THE BOBBSEY TWINS 
 AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 LAURA LEE HOPE 
 
 mjs^as^ 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY 
 
a Cornell University 
 § Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92400562451 9 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PZ 7.H79S6 
 
 The Bobbsey twins at Snow Lodge / 
 
 3 1924 005 624 519 
 
The Bobbsey Twins 
 at Snow Lodge 
 
 BY 
 
 LAURA LEE HOPE 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE BOBBSEY TWINS." 
 
 WITHDRAWN 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
 J^ 
 
 '%!C!ir 
 
CoPySlGHT, I913, BY 
 
 GrOSSET & DUNLAP. 
 
 Tee Bobbsey Twins at Snow I/H)® 
 
 PrimUd tn tht XTwited Statet of Amtriaa 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CSAFIKB 
 
 I. 
 
 The Runaways .' . . 
 
 
 II. 
 
 Old Mr. Cabford . , 
 
 
 III. 
 
 The Big Snowball . 
 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Accusation 
 
 
 V. 
 
 Holidays at Hand . 
 
 
 VI. 
 
 A Visit to Me. Carford . 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Story of Snow Lodge 
 
 VIII. 
 
 A Kind Offer . . . . 
 
 IX. 
 
 Mr. Bobbsey's Story 
 
 
 X. 
 
 Unwelcome News . 
 
 
 XI. 
 
 Making Plans . . 
 
 
 XII. 
 
 Thr LK'n'KKs . . . 
 
 
 XIII. 
 
 In a Hard Blow 
 
 
 XIV. 
 
 At Snow Lodge . . 
 
 
 XV. 
 
 The Snow Slide 
 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Lost in the Woods 
 
 
 I 
 
 If 
 
 2(, 
 
 3i 
 4fj 
 SS 
 69 
 78 
 Ss 
 94 
 
 "5 
 
 124 
 
 134 
 I4g 
 
 IS* 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAFTIK FAS 
 
 XVII. Henky Bukdock , 165 
 
 KVIII. Snowballs . 176 
 
 XIX. Snap Is Gone ........ 185 
 
 XX. The Big Storm ... . ... 193 
 
 XXI. Thb Falling Tkee ao3 
 
 SXll. Thb Missinc Money ...... Jf4 
 
THE BOBBSEY TWINS 
 AT SNOW LODGF 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE RUNAWAYS 
 
 "Will Snap pull us, do yxDu think, Fred- 
 die ? " asked little Flossie Bobbsciy, as she 
 anxiously looked at her small brother, who was 
 fastening a big, shaggy dog to his sled by 
 means of a home-made harness. " Do you 
 think he'll give us a good ride ? " 
 
 " Sure he will, Flossie," answered Freddie 
 with an air of wisdom. " I explained it all to 
 him, and I've tried him a little bit. He pulled 
 fine, and you won't be much'heavier. I'll have 
 the harness all fixed in a minute, and then we'll 
 have a grand ride." 
 
 " Do yotj, think Snap will be strong enough 
 to pull both of us? " asked the little girl, 
 , "Of course he will ! " exclaimed Freddie 
 firmly. "He's as good as an Esquimo dog, 
 I 
 
2 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LOPGE 
 
 and we saw some pictures of them pulling sleds 
 bigger than ours." 
 
 "That's so," admitted Flossie. "Well, 
 faurry up, please, Freddie 'cause I'm cold stand- 
 ing here, and I want to get under the blankets 
 on the sled and have a nice ride." 
 
 " I'll hurry all right, Flossie. You go up 
 there by Snap's head and pat him. Then he'll 
 stand stiller, and I can fix the harness on hina 
 quicker." 
 
 Flossie, with a, shake of her fight curls, and 
 a stamp of her little feet to rid them of the 
 snow from the drift in which she had been 
 standing, went closer to the fine-looking and 
 intelligent dog, who did not seem to mind 
 being all tied up with ropes and leather straps 
 to Freddie's sled. 
 
 " Good old Snap I " exclaimed Flossie, pat- 
 ting his head. " You're going to give Freddie 
 and me a fine ride; aren't you, old fellow? " 
 
 Snap barked and wagged his tail violently. 
 ■ " Hey ! Stop that ! " cried Freddie. " He's 
 flopping his tail right in my face ! " the little 
 boy added. "I can't s^e to fasten this strajn 
 Hold his tail, Flossie." 
 
THE RUNAWAYS 3 
 
 Snap, hearing the voice of his young mastet 
 —one of his two masters by the way — wagged 
 his tail harder than ever. Freddie made a 
 grab -for it, but missed. Flossie, seeing this* 
 laughed and Snap, thinking it was a great joke, 
 leaped about and barked with delight. He 
 sprang out of the harness, which was only 
 partly fastened on, and began leaping about in 
 the snow. Finally he stood up on his hind 
 legs and marched about, for Snap was a trick, 
 dog, and had once belonged to a circus. 
 
 " There now ! Look at that ! " cried Fred* 
 die,. He's spoiled "everything! We'll never 
 get him hitched up now." 
 
 " It — it wasn't my fault," said Flossie, a 
 tear or two coming into her eyes. 
 
 " I know it wasn't, Flossie," replied Fred- 
 die, speaking more quietly. " It's always just 
 that way with Snap when he gets excited. 
 Come here ! " he called to the dog, " and let 
 me harness you. Come here Snap I " 
 
 The dog was well enough trained so that 
 he knew when the time for fun was over and 
 when he had to settle down. Still lagging 
 his tail joyously, however. Snap came up to 
 
4' THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LOOSE 
 
 Freddie, who started over again the work of 
 harnessing the animal to the sled. 
 
 " I guess you'd better stand at his tail in- 
 stead of at his head," said Freddie. " So when 
 he wags it you can grab it, Flossie, and hold 
 jit still. Then it won't slap me in the face, 
 and I can see what I'm doing. Hold his tail, 
 i^lossie." 
 
 " Then he can't wag it,*' objected the little 
 girl- 
 
 " I know he can't. I don't want him to." 
 
 " But it may^ make him angry." 
 
 "Snap never gets mad; do you. Snap?" 
 asked Freddie, and the dog's bark seemed to 
 say " No, never ! " 
 
 So Flossie held the dog's tail, while Freddie 
 put on the harness again. Thisi time he .suc- 
 ceeded in getting it all arranged to suit him, 
 and the frisky Snap was soon made fast to 
 the sled. 
 
 "Now get on, Flossie," called her brother, 
 , " and we'll see how fast Snap can pull us." 
 
 " But don't make him go too fast, Freddie," 
 begged the little girl. " For it's hard pulling 
 in the snow." 
 
THE RUNAWAYS 5 
 
 " No, I'll let him go slow," promked Fred- 
 die. " But it won't be hard work pulling us. 
 My sled goes awfully easy, anyhow." 
 
 Freddie tucked Flossie in amid the robes 
 and rugs which the children had taken from the 
 house, near which they had started to harness 
 the dog. Then Freddie took his place in front 
 of his sister, holding to two reins chat were 
 fastened to the dog's head. Freddie had made 
 no bit, such as is used for horses and goats, but 
 ' he thought by making straps fast to a sort of 
 muzzle by which he could guide Snap, by pull- 
 ing his head to one side or the other. 
 
 "All ready, Flossie?" called Freddie, when 
 fee himself was comfortable on the sled. 
 
 "All ready," she answered. 
 
 " Giddap, Snap ! " cried Freddie, and, with 
 a bark, off the dog started, pulling the sled 
 and the two children after him. 
 
 " Oh, he's going ! He's giving us a ride ! 
 At's as real as anything ! " cried Flossie in de- 
 light, holding fast to the sled. "Oh, Fred- 
 die!" 
 
 " Of course it's real! " said Freddie. " Bert 
 and Nan said Snap wouldn't pull ns, but I 
 
6 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 knew he would. I just wish they could see us 
 now." 
 
 As if in answer to this wish a little later, 
 when the two smaller twins had turned a cor- 
 ner, they saw coming toward them their brother 
 and sister Nan and Bert, also twins, but four 
 years older. 
 
 " Look, look ! " cried Flossie to Nan. " See 
 what a nice, ride we're having." 
 
 "Oh, look, Bert!" exclaimed Nan. " Snaj 
 really is pulling them," and she grasped her 
 brother's arm. Bert was pulHng his own sle^ 
 and that of his twin sister. 
 
 "Yes, he'll pull them a little way," admitted 
 Bert, as if he knew all about it, " and then, the 
 first thing they know, Snap will turn around 
 short and tip them into a snowdrift. He 
 hasn't been trained to pull a sled, no matter 
 how many other tricks he can do." 
 
 " I trained him myself ! " declared Freddie, 
 as he pulled on the lines to bring the dog to a 
 stop. But Snap, seeing Nan and Bert, was 
 eager to reach them to be patted and made 
 much of, so he did not obey the command 
 giveft by the reins, but kept on. 
 
THE RUNAWAYS 7 
 
 "Whoa there!" cried Freddie, holding 
 back with all his little strength. 
 
 " See, I told you he wouldn't mind," said 
 Bert, with a laugh. 
 
 " Oh, but isn,'t it cute ! " exclaimed Nan, 
 •lapping her hands. "I didn't think they'd 
 get any ride at all." 
 
 " We'll show you ! We'll have a fine 
 ride!" panted Freddie, vainly trying to make 
 Snap halt. 
 
 Then just what Bert said would happen 
 seemed about to take place. The dog leaped 
 around, and turned short to get nearer to the 
 older Eobbsey twins. 
 
 " Look out ! " cried Bert, but his warning 
 came too late. 
 
 Over went the sled, and Flossie and Fred- 
 idie were pitched from it into a big, fluffy bank 
 ef snow, falling into it deeply, but with no 
 more harm to them than if they had landed on 
 a bed of feathers. 
 
 " Oh dear ! " cried Flossie, as she felt her- 
 *self shooting toward the snow. 
 
 " Whoa there ! Whoa ! Don't you run 
 ■sway. Snap!" shouted Freddie. Then his 
 
g ;:HE BOBBSEY twins at snow LOOGb 
 
 mouth was filled with saow aad he could say 
 nothiag more. 
 
 "Oh, Bert! They'tl be smothered!" cried 
 Nan. " Help me get them out ! " 
 
 Bert was laughing, and trying to defend 
 himself against tJie jumping up of Snapi whs 
 seemed to want to hug the boy with his paws. 
 
 " Stop laughing I Help me! " ordered Nan, 
 who was already trying to lift Flossie from 
 her snowy bed. 
 
 " I can't help laughing — ^Freddie looked so 
 fanny when he went over," said Bert 
 "There's no danger of smothering, though. 
 That snow is as dry as sand. Here you go, 
 Freddie. Gire me your l^and and I'll plill you 
 out." 
 
 In a few seconds the smaller Bobbsey twins 
 stood beside their larger brother and sister, 
 while Snap capered about them, barking loudly 
 and wagging his tail. 
 
 "Oh, he's got loose, and the harness is all 
 broken," said Freddie, and tears of disappoint* 
 ment stood in his blue eyefi. 
 
 « Never mind," said Bert. " I'll help y<m 
 vaakp a better harness to-morrow, Freddie. 
 
THE RUNAWAYS ^ 
 
 That one wasn't strong enotigh for Snap, any- 
 how. I'll fix it differently." ' , 
 
 " Oh, but we were going to have such a fine 
 ride ! " said Flossie, who was also ready to cry. 
 The smaller twins were only about five years 
 pid, so it might have been expected. 
 
 " Well, come on and go coasting with Bert 
 and me," said Nan, as she patted her little sis- 
 ter's head. " We're going over on the long 
 hill. It's fine there, and, you'll have just as 
 much fun as if you had Snap to pull you." 
 
 " Shall we go, Freddie ? " asked Flossie, who 
 generally depended on him to start their 
 amusements. 
 
 " I guess so," he answered. " This harness 
 is all busted, anyhow." 
 
 Sadly he looked at the tangled strings and 
 straps fast to the sled, where Snap had broken 
 away from them. The harness Freddie had 
 made with such care was all broken now. 
 
 " Never mind," said Bert again. " I'll make 
 
 'you a better one to-morrow, Freddie. Corne 
 
 along now, and we'll have some fun. And 
 
 when we get through coasting I'll buy every- 
 
 bodv a hot chocolate soda." 
 
xd THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "Really?" asked Flossie, hef sorrow for- 
 gotten now. 
 
 *' Sure thing," promised Bert. 
 
 ^'Cctme on, then, Freddie," said his littlt 
 sister. " We can harness Snap up to-morrow," 
 
 The useless harness was taken to the Bobb- 
 sey home, not far away, and then the four 
 twins — the two sets of them, as it were — 
 started ;for the coasting hill, Flossie and Fred- 
 die having one sled between them, and Nan 
 and Bert each having one of their own. 
 
 On the way to the hill they met many of 
 their friends, also bound for the same place. 
 School was just out and the boys and girl* 
 were eager to have a good time in the snow. 
 
 " There's Charley Mason I " exclaimed Bert, 
 seeing a boy he knew. " Hello, Charley ! " he 
 called. " Going coasting? " 
 
 " Sure. Where's the big bob? " For some 
 time before this Bert and Charley had made, 
 in partnership, a large bob sled. 
 
 " Oh, I didn't know you'd be out, or I'd. 
 have brought it," replied Bert. "Anyhow, I 
 promised Nan I'd coast with her." 
 
 "Oh, that's all right. I guess the hill -mfl 
 
THE RUNAWAYS u 
 
 be too crowded for a bob, anyhow. Danny 
 Rugg was taking his over, though, for I saw 
 him and some of his crowd hauling it from 
 his barn a little while ago." 
 
 " Well, let 'em. We can get ours later. Got 
 a new sled ? " and Bert looked admiringly at 
 the one Charley was pulling. 
 
 " No, it's only my old one painted over. 
 But it makes it look like new." 
 
 " We had Snap hitched up, but he broke 
 loose," said Freddie. "But we're going to 
 have a stronger harness to-morrow." 
 
 "That's good," said Charley, with a broad 
 amile. 
 
 S(?on the children were on the hill. There 
 ■was a large crowd of coasters there, and fun 
 was at its height. There was merry shouting . 
 «nd laughter, and several spills and upsets. As 
 Bert had said, the hill was very much crowded. 
 
 " I thought it would be no good for a bob," 
 lie remarked. 
 
 " There goes Danny Rugg now ! " ex 
 claimed Charley. " He's giving orders to 
 everyone." 
 
 " He'd better not give any to me," said 
 
f2 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODG^ 
 
 Bert, in a quiet voice, but with determinatioB} 
 in his tones. 
 
 "Oh, Bert!" exclaimed Nan. "Please 
 don't have any fuss; will you?" 
 
 "Not on my part," said Bert. "But if 
 Danny Rugg thinks he can boss me he is mis- 
 taken." 
 
 It was evident that Danny liked to play mas- 
 ter. He could be heard giving orders to this 
 one and the other one to get out of the way, 
 to pull his bob around in place, and then to 
 shove it off with its load of boys and girls. 
 
 Now, though Danny was a bully, some of the 
 children were friendly with him for the sake of 
 t^etting a ride on his sled, which was a large 
 and expensive one. 
 
 , Bert, and Nan, and Flossie and Freddie, soon 
 were coasting with their friends, having a good 
 time' on the hill. The two smaller twins^went 
 down together. 
 
 ' As Freddie came up the long slope, pulling 
 his sled in readiness for another trip, Danny 
 Rugg with his bob reached the head of the 
 slope at the same time. 
 
 " Say, Danny, give me a ride this trip; won't 
 
THE RUNAWAYS 13 
 
 you ? " begged a small boy, who had no sled, 
 but who often did errands for the bully, and 
 played mean tricks for him that Danny was 
 too lazy to play himself. " Let me go on ,vou?i 
 bob?"- 
 
 " Not this time, Sim,*' said Danny. " The 
 bob is going to be filled. But here, you can 
 take Kreddie Bobbsey's sled.- He doesn't want 
 it," and without giving Freddie time to say 
 whether he did or not Danny snatched the sled 
 rope from him and held it out to Sim Watson. 
 
 For a moment Freddie was too surprised to 
 utter a protest and then, as he realized what 
 had happened, he cried out: 
 
 " Here, Danny Rugg, you let my sled alone I 
 T do want it! Give it back to me! " 
 
 " Aw, go on ! " said Danny. " Yciu've had 
 rides enough. Let Sim take .your sled, or I'll 
 punch you ! " and Danny gave Freddie a 
 shove, ,and held out the rope of the sled to Sim. 
 
 ^'Stop it!" cried Freddie. "I'll tell Bert 
 on you." 
 
 " Pooh ! Think I'm afraid of yotjr brother > 
 I can handle him with one hand tied b^ind my 
 back." 
 
14 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " The^n it's time you started in ! " exclaimed 
 a voice just back of Danny, and the bully 
 turned suddenly to see Bert standing near him. 
 Danny's face flushed, and then grew pale. Be- 
 fore he could make a move Bert grabbed away 
 from him the rope of Freddie's sled, which 
 Sim had not yet taken, and passed it back to 
 his small brother. 
 
 "Don't you try that again," warned Bert. 
 
 "I will if I want to," said Danny, meanly. 
 "I'm not afraid of you." 
 
 " Maybe not," said Bert, quietly, " and I'm 
 not afraid of you, either. But if you take my 
 brother's sled for some of your friends you'll 
 have to settle with me. You leave Freddie 
 alone ; do you hear ? " , 
 
 " I don't have- to mind you ! " 
 
 ** We'll see about that. Go ahiead, Freddie. 
 You and Flossie coast as| much as you like, tind 
 if Danny bothers you any more let me know." 
 
 Danny, with an uneasy laugh, turned aside. 
 Some of his particular chums gathered about 
 him, and one murmuijed: 
 
 " Why don't you fight him? " 
 
 For a moment 't looked as though there 
 
THE RUNAWAYS i^ 
 
 taight be trouble, but an instant later all 
 thoughts of it passed, for a series of girls' 
 screams came from midway down the long 
 hiU. 
 
 All eyes were turned in that direction, and 
 those at the top of the slope saw a team of 
 runaway horses, attached to a heavy bobsled, 
 pltmging madly up the hill. 
 
 And, right in the path of the frightened ani- 
 mals was Nan Bobbsey, and one or two other 
 girls, on their sleds, coasting straight for the 
 runaways. 
 
 A cry of fear came from Bert Bobbsey as 
 he noticed his sister's danger. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 , J ' OLD MR. CARFORD 
 
 " Stop the horses ! " 
 
 " Yes, grab them, somebody, or they'H mn 
 into ' the girls ! " 
 
 " Look out, everybody, they're coming right 
 this way!" 
 
 " I'm going to get my^bob to a safe place! " 
 
 It was Danny Rugg who called out this last, 
 and the other boys had shouted the previous 
 expressions, as they watched th^ oncoming, 
 runaway horses. 
 
 Bert Bobbsey had thrown himself on his 
 sled and was coasting toward the group of 
 girls, of whom his sister Nan was one. They 
 were on their sleds in the very path of the 
 team. It seemed that nothing could save them. 
 But Bert had a plan in his mind. 
 
 And, while he was preparing to carry it out, 
 
 I will take just a moment to tell my new 
 i6 
 
OLD MR. CARFORD if 
 
 (readers something about the characters of this 
 < story, and the books that have gone before in 
 the series. 
 
 Bert and Nan, Freddie and Flossie Bobbsey 
 were the twin children of Mr. and Mrs. Rich- 
 ard Bobbsey, who lived in an Eastern city 
 called Lakeport, at the head of Lake Metoka. 
 Mr. Bobbsey was a prosperous lumber mer- 
 chant. Other members of the household were 
 Dinah and Sam^ Johnson. Dinah was the 
 cook, fat and good-natured. Sam was her hus- 
 band, slim and also good-natured. He did all 
 sorts of work about the place, from making 
 garden to shoveling show. , • 
 
 Then there was Downy, a pet duck; Snoop, 
 a pet black cat, and, of late. Snap, the fine 
 trick dog, who had come into the possession of 
 the Bobbseys in a peculiar manner. 
 
 In the first book of this series, entitled " The 
 Bobbsey Twins,") I told of the good times 
 the fout children had in their home- ' How 
 i they played in, the snow, went coasting, helped 
 to discover what they thought was a " ghost," 
 and did many other things. Bert even went 
 for a sail in an ice boat he and Charley Mason 
 
l8 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 had made, though it was almost more thaa 
 the bpys could manage at times. 
 
 The second volume, called " The ^obbsey 
 Twins in the Country," told of the good times 
 the four had when they went to the farm of 
 Uncle Daniel Bobbsey and his wife, Aunt 
 Sarah, who lived at Meadow Brook. 
 
 Such fun as there was ! 
 
 There was a country picnic, sport in the 
 woods, and a great Fourth of July celebration. 
 A circus gave a chance to have other good 
 times, and though once there was a midnight 
 scare, it all turned out happily. 
 
 But though the twins had much happiness in 
 the country they were destined to have still 
 more fun when they went to the ocean shore, 
 and in the third book, called " The Bobbsey 
 ^ Twins at the Seashore," I related all that hap- 
 pened to them there. 
 
 They went on a visit to their uncle, William 
 Minturn, who lived at Ocean Cliff, and their 
 cousin Dorothy showed them many strange 
 scenes and sights. They had most delightful 
 times, and toward the close of their visit there 
 -was a great storm at sea, and a shipwreck. 
 
OLD MR. CARFORD 19 
 
 The life savers were on hand, however, and 
 did such good work that no one was drowned. 
 And if you want to learn how a certain little 
 girl was made very happy, when she found 
 that her father was among those saved, you 
 must read the book. 
 
 Then, after the storm ceased, there were 
 more happy days at the shore. The time for 
 the Bobbseys to leave came all too soon. 
 School was about to open, and even the smaller 
 twins must now settle down to regular lessons. 
 
 In the fourth book of the series, called 
 *'The Bobbsey Twins at School," there is told 
 of the start for home. 
 
 But many things happened before the family 
 arrived. There was the wreck of the circus 
 train, the escape of the animals, the meeting 
 with the very fat lady, and the loss of Snoop, 
 the pet cat. Then, too, a valuable cup the 
 ■ smaller Bobbsey twins had been drinking from, 
 seemed to be lost, and they were very sorry 
 about it. 
 
 On the way home something else occurred. 
 They were followed in the dark by some 
 Strange aniinal. At first they feared it was 
 
V 
 20 THE BOBBSEY TWINS kr SNOW LODGE 
 
 some wild beast from the circus but it proved 
 to be only a friendly dog. 
 
 How Flossie and Freddie insisted on keep- 
 ing the dog, now that their pet cat Snoop was 
 gone, how they named him Snap, and how it 
 was discovered that he could do tricks, are all 
 part of the story. 
 
 There were many more happenings after 
 the. twins started in at school. Mr. Bobbsey's 
 boathouse caught fire in a mysterious manner. 
 Snap was found to be a circus dog, and it was 
 pretty certain that the fat lady in the train had 
 also belonged to the show, and that it was she 
 who had the valuable silver cup. 
 
 In time all was straightened out, and how 
 Snoop came back from the citcus in ' far-off 
 Cuba, how Snap was allowed to stay with the 
 Bobbseys, and hbw even the cup was finally 
 recovered — all this you will find set dowh in 
 f he fourth book of this series. 
 
 And now winter had come in earnest, 
 though even before this story opens the Bobb- 
 sey twins had had a taste of snow and Ice. 
 The accident on the coasting hill now occupied 
 the attention of all. 
 
OLD MR. CARFORD 21 
 
 "Oh, Nan! Nan will be killed!" cried 
 Flossie, as she stood with Freddie gazing down 
 the slope. 
 
 "^o, she won't!" exclaimed Freddie. 
 " Bert is going to save her — you'll see ! " 
 
 "Oh, if he only can!" murmured Nellie 
 Parks, one of Nan's friends. 
 
 " I think he will ! See, he is coming nearer 
 to them," added Grace Lavine, another friend. 
 
 Danny Rugg, mean as he was, was not quite 
 so mean as to discourage this hope. Some of 
 the girls on the sleds that were coming nearer 
 to the rushing horses seemed about to roll off, 
 rather than take chances of steering out of 
 the way of the steeds. , ^ 
 
 "What can Bert be going to do?" asked 
 Grace. . " How can he save them? " 
 
 "I (ion't know," answered- Nellie. " Let's 
 watch him. Maybe he's going ;to stop the 
 horses." 
 
 "He'd never dare!" murmured Grace. 
 
 " Oh, Bert is brave," was the answer. 
 - But Bert had no intention of leaping for 
 the horses' heads just now. Kis first idea was 
 to get his sister and the other girls to a place 
 
22 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 of safety. As he came near to them, his, sled 
 going much faster than theirs, he called out : 
 
 " Steer to the right! Go to the right! I'll 
 see if I can't make the horses go over to one 
 
 ' side." 
 
 " All right ! " cried Nan, who understood 
 what her brother meant. " Keep to the right, 
 girls," she called to her frightene4 chums, 
 " and don't any of you fall off ! " 
 
 Those who had been about to roll from 
 their sleds now held on with firmer clasps.v 
 They, were close to the runaway team now. 
 
 ! Bert was near to them also, and, while won- 
 dering to, whom they belonged, , and whether 
 they had injured their driver or anyone else 
 in their mad rush, he caught up a handful of 
 snow as his sled glided onward. 
 
 It was hard work to throw the snow ball at 
 the horses, going down hill as he was, but Bert 
 managed to do it. He had the good luck to 
 
 , hit one of the animals with the wad of snow, 
 
 I and this sent the horse over to one side, its 
 mate following. This was just what Bert / 
 wanted, as it gave Nan and the others mor« 
 room to coast past them. 
 
OLD MR. CARFORD 23 
 
 And this is just what the girls did. Their 
 sleds whizzed past the runaways, one sled, on 
 which Hattie Jenson rode, almost grazing a 
 hoof. 
 
 "Now you're safe!" cried Bert "Keep 
 on to the foot of the hill ! You're all right ! " 
 
 He gathered up another handful of snow, 
 and threw it at the steeds, making them swerve 
 more than ever towards the side of the hill. 
 Then one of the animals slipped and stumbled. 
 This caused them both to slow up, and Bert, 
 .-seeing this, left his sled, rolling off, and letting 
 ■it go down without him. 
 
 Hardly thinking of what he was doing, he 
 ran for the heads of the horses. Perhaps it 
 was not just wise, for Bert was not very tall, 
 but he was brave. However, he was not to 
 stop the runaways all alone, for just then some 
 of the larger boys, who had been rushing down 
 the hill, came up, and before the horses could 
 start off again several lads had grasped them 
 by the bridles and were quieting them. 
 
 *That was a good idea of yours, Bert 
 Bobbsey," said Frank Miller. "^A fine idea, 
 to throw snowballs at them. It made them 
 
24 
 
 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGfe 
 
 go to one side all right, and slowed them up." 
 
 " I wanted to save the girls," said Bert, who 
 was panting from his little run. 
 
 " Whose team is it ? " asked another boy. 
 
 " I don't know," answered Bert. " I can't 
 say that I ever saw them before. There's no 
 one in the sled, anyhow, though it is pretty 
 well loaded with stuff." 
 
 He and the other boys looked into the ve- 
 hicle. It contained a number of boxes and 
 bags. Then the boys looked down the hill and 
 ?aw that the girls who had been in danger were 
 now safe. Nan and the others were walking 
 up, dragging their sleds. 
 
 The boys then noticed a man half running 
 up the slope. He was waving his arms in an 
 excited- fashion. 
 
 " I guess that's the man wba owns the 
 horses," said Charley Mason. 
 
