shute[sz'c] before he tears madly after it, pitches himself on the scant space left him “a
while the craft swerves from side to side with his blundering antics and an accident is
barely averted. But many a terrible spill have I had where no one was to blame. Perhaps
some tiny obstruction has been on the shute[sz'c], perhaps some unfortunate on the
foregoing toboggan has lost his toque on the track and we had dashed over it, or a bit of
our rope line had slipped underneath; aye, for less things than these have I been pitched
into space, tangled up informally with the rest of the crew and landed with painful velocity
in a snowdrifi or icebed, with an inharmonious mixture of toques, mittens, moccasins and
toboggans atop of me, or worse to arise and see the latter sliding wilfiilly off by itself
down the long, long shute[sic] whither one must travel to recover it. But who minds an
upset when there are no serious results? You scoop the snow out from the depths of your
collar, from the hights[sic] of your sleeves and on you go, willing to risk it again, just for
that dizzy moment of peril that hovers above you as you take the “dip,” ere you skim away
on the level and realize that you have a half mile tramp between you and the spot you left
a few seconds before.

The best toboggans are constructed of hickory, and measure anywhere from five to eight
feet in length, exclusive of the curl at the bow, which should not roll above eight inches.
The fastest craft are built in slats between four and five inches wide, bringing the total
width up to about seventeen inches, and the thinner the wood the better. Some builders
run small wooden rails along the edges from stem to stem, just sufficiently high for the
fingers to slip underneath, but in any accident the brittle wood is liable to snap and
splinter, which is exceedingly dangerous to the passengers. The better way is to run a rope
Very taut and strong through small staples screwed into the crossbars, and it has the
advantage of being much easier to “hang on to” as it gives slightly at every “jump” and
never jars the hands.

The cost of a toboggan runs from $3 upward, but a very neat one built of Indiana black
hickory, with a thick, handsome cushion laced firmly in place, may be had for $7 or
thereabouts.

One can soon become an expert at running the craft. You have but to pack your
passengers, forward, all sitting “Turk fashion,” and as close as sardines, leaving a foot’s
space at the stern, upon which you drop one knee as you start the load, grip the side ropes
with both hands, kneel high enough to admit of your chin just skimming the shoulder of
the person directly in front of you, and “let her go”--using your free foot as a rudder, of
which the slightest touch on the track will bend your craft into obedience, but your foot
must be absolutely free, swinging and moccasined, or command of your load is lost.

Of course if you are a lady, the fewer skirts worn the better, and unless you are as fearless
and sturdy limbed [as] La Canadienne, you would be wiser to reserve more space for
yourself if you intend to steer than the meager above mentioned foot. But you soon get
accustomed to a short allowance of room, for some way or other there always seems to be
space enough for just one more on a toboggan, and then you dash down on the few inches
left you and away you go, caring little for the snow spluttering and whirling about your