Snowball

“ That is, was the snow soft enough to form easily into snowballs? For if very frosty and powdery it was of course no use. As most of the real snowball battles took place just when the thaw commenced, a constant fusillade would then be carried on all up{148} and down Union Street. The street boys, as well as students, were chokeful of mischief, and every conspicuous person caught it hot—if a snowball can be called hot. Battered silk hats were scattered in all directions. Mashers or extra-well-dressed people became simply living targets ”

“ The circular fishing net, which had for so unusual a purpose been lowered into the lake at the dead of night and brought up later, quite empty, belonged to a youth, known among his acquaintances as “Snowball.” Snowball was black, very black indeed.
When Snowball arrived at his net next morning he found a white man sitting by his windlass. This young man’s eye had a glint of blue steel in it that set the black boy’s knees quivering. ”

“ To the credit of Snowball stand certain things, however, and it is but justice to say that, when once in the ranks, he played his part well; and it is due to him to say that during one hard season a camp of waggons with their complement of men had to be kept in meat, and it was Snowball who carried—for short and long distances, through dry rough country, at all times of day and night, hot, thirsty and tired, and without a breakdown or a day’s sickness—a bag that totalled many thousands of pounds in weight, and the man who made the bag. ”

“ The snowball has grown by the addition of material to it from without, and as it became heavier and heavier, it lapped up more and more of the snow as it rolled along; so that with each increase of size, its capacity for becoming still larger has also increased. ”

“ Snowball knew well what to do, but he pleased himself about doing it; sometimes he would stand; sometimes move off a little way, and keep moving—just out of reach—holding his head well on one side so that he should not tread on the trailing reins or the long weighted reimpje which was attached to his bit for the purpose of hindering and catching him ”

“ No dog is really the better for four large macaroons, and in any case there was something Japanese and bizarre about Snowball's disposition. He lay under a chair and snarled.
"Know what that means?" Lady Vermoise asked her guests brightly. "Snowball and I are not quite—just a teeny-weeny—well, he had to have a little lesson from me. Dogs that snatch at things which are offered them have them taken away again, don't they, Snowball? It happened at breakfast-time. You should witness an interesting rapprochement. Here, Snowball, is the shortbread to which you are addicted. ”

“ The snow was in perfect condition, soft and moist; every particle clung to the ball, which grew bigger and bigger and BIGGER and BIGGER!
At last Rita’s arms were tired, and she stopped to rest and to look about her. She was at the end of the lawn, where the bank sloped up to the stone wall. How nice it would be if she could roll the Great Snowball up the bank, and push it to the top of the wall!
Then Papa would see it when he came home to dinner, and he would be so ’stonished! he would say, “Who—upon—yerth—put that great, hugeous snowball there?” And Rita would say, “I did, Pappy! ”

“ When I was a boy and went to school we had regular snowball fights. Built forts, you know, and chose a captain for each side and had real exciting times. You tell her you won't throw toward the school, and I shouldn't be a bit surprised if she let you build forts in the school yard and have a good battle."
"The snow's fine there," said Meg, catching Mr. Wright's enthusiasm. "It hasn't been touched since the first storm, only where the janitor dug out the walks. I'd love to have a snowball fight."
"Girls don't snowball fight, do they?" Bobby was quite scandalized, and appealed to Mr. Wright. ”

“ FUN ON THE ICE
"Oh, the fight is going to start!" cried Nan, in high excitement. "See them coming up the hill!"
"Will they shoot?" asked Flossie, just a bit nervously.
"Course they won't shoot," answered Freddie. "Can't shoot snowballs. Ain't got no powder in."
The attacking party was still a good distance from the fort when those inside let fly a volley of snowballs. But the snowballs did not reach their mark, and still the others came up the hill.
"Now then, give it to them!" cried Bert, and let fly his first snowball, which landed on the top of the fort's wall. ”

“ Make several snowballs from crepe paper or white cotton. Hang a large holly wreath in the doorway and let each child in turn try to throw his snowball through the wreath. The players who are successful throw three balls through the wreath, and the one who throws them all through receives a prize. ”

