THE SNOW HOUSE
The Frenchman's toboggan was a large one. It would hold all of the
Curlytops and their playmates, with room to spare. I suppose most of you
have seen toboggans, or pictures of them, and know what they are.
Instead of being made like a sled, with steel runners, a toboggan is
like a thin, flat board, with the front end curled up like the old
fashioned Dutch skates. Only instead of being made of one flat piece of
wood, a large toboggan is made of several strips fastened together so it
will not so easily break.
On the side of Jules's toboggan were hand rails, to which the riders
could hold. There was also a cushion on which to sit, and altogether it
was a very fine way of coasting downhill.
"Oh, what fun we'll have on this!" cried Jan.
"Will it go fast?" asked Lola.
"It'll go like an express train!" cried Ted.
"And we fellows will take turns sitting on the back and sticking our
feet out to steer," added Tom, for that is how a toboggan is guided, you
know.
"If it's going as fast as an express train I don't believe I want to
ride," said Mary, who was rather more timid than the other children.
"Don't let those boys scare you," advised Janet. "They're only talking
to hear themselves talk. Tom and Ted are always that way--aren't they,
Lola?"
"Yes," answered Tom's sister, with a laugh.
The boys were now clustered around the big toboggan, and Trouble had
taken his seat in the middle of the cushion.
"You give me wide!" he demanded of his brother.
"Not now--a little later," promised Ted. He wanted to listen to what the
Canadian was saying, telling Uncle Toby how the big toboggan was best
managed on a hill.
"I'll go down with the children the first few times," said Uncle Toby,
"to make sure it's all right. Our hill isn't so very steep, and I don't
believe there's much danger."
"On little hill not--no!" exclaimed Jules, with a smile that showed all
his white teeth. "But on big hill, steep so like roof of house, toboggan
her go like what you say--fifty-nine?"
"I guess you mean like sixty," laughed Uncle Toby.
"Mebby so. Her go very fast. I like for childrens to have good time, but
not too fast!"
"I'll see that they are careful," promised Uncle Toby.
After much teasing the three boys were allowed to sit on the toboggan
after it was tied to the rear of the automobile for the trip home.
"I won't go very fast," said Uncle Toby. "But if I should have to stop
you boys will need to stick your feet down in the snow suddenly to put
on the brakes, you know, or you'll bump into my rear wheels."
"We'll do that," promised Tom, Ted, and Harry.
Trouble wanted to ride with the boys on the toboggan as it was drawn
along over the snow behind the auto, but he was not allowed to do this,
as it was thought his brother and the other two lads would be so full of
fun that they would forget to watch him, and he might fall off and be
left behind.
The toboggan was made fast with a long rope, the boys took their places,
and with many thanks to Jules for his kindness, the trip home was begun.
"Hurray!" cried Ted. "Here we go!"
"Talk about fun!" shouted Tom. "We're having it all right!"
"I never had such a good time in my life," said Harry, his eyes shining
with pleasure. He wished his mother might have shared in some of his and
his sister's enjoyment, and how he wished that he had a father, such as
the other boys had, only he himself knew. But he said nothing of this.
"Hold on tightly now, boys!" called Uncle Toby.
"We will!" they answered, and away they went.
At first everything was all right. The road was slightly uphill and the
toboggan kept well back from the wheels of the automobile, so there was
no danger of bumping into them. But when the automobile started down
grade toward Uncle Toby's cabin, the wooden sled slid faster than the
automobile was pulling it.
"Put on brakes! Put on brakes!" shouted Ted.
"Stick your feet in the snow!" echoed Tom.
The three boys thrust their feet out on either side of the toboggan,
digging their heels into the snow, and in this way they made themselves
slow up, so they did not hit the wheels. Even if they had done so no
harm would have resulted, because the wheels had large rubber tires on
them, and the front of the toboggan came up in a big curve.
Soon they were going uphill again, and the boys did not have to "put on
brakes." But as Uncle Toby made the automobile go a bit faster, when
they were near his cabin, he and the girls suddenly heard laughing
shouts from the boys behind them.
"Oh, something has happened!" exclaimed Jan, looking out of the rear
window of the closed car.
"They've fallen off!" added Mary. "I hope they aren't hurt!"
"Can't be much hurt, falling off in the snow," laughed Uncle Toby, as
he brought the car to a stop, got out, and went back, followed by the
girls. The toboggan had turned upside down, but was not damaged. The
boys, laughing so joyously that they could hardly walk, were coming
along, covered with snow.
"What happened?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.
"Oh, the toboggan struck a big lump of snow in the middle of the road
and turned right over. It spilled us off!" explained Ted.
"But it was fun!" added Harry. And so it was.
"Well, we're almost there. Better walk the rest of the way," advised
Uncle Toby. "Take the toboggan off and pull it."
This was done, two of the boys taking turns pulling the third over the
short distance remaining.
"And now for some real tobogganing!" cried Ted, as the cabin was
reached.
Uncle Toby, however, would not let the children go down alone for the
first few times. He wanted to be sure the boys knew how to manage the
big sled, which, though large, was very light, as all toboggans are,
and thus are much safer than a sled with steel runners.
There was a long, but not too steep, hill near the cabin, and the
Curlytops and their playmates were soon at the top of this, with Uncle
Toby and the toboggan.
"All aboard!" called Mr. Bardeen, and they took their places on the
cushion, holding to the hand rails. Trouble was not allowed to go down
the first time, but Aunt Sallie had all she could do to keep him with
her as she stood at the top of the slope watching the coasting party.
"You shall soon have a ride, Trouble," Aunt Sallie promised. "As soon as
the hill is made a little smooth."
