“And now you may go out and play in the snow,” said Mrs. Bunker.  “I have unpacked your rubber boots and old, warm coats, so run out and have some fun.”

Laughing, shouting, and whooping, the six little Bunkers ran out to play.  It was their first sight of Great Hedge in winter by daylight, and Russ and Rose paused for a moment after getting out of doors to look at the big house, on all sides of which was the tall hedge.

“It’s a terribly big house,” said Russ to his sister as they tramped on through the white snow.  “I wonder what part the ghost lives in, don’t you?”

“I thought he was up in the attic, and took Margy,” said Rose.

“So did I, at first,” admitted Russ.  “But I don’t guess he stays there.  I guess the ghost lives down cellar.  We’ll hunt for him after a while, and Grandpa Ford will be glad we found him.”

But it was now such a fine, sunny day outside, after the storm, that the six little Bunkers thought of nothing but having fun.  They raced about in the snow, threw soft balls of it at one another, and then went out to the barn.

Dick, the hired man, was there feeding the horses, and the children saw the animals that had pulled them over the snow from the railroad station the night before.

There were several small sleds in the barn—­some that Grandma Ford had bought when it was decided that the six little Bunkers would visit Great Hedge Estate—­and they were just the proper toys for the six little children.  Soon they were coasting down a small hill which Dick showed them and also helped trample down smooth for them.  For snow on a hill has to be packed hard and made smooth before one can coast well.

“Let’s have a race!” cried Russ, as he and Laddie had their turn riding down the slope.

“All right, I can beat you!” Laddie shouted.  And he would have done so, too, only he guided wrong, and his sled went into a bank of snow, upsetting and tumbling him off.

“But I like it!” he shouted as he got up and shook the snow from him.

“When are you going to make the snow man?” asked Vi.  “I want to see a snow man.  And are you going to put a phonograph inside him, Russ, and make him talk?”

“I am if I can find a phonograph little enough,” said Russ.

But Russ did not wait for that.  With Laddie to help him, he rolled two or three balls of snow.  It was soft, for the sun was now warm, and the snow packed well.  The snowballs were put together, and thus the snow man was started.  The six little Bunkers then made arms and legs for him, stuck pieces of coal in for buttons on his coat and for his eyes and nose and mouth, and then Dick gave them an old hat to put on the snow man’s head.

“Now he won’t catch cold,” said Dick, when the hat had been stuck on.

“Could he catch cold?” asked Vi.  “I don’t see how he could, ’cause he’s cold already.  He makes my hands cold,” and she showed her little red fingers.