 There was no doubt of it a few minutes 
 later, when the man came close enough to makfe 
 himself heard. ' 
 
 "Are they all right, boys?" he asked' 
 " Are my horses hurt ? " 
 
 "They don't seem to be," answered Frank. 
 
OLD MR. CARFORD 2$ 
 
 "That's good. Are my things all 1 right?" 
 
 " Everything seems to be here," said Char- 
 fey Mason, who was standing beside Bert. " I 
 know who he is now," went on Charley in a 
 low tone to his chum. " He's Mr. James Car- 
 ford, of Newton." 
 
 " He's lame," observed Bert, for the ^ ma» 
 limped slightly. 
 
 " Yes, he was in the war," went on Charley. 
 " He's real ricfe, too, but peculiar, they say." 
 
 By this time aged. Mr. Car ford was looking 
 over the team and the sled and its contents. 
 He seemed weary and out of breath. 
 
 "Yes, everything is all right," he said 
 ": slowly. " I hope no one was hurt by my run- 
 aways. I never knew 'em to do that before. 
 I left 'em outgide the store a minute while I 
 went in to geit something, and they must have 
 taken fright. I hope no one was hurt." 
 
 " No, everyone got out of the way in time," 
 said Bert. 
 
 "That's good. Who stopped the horses?" 
 ^ihe old man asked. 
 
 " Bert Bobbsey," answered Frank Miller. 
 *' He warned his sister and the other girls to 
 
26 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Steer to one side, and then he threw snow at 
 the horses and made them fall down. Then 
 they slowed up so we could grab 'em." 
 
 "Ha! Bert Bobbsey did that, eh?" ex- 
 claimed aged Mr. Car ford. " So this is the 
 second time a Bobbsey has mixed up in my 
 fkmily affairs. The second time," and Mr. 
 Carford looked at Bert in a peculiar manner. 
 
 " Did you fall out of the sled, Mr. Car« 
 ford ? " asked another boy, coming up just 
 then. 
 
 " No, they started of? when I was in the 
 store. Funny, too, that they should. Well, 
 I'm glad there's no one hurt and no damage 
 ■done. I couldn't walk home to Newton. ^ 
 I'm much obliged to you boys. And to you 
 too, Bert Bobbsey. 
 
 " Are you Richard Bobbsey's soil? " he sud- 
 denly asked, peering at Bert from beneath his 
 shaggy eyebrows. 
 
 "Yes, sir." ^ 
 
 " Ha ! I thought so. You look like him. 
 
 You do things like him, too, without stopping 
 
 to be asked. Yes, this is the second time e 
 
 .1 
 Bobbsey has meddled with my family affairs. 
 
OLD MR. CARFORD 27 
 
 Trying to do me a good turn, I suppose. 
 Well, well!" and he seemed lost in thought. 
 
 ""What is it? What is the matter? " asked 
 Nan, in a low voice of her brother, as she 
 came to stand beside him. " Is he finding 
 fault because you helped stop his runa'vfay 
 horses? " 
 
 " No, Nan. I don't exactly understand 
 what he does mean," answered Bert. " There 
 seems to be some mystery about it." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE BIG SNOWBALL 
 
 For a time Mr. Carford seemed more wor- 
 ried about the possible injury to his team, and 
 the loss of some of his goods in the sled, than 
 he was concerned about thanking the boys who 
 had stopped the runaways. Then, as he found 
 by looking them over, that the horses were all 
 right, and that nothing was missing, he ap- 
 proached Bert and the others, saying: 
 
 " Well, boys, I'm much obliged to you. ■ I 
 can't tell you how much. No telling wl^at 
 damage the horses might have done if you 
 hadn't stopped 'em. And I'm glad no one 
 was hurt. 
 
 " Now I reckon you boys aren't much dif- 
 ferent than I was, when I was a youngster, 
 and I guess you like sweets about the same. 
 Here are a couple of dollars, Bert Bobbsey. I 
 
THE BIG SNOWBALL 39 
 
 wish you'd treat all your friends to hot choco- 
 late soda or candy or whatever you like best. 
 It isn't exactly pay for what you did, but it 
 just shows I'm not forgetful." 
 
 " Oh, we didn't stop the horses for 
 liioney ! " cried Bert, drawing back. 
 
 "I know you didn't," answered Mr. Car- 
 ford, with a smile, " and I'm not paying you, 
 either. You stopped the horses, or you tried 
 to stop them, Bert, to save your sister and the 
 other girls. I understand that all right. But 
 the horses were stopped just the same, and 
 please take this as a little thank offering, if 
 nothing else. Please do," 
 
 He held out the two-dollar bill, and Bert 
 did not feel like refusing. |Ie accepted the 
 money with murmured thanks, and as Mr. 
 Carford climbed into the sled, limping more 
 than ever after his run up the hill, the aged 
 man muttered: 
 
 "The second time a Bobbsey has been 
 ' mixed up in my affairs. I wonder what will 
 -happen when the third tipie comes ? " , 
 
 Calling good-byes to the boys and girls, and 
 again thanking thefti for what they had done. 
 
30 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Mr. Carford drove off amid a jingle of bells. 
 
 "What do you s'pose he meant by saying 
 this was the second time a Bobbsey- had been 
 .Tiixed up in his family affairs?" asked Char* 
 ley Mason of Bert. 
 
 "I haven't the least idea. I never knew 
 Mr. Carford before this. I'll ask my father." 
 
 "Is that bill real?" asked one boy, refer- 
 ring to the money. 
 
 " It sure is," answered Bert, looking at it. 
 " Come on to the drugstore and we'll spend 
 it. That's what it's for." 
 
 "Going to treat Danny Rugg, and his 
 crowd, too ? " asked Frank Miller. 
 
 " Well, I guess Mr. Carford wanted this 
 money to be spent on everyone on the hill, so 
 it includes Danny;" answered Bert slowly. 
 
 But Danny and his particular friends held 
 back from Bert, and did not share in the treat. 
 Probably Danny did not want to come to too 
 close quarters with Bert after the attempt 
 imade to get Freddie's sled. 
 
 The excitement caused by the runaway was 
 over now. Bert got back his sled and, as in- 
 terest in coasting had waned at the prospect 
 
THE BIG SNOWBALL ^t 
 
 of hot chocolate sodas, the crc^wd of boys and 
 girls trooped from the hill and started toward 
 town, where there was a favorite drug store. 
 
 Standing about the soda counter the boys 
 and girls discussed the recent happening. 
 
 " What did you think, Nan, when you saw 
 tbe tfeam coming? " asked Grace Lavine. 
 
 " I really don't know what I did think," an- 
 , swered Nan. 
 
 " Weren't you awfully frightened ? " in- 
 quired Nellie Parks. 
 
 " Oh, I suppose I was. But I hoped I 
 could steer out of the' way, and I remember 
 hoping that Flossie and Freddie were in a 
 ?afe place." 
 
 "Oh, we were all right," said Freddie 
 quickly. " Flossie and I were watching the 
 horses. This chocolate is awful good!" he 
 added with a sigh. " Is there any money left, 
 Bert?" 
 
 " Yes, a little," answered his brother 
 " But you ha-ve had your share." 
 
 " Oh, if there is any left let him and Flos- 
 sie have it," suggested Grace. "They're the 
 smallest ones here." 
 
32 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Yes, do," urged , Nellie, and as several 
 others agreed that this was the thing to do, 
 ' the two little Bobbsey twins each had another 
 cup of chocolate. 
 
 " Though Freddie Aas /jlmost as much out- 
 side his mouth as inside it," said Nan, with 
 a .laugh. 
 
 Then the merry party oi boys and girls 
 trooped homeward, Bert and Nan thinking on 
 the way of the strange words of Mr. Carford 
 and wondering what he meant by them. 
 
 Several of the older boys, who knew the 
 old gentleman, told something of him. He 
 was a strange character, living in a fine old 
 homestead. He was said to be queer on cer- 
 tain matters, but kind and good, and quite 
 charitable, especially at Christmas time, to the 
 poor of that country neighborhood. 
 
 " We'll ask papa about him when we get 
 hbme," said Bert. " Maybe he can explain it." 
 
 But when the Bobbsey twins reached their 
 house they found that their father had sud- 
 denly been called away on a business trip to 
 last for some days, and so they did not see 
 him. 
 
THE BIG SNOWBALL 33 
 
 '* I haven't the least idea what Mr. Carford 
 meant," said Mrs. Bobbsey, when ihey had 
 asked her. " I did not even know that your 
 father knew him. I am sorry you children 
 were in danger on the hill." 
 
 *' Oh, it wasn't much, mother," said Bert 
 quickly, for he feared if his parent grew too 
 worried she might put a stop to the winter 
 fun. 
 
 Supper was soon ready and then came a 
 happy period before bedtime — that is happjf 
 after lessons had been learned. Snoop the 
 black cat, and Snap, the smart circus dog, 
 were allowed in the living room, to do some 
 of their tricks. Snoop having been taught a 
 number while with the fat lady in the circus. 
 
 Bert fell asleep vainly wondering about the 
 queer words of Mr. Carford, and he dreamed 
 that he was sliding down hill on the back of 
 a horse who turned somersaults, every now 
 and then, into a bag of popcorn. 
 
 Coasting came to an end the next day, for 
 there was a big snow storm, and the hill 
 would not be in good condition until the white 
 flakes were packed hard on the slope. But 
 
34 THE BOiiBSEY TWINS AT SNOW eODGE 
 
 there were other forms of sport — snowball- 
 ing, the making of forts, snow houses and 
 Snow men, so that the Bobbseys and their 
 friends were kept busy. 
 
 Then came a little thaw, and the snow was 
 just soft enough to roll into big balls. 
 
 " It's just right for making a large fort ! " 
 exclaimed Danny Rugg one day, after school 
 was out. " We'll roll up a lot of big balls, 
 put them in lines on four sides and make a 
 square fort. Then we'll choose sides and 
 have a snow fight." 
 
 The other boys agreed to this, and soon 
 Bert and the others, including Danny and his 
 friends, were busily engaged. For the time 
 being the hard feeling between Danny . and 
 Bert was forgotten. 
 
 The fort was finishedj and there was a spir- 
 ited snow battle about it, one side trying tr 
 capture it and the other trying to stop, them. 
 Bert's side managed to get into the fort, driv- 
 ing the others out. 
 
 " Oh, we'll beat you to-morrow ! " taunted 
 Danny, when the battle was over. 
 
 The next morning, when the children as- 
 
THE BIG SNOWBALI, jj 
 
 sembled at school, they saw a strange sight. 
 On the front steps of the building was a great 
 snowball, so large that it almost hid the door 
 from sight. And working at it, trying to cut 
 it away so that the entrance could be used, 
 was the janitor. He was having hard work 
 it seemed. 
 
 "Who did it?" 
 
 "Who put it there?" 
 
 " Say, it's frozen fast, too ! " 
 
 " Somebody will get into trouble about 
 this." 
 
 These were only a few of the things said 
 when the children saw the big snowball on the 
 school steps. 
 
 " It's frozen fast all right enough," said 
 the janitor, grimly. "Whoever put it there 
 poured water over it, and it's frozen so fast 
 that I'll have to chop it away piece by piece. 
 All' day it will take me, too, and me with all 
 the paths to clean ! " 
 
 When the classes were assembled for the 
 morning exercises Mr. Tetlow, the school 
 principal, stepped to the edge of the platform, 
 and said: 
 
36 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODCS; 
 
 " I presume you have all seen the big snow- 
 ball on the front steps. Whoever put it there 
 did a very wrong thing. I know several boys 
 must have had a hand in it, for one could not' 
 do it alone. I will now give those who did 
 it a cbance to confess. If they will admit it, 
 and apologize, I will let the matter drop. If 
 not I will punish them severely- Now are you 
 ready to tell, boys? I may say that I have 
 a .clue to at least one boy who had a hand in 
 the trick." 
 
 Mr. Tetlow paused. There was silence in 
 the room, and the boys looked one at the 
 other. Who was guilty? 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE ACCUSATION 
 
 For what I seemed a long time Mr. Tetlow 
 stood looking' over the room full of pupils. 
 One could have heard a pin drop, so quiet was 
 it. The hard breathing o:^ the boys and girls 
 could be heard. From over in a corner where 
 Danny Rugg sat, came a sound of whisper- 
 ing. 
 
 " Quiet ! " commanded the principal sharply. 
 " There must be no talking. I will wait one 
 minute more for the guilty ones to acknowl- 
 edge that they rolled the big snowball on the 
 steps. Then, if they do not speak, I shall 
 have something else to say." 
 
 The minute ticked slowly bff on the big 
 clock. . No one spoke. Bert glanced from 
 Bide to side as he sat in his seat, wondering 
 what would come next. Many others had the 
 same thought. 
 
 37 
 
38 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " I see no one wishes to take advantage of 
 my offer," said Mr. Tetlow slowly. "Very- 
 well. You m^ all go to your class-rooms, 
 with the exception of Bert Bobbsey. I wish 
 to see him in my office at once. Do you hear, 
 Bert?" 
 
 There was a gasp of astonishment, and all 
 eyes were turned on Bert., He grew red in 
 the face, and then pale. He could see Nan 
 looking at him curiously, as did other girls. 
 Bert was glad Flossie and Freddie were not 
 in the room, for the kindergarten children did 
 not assemble for morning exercises with the 
 larger boys and girls. Flossie and Freddie 
 might have been frightened at the solemn 
 talk. 
 
 For a moment Bert could hardly believe 
 what he had heard. He was wanted in Mr. 
 Tetlow's office! It did not seem possible. 
 And there was but one explanation of it. It 
 must be in connection with the big snowball. 
 And Bert knew he had had no hand in putting 
 it on the school steps. 
 
 There was a buzz of talk, many whisper- 
 ings, and some one spoke aloud. It sounded 
 
THE ACCUSATIOK 39 
 
 like Danny Rugg, but poor Bert was so con- 
 fused at his own plight that he could not be 
 sure. 
 
 " Silence ! " commanded Mr. Tetlow, as the 
 boys and girls marched to their various rooms. 
 " Bert,, you will wait for me in my office." he 
 added. Poor Bert looked all around. He 
 met many glances that were kind, and other?, 
 from Danny Rugg's friends, that were not. 
 Nan waved her hand at her brother as she 
 passed him, and Bert smiled at her. He made 
 up his mind to be brave. 
 
 Bert went to the principal's office, and sat 
 in a chair. There was another boy there, who 
 looked at Bert in a questioning manner. 
 
 "Are you. here to get some writing paper, 
 Bert?" asked the other boy. "Miss- Ken- 
 nedy sent me for some." 
 
 "No," answered Bert. "I only wish I 
 was. I guess Mr. Tetlow thinks I had some- 
 thing to do with the big snowball." 
 
 "Did you?" 
 
 " I did not ! " exclaimed Bert quickly. 
 
 The principal entered a little later, gave U 
 the other boy the packa,ge of writing paper 
 
40 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Miss Kennedy had sent for, and then sat down 
 beside Bert. i- 
 
 " I am sorry to have to do this, Bert," he 
 said, "but this is a serious matter and I must 
 treat it seriously. Now again, I ask, if. you 
 have anything to say to me?. Perhaps you 
 were too worried to stand up before the whole 
 school." 
 
 "No, sir," answered Bert, "I don't know 
 that I have anything to. say, if you mean about 
 the big snowball." 
 
 "Then you deny that you had anything tc 
 do with it?" 
 
 " Yes, sir. I never helped roll it on the 
 steps." 
 
 " Do you know who did ? " 
 
 "No, , sir. I haven't the least idea." 
 
 " And you were not anywhere near it ? " 
 
 "No,, sir." 
 
 " Ahem ! Let me ask you, have you a 
 knife, Bert?" 
 
 Without thinking Bert's hand went to his 
 pocket, and then, as he recalled something, his 
 face turned red, and he said : 
 
 "I have one, but I haven't got it now," 
 
THE ACCUSATION 41 
 
 "* Is this it?" asked Mr.,Tetlow, suddenly 
 holding out one. 
 
 Bert did not need to give more than a single 
 riance at it to know that it was his knife. It 
 nad his name on the handle and had beet 
 given him by his father at Christmas. 
 
 " Yes, that's mine," he said: slowly. 
 
 " So I thought. And do you know where 
 it was found, 1, Bert? " 
 
 " No, Mr. Tetlow, I haven -t any idea." 
 
 " Suppose I told you the janitor picked it 
 up on the steps almost under the big snow- 
 ball? If I tell you that what have you to 
 say?" , 
 
 "Well, Mr. Tetlow, I'll have to say that I 
 don't know anything about it. I didn't drop 
 my knife there, I'm sure." 
 
 " Then some one else must have done it. 
 Be careful now, Bert. I don't want to be 
 hasty, but it looks to me very much as though 
 you were one of the boys who had played 
 this trick — a trick that has made considerable 
 trouble. I am sure there must have been 
 others concerned with you, and I am almosi 
 positive that you had a hand in it. 
 
42 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Now I am not going to ask you to tell 
 tales against your companions. I don't be- 
 lieve in that sort' of thing. But I am very 
 sorry that you- did not admit at first that you 
 kad a share in rolling the big ball. Very 
 sorry, Bert." 
 
 " But, , Mr. Tetlow, I didn't do it ! " cried 
 poor Bert, the tears coming into his eyes. 
 ." I don't know how my knife got there, but I 
 do know I didn't help roll that ball. Please 
 believe me ; won't you ? " 
 
 For a moment the principal was silent. 
 Then he said slowly: 
 
 " Bert, I would very much like to believe 
 you, for I have always found you a good, 
 manly and upright boy. But the evidence is 
 strong against you I am sorry to say. And 
 this trick was one I can not easily overlook. 
 Rolling the snowball > on the steps was bad 
 enough, but when water was poured over it, 
 to freeze, and become ice, making it so much 
 harder to clean off, it made matters so much 
 woVse. 
 
 " Besides making a lot of work for the jan- 
 Uor, there was danger that some of the teach- 
 
THE ACCUSATION 43 
 
 ers might slip on the icy path and be injured. 
 If your knife had only been found lying on 
 top of the ice I might think you had come up 
 merely to look at the big ball, and had dropped 
 your property there. But the knife was 
 found fyozen fast, showing that it must have 
 been dropped during the time the water was 
 poured on the steps. So you see whoever left 
 it there must have been on hand when the 
 trick was played." 
 
 "That may be true, Mr. Tetlow!" cried 
 Bert, "but 1 did not leave my knife there. 1 
 remember now — I can explain it! I couldn't 
 think, at first, but I see it now." 
 
 "Very well," said Mr. Tetlow quietly, "FB 
 hesir what you have to say, Bert." 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 HOLIDAYS AT HAND 
 
 Bert Bobbsey was thinking rapidly. 
 Something that he had ntearly forgotten came 
 suddenly to his mind, and he hoped it wouM 
 clear him of the accusation. 
 
 And what he had seen, that brought back 
 to his mind something that he had nearly for* 
 gotten, was the sight of an elderly gentleipan 
 driving past the school in a sled. It was 
 aged Mr. Carford, whose runaway team Bert 
 had helped stop that day on the hill. 
 
 " Will you let me call in Mr. Carford? " 
 asked Bert of the principal. 
 
 "Call in Mr. Carford?*' repeated Mr. Tet- 
 low in some surprise. " What for ? " 
 
 "Because, sir," said Bert eagerly, "he saw 
 me lend my knife to Jimmie Belton last night, 
 and he can tell you that I went on home, leav- 
 ing my knife with Jimmie." 
 44 
 
HOLIDAYS AT HAND 45 
 
 " Ha ! Do you mean to say that Jimmie 
 dropped it in the ice on the school steps ? " 
 
 " No, Mr. Tetlow, I don't mean to gay that. 
 But I can prove by Mr. Car ford that I went 
 home last night without my knife. Please 
 call him in." , 
 
 Bert thought of the strange old man, who 
 had made such an odd remark concerning the 
 Bobbsey family. And Bert was determined 
 to find out what it meant, but, as yet, he had 
 had no chance, as his father was still away on 
 a business trip., 
 
 " Very well, we shall see what ]\$r. Car- 
 ford has to say," spoke the principal. " And 
 I will have Jimmie Belton in also." 
 
 Mr. Tetlow pressed a bell button that called 
 the janitor, and the latter, who was still chop- 
 ping away at the frozen steps, came to see 
 what was wanted. 
 
 "Just call to that old gentleman going past 
 in the bob sled to come in here," said Mr.' 
 Tetlow. "He is Mr. Carfdrd." 
 
 "Tell him Bert Bobbsey wants to see him,"' 
 added the boy, amazed at his own boldness. 
 
 " Yes, you may do that," said Mr. Tetlow, 
 
46 THE.BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 as the janitor looked toward him. Somehow 
 the principal was beginning to doubt Bert's 
 guilt now. 
 
 From the office window Bert watched the 
 janitor hail the aged man, who paused for a 
 minute, and then, tying his team, came on 
 toward the school. Bert's heart was lighter 
 flow. He was sure the old gentleman would 
 bear out what he had said, and Bert felt he . 
 would be glad to do him a good turn in part 
 payment for what Bert and his chums had 
 done in catching the runaways. 
 
 " Mr. Carford,". began Mr. Tetlow, who 
 knew the aged man slightly, "there has been 
 trouble here, and Bert Bobbsey thinks per- 
 haps you can help clear it up. So I have 
 asked you to step in for a moment." Then ' 
 he told about the big snowball, and men'- 
 tioned how he had come to suspect Bert. 
 
 " But Bert tells me," went on Mr. Tetlow, 
 '' that you saw him lending his knife to Jim- 
 rme Belton last night. May I ask you, is 
 that so?" 
 
 "Why, yes, it is," said the aged man 
 slowly. "I'll tell you how it was-" H? 
 
HOLIDAYS AT HAND 47 
 
 nodded at Bert in a friendly way, and there 
 was a twinkle in his deep-set eyes. 
 
 " It was }ust toward dusk last evening," 
 iwent on Mr. Carford, " and I was on my way 
 home to Newton. I'd been in town buying 
 some supplies, and near the cross roads I met 
 Bert and another boy." 
 
 " That was Jimmie," said Bert eagerly. 
 
 "Well, I heard you call him Jimmie — : 
 that's all I know," Said Mr.' Carford. 
 " Bert was cutting a branch from a tree, and 
 when I came up to them I offered them a 
 ride as far as I was going. They got in, and 
 Bert here was whittling away with his knife 
 as he sat beside me. Yes, that's the knife," 
 said Mr. Carford, as the principal 'showed 
 it to him." 
 
 " I was making a ramrod for a toy spring 
 gun I have," explained Bert. " It shoots 
 long sticks, like arrows, and I had lost one 
 of my best ones, so on the way home I cut 
 another. Then just before Mr^ Carford gave 
 us the ride, Jimmie came along and asked me 
 to lend him my. knife. I said I would as 
 soon as I had finished making my arrow, I 
 
48 ■ THE BOBBSfiY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 did finish it in the sled and I gave him ray 
 knife just before we got out." 
 
 Mr. Tetlow looked ■ inquiringly at Mr. 
 Carford, who nodded in answer. 
 
 "Yes," said the aged man, "that was the 
 way of it. Bert did lend that other bdy — >■ 
 Jimmie he called him^-his knife. I saw the 
 two boys separate and Jimmie carried ofi 
 Bert's knife. But that's all I dp know. 
 The snowball business I have nothing to do 
 with." 
 
 " No, I suppose not," said the principal 
 slowly. "I am sorry now that I said what 
 I did, Bert. But there still remains the ques- 
 tion of how your knife gqt on the steps. Do 
 you think Jimmie had a hand in putting the 
 snowball there ? " 
 
 " I don't ' know, Mr. Tetlow. I wouldn't 
 like to say." 
 
 " No, of course not. I'll have Jimmie 
 here." The principal, called a messenger and 
 sent him for Jimmie, who came to the of- 
 fice wondering what it was all about. 
 
 Without telling him what was wanted Mr. 
 Tetlow asked Jimmie this question quickly: 
 
HOLIDAYS AT HAND 
 
 49 
 
 "What did you do with Bert's knife after 
 Ee lent it to you last night?" 
 
 For a moment Jimmie was confused. A 
 strange look came over 'his face: He 
 clapped his hand to, his pocket and exclaimed: 
 
 " I— I lent it to Danny Rugg." 
 
 " Danny Rugg ! " cried Bert. 
 l, "No, I didn't exactly lend it to Danny," 
 explained Jimmie, " for I knew, Bert, that 
 you and he we'reri't very friendly. But after 
 you let me take it last night, to start making 
 that sailboat I was telling you about, ^ for- 
 got all about promising you that I'd bring it 
 back after supper. Then Danny came over, 
 and he helped me with the boat. When he 
 saw I had your knife, and when he heard me 
 say I must take it back, he offered to leave it 
 for you when he came past your house the 
 next time." 
 
 "And did you give it to him?" asked the 
 principal. 
 
 " Yes, I did," answered Jimmie. " I 
 thought he would do as \\t said. He took 
 the knife when he went home from my 
 bouse." 
 
50 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "But he never gave it to me!" said Bert 
 quickly. 
 
 "I am beginning to believe he did not," 
 said the principal. "I think we will have 
 Danny in here." 
 
 The bully carile in rather defiant, and stared 
 boldly around at those in the office. Mr. 
 Tetlow resolved on a surprising plan, 
 
 " Danny," he said suddenly, " why did you 
 put Bert's knife on the step, and let it freeze 
 there to make it look as though Bert haw- 
 helped place the snowball in front of the 
 door? Why did you?" 
 
 "I— I " stammered Danny, "I 
 
 didn't—^" 
 
 "Be careful now," warned the principal. 
 "We have heard the whole story. Jimmie 
 has told how you promised to leave the knife 
 with Bert, but you did not." 
 
 Danny swallowed a lump in his throat. He 
 was much confused, and finally he broke down 
 and admitted that he had been present and had 
 helped roll the snowball on the steps. 
 
 " But I wasn't the only one ! " he exclaimed 
 " There was " 
 
HOLIDAYS AT HAND 51 
 
 "Tutt Tut!" exclaimed the principal. "I 
 want no tale-bearing. I think those who did 
 the trick will confess now, after I tell them 
 what has happened. Danny, it was very 
 wrong of you to play such a joke, but it was 
 much worse to try to throw the blame on Bert 
 by leaving his knife there." 
 
 " I — I didn't do it on purpose," said Danny. 
 '' The knife must have slipped out of my 
 pocket." But no one believed that, for Danny 
 was known to have a grudge against Bert, and 
 that was reason enough for trying to throw 
 the blame on our little hero. 
 
 But Bert was soon cleared, for, a little later, 
 when Mr. Tetlow called the school together, 
 saying that he had been mistaken in regard 
 to Bert, and relating what had come out about 
 the knife, several of the boys who, with Danny 
 had placed the big ball on the steps, admjtted 
 their part in it. 
 
 They were all punished, but Danny most of 
 all, for his mean act in trying to make it look 
 as though Bert had done it. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Carford, as he took hi» 
 \eave, having helped to prove Bert's innocenc 
 
52 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " this time I have had a chance to ^Q a Bobb- 
 sey a favor, in return for one you did me, 
 Bert." 
 
 "Yes, sir," answered Bert, not knowing 
 «rhat else to say. He was puzzling over what 
 strange connection there might be between his 
 family and Mr. Car ford. 
 
 "Come up and see me sometime," said the 
 aged man. " And bring your brother and sis- 
 ters, Bert. I'll be glad to see them at my 
 place. I'm going to stay home all this winter. 
 I'm getting too old to go to Snow Lodge any 
 more." 
 
 Bert wondered what Snow Lodge was, but 
 he did not like to ask. 
 
 Thus was cleared up the mystery of the big 
 snowball, and Bert's many friends were as 
 glad as he was himself that he had been found 
 innocent. 
 
