"Dinah! Dinah!" called Flossie, dropping to the floor the cookies she had gotten to take out to the snow house. "Oh, Dinah! Look at Freddie!"
Dinah hurried to the window.
"Freddie?" she asked. "Freddie? Where am Freddie? I can't see him, so how kin I look at him, Flossie lamb?"
"Oh, you can't see him!" wailed Flossie, "But you can hear him, can't you?"
Dinah listened.
"Help me out! Help me out!" Freddie was crying. His voice was rather faint, for he was under the snow, and it sounded as though he were down in the cellar. But though the snow roof had fallen in when Snap jumped on it, there was a sort of little cave, or hollow around his head so Freddie could call out.
"Don't you hear him?" asked Flossie, who was so excited she did not know what to do. "Don't you hear him, Dinah?"
"Yes, Iheahshim all right," replied the colored cook, "but I can'tseehim, honey lamb."
"He's under the snow! In the snow house!" Flossie went on. "The roof fell on him because Snap jumped on it when I came in here to get the cookies. Oh, Dinah, will you help get him out?"
"Git Freddie lamb out? Course I will! In de snow house wid de roof fell in on him! Oh mah land ob massy!" cried Dinah. "It's jest laik it done happened once befo' when Bert made a bigger house."
She caught up a big spoon, which she used to stir the pancakes, and rushed out to the yard, Flossie running after her. Up to the big pile of snow, which did not look much like a house now, ran the cook. Then, just as she might have stirred a cake with the big spoon, she began digging in the snow. It was almost as good as a shovel.
In a little while Freddie's head was uncovered, and then it was easy to get him out. Hewasn't hurt a bit, only a little scared, and he laughed when Dinah and Flossie brushed the snow off him.
"But you can't brush out what's down my neck, inside my coat," he said, squirming about. "It's cold, and it tickles."
"Snow down inside your clo'hes!" exclaimed Dinah. "Den yo' got t' come right in de house an' hab it tucken out. You'll ketch cold ef yo' don't."
"Maybe you could get it out if you stood me on my head and wiggled me," Freddie said, after thinking about it. "Could you try that, Dinah?"
"Try what, honey lamb?"
"Take hold of my feet, you and Flossie, and stand me on my head. Then the snow will run down from under my coat and I won't have to go in and undress. I don't want to do that. I want to build the snow house up again."
Dinah laughed.
"Ho! ho!" she said. "I'm not gwine t' do such t'ing as dat! No, sah! Yo' come, in de house an' git dry t'ings on," and with that she caught Freddie up under one arm and marchedhim into the house, where he soon changed into dry clothes.
"Now you can go out to play again," his mother said, "but don't go in any snow houses unless you are sure the roof is thick enough to keep from falling in on you. The sun is so warm now, I don't believe it will be safe to make snow houses. Play at something else."
"All right, Mother, we will," promised Flossie and Freddie.
They took the cookies which Flossie had forgotten about in the excitement and, after eating them, the two children made another snow man; for the first one, and his "little boy" as they called him, had melted into mere lumps.
For about a week the weather was warm, and most of the first snow melted. Then came another storm, which covered the ground deep with white flakes, and once more the coasting hill was lively with the shouting, laughing and merry boys and girls.
Flossie and Freddie, as well as Nan and Bert, spent as much time on the coasting hill as their mother would let them. After school every day they were out with their sleds, andon Saturday they were only home for their meals.
Bert and Charley Mason had made a bob-sled, by fastening two sleds together with a long plank. This they covered with a piece of carpet. On this eight or nine boys or girls could sit, while Bert or Charley steered the bob down the hill by a wheel fastened to the front sled.
On the back sled was a bell to warn other coasters out of the way, and sometimes, when there were not many on the hill, Freddie was allowed to sit on the rear sled and ring the bell. He liked that.
Flossie and Freddie each had sleds of their own, and they rode down on them alone, on one side of the hill where the smaller boys and girls kept by themselves.
"For," said Alice Boyd, "we don't want to get run over by the big bob."
"I guess not!" cried Johnnie Wilson. "Some day we'll make a bob ourselves, Freddie."
"That's what we will."
The Bobbsey twins were coasting one day after school, when Freddie saw, walking upthe hill, Tommy Todd, the fresh air boy. Tommy looked tired, for he had just been doing some errands for Mr. Bobbsey.
"Hello, Tommy!" called Freddie. "Why don't you get your sled and have a coast? It's lots of fun."
"Yes, I guess it is," said Tommy, with a smile.
"Then go and get your sled," said Freddie again.
"No, I don't believe I will," Tommy said. And he said it in such a queer way that Nan Bobbsey whispered to Bert:
"I don't believe he has a sled, and he doesn't want to say so."
"I guess that's right," Bert replied. "I'll offer him a ride on our bob."
"That will be nice," Nan said. "He can have my place," for she had been coasting with her brother.
"Wouldn't you like to ride down with us?" asked Bert, of Tommy.
"Wouldn't I though?" cried Tommy, his eyes shining. "Well, I guess I would!"
"Come on, then," cried Bert.
"He can ride on my sled, too," said Freddie.
"And on mine!" added Flossie.
"I guess your sleds are too small," Bert said, with a smile, for Tommy was even bigger than Bert, and Bert could not fit on the sleds of his younger brother and sister any more.
"Thank you, just the same," said Tommy to the little Bobbsey twins. "I'll go down on the big bob. But I'll pull your sleds up the hill for you."
"That will be nice," declared Flossie. "I like riding down hill, but I don't like walking up, and pulling my sled."
Room was made for Tommy on the big bob-sled and he was soon gliding down the long hill, Bert steering. Once or twice the smaller boys or girls, on their little sleds, would edge over toward that part of the hill where the big boys and girls, with their sleds or bob-sleds, were coasting.
"Keep out of the way, little folks!" warned Bert. "There's room enough for you on your own side, and you might be hurt."
