And James never thought of going to look for Freddie, for the lumber pile, which had fallen and made itself into a sort of play-housewas some distance away from the bundle of shingles. So James sat there in the sun, waiting, and, far off, Freddie was calling for help. For he wanted to get out, very much.
Freddie Bobbsey was a wise little chap, even if he was only about five years old, and when he found that he was shut up in the queer play-house, and could not get out, he did not cry. He stopped calling for help, when he found no one answered him, and sat down to think what was best to do.
"It would be nice in here, if Flossie could be with me to play," he said to himself. "But she couldn't get in unless some way was opened, or unless one of the cracks was made bigger. There ought to be a door and some windows to this place. Then we could go in and out, and have fun. And we ought to have something to eat, too," Freddie went on.
But there was nothing to eat under the pile of lumber, and Freddie had not thought to put a piece of cake or an apple in his pocketas he sometimes did when he went to visit his father.
That morning he had thought of nothing much but about making a ship to go sailing with Tommy Todd to look for Tommy's father. And all Freddie had put in his pockets were the nails and bits of string. He could not eat them, and, anyhow, they were back by the pile of shingles where he had been talking to James.
"Maybe James will come and find me after a bit," Freddie thought. "I'll just stay here and wait."
He called as loudly as he could once or twice more, but no one answered him. Freddie made himself as easy as he could in the queer little lumber play-house, and, as it was warm with the sun shining down, pretty soon he felt sleepy. How long he slept Freddie did not know, but, all of a sudden he was awakened by hearing a scratching sound near his ear. Some one was scratching away at the lumber.
"Who is there?" Freddie cried, sitting up.
No one answered but Freddie again heard the scratching.
"Oh—oh!" he exclaimed, shrinking back in one corner. "I wonder if that is a big rat? Rats scratch and gnaw."
Once more came the funny sound, and then Freddie heard:
Mew! Mew!
"Oh! Now I know that isn't a rat!" cried the little boy. "Rats can scratch, but rats can't mew. Only cats can do that! Here, pussy!" he called. "Come in and see me!"
Once more there was a scratching and a mewing and up through one of the larger cracks same a big gray cat, that lived in the lumber yard. Freddie knew her quite well, for he had often seen her in his father's office.
"Oh Sawdust!" he called joyfully. Sawdust was the cat's name; a very good name for a lumber yard cat, I think. "I'm so glad it's you, Sawdust!" cried Freddie.
The big cat came up to Freddie, and rubbed against his legs. The little boy rubbed her back and the cat's tail stood up stiff and straight, like the flag pole in front of Mr. Bobbsey's office.
"I thought you were a rat, Sawdust," wenton Freddie. "But I'm glad you weren't. I like you!"
The cat purred again. She seemed to like Freddie, too. Soon she curled up beside him, and Freddie put his arm around her. And, before he knew it he was asleep again, and so was Sawdust. She had found her way into the queer play-house while wandering about the lumber yard as she often did, taking walks, I suppose, to make sure there were no mice or rats about.
It was not long after this that Mr. Bobbsey left the office to go over to one part of his lumber yard to see about some boards a man wanted to buy. On the way Freddie's father passed the place where James, the watchman, was sitting by the shingles.
"Well, did Freddie bother you much?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll look after him now, as I'm not so busy."
"Why no, he didn't bother me, Mr. Bobbsey," said the watchman. "He wanted to build a toy boat, and he brought some nails and string. I had to go over to help Jason load his wagon, and when I came back, having leftFreddie to hunt for some boards, he wasn't here. Didn't he go back to the office?"
"Why no, he didn't!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey, in some alarm. "I haven't seen him. I wonder where he can have gone?"
They looked up and down the rows between the piles of lumber, but no Freddie could be seen.
"Perhaps he went home," said James. "You could find out by calling Mrs. Bobbsey on the telephone."
"So I could, yes. But if I asked if Freddie were home she would want to know why I asked, and why he wasn't here with me—that is, if he wasn't at home. Then she would worry for fear something had happened to him. No, I'll have to find out in some other way."
"I could take a walk down past the house," the watchman said. "I could look in and see if Freddie was there. If he wasn't, we'd know he was somewhere around the yard yet."
"Well, you might do that," Mr. Bobbsey said. He himself was a little worried now. "But don't let Mrs. Bobbsey see you," he wenton to James. "If she did she'd want to know what you were doing away from the yard. Just walk past the house. If Freddie is at home he'll be out in the yard playing. If you don't see him let me know. Meanwhile, I'll be searching around here for him, and I'll get some of the men to look with me."
"All right," agreed James, hurrying off. While he was gone Mr. Bobbsey looked around the many lumber piles near the bundles of shingles where Freddie had last been seen. But no little boy was in sight, being, as we know, fast asleep, with the big yard cat, under the pile of boards which had fallen in the shape of a little play-house.
"This is queer," thought Mr. Bobbsey. "Freddie never goes home by himself after he has come to see me without telling me that he is going. I wonder where he is."
Mr. Bobbsey looked and called Freddie's name, but the little fellow, being sound asleep, did not hear.
Then Mr. Bobbsey told several of his men about the little lost boy, and they began searching for him. No one thought of looking underthe pile of boards, for there were many such in the yard. And so Freddie remained hidden.
When he was not to be found Mr. Bobbsey grew more and more anxious, and he hoped that James would come back to say that Freddie was safe at home.
But when the watchman came back he said:
"Your other children are playing in the yard of your house, Mr. Bobbsey. Bert, Nan and Flossie are there. But Freddie isn't with them."
