"The ice won't bear out there." Fred didn't reply by as much as a look.

He kept on out toward the thin ice.
Cra-a-ack! Splash! The thin ice had broken.

Ripley, moving backwards, did not realize his fix until his feet; shot into the water.

Down he came on his back, breaking more of the ice.
A yell, and he was gone below the surface.
And now everybody seemed shouting at once.

A hundred people ran to and fro, shouting out what ought to be done.
"Get a rope! Run for a doctor! Bring fence rails! Telephone for the police!" That's the usual way with a crowd, to think up things that others ought to do.
Dick Prescott espied Dave Darrin ahead.