 There came more snow storms, followed by 
 freezing weather after a thaw, and the boys' 
 and girls had much fun on the ice, a number 
 of skating races having been arranged among 
 the school pupils. 
 
 The end of the mid-winter term was ap' 
 
HOLIDAYS AT HAND 
 
 5^ 
 
 proaching, and the Christmas holidays would 
 soon be at hand. Then would come a three 
 week's vacation, and the Bobbsey twins were 
 talking about how they could spend it.. 
 
 " It's too cold to go to the seashore." said 
 Nan with a shiver, as she looked out of the 
 window over the snowy yard. 
 
 "And the country* would be about; the 
 same," added Bert. 
 
 " Oh, it's lovely in the country during the 
 winter, I think," said Nan. 
 
 " We could get up a circus in the barn, with 
 Snoop and Snap," said Flossie, who waf busy 
 over a picture book. i 
 
 " Then I'm going to be the ring-njastef and 
 crack a big whip and wear big boots ! " cried 
 Freddie. 
 
 "I do hope papa will be home for Christ- 
 mas," sighed Nan, for Mr. Bobbsey's busii^ess 
 trip, in relation to lumber matters, had kept 
 him away from home longer than, expected. 
 
 " I have good news for you, children," said 
 Mrs. Bobbsey, coming into the room just then 
 with a letter. " Your father is coming home 
 to-morrow." 
 
54 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Oh, how nice ! " cried Nan. 
 
 " I hope he brings us something," said Fre<i 
 die. 
 
 " I'll have' a chance to ask him about Mr. 
 Carford," thought Bert. " I wonder what thaf 
 old man meant by his strange words ? '' 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 A VISIT TO MR. CARFOKD 
 
 "Freddie, what in the world are you do- 
 mg? 
 
 " Flossie ! Oh dear ! You children ! You 
 have the place all upset ! " 
 
 Mrs. Bobbsey, who had come into the big 
 living room, to see the two younger twins 
 engaged in some strange proceedings, paused 
 at the doorway to look on. Indeed the place 
 was upset, for the chairs had been dragged out 
 from against the w^Ils and from corners to be 
 placed in a row before a large sofa. From one 
 corner of this to a side wall was stretched a 
 sheet, and in another corner, in a pen made of 
 chairs, could be seen the wagging tail of Snap, 
 the trick dog. 
 
 " What in the world are you doing? " asked 
 Mrs. Bobbsey. "Oh, dear, how I do dread 
 a rainy day!" for it was pouring outside, and 
 
56 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODviJs 
 
 the older, as well as the younger twins had. to 
 stay in doors. 
 
 "We're playing circus," explained Freddie 
 gravely, as he peered between the "bars" of 
 the cage made of chairs. " Snap is a lion," 
 went on the little fellow. " Growl, Snap ! " 
 
 And Snap, always ready to have fun, 
 Sfrowled and barked to satisfy the most exact- 
 ing circus lover. 
 
 "Oh dear!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'll 
 never get this room straightened out again." 
 
 " Oh, we'll fix it, mamma, after the circus," 
 said Flossie sweetly. " Sit down and see the 
 show. I'll make Snoop do some of the tricks 
 the fat circus lady taught her," and Flossie 
 lifting up one corner of the sheet, showed the 
 black cat curled up on a cushion, while back 
 of her, tied by one leg, was Downy the pet 
 duck. 
 
 " This was going to be the happy family 
 cage," explained Flossie, " only when we had 
 Snap in here he kept playing with Downy, <" 
 and Downy quacked and that made Snoop 
 nervous so we couldn't do it very well." 
 
 " So we made Snap the lion, and part of the 
 
A VISIT TO MR. Ci^-RFORD 
 
 sr 
 
 time he's going to be the tiger," said Freddie. 
 ^" Dinah is going to give us some blueing tha' 
 she uses on the clothes, and I'm going to paint 
 stripes on Snap." 
 
 " Don't you dare do it," said Mrs. Bobbsey. 
 "The idea of painting blue stripes on poor 
 Shap ! Whoever heard of a blue-striped 
 tiger?" and she tried hard not to laugh. 
 
 " Well, this is a new kind," said Freddie. 
 " Sit down, mamma, and we'll make Snoop do 
 a trick for you. Make her chase her tail, 
 Flossie." 
 
 " No, I'll make her walk a tight rope," saJ4 
 the little girl. " That's more of a trick." 
 
 Flossie got her jumping-rope, which she had 
 little use for now, and tied it from the back 
 of one chair to the back of another, placed 
 some distance away. Then she pulled the rope 
 tight between therh, and, taking Snoop up in 
 her arms, placed the cat carefully on the 
 stretched rope. 
 
 Snoop stood still for a minute, meowing a 
 little and waving her tail back and forth. Poor 
 Snoop ! The black cat did not like to do tricks 
 as well as did Snap. No '^ats do. But Snap, 
 
58 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT bl'.OW LODGE 
 
 when he saw what was going on, was eager td 
 ')how off what he could do. 
 
 He leaped about in his chair " cage," barking 
 loudly, much to the delight of Freddie iwho 
 'iked to hear the " lion " roar. 
 
 " Go on, Snoop ! " called the twins, and gavei 
 the cat a gentle shove. Then Snoop did really 
 walk across the rope, for it was almost as easy 
 as walking the back fence, which Snoop had 
 often done. • Only the rope was not as steady 
 as ti}e fence. But the fat circus lady had 
 trained the black cat well, and Snoop per- 
 formed the trick to the delight of the children. 
 
 " That is very, good," said Mrs. Bobbsey. 
 " Oh, see ! Snap is turning a somersault in his 
 cage. Poor dog, let him out, Freddie; won't 
 you?" 
 
 " He isn't a dog — ^he's a lion," insisted the 
 Jittle boy. " I dassen't let out a lion, or he 
 inight bite you." 
 
 But Snap had no idea of playing the lion 
 all the while. Suddenly Downy, the duck, 
 with a loud quack, got her leg loose from the 
 string and flew out across the room. This sc 
 surprised Snoop, who had started back over 
 
A VISIT TO MR. CARFORD 5^ 
 
 the tight rope, that he fell off with a cry of 
 alarm. 
 
 This was too much for Snap, who evidently 
 did not think he was having his share of the 
 fun. With a loud bark and a rush he burst 
 from his cage of chairs, intent on playing with 
 Snoop, for he and the cat were great friends,. 
 
 Just at that moment fat Dinah, the colorec'- 
 cook, came into the room to ask Mrs. BobL'- 
 sey something. Snoop, seeing the open door, 
 and being tired of doing tricks for the children, 
 •nade a dash to get out, darting under Dinah's 
 skirjts. 
 
 Snap, thinking this was part of the game, 
 rushed after his friend the cat, but when he 
 tried to dive underneath Dinah's dress there 
 was an accident. 
 
 He knocked the feet from under the fat 
 cook, and she sat down on the . floor with a 
 force that jarred the whole house, just missing 
 sitting on Snap. 
 
 " Fo' de lub ob goodness what am de mat- 
 tah?" cried Dinah. "Am it an earfquake 
 Mrs. Bobbsey?" 
 
 "I don't know, Dinah!" exclaimed Mrs- 
 
^ The; BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGB 
 
 Bobbsey, wanting to laugh, and yet not wishing 
 to hurt Dinah's feelings. " The children said 
 it was a circus, I believe. Here, Snap ! " she 
 called, as the dog rushed on after iSnoop. 
 
 Just then Downy, the duck, sailed back 
 across the roorh, and lighted squarely on 
 Dinah's black and kinky head, where the fowl 
 perched "honking" loudly. 
 
 "Good land ob massy!" murmured Dinah 
 over and over again. " Mo' trouble ! " 
 
 Flossie and Freddie were so surprised at the 
 sudden ending of their circus that they did not 
 know what to do. Then they both raced to 
 capture 1 the duck. 
 
 " One of the dining-room windows is 
 open!" called Freddie. "If Downy flies out 
 he'll freeze. Grab him, Dinah ! " 
 
 " Chile ! " cried the colored cook slowly, " I 
 ain't got bref enough lef to ketch eben a mos- 
 quito. But yo'-all don't need to worry none 
 about dish yeah duck gittin loose. His feet 
 am all tangled up in mah wool, an' I guess 
 youT hab t' help git 'em loose, chilluns ! " 
 
 It was indeed so. Downy's webbed feet 
 were fast in Dinah's kinky hajr, and it took 
 
A VISIT TO MR. CARFORD OJ 
 
 <jme time w disentangle them. Then the cook 
 could get up, which she did with many a sigk 
 and groan. 
 
 "Are you hurt, Dmah?" asked Flossie, fit 
 vou are, you can come to our circus for noth- 
 ing; can't she, Freddie?" 
 
 "Yes," he answered., "only we haven't got 
 a circus now. It's all gone except Downy." 
 
 "Well, I think you have played enough 
 circus for Lo-dry," said Mrs. Bobbsey, 
 "Straighten up the room now, and have some 
 other kind of fun." 
 
 The dog and cat, satisfied to get out of their 
 cages, had gone to the kitchen, whers thsy 
 could generally find something good to eat.( 
 Then Flossie and Freddie were kept busy put- 
 ting back the chairs, and setting the room in 
 order. 
 
 It was a day or so after the return of Mr. 
 Bobbsey from his business trip, and though Bert 
 had asked his father about Mr. Carford, the 
 lumber dealer had Aot yet had time to give any 
 explanation. 
 
 "It is quite a Kttle story," he said. "TYL 
 tell you about it some time, Bert. But now 
 
513 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGfi 
 
 r have a lot of back work to catch np with, on 
 account of being away so long, and I'll have to 
 go to the office early, and I'll be late getting 
 home." 
 
 So the little incident had not yet been ex^ 
 plained. The Christmas holidays were draw- 
 ing nearer, and there were busy times in the 
 Bobbsey household. Flossie and Freddie were 
 expecting a visit from Santa Claus, and they 
 wrote many letters to the dear old saint, tell- 
 ing what they wished to receive. 
 
 " But have you thought of what you are go» 
 ing to give? " asked Mrs. Bobbsey one day, a 
 short time before Chiristmas. " It is more; 
 fun to give things than it is to get them, you 
 know." 
 
 " Is it? " asked Flossie, who had never heard 
 of it in that way before. 
 
 " Indeed it is," said Mrs. Bobbsey. " You 
 just try it. If you have any toys you don't 
 care for any more, or even some that you do, 
 and wish to give away, or books or other play« 
 things, and if you will gathei^ them up, I'll see 
 that they are given to some poor children whQ 
 may not have a very good Christmas." 
 
A VISIT TO MR. CARFORt. 63 
 
 The smaller twins thought this would be 
 very nice, and they were soon busy over their 
 possessions. Bert and Nan heard what was 
 going on, and they insisted on giving their 
 share also, so that quite a box full of really 
 good toys were collected. 
 
 A day or so later, when the weather had 
 cleared, Bert came in from coasting, and said : 
 
 " Mother, couldn't Nan and I take a ride 
 over to Mr. Car ford's house? He is out in 
 front in his sled, and he says he'll bring us 
 back before dark. May we go ? " 
 
 "Why, I guess so," said Mrs. Bobbsey, 
 slowly. " I don't believe your father would 
 object. But wrap up well,, for it is chilly." 
 
 " And can't we go, too ? " begged Flossie. 
 
 " Yes, we want to," added Freddie. " Please, 
 Mamma ! " 
 
 "Well, I guess so," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey, 
 "Will you look after them, Bert and Nan?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," promised the two older twins, i 
 jvhile Bert explained that he had met Mr. Car- 
 ford, who was on his way home from the store, 
 and had been given a ride. The invitation had 
 followed. 
 
64 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "I'll take good care of them, Mrs, Bobb- 
 sey," said the elderly gentleman, as Mrs. Bobb- 
 sey went out to tuck in Flossie and Freddie. 
 " I've got to run into Newton and back again 
 this afternoon, so I thought they'd like the 
 ride." 
 
 "Indeed it is very kind of you," said the 
 children's mother. " I hope they -will be iiff 
 trouble." 
 
 "Of course they won't. Remember me to 
 Mr. Bobbsey when he comes home. Ask him 
 to come and see me when he has time. I want 
 to talk to him about a certain matter." 
 
 "All right," said Mrs. Bobbsey, ^nd Bert 
 wondered if it had to do with the secret. , 
 
 The drive out to Newton, which was a few 
 miles from Lakeport, was much enjoyed by 
 the Bobbsey twins. The speedy horses pulled 
 the sled over the white snow, the jingle of the 
 strings of bells around them mingling with 
 other musical chimes on sleds that they met, of 
 passed. 
 
 They saw Danny Rugg out driving with his 
 mother in a stylish cutter, and Danny rather 
 "turned up his nose " at the old bob sled ic 
 
A VISIT TO MR. CARFORD ^^ 
 
 nrhich the Bobbseys were riding. But Bert 
 and his sisters and brother did riot mind tha*. 
 They were having a good time. 
 
 "Here we are!" called Mr. Carford aftei 
 a fine ride. " Come in and get warm., I guess 
 my sister has a few cookies left," for a maiden 
 sister kept house for the old gentleman. 
 
 Into the big old-fashioned farmhouse the 
 children tramped, to be met by a motherly- 
 looking woman, who helped them brush the 
 snow from their feet. Then she bustled about, 
 and brought in a big pitcher of milk, a plateful 
 of molasses cookies, and\some glasses. The 
 children's eyes sparkled at the sight of this fine 
 lunch. 
 
 " There you are ! " cried Mr, Carford heart* 
 ily, as he passed around the good things. " EaS 
 as much as is good for you. I've got to go 
 out to the barn for a while. Emma," he 
 asked bis sister, " have you got any more pack- 
 ages made up ? " ^ 
 
 "James Carford, are you going to give 
 away ' more stuff j" " ■ demanded his sister. 
 "Why, you'll be in the poorhoti?e, first thki^ 
 you know." 
 
':5 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGH 
 
 " Oh, I guess not," he said with a laugh. 
 " We can afford it, and there's many who can't. 
 It's going to be a hard winter on the poor. 
 Put up a few more packages, and I'll tie up 
 some bags of potatoes ! " 
 
 " I never saw such a man — ^never in all my 
 born days ! " exclaimed Miss Carford, shaking 
 her head. " He'd give away the roof over us 
 If I didn't watch him." 
 
 " What is he doing? " asked Bert. 
 
 " Oh, the same as he does every Christmas," 
 said the sister-housekeeper. " He makes up 
 packages, bundles, baskets and bags of things 
 to eat, and gives them to all the poor families 
 he can hear of. He was poor once himself, 
 you know, and he never can forget it." 
 
 " He is very kind," said Nan, in a low voice 
 
 "Yes, he is that," agreed Miss Carford, 
 *' and I suppose I oughtn't to find fault. But 
 he does give away an awful lot." 
 
 She went out to look after matters in the 
 kitchen, leaving the children to eat their lunch 
 of milk and cookies alone for a few minutes. 
 Presently Mr. Carford came back, stamping 
 the snow from his boots. 
 
A VISIT TO MR. CARFORD iff 
 
 "Ha!" he cried, as he went close to tHe 
 stove to warm his hands. " This reminds me 
 of the winters I used to spend at Snow Lodge 
 on Lake Metoka. Were you ever up there ?'~^ 
 and he looked at Bert. 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Ha ! I thought not. It's a fine place. But 
 I don't go there any more — ^never any more," 
 and he sliv^ok his head sadly. 
 
 " Did it burn down ? " asked Freddie, who 
 was always interested in fires and firemen 
 "Couldn't they put it out?" 
 
 " No, Freddie, it didn't burn down," said 
 Mr. Carf ord. " Sometimes I almost vi ^sh it 
 had — before my trouble happened," he added 
 slowly. " Yes, I almost wish it had. But 
 Snow Lodge still stands, though I haven't been 
 near it for some years. I couldn't go. No, 
 1 couldn't go," and he shook his head sadly* 
 " I just couldn't go." 
 
 The Bobbsey children did not know what to 
 think. Mr. Carford seemed very sad. Sud- 
 denly he turned away from the fire that blazed 
 on the hearth, and asked : 
 
 " Did I ever tell you about Snow Lodge? ** 
 
4R THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGJE 
 
 "No," said Bert sofdy. 
 
 "Then I will," went on the aged man. "1( 
 don't tell many, but I will you. And maybe 
 you could make some use of the place now ' 
 that the holidays are here. I used to spend » 
 all my Christmas holidays there, but I don't' 
 any more. Never any more. But I'll teU you 
 about it," and he settled himself more com' 
 Jfortably in the big chair. 
 
CHAPTER VII 7 
 
 THE STORY OF SNOW LODGS 
 
 " When I was a boy," began Mr. Carford 
 •after a pause, during which he looked into the 
 blazing fire, " I lived on a farm, and I had to 
 , work very hard." 
 
 " We were on a farm once, weren't we, Flos- 
 sie ? " interrupted Freddie. 
 
 " Hush, dear," said Nan in a low voice. 
 ** Listen to Mr. Carford's story." 
 
 " That isn't a story," insisted Flossie. " He 
 didn't begin it right. He must say: 'Once 
 Hpon a time, a good many years ago ! ' 
 
 Mr. Carford laughed. 
 
 " So I should, my dear ! " he exclaimed. 
 " It's been so long since I've told a story to lit- 
 itie folks that I've forgotten how, I guess.^ 
 
 " So I'll begin over again. Once upon a 
 time, a good many years ago, I was a little boy, 
 and I lived on a farm. I guess it must have 
 6q 
 
70 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 been the same sort of a farm you and Flossie 
 went to, Freddie, for we had cows and horses 
 and pigs and chickens and sheep. There was 
 lots of work, and, as my father was not rich, 
 I had to help as soon as I got old enough. 
 
 " But, for all that, I had good times. I 
 thought so then and, though I'm an old' man 
 now, I still think so. But the good times did 
 not last long enough. 'I wish I could go back 
 to them. 
 
 " But I stayed on the farm a good many 
 yearSj with my brothers and sisters, and finally 
 when I grew up, and thought I was big enough 
 to start to work for myself, I ran away." 
 
 "Did you — did you get lost?" asked Flos- 
 sie, with her eyes wide open, staring at Mr. 
 Carford. 
 
 " No, my dear, I didn't exactly get lost. 
 But I thought there was easier work than liv- 
 ing- on a farm, so, instead of staying and help- , 
 ing my father, as I think now I should hav€ 
 done, I ran away to a big city. I wanted to be 
 dressed up, and wear a white collar instead of 
 overalls and a jumper. 
 
 " Put I found that life in the city, instead 
 
THE STORY OF SNOW LODGE J^i 
 
 of being easier than on the farm, was harder, 
 especially as I didn't know much about it. 
 Many a time I wished I was back with my 
 father, but I was too proud to admit that I 
 had made a mistake. So I kept on working in 
 the city, and finally I began to forget all about 
 the farm. 
 
 " I won't make this story too long, for you 
 might get tired of it," said Mr. Car ford, as 
 he got up to put a log on the fire. 
 
 " Oh, we like stpries ; don't we, Freddie ? " 
 said Flossie. 
 
 " Yes," said Freddie softly. 
 
 " I know, my dear," said the old man kindly, 
 "but I am afraid you wouldn't like my kind. 
 Anyhow I kept on working in the city — in one 
 city after another — until I became successful 
 and then, in time, I got rich." 
 
 " Rich ! " cried Freddie. " Very rich ? " and 
 his big eyes opened wide. 
 
 " Freddie ! " cautioned Nan, witk a skarp 
 look. 
 
 "Oh, I don't mind!" laughed Mr. Carford. 
 " Yes, I got quite rich, and then I thought it 
 was time to go back to the old farm, and see 
 
72 THE BOBBSET TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 my father. My mother had died before I went 
 away. Maybe if she had lived I wouldn't have 
 gone. And then I began to find out that life 
 wasn't all happiness just because you had 
 money. 
 
 " My father had died too, and the old farm 
 had been sold. My brothers and sisters had 
 gone — some were married and some had died. 
 I found I was a lonesome old man, with few 
 friends, and hardly any relatives, left. I had 
 been too busy getting rich, you see, to take time 
 to make friends. 
 
 " Well, I didn't know what to do. All the 
 while, you understand, I had been counting oa 
 going back to the farm, with a lot of money, 
 and saying to my father : ' Now, daddy, you'ye 
 worked hard enough. You can stop now, and 
 have happiness the rest of your life.' But you 
 see my father wasn't there. I was too late. 
 
 " So I made up my mind the best thing 1 
 eould do was to buy back the old farm, and 
 spend the rest of my days there, for the sake 
 of old times. Well, I did buy the place, and 1: 
 named it ' Snow Lodge,' for there used to- btfi 
 
THE STORY OF SNOW LODGE 73 
 
 lots of snow there in the winter tirne. I fixed 
 the old house all over new, put in a furnace, 
 'and other things to make it comfortable, and I 
 lived there for some time. 
 
 " I heard from some of rhy brothers and sis« 
 ters who had also gone away from the farm, 
 and one of my sisters, who had married a man 
 named Burdock, had become very poor. Her 
 husband had died, "and she was very sick. I 
 brought her to Snow Lodge to live with me, 
 and her son, Harry, a fine lad, came along. 
 
 " My poor sister did not live very long, and 
 when she died I took Henry Burdock to live 
 with me. I felt toward him as toward a son, 
 and for years we stayed in Snow Lodge to- 
 gether. 
 
 "Then I bought this place, and we used to 
 spend part of the year here and part of it at 
 Snow Lodge. It was a fine place winter or 
 summer. Snow Lodge was." 
 
 Mr. Carford beciame silent and looked again 
 into the glowing logs on the hearth. 
 
 " Don't you go to Snow Lodge any more?" 
 asked Nan in a low voice. 
 
4 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "No," replied the old man. "Never any 
 more. Not — not since Henry went away," 
 and he seemed to be in pain. " I have never 
 gone there since Henry went away," he added, * 
 " though the place is well kept up, and it. is 
 ready to live in this minute." 
 
 " Did your nephew Henry run away, as vou 
 did?" asked Bert. 
 
 " No — :not exactly," was the reply. " I 
 don't like to talk about that part of it. I like 
 to think of Snow Lodge on the shore of the 
 lake as a place where I lived when I was a boy. 
 
 " Oh, it's just fine there! " went on Mr. Car- 
 ford. " In summer the grass is so green, and 
 you can sit on the porch and look down at the 
 lake. In the winter, when the lake is frozen 
 over, there is skating and ice boating on it, and 
 you can fish through the ice.' And such hills 
 as there are to coast down! and such valleys 
 filled with snow! Sometimes it seems as if 
 the whole house would be covered with the 
 white flakes. 
 
 "But you can always keep warm ir Snow 
 Lodge, for there are big fireplaces, as weR 
 as the furnace, and there is plenty of wood. 
 
THE STORY OF SNOW LODGE 75 
 
 Many times I've had a notion to go back there, 
 but somehow I couldn't, since — since Henry 
 went away. So I came here to live with my 
 other sister, and here I guess I'll stay the rest 
 of my life. Snow Lodge is shut up, and I 
 guess it always will be." 
 
 Mr. Carford sighed, and kept looking at the 
 fire. Nan thought what a pity it was that 
 Snow Lodge could not be used, whil^ Bert 
 wondered what had happened between Henry 
 Burdock and his uncle, Mr. Carford, that 
 caused Henry to go away. Also Bert won- 
 dered if Mr. Carford would explain his strange 
 remark, made at the time the runaway horses 
 were caught. But the aged man seemed to 
 have forgotten it. 
 
 " Yes, Snow .Lodge is closed up," said Mr. 
 Carford. "I don't suppose it will ever be 
 used again. But I've told you the story of it, 
 and I'm afraid I've tired you." 
 
 "No you haven't," said Nan. "We en- 
 joyed it very much." 
 
 " That's right ! " exclaimed Bert 
 
 " Did — did you ever see any bears there ? " 
 ftsked Freddie, " any real big bears? " 
 
76 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "Or tigers — or — or elephants?" asked 
 Flossie, not to let her brother get ahead of her 
 in asking questions. 
 
 "Huh! Elephants don't grow here — onjy 
 bears," said Freddie. 
 
 "No, I never saw anything bigger than 
 foxes," said Mr. Car ford with a laugh. 
 "Snow Lodge isn't very far from here, you 
 know, so you have the same kind of animals 
 there that you have here. ' Only there are more 
 woods at Snow Lodge. 
 
 " But I must be getting back with yoti 
 youngsters. It is getting late and your folks 
 may worry about you. I'll bring the sled 
 around, and my sister Emma can tuck you in. 
 Then I'll get you home, and see to my Christ- 
 mas packages. It's going to be a hard winter 
 on, the poor." 
 
 " We give the poor people something," said 
 Freddie. " At school we all brought some- 
 thing just before vacation, and Mr. Tetlow is 
 going to give it to all the poor people." 
 
 "That was at Thanksgiving, dear," said 
 \an. 
 
 "Well, maybe they've got some left for 
 
THE STORY OF SNOW LODGE 'jj 
 
 Christmas," said Freddie, as the others 
 laughed. 
 
 " That's right — try and make other people; 
 happy, little man," said Mr. Carford, patting 
 Freddie's head. , 
 
 The big sled with the horses and their jing- 
 ling bells was soon at the door. Miss Car- 
 ford had w^rme'd some bricks to put down in 
 the straw, to keep the children's feet warm, 
 and soon, cozily wrapped up, tHey were on theit 
 ■w:?y home. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ' A KIND OFFER 
 
 " Nan ! " called Freddie from i;nder a big 
 fur robe, as he sat in the warm straw of Mr. 
 Carford's sled next to his sister. 
 
 " Yes, what is it? ", asked Nan, bending over 
 him to look at his face in the gathering dusk 
 of the winter afternoon. " Are you warm 
 enough, Freddie ? " 
 
 " Yes, I'm as warm as the toast Dinah makes 
 for breakfast. But say, I want to ask you — 
 do you think we'll meet Santa Claus before we 
 get home ? " 
 
 "No, Freddie. The idea! What makes 
 you think that?" 
 
 " Well, it's near Christmas, and we're out in 
 a sled, and he goes out in a sled, only with 
 reindeers of course, and -" 
 
 Freddie's voice trailed off sleepily. In fact 
 he had aroused himself from almost a nap to 
 78 
 
A KIND OFFER 79 
 
 ask Nan the question; Flossie, warmly 
 wrapped up, was already slumbering in Bert'i 
 arms. 
 
 " No, I don't believe we'll meet Santa Claus 
 this trip," said Nan. " He is only supposed to 
 travel at night, you know, Freddie." 
 
 " That's so. Well, if we do meet him, and 
 I'm asleep, you wake me up: will you? " 
 
 " Yes, Freddie," promised his sister, and she 
 looked across at Bert and stalled. The two 
 younger twins were soon both soundly sluni* 
 bering, for being out in the cold air and wind 
 does seem to make one sleepy when, later on, 
 one gets warm and comfortable. 
 
 Mr. Carford sat up on the seat in front driv- 
 ing the sturdy horses, while the string of bells 
 iiround them jingled at every step. 
 
 " Wasn't that a queer story of Snow 
 Lodge?" asked Nan of Bert, in a low voice. 
 
 " It surely was," he replied. " It seems too 
 bad to have the place all shut up, with no one 
 to use it this winter. It wouid be just great, 
 I think, if we could go up there for the Christ- 
 mas holidays. We could go .up right after 
 Christmas, and not come back until the middle 
 
8o THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGls 
 
 of January, for school doesn't open again until 
 then. Wouldn't it be great ! " 
 
 " Fine ! " agreed Nan. " But I don't s'pose 
 we could. Mr. Carford doesn't want Snow 
 Lodge used, I guess. But he gave us a good 
 time at his hou^e." 
 
