On the Pond by M. Durward

4.8

Part I

Mike looks out of the window at the snow. “There is a lot of snow,” he says to his sister Nancy. "Come out and play!”

They run off to find their mother.

“May we go out with the sledge?” asks Mike.

“There is a lot of snow,” says Nancy.

“Yes, you may go,” says Mother, “but it’s a very cold day, so dress yourselves well.”

When Mike is ready, he takes the sledge and comes out of the house.

“Are you coming, Nancy?” he calls.

“I am coming»” says Nancy and she runs out too.

“Let's go and call Richard, if he is at home,” says Mike.

They go up the hill to Richard’s house and see Richard at the window.

“Get your sledge and come out with us,” calls Mike.

Richard has a small dog, its name is Sally. When Richard comes out with his sledge, the dog comes out too.

“Are you coming with us, Sally?” asks Nancy. But the dog runs off into the garden and runs round and round in the snow.

“Come here, Sally!” calls Richard.

Sally runs up to him and sits down in the snow.

“She looks very good now", says Nancy.

“Oh, come quickly", calls Mike and they all go up the road. Soon they come to the hill.

Part II

“That is a good place to go down", says Mike, when they come to the top of the hill. He and Nancy sit down on the sledge.

“Ready, go,” calls Richard who is on his sledge too, and they all ride down the hill.

More and more children come with sledges to ride down the hill.

“Look,” says Mike, “there are some children on the pond. Let’s go and see how they skate on the ice. They all put their sledges under a tree and run down to the pond.

At that time Mr. Kelly, the school teacher, comes up to the pond.

"Come off the ice,” he calls out. “You must not skate there. The ice is too thin.”

“It’s not too thin,” says Harry. He is a big boy.

“Yes, it is,” says Mr. Kelly. “You must not skate on that pond.” And Mr. Kelly goes off down the road.

“Come on,” calls Richard, and all the children run back up the hill to their sledges, only Harry goes back to the pond.

The children ride down the hill. Richard rides on his sledge and Salty runs after him. When they come down, Richard falls into the snow and Sally falls on him. Mike rides down to help Richard.

“Look at Harry,” he says, “he is skating on the pond.”

The children stand and look at Harry.

“I must go down and stop him,” says a little boy and he runs off to the pond. All the children run after the boy.

“Come off the pond, Harry,” they call. “The ice is too thin!” But Harry only laughs at them. Suddenly, the ice breaks and Harry falls into the water.

“Help, help!” calls Harry.

"Oh, he is in the water,” says Mike.

“What can we do?” asks Richard.

“We must get help,” says Nancy and she runs off to the road. Mike and Richard run with her.

Part III

“There is Mr. Kelly!” says Mike when they come to the road. “Mr. Kelly, Harry has fallen into the pond,” they call out to him.

"We must get him out,” says Mr. Kelly when the children run up to him. “We must get a long ladder.”

They run down the road to a big house. Mr. Kelly goes to the door of the house and soon he comes back with a ladder. He calls to the children:

“Come over to the pond and help me with this ladder.”

They go back to the pond with the ladder and a long rope. Mr. Kelly puts the ladder down on the ice. Then he looks round.

“Come here, Mike,” he says. “Can you crawl along the ladder and help Harry?”

“Yes,” says Mike.

“The ice is too thin to hold me,” says Mr. Kelly, “but you can do it."

Mike crawls along the ladder to the boy in the water.

“Can you hold on to the ladder?” he asks Harry.

“I am very cold, but I must try,” says Harry and he holds on to the ladder. When Harry is out of the water with Mike’s help, the two boys come up to Mr. Kelly.

“Good boy, Mike,” says Mr. Kelly. “Harry, you must run home and change your clothes.”

“Thank you very much,” says Harry. He looks very silly, when he runs along the road to his house.

“We must go home too,” says Mike.

They all run up the hill to get their sledges, and the dog Sally runs after them.