And now, as Rick heard the call of the frightened girls, and saw them running toward the shore without Mazie, his heart seemed to feel like a lump of lead. Ruddy, the dog, ran barking with the boys.
"Mazie's in the water! Mazie fell through the ice!" cried the shrill voices of the girls.
"Boys, we've got to get her out!" shouted Rick. "We got to save my sister!"
"That's what we have!" echoed Chot.
The boys turned, as soon as they reached the bank, and ran toward the place where they saw a hole in the ice. And, as Rick ran he caught a glimpse of his sister Mazie. She was down in the hole that had broken open when the ice cracked. Her head and shoulders were out of the hole.
But even ahead of the boys ran Ruddy, the dog. He seemed to know something had happened, as he knew it the time Rick was caught in the tree, and when his master fell into the snow drift.
He barked loudly, did Ruddy, and he looked back, every once in a while to see if the boys were coming. And they were, you may be sure of that. Rick, Chot, Tom and the others were hurrying to save Mazie.
"How—how we going to get her out?" gasped Tom.
"Run right up to her and pull her out!" cried Chot. "She's holding to the edge of the ice. I can see her. Her head isn't under water! We got to pull her out!"
"But we mustn't run up to her!" exclaimed Rick. "If we do—we'll—go in the water, too! The ice will break with us—same as—it did with—Mazie!"