Freddie slipped and fell right into a puddle which was rather muddy.
"Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, who was walking with him. "Your clothes are all spoiled!"
"Well, I—I couldn't help it," Freddie said, looking down at the dripping mud and water. "I didn't see the slippery place."
"You must hurry home as soon as you can, and change into dry things, Freddie," said Nan, who was on the other side of the street with Ellen Moore and Nellie Parks. Nan had seen her little brother fall. "Run," Nan went on, "I'll hold your hand so you won't fall again."
Freddie gave his books to Flossie to carry, and he hurried on with Nan, running so he would be warmer and not take cold, for though the snow was melting it was still Winter.
As Nan and Freddie reached the house, they heard several persons talking in the parlor.
"Oh, there's company!" cried Nan. "They mustn't see you, Freddie, looking like this. I'll take you up the back stairs and change your clothes myself, or get Dinah to. Come on."
But just as Nan and Freddie were about to
