or, The Silver Skates 71

“It ish my fat—-yaw—he say I bees pad mit fat!” he
explained to Ben.

So a vote was passed unanimously in favor of allowing
the now popular Voost to join the party, if his parents would
consent.

“¢ Good-night !”’ sang out the happy youngster, skating home-
ward with all his might.

“ Good-night ! ”

“ We can stop at Haarlem, Jacob, and show your cousin
the big organ,” said Peter van Holp, eagerly; “‘ and at Leyden,
too, where there’s no end to the sights ; and spend a day and
night at the Hague, for my married sister, who lives there, will
be delighted to see us; and the next morning we can start for
home.”

“ All right,” responded Jacob, who was not much of a
talker.

Ludwig had been regarding his brother with enthusiastic
admiration.

“Hurrah for you, Pete! It takes you to make plans.
Mother ’ll be as full of it as we are, when we tell her we can
take her love direct to Sister van Gend. My! but it’s cold,”
he added, — “cold enough to take a fellow’s head off his shoul-
ders. We’d better go home.”

“ What if it is cold, old tender-skin ?”’ cried Carl, who was
busily practising a step which he called the “ double-edge.”
“Great skating we should have by this time, if it was as warm
as it was last December. Don’t you know if it wasn’t an
extra cold winter, and an early one, into the bargain, we
couldn’t go?”

?

said Ludwig.

“TI know it’s an extra cold night, anyhow,’
‘Whew, I’m going home!”