ANTOINE ON ICE. 



E. W. PARKER. 



Ah'll was leeve in good many plas in mah 

 life, but if dere's a better plas for de ice 

 business dan good ole Canada Ah never 

 seen it, bah gosh ! S'pos'e you gon out you 

 shack 3, 4 minutes, you sure fin' ice hang 

 on de end you nose. He cover up de brook 

 an' de reever an' w'en you not need heem 

 de mos' you ant able get notin' else. Bimeby 

 w'en you want heem, he's mak' hees bow 

 an' not stop for sheck han's. 



But de Canuk got plentee fun all de tarn 

 wit' de ice, de boy an' de gal an' de ole 

 peep, too. De hockey match mak' plentee 

 fun, 'nough so he lak better stay dere dan 

 gon to school. Las week mah leetle boy 

 say to me, 



"Paw, come on skatin' wit* me, we have 

 boss bully tarn." 



Ah lak for mak' it happy dat leetle chap, 

 so Ah say, "Yas, Ah'll go." 



W'en Ah was leetle boy mahse'f Ah gat 

 good deal sport on mah skate. Mah fadder 

 own fine plas for skate, one ole swamp 

 pon' 'bout 4 acres beeg an' quarter mile 

 long, plentee room dere for mek practise. 

 Dere was plentee log an' some bush an' 

 stomp wit' ice all roun'. We mak' hide an' 

 coop an' have bully tarn, an' of'en we so 

 much engage we ant re'mber gon school 

 till we feel heem time for gon fin' w'ere 

 he's leave dat lonch pail. 



Mah modder mak' de birt'day feas' w'at 

 tarn Ah'll got 16 year ole, and all de yo'ng 

 folk we gon for skate. Dere's one gal he 

 try for spark me an' he's ron for catch me 

 on hees skate. He's boss good gal on ice, 

 but he's huglyas dev' an' Ah'll not like 

 heem a leetle bit. W'en he's mak' ron for 

 catch me Ah'll mak' dodge, but he's ver' 

 'termine' an' grab mah coat tail an tear 

 heem right off mah back. He's try many 

 tarn since dat to get de res' of Antoine 

 but he 'an't do it, bah gosh ! 



So w'en Ah'll tol' mah leetle boy Ah'm 

 gon skate wit' heem it mek me re'mbler 

 Ah use be leetle boy mahse'f. W'en we got 

 on dat plas it look ver' small ; no log dere, 

 no stomp, no not'in' on'y leetle patch ice 

 jus' so beg 'nough for 2 rabbits play leap- 

 frawg. But dere was some pretty gal an' 

 some plentee boy an' dey have nace tarn. 

 Dey gon turn roun' raght an' lef an' gon 

 backwards an' mek de gran scoot. Den 

 mah boy he's pull it mah coat an' say, 



"Come, fadder, come an' skate," an' Ah'll 

 say, "Ahm gon show dose peep' someting 

 dey ant 'spec,' prob'ly." 



But de skate w'at he use it now he's not 

 good for not'ing. Ah'll use have pair dat 

 beat heem all. He's leetle ting wit' heel 

 strap 'roun' de instep an' some ring on bose 

 side for tie heem wit' string roun' you 

 ankle. De boy he's come roun' for help 

 tie dose newfangle 'rangement. Den Ahm 

 proceed geet on mah feets, an' Ah look over 

 de frawg pon' an' balance mahse'f an' feel 

 jus' same Ah was 30 year 'go. 



W'en Ahm gon skate mah feet, one of it, 

 he's turn off on de raight han' an', bah 

 gosh, he's keep go; de odder he's turn on 

 de lef an' me Ah ant stop heem. Some 

 trouble boun' rise on such 'casion, nobody 

 ant help dat, an' dere was beeg noise lak 

 w'en de storeman tear off de calico. Ah 

 must do somet'ing, so me Ah sit down, an' 

 don' wait for fin' chair either. Ah'm never 

 seen de ice so col, an' A_h'm not want geet 

 up too. Ah feel 'uf Ah'lf ant wort much, 

 me. So Ah'm slide softie to de shore an' 

 up -in de bush, an' de boy an' de gal dey 

 laugh lak de dev'. 



Den Ah'll tol mah leetle boy ron home 

 an' mak' hees modder send mah new 

 breeches raght off, for Ah's bleeged to gon 

 on town meetin' to cas' mah vote, prob'ly. 



Barnes — "When I was young my mother 

 always used to sing me to sleep." 



Shedd — "Yes, women are good at that 

 sort of thing ; but it takes the father's voice 

 to wake a fellow in the morning." — Bos- 

 ton Transcript. 



436 