"Maybe he is in the house, getting something to eat," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"No, I hardly think so," answered James, "for when I was going past the house, on the other side of the street so they wouldn't see me, a little boy, who plays with Freddie, came running along. He called to Nan, this other little boy did, to know where Freddie was."
"And what did Nan say?"
"She said Freddie was down at the lumber yard."
"Then he can't have gone home, or Nan would know it. He must be around here somewhere. I—I hope he didn't go near the lake. And yet he might, with his idea of boats."
"Oh, I don't believe he would dothat, Mr. Bobbsey," said James. "We'll find him."
Mr. Bobbsey and the men scattered through the lumber yard, looking on all sides of the many piles. But still no one thought of looking under the boards that had slid off the stack upon which Freddie had climbed. For it did not seem as though any one could be beneath them.
"Well, I don't know what to do," said Mr. Bobbsey, after a bit. "I guess I'll blow the big fire whistle, and get all the men from the shops and every place to help us look. This is too bad!"
Besides the lumber yard Mr. Bobbsey owned a mill, or shop, where boards were made into doors, windows and other parts of houses. Many men worked in this shop.
All this while Freddie was peacefully sleeping under the lumber, with Sawdust curled up near him, purring happily.
Finally, Freddie awakened again, and as he sat up and rubbed his eyes he could not, for a moment, remember where he was: Then he looked down and saw Sawdust, and he said:
"Oh, I'm in my little lumber play-house yet. I must get out. Where did you get in, Sawdust? Maybe I can get out the way you came in. Show me where it was."
Sawdust mewed. Perhaps she knew that Freddie was in trouble, though she did not quite understand all that he said. At any rate the big cat walked over toward a large crack, and squeezed her way through it to the outside.
"That's too small for me," said Freddie, for he could not get even one foot through the opening. "I'll have to find a bigger place."
He looked all over but there was none. Then he called out as loudly as he could:
"Papa! Mamma! Help me! I'm under the lumber!"
Freddie paused to listen. He heard some one walking past the pile of lumber. The little boy called as hard as he could:
"Get me out! Get me out!"
Then, suddenly, a voice asked:
"Who are you and where are you?"
"I'm Freddie Bobbsey," was the answer. "I'm down under the lumber and I can't get out. Please help me. Who are you?"
"Of course I'll help you, Freddie," was the answer. "I'm Tommy Todd. I just happened to pass through the lumber yard. I'm going to ask your father if he has any errands for me to do, as it's Saturday and there is no school. But I'll get you out first, Freddie."
"Oh Tommy! I'm so glad you came. Please get me out!"
But to get Freddie out from under the lumber was too hard for little Tommy Todd.
"I'll run and tell your father, Freddie," Tommy said. "Don't be afraid. He'll soon get you out."
"I'm not afraid," Freddie said.
Tommy ran up to Mr. Bobbsey, who was just getting ready to blow the big mill whistle and call out all the men, more than a hundred of them, to help search for the missing boy.
"Oh Mr. Bobbsey!" cried Tommy. "Freddie can't get out and I can't get him out."
"Where is he? Tell me quickly!"
"He's under a pile of lumber. I'll show you!"
Tommy quickly led the way, Mr. Bobbsey, James and some other men following. Whenthey reached the pile of lumber that had slid over Freddie's head the men carefully but quickly lifted away the boards, and the little boy could come out.
"Oh Freddie!" cried his father. "I was so worried about you! What happened?"
Then Freddie told of having climbed up on the lumber pile, and of its having toppled over with him, but not hurting him in the least.
"It was just like a play-house," he said. "And I heard a scratching and thought it was a rat. But it was Sawdust."
"I saw the cat come out from under the lumber," said Tommy. "But I did not know Freddie was there until I heard him calling. I was coming to you to ask if you had any work for me this Saturday, as there isn't any school. I need to work to earn money for my grandmother."
"Work? Of course I can give you work," said Mr. Bobbsey, who had Freddie in his arms. "You deserve a good reward for finding Freddie for us, and you shall have it. I'm glad I didn't have to call out all the men, for if I had blown the big whistle Mrs. Bobbseywould have heard it, and she would have thought there was a fire."
So Tommy Todd was rewarded for having found where the lost Freddie was. The fresh air boy was given some easy work to do, for which he was well paid, and besides this, Mr. Bobbsey gave the grandmother five dollars to buy the food and the clothing which she needed very much.
"I'm glad I happened to come past the lumber pile where you were," said Tommy a little later, when he was taking Freddie home, for Mr. Bobbsey sent Tommy along to see that the little chap did not get lost again.
"I'm glad, too," said Freddie. "I'm not going to climb up on lumber piles any more. But we've got to make that boat, Tommy, and sail off to find your father."
"Yes, I wish we could find him, but I'm afraid we can't. Anyhow it will be Winter soon and it isn't any fun going to sea in the Winter, so my grandmother says. Maybe we'd better wait until it's Summer again before we think of the ship."
"Well, maybe we had, Tommy."
Mrs. Bobbsey was quite surprised when Tommy brought Freddie home, and she was more surprised when she heard what had happened, and how Freddie had been caught under the lumber.
"Dear me, I am glad they found you, Freddie!" she cried, kissing him.
"And so Tommy found you; did he?" asked Nan, smiling at the boy whom they had met in the train the day the fresh air children came home from the country.
"Yes," Tommy answered. "I was going on an errand for my grandmother, and the shortest way was through the lumber yard. I thought it would be a good chance to ask your father for work. And I am to have it—every Saturday and on some other days after school."
