“This is where the track brought me,” replied Jack Frost, and Billy and Nimbus saw that the trail through the snow which had been melted by the Equator was within a few yards of them.
“That explains why the Evening Star stopped walking,” said Nimbus. “She saw the Equator headed over this way, and decided she had better travel a little faster.”
It had grown quite light, so that the flashes of Aurora could no longer seem to guide them, for they had quite faded in the brighter dawn.
As Billy was very tired, Jack Frost and Nimbus agreed to sit down for a few minutes while he rested. In the mean time they sent a Meteor back for the trolley car so that they might continue their journey more easily.
“Walking is foolish, anyway,” said Jack Frost. “Why any one who can fly should ever walk is a mystery to me.”
“Birds do,” said Billy.
“Yes,” said Jack Frost, “and sometimes they overdo it, like the awkward auk. Did you ever hear about him?”
“No,” said Billy, “I never did, but I should love to.”
“It’s a sad story,” said Jack Frost, “but here it is”:
“Two excellent wings had the awkward auk,