Show I 1 i ON AN ICE I 1 d by lawrence boone tools JIM gillett was waa a perfect litt llotd wa ter rat and bob alder was vin no better if f bourse its as they hey lid did every everything in 0 together O diff there be much dater r trice nce to be sure joes father worked in th saw qa mill and bobs father owned as ned V it so 0 o bob was dressed in clothes that to cost a t a little more bu bill t utter after la ho had worn them a eel you have suspected it lie he had good all akocs 0 a too ne n wt t ho he never kept them on I 1 in warm f x vi athor all summer stammer long both boys boy 1 a nefa forefoot with thelt theli trousers oil of above their knees and spent I 1 1 I 1 l ot of their time lime in under and over he mill pond swimming and living lid il raring about on tho the floating lor lobs fills last ast was sport lor for ta T on en the best of awl amors may be 1 I irowna owned d if f he h goes beneath a mays mass of 0 oe age the close over blim and shut sh ut him I 1 i down clown like it 0 heavy floor alaid when he I 1 attempts to rise there are big chances that he wont be able to ind find an open ing in in winter the boys boy found things 11 rather dull and could own even be induced L to go fo to school part of 0 the time that thal I 1 bob was induced partly by mech appliances and cherva dob bob I 1 went joo joe went but when spring carne came at 1 fond nl the bolting molting now isnow and early rains began to break up the ice nothing 11 could told hold them abey to the river they ran in spite of 0 everybody and I 1 7 perched on the bank to watch the endless 1 procession of ble big cakes as they surged fiur cred and bumped don doan the flooded stream istre arn it that had been all they might have boxe been forgiven ven for or it certainly to iq an exciting I 1 fear however that they always stick to their safe perches on the shore arid and t it if they ventured further no mailer how bow cautiously they took van an awful e anoll and inexcusable risk stealing ride radd on MI ice pack lit 1 more perilous even than playing tag on a drive of logs to stake our lives a gagnat a little tun full iq i a same game that never pays and it Is as cited its it Is billy life nas aas not given tor for a plaything even to a boy it ened that the mill chich bobs father owned was near the mouth of 0 ono one of uie the smaller rivers i that now flow into the st Lion ronce and as aa the elie I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 04 OA 11 I 1 11 1 rl ss I 1 I 1 1 I I 1 1 4 I 1 zm I 1 II 11 I 1 I 1 z 1 I 1 t I 1 19 I 1 a 11 I 1 I 1 J I 1 1 I I 1 they we fairly launched for or a voyage down the st lawrence ice ce irely went out 0 of the two streams ll at acely th fit same time lime the boys bays sid ad iho I 1 ho benefit rr of duct I 1 tir tar ik ih ups upa tho this greater of which was wa ot irely ir ely less formidable than sit an abc 1 I lc c floe aw fr for the channel was fully so i mil anti yida with willi ieh green st nt n 1 bac ping in turbulent trending Trin ding masses toward the sea even lob and joe noro afield to medd meddled t MAY hart bad indulged in ili the reckless sport iso fio long that danger had a f as ei nation for or thero and at lat la t they to temptation the th winter atvin ter had bad boon been unus ally lly long and cold that hat year noid and the spring fit nn v came late when tin the boys paid th lr hr usual visit to tile the shore on an the day of their foolhardy adventure they found the little bill hlll tightly brogon and a broad margin of un arken ice fringed the banks or th the st lw la rence itself though a a medley of pr gr at taker cakes with pulpy frog monts was pouring down the middle I 1 fa S they strapped on their skates kate and slon bon had earned IL a very good by the iha senseless senac leaa risks they took but nobody was thre to see them and as nothing in particular cular happened they presently vear wearied led then they caught fight of an old flat bottom wit lying on the beadli that th it looked interesting and they pried it over ever it was warped worded and ro rotten and gaped with cracks crac lc evi evidently derall I 1 it had lain there a long while what shall we do with ILI her queried nob bob for of course being bednar boys and such boys boya they must do sent borne thing thin ill tell you aliat exclaimed joe 1 lesa lem tiova shove her ova over the ice an sen send her down stream ashes no good here this Is a sort of reasoning renson lne that only eniy boys boya can appreciate but with boys boya it pro 90 i 3 the two pulled off I 1 I 1 their skates find began tugging ashes bea wern a dozen doen old saw loho logt cried nob bob tind and they had to scatter snow over tile the bore bare gravel of the tha beach before they could slide elide the ponderous affair down to the ice icci then it went easier and at last they yot irot it to the edge of tile the opan witter water I 1 I 1 HM hero they paused to take breath before giving the final push land and they waited the iho