the saddest of the group was little Ella, who, for many days, missed
the pleasant face of her good old grandmother.




CHAPTER IX.

WINTER SPORTS.

It was now mid-winter, and a few inches of snow lay upon the frozen
ground, sufficient to make pretty fair sleighing for a few days, and to
afford good coasting for the boys on the hill-sides. The favorite
place for this amusement, among the boys in Oscar's neighborhood, was
the Common. Here they always found good, long, smooth coasting-places,
when there was any snow on the ground; and there was no danger of
tripping up foot passengers, or getting under the heels of the horses,
or being tapped on the shoulder by a policeman, which often happened to
boys who coasted down the steep streets of the city,--a practice, by
the way, prohibited by a city law.

Oscar had a handsome new sled, which was a new year's present from his
father. It was long and narrow, the two steel-shod runners projecting
forward far beyond the top or seat, and ending in sharp points. It was
painted light blue, and varnished. Upon the sides, in gilt letters,
was its name--CLIPPER; and upon its top it bore the initial of Oscar's
name, with an ornamental device. It had what a sailor would call a
decidedly rakish look, and was really a fast as well as a stylish
"team," to use the term by which Oscar usually spoke of it. It even
eclipsed George's small but elegant sled, which, the winter previous,