On the road they slowed down considerably and Roy gave silent thanks. He knew now that he would never be able to keep up with Chub and the others, but he was determined to stick it out as long as he could. Presently a little group of buildings came into sight ahead; a store, a blacksmith shop, a tumble-down shed and three houses. Mr. Buckman was awaiting them in front of the store, supported by the storekeeper and a handful of loungers. "Are we ahead?" shouted Pryor as they came up. "Yes, and ahead of the record," was the answer. "All right, Pryor. All right, Rogers, Eaton and Porter." Then they were past, trotting along a frosty, rutted country road. "Anyone want the lead?" grunted Pryor. "How about you, Roy?" asked Jack. But Roy shook his head dumbly and Chub moved up to the head of the group. The wind had increased and was blowing icily out of the north-east, but it was almost behind them and so helped them along. Pryor nodded towards a dead beech tree beside the road. Jack nodded back. "Two miles more," he said. "Road or hill?" asked Chub, looking around a moment. "Don't care," answered Pryor. "Hill," said Jack. At a turn of the road Chub left it to the right and the others followed. "Is this--shorter?" asked Roy. "About--even thing, I think," answered Pryor. "A whole minute shorter," said Jack. Roy sighed for the road as he dragged his feet up a little hill and saw before him a rough bit of country in which rocks and stunted bushes sprang everywhere. For the next quarter of a mile they were always either going up hill or going down; level ground was not on the map thereabouts. Jack took the lead again presently and Chub fell back to where Roy was heroically striving to keep his place. At last Roy stumbled over a root, went head over heels into a clump of bushes, and sat up with the last bit of breath knocked out of him. Chub had stopped, grinning. Roy shook his head and waved his hand for the other to go on. "Hurt?" asked Chub anxiously. [Illustration: "At last Roy stumbled over a root, went head over heels into a clump of bushes."] Roy shook his head, found a little breath and gasped: "I'm--all right. Go ahead. I'll--follow--presently."