"Oh, come quickly!" she called to her husband. "Something has happenedto the stationary wash-tubs. The water is spurting all over thecellar. Oh, do hurry!"
CHAPTER IV
THE FROZEN POND
Daddy Blake hurried down cellar. Hal and Mab carefully putting awaytheir new skates, followed their father. Roly-Poly, the little fatpoodle dog looked around to see if he could find anything to dragoff and hide, but, seeing nothing, he went down cellar also, barkingloudly at each step.
"Hal! Mab!" called Aunt Lolly. "Come back here, dears!"
"We want to see what has happened!" answered Hal.
"Oh, you'll get hurt! I'm sure you will!" exclaimed the dear, little,fussy old lady aunt.
"No, it isn't anything serious!" called Daddy Blake when he saw whathad happened. "Only one of the water pipes has burst. We must send forthe plumber. Wait, children, until I shut off the water, and then youcan come down. It is like a shower-bath now."
Daddy Blake found the faucet, by which he could shut off the water atthe stationary wash-tubs, and then, when it had stopped spurting fromthe burst pipe, he called to Hal and Mab:
"Now you may come and see how strong ice is. Not only does it burstglass bottles, but it will even crack an iron pipe."
"Just like it cracked a cannon ball!" cried Hal, and he was in such ahurry to get down the cellar steps that he jumped two at a time.
That might have been all right, only Roly-Poly, the little fat poodledog, did the same thing. He became tangled up in Hal's legs, and,a moment later, the little boy and the dog were rolling toward thebottom of the steps, over and over just like a pumpkin.
"Oh!" cried Mab, holding fast to the handrail, a little frightened.
"Oh my!" exclaimed Mamma Blake at the top of the cellar steps. "Whathas happened?"
"Oh my goodness me sakes alive and some orange pudding!" exclaimedAunt Lolly. "I just knew _something_ would happen!"
But nothing much did, after all, for Daddy Blake, as soon as he heardHal falling, ran to the foot of the stairs, and there he caught hislittle boy before Hal had bounced down many steps.
"There you are!" cried Daddy Blake, as he set Hal upright on his feet."Not hurt a bit; are you?"
"N-n-n-n-no!" stammered Hal, as he caught his breath, which had almostgotten away from him. "I'm not hurt. Is Roly-Poly?"
Roly was whirling about, barking and trying to catch his tail, so Iguess he was not much hurt. The truth was that both Hal and Roly wereso fat and plump, that falling down a few cellar steps did not hurtthem in the least.
"Well, now we'll look at the burst water pipe," said Daddy Blake,when the excitement was over. The water had stopped spurting out now,though there was quite a puddle of it on the cellar floor by the tubs.
Mr. Blake lifted Hal across this, and showed him where there was a bigcrack in the water pipe. Then he showed Mab, also lifting her acrossthe little pond in the cellar.
"You see the pipe was full of water," Mr. Blake explained, "and in thenight it got so cold down cellar that the water froze, just as it didin the glass bottle out on the back porch.
"Then the ice swelled up, and it was so strong that it burst thestrong iron pipe, splitting it right down the side."
"But why didn't the water spurt out when I came down cellar earlierthis morning?" asked Mamma Blake. "It did not leak then."
"I suppose it was still frozen," answered her husband. "But when thefurnace fire became hotter it melted the ice in the pipe and that letthe water spurt out. But the plumber will soon fix it."
Hal and Mab watched the plumber, to whom their papa telephoned. He hadto take out the broken pipe, and put in a new piece. Afterward Hallooked at the pipe that had been split by the ice.
"Why it's just as if gun-powder blew it up," he said, for once he hadseen a toy cannon that had burst on Fourth of July, from having toomuch powder in it.
"Yes, freezing ice is just as strong as gunpowder, only it works moreslowly," said Daddy Blake with a smile. "Powder goes off with a puff,a flash and a roar, but ice freezes slowly."
"Oh, but when are we going skating?" asked Mab, as she and her brotherstarted for school, a little later that morning.
"As soon as I can find a frozen pond," said Daddy Blake with a smile.
