uise through winding
creeks and across several lakes have been given in the pages of the
volume preceding this book, called "The Banner Boy Scouts Afloat; Or,
The Secret of Cedar Island."

Ever since their return from that cruise the boys had talked of little
else; and upon learning that the Christmas holidays would be
lengthened this season the desire to take another tour had seized upon
them.

After Jack so summarily shut down upon the subject no one ventured to
plead with him any longer. All knew that he felt bound in honor to
keep any secret he had been entrusted with by the assistant
scout-master--for Paul often had to act in place of Mr. Gordon, a
young traveling salesman, who could not be with the boys as much as he
would have liked.

Jack had just finished cutting the new figure, and his admirers were
starting to give vent to their delight over his cleverness when
suddenly there came a strange roaring sound that thrilled every one of
them through and through. It was as if the frozen river were breaking
up in a spring thaw. Some of the boys even suspected that there was
danger of being swallowed up in such a catastrophe, and had started to
skate in a frenzy of alarm for the shore when the voice of Bobolink
arose above the clamor.

"Oh! look there, will you, fellows?" he shouted, pointing a trembling
finger up the river. "The old ice-house has caved in, just as they
feared it would. See the ice cakes sliding everywhere! And I saw men
and girls near there just five minutes ago. They may be caught under
all that wreckage for all we know! Jack, what shall we do about it?"

"Come on, every one of you!" roared Jack Stormways, as he set off at
full speed. "This means work for the scouts! To the rescue, boys!
Hurry! hurry!"

CHAPTER II

WHEN THE OLD ICE-HOUSE FELL

Never before in the recollection of any Stanhope boy had winter
settled in so early as it had this year. They seldom counted on having
their first skate on the new ice before Christmas, and yet for two
weeks now some of the most daring had been tempting Providence by
venturing on the surface of the frozen Bushkill.

The ice company had built a new house the preceding summer, though the
old one was still fairly well filled with a part of the previous
season's great crop. Its sides had bulged out in a suspicious manner,
so that many had predicted some sort of catastrophe, but somehow the
old building had weathered every gale, though it leane