CHAPTER XVIII.
WINTER SPORTS.
"Hurrah, boys, the ice is forming just as fast as it can! We'll have skating in twenty-four hours!"
It was Sam who came rushing into the gymnasium with the news. The place was crowded at the time, for it was too cold to play on the grounds outside.
"Skating!" cried Tom. "That just suits me. I wonder if I brought my skates along?"
"You didn't," answered Sam. "Neither did I."
"I have my skates," said Fred Garrison. "A brand new pair."
"My skates were old," said Tom. "I must strike Captain Putnam for a couple of dollars of my allowance and buy a new pair."
"So must I," put in Sam. "Dick, I know, has his skates."
It was early in December, and it had been growing colder steadily. There had been one fall of snow, but it had amounted to but little.
The next day skating in the cove of the lake near Putnam Hall was excellent, the ice being
