.

It was perfectly safe.
Wiggins slid down the bank on to the ice; and she followed him.

The ice cracked somewhat noisily at their weight, and at intervals it cracked again.

Erebus paid no heed to its cracking beyond telling Wiggins not to go far from the edge.

She skated round and across the pond several times, then settled down to make a figure of eight, resolved to have it scored deeply in the ice before the Terror came.
Wiggins skated about the pond.
She had been at work some time and had got so far with her figure of eight that it was already distinctly marked, when there was a crash and a shrill cry from Wiggins.