CHAPTER I THE TRAIN WRECK "Come on, let\'s make a snow man!" cried Bert Bobbsey, as he ran about in the white drifts of snow that were piled high in the yard in front of the house. "That\'ll be lots of fun!" chimed in Freddie Bobbsey, who was Bert\'s small brother. "We can make a man, and then throw snowballs at him, and he won\'t care a bit; will he, Bert?" "No, I guess a snow man doesn\'t care how many times you hit him with snowballs," laughed the older boy, as he tried to catch a dog that was leaping about in the drifts, barking for joy. "The more snowballs you throw at a snow man the bigger he gets," said Bert. "Oh, Bert Bobbsey, he does not!" cried a girl with dark hair and sparkling brown eyes, as she ran along with a smaller girl holding her red-mittened hand. "A snow man can\'t grow any bigger! What makes you tell Freddie so?" "Course a snow man can grow bigger!" declared Bert. "A snowball grows bigger the more you roll it in the snow, doesn\'t it?" "Yes," admitted Nan—Nan being the name of the brown-eyed girl, Bert\'s twin sister. "I know a snowball grows bigger the more you roll it, but you don\'t roll a snow man!" went on the brown-eyed girl. "Ho, ho! wouldn\'t that be funny?" laughed the little girl, whose handNan held. "What would be funny, Flossie?" asked Freddie, and one look at the two smaller Bobbsey children would have told you that they, too, were twins. In fact the four Bobbseys were twins—that is there were two sets of them—Bert and Nan, and Flossie and Freddie. "What would be funny?" Freddie wanted to know. "Tell me! I want to laugh." "Yes, you generally do want to laugh, little fireman!" and Bert Bobbsey laughed himself as he gave his small brother the pet name that Daddy Bobbsey had thought up some time ago. "But, as Flossie says, it would be funny to see a snow man rolling around in the drifts to make himself bigger," went on Bert. "But you said he\'d get bigger if we threw snowballs at him," insistedNan. "And he will," went on Bert. "You see, a snowball gets bigger when you roll it around the yard, because more snow keeps sticking to it all the while. And if we make a snow man and then throw little snowballs at him, these snowballs will stick to him and he\'ll grow bigger, won\'t he?" "Oh, I didn\'t know you meant that way!" and now Nan, herself, began to laugh. Of course Flossie and Freddie joined in, though I am not sure that they knew what the joke was all about, but they were having fun in the snow and that was all they cared for. It was a fine snow storm, at least for the Bobbsey twins and the other children of Lakeport. It was not too cold, and the white flakes had come down so fast that there was now enough snow to make many snow men and snowballs, and leave plenty for coasting down hill. The Bobbsey twins had hurried out to play in the snow as soon as they got home from school, and now they were having fine fun. Snap, their dog, was playing with them, leaping about in the drifts, diving through them, as the Bobbsey twins had seen swimmers dive through waves down at the seashore and Snap would come out on the other side of the drift all covered with white flakes, as though he were a snow dog....

CHAPTER I UNDER THE HAY "This is \'most as much fun as we had on Blueberry Island, or when we went to Florida on the deep, blue sea, isn\'t it, Bert?" asked Nan Bobbsey, as she sat on the porch and fanned herself with her hat. She and her brother had been running around the house, playing a new game, and Nan was warm. "Yes, it\'s fun all right," agreed Bert. "But I liked the deep, blue sea better—or even Blueberry Island," and off came his hat to cool his flushed face, for, though it was late in September, the day was warm. "But we couldn\'t stay on the island, always," went on Nan. "We have to go to school, daddy says!" "Don\'t speak about it!" begged Bert. "I don\'t want to go to school for a long, long time, and not then!" "Have we got to go to school?" asked a little light-haired and blue-eyed girl, as she ran up the steps, to sink in a heap at the feet of her sister, Nan Bobbsey. "When do we go?" she went on. "Oh, not right away, \'little fat fairy!\'" laughed Nan, giving Flossie the name her father sometimes called her. "School won\'t open for two weeks more." "Hurray!" cried Bert. "The longer it stays closed the better I like it.But come on, Nan! Let\'s have some more fun. This isn\'t like BlueberryIsland, sitting still on a porch!" "You haven\'t sat still more than three minutes, Bert Bobbsey!" cried his sister. "I can hardly get my breath, you made me run so fast!" Just then a little boy, who had the same sort of blue eyes and golden hair that made Flossie such a pretty little girl, came tumbling up the steps with a clatter and a bang, falling down at Bert\'s feet. The older boy caught his small brother just in time, or there might have been a bumped nose. "Hi there, Freddie, what\'s the matter?" asked Bert, with a laugh. "Is our dog Snap chasing you, or have you been playing a trick on our cat Snoop?" "I—I—I\'m a—a fireman!" panted Freddie. for he, too, was out of breath from running. "I\'m a fireman, and I—I\'ve got to get the engine. There\'s a big, big fire!" and his eyes opened wide and round. "A big fire—really?" asked Nan quickly. "Course not! He\'s only making believe!" replied Bert. "Well, I thought maybe he might have seen some boys start a bonfire somewhere," explained Nan. "They sometimes do." "I know they do," admitted Bert. "And I hope they don\'t start one near daddy\'s lumberyard." "There was a fire down in the lumber once!" exclaimed Freddie. He was too young to have seen it, but he had heard his father and mother talk about the time Mr. Bobbsey\'s lumberyard was nearly burned out. Freddie Bobbsey was very fond of a toy fire engine he had been given for Christmas, and his father often called Freddie a "little fireman," just as Flossie was named a "fairy." "Well, if it\'s only a make-believe fire we can sit here and cool off," went on Nan. "What were you doing, Flossie?" she asked her little sister. "Oh, I was having a race with our cat Snoop; but I guess I beat, \'causeSnoop didn\'t get here to the porch before I did." "Yes, you won the race all right," laughed Bert....

