Billie Bradley and Her Classmates: or, The Secret of the Locked Tower

But even as he spoke he jerked the sled around a sudden turn in the path and they came, apparently, to the end of the world. With a nasty little scraping sound the sled dived off into nothingness!

It all happened so suddenly that Billie did not have even time enough to scream. She had a sickening feeling of falling through space, and then she struck something – something that yielded, luckily, under her weight, and she sank, down, down, down, coming to rest at last in a world where everything was white and slippery and cold – oh, so cold.

She must have lost consciousness for a minute, for when she came to herself again in this strange new world she heard somebody calling her name wildly and a moment later Santa Claus poked his head over a snowbank and peered down at her.

At least, she thought at first it was Santa Claus, because his face was so very red and the snow was clinging to his fuzzy cap in such a funny manner.

But in a moment more she realized her mistake, for the red face and the funny hat disappeared and in their place were shoved two legs that she was very sure belonged to Teddy. And in a moment more Teddy himself slid down beside her.

“Hello,” she greeted him with a smile. “I thought you were Santa Claus. Why weren’t you?”

Teddy stared at her for a minute, anxiously.

“I say,” he cried, taking one of her hands and rubbing it gently. “I guess that loop the loop of ours knocked you silly.”

“I’m always silly,” was Billie’s amazing reply, as she sat up and began feeling herself all over carefully. “But it certainly did knock me!”

“Are you all right?” demanded Teddy, watching her as she stretched out first one leg and then the other. “You didn’t break anything, did you?”

“Nothing but my dignity,” she answered, with a giggle that brought an answering grin from the boy. “Teddy,” she demanded, turning to him suddenly, “what did happen, anyway?”

“I’m sure I don’t know, except that we came to the end of that path and jumped off,” answered Teddy, feeling gingerly of his forehead on which Billie could see that a large purple lump was beginning to swell. “If I had had a chance to see what was coming I could have rolled off the sled and pulled you with me. But that turn in the road brought us right on top of it. It’s a sort of precipice, I guess,” he went on to explain, while Billie eyed with sympathy the swelling lump on his forehead. “It’s about fifteen feet high, I think, and if there hadn’t been snow on the ground we surely would have got hurt.”

“If there hadn’t been snow on the ground, we wouldn’t have been sledding,” Billie pointed out, adding, so unexpectedly as to make Teddy jump: “Who hit you?”

“Wh – what?” he gasped. Then seeing that her eyes were fixed on the bump that he was still fingering gingerly, Teddy’s face grew redder than it already was, if such a thing were possible, and his hand fell quickly to his side. “Oh, that!” he said, loftily, as if it were nothing at all. “I guess the runner of the sled gave me a whack just as we dumped over. It doesn’t hurt, though. Not a bit.”

“I bet it does, too,” said Billie, as the boy pulled his cap down tight over the tell-tale spot. “Where is the sled, Teddy?” she added.

“Out there, somewhere, sticking in a drift,” answered the boy. “I didn’t have time to pull it out because I thought you had been killed or something and I had to come to look for you.”

“Thanks,” she laughed at him. Then her face became suddenly serious, and she struggled to her feet, trying to brush off the snow that seemed to cover her from head to foot. “How are we going to get out of this, Teddy?” she asked, looking at him seriously.

“Ask me an easy one,” he returned, his good-looking face extremely anxious and puzzled. “The snow is awfully deep, and I don’t believe we could ever get up to that path again. It would take us a couple of hours to go around, and besides, I’m not sure just how to go.”

“In other words,” said Billie, trying her best to speak gayly while her heart sank at this unusually long speech of Teddy’s, “we’re lost, aren’t we?”

“I guess it amounts to that,” Teddy answered soberly, and for a long minute they just stood staring at each other.

Then Billie gave herself an impatient little shake.

“Help me out of this,” she said, as she tried to push through the heavy snow that seemed to press in upon her from every side. “I’d like to have a look around, anyway.”

She found that even with Teddy’s help it was no easy task to clamber out of the snowdrift that she had fallen into, and both she and the boy were panting with exertion when they had finally managed to get out into the open.

Even there they stood up to their waists in the clinging snow, and Billie, looking desolately out over the white expanse, began to realize that she was very, very cold.

