The Bobbsey Twins at Home Read online

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME

  by

  LAURA LEE HOPE

  Author of "The Bobbsey Twins."

  New YorkGrosset & DunlapPublishers

  "Oh, will she have to stay there forever?" asked Freddie._The Bobbsey Twins at Home_]

  Copyright, 1916, byGrosset & Dunlap.The Bobbsey Twins at HomePrinted in the United States of America

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE I. TOMMY TODD'S STORY 1

  II. A SUDDEN STOP 13

  III. SNAP AND SNOOP 24

  IV. HOME AGAIN 36

  V. TOMMY'S TROUBLES 45

  VI. SCHOOL DAYS 57

  VII. THE SCHOOL PLAY 67

  VIII. SNOOP IN TROUBLE 76

  IX. NAN BAKES A CAKE 86

  X. IN THE LUMBER YARD 98

  XI. A QUEER PLAY-HOUSE 108

  XII. TOMMY IS REWARDED 117

  XIII. THE FIRST FROST 129

  XIV. AFTER CHESTNUTS 139

  XV. THE STORM 151

  XVI. THE FIRST SNOW 161

  XVII. ON THE HILL 171

  XVIII. BERT'S SNOWSHOES 181

  XIX. THROUGH THE ICE 191

  XX. LOST IN A STORM 202

  XXI. THE STRANGE MAN 214

  XXII. HAPPY DAYS 228

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME

  CHAPTER I

  TOMMY TODD'S STORY

  "Mother, how many more stations before we'll be home?"

  "Oh, quite a number, dear. Sit back and rest yourself. I thought youliked it on the train."

  "I do; but it's so long to sit still."

  The little fellow who had asked the question turned to his golden-hairedsister, who sat in the seat with him.

  "Aren't you tired, Flossie?" he asked.

  "Yes, Freddie, I am!" exclaimed Flossie. "And I want a drink of water."

  "Dinah will get it for you," said Mother Bobbsey. "My! But you are athirsty little girl."

  "Deed an' dat's whut she am!" exclaimed a fat, good-natured lookingcolored woman, smiling at the little girl. Dinah was the Bobbsey familycook. She had been with them so long that she used to say, and almostdo, just what she pleased. "Dis am de forty-sixteen time I'se done bindown to de end ob de car gittin' Miss Flossie a drink ob watah. An' detrain rocks so, laik a cradle, dat I done most upsot ebery time. ButI'll git you annuder cup ob watah, Flossie lamb!"

  "And if you're going to upset, and fall down, Dinah, please do it wherewe can see you," begged Freddie. "Nothing has happened since we got onthis train. Do upset, Dinah!"

  "Yes, I want to see it, too," added Flossie. "Here, Freddie, you canhave my place at the window, and I'll take yours on the outside. Then Ican see Dinah better when the car upsets her."

  "No, I want to sit here myself, Flossie. You wanted the window side, andnow you must stay there."

  "No, I don't want to. I want to see Dinah upset in the aisle. Mamma,make Freddie let me sit where I can see Dinah fall."

  "Well, ob all t'ings!" gasped the fat, colored cook. "If you chillunst'ink dat I'se gwine t' upsot mahse'f so yo' kin see suffin t' laugh at,den all I'se got t' say is I ain't gwine t' do it! No, sah! Not fo' oneminute!" And Dinah sat up very straight in her seat.

  "Children, be nice now," begged Mother Bobbsey. "I know you are tiredwith the long ride, but you'll soon hear the brakeman call out'Lakeport'; and then we'll be home."

  "I wish I were home now," said Freddie. "I want to get my dog Snap outof the baggage car, and have some fun with him. I guess he's lonesomefor me."

  "And he's lonesome for me, too!" cried Flossie. "He's as much my dog ashe is yours, Freddie Bobbsey. Isn't he, Mother?"

  "Yes, dear, of course. I don't know what's the matter with you twochildren. You never used to dispute this way."

  "I guess the long train ride is tiring them," said Papa Bobbsey, lookingup from the paper he was reading.

