nd I'm calling myself Lucky Jim."

They soon had the queer craft ready for service, with its mast rigged,
and the few ropes in place. Bristles secured a couple of old
comfortables to serve them in place of cushions, which more elaborate
ice-boats carried. These were tied on the boards in a way to suit the
needs of those who would soon be sprawled out under the swinging boom.

"If the ice were only a whole lot smoother, I'd call this a jolly day for
a spin," the skipper of the craft went on to say, while continuing his
preparations.

"Yes," added Fred, standing there, and having completed his arrangements
to his complete satisfaction, "the sun shines with just a taste of
Springtime about it; and the breeze is neither too hard nor too squally.
It comes from the best quarter we could wish for, across from the west,
so we'll be able to run up or down the river without trying to tack, and
that's always a hard job on a narrow stream, when you're booming along so
fast."

"Well, everything's ready, Fred, so hop aboard."

"Is it up or down this time?" demanded the other.

"Whichever you say, it doesn't matter a pin to me either way," Bristles
continued.

"On the whole, I rather think we'd better head up-river this time," said
Fred. "We went down the last trip we made, yes, and the one before that
too, because of a poor wind, and the river being wider below, so we could
tack better. I'd like to go past Mechanicsburg and as far up as we can,
for the last time this year."

"Call it settled then, Fred. Let's point her nose that way and get a
move on us in a jiffy."

Some small boys were skating near the shore, and had come around to watch
the starting of the iceboat, which was a familiar sight with them, though
they never seemed to grow weary of watching it go forth on its swift
cruise. Bristles had waited only long enough to make use of the padlock
again, so that no one might meddle with such things as he kept in the
shed. Then he was ready to raise the sail, and spin up the river like
the wind.

Just as Fred had said, they were apt to have an unusually hazardous trip
on this particular afternoon, partly on account of the rough ice opening
up chances for an upset, and then again because of the presence of so
many weak places, where the recent thaw had started blow-holes.

Of course the very swiftness of their passage would be one means of
safety; for the ice-boat could skim across a small stretch where a skater