grouch. And he seemed quite gratified that his prediction had been verified.