over the ice. Thus they could skate without getting tired out.
Then there were sleighing parties, and coasting races on the big hill back of the schoolhouse. Sammy and his chums made themselves a bob, by fastening two low clipper sleds together with a long plank. It had a steering wheel, and a bell that sounded, as the bob went down hill, to warn everyone to get out of the way.
More snowball battles, and the building of snow houses and snow-men made up other fun for the boys and girls.
"I'm going to make the biggest snow house that ever was put up in Fairview!" exclaimed Sammy, one day. Like everything else he did, or had a part in, Sammy wanted his undertakings to be out of the ordinary.
"All right, we'll help you," said Bob and Frank.
They started the snow house in Sammy's yard, as he had proposed it. A dozen large snowballs were rolled, and put in line on four sides of a square. These were to be the walls of the house. The walls were made quite high. Then inside of them was piled all the snow the boys could gather. They cleared the ground for some distance about the house, and Sammy's father said if only they would work as hard cleaning off the sidewalks in winter, they would be doing a good thing.
"But cleaning sidewalks isn't any fun," declared Sammy, and his chums agreed with him.
They were going to make a big snow pile inside the walls of balls, and then hollow it out, leaving a roof of snow on top. This would be the house. Besides the door, by which the snow would be shoveled out, there were also to be windows.
All went well for a time. Then, when the house was nearly finished, Sammy's father came out to look at it.
"You're making your roof too thin, boys," he said. "It will fall in on you."
"Oh, I guess not!" boasted Sammy. "We want to have the walls and roof thin, as that gives us more room inside."
