Bert himself had decided this was the best thing to do. He stopped skating
and, making a sort of funnel, or megaphone, of his hands, he cried out:

"Flossie! Freddie! Look out! Danger--the ice-boat!"

Just at this moment, whether it was because of Bert's shouts or because
they were tired of going so fast and wanted a rest, the two children
leading the skating race stood up straight and looked back. They saw Bert
pointing toward them and then they glanced at the ice-boat. It was very
close, and Flossie screamed.

At the same time the man who was steering the boat saw the children. With
a shout that echoed the one given by Bert, and the screams of Nan and
Flossie, the man steered his boat to one side. But he made such a sudden
change that, though he steered out of the way of Flossie and Freddie, he
nearly ran into Tommy Todd. That small boy, however, was a good skater
and stopped just in time, for he had seen the ice-boat coming.

Then with a whizz and a clink of ice, as the runners of the boat scraped
big chips from the frozen lake, the skimming boat shot past Nan and Bert,
not doing a bit of harm, but scaring all five children very much.

"Sorry! Didn't see you! Next time----"

This was what the man in the ice-boat shouted as he whizzed by. His last
words seemed whipped away by the wind and the children did not know what
he meant.

"Maybe he meant next time he'd be sure to run into us," said Tommy Todd.