“ Most first grade children are afraid to snowball, but in the second grade boys begin to want to do brave things and in consequence can do some damage by snowballing. Snowballing should not be considered an offense. Every teacher knows how he has enjoyed the sport. It is only the carelessness that may creep into the play that may cause a window to be broken or some child to be hurt in the eyes, ears, or about the face or body. It is really necessary that a teacher should teach the pupils how to snowball, when there is snow on the ground. She should go with them and enjoy the sport. ”

“ As the snowball war was a serious affair, and was conducted after a scientific fashion, it never commenced until there was a good body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could be gathered up without earth and stones. ”

“ Why, the Elf carries a muff just like any grown-up. And the ground has changed as much as they. It is all white with snow, so that it is difficult to believe that the hayfield where we played in Summer is really the same place. We put on our thickest boots, and they go crunch, crunch in the crisp snow. And we gather the snow in our hands and make snowballs and throw them at each other. And then we make a giant snowball, The Imp makes the biggest snowball he can in his hands and then puts it on the ground and rolls it about. ”

“ In the winter the young women and girls are often to be seen tossing a snowball with their feet. A girl wets some snow and makes a ball about as big as her two fists, which of course immediately becomes a lump of ice. This she balances on the toe of one foot and with a kick and a jump tosses it over to the other foot which catches it and tosses it back. Some women will keep this up for a number of strokes.
The young people of both sexes also sometimes play football, kicking about an old mitten or boot stuffed with rags or bits of waste skin. ”

“ And O, the happy hours that we have had with our clumsy old sled! Away we would go, the wind stinging our faces until crimson roses blossomed in our cheeks, and the shining crust snapping and creaking under our sled, and the hill flying away behind us!
If a damp clinging snow came, it made lovely snowballs; and it was such fun to catch hold of the long clothes-lines and shake them and see little clumps of snow hop like rabbits from the line into the air. ”

“ Then a bugle belonging to one of the students sounded out, and the great snowball battle began.
It was certainly a hot contest, and the snowballs flew in all directions, and many a "soldier" received one in the body or in the head. Sam had placed his followers with care, and try their best the Army of Red could not dislodge them.
"I have a scheme," said Phil, after the battle had lasted for fully half an hour, and while the boys were pausing to manufacture fresh "ammunition" in the shape of snowballs. "Let us rush up and then pretend to retreat. ”

“ I handed the skipper to Snowball, advising he should be taken on board, and seen to. Snowball walked of, conducting him down the passage. I thought of the knife, procured it from the Captain, ran, and handed it to the nigger. [22] "Tell him," said I, "never to use that again, except for cheese-toasting, picking his teeth, and so forth." "Yes, massa; me tell him you say so." "I say, Snowball," added I, "hadn't you better put a little oil on his face, to keep off the mosquitos? If they get at him as he is now, they'll drive him mad." ”

“ It would not do to leave it in one of the public streets, and the colonel not being a favorite with us, we rolled the snowball up to the front door of his quarters, which obliged him to go out at the back of the house. He laughed at the trick, but was never after without a sentry. Sometimes the inhabitants gave us a challenge (arranged to be outside the town) to have some sport with snowballs. There we commenced the battle with officers and soldiers. We beat the inhabitants up and down, the snow congealing over the ditches and houses ”

“ Over a level or gently sloping surface of snow the wind occasionally rolls muff-shaped snowballs, which are known as “snow rollers.” Thousands of them are sometimes formed at once, and the largest may grow to the size of barrels. ”

“ Now, the black ram was a peppery chap. He promptly lost his temper and stamped his feet and shook his head at Snowball.
"I'll butt you for that!" he bawled. [115]
Once Snowball would have retreated. The black ram had always been both older and bigger than he. But now, though the black ram was still older, he looked smaller. ”

“ But snowballing continues, in spite of the efforts of the police to prevent it. It is open to the same objections as baseball in the street, for the freedom which is possible in the small towns or in the country cannot be tolerated in a crowded district where a snowball which misses one mark is almost certain to hit another. Moreover, owing to the facility with which these boys take to dangerous forms of sport, the practice of making snowballs with a stone or a piece of coal in the middle and soaking them in ice water is even more prevalent here than in most other localities. ”