situation changed I 1 1 I say cay joe its ite bustin off screamed bob A long crack ran between chorni and th the shore as with an earthquake I 1 shudder and a tremendous report that almost drowned bobs cry the overburdened ice pat fed and swung out libei like n L huge raft anft into the current the sudden I 1 I 1 lurch threw them from their test tor for a moment the rocking cake was flooded with water they sprang up quickly illicitly but almeady the gap eap R was as far il I 1 too wide side to leap they were fairly launched loun chud tor for a voyage down the st Lawren ceno holiday trip as the they I 1 I 1 s ere re to take it at first they were dreadfully frightened Tec kless fl people when nhen once they I 1 ri aLtize choir alu lr danker danger get jut just cas as badly fear reared d as other folks they climbed i into the bout boat land and crouched on the hot bot torn eryin crying bt bitterly terly they bould gladly havis hav taken any sort orl of whipping for or Z the th sake of being where here there waa ivas giomi botn I 1 one to 1 them but after a tg time c as aa thor their ice i ce raft steadied and no immediate harm harin came cam they began to feel more confident anti and could almost enjoy I 1 the novel ride surely they would net get ott off somehow I 1 their craft however kept persistently to tile hie middle of tile stream in the midst of an undulating I 1 held field of 0 chunks too small to hear bear up oven il a hoy bay and they wele forced to i L wait tor for further d I 1 the old skiff they anen lit that it it t was utterly i aaa a great comtois ft them it romed near I 1 the th center of their heir raft and mado made a t sort of cabin they felt ft it much safer hafer in 1 af I 1 or beside it it was lato late in the he afternoon I 1 when mile L th y V hid had started OR nn their heir involuntary r vc md and it wat was now ving i dark 11 1 tills this brought now torro and I 1 ori on total teal I 1 alln hi y dupre coll cold and hansra v i aid and tin prep I 1 war cht ch ale avid ull ill i d 31 ifal TO 0 a UP 0 r 0 lh R I 1 1 p II 11 I 1 A I 1 a a I 1 ng I 1 ifil a a of course and who could tell what chances they were missing yet e it Is in more than likely that s it hie ch diuk noaa t saved the lives of these desperate little castaways casta ways and ir etched as a they were their misery wn was A small matter com compared pasted with the torture their parents suffered buffered W when hen the boys boya till not appear for supper nor even at bedtime what had re really a ily happened was wait about the last thing to ila bo suspected their empty soon reminded tho the little follos felloes 9 that ahey had taken aloof along a till hit of luncheon it and n ol 01 on ru rummaging an their pockets they fl found d ili r apples and a few doughnuts they divided falth ith great s ecat civa care and devoured with ravenous the cold however was ch chilling liling them to to numb numb nem say bob dont you spose we can is WE a fire chattered joe we c can get wood from this boat she woud nt float anyhow the were easily pulled out and they proved to be b of pine these theao they by striking them on the and bob tried oft off a big biff pile ot of shavings joe had a few ina hatchw tebes and after several failures fal lurea lures they got et a flame which blazed up through the kindling and threw a glim slimmer nier over tho the gray ice and black water the boys lay on the bin of board end and soon boon halt hail a fire that warmed tapir spirits as well as aa their toes and fingers when it began t to a burn low tore oft off one side ot of the skiff to fe fea EI it this opened up the interior to the e direct plow glow and made a cosy nook in which aich they curled together and they actually actu clAy fell asleep when they awoke the led morning inor sky was uns in ill their laces faces like a an open grate it was a delusive suggestion however forthe for the air was wa cruelly cold and the boys were mere halt half their firo had but burned ned out its embers were dead and black and the P aorl 0 1 of water waier which had find formed about it was covered with sith a skim of ice but what surprised them most moat wai to see nce that they were no longcr drifting their raft lay motionless the frost of 0 the night had chill chilled pit the elie noc floe till it bit had clogged cli sed and stiffened sti nenod up and down as far as an they could see the barged surface extended u without it a single opening to show the water that coursed beneath joe ran to the edre edge ot of their floating prison and tried the surrounding ice with his heel but the imperfectly factly cemented chunks broke at the first push puah tills this waa no bridge for boy ti a squirrel squi riel coull could scarcely have et cl lissad it they hey sat aal down on the wreck of n the boat anil and again the tears rushed go bed from rom their swollen eyes avid and trickled into the puckered corners of 0 their unfed mouths to tic be K itla their sobs oha at last lafit nature