The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport Read online

  He peered up the inside of the fireplace, but there was only a small flue and no place for anything to be hidden. Next Bert walked slowly around the room, paying special attention to the baseboard and window frames. There seemed to be no hiding place there.

  “Well, I’ll try the library,” he told himself. Here again he examined the hearth carefully. This one was made of bricks, but they too seemed to be set solidly and did not move when Bert pressed them.

  “There’s certainly nothing hidden in either of these hearths,” he murmured. “I’ll take a look at the bookshelves.”

  He searched all the shelves within reach. Then, standing against the opposite wall on tiptoe, he gazed at the upper shelves. There was nothing to be seen.

  Suddenly Bert heard Nan scream! He ran.

  Earlier, when Nan had entered the dining room, she had gone immediately to the old fireplace. This one was paneled in wood. Carefully she had tapped each panel and tried to move it, but without success.

  Next she moved to the corner cupboards and felt the wooden backs and sides. “I don’t believe there’s anything hidden in this room,” she finally decided. “Maybe I’ll have better luck in the kitchen.”

  The trap door was slowly closing!

  Nan had walked quietly down the hall and turned into the small passageway leading to the kitchen. She opened the door and stood rooted to the floor. A trap door in front of the huge fireplace was slowly closing! As it fell into place she screamed 1

  Bert dashed into the room. “What’s the matter, Sis?” he asked anxiously.

  Nan pointed to the floor. “Th-there’s a trapdoor right there, and somebody just went through it!” she cried.

  Her brother ran to the spot. “You’re right, Nan!” he exclaimed. “I can see the outlines, but there’s no way to open it from this side!”

  “Wh-who do you suppose it was?” Nan was still trembling.

  “It’s probably Danny Rugg trying to scare us,” Bert assured her. “You remember he warned us about coming in the house.”

  “I suppose it was Danny,” Nan said, reassured by Bert’s reply. “Wait until I see him in the morning!”

  “I think we’d annoy him more if we pretended not to know he’d been here,” Bert suggested.

  “All right.” Nan giggled. “And let’s not say anything about it to Freddie and Flossie. They might worry.”

  So when Bert and Nan got home they said nothing about the trap door to the younger twins but reported only that they had not found the missing gifts. Nan changed the subject by telling her mother and Dinah about the money-making project which had been discussed at school that afternoon.

  “We girls are going to sell cookies on Saturdays,” she announced. “Will you help me make some, Dinah?”

  Dinah beamed. “I sure will, honey! You just tell me what kind you want!”

  “That sounds like a very good idea, Nan,” Mrs. Bobbsey said. “We’ll all help you.”

  “Thanks, Mother and Dinah,” Nan said happily. “We’ll probably start this Saturday.”

  Although Bert said nothing at home about the incident of the broken window, he was still worried about it the next day. Then at recess Danny walked up to him, a frown on his face.

  “You’re a fine tattletale!” the bully said angrily.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean ! You told old Tetlow that I threw the ball that smashed that window.”

  “I didn’t say anything of the sort!” Bert defended himself.

  “He called me in the office as soon as I got here this morning,” Danny said, “and told me I’d have to pay for a new window! How would he know I broke it unless you told him?”

  “He probably saw you! Anyway you were the only one who ran away!” Bert replied.

  “I still think you tattled,” Danny said sullenly.

  Bert was so angry at Danny’s persistence that he forgot his resolution to say nothing about the trap door. “You needn’t think you scared Nan and me in the old house either!” he blurted out.

  “What are you talking about?” Danny asked scornfully. “I haven’t tried to scare you!”

  “Come on, Danny!” Bert protested. “You know you were in the house and went down through that trap door in the kitchen yesterday afternoon!”

  Danny shook his head. “You’re really crazy, Bert! I don’t know anything about a trap door.” Then he grinned slyly. “But remember, I told you the house was haunted. Maybe you saw the ghost in the kitchen!”

  “You’re the one who’s crazy!” Bert cried. “You know there’s no such thing as a ghost!”

  “Oh no?” Danny walked away, whistling.

  Bert continued to puzzle over the episode of the trap door the rest of the day. He was reluctantly convinced that Danny had not been in the house. But who could have been? The place was supposed to be locked and anyone who had a right to be in the house would not have run away when Nan came into the kitchen.

  “Did Mr. Tetlow find out that Danny broke the window?” Nan whispered as she and Bert were leaving their homeroom at the end of the day.

  “Yes, and he thinks I told on him,” Bert replied. “But he insists he wasn’t in the Marden house later.”

  “Oh, Bert! We weren’t going to say anything about that!” Nan protested.

  “I know,” Bert said sheepishly, “but I got so mad at him that I forgot!”

  They had reached the outside door by this time and noticed a group of children standing near by. They seemed to be watching something on the ground.

  Bert pushed forward. “What’s going on, Charlie?” he asked his chum, who stood at the edge of the group.

  “They’re pouring concrete for the new driveway,” Charlie replied. “Come on and watch them.”

  Charlie, Bert, and Nan walked around to the other side of the driveway where the concrete mixer stood. The earthen bed had been prepared and marked off by narrow wooden frames.

  Two men worked with long wooden rakes to spread the liquid cement within the framework. The children watched with interest.

  “That would be fun to do,” Bert observed and Charlie nodded.

  The concrete mixer made so much noise that it was difficult to hear anything else.

  “How long does it take the concrete to harden?” Charlie wondered.

  “I don’t know exactly, but if you step in it when it’s wet, your print stays there forever.”

  All this time Freddie and Flossie had been staying late in their class. The teacher, Miss Earle, was reading a story aloud. When the dismissal bell rang, she looked up. “Shall I finish the story tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Oh no,” the children chorused. “Please finish it now!”

  Miss Earle smiled and continued reading. In a few minutes she closed the book. “That is the end,” she announced. “Did you like the story?” she asked.

  “Yes, Miss Earle!” they cried.

  When Freddie and Flossie had put on their coats they met in the hall. Freddie ran up and tapped his twin on the arm. “You’re it!” he cried and raced down the hall.

  Most of the children had left the school by this time and the hall was empty. Flossie ran after Freddie and tagged him. “Now you’re it!” she teased, dashing away.

  With a grin Freddie stepped into an empty classroom. When Flossie turned around to see if her twin was catching up to her, he was nowhere in sight.

  “He’s trying to play a trick on me,” Flossie told herself and began to tiptoe back down the long hall.

  When she reached the empty classroom Freddie jumped out at her. Flossie screamed, then ran toward the outside door, crying, “You can’t catch me!”

  Outside the building Bert had turned to reply to Charlie’s question about the concrete when he looked up and saw Flossie run out the front door. She was looking back and did not notice what was being done to the driveway. Bert opened his mouth to call to her, but it was too late.

  Flossie ran right into the soft cement!

  CHAPTER V<
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  FREDDIE’S ADVENTURE

  AS HER little feet sank into the gooey mass, Flossie gave a shriek. “Help!” she cried. “I’m stuck!”

  “Stand still!” Nan called to her.

  But Flossie was too excited to hear her sister. She tried to take a step. Her feet came out of her shoes which remained stuck tight in the cement. Now she was caught again, this time in her socks.

  “Wait a minute, Flossie I” Bert cried. “We’ll get you loose.”

  “Here are some boards,” Charlie called. He ran over to a pile of laths and came back with several of the thin strips of wood.

  Bert and Charlie laid them together across the driveway near Flossie. The little girl, slipping out of her socks, stepped from the wet cement onto the wood. Carefully she made her way to safety. When Flossie reached solid ground, Bert crawled onto the makeshift bridge and pulled out Flossie’s shoes and socks.

  “Your footprints will be there forever,” Nellie remarked.

  “Ooh, I’m so sorry,” Flossie apologized to the workman who was laying the pavement. “I didn’t know it was soft!”