  "Anyhow, half of Snoop, our black cat, is mine then," said Freddie."Isn't she, Mother?"

  "Yes. And now please don't talk like that any more. Look out of thewindow and watch the trees shoot past."

  "Oh, I'm going to see Snoop!" exclaimed Flossie, suddenly.

  "So'm I," added Freddie. And in a moment the two children were bendingover a basket which was in the seat with Dinah. In the basket was Snoop,the big black cat. She always traveled that way with the Bobbseys. Andshe seemed very comfortable, for she was curled up on the blanket in thebottom of the basket. Snoop opened her eyes as Freddie and Flossie puttheir fingers through cracks and stroked her as well as they could.

  "I wish Snap was in here with us," said Freddie, after a bit. "I hope hegets a drink of water."

  "Oh, I want a drink of water!" exclaimed Flossie, suddenly. "I forgot Iwas thirsty. Mother, can't I have a drink?" she went on.

  "Oh, yes, dear. I suppose so. I'll get it for you."

  "No, let Dinah get it so she'll upset," begged Flossie.

  "I'll get it for you, Flossie," offered Freddie. "Dinah might get hurt."

  "Dat's de li'l gen'man," said the fat cook, smiling. "He lubs oleDinah."

  "I love you too, Dinah," said Flossie, patting the black hand that haddone many kind acts for the twins. "But I _do_ want a drink, and youknow you _would_ look funny if you upset here in the car."

  "Yes, I spects I would, chile," laughed Dinah.

  "May I get Flossie a drink?" asked Freddie.

  "You may both go down to the end of the car where the water-cooler is,"said Mrs. Bobbsey. "The train is slowing down now, and going to stop, Ithink, so you won't fall. But be careful."

  Flossie and Freddie started toward the end of the long car, but theirsister Nan, who with her brother Bert was a few seats away, went withthem, to make sure nothing would happen.

  "I'm not thirsty any more," Flossie said, after having had two cups ofcold water.

  "No, but you will be in half an hour, I'm sure," laughed Nan. "Everyone seems to get thirsty on a railroad journey. I do myself," and shetook some water after Freddie had had enough.

  The train now came to a stop, and Flossie and Freddie hurried back totheir seat to look out at the station. Hardly were they both crowdedclose to the window before there was the sound of shouting and laughing,and into the car came rushing a number of children. With them were twoladies who seemed to be in charge. There were boys and girls--abouttwenty all together--and most of them made rushes for the best seats,while some hurried down to the tank to get drinks of ice-water.

  "I had that cup first!" cried one.

  "You did not! I had it myself," said another.

  "That's my seat by the window!" shouted a third.

  "It is not! I had it first, you can see where I left my hat! Oh, myhat's gone!" a boy exclaimed.

  "I threw it on the floor, I wanted to sit here myself," said a big girlwith red curls.

  "Children! Children! You must be quiet!" called one of the ladies.

  The train started again, all the other passengers watching the queerchildren who were making such a confusion.

  "Oh, see the cow!" cried a tall boy. "It's the last cow you'll see for ayear, fellows, so take a good look at her," he added as the train passedalong a field.

  "No more good times for a long while," sighed a boy who had a seat nearFreddie and Flossie. "I wish I could live in the country always."

  Flossie and Freddie looked at him. His clothes wer
e patched here andthere, but they were clean. And his face and hands were clean, whichcould not be said of all the other children, though some of them showedthat they had tried to make themselves neat.

  "The country is the best place," he said, and he looked at the twosmaller Bobbsey twins as though he would like to speak to them. "I'mgoing to be a farmer when I grow up," he went on, after a pause.

  "He--he's a nice boy," whispered Flossie to her brother. "I'm going tospeak to him. We can talk about the country."

  "Wait a minute," advised Freddie. "Maybe mother wouldn't want us to talkto strangers."

  Flossie looked back to where her father and mother were sitting. Mrs.Bobbsey was speaking to one of the ladies who had come in the car withthe noisy children.