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BAD NEWS "Why, Grace, what in the world is the matter? You\'ve been crying!" "Yes, I have, Betty. But don\'t mind me. It\'s all so sudden. Come in. I shall be all right presently. Don\'t mind!" Grace Ford tried to repress her emotion, but the cause of her tears was evidently too recent, or the effort at self-control too much for her, for she gave way to another outburst, sobbing this time on the shoulder of Betty Nelson, who patted her sympathetically, and murmured soothingly to her chum. "But what is it, Grace?" Betty asked, after waiting a minute. "I—I\'ll tell you in a moment or two, Betty. Just—just wait," and the tall, graceful girl made a more successful effort to master her feelings. "Here come Amy and Mollie," went on Betty, as she glanced from the library window and saw two girls walking up the path opened across the lawn through the mass of newly fallen snow. "Do you want to meet them, Grace; or shall I say you don\'t feel well—have a headache? They\'ll understand. And perhaps in a little while——" "No—no, Betty. It\'s sweet of you to want to help me; but Amy and Mollie might just as well know now as later. I\'ll be able to see them—in a little while. It—it\'s all so sudden." "But what does it all mean, Grace? I can\'t understand. Is anyone dead—or—or hurt?" and Betty Nelson, who had called at the house of Grace to talk over plans for a dance they were going to attend the following week, looked anxiously at her chum. Only the day before Grace had seemed like her nearly-always jolly self. She and her three chums, including Betty, had been down town shopping, and Grace, as usual, had indulged in chocolates—her one failing, if such it can be called. "Surely she can\'t be ill," thought Betty. "Ill from too many chocolates? I\'ve seen her take twice as many as she did yesterday, and she doesn\'t look ill." With this half-formed thought in her mind Betty looked more critically at her chum. Aside from the tears—which seldom add to a girl\'s beauty—there was no change in Grace Ford. That is, no change except one caused by something rather mysterious, Betty thought—something that was hard for Grace to tell, but which had deeply affected her. There came a ring at the door. Betty started toward it from the library, where she and Grace had gone when Grace let her chum in a short time before. "Shall I answer, Grace?" inquired Betty, hesitating. "Yes, do, please. I think Katy is with mamma. She took the news very much to heart. Let Amy and Mollie in, and then I\'ll tell you all about it. Oh, but I don\'t know what to do!" "Now look here, Grace Ford!" exclaimed Betty briskly, pausing a moment on her way to the door. "You just stop this! If no one is dead, and no one is hurt, then it can\'t be so very dreadful. You just stop now, and when we all get together we\'ll help you in whatever trouble you have. You know that; don\'t you?" "Oh, yes, Betty, I do. You aren\'t the \'Little Captain\' to all of us for nothing. I\'ll try and not cry any more." "Do. It—it isn\'t at all becoming....

