"So will I!" cried Frank.
"And I," added Bob.
They were on their way home from school that afternoon, talking over the proposed trip to Pine Island, when, as they came within sight of Rainbow Lake, Sammy uttered a cry.
"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing. "The ice must have all melted. There's a sailboat on the lake!"
"Sailboat! That isn't a sailboat!" said Bob.
"No, it's an ice yacht!" cried Frank. "Come on down and let's see who has it. Maybe they'll give us a ride."
The boys broke into a run, and soon saw that what Frank had said was true. It was an ice-boat—one built with runners, like big skates, and a sail, fixed on a mast, standing up in a platform—shaped like a triangle. The boat was skimming swiftly over the ice.
"Say, that's all right!" cried Sammy. "I'm going to make one of those!"
"There he goes again!" laughed Frank.
"Well, I am—you'll see!" went on Sammy. "Come closer, and we'll look how they're made. That seems to be a new kind."
The three chums went out on the ice toward the skimming boat.
Suddenly there was a cracking sound, a deep boom, like a shot from a distant cannon, and a wide crack appeared in the ice, just in front of the ice-boat. Before those aboard could turn aside, the front part of the craft had slid into the cold waters of the lake, and several figures were seen floundering about.
"Come on!" cried Sammy, breaking into a run. "We've got to help save them!"
