r
herself the more picturesque title of "Hail Columbia" as she strode
along, straight and alert, her tawny curls peeping from beneath a
sealskin cap, her stars and stripes toboggan making a spot of colour in
the midst of the universal whiteness. No one thought of addressing her
except in a more or less successful imitation of an American twang, or
without including the words "I guess" in every sentence, and she smiled
in response, well satisfied to represent so honoured a nation.

The progress of dragging toboggans to the top of an incline is always
uninteresting, and never takes place without an accompaniment of
grumbling, in which, we may be sure, the Hurst Manor girls were in no
way behind. They groaned, and sighed, and lamented, as in duty bound,
while Dorothy went a step further and improved the occasion by moral
reflections.

"If I were a man I could preach a splendid sermon on tobogganing. All
about sliding down hill, you know, and how easy it is, and how quickly
done, and how jolly and lively it feels, and then the long, long drag
back when you want to get to the top again. It is a splendid
illustration; for, of course, sliding down would mean doing wrong things
that are nice and easy, and the climb back the bad time you would have
pulling yourself together again and starting afresh... It's really a
splendid idea. I wonder no--" But at this moment it occurred to Dorothy
to wonder at something else, namely, how it was that her toboggan had
grown suddenly so light, and turning round to discover the reason, she
found it rapidly sliding downhill. The girl immediately behind had
nipped out her knife and deftly cut the leading string, as a practical
demonstration of the favour in which "sermonising" was held at Hurst,
and the whole band stood and screamed with laughter as the would-be
preacher retraced her steps to the bottom of the hill, and started
afresh on her symbolic climb!

Five minutes later, with a rush and a whoop the first toboggans came
flying down the slope. Their course was, perhaps, a trifle erratic, and
apt to be followed by a spill at the bottom, but these were unimportant
details only to be expected in the first run of the season, and the
style improved with every fresh start. One girl after another came
flying down, drew her toboggan up a little slope facing the run, and sat
down upon it to recover breath and watch the exploits of her companions.
Experience had proved that, however rapid