 " Indeed he did," agreed Bert. 
 
 On glided the sled, the bells making merry 
 music. A light snowfall began, and Mr. Car- 
 ford urged the horses to faster speed, for he 
 wanted to -get back home before the storia 
 broke. 
 
 "Wake up, Freddie!" 
 
 "Wake up, Flossie!" 
 
 Nan and Bert gently shook their little 
 brother and sister to arouse them. The sled 
 had stopped in front of the Bobbsey home. 
 
 "Is it — is it morning?" asked Flossie, as 
 she rubbed her eyes. , 
 
 "Did Santa Claus come?" demanded Fred- 
 die, trying to wiggle out of Bert's arms. 
 
 " Not yet," laughed Mr. Carford. " But 
 I think he soon will be here. Can you manage 
 them, Nan — Bert r" " he asked. 
 
 "Oh, yes, we often carry them," replied 
 
A KIND OFFER gj 
 
 Nan. "I'hey'U soon be wide awake again, 
 and they won't want to go to sleep until late 
 to-night, on account of the nap they've had." 
 
 Mts. Bobbsey was at the door waiting for 
 the children Flossie and Freddie soon roused 
 up, enough to walk in. . i 
 
 "Won't you come in?" asked Mrs.^ Bobb- 
 sey of Mr. Car ford. "I can give you a cup 
 of tea. , Mr. Bobbsey just came home. Per- 
 haps you'd like to say 'how-d'ye-do.' " 
 
 " Thanks, I'll come in for just a minute," 
 was the answer. " Then I must be getting 
 back befote the storm breaks. And I'll tie my 
 horses, too. I can't risk another runaway," 
 Mr. Carford said with a smile at Bert. 
 
 Mr. Bobbsey greeted the caller cordially, 
 and the children were soon telling their parents 
 of the nice visit they had had. 
 
 " And Miss Carford can make almost as 
 good cookies as Dinah ! " cried Freddie. 
 
 " Ha ! Ha ! " laughed Mr. Carford. " I'll 
 have to tell my sister that. She'll be real 
 ^roud." 
 
 Bert, looking from his father to Mr. Car* 
 ford, wondered what could have once taken 
 
/82 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 place between the two men. That there was 
 some sort of secret he felt sure, and up to now 
 there had been no explanation of the strange 
 words used by the aged man at the time Bert 
 and the others caught the runaways. 
 
 " I haven't seen you in some time, Mr. 
 Bobbsey," said Mr. Carfofd, after they had 
 talked about the weather. 
 
 " No, I've been very busy, and I suppose you 
 have also. Have you been at Snow Lodge 
 lately?" 
 
 "No, and I don't expect to set foot in the 
 place again. I guess you know why. And I 
 want to say now, that though I was rather 
 cross with you when you tried to get me to 
 change my mind about that matter, some time > 
 ago, I want to say that I'm sorry for it. I 
 realize that you did it for the best." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Bobbsey, "I did, but I 
 ' know how you felt about it. I believed then, 
 and I believe now, that you made a mistake 
 ibout your riephew Henry." 
 
 "No, I don't think I did," was the slow 
 reply. " I am afraid Henry is a bad young 
 man. I don't want to see him again, nor Snow 
 
A KIND OFFER gj^ 
 
 Lodge either. But I'm glad you tried to help 
 me. Howevefj I have come about a different 
 matter now. How would you and your family 
 like to spend the winter there? How Would 
 a vacation at Snow Lodge suit you ? " 
 
 No one spoke for a few seconds. All were 
 surprised at the kind offer made by Mr. Car-, 
 ford. 
 
 " A vacation at Snow Lodge ! " said Mr. 
 Bobbsey slowly. 
 
 "Do you mean it, Mr. Carford?" asked 
 Mrs. Bobbsey. 
 
 " I certainly do," was the answer. " I have 
 told your youngsters something about Snow 
 Lodge, and they seemed to like the place. I 
 heard them talking among themselves, on the 
 way back here, how they'd like to go there. 
 
 " Oh, that's all right — no harm done I " ex- 
 claimed Mr. Carford, as he looked at the blush- 
 ing faces of Nan and Bert. "I'm glad I d'd 
 overhear what you were saying. It is a shame 
 to keep that place locked tip, and I'm just be 
 ginning to realize it. 
 
 " I don't want to go there myself, but that's 
 no reason why others shouldn't. So, Mr. 
 
84 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Bobbsey, if you like, you can take your whole 
 family up there to Snow Lodge, near the lake, 
 and in the woods,. and stay as long as you like. 
 Here are the keys ! " and Mr. Carford tossed 
 _, jingling bunch on the table. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 MR. BOBBSEYS STORY 
 
 " Snow Lodge ! " Oh, Papa, could we go 
 there ? " cried Flossie, now wide awake. 
 
 " What fun we could have ! " exclaimed 
 Freddie, whose eyes were how as wide open as 
 ever they had been. 
 
 Bert and Nan said little, but there was a look 
 o£ pleased anticipation on their faces. They, 
 too, realized what fun they could have in a big, 
 old-fashioned farmhouse in winter, particularly 
 when the building was refitted with a furnace, 
 and had big fireplaces in it. 
 
 And Bert was wondering, more than ever, 
 what strange reason Mr. Car ford could have 
 for not wanting to go back to lovely Snow 
 Lodge. 
 
 " Say we can. go. Daddy ! " pleaded the two 
 smaller twins, as they tried to get into their 
 father's lap. 
 
86 THE BOBBSEV TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Bobbsey slowly, " this is 
 certainly very kind of you, Mr. Car ford, but 
 I am not sure I can accept it. ^I am very much 
 obliged to you, however — -r-" 
 
 " Accept! Of course you can accept! " ex" 
 claimed the aged man. " There's no reason 
 why you and your family shouldn't have a holi- 
 day vacation at Snow Lodge. The place has 
 been closed up a long time, but a day or soj 
 with a good fire in it, would make it as warm 
 as toast. I know, for I've been there on the 
 coldest winter days. Now you just plan to go 
 up there with the wife and children, and have a 
 good time. It ' might as well be used as to 
 stand idle and vacant, as it is." 
 
 "What do you say, Mother?" and,, Mr, 
 Bobbsey looked at his wife. " Shall we go to 
 Snow Lodge? " 
 
 "The children would like it," said Mrs. 
 Bobbsey slowly. 
 
 "Like it! I should say we would!" cried: 
 Nan. " I can take some pictures of the birds 
 with my new camera — 'the one I am going to 
 get for Christmais," she added with a smile. 
 
 '' Oh ho ! So you are going to have a cam« 
 
MR. BOBBSEY'S STORY 8> 
 
 era for Christmas; are you?" laughed her 
 father. , 
 
 " I — I hope so," she replied. 
 
 "And I can build a snowhouse and live 
 in it like the Esquimos," added Bert. 
 
 "Then I'm going, to live with you!" cried 
 Freddie. " Please go to Snow Lodge, Mam- 
 ma!" 
 
 " Yes, take the youngsters up," urged Mr. 
 Carford. " At least don't decide against it 
 now. I'll leave the keys with you, and you can . 
 go any time you lik^ I don't suppose it will 
 be until after Christmas, though, for Santa 
 Claus might not be able to get up there," and 
 he pinched Freddie's fat cheek. 
 
 " No, don't go until after Santa Claus has 
 been here," urged Flossie seriously, and her 
 mother laughed., 
 
 " Well, I must be going, anyhow," said Mr. 
 Carford, after a pause., " It will be dark be- 
 fore I get back, and the storm seems to be 
 coming up quickly. Emma will worry, I'm 
 afraid. Now ,you just think it over about 
 Snow Lodge," he concluded, " and I guess you 
 will go, Mr. Bobbsey. You kr;ow my reasons 
 
88 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGB 
 
 for not wanting to set foot in the place, so I 
 don't need to tell you. • . 
 
 "Now, good-bye. 60 to Snow Lodge, anii 
 have a good time, and when you come baclc, " 
 children, ,tell me all about it. If I cau't go 
 there at least I like to .'tear about the place." 
 
 Mr. Car ford we;nt out *o his te^m, through 
 the now Jiiving snow. He little realized, whaf 
 a joyful story :he Bobbscy twins were ti bring 
 back to hiru frum Snow Lodge, noi- how it wis 
 to change his -'eeliiig in regard to his boyhood 
 home. 
 
 " Papa," said Bert soberly, after tfie visitoB 
 had gone, leaving the key:; of Snow Lodge be- 
 hind him, " what is the secret about Mr. Car- 
 ford and that winter place? And you're 
 mixed up- in it, I'm sure." 
 
 " What maices you sure, Bert? " 
 
 " Well, I've been thinking so ever since that 
 day I helped to catch his runaway horses, anH 
 he said this was the second time a Bobbsey ha3 
 tried to do him a favor.' 
 
 " Had your favor anything to do with Sno^wl 
 Lodge, Papa ? " asked Nan, a;s she put her arms 
 about his neck. 
 
MR. BOBBSEY'S STORY gg 
 
 " Well, yes, daughter, in a way. And, since 
 Mr. Carford has told you part of the story, I 
 may as well tell you the other half, I suppose." 
 
 "Oh, another story!" cried Flossie, in de- 
 light. 
 
 "Yes, we must be quiet and listen," sai^ 
 Freddie, as he drew up a stool close to his 
 father. 
 
 " It isn't a very nice sort of story," went on 
 Mr. Bobbsey. " In fact it is rather sad. But 
 I'll -^eil it to you, anyhow. Did Mr. Carford 
 t^llyotl about when he was a boy?" 
 
 "YcS, and how he went away, and came 
 Lack rich, and found all his folks gone and the 
 •farm sold," said Nan. 
 
 "Yes. Well, I guess he told you then, how 
 'le took his nephew, Henry. Burdock, to live 
 with him. He loved Henry almost as if he 
 were his. own son, and did everything for him. 
 In fact he planned to leave him all his money. 
 •Then came a quarrel." 
 
 "What .bout?" asked Bert softly. 
 
 "Over some money. Henry was a young 
 man who liked to spend considerable, and, 
 though he was not bad he was different from 
 
90 
 
 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 the country boys. Mr. Carford gave him 
 plenty of spending money, however, and did 
 not ask him what became of it. 
 
 "Then, one day, a large sum of money was 
 missing from Snow Lodge. Mr. Carford ac> 
 cusedv Henry of taking it, and Henry said he 
 had seen nothing of it. Then came a quarrel, 
 and Mr. Carford, in a fit of temper, 'drove 
 Henry away from Snow Lodge. There were 
 bitter words on both sides, and after that M*' 
 Carford closed up the place, and has not been 
 near it since. That is the part of the story 
 Mr. Carford did not tell you." 
 
 " But where do you come in. Daddy ? " 
 asked Nan, " Did you find the missing 
 money? " 
 
 " No, Nan, though I wish I had. But I was 
 sure Henry had not taken it, and I tried to 
 rtiake Mr. Carford believe so. That is what 
 he meant by me trying to do him a favor. 
 But he would not have it so, and, for. a time, 
 hs had some feeling against me. But it passed 
 away, for he re?.lized that I was trying to help 
 iiim. 
 
 ''2i:ic ('iDVi then Mr. Carford and his 
 
MR. BOBBSEY'S STORY 91 
 
 nephew, Henry Burdock, have not spoken. As 
 I said, Mr. Carford drove the young man away 
 from Snow Lodge. It was in a raging storm 
 and Henry might have frozen, only I found 
 him and took him to a hotel. I helped look 
 after him until he could get a start. It was a 
 very sad affair, and it has spoiled Mr. Carford's 
 life, for he loved Henry very much." 
 
 "And did Henry really take the money?" 
 asked Freddie. " That was wicked, I think." 
 
 " You must not say so, Freddie," spoke Mr, 
 Bobbsey. " We do not know that Henry did 
 take it. No one knows. It is a mystery. I, 
 myself feel sure that Henry did not, but I can 
 not prove that he did not take it. His uncle 
 believes that he did. At any rate the money 
 disappeared." 
 
 " And where was it when Mr. Carford last 
 saw it? " asked Nan. 
 
 " Mr. Carford left it on the mantlepiece in 
 the big living room of Snow Lodge," said Mr, 
 Bobbsey. " Henry was the only other person, 
 beside himself, who was in the room, and in 
 some v/ay the money was taken. I even went 
 so far as to have a man from the police station 
 
92 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 look all over the house, hoping he could find 
 the roll of bills somewhere, but it did not come 
 to light. And so, ever since, there has been a 
 bad feeling between Henry and his uncle." 
 
 "What does Henry Burdock do now?" 
 asked Bert. 
 
 " He roams about the woods, as a sort of 
 guide and hunter. Sometimes, I am told, he 
 comes close to Snow Lodge and looks down on 
 it from a distant hill, thinking of the happy 
 days he spent there." 
 
 " Maybe we'll see him when we go up," said 
 Freddie.' " If I do I'll give him all the money 
 in my bank so he can be friends with his uncle 
 agiain." 
 
 "No, Freddie," said Mrs. Bobbsey solemnly. 
 "You must not speak of what you have just 
 heard. It is a sad story, and is best forgot-- 
 ten. Both Mr. Carford and Henry feel badly 
 enough about it, so it will be best not to men- 
 tion it. Just forget all about it if We go to 
 Snow Lodge." 
 
 " But we are going; aren't we. Papa? " asked 
 Bert. " The trip to the woods would do us all 
 good." 
 
MR. BOBBSEY'S STORY 93 
 
 ** Well, I think we rpjght; take advantage of 
 ATr. Carford's kind offer," said Mr. Bobbsey. 
 Ves, we'll plan to go to Show Lodge ! " 
 
 "Hurrah!" cried Nan and Bert, grasping 
 each other by the hands and swinging around 
 in a sort of waltz. 
 
 " Can we take our sleds," asked Flossie. 
 
 " I'm going to, take ray skates — maybe I'll 
 skate all the way there — I could — on the 
 lake ! " exclaimed Freddie, and he wondered 
 why the others laughed. 
 
 " Well, we'll make pur plans later," said 
 Mrs. Bobbsey. " Now, children, we'll have an 
 early supper and then you must all get to bed. 
 Cliristmas will come so ,much earlier if you go 
 to sleep now." 
 
 " Oh, jolly Christmas ! " cried Nan. " I can 
 hardly wait ! " 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 unwelcome news 
 " Merry Christmas ! " 
 
 " Merry Christmas to everybody ! " 
 
 "Oh, Christmas is here! I wonder what I 
 got?^' 
 
 " I'm going to get up and see ! " 
 
 The Bobbsey twins were calling to one an- 
 other from their rooms, and papa and mamma 
 Bobbsey were replying to their children's happy 
 greetings. It was Flossie who had made the 
 exclamation about wondering what Santa Claus 
 had brought her, and it was Freddie who de- 
 clared he was going to get up to see. 
 
 Soon the patter of bare feet announced that 
 the two younger twins were scampering down- 
 stairs. 
 
 " You must put on your dressing gowns and 
 slippers, my dears ! " called Mrs. Bobbsey 
 04 
 
UNWELCOME NEWS 95 
 
 " You'll take cold. Nan, look after them; will 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes, mother, in just a minute. As soon as 
 I can find my own things," and Nan got out of 
 bed. She and Bert were not in so much of z 
 hurry as Flossie and, Freddie for they were get- 
 ting older, and though Christfnas was still a 
 source of great joy to them they were not so 
 anxious to see what gifts they had. Still Nan 
 iwas eager to know if her camera had come. 
 
 From the parlor below came cries shouts and 
 peals of delighted and surprised laughter as 
 Flossie and Freddie discovered their different 
 gifts. 
 
 " Look at my book ! " cried Flossie. " And 
 a doll — a doll that you can wind up, and she 
 valks and says ' mamma.' Look', Freddie ! " 
 and the little girl started the doll off across the 
 room. 
 
 " Pooh ! Look at what I got ! " cried Fred- 
 die. " It's a fire engine, and it squirts real 
 .water. I'm going to put some in it, and plaj 
 •fire." 
 
 He started for the kitchen with his toy, but 
 Nan caught him. 
 
96 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "Not just yet, little fat fireman," she said 
 with a laugh,, as she took him up in her arms. 
 
 You can't splash in the cold water until you 
 have more clothes on. Get dressed and then 
 you may play with your toys." 
 
 " All right ! " answered Freddie. " Oh, 
 look, I've got a wind-up steamboat, too. Oh! 
 let me down so I can look at it. Nan! Now 
 please do!" 
 
 Nan saw a pile of her own gifts, so she set 
 Freddie down for a moment, intencling to carry 
 him up stairs i little later. She had wrapped 
 a robe about Flossie, who was contentedly 
 playing with her newest doll, and looking at her , 
 other presents. Santa Claus had been kind to 
 the Bobbs'ey twins that Christmas. 
 
 Bert, big boy though he thought himself 
 getting to be, could no longer resist the temp- 
 tation to come down in his bath robe to see 
 what he had received, and a little later fat 
 Dinah, roused earlier than > usual by the joy- 
 )ous shouts of the children, came lumbering 
 in. 
 
 "Oh, Dinah! Dinah! Look what you got!" 
 cried Flossie. "Your things are all here, on 
 
UNWELCOME NEWS 97 
 
 this chair," and the little girl led the fat cook 
 3ver toward it. 
 
 " Things fo' me? What yo'-all talkin' 'bout 
 chile? Ole Dinah don't git no Christmas!' 
 protested the jolly colored woman, laughing so 
 that she shook all over. 
 
 " Yes, you do get a Christmas, Dinah, Look 
 here ! " and Flossie showed where there were 
 some useful presents for the cook, — large ap- 
 rons, warm shoes, an umbrella, and a bright 
 shawl that Dinah had been ,wantiniEj for a long 
 time. 1 
 
 " What? All dem fo' me? " asked the sur- 
 prised cook. "Good land a' massy! I guess 
 ole Santa Claus done gone an' made a beef' 
 steak this time, suah ! " . ' 
 
 " No, there's no mistake ! See, they've 'got 
 your ^ name on ! " insisted Flossie. " See, 
 Dinah ! " and she led the' cook over to the chair 
 . where the presents were piled. There was no 
 doubt of it, they were for Dinah, and near 
 them was another chair containing gifts for 
 her husband, Sdm. He would not be in until 
 later, however. But Dinah saw a pair of rub- 
 ber boots that would be very useful in the deep 
 
qS the bobbsey twins at snow lodob 
 
 snow, and there were other fine presents for 
 Sam. 
 
 Bert and Nan were now looking, at their 
 things, and Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey could be 
 heard moving around upstairs, having decided 
 that it was useless to lie abed longer now that 
 the children were up. 
 
 " Come, come, Flossie and Freddie ! " called 
 Mrs. Bobbsey. " You must get dressed and 
 then you can play as much as you like. I don't 
 want you to get cold. If you do you can't go 
 to Snow Lodge, remember ! " 
 
 This was enough to cause the small Bobb- 
 seys to scamper upstairs Flossie carried her 
 doll with her, and Freddie took along his fire 
 engine, for that was the gift he had most 
 wanted, and for which he had begged and 
 pleaded for weeks before Christmas. 
 
 Feeling that a little liberty might be allowed 
 on this day, Mrs. Bobbsey did not insist on the 
 younger children dressing completely until af- 
 ter breakfast, so in their warm robes and slip- 
 pers Flossie and Freddie were soon again ex- 
 amining their toys, discovering new delights 
 every few minutes. 
 
UNWELCOME NEWS 99 
 
 Nan was busy inspecting her camera, whilt 
 Bert was looking at a new postage stamp album 
 he had long wanted, when from the kitchen 
 where Dinah was getting breakfast came a 
 series of excited cfies, mingled with laughter 
 and shouts of : * 
 
 "Fire! Fire! Fire!" 
 
 "Mercy! What's that?" screamed Mrs. 
 Bobbsey, turning pale. 
 
 Mr. Bobbsey made a rush for the kitchen. 
 Nan and Bert, with Flossie, gathered about 
 their mother. Then they heard Dinah call- 
 ing: 
 
 " Stop it, Freddie ! Stop it I done tell you ! 
 Does yo'-all want me t' git soaked ? An' yo'-all 
 will suah spoil them pancakes! -Oh, now yo' 
 hab done it ! Yo' squirted right in mah mouf ! 
 Oh mah goodness sakes alive I " 
 
 Mrs. Bobbsey looked relieved. 
 
 " Freddie must be up to some prank," she 
 said. 
 
 "Freddie, stop it!" commanded Mr. Bobb- 
 sey, and then he was heard to laugh. The 
 others all went out to the kitchen and there 
 they saw a curioussight. > 
 
lOO THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 . Freddie, with his new toy fire engine, was 
 pumping , water on fat Dinah, who was laugh- 
 ing so heartily that she could do nothing to 
 stop him. Mr. Bobbsey, too, was shouting 
 with mirth, for the hose from the toy engine 
 was rather small, and threw only a thin, fine 
 spray. ■ 
 
 " I'm a fireman ! " cried Freddie, " and I'm 
 pretending Dinah is on fire. See her red 
 apron — that's the -fire ! ", and the little fellow 
 turned the crank of his engine harder than 
 ever, throwing the tiny stream of water all 
 over the kitchen. 
 
 " That's enough, Freddie," said Mr. Bobb- 
 sey, when he could stop laughing. Dinah" was 
 still shaking wfith mirth, and Freddie, looking 
 in the tank of the engine, said: 
 
 " There's only a little more water left. Can't 
 I squirt that?" 
 
 Without waiting for permission Freddie 
 made the water spurt from the nbzzle of the 
 hose. At that moment the door of the kitchen 
 opened, to let in Sam. With him came Snap, 
 the trick dog, and the tiny stream of water 
 caught Sam fall in the face. v 
 
UNWELCOME NEWS loi 
 
 " Hello r What am dat?" he demanded in 
 surprise. "Am de house leakin' ?" 
 
 " It's my new fire engine ! " cried Freddie. 
 " I didn't mean to wet you, Sara, but I was 
 playing Dinah was on fire ! " 
 
 ".Well, yo'-all didn't wet me so very much," 
 replied Sam, with a grin that showed his white 
 teeth. ''* Dat suah am a fine fire engine ! " - 
 
 Snap sprang about, barking and wagging his 
 tail, and, there being no more water in Fred- 
 die's engine, he had to stop pumping, for which 
 every one was glad, 
 
 "You must not do that again," said Mrs. 
 Bobbsey, when the eixcitement was over, and 
 laughing Dindh had dried her face, and put on 
 another apron. "You frightened us all, Fred- 
 die, and that is not. nice, you know." 
 
 ^" I won't, Mamma, but I did want to try my 
 fire engine." 
 
 "Then you must do it in the bath room 
 where the water willdo no harm. But come 
 now, children, get ybiir breakfast and then you 
 will-have the whole day to look at your toys." 
 
 Breakfast was rather a hurried affair, and 
 every now and then Flossie and Freddie would 
 
I02 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGt 
 
 leave the table to see some of their gifts. But 
 finally the meal was. over and then came more 
 joyous times. Sam received his presents, and 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey had time to look at 
 theirs, for Santa Claus had not forgotten them. 
 
 "And there's something for Snap, and for 
 Snoop, too ! " exclaimed Freddie. " Snoop 
 has a new ribbon with a silver bell, and Snap 
 a new collar, with his name on," and soon the 
 cat and dog, newly adorned, were being put 
 through some of their tricks. 
 
 If I tried to tell you all that went on in the 
 Bobbsey house that Christmas this book would 
 contain nothing else. So I will only say thr 
 the holiday was one of the most delightful thfe 
 twins ever remembered. 
 
 "And then to think, with all this, that we 
 are to go to Snow Lodge ! It's great ! " cried 
 Bert. 
 
 " I hope I can get some good pictures up 
 there with my camera," said Nan. " Will yow 
 show me how it works, Bert? " 
 
 " Yes, and we'll go out to-day and try it. I 
 want to see how my new skates go, too. Th* 
 lake is frozen and we'll have some fun." 
 
UNWELCOME NEWS 303 
 
 The ^dy was cold and clear. There had 
 been a little fall of snow during the night, but 
 not enough to spoil the skating, and soon Bert 
 Rnd Nan were on their way to the lake, while 
 Flossie and Freddie, after inspecting all their 
 presents over again, had gone out to play on 
 their sleds. 
 
 ' This gave Dinah and Mrs. Bobbsey time 
 to get ready the big Christmas dinner, with the 
 roast turkey, for Mr. Bobbsey had brought 
 tome one of the largest he could find. 
 
 While Flossie and Freddie were playing on 
 the hill, a small one near their home, they heard 
 a voice calling to them : 
 
 " Want a ride, youngsters ? " 
 
 Looking up they saw Mr. Carford in his big 
 slecl. It was filled with baskets and packages, 
 and the Bobbsey twins guessed rightly that the 
 generous old man was taking around his 
 Christmas contributions to the poor families. 
 
 " Yes, we'll, go ! " cried Freddie. 
 
 " What shall we do with our sleds ? " asked 
 Flossie. 
 
 "Oh, Harry Stone will look after them; 
 won't you Harrv? " asked Freddie. " Ke cao 
 
I04 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGB 
 
 Mse mine, and his sister Jessie can use yours 
 until we come back, Flossie," and Freddie 
 turned the coasters over to a poor boy and girl 
 who lived near the Bobbsey home. Harry and 
 his sister were delighted, and promised to take 
 good care of the sleds. 
 
 " I won't take you far — only just around 
 town," said Mr. Carford, as the twins got in 
 his sled. " When are you going up to my 
 Snow Lodge ? " ' 
 
 " We're going soon, I guess," answ:ered 
 Flossie. " I heard mamma and papa talking 
 about it yesterday." 
 
 " And we're ever so much obliged to you for 
 letting us have your place," said Flossie. 
 " Will you come up and see us while we're 
 there? I've got a doll that can talk." 
 
 "And I'm going, to take my fire engine 
 along, so if the place gets on fire I can help 
 put it out," exclaimed Freddie. ' " Will you 
 "ome up?" 
 
 Mr. Carford started. He looked at the chil- 
 dren in a strange sort of way, and then stared 
 at the horses. 
 
 " No — no — I guess I won't go to Snow 
 
UNWELCOME NEWS jog 
 
 Lodge any more," he said slowly, and Flossie 
 and Freddie were sorry they' had asked him, 
 for they remembered the story their father 
 had told them about the sorrow that had 
 come to the aged man. 
 
 But the children soon forgot this in the joy 
 of helping' in the distribution oi the good 
 things m the sled, and the happiness brought 
 to many poor families seemed to make up, in 
 a way, for what Mr. Carford had suffered in 
 the trouble over his nephew. 
 
 When all the gifts had been given out from 
 the sled, Mr. Carford drove the two younger 
 ■Sobbsey twins back to- the hill where tljey 
 again had fun coasting. 
 
 Meanwhile Nan and Bert were having a 
 good time on the ice. Nan's camera was used 
 to take a numbei- of pictures, which the chil- 
 dren hoped would turn out well. 
 
 While Bert was taking a picture of Nan, 
 Charley Mason came skating up, and Bert, 
 whose best chum he was, insisted that Charley 
 get in the picture also.- 
 
 " My ! " exclaimed Charley, as he saw Nan's 
 "eamera, " that's a fine one.' " 
 
I06 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " I just got it to-day," said Nan, with a 
 pleased smile. "I'm going to take a lot of 
 pictures up at Snow Lodge." 
 
 "Snow Lodge," repeated Charley. "You 
 mean that place Mr. Car ford owns? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Bert. " He is going to let 
 us all go up there for three weeks or so." 
 
