"Oh, how red your nose is!" cried little Mabel Blake, one day, as her brother Hal came running out of the school yard, where he had been playing with some other boys. Mabel was waiting for him to walk home with her as he had promised.
So's your's red, too, Mab! Harry said. "It's as red—as red as some of the crabs we boiled at our seashore cottage this summer."
Is my nose red? asked Mab of some of her girl friends.
It surely is! replied Jennie Bruce. "All our noses are red!" she went on. "It's the cold that makes 'em so. It's very cold to-day, and soon it will be winter, with lots of snow and ice! Oh! I just love winter!"
Come on, Hal! called Mab. "Let's hurry home before it gets any colder!"
Let's run! suggested Hal. "When you run you get warm, and you don't mind the cold."
What makes us get warm when we run? his sister inquired, as she took hold of his hand and raced along beside him.
I don't know, Hal answered, "but we'll ask Daddy when we get home.
He can tell us everything."
Huh! Not everything! cried Sammie Jones, one of the nice boys with whom Hal played, "Your father doesn't know everything."
Yes he does, too! exclaimed Hal. Doesn't he, Mab?"
Yep! answered the little girl, shaking her head from side to side so fast that you could hardly tell which were her curls and which was her hair ribbon.
Huh! Does your father know what makes a steam engine go? asked
Sammie.
Sure he does! said Hal. "And he told us about it once, too; didn't he, Mab?"
Yes, he did, the little girl answered. "I know, too. It's hot water in the boiler that makes it go. The hot water swells up, and turns into steam, and the steam pushes on the wheels, and that makes the engine go."
And our Daddy knows what makes an automobile go, too, went on Hal.
He knows everything.
Huh! Well, I guess mine does then, too! spoke Sammie. I'm going to ask him what—what—makes it lightning!"
And then will you tell us? asked Mab, for she and Hal wanted to know about everything they saw.
Yes, I'll tell you, promised Sammie. "And we'll ask Daddy Blake what makes us warm inside when we run," went on Hal, "and then we'll tell you that, Sammie."
The children ran home from school, and, thought it was cold, for it was almost winter now, they did not mind it. Their noses got more and more red, it is true, but they knew when they were in the house, near the warm fire, the red would all fade out.
Hal and Mab said good-bye to Sammie, as he turned down his street, and then the little Blake boy and girl, hand in hand, ran on to their house.
As they reached it they saw their mamma and their Aunt Lolly out in the front yard, bringing in pots of flowers and vines.
Quick, children! called Mamma Blake, "You are just in time! Here, Hal, you and Mab put down your books" and help us to carry in the flowers. Take only the small pots, and don't drop them, or get any dirt on your clothes."
Oh, I'm sure something will happen if you let the children carry any of the flowers! cried Aunt Lolly, who was a dear, fussy little old lady. "They'll drop them on their toes, or spill the dirt on the floor—or something."
Oh, I guess not, laughed Mamma Blake. "Anyhow we need help to get all the plants in before dark. There is going to be a very heavy frost, and everything will freeze hard to-night. It will be very cold!"
Is that why you are bringing in the plants, mamma? asked Mab.
Yes, so they will not freeze and die, Mrs. Blake answered. "Flowers freeze very easily."
The children were glad to help their mother and Aunt Lolly. Roly-Poly, the fat little white poodle dog, tried to help, too, but he upset more plants than he carried in, though he did manage to drag one pot to the steps.
Besides, Roly-Poly was always running off to look for a clothespin, or something like that, to bury under the earth, making believe, I suppose, that it was a bone.
The ground will soon be frozen too hard for you to dig in it with your paws, Roly-Poly, said Mamma Blake, when it was nearly dark, and all the plants had been brought into the warm kitchen. "Come, now children," she called. "Wash your hands, and supper will soon be ready. Then Daddy will be here, and he will shake down the furnace fire, and make it hot, for it is going to be a very cold night."
A little later, when supper was almost ready, a step was heard in the front hall.