CHAPTER I TO THE FRONT "I know it\'s utterly foolish and unreasonable," sighed Amy Blackford, laying down the novel she had been reading and looking wistfully out of the window, "but I simply can\'t help it." "What\'s the matter?" asked Mollie Billette, raising her eyes reluctantly from a book she was devouring and looking vaguely at Amy\'s profile. "Did you say something?" "No, she only spoke," drawled Grace Ford, extricating herself from a mass of bright-colored cushions on the divan, preparatory to joining in the conversation. "I ask you, Mollie, did you ever know Amy to say anything important?" "Why yes, I have," said Mollie unexpectedly. "In fact, she is about the only one of us Outdoor Girls who ever does say anything important—except Betty, perhaps." Amy withdrew her gaze from the landscape and looked at the speaker with a twinkle in her eyes. "What will you have, Mollie?" she asked whimsically. "When you become complimentary, you are apt to rouse my suspicions." "Well, whatever you were going to say, please say it, and let me get back to my book," returned Mollie, ignoring the imputation. "I was in the most interesting part—" "Why, I\'m just plain homesick," said Amy, adding quickly, as the girls looked at her in surprise. "For Camp Liberty and the Hostess House, you know. I miss the work and the long hours of entertaining and cheering people up. I feel," she looked around at them as though finding it hard to explain just what she meant, "sort of—lost." The three chums, Mollie Billette, Grace Ford, and Amy Blackford were gathered in the comfortable library of Betty Nelson\'s home—Betty being the fourth of the merry quartette, dubbed the "Outdoor Girls" by the people of Deepdale, because of their love of the open and of outdoor sports. The girls, as my old readers will doubtless remember, had helped establish a Hostess House at Camp Liberty, and since then had given all their strength and time and youthful enthusiasm to the great work of cheering our young fighters, entertaining their loved ones, and, in the end, sending them with fresh courage and happy memories to the "other side" for the great adventure. And now the girls, completely worn out in their loving service to others, had been sent, much against their will, home to Deepdale for a rest that they sorely needed. To-day they had gathered in Betty\'s house to discuss the rather hazy plans for their brief vacation. And Amy had simply voiced what was in the thoughts of all the girls. They were, undeniably and heartily, homesick for Camp Liberty and their work at the Hostess House. "Lost?" Mollie repeated Amy\'s expression thoughtfully. "Yes, I guess that would pretty well describe the feeling I\'ve had for the last few days. Sort of restless and aimless—wondering what to do next." "Goodness!" cried Grace whimsically, stretching her arms above her head and smothering a yawn, "this is terrible, you know. If we don\'t look out, we\'ll be forgetting how to enjoy ourselves." "That would be queer, wouldn\'t it?" agreed Mollie, with a chuckle as she started to resume her reading....

Laura Lee Hope was a pen name used by a number of authors working for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which put out the popular books about the Bobbsey Twins and several other series suitable for kids. This book is a Western adventure story that was popular among young children in the early 20th century.

CHAPTER I A SUMMER IN THE SADDLE "Hello, hello! Oh, what is the matter with central!" The dark-haired, pink-cheeked girl at the telephone jiggled the receiver impatiently while a straight line of impatience marred her pretty mouth. "Oh dear, oh dear!" "At last! Is that you, Mollie Billette? I\'ve been trying to get you for the last half hour. What\'s that? You\'ve been home all morning twiddling your thumbs and wondering what to do with yourself? Of course! I knew it was central\'s fault all the time! Now listen! Goodness, what are you having over at your house? A jazz dance or something? I can hardly hear you speak for the noise." "No, it isn\'t a dance," came back Mollie\'s voice wearily from the other end of the wire. "It\'s just the twins. They want to talk to you. Hold the wire a minute while I shut them in the other room." Followed a silence during which Betty Nelson could distinctly hear the wails of Mollie\'s little brother and sister as they were ushered forcibly into an adjoining room. Then Mollie\'s voice again at the phone. "Hello," she said. "Still there, Betty? Guess I can hear you a little better now. Mother\'s out, and I\'ve been taking care of the twins. Just rescued the cat from being dumped head down in the flour barrel." "Sounds natural," laughed the dark-haired, pink-cheeked one, as she visualized Mollie\'s little brother and sister, Dodo and Paul. They were twins, and always in trouble. "Anything special you called up about?" asked Mollie\'s voice from the other end of the wire. "Want to go for a ride or something?" "Not the kind of ride you mean," said the brown-eyed, pink-cheeked one, with a knowing little smile on her lips. At the lilt in her voice Mollie, at her end of the wire, sat up and stared inquiringly into the black mouth of the telephone. "Betty," she said hopefully, "you are hiding something from me. You have something up your sleeve." "You\'re right and wrong," giggled Betty. "I\'m hiding something from you, but I can\'t get it up my sleeve, it\'s too big!" "Hurry up!" commanded Mollie in terrific accents. "Are you going to tell me what\'s on your mind, Betty Nelson?" "When will you be around?" countered Betty. "In five minutes." "Good!" "Betty, wait! Is it good news?" "The best ever," and Betty rang off. She twinkled at the telephone for a minute, then called another number. "That you, Gracie?" The fair-haired, tall, and very graceful girl at the other end of the wire acknowledged that it was. "Please suggest something interesting, Betty," she added plaintively, as she took a chocolate from the ever-present candy box and nibbled on it discontentedly. "I woke up with the most awful attack of the blues this morning." "What, with a whole summer full of blessed idleness before you?" mocked Betty. "Too much idleness," grumbled Grace. "That\'s the trouble." "Enter," said Betty drolly, "Doctor Elizabeth Nelson." Grace digested this remark for a moment, staring at the telephone in much the same manner as Mollie had done a few minutes before. Then she swallowed the last of her chocolate in such haste that it almost choked her....

