Willmar tribune., 1900-03-07

of the water. Sidney, who was little
behind and saw the water at the same
moment Seneca did, turned sharply and
thus avoided skating into it. North and
south, as far as they could see in the
darkness, there was water in front ol
them. A section of the ice had broken
of, and in the strong wind had drifted
away from the main body. 1t had not
drifted very far yet, for across the dark
water they could see the white ice be.
yond, and it appeared not to be more
than 20 yards distant.
Lets skate south. Perhaps we'll
come to a narrower place, where we
can jump across" Seneca said. He
spoke cheerily, and Bobby, whose heart
had failed him when he saw the black
water between them and the shcre, felt
encouraged.
But the farther south they skated
the wider seemed to grow the space be-
tween them and the main body of ice,
and soon Seneca said:
II guess We'll have 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 the southern end
of the floating ice1ield 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 halt again.
The northern limits of their ice island
had been reached, and they could see
stretch of black water in front. More
over, the channel to their left had sud-
denly widened.
A new danger beset them. Under
the strain of the wind and the motion
through the water, the field of ice over
which they had skated was breaking up.
1t was a fragment detaching itself from
the part they were on that had caused
the gulf from the north: and hearing
a loud cracking behind them, they
looked back, and saw that the piece
they were on had broken from the
larger part behind it. The smaller
pieces foated before the wind faster
than the larger ones, and when they
skated back to the edge that had just
parted from the large island, they found
there was already a gap too wide for
them to leap, even if they had wanted
to do so.
The wind was now bearing them
northward and eastward faster than
before, and the gulf between them and
the shore was constantly widening.
eve ought to have tried to swim
across when we first saw the water"
Sidney said.
Bobby can't swim, you know" was
Seneca's only reply.
The idea of swimming across the
channel had come to Seneca long be-
fore, but he had rejected it because
Bobby wasn't swimmer. Even now,
Seneca and Sidney, who were both good
swimmers, could perhaps have swum
to the firm ice, but the idea of doing so
and leaving Bobby alone on the ice
foe did not enter the mind of either. -
Fragments of ice had broken off from
the eastern boundary OF their island,
and the piece they were now on was
about 100 feet wide by 200 feet long,
but of irregular shape. Soon this piece
parted in two, and the three boys were
left on the smaller of the two frag-
ments. The strong wind had put the
water in motion, and the strain contin-
ued to crack up the ice, until presently,
the piece they were left on was scarce
ly larger than good-sized raft, with
other similar pieces floating around
them. The ice comprising their raft
was of good quality, and after it had
broken loose from the larger pieces
and the strain had thus been relieved,
it ceased to break any more, and soon
the boys began to feel reasonably &C.
cure on it.
" But their plight was sorry one at
best. The wind, still blowing strongly,
was bearing them steadily away from
the shore. Fortunately for the boys
it was not very cold night. 1t seemed
to have grown warmer, if anything,
since the snow had stopped falling.
Each of them had on a warm over
coat, and so they were not suffering
much from the cold. They took off
their skates and sat down in the Gen.
ter of the raft, to 'hold council of
war;" as Seneca said, and consider what
they should do. In truth, there wasn't
much that could be done except to
wait events.
II wish tug would happen along,' -
Sidney said.
But there was no particular reason for
tug being out that night, and as the
boys gazed wistfully at the lights of
the city far to the southwest, there
was no sign anywhere OF craft afoat.
Bobby, usually as jolly little lad
as one would meet in a days journey,
was downhearted now and about ready
to cry.
"Doyou think We'll be drownded - be
asked, and he shivered little as he put
the question. :: =
''Oh, no." Seneca answered cheerily.
"We've got good raft here. The ice
isn't breaking any more, and even if
this piece did break and dump us into
the water, we could get onto another.
When our folks find we don't come home