Divided Skates   By: Evelyn Raymond (1843-1910)

BY

EVELYN RAYMOND

AUTHOR OF "MONICA", "MIXED PICKLES" ETC.

NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1900 By THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.

[Illustration: The Way it Began.]

SUNSHINE LIBRARY.

=Aunt Hannah and Seth.= By James Otis. =Blind Brother (The).= By Homer Greene. =Captain's Dog (The).= By Louis Énault. =Cat and the Candle (The).= By Mary F. Leonard. =Christmas at Deacon Hackett's.= By James Otis. =Christmas Tree Scholar.= By Frances Bent Dillingham. =Dear Little Marchioness.= The Story of a Child's Faith and Love. =Dick in the Desert.= By James Otis. =Divided Skates.= By Evelyn Raymond. =Gold Thread (The).= By Norman MacLeod, D.D. =Half a Dozen Thinking Caps.= By Mary Leonard. =How Tommy Saved the Barn.= By James Otis. =Ingleside.= By Barbara Yechton. =J. Cole.= By Emma Gellibrand. =Jessica's First Prayer.= By Hesba Stretton. =Laddie.= By the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission." =Little Crusaders.= By Eva Madden. =Little Sunshine's Holiday.= By Miss Mulock. =Little Peter.= By Lucas Malet. =Master Sunshine.= By Mrs. C. F. Fraser. =Miss Toosey's Mission.= By the author of "Laddie." =Musical Journey of Dorothy and Delia.= By Bradley Gilman. =Our Uncle, the Major. A Story of 1765.= By James Otis. =Pair of Them (A).= By Evelyn Raymond. =Playground Toni.= By Anna Chapin Ray. =Play Lady (The).= By Ella Farman Pratt. =Prince Prigio.= By Andrew Lang. =Short Cruise (A).= By James Otis. =Smoky Days.= By Edward W. Thomson. =Strawberry Hill.= By Mrs. C. F. Fraser. =Sunbeams and Moonbeams.= By Louise R. Baker. =Two and One.= By Charlotte M. Vaile. =Wreck of the Circus (The).= By James Otis. =Young Boss (The).= By Edward W. Thomson.

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, NEW YORK.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE WAY IT BEGAN, 1

II. CONFLICTING IDEAS, 22

III. THE BLIZZARD, 46

IV. THE WANDERING KINDNESS, 61

V. LIONEL TOWSLEY GOES HOME, 76

VI. MYSTERIES, 92

VII. THE END OF IT ALL, 106

DIVIDED SKATES.

CHAPTER I.

THE WAY IT BEGAN.

Nobody except Miss Lucy Armacost would have thought of starting an orphan asylum with one orphan. Even she might not have done it but for Molly Johns. As for Molly, she never dreamed of such a thing.

She was just careering down the avenue one windy afternoon in early December, upon one roller skate, and Miss Lucy was just coming up the block, walking rather unsteadily upon her two small feet. The dear little old lady was so tiny and so timid, and the wind so big and boisterous, that even without the accident she would have had difficulty in climbing the slope to her big house on the corner.

This was the way of it. Molly was making a reckless speed toward the bottom of the hill, swinging one arm to keep herself in balance, and now and then just touching the foot which wore no skate to the pavement; with the free hand she grasped the thin little fingers of a ragged boy, who also wore one skate, and forced him along beside her at her own rapid pace.

She was talking and laughing and singing, apparently all in one breath, just as she always was, and the thin little boy was doing his best to imitate her. Between them they made such a jolly racket that they heard nothing else, not even the trolley cars whizzing by, till Miss Lucy screamed:

"Oh! my dears! my dears!"

Down they all went in a heap; and it was the first time in her life that Miss Lucy remembered to have made such an exhibition of herself.

"The idea! of my falling flat in the public street! Oh! this is dreadful!"

Molly and the boy were up almost as quick as they were down, and each had an arm about the lady, while the girl's tones were full of shame and sympathy.