“ And for a person of her years it must be hard work to run."
But Snowball soon learned that he had set himself a hard task. Soon afterward he found himself suddenly running. He hadn't meant to run. Yet there he was, bounding along towards the stone wall as [80] fast as he could jump! And the whole flock was following him, with Aunt Nancy puffing hard among the stragglers, doing her best to keep up.
Over the wall went Snowball. Over the wall went all the rest. Aunt Nancy was the last to leap down upon the ledge where Snowball had stopped. ”

“ And not the least part of the mischief they did was when they took a fancy to snowball each other, which the survivors of them still practise, especially in some parts of Switzerland, where the avalanche, which occasionally overwhelms the unhappy traveller, although mistakenly attributed to natural 143causes, is in reality nothing more than the fall of a larger snowball than usual, hurled by the mighty arm of one of those mountain giants. ”

“ Do you know that this is the first real snow storm I have ever seen?”
“Is that so?” queried Fred in astonishment. “We see so much of it every year that it gets to be an old story with us.”
“You’ve got an awful lot of fun coming to you,” put in Sparrow. “There’s skating and ice sailing and coasting and snowballing and lots of things.”
“Not forgetting muskratting and fishing through the ice,” added Fred. “Maybe we didn’t have a lot of fun the winter we spent up in Snowtop Camp, eh, fellows?” ”

“ There wasn't a sheep in the flock that had been more frightened than he. [92]
XVIII THE SWING
As Snowball grew older he began to enjoy a fine, new sport. At least this sport was new to him. All the old rams had enjoyed it for years. But it was not until Snowball's horns began to grow that he became interested in having fun in this way.
The new sport was butting. Snowball was careful not to butt any sheep that were much bigger than he was. For instance, he never even threatened to butt the black lamb, who was some months the older of the two. And Snowball didn't butt Johnnie Green ”

“ It'll be a great big snowstorm, and we can go sleigh-riding."
"And skating, too!" added Ted, his nose pressed flat against the window pane.
[2] "You can't skate when there's snow on the pond," objected Jan. "Anyhow it hasn't frozen ice yet. Has it, Mother?"
"No, I think it hasn't been quite cold enough for that," answered Mrs. Martin.
"But it'll be a big snowstorm, won't it?" asked Jan. "There'll be a lot of big drifts, and we can wear our rubber boots and make snowballs! Oh, what fun, Ted!" and she danced up and down.
"And we can make a snow man, too," went on Teddy. "And a big snowball!" ”

“ There was a little hill at the bottom of the big playing-field, and down this the girls managed to get some tobogganing. They had no sleds, but requisitioned tea-trays and drawing-boards, often with rather amusing results, though fortunately the snow was soft to fall in. Another diversion was a mock battle. The combatants threw up trenches of snow, and, arming themselves with a supply of snowballs, kept up a brisk fire until ammunition was exhausted. It was a splendid way of keeping up the circulation, and the girls would run in after this exercise with crimson cheeks. ”

“ The snow clung to them and came off the ground with them in heavy, clogging masses every time they were lifted. It clung to the sled, to the harness, to the dogs' feet, to everything that touched it; it gathered in ever-increasing snowballs on the long hair of the dogs. Travelling in warm weather in loose, new snow is most disagreeable work. We plugged along for twenty miles, and then in the dark in an open country with little patches of scattering spruce, had great trouble in finding the trail at all. ”

“ Of those upon the raft, Ben Brace alone comprehended Snowball’s meaning. To little William it was a matter of some surprise when the ex-sea-cook spoke so confidently, and acted, moreover, as if he had no fear of frightening the shy-looking creatures that were swimming alongside.
“Why, Snowy?” asked the lad,—“why is there no fear of their being scared off?”
“Kase, lilly Willy, I hab de idea dar be something else not far off, dat dem albacore am more feerd on dan we. I no see dat someting yet. We sure see de long snout, by ’m by.” ”