THE SILVER LAKE STORIES. 97 and barn, and the boys were all ready for play as soon as breakfast was over. It was three or. four days, however, be- fore the roads were sufficiently broken for them to get to the long hill to slide, but when once the hill was in proper order, then you should have seen what merry times the boys in our village had. As the little Playfords and their cousin Howard started off for the hill, dragging Harry on his sled, it looked in the distance as if hundreds of busy little ants-were flying down the hill, or dragging their loads up again. It was the first sliding the boys had had that winter, and every boy was there who | 6 *