The Bobbsey Twins

“ Never had the Bobbsey twins had as much fun as they did the day of their visit to Mr. Whipple's store. They were sorry when the late afternoon gave the signal for starting back home.
"But we'll have fun to-morrow," said Bert to Nan, as they reached their hotel.
"How do you know?" she asked.
" 'Cause I heard Daddy tell Mother he was going to take us to Bronx Park to see the animals."
"Oh, will we see the monkeys?" cried Flossie, who heard what her older brother had said.
"Well, there are plenty of them there, so I've read," went on Bert. "Big ones, too." ”

“ With so much to think about, the few weeks that were left between vacation and the country passed quickly for the Bobbseys. As told in any first book, "The Bobbsey Twins," this little family had a splendid home in Lakeport, where Mr. Bobbsey was a lumber merchant. The mother and father were both young themselves, and always took part in their children's joys and sorrows, for there were sorrows sometimes. Think of poor little Freddie getting shut up all alone in a big store with only a little black kitten, "Snoop," to keep him from being scared to death ”

“ Bobbsey. "Your father had a letter from the miner uncle to-day, saying he was going to make a miner of Will. He gave up the idea of going to sea."
"And will he dig gold?" asked Flossie.
"I suppose so, dear!"
"Oh, I'm going to dig gold when I grow to be a man," said Freddie. "May I have another marshmallow, Nan?" "Yes, little fat fireman," she laughed.
A few days later, after making a trip around the lower end of the lake, the Bobbsey twins started for home, reaching there safely, and having no more trouble with Mr. Hardee and his wire fence. ”

“ Bobbsey, for she saw Bert lifting Freddie up into the small wagon, while Nan was doing the same for Flossie.
"They won't hurt it, ma'am," said the foreman. "I brought that pony cart around on purpose, so you could give it to the children. It's been here some time, but as there weren't any children it hasn't been used much. The boys got the cart out and mended it when they heard the Bobbsey twins were coming."
"That is very kind of them, I'm sure," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Is the pony safe to drive?" ”

“ Keep away from 'em!"
"Yes indeed they must!" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Are there any other dangers out here?"
"Well, not many, no, ma'am. And rattlers aren't to be feared if you let 'em alone. Just keep clear of 'em. They'll run away from you rather than fight."
Up and down little, rolling hills went the wagon, drawing the Bobbsey twins. They dipped down into a hollow, and for a time nothing could be seen but green fields.
"Where are the cows?" asked Nan.
"And the cowboys?" Bert wanted to know. ”

“ Tommy no longer had to run errands for Mr. Bobbsey, to get money to help support his grandmother. He often came to play with Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie, and the Bobbsey twins never grew tired of hearing Mr. Todd tell of how he was shipwrecked.
The Winter wore on. Christmas came. And what a happy one it was for the Todd family, as well as for the Bobbsey twins! [245]
"We had as much fun at home this Winter as we did in the Summer at Meadow Brook," said Nan.
Winter or summer, these lively children manage to have a good time. ”

“ Bert asked.
"Well, hardly, I think," his father answered. "But if we don't like the play, after we get there, we can come home," he added, his eyes twinkling.
"Oh, Daddy!" cried all the Bobbsey twins at once. ”

“ There was plenty of room for them and the red-haired driver. Other children on the block crowded to the curbstone and looked on with eager eyes as the Bobbsey twins started on their ride. Mrs. Bobbsey, talking with her friend in the darkened parlor, knew nothing of what was going on.
"Say, he is a good goat," said Freddie, when they were half-way down the block.
"Sure he's a good goat!" agreed the boy, whose name was Mike. "There ain't none better."
"It's lots of fun," said Flossie. ”

“ As for Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah, they said they would go to the fair another day.
"Will you ask Mr. Blipper about your coat and the missing robe?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, on the way to the fair grounds.
"Yes. And I'll ask him about Bob Guess, also," her husband answered. "There is something strange about that boy."
The Bobbsey twins and Harry were talking among themselves, while Nan also looked after Flossie and Freddie.
"They're going to put the big balloon up to-day," said Harry.
"They are if the wind doesn't blow too much," Bert agreed. "And I'm afraid it's blowing too hard. ”