“There’s the sled,” said Teddy, pointing to two runners sticking out of the snow and marking the spot where the sled had struck. “Wait here and I’ll get it.”

Billie watched him as he struggled through the drifts, and suddenly she was aware of an overwhelming desire to sit down where she was and cry.

“But that wouldn’t do any good,” she told herself sharply, “even if this place does look more lonely than a desert. If we don’t get where it’s warm pretty soon we’ll turn into icicles ourselves, I guess.”

The wind had become stronger and more biting, and Billie’s teeth had begun to chatter. She was glad when Teddy floundered back to her, the rope of his sled looped over one arm. He slipped the other arm through hers protectingly.

“We’ll find a way out of this soon,” he said, comfortingly. “You just watch your uncle Teddy.”

Billie tried to laugh but she could not, her teeth were chattering so.

“You said that before,” she told him hysterically. “And we – we – went over the cliff!”

CHAPTER X – THE CAVE

The next minute Billie was sorry for what she had said. Teddy’s face clouded over and he looked at her unhappily.

“You ought to know that I didn’t get you into this on purpose,” he muttered.

“Oh, Teddy, d-dear, I didn’t mean it, you know I d-didn’t,” she stammered, trying hard to control the chattering of her teeth. “I’m a bad, mean, horrid girl. T-truly I didn’t mean it,” and she put her cold little hand penitently over his great big one.

“I know you didn’t,” said Teddy, his face clearing instantly. “You’re cold and tired and all upset. Poor little kid, I wish I could do all thefeeling.”

“Well, I’m glad you can’t,” said Billie, snuggling up close to him for warmth. “For you have troubles enough of your own. Teddy!” She drew up suddenly and stared at an object that caught her eye. “What is that thing over there that looks like a tangle of twigs and leaves? No, not that way. Over there – to the left.”

Teddy followed the direction of her pointing finger and his face lighted up with excitement. The “tangle of twigs and branches,” as Billie had described it, was close to the side of the fifteen-foot “precipice” over which he and Billie had plunged a little while before.

The fact that the branches were not covered with snow certainly looked as if they had been put there rather recently in a crude effort to hide the entrance to something – perhaps a cave.

“That’s worth having a look at,” he said, jerking the sled up to him and tightening his hold on Billie’s arm. “Can you make it, Billie? The snow seems to be deeper over this way.”

“Oh, I can make it all right,” answered Billie, stoutly, as she clenched her teeth and shut her eyes and floundered on through the clinging snow. “I guess I’ve got to make it!” she added, to herself.

They had almost reached their goal when suddenly they stepped into a hole hidden by the snow and sank down in the icy whiteness until Billie was almost up to her neck.

“Gosh,” cried Teddy, as he struggled out to higher ground, pulling his thoroughly frightened companion after him, “I hope there aren’t many more places like that around here. We’ll make it all right, Billie. Say! you’re not crying, are you?” he broke off, with a boy’s utter terror of tears, as Billie dug two mittened and numbed hands into her smarting eyes.

“No, I’m not crying,” she answered, giving him a rather watery smile. “I’m laughing. Can’t you see I am?”

“Poor little kid,” said Teddy for the second time that afternoon, and the sympathy in his voice pretty nearly did send Billie into a downpour of tears. She was so thoroughly miserable that it was all she could do to keep from wailing her grief aloud. But Teddy had put one big protecting arm around her now and was half carrying her over to that strange object that looked so dark against the gleaming bank of snow.

Then he let Billie go, and while she shivered by herself he laid hold of the branches and pulled with all his might.

“Ooh, look out!” called Billie. “There might be a bomb or something at the other end. Oh-h!” The queer doorway gave so easily before the boy’s strength that he was sent staggering back against the snowdrift and sat down in it most uncomfortably.

The next minute he was up again, had swept the branches and twigs aside, and was examining the exposed opening with all a boy’s eager curiosity. Billie peered eagerly over his shoulder.

“What is it?” she asked, breathlessly.

“It’s what I thought it was – a cave,” answered Teddy, joyfully. “Come inside, Billie. It will get you out of the wind anyway, and give you a chance to warm up.” He had put an arm about her again and was pushing her forward with his usual impetuosity, but Billie hung back.