"Hurrah!" shouted Freddie. "The--the forters are beaten, aren't they?" "Yes, Freddie." A cheer was given for those who had captured the fort. Then some of the boys began to dance on the top of the walls, and down they came, one after another, until the fort was in ruins, and the great contest came to an end. "It was just splendid!" said Nan to Bert, on the way home. "Just like a real battle." "Only the band didn't play," put in Freddie disappointedly. "Real soldiers have a band. They don't play fish-horns." "Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie. "They weren't fish-horns. They were Christmas horns." "It's all the same. I like a band, with a big, fat bass-drum." "We'll have the band next time--just for your benefit, Freddie," said Bert. He was tired out and glad to rest when they got home. More than this, some of the snow had gotten down his back, so he had to dry himself by sitting with his back to the sitting-room heater. "Danny Rugg was terribly angry that we captured the fort," said he. "He is looking for the boys who threw him on his face." "It served him right," answered Nan, remembering the trouble over the broken show window. The second fall of snow was followed by steady cold weather and it was not long before the greater part of Lake Metoka was frozen over. As soon as this happened nearly all of the boys and girls took to skating, so that sledding and snowballing were, for the time being, forgotten. Both Nan and Bert had new skates, given to them the Christmas before, and each was impatient to go on the ice, but Mrs. Bobbsey held them back until she thought it would be safe. "You must not go too far from shore," said she. "I understand the ice in the middle of the lake, and at the lower end, is not as firm as it might be." Freddie and Flossie wanted to watch the skating, and Nan took them to their father's lumber yard. Here was a small office directly on the lake front, where they could see much that was going on and still be under the care of an old workman around the yards. Nan could not skate very well, but Bert could get along nicely, and he took hold of his twin sister's hand, and away they went gliding over the smooth ice much to their combined delight. "Some day I am going to learn how to do fancy skating," said Bert. "The Dutch roll, and spread the eagle, and all that." "There is Mr. Gifford," said Nan. "Let us watch him." The gentleman mentioned was a fine skater and had once won a medal for making fancy figures on the ice. They watched him for a long while and so did many of the others present. "It's beautiful to skate like that," cried Nan, when they skated away. "It's just like knowing how to dance everything." "Only better," said Bert, who did not care for dancing at all.