WILDWOOD WAYS 



vance, for the cracks, starting beneath 

 your feet and flashing in rainbow prog- 

 ress before you and to the right and 

 left, send wild vibrations whooping and 

 whanging through the ice all over the 

 pond. Now the visible bottom drops 

 away beneath you to an opaqueness that 

 gives you a delicious little sudden gasp 

 of fear, for you realize the depth into 

 which you might sink; again it rises to 

 meet you and here you may bear down 

 and gain added impetus, for you know 

 that the ice will be thicker in shallow 

 water. 



So you go on, and ever on. It is not 

 wise to retrace your strokes, for those 

 ice crystals that gave to let you through 

 and then gripped one another again to 

 hold you up may not withstand a second 

 impact; nor is it wise to stop. Mass and 

 motion have given you momentum and 

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