“ Won't we have the best times ever was!" And this proved to be a fact. What happened to the Bobbsey twins at Meadow Brook will be told in another book which I shall call, "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country." The country is a lovely place, especially in the summer time, and all of my young readers can rest assured that the twins enjoyed themselves at Meadow Brook to the utmost.
"I'll be so glad to see Cousin Harry again," said Bert.
"And I'll be glad to see Aunt Sarah," piped in Freddie. "She makes such beautiful pies!" ”

“ The Bobbsey twins were too wide-awake, their mother thought, to go to sleep so soon after the excitement, so she let them sit up a while to get quiet.
Going to the end of the car, in the little passageway near the wash room, Bert and Nan could look out of the window. They saw men with flaring oil torches hurrying here and there. These were the railroad workers getting ready to put the train back on the track. ”

“ Out into the storm again went the Bobbsey twins. It was snowing as hard as ever, but they were not afraid now, for they each had hold of the man's hands, and they felt sure he would get them safely home.
"Are you all right now?" asked the man, as he walked along in the snow, kicking away the flakes in a cloud such as a plow might throw on either side.
"Yes, we're all right now," Freddie said. "But we'll be righter when we get home."
"So mamma won't worry," added Flossie. "Mothers worry when their children are lost."
"That's too bad," said the man. "It isn't good for mothers to worry. ”

“ In a minute more the Bobbsey twins were at the barn where the sugar and molasses cookies Dinah had given them were put in a safe place.
"There are the ropes!" exclaimed Bert, as he pointed to some dangling from a beam near the haymow.
"They're too high to climb!" Nan said, for some of the ropes were fast to the rafters of the barn.
"Oh, we won't climb 'em!" Bert quickly returned, for he knew his mother would never allow this. "We'll just swing on 'em, low down near this pile of hay, so if we fall we can't hurt ourselves." ”

“ CHAPTER V THE STRANGE BOY The Bobbsey twins looked at one another, and then at their mother, as Mr. Bobbsey went out of the living room of the houseboat, toward the stairway that led up on deck.
Bert tried to look brave, and as though he did not care. Nan moved a little closer to her mother. As for Flossie, she, too, was a little frightened, but Freddie did not seem at all alarmed.
"Is it somebody come to take the boat away from us?" he asked in his high-pitched, childish voice. "If it is—don't let 'em, papa." ”

“ Hickson of Lakeport, saying he was sure the ranch and lumber foremen were his two missing boys. Mr. Bobbsey sent the old man money to come out to the ranch, where Bill and his brother were still staying. And on the day when Hiram Hickson was to arrive the Bobbsey twins were very much excited indeed.
"Maybe, after all, these won't be his boys," said Nan.
"Oh, I guess they will," declared Bert.
And, surely enough, when Hiram Hickson met the two foremen he held out his hands to them and cried:
"My two boys! My lost boys! Grown to be men! Oh, I'm so glad I have found you again!" ”

“ Bobbsey, when told of the news, "must we stay here all night?"
"Unless I hire another auto, or you and the children go on by train," said her husband. "I shall have to stay here to bring our car on."
"Oh, I don't want that! No, we'll stay at the hotel. But what about him?" she asked in a low voice, pointing to Bob Guess, who was talking to the twins.
"That's so. We can't turn him adrift," Mr. Bobbsey agreed. "Well, I'll get a room for him at the hotel. In the morning I can decide what to do. I don't like to send him back to Blipper. But if the man has adopted him he has a claim on the boy. ”

“ But I am going to the fair again with the children, and I'll get at Blipper sooner or later."
"Well, if you go to the fair again, please keep an eye on Freddie!" begged the mother of the Bobbsey twins. "He's a little tyke when it comes to slipping away and doing strange things."
"Yes, he is," agreed her husband. But the next day was to prove that Flossie could also "slip away," when there was a chance. ”

“ Watson. “It’s very pretty when the water is high; and in winter, when it freezes, it is even more beautiful. But I know some one who is sleepy!” she went on in a singing voice.
“I’m not!” quickly cried Flossie. “I didn’t come here to sleep.”
“She means Jenny,” whispered Nan, and, sure enough, the little one’s head was nodding and her eyes were closing. Her mother wrapped Jenny in a blanket and put her down under a tree, while Mr. Bobbsey got out the lunch baskets and the Bobbsey twins scattered here and there to play. ”

