The winter days passed. Rick grew strong again and went out to play in the snow and on the ice with Ruddy. And all the boys wished they had such a dog as was the red setter.
There came a thaw, a rain and then a freeze. Instead of the ground being covered with snow, all the ponds, lakes and streams were frozen over.
"Now for some skating!" cried Rick. And Ruddy barked joyously. For, though he could not skate, and though he slid over the ice when he tried to walk on it, still he had fun, and loved to be out of doors with his master and the other boys.
One day Rick, Chot and Tom were down on Weed River with their skates. Rick had taken Mazie with him, and while she skated with some other little girls, her brother and his chums started a game of hockey.
They were in the midst of it, and Rick's side was winning, when, suddenly, there sounded a loud, cracking noise.
"There goes the ice!" cried Chot. "Skate to shore, everybody! The ice is breaking!"
Forgetting their game, Rick and the others headed for the safe shore. But even as Rick glided along, followed by Ruddy, the boy glanced down toward where he had left Mazie. He could not see her, but he noticed the other girls fleeing toward the river bank. And then from one of them came the cry:
"Mazie's in the water! Mazie went through the ice!"
CHAPTER XXII
THE SAILOR COMES AGAIN
Rick and the other boys knew what this meant—to break through the ice when they were skating. It had happened more than once on Weed River, and once, when Chot fell in, there was hard work to get him out. Rick remembered that time.