As soon as he did that the rudder moved from side to side, and this, of
course, made the ice-boat do the same thing.

"Oh, dear!" cried Flossie, "don't jiggle it so, Freddie!"

"I--I can't--help it!" chattered Freddie, his words coming jerkily, for he
was being "jiggled" himself, as the rudder shook from side to side in his
hand. "This--this is the way to--to steer an ice-boat."

"Well, I don't like it," Flossie announced, "It makes me homesick!"

"Do you mean--_seasick?_" asked Freddie, trying his best to hold the
tiller still.

"No, I mean homesick! I want to go home!"

"But we're having a nice ride, Flossie."

"I don't care! I want papa and mamma! I can't see them now!"

The ice-boat, sailing down the lake, had turned around a point of land,
and this hid from view the rest of the Bobbsey family.

"I'll turn around and go back and get them," Freddie said. By this time he
had taken the rope from the tiller, so the rudder handle moved freely from
side to side. And then, all of a sudden, the _Bird_ shot ahead more
swiftly than before.

The wind was blowing more strongly, and when Freddie moved the rudder he
steered the ice-boat so that the wind sent it straight ahead instead of a