"And you two be careful," said Nan to Flossie and Freddie. "Stay on your own side."
The two small twins said they would do so.
"Now for a last coast!" cried Bert, when Tommy had been given a number of rides on the bob-sled. "It's time to go home to supper."
"Maybe we can come out after supper," said Nan. "There's going to be a lovely moon, and coasting by moonlight is fine."
"Maybe we can," Bert said. "Come on, Tommy," he called. "This is our last coast before supper."
"All right," Tommy answered. He had walked up the hill, pulling after him the sleds of Flossie and Freddie, who liked to have him help them in this way.
"Last coast, little ones!" Bert called to the small twins. "Then it's time to go home."
"Whose turn is it to steer?" asked Charley Mason.
"Yours, I guess," Bert answered. "Tommy, you can sit right behind Charley and watch how he does it. Then next time you come out on this hill we'll let you steer."
"Thanks!" exclaimed Tommy. He had been anxious to take hold of the wheel himself, but he did not like to ask.
On the bob-sled the boys and girls took their seats. Bert was on the back sled, to push off and ring the bell.
"All ready?" he called.
"All ready," answered Charley.
Bert gave a push and the bob-sled started down hill. On either side were other bob-sleds and single sleds, while farther off, to the right, were streams of smaller boys and girls.
Clang! Clang! went the bell, as Bert rang it.
The bob-sled was about half-way down the hill when Nan, sitting next to Tommy, who was behind Charley, gave a cry.
"Oh, look!" Nan exclaimed. "Flossie and Freddie! They're going to get right in our way! Steer out, Charley!"
The little Bobbseys, in taking their last coast, had come too near the part of the hill where the big sleds were.
"Flossie! Freddie!" cried Nan. "Look out! Steer away!"
But they did not seem able to do it.
"I guess we won't run into them," Charley said. He was trying as hard as he could to keep to one side.
All at once the bob-sled struck a lump of ice, and the front sled jumped into the air. Charley Mason was jarred so hard that he rolled off. The bob-sled swayed from side to side when no one was steering it.
Then Flossie and Freddie, on their sleds, steered right over in the way of the bob-sled. They could not help it, they said afterward, and that was probably true, for they did not know much about steering sleds.
"Oh!" cried Nan. "We'll run right over them."
But Tommy Todd, who was sitting behind Charley, slid forward as the other boy rolled off, and now Tommy grasped the steering wheel with all his might.
He twisted it around, to send the bob-sled away from Flossie and Freddie, who were almost under the runners now. Bert, who saw what was about to happen, was ringing the bell as hard as he could. The other boys were yelling and the girls were screaming.
"Flossie! Freddie! Fall off your sleds! Roll out of the way!" yelled Nan.
For a moment it seemed as though there would be an accident, in which not only Flossie and Freddie, but some of those on the big bob-sled as well, would be hurt. But Tommy Todd seemed to know just what to do.
"It's all right!" he cried. "Stay on your sleds, Freddie and Flossie. I can steer out of your way."
And Tommy did. But the only way he could avoid hitting the two little twins was to steer the big bob-sled into a bank of soft snow on one side of the hill. This he did, and though he, Nan and some of those sitting in front were covered with a shower of the white flakes, no one was hurt. Flossie and Freddie kept on down the hill on their sleds, scared but not in the least harmed.
"Say, it's a good thing you grabbed thatsteering wheel when you did," said Bert to Tommy, as they all got off the bob-sled.
"I should say so!" cried Ned Barton. "I didn't know you could steer, Tommy."
"I didn't know it myself until I tried," Tommy said, with a smile, as he dug some snow out of his ear. "I knew I justhadto steer, though, when I saw Charley fall off. We didn't want to run over Flossie and Freddie."
"It's a good thing you sat so close to the steering wheel," put in Nan. "You grabbed it just in time."
Flossie and Freddie came walking up the hill, and Charley, who had picked himself up, came walking down. He had not been hurt by his fall.
"Flossie—Freddie, what made you steer over to our side?" asked Bert.
"We couldn't help it," said Freddie.
"Our sleds just did it themselves," went on Flossie. "Did you think we were going to run into you?"
"No, but we almost ran intoyou!" exclaimed Nan. "You must be more careful or mother won't let you come out on the hill again."
"Well, we're tired of coasting now, anyhow," Freddie said. "We're going home."
Most of the others made ready to go home also, for it was nearly supper time.
"That was a fine thing you did—saving my little brother and sister from getting hurt, Tommy," said Bert, as he walked along, pulling the bob-sled after him. "I'll tell my father and mother what you did."
"Oh, that wasn't anything," Tommy said, "Anybody would have done the same if he had been in my place."
"Yes, but not everybody would have steered as quickly as you did. You surely can steer a bob! The next time you come out on the hill I'll let you steer a lot."
"Thanks," answered Tommy.
Mr. Bobbsey was very much pleased that night when he learned how good Tommy had been.
"I must keep an eye on that boy," he said. "I think he will make a good man. I'll help him all I can. He is so anxious to run errands and do work about the lumber yard to earn money. How is his grandmother?" Mr. Bobbsey asked his wife. "Have you been to see her lately?"
"Yes, but she isn't very well. She can't sew as much as she used to, but some ladies and myself are looking after her. Oh, I don't like to think of the danger Flossie and Freddie were in on that hill!"
"Oh, well, maybe they wouldn't have been hurt much," said Bert.
"Just the same, I think they would be safer on a little hill of their own," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Can't you find one for them, Bert?"
"Yes, I guess I could make a hill in the back yard for them."
"Make a hill? Why, Bert Bobbsey, nobody canmakea hill!" cried Freddie. "It just has togrow."
"Well, I think I can make one. Just wait," was what Bert said.
The next Saturday he was busy in the back yard with some boards, a hammer and some nails.
"What are you doing?" asked Freddie, who had gotten up later than usual that morning.
"Making a little hill for you and Flossie."
