Three small children, a boy and two girls, were standing up to their waists in the icy water. Evidently they had ventured out upon the lake in a spirit of mischief, and had stepped upon thin ice which had given way beneath even their slight weight. Luckily they had not got far from the shore, for if the ice had broken through in a deeper part of the lake they must surely have been drowned. As it was, they were three very badly frightened children who were beginning to feel numb with the cold. At sight of the girls they began to wail afresh and held out their little arms imploringly. The sight was too much for Billie, and she began to edge her way cautiously along the thin ice, calling to the girls to follow her example. “Be careful,” she warned. “If we went through, too, it would be hard to get out, and while we were trying it the kiddies would probably freeze to death. Look out!” she exclaimed, as the ice cracked treacherously under her weight. “It is paper-thin right here.” And while the girls are busy at their work of rescue we will take a few minutes to tell those who are meeting Billie Bradley and her chums for the first time something of the good times the girls have had in other volumes of the series. In the first book, called “Billie Bradley and Her Inheritance,” the girls had many and varied adventures, some of which were thrilling and others only funny. Just when Billie was wondering how to raise one hundred dollars to pay for a statue which she had accidentally broken, a queer old aunt of hers, Beatrice Powerson by name, died and left to her an inheritance which had at first seemed a doubtful blessing, namely a rambling gloomy old homestead at a place called Cherry Corners. The house dated back to Revolutionary times and had many weird and romantic legends attached to it. The girls, anxious to see the old place for themselves, had decided to spend their vacation there, and a little later some boys had joined them. They had an unusual and exciting time of it and the climax of the whole outing was the finding of a shabby old trunk which was hidden away in the attic. This trunk contained five thousand dollars’ worth of rare old coins and queer postage stamps, and this small fortune enabled Billie not only to replace the statue she had broken but gave her more than enough to send herself to Three Towers Hall and her brother Chet to Boxton Military Academy. But we forgot entirely to introduce the boys! And they at least considered themselves by far the most important part of the story. Here they are then—First of all comes Chetwood Bradley, Billie’s brother, whom his friends called Chet for short. Chet was a lovable boy, good-looking, quiet, reserved and devoted to Billie—whose real name, by the way, was Beatrice.