Page:Girls of Central High on the Stage.djvu/202

192 Streak, fresh in a new coat of paint, and with every part of the mechanism guaranteed in perfect order, was already hauled out upon the ice.

The surface of the lake was not as it had been when the girls had taken their first ride on the aero-iceboat. Then the ice was like glass; but now it was pebbly, broken in spots, and not a little "hummocky." There was a stiff wind blowing, too, and this broke up the thinner ice around the water-holes. The course for sleighs and for ice-boats was fairly safe, however, all the way to Keyport.

"Say! we just saw Lily going driving with that sleek little foreigner," said Lance, as the two girls appeared. "I should think Mrs. Pendleton would send a chaperone with her daughter. Old Mike, the coachman, is right under the girl's thumb."

"What do you mean, Lance?" asked Laura, quickly.

"Why, Lil Pendleton and the stage manager are out there in the Pendletons' sleigh. They're aiming for Keyport. And Lil has a big box in the sleigh. Guess they are taking lunch along."

"Lunch!" ejaculated Chet. "Why, that yellow box would hold enough for an army."

"My goodness me! A yellow box?" cried Jess. "Was it that box in which Lil has been