Well wrapped up, and wearing warm gloves, Hal and Mab went to theirlessons. It was so cold that wintry day, though there was no snow,that they ran instead of walking. Running made them warm.
"Is my nose red?" asked Mab, when they were near the school.
"Oh, it's awful red!" cried Hal. "Is mine?"
"As red as a boiled lobster!" laughed Mab. "Let's run faster!"
So they ran, and soon they were in a glow of warmth.
"Oh!" cried Mab, as she and her brother entered the school-yard, "weforgot to ask Daddy why we get warm when we run."
When the two children reached their house, after lessons were over forthe day, they found their father waiting for them. He had his skatesover his shoulder, dangling from a strap, and he had Hal's and Mab'sin his hand.
"Come, we are going to look for the frozen pond!" he said.
Then Hal and Mab forgot all about asking why they became warm whenthey ran. They cried out joyfully:
"Oh, Daddy is going to take us skating! Daddy is going to take usskating!"
Across the fields they went, and in a little while they came to aplace where was a pond, in which they used to fish during the summer.But now as they looked down on the water, from the top of a smallhill, they saw that the pond was all frozen over. A sheet of icecovered it from edge to edge.
"Oh, now we can skate!" cried Hal in delight, "Now we can try our newskates."
CHAPTER V
POOR ROLY-POLY
"Come on!" cried Mab, as she started to run down the slope of the hilltoward the frozen pond. "Come on, Hal!"
"Hold on!" called Daddy Blake. "Wait a minute, Mab! Don't go on theice yet!"
Mab stopped at once. So did Hal, who had just begun to run. You seethe children had gotten into the habit of stopping when their unclecalled: "Wait a minute and I'll give you a penny," so it was not hardfor them to do so when their father called.
"Why can't I go on the ice?" asked Mab,
"I must first see how thick it is," answered Daddy Blake.
"What difference does that make?" Hal wanted to know.
"Oh, a whole lot," said Mr. Blake. "If the ice is too thin you willbreak through, and go into the cold water. We must be very careful, Iwill see if it is thick enough."
Mab waited for her father and Hal to come to where she was standing.Roly-Poly did not wait, however. Down he rushed to the frozen pond.
"Oh, come back! Come back!" cried Mab. "You'll go through the ice,Roly!"
But Roly-Poly paid no attention. Out on the slippery ice he ran,and then he turned around and, looking at Daddy Blake and the twochildren, he barked as loudly as he could.
Roly-Poly was a queer dog that way. Sometimes he would mind Mab, andthen, again, he would not.
"I guess the ice is thick enough to hold up Roly," said Mr. Blake. "Itdoesn't need to be very strong for that, as Roly is so little."
"How thick must it be to hold us up?" Hal wanted to know.
"Well, on a small pond, ice an inch thick might hold up a little boyor girl," explained Mr. Blake. "But not very many children at a time.On a large pond the ice should be from six to eight inches thick tohold up a crowd of skaters."
"Oh, does ice ever get as thick as that?" asked Hal.
"Oh, yes, and much thicker. On big lakes it gets over two feet thickin cold weather," Mr. Blake said. "Then it will hold up a wholeregiment of soldiers, and cannon too. Ice is very strong when once itis well frozen. But always be sure it is thick enough before goingon."
"How are you going to tell?" asked Mab.
"By cutting a little hole through the ice," her father told her. "Youcan look at the edges of the hole and tell how thick the ice is. Wewill try it and see."
With the big blade of his knife, Mr. Blake cut and ch
ipped a hole inthe ice, a little way from shore. Hal and Mab stayed on the groundwatching their father, but Roly-Poly ran all about, barking as hard ashe could.
"I guess he is looking for something to bury in a hole," spoke Hal.But Roly could not dig in the hard ice, and the ground was also frozentoo solidly for him to scratch. So all the little poodle dog could dowas to bark.
"There we are!" cried Mr. Blake, after a bit. "See, children, the iceis more than six inches thick. It will be safe for us to skate on!"
Hal and Mab ran to look into the little hole their father had cut inthe ice. It went down for more than half a foot, or six inches, like awell you dig in the sand at the seashore. But no water showed in thebottom of this hole in the ice.
