As these lines are written the first round of the snowball battle at the country school is drawing to a close. The 5-minute bell has rung, which calls for cessation of activities.
Preparations for the battle have been going on for two days. The four big girls in school are lined up against all the younger ones. Each side constructed a fortification of defense. This required all the recesses and noon inter-missions for two days. The big girls made a high fort, not very long. Some 20 feet away the small children constructed a longer defense and lower. Each child worked hard and eagerly to make ready for the fray. Little fingers flew as they made a large pile of snowballs for ammunition. The big girls made a small reserve, not many.
One doesn’t know exactly how or when the barrage commenced. Suddenly snowballs were flying thick and fast through the air. The little ones, having numbers on their side, sent more invectives. Their fort is longer, they can stand at the ends and strike those larger girls crouched behind their tall fort. The boy who is having the most fun is little brother who ventures right out into no-man’s land with a mammoth snowball and plumps his big sister right on the head. It is sweet revenge for all the edicts this older sister has enforced by might through the years. It is no matter that the big girls all pounce on him and wash his face. He got his good lick in first. When the big girls come into view such a heavy barrage greets them that they are forced to cover. Sideline referees would say that the little tikes have the edge as the bell rings. The big girls feel this way too because they dash toward the schoolhouse shouting, “It’s not fair!”
If the snow holds another day there will no doubt be a change in legislation. The battle of the snows is on.
