“Sandwiches and bouillon,” said Patty, promptly; “I’m honestly hungry.”

“The result of exercise in the open air,” murmured Philip Van Reypen, as he took a seat directly behind her.

Patty gave an involuntary giggle, and then turned upon Philip what she meant to be an icy glare.  He grinned back at her, which made her furious, and she deliberately and ostentatiously ignored him.

“Hello, you two on the outs?” inquired Kenneth, casually.

“Oh, no!” said Philip, with emphasis; “far from it!”

So, as Patty found it impossible to snub such cheerfulness, she concluded to forgive and forget.

“There’s something doing after supper,” remarked Roger.  “Miss Homer dropped a hint, and even now they’re fixing something in the ballroom.”

“What can it be?” said Elise, craning her neck to see through a doorway.

“It’s a game,” said Marie Homer, who had just joined the group.  “I told mother, you all considered yourselves too grown-up for games, but she said she didn’t want to have the whole evening given over to dancing.  So you will play it, won’t you?”

“Sure we will!” declared Kenneth, who admired the shy little girl.

Marie was new in their set, but they all liked her.  She was timid only because she felt unacquainted, and the good-natured crowd did all they could to put her at ease.

“Games!” exclaimed Philip; “why, I just love ’em!  I’ll play it, whatever it is.”

“I too,” said Patty.  “It will be a jolly change from dancing.”

CHAPTER II

ON THE TELEPHONE

When the young people returned to the ballroom, it presented a decidedly changed appearance.  Instead of an interior scene, it was a winter landscape.

The floor was covered with snow-white canvas, not laid on smoothly, but rumpled over bumps and hillocks, like a real snow field.  The numerous palms and evergreens that had decorated the room, were powdered with flour and strewn with tufts of cotton, like snow.  Also diamond dust had been lightly sprinkled on them, and glittering crystal icicles hung from the branches.

At each end of the room, on the wall, hung a beautiful bear-skin rug.

These rugs were for prizes, one for the girls and one for the boys.  And this was the game.

The girls were gathered at one end of the room and the boys at the other, and one end was called the North Pole, and the other the South Pole.  Each player was given a small flag which they were to plant on reaching the Pole.

This would have been an easy matter, but each traveller was obliged to wear snowshoes.  These were not the real thing, but smaller affairs made of pasteboard.  But when they were tied on, the wearer felt clumsy indeed, and many of the girls declared they could not walk in them at all.  And in addition each one was blindfolded.