"Then I will, mother," he meant
he could be happy to stay at home, and would not ask again for
permission to go with the other children. Mrs. Dudley could not resist
the impulse to clasp him to her heart, and tell him he was a good boy;
and this made him still happier. He saw he had pleased her, and her
approving smile was worth more to him than any enjoyment could be
without it.

Eddie, you know, is a little boy, five years old. He has brothers and
sisters older than himself, and they have fine sport in sliding and
skating. Their teacher takes them every day to enjoy it, and they come
home in high spirits, swinging their skates by their sides, and
talking loud and fast about it.

Eddie has watched them many days from the nursery window, and has
longed to be with them; but his careful mother has feared he would get
hurt among so many skaters, or perhaps be lost in one of those
"air-holes" which are often found in the most solid ice; so when Eddie
asked her if he might go to the river, she hesitated, for she did not
like to deny him. "Which would you _rather_ I would do?" then inquired
the dear boy; and when his mother told him, he did not tease her, but
resumed his place at the window.

Mrs. Dudley resolved to go herself with her little son to the river,
when the children went again. She did not tell him so, however; but
the next day, when the merry skaters were in the midst of their
enjoyment, she put on her hood, and her warm blanket-shawl, and thick
gloves, and calling Eddie to her, wrapped him in his wadded coat and
woollen tippet, and placing on his head his "liberty-cap,"--knit of
red and black worsted, with a tassel dangling from the point--and
pulling it well down over his ears, and covering his fat hands with
warm mittens, they started out on the white snow. The snow was frozen
sufficiently to bear them, and they had a pleasant walk above the
hidden grass and stones.

Eddie was in great glee. His mother enjoyed it almost as much as he
did, for it was an exhilarating sight. Some of the boys were sliding,
some skating, and others pushing sleds before them, on which a mother
or sister were sitting. It reminded one of the pictures we often see
of skating in Holland; and, to make the resemblance more perfect, a
Dutchman was there with his pipe, defiling the pure, fresh air with
its foul odour.

Mrs. Dudley was invited to take a ride, and, leaving Eddie in the care
of another, she was soon seated on one of th