Oh, here comes Daddy now! cried Mab, making a rush for the door.
Let's ask him what makes the cold, exclaimed Hal, "and why we get warm inside when we run." Hal was very curious.
Ah, here we are! cried Mr. Blake, with a jolly laugh, as he came in rubbing his ears. He caught Hal up in one arm, and Mab in the other.
Oh, how cold your cheeks are, Daddy! cried Mab as she kissed him.
Yes, it is going to be a frosty night, and freeze, he said. "And if it freezes enough I will tell you a secret I have been keeping for some time."
Oh Daddy! Another secret! cried Mab. "Tell us what it is, please!"
Wait until we see if it freezes hard enough to-night, replied her papa.
Hal and Mab were so excited at hearing their father speak about a new secret, that they could hardly eat their supper. There were so many questions they wanted to ask. But they managed to clear their plates, and then, when Mr. Blake had on his slippers, and had put plenty of coal on the furnace, Hal climbed up on one knee, and Mab on the other.
Now, Daddy, please tell us the secret, begged the little girl.
And tell us what makes water freeze, and how it gets cold, and what makes us warm when we run, added Hal. "Sammie Jones is going to ask his father what makes it lightning in a thunder storm."
My goodness me sakes alive, and some peanut candy! cried Daddy Blake with a laugh. "What a lot of questions!"
But the secret first, please, begged Mab.
Well, let me see if it is going to be cold enough for me to tell you, said Mr. Blake. "It must be freezing cold, or the secret will be of no use."
Daddy Blake went to the door, outside of which hung an instrument called a thermometer. I guess you have seen them often enough. A thermometer is a glass tube, fastened to a piece of wood or perhaps tin, and inside is a thin, shiny column. This column is mercury, or quicksilver. Some thermometers have, instead of mercury, alcohol, colored red, so it can easily be seen.
You see mercury, or alcohol, will not freeze, except in much colder weather than you ever have where you live, unless you live at the North Pole. Up there it gets so cold that sometimes alcohol will became as thick as molasses, and then it is not of any use in a thermometer. But mercury will not freeze, even at the North Pole.
The word thermometer means something by which heat can be measured.
Thermos is a Greek word, meaning heat, and "Meter" means to measure.
Though of course a thermometer will measure cold as well as heat.
Is it cold enough? asked Hal, as Daddy Blake came back from looking at the thermometer.
Not quite, his father answered. "But the mercury is going down the tube."
What makes it go down? asked Mab.
Well, let me think a minute, and I'll see if I can make it simple enough so you can understand, said Daddy Blake.
Those of you who have read the other "Daddy" books know how many things Mr. Blake told his children, and what good times Hal and Mab had with him. He was always taking them somewhere, and often one or the other of the children would call out:
Oh, Daddy is going to take us walking!
Sometimes perhaps it might not be for a walk. It might be for a trip in the steam cars. But, wherever it was, Hal and Mab were always ready to go with their father.
In the first book I told you how Daddy Blake took Hal and Mab camping.
They went to live in the woods in a white tent and had lots of fun.
Once they were frightened in the night, but it was only because
Roly-Poly, their poodle dog—
But there, I'm not going to spoil it by telling you, when you might want to read the book for yourself.
In the second volume, called "Daddy Takes Us Fishing," I made up a story about how Hal and Mab went to the seashore cottage, and learned to catch different kinds of fish; even the queer, pinching crabs, that turned red when you boiled them.
Once Mab fell overboard, and the children nearly drifted out to sea, but they got safely back. After that they went to the big animal show. And in the book "Daddy Takes Us to the Circus," I told you how Hal and Mab were accidentally taken away in one of the circus wagons, and how they traveled all night. And the next day they rode on the elephant's back, and also on a camel's and they went in the big parade. Oh! it was just wonderful the adventures they had!
Hal and Mab lived with their papa and mamma, and Aunt Lolly, in a fine house in the city. But they often went to the country and to other places where they had good times. In the family was also Uncle Pennywait. That wasn't his real name, but the children called him that because he so often said:
Wait a minute and I'll give you a penny.
