“Oh—I—ah——” began Tavia. Then she closed her lips and marched down the steps and got into the cutter. Whatever her feeling about the matter, she was not going to attract everybody’s attention by backing out. Nat tucked the robes around her and got in himself. Then he gathered up the reins, the boy sprang out of the way, and they were off. With the runners of the light sleigh humming at their heels the horses gathered speed each moment. Nat hung on to the reins and the roses began to blow in Tavia’s cheeks and the fire of excitement burn in her eyes. How she loved to travel fast! And in riding beside Nat the pleasure of speed for her was always doubled. Whether it was in the automobile, or behind the galloping blacks, as now, to speed along the highways by Nat’s side was a delight. The snow was packed just right for sleighing and the wildly excited span tore into town at racing speed. Indeed, so excited were the horses that Nat thought it better not to stop anywhere until the creatures had got over their first desire to run. So they swept through the town and out upon the road to The Beeches. “Don’t mind, do you?” Nat stammered, casting a quick, sidelong glance at Tavia. “Oh, Nat! it’s wonderful!” she gasped, but looked straight ahead. “Good little sport—the best ever!” groaned Nat; but perhaps she did not hear the compliment thus wrested from him. He turned into the upper road for The Beeches, believing it would be more traveled than the other highway. In this, however, he was proved mistaken in a very few minutes. The road breakers had not been far on this highway, so the blacks were soon floundering through the drifts and were rapidly brought down to a sensible pace. “Say! this is altogether too rough,” Nat declared. “It’s no fun being tossed about like beans in a sack. I’d better turn ’em around.” “You’ll tip us over, Nat,” objected Tavia. “Likely to,” admitted the young man. “So we’d better both hop out while I perform the necessary operation.” “Maybe they will get away from you,” she cried with some fear. “Be careful.” “Watch your Uncle Nat,” he returned lightly. “I’ll not let them get away.” Tavia was the last person to be cautious; so she hopped out into the snow on her side of the sleigh while Nat alighted on the other. A sharp pull on the bits and the blacks were plunging in the drift to one side of the half beaten track. Tavia stepped well back out of the way. The horses breasted the deep snow, snorting and tossing their heads. Their spirits were not quenched even after this long and hard dash from The Cedars. The sleigh did go over on its side; but Nat righted it quickly. This, however, necessitated his letting go of the reins with one hand. The next moment the sleigh came with a terrific shock into collision with an obstruction. It was a log beside the road, completely hidden in the snow.