"You'll earn a lot of money," Freddie said, "and then we can build our ship."
"He can't get that idea out of his head," remarked Bert to Nan.
"Oh, he's anxious to help Tommy find his father," Nan answered. "I wish it would happen, but I'm afraid he never will be found."
Having seen that Freddie was safe at home, Tommy hurried back to the lumber yard office. Then he went on a number of errands for Mr. Bobbsey. The twins' father said, that night, he had seldom met such a bright and willing boy.
"Tommy will grow up to be a fine man, I'm sure," said Mr. Bobbsey.
One day, a little while after Freddie had been lost under the lumber pile, he and Flossie were standing in the school yard at recess, Alice Boyd came up to them.
"Want some candy?" she asked, holding out some in a paper.
"Thanks," said Freddie, taking some.
"Where did you get it?" Flossie inquired, as she took a piece.
"My sister and I made it," answered Alice.
"How do you make candy?" inquired Freddie.
"Oh, you just put some sugar and water on the stove in a tin dish," Alice answered, "and when it boils you pour it out on a buttered pan—you butter the pan just as you butter a slice of bread."
"Why do you butter the pan?" demanded Flossie.
"So the candy won't stick to it. Candy is awful sticky. Our dog got a lump in his mouth, and it stuck to his teeth so he couldn't open his jaws."
"I wouldn't give a dog candy," declared Freddie. "I'd rather eat it myself."
"Oh, well, we didn't 'zactlygivethe candy to our dog," said Alice. "A lump of it fell on the floor, and he grabbed it up before we could stop him. Anyhow, we didn't want the candy after it had rolled on the floor."
Flossie and Freddie ate the sweet stuff Alice handed them, and thought it very good. That afternoon when Flossie reached home from school, she marched out into the kitchen and said:
"Dinah, I'm going to make some candy!"
"Make candy, honey lamb! How yo' all gwine t' make candy?"
"Oh, you just put some sugar and water on the stove to boil, and when it boils you butter a pan like a slice of bread, and pour the candy in it so it won't stick. And if a lump falls on the floor—a lump of candy I mean—that belongs to Snap. Though I hope it doesn't make his jaws stick together so they'll never come open, or he can't bark. But I'm going to make some candy."
"Now look yeah!" said Dinah. "Does yo' ma know yo' is gwine t' do dish yeah candy business?"
"No, Dinah, but I'll tell her when she comes home," for on coming in from school Flossie had been told that her mother was not in.
"Yo'll tell her when she comes home?" cried the old colored cook. "Yo' won't need t'tellher, honey lamb. She'll done know dat yo' all has been up t' suffin queer. Make candy! Oh mah gracious! I done guess you'd bettah not!"
"Oh, please, Dinah! It's easy. You can help me."
Dinah gave in, as she usually did, and got out some sugar, some water and a saucepan for the little girl. Dinah knew Flossie was too little to be trusted alone around the stove, so she stood near herself.
"Let me pour in the water," begged Flossie, and she was allowed to do this. Then the sugar and water in the saucepan was soon bubbling on top of the stove. Flossie buttered a pan, getting almost as much butter on her fingers as she did on the tin, but Dinah gave her a wash rag, so that was all right.
Letting the candy boil, Dinah went about her kitchen work, while Flossie sat in a chair near the stove watching. Pretty soon the door bell rang, and Dinah went to answer it. Flossie stayed in the kitchen looking at the steaming pan of candy until she heard a voice calling to her from the yard.
"Flossie! Flossie! Come on out and play!"
It was Stella Janson, a little girl who lived next door.
"I can't come out right away, Stella," answered Flossie. "I'm making candy and I have to watch it. You sit down on the porchand when the candy is done I'll bring some out to you."
Flossie went to the door to tell this to the little girl, and then she saw that Stella had a new doll.
"Oh, isn't she pretty!" cried Flossie. "I must see her!"
Forgetting all about the candy boiling on the stove, Flossie went out on the porch. There she and Stella took turns holding the doll. All this while Dinah was at the front door. A peddler had rung the bell, and it took the colored cook some little time to tell him her mistress did not want to buy a new kind of piano polish.
All at once Dinah gave a cry and quickly closed the door.
"Sumfin's burnin'! Sumfin's burnin'!" she shouted as she hurried back to the kitchen.
At the same time Stella, who was out on the porch with Flossie, began to sniff the air.
"What's that funny smell?" she asked.
Flossie also sniffed.
"Oh, it's my candy burning!" she cried. "My nice candy! I forgot all about it!"
She and Dinah ran into the kitchen at the same time. Over the stove black smoke was curling up from the saucepan of candy.
"Oh, oh!" cried Flossie.
"Keep away, honey lamb—don't touch it!" cried Dinah. "It's hot! I'll lift it off!"
She was just doing that, using an iron holder so she would not burn her hand, when Freddie came rushing in, dragging after him his toy fire engine with which he had been playing out in the yard.
"Fire! Fire!" cried Freddie. "Fire! Fire! I'm a fireman! I put out fires! Look out!"
Freddie's fire engine, though a toy, squirted real water, from a real little rubber hose. The little fireman pointed the hose at Dinah, who was carrying the smoking and burning pan of candy over to the sink.
"Fire! Fire! Pour on water! Pour on water!" shouted Freddie.
"Look out dere, honey lamb! Don't squirt no watah on me!" cried Dinah.
But Freddie had started the pump of his engine, and a stream of water squirted all over Dinah.
"Oh mah good landy!" cried the fat cook. "Stop it, Freddie! Stop it! Dish yeah am awful! It suttinly am turrible!"
