After the sledges returned to the forest, Meredith suggested that they walk out to the rafts and have their lunch there. The other children greeted the idea with glee and Mike looked carefully about to decide that it was all right.
"Mike get fire, boys take dinner out," advised Mike, as he began picking up kindlings and pieces of wood for a fire.
The children picked up their dinner boxes and started off across the ice. The largest raft held all of them, and soon Mike came over with a huge bundle of wood that he dragged across the ice to the raft.
He deftly prepared a kindling fire and placed a few of the large pine chunks upon it. In a short time the children were as warm as if it were summer time, and the smoke of the wood fire rose straight up in the clear windless air.
They enjoyed the novelty of the raft dinner so much that several loads came and the sledges returned before the children were willing to talk of going back.
"This is dandy ice—wish we could take a skate up and down," ventured Don.
"'Tis fine ice, isn't it?" abetted Meredith, looking up and down the river as far as eye could see.
"Let's! Just one spin around," said Paul.
"Mike won't like it," hinted Lavinia.
"Mike won't care. We are perfectly safe on such thick ice," said Don, looking out of the tail of his eye in Mike's direction.