"The ice is good and thick," said Mr. Blake. "It will hold up all theskaters that will come on this pond."
But the children and their Daddy were the only ones there now. Mr.Blake showed Hal and Mab how to put on their skates. He made thestraps tight for them, and then put on his own.
"Now we will see how well you can skate," said Mr. Blake.
"I can!" cried Hal. "I've watched the big boys do it. I can skate!"
"It's just like roller skating," said Mab, "and I can do that, Iknow."
"Well, you may find it a little different from roller skating, Mab,"her papa answered with a laugh.
"Here I go!" cried Hal. He struck out on the ice, first with one foot,and then with the other, as he had been used to doing on his rollerskates. And then something happened.
Either Hal's feet slid out from under him, or else the whole frozensurface of the pond tilted up, and struck him on the head. He was notquite sure which it was, but it felt, he said afterward, as though theice flew up and struck him.
"Oh, be careful!" cried Daddy Blake, as he saw Hal fall. But it wastoo late to warn the little boy then.
"Oh, he's hurt!" exclaimed Mab with a little sob, as she saw that herbrother did not get up.
Daddy Blake skated over to Hal, but there was no need of his help. ForHal got up himself, only he was very careful about it. He did not tryto skate any more. He did not want to slip and fall.
"Are you hurt?" asked Mr. Blake.
"N-n-no; I guess not," Hal answered slowly. "The ice is sort of soft,I guess."
"No quite as soft as snow, however," laughed Daddy Blake. "Now you hadbetter not try to skate until I take hold of your hand. I will holdyou up. Come, Mab, well take hold of hands and so help each other tostand up."
Roly-Poly was rushing here and there, filled with excitement, and hewas barking all the while. He was having fun too.
"Now strike out slowly and carefully," directed Daddy Blake to thechildren. "First lean forward, with your weight on the left foot andskate, and then do the same with your right. Glide your feet out in acurve," and he showed them how to do it, keeping hold of their hands,Mab on one side and Hal on the other. In this way they did not falldown.
Slowly over the ice they went.
"Oh, we are skating!" cried Mab, in delight.
"Isn't it fun!" shouted Hal.
"At least you are beginning to skate," said Mr. Blake.
Roly-Poly kept prancing around in front, running here and there, andbarking louder than ever.
"Don't get in our way, Roly!" called Mr. Blake with a laugh, "or wemight skate right over you!"
"Bow-wow!" barked the little poodle dog. And I suppose that was hisway of saying:
"No, I won't! I'll be good."
Hal and Mab were beginning to understand the first simple rules ofskating. It was not as easy as they had thought--nor was it the sameas roller skating. The ice was so slippery.
"Oh, look at Roly!" cried Hal, when they had stopped for a rest. "He'sskating, too."
A boy who had no skates had come down to the frozen pond, and, seeingthe poodle dog, and knowing him to be Hal's pet, this boy wanted tohave some fun. He would throw a stick on the ice, sliding it along,and Roly would race after it. He would go so fast, Roly would, that hecould not stop when he reached the stick, and along he would slide,almost as if he were skating.
Just as Hal called to Mab to look, Roly cook a long run and a slide.Then, all of a sudden, there was a cracking sound in the ice. A holeseemed to open, close to where the poodle dog was, and, a momentlater, Roly-Poly went down, out of sight, into the cold, black water.
"Poor Roly-Poly!" cried Mab. "He's drowned!"
Roly-Poly had gone under the ice. Hal and Mab were ready to cry. Butlisten. This is a secret. Roly-Poly was not drowned! A wonderful thinghappened to him, but I can not tell you about it until the end of thebook. And mind, you're not to turn over the pages to find out, either.That would not be fair. Just wait, and I'll tell you when the timescomes.
CHAPTER VI
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE
"Come on, Mab," cried Hal, to his sister. "We've got to get him out!We've got to save Roly-Poly!"
Letting go his father's hand, Hal started to skate toward the placewhere the little poodle dog had last been seen.
