om you
all vapors, megrims, and melancholic feelings! Believe me, real sorrow
will come soon enough, and your groundless depression of spirits may
have more in common with ill-nature than with thoughtfulness or
earnestness of mind: true wisdom is both cheerful and loving.

The girls staid for some time admiring the evolutions of the skaters as
they gracefully wound about in intricate figures, or cut their names
upon the ice; but they declared at last that they must retreat before
the attacks of Jack Frost, who pinched their noses, fingers, and toes in
an unmerciful manner. The boys, ardent in the pursuit of sport, still
persevered, and George especially, who was devoted to this amusement,
distinguished himself by his skill. "Take care, George!" said his
brother John, "you are going too far from the shore; it's hardly safe
out there. Please to recollect, that neither you nor I can swim, and
we'd be in a fine case if you fell in." "Who's afraid? I'm not for one!"
cried George, fearlessly dashing off to the centre of the pond: but at
the very moment when he was raising a triumphant shout, and calling upon
the rest to follow him, a sharp crack was heard, the ice gave way under
him, and he disappeared in the water! A cry of dismay broke from the
group of his companions: instinctively John rushed forward to save him,
but was held back by the others, who well knew that two would then be
lost, instead of one. But in an instant, before George rose again to the
surface, Tom Green, the oldest of the cousins, and a tall, manly fellow,
had stripped off his coat, and gaining the spot, had plunged into the
water. It was intensely cold, and he was obliged to break away the ice
for some distance round before he was able to seize hold of poor George,
who had risen up only to find a glassy wall, impenetrable to all his
efforts, between himself and the outer air, and who had given himself up
for lost.

Tom at length succeeded in forcing his way to ice thick enough to
sustain his weight, and giving up his precious burden to the anxious
group above, he reached the shore in safety. Both were chilled through,
and almost numb, from the excessive cold of the water, and Tom's hands
were cut by the ice, which he had been obliged to break: but they were
not the lads tamely to give up, and moan over their condition, when they
were able to act. "Now, boys, for a race!" cried Tom: "it's the only
hope of putting a little life into us, and of keeping o