Then they came to the bridge. You can find it on the map in the front of this book.
They stopped to look over the rail at the water, far below.
"O Polly!" said Peter. "What is on the water?"
"Why, it is ice, Peter. The top of the water is frozen. See, the ice goes nearly across the river."
"Ice, ice!" shouted Peter. "Now winter is almost here. The leaves have gone. The ice has come. Let's run and tell father."
The children ran to the store.
"Father, father," called Peter, "we have seen ice!"
"So have I," said father. "Where did you see it?"
"We saw it from the bridge. The river is frozen at the sides. It is not frozen in the middle."
"Yes," said father. "It freezes first at the edges, because the water flows more slowly there. In the middle it flows faster.