"Wait till it freezes," said Ted. "Then we'll have lots of fun skating
on the pond."

Two nights later there came a cold spell, and the ice formed on the
pond. But, though the Curlytops did not know it, the ice was not as
thick as it ought to have been to make it safe.

On the big lake, where the larger boys and girls went skating, a man,
sent by the chief of police, always tested the ice after a freeze, to
make sure it was thick enough to hold up the crowds of skaters. But on
the pond, where the water was not more than knee-deep, no one ever
looked at the ice. The little boys and girls went there just as they
pleased.

"Come on skating!" cried Ted, after school the first day of this cold
weather. "Well have a race on the ice, Jan."

"All right," she answered. "I can skate faster than you if I am a girl!"

"No, you can't!" exclaimed Ted.

"I want to come!" cried Trouble, as he saw his brother and sister
starting out with their skates on straps over their shoulders.

"Oh, no! You're too little!" said his mother. "You must stay with me."

But Trouble did not wish to do that, and cried until Nora came in and
said he might help her bake a cake. This pleased the little fellow,
who, if he were given a piece of dough, not too sticky, to play with,
had a fine time imagining he was making pies or a cake.

So Ted and Janet hurried off to the pond and were soon skating away with
other boys and girls of their own age and size.

"Come on, now, let's race!" cried Ted, after a bit. "I'll get to the
other side of the pond 'fore you do, Jan!"

"No, you won't!" she exclaimed, and the Curlytops started off on their
race, the others watching.

For a while Ted was ahead, and then, whether it was because she was a
better skater or because her skates were sharper, Jan passed her
brother. He tried to catch up to her but could not.

And then, when Jan was about twenty feet ahead of Teddy and in the
middle of the pond, the ice suddenly began to crack.

"Look out! Come on back! You'll go through!" cried Tom Taylor.

"Oh, she's in now!" screamed Lola.

And, as Lola spoke, Jan went through the ice into the black water
beneath.

"Skate to shore! Skate to shore!" called Tom to the others. "Get off
the ice or you'll go in, too!"

The other children did as he said, and it was well that they did, for
the ice was now cracking in all directions from the big hole in the
middle, through which Janet had gone down.

Teddy, who was ska