“This is fun!” cried Laddie, and he and his brother enjoyed themselves very much, and so did Mun Bun.  The attic was a great place to have jolly times.

“And I don’t believe there’s any ghost up there, either,” said Russ to Rose that night.  “First I thought it might be him pulling Mun Bun’s hair, but it wasn’t.  There’s no ghost there.”

“I’m glad of it,” said Rose.

The weather became somewhat warmer again, and the six little Bunkers could play out in the snow.  The hill back of the barn was worn smoother and smoother, and it made a fine place for coasting.

“Let’s take our dolls out and give them a ride,” said Vi to Rose one day.  “They haven’t had a sleigh ride for a long while.”

“Yes, we’ll give ’em a ride,” agreed Rose.

“My doll wants a ride, too,” said Margy.

Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun were making another snow-man, which was to be a regular “giant,” so the girls had the coasting hill to themselves.  They took two sleds, for Vi wanted to go by herself.  But Margy was almost too little for this.

“You shall ride down with sister,” promised Rose.  “I’ll take care of you.”

“And I can hold my doll, can’t I?” asked Margy.

“Oh, yes,” agreed Rose.

They had brought to Great Hedge with them the Japanese dolls that had come ashore in the box on the beach at Cousin Tom’s, and these the three girls took out with them to coast downhill.  They had made new clothes for the dolls, as the Japanese dresses were hardly warm enough for the cold weather at Grandpa Ford’s.

Reaching the hill, Vi took her place on her sled, holding her doll in her lap, and then, holding to the sled rope, she began pushing herself to the edge of the slope, at the same time calling: 

“Gid-ap!  Gid-ap!”

“You don’t say ‘gid-ap’ to a sled,” objected Rose.  “That’s only for a horse when you want it to go.”

“Well, I want my sled to go, and that’s the same thing,” declared Vi.  “Why can’t I say it if I want to?  Gid-ap!” she went on, not waiting for an answer to her question.  Very often Vi asked questions to which there was no answer.

“Come on, I want a ride like Vi!” exclaimed Margy.

“All right, you shall have it,” answered Rose.  “And you may say ‘gid-ap’ to our sled, too, if you like.”

“All right—­gid-ap!” cried Margy, and then Rose pushed the sled on which she and her little sister sat to the edge of the hill, and down they coasted.

The three little Bunker girls had great fun on the hill.  Now and then Dick, who was working around the barn, would come out to watch them.

“Don’t you want a ride?” asked Rose, for a few days before Dick had let her sit on the back of one of Grandpa’s horses, and had ridden her around the big barn.

“Oh, I’m afraid my legs are too long for those sleds,” laughed the hired man.  “I’ll have to get a bigger one.”