THE COUNTRY BOY 155 



flashes of fire, when I thought there must be 

 some easier method. I took a leave of absence 

 for half an hour and went over to Tuggle's 

 place (he was the biggest bellied man in 

 town) and borrowed a pair of his overalls. 

 ]My stepmother had sort of an economic 

 pillow, just one pillow that went clear across 

 the bed, so in that way you saved one pillow 

 slip. With that pillow and Mr. Tuggle's 

 breeches, I remember turning in the rink door 

 with a broad grin. I could see before I put 

 on the skates that I had the game beaten, and 

 it was going to be fun, too, as the biggest 

 crowd was there that had ever been in at- 

 tendance, and they were getting pretty reck- 

 less. 



I lowered the pillow into the seat of the 

 overalls after I had put them on, and then 

 got a boy to hold the pillow up against my 

 back while I put my vest over it, and I dove 

 out into the thick of them. To mv astonish- 

 ment and a little to my disgust, I didn't fall. 

 I leaned back and tried to fall once to see 

 how it would be, and I really couldn't. I'd 

 been skating fifteen minutes when I did fall, 

 but fell forward and slammed mv hands on 



