"I—-I—-I'm afraid," chattered Ripley. "You come with me!"
"It'll be a good deal easier if you can go first, and alone," spoke the freshman, rather sternly. "I think I can keep myself afloat until you get over to solid ice. Then the rope can be thrown back to me."
"I'm afraid, I tell you," insisted Fred, his teeth clicking against each other. "Can't you see that I'm all in?"
"You'll have us both all in, if you don't get some courage together," young Prescott insisted. "Come, be a man, Ripley!"
"I'm freezing to death here," moaned Ripley, closing his eyes.
Somehow—-he could never tell just how, afterwards, Dick managed to slip the rope under Fred's shoulders. With infinite effort—-for he had to keep them both afloat, the freshman double-knotted the rope.
"Come, now, you've got to help yourself across the ice, while
Dave hauls on the line," urged Dick.
Fred made a motion as though to bestir himself but he did it so feebly that Prescott gave him a sharp pinch.
"Ouch!" flared Fred, now seeming to be wide awake. "Prescott, you have the upper hand here. Don't be a bully!"
"I don't want to," spoke Dick, quietly, trying to keep his own teeth from rattling. "But you've got to stir yourself, or else I must do it for you. Now, get started over the thin ice. Dave will haul. Never mind if the ice breaks under you; the rope is tied around you. You're sure to be hauled to safety if you help yourself. Now, then, Dave! Begin to haul in!"