Luckily for Dinah, Freddie had been playing so long out in the yard with his engine that there was only a little water left in it. When this had squirted out there was no more until he filled the tank again.
"Oh my!" cried Dinah, as she went on over to the sink, and set down the smoking pan of candy. "Oh my!"
"Is the house on fire?" Freddie demanded.
"No, it isn't," said Flossie. "It's just my nice candy that burned. Oh dear! And I did want itsomuch!"
"Never mind, I'll make some mo', honey lamb!" promised Dinah, wiping her face on her apron. "But don't yo' squirt no mo' watah on me, Freddie pet."
"No, I won't, Dinah," he promised. "But I saw the smoke coming out of the kitchen, and I knew there was a fire."
"It wasn't 'zactly a fire," said Stella. "But I guess the candy burned up. It's as bad as when we dropped all of ours on the floor."
But good-natured Dinah made another pan of the sweet stuff for Flossie. This did not burn, and it was soon turned out into the buttered tin to cool. And when it was cool Flossie, Freddie and Stella ate it.
Mrs. Bobbsey only laughed when Flossie told her what had happened, but she said she thought the little girl had better not try to make any more candy until she was a little older.
The weather was getting colder day by day now. The children had red cheeks when they went to school, and they ran and romped along to keep warm.
"It will soon be cold enough to have a frost," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"Yes," said his wife, "I wouldn't be surprised if we had one to-night. I have brought in my geraniums and other plants."
"A frost!" cried Bert. "Good! That means the chestnuts will crack out of their burrs. We'll go chestnutting!"
The next morning Bert hopped out of bed earlier than usual. He looked from the window. The ground was white, and so was the roof of the porch.
"Oh, it's snow!" cried Freddie, who also got up.
"No, it's just frost," Bert said. "The first frost of the Winter. Now we'll get ready to have some fun. I'm glad to-day is Saturday. No school, and we can go after chestnuts!"
"Hurrah!" cried Freddie. "May I come, Bert?"
"Yes, we'll all go!"
Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie all came down to breakfast together.
"Well, well!" exclaimed Mother Bobbsey, smiling at the children. "What does this mean? Saturday morning, and you are all up as early as though it were a school day. You haven't looked at the wrong date on the calendar; have you?"
"No, Mother," answered Freddie. "But we're going after chestnuts, and we must get to the woods early."
"So the squirrels won't get all the nuts, Bert says," put in Nan.
"But we'll leave some for them; won't we?" asked Flossie. "I wouldn't want the squirrels to go hungry."
"I guess there'll be enough for all of us," said Bert. "But there will be a lot of fellowsafter the nuts this morning, on account of the frost which has cracked open the prickly burrs, and let the nuts fall out. So if we want to get our share we'll have to start soon. Nan and I will look after Flossie and Freddie, Mother."
Mrs. Bobbsey thought for a moment.
"Yes, I guess it will be all right," she said. "The woods are safe, and there are no snakes this time of year."
"I'm not afraid of snakes," exclaimed Freddie. "They only stick out their tongues at you."
"Some snakes bite," said Bert. "But, as mother says, there are none in the woods now. When it gets cold snakes crawl inside hollow logs and go to sleep. So get ready to go after chestnuts!"
The Bobbsey twins finished their breakfast, and while Bert found some old salt bags which he put in his pocket to hold his chestnuts, Flossie and Freddie went out to the kitchen where Dinah was working.
"Dinah, where is the biggest basket you have?" asked Freddie.
"And I want the next biggest!" exclaimed Flossie.
"Mah goodness, honey lambs! What am all de meanin' ob big baskets?" asked the colored cook.
"We're going after chestnuts," explained Freddie, "and we want something to put them in. Here's just the basket I want," and he took a big one, that Dinah used sometimes when she went to market.
"I'll take this one," said Flossie, as she picked up one in which Sam, Dinah's husband, used to bring in kindling wood for the fire.
"Well, if yo' honey lambs brings dem baskets home full ob chestnuts yo' shore will hab a lot," laughed Dinah.
Flossie and Freddie, with their big baskets, went out in the side yard where Nan and Bert were waiting for them.
"Oh, look at what those children have!" Nan exclaimed. "You two surely don't expect to fill those baskets with chestnuts; do you?" she asked, laughing.
"Of course we do," said Freddie, very seriously.
"No, no!" cried Bert. "Those baskets are too big. There aren't that many chestnuts inthe woods, and, if there were, and you filled the baskets you couldn't carry them home. Get smaller baskets, or do as Nan and I do—take salt bags. They're easier to carry, and you can stuff them in your pocket while you're going to the woods."
Flossie and Freddie still thought the big baskets would be best, but their mother told them to do as Bert said, and finally the four twins started off down the road, each one carrying a cloth salt bag.
About a mile from the Bobbsey home was a patch of woodland, in which were a number of chestnut trees.
"Oh, look! There goes Charley Mason!" called Nan to Bert as they were walking along the road. "I believe he's going chestnutting, too."
"It looks so," returned Bert. "I say, Charley!" he called, "are you going to the woods?"
"Yes," came the answer.
"Come along with us," cried Bert.
"All right," Charley answered. "I promised to call for Nellie Parks and her brother George, though."
"We'll stop and get them on our way past their house," said Nan, "and then we'll all go on together."
"It will be a regular party; won't it?" cried Freddie.
"It surely will," laughed Nan.
"Only we haven't anything to eat," said Flossie.
"We can eat chestnuts," declared Freddie.
