The Bobbsey Twins at Home

by Laura Lee Hope

  CHAPTER XXI

  THE STRANGE MAN

  The two Bobbsey twins stood in the snowstorm, looking at each other.Though they were both brave they were rather worried now, for they didnot know which way to go to get home. If there had been no snow it wouldhave been easy, but the white flakes were so thick that they couldhardly see ten feet ahead of them.

  "What are we going to do, Freddie?" Flossie asked.

  "Well, I don't know," he answered. "I guess we'll just have to keep onwalking until we come to a house, and then we can ask which way our homeis. Maybe somebody in the house will take us home."

  "But we can't see any houses. How can we ask?" said Flossie, and hervoice was trembling.

  Indeed, the storm was so thick that no houses were in sight. There mighthave been some near by, but the children could not see any.

  Nor were any persons to be seen passing along the street. If there hadbeen, one of them might easily have set the twins right. But the truthof it was that Flossie and Freddie had taken the wrong turn in comingout of Mrs. Todd's house, and instead of walking toward their home theyhad, in the confusion of the storm, walked right away from it. Everystep they took put them farther and farther away from their own house.

  And now, as they learned later, they were on the far edge of the city ofLakeport, beyond the dumps, on what was called the "meadows." In Summerthis was a swamp, but with the ground frozen as it was it was safe towalk on it. But no houses were built on it, and there were only a fewlonely paths across this meadow stretch.

  In the Summer a few men cut a coarse kind of hay that grew on themeadows, but as hay-cutting is not done in Winter no one now had anyreason for going to the meadows.

  "Well, we mustn't stand still," said Flossie, after a bit.

  "Why not?" asked Freddie. "Can't you stand still when you're tired?"

  "Not in a snowstorm," Flossie went on with a shake of her head. "If youstand still or lie down you may go to sleep, and when you sleep in thesnow you freeze to death. Don't you remember the story mother read tous?"

  "Yes," answered Freddie. "But I don't feel sleepy now, so it's all rightto stand still a minute while I think."

  "What are you thinking about?" asked his sister.

  "I'm trying to think which way to go. Do you know?"

  Flossie looked all about her. It was snowing harder than ever. However,it was not very cold. Indeed, only that they were lost, the Bobbseytwins would have thought it great fun to be out in the storm.

  They were well wrapped up, and they had on high rubbers, so they werenot badly off except for being lost. That was not any fun, of course.

  "Do you know where we are?" asked Freddie of his sister.

  "No," she answered, "I don't. It doesn't look as if we were on anystreet at all. Look at the tall grass all around us."

  Standing up through the snow was the tall meadow grass that had not beencut. Freddie looked at it.

  "Oh, now I know where we are!" he cried. "We're down on the meadows.Bert brought me here once when he was looking for muskrats. He didn'tget any, but I remember how tall the grass grew. Now I know where weare."

  "All right, then you can take me home," Flossie said. "We're not lost ifyou know where we are."

  "But I don't know which way our house is," Freddie went on, "and I can'tsee to tell with all these flakes coming down. I'll have to wait untilit stops."

  "S'posin' it doesn't stop all night?" asked Flossie.

  "Oh, I guess it will," said Freddie. "Anyhow, we know where we are.Let's walk on and maybe we'll get off the meadows and on to a streetthat leads to our house."

  Flossie was glad to walk, as it was warmer than when standing still; andso she and Freddie went on. They did not know where they were going,and, as they found out afterward, they went farther and farther fromtheir home and the city with every step.

  "Oh, look!" suddenly cried Flossie.

  "What is it?" asked her brother, stumbling over a little pile of snow ashe hurried up beside his sister, who had gone on ahead of him. "Did youfind the right path, Flossie? But then I don't believe you did. I don'tbelieve anybody, not even Santa Claus himself, could find a path in thissnow storm."

  "Yes he could," insisted Flossie. "Santa Claus can do anything. He couldcome right down out of the sky now, in his reindeer sleigh, and take ushome, if he wanted to."

