Sunny Boy and His Playmates | Page 3

once.
"I think we'll walk around to the other end of the pond, dear," said
Grandpa Horton. "There are not so many people there, and I'll be able
to walk out on the ice a little way with you till you learn to keep your
balance. Don't put on your skates till we get to that white post."
Sunny Boy took his grandfather's hand and they tramped around the
pond till they reached a place where there were fewer skaters. A tall
policeman was telling a pretty girl that she could not leave her sweater
on the bank.
"It wouldn't be there when you got back, Miss," he said. "The only wise

thing to do is to carry all extras with you--that is if you want 'em."
The pretty girl skated off, carrying her sweater, and the policeman
turned and saw Sunny Boy struggling to put on his skates.
"Well, I guess I know you!" said the policeman, smiling. "You go to
Miss May's school, don't you?"
It was the same policeman Sunny Boy had met when all the children at
Miss May's school had lost their coats before Thanksgiving (and that
was exciting, you may be sure), and they were really very good friends.
"This is my Grandpa Horton," said Sunny Boy. "He and Grandma are
visiting us. They came before Christmas."
Grandpa Horton and the policeman shook hands and Grandpa asked
him if he thought the ice was safe.
"Oh, it's safe enough, sir," answered the policeman.
"Sunny Boy is so anxious to learn to skate," explained Grandpa Horton,
while Sunny Boy stood up, his new skates on his feet by this time, "that
I promised him his first lesson today."
"He'll be all right if he stays near the edge and you keep an eye on
him," said the policeman. "Sometimes the little fellows get knocked
down, if they go out in the center alone. If you tumble, Sunny Boy,
don't bump your nose, will you? You might sneeze."
Sunny Boy laughed, and, holding tight to Grandpa Horton's hand, he
slowly slid out on the ice.
"I feel--" he gasped, "I feel like a rocking horse!"
And indeed, if you have ever been on double runner skates yourself,
you'll remember that you do feel something as a rocking horse must
feel.
Grandpa Horton was very patient and he walked slowly and held fast to

Sunny Boy so that he would not feel frightened. Boys and girls
whizzed by them, laughing and shouting, and Sunny Boy hoped that he
would be able to skate like that some day. Presently he let go of his
grandfather's hand and tried to skate by himself.
"I can do it, just as nice," he was boasting when one foot went out and
the other doubled up and Sunny Boy went down flat!
"Hurt?" asked Grandpa Horton, helping him up. "No one ever learned
to skate without a fall or two, Sunny Boy."
"It didn't hurt me," said Sunny Boy bravely. "At least, not very much.
But the ice is pretty slippery, isn't it, Grandpa? And it is hard, too."
He took hold of his grandfather's hand again, though, after this tumble,
and they were both having a fine time when they heard some one shout.
"Why, it's the policeman!" said Grandpa Horton, in surprise. "I didn't
realize how far out we were, Sunny Boy. He's motioning. We must go
in. Hurry, laddie!"
The policeman stood on the shore, shouting and waving his arm. As the
skaters heard him they began to move toward him, and in a minute
there was a pushing, hurrying throng, some skating, some trying to run.
"Everybody ashore!" shouted the policeman. "Everybody off!"
A crowd of skaters rushed for the head of the pond. Sunny Boy felt his
hand pulled from Grandpa Horton's and he spun around like a little top.
When he stopped spinning he landed on his hands and knees and
several boys almost skated into him. Grandpa Horton was nowhere to
be seen!
CHAPTER II
GRANDPA HORTON IS FOUND
"Look out!" shouted a big boy. "Watch where you're going! Can't you

see the little kid?"
"The ice is cracking!" cried another boy. "Look! There's water on the
top now. Gee, let me get ashore!"
"Well, go on and get ashore," said the big boy, pulling Sunny Boy to
his feet. "Go on ashore! If you're so afraid of drowning you have to
walk on a kid of this size, you'd better go ashore."
The other boy had pushed on toward the shore and he did not hear any
of this talk. The crowd continued to move by, because all the skaters
kept coming. Of course it would have been much wiser if they had
gone ashore at different points of the lake instead of crowding together
at the