"You can't do it," said Freddie. "Nobody canmakea hill!"
But he watched what his brother was doing. Bert set some posts in the ground, though it was hard to dig, for the earth was frozen. But the posts did not have to go in very deep. From the top of the posts to the ground Bert next slanted two long boards, bracing them on the under side with shorter posts. Then he made a little platform by nailing boards from the tops of the first two posts to two others which he placed a little back of them.
"Why say, that does begin to look like a hill!" exclaimed Freddie, for the slanting boards were just like a slanting hill of earth. "Only you can't slide down on that 'cause it hasn't any snow on," he said.
"Well, it's easy enough to shovel some snow on, and pack it down hard," answered Bert. "You get your shovel and begin."
Freddie was delighted to do this, and was soon tossing up on the slanting boards shovelful after shovelful of snow. When Bert had finished nailing the platform on top of the posts, which were about seven feet high, hehelped Freddie pile on the snow. When Flossie came out, after her brothers had been working for some time, the little girl cried:
"Oh, how did that hill get in our yard?" for by this time all the wood had been covered with the snow Freddie and Bert had piled on.
"Bertmadethe hill," said Freddie, proudly. "I didn't think he could do it, but he did. I thought hills had to grow."
"It's nice," said Flossie. "But how are we going to walk up to the top to slide down?"
The hill Bert had built was steep. He had made it that way as it had to be short, and he wanted the little coasters to get a "good start."
"I'll fix it so you can get to the top," Bert said. He got some boxes and piled them up, like steps. On these Flossie and Freddie could get on the little square platform which was at the top of the wooden hill, now covered with snow. They could pull their sleds up after them.
At the foot of the hill Bert, with Flossie and Freddie to help him, smoothed out the snow all the way across the yard, packing it hard so the sleds would glide over it easily.
"To-night we'll put some water on and let it freeze," Bert said. "Then you'll have a dandy hill, all your own, and you'll be in no danger from our big bob."
"That's fine!" cried Freddie.
"May we slide down it now?" asked Flossie.
"Yes," Bert told her. She had the first coast. There was only room for one at a time on the hill Bert made, so they had to take turns. Flossie sat on her sled on top of the little platform, and pushed herself off. Down she went with a whizz, half way across the yard.
"Oh, it's fine!" she cried. "I want to coast again!"
"It's Freddie's turn now," said Bert, and down went Freddie.
Then the Bobbsey twins had lots of fun on the "made" hill. They invited Johnnie Wilson and Alice Boyd over to coast with them, and the four little ones had a grand time.
"And they are in no danger, that is the nicest part of it," Mrs. Bobbsey said. "I don't have to worry about them now. I'm so glad you built the hill, Bert."
"I'm going to build something else," said Bert.
"What?" asked Nan.
"Snowshoes," was his answer.
"What are snowshoes?" Freddie demanded
"Shoes made so you can walk on top of the soft snow instead of sinking down in it," Bert replied. "Of course I can't make the kind the Indians and hunters make, which look something like lawn tennis rackets, but I know how to make another kind. I saw a picture of them in a book."
But before Bert started to make his snowshoes he made the little hill better for coasting. That night he poured water on the snow that covered it, and, as the weather was cold, the water and snow froze into a glaring stretch of ice.
And my! how Flossie and Freddie did whizz down the hill on their sleds then. It was perfectly safe, though, for Bert had put little strips of wood on the edges of the wooden hill, so the sleds would not slide off to one side.
When Charley Mason came over to see Bert one day he found his friend busy in the barnwith some barrel staves, old skate straps, a hammer, nails and other things.
"What are you doing?" asked Charley.
"Making snowshoes," Bert answered. "I'm using barrel staves. They are long and broad, and if I can fasten them to my feet with straps I can walk along on top of the snow, and not sink in."
"I don't believe barrel staves will make very good snowshoes," Charley said.
"Just you wait," answered Bert.
He fastened the straps to the middle of the pieces of barrel, and then strapped the strips of wood to his shoes.
"Now watch me!" Bert cried.
Back of the barn was a field covered deep with snow. It had not been trampled down.
"I'm going to walk out there," Bert said.
He shuffled across the floor of the barn. He could only lift his feet up a little way, for if he raised them too far the barrel staves would have become criss-crossed and have tripped him. So Bert had to shuffle along just like a Chinese laundryman who wears those funny straw slippers without any heels.
Charley opened the back door of the barn for Bert, who stepped out into the snow. He shuffled along a little way, and did very well, for the broad, smooth pieces of wood under his feet did not sink down in the snow, which had a hard crust on top.
"See! What did I tell you?" cried Bert to Charley. "I'm walking on the snow all right!"
But just as he said that a queer thing happened. He came to a place where the shining sun had made the snow very soft. In spite of the barrel staves, first one of Bert's feet sank down and then the other. A funny look came over his face.
"What's the matter?" asked Charley, who was watching him.
"I—I'm stuck!" cried Bert. "I can't get my feet up! The staves are caught under the snow, and I can't move! Come and pull me out!"
Charley was laughing so hard at the queer look on Bert's face, and at the funny way in which Bert stood in the snow, that, at first, he did not make a move to go to his chum's help. Then Bert cried again:
"I am stuck I tell you, Charley! Come on and help me. I can't lift my feet."
"Can't you, really?" Charley asked.
"No. The front edges of the barrel staves have slipped under the snow and it's packed on them so I can't raise them."
"All right, I'll help you," said Charley, still laughing. He waded out to where Bert was stuck. Charley's feet sank down deep in the soft snow. "I ought to have a pair of those shoes myself," he said, floundering along.
"Well, don't stop to make them now," said Bert. "Help me first."
But even with Charley's help it was impossible to pull up Bert's feet with the queer wooden shoes on. They had got stuck sideways in the deep snow. Finally Charley said.
"Oh, take 'em off, Bert! Loosen the straps and then you can pull your feet free, and lift up the barrel staves afterward."
"I guess that is the only way," Bert agreed, and he did it. Once his feet were clear of the staves, it was easy enough to raise them up and then he could wade back to the barn, carrying the staves.
"I won't try to go on the soft snow again," he said as he sat down on a box and once more fastened the snowshoes to his feet.
"Do you mean to say you're going to try it again?" asked Charley.
"I surely am," answered Bert. "I'm not going to give up, just because I got stuck once. Why don't you make you a pair of these shoes? There are some more barrel staves, and I'll get you the straps."
"I believe I will," Charley said, and set to work at once. Then he and Bert walked together over the hard frozen snow. As longas they stayed on this, where there was a crust, they were all right. They did not go where the snow was soft, and so they got along very well.
Freddie saw what his brother and Charley were doing, and he cried out:
"I want a pair of snowshoes, too!"
"You're too little," Bert said. But later on he and Charley made Freddie a pair, cutting the long barrel staves in two pieces. But Freddie did not find it as easy as his brother had found it, and he tripped and fell down in the snow, so the older boys had to pick him up. Then the small twin gave up the use of snowshoes.
"I like riding down hill better," he said.
Winter had now set in, with all its cold and snow, around Lakeport, and there were many days of fine coasting. Flossie and Freddie stayed on the hill Bert had made for them in the yard, but Nan and Bert, with their friends, went to the big hill, and used the bob-sled.
Then came a thaw and the coasting was spoiled. There were puddles of water all about, and one day coming home from schoolFreddie slipped and fell right into a puddle which was rather muddy.
"Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, who was walking with him. "Your clothes are all spoiled!"
"Well, I—I couldn't help it," Freddie said, looking down at the dripping mud and water. "I didn't see the slippery place."
"You must hurry home as soon as you can, and change into dry things, Freddie," said Nan, who was on the other side of the street with Ellen Moore and Nellie Parks. Nan had seen her little brother fall. "Run," Nan went on, "I'll hold your hand so you won't fall again."
Freddie gave his books to Flossie to carry, and he hurried on with Nan, running so he would be warmer and not take cold, for though the snow was melting it was still Winter.
As Nan and Freddie reached the house, they heard several persons talking in the parlor.
"Oh, there's company!" cried Nan. "They mustn't see you, Freddie, looking like this. I'll take you up the back stairs and change your clothes myself, or get Dinah to. Come on."
But just as Nan and Freddie were about toslip past the parlor door Mrs. Bobbsey came out to see who had come in, and with her came a boy about Bert's age. At the sight of him Freddie cried:
"Why, it isn't company. It's cousin Harry!"
"Oh, Freddie! What happened to you?" his mother asked.
"I—I fell down in a puddle," said the little boy. "But I couldn't help it, Mother. Oh, Harry, I'm glad you've come!" Freddie went on. "We can slide down hill—— Oh, no, we can't either," he said quickly. "All the snow is melted. But Bert made a hill in our back yard and when it snows again we'll have lots of fun on it. Did Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah come?"
"Yes, we're here," said Aunt Sarah herself, coming to the door. "Oh, but mercy, child! What happened?"
"Fell in a mud puddle," answered Freddie. "Where's Uncle Dan?"
"In there, talking to daddy," replied Mrs. Bobbsey. "But don't stand here talking, Freddie. Cousin Harry will excuse you until you change your clothes."
"Of course," answered Harry. "Where's Bert?" he asked of Nan.
"Coming along with Charley Mason. They're just down the street. I hurried on with Freddie."
"I guess I'll go to meet him," said Harry. "I'll see you when I come back, Freddie, and be sure you're good and dry."
"I will," promised the little chap, as his mother led him upstairs. "How long can Cousin Harry stay, Mother?" Freddie asked.
"Oh, about a week I guess."
"I hope he can stay until there's more snow."
Uncle Daniel, with Aunt Sarah and Harry, had come from Meadow Brook to pay a visit in Lakeport, just as Cousin Dorothy had come from the seashore some time before.
A little later, when Freddie had on dry clothes, he and Bert, with Harry and Charley, went out in the barn to play. Nan had to go to the store for her mother.
Freddie's hope that snow would come soon was not to be gratified—at least right away. The weather remained warm for nearly a week,and what little snow was left melted. Bert and Charley had no chance to show Harry how they could walk on the barrel-stave shoes. But Harry noticed how they were made, and said when he went back to Meadow Brook he was going to make a pair for himself.
Then one night the weather suddenly turned cold. It was a cold "snap," as Mr. Bobbsey said, and certainly there was "snap" to it, for the cold made the boards of the house crack and snap like a toy pistol.
"My, but it's cold!" exclaimed Nan, as she came down to breakfast.
"Just what we want!" cried Bert. "Eh, Harry?"
"Sure. This will make skating all right. Do you think the lake will be frozen over?"
"We can soon find out," Bert said. "I'll telephone down to dad's office and ask. One of the men can look out of the window and tell. If it is frozen we'll take our skates down and have some fun."
"I didn't bring any skates," Harry said.
"I've some extra pairs," said Bert "I guess one of 'em will fit you."
He called up his father's bookkeeper on the telephone, and word came back over the wire that Lake Metoka was frozen solidly, and that already some boys were out on it, gliding along.
"Hurrah!" cried Bert, when he heard this. "Talk about good luck! And to-day's Saturday, too!"
A pair of skates was found to fit Harry and the two larger boys, with Freddie trailing along behind, soon went down to the lake. They were well wrapped up to keep out the cold. Nan said she would come down later with Flossie.
"I have to practise my music first," said Nan.
Bert and Harry were good skaters, and Freddie did very well too, for his age. But he could cut none of the "fancy figures" as did his brother and cousin. Freddie was satisfied to glide around with some of the smaller boys he knew.
"Will you be all right, if Harry and I have a race down at the lower end of the lake?" asked Bert, after a bit.