  "Well, then," said Freddie, shaking his head as a snowflake blew intohis ear and melted there with a ticklish feeling, "I just wish he_would_ come and take us home. I'm--I'm getting tired, Flossie."

  "So'm I. But I did see something, Freddie," and the little girl pointedahead through the drifting flakes. "It wasn't the path, though."

  "What'd you see?" demanded Freddie, rubbing his eyes so he could seemore clearly.

  "That!" and Flossie pointed to a rounded mound of snow about half ashigh as her head. It was right in front of her and Freddie.

  "Oh, it's a little snow house!" cried Freddie.

  "That's what I thought it was," Flossie went on. "Some one must havebeen playing out here on the meadows, and made this little house. It'sawful small, but maybe if we curl up and stick our legs under us, we canget inside out of the storm."

  "Maybe we can!" cried Freddie. "Let's try."

  The children walked around the pile of snow, looking for the hole, suchas they always left when they built snow houses.

  "The front door is closed," said Freddie. "I guess they shut it afterthem when they went away."

  "Maybe they're inside now," remarked Flossie. "If we knocked maybe theywould let us in. Only it will be awful crowded," and she sighed. She wasvery cold and tired, and was worried about being lost. It was no fun,and she would have been glad to go inside the little snow house, eventhough some one else were in it also.

  "There's no place to knock," Freddie said, as he looked about on everyside of the round pile of snow. "And there's no door-bell. The next timeI make a snow house, Flossie, I'm going to put a front door-bell on it."

  "That'll be nice," his sister said. "But, Freddie, never mind about thedoor-bell now. Let's get inside. I'm awful cold!"

  "So'm I. And another snowflake just went into my ear. It makes me wigglewhen it melts and runs down inside."

  "I like to wiggle," Flossie said. "I'm going to open my ears real wideand maybe a snowflake will get in mine. Does it feel funny?"

  "Terribly funny. But you can't open your ears any wider than they arenow, Flossie. They're wide open all the while--not like your eyes thatyou can open and shut part way."

  "Maybe I can open my ears wider," Flossie said. "I'm going to try,anyhow."

  She stood still in the snow, wrinkling her forehead and making funny"snoots" as Freddie called them, trying to widen her ears. But she gaveit up finally.

  "I guess I can't get a snowflake to tickle me," she said with a sigh.

  "You can have the next one that goes into my ear," offered Freddie. "Butthey melt so soon and run down so fast that I don't see how I am goingto get them out."

  "Never mind," said Flossie. "I can get a snowflake in my ear when I gethome. Just now let's see if we can't get inside this little house. Ifthe door is frozen shut, maybe you can find a stick and poke it open.Look for a stick, Freddie."

  "All right, I will," and Freddie began kicking away at the snow aroundhis feet, hoping to turn up a stick. This he soon did.

  "I've found one!" he cried. "Now we can get in and away from the storm.I'll make a hole in the snow house!"

  With the stick, which was a piece of flat board, Freddie began to tossand shovel aside the snow. The top part came off easily enough, for theflakes were light and fluffy. But underneath them there was a hard,frozen crust and this was not so easily broken and tossed aside. Butfinally Freddie had made quite a hole, and then he and Flossie sawsomething queer. For, instead of coming to the hollow inside of the snowhouse, the little boy and girl saw a mass of sticks, dried grass anddirt. Over this was the snow, and it was piled up round, like the queerhouses the Eskimos make in the Arctic regio
ns.

  "Oh, look!" cried Flossie. "It isn't a snow house at all. It's just apile of sticks."

  "Maybe it's a stick house, with snow on the outside," Freddie said. "I'mgoing to dig a little deeper."

  He did so, tossing aside the grass, sticks and dirt. Flossie waswatching him, and suddenly the two children saw something moving down inthe hole that Freddie had dug. Presently a furry nose was thrust out,and two bright, snapping eyes looked at them.

  "Oh, see! What is it?" cried Flossie.

