“Isn’t it a fine sight?” asked Grace, as they came in view of the skaters who were circling and gliding over the pond, some by twos and threes, others in long rows, laughing and shouting.

A big fire burned on the bank, rows of new-comers sat near it, fitting on their skates.

“Away with dull care!” cried Hippy, as he circled gracefully over the ice; for, with all his weight, Hippy was considered one of the best skaters in Oakdale.

“Away with everything but fun,” finished Grace who could think of nothing save the joy of skating.  “Come along, Anne.  Don’t be afraid.  David and I will keep you up until you learn to use those tiny little feet of yours.”

Anne’s small feet went almost higher than her head while Grace was speaking, and she sat flat down on the ice.

“No harm done,” she laughed, “only I didn’t know it could possibly be so slippery.”

They pulled her up, David and Grace, and put her between them with Tom Gray on the other side of Grace as additional support, and off they flew, while Anne, keeping her feet together and holding on tightly, sailed along like a small ice boat.

“This will give you confidence,” explained David, “and later on you can learn how to use your feet.”

But Anne hardly heard him, so thrilled was she by the glorious sensation.  As they flew by, followed by Hippy and Nora, with Reddy and Jessica, she caught glimpses of many people looking strangely unfamiliar on skates.  Miriam passed, gliding gracefully over the ice with a troop of sophomores at her heels.  There were many High School boys “cracking the whip” in long rows of eight or more, while there were some older people comfortably seated in sleigh chairs which were pushed from behind, generally by some poor boys in Oakdale, who stood on the bank waiting to be hired.

“Now, we’ll have a lesson,” exclaimed David when they had reached the starting point again, while the others lost themselves in the crowd.  Anne was a good pupil, but she was soon tired and sat down on a bench near the bank.

“Do go and have a good skate yourself, David,” she insisted.  “I’ll rest for awhile and look on.”

But it was far too cold to sit still.

“I’ll give myself a lesson,” she said.  “This is a quiet spot.  All the others seem to have skated up to the other end.”

As she was carefully taking the strokes David had taught her, with an occasional struggle to keep her balance, she heard a great shouting behind her.  The next instant, some one had seized her by the hand.

“Keep your feet together!” was shouted in her ear, and she found herself going like the wind at the end of a long line of girls.  They were juniors, she saw at once, and it was Julia Crosby at the whip end who had seized her by the hand.