"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: