The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City Read online

  CHAPTER II

  BUILDING THE "BIRD"

  Flossie and Freddie, anxious to win the skating race, were bending overwith heads down, as all skaters do who wish to go fast and keep the windfrom blowing on them too hard. So they did not see the ice-boat comingtoward them, for the craft, blown by the wind, made hardly any noise, andwhat little it did make was taken up by the clicking of the skates of thesmaller twins.

  "Oh, Bert! Do something!" cried Nan.

  "Yes, yes! I will--of course!"

  Bert shook off Nan's hand, for it was still on his arm, and started toskate toward the twins as fast as he could. He hoped to reach them in timeto stop them from skating right into the path of the oncoming ice-boat.

  But he soon saw that he was not going to be able to do this. The ice-boatwas coming toward the small twins faster than Bert could ever hope toskate and reach them.

  "Yell at them!" shouted Nan. "That's the only way to stop them! Yell andtell them to look out!"

  Bert himself had decided this was the best thing to do. He stopped skatingand, making a sort of funnel, or megaphone, of his hands, he cried out:

  "Flossie! Freddie! Look out! Danger--the ice-boat!"

  Just at this moment, whether it was because of Bert's shouts or becausethey were tired of going so fast and wanted a rest, the two childrenleading the skating race stood up straight and looked back. They saw Bertpointing toward them and then they glanced at the ice-boat. It was veryclose, and Flossie screamed.

  At the same time the man who was steering the boat saw the children. Witha shout that echoed the one given by Bert, and the screams of Nan andFlossie, the man steered his boat to one side. But he made such a suddenchange that, though he steered out of the way of Flossie and Freddie, henearly ran into Tommy Todd. That small boy, however, was a good skaterand stopped just in time, for he had seen the ice-boat coming.

  Then with a whizz and a clink of ice, as the runners of the boat scrapedbig chips from the frozen lake, the skimming boat shot past Nan and Bert,not doing a bit of harm, but scaring all five children very much.

  "Sorry! Didn't see you! Next time----"

  This was what the man in the ice-boat shouted as he whizzed by. His lastwords seemed whipped away by the wind and the children did not know whathe meant.

  "Maybe he meant next time he'd be sure to run into us," said Tommy Todd.

  "Oh, he wouldn't do _that!_" declared Bert "That was Mr. Watson. He buyslumber from my father. I guess he meant that next time he'd give us aride."

  "Oh, my!" exclaimed Nan. "Would you ride in one of those dangerous things,Bert Bobbsey?"

  "Would I? Well, just give me the chance! How about you, Tommy?"

  "I should say so! They're great!"

  "Oh, I can't bear them!" went on Nan. "Please let's stop and rest. Myheart is beating so fast I can't skate for a while."

  "All right--we'll call the race off," agreed Bert. Flossie and Freddiewere a little startled by the closeness of the ice-boat, and they skatedback to join their brother and sister.

  And while they are taking a little rest on the ice I shall have a chanceto let my new readers know something of the past history of the childrenabout whom I am writing.

  There were two pairs of Bobbsey twins. They were the children of Mr.Richard Bobbsey and his wife Mary, and the family lived in an Eastern citycalled Lakeport, which was at the head of Lake Metoka. Mr. Bobbsey was inthe lumber business, having a yard and docks on the shore of the lakeabout a quarter of a mile from his house.

  The older Bobbsey twins were Nan and Bert. They had dark hair and eyes,and were rather tall and slim. Flossie and Freddie, the younger twins,were short and fat, with light hair and blue eyes. So it would have beeneasy to tell the twins apart, even if one pair had not been older thanthe other. Besides the children and their parents there were in the"family" two other persons--Dinah Johnson, the fat, good-natured coloredcook, and Sam, her husband, who looked after the furnace in the Winter andcut the grass in Summer.

  Then there was Snoop, and Snap. The first was a fine black cat and thesecond a big dog, both great pets of the children. Those of you who haveread the first book of this series, entitled "The Bobbsey Twins," do notneed to read this explanation here, but others may care to. In the secondvolume I told you of the fun the twins had in the country. After that theywent to the seashore, and this subject has a book all to itself, tellingof the adventures there.

  Later on the Bobbseys went back to school, where they had plenty of fun,and when they were at Snow Lodge there were some strange happenings, asthere were also on the houseboat _Bluebird_. There was a stowaway boy--butthere! I had better let you read the book for yourself.

  The Bobbsey twins spent some time at Meadow Brook, but there was always aquestion whether they had better times there or "At Home," which is thename of the book just before this one.

  You, who have read that book, will remember that Flossie and Freddiefound, in a big snow storm, the lost father of Tommy Todd, a boy who livedwith his grandmother in a poor section of Lakeport. And it was still thatsame Winter, after Tommy's father had come home, that we find the Bobbseytwins skating on the ice, having just missed being run into by theice-boat.

  "My! but that was a narrow escape!" exclaimed Nan, as she skated slowlyabout. "My heart is beating fast yet."

  "So's mine," added Flossie. "Did he do it on purpose?"

  "No, indeed!" exclaimed Bert. "I guess Mr. Watson wouldn't do a thing like_that!_ He was looking after the ropes of the sail, or doing something tothe steering rudder, and that's why he didn't see you and Freddie."

  "What makes an ice-boat go?" asked Freddie.

  "The wind blows it, just as the wind blows a sailboat," explained Bert,looking down the lake after the ice-boat.

  "But it hasn't any cabin to it like a real boat," went on Freddie. "And itdoesn't go in the water. Where do the people sit?"

  "An ice-boat is like this," said Bert, and with the sharp heel end of hisskate he drew a picture on the ice. "You take two long pieces of wood, andfasten them together like a cross--almost the same as when you start tomake a kite," he went on. "On each end of the short cross there are doublerunners, like skates, only bigger. And at the end of the long stick, atthe back, is another runner, and this moves, and has a handle to it likethe rudder on a boat. They steer the ice-boat with this handle.

  "And where the two big sticks cross they put up the tall mast and make thesail fast to that. Then when the wind blows it sends the ice-boat over theice as fast as anything."

  "It sure does go fast," said Tommy Todd. "Look! He's almost at the end ofthe lake now."

  "Yes, an ice-boat goes almost as fast as the wind," said Bert. "Maybe someday----"

  "Oh, come on!" cried Flossie. "I want to go home! I'm cold standing here."

  "Yes, we had better go on," said Nan. "I'm all right now."

  As the five children skated off, no longer thinking of the race, Nan askedBert:

  "What are you going to do some day?"

  "Oh, I don't know. I haven't got it all thought out yet. I'll tell youafter a bit."

  "Is it a secret?" asked Nan, eagerly.

  "Sort of."

  "Oh, please tell me!"

  "Not now. Come on, skate faster!"

  Bert and Nan skated on ahead, knowing that Flossie and Freddie would tryto keep up with them, and so would get home more quickly. But they did notleave the smaller twins too far behind.

  A little later the Bobbseys were safe at home. Tommy Todd went to hisgrandmother's house, and Flossie and Freddie took turns giving theirmother an account of their escape from the ice-boat.

  "Was there really any danger?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey of Bert.

  "Well, maybe, just a little. But I guess Mr. Watson would have stopped intime. He's a good ice-boat sailor."

  "But don't let Flossie and Freddie get so far away from you another time.They might have been hurt."

  Bert promised to look well after his little sister and brother, and then,having asked his mothe
r if she wanted anything from the store, he said hewas going down to his father's lumberyard.

  "What for?" asked Nan, as she saw him leaving. "Is it about the secret?"

  "Partly," answered Bert with a laugh.

  Two or three days later the Bobbseys were again out skating on the ice,Nan and Bert keeping close to Freddie and Flossie. They had not been longgliding about when Freddie suddenly called:

  "Oh, here comes that ice-boat again!"

  "Surely enough, it is!" added Nan. "Oh, we must skate toward shore! Comeon!"

  "No need to do that," replied Bert. "It isn't coming fast, and Mr. Watsonsees us."

  "He's waving his hand at us!" cried Flossie. "I guess he wants to give usa ride. Come on, Freddie!"

  "Here! Wait a minute!" called Bert "Don't get into any more danger. But Ibelieve he _is_ going to stop," he went on, as the ice-boat came slowly upto them. Then, as it swung up into the wind, with the sail looselyflapping, Mr. Watson called:

  "Come on, children, don't you want to go for a ride?"

  "Oh, let's!" cried Flossie, clapping her hands.

  "And I want to steer!" added Freddie.

  "No, you can't do that!" exclaimed Nan. "Oh, Bert, do you think it wouldbe all right for us to go?" she asked her older brother.

  "I don't see why not," said Bert. "The wind doesn't blow hard, and Mr.Watson knows all about ice-boats. I say let's go!"

  "Oh, what fun!" cried Flossie and Freddie.

  They took off their skates and walked toward the ice-boat. Mr. Watsonsmiled at them.

  "I'm so sorry I nearly ran into you the other day," he said. "I did notsee you until almost the last minute. So I made up my mind the next time Isaw you on the lake I'd give you a ride. Come on, now, get aboard!"

  "He talks just as if it was a real boat!" laughed Flossie, for, livingnear the lake as they did, and often seeing boats at their father's lumberdock, the Bobbsey twins knew something about water craft.

  "Well, of course, this isn't as big as some boats," said Mr. Watson, "butit will hold all of us, I think."

  The children saw where there was a sort of platform, with raised sides,built on the center of the crossed sticks, and on this platform werespread some fur rugs and blankets.

  Mr. Watson saw to it that the little children, especially, were wellwrapped, and then, telling them all to hold on, he let out the sail andaway flew the ice-boat down the frozen lake, fairly whizzing along.

  "My! how fa-fa-fast we go!" gasped Nan, for really the wind seemed to takeaway her breath.

  "This sure _is_ sailing!" cried Bert, and then Nan noticed that herbrother was looking at different parts of the ice-boat, as if to find outhow it was made.

  Flossie and Freddie were having lots of fun holding on to one another, andalso to the sides of the ice-boat, for the craft slid this way and that soquickly, sometimes seeming to rise up in the air, that it was like beingon the back of a horse.

  But the Bobbseys liked it, and the ride in the ice-boat came to an end alltoo soon. With sparkling eyes, and red, glowing cheeks, the twins got outclose to their father's lumber dock, calling their thanks to Mr. Watson.

  "I'll take you again, some time," he answered, as he sailed off down thelake.

  "Ah, ha! And so my little fat fireman had a ride in an ice-boat, did he?"cried Mr. Bobbsey that night, when he came home from the office and heardthe story. "And how did my little fat fairy like it?" And he lifted upfirst Freddie and then Flossie to kiss them. "Fat fireman" and "fat fairy"were Mr. Bobbsey's pet names for the smaller twins. Bert and Nan had hadpet names when they were small, but they were too large for them now,growing out of them as they grew out of their clothes.

  "Oh, it was glorious!" cried Nan. "Sailing in an ice-boat must be like theway it feels to be in an airship."

  "I'm going up in an airship when I get big!" cried Freddie, making a diveafter Snoop, the cat, who was hiding under the table.

  "Have you heard yet whether you are to go?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, of herhusband, when the noisy greetings to the children were over.

  "No, not yet," he answered, and he made a motion with his head, as if totell his wife not to speak of a certain matter before the children.

  "Oh, I saw you wink!" cried Nan, clapping her hands. "What does it mean?Is it a secret, Momsey?"

  "Well, yes, Nan. You shall be told in plenty of time, if anything comes ofit."

  "Oh, that's two secrets!" cried Nan. "Bert has one and now there's onehere."

  "What is Bert's secret?" asked Nan's mother.

  "I don't know yet; he won't tell me."

  "Yes, I'll tell you to-morrow," said her brother. "But what's this aboutFather going away, Mother? Are we going too?"

  "Supper am ready, chilluns!" exclaimed the voice of Dinah, the cook, andthat ended the talk about secrets for the time being.

  "But when are you going to tell me _yours?_" Nan managed to whisper to herbrother when the dessert was being served.

  "Come down to the lumberyard to-morrow afternoon," he whispered. "It'salmost done."

  Without telling Flossie or Freddie anything about it, Nan slipped off byherself the next afternoon, and from the watchman in her father'slumberyard learned that Bert and another boy were in one of the sheds. AsNan came closer she could hear the noise of hammering and sawing.

  "Oh, Bert, what are you making?" cried Nan, as she saw her brother andTommy Todd busy with sticks, boards, hammer and nails.

  "This is the _Bird!_" cried Bert, waving a hammer at something that, sofar, did not look like much of anything.

  "A bird?" cried Nan. "It looks more like a scare-crow!"

  "Just wait until it's finished!" said Tommy Todd. "When we get the sailon----"

  "Oh, Bert! is it a _boat?_" cried Nan eagerly.

  "Yes, it's going to be an ice-boat, and I've called it the _Bird_," wasthe answer. "I got the idea of building it after I'd seen Mr. Watson's.Father said I might, and he gave me the lumber, and let me have acarpenter to help, for Tommy and I couldn't do it all. But now theice-boat is almost done and in a few days I'll sail it."

  "And may I have a ride?" asked Nan.

  "Of course. I'll take the whole family," said Bert. "Just you wait," andthen he and Tommy went on hammering and sawing.