"Too many of them, raw, before they are boiled or roasted, aren't good for you," said Nan. "So be careful."
Charley Mason crossed the street to join the Bobbsey twins, and a little later they reached the house where Nellie Parks and her brother lived. These two were on the steps waiting.
"Oh, hello, Nan!" cried Nellie. "I didn't expect to see you. Charley said he'd stop for us, but I'm glad you did, too. The Bobbseys are going with us, Mother," Nellie called back to her mother who was looking out of a window.
"It's a regular chestnutting party," said Flossie.
"Only we haven't anything to eat," added Freddie, and all the others laughed.
"That's so!" exclaimed Nellie's brother George, who was older than any of the others. "It isn't much of a party, even to go after chestnuts, unless you have something to eat. Wait a minute."
He hurried back into the house, and soon came out with a pasteboard box.
"What's in there?" asked his sister.
"Lunch for the chestnutting party," George answered. "Now you won't have to worry, Flossie and Freddie."
"That's nice!" said the two little twins in a chorus.
Together the children walked down the street, past Mr. Bobbsey's lumber yard, and then they were out in a part of the city where there were very few houses. It was almost like the country. A little later they came to the woods. The woods were on both sides of a broad road, and before the children reached the clump of trees they could see other boys and girls scurrying around, poking in among the leaves on the ground to get the nuts which hadfallen down when the frost cracked open the burrs.
"I hope they'll leave some for us," said Nellie Parks.
"Oh, I guess there will be plenty," returned her brother.
The Bobbsey twins and their friends hurried into the woods. Flossie and Freddie were the first to begin poking among the leaves with sticks which they picked up.
"Have you found any nuts yet?" asked Freddie, after a minute or two.
"Oh yes, I've got one!" cried Flossie. "I've got two—three—a whole lot," and she showed some brown things in her fat little hand.
"Let's see," called Bert, and when Flossie held them out to him he laughed and said:
"Those aren't chestnuts. They are acorns. You have been looking under an oak tree, Flossie. You must look under a chestnut tree."
"Aren't these all chestnut trees?" asked Freddie.
"Oh, no," replied Bert, whose father had told him something of the different kinds of trees, from which lumber is made. "There areoak, hickory, maple and elm trees in these woods. Here, I'll show you a chestnut tree."
He pointed one out to the little twins, showing them how they could always tell it afterward by the leaves and bark.
"Look there for chestnuts and maybe you'll find some," said Bert. Flossie threw away the acorns, and she and Freddie began poking in among the leaves again, while the others went to different trees.
Freddie soon called:
"I've found some! I've found some!"
He hurried over to Bert with some shiny brown nuts in his hand. Each nut had a little "tail" fastened to it.
"Yes, those are chestnuts," Bert said. "Now see whether you or Flossie will fill a bag first."
"I've got a whole lot of nuts!" Flossie cried. "Oh, such a lot. Come on Freddie and—Ouch! Oh dear!" she suddenly cried.
"What is it?" asked Nan, quickly running over to her little sister. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"Something stuck me in the fingers," Flossie answered, holding up her chubby hand.
"Maybe it's a snake," said Freddie.
"No, it's only chestnut burr stickers," said Nan. "I'll get them out for you, Flossie. After this, open the burrs with a stick. Oh, look here!" she cried, as she glanced down at the ground. "Flossiehasfound a whole lot of nuts in a pile!"
They all came over to look at Flossie's find. Surely enough, there were a number of the brown nuts in a little hollow in the ground.
"How did they get there?" asked Nellie.
"Some squirrel or chipmunk must have gathered them in a heap, ready to carry to its nest," said George. "Well, we'll just take them, as it will save us the trouble of hunting for them. Put them in your bag, Flossie."
"But won't the squirrel be hungry?" asked the little girl.
"Well, don't take quite all of them. But there are lots of chestnuts this Fall, and the squirrels can find and gather them more easily than we can. Take them, Flossie."
"I'll give Freddie some too," she said, and the two small Bobbsey twins divided most of the nuts between them.
By this time Nan, Bert and Nellie had also found some of the nuts under different trees, though none were nicely piled up like those Flossie happened upon. The nuts were down under the dried leaves, which had fallen from the trees earlier in the season. By brushing the leaves to one side with a stick the nuts could be seen.
"This is too slow for me," said George Parks at last. "I want to pick nuts up faster than this."
"How can you do it?" asked Charley Mason.
"By shaking some down from a tree. Let's find a tree that has a lot of nuts on it, and shake it. Then the nuts will fall down, and they won't get under the leaves. We can easily pick them up then."
"Good!" cried Bert Bobbsey. "We'll do it."
They searched through the woods until they found just the tree they wanted. Looking up they could see the burrs clinging to the branches. The frost had opened the burrs and the brown nuts could be seen, just ready to fall.
"If there was a good wind," said George,"that would blow the nuts down: but, as there isn't, we must shake the tree."
"It's too big to shake," remarked Nan. "Why, you never could shake that tree. I can't even reach around it."
"You can't shake it by standing on the ground and pushing against it," said George. "I'll climb up among the branches and shake them. I've often done it."
"How are you going to climb such a big tree, when you can't get your arms around it?" Bert demanded.
"I'll show you," answered George. "Do you see this little thin tree, growing close to the big chestnut?"
"Yes," Bert answered.
"Well, I'm going to climb up the little tree until I get high enough to step from it into the branches of the big one," went on George. "Then we'll have plenty of nuts."
"And after we pick up all we want, can we eat?" asked Freddie.
There was a laugh at this.