"Course I will," said Freddie.
"Well, then we'll leave you for a little while. But don't go over near the point," warned Bert. "It isn't frozen so solidly there. The ice is thin and you may go through. Keep away from the point."
"I will," promised Freddie. The point was where some land curved out into the lake, making a sort of little cove, and as this was a sheltered place the ice had not frozen so thick there.
Bert and Harry raced away, to see who would first get to a certain point, while Freddie stayed with his little chums. Pretty soon, however, Freddie felt cold.
"I'm going in my father's office to get warm," he said to Johnnie Wilson who was with him. "Come on."
The two little chaps were soon in the warm office of the lumber yard. Freddie saw Tommy Todd come in, having been on an errand to the post-office for Mr. Bobbsey.
"Hello, Tommy!" called Freddie, who was warming his hands at the stove. "Why don't you go skating?"
"Haven't any skates," was the answer, and Tommy smiled. He was poor, and did nothave any of the playthings other boys had, but for all that he was not cross or gloomy. "Besides, if I did have a pair I couldn't go. I have to work to-day," Tommy went on.
"Oh, I could let you have some time off to go skating, if you wanted to," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"Well, I would like it, if I had the skates," Tommy said. "But, as I haven't, I'll stay and run errands for you."
"You could take my skates, while I'm getting warm," Freddie said. "I guess I'll be quite a while getting warm, too, for it's awful cold out."
"Your skates are too small, I'm afraid," said Tommy.
"Bert has an extra pair. I heard him say so when he gave those to Harry," put in Freddie. "Couldn't Tommy take them, Daddy?"
"Why, yes, I think so. If you want to go up to the house after them I'll telephone Mrs. Bobbsey to have them ready for you," the lumber merchant said to his errand boy.
"Oh, yes, sir, I should like it! I haven't skated for a long time."
Mr. Bobbsey telephoned, and a little later Tommy was gliding about the frozen lake on a pair of Bert's skates, which, however, were quite good. Bert had laid them aside when he had been given a pair of shoe hockeys.
"Well, I'm warm enough now," said Freddie to Johnnie, after a bit. "Shall we go out and skate some more?"
Johnnie was willing and out they went. It seemed a little warmer now, for the sun was up higher. Many skaters were on the lake. All at once Freddie saw Tommy skating over toward the place which Bert had spoken of as not being safe.
"Tommy! Tommy!" cried Freddie. "Don't go there. The ice is too thin!"
But he was too late. Straight toward the point Tommy glided and the next minute there was a cracking of the ice and Tommy went down out of sight.
"Oh, Tommy's in! Tommy's in!" cried Freddie, as he saw what had happened. "Oh, he'll be drowned!"
"Let's see if we can get him out!" shouted Johnnie.
"No, we mustn't go near that place. It's dangerous—Bert said so!" said Freddie. "I'll run and tell my father. He'll know what to do."
And this, really, was the wise thing to do, for such little boys as Freddie and Johnnie could not do much toward getting Tommy out of the cold water. Some other skaters, seeing what had happened, were gliding toward the big hole which had opened in the ice, and more boys or girls might have fallen in had not a man, who was skating near them, warned them away.
"Keep back!" shouted the man. "If you go too near, the ice will give way with you. I'll see if I can get him out."
By this time Tommy's head was to be seen above the water. He knew how to swim, but one cannot do much swimming in ice-cold water, and with skates on one's feet, besides wearing heavy clothing. Poor Tommy was in a sad plight.
"Help! Help!" he called.
"Yes, I'll help you as soon as I can," answered the man. "I must get a plank to put down on the ice, though, so it will bear my weight."
A plank on thin ice acts just as Bert's snowshoes did on the snow, it holds a person up, keeping him from breaking through.
While the man was running toward the piles of lumber in Mr. Bobbsey's yard, which was on the edge of the lake, Freddie and Johnnie, not stopping to take off their skates, ran toward the office where Freddie's father was.
By this time the men in the lumber office, looking out on the lake, had seen that something was wrong. And they guessed whatsort of accident it was. Some of them ran out, and Mr. Bobbsey followed them.
"Oh, Daddy!" cried Freddie, when he saw his father. "He's in!"
"Who? Not Bert or Harry, I hope!"
"No, it's Tommy Todd—you know the boy——"
"Yes, yes! I know him. He went through the ice, did he? Here, men, get a rope to throw to him. The ice is too thin to go close enough to reach his hand. We must pull him out with a rope."
There were ropes in the office, to be used in tying loads of lumber on the delivery wagons, and Mr. Bobbsey caught up a coil and ran toward the place where Tommy was struggling in the water.
By this time the man who had warned the other skaters away had found two planks. He carried them as near to the edge of the hole through which Tommy had fallen as was safe. Then Mr. Bobbsey came with the rope. He walked out on the planks and called to Tommy.
"Catch hold of the rope, Tommy, and we'll pull you out!" shouted Mr. Bobbsey.
He tossed one end of the rope to the boy in the water, but it fell short. Pulling it back to him Mr. Bobbsey tossed it again. This time a coil fell near Tommy's hand. He grasped it and then Mr. Bobbsey and the other man, who was Mr. Randall, pulled Tommy out on the solid ice. Poor Tommy could hardly breathe.
"We must get him to a warm place at once!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll carry him to my office. There's a roaring hot fire there, and if we wrap him well in blankets we may keep him from getting cold."
In his arms Mr. Bobbsey carried the dripping lad. Luckily Tommy had kept his lips closed when he fell into the water, and he knew enough not to breathe when his head was under, so he had not swallowed too much water. But he was wet through, and ice-cold.
Mr. Randall first warned the other boys and girls about going too near the hole, then he stuck one of the planks up near it, with a piece of rag on it as a danger signal.
Beside the warm fire in the lumber office Tommy was undressed and wrapped in warm blankets. One of the men made some hotcocoa, and when Tommy drank this he felt much better.