  Freddie dropped his stick shovel, and stumbled back. Flossie went withhim. The sharp, furry nose was thrust farther out, and then they couldsee that it was the head of some animal, looking at them from inside thesnow-covered stick house.

  "Some one lives there after all," whispered Flossie. "Is it a--a bear,Freddie? If it is, we'd better run."

  "Bears don't live in houses like this," said her brother. "They sleepall winter in hollow logs."

  "Well, what is it then?" Flossie questioned, "Will it come after us?"

  But the little animal seemed satisfied to look out of the hole in itshouse to see who had done the mischief. Then it began pulling the sticksand grass back into place with its paws and jaws.

  "Oh, I know what it is!" Freddie cried. "It's a muskrat. They live inthese mounds on the meadows. Bert told me so. This one's house lookedextra big because it was all covered with snow. There wouldn't be roomfor us inside there, Flossie."

  "I'm glad of it," answered the little girl. "I wouldn't want to crawl inwith a lot of rats."

  "Muskrats are nice," Freddie said. "Bert told me so."

  "Well, I don't like 'em!" declared Flossie. "Come on, Freddie. Let's getaway from here. That muskrat might chase us for breaking in his house,though we didn't mean to do any harm. Come on, Freddie," and the twolittle ones went on once more.

  The storm was growing worse, and it was getting dark now with the heavyclouds up above.

  "Say, Freddie," said Flossie, after a bit, "I'm tired. Why don't weholler?"

  "Holler?" asked Freddie, trying to turn his overcoat collar closeraround his neck. "What do we want to holler for?"

  "For help," answered Flossie. "Don't you know, in books and stories,every time people get lost they holler for help?"

  "Oh, that's right," Freddie said. "I forgot about that. Well, we canholler."

  The twins shouted as loudly as they could, but their voices were notvery strong, and the wind was now blowing so hard that even if any onehad been near at hand he could hardly have heard the little onescalling.

  "Help! Help!" shouted Flossie and Freddie together several times.

  They listened, but all they could hear was the howling of the wind andthe swishing of the snowflakes.

  "Well, let's walk on some more," said Freddie, after a bit. "No usestanding here."

  "And it isn't much use walking on," returned Flossie; and her voicetrembled. "We don't know where we're going."

  Still she followed as Freddie trudged on.

  "You walk behind me, Flossie," he said, "and that will keep some of thewind off you."

  "Thank you, Freddie," was Flossie's answer. "But I'd rather walk by theside of you. You--you can hold my hand better then."

  Hand in hand the twins went on. The wind seemed to blow all ways atonce, and always in the faces of the tots. All at once, as Freddie madea stop to get his breath, he gave a shout.

  "What's the matter?" asked Flossie. "Do you see something?"

  "Yes, I guess it's a house," Freddie answered. "Look!"

  He pointed to something that loomed up black in the midst of the cloudof snowflakes.

  "I guess we'll be all right now," Flossie said. "We'll go in there andask our way home."

  But when they reached the black object they found that it was only anold shed which had been used to store some meadow hay. The door of theshed was shut, but Freddie tried to open it.

  "We can go in there to get warm," he said, "if I can open it."

  "I'll help you," said Flossie.

  The two were struggling with the latch of the door when they saw someblack object coming toward them out of the storm.

  "Oh, maybe it's a cow," said Flossie.

  "It's a man," cried Freddie, and so it proved. A tall, nice-looking man,his black beard white with snow, walked toward the children.

  "Well, well!" he cried. "What does this mean? Such little tots out inthis storm!"

  "We're lost!" said Flossie.

  The strange man laughed.

  "Lost? So am I!" he cried. "It isn't the first time, either. I've beenlost a whole lot worse than this. Now, as we're lost together, we'll seeif we can't get found together. Here, we'll go in out of the storm aminute and you can tell me about yourselves."

  With one pull of his strong arms he opened the shed door and went insidewith Flossie and Freddie.

  CHAPTER XXII

  HAPPY DAYS

  "This is better," said the man, as he closed the door to keep out thewind and snow. "This isn't exactly a warm house, but it will do until weget our breath. Now tell me how you came to be lost."