"Hungry already; are you?" asked George. "Well, it does give one an appetite to come outon a crisp, cold day like this. Yes, after we gather up the nuts I'm going to shake down we'll see what mother put in the box."
George started to climb up the small tree. This was easy for him to do, for he could put his hands and legs around it. Up and up he went, just as you boys have often climbed trees. He was about ten feet from the ground when Bert suddenly saw the little tree beginning to bend over.
"Look out, George!" Bert called. "That tree is going to break with you!"
George looked down. And, just as he did so, there was a sharp, cracking sound and the tree broke and bent suddenly over. George fell toward the ground. Nan, Flossie and Nellie were screaming.
"Look out there, George!"
"Jump over this way—away from the rocks!"
Bert and Charley called loudly to the boy who had climbed the little tree which broke with him. But George seemed to know what he was doing. As soon as he felt the tree going over he sprang out to one side, and came down, feet first, on a pile of leaves that were almost as soft and springy as a pile of hay in the meadow.
"Hurt yourself?" asked Bert.
"Not a bit—no. I'm all right," George answered.
"Oh dear!" cried Nan. "I thought sure you'd break your leg or arm or something."
"So did I," said Nellie. "Are you sure you're all right, George?"
"Of course I am. I'll show you by climbing another tree." George who had not even fallen down walked over toward the chestnut tree again.
"Well, pick out a good one to climb this time," Bert said, and George did. He first shook the next little tree that grew near the big chestnut, and made sure that it was not rotten, which was the trouble with the first one he had gone up.
This time everything was all right. George climbed up, and stepped from the small tree out on the branches of the one where the shiny, brown nuts hung all ready to be shaken down. And when George shook the branches of the chestnut tree, down came the nuts in a shower.
"Oh, what a lot!" cried Freddie, dancing about in glee.
"And one—one struck me right on the end of my nose!" laughed Flossie. "A chestnut on my nose! Ho! Ho!"
"Well, it's a good thing it wasn't a cocoa-nut!" cried George. "Pick 'em up now!"
This the children did. It was better than poking around among the leaves for the nuts,as those George jarred down lay on top, and could easily be seen.
The salt bags which the Bobbsey twins had brought with them, and the bags Nellie and Charley carried, were soon filled with nuts. Nellie picked up nuts for her brother, who was in the tree shaking them down, and Bert said:
"We'll all give George a share of ours, as he can't pick up any while he's in the tree."
"He can have half of mine," offered Freddie.
"Oh, no, little man, not as many as that," laughed George.
"I wish he'd come down pretty soon," murmured Flossie, after a bit.
"Why, are you tired of picking up nuts?" asked Nan, with a smile.
"No, not 'zactly," Flossie answered, "but I'm hungry, and——"
"Oh, I see! And you remember that George brought the lunch," said Nellie. "Well, I guess we can all eat now. Come on down, George, and we'll eat the picnic lunch."
"All right," her brother answered, and a little later he slid down the small tree. The bagsof nuts were laid aside, George being given a share of the others, and then Nellie and Nan set out the lunch on top of a flat stump, which was like a little table.
Mrs. Parks had put sandwiches, cake and apples in the box, and there was enough for all. The children ate the lunch and had a good time, sitting around the stump-table. Then Flossie said:
"I'm thirsty! I want a drink!"
"Hum. Well, I'm afraid my mother didn't put any drinking water in the box," said George, looking carefully.
"Well, I can drink milk," Flossie said.
"There's no milk, either," answered George, while the others laughed.
"There's a spring of water over there," said Charley Mason, pointing off through the trees. "We could get some water if we had a cup."
"I can make a cup out of paper," Bert said. "We learned how in school the other day."
With some of the waxed paper which was in the lunch box Bert made a pretty good cup. Then when the thin skim of ice on top of the spring was broken, water could be dipped up,and every one had a nice drink. Flossie had two cupfuls, she was so thirsty.
They played tag and some other games under the trees after the lunch, and then, having gathered a few more nuts, they started back through the woods toward Lakeport.
As Flossie came near the little hollow in the ground where she had found the pile of nuts she cried out:
"Oh, look at the little squirrel! He's trying to find the nuts I took. Oh, I'm so sorry I took them."
"That isn't a squirrel, it's a chipmunk," said Bert. "You can tell it's a chipmunk by the stripes down its back. It does seem to be looking for the nuts though; eh, Charley?"
"Well, maybe he is," said George. "Here, I'll toss him a few. But there are lots more in the woods he can get, so he won't starve."
From his bag George threw a few nuts to the chipmunk. But the little fellow was not as tame as some squirrels to be seen in the city parks, for they will perch on your shoulder and eat nuts from your hand. The chipmunk, however, made a loud, chattering noise, with a sortof whistle in between and scampered up a tree like a flash of sunshine.
"Oh, he's gone!" cried Flossie, who liked to watch the lively little chap.
"Yes; he doesn't like company," said Bert.
Shouting and laughing, the Bobbsey twins reached home with their chestnuts.
"My, you did get a lot!" said their mother, as she looked into the opened bags. "I never thought you would get so many."
"There are many chestnuts this year," Bert said. "Now we will have some fun roasting and boiling them to-night."
They gathered about the fire after supper, and laid the chestnuts they wanted to roast on top of the stove. Nan and Flossie boiled theirs, but Bert and Freddie said they liked theirs best roasted.
All at once one of Freddie's chestnuts burst with a loud pop, and the pieces flew all over the kitchen.
"Oh my!" cried the little fellow. "What made it do that? Was there a fire cracker in it?"
