Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1900-03-17

darkness, there was water in front of
them. A section of the ice had broken
off, and in the strongswind had drifted
away from the main body. 1t had not
driftedSery far yet, for across the dark
water they could see the white ice be-
yond, aud 1t appeared not to bermore
than 20 yards distant.
Lets skate south. Perhaps well
| come to 3 narrower place, where we
can jump across" Seneca said. He
( spoke eheerily, and Bobby, whose heart
had failed him when he saw the black
water 'betweensthem andzthe shore, felt
encouraged.
But the farther south thew skated
the wider seemed TO grow the space be-
fween them and the main body Office,
and soon Seneca said:
81 guess,we'lEhave to go TO the north
! ward"
SO they turned back and skated for
quite distance toward the north. and
presently they thought the gap be-
tween them and the ice beyond seemed
to be getting narrower. The wind WAS
apparently blowing heSsouthern. end
of the floating icefield eastward faster
than the northern end, and they thought
they might come TO a spot where the
floating field would rest against the
.stationary one. Encouraged, they con-
tinued north, The wind now helping
| them instead of hindering The snow
had stopped falling, and they could see
lights in the houses along the north
shore. Seneca judged they were mile
away or more.
| After, skating for some distance, they
were suddenly brought to a halt again.
The northern limits of their ice island
had been reached, and they could see
a stretch of hlaclS water in front. More
over, the channel to their left had sud
denly widened.
| "A new danger beset them. Under
the strain. of the,Iwind and the motion
through the ,water, the field of ice over
which they had skated was breaking up.
ttNSuassa fragment detaching itself from
the part they were on that had caused
the. gulf. from the north: and hearing
n loud cracking behind them, they
looked back, land saw that abe piece.
They were on had brpken from the.
larger part behind Ii. The smaller
llpieces foated before, the wind faster.
ltthan the larger ones, and when they
'skated back, &c the-eage that had just.
parted from the iargeisland,.t they found
there was already gap too vide for
them TO Seap,eesen if they had wanted
ito do so.
The wind ,Vwss now bearing them
Inorthward and eastward faster than
before, and theFulf between them and
the, shorevwas constantly widening.
I'VE ought 10 have tried to,swim
across when 1--WE first saw the wa ter.
Sidney said.
-'Bobby, can't sxslim, you knows-2,ya
Seneca's on9yrrepsy.
The idea uof, swimming across the
,chanDel had come to Seneca long be-
fore. but he had rejected it because
Bobby wasnStaa swimmer Even now,
Seneca and Sidney @whe we're both good
swimmers, eeuld -perhapsahave swami
ITO the firm Ice but the idea of doinH SO
and leaving Bobby alone on the ,ice-
Zoe did not eater the mind of either.
Fragments of ice had broken off from
the eastern boundary OF their island
and the piece they ysvere now on was
about l1eo feet wide lby 200 feet long,
but of irregular shape. SSocn this piece
parted ia two, aud the three hoss were
left OF the smaller of the, tavo frap-
ments. The strong wind had, put the
aarr in motion, and the strain contin-
med 80 crack up theiice, ran til presently.
alhe piece they were left~on was scarce
~ larger than a good-sized raft, with
other similar pieces floating around
them. The ice comprising their raft
Was OF good quality, and: after: 1t. had
broken loose from the larger pieces.
and the strain had fhns been relieved.
1t ceased to ihreak any more, and-soon
The boys began to feel reasonably, Sc
cure on II.
Burt their plight was q sorry one, at
besf- Thswind. still blowinsstropsIy.
was bearing them steadily away from
the shore. Fortunately for the lboxs
IT was not very cold night. Iteseemsd
TO have grown warmer, If anything.
since the snow had stopped failing.
Each OF them had on a warm over
coat, and 90 they were not suffering
mrch from the soold. They took of
their skates and sat down in the cen
ter, OF the raft. to "hold a eouacil of |
war" as Seneca said, and considerwhat |
they should do. In truth, there wasn't |
much that could he done enoept to |
"IsTish a tug would happen along"
Sidney said.
But there was no particular reason for |
> tug being out that night, and ms the |
boys gszed wistfuny at the lights OF |
the city far to the southwest, there
was no sign anywhere Cd, craft afioat.
Bobby. usually as jolly a little Lad
IA one would meet in a days journey.
wssdownhearted now and .about ready
10 cry.
Deyou, think Wen be Grownd ed ~ he
asked. andih shivered little as he put
the question.
oh. no." Seneca answered ceheerily.
We've got q good raft here. The ice
isn't breaking any more, and even II
this piece did break and dump ms in to
the water. we could get onto another.
When our folks find we don't come home
they'll probably suspect we got carried
away on the ice and IN The r.or,s-- |