"Tommy! Tommy!" cried Freddie. "Don't go there. The ice is too thin!"
But he was too late. Straight toward the point Tommy glided and the next minute there was a cracking of the ice and Tommy went down out of sight.
CHAPTER XX
LOST IN A STORM
"Oh, Tommy's in! Tommy's in!" cried Freddie, as he saw what had happened. "Oh, he'll be drowned!"
"Let's see if we can get him out!" shouted Johnnie.
"No, we mustn't go near that place. It's dangerous—Bert said so!" said Freddie. "I'll run and tell my father. He'll know what to do."
And this, really, was the wise thing to do, for such little boys as Freddie and Johnnie could not do much toward getting Tommy out of the cold water. Some other skaters, seeing what had happened, were gliding toward the big hole which had opened in the ice, and more boys or girls might have fallen in had not a man, who was skating near them, warned them away.
"Keep back!" shouted the man. "If you go too near, the ice will give way with you. I'll see if I can get him out."