  The man patted her yellow curls. “That’s all right,” he said. “I believe I can smooth the cement over. Unless,” he added teasingly, “you want your footprints to stay here!”

  Flossie shook her head vigorously. “No, please cover them up,” she said.

  At that moment Mrs. Parks drove up to take Nellie home. When she saw Flossie’s bare feet she asked in surprise what had happened.

  Flossie looked embarrassed and explained.

  “Gracious!” Mrs. Parks exclaimed. “Hop in the car and I’ll take you all home.”

  When they reached the Bobbsey house Bert picked Flossie up and carried her inside. He set her down in the kitchen, saying, “I’ll get this cement off your shoes before it hardens, but I’m afraid your socks are ruined!”

  Mrs. Bobbsey laughed when she heard the story of Flossie’s accident. “I was planning to get you some new shoes anyway,” she said, “so we’ll go downtown tomorrow afternoon. I’ll pick you and Freddie up at school.”

  Flossie loved to go shopping with her mother and eagerly agreed. Freddie was not so sure.

  “Oh, come on, Freddie,” his twin pleaded. “We’ll ride the escater.”

  Seeing Mrs. Bobbsey’s puzzled look, Nan laughed. “I think she means the escalator, Mother.”

  “That’s what I said,” Flossie insisted. “The stairs that go up and down by themselves.”

  Remembering the escalator from previous trips, Freddie decided it would be fun after all to go shopping.

  The next afternoon when he and Flossie and Mrs. Bobbsey reached Taylor’s large department store, the small twins were overwhelmed by the window display. “Oh, Mother,” Flossie begged, “let’s look in the windows first!”

  In one was a large arrangement of dolls. They were of all sizes and kinds. One corner of the window was enclosed by a little white picket fence, and inside the fence was a toy barn. Dolls dressed as farmers and country girls were shown pitching hay, milking cows, and feeding tiny chickens.

  “Isn’t it justbee-yoo-ti-ful?” Flossie exclaimed in delight.

  “I like this side better,” Freddie said, pointing to a little airplane hangar. Toy planes were zooming through the air, and on the ground were tiny soldiers in Air Force uniforms.

  Mrs. Bobbsey finally persuaded the twins to go into the store. “The shoe department is on the third floor, and if you like we’ll go up on the escalator,” she said.

  It was fun standing on the steps and watching the first floor drop away beneath them. They had reached the second floor before they realized it.

  “Be careful getting off,” Mrs. Bobbsey cautioned.

  Freddie and Flossie both watched until the step on which they were standing was even with the floor and then hopped off quickly.

  “I love escaters,” Flossie observed as she stepped onto the next series of moving stairs.

  When they arrived at the third floor, Mrs. Bobbsey led the way to the shoe department. A pleasant salesman waited on them, and Flossie was soon fitted with a shiny new pair of shoes.

  “I’m going back to the housewares department,” Mrs. Bobbsey said. “Dinah wants a new kind of cake pan. You children may look around on this floor until I’m through.”

  Mrs. Bobbsey walked off, and Flossie and Freddie began to stroll through the various departments. Flossie saw a counter of special dolls and doll clothes and ran over to examine them.

  “My dollies really need some new spring clothes,” she said to herself as she looked at the tempting display. There were dresses and shorts and bathing suits. And even little coats made of fur. On another counter she admired tiny brush and comb sets and mirrors with pink and blue backs.

  Freddie was not interested in doll clothes. He stopped a minute to watch a salesman demonstrating a toy airplane, then wandered on. He found himself back at the escalator. Many people were riding up on it, but he saw no way of going down.

  “I guess you have to walk down the stairs,” he told himself. “I think I’ll go down and ride up again while Flossie is looking at those dolls. She won’t miss me.”

  Freddie looked around and noticed a door marked “Stairway.” He quickly ran down two flights of stairs and then another. When he reached the bottom he found himself in the basement of the store.

  Here was the department which sold mechanical toys. Freddie saw a little train going round and round on a track. Bells were ringing and signals flashing.