  "Are you taking part of an orphan asylum on an outing?" Flossie heardher mother ask.

  "No. These are some 'fresh air' children. They have been out in thecountry for two weeks, and now we are taking them home. Poor things! Iwish we could have kept them longer out in the green fields and woods,but there are others waiting for their chance to go.

  "You see," she went on, and Flossie and Freddie listened carefully,"some kind people give us money so that the poor children of the citymay have a little time in the country during the hot weather. We boardthem out at different farmers' houses. This company of children has beenon two different farms near Branchville, where we just got on the train.Some of the little ones are from Sanderville." This was a large citynot far from Lakeport, a smaller city where the Bobbsey twins lived."Others are from Lakeport," went on the lady, speaking to Mrs. Bobbsey.

  "Indeed!" exclaimed Freddie's mother. "I did not know there was a freshair society in our city."

  "It has only just been formed," said the lady, who was a Miss Carter."We haven't much money left, I'm sorry to say."

  "Then you must let me give you some," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And I will getsome friends of mine to give money also. Our own children enjoy it somuch in the country that I want to see others have a good time, too."

  Then he and Mrs. Bobbsey began to talk about ways of helping poorchildren, and Flossie and Freddie did not listen any more. Besides, justthen the train was passing along a field in which were many horses, someof which raced alongside the cars, and that interested the twins.

  "Oh, look at 'em run!" cried the fresh air boy who sat in front of thesmaller Bobbsey twins. "Don't they go fast?"

  The other fresh air youngsters crowded to their windows to look out, andsome tried to push their companions away so they might see better. Thena number all wanted a drink of water at the same time, and the twoladies who were in charge of the children were kept busy making themsettle down.

  The quiet, neat boy about whom Flossie had whispered to her brother,turned around in his seat and, looking at Freddie, asked:

  "Were you ever on a farm?"

  "Yes," answered Freddie, "we just came from our uncle Dan's farm, atMeadow Brook. We were there 'most all Summer. Now we're going backhome."

  "Where do you live, and what's your name?" asked the strange boy.

  "My name's Freddie Bobbsey, and this is my sister Flossie," was theanswer. "We're twins. Up there, in that other seat, are my brother andsister, Bert and Nan. They're twins too, but they're older'n we are. Welive in Lakeport."

  "You do?" cried the boy in surprise. "Why, that's where I live! My nameis Tommy Todd."

  "That's a nice name," put in Flossie politely. "I don't know any one ofthat name in Lakeport though. Where does your father live?"

  Tommy Todd did not answer at once, and Freddie was surprised to seetears in the eyes of the strange boy.

  "I--I guess you folks don't ever come down to our part of Lakeport," hesaid. "We live down near the dumps. It isn't very nice there."

  Freddie had heard of the "dumps." It was on the farther side of thecity, a long distance from his nice home. Once, when he was very little,he had wandered away and been lost. A policeman who found him had saidFreddie was near the "dumps."

  Freddie remembered that very well. Afterward, he heard that the "dumps"was a place where the ashes, tin cans, and other things that peoplethrew away were dumped by the scavengers. So Freddie was sure it couldnot be a very nice place.

  "I live out near the dumps, with my grandmother," went on Tommy Todd.

  "We've a grandmother too," said Flossie. "We go to see her at Christmas.We've two grandmas. One is my mother's mother, and the other is myfather's mother. That's my papa and my mother back there," and Flossiepointed to where Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were talking to the fresh airlady.

  "Doesn't your father live with you and your grandmother?" asked Freddie.

  "I--I haven't any father," said Tommy, and once more the tears came intohis eyes. "He was lost at sea. He was a captain on a ship, and it waswrecked."

  "Oh, please tell us about it!" begged Freddie. "I just love storiesabout the ocean; don't you, Flossie?"

  "Yes, I do."

  "I'm going to be a sea captain when I grow up," said Freddie. "Tell usabout your father, Tommy."

  So while the train rushed on Tommy Todd told his sad little story.