I did not hear any more, but I felt amused a little and indignant a good deal. Harvie Price was among the boys and he immediately skated up and got in between Annie and me. He was a strong skater and soon we found ourselves doing stunts with him that we had not dreamed possible.
"That Dutch roll is not so hard when you get the hang of it. See, like this—raise your right foot, not too high—strike out with your left, a good long stroke, and then down with your right, crossing the left. Just look at us! We are not quite up to Mr. Tucker and Miss Cox, but we surely are good enough to have some notice taken of us." And so we were.
"Pride goeth before a fall," however, and just as we were getting the hang of the stroke, we ran plump into Mary Flannigan and Shorty, who were having a race backward, and the five of us fell into an ignominious heap. Nobody was hurt, not even feelings! Mr. Tucker picked me up and skated off with me.
"Who was that good-looking young fellow you were skating with?"
"Oh, that was Harvie Price. He's a mighty nice boy, and an old friend of Annie Pore's."
"And that little runty boy with the bright face, the cause of your recent disaster, who was he?"
"Tommy Hawkins,—Shorty! Isn't he nice-looking?"
"Yes, very! I'm going to ask these boys to stay and have supper with us. You introduce me, and then I'll make myself known to the teacher I see over there; and if I include him in the invitation, maybe I can get permission for the boys to stay."
Of course the boys were delighted and with a great deal of finesse, Mr. Tucker ingratiated himself into the affections of the teacher who had them in charge, a Mr. Anderson, and he accepted for himself with alacrity and gave the boys permission.
"I wish I had grub enough for the whole ship's crew of them," sighed Mr. Tucker. "If there is anything in the world I like, it is to give a boy a treat. But seven of us and Mr. Anderson and the two boys will just about clean up my basket. I wanted to ask four boys so we could 'balance all,' but I was so afraid of running short."