I think you very far from being wrong. I shall be proud of my niece who had right-mindedness and strength of purpose sufficient to carry her triumphantly through so painful an episode in her history. Only a woman of genuine principle would have acted as you did, Hilda. And now, my love, let me attend to your evening toilet, for the skating has commenced, I know, and I want you to have your share of the fun. There are some things of Irene's which I am sure she will be delighted to lend you, and you are so nearly of a height. Here, to begin with, is a thick under-skirt of my own, and Irene's brown winsey skirt over it will do nicely. Put on your sealskin, and muffle up your neck, and tie something over your head to keep your ears warm-I have no patience with those little hats that leave the face all exposed to wind and weather. The young women of the present day must make up their minds to be martyrs to neuralgia-which, by the bye, we used, in my young days, to call ticdoloreux." CHAPTER XIV. THE END OF THE SKATING PARTY. "The stars were shining o'er us, It was a beautiful night, though intensely, bitterly cold. Mr. Arnison was right; there would be no further snowfall while the severe frost continued. The thermometer had sunk many degrees since morning, and now the ground was hard as iron, the snow itself was almost as firm as the ice, and the ice was smooth as glass and unyielding as solid marble. Overhead the purple heavens were thick with lustrous stars; there was no moon, but the pale snow-glimmer showed where, like Titans of an ancient world, the mighty hills stood up against the starlit sky. Hilda exclaimed with pleasure, as she came out at last, warmly clad and duly muffled-up, into the great meadow, at the further end of which was the skating pool. Several large fires had been lighted on the margin, and men were still busily heaping fuel on the blazing piles. A little shed near at hand was turned for the nonce into a refreshment-room, and hot coffee and tea, soup and cherry-bounce, were being made ready for those who should presently require them. Already shouts of laughter resounded everywhere, for many of Mr. Arnison's neighbours had arrived to share in the pleasant sport, and the pool was well covered with skaters and merry sliders. 66 Here you are, then!" said Mr. Arnison, as his wife and her niece came up. "Yes! now she looks something like! fit to laugh defiance in the face of old King Winter. Let Louis fit you on some skates, my dear, and get into action as quickly as possible; it is quite too cold to stand still. And, mamma, I am not sure that I can let you remain; nothing but perpetual motion will keep you from freezing." "Just a few minutes, my dear, to see how the children enjoy themselves; I will go in the moment I feel the cold. And mind you do not stand still too long yourself; there is such a thing as rheumatism, you know, and middleaged gentlemen are liable to an attack." "I had several twinges a week ago in the mild, damp weather; but this keen, dry air suits me well enough, old lady. Now, Louis, have you found a pair of skates for Hilda ? Make haste, and get her into trim. If you will stop here, mamma, you might as well see that the coffee is nice and hot, and we shall be crying out for sandwiches presently." Hilda was soon equipped, and though at first she was rather timid, she soon began to find herself at home on the ice, and was ere long dancing a quadrille with Cynthia for a partner, the tune being hummed by the dancers. "How do you like it?" asked Louis Michaud, when more than an hour later both he and Hilda were resting to recover breath. “I like it amazingly," she replied; "I think it is absolutely delightful; I had no idea so much fun was to be got out of ice and skates." 66 And you are not cold?" "I am as warm as a toast! all the more that for some time I had a little difficulty in preserving my equilibrium. What is that rope there for ? " "To keep people from that end of the pool. It is so much sheltered by the high bank and the wall and the overhanging trees that it always freezes late, and is therefore accounted insecure when the frost sets in suddenly as it has done now, or when the cold first begins to slacken. I dare say it is all right, but it is best to be on the safe side, and Mr. Arnison is a prudent man." "I wish he were not quite so prudent," said young Fred Baskerville, who just then came up; "that piece of ice being railed off spoils the whole thing; it cuts off the exact curve one wants. Why, almost a third of the pool lies beyond that foolish rope. I've a great mind to overleap it." "You may do so if you choose," replied Michaud, gravely, "though I think such a proceeding would scarcely