"But you can't put on your clothes for a long time—not until they are well dried," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I guess Bert has an extra suit that will fit you. I'll telephone to my wife and have her send it here."
Sam, who was Dinah's husband, came a little later with an old suit of Bert's, and Mrs. Bobbsey sent word that Tommy was to keep it, as Bert did not need it any longer.
"But it's a fine suit for me," said Tommy, when he was dressed in it. "I guess it was lucky I fell in the water—I got some nice clothes by it."
"But don't fall in again even for that," said Mr. Bobbsey with a laugh. "You may take cold yet."
But Tommy did not. One of Mr. Bobbsey's friends happened to stop at the office on business, and, having a closed automobile, he offered to take Tommy home, so the boy would not have to go out in the cold air after his unexpected bath in the lake.
Bert and Harry, on coming back after theirrace to the lower end of the lake, were surprised to learn what had happened to Tommy. And when he had had enough of skating Bert said he would go and see if Tommy had reached home safely, and if Mrs. Todd needed anything.
Bert and Harry, who went with him, found Tommy sitting near the fire in the humble home near the city dumps.
"I'm glad I don't live here," said Harry, as he looked around before entering the house.
"I am too," added Bert. "It isn't very nice. I suppose when Tommy's father was alive they had things much nicer."
Tommy smiled at his two boy callers.
"This isn't working," he said. "And I ought to be at work, for it's Saturday and I do most of my errands then. But grandmother thought I ought to get warmed through before going out again."
"I guess that's right," said Bert. "How is your grandmother? Father told me to ask."
"She isn't very well," Tommy answered. "In fact, she had to go to bed after I came home. She says she feels sick."
"Maybe she ought to have a doctor," said Bert.
"Don't let her hear you say that," whispered Tommy. "She's in the next room, and she doesn't like to think of calling in a doctor. She says she hasn't any money to pay him."
"But that's not right," Bert began. "She ought to——"
Just then Harry nudged his cousin, and winked his eye in a way Bert understood. So Bert did not finish what he had started to say. Instead he remarked:
"Is there anything we can do for you, Tommy?"
"No, thank you, I guess not," answered the other. "I'm all right now, and I don't believe I'll take cold."
When Bert and Harry were outside and on their way home, Bert asked:
"What did you punch me for in there?"
"I didn't want you to talk so much about a doctor. I guess they haven't any money to pay one."
"No, I guess they haven't."
"But what's the matter with my paying forone to make a visit?" asked Harry. "Dad gave me some money to spend when I came on this visit, and I have most of it left. You've been doing all the treating. And you gave Tommy that suit; so I want to pay for a doctor's visit."
"We'll ask mother about it," said Bert. "I guess it would be better to have a doctor see Mrs. Todd."
Mrs. Bobbsey said it was very kind of Harry to think of using his pocket money to pay for a doctor for the sick.
"But you will not need to," she said. "There are physicians paid by the city to visit the poor. But I think we will have our own Dr. Young call and see her. The city physicians have enough to do in the Winter when there is so much illness. I'll send Dr. Young, and pay him myself."
Afterward Dr. Young told Mrs. Bobbsey that Mrs. Todd was not dangerously ill. She needed a tonic, perhaps, and this he gave her.
"But what she needs, most of all," he said, "is to get into a better house. It is not healthful down there. And she needs more and better food."
"Then I'll look after her," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I belong to a club, the ladies of which are glad to help the poor. We will make Mrs. Todd our special case. I'll see what we can do about getting her into a better house, too. She is a very good woman and Mr. Bobbsey says he never had a better errand boy than Tommy."
Mrs. Bobbsey and the members of her club did many things for Mrs. Todd and Tommy. They planned to have them move into another house, but as the weather was very cold they decided that it was better for Mrs. Todd that she should wait a bit before making the change. Mrs. Bobbsey often sent good food to Tommy's grandmother. Sometimes Bert or Nan took the basket, and, when the weather was nice, Flossie and Freddie were allowed to go.
One Saturday afternoon about a week after the country visitors had gone home, when Dinah had finished baking bread, cake and pies, Mrs. Bobbsey said:
"I wish Mrs. Todd had some of these good things. But I haven't time to go down there to-day, and Bert and Nan are away."
"Let us go, Mother," begged Flossie. "Freddie and I can carry the basket easily."
"Well, I suppose you could," said Mrs. Bobbsey slowly. "It isn't very cold out to-day, though it looks as if it would snow. But perhaps it won't until you get back. You know the way to Mrs. Todd's now, and it isn't too far for you. But hurry back."
The little twins promised, and were soon on their way. They had often gone on long walks by themselves, for they knew their way fairly well about the city, and down toward Tommy's house there were few wagons or automobiles, so it was safe for them.
Carrying the basket of good things Flossie and Freddie were soon at the place where Mrs. Todd lived.
"You are good little ones to come so far to bring an old woman something to eat," said Mrs. Todd, with a smile, when she opened the door. "Come in and sit by the fire to get warm."
"We can't stay very long," said Flossie.
But she and Freddie stayed longer than they meant to, for Mrs. Todd knew many storiesand she told the little twins two or three as they sat by the fire.
"Oh, it's snowing—snowing hard!" said Freddie suddenly, as he looked out of the window when Mrs. Todd had finished a story about a little red hen.
"Then we must hurry home," said Flossie.
They put on their wraps and overshoes and, bidding Mrs. Todd good-bye, off they went. But they had no sooner got outdoors than they found themselves in a bad storm. The wind was blowing hard, and the white flakes were swirling all around them.
"Why—why, I can hardly see!" cried Flossie. "It's just like a fog."
"And—and it's hard to breathe," said Freddie. "The wind blows right down my mouth."
"We could walk backwards and then it wouldn't," said Flossie, and they tried that for a while.
The children had been out in storms before, but they could not remember ever having been in one where the snow was so thick. As Flossie had said, she could hardly see because there were so many flakes coming down.
