Long boards may be laid from the ground to the top of M, N, L, and nailed securely to the frame, and other boards laid over the upper ends of the first, and the top of E, where they can be securely nailed, and the slide is ready for use. The Incline May be Lengthened by using a carpenter’s wooden horse for another frame, and allowing the boards from the ground to rest on this, and another set of boards run from this to L, M, N, as in Fig. 138, or as described for the switchback, in the preceding chapter. With plenty of snow on the ground it will not hurt a strong boy to fall from this track. But there may not be much snow on the hard, frozen ground, or your little brothers and sisters may be fond of coasting. To prevent any mishap, a guard-rail, such as is shown on one side of the slide in Fig. 138, should be nailed on each side of the inclined plane, as shown in the diagram. The posts for the railing around the platform are “toe-nailed” to the floor, and the rail is nailed on top of them. In case the rail seems weak, a diagonal or two, like those on the slide-frames, will make it sufficiently strong. A Toboggan Room. By boarding up around the posts, under the platform, a small room will be made, at a trifling additional cost and labor, which can be kept warm, and will afford a means of shelter and a place to lock up the sleds. An excellent plan for “Packing” the Slide, or Chute, is to mix sawdust and snow together, in equal parts, using just enough water to cause it to pack solidly, as a foundation for the top crust of snow or ice. This foundation will make the top ice or snow last much longer, in thawing weather, than it would if spread directly on the wooden bed of the slide. If the snow in the chute is properly and smoothly banked up on this composition foundation, moistened and frozen hard, with the addition of half an inch of fresh snow on top, the slide, in ordinary weather, will last all winter. It is a Wise Plan to be ready for any emergency. You may have visitors who come without sleds, and who would have but a chilly time watching the others coast down the wonderful toboggan-slide. To prevent the chance of any such disagreeable occurrences, knock an old barrel to pieces and build yourself a supply of toboggans with the staves. Two barrel-staves, fastened together by a cross-bar in front and a piece of board for a seat in the rear, will make a most excellent toboggan. The boy in the foreground of Fig. 138 is building toboggans of barrel staves, and a glance at this cut will tell you how they are made. PART II RAINY DAY IDEAS [Illustration] CHAPTER XVI. A HOME-MADE CIRCUS.