Hal and Mab used to buy lollypops with the pennies their uncle gave them. And then—Oh, yes, I mustn't forget Roly-Poly, the funny, fat, poodle dog who was always hiding things in holes in the ground, thinking they were bones, I guess. Sometimes he would even hide Aunt Lolly's spectacles and she would have the hardest work finding them. Oh, such hard work!
Well, Daddy, asked Mab, after Mr. Blake had sat silent for some time, "have you thought of a way to tell us what makes the shiny stuff in the—in the—in the—Oh! I can't say that big word!" she finished with a sigh.
The mercury in the thermometer! laughed Daddy Blake. "You want to know what makes it go down? Well, it's the cold. You see cold makes anything get smaller and shrink, and heat makes things swell up, and get larger. That's why the steam from hot water swells up and makes the engine go, and pull the cars.
And in hot weather the mercury swells, puffs itself out and creeps up inside the little glass tube. In winter the mercury gets cold, and shrinks down, just as it is doing to-night.
But will it get cold enough so you can tell us the secret? Hal wanted to know, most anxiously.
Perhaps, said his father. "We will try it and see. I will fill a bottle with water, and we will set it out on the back porch to freeze. If it freezes by morning I will know that I can tell you the secret."
Oh, do we have to wait until morning? cried Mab, in disappointed tones.
That won't be long, laughed her father. "You can hardly keep your eyes open now. I guess the sand man has been here. Go to bed, and it will soon be morning. Then, if there is ice in the bottle, I'll tell you the secret."
Daddy Blake took a bottle, and filled it with water. He put the cork in tightly, and then twisted some wires over the top.
What are the wires for? asked Hal.
So the ice, that I think will freeze inside the bottle, will not push out the cork, explained Daddy Blake. "Now off to bed with you!"
You may be sure Hal and Mab did not want to go to bed, even if they were sleepy. They wanted to stay up and watch the water in the bottle freeze. But Mamma Blake soon had them tucked snugly under the covers.
Then Daddy Blake fixed the furnace fire for the night, as it was getting colder and colder. Next he opened a package he had brought home with him. Something inside jingled and clanked, and shone in the lamplight as brightly as silver.
What have you there? asked Aunt Lolly.
That's the children's secret, answered Daddy Blake, as he wrapped the package up again.
Hal was up first in the morning, but Mab soon followed him.
Daddy, where is the bottle? called Hal.
May we get it? asked Mab.
Oh, it is much too cold for you to go out until you are warmly dressed! cried Daddy. "I'll bring the bottle in so you can see it."
He went out on the porch in his bath robe and slippers, and quickly brought in the bottle of water he had set out the night before.
Oh, look! cried Hal.
For the bottle was broken into several pieces, and standing up on the board on which it had been set, was a solid, clear piece of ice, just the shape of the glass bottle itself.
Oh, somebody broke our bottle! cried Mab. "Now we can't hear the secret!"
Daddy Blake laughed when Mab said that.
Yes, the bottle is broken, he said, "but it was the ice that broke it."
How could it? Hal wanted to know.
I told you last night, said Daddy Blake, when the children were at breakfast table a little later, "that heat made things get larger, and that cold made them get smaller. That was true, but sometimes, as you see now, freezing cold makes water get larger. That is when it is cold enough to make ice.
As long as there was only water in the bottle it was all right, the glass was not broken. But in the night it got colder and colder. All the warmth was drawn off into the cold air. Then the water froze, and swelled up. The ice tried to push the cork out of the bottle, just as you would try to push up the lid of a box if you were shut up inside one.
I guess the wires over the cork wouldn't let the ice push it out, spoke Hal.
That's it, Daddy Blake answered. "And so, as the ice could not lift out the cork, it swelled to the sides, instead of to the top, and pushing out as hard as it could, it broke the bottle. The glass fell away, and left a little statue of ice, just the shape of the bottle, standing in its place.