 " Say, that's funny," spoke Charley. 
 "You'll have some other Lakeport folks 
 near you." ' 
 
 " Who else is going up to Snow Lodge ? " 
 asked Nan. 
 
 " Well, they're not exactly going to Snow 
 Lodge," replied Charley, " but I heard a while 
 ago that Danny Rugg and his folks were going 
 up to a winter camp near there. Mr. Rugg 
 has bought a lumber tract in the woods, and 
 he's going to see about having some of the 
 trees cut. Danny is going, too. So you'll have 
 him for a neighbor." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " exclaimed Nan, in dismay. 
 ** That spoils everything ! " 
 
 " Well, if Danny tries any of his tricks I'll 
 get after him ! " exclaimed Bert, firmly. Bu; 
 he looked anxious over the unwelcome news ■ 
 Charley had brought. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 MAKING PLANS 
 
 " Are you sure this is so — is Danny Rugg 
 really going up to the woods near Snow 
 Lodge?" asked Bert of Charley, after a 
 pause. 
 
 "That's what Frank Smith told me," re- 
 plied Charley, " and you know Frank and 
 Danny are great chums." 
 
 " That's so. Well, if Danny doesn't bother 
 us we won't make any trouble for him," said 
 Bert. " Still, I'd rather he would go some- 
 where else." 
 
 "If Mr. Rugg is going up to see about hav- 
 ing lumber cut," said Nan, " I guess there 
 won't be much fun for Danny. M|iybe he 
 won't bother us at all." 
 
 " He will if he gets a chance," declared her 
 brother. " Danny's just that kind. But we'll 
 wait and see." 
 
 IQ7 
 
jo8 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Bert, Nan and Charley talked for some time 
 longer about the trip to Show Lodge, and then, 
 as it was getting nearly time for dinner, they 
 skated down the lake toward their homes. 
 
 " How are you folks going up to the 
 lodge? " asked Charley, before parting from 
 Bert and Nan. 
 
 " Oh, I guess father will take one of his big 
 lumber sleds and drive us all up," replied Bert. 
 " We'll have to take along lots of things to eat, 
 for it's a good ways to the store, and we might 
 get snowed in." 
 
 "That's right," said Charley. "But say, 
 why don't you and Freddie go up in our ice- 
 boat, th^ Ice Bird? It isn't much of a run to 
 Snow Lodge, on the lake, and it's good going 
 now." 
 
 " I never thought of that \ " exclaimed Bert. 
 " I wonder if father would let us ? " 
 
 " You can ask him," said Nan. " I'd like 
 to skate up, if it wasn't so far. . But I don't 
 believe it would be safe to take Freddie on the 
 ice-boat, Bert. He's so little, and sc easily ex- 
 cited that he might tumble out." 
 
 " That's right. And yet it will be no fun to 
 
MAKING PLANS 109 
 
 sail it alone. I wish you could go with me, 
 Charley." 
 
 " I wish I could, but I don't see how I can. 
 My folks are goiijg to my grandmother's for 
 a couple of weel^s. Otherwise I'd be glad to 
 go. ' 
 
 " Well, maybe my father will sail in the ice- 
 boat with me," spoke Bert. " I guess I'll ask 
 him." 
 
 Bert ajid Nan had much to talk about as 
 
 Hey skated on, having bidden Charley good- 
 
 •jyc, and their conversation was mostly about 
 
 the 1 cw idea of getting to Snow Lodge on 
 
 ^he ice, 
 
 " I don't want to ..kate alone, any more than 
 fou want to go in the ice-boat alone," said 
 Nan. " But maybe mamma and papa will let 
 us invite some of our friends to spend a Week 
 o" so ': ^ Snowi Lodge with us. Then it would 
 i5e all right." 
 
 " It surely woul,d," said Bert. 
 
 The Christmas dinner at the Bobbsey home 
 ,7as r. jolly affair, and. while it was being eaten 
 ^crt spoke to ,his father about the ice-boat. 
 
 ' Do you think it will carry you to the uppei! 
 
I10 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 end of the lake? " asked Mr. Bobbsey with a 
 smile, for Bert and Charley had made the boat 
 themselves, with a little help. Though it was 
 a home-made affair, Bert was as proud of. it 
 as though a large, sum had^been spent for it. 
 
 " Of course it will carry us to Snow Lodge," 
 he said. "There would be room for four or 
 five on it, if the wind was strong enough to 
 carry us to the head of the lake. But I don't 
 want to go alone. Father. Could you come ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid not," laughed Mr. Bobbsey. . 
 " I'll have to go in the big sled with your 
 mother, and the provisions. We're going to 
 take Dinah and Sam along, you know. Can't 
 you ask some of your boy friends? I guess 
 there's room enough at the Lodge." 
 
 " That's just what I'll do ! " exclaimed Bert. 
 " I'll see who of the boys can go." 
 
 " And may I ask Grace Lavine or Nellie 
 Parks ? " inquired Nan. " We could skate up, 
 or go part way in the ice-boat with the boys." 
 
 " I think so," said Mrs. Bobbsey. 
 
 " I know who you could take on the ice- 
 bbat," said Freddie, passing his plate for more 
 turkey. 
 
MAKING PLANS m 
 
 "Who?" asked Bert. 
 
 "Dinah!" crie^ the little fellow. "She 
 would be so heavy that she couldn't roll off, 
 and if the ice-boat started to blow away she'd 
 be as good as an anchor." 
 
 "That's right!" cried Nan. "Dinah, did 
 you hear what Freddie is planning for you? " 
 she asked as th« fat cook came in with the 
 plum pudding. 
 
 " I 'clar t' goodness I heber knows what dat 
 ar' chile will be up to next ! " exclaimed Dinah 
 with a laugh. " But if he am plannin' to squirt 
 any mo' fire injun water on me I's gwine t' 
 run away, dat's what I is ! " 
 ^ They all laughed at this, Dinah* joining in, 
 and then Freddie explained what he had said. 
 
 " No, sab ! Yo' don't cotch me on no ice- 
 cream boat ! " declared Dinah. " I'll go in a 
 sled, but I ain't gwine t' fall down no hole in 
 de ice and be bit by a fish ! No, sah ! " 
 
 There was more laughter, and then the 
 plum pudding was served. Freddie begged that 
 Snoop and Snap be given an extra good din- 
 ner, on account of it heing Christnias, and 
 Dinah promised to see to this. 
 
112 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. .Bobbsey discussed the plans^ 
 for going to Snow Lodge. They agreed that 
 Bert and Nan, if they wished, might 'each 
 ask a friend, for the old farmhouse in the 
 woods On the I edge of the lake contained many 
 rooms. ^ It was completely furnished, all that 
 was needed being food. 
 
 "So if you young folks want to skate or 
 ice-boat up the lake I see no objection," said 
 Mr. Bobbsey. " The rest of us will go in a 
 big-sited." 
 
 "Couldn't T go in the ice-boat?" ask'el 
 Freddie. " I'm getting big. I'm almost in the 
 first reader book." 
 
 " We're going so fast your fire engine 
 might be lost overboard," said Bert with a 
 smile, and that was enough for his little 
 brother. He didn't want that to happen for 
 the World, so he gave up the plan of going on 
 the Ice Bird. 
 
 '' I don't like the idea of that Danny Rugg 
 going to be near us," said Mrs. Bobbsey to her 
 husband, when Bert had told this news. " He's 
 sure to make troutile." 
 
 " Perhaps not," said Mr. Bobbsey. " Bert 
 
MAKING PLANS 113 
 
 generally manages to hold his own when 
 Danny bothers him." 
 
 " Yes, I know. But it always makes hard 
 feelings. I do wish Danny wasn't going up 
 there." 
 
 " Well, the woods are open, and we can't 
 stop him," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile. 
 The children had gone out to play, and the 
 house was quiet once more. 
 
 " There is a great deal to do to get ready," 
 went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "But I think the trip 
 will do us all good. I only hope none of us 
 takie cold." 
 
 "Don't worry," advised her husband, "I'll 
 see Mr. Carford, and have the fires made up 
 a couple of days before we arrive. That will 
 make the house good and warm, and dry it 
 out." 
 
 They talked over the various things they had 
 to do in order to make their stay at Snow 
 'Lodge pleasant, and then went out to call on 
 some friends. 
 
 That afternoon Bert and Nan extended t}ie^ 
 Invitation to Snow Lodge to a number of their 
 boy and girl friends, explaining how they were 
 
^14 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGF 
 
 going to make the trip on skates or on the ice- 
 boat. 
 
 But one after another declined. Either their 
 parents had made other plans for spending the 
 Christmas holidays, or they did not think it 
 »vise to let their children go off in the woods. 
 
 Bert asked a number of boys he knew, but 
 none of them could go, and Grace Lavine,' 
 Nellie Parks, and many other girls to whom 
 Nan spoke, made excuses. 
 
 "I guess we'll have to give up the ice-boat 
 plan," said Bert, regretfully that night to 
 Nan. " No one seems able to go. Will you 
 risk it with me, Nan?" 
 
 " I wouldn't be afraid," she answered. " If 
 mamma and papa will let me I'll sail in the 
 Ice Bird with you." 
 
 "Then we'll go that way!" cried Bert 
 But the next day something occurred that 
 made a change in the plans of the Bobbsey 
 twins. 
 
CHAPTER Xll 
 
 THE LETTERS 
 
 The day after Christmas, when Bert ant 
 Nan came home from having been to see a 
 number of their friends, but not having suc- 
 ,'eded in' getting any of them to promise to 
 tiiake the trip to Snow Lodge, the two older 
 Bobbsey twins were quite discouraged. 
 
 " I'll need another fellow to help the sail the 
 ice-boat," spoke Bert. " Of c6urse I know 
 you'll ,do all you can, Nan, but we can't tell 
 what might happen. I don't see what's the 
 matter with all the fellows, anyhow, that they 
 can't go." 
 
 "And the girls, too," added Nan. "I 
 couldn't ^et one of them to promise. And I 
 don't know whether mamma and papa will let 
 you and me go in the ice-boat by ourselves." 
 
 And, when they heard of this plan, both Mr. 
 «nd Mrs. Bobbsey objected to it 
 
tl6 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " It would be too risky," decided Mr. Bobb- 
 sey. " Your ice-boat is a small one, I know, 
 Bert, but in a stiff wind it might capsize if 
 you did not have some other }Doy along to help 
 you manage it. I guess you and Nan had bet- 
 ter come with us in the big sled." 
 
 " I think so, too," added Mrs. Bobbsey 
 
 There seemed to be no other v^ay out of it, 
 and Nan and Bert felt quite badly. Not even 
 the tricks of Snap and Snoop, when Freddie 
 and Flossie put, the dog and ca^t through them 
 before going to bed, would cause their older 
 brother and sister to look happy. 
 
 " Never mind," said Mamma Bobbsey, 
 " when we get to Snow Lodge you'll have 
 such a good time that you won't mind not 
 having made the trip on skates or on the ice- 
 boat. Apd you can skate all you like when 
 you get up there." 
 
 The next day Freddie was playing quite a 
 game. He had a little toy village^ made of 
 pasteboard houses, and this he had set up in 
 the playroom. He was pretending that a fire 
 had JDroken out in one of the dwellings and he 
 was going to put it out with his toy engine. 
 
THE LETTERS itj 
 
 Of course there was not even a match on fire, 
 for Mrs. Bobbsey was very careful about this, 
 but Freddie pretended to his heart's content. 
 He was allowed to have real water, but Dinah . 
 had spread on the floor an old rubber coat so 
 that the spray would do no harm. 
 
 With a great shout Freddie came running 
 out of the " engine house,'.' which was a chair 
 turned on its> side. He was pulling his toy 
 after him, racing to the make-believe blaze. 
 
 Just then Flossie came into the room with 
 her new walking doll, and, not Seeing her, 
 Freddie ran into and knocked her over. 
 
 Flossie sat down quite hard, and for a mo- 
 ment was too surprised to cry. But a moment 
 later, when she saw Freddie's fire engine run 
 over her new doll, which cried out " Mamma ! " 
 as if in pain, the tears came into Flossie's eyes. 
 
 " Oh, you bad boy ! " she exclaimed, forget- 
 ting her own pain, at the sight of her doll, 
 " you've run right over her ! " 
 
 " I— I couldn't help it ! " said Freddie, stop* 
 ping in his rush to the fire to pick up his sister's 
 toy. " You got right in my way." 
 
 " I did not— Freddie Bobbsey-' " 
 
Il8 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGB 
 
 " Yes, you did, too, and I'm going to squirt 
 iwater on you, and put you out. You're on 
 fire! Your cheeks are all red!" 
 
 This was true enough. Flossie did get yery 
 red cheeks when she was excited. 
 
 " Don't you put any water on me ! " sht 
 cried. " I'll tell mamma on you ! And you've 
 broke my best doll, too ! Oh, dear ! " and 
 Flossie burst into tears, so there was no need 
 for Freddie to use his toy engine to wQt hei 
 riaming cheeks. 
 
 This frightened Freddie. He seldom made 
 his twin sister cry, and he was very much 
 alarmed. ^ 
 
 " I— I didn't mean to, Flossie," he saidj put- 
 ting his arms around her. " I guess I was run- 
 ning pretty fast. Don't cry, and you can 
 squirt my engine. Maybe if you squirted 
 some water on your doll she'd be all right," 
 and Freddie picked up the talking toy. 
 
 " Don't you dare put any water on her ! " 
 screamed Flossie. "You'll make her catch 
 told, and then she won't talk at all. Oh, dear ! 
 ^. wish you didn't have that old engine." 
 
 Mrs. Bobbsey came into the room just then. 
 
THE LETTERS 119 
 
 or there is no telling what might have hap- 
 pened. She knew what to do, and soon she 
 had straightened out matters. It was not very 
 often that Flossie and Freddie had trouble of 
 this kind, but they were only human children, 
 just like any others, and they had their little 
 disputes now and then. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! This will never do ! " said Mrs. 
 Bobbsey. " Freddie, you must not rush about 
 the house so fast." 
 
 " But, mamma, firemens is always fast. 
 They have to be fast, and I was going to a 
 fire," the fat little fellow said. 
 
 " I know, dear, but you should look where 
 you are going. And, Flossie, dear, you mu£t 
 watch out before you rush into a room, you 
 koow." 
 
 " Yes, mamma, but, you see, I was pretend- 
 ing my doll was sick, and I was running fo the 
 doctor's with her." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " cried Mamma Bobbsey, " You 
 were both in too much of a hurry, I think. 
 Never mind. Let's see if the doll is hurt 
 
 It seemed that she was, for though she 
 much." 
 
' I20 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGfi 
 
 would walk across the room when wound up, 
 she would not cry out " Mamma ! " But Mrs. 
 Bobbsey was used to mending broken toys, and 
 after poking about in the wheels and. springs > 
 with a hairpin she soon had the doll so it 
 would talk again. Then Flossie was happy, 
 and her tears were forgotten. 
 
 Freddie said he was sorry he had been in 
 such a hurry, so all was forgiven, and he went 
 • on playing fireman. He was in the midst of 
 putting out a make-believe blaze in the village 
 church when the doorbell rang, and the post- 
 man's whistle was heard. 
 
 " Will you get the mail, dear? " asked Mrs. 
 Bobbsey of Freddie. " Dinah is busy, I'm 
 sure. Let me see how mamma's little fat fire- 
 man can get the letters. But don't run ! " she 
 exclaimed, " or you might fall downstairs." 
 
 " I won't, mamma," said Freddie. 
 
 He came back with several letters, and he 
 was again playing he was a fireman, and Flos- 
 sie was making believe she was a doctor for 
 her sick doll, when Mrs. Bobbsey exclaimed: 
 
 "Oh, this will be good news for Bert," and 
 she looked up from a letter she was reading. 
 
THE LETTERS 121 
 
 " What is it, mamma? " asked Flpssie- " Is 
 someone sending him more Christmas pres- 
 ents?" 
 
 " No, dear, but Harry, your cousin from the 
 country, you know, is coming to visit M?. Bert 
 will have someone to play with. Won't that 
 be nice?" 
 
 " And can I play with him, too ? " asked 
 Freddie. 
 
 " I guess so, sometimes," said Mrs. Bobbsey. 
 " But you must remember that Harry is about 
 ten years old, and he won't always want to be 
 with little boys/' 
 
 " I'm a big boy ! " declared Freddie. " I'm 
 'most as big as Bert." 
 
 " Well, I guess you can have some fun," said 
 Mrs. Bobbsey. " Bert will be glad to hear this. 
 Now, who can this other letter be from ? " and 
 she tore open the envelope. 
 
 "Why!" she cried,, as she quickly read it. 
 " It's from Uncle William Minturn, at the sea- 
 shore, and he says his daughter Dorothy is 
 coming to pay us a visit. Well, did you ever! 
 Our two cousins — one from the country and 
 the other from the seashore — ^both. coming at 
 
122 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 the same time! Oh, this will please Bert and 
 Nan!" 
 
 "And can't we have a good time, too?' 
 asked Flossie. 
 
 " Of course," said Mrs. Bobbsey. " Let me 
 see now; hoW will I arrange the rooms for 
 \hem? Oh, I forgot, we're going to Snow 
 Lodge soon. I wonder what I can do? Both 
 Dorothy and Harry will be here before I can 
 tell them not to come. I must telephone to 
 papa ! " 
 
 Bert and Nan came in just then, in time to 
 hear this last. 
 
 " Telephone to papa ! " exclaimed Bert. 
 "What's the matter, mother? Has anything 
 happened ? " 
 
 " Nothing, only your cousins, Dorothy and 
 Harry, are coming to visit you. And I don't 
 know what to do about it, as we are going to 
 Snow Lodge!" 
 
 "Do about it?" cried Bert. "Why, we 
 won't do anything about it, except to let them 
 come. Say, this is the best news yet! Harry 
 can go with me on the ice-boat. Hurray! 
 Hurray!" 
 
 "Yes, and Dorothy and I can skate on tb 
 
THE LETTERS 123 
 
 lake!" said Nan. "Oh, how glad I am!" 
 "We'll take them both to Saow Lodge!" 
 Bried Bert " Now we won't have to loolt for 
 «ny other boys or girls. Well have our own 
 eousins!' Whoop!" and he threw his arms 
 around his mother, while Nan tried to kiss 
 her. Flossie and Freddie looked on in pleased 
 surprisej The letters had come just in time. 
 Now there would be a jolly party at 5n<!)W 
 Lodge./ 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 IN A HARD BLOW 
 
 "Are you girls warm enough? " asked Bert 
 Bobbsey, as he and his cousin Harry started to- 
 ward the frozen lake one afternoon, the day 
 before they were all to start for Snow Lodge. 
 
 " If we aren't we will n/sver be," answered 
 Dorothy Minturn, who was Nan's " seashore 
 cousin " as she called the visitor. " I've got 
 on so many things that it would be easier to 
 roll along instead of walking," went on Doro- 
 thy with a laugh. 
 
 "Well, it's a good thing to be warm, for it 
 will be cold on the ice-boat; won't it, Bert?" 
 asked Harry. 
 
 " That's what it will. There's a good wind 
 blowing, too. It's stronger than I thought it 
 was," and Bert bent to the blast as he walked 
 abng with the others. 
 
 "Will there be any danger?" asked Doro- 
 124 
 
IN A HARD BLOW 
 
 I2b 
 
 thy, who was not used to the activities of the 
 Bobbseys. \ 
 
 " Oh, don't worry ! " cried Harry. " We'll 
 look after you girls." 
 
 " They think they , will," murmured Nan, 
 looking at her cousin. " I guess I know al- 
 most as much about the Ice Bird as Bert 
 does." 
 
 " Where is your ice-boat?" asked Harry of 
 Bert, as they kept on along the path that led 
 to the lake. 
 
 " Over in the next, cove. I had her out the 
 other day, and the wind died out, leaving me 
 there. Since then we've been so busy getting 
 ready to go to Snow Lodge that I haven't had 
 time to bring her back to the dock." 
 
 "Will she be safe over there?" 
 
 " I guess so — hardly anybody goes there in 
 winter." 
 
 The two cousins — Harry from the country 
 and Dorothy from the seashore, — in each of 
 which places the Bobbseys had spent part of 
 the preceding summer, — ^had followed soon af- 
 ter their letters, and had ^een warmly wel- 
 somed by Nan, Bert, Flossie and Freddie, The 
 
126 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 visitors were rather surprised to learn that the 
 Bobbsey family was preparing to go away for 
 a winter vacation in the woods, but they were 
 only too glad to accept an invitatioti to go 
 along. 
 
 So it was arranged, and in another day the 
 start to Mr. Carford's former home would be 
 made. Mr. Bobbsey had a big sled gotten 
 ready, there were boxes, barrels and packages 
 of provisions. Snow Lodge had been opened 
 by a farmer living near there, who remained in 
 it all night, keeping up the fires so that the 
 long-deserted house would not be chilly, and 
 all was in readiness. 
 
 ^The plans of Nan and Bert to go to Snowi 
 Lodge by means of skates and on the ice-boat 
 had been agreed to. 
 
 Dorothy and Nan thought they would rather 
 skate than go all the way on the ice-boat, but 
 Bert and Harry" decided to keep to the ice craft 
 all the way. 
 
 "And when you girls get tired of skating 
 ^just wave your handkerchiefs, and we'll wait 
 for you," said Bert. 
 
 Now they were going to take a little trial 
 
IN A HARD BLOW 127 
 
 sail on the Ice Bird be for? starting ofif on thq 
 longer cruise. 
 
 As the four walked around a point of land, 
 and came within sight of the ice-boat, tied to a 
 stake in the ice of the cove, Harry uttered a 
 cry. 
 
 " Look ! " he exclaimed to Bert, " someone 
 is at your boat ! " 
 
 " That's right ! " cried Bert, starting to run. 
 Just then a figure skated away from the craft, 
 and Bert breathed a sigh of relief. 
 
 " I guess it was only someone taking a look 
 at her," he said. " There aren't many on the 
 lake." 
 
 " We can't go very far," said Nan, as they 
 neared the boat, " for mamma said to be back 
 early. We've got, a great deal of packing to 
 ^o yet." 
 
 " We'll just take a little spin," replied Bert. 
 
 They were soon on the ice-boat, gliding up 
 and down the lake, which was frozen to a 
 glassy smoothness. 
 
 "If it's like this to-morrow it will be grand 
 for skating 1 " exclaimed Nan. 
 
 " Yes, and fine for ice-boating, too," replied 
 
128 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 her brother. " We'll beat you to Snow 
 Lodge." 
 
 "Well, you ought to," said Dorothy, "but 
 we'll be warmer skating than you will be on 
 the ice-boat." 
 
 " Not when we take along all the fur robes 
 I've got out for the trip," replied Bert. "I 
 didn't bring 'em this time, as it was too far to , 
 carry. But to-morrow Harry and I will be 
 regular Eskimos." 
 
 Back and forth on the lake sailed the Ice 
 Bird with the merry-hearted boys and girls. 
 Bert did not go very far, as he noticed that the 
 wind was growing muqh stronger and his boat, 
 though sturdy and well-built, was not intended 
 to weather a gale. 
 
 "Well, I think we'd better start for home 
 now," said Nan after about an hour's sailing. 
 " Mamma will be expecting us." 
 
 " All right," assented Bert. " Do you want 
 to steer her, Harry? " 
 
 " I'm afraid I don't know how," replied the 
 country lad. 
 
 " Oh, you'll soon learn. I'll be right beside 
 you here, and tell you what to do." 
 
IN A HARD BLOW 129 
 
 " Don't upset, please, whatever you do," 
 urged Dorothy. 
 
 " I'll try not to," promised Harry. 
 
 When they got out of the sheltered cove 
 they felt the full force of the wind, and for a 
 moment even Nan, who had been on ihe boat 
 many times, felt a ' bit timid. The Ice Bird 
 tilted to one side, the left hand runner raising 
 high in the air. 
 
 "Oh!" screamed Dorothy. "We're going 
 over ! " 
 
 ".No, we're not! Sit still!" cried Bert, 
 grasping the tiller, which Harry was not hold- 
 ing just right. By turning the ice-boat to one 
 side the wind did not strike it so hard, and the 
 craft settled down on the level again. 
 
 "There! That's better?" exclaimed Doro- 
 thy, who had grabbed hold of Nan. 
 
 "Oh, that's nothing," said Nan. "Bert 
 iand I are used to that." ; 
 
 But as the ice-boat proceeded it was evident 
 that those on her were not going to have an 
 easy time to get to the Bobbsey dock. The 
 wind hhyf harder and harder, and the sail 
 seamed ready to i-ip apaft. It took both Bert 
 
IjO THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 and Harry to hold the rudder steady, and even 
 then the tiller was almost torn from their 
 grasp. 
 
 Even Nan began to' look a little frightened, 
 and she did not laugh when Dorothy stretched 
 out flat and held on to the side of the boat 
 with all her strength. , 
 
 " I don't want to be blown away if I can 
 help it," said Dorothy. 
 
 Harder and harder blew the wind, sending 
 the ice-boat along at great speed. In a few 
 minutes more it would be at; the dock, where 
 Bert kept it tied. 
 
 " If it blows this way to-morrow we won't 
 be long getting to Snow Lodge," cried Bert 
 in Harry'a ear. He had to shout to be heard 
 above the howling of the wind. 
 
 " That's right," agreed the country boy. 
 " The girls can never skate along as fast as 
 this." 
 
 "We'll have to use less sail," went on Bert, 
 " and then we won't go so fast." 
 
 He and Harry shifted the ^rudder to steer 
 closer to shore. Suddenly the wind came in a 
 fierce gust. The ice-boat seemed about to 
 
IN A HARD BLOW 131 
 
 tarn completely over. The two girls screamed, 
 even Nan being frightened now. 
 
 " Oh, what is it? What is it? " cried Doro- 
 thy. 
 
 Then came a sharp crack. There was a 
 sound as though a hundred pop-guns were be- 
 ing fired, and the boat slackened speed. 
 
 " Look ! " cried H^rry / pbinting ahead 
 " Our sail has burst, Bert." 
 
 " No, it's the sheet rope — the main rope that 
 tolds the sail fast — that's broken," replied 
 Bert. " Lucky it did, too, or we might have 
 gone over. I was going to let go of it." 
 
 The ice-boat slid along a short distance, and 
 then came to a stop. The sail, no longer held 
 in place so as to catch the wind, was blowing 
 and flapping, making snapping sounds like a 
 Mne of clothes in a heavy wind. 
 
 "All right, girls, no danger now,* called 
 Bert, as he got out to make the flapping sail 
 fast again. As he looked at the end of the 
 broken rope he uttered a cry of surprise. 
 
 "Look here!" he called to Harry, "this 
 sopc has been cut I " 
 
 "Cut?" 
 
132 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Yes. Someone hacked it partly through 
 witli a knife, and the wind did the rest." 
 
 There was no doubt of it. The main rope 
 had been partly severed, and the strain of the 
 ' hard blow had done the rest. 
 
 " That fellow we saw near the ice-boat ! " 
 began Harry. " It must have been him ! Who 
 was he ? " 
 
 " Danny Rugg — if anybody," answered 
 Bert. " I thought it looked lik? him. Prob- 
 ably he heard that we were going to use the 
 boat to go to Snow Lodge, and he wanted to 
 make trouble for us. He's going to camp up 
 there near as, I hear." 
 
 " Gracious ! " cried Dorothy. " I hope he 
 doesn't play any tricks like that up there." 
 
 "If he does I guess Harry and I can attend 
 to him," cried Bert. " But, in a way, it's a 
 good thing the rope did brieak or we might 
 have upset. Only Danny, if he did it, had 
 no idea of doing us a good turn. He just 
 ^vanted to make trouble." 
 