  "We were out taking some things to a poor lady," said Freddie, "and shetold us some nice stories."

  "One was about a little red hen," put in Flossie.

  "Yes," went on Freddie. "And when we saw it was snowing we came out in ahurry and took the wrong turn, I guess. We couldn't see any houses, andwe hollered and nobody heard us, and then I saw this meadow grass and Iknew where we were."

  "So this is the meadows?" asked the strange man.

  "Yes, sir, this is the meadows," said Freddy.

  "We know we're on the meadows but we don't know where our house is,"said Flossie. "We live in Lakeport, and we're the Bobbsey twins."

  "The Bobbsey twins; eh?" returned the man. "Well, that's a nice name,I'm sure."

  "And there are two more twins at home," went on Freddie. "They are Nanand Bert, and they're older than we are."

  "They aren't lost," explained Flossie, carefully.

  "I'm glad of that," the man said. "And I don't believe you'll be lostmuch longer."

  "Do you know where our house is?" asked Freddie.

  "No, not exactly," the man answered.

  "Didn't you say you were lost, too?" asked Flossie.

  "Yes, I did, little girl. I was lost. But now that you have told mewhere I am, I think I am found. And I think, too, that I can help youfind your home. So you live in Lakeport. That's where I'm going."

  "How did you come to get out on these meadows?" asked Freddie.

  "Well, this is how it happened," the man said. "I was on my way toLakeport, but, by mistake, I got off the train at Belleville. That's thestation just below here. I did not want to wait for the next train so Ihired a man with an automobile to take me on to Lakeport. But about amile from here one of the tires of the automobile burst so the man couldnot take me any farther. Then I said I'd walk, as I thought I knew theroad. I used to live in Lakeport about five years ago. I started off,but the storm came up, and I lost my way. The first I knew I foundmyself out in this big field which you say is the meadows."

  "That's what they call it," Freddie said.

  "Well then, now I know where I am and I know what to do. Do you thinkyou can walk along with me?"

  "Oh, we're not tired now," said Freddie. "We've had a nice rest in here.But do you know the way to our house?"

  "I know the way to Lakeport. I had forgotten about these meadows. Yousee it was a good many years ago and I did not live in Lakeport longbefore I went away. But now I know where I am. When I lived in your cityI used to come out here to hunt muskrats. If I am not mistaken this shedis near a path that leads to a road by which we can get to a trolleycar. I don't know whether or not the trolleys are running, but maybe wecan find an automobile."

  "If you could find a telephone and telephone to my father's lumber yardoffice he would come in his automobile to get us," said Flossie.

  "Well, perhaps I can do that," the man said. "Come along now, we'llstart."


  Out into the storm again went the Bobbsey twins. It was snowing as hardas ever, but they were not afraid now, for they each had hold of theman's hands, and they felt sure he Would get them safely home.

  "Are you all right now?" asked the man, as he walked along in the snow,kicking away the flakes in a cloud such as a plow might throw on eitherside.

  "Yes, we're all right now," Freddie said. "But we'll be righter when weget home."

  "So mamma won't worry," added Flossie. "Mothers worry when theirchildren are lost."

  "That's too bad," said the man. "It isn't good for mothers to worry. ButI'll get you home as soon as I can. You two youngsters have had quite atime of it, but I am glad to see you are brave and did not cry."

  "Flossie's got some tears on her face," reported Freddie, looking overat his sister.

  "I have not!" cried Flossie. "Those are melted snowflakes. I wanted toget some in my ear, so they'd make a funny, tickly feeling," she wenton, "but there wouldn't any fall in. Some sat on my cheeks, though, andmelted, and it's those what you see, Freddie Bobbsey, and not tears atall! I hardly ever cry, so there!"

  "You cried when I busted your doll," Freddie said.

  "Well, that was a good while ago," Flossie insisted, "and I was only alittle girl. I hardly ever cry since I've growed up."