"Take hold of my hand, Freddie, and don't let go," said Flossie to her brother. "We don't want to get lost."
Along the street they walked as best they could, sometimes going backward so the wind would not blow in their faces so hard, and when they walked with their faces to the wind they held down their heads.
"Are we 'most home?" asked Flossie after a while.
"Well, I don't see our house," replied Freddie. "We've come far enough to be there, too."
They walked on a little farther and then Freddie stopped.
"What's the matter?" asked Flossie.
"I can't see any houses, or anything," answered her brother. "I—I guess we've come the wrong way, Flossie. I don't know where we are."
"Do you mean we—we're lost, Freddie?"
"I'm afraid so."
The two Bobbsey twins stood in the snowstorm, looking at each other. Though they were both brave they were rather worried now, for they did not know which way to go to get home. If there had been no snow it would have been easy, but the white flakes were so thick that they could hardly see ten feet ahead of them.
"What are we going to do, Freddie?" Flossie asked.
"Well, I don't know," he answered. "I guess we'll just have to keep on walking until we come to a house, and then we can ask which way our home is. Maybe somebody in the house will take us home."
"But we can't see any houses. How can we ask?" said Flossie, and her voice was trembling.
Indeed, the storm was so thick that no houses were in sight. There might have been some near by, but the children could not see any.
Nor were any persons to be seen passing along the street. If there had been, one of them might easily have set the twins right. But the truth of it was that Flossie and Freddie had taken the wrong turn in coming out of Mrs. Todd's house, and instead of walking toward their home they had, in the confusion of the storm, walked right away from it. Every step they took put them farther and farther away from their own house.
And now, as they learned later, they were on the far edge of the city of Lakeport, beyond the dumps, on what was called the "meadows." In Summer this was a swamp, but with the ground frozen as it was it was safe to walk on it. But no houses were built on it, and there were only a few lonely paths across this meadow stretch.
In the Summer a few men cut a coarse kind of hay that grew on the meadows, but as hay-cutting is not done in Winter no one now had any reason for going to the meadows.
"Well, we mustn't stand still," said Flossie, after a bit.
"Why not?" asked Freddie. "Can't you stand still when you're tired?"
"Not in a snowstorm," Flossie went on with a shake of her head. "If you stand still or lie down you may go to sleep, and when you sleep in the snow you freeze to death. Don't you remember the story mother read to us?"
"Yes," answered Freddie. "But I don't feel sleepy now, so it's all right to stand still a minute while I think."
"What are you thinking about?" asked his sister.
"I'm trying to think which way to go. Do you know?"
Flossie looked all about her. It was snowing harder than ever. However, it was not very cold. Indeed, only that they were lost, the Bobbsey twins would have thought it great fun to be out in the storm.
They were well wrapped up, and they had on high rubbers, so they were not badly off except for being lost. That was not any fun, of course.
"Do you know where we are?" asked Freddie of his sister.
"No," she answered, "I don't. It doesn't look as if we were on any street at all. Look at the tall grass all around us."
Standing up through the snow was the tall meadow grass that had not been cut. Freddie looked at it.
"Oh, now I know where we are!" he cried. "We're down on the meadows. Bert brought me here once when he was looking for muskrats. He didn't get any, but I remember how tall the grass grew. Now I know where we are."
"All right, then you can take me home," Flossie said. "We're not lost if you know where we are."
"But I don't know which way our house is," Freddie went on, "and I can't see to tell with all these flakes coming down. I'll have to wait until it stops."
"S'posin' it doesn't stop all night?" asked Flossie.
"Oh, I guess it will," said Freddie. "Anyhow, we know where we are. Let's walk onand maybe we'll get off the meadows and on to a street that leads to our house."
Flossie was glad to walk, as it was warmer than when standing still; and so she and Freddie went on. They did not know where they were going, and, as they found out afterward, they went farther and farther from their home and the city with every step.
"Oh, look!" suddenly cried Flossie.
"What is it?" asked her brother, stumbling over a little pile of snow as he hurried up beside his sister, who had gone on ahead of him. "Did you find the right path, Flossie? But then I don't believe you did. I don't believe anybody, not even Santa Claus himself, could find a path in this snow storm."
"Yes he could," insisted Flossie. "Santa Claus can do anything. He could come right down out of the sky now, in his reindeer sleigh, and take us home, if he wanted to."
"Well, then," said Freddie, shaking his head as a snowflake blew into his ear and melted there with a ticklish feeling, "I just wish hewouldcome and take us home. I'm—I'm getting tired, Flossie."
"So'm I. But I did see something, Freddie," and the little girl pointed ahead through the drifting flakes. "It wasn't the path, though."
"What'd you see?" demanded Freddie, rubbing his eyes so he could see more clearly.
"That!" and Flossie pointed to a rounded mound of snow about half as high as her head. It was right in front of her and Freddie.
"Oh, it's a little snow house!" cried Freddie.
"That's what I thought it was," Flossie went on. "Some one must have been playing out here on the meadows, and made this little house. It's awful small, but maybe if we curl up and stick our legs under us, we can get inside out of the storm."
"Maybe we can!" cried Freddie. "Let's try."
The children walked around the pile of snow, looking for the hole, such as they always left when they built snow houses.
"The front door is closed," said Freddie. "I guess they shut it after them when they went away."
"Maybe they're inside now," remarked Flossie. "If we knocked maybe they would let us in. Only it will be awful crowded," and she sighed. She was very cold and tired, and was worried about being lost. It was no fun, and she would have been glad to go inside the little snow house, even though some one else were in it also.
"There's no place to knock," Freddie said, as he looked about on every side of the round pile of snow. "And there's no door-bell. The next time I make a snow house, Flossie, I'm going to put a front door-bell on it."
"That'll be nice," his sister said. "But, Freddie, never mind about the door-bell now. Let's get inside. I'm awful cold!"
