Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/166

146 charm of novelty covered a multitude of sins, and for an hour the boys followed one another down the slope and up again, with hardly a pause.

“Say, Phil,” asked Ted, as if suddenly impressed with a new idea, “what made you take the snow from the foot of the slide to cover it  with? That’s what ails it, and makes our sleds stick so.”

“That’s so,” responded Phil, diving into his overcoat pocket for another cracker. “I didn’t think about that, and it was easier to get the snow here. I’ll shovel some on that place.”

“I’ll tell you what,” suggested Bert. “I’m sick of the sleds. There’s a pile of boards in the barn. Let’s each take one, and go down on that.”

There was a race to the barn, a quick pulling over of the pile, and the boys were back at the  top of the chute again, each one armed with his bit of board. Rob went down first, and succeeded in managing his improvised sled so that he had the full benefit of the slide; but Sam, who followed him, was so heavy and came with  such force that, at the foot of the incline, the