Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/291

steam and wear chest protectors. Everybody appears unhappy except the school-boy. The latter's cheeks glow with more than usual color and his eyes sparkle as if with inward merriment, for he knows the signs, and the dull, leaden sky to him is only a promise of a big snow storm and "lots of fun." The frost king has arrived and introduced jolly old Winter. Every boy knows that no season of the year can boast of more healthy out-door games, brimful of fun and excitement, than winter, and that there is no sport among winter games more exciting and amusing than snowball warfare. The interest and fun of the game is greatly enhanced if there be a fort to capture or defend.

All the boys must join in building the fort, selecting the highest point of the play-grounds, or, if the grounds be level, the corner of a wall or fence. Supposing the top of a mound has been selected as the place where the works are to be built, the first thing to do is to make out the plan of the foundation. The dimensions depend upon the number of boys. A circle twelve feet in diameter, or a square with sides of ten feet, will make a fort that will accommodate a company of ten boys. It is better to have the fort too small than too large. The chief engineer must set his men to rolling large snowballs; the smaller boys can commence them and the larger ones take the balls in hand when they have gained in size and become too heavy for the younger boys.

Make these balls of snow as large and dense as possible; then roll them in place upon the lines traced out for the foundation. We will suppose it to be a square. In this case, care must be taken to have the corners of the square opposite the most probable approach of the enemy. This will leave the smallest point possible exposed to the attack, and the inmates