“ How will that do?"
"Fine!" cried all the Bobbsey twins at once, and they made a rush for Mr. Bobbsey, hugging and kissing him.
The letter was sent to the fat lady, and then came a time of anxious waiting. Never before had the children seemed to care so much for Snap.
One day a letter came, saying that the silver cup had been sent, and also Snoop, the cat.
"But what about Snap, papa?" asked Nan.
"Does she say the circus will sell him?"
"No, the man who owns him is away for a few days. When he comes back he will let me know. But, anyhow, you will have your cup and cat back." ”

“ A baby! A darling baby!” gasped Mrs. Bobbsey.
“Whose is it?” asked Mr. Bobbsey. “Some one must have lost it!”
“They don’t lose babies!” declared his wife. “It was left here!”
“Left here! On purpose, do you mean?” cried her husband.
Mrs. Bobbsey nodded her head solemnly. Nan had stooped over and was lifting the tiny creature from its nest in the basket.
“Oh, Mother! may we keep it?” begged Flossie.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” demanded Freddie. “If it’s a boy, keep it!”
“Bring it in, Nan,” said Mrs. Bobbsey. “The poor little dear! It must be almost perished with the cold—and hungry, too! ”

“ Have all the fun you can when you are little,” she advised the children.
“I guess you don’t need to tell them that,” said their mother.
[Pg 180]
Flossie and Freddie went into the yard to play. Bert and Nan, after having talked a while longer with Mrs. Martin, also left the room. Later they learned that Mrs. Martin had come to stay a week or two with her cousin, Mrs. Watson.
That evening after supper the Bobbsey twins made up their minds that they were going to like Mrs. Martin very much, for she gathered them about her after the evening’s play and told them some fine stories. ”

“ In the family, though not exactly members of it, were Dinah, the jolly, fat, colored cook, and Sam Johnson, her husband. Then we must not forget Snap, the dog, and Snoop, the big cat.
Following the first book are a number of volumes telling of the adventures of the Bobbsey twins. They went to the country to visit Uncle Daniel, and at the seashore they had fun at the home of Uncle William. After that the Bobbseys enjoyed a trip in a houseboat, they journeyed to a great city, camped on Blueberry Island, saw the sights of Washington and even sailed to sea. ”

“ Bobbsey began to talk about ways of helping poor children, and Flossie and Freddie did not listen any more. Besides, just then the train was passing along a field in which were many horses, some of which raced alongside the cars, and that interested the twins.
"Oh, look at 'em run!" cried the fresh air boy who sat in front of the smaller Bobbsey twins. "Don't they go fast?" ”

“ And so my little fat fireman had a ride in an ice-boat, did he?" cried Mr. Bobbsey that night, when he came home from the office and heard the story. "And how did my little fat fairy like it?" And he lifted up first Freddie and then Flossie to kiss them. "Fat fireman" and "fat fairy" were Mr. Bobbsey's pet names for the smaller twins. Bert and Nan had had pet names when they were small, but they were too large for them now, growing out of them as they grew out of their clothes.
"Oh, it was glorious!" cried Nan. "Sailing in an ice-boat must be like the way it feels to be in an airship." ”

“ The smaller twins were delighted to hear the account of the adventures of Nan and Bert in the night, and Freddie declared that the next time his father went on a trip like that he was going too.
“Well, so you didn’t find the old woman after all?” remarked Mrs. Bobbsey, after she had talked matters over quietly with her husband.
“No. And it begins to look as if we never should. She is more of a mystery than ever. I have notified the police of Hankertown, though, and they said they would keep a lookout for her.” ”

“ In time all was straightened out, and how Snoop came back from the circus in far-off Cuba, how Snap was allowed to stay with the Bobbseys, and how even the cup was finally recovered—all this you will find set down in the fourth book of this series.
And now winter had come in earnest, though even before this story opens the Bobbsey twins had had a taste of snow and ice. The accident on the coasting hill now occupied the attention of all.
"Oh, Nan! Nan will be killed!" cried Flossie, as she stood with Freddie gazing down the slope. ”