had n ad her anny anith them and they ahey howled like the hungry and forsaken babies ehst they were when they saw that they hat hail attracted the attention of a roan man on I 1 lie distant b bank k a they hou howled led still more lustily but with vv ath a 9 note of greater hopefulness the man mail ran to tile the beach leaving his a horses stand standing I 1 ng in I 1 the lie road then ot holis appeared greatly Br cally gesticulating evident evidently ly they were ere dismissing plant of oc after an interval a wagon lumbered donn don from the road cutting culling deep liacko through tile hie remnant 0 of snow bearing a heavy boat at SUO ui as log leg daiv ers era use not by this means however were the hapless hap lefiS youngsters to be saved for already under the warmth of the gnoun sun the float was softening and just as the men had backed the wagon close to the river and were lifting off tile the boat there hero camu came a sound that made tho the horses barges start forward in fright the ice pack was wag breaking fax far up the stream appeared a swelling biest of lee ice and foam which A aich swung forward wali of with a go eat heave of tile tho fine and ft a loud crashing of 0 the grinding blocks before anything could lis bo done to save till tho boys boya it was upon open them their ice ft ared cracked and swayed sayed downward broken into three pieces A cascade of water and spray surged over I 1 its surface and had nut not tho the skin skiff to U velch aich they thing lung been firmly frozen fralen to tho the ieni nant of their shattered ark they have been swept into the general deluge the crisis was nas pawed passed but as they careened away on their diminished mini shed float still blindly gripping the sides of the vs skin kiff they heard with fresh u aror hie elie shouts of the die men on shore they are arc lost they will ill surely go down the rapids I 1 down the lie I 1 aliis on a chunk of ice fee had it been the mid and tortuous rushi rush of the long lone sault their case would I 1 have been absolutely boli hopeless cless a and not the ending 0 of this story would bould have been a tragedy too torri terrible bilL to tell it was only the galloup Go Ga loup but that was aw lullo ulle enough already they were feeling the suction of lit the e stronger current which was swinging them far out toward tho the ca canadian shore then tho the slide alide began cake utter cake shot bolth florn the edge of the pack and raced down th brood broad sluiceway L way and now their own darted foiw forwald aid por for some diR distance tance the great anva avalanche of water slipped smoothly though with nith great velocity over thoi the even evel sloko of its bed and tile train of ice fee blocks was so scattered reatter ed still ani dann out by the rapid toji that tile the danger from collision was diminished thlu was wa followed by a series of long giddy swoops th that at made tile the boys feel as if they had left their hearts behind them then hen the channel lif became tanie irregular the current twisted between the little islands avid and the water grew I 1 tossing wildly writhing in sudden oil cd dlce dies but boosting sting in fountains of ann spray a against submerged ledges here was ili the a real I 1 danger the heavy lee ice coke and it not tumbled and it seemed to bob and joe that it was tossed bodily into the lair air again and again the way waves e a dashed over them yet through it all thoy they huns hung on with aith tile the clinch of at list last by an unexpected airl the v were cast into a go soi it of pocket among the islets where here a great quantity or of the elie drifting ice had lodged close clorie toi to HIP elie edge of this thin mias mass their battered batt erod raft was drifted heaving on fit ahr alwell sui ll i and r slowly lowly revolving it 11 almost 11 t to touched ached i tho the fati ful moment lial come collie fond anil its opportunity wis not waited am AH I 1 with a single motion airy d tu to the nearest ice block an and d before thle s table stopping atone hail had lle to t fel thel their weight to another and another ther and another no man could stiv dine allone it ft no ito ot boy could jim u it and ven theme theae gold and d 1 mater Nater rats of the loell pond I 1 I 1 tried tiled to ali if utmost va more than on oil ill ih but chay liever baho 1 d I I 1 I 1 a at it the very ah joe slipped and ami went lindor nn ir but from it a adjer roof foot ind caught hlin him and dragged him up an ali instant later they were climbing the binks and there they flung themselves upon the frozen anon utterly spent how they noro orp taken n fro from the ionar bend and of aho island inland by hardy bontgen who lind come came ont lo 10 1 ran aar h r c r their boell binlon r need not noi bo be det alkil nor how amid the whon shen they galici nal icI home thoy scoped ahe he pun pon they ihry so rich richly deierl d cap right arti by UK olt flit i antl at lit I lt clr rr and nw nem s sr S n 11 1 I 1 |