WILDWOOD WAYS 



gether a strip of lancewood and a strip 

 of yew, or even two strips of the same 

 wood, thus making a far stiffer bow 

 than one made of a single piece of equiva- 

 lent dimensions. 



This ice was much smoother too. That 

 evaporation which is steadily going on 

 from the surface of ice even in the coldest 

 weather, the crystals passing to vapor 

 without the intervening stage of water, 

 had worn off the embossing. The ice in- 

 stead of being black was gray with 

 countless air bubbles all through its tex- 

 ture. You will always find these after 

 a day's clear sun on a first freezing. I 

 fancy the ice crystals make minute burn- 

 ing glasses under the sun's rays and thus 

 cause tiny meltings within its own bulk, 

 the steam of the fusing making the 

 bubbles; or it may be that the air with 

 which the north wind of two days before 



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