How wonderful! cried Mab, her blue eyes open wide.
Yes, the freezing of ice is very wonderful, Daddy Blake said, as he passed Hal his third slice of bread and jam. "If the cracks in a great rock became filled with water, and the water froze, the swelling of the ice would split the great, strong stone.
There is scarcely anything that can stand against the swelling of freezing ice. If you filled a big, hollow cannon ball with water, and let it freeze, the ice would burst the iron.
It burst our milk bottle once, I know, said Aunt Lolly.
Yes, spoke Daddy Blake. "That is why, on cold mornings, the milkman raises the tin top on the bottle. That gives the frozen milk a chance to swell up out of the top, and saves the bottle from cracking."
One morning last winter, said Mamma Blake, "when we had milk bottles with the pasteboard tops, the milk froze and there was a round bit of frozen milk sticking up out of the bottle, with the round pasteboard cover on top, like a hat."
And that's what saved the bottle from breaking, said Daddy Blake, "If I had not wired down the cork of our bottle the water would have pushed itself up, after it was frozen, and would have stuck out of the bottle neck, like a round icicle."
But what about our secret? asked Hal. "Is it cold enough for you to tell us about it?"
I think so, answered Daddy Blake, with a queer little twinkle in his eyes. "As long as the water in the bottle was frozen, the pond will soon be covered with ice," he said. "And we need ice to make use of the secret."
Oh, I just wonder what it is? cried Mab, clapping her hands.
I think I can guess, spoke Hal.
Daddy Blake went out in the hall, and came back with two paper bundles. He placed one at Mab's place, and gave the other to Hal.
I want something, so I can cut the string! Hal cried, and he laid his package down on the floor, while he searched through his pockets for his knife.
Just then Roly-Poly came into the breakfast room, barking. He saw Hal's package on the floor, and, thinking, I suppose, that it must be meant for him to play with, the little poodle dog at once began to drag it away. Though, as the ground was frozen, I don't know how he was going to bury it, if that was what he intended to do.
Hi there, Roly! cried Hal. "Come back with that, if you please, sir!"
Bow-wow! barked the little poodle dog, and I suppose he was saying:
Oh, can't I have it a little while?
By this time Mab had her package open.
Oh! she cried. "It's skates! Ice skates! Oh, I've always wanted a pair!"
Ha! That's what I thought they were, when Daddy talked so much about ice and freezing, said Hal.
He had managed, in the meanwhile, to get his bundle away from
Roly-Poly.
Opening it, Hal found in the package a pair of shining ice skates, just like those Mab was trying on her shoes.
Oh, thank you, Daddy! Hal cried.
And I thank you, too! added Mab. I'd get up and kiss you, only my mouth is all jam. I'll kiss you twice as soon as I've washed."
That will do, laughed her father. "Do you like your skates, children?"
Oh, do we? they cried, and by the way they said it you could easily tell that they did.
And Daddy's going to take us skating; aren't you? asked Hal as he measured his skates on his shoes to see if they would fit. They did. Oh! Daddy Blake knew just how to buy things to have them right, I tell you.
Yes, I'll take you skating, and show you how to stand up on the ice—that is as soon as it is thick enough on the pond to make it safe, and hold us up, promised the children's father.
Just then Mamma Blake came running up from down the cellar. She was much excited.
Oh, come quickly! she called to her husband. "Something has happened to the stationary wash-tubs. The water is spurting all over the cellar. Oh, do hurry!"
Daddy Blake hurried down cellar. Hal and Mab carefully putting away their new skates, followed their father. Roly-Poly, the little fat poodle dog looked around to see if he could find anything to drag off and hide, but, seeing nothing, he went down cellar also, barking loudly 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 what had happened. "Only one of the water pipes has burst. We must send for the plumber. Wait, children, until I shut off the water, and then you can come down. It is like a shower-bath now."
