ong time."

Mr. Bobbsey telephoned, and a little later Tommy was gliding about the
frozen lake on a pair of Bert's skates, which, however, were quite good.
Bert had laid them aside when he had been given a pair of shoe hockeys.

"Well, I'm warm enough now," said Freddie to Johnnie, after a bit.
"Shall we go out and skate some more?"

Johnnie was willing and out they went. It seemed a little warmer now,
for the sun was up higher. Many skaters were on the lake. All at once
Freddie saw Tommy skating over toward the place which Bert had spoken of
as not being safe.

"Tommy! Tommy!" cried Freddie. "Don't go there. The ice is too thin!"

But he was too late. Straight toward the point Tommy glided and the next
minute there was a cracking of the ice and Tommy went down out of
sight.

CHAPTER XX

LOST IN A STORM

"Oh, Tommy's in! Tommy's in!" cried Freddie, as he saw what had
happened. "Oh, he'll be drowned!"

"Let's see if we can get him out!" shouted Johnnie.

"No, we mustn't go near that place. It's dangerous--Bert said so!" said
Freddie. "I'll run and tell my father. He'll know what to do."

And this, really, was the wise thing to do, for such little boys as
Freddie and Johnnie could not do much toward getting Tommy out of the
cold water. Some other skaters, seeing what had happened, were gliding
toward the big hole which had opened in the ice, and more boys or girls
might have fallen in had not a man, who was skating near them, warned
them away.

"Keep back!" shouted the man. "If you go too near, the ice will give way
with you. I'll see if I can get him out."

By this time Tommy's head was to be seen above the water. He knew how to
swim, but one cannot do much swimming in ice-cold water, and with skates
on one's feet, besides wearing heavy clothing. Poor Tommy was in a sad
plight.

"Help! Help!" he called.

"Yes, I'll help you as soon as I can," answered the man. "I must get a
plank to put down on the ice, though, so it will bear my weight."

A plank on thin ice acts just as Bert's snowshoes did on the snow, it
holds a person up, keeping him from breaking through.

While the man was running toward the piles of lumber in Mr. Bobbsey's
yard, which was on the edge of the lake, Freddie and Johnnie, not
stopping to take off their skates, ran toward the office where Freddie's
father was.

By this time the men in the lumber office, looking out on the lake, had
seen that something was wrong. And they