Before any one could answer him anothernut burst, and a piece of it hit Dinah on the end of her shiny, black nose.
"What am dat all?" she cried. "Who am frowin' t'ings at me? Was dat yo', Freddie lamb?"
"No, Dinah. It was a chestnut—one of mine. But I don't see what makes 'em pop that way, like corn."
"Did you make any holes in your chestnuts, or cut a little slit in the shell?" asked Bert of his brother.
"No. Do you have to do that?"
"You do unless you want your chestnuts to burst. You see," explained Bert, "there is water inside a chestnut, especially a new one. And when you put a nut on top of the hot stove the water is boiled and turned to steam, just as it is in the tea kettle. Then if the steam can't find any way to get out, as it swells it just bursts the shell of the nut and sends the pieces flying. That's what happened to yours, Freddie. I stuck a fork in each one of mine, and the little holes, made by the fork, let out the steam. Look here."
Freddie went over to the stove to look atthe nuts Bert was roasting. Surely enough, from the tiny holes in each one steam was puffing, almost as if from a little toy engine.
"When all the steam gets out and the nut dries, it begins to roast," said Bert. "You must take yours off the stove and fix them that way, Freddie. I meant to tell you about it, but I forgot."
"Bang!" went another nut, bursting, and Dinah held a pan up in front of her face.
"I don't want t' git shot no mo'!" she said.
Bert helped Freddie fix the chestnuts, putting little holes in them, and then there was no more trouble. They roasted nicely, and when they were cool the children peeled off the dried shells and ate the nuts. Nan and Flossie boiled theirs in salt water, for salt seems to give the chestnuts a better flavor. In fact, salt is good with almost all kinds of nuts.
The twins "traded" their chestnuts, Flossie and Nan giving some of their boiled ones for the roasted ones of Bert and Freddie.
"I think we are going to have a storm," said Mr. Bobbsey as he came in toward bedtime, having gone to the store for Mrs. Bobbsey.
"What sort of storm?" asked Bert.
"A snow storm, I think. It feels that way, and the wind is rising. It's going to blow hard."
"I hope it doesn't blow the house over," said Freddie.
"I think you are safe," answered his father, laughing.
When the Bobbsey twins went to bed that night they could hear the wind moaning and howling around the house. It gave them a "shivery" sort of feeling, and they were glad to cuddle down in their warm beds. Soon they were asleep.
But about the middle of the night Bert and Freddie, who slept in the same room, were awakened by a loud noise.
"What was it?" asked Freddie in a whisper.
"The wind banging a shutter, I guess," Bert answered. "It woke me up. But go to sleep again, Freddie boy."
Just then the banging noise sounded again.
"Yes, it was a shutter," said Bert. "It has blown loose. I can hear daddy getting up to fasten it."
"It certainly is going to be a hard storm," Bert and Freddie heard their father say to their mother. "It's beginning to snow."
"Oh goodie!" whispered Freddie. "Did you hear that, Bert?"
"I certainly did."
"We'll have some fun to-morrow," Freddie went on. "I can go coasting."
"Yes, but go to sleep now," Bert advised.
"I can't, the wind makes so much noise," Freddie answered.
The wind was certainly howling and moaning loudly around the corner of the house. Suddenly there was a big crash on the roof of the kitchen extension near the windows of the room where Freddie and Bert slept. Then, after the first crash, came another.
Something smashed through the glass in the window nearest Freddie's bed and there was a thumping sound on the floor.
"Oh! oh!" cried Freddie throwing off the covers and jumping out. "The house is blowing down! The house is blowing down!"
There was noise enough from the howling wind to make almost any one believe the house really was tumbling down after the crash which seemed to have broken in the window of the boys' room.
"What's the matter in there, Bert?" called Mr. Bobbsey.
"The house is falling down!" cried Freddie. "I'm afraid, Daddy! I want to come in with you."
"Well, come along, sonny," called Mrs. Bobbsey.
Freddie ran out into the hall, where there was a dim light burning. Bert felt the cold wind blowing in on him through the broken window. He could also feel flakes of snow on his face.
"Something really is the matter in here,Dad!" he called. "I guess the house is all right, but our window is broken."
"Did you hear that, Flossie?" asked Nan of her little sister, who was sleeping with her. But they were both awake now. "The wind was so strong that it blew in Bert's window."
"Oh, what a terrible storm," whispered Flossie, covering her head with the clothes. "I don't like it."
By this time Bert had slipped on his bath robe and had gone out into the hall. His father was coming along and, having turned on the electric light in the room where the two boys slept, he saw what had happened.
Both large panes of glass in one window were broken. The shattered glass lay on the carpet and the snow was blowing in, for the white flakes were coming down fast now. And there were also a number of bricks on the floor.
"Oh! oh!" cried Freddie, who had come back with his father. "Some one threw bricks through our window. Was that Jack Frost?"
"I guess it was North Wind," answered Mr. Bobbsey.
"What happened?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
"The wind blew the top of the chimney off," replied her husband, "and some of the bricks crashed through Bert's window. Not much damage done, but the wind and snow are coming in."
"We can't sleep in our room!" cried Freddie. "What are we going to do?"
"I'll close the shutters and fasten a blanket over the window," said Mr. Bobbsey. "That will keep out nearly all the snow. What little wind blows in will not hurt—fresh air in the bedroom is a good thing."
Mr. Bobbsey closed the shutters, and tacked a blanket over the place where the glass was broken out of the window. Then, after he had taken away the bricks and swept up the broken glass so Bert and Freddie would not cut their feet on it, the boys went back to bed again.
