[CHAPTER VI—A QUARREL OVER THE GAME]
“I’m getting to do first-rate at it, don’t you think, Phil?” asked X-Ray, after they had been moving along for an hour and more.
“Yes, you seem to have mastered the trick all right,” he was told, “though you did take a few headers when you grew too confident. Snow-shoes can only be successfully mastered through experience. They are clumsy things to a novice, and apt to play all sorts of sly tricks on him. I’ve seen a chap with both feet sticking up out of a drift; and unable to get out alone.”
“Yes, I’d think they would act about the same as a life preserver fastened down around a fellow’s knees. The very thing you are depending on to save you turns out your worst enemy when you treat it the wrong way. Now watch me make a little speed, Phil.”
“Take care. Pride goes before a fall, they say. There, that’s the time you did manage to tumble in good earnest.”
“Help me up, that’s a good fellow, Phil. I guess I’ll feel my way after this. You may think you have mastered snow-shoes, but as you say they can spring a trick on you unawares. Your feet get twisted, and of course down you flop. But I’m satisfied with as far as I’ve gotten. The next thing is to learn to slide over a crust like the wind, climbing rises, and spinning down the other side like you were on skis. Say, it must be great sport; I hope it melts a little soon, and then freezes on top.”
“Probably it will, now that you have expressed a wish that way,” chuckled Phil, who was really having more or less fun observing the actions of the new beginner.
A short time later and Phil uttered an exclamation.
“What have you struck now?” asked X-Ray, eagerly.
Phil pointed to the snow close by.