The Bobbsey Twins at Home Part 30

"Oh, yes, sir, I should like it! I haven't skated for a long 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 guessed what sort of accident it was. Some of them ran out, and Mr. Bobbsey followed them.

"Oh, Daddy!" cried Freddie, when he saw his father. "He's in!"

"Who? Not Bert or Harry, I hope!"

"No, it's Tommy Todd--you know the boy----"

"Yes, yes! I know him. He went through the ice, did he? Here, men, get a rope to throw to him. The ice is too thin to go close enough to reach his hand. We must pull him out with a rope."

There were ropes in the office, to be used in tying loads of lumber on the delivery wagons, and Mr. Bobbsey caught up a coil and ran toward the place where Tommy was struggling in the water.

By this time the man who had warned the other skaters away had found two planks. He carried them as near to the edge of the hole through which Tommy had fallen as was safe. Then Mr. Bobbsey came with the rope. He walked out on the planks and called to Tommy.

"Catch hold of the rope, Tommy, and we'll pull you out!" shouted Mr.

Bobbsey.

He tossed one end of the rope to the boy in the water, but it fell short. Pulling it back to him Mr. Bobbsey tossed it again. This time a coil fell near Tommy's hand. He grasped it and then Mr. Bobbsey and the other man, who was Mr. Randall, pulled Tommy out on the solid ice. Poor Tommy could hardly breathe.

"We must get him to a warm place at once!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll carry him to my office. There's a roaring hot fire there, and if we wrap him well in blankets we may keep him from getting cold."

In his arms Mr. Bobbsey carried the dripping lad. Luckily Tommy had kept his lips closed when he fell into the water, and he knew enough not to breathe when his head was under, so he had not swallowed too much water.

But he was wet through, and ice-cold.

Mr. Randall first warned the other boys and girls about going too near the hole, then he stuck one of the planks up near it, with a piece of rag on it as a danger signal.

Beside the warm fire in the lumber office Tommy was undressed and wrapped in warm blankets. One of the men made some hot cocoa, and when Tommy drank this he felt much better.

"But you can't put on your clothes for a long time--not until they are well dried," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I guess Bert has an extra suit that will fit you. I'll telephone to my wife and have her send it here."

Sam, who was Dinah's husband, came a little later with an old suit of Bert's, and Mrs. Bobbsey sent word that Tommy was to keep it, as Bert did not need it any longer.

"But it's a fine suit for me," said Tommy, when he was dressed in it. "I guess it was lucky I fell in the water--I got some nice clothes by it."

"But don't fall in again even for that," said Mr. Bobbsey with a laugh.

"You may take cold yet."

But Tommy did not. One of Mr. Bobbsey's friends happened to stop at the office on business, and, having a closed automobile, he offered to take Tommy home, so the boy would not have to go out in the cold air after his unexpected bath in the lake.

Bert and Harry, on coming back after their race to the lower end of the lake, were surprised to learn what had happened to Tommy. And when he had had enough of skating Bert said he would go and see if Tommy had reached home safely, and if Mrs. Todd needed anything.

Bert and Harry, who went with him, found Tommy sitting near the fire in the humble home near the city dumps.

"I'm glad I don't live here," said Harry, as he looked around before entering the house.

"I am too," added Bert. "It isn't very nice. I suppose when Tommy's father was alive they had things much nicer."

Tommy smiled at his two boy callers.

"This isn't working," he said. "And I ought to be at work, for it's Sat.u.r.day and I do most of my errands then. But grandmother thought I ought to get warmed through before going out again."

"I guess that's right," said Bert. "How is your grandmother? Father told me to ask."

"She isn't very well," Tommy answered. "In fact, she had to go to bed after I came home. She says she feels sick."

"Maybe she ought to have a doctor," said Bert.