CHAPTER XX
LOST IN A STORM
"Oh, Tommy's in! Tommy's in!" cried Freddie, as he saw what hadhappened. "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!" saidFreddie. "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 asFreddie and Johnnie could not do much toward getting Tommy out of thecold water. Some other skaters, seeing what had happened, were glidingtoward the big hole which had opened in the ice, and more boys or girlsmight have fallen in had not a man, who was skating near them, warnedthem away.
"Keep back!" shouted the man. "If you go too near, the ice will give waywith you. I'll see if I can get him out."
By this time Tommy's head was to be seen above the water. He knew how toswim, but one cannot do much swimming in ice-cold water, and with skateson one's feet, besides wearing heavy clothing. Poor Tommy was in a sadplight.
"Help! Help!" he called.
"Yes, I'll help you as soon as I can," answered the man. "I must get aplank to put down on the ice, though, so it will bear my weight."
A plank on thin ice acts just as Bert's snowshoes did on the snow, itholds a person up, keeping him from breaking through.
While the man was running toward the piles of lumber in Mr. Bobbsey'syard, which was on the edge of the lake, Freddie and Johnnie, notstopping to take off their skates, ran toward the office where Freddie'sfather was.
By this time the men in the lumber office, looking out on the lake, hadseen that something was wrong. And they guessed what sort of accidentit was. Some of them ran out, and Mr. Bobbsey followed them.
"Oh, Daddy!" cried Freddie, when he saw his father. "He's in!"
"Who? Not Bert or Harry, I hope!"
"No, it's Tommy Todd--you know the boy----"
"Yes, yes! I know him. He went through the ice, did he? Here, men, get arope to throw to him. The ice is too thin to go close enough to reachhis hand. We must pull him out with a rope."
There were ropes in the office, to be used in tying loads of lumber onthe delivery wagons, and Mr. Bobbsey caught up a coil and ran toward theplace where Tommy was struggling in the water.
By this time the man who had warned the other skaters away had found twoplanks. He carried them as near to the edge of the hole through whichTommy had fallen as was safe. Then Mr. Bobbsey came with the rope. Hewalked out on the planks and called to Tommy.
"Catch hold of the rope, Tommy, and we'll pull you out!" shouted Mr.Bobbsey.
He tossed one end of the rope to the boy in the water, but it fellshort. Pulling it back to him Mr. Bobbsey tossed it again. This time acoil fell near Tommy's hand. He grasped it and then Mr. Bobbsey and theother man, who was Mr. Randall, pulled Tommy out on the solid ice. PoorTommy could hardly breathe.
"We must get him to a warm place at once!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "I'llcarry him to my office. There's a roaring hot fire there, and if we wraphim well in blankets we may keep him from getting cold."
In his arms Mr. Bobbsey carried the dripping lad. Luckily Tommy had kepthis lips closed when he fell into the water, and he knew enough not tobreathe when his head was under, so he had not swallowed too much water.But he was wet through, and ice-cold.
Mr. Randall first warned the other boys and girls about going too nearthe hole, then he stuck one of the planks up near it, with a piece ofrag on it as a danger signal.
Beside the warm fire in the lumber office Tommy was undressed andwrapped in warm blankets. One of the men made some hot cocoa, and whenTommy drank this he felt much better.
"But you can't put on your clothes for a long time--not until they arewell dried," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I guess Bert has an extra suit that willfit you. I'll telephone to my wife and have her send it here."
Sam, who was Dinah's husband, came a little later with an old suit ofBert's, and Mrs. Bobbsey sent word that Tommy was to keep it, as Bertdid not need it any longer.
"But it's a fine suit for me," said Tommy, when he was dressed in it. "Iguess it was lucky I fell in the water--I got some nice clothes by it."
"But don't fall in again even for that," said Mr. Bobbsey with a laugh."You may take cold yet."
But Tommy did not. One of Mr. Bobbsey's friends happened to stop at theoffice on business, and, having a closed automobile, he offered to takeTommy home, so the boy would not have to go out in the cold air afterhis unexpected bath in the lake.
Bert and Harry, on coming back after their race to the lower end of thelake, were surprised to learn what had happened to Tommy. And when hehad had enough of skating Bert said he would go and see if Tommy hadreached home safely, and if Mrs. Todd needed anything.
Bert and Harry, who went with him, found Tommy sitting near the fire inthe humble home near the city dumps.
"I'm glad I don't live here," said Harry, as he looked around beforeentering the house.
"I am too," added Bert. "It isn't very nice. I suppose when Tommy'sfather was alive they had things much nicer."
Tommy smiled at his two boy callers.
"This isn't working," he said. "And I ought to be at work, for it'sSaturday and I do most of my errands then. But grandmother thought Iought to get warmed through before going out again."
"I guess that's right," said Bert. "How is your grandmother? Father toldme to ask."
"She isn't very well," Tommy answered. "In fact, she had to go to bedafter I came home. She says she feels sick."
"Maybe she ought to have a doctor," said Bert.