Daddy Blake found the faucet, by which he could shut off the water at the stationary wash-tubs, and then, when it had stopped spurting from the burst pipe, he called to Hal and Mab:
Now you may come and see how strong ice is. Not only does it burst glass bottles, but it will even crack an iron pipe.
Just like it cracked a cannon ball! cried Hal, and he was in such a hurry 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 poodle dog, 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 the bottom 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. "What has happened?"
Oh my goodness me sakes alive and some orange pudding! exclaimed
Aunt Lolly. "I just knew something would happen!"
But nothing much did, after all, for Daddy Blake, as soon as he heard Hal falling, ran to the foot of the stairs, and there he caught his little 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 almost gotten away from him. "I'm not hurt. Is Roly-Poly?"
Roly was whirling about, barking and trying to catch his tail, so I guess he was not much hurt. The truth was that both Hal and Roly were so fat and plump, that falling down a few cellar steps did not hurt them 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 big crack in the water pipe. Then he showed Mab, also lifting her across the little pond in the cellar.
You see the pipe was full of water, Mr. Blake explained, "and in the night it got so cold down cellar that the water froze, just as it did in the glass bottle out on the back porch.
Then the ice swelled up, and it was so strong that it burst the strong iron pipe, splitting it right down the side.
But why didn't the water spurt out when I came down cellar earlier this morning? asked Mamma Blake. "It did not leak then."
I suppose it was still frozen, answered her husband. "But when the furnace fire became hotter it melted the ice in the pipe and that let the water spurt out. But the plumber will soon fix it."
Hal and Mab watched the plumber, to whom their papa telephoned. He had to take out the broken pipe, and put in a new piece. Afterward Hal looked 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 had seen a toy cannon that had burst on Fourth of July, from having too much powder in it.
Yes, freezing ice is just as strong as gunpowder, only it works more slowly, 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 brother started 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 their lessons. 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, "we forgot to ask Daddy why we get warm when we run."
When the two children reached their house, after lessons were over for the day, they found their father waiting for them. He had his skates over his shoulder, dangling from a strap, and he had Hal's and Mab's in 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 when they ran. They cried out joyfully:
Oh, Daddy is going to take us skating! Daddy is going to take us skating!
Across the fields they went, and in a little while they came to a place 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 small hill, they saw that the pond was all frozen over. A sheet of ice covered it from edge to edge.
Oh, now we can skate! cried Hal in delight, "Now we can try our new skates."
POOR ROLY-POLY"Come on!" cried Mab, as she started to run down the slope of the hill toward the frozen pond. "Come on, Hal!"
Hold on! called Daddy Blake. "Wait a minute, Mab! Don't go on the ice yet!"
Mab stopped at once. So did Hal, who had just begun to run. You see the children had gotten into the habit of stopping when their uncle called: "Wait a minute and I'll give you a penny," so it was not hard for 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 will break through, and go into the cold water. We must be very careful, I will 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 two children, he barked as loudly as he could.
Roly-Poly was a queer dog that way. Sometimes he would mind Mab, and then, again, he would not.
I guess the ice is thick enough to hold up Roly, said Mr. Blake. "It doesn'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 boy or 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 to hold 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 thick in cold weather, Mr. Blake said. "Then it will hold up a whole regiment of soldiers, and cannon too. Ice is very strong when once it is well frozen. But always be sure it is thick enough before going on."
How are you going to tell? asked Mab.
By cutting a little hole through the ice, her father told her. "You can look at the edges of the hole and tell how thick the ice is. We will try it and see."
With the big blade of his knife, Mr. Blake cut and chipped a hole in the ice, a little way from shore. Hal and Mab stayed on the ground watching their father, but Roly-Poly ran all about, barking as hard as he 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 frozen too solidly for him to scratch. So all the little poodle dog could do was to bark.
There we are! cried Mr. Blake, after a bit. "See, children, the ice is 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 in the ice. It went down for more than half a foot, or six inches, like a well you dig in the sand at the seashore. But no water showed in the bottom of this hole in the ice.
The ice is good and thick, said Mr. Blake. "It will hold up all the skaters 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 the straps 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, I know."