"Wait--don't go," said Mr. Blake quickly, but there was no need. For,as soon as Hal let go of his Daddy's hands, his feet, on which werestill the slippery skates, slid out from under him, and down he wentagain.
"Oh dear!" cried Mab. "Everything is happening! Can't we save Roly,Daddy?"
"Yes, perhaps," he said slowly. "But we must not go too near. Rolywent down through an air hole in the ice. The ice is thin near there.It might break with us. I will go up carefully and look."
Telling Hal and Mab to stay together, in a spot where he knew theice was thick, Mr. Blake skated slowly toward the place where poorRoly-Poly had gone under. As he came near the ice began to crackagain. Mr. Blake skated back.
"It would be dangerous to go on," he said. "I am sorry for Roly-Poly,but it would not be wise for us to risk our lives for him. It wouldnot be right, however much you love him."
"Oh, we do love him so much!" sobbed Mab.
"I'll get you another dog," said Mr. Blake, and then he had to blowhis nose very hard. Maybe he was crying too, for all I know. Mind, I'mnot saying for sure.
"No other dog will be like Roly-Poly," said Hal, who was trying not tocry.
"I'm awful sorry I threw the sticks for him to chase after," saidCharlie Anderson, the boy who had been playing with the poodle dogwhile Hal and Mab were learning to skate.
"Oh, it wasn't your fault," said Daddy Blake. "Poor Roly! I will seeif I can break the ice around the hole. Maybe he is caught fast, andI can loosen the ice so he can get out." Daddy Blake took off hisskates, and then, with a long piece of fence rail, while he stood onthe bank, the children's papa broke the ice around the edges of theair hole. But no Roly-Poly could be seen.
"Oh dear" cried Mab. "He is gone forever!"
"Yes," spoke Hal, quietly, and then he put his arms around his littlesister.
But don't you feel badly, children. We know something Hal and Mab donot know, and we'll keep it a secret from them until it is time forthe surprise.
The two Blake children were so sorry their doggie had been lostthrough the ice, that their father thought it best to take them home.
"We will have another skating lesson to-morrow," he said. "But thisshows you how dangerous air holes are."
"What is an air hole in the ice, Daddy?" asked Hal.
"I'll tell you," said Mr. Blake. This interested Mab, and she stoppedcrying. Besides, if you cry when it's cold, the tears may freeze onyour cheeks, like little pearls, and fall off."
"An air hole," said Mr. Blake, as he walked on home with the children,"is a place where the ice has not frozen solidly. Sometimes it may bebecause there is a warm spring in that part of the pond, or a springthat bubbles up, and keeps the water moving. And you know moving orrunning water will not freeze, except in very, very cold weather.
"But always be careful of air holes, for the ice around them is easilybroken, and you might go through."
"Poor Roly-Poly!" sighed Mab. "I wish he had been careful."
"So do
I," spoke Hal.
"How would you like to go fishing through the ice?" asked Daddy Blake,so the children would have something new to think about, and not feelsorry about Roly.
"Fishing through the ice?" cried Hal. "How can we do that? Aren't thefish frozen in the winter?"
"I saw some frozen ones down at the fish store," Mab said.
"Well, I don't mean that kind," laughed Daddy Blake. "There are livefish in the waters of the lakes, rivers and ponds, down under the ice.You can not catch all kinds of fish through the ice in winter, but youmay some sorts--pickeral for instance."
"Oh, Daddy, and will you take us fishing?" asked Mab.
"I think I will, some day soon, if the cold keeps up," he said.
And, surely enough he did.
The weather was still very cold, and the ice froze harder and thicker.Several times Daddy Blake took the children down to the pond, andtaught them about skating. They were doing very well.
Then, one Saturday, when there was no school, Daddy Blake called out:
"Now we'll go fishing through the ice. We'll go over to the big lake,so wrap up well, as it is quite cold. We'll take along some lunch, andwe'll build a fire on the shore and make hot chocolate."
"Hurray!" cried Hal.
"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed Mab.
Well wrapped up, and carrying with them their fishing things, as wellas lunch, while Mr. Blake had a small axe, the little party set offfor a large lake, about two miles away.