The two children did not look very happy.

"What can we do?" asked Hal, as he was called more often than Harry.

"There isn't any more fun," complained Mab, to which her name was often
shortened.

"Oh, my!" laughed Mother Blake. "Such a sadness! What doleful faces you
both have. I hope they don't freeze so and stay that way. It would be
dreadful!"

"It can't freeze," said Hal. "It's too warm. Daddy told us how cold it had
to be to freeze. The ther--ther--Oh, well the thing you tell how cold it
is--has to get down to where it says number 32 before there's ice."

"You mean the thermometer," said Mab.

"That's it," agreed Hal. "And look, the shiny thing--mercury, that's the
name of it--the mercury is at 60 now. It can't freeze, Mother."

"Well, I'm glad it can't, for I wouldn't want your face to turn into ice
the way it looked a little while ago."

"But there's no fun, Mother," and Mab, whose face, as had her brother's,
had lost its fretful look while they were talking about the thermometer,
again seemed cross and unhappy. "We can't have any fun!"

"Why don't you play some games?" asked Mrs. Blake, smiling at the two
children.