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world\'s literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

CHAPTER I ANTICIPATIONS Three girls were strolling down the street, and, as on the occasion when the three fishermen once sailed out to sea, the sun was going down. The golden rays, slanting in from over the western hills that stood back of the little town of Deepdale, struck full in the faces of the maids as they turned a corner, and so bright was the glare that one of them—a tall, willowy lass, with a wealth of fluffy, light hair, turned aside with a cry of annoyance. "Oh, why can\'t the sun be nice!" she exclaimed, half-petulantly. "What do you want it to do, Grace?" asked a vivacious, dark-complexioned sprite next to the complaining one. "Go under a cloud just to suit you?" "No, my dear, I\'m not as fussy as that!" "Indeed not!" chimed in the third member of the trio, a quiet girl, with thoughtful eyes. "What Grace wants is some nice young fellow to come along with an umbrella, hoist it over her, and invite her in to have—a chocolate soda!" "Why, Amy Blackford! I\'ll never speak to you again!" gasped the accused one, blushing vividly, the more so as the rays of the setting sun fell upon her face. "All I said was——" "Look!" suddenly interrupted the vivacious member of the small party—a party that attracted no little attention, for at the sight of the three pretty girls, strolling arm in arm down the main thoroughfare of the town, more than one person turned for a second look. "Gracious! What is it?" demanded Grace. "Did you see—some one, Billy?" "No—something," came the answer from the dark girl with the boyish name, and at a glance you could understand why she was called so. There was such a wholesome, frank and comrade-like quality about her, though she was not at all masculine, that "Billy" just suited. "Look," she went on. "Isn\'t that a perfectly gorgeous display of chocolates!" and she indicated the window of a confectionery store just in front of them. "Oh, I must have some of those!" cried Grace Ford. "Come on in, girls! I\'ll treat. They\'re those new bitter-sweet chocolates. I didn\'t know Borker kept them. I\'m simply dying for some!" and with this rather exaggerated statement she fairly pulled her two chums after her into the store. "Look!" Grace went on, pausing a moment when inside the shop to glance at the chocolate display in the show-window. "Did you ever see anything so—so appetizing?" "It looks like a display at a picnic candy kitchen," murmured she who had been called Billy. "Why, Mollie Billette!" reproached Grace Ford. "I think it\'s perfectly splendid." "But not appetizing," declared Amy Blackford. "I don\'t see how you can think of eating any, when it\'s so near dinner time, Grace." "We don\'t have dinner until seven, and it\'s only five. Besides, I\'m not going to eat many—now." "No, she\'ll take a box home, and keep them in bed, under her pillow—I know her," put in Mollie, alias Billy. "I slept with her one night and I wondered whether she had lumps of coal, or some kitchen kindling wood between the sheets. But it wasn\'t—it was chocolates!...

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"How cold it is!" exclaimed Grace Ford, wrapping closer about her a fur neck-piece, and plunging her gloved hands deeper into the pockets of her maroon sweater. "I had no idea it was so chilling!" "Nonsense!" cried Betty Nelson, her cheeks aglow. "Skate about, and you\'ll soon be warm enough. Isn\'t it glorious, Mollie?" "Surely, and the ice is perfect. Come on Grace, and we\'ll see who\'ll be first to the bend!" and Mollie, her dark eyes dancing under the spell of the day, circled about the almost shivering Grace, doing a gliding waltz on skates. "I don\'t want to race!" protested the tall, slim girl who had complained about the weather.

Laura Lee Hope was a pen name used by a number of authors working for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which put out the popular books about the Bobbsey Twins and several other series suitable for kids. This book is a Western adventure story that was popular among young children in the early 20th century.

More adventures of Americas\'s favorite twins, in a new release of the original version of the best selling series. The fourth book in the popular series, The Bobbsey Twins at School, begins the next autumn, with Nan and Bert "nearly nine years old" and Freddie and Flossie "almost five."

Laura Lee Hope was a pen name used by a number of authors working for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which put out the popular books about the Bobbsey Twins and several other series suitable for kids. This book is a Western adventure story that was popular among young children in the early 20th century.

Bert has been selected to help the school principal run a small museum at the school. But on opening day, the museum's most valuable statue goes missing and the twins must help find it.