  “That’s keen I” he thought. “I wonder how it works.”

  He walked over to the display and watched it in fascination. Then he moved on to a section where there were small model automobiles. A salesman hailed him. “How about a ride, sonny?”

  Freddie’s eyes grew large. “May I really drive one?” he asked breathlessly.

  “Sure!” The salesman showed him how to operate the little vehicle, and soon Freddie was riding around the cleared floor space, a happy smile on his face. When he climbed out of the little car he noticed a group of toy fire engines so he walked over to look at them.

  By this time Freddie had covered almost the entire basement floor of the large store. He decided it was time to go back upstairs where his mother and Flossie were waiting.

  “Let’s see,” he said to himself, “I think the moving stairs were over this way.” But although Freddie thought he walked in the right direction, he was hopelessly mixed up. The little boy could not find either the stairway or the escalator.

  He went through a doorway and found himself in another part of the basement. It seemed to be a storage room. At one end a man sat at a desk checking off items in a large ledger.

  Freddie started toward him. “Please, can you tell me how I get up to the third floor?” the little boy asked.

  But the busy man evidently did not hear Freddie because he closed the book and walked through a doorway back of him. Freddie ran after the man, pulling the door shut behind him. He was just in time to see the man go through a wide doorway. As he did an overhead door slid down and Freddie heard a catch fall into place.

  The little boy looked around. He was in a large room lined with paper cartons and wooden boxes. In one comer was a big pile of excelsior.

  “I think I’ll sit down on that soft stuff for a moment,” Freddie thought with a sigh. He was tired, and the room was very warm.

  In a few minutes Freddie’s eyes closed and his head fell forward. He was soon fast asleep !

  In the meantime, back at school Bert and Charlie were waiting for Nan and Nellie to come outside. Bert had told his friend about the trap door in the kitchen of the old Marden house.

  “Nan and I can’t figure out how anyone got into the house to open it,” Bert said.

  Charlie smiled. “I wouldn’t trust Danny Rugg even if he did say he wasn’t in there. Maybe he followed you and Nan when you weren’t looking and sneaked down cellar.”

  At this moment Nan and Nellie came out of th
e school building. “I’m so excited,” Nellie exclaimed. “I can’t wait to look through that house again. Maybe today we’ll find the lost treasure !”

  Since Bert and Nan had thoroughly explored the first floor, the four children ascended the stairs to the rooms on the second. Each one took a bedroom and searched it carefully. They followed the same procedure which Bert and Nan had used two days earlier, paying particular attention to the fireplaces. But they found nothing.

  Nellie finished her room first and went into the fifth bedroom. Suddenly she called to the others, “Come in here! I think I see something on the closet shelf!”

  Nan, Bert, and Charlie ran to her side. By standing on their tiptoes and craning their necks they could see what looked like a package in the far corner of the closet shelf.

  “Nan, you’re the lightest,” Bert said. “I’ll boost you up so you can reach it.”

  Bert bent over, and Nan climbed onto his back. She stretched her arm and just managed to work the package forward with the tips of her fingers. It fell to the floor with a little thud!

  “Oh, I just know it’s the cameo and coins!” Nellie cried excitedly.

  Her hands shaking in anticipation, Nan undid the brown paper package. When they saw the contents, the children groaned in disappointment. Spread on the paper were four old-fashioned casters for chair legs!

  “I was sure I had found the treasure!” Nellie said mournfully as she wrapped the casters up again and replaced them on the closet shelf.

  “There’s still the attic to search,” Nan said, trying to sound cheerful.

  “Sure!” Charlie agreed. “Don’t be downhearted I”

  The stairs leading to the attic were narrow, rickety, and winding. The four crept up them carefully. When they reached the top, the children looked around. A window at each end of the long room let in a small amount of light.

  The place had evidently been cleared out some time before. The floor was covered with dust, and the only article in the whole space was an old-fashioned trunk under one of the eaves.