"All ready?" cried Uncle Toby.
"Let's go!" cried Ted.
Uncle Toby gave a push with his foot, which he had thrust out behind to
steer with, and down the snow-covered hill went the toboggan with its
happy load. They did not go very fast on this first trip, as the snow
needed to be packed down smooth and hard. But after the second or third
voyage the toboggan moved more swiftly.
"Do you like it Mary?" asked Janet.
"Oh, I just love it!" cried the other, with shining eyes.
Uncle Toby, finding that everything was safe, allowed the boys, one
after another, to try steering the light, wooden sled. Finding that they
could manage all right, he let them have charge of the toboggan, and at
last Trouble was allowed to coast down, sitting between Lola and Janet.
Of course Trouble wanted to take his turn at steering with the other
boys, but that was out of the question, even though he teased very much.
It would not have been safe, of course.
And such fun as the Curlytops and their playmates had! The toboggan was
much better than a sled, and safer, even though it went faster. It was
almost like flying with the snowbirds, Lola said.
Of course there were little accidents and upsets. Once, when Harry was
steering, the toboggan turned completely around when half way down the
hill and began sliding backward. And as the back end was blunt, having
no curve to slip easily over the snow, there was a turnover, and the
children were spilled all the way down the hill.
But they never minded that, only rolling over and over to the bottom, or
nearly there, laughing and shouting meanwhile. It was fun for Skyrocket,
too, the dog leaping here and there, barking and chasing snowballs which
the girls threw for him to race after.
Once they took Skyrocket down on the toboggan with them, or, rather,
they took him half way, for midway on the hill Skyrocket decided he
didn't like that way of traveling, and with a howl he leaped off. It was
too swift for him, I suppose.
But the children had great delight in it, and would have kept on with
the toboggan fun all day if Uncle Toby had let them. He did not want
them to get too tired, however, nor did Aunt Sallie want Trouble to stay
out in the cold too long, though he was a sturdy little chap.
After lunch, when Trouble was having his usual nap, Lola and Jan said
they would like to try steering the toboggan, and Uncle Toby said they
might.
"Well, we fellows won't ride if you girls steer," declared Ted. "You'd
upset us first shot."
"Pooh! You don't need to ride!" laughed Janet. "We can do better without
you."
The girls learned to steer, after a lesson or two from Uncle Toby. Even
timid Mary managed to do quite well, though Janet and Lola, being more
used to outdoor life in the country, did better than Mary. The girls had
their little accidents, too, upsetting more than once, but they did not
mind this.
For several days, while the snow lasted, the Curlytops and their friends
had fun in the snow. The weather was bright and sunny, and not too cold.
One day Janet, going out to the kitchen where Aunt Sallie was busy,
found the table covered with packages and bundles that Uncle Toby had
brought from the village store.
"What's going on?" asked Janet.
"Thanksgiving will soon be going on," answered Aunt Sallie. "I must get
my mincemeat made, and do a lot of planning for the big family I expect
to have at dinner."
"Oh, I didn't know Thanksgiving was so near!" exclaimed Janet. At first
she was joyous, and then a little feeling of sadness came to her. This
would be the first Thanksgiving she remembered when daddy and mother
were not present. The other children, too, when they were told about
the coming feast at Uncle Toby's cabin, looked a little serious when
they realized that none of their grown-ups would be with them. Of course
Mary and Harry did not expect this, for they knew their mother could not
come from the hospital for a long time, and as for their father--they
had given him up as dead, long ago.
"But maybe daddy and mother will be here for Christmas!" said Janet.
"Maybe!" agreed Ted.
"I'm going to write and ask our father and mother to come here for
Christmas. May I, Uncle Toby?" asked Lola, for in common with the
Curlytops she called Mr. Bardeen by this name.
"Of course!" Uncle Toby answered. "The more the merrier! And if your
mother is able to come from the hospital, we'll have her here for
Christmas," and he nodded at Mary and Harry. This made that boy and girl
very happy, for it is often happiness just to think of something
pleasant that may happen.
One morning, several days after the first of the toboggan riding, the
boys, who had gotten up ahead of the girls for once, began shouting
outside the cabin.
"What's going on, I wonder?" asked Janet.
"Oh, I guess they're just yelling for the fun of it," answered Lola.
"They're saying something about a house," said Mary.
Janet raised the window and listened. Just then Ted shouted:
"Come on out, girls, and help us build a snow house. We're going to make
the biggest snow house you ever saw!"
"And when it's finished you can have a tea party in it," added Tom.
"Oh, what lovely fun that will be!" cried Mary.
Soon the boys and girls, with Skyrocket frolicking around them, began
making the snow house. The sun had so warmed the snow that it packed
well.
First a number of big snowballs were rolled and placed one after the
other in the form of a square on the ground. This was to be the
foundation of the house.
Other snowballs were lifted on top of the first large ones, and snow
packed in the cracks until, when afternoon came, there were four walls
of snow, much higher than the heads of the children.
"It looks more like a fort than a snow house," said Lola.
"We've got to put the roof on," Tom answered. "How we going to do that,
Ted?"
"I don't know," was the reply. "I never made such a big snow house. If
we make the roof only of snow it will fall in on us."
"You'd better ask Uncle Toby," suggested Janet, and this they did.
"I'll show you how to make a good roof," Uncle Toby told the children.
"Just get me a lot of poles from that pile over there. I used them to
raise beans this summer. Bring me a lot of those long poles."
The children ran to carry them to him, wondering how Uncle Toby could
make a roof on a snow house out of poles.
[Illustration: OTHER SNOWBALLS WERE LIFTED ON TOP OF THE FIRST LARGE
ONES. Page 195]