THE BOYS AND UNCLE JOSH.
BY W. O. STODDARD.
"Hey Billy, my boy! Going skating?"
"Yes, Uncle Josh, Joe Pearce and me. The big pond's frozen solid."
"Is it safe?"
"Charley Shadders he says it's twenty feet thick in some places."
"Twenty feet thick! I declare! That's pretty thick ice. How did he know?"
"I don't know. I guess he guessed at it. He's an awful guesser."
"I should say he was. Twenty feet thick! Why, Billy, the water's only five feet deep in summer."