"So he is," said Billy; "but I'm glad the ice was thick. What would we have done if he'd broken through?" "That's why fat men like him don't skate, Billy. Did you see what a hole he made in that there snow-bank?" He had, and so had the rest, but they all skated a race across the pond to take another look at it, and wonder how he ever managed to get out. SHIPS PAST AND PRESENT.--[SEE PAGE 162.] [Illustration: SHIPS OF COLUMBUS.] [Illustration: NORWEGIAN SHIP OF THE TENTH CENTURY.] [Illustration: THE FIRST OCEAN STEAM-SHIP.] [Illustration: THE "MAYFLOWER."] [Illustration: OCEAN STEAM-SHIP OF TO-DAY.] [Illustration: AMERICAN CLIPPER SHIP.] SHIPS PAST AND PRESENT. On page 161 are given illustrations of six different styles of vessels, all of which are correct drawings of ships that in different ages have acted important parts in the history of this continent. The upper right-hand picture represents a Norwegian war ship of the tenth century, and in such a one Scandinavian traditions assert that, early in the eleventh century, Olaf Ericsson and his hardy crew sailed into the unknown west for many a day, until at length they reached the shores of America. On the authority of these same traditions, some people assert that the structure known as the "old stone mill of Newport" was erected by this same Olaf Ericsson, and left by him as a monument of his discovery. If Ericsson and his men did make the voyage across the unknown ocean, it was a very brave thing for them to do, for as the picture shows their ship was a very small affair when compared with the magnificent vessels of to-day, and was ill fitted to battle with the storms of the Atlantic. She was of about ten tons burden, or as large as an oyster sloop of to-day, and carried a crew of twenty-five men. A single mast was stepped amidships, and this supported the one large square sail which was all that ships of those days carried. Well forward of the mast was a single bank of oars, or long sweeps, that were used when the wind was unfavorable, or during calms. Although this style of craft appears very queer to us, in those days it was considered the perfection of marine architecture, and in these little ships the fierce Scandinavian Vikings, or sea-rovers, became the scourge and terror of the Northern seas.