 "Can you fix it?" asked Nan of her 
 brother. 
 
 "Oh, yes, it can be spliced and will be 
 
IN A HARD BLCnV 133 
 
 stJoager than ever. But I woss't io k nowo 
 We can walk the rest of the waj to the dock. 
 The wind is blowing harder than ever, and we 
 don't want any accidents." 
 
 Indeed, the wind was blowing a g«lc now, 
 < and even with the sail down the ice-boat went 
 along at such a speed that it was all Harry and 
 Bert could do to hold it. 
 
 But finally it was gotten to the dock, and 
 made fast, and while the girls went on to thff 
 Bobbsey home to finish with their packing. 
 Bert and Harry mended the broken rope. 
 
 " I'll have to teach Danny Rugg>a good Ic* 
 son," said Bert to his cousin. 
 
 " Yes, and I'll help you," returned Harry. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Are we all here ? " 
 
 " Have we got everything? " 
 
 " Here, Snap ! If you jump out again you 
 Can't go 1 " 
 
 "Dinah, you hold Snap, will you?" 
 
 " Grood Ian' chile ! I'se got about all I kia 
 do to hold mah own self I " 
 
 These were some of the cries and exclama- 
 tions as the Bobbsey family prepared to start 
 on the trip to Snow Lodge. With the ex- 
 ception of Nan and Bert, and Dorothy and 
 Harry, they were all in a big sled, drawn by 
 four horses that were prancing about in the 
 snow, anxious to get started. At every step 
 the bells jingled. Sam, the colored man, was 
 driving. With him on the front seat sat fat 
 Freddie. 
 
 '34 
 
AT SNOW LODGE 135 
 
 " I'm going to drive, as soon as we get out 
 on the country road ! " cried Freddie. 
 
 " He is not ; is he, Sam ? " demanded Flos- 
 sie, who was taking one of her dolls on the 
 trip, and with the doll, and her big muff, little 
 Flossie had about all she could manage. 
 
 " Yes, I am too," declared Freddie. " You 
 said I could, Sam; you know you didl'' 
 
 " Well I guess you kin drive, where the 
 roads are easy," promised the colored man^ 
 with a scratch of his black, kinky head. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were now on their 
 seat, with Flossie between them. Dinah was 
 ©n the seat behind, while in back of her were 
 piled the packages of food. 
 
 Snap, the trick dog, was to be taken along, 
 but it had been decided to leave Downy the 
 duck, and Snoop, the fat, black cat at home. 
 A neighbor had promised to look after them 
 and feed them. 
 
 " Well, I guess we're all ready," said Mr. 
 Bobbsey, as he looked back at the w^ll-Ioaded 
 sled. " Now be careful," he called to Nan and 
 Bert, who with their cousins were to go to 
 Snow Lodge on the icy lake. The girls would 
 
136 Tife BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODG® 
 
 skate part of the way and ride on the ice-boat 
 the remainder of the distance. 
 
 " We'll be careful." said Bert. 
 
 ,The dky was cold; and clduds ovefhead 
 seemed to tell that it was going to snow. But 
 the young folks hoped the storm would hold 
 off until night, when they would be safe in the 
 big, old-fashioned farmhouse. 
 
 Everyone was well wrapped up, and Flossie 
 and Freddie were almost lost in big rugs that 
 had been tucked around them, for their mother 
 did not w^nt them to get cold. 
 
 Piles of rugs and blankets had been put on 
 the ice-boat so those aboard would be com- 
 fortable. 
 
 "Well, let's start 1" called Mr. Bobbsey 
 finally. "We'll see who will get there first, 
 Bert, or us." y 
 
 "All right— -a race then!" cried Nan. 
 
 Down to the glittering, icy lake went the 
 boys and girls, down to where the ice-boat 
 awaited them. It had been put in good shape 
 for the trip, but before starting Bert and Harry 
 looked over all the ropes to make sure none 
 "were frayed, or had been cut. Nothing had 
 
AT SNOW LOD©E 137 
 
 been seen of Danny Rugg, and Charley, Masoa 
 told Bert he thought the bully had gone to the 
 wood camp with his father. 
 
 " Don't you girls want to come on the iee- 
 boat for a ways first? " asked Bert of his lis- 
 ter and Dorothy. " Then, when you get tired 
 pf riding, you can skate." 
 
 " Shall we? " inquired Nan. 
 / ", I^ guess so," answered Dorothy, and so they , 
 did. The wind was not as strong as it had 
 been the day before, but it was enough of a 
 breeze to send the Ice 'Bird along at a good 
 speed. Well wrapped in the robes and blank- 
 ets, the young people enjoyed the trip very 
 much. ' 
 
 " I'm sure we'll be there before papa and 
 mamma are," said Nan as they glided along. 
 " See how fast we are going." 
 
 " Yes, but this wind may not keep up all the 
 way," spoke her brother. " And it's a good 
 ways to Snow Lodge." 
 
 " Oh, well, we'll have a good time, anyhow," 
 (said Dorothy. 
 
 "And we'll stop and build a fire and have 
 lunch when we're hungry," added Haryy, for 
 
138 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGk 
 
 they had brought some food with them, and 
 Gould make chocolate over a little fire. 
 
 Meanwhile the sled-load of the Bobbseys 
 with their t\yo colored servants, and Snap,^ 
 was proceeding along the snowy road. The 
 path had been well broken, and the going was 
 good, so they made fairly fast time. But 
 every now and then Snap would insist on 
 jumping out to run along the road, and every 
 time he did this Flossie and Freddie would 
 set up a howl, fearing he would get lost. 
 
 "Snap I" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey, when 
 this had happened four or five times, " if you 
 don't stay here quietly I'll tie you fast. Lie 
 down, sir ! " 
 
 Snap barked, wagged his tail, and looked at 
 Mr. Bobbsey with his head tilted to one side,, 
 as much as to say : 
 
 " Very 'well sir. I'll be good now. But I 
 did want a little run." Then Snap curled up 
 at Dinah's feet and gave no more trouble. 
 
 "I 'elar t' goodness! " exclaimed the colored 
 cook, with a laugh that made her shake aH' 
 over, "dat ar' Snap am a good foot-wfirmer, 
 so he be. I jest hopes he don't jump out no 
 
AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 139 
 
 mo', so I does." And, for a time at least, 
 the trick dog seemed content to lie quietly in 
 the sled. 
 
 It was not a very exciting trip for those 
 in the sled, as they went along through the 
 streets of takeport and so out into the open 
 country. Then they passed through village 
 after village, with little occurring. The roads 
 were good, and occasionally they met other 
 teams. 
 
 Once they came tota narrow place between 
 two big drifts, and as another sled was coming 
 toward them it was rather a race to see which 
 one would get to the opening first. 
 
 " You can't go through 'when he does, Sam," 
 said Mr. Bobbsey, nodding toward the other 
 driver. 
 
 " I knows I can't, sah. But I'll get there 
 first." 
 
 Sam called to his horses and they sprang 
 forward. A little later they had reached the 
 opening between the drifts and the other sled 
 had to wait until the Bobbsey s got out of the 
 narrow place. 
 
 All this time Bert and the others were mak-^ 
 
I40 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 ing their way tip the lake on the ice. After 
 going a mile or two on the ice-boat the wind 
 died down so that the craft did not go very 
 fast. 
 
 "Come on, Dorothy," called Nan, "let's 
 skate for a ways. And if you get too far 
 ahead of us, please wait, Bert," she added, 
 and her brother promised that he and Harry 
 would. 
 
 For a time Dorothy and Nan enjoyed the 
 skating very much, and it was a welcome 
 change from sitting still on the ice-boat. Then 
 the wind sprang up again, and Harry and Bert 
 got so far ahead that the two girls thought i 
 they should never be able to skate to them. 
 
 " Oh, I wish they'd wait," said Dorothy^ 
 "I'm getting tired." 
 
 " I'll wave to them— maybe they'll see my 
 handkerchief," said Nan.' 
 
 Bert and Harry did see the girls, and, guess- 
 ^ ing what the white signal meant, they lowered 
 the sail of the ice-boat and waited for \he two 
 to come up. And the girls were glad enough 
 oow to sit amid the comfortable robes ^and 
 blankets. 
 
AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 14T 
 
 " Skating such a long distance is harder thaa 
 •I thought it would be," confessed Nan, with 
 a sigh. 
 
 " Yes, the ice-boat is good enough for me," 
 agreed Dorothy. " But when we get to Snow 
 Lodge we'll do some skating." 
 
 " That's what we will," said Nan. 
 
 Mile after mile was covered by the Ice Bird. 
 Thfey passed small towns and villages on the 
 shore of the frozen lake. Many of the places 
 were known to Nan and Bert, who had often 
 visited them in the summer time, rowing to 
 them in their boat, or sailing to them with the 
 older I folks. 
 
 "Isn't it almost time to eat?" tasked Bert, 
 after a bit. " That sun lobks as if it were 
 noon, Nan." 
 
 " It's half-past eleven," spoke Harry, glanc- 
 
 ' ing at his watch. " There's a nice little cove 
 
 where we can be out of the wind, and where 
 
 we can build a fire," he went on, pointing 
 
 ahead. 
 
 "That's what we'll do! " cried Bert, steering 
 toward it. " Now you girls will have a chaaes 
 to show what sort of cooks you are." 
 
142 
 
 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Humph ! There's nothing to cook but 
 chocolate ! " said Nan. " Any one could make- 
 that" 
 
 They had brought with them the chocolatg 
 all ready to heat in a pot, and soon it was set 
 \ over a lire of sticks which the boys had made 
 on shore, scraping away the snow from the 
 ground. Nan and Dorothy got out the pack- 
 ages of sandwiches and cake, and soon a merry 
 little party was seated on the ice-boat, eating 
 the good things. 
 
 The meal was soon over and then the young 
 people got ready to resume their trip. Nan 
 and Dorothy wanted to skate a bit, but Bert 
 looking up at the sky, said : 
 
 "I don't think it will- be safe. It looks as 
 though it were going to storm soon, and we 
 don't want to be caught in it. It isn't far to 
 Snow Lodge now, i and once we are there let it 
 snow as much as it likes. But if it comes 
 down before we get there we'll have hard work 
 to keep on in the ice-boat. Even a little snowi 
 on the ice will clog the runners." 
 
 So the skating idea was given up, and soon 
 ^ey were under way in the ice-boat again. 
 
AT SNOW LODGE 143 
 
 The clouds grew darker, and there were a few 
 scattering flakes of snow. 
 
 " I guess we're going to be in for it," said 
 Bert. "If the wind would only blow harder 
 we could go I faster." 
 
 , As if in answer to his wish the wind started 
 up and the boat fairly flew over the ice. Then 
 the storm suddenly broke and the snow was so 
 thick that they could not see wTiere they were 
 going. 
 
 " What shall we do ? " cried Dorothy, who 
 was not used to being out in such a blow. 
 
 " Keep on— that's the only thing to do," an- 
 swered Bert. " We will go as far as we can 
 in the boat and then we'll walk." 
 
 " Walk to Snow Lodge ! " cried Nan. " We 
 could never do it!" 
 
 "Oh, it isn't so far now," said her 
 brother. 
 
 The snow fell so fast that soon the ice-boat 
 went slower and slower. Finally it stopped 
 altogether, the runners clogged with snow. 
 The wind blowing on the sail nearly turned 
 the craft over. 
 
 "Cast off those ropes!" cried Bert to 
 
144 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Harry. " We'll have to leave, her here and 
 walk on." 
 
 The sail was lowered, the blankets and robes 
 were picked up to be carried, and the four 
 girls and boys set out over the ice. 
 
 •" We must keep near the shore," said Bert, 
 " Snow Lodge is right on the shore of the lakie, 
 and we can't miss it.'' 
 
 " Oh, suppose we did, and had to stay out all 
 night?" cried Dorothy. 
 
 " We won't worry until we have to," spoke 
 Nan. 
 
 It snowed harder and harder, and grew 
 quite dark. Even Bert was worried. He and 
 Harry walked on ahead,' to keep the wind and 
 Bnow as much as possible out of the faces of 
 the girls. 
 
 " Bert, I'm sure we're lost ! " cried Nan a 
 little later. " We can't see where we're go- 
 ing! Don't go on any farther." 
 
 " We can't stay here on the ice all night," 
 objected Bert. 
 
 " Well, it is pretty dark," said Harry. " A.re 
 there any houses around here?" 
 
 They gazed at the fast-gathering blackneas 
 
AT SNOW LODGE 145 
 
 all. about them. They were beginning to be 
 very much afraid. The wind howled, and the 
 snow came down harder than, ever. 
 
 " There's a light ! " suddenly called Dorothy 
 
 " Where ? " cried all the others eagerly. 
 
 "There," answered Dorothy^ pointing to> 
 ward where they had last seen the land. 
 ** Right over in those trees." 
 
 " Then let's go toward it," suggested Bert 
 " Maybe they can tell us where 3now Lodge 
 is, and if it's too far we'll stay there all night, 
 if they'll let us." 
 
 The welcome light shone out througln the 
 storm and darkness. The four young folks 
 made their vay toward it as best they could, 
 and, as they came nearer they tould see that 
 it was a big house in the midst of trees. Bert 
 rubbed his eyes. He looked again, and then 
 he cried : 
 
 "Why, it's Snow Lodge! It's Snow Lodge! 
 We've found it after all I We're all right now I 
 We're at Snow Lodge ! " 
 
 "Hurray!" cried Harry. 
 
 " Oh, ^low glad I am ! " said Nan, with her 
 arms around Dorothy. 
 
146 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 A door opened and the light streamed out 
 over the snow. 
 
 '" Who is there? " called Mr. Bobbsey. " Is 
 that you, Bert?" 
 
 " Yes, father. We're here at last." 
 
 " Oh, thank goodness ! " said Mrs. Bobb- 
 sey. " We were just going out to search for 
 you!" 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE SNOW SLIDE 
 
 How warm and cozy it was in Snow Lodge! 
 How bright were the Hghts, and how the big 
 fire blazed, crackled and roared up the chim- 
 ney! And what a delightful smell came from 
 the kitchen! It could easily be told that Di- 
 nah was out there. 
 
 " Where have you been? " 
 
 " What happened to you ? " 
 
 " Was there an accident? " 
 
 "Did you get lost?" 
 
 "Did the ice-boat sink?" 
 
 It was Freddie and Flossie who asked the 
 last two questions, and Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey 
 who asked the others as ■^ert, Nan, Harry and 
 Dorothy came into the farmhouse. Oh, how 
 good it seemed after their battle in the dark- 
 ness with the storm ! 
 
 " The ice-boat couldn't go on accouijt of 
 147 
 
148 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 the snow," explained Bert, " so we had to 
 leave it and walk." 
 
 ^ " And we got lost," added Nan. " Oh, it 
 was terrible out there on the frozen lake ! " 
 
 " Indeed it was," agreed Dorothy. " I 
 never had such a time in all my life." 
 
 " It was too bad," said Mrs. Bobbsey. " You 
 children should have come in the sled with 
 us." 
 
 " Oh, we didn't mind it much," spoke Harry. 
 "We had a good lunch. We saw the light 
 and .thought it was some farmhouse. We 
 didn't think it was Snow Lodge. But we're 
 glad it is," he added with a laugh. 
 
 " We got here some time ago," said Mr. 
 Bobbsey. " The farmer had the fires all going 
 finely, and it was as warm as toast. We be- 
 gan getting things to rights, but when it got 
 dark, and snowed, and you children weren't 
 here, we all got worried." 
 
 " And we were going to look for you," ad- 
 ded Mrs. Bobbsey. " Oh, I was so worried I 
 didn't know what to do!" 
 
 The evening was spent in playing a few 
 games, and in talking and telling stories. 
 
THE SNOW SLIDE 
 
 149 
 
 Everyone was too tired to stay up long, after 
 the day's trip, and so " early to bed " was the 
 rule, for the first night at least. 
 
 As Bert went up to his room with his cousin 
 Harry he looked out of the window. It was 
 too dark to see much, but the boy could get a 
 glimpse of the ^now blowing against the panes 
 with great force. 
 
 "Poor Henry Burdock!" thought Bert. 
 " If it wasn't for that missing money he and 
 his uncle might be living here at Snow Lodge. 
 I wonder where Henry is now? Maybe ofif 
 somewhere in the woods, lost — as we nearly 
 were ! " 
 
 , The thought made hiip feel sad. Surely it 
 was a terrible night to be out in the forest, 
 iamid the storm and darkness. 
 
 " I wish I could help him," thought Bert, 
 but he did not see how he could. Mr. Carford 
 was a stern old man, and he believed his nephew 
 had taken the money that was missing. 
 
 The storm raged 'all night, and part of the 
 pext day. Then it cleared ofif, leaving a great 
 coating of white in the^ woods, and over the 
 fields. i 
 
150 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW L0DQ5a 
 
 " No skating or ice-boating now," said Bert, 
 " and not for some days. We'll have to wail 
 for a thaw and another freeze." 
 
 "But we can take walks in the woods;, can't 
 we ? " asked Nan. " Would you like thatji 
 Dorothy ? " 
 
 " Indeed I would," was the answer. 
 
 "Can't we come?" asked Freddie. "Flos- ' 
 sie and I have rubber boots." 
 
 " Yes, you may come for a little way," said 
 Bert. " We won't go far. Say, Harry, we 
 ought to have snowshoes for this sort of 
 thing," 
 
 " That's right," agreed his cousin. " I saw 
 a picture of some, but I don't believe I would 
 know how to make them." ^ 
 
 " I made some once, but they weren't much 
 good," admitted Bert. " We'll get my father 
 to show us how some day. It would be fun 
 to take a trip on them over the snow." 
 
 Well wrapped up, the young folks set off 
 through the woods. Snap trotting along with 
 them, barking- joyously. All about Snow 
 Lodge, back from the lake, and on either side, 
 were dense woods, and under the trees the 
 
THE SNOW SLIDE 
 
 IS» 
 
 snow was not as deep as in the open fields, for 
 )the branches kept part of it off. , But it was 
 deep enough to make walking' hard. 
 / " We can't go very far at this rate," said 
 ■'Nan, as she and JDorothy struggled on through 
 the drifts. 
 
 " Let's go to .that hill, and see what sort of 
 view there is," suggested Harry. 
 
 " All right," agreed Bert. 
 
 " And we can stop there and eat our lunch." 
 put in Freddie. 
 
 "Our lunch!" exclaimed Nan. "We 
 didn't bring any lunch, dearie ! " 
 
 " Flossie and I did ! " cried " the little fat 
 fireman," as his papa often called f'reddie. 
 "We thought we'd get hungry, so we had 
 Dinah make us some sandwiches, and give us 
 a piece of cake." 
 
 "I'm hungry now," said Flossie, and from 
 under her cloak she drew out a bundle, which 
 she opened, showing a rather crumpled sand- 
 wich and a piece of cake. 
 
 " I'm going to eat, too," decided Freddie, • 
 3S he brought out his lunch. 
 
 " Well, I declare ; you two are the greatest 
 
V 
 
 152 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 ever!" cried Beit. "But it was a good idea 
 all the same!" 
 
 " Yes, I could eat something myself," ad- 
 mitted Harry. " I guess this air makes yov 
 hungry." 
 
 " We — we haven't got enough for all of us — 
 I guess," said Freddie, looking wistfully at his 
 package. 
 
 " Don't worry ! " answered Harry with a 
 laugh. " I won't take any, Freddie. I can 
 wait until we get home.'' 
 
 Thereupon the two smaller twins proceeded 
 to eat the lunch they had brought, doing this 
 while trudging through the snow toward the 
 little hfll. 
 
 They reached the top^ and stood for a time 
 looking over the broad snow-covered expanse 
 of lake and woods. Then they started down. 
 But it was not easy work, especially for Flossie 
 and Freddie, so the whole party stopped for a 
 rest about half way. 
 
 They were sitting under a sheltering tree, 
 looking at some flitting snow-birds, when from 
 behind them came a curious sound. Berti 
 looked back, and leaping to his feet, cried : 
 
THE SNOW SLIDE 15J 
 
 "It's a snow slide! A snow slide! It's 
 coming right toward us ! " 
 
 Indeed a great drift of the white snow was 
 sliding down the side of the hill toward the 
 children. A great white ball seemed to have 
 started it, and as Harry looked up he gave a 
 cry of surprise. 
 
 "I saw a boy up there!" he said. "He 
 pushed that snowball on us ! " 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 LOST IN THE WOODS 
 
 " yiricK ! " cried Bert, as he looked at th* 
 swiftly-sliding snow, " get close to the tree— «. 
 on the downward side of it, and maybe tht 
 drift will go around us. Harry, you look af- 
 ter Freddie, and I'll take care of Flossie!" 
 
 As he spoke Bert grabbed up his little sister 
 and hurried closer to the tree. It was a big 
 pine, and they had been sitting under its 
 branches, on some big rocks, as the' slide 
 started. 
 
 " What shall we do? " cried Nan. " Can't 
 Dorothy and I help ? " i 
 
 " Take care of yourselves," answered Bert. 
 " I guess it will split at the tree and not hurt 
 us." 
 
 The snow slide had started at the top of the 
 hill, whether from some snowball a boy had 
 made, and rolled down, or from some othef 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS 155 
 
 cause, Bert did not stop to consider. He was 
 too anxious to get his little brother and sister 
 to safety. 
 
 The snow was .rather soft, and just right for 
 the making of big balls, of the kind that had 
 been put on the school steps. And, as it con- 
 tinued to slide down the hill, the mass of snow 
 got larger and larger, until it was big enough 
 to frighten even older persons than the Bobb* 
 sey twins and their cousins. 
 
 Harry had reached the tree with Freddie at 
 the same time that Bert came to the protecting 
 trunk with his little' sister. Nan and Dorothy 
 also were struggling toward it. 
 
 " Form in line ! " called Bert. " In a long 
 string down the hill, and every one stand right 
 in line with the tree. The big trunk may split 
 the snow slide in two." 
 
 He and Harry took their positions nearest 
 the trunk, with Flossie and Freddie between 
 them. Nan and Dorothy came next. Bert 
 clasped the tree trunk with both arms, and told 
 Harry, to grasp him as tightly as he could. 
 
 "And you and Flossie hold on to Harry, 
 Freddie," Bert directed. "Nan, you and 
 
156 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGF 
 
 Dorothy hold on to the little ones. Here she 
 comes ! " 
 
 By this time the snowslide had reached the 
 tree, and the mass was now much larger than 
 at first. Freddie and Flossie felt like crying, 
 but they were brave and did not. It was an 
 anxious moment. 
 
 Then just what Bert had hoped would hap. 
 pen came to pass. The snow slide was split 
 in two by the tree trunk, and slid to either side, 
 leaving the Bobbsey twins and their cousin* 
 safe: 
 
 "Oh!" gasped Nan. 
 
 " What was that you said about seeing some- 
 one up there on top of the hill?" asked Bert 
 of Harry, a little later. 
 
 " I did see someone there just before the 
 jnow began to slide, and I'm almost sure I 
 saw him roll that ball down that started the 
 slide," answered Harry. 
 
 " Is that so? Could you see his face?" 
 
 " Not very well." 
 
 "Never mind. You don't know Danny 
 Rugg, anyhow." 
 
 "Oh, Bert! Do you think Danny cCuM 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS 
 
 IS? 
 
 have done such a thing as that ?"' asked Nan, 
 in shocked tones. 
 
 "He might; not thinking how dangerous 
 it would be," answered her brother. " I'm go- 
 ing up there and take a look." 
 
 " What for? " asked Dorothy. 
 
 " To see if I can find any marks in the snow. 
 If someone was up there making a big snow 
 ball to roll down on us there will be some 
 marks of it. And if it was Danny Rugg I'll 
 haye something to say to him." 
 
 "He wouldn't be there- now, probably," said 
 Harry. " But do you think it ^would be safe 
 to go up the side of the hill? " 
 
 " Yes, it would, by keeping right in the path 
 of where the snOw slide came down," answered 
 Bert. " There's hardly any more snow to 
 come down, now." 
 
 " Then I'll go with you," said Harry. 
 
 Leaving the two girls, with Flossie and 
 Freddie, at the tree, Bert and Harry made their 
 way up to the top of the slope. There they 
 saw the signs of where some one — a boy to 
 judge by the marks of his shoes— had tramped 
 about, rolling a bi^ snowball. 
 
158 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "That's what happened," decided, Bert. 
 "Danny Rugg, or some other mean chap, 
 started that slide toward us. And I think it 
 must have been Danny. He's up around here 
 somewhere, and he's the only one who would 
 have a grudge against me." 
 
 Several days went by at the Lpdge, and they 
 were very busy ones. As soon as breakfast 
 was over the boys and girls would go for a 
 walk, or would coast down hill on a slope not 
 far away from the old . farmhouse. Freddie 
 and Flossie were not allowed to go very far 
 away, as it was hard traveling. But they had 
 good times around the house, and out in the 
 old barn. 
 
 Bert and Harry tnade snowshoes out of bar- 
 rel staves, fastening them to their feet with 
 straps. They n^^naged to walk fairly well' on 
 the crust. 
 
 The lake was still covered with a coating o£ 
 'snow, and there was no skating, nor could the 
 ice-boat be used. Mr. Bobbsey, with Harry 
 and Bert, took the team of horses one after- 
 noon and went after the Ice Bird. They found 
 it where Bert had left it the night of the storm. 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS 159 
 
 and hitching the horses to it, pulled the craft 
 to the dock in front of Snow Lodge. 
 
 " It will be all ready for us when the snow 
 is gone," said Bert. 
 
 The nights in Snow Lodge were filled with 
 fun. Mr. Bobbsey had bought a barrel of 
 apples, and when the family gathered about 
 the fireplace there were put to roast in the 
 heat of the glowing embers. 
 
 Corn was popped, and then it was eaten, 
 with salt and butter on, or with melted sugar 
 poured over it. Sometimes they would make 
 candy, and once, when they did this, a funny 
 thing happened. 
 
 Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie, with the 
 two cousins, had been out in the kitchen mak- 
 ing a panful of the sweets. I must say that 
 Dinah did the most work, but the children 
 always declared that they made the candy. 
 Anyhow, Dinah always washed up the pans 
 and dishes afterward. 
 
 " Now we'll set it out on the back steps to 
 cool," said Nan, " and then we'll pull it into 
 sticks." 
 
 The candy was soon in the condition for 
 
Itfo THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGk 
 
 " pulling," and, putting butter on their fingers, 
 so. the sweet stuff would not stick to them, thp 
 children began their fun. 
 
 The more they pulled the candy the harder 
 it got, and the lighter in color. Flossie and 
 Freddie soon tired of the work, that was hard 
 on their little arms, and Nan set their rolls of 
 candy outside again, to cool, ready for eating. 
 
 All at once a great howling was heard at 
 the back stoop, and Flossie cried : 
 
 " Oh, someone is taking my candy ! " 
 
 Bert laid the lump he was pulling down on 
 the table, and rushed to the kitchen door. As 
 be looked out he laughed. 
 
 " Oh, look! " he cried. " Snap tried to eat 
 your candy, Freddie, and it's stuck to his jaws. 
 Me can't get his mouth open ! " , ' 
 
 This was just what had happened. ' Snap, 
 playing around outside, had smelled the cool- 
 ing candy. • He was fond of sweets and in a 
 imoment had bitten on a big chunk. In an 
 instant his jaws seemed glued together, and 
 he set up a howl of pain and surprise. 
 
