rt with them;
unless its size and its lacerated condition would make the burden
unwelcome, Hilda?"

"I doubt if I should notice," says Hildegarde. "Yes, I will take both
hands, Jerry; let us try the outer edge, now. There! that is a
delightful swing! You do skate very well, my child."

"Ah! you should see Roger skate!" cried loyal Gerald; and is rewarded by
seeing a very pretty blush deepen in his companion's bright cheek.

"Good old Codger! I wish he were here, skating with you, Hilda!"

"Thank you!" says Hilda. "I am sorry to incommode you, Gerald. I can
skate perfectly well alone, thank you. There! Don't be absurd, Jerry!
You'll get out of step if you don't take care. Do you think we could do
a figure of eight together? Let's try!"

Last of all, alone, yet in a world peopled with fantastic joys, came
little Hugh. He had his tail on again, and he was skating with a
high-stepping gait, rather more suggestive of trotting than was
compatible with safety. He murmured to himself as he went, and his talk
was far from hockey or any delights of skating.

"Yonder, dear Bellerophon! look yonder, far down below this fleecy
cloud that I am just going to plunge into! Now wait till I get through
it, and you will see. The cloud is all full of monsters, whales, and
crocodiles, and--hairy mammoths; and we have to plunge through them, and
they claw after us and try to catch us. But I switch my tail, dear
Bellerophon" (here he switched the tail vigorously), "and that frightens
them, so that they crawl back into their holes, the ugly things. But
down on the earth there, do you see three little spires of smoke, right
by the mouth of that black hole? That is the Chimaera, Bellerophon! We
have come all the way, and now we are going to have the most terrible
fight that any one ever had,--Samson or Hercules or any one else. Aha!
now is the time, you see, for me to say 'Aha' among the trumpets; that
is why I made you bring your trumpet along. My neck is clothed with
thunder, and I am pawing in the valley. See me paw!"

Alas, for the winged steed! Pawing in the valley is a dangerous pastime
on smooth ice, and unsustained by hind legs. Pegasus, his head high in
air, looking forward to battle and glory, paid little attention to
things at his feet. His skate caught in a crack, and, checked in full
speed, he came heavily to the ground, and lay motionless.

Hildegarde and Gerald heard the crash, and were at his side in a moment,
raising him