  "No, I guess that's right," Freddie said. "She's 'bout as brave as me,"he went on to the man.

  "I'm sure she is, and I'm glad to hear that. You are both brave littletots, and I'm glad I found you. Whew!" he exclaimed, as the wind blew acloud of snowflakes into his face, "this storm is getting worse. I'llhave some melted-snow tears on my own cheeks, I think."

  The strays kept on through the drifting snow, and, all the while, it wasgetting harder and harder for Flossie and Freddie to walk. The piles ofsnow were up to their knees in some places, and though the man easilyforced his way through them, because he was big and strong, it was notso easy for the little Bobbsey twins to do so.

  Pretty soon they came again to the rounded pile of snow that the twotots had mistaken for a little house. The white flakes had covered thehole Freddie had made with his stick.

  "Let's stop and see if the muskrat is home yet," proposed the littleboy.

  "What muskrat?" asked the man.

  "The one that lives in here. I started to dig in so Flossie and I couldget out of the storm, and the muskrat put his head out and looked at us.I guess he was surprised."

  "We were surprised, too," said Flossie. "At first I thought it was alittle bear."

  "Ha! Ha!" laughed the man. "And so you dug into a muskrat's meadow-houseto get out of the storm? Well, that was a good idea, but I guess if youhad gone in the muskrats would have run out. But it was a good thing youfound the shed, and I'm glad I also found it. We will soon be home, Ihope."

  They lingered a moment, as Freddie wished to see if the muskrat wouldcome out; but the creature was, very likely, away down deep in his houseof sticks and mud, eating the sweet, tender roots of the plants he hadstored away before Winter set in.

  Once more the man led the Bobbsey twins onward.

  Pretty soon Flossie began to lag behind. Her little feet went more andmore slowly through the piles of snow, and once she choked back a sob.She wanted to cry, but she had said she was brave and scarcely ever shedtears, and she was not going to do it now. Still, she was so tired andcold and altogether miserable that she did not know what to do. Freddie,too, was hardly able to keep on, but he would not give up.

  At last, however, the man looked down at the two little ones, and henoticed that they were really too tired to go farther. He stopped andsaid:

  "Come! this will never do. I must carry you a bit to rest your legs.Wouldn't you like that?"

  "Yes, I would," answered Flossie. "But you can't carry both of us; canyou?"

  "Well, I can try," said the man. "Let me think a minute, though. I thinkI will strap one of you on my back with my belt, and take the other inmy arms in front. That will be the best way."

  "Oh, I want to ride on your back!" cried Flossie.

  "No, little girl, I think it will be best for your brother to do that. Iwill carry you in my arms in front. That will rest you both."

  The man had a wide, big belt around his waist, and, taking this off, heput it over his shoulders, buckling it so that there was a loop hangingdown his back. He put Freddie in this loop, astride, so the little boycould clasp his arms around the man's neck. Then, telling him to hold ontightly, and picking Flossie up in his arms, the man started off oncemore through the snow.

  "This is fun!" cried Freddie, as he nestled his head down on the man'sneck, keeping the snowflakes out of his eyes.

  "I like it, too," Flossie said, cuddling up in the man's strong arms.

  "Are we too heavy for you?" asked Freddie. "'Cause if we are you onlyneed to carry us a little way, until we're rested, and then we canwalk."

  "But I'm not rested yet," Flossie said quickly. She liked to be carriedthis way. It made her think of the time when her father used to carryher when she was a little tot.

  "Don't be afraid. I can carry you for some time yet," the man said witha laugh, as he walked on through the drifts.

  "You can put me down now, if you like," Freddie said, after a bit. "I'mkinder cold, and if I walk I'll be warmer."

  "Well, perhaps you will," the man replied.

  "And I can walk, too," added Flossie. "My legs are all right now."

  "I don't believe you will have to walk much farther," went on the man."I think the path is near here, and then it will be easier for you."

  The man soon found the path, though it was not easy to see, and, walkingalong that, they came to a road. A little later the Bobbsey twins andthe man heard a bell ringing.

