"But you want to be awfully careful, Freddie."

"Oh, I'm always careful, ain't I?"

"Well, I s'pose you are--most times," answered Flossie, somewhat slowly.
She did not wish to hurt her twin's feelings.

"Oh, I know what I'm doing," was Freddie's confident reply. "You just
watch me! I'll make this boat go just as fast as anything!"

As it had happened, a rope had become caught around the tiller, or handle,
of the rudder, thus holding it so that the ice-boat sailed straight before
the wind. Otherwise it would have darted from side to side, and perhaps
Flossie and Freddie would have been tossed out as the others had been. But
it so happened that they sailed along nicely, no one being at the helm.

Straight down the lake sailed the _Bird_ with the two little twins aboard.
They had been a bit frightened at first, but now Freddie was thinking only
of how he could steer the craft, and Flossie was waiting to see what her
brother would do.

"I wonder what they're waving to us for?" asked Flossie, as she looked
back and saw the frantic signals of her father and mother, Bert and Nan.
"And they're running after us, too!" she added.

"Maybe they want us to come back," suggested Freddie. But as the ice-boat
was too far away for the older Bobbseys to make their voices heard by
Flossie and Freddie, Mr. Bobbsey and the others could only wave their
hands.