Anne closed her eyes.  They were going at a tremendous rate of speed, it seemed to her, like a comet shooting through the air.  Then, suddenly, the head of the comet stood still and the tail swung around it, and Anne, who represented the very tip of the tail and who hardly reached to Julia Crosby’s shoulder, felt herself carried along with such velocity that the breath left her body, her knees gave way and she fell down in a limp little bundle.  Julia Crosby instantly let go her hand and the impetus of the rush shot her like a catapult far over the ice into the midst of a crowd of skaters.

But the juniors never stopped to see what damage had been done.  They quickly joined hands again, and were off on another expedition almost before Anne had been picked up by David and Hippy.

“It’s that Julia Crosby again,” cried David.  “I wish she would move to Europe.  I’d gladly buy her a ticket.  The town of Oakdale isn’t big enough to hold her and other people.  She’s always trying to knock somebody off the side of the earth.”

Anne went home, tired and bruised.  She had had enough of skating for one morning David returned to join the others; for this was not the last of the day’s adventures and Julia Crosby, before sunset, was to repent of her cruelty to Anne.

In the meantime Grace and Tom had skated up to the far end of the pond.

“Well, Grace,” said Tom, “how has the world been using you?  I suppose you have been adding to your laurels as a basketball captain.”

“Far from it,” said Grace a trifle sadly.  “Miriam Nesbit is star player at present.”

They skated on for some time in silence.  Tom felt there was something wrong, so he tactfully changed the subject.

“Who is the girl doing the fancy strokes?” he asked, pointing to Julia Crosby, who, some distance ahead of them, was giving an exhibition of her powers as a maker of figure eights and cross-cuts.

“That’s the junior captain,” answered Grace.  “I hope she won’t fall, because she’s heavy enough to go right through the ice if she should have a hard tumble.”

“Suppose we stop watching her,” suggested Tom.  “I don’t want to see her take a header, and people who show off on skates always do so, sooner or later.”

They changed their course toward the middle of the pond, while Julia, who was turning and circling nearer the shore, watched them from one corner of her eye.

Suddenly Grace stopped.

“Julia!  Julia!” she cried.  “Miss Crosby!”

“What’s the matter?” demanded Tom.

“Don’t you see the danger flag over there?  She will skate into a hole if she keeps on.  The ice houses are near here, and I suppose it is where they have been cutting ice.”

“Hello-o!” cried Tom, straining his lungs to reach the skater, who looked back, gave her usual tantalizing laugh and skated on.

“You are getting onto thin ice,” screamed Grace in despair, beckoning wildly.  “Stop!  Stop!”