It was some little time, though, before they could get to sleep, as the wind seemed to howl ever so much louder now that there was no glass in part of the window to keep out the sound.
"Is it snowing yet?" asked Freddie in awhisper of his brother, after they had been in bed for some time.
"I'll look," offered the older twin.
He slipped out of bed and to the window that had not been broken.
"Yes, it's snowing hard," he said.
"Good!" said Freddie. "We'll have some fine sleighrides."
It was quite cold in the boys' room, with the glass out of the window, for the wind blew through the blanket and shutters. But no more snow came in and the north wind did not knock any more bricks off the chimney. It was only a few loose ones that had come down, anyhow. Most of the chimney was all right.
It was the first snow-storm of the season, and when the Bobbsey twins awakened in the morning the ground was white and the flakes were still falling.
"Oh, what good times we'll have!" cried Nan.
"I'm glad I have my rubber boots!" said Flossie. "I can go wading in the deep drifts."
"Not until the storm stops some," said Mother Bobbsey.
It was Sunday, and the storm kept up all day so hard that the smaller Bobbsey twins could not go to Sunday school, though Nan and Bert managed to get there. And, as it was Sunday, the glass-man could not come to fix the broken window. But the shutters were kept closed, and with a blanket over the holes it was not so bad. Bert and Freddie liked to sleep in a cool room, and never had any heat turned on in their sleeping apartment. Their window was always open a little way, except on the very coldest nights.
The next day a man came to put the fallen bricks back on the chimney, and another man put new glass in the boys' window, so the damage from the storm was soon mended. The storm was over now, though it was cold, and the snow still covered the ground.
Then the Bobbsey twins had great sport. They got out their sleds and went coasting on the hill not far from their house, and when they were tired of this they played in the snow in their yard.
Flossie and Freddie rolled two big snow balls, so large that they were almost as big asthe twins themselves, and finally the balls had in them so much snow that neither Freddie nor Flossie could push them around the yard.
"I'll take them and make them into a snow man for you," offered Bert. He put one snow ball on top of the other, Charley Mason helping him lift it, and then they made a third, smaller ball for the man's head.
Pieces of coal made eyes and nose for the snow man, and Nan gave Bert a bit of her red hair ribbon which, when fastened on the snow face, made it look exactly as if the snow man was sticking out his tongue at you.
His arms were made of long rolls of snow, and one was crossed on his chest, holding a broom. An old hat of Mr. Bobbsey's on top of the snow man's head made him look quite natural.
"Now you can finish the rest of him," said Bert to Flossie and Freddie. "Get some more pieces of coal, and put them down the front."
"What for?" Flossie asked.
"They will look like buttons on his overcoat," answered Bert.
"Oh, let's do it!" cried Freddie.
They did, and when they had finished putting a row of pieces of coal down the front of the snow man, they looked just as Bert had said they would—like buttons on a coat.
"Now let's make a little snow image, and he will be the snow man's little boy," said Freddie, after a bit.
"Oh, that will be nice!" cried Flossie.
The little twins rolled some smaller balls of snow, and, putting them together, as they had seen Bert do, they soon had a little snow boy, which stood beside the big snow man.
While the smaller Bobbsey twins were doing this Bert and Charley were making a snow fort in the back yard. And when it was finished some other boys came along and there was a snow battle. Bert and Charley, inside the fort, threw snowballs at the other boys outside. And every time they threw, Bert and Charley would dodge down behind the walls of the fort, so they were not hit very often.
But finally so many boys crowded around the snow fort, throwing balls from all sides at Bert and Charley, that they could not throw back fast enough, and they had to give up.
"Whoop! Come on, capture the fort!" cried Ned Barton.
Over the walls swarmed the boys, and Bert and Charley were taken "prisoners." Of course it was only in fun, and only soft snowballs, which hurt no one, were used, and all had a good time.
Then other boys took a turn inside the fort, while their chums threw snowballs at them from outside the walls, and the game went on this way, by turns.
"I'm glad it snowed," said Jimmie Heath.
"So am I," added Bert. "We can have such fun. I say, why not build a snow house?" he asked, after they had become tired of playing fort. "The snow is just right for packing."
"All right—a snow house!" cried the other boys. "We'll make one!"
They made a big pile of snow, using some of that which was in the walls of the fort. When the pile was large enough they began to dig out a place inside. This was to be the hollow part of the house, or the main room where they would stay.
Some boys worked at the outside walls, making them straight and smooth, while others took away the snow that Bert and Charlie dug from the inside.
The roof of the snow house was rounding, just like those of the snow houses made by the Eskimos in the arctic region. And finally, when Bert and Charley had the inside scooped out enough for more boys to get in, they all entered and sat about on some boxes which Bert found in the cellar.
The snow house was enjoyed by the boys and the Bobbsey twins for some days. But the sun was melting the snow a little every day, and one afternoon, when Flossie and Freddie came home from school early, and went out to play in the snow house, something happened.
Before long Flossie went to the kitchen to ask Dinah for some cookies to have a make-believe party in the snow house, and when the cook had given them to her, and the little girl was about to come out, she looked from the window and saw a strange sight.
Snap was playing about the yard with another dog. All of a sudden Snap gave a jump, right on top of the snow house, and he wasso heavy, and the roof was so thin, that it caved in. Snap, with a bark, jumped away and ran off with the other dog, but Freddie was held fast by the pile of snow which fell on him, as he was inside.
"Oh! oh!" cried the little fellow, his voice muffled by the pile of snow. "Help me out! Help me out! I'm buried under the snow house! Help me out! Oh, Flossie!"