  "That's a trolley-car!" cried the man. "Now we're all right."

  And so they were. The trolley was one that ran between Belleville andLakeport, and a little later the two children and the kind man weresitting in the warm electric car, speeding toward their home.

  "I think I'd better get out at the nearest telephone, to let your folksknow you are all right," the man said. "They will be worrying, and if wecan't get another car we may find an automobile."

  The car conductor knew where there was a telephone in a drug store thatthey passed a little later, and the man called up Mr. Bobbsey at thelumber office.

  Mr. Bobbsey and the strange man talked a while over the telephone, andthen the man, coming back to where the twins were just finishing theirglasses of hot chocolate which he had bought for them, said:

  "Your father is going to send the automobile for you, so we will stayhere until it comes. I told him where we were."

  "Was he worried?" asked Flossie.

  "Yes, very much," the man answered. "Bert, your brother, went out tolook for you but could not find you, and your father was just about tostart out."

  "Well, we're all right now," said Freddie, "and we thank you very much."

  "Oh, that's all right," said the man, with a laugh. "In finding you Ifound myself, for I was lost, too."

  In about half an hour Mr. Bobbsey's automobile came along, he himselfbeing in it. He jumped out and hurried into the drug store.

  "Flossie! Freddie!" he cried. "We were _so_ worried about you! Whathappened?"

  "Oh, we just got lost," said Freddie, calmly, "and this nice man foundus."

  "We found each other," said the stranger, with a smile, "and now that Ihave done all I can, I think I will go on my way. I came to Lakeport tofind my mother and my son. They'll be surprised to see me for they thinkthat I am dead."

  "You don't say so!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Where does your mother live?"

  "Somewhere in Lakeport. At least she and my son did the last I heard,though they may have moved. Perhaps you can direct me. My name is HenryTodd, and I am looking for a Mrs. James Todd and her grandson, TommyTodd. I am a sea captain, and I was wrecked a number of years ago. Itwas on a lonely island and----"

  "Say!" cried Freddie, so excited that he slipped right
off thesoda-water counter seat. "Say! Are you--are you Tommy Todd's father?"

  "Yes, that's who I am," the man said. "But what do you know of Tommy?"

  "Why, we'd been leaving a basket of things at his house--with Tommy'sgrandmother. Then we went out in the storm and got lost," Freddie criedin much excitement. "Oh, if you are Tommy's father we won't have to buya ship and go off to the desert island looking for you, like RobinsonCrusoe. Oh, how glad he'll be that you have come back!"

  "And how glad I'll be when I see him and my mother!" cried Mr. Todd."But you spoke of taking her some food. Is my mother poor, and in want?"he asked Mr. Bobbsey.

  "She is poor, but not exactly in want. My wife and I and some friendshave been looking after her. Your boy, Tommy, runs errands for me."

  "Well, well! Tommy must be getting to be quite a boy now. And to thinkit was your children whom I found and who told me where I was, so noneof us were lost. It is very strange! And can you tell me where my motherlives?"

  "I can, and I'll take you there. It is not a very nice house, but wehave a better one for her. Only she did not want to move in this coldweather."

  "I can not thank you enough for being kind to my mother and my son,"said Mr. Todd. "But now I shall be able to look after them. I haveplenty of money and they need want for nothing now."

  In the automobile, going back to Lakeport through the storm, Mr. Toddtold Mr. Bobbsey and Flossie and Freddie his story.

  He had sailed away, just as Tommy Todd had said, some years before. Thevessel of which he was captain was wrecked, and he and some othersailors got to an island where the natives were kind to them.

  But for many years no other ship came that way. So Mr. Todd could notget home nor could he send any word, though he very much wanted to doso. In that time he found some pearls which were very valuable. So, whenfinally a ship did pass the island and take off the wrecked sailors, Mr.Todd had more money than he had when he started out. For the pearls werevery valuable.

  As soon as Mr. Todd reached a place where he could send word to his agedmother that he was alive and safe he did so. But in some manner themessage was never received.

