befall him in sliding down the hill of life. And here comes the
"Clipper" itself, with our Ralph seated proudly upon it, and apparently
enjoying the fleet and beautiful sled as much as though it were really
his own. And there, too, comes George, with his pretty "Snow Flake;"
and close behind him are the "Tempest," and the "Yankee Doodle," and
the "Screamer," and the "Snow ball," and the "Nelly," and the "Racer,"
and a host of other craft, of every imaginable appearance, and strided
by all sorts of boys.

Ralph and George spent an hour or two upon the Common. Nothing
occurred to mar their pleasure till just before they started for home,
when Ralph met with an adventure that sadly ruffled his temper. He was
descending the hill upon his sled, when another craft, having two boys
upon it larger than himself, managed to run into him. The "Clipper"
being lightly loaded, the other sled descended with greater impetus;
and the force of the collision, together with a vigorous kick from the
stout boots of one of the boys, overturned Ralph upon the steepest part
of the hill. He quickly picked himself up, and, forgetful of self, his
first care was to see whether Oscar's sled had sustained any damage.
When he beheld the marks of the rough encounter, in the form of sundry
ugly scratches upon the polished sides of the "Clipper," the tears came
in his eyes; and it was some time before he noticed that he himself
bore upon his hands and knees several unmistakable tokens of the
collision.

Ralph knew very well that the collision was not accidental. The kick
of the boy who guided the sled, and the hearty laugh of both its
occupants, when Ralph was overturned, satisfied him that he had been
run down purposely. He did not know the names of the boys, having only
met them occasionally on the Common. They soon came along again, on