THE COUNTRY BOY 



153 



This skating rink had a queer effect on the 

 town in a general way ; it acted as a sort of a 

 leveler, an equalizer of station and fashion. 

 The well-to-do skated with the poor, the hand- 

 some with the homely, and the freckled with 

 the fair. It was one general mix-up in which 

 there were no favorites. The funniest part of 

 it was to stand across the street and listen on 

 Saturday afternoon. Above the noise of the 

 town was this general local roar of the skates, 

 and as if periods or punctuations, the building 

 shook with dull 

 thuds. Sometimes 

 they fell in clusters, 

 others, one at a 

 time ; but you didn't 

 have to wait long to 

 hear two or three 

 dull sounding 

 whacks that made 

 the windows rattle 

 on the upper story 

 of the building. 



I took two or 

 three short dashes 

 at it morning and 