 " Oh, my lovely candy ! " cried Freddie. 
 "You bad Snap!" 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS \ i6i 
 
 \ 
 "I guess Snap is punished enough," kaid 
 
 Mrs. Bobbsey, coming to the kitchen to find 
 but what the trouble was. And |he poor dog 
 was. He would not get his jaws open for 
 some time, so sticky was the candy, and finally 
 Bert had to put- his pet's mouth in warm 
 water, holding it there until the candy soft'^ 
 ened. Then Snap could open his jaws, and 
 get rid of the rest of the sweet stuff in his 
 mouth. He looked very much surprised at 
 what had happened. 
 
 Freddie was given more candy to pull, and 
 this time he set the pan in which he put it 
 up high where no dog could get at it. 
 
 With the roasting of apples, making of pop' 
 corn and pulling of candy, many pleasant even- 
 ings were spent. Then came a thaw, and 
 some rain that carried off most of the snow. 
 A freeze followed, and the lake was frozen 
 over splidly. 
 
 "Now for skates and our ice-boat!" cried 
 Bert, and the fun started as soon as the lake 
 was safe. The children had many good times, 
 often going up to the nearest village in the ice- 
 boat. 
 
l62 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Sometimes Bert had races with other ice- 
 boats, and occasionally he won even against 
 larger craft that were boughten, instead of 
 being home-made. But almost as often the 
 Ice Bird came in last. But Bert and the others 
 did not care. They were having a good time. 
 
 Bert met Danny Rugg in the woods one 
 day, and spoke to him about the snow slide. 
 Danny said he had had nothing to do with it, 
 but Bert did not believe the bully. 
 
 Then came a spell of fine, warm weather, 
 and as there was no snow on the ground, Bert, 
 Nan, Dorothy and Hjrry decided to take a 
 long walk one afternoon. Nan wanted to get 
 some views with her new camera. 
 
 So interested did they all become that they 
 never noticed how late it was, nor how far 
 they had come. 
 
 " Oh, we must turn back ! " cried Nan, 
 when she did realize that it would soon be 
 dark. ' " We're a good way from Snow 
 Lodge." 
 
 " Oh, we can easily get back," declared 
 Bert. " I know the path." 
 
 But though Bert might know the path they 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS 163 
 
 Jbad come by dajrlight, it was quite different 
 to find it after dark. However, he led the 
 way, certain tha*t he was going fight. But 
 when they had gone on for some distance, and 
 saw no familiar landmarks, Nan stopped and 
 asked : 
 
 "Are 'you sure this is the right path, 
 Bert? I don't remember passing any of these 
 rocks," and she pointed to a group of them 
 under, some trees. 
 
 " I don't, either," said Dorothy. 
 
 " Well, maybe this path leads into the righi 
 one," suggested Harry. "Let's keep on a lit- 
 tle farther." / 
 
 There seemed to be nothing else to do, so 
 forward, they went. Then a few flakes of 
 snow began to fall, and they rapidly increased 
 until the air was white with them. It made 
 the scene a little lighter, but it caused Bert 
 and the others to worry a good deal. 
 
 "I hope this isn't going to be much of it 
 storm," said Bert in a low voice to Harry. 
 
 "Why not? It would make good sleigh 
 Tiding." 
 
 "Yes, but it's no fun to be in the w9od& 
 
l64 THE BDBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 when it storms; especially at night and when 
 you're— lost." 
 
 "' Lost ! " cried Harry. " Are we lost? " 
 
 , " I'm afraid so," answered Bert, solemnly. 
 
 " I haven't seen anything that looked like the 
 
 path we came over for a long time. I guess 
 
 •we're lokt, all right." 
 
 "Oh! Oh!" cried Dorothy. , 
 
 "Will we have to stay out in the woods a3S 
 night? " Nan wanted to know. 
 
 Bert shook his head sadly. 
 
 " I'tti afraid so," he said. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 HENRY BURDOCK 
 
 With the wind blowing about them, whirl- 
 ing the snowflakes into their faces, and with 
 night fast coming on, the four young folks 
 stood close together, lookihg at one another. 
 Bert's solemn words had filled the hearts of 
 the others with ffear. Then Harry, sturdy 
 country boy that he was, exclaimed : 
 
 " Oh, don't let's give up so easily, Bert 
 Many a time I've been off in the woods, and 
 thought I was lost, when a little later, I'd 
 make a turn and be on the road home. Maybe 
 we can do that now." 
 
 " Oh, I do hope so ! " murmured Dorothy. 
 
 " Let's try ! " exclaimed Nan, taking hold 
 of her brother's arm. 
 
 "Wait a minute!" exclaimed Bert, a« 
 Harry and Dorothy were about to start oft 
 *Do you -know where you're going?" 
 i6s 
 
l66 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " We're going back that way," declared 
 Harry, pointing off to the left. 
 
 " Why, that way? " asked Bert. 
 
 " I think that's the way to Snow Lodge," 
 was the answer. " We've tried lots of other 
 ways, and haven't struck the right one, so 
 it can't do a,ny harm to go a new way." 
 
 " Now just hold on," advised Bert. " I 
 don't mean to say that I know more than you 
 about it, Harry, but it does seem to me that 
 it won't do any good to wander off that way, 
 especially if you're not sure it's the right path. 
 We'll only get more lost than we are, if that's 
 possible." 
 
 " Well, rnaybe you're right," admitted 
 Harry. " But we can't stay here all night, 
 that's sure." 
 
 " Of course not," added Dorothy, looking 
 around with a shiver. The snow seemed to be 
 coming down harder than ever and the cold 
 wind blew with greater force.. 
 
 " We may have to stay here," said Bert. 
 " But don't let that scare you," he said 
 quickly, as he saw Dorothy and his sister 
 slutch at each other and turn pale. " We can 
 
HENRY BURDOCK 167 
 
 build a sort of shelter that will keep us warm, 
 and there won't be any danger of freezing." 
 
 "No, but how about 'Starving?" asked 
 Harry. " I'm real 'hungry now." 
 
 " We had a good dinner," observed Doro- 
 thy. " If we don't get anything more to eat 
 until morning I guess we can stand it. . But I 
 do hope we can find some sort of shelter." 
 
 " We'll have to make one, I guess," said 
 Nan, looking about her. 
 
 " That's right," cried Bert. " It's the only 
 way. If we go wandering about, looking for 
 a shelter, we may get into trouble. , We'll 
 'make one of our own. There's a good place, 
 over by that clump of \rees. We can cut down 
 some branches, stand them up around the trees 
 and make a sort of tent. Then, when the 
 snow has covered it, we'll be real warm." 
 
 " Well, let's start building that snow tent," 
 proposed Harry. " It will give us something 
 to do, and moving about is warmer than stand- 
 ing still. I know that much, anyhow." 
 
 " Yes, it is," agreed Bert. " Come on, girls. 
 Harry and I will cut the branches and you can 
 stack them up." 
 
l68 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 Bert led the way to where three trees grew 
 dose together in a sort' of triangle. The trees 
 had low branches and it would be an easy 
 matter to stand other branches up against 
 them, one end on the ground, and so make a 
 fairly good shelter. 
 
 With their pocket-knives Bert an(l Harry 
 began cutting branches from the evergreen 
 trees that grew all about. As fast as they 
 were cut the girls, took them, and piled them 
 up as best they could. All the while the wind 
 blew the falling snow about, and it became 
 darker. 
 
 " Oh, if we only had some sort of a fire ! " 
 exclaimed Nan; 
 
 " A fire? " said her brother. 
 
 "That's so," agreed Dorothy. "It would 
 not be so lonesome then, and it would scare 
 away — the bears ! " and she looked over her 
 shoulder in some fear. 
 
 "Bears!" cried Bert. "There aren't any 
 within a a hundred miles, unless they're tame 
 ones. But we might as well have a fire. I 
 never thought of that. I've got a box of 
 matches. Harry, if you'll gather wood, and 
 
HENRY BURDOCK ig^j 
 
 tnalce the fire, I'll keep on cutting branches. 
 We've got almost enough, anyhow." 
 
 "Sure, I will!" said the other boy, and 
 I soon he had scraped away the snow from a 
 spot on the ground, and had piled some sticks 
 on it. He managed to find some dry twigs 
 and leaves in a hollow stump, and these served, 
 to start a blaze. The wood was rather wet, 
 and it smoked a good deal, but soon some of 
 the fagots had caught and there was a cheer- 
 ful fire reflecting redly on the white snow that 
 was falling faster than ever. 
 
 " That's something like ! " cried Bert, com- 
 ing over to the blaze to warm his cold fingers. 
 " We'll get a pile of wood and keep the fire 
 going all night. Then, if any, of our folks 
 come looking for us, they can see it." 
 
 Harry, who had just come up with an arm- 
 ful of wood, plunged his hands into his pock- 
 ets to warm them. The next moment he ut- 
 tered a joyful cry, and drew out two small 
 packages. ~ 
 
 " Look ! " he cried. " Here's our supper ! " 
 
 " Supper? " asked Bert, slowly, " What do 
 you meaa ? " 
 
I70 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " It's chocolate candy," went on Harry. " I 
 forgot I had it, but it's fine stuff when you're 
 hungry. Lots of travelers use it when they 
 can't get anything else to eat. Here, I'll di- 
 vide it, and we'll imagine we're having a fine 
 feast." 
 
 He was about to do this when Bert sud- 
 denly exclaimed: 
 
 " Wait a minute ! I have, a better plan than 
 that if I can only find a tin can. Everybody 
 look for one. There may have been picnickers 
 here during the summer, and they may have 
 left a lot of tin cans." 
 
 "But what do you want of one?" asked 
 Nan. 
 
 " I'll tell you if I find one," said her brother. 
 " If I told you now, and we didn't pick up one, 
 you'd be disappointed." 
 
 But they were not to be, for a little later 
 Harry, kicking about in the snow, turned up 
 a rusty tin can. 
 
 " That's it ! ", cried Bert. " Now we'll pu' 
 some snow in it, and melt it over the fire. 
 That will give us water, and when it boils we'H 
 be sure the can is clean. Then we'll melt more 
 
HENRY BURDOCK 171 
 
 snow and have hot chocolate. We'll dissolve 
 the chocolate candy in the water, Harry, and 
 drink it. That will be something hot for us, 
 ,and better than if we ate the cold candy. I've 
 ■got a folding drinking cup we can use." 
 
 "Say, that's a fine idea!" cried Dorothy- 
 " Bert, you're wonderful." 
 
 "Oh, no, the idea just popped into my 
 head," he replied. 
 
 The can, with some snow in it, was soon 
 on the fire, and in a little while steam arising 
 from it told that the water, formed from the 
 melting snow, was boiling. They rinsed the 
 can out carefully, made more hot water, and 
 then put in the chocolate candy, saving half 
 for another time. 
 
 Nan and Dorothy took turns stirring it with 
 a clean stick until the mixture was foamy and 
 hot. Then it was passed around in- the single 
 drinking cup. 
 
 " Oh, but I feel so much better now," sighed 
 Nan, after taking her share. " So warm and 
 comfortable ! " 
 
 " So do I ! " exclaimed Dorothy, and the 
 boys admitted that the drink of chocolate was 
 
 !;'• 
 
1,72 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 very good, even though it had no milk in it 
 
 Then they finished making the shelter, 
 brought up more wood for the night, and 
 went in the 'little snow-tent. Though it was 
 only partly covered with a coating of white! 
 flakes, it was already warm and cozy,, and they 
 knew .that they were in no danger of freezing.. 
 
 As much of the snow' as possible was 
 scraped away from the ground inside, and 
 thick hemJock branches were laid down for a 
 sort of carpet. Then, with the cheerful fire 
 going outside, the four young people prepared, 
 to spend the night. That it would be lone- 
 some they; well kniew, but, th^y hoped Mr. 
 Bobbsey would come \and find them, perhaps ^ 
 with a searching party. ' 
 
 The warm chocolate, the warmth of the fire, 
 the, effect of the wind/ weariness of the long 
 walk, and the work of making a shelter, all 
 combined to make the boys and girls sleepy in 
 spite of their strange situation. First one and 
 then the other would nod off, to awake with a 
 start, until finally they w«re all asleep. 
 
 How long he had been slumbering thus, in 
 the little snow-tent, Bert did not know. He 
 
HENRY BURDOCK 173 
 
 suddenly awoke with a start, and listened. 
 Yes, he heard something I The sound of some- 
 one tramping through the woods. A heavy 
 body forcing its way through the bushes! 
 
 At first Bert's heart beat rapidly, and he 
 thought of wild animals. Then he realized 
 that none was near Snow Lodge. He glanced 
 about. The campfire was burning, only dimly, 
 and by the light of it, as it came in through 
 the opening of the shelter, the boy could set 
 the others sleeping, curled up on the soft 
 branches. 
 
 The sound of someone approaching sounded 
 louder. Bert looked about for some sort of 
 weapon. There was none in the tent. Tliei« 
 he almost laughed at himself. 
 
 "How sillV!" he exclaimed. "Of course 
 It's father, or someone looking for us. I'll give 
 a call." 
 
 He crawled to the edge of the shelter, 
 looked out, and raised his voice in a shout: 
 
 "Hello there 1 Here we are! Father, is 
 that you?" 
 
 Those inside the little snow-covered tent 
 awoke with a start. Bert tossed some light 
 
174 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 wood on the fire and it blazed up brightly. 
 By its glow the boy saw, coming into the circle 
 of light, a man dressed in thick, heavy gar- 
 ments, with a coonskin cap on his head. Oyer 
 his shoulder was a gun, and he had some rab- 
 bits and birds slung at his back. 
 
 " Hello ! " called the man to Bert, who wat 
 now outside the little tent. " Who are you? '' 
 
 " Bert Bobbsey," was the answer. " My 
 sister and cousins are here. We got lost and 
 made this shelter. Were you looking for us? " 
 
 " Well, not exactly," said the hunter slowly, 
 as he leaned on his gun, and looked . at the 
 fire, then at Bert and next on Nan, Dorothy 
 and Harry, who by this time had come from 
 the tent. " Not exactly, but maybe it's a good 
 thing I found you. The storm is growing 
 worse. , What did you say your name was ? " 
 
 "Bert Bobbsey." 
 
 The hiinter started. 
 
 "Any relation to Mr. Richard Bobbsey?" 
 ae asked. 
 
 " He's my father." 
 
 " You don't say so ! Well, I'm glad to hear 
 that. It will give me a chance to do him a 
 
HENRY BURDOCK 175 
 
 go<Jd turn. I'm Henry Burdock," the hunter 
 went on. 
 
 It was the turn of Bert and Nan to be sur-' 
 prised. 
 
 "Henry Burdock!" repeated Bert. "'Are 
 you the nephew of Mr. Car ford?" 
 
 " Yes," was the low reply. " Do you know 
 him?" 
 
 " Why, we're stopping at his , place — Snow 
 Lodge," said Bert. "We got lost coming 
 from there to take some pictures. Oh, Mr. 
 Burdock, can you take us back there ? " 
 
 " Snow Lodge — Snow Lodge," said the 
 , hunter slowly. His voice was sad, as though 
 the place had bitter memories for hiira. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 SNOWBALLS 
 
 "Are we very far from Snow Lodge?'* 
 asked Nan, after a pause. " We didn't think 
 we would have any trouble getting back to it." 
 
 "You're about three miles away, and the 
 path is hard to find in the darkness and storip," 
 said the young hunter slowly. ' " Let me think 
 what is best to do." 
 
 He remained leanittg on his gun, staring 
 into the fire, which was now burning brightly. 
 Then he spoke again. 
 
 "You youngsters certainly have made this 
 a fine shelter. I couldn't have done it much 
 better myself. It's just the thing to keep out 
 the cold wind." 
 
 "We thought we'd have to stay Here all 
 night," said Bert. " We made some hot 
 chocolate. We've got a little left. Will yow 
 take some?" 
 
 W6 
 
SNOWBALLS ,177 
 
 "No, thank you," replied Henry Burdock. 
 "I generally carry a little to eat with me, and 
 I just finished my night lunch. I had some 
 cold coffee that I warmed up, too. I'm sorry, 
 but if I had known I was going to meet you 
 folks I'd have saved some." 
 
 " Oh, -we're all right," declared Harry. 
 " We can finish our chocolate, and then per- 
 haps you can show us the way back to Snow 
 Lodge." , / 
 
 " Yes," spoke Henry Burdock, slowly, " I 
 could do that. I know the way well enough. 
 But it's a hard path to travel in the storm, and 
 after dark. I 5on't believe you girls could 
 manage it," and he looked at Nan and Doro- 
 thy. 
 
 " Oh, yes, we could ! " Nan exclaimed. 
 "We've had a good rest, and papa and 
 namma will be so anxious about us ! " 
 
 "I'd like first rate to take you all home," 
 said the hunter, " but I think I have a better 
 plan. My shack isn't far from here. I could 
 take you all there, and you, could stay until 
 inorning. Then I could go to Snow Lodge 
 and tell them you were all right. When it was 
 
178 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 daylight they could come for you in the sled." 
 
 " Maybe that would be best," agreed Bert. 
 
 "But won't it be too much of a trip for 
 you? " asked Nan. , 
 
 " No, I'm used to roaming about the 
 woods," said Mr. Carford's nephew, with a 
 sad smile. " A few miles more or less won't 
 make any difference, and I know every inch 
 of this forest. I've had to," he added. " It's 
 the only home I have now." 
 
 " Yes, we — we heard about you," said Nan 
 quickly, and there was kindness in her voice. 
 " It's too bad your uncle acted as he did, and 
 sent you away." 
 
 " Well, he thought he was doing right," 
 said Henry. "I don't know as I blame him. 
 Your father, though, he stuck ^o me, and I'm 
 glad I can do his children a favor." 
 
 " Indeed, it seems too much to ask," spoke 
 Dorothy, for Nan had whispered to her and 
 Harry the details of the story of the missing 
 money which Henry Burdock was suspected 
 pf taking. 
 
 " 1 don't mind," said the hunter. " I didn't 
 do much walking to-day. Game was not vers 
 
SNOWBAI^LS 179 
 
 plentiful, though I got some. Now I'll lead 
 you to my shack. It's small, but it's warn?; 
 and you can be comfortable there until day- 
 light. I was walking through the woods, when 
 I saw the flicker of your fire,, and came up to 
 see what it was." 
 
 "And I couldn't imagine what it was I 
 heard whin I woke up," said Bert. , " I was 
 a bit frightened at first,'" he admitted, with a 
 smile. 
 
 "I don't blame you," said Henry. "And, 
 since we are talking about Snow Lodge, I 
 want to say that I never took that money. It 
 was on the mantel in the living room, just as 
 my uncle says it was, for I saw it. I don't 
 deny but what I would have been glad to have 
 it, for 1 had been foolish, and I owed more 
 th?n T could pay. But I never took that roll 
 of bills." 
 
 " Have you, any idea who did? " asked Bert. 
 
 " Not in the least. And as I was the only 
 one in the house, besides my uncle, of course 
 it made it look as if I had taken it, especially 
 as the money totally disappeared. But J never 
 Jaid a hand on it." 
 
l8o THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "It is too bad," said Bert. "Maybe som.« 
 day the bills will be found and you will be 
 cleared." 
 
 " I hope so," sighed Henry. " But it's been 
 some years now, and my uncle has considered 
 me a thief all that while. I've gotten so I 
 don't much care any more. Living in the 
 woods makes you sort of that way. You do 
 a lot of thinking. 
 
 " But there ! " exclaimed the young hunter, 
 straightening up. "This isn't doing you chil- 
 dren any good. I'd better be taking you to 
 my place instead of staying here. Have you 
 anything to carry?" 
 
 "My camera— that's all," said Nan. "I'll 
 get it," and she darted into the shelter after 
 it. Then, when the fire had been extinguished '- 
 so there woi],ld be no danger of it spreading, 
 the "young folks set off after Henry Burdock, 
 who led the way. He seemed to know it, even 
 in the darkness, but of course the white snow 
 on the ground made the path rather' easy to 
 pick out. 
 
 In a short time they came to a log cabin, 
 which was the " shack " the hunter had meB-" 
 
SNOWBALLS ' i8i 
 
 tioned. It was the work of but a few minutes 
 to open it, and blow into flames the fire that 
 was smouldering on the hearth. A lamp had 
 been lighted and the place was warm and cozy 
 enough for anyone. 
 
 "Oh, this is fine!" cried Nan. "If the 
 folks knew we were here we would be all 
 right, and not worry." 
 
 " They'll soon know it," said Mr. Burdock. 
 " I'm going to set off at once for Snow Lodge 
 Will you.be afraid to stay here?" 
 
 " Not a bit of it! " exclaimed Bert, and the 
 others agreed with him. 
 
 ' Leaving the game he had shot, Henry Bur- 
 dock started off again through the storm- 
 swept woods, while Bert and the others .made 
 themselves at home in the cabin. Mr. Bur- 
 dock had showed them where he kept his food, 
 and the boys and girls enjoyed a midnight 
 lunch, for it was now after twelve o'clock. 
 
 It was' about three in the morning when 
 the hunter came back, to find his young friends 
 asleep. He let himself in quietly, and not 
 until daylight, when they awoke, did he tell 
 <hem of his trip. 
 
l82 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 He had reached Snow Lodge safely, there 
 to find Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey almost dis- 
 tracted over the absence of the children. Mr. 
 Bobbsey and Sam hdd searched as well as they i 
 could, and they were just going off to arouse 
 some nearby farmers and make a more thor- 
 ough hunt when Mr. Burdock came in. 
 
 That his news was welcome need not be 
 said, and Mrs. Bobbsey wept for joy when she 
 knew that her children and the others were 
 safe. They wanted the young hunter to re- 
 main until daylight, and go back with them in 
 the sled, but he said he would rather go on to 
 his cabin now. Perhaps he did not feel that 
 he should remain in Snow Lodge, from where 
 his uncle had driven him in anger years before. 
 
 Mr. Burdock gave Mr. Bobbsey directions 
 how to find the cabin, and, as soon as the first 
 streak of daylight showed, the lumber mer- 
 chant and Sam set off in the big sled, Flossie 
 and Freddie were not awake, or they might 
 have been taken along.. 
 
 And a little later Bert, Nan, Dorothy and 
 Harry were safe m Snow Lodge once more. 
 
 ¥or some days after this the weather was 
 
SNOWBALLS i8j ' 
 
 Stormy, SO that the young folks could not go 
 far from Snow Lodge. But they nianaged to 
 liave good times indoors, or out in the big 
 barn. ' 
 
 Then came another thaw, and a freeze fol- 
 lowed some days later, making good skating. 
 One afternoon Bert proposed to Harry that 
 they go for a trip on the ice-bOat. 
 
 " But not too far," cautioned his father. 
 " We don't want you to get lost again." 
 
 " No, we'll only go a mile or so," said Bert 
 " Want to come, Nan and Dorothy ? " 
 
 The girls did, and so, also, did Flossie and 
 Freddie, but their mother would not allow this. 
 So Freddie got out his engine and played fire- 
 man, while his little sister put her walking and 
 talking doll through her performance. Snap, 
 the trick dog, with many barks, raced off with 
 Bert and the older children. 
 
 The Ice Bird sailed well that day, skimming 
 over the frozen lake at a fast pace, and the 
 children greatly enjoyed the sport. Snap sat 
 on with the others, looking as though he liked 
 it as well as anyone. 
 
 They sailed up the lake for some distance 
 
l84 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 and then got out to look for a cave which 
 BeTt had heard was a short distance from 
 shore. They did not find it at once, but while 
 the> were climbing up a little hill, thinking 
 the cave might be somewhere, near it, Harry 
 was suddenly startled to receive a snowball on 
 his ear. 
 
 "Ouch! "he cried. "Who threw that?" 
 
 They all stopped and looked around. No 
 one was in sight. 
 
 " Maybe it fell off a tree," suggested Nan. 
 
 " It came too hard for that," declared 
 Harry. "It was thrown." 
 
 They looked about again, but, seeing no 
 one, went on. Then, suddenly there came an- 
 other ball, and Dorothy cried : 
 
 " There, that came out of a tree, for I saw 
 ^t. Right, over there," and she pointed. 
 
 "Then if it came out of a tree someone is 
 up the tree ! " declared Bert, " and I'm going 
 to see who it is." 
 
 As he rushed forward a snowball struck 
 him full in the face. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 SNAP IS GONE 
 
 Dorothy screamed, and turned back toward 
 Nan wh^n she saw Bert struck with the snow- 
 ball. But plucky Nan kept on. 
 
 " That must be Danny Rugg ! " cried Bert's 
 sister. " No one else around htre would be 
 as mean as that ! " 
 
 Bert stopped sk moment to brush the snow 
 from his eyes, and then he rushed toward the 
 tree. 
 
 "Who is it?" cried Harry. 
 
 " I don't know— but I'm going to find out," 
 was Bert's answer. " Come along ! " 
 
 The two boys hurried on, the girls linger- 
 ing in the rear. 
 
 Again a snowball flew out of the tree, but 
 it struck no one, though coming near to Nan. 
 
 By this time Bert was close to the tree. It 
 (was a hemlock, and the branches were quite 
 '. 185 
 
l86 THE JSOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 thick, but Elert got a glimpse of someone hid» 
 ing among them. 
 
 " Come down out of that ! " Bert cried. " I 
 see you ! " 
 • There was no answer. 
 
 "What do you mean by hitting us?" askeS 
 Harry angrily. " We didn't do anything to 
 you." 
 
 Still there was no answer. 
 
 " I'm going to do some snowballing on my 
 own account," spoke Bert. " Here goes ! " 
 
 He quickly made a hard ball, and, circling 
 around the tree to find an opening in the 
 branches, he saw the figure of the boy more 
 plainly. 
 
 " Danny Rugg! " cried Bert. " So it's you; 
 is it? First you start a snowslide down on us 
 and then you snowball us. This has got to 
 stop. Take that ! " 
 
 Bert threw, but though his aim was ,good, 
 Danny, for it was the bully, managed to climb 
 Up higher in the tree, and the snowball broke 
 into pieces against the branches. , 
 
 "Hal Ha!" laughed Danny. 
 
 '"Oh, there's plenty more snow," Said 
 
SNAP IS GONE i85> 
 
 Harty, "and you can't have an awful lot up 
 there." 
 
 His answer was another snowball, which 
 struck him on the shoulder, doing no harm. 
 Danny must have taken some snow-ammlini- 
 tibn up the tree with him, and, in addition, 
 there was a supply of the white flakes on the 
 wide branches of the hemlock. 
 
 Bert and Harry both began throwing snow- 
 balls up into the tree, but they were at a dis- 
 advantage, for their missiles broke to pieces 
 against .the trunk or branches. Oh the other 
 hand Danny could wait his chanec and hit 
 them when they came within sight. , 
 
 " This won't do ! " exclaimed Bert, after a 
 bit. " We've got to get him out of that tree." 
 
 "How can we? " asked Harry. " Climb up 
 it, and pull him down?" 
 
 "Oh, don't do that!" cried Nan. "You 
 might get hurt." 
 
 "Yes, that would be risky," ^dfftitted Bert. 
 "One of us might slip and fall. Hey you, 
 Danny Rugg! "cried Bert. " Come on dbwn, 
 and we'll give you a fair show. Only one of 
 us will tackle you at a time." 
 
188 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Huh ! Think I'm comnig down ? " asked 
 Danny. " I'm not afraid of you, but I'm go- 
 ing to stay up here." 
 
 " Oh, are you ? " asked Bert, as he thought 
 of a new plan. " We'll see about that. Come 
 here, Harry." 
 
 From the tree Danny looked down anx- 
 iously while Harry and Bert whispered to^ 
 gether. The girls had walked off to one side. 
 
 "How are you going to get him down?" 
 asked Harry. 
 
 " Cut the tree," answered Bert " It's only 
 a stnall one." 
 
 " But we can't even cut that down with our 
 knives." 
 
