out."

"That's right. And yet it will be no fun to sail it alone. I wish you
could go with me, Charley."

"I wish I could, but I don't see how I can. My folks are going to my
grandmother's for a couple of weeks. Otherwise I'd be glad to go."

"Well, maybe my father will sail in the ice-boat with me," spoke Bert.
"I guess I'll ask him."

Bert and Nan had much to talk about as they skated on, having bidden
Charley goodbye, and their conversation was mostly about the new idea
of getting to Snow Lodge on the ice.

"I don't want to skate alone, any more than you want to go in the ice-
boat alone," said Nan. "But maybe mamma and papa will let us invite
some of our friends to spend a week or so at Snow Lodge with us. Then
it would be all right."

"It surely would," said Bert.

The Christmas dinner at the Bobbsey home was a jolly affair, and while
it was being eaten Bert spoke to his father about the ice-boat.

"Do you think it will carry you to the upper end of the lake?" asked
Mr. Bobbsey with a smile, for Bert and Charley had made the boat
themselves, with a little help. Though it was a home-made affair, Bert
was as proud of it as though a large sum had been spent for it.