be courteous towards our host, who certainly has every right to make what regulations he sees fit on his own property. I saw young Beverly cross the line not many minutes since, and I thought 66 Well, what did you think?" “That he was both foolish and ill-behaved. If he had not sufficient space at this end of the water, why did he not go down to the great bend of the river?" "Oh! all the rabble of the town goes there, and this piece of water answers every purpose, or would answer it, if only that ridiculous, tiresome rope were away. Can't you get Mr. Arnison to remove it? The ice is as safe there as here, or anywhere." "I will speak to him; but Mr. Arnison has always such good reasons for his orders that I feel sure he will not rescind them." "Men of his age are apt to get over-cautious." "In such a case over-caution, even to excess, is better than a little rashness. I dare say the ice up there is safe; but it might not be ! and then- -?" "Then we should be well ducked! Who cares for a cold bath? Ah! I forgot; you Frenchmen don't like tubbing; you are horribly afraid of splashing in cold water, but Englishmen are naturally aquatic animals." There was a sneer in Baskerville's voice as he spoke, and two or three other young fellows, who had come up to join in the confabulation, began to laugh, but Louis kept his temper. "I will ask Mr. Arnison if the rope may be taken away," he said; "it is he who must decide. And a ducking is not all that might ensue if the ice gave way; the pool slopes from the opposite end, and under the bank there, I believe, it is deep enough to drown the tallest man.' "Ah, you believe," interposed Baskerville, with another sneer. "And I believe, M. Michaud, that you are as timid as a girl; I wonder you are not afraid of going near the dye-vats, lest you should tumble in and be ingloriously drowned." At that moment Mr. Arnison, who, perhaps, heard voices raised in altercation, came himself upon the scene, and Louis at once preferred the young man's request. "These gentlemen, sir"—with just a little stress on the word—“are anxious that the rope should be removed. They say it spoils the skating." "It must spoil it, then," replied Mr. Arnison, rather sharply. "I am not going to let people risk their lives in my quarters; there's the river for any one who wants to explore the bottom of the stream." "But, sir," urged Mr. Charles Beverly, of the Endlestone Bank, "there is no risk. I stepped over the rope, just to try, and I assure you that the ice beyond is as firm as the solid land. Why, the thermometer must be down to zero." "Below it, I should say," grumbled a sulky young fellow, who was Dr. Clayton's assistant, and who always, on principle, opposed the powers that be, and asserted his own opinions. "The ice will no more give than Endle Fell will move from its foundations. If there was a thaw, now-well, there might be some risk of a cold plungebath." "Risk or not, sir," replied Mr. Arnison, in a displeased tone, "I refuse absolutely to touch the rope. The water at that end of the pool is ten feet deep, if it is an inch. I am not going to peril the life of any one here, if I can help it, and I repeat that the ice up there is not sound; it has not had time to get into safe condition; another day or two, if the frost still holds, will make all the difference. Those who object to my rules may go down to the River Broads and drown or duck themselves at pleasure." And then Mr. Arnison turned away; and immediately afterwards a servant came to Louis Michaud, to tell him that his presence was desired for a few minutes in the principal dye-house. A man who was watching some experiment wanted further orders. "I say," said Beverly, when they were left to themselves, "what an old buffer Arnison is! And as obstinate as a pig! He'd keep the rope there now out of sheer perversity, even though the pond were solid to the bottom." "It's all to show his authority," snarled the ill-tempered young doctor, Alick Brown; "the water is no more ten feet deep than I am ten feet high! And if it were, and if we got a souse, that's our own look-out. We've a right to do what we like with ourselves, I suppose; we ain't schoolboys. I hate that frog of a Frenchman, Louis Michaud ! "Nay! he's a good fellow enough," put in Mr. Beverly, "only he's a bit of a prig, and he is a Frenchman." "All Frenchmen are cowards at heart," said Alick Brown. "Didn't we beat 'em at Waterloo? I dare say Mounseer Louis is afraid of catching cold or of spoiling his new overcoat. It would be grand fun to cut the rope.' Well, I shouldn't exactly like to do that," observed Baskerville. "It isn't quite the thing to set a man at defiance on his own property, you know. If it were 66 |