"Nonsense!" said Mother Blossom briskly. "Meg and Bobby both have rubber boots and warm mittens and coats. A little cold won't hurt them." "And sledding after school, Mother?" urged Twaddles. "Dot and I have rubber boots, too." "And in summer we can't go coasting," said the practical Dot. "That's so, you can't," laughed Father Blossom, kissing her as he hurried out to the waiting car to go to his office. "Waiting for warm weather for coasting is a pretty poor way to spend one's time." Meg wore her locket to school, and long before the noon hour every girl had heard about great-great Aunt Dorothy, had tried on the locket, and had wished she had one exactly like it. "Wouldn't it be awful if you lost it!" said Hester Scott. "Then your little girl never could have a locket." "But I'm not going to lose it," insisted Meg. "Mother says I have to take it off as soon as I come home from school. Then I'll wear it Sundays and birthdays and when we have company." Many of the children had brought their lunch, and Meg and Bobby had theirs with them. Mother Blossom thought they should be saved the walk home at noon when the deep snow made walking difficult. The afternoon period rather dragged, though Miss Mason, the teacher, read them stories about the frozen North and their geography lesson was all about the home of the polar bear. "My, I was tired of listening," confided Bobby, hurrying home with Meg at half-past three. "What do we care what polar bears do when we've got snow all ready to use ourselves?" "Feels like more, doesn't it?" said the scarlet-cheeked Meg, trotting along in her rubber boots, her blue eyes shining with anticipated fun. "Can't I steer good now, Bobby?" "'Deed you can," returned Bobby. "You steer better than most girls. There the twins are out with the sleds." Dot and Twaddles, rubber-booted and snugly tied into mufflers and coats, greeted the arrival of the other two with a shout. "Sam says it will snow more to-night," reported Twaddles gleefully. "Maybe it will be as high as the house, Bobby." "And maybe it won't," said Bobby practically. "Where's Mother?" Meg and Bobby went into the house to leave their lunch boxes and tell Mother Blossom they were at home. "Be sure and take off the locket, Meg," called her mother, as Meg went up to her room to get a clean handkerchief. "Meg!" shouted Bobby, "where's my bearskin cap?" This cap was an old one Father Blossom had worn on hunting trips when a young man. It was several sizes too large for Bobby, and made him look like a British Grenadier, but he thought it was the finest cap in the world. He liked to wear it when playing in the snow because it was warm. "It's in the blue box on your closet shelf," answered Meg. She was an orderly little sister, and the boys counted on her help to remind them where they had left their things.