ut your own skates on, and put them on deliberately; for if
you really mean skating in earnest, limbs, and even life, may depend
on their running true, and not failing at a critical moment. The
slope of the bank must be descended sideways--avoid the stones
concealed by snow, for they will destroy the edge of the skate. When
within a foot or so, leap on, and the impetus will carry you some
yards out upon the lake, clear of the shadow of the bank and the
willows above, out to where the ice gleams under the sunshine. A
glance round shows that it is a solitude; the marks of skates that
went past yesterday are visible, but no one has yet arrived: it is
the time for an exploring expedition. Following the shore, note how
every stone or stick that has been thrown on by thoughtless persons
has sunk into and become firmly fixed in the ice. The slight heat of
midday has radiated from the surface of the stone, causing the ice
to melt around it, when it has sunk a little, and at night been
frozen hard in that position, forming an immovable obstacle,
extremely awkward to come into contact with. A few minutes and the
marks of skates become less frequent, and in a short time almost
cease, for the gregarious nature of man exhibits itself even on ice.
One spot is crowded with people, and beyond that extends a broad
expanse scarcely visited. Here a sand-bank rises almost to the
surface, and the yellow sand beneath causes the ice to assume a
lighter tint; beyond it, over the deep water, it is dark.

Then a fir-copse bordering the shore shuts out the faintest breath
of the north wind, and the surface in the bay thus sheltered is
sleek to a degree. This is the place for figure-skating; the ice is
perfect, and the wind cannot interfere with the balance. Here you
may turn and revolve and twist and go through those endless
evolutions and endless repetitions of curves which exercise so
singular a fascination. Look at a common figure of 8 that a man has
cut out! How many hundreds of times has he gone round and round
those two narrow crossing loops or circles! No variation, no change;
the art of it is to keep almost to the same groove, and not to make
the figure broad and splay. Yet by the wearing away of the ice it is
evident that a length of time has been spent thus for ever wheeling
round. And when the skater visits the ice again, back he will come
and resume the wheeling at intervals. On past a low waterfall where
a brook runs in--the water h