Wilmott and Tite worked hard all the morning clearing the ice of snow, sweeping it with brooms, not only on the pond but for some distance up the river. They had built benches for the ladies to rest on, and over them they had laid red and grey blankets. A neighbouring farmer’s wife had come in to help with the refreshments. To grace the occasion Wilmott had put on a red scarf, the long fringed ends of which dangled over his waistcoat.
The Pinks were the first to arrive and Wilmott was glad of this. They lent an air of comfort to a party. The Rector chaffed Wilmott about introducing new and frivolous ways to the community. Mrs. Pink laughed a little when her husband made a joke, smiled when Wilmott made one. She was thankful to say that her little boys were quite recovered from whooping-cough.
The next to arrive were the Laceys. They brought with them their son, an only child like Robert Vaughan, but in this case the only child raised out of three, so he was trebly precious. The Laceys were the Pinks’ most intimate friends. They quickly merged into a group so congenial that Wilmott felt a little out of it. He looked anxiously toward the road, for he could hear the jingle of sleigh-bells. A large sleigh drawn by two raw-boned, only half-broken-in horses precariously entered the gate. A lusty young fellow was driving them and with some trouble brought them to a halt. Another lusty young fellow jumped out of the sleigh and ran to their heads. Three buxom girls scrambled out. Young Lacey flew to their assistance but was in time only to assist their enormously stout mother.
The father of the family came last. He was Elihu Busby who had been the original owner of much of the land hereabout. He was in his early sixties but might well have passed for less than fifty. He was so straight as almost to lean backward. He had fought in the War of 1812 under General Sir Isaac Brock and had lost an arm in the battle of Queenston Heights. He was of mixed English, Irish and Scottish extraction but had a faint contempt for each of these peoples which, in the case of the Scotch, amounted to dislike. But his strongest prejudice was against the Americans. He was descended from United Empire Loyalists who had left affluence behind them in New England and escaped to Canada in the early days of the Revolution. The persecutions they had suffered before they left rankled with amazing freshness in his mind, for he had drunk them in as a boy from his grandparents’ relating. He was proud and egotistical but he had taken a fancy to Wilmott and enjoyed nothing more than to inform the newcomer on all affairs of the province. His eldest daughter, Kate, also had taken a fancy to Wilmott, but a much warmer one, and could scarcely wait for the moment when they would skate together. Busby himself was businesslike about the skating and, immediately after greeting his host, sat down at the edge of the river and commanded his eldest son, Isaac, to put his skates on him, which he could not do for himself because of his lost arm.
The Whiteoaks and Robert and Daisy Vaughan now joined the party. A little later it was completed by the appearance of Dr. Ramsay who tied his mare to a tree, blanketed it and stalked up to Wilmott, as though he were a patient who probably would never pay his bill.
"I can’t stay long", he announced. "I have to go to Stead. I have a man there with his arm broken in three places".
"Amputate it", advised Busby, over his shoulder, "the way they did mine. Give him a gill of whiskey and amputate it".
Dr. Ramsay ignored the remark. He folded his arms and looked disapprovingly at Adeline.
"She has no business to be here", he said. "Just recovering from whooping-cough and due to have a child in April! And look at the way she is laced!"
Wilmott thought this remark in bad taste. Dr. Ramsay’s presence froze him. He said vaguely:
"Oh, I expect all will be well".
Dr. Ramsay turned a pair of cold bright eyes on him.
"Why?" he asked.
"I don’t know".
"It seldom is, I may tell you".
Elihu Busby was the first on the ice. He glided smoothly across the river and would have been graceful but for an angularity in his posture due to his lack of one arm. Nero, who had arrived with the Whiteoaks, had never before seen a person on skates. The sight filled him with a kind of savage hilarity. He rushed, sliding and slipping as he went, after Mr. Busby. Adeline shrieked Nero’s name and Philip shouted it, but he sped on, woolly and inexorable. He leaped on Mr. Busby’s shoulders and in an instant they were prone together.
"I expect he has broken his only arm", observed Dr. Ramsay grimly. He skated rapidly to Mr. Busby’s aid.
When Nero saw a newcomer on skates he sprang to attention, with feet planted wide apart, ready to deal with him as he had dealt with Mr. Busby.
"Keep off, you brute!" shouted Dr. Ramsay.
But with a joyous bark Nero was on his chest. For an instant the doctor struck an extraordinary and grotesque figure which might have gained him fame as a fancy skater if he could have held it. But that was the last thing he desired to do. He was now in a kneeling posture, for he dared not rise to his feet. However, his manner was far from supplicating as he swore and struck at Nero who circled about him in an abandon of barking.
Mr. Busby had not been at all hurt and, sitting on the ice, gave way to shouts of laughter.
Philip had on one skate but in his excitement could not fasten the clasp of the other. He kept on roaring, "Nero!" which served only to stimulate Nero’s pleasure in having two men down.
"Capture that dog!" Wilmott ordered Tite.
"Boss, I dare not", answered Tite.
"I say, capture him!"
With stealthy grace the boy crept across the ice toward the Newfoundland. It was like a play to those on the shore. Now that the Busbys were sure that their husband and father was not injured, they could enjoy the scene to the full. Nero did not notice Tite till he had caught him by the collar. Then he bounded with the boy’s light figure clinging to him, he gambolled, dragging Tite after him while Mr. Busby continued to shake with laughter and Dr. Ramsay to curse.
Suddenly Patsy O’Flynn appeared, almost as broad as tall, he was so bundled up against the cold, and stalked toward Nero. He took him by the collar and led him with an air of swagger from the river. There was a round of applause. Patsy exclaimed:
"Sure, he’s like meself-a lamb, if yez know how to handle him!"
Now all were brave to hurry to the two roughly used gentlemen. Now everyone was laughing, even the doctor. Wilmott had engaged the old Scotsman, Jock, to make music for the skating. He tuned up his fiddle and to a lively reel the ring of blades on the smooth ice was heard. Kate Busby had her wish and soon was sailing about with Wilmott. Truth to tell, she was his support rather than he hers, so good a skater was she. His arm linked within that of the good-natured girl, Wilmott wondered what life with such a companion would be. What sort of man would he be today, he wondered, if he had had such a companion. Daisy and Robert Vaughan were the most graceful couple on the ice. He wore a belted jacket with fur collar, very tight trousers and a fur cap of a rather long yellowish fur, beneath which his fair face looked out as from a strange, prehistoric headdress. Daisy, in black skirt and scarlet jacket trimmed with gold braid, made the Busby girls feel shy and countrified, Mrs. Pink disapproving. She considered Daisy’s movements entirely too free of restraint. But Daisy was really longing to skate with Dr. Ramsay. He had been watching, with a good deal of anxiety, young Lacey steering Adeline about. Now he himself approached her. He said:
"If you must endanger yourself in skating, Mrs. Whiteoak, I must ask you to skate with me. I am the strongest skater and most sure-footed here".