  As soon as he had sent the message Mr. Todd started out himself to gethome. Finally, he reached the United States and took a train forLakeport. But, as he had told Flossie and Freddie, he got off at thewrong station, and had come on in an automobile. Then came the accidentto the tire and the storm, and the rest you know--how Mr. Todd and theBobbsey twins met at the old shed on the meadows.

  "Well, that is quite a wonderful story," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I'm sureyour mother and son will be wild with joy to see you again. They havelong thought you dead."

  "I suppose so," said Mr. Todd. "The papers said my vessel was lost withall on board, and it did seem so when I could send no word."

  "Only Tommy and I thought maybe you _might_ be like Robinson Crusoe,"said Freddie, "and we were going in a ship to look for you on theisland, only I haven't money enough saved up in my bank."

  "Bless your heart!" said Mr. Todd.

  "I think this is what we will do," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We will stop atyour mother's house, get her and Tommy, and bring you all to my house."

  "Oh, that is too much trouble!" said Mr. Todd.

  "No, not at all. I want you to have a happy time, and we shall be happywith you."

  The automobile was stopped at the house by the dumps.

  "I will go in first," said Mr. Bobbsey, "and tell your mother and boythat I have good news for them. If she were to see you too suddenly,your mother, who has not been well, might be taken ill again. I willprepare her for the good news."

  You can imagine how happy Tommy and his grandmother were when theylearned that Mr. Todd was alive. And when the shipwrecked sailor enteredthe house Tommy fairly threw himself into his father's arms, while Mr.Todd kissed him and kissed his mother in turn. Oh! they were very happy.

  "We found him!" cried Freddie. "And he found us! And now everybody foundeverybody else and nobody's lost!" Freddie was very much excited.

  "Only I'm hungry," said Flossie.

  The Todds and Mr. Bobbsey and the twins were soon at the Bobbsey home,talking over what had happened. Mrs. Bobbsey became worried when Flossieand Freddie did not come home after the storm started, and she sent Bertto Mrs. Todd's house after them. But they had already left, and hadbecome lost.

  "Well, now Freddie and I won't have to get a ship and go looking foryou," said Tommy, as he sat close to his father.

  "No, indeed. All our troubles are over now."

  And so they were. Mr. Todd had plenty of money to look after his motherand son and a few days later he rented a nice house into which theymoved. He said he was never going to sea again. Then began happy daysfor those who had spent so many unhappy ones.

  Tommy no longer had to run errands for Mr. Bobbsey, to get money to helpsupport his grandmother. He often came to play with Bert, Nan, Flossieand Freddie, and the Bobbsey twins never grew tired of hearing Mr. Toddtell of how he was shipwrecked.

  The Winter wore on. Christmas came. And what a happy one it was for theTodd family, as well as for the Bobbsey twins!

  "We had as much fun at home this Winter as we did in the Summer atMeadow Brook," said Nan.

  Winter or summer, these lively children manage to have a good time.Their next adventure will be called "The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City."

  Now as they gathered in the living room Freddie said, "I'm glad we foundMr. Todd."

  "And he found us," added Flossie.

  Snap, the big dog, thumped his tail on the floor in front of the fire.Snoop, the black cat, purred in her sleep. Outside the snow was fallingand Freddie cried:

  "Now we can have more coasting!"

  "And there'll be more skating, too," said Bert.

  "But I'm not going to fall in again," said Tommy Todd.

  And now, as every one is happy, we will say good-bye to the Bobbseytwins.

  * * * * *

  Transcriber's notes:

  Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

  Page 45: "acros" changed to "across". (came running across)

  Page 90: "enevelope" changed to "envelope". (envelope flap)

  Page 96: "Everyone one," changed to "Everyone,". (Everyone, whom)

  Page 107: "Ah" changed to "All". ("All right,")

  Page 110: "bead" changed to "head". (scratched his head)

  Varied hyphenation and spacing in snowstorm and snowball/snow ball retained.