Sunny Boy and His Playmates | Page 8

wish they
could find him. Daddy Horton, too, at dinner that night said he would
rather find the boy than a ten dollar goldpiece.
"I'm afraid he is a lad who needs some help," he said anxiously; "and
we would be so glad to do anything for him. I must see some of the
men who work over in the River Section and try to get them to hunt
him up."
And Mr. Horton did interest several people in his search for the big boy,
but when they reported, one by one, that they could find no boy who

had carried a little boy ashore at the skating pond, he began to think
that perhaps the boy did not live in the River Section, after all, but in
some other part of the city.
While Mr. Horton was trying to find the boy who had been so good to
his little son, Sunny Boy was having great fun. There was no school, of
course, during the holidays, and, after two days of skating, there came a
heavy fall of snow. When Sunny Boy woke up and saw the roofs all
white, his shout wakened Daddy and Mother.
"It snowed!" shouted Sunny Boy, dancing up and down in his white
flannel sleeping suit. "Oh, Mother, it snowed! I can use my new sled,
Mother!"
"Well, for pity's sake!" cried Daddy Horton, pretending to be very cross.
"What is all this fuss about? All over a little snow? Why, I don't think
snow is half so nice as rain!"
"Oh, Daddy!" Sunny Boy climbed into bed with his father and put his
arms around his neck. "Daddy, boys with new sleds like it to snow. I'm
going coasting right after breakfast."
"Oh, you are, are you?" said Daddy, beginning to tickle Sunny Boy.
"Maybe you'll have to study spelling or something like that, instead."
And then Sunny Boy began to tickle his father and they rolled and
tussled and threw pillows at each other till Mrs. Horton, who was
brushing her hair, declared she had never seen such a looking bed!
"No one can go coasting," she said firmly, "who doesn't get up this
minute and start to get dressed!"
And then Daddy Horton jumped out of bed on one side and Sunny Boy
fell out on the other and Daddy chased him into his room and they had
another pillow fight in there. Sunny Boy laughed and squealed so much
that Grandpa Horton came and tapped on his door and asked him what
all the fun was about.
Dear, dear, Sunny Boy was so excited that he could hardly get dressed

and he was going downstairs without having brushed his hair. But
Mother called him back and brushed it neatly for him. Before Sunny
Boy could eat his oatmeal he had to go down into the laundry where his
new sled was and bring it upstairs and put it in the front hall. Santa
Claus had brought him the sled for Christmas as well as the skates.
"Do you want to go coasting, Grandpa?" asked Sunny Boy eagerly.
"Well, no, I don't believe I do," Grandpa Horton replied. "You see,
your daddy asked me to go down to the office with him this morning,
and I think I will. Perhaps I'll come around and see you coast down
once or twice, if not to-day, to-morrow. Is there a good hill for coasting
in this neighborhood?"
"There is only one hill in the whole city," Mrs. Horton explained. "I
suppose all the children in Centronia will be there this morning. Don't
you think Sunny Boy is too little to go alone, Daddy?"
"Oliver Dunlap and Nelson Baker will go, Mother," said Sunny Boy
anxiously. "All the fellows are going, Daddy."
Mr. Horton laughed and gave Harriet his cup for more coffee.
"I think Sunny Boy will be all right," he said. "I know that new sled
will rust its runners if it isn't used pretty soon. Sunny must not stay a
minute later than you wish him to, and if the hill is too crowded, let
him come home. You can have fun with your sled in more ways than
just using it for coasting, you know, Son."
"Your grandmother and I are going over to Aunt Bessie's for lunch,
dear," Mrs. Horton said to Sunny Boy, who had already finished his
breakfast. "Harriet will give you yours. Don't stay out on the hill longer
than half-past eleven. Have you your sweater on, precious?"
"Yes'm," nodded Sunny Boy. "May I be excused, Mother? That's
Nelson whistling for me. I won't forget. Good-bye. I have to hurry."
And he kissed his family in great haste and ran out into the hall for his
overcoat and mittens and sled.

CHAPTER IV
ON COURT HILL
"Hello!" called Nelson