 " I know. But on the ice-boat is that 
 hatchet father gave me to take to be sharp- 
 ened. I forgot about it on the way up the 
 lake, and I was going to do it on the way back. 
 There's a blacksmith shop in the big cove. But 
 the hatchet is sharp enough to chop down this 
 tree. We'll get it and give Danny a good 
 scare." 
 
 "That's what we will. You stay here and 
 I'll run down and get it." 
 
SNAP IS GONE 189 
 
 Harry started off on a run, arid Danny, still 
 tip the tree, wondered what plan was afoot. 
 The bully had been out for a walk when he 
 saw Bert and the others coming up the hill. 
 He quickly climbed the tree in order to throw 
 snowballs at them. 
 
 When Harry came back with the hatchet 
 Bert once more called to Danny. 
 
 "Are you coming down and fight fair? 1 
 give you my promise that only one of us will 
 tackle you at a time. You can have your 
 choice." 
 
 " I'm not coming down ! " cried Danny. 
 
 "Chop away, Harry!" called Bert. "I 
 guess I can pepper him with a few snowballs 
 if he tries to throw any at you." 
 . ' The tree trunk was not very thick, and the 
 hatchet was fairly sharp. In a little while the 
 tree began swaying. 
 
 "I say now, stop that!" cried Danny, try-^ 
 itig to get a better hold in the branches. 
 
 "Better come down before you fall," sug- 
 gested Bert, who had a pile of snowballs ready. 
 
 The tree swayed more and more. Bert and 
 Harry knew that even if Danny fell with it 
 
igo THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 he could not get hurt in the soft, drifts- So 
 Harry kept on chopping. 
 
 The tree -swayed more and more. There was 
 a cracking sound. Then Danny cried: 
 
 " Don't chop any more -^ I'm comimj 
 down ! " , 
 
 "Get ready, Harry!" called Bert. "We'll 
 give himi some of the same kind of a thing he 
 gave us ! " 
 
 In another instant Danny jumped, ant* as 
 the swaying tree sprang back, when relieved 
 of his weight, Bert and Harry leaped forward 
 , to pelt the bully with snowballs. 
 
 Danny tried to fight back, but he was no 
 match for the two of them, and soon he began 
 to. look like a snow image, so well was he plas- 
 tered with white flakes. 
 , " Give it to him ! " pried Bert, whose face 
 still stung where Danny had struck him with 
 a snowball. 
 
 " That's what I will," agreed Harry, whose 
 ear was quite sore. 
 
 For a time Danny said nothing, but tried co 
 block off the rain of snowballs, throwing son* 
 of his own back. Then, as he was almost over- 
 
SNAP IS GONE 
 
 191 
 
 whelmed by the ones Harry and Bert threw, 
 the bully cried: 
 
 "Stop! Stop! I've had enough! I won't 
 bother you any more ! " j 
 
 Danny was soon out of sight, rtinning off 
 in the direction of his father's lumber tract, 
 and soon Bert and the others went back to the 
 ice-boat. 
 
 They stopped at the blacksmith shop to have 
 the hatchet, and reached home after a little sail 
 on the Ice Bird. , 
 
 "Did anything happen this time?" asked 
 Freddie, as he greeted them on the return to 
 Snow Lodge. 
 
 " Not much," replied Bert. " We just had 
 a snow fight; that's all." / 
 
 The skating and ice-boating lasted for some 
 time, and the girls and boys had lots of fun. 
 Nights were spent in popping corn, telling 
 stories, roasting apples, and once, in the big 
 sled, they all went to an entertainment in a 
 nearby school hall. 
 
 It was on returning from this, in the even* 
 ing, that Dinah met them at the door, askings 
 
 "Did yo' all take dat dog Snap wif yo'?" 
 
192 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "Take Snap? No," said Mr. Bobbsey, 
 "Isn't he here?" 
 
 The children began to look alarmed. 
 
 "He was here," said Dinah, "but I can't 
 find him now, nohow. He suah am raissin'." 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE BIG STORM 
 
 For a moment they all looked at one an- 
 other by turns. Flossie and Freddie showed 
 the most alarm. Bert started for the outside 
 door, as though intending to make a search 
 ' for his pet. Mr. Bobbsey questioned Dinah. 
 
 " Are you sure," he asked, " that Sfiaf i.sn't 
 around ? " 
 
 " I suah am suah," she replied. " I done 
 called him to git sufiSn to eat, an' when Snap 
 won't come fo' dat he ain't around." 
 
 " That's so," said Mrs. Bobbsey. " I won- 
 der if he could have followed after us, and 
 got lost? Did any of you see him trailing 
 us?" 
 
 " He did come a little way, wKen we start- 
 ed," came from Dorothy. 
 
 "Yes, but Dinah called him back; didn't 
 you? " asked Nan of the cook. 
 193 
 
194 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "Yes, missis, dat's what I did. An' Snap 
 come. Den, t' make suah he wouldn't sneak 
 oflf an' f oiler yo'-all, I shut him up in de kitchen 
 an' gibe him a chicken bone. Arter a while I 
 let him out. He run around,, kinder disap- 
 pointed like, an' come back. Den I didn't look 
 fo' him until a little while ago, but he was 
 gone, an' I thought maybe, arter all, he'd come 
 wif yo'." 
 
 "No, he didn't," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a 
 shake of his head. " But we'll have a look 
 around." 
 
 With Bert and Harry he went outside, i Buit 
 ,[ neither calling nor whistling brought any bark 
 from Snap. Nor did he come bounding joy- 
 fully up, as he usually did when summoned. 
 The darkness about Snow Lodge was quiet. 
 There was no sign of Snap. 
 
 " He's gone off in the woods and is lost," 
 said Harry. - 1 
 
 " Snap knows better than to get lost," de- 
 clared Bert. " He could find his way home 
 from almost anywhere. I think he must have 
 followed someone away." 
 
 " Would he do that? " asked Harry. 
 
THE BIG STORM 195 
 
 "He might with someone he knew, if that 
 person petted him," said Mr. Bobbsey. 
 
 "That hunter— Henry Burdock!" suddenly 
 exclaimed Bert. "Snap made great friends 
 with him when we met him out in the woods 
 the other day, and Henry said he'd. make a fine 
 hunting dog." 
 
 " I don't believe Henry Burdock would en- 
 tice our dog'^away," said Mr. BobbSey, with a 
 shake of his head. 
 
 " Oh, of course I don't mean on purpose," 
 said Bert. " But Snap may have been running 
 about in the woods at dusk when he met 
 Henry. Then he may have followed him, for 
 Snap is part hunting dog, and he gets crazy 
 when he sees a gun. Maybe he followed. 
 Henry, and wouldn't be driven back through 
 the snow." 
 
 "Maybe that's so," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. 
 " In that case Snap will be all right, and we 
 can get him in the morning. So don't worry 
 any more." 
 
 They went back in the Lodge, to find Fred- 
 die and Flossie almost in tears . But the little 
 twins felt better when it was explained to them 
 
196 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 that Snap might, after all, be safe with the 
 young hunter. 
 
 "And will you get him first thing in the 
 morning? " asked Freddie. 
 
 The following day was so nice that Flossie 
 and Freddie were allowed lo go with Bert, 
 Nan, Harry and Dorothy to the cabin of 
 Henry Burdock to look for Snap. The small 
 twins were put on two sleds, the older children 
 taking turns pulling them. 
 
 They easily found Henry's cabin, having 
 been there several times since the night they 
 spent in it. The hunter was just about to start ' 
 off on a trip. 
 
 "Where's Snap?" called Bert, eagerly. 
 
 " Snap ? I haven't seen him since that day 
 I met you with him in the woods," answered 
 the hunter. 
 
 "What! Isn't he here?" asked Harry, 
 
 Then they told of the missing dog. But 
 Henry Burdock had not seen him. 
 
 "Where can he be?" spoke Nan, wonder- 
 ingly. 
 
 Flossie and Freddie began to cry. 
 
 " Oh, a bear has Snap ! " wailed Flossie. 
 
THE BIG STORM 19^ 
 
 "No, he hasn't!" declared Bert. " We'H 
 find him." 
 
 " But where can he be? " said Dorothy. " Is 
 there anyone else around here who might take 
 him?" 
 
 Bert and Nan thought of the same thing at 
 the same time. 
 
 " Danny Rugg ! " they exclaimed. 
 
 "What do, you mean?" asked Henry Bur- 
 dock. 
 
 " He's a mean boy who is camping with his 
 father near us," explained Bert. " Harry and 
 I pelted him good with snowballs the other 
 day, after he bothered us. I think he has en- 
 ticed Snap away." 
 
 "Would your dog go with him? " 
 
 "Yes, he's friendly with Danny, for some- 
 times Danny is fairly good, and comes to our 
 house. If he offered Snap a nice bone our 
 1 dog might go with him." 
 
 "Then I advise you to have a look over 
 where Danny is camping," said the young 
 hunter. 
 
 It was quite a trip back to Snow Lodge and 
 then over to the Rugg lumber camp, and MrSi 
 
igS THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 , Bobbsey thought it too far to take Flossie and 
 Freddie, so they were left behind on the, second 
 trip, Nan and Dorothy going with Bert and 
 Harry. 
 
 They saw Danny Rugg standing in front of , 
 a log cabin which was on the edge of a lum- 
 ber camp. The bully seemed uneasy at the ~ 
 sight of Harry and Bert, and called out: 
 
 " If you're coming here to make any trouble 
 yl'll tell my father on you. He's right over 
 there." 
 
 " We're not going to make any trouble, 
 Danny Rugg, if you don't," said Bert slowly. 
 " But we came for Snap, our dog." 
 
 " I don't know anything about your dog," 
 answered Danny, in surly tones. 
 
 " I think you do," said Bert, quietly. Then 
 iraising his voice, he called : 
 
 " Snap ! Snap ! Where are you, old fellow ? 
 Snap!" 
 
 There was a moment of silence, and then, 
 from a small cabin some distance away, came 
 loud barks. 
 
 " There's Snap ! , That's our dog ! " cried 
 Nan, joyfully, and at the sound of her voice 
 
THE BIG STORM 
 
 199 
 
 the barking grew louder. There could also be 
 heard the rattling of a chain. 
 
 " You've got him tied, Danny Rugg! " cried 
 Bert, angrily. " Let him go at once or I'll hit 
 you!" ' 
 
 " Don't you dare touch me ! " cried the bully, 
 " And you get off our land ! " 
 
 " Not until I get my dog," said Bert, firmly. 
 
 He started for the cabin where the dog was, 
 but Danny stepped in front of him. Bert 
 shoved Danny to one side, and just then Mr. 
 Rugg came up. 
 
 " Here! What does this mean? " he asked. 
 "-Bert 'Bobbsey, you here?" 
 
 "Yes, sir. I came after my dog., Danny 
 has him tied up ! " , 
 
 "Dinny, is this so? " asked Mr. Rugg, who 
 knew some of his son's mean ways, and had 
 tried in vain to break hirri of them. "Have 
 you Bert's dog?" 
 
 "Well, maybe it is his dog.. It wa's dark 
 ■when he followed me home' last night, and I 
 tied, him in that shack." 
 
 " I guess he wouldn't have followed you if 
 you hadn't coaxed him," said Bert. 
 
200 THE BOBBSEY TWIN:S AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 " Well, I couldn't drive him back," went on 
 Danny, but the Bobbseys believed that he had 
 deliberately coaxed Snap off to make trouble. 
 
 " Let the dog out at once," said Mr. Rugg 
 to his son, and Danny had to do so, though he 
 was angry and sullen over it. 
 
 How Snap leaped about his master arid mis- 
 tress and their cousins!^ How delightedly he 
 barked ! And his tail wagged to and fro so' 
 fast that it looked like two tails, as Freddie 
 said afterward. 
 
 " Poor Snap ! " said Bert, as he patted his 
 pet. " And so you were tied up all night ? It 
 was a mean trick ! " and his eyes flashed on 
 Danny, who looked on sneeringly. 
 
 " I am sorry for this, Bert," said Mr. Rugg. 
 " If I had known Danny enticed away your 
 dog I would have made him bring, it back. 
 Now I am going to punish him. You go back 
 home to-day, Danny. You can't stay in the 
 Iun|ber camp any longer." 
 
 Danny felt badly, of course, but it served 
 him right. 
 
 The Bobbseys and their cousins lost no time 
 in getting back to Snow Lodge with Snap, 
 
THE BIG STORM 20I 
 
 who was hugged so much by Flossie and Fred- 
 die that Dinah said: 
 
 "Good land a' massy! Dat dog must be 
 mos' starved, an' yo'-all is lubbin him so dat 
 l^e ain't time to eat a sandwich. Let him hab 
 some breakfast, an' den hug him! " 
 
 " Oh, but we like him so ! " cried Flossie. 
 
 So Snap was restored, and Danny was sent 
 home out of the woods, so there was no more 
 trouble from him. 
 
 In the days that followed, the Bobbsey twins 
 at Snow Lodge had many more good times. 
 They made snow forts, and had snow-battles, 
 they made big snow men and threw snowballs 
 at them, and went on sleigh rides, or skated 
 and ice-boated and played around generklly, 
 to their hearts' content. 
 
 Occasionally the two older boys went on 
 long tramps with Henry Burdock as he visited 
 his tj'aps. They invited him to come to Snow 
 Lodge, but he said: 
 
 " No, I'm never coming there until I can 
 prove to my uncle that I never touched his 
 money. Then I'll come." 
 
 One day, when Bert and Harry had been in 
 
202 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 the woods with the young hunter, he said to 
 them: 
 
 " Don't go far away from Snow Lodge to-i 
 morrow, boys." 
 
 "Why not?" asked Bert. 
 
 " Because I think we're in for a big storm, 
 and you might easily get lost again. Unless I'm 
 mistaken, it's going to snow hard before morn- 
 ing. 
 
 Henry Burdock proved a true weather 
 prophet, for when the Bobbseys and the othel? 
 got up the next morning the ground was cov- 
 ered with a mantle of newly-fallen snow, and 
 more was sifting down froni the clouds. The 
 wind, too, was blowing fiercely. 
 
 " It's going to, be a bad storm," said Mr. 
 Bobbsey, looking out after breakfast. " Luck- 
 ily we have plenty of wood and plenty to eat." 
 
 The wind howled around Snow Lodge while 
 the white flakts came down thicker and faster* 
 
 " Maybe we'll be snowed in," said Nan. 
 
 " That would be fun I " cried Bert 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THK FALLING TREE 
 
 How the wind did blow! How the snow 
 swirled and drifted about the old farmhouse! 
 3ut within it all were warm arid comfortable. 
 The fire on the open hearth was kept roaring 
 up the chimney, Sam piling on log after logl 
 In the cozy kitchen Dinah kept at her work 
 over the range, singing old plantation melo- 
 dies. 
 
 The blowing wind and the drifting snow 
 kept up all day. Flossie and Freddie begged 
 to be allowed to go out for a little while, but 
 their mother would not think of it. Bert and 
 Harry tried, to go a little way beyond the barn, 
 but were driven back by the cold, wintry blasts. 
 Dorothy and Nan managed to have ^ gooif 
 time in the attic of the old housed dressing up 
 in some clothes of a by-gone age, which they 
 found in some trunks. 
 
 "My! I hope the chimneys don't blow off!'* 
 
204 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGB 
 
 exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, as a particularly 
 fierce blast shook the old house. " A fire now 
 would be dreadful." 
 
 " I don't imagine there is much danger," 
 said Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. " The way 
 they built houses and chimneys when Snow 
 Lodge was put up was different from nowa 
 days. They were built to stay." 
 
 " Oh, but this is a terrible storm ! " 
 
 " Yes, and it seems to be getting worse," 
 agreed Mr. Bobbsey. " I hope no one is out 
 in it. But, as I said, we have plenty to eat, 
 and wood to keep us warm, and that is all we 
 can ask." 
 
 The day slowly passed, but toward after- 
 noon Flossie and Freddie grew fretful from 
 having been kept in. They were used to go- 
 ing out of doors in almost any kind of weather, 
 
 " Come on up in the attic with us," sug- 
 gested Nan, " and we'll havfe a sort of circus." 
 
 "And Snap can do tricks," cried Freddie,- 
 "and I'll give an exhibition, with my fire 
 engine," 
 
 "Of course!" exclaimed Dorothy, and the 
 little Bobbsey twins forgot their f retfulness in 
 a new series of games. 
 
THE FALLING TREE 205 
 
 Harder blew the wind, and fiercer fell the 
 snow. The path Mr, Bobbsey had shoveled 
 was soon filled up again. Out at the back door 
 was a drift that covered the rear stoop. 
 
 " If this keeps up we will be snowed in," 
 said Mr. Bobbsey to his wife, as they prepared 
 to lock up for the night. 
 
 They were gathered around the big opet 
 fire, popping corn and roasting apples, when 
 a louder blast of wind than ever shook the 
 house. 
 
 "Oh, what a night!" said Mrs. Bobbsey, 
 with a shudder. " I wish we were in our home 
 again!" 
 
 Hardly had she spoken than there came a 
 fearful crash, and the whole house trembled. 
 At the same time a blast of cold wind 
 swept through it, scattering the fire on the 
 -hearth. 
 
 "Oh, what was that?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. 
 
 "That old apple tree, at the corner of the 
 house," said Mr. Bobbsey. " The storm has 
 blown it over, and it has smashed a corner of 
 the Lodge. Don't be afraid. We'll be all 
 right," and he ran to close the door, to keep 
 out the cold wind. 
 
CHAPTER XXII ' 
 
 THE MISSING MONEY 
 
 " What happened ? " asked Mrs. Bobbsey, 
 when her husband had come back after going 
 out to ' take a look around. " Is the house 
 safe?" 
 
 " As safe as ever," he answered. " Just as 
 I told you, the old apple tree blew over, and 
 smashed the corner of the house near this liv- 
 ing room. That's why we felt the crash so. 
 But there is no great harm done. We can keep 
 this door closed and not use that other part of 
 the house at all. We have room enough with- 
 out it. The wind and storm can't get at us 
 here." 
 
 " I suah 'nuflf thought de house was comin' 
 down," said Dinah, who had run in from the 
 kitchen at the sound of the crash. 
 
 " It was a hard blow," said Bert. , " Look,, 
 all the ashes are scattered," and. he pointed to 
 206 
 
THE MISSING MONEY ^ 207 
 
 where the wind had blown ' them about the 
 hearth. 
 
 Dinah soon swept them up, however, and 
 more wood was put on the fire, and the Bobb- 
 seys were as comfortable as before. The part 
 of the house which , had been smashed by the 
 *ree was closed ofj from the rest. • 
 , Soon it was time to go to bed, but all night 
 long the storm raged; making Snow Lodge 
 tremble in the blast. Everyone was up early 
 in the morning to see by daylight what damage 
 had been done. , 
 
 The sun rose clear, for the storm had passed. 
 But oh ! what a lot of snow there was ! In big 
 drifts it was scattered all over the place, and 
 one side door was snowed in completely; and 
 could not be opened. Sam had to shovel a lot 
 of snow away from the kitchen steps before 
 Dinah could go out. 
 
 " Let's go see where the tree feiy suggested 
 Bert to Harry, when they were dressed. Nan 
 and Dorothy joined them. They went to the 
 corner of the house and there saw a strange 
 sight. The old apple tree lay partly in the 
 room into which it had crashed through the 
 
2o8 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 side of the house. And much snow had blown 
 in also. 
 
 This room, however, was little used, except 
 
 ■ for storage, arid there was nothing in it to be 
 
 damaged save some old furniture. Bert and 
 
 Harry made their way into the apartment, and 
 
 the girls followed. 
 
 They were looking about at the odd sight, 
 when something in a corner of the room, along 
 the wall that was next to the ^living room, 
 where the Bobbseys had spent the evening, 
 caught Bert's eyes. He went toward it. He 
 picked up a roll of what seemed to be green 
 paper. It had been in a crack of the wall that 
 had been m?de wider by the falling tree. 
 
 "Oh, look!", he cried. "What is this? 
 Why, it's money!" 
 
 "'A roll of bills.!" added Harry, looking; 
 over his cousin's shoulder. 
 
 Slowly Bert unrolled them. There seemed 
 to be considerable money there. One bill was 
 for a hundred dollars. 
 
 " Where did it come from? " asked Nan. 
 
 "From a crack in the wall," spoke her 
 brother. " It must have slipped down, and the 
 
THE MISSING MONEY 209 
 
 falling tree made the crack wider, so I could 
 see it." 
 
 "I wonder who could have put it there?" 
 said Dorothy. 
 
 Bert and Nan looked at each other. The 
 same thought came into their minds. 
 
 " The missing money ! " cried Bert. " The 
 roll of bills that Mr. Carford thought his 
 nephew took ! Can this be it ? " 
 
 " Oh, if it only is ! " murmured Nan. " Let's 
 tell papa right away!" 
 
 Carrying the money so strangely found, the 
 young folks went into the house where Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bobbsey were. The roll of bills was 
 shown, and Mr., Bobbsey was much surprised. 
 
 "Do you think this can be the money Mr. 
 Carford lost? " asked Bert. 
 
 " I shouldn't be surprised," said Mr. Bobb- 
 sey, quickly. "I'll take a look. Mr. Carford 
 said he left it on the mantel in the living room. 
 And you found it in the room back of that. I'll 
 look." 
 
 Quickly he examined the mantel. Then he 
 exclaimed : 
 
 "Yes, that's how it happened. There is a 
 
2IO THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 crack up here, and the money must have 
 slipped down into it. i All these years it has 
 been in between the walls, until the falling 
 'tree made a break and showed where it was. 
 Mr. Carford was mistaken. His nephew did 
 not take the money. I always said so. It fell 
 into the crack, and remained hidden until the 
 storm showed where it was." 
 
 " Oh, how glad I am ! " cried Mrs. B«y6bsey. 
 " Now Henry's name can be cleared ! Oh, if 
 he were only here to know the good news!" 
 
 There seemed to be no doubt of it. Years 
 before Mr. Carford had placed the money on 
 the shelf of the living room. He probably did 
 not know of the crack into which it slipped. 
 The roll of bills had gone down between the 
 walls, and okly the breaking df them when the 
 tree fell on the house brought the money to 
 light. 
 
 " It is a strange thing," said Mr. Bobbsey. 
 " The missing money is found after all these 
 years, and in such a queer way 1 We must tell 
 Henry as soon as possible, and Mr. Carford 
 also." 
 
 Suddenly there came a knock on the door. 
 
THE MISSING MONEY 21 1 
 
 Bert went to it and gave a cry of surprise. 
 There stood the young hunter — Henry Bu|'- 
 ddck. 
 
 " I came over to see if you were all right,"' 
 he said. " We have had a fearful storm. Part 
 of my cabin was blown away, and I wondered 
 how you fared at Snow Lodge. Are you all 
 right?" '^ ' 
 
 " Yes, Henry, we are," said Mr. Bobbsey. 
 " And the storm' was a'^good thing for you." 
 
 " I don't see how. My cabin is spoiled. 
 I'll have to build it over again." 
 
 " You won't have to, Henry. You can come 
 to live at Snow Lodge now." 
 
 " Never. Not until my name is cleared, I 
 will never come to Snow L,odge until the miss- 
 ing money is found, and my uncle says I did 
 not take it." 
 
 "Then you can come now, Henry," cried 
 Mr. Bobbsey, holding out the roll of bills. 
 " For the money is found and we can clear 
 your name ! " 
 
 " Is it possible ! " exclaimed the young 
 hunter, in great and joyful surprise. " Oh, 
 how I have prayed for this ! The money 
 
212 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 found! Where was it? How did you find 
 it?" 
 
 Then the story was told, the children having 
 'their share in it. 
 
 "I can't tell you how thankful I am," said 
 the young hunter. " This means a lot to me. 
 Now my uncle will know I am not a thief. 
 I must go and tell him at once." 
 
 " No, I'll go," said Mr. Bobbsey. " I want 
 to prove to him that I was right, after all, in 
 saying you were innocent. You stay here until 
 I bring him." 
 
 Mr. Bobbsey went off in the big sled with 
 Sam to drive the horses. It was a hard trip, 
 on account of the drifts, but finally Newton 
 was reached and Mr. Carford found. At first 
 he could hardly believe that the money was 
 found, but when he saw and counted it, finding* 
 it exactly the same as when he had put it on 
 the shelf years before, he knew that he had 
 done wrong in accusing Henry. 
 
 "And I'll tell him so, too," he said. "I'll 
 beg his pardon, and he and I will live together 
 again. Oh, how happy I am ! Now I can go 
 to Snow Lodge with a light heart." 
 
THE MISSING MONEY 
 
 213 
 
 Uncle and nephew met, and clasped hands 
 while tears stood in their eyes. After years of 
 suffering they were friends again. It was a 
 happy, loving time for all. 
 
 " And I'll never be so hasty again," said Mr. 
 Carford. " Oh, what a happy day this is, after 
 the big storm ! We must have a big celebra- 
 tion. I know what I'll do, I'll get up a party, 
 and invite all the people in this part of the 
 country. They all know that I accused Henry 
 of taking that money. Now they must know 
 that he did not. I will admit my mistake." 
 
 And that is what Mr. Carford did. He sent 
 out many invitations to an old-fashioned party 
 at Snow Lodge. The- place where the tree had 
 crashed through, to show the missing money, 
 was boarded up, and ' the house made cqzy 
 again. 
 
 Then came the party, and the Bobbseys were 
 the guests of honor — particularly the twins and 
 their cousins, for it was due to them, in a 
 great measure, that the money had been found. 
 
 Mr. Carford stood up before everyone and 
 admitted how wrong he had been in saying his 
 nephew had taken the money. 
 
214 
 
 THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE 
 
 "But all our troubles are ended now," he 
 said, "and Henry and I will live in Snow 
 Lodge together. And we will always be glad 
 to see you here— all of you-^and most espe- 
 cially — the Bobbseys." 
 
 " Three cheers for the Bobbsey twins ! " 
 someone called. 
 
 The children were pleased at this praise. 
 They did not know that soon they would be 
 helping some other people. You may read 
 about this in "The Bobbsey Twins on a 
 Houseboat." 
 
 Then followed a fine feast — a happy time 
 for all, while Henry and his uncle received the 
 good wishes of their friends and neighbors. 
 
 Snap raced about, barking and wagging his 
 tail. Bert, Nan, Dorothy, Harry and Freddie 
 and Flossie were here, there, everywhere, tell- 1 
 ing how the tree had blown down, an^ how 
 they had found the money. 
 
 " Dear old Snow Lodge ! " said Nan, when 
 the party was over, and the guests gone. " We 
 will have to leave it soon ! " 
 
 " But perhaps we can come back some time," 
 said Nan. 
 
 " I'd like to," agreed Bert. " Next winter 
 
THE MISSING MONE'Y 
 
 215 
 
 I am going to bujld a bigget ice-boat, and sail 
 all over the lake." 
 
 "And we'll make regular snowshoes, and 
 go hunting in the woods," said Harry. 
 
 " But it will be summer before it is winter 
 again," said Freddie. " I'm going to have a 
 motor boat and ride in it. And I'll take my 
 fire engine along, and pump water." , 
 
 " Can I come, with my doll ? " asked Flossie. 
 
 "Yes, you may all come!" exclaimed 
 Mamma Bobbsey, as she hugged the two little 
 twins. 
 
 " And don't forget," said Mr. Carford, 
 " that Snow Lodge is open in the summer as 
 well as in the winter. I expect you Bobbsey 
 twins to visit me once in a while. I never can 
 thank you enough for finding that missing 
 money." 
 
 " Neither can I," said Henry. 
 
 And flow that the story is all toJd, we will 
 Bay good-bye to the Bobbsey twins and theiii 
 friends. 
 
 THB EXD