"So'm I. And another snowflake just went into my ear. It makes me wiggle when it melts and runs down inside."
"I like to wiggle," Flossie said. "I'm going to open my ears real wide and maybe a snowflake will get in mine. Does it feel funny?"
"Terribly funny. But you can't open your ears any wider than they are now, Flossie. They're wide open all the while—not like your eyes that you can open and shut part way."
"Maybe I can open my ears wider," Flossie said. "I'm going to try, anyhow."
She stood still in the snow, wrinkling her forehead and making funny "snoots" as Freddie called them, trying to widen her ears. But she gave it up finally.
"I guess I can't get a snowflake to tickle me," she said with a sigh.
"You can have the next one that goes into my ear," offered Freddie. "But they melt so soon and run down so fast that I don't see how I am going to get them out."
"Never mind," said Flossie. "I can get a snowflake in my ear when I get home. Just now let's see if we can't get inside this little house. If the door is frozen shut, maybe you can find a stick and poke it open. Look for a stick, Freddie."
"All right, I will," and Freddie began kicking away at the snow around his feet, hoping to turn up a stick. This he soon did.
"I've found one!" he cried. "Now we can get in and away from the storm. I'll make a hole in the snow house!"
With the stick, which was a piece of flatboard, Freddie began to toss and shovel aside the snow. The top part came off easily enough, for the flakes were light and fluffy. But underneath them there was a hard, frozen crust and this was not so easily broken and tossed aside. But finally Freddie had made quite a hole, and then he and Flossie saw something queer. For, instead of coming to the hollow inside of the snow house, the little boy and girl saw a mass of sticks, dried grass and dirt. Over this was the snow, and it was piled up round, like the queer houses the Eskimos make in the Arctic regions.
"Oh, look!" cried Flossie. "It isn't a snow house at all. It's just a pile of sticks."
"Maybe it's a stick house, with snow on the outside," Freddie said. "I'm going to dig a little deeper."
He did so, tossing aside the grass, sticks and dirt. Flossie was watching him, and suddenly the two children saw something moving down in the hole that Freddie had dug. Presently a furry nose was thrust out, and two bright, snapping eyes looked at them.
"Oh, see! What is it?" cried Flossie.
Freddie dropped his stick shovel, and stumbled back. Flossie went with him. The sharp, furry nose was thrust farther out, and then they could see that it was the head of some animal, looking at them from inside the snow-covered stick house.
"Some one lives there after all," whispered Flossie. "Is it a—a bear, Freddie? If it is, we'd better run."
"Bears don't live in houses like this," said her brother. "They sleep all winter in hollow logs."
"Well, what is it then?" Flossie questioned, "Will it come after us?"
But the little animal seemed satisfied to look out of the hole in its house to see who had done the mischief. Then it began pulling the sticks and grass back into place with its paws and jaws.
"Oh, I know what it is!" Freddie cried. "It's a muskrat. They live in these mounds on the meadows. Bert told me so. This one's house looked extra big because it was all covered with snow. There wouldn't be room for us inside there, Flossie."
"I'm glad of it," answered the little girl. "I wouldn't want to crawl in with a lot of rats."
"Muskrats are nice," Freddie said. "Bert told me so."
"Well, I don't like 'em!" declared Flossie. "Come on, Freddie. Let's get away from here. That muskrat might chase us for breaking in his house, though we didn't mean to do any harm. Come on, Freddie," and the two little ones went on once more.
The storm was growing worse, and it was getting dark now with the heavy clouds up above.
"Say, Freddie," said Flossie, after a bit, "I'm tired. Why don't we holler?"
"Holler?" asked Freddie, trying to turn his overcoat collar closer around his neck. "What do we want to holler for?"
"For help," answered Flossie. "Don't you know, in books and stories, every time people get lost they holler for help?"
"Oh, that's right," Freddie said. "I forgot about that. Well, we can holler."
The twins shouted as loudly as they could, but their voices were not very strong, and thewind was now blowing so hard that even if any one had been near at hand he could hardly have heard the little ones calling.
"Help! Help!" shouted Flossie and Freddie together several times.
They listened, but all they could hear was the howling of the wind and the swishing of the snowflakes.
"Well, let's walk on some more," said Freddie, after a bit. "No use standing here."
"And it isn't much use walking on," returned Flossie; and her voice trembled. "We don't know where we're going."
Still she followed as Freddie trudged on.
"You walk behind me, Flossie," he said, "and that will keep some of the wind off you."
"Thank you, Freddie," was Flossie's answer. "But I'd rather walk by the side of you. You—you can hold my hand better then."
Hand in hand the twins went on. The wind seemed to blow all ways at once, and always in the faces of the tots. All at once, as Freddie made a stop to get his breath, he gave a shout.
"What's the matter?" asked Flossie. "Do you see something?"
"Yes, I guess it's a house," Freddie answered. "Look!"
He pointed to something that loomed up black in the midst of the cloud of snowflakes.
"I guess we'll be all right now," Flossie said. "We'll go in there and ask our way home."
But when they reached the black object they found that it was only an old shed which had been used to store some meadow hay. The door of the shed was shut, but Freddie tried to open it.
"We can go in there to get warm," he said, "if I can open it."
"I'll help you," said Flossie.
The two were struggling with the latch of the door when they saw some black object coming toward them out of the storm.
"Oh, maybe it's a cow," said Flossie.
"It's a man," cried Freddie, and so it proved. A tall, nice-looking man, his black beard white with snow, walked toward the children.
"Well, well!" he cried. "What does this mean? Such little tots out in this storm!"
"We're lost!" said Flossie.
The strange man laughed.
"Lost? So am I!" he cried. "It isn't the first time, either. I've been lost a whole lot worse than this. Now, as we're lost together, we'll see if we can't get found together. Here, we'll go in out of the storm a minute and you can tell me about yourselves."
With one pull of his strong arms he opened the shed door and went inside with Flossie and Freddie.