"Don't let her hear you say that," whispered Tommy. "She's in the nextroom, and she doesn't like to think of calling in a doctor. She says shehasn't any money to pay him."
"But that's not right," Bert began. "She ought to----"
Just then Harry nudged his cousin, and winked his eye in a way Bertunderstood. So Bert did not finish what he had started to say. Insteadhe remarked:
"Is there anything we can do for you, Tommy?"
"No, thank you, I guess not," answered the other. "I'm all right now,and I don't believe I'll take cold."
When Bert and Harry were outside and on their way home, Bert asked:
"What did you punch me for in there?"
"I didn't want you to talk so much about a doctor. I guess they haven'tany money to pay one."
"No, I guess they haven't."
"But what's the matter with my paying for one to make a visit?" askedHarry. "Dad gave me some money to spend when I came on this visit, and Ihave most of it left. You've been doing all the treating. And you gaveTommy that suit; so I want to pay for a doctor's visit."
"We'll ask mother about it," said Bert. "I guess it would be better tohave a doctor see Mrs. Todd."
Mrs. Bobbsey said it was very kind of Harry to think of using his pocketmoney to pay for a doctor for the sick.
"But you will not need to," she said. "There are physicians paid by thecity to visit the poor. But I think we will have our own Dr. Young calland see her. The city physicians have enough to do in the Winter whenthere is so much illness. I'll send Dr. Young, and pay him myself."
Afterward Dr. Young told Mrs. Bobbsey that Mrs. Todd was not dangerouslyill. She needed a tonic, perhaps, and this he gave her.
"But what she needs, most of all," he said, "is to get into a betterhouse. It is not healthful down there. And she needs more and betterfood."
"Then I'll look after her," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I belong to a club, theladies of which are glad to help the poor. We will make Mrs. Todd ourspecial case. I'll see what we can do about getting her into a betterhouse, too. She is a very good woman and Mr. Bobbsey says he never had abetter errand boy than Tommy."
Mrs. Bobbsey and the members of her club did many things for Mrs. Toddand Tommy. They planned to have them move into another house, but as theweather was very cold they decided that it was better for Mrs. Todd thatshe should wait a bit before making the change. Mrs. Bobbsey often sentgoo
d food to Tommy's grandmother. Sometimes Bert or Nan took the basket,and, when the weather was nice, Flossie and Freddie were allowed to go.
One Saturday afternoon about a week after the country visitors had gonehome, when Dinah had finished baking bread, cake and pies, Mrs. Bobbseysaid:
"I wish Mrs. Todd had some of these good things. But I haven't time togo down there to-day, and Bert and Nan are away."
"Let us go, Mother," begged Flossie. "Freddie and I can carry the basketeasily."
"Well, I suppose you could," said Mrs. Bobbsey slowly. "It isn't verycold out to-day, though it looks as if it would snow. But perhaps itwon't until you get back. You know the way to Mrs. Todd's now, and itisn't too far for you. But hurry back."
The little twins promised, and were soon on their way. They had oftengone on long walks by themselves, for they knew their way fairly wellabout the city, and down toward Tommy's house there were few wagons orautomobiles, so it was safe for them.
Carrying the basket of good things Flossie and Freddie were soon at theplace where Mrs. Todd lived.
"You are good little ones to come so far to bring an old woman somethingto eat," said Mrs. Todd, with a smile, when she opened the door. "Comein and sit by the fire to get warm."
"We can't stay very long," said Flossie.
But she and Freddie stayed longer than they meant to, for Mrs. Todd knewmany stories and she told the little twins two or three as they sat bythe fire.
"Oh, it's snowing--snowing hard!" said Freddie suddenly, as he lookedout of the window when Mrs. Todd had finished a story about a little redhen.
"Then we must hurry home," said Flossie.
They put on their wraps and overshoes and, bidding Mrs. Todd good-bye,off they went. But they had no sooner got outdoors than they foundthemselves in a bad storm. The wind was blowing hard, and the whiteflakes were swirling all around them.
"Why--why, I can hardly see!" cried Flossie. "It's just like a fog."
"And--and it's hard to breathe," said Freddie. "The wind blows rightdown my mouth."
"We could walk backwards and then it wouldn't," said Flossie, and theytried that for a while.
The children had been out in storms before, but they could not rememberever having been in one where the snow was so thick. As Flossie hadsaid, she could hardly see because there were so many flakes comingdown.
"Take hold of my hand, Freddie, and don't let go," said Flossie to herbrother. "We don't want to get lost."
Along the street they walked as best they could, sometimes goingbackward so the wind would not blow in their faces so hard, and whenthey walked with their faces to the wind they held down their heads.
"Are we 'most home?" asked Flossie after a while.
"Well, I don't see our house," replied Freddie. "We've come far enoughto be there, too."
They walked on a little farther and then Freddie stopped.
"What's the matter?" asked Flossie.
"I can't see any houses, or anything," answered her brother. "I--I guesswe've come the wrong way, Flossie. I don't know where we are."
"Do you mean we--we're lost, Freddie?"
"I'm afraid so."