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 roller skates. And then something happened.
Either Hal's feet slid out from under him, or else the whole frozen surface of the pond tilted up, and struck him on the head. He was not quite sure which it was, but it felt, he said afterward, as though the ice flew up and struck him.
Oh, be careful! cried Daddy Blake, as he saw Hal fall. But it was too late to warn the little boy then.
Oh, he's hurt! exclaimed Mab with a little sob, as she saw that her brother did not get up.
Daddy Blake skated over to Hal, but there was no need of his help. For Hal got up himself, only he was very careful about it. He did not try to 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 had better not try to skate until I take hold of your hand. I will hold you up. Come, Mab, well take hold of hands and so help each other to stand up."
Roly-Poly was rushing here and there, filled with excitement, and he was barking all the while. He was having fun too.
Now strike out slowly and carefully, directed Daddy Blake to the children. "First lean forward, with your weight on the left foot and skate, and then do the same with your right. Glide your feet out in a curve," 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 fall down.
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, and barking louder than ever.
Don't get in our way, Roly! called Mr. Blake with a laugh, "or we might skate right over you!"
Bow-wow! barked the little poodle dog. And I suppose that was his way of saying:
No, I won't! I'll be good.
Hal and Mab were beginning to understand the first simple rules of skating. It was not as easy as they had thought—nor was it the same as roller skating. The ice was so slippery.
Oh, look at Roly! cried Hal, when they had stopped for a rest. "He's skating, too."
A boy who had no skates had come down to the frozen pond, and, seeing the poodle dog, and knowing him to be Hal's pet, this boy wanted to have 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 he could 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 hole seemed to open, close to where the poodle dog was, and, a moment later, 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. But listen. This is a secret. Roly-Poly was not drowned! A wonderful thing happened to him, but I can not tell you about it until the end of the book. 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 times comes.
"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 place where 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 were still the slippery skates, slid out from under him, and down he went again.
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. Roly went 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 the ice was thick, Mr. Blake skated slowly toward the place where poor Roly-Poly had gone under. As he came near the ice began to crack again. 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 would not 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 blow his nose very hard. Maybe he was crying too, for all I know. Mind, I'm not saying for sure.
No other dog will be like Roly-Poly, said Hal, who was trying not to cry.
I'm awful sorry I threw the sticks for him to chase after, said Charlie Anderson, the boy who had been playing with the poodle dog while Hal and Mab were learning to skate.
Oh, it wasn't your fault, said Daddy Blake. "Poor Roly! I will see if I can break the ice around the hole. Maybe he is caught fast, and I can loosen the ice so he can get out." Daddy Blake took off his skates, and then, with a long piece of fence rail, while he stood on the bank, the children's papa broke the ice around the edges of the air 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 little sister.
But don't you feel badly, children. We know something Hal and Mab do not know, and we'll keep it a secret from them until it is time for the surprise.
The two Blake children were so sorry their doggie had been lost through the ice, that their father thought it best to take them home.
We will have another skating lesson to-morrow, he said. "But this shows 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 stopped crying. Besides, if you cry when it's cold, the tears may freeze on your 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 be because there is a warm spring in that part of the pond, or a spring that bubbles up, and keeps the water moving. And you know moving or running water will not freeze, except in very, very cold weather.
But always be careful of air holes, for the ice around them is easily broken, 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 feel sorry about Roly.
Fishing through the ice? cried Hal. "How can we do that? Aren't the fish 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 live fish 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 you may 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, and taught 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, and we'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 well as lunch, while Mr. Blake had a small axe, the little party set off for a large lake, about two miles away.
When they reached it, Hal wondered how they could ever get any fish, as the water was covered with a thick sheet of ice. But Daddy Blake chopped several holes in the frozen surface, so Hal and Mab could see the dark water underneath. The holes however, were not large enough for the children to fall through.
Now we'll fish through the ice! said Daddy Blake.
Oh, I see how it's done! exclaimed Hal with a laugh.