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 his hands under her arms to pull her up, he gave hardly any assistance. He merely felt the rhythm of her body and the swell of her breast as she caught breath and stood up.

"Sometimes I seem to slip," she said; and thanked him. "When will this freeze for skating?" she asked, glancing away toward the open water.

"It's doing it now," Dave assured. "See it steaming!"

The water was beginning to give off mist. The water was warmer, of course, much warmer than the air; and now with the rising of the sun, one of those capricious currents came which made mist through the sweep of colder over warmer.

Fidelia watched it but Dave did not; he watched her. Glowing color was in her cheeks and in her clear, steady eyes; her lips were red and her breath blew in white little clouds from between them as she spoke.

"When will it freeze over, do you suppose?"

"By to-morrow, if it stays calm. But don't you go far out on it, if it does!"

"Why not?"

He pointed to the distant floe. "That was shore ice a week or so ago. The wind or a current got it and it's been visiting Michigan since, I suppose. Maybe it'll be back here to-night; maybe it'll decide it wants to see Mackinac."

"Decide!" she repeated his word, turning to him, pleased. "I like to think of ice and wind and the water deciding things, too. It's so much more exciting when—"

"When what?" asked Dave.