Page:The Country Boy.djvu/163

Rh flashes of fire, when I thought there must be some easier method. I took a leave of absence for half an hour and went over to Tuggle’s place (he was the biggest bellied man in town) and borrowed a pair of his overalls. My stepmother had sort of an economic pillow, just one pillow that went clear across the bed, so in that way you saved one pillow slip. With that pillow and Mr. Tuggle’s breeches, I remember turning in the rink door with a broad grin. I could see before I put on the skates that I had the game beaten, and it was going to be fun, too, as the biggest crowd was there that had ever been in attendance, and they were getting pretty reckless.

I lowered the pillow into the seat of the overalls after I had put them on, and then got a boy to hold the pillow up against my back while I put my vest over it, and I dove out into the thick of them. To my astonishment and a little to my disgust, I didn’t fall. I leaned back and tried to fall once to see how it would be, and I really couldn’t. I’d been skating fifteen minutes when I did fall, but fell forward and slammed my hands on