ON THE FROZEN ZUYDER ZEE.

XI
BIG MANIAS AND LITTLE ODDITIES

i HILE skating along at full speed, they heard the cars
from Amsterdam coming close behind them.
“ Halloo!” cried Ludwig, glancing toward the rail-track,
“¢who can’t beat a locomotive? Let’s give it a race.”
The whistle screamed at the very idea: so did the boys, and
at it they went.
For an instant the boys were ahead, hurrahing with all their
might — only for an instant, but even that was something.
This excitement over, they began to travel more leisurely,
and indulge in conversation and frolic. Sometimes they
stopped to exchange a word with the guards, who were sta-
tioned at certain distances along the canal. These men, in
winter, attend to keeping the surface free from obstruction and
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