“Let us play theater,” said Nan, who had been to several exhibitions while at home and while visiting.
“All right,” said Bert, falling in with the plan at once. “Let us play Rip Van Winkle. I can be Rip and you can be the loving wife, and Flossie and Freddie can be the children.”
Across the storeroom a rope was placed and on this they hung a sliding curtain, made out of a discarded blanket. Then at one side they arranged chairs, and Nan and Flossie brought out their dolls to be the audience.
“They won’t clap their hands very much,” said Bert. “But then they won’t make any disturbance either.”
The performance was a great success. It was their own version of Rip Van Winkle, and Bert as old Rip did many funny things which caused Freddie and Flossie to roar with laughter. Nan as the loving wife recited a piece called “Doughnuts and Daisies,” pretending to be working around the kitchen in the meantime. The climax was reached when Bert tried to imitate a thunderstorm in the mountains and pulled over a big trunk full of old clothes and some window screens standing in a corner. The show broke up in a hurry, and when Mrs. Bobbsey appeared on the scene, wanting to know what the noise meant, all the actors and the doll audience were out of sight.
But later, when mamma went below again, Bert and Nan sneaked back, and put both the trunk and the screens in their proper places.
CHAPTER XIII
Nan’s First Cake-Baking
“Let’s!” cried Nan.
“Yes, let’s!” echoed Flossie.
“I want to help too,” put in Freddie, “Want to make a cake all by my own self.”
“Freddie can make a little cake while we make a big one,” said Bert.
It was on an afternoon just a week before Christmas and Mrs. Bobbsey had gone out to do some shopping. Dinah was also away, on a visit to some relatives, so the children had the house all to themselves.
It was Bert who spoke about cake-making first. Strange that a boy should think of it, wasn’t it? But Bert was very fond of cake, and did quite some grumbling when none was to be had.
“It ought to be easy to make a nice big plain cake,” said Bert. “I’ve seen Dinah do it lots of times. She just mixes up her milk and eggs and butter, and sifts in the flour, and there you are.”
“Much you know about it!” declared Nan. “If it isn’t just put together right, it will be as heavy as lead.”
“We might take the recipe out of mamma’s cook-book,” went on Bert; and then the cry went up with which I have opened this chapter.
The twins were soon in the kitchen, which Dinah had left spotlessly clean and in perfect order.
“We mustn’t make a muss,” warned Nan. “If we do, Dinah will never forgive us.”
“As if we couldn’t clean it up again,” said Bert loftily.
Over the kitchen table they spread some old newspapers, and then Nan brought forth the big bowl in which her mother or the cook usually mixed the cake batter.
“Bert, you get the milk and sugar,” said Nan, and began to roll up her sleeves. “Flossie, you can get the butter.”
She would have told Freddie to get something, too—just to start them all to work—but Freddie was out of sight.
He had gone into the pantry, where the flour barrel stood. He did not know that Nan intended to use the prepared flour, which was on the shelf. The door worked on a spring, so it closed behind him, shutting him out from the sight of the others.
Taking off the cover of the barrel, Freddie looked inside. The barrel was almost empty, only a few inches of flour remaining at the bottom. There was a flour scoop in the barrel, but he could reach neither this nor the flour itself.
“I’ll have to stand on the bench,” he said to himself and pulled the bench into position. Then he stood on it and bent down into the barrel as far as possible.
The others were working in the kitchen when they heard a strange thump and then a spluttering yell.
“It’s Freddie,” said Nan. “Bert, go and see what he is doing in the pantry.”
Bert ran to the pantry door and pulled it open. A strange sight met his gaze. Out of the top of the barred stuck Freddie’s legs, with a cloud of flour dust rising around them. From the bottom of the barrel came a succession of coughs, sneezes, and yells for help.
“Freddie has fallen into the flour barrel!” he cried, and lost no time in catching his brother by the feet and pulling him out. It was hard work and in the midst of it the flour barrel fell over on its side, scattering the flour over the pantry and partly on the kitchen floor.
“Oh! oh! oh!” roared Freddie as soon as he could catch his breath. “Oh, my! oh, my!”
“Oh, Freddie, why did you go into the barrel?” exclaimed Nan, wiping off her hands and running to him. “Did you ever see such a sight before?”
Freddie was digging at the flour in his eyes. He was white from head to feet, and coughing and spluttering.
“Wait, I’ll get the whisk-broom,” said Bert, and ran for it.
“Brush off his hair first, and then I’ll wipe his face,” came from Nan.
“Here’s the wash-rag,” put in little Flossie, and catching it up, wringing wet, she began to wipe off Freddie’s face before anybody could stop her.
“Flossie! Flossie! You mustn’t do that!” said Bert. “Don’t you see you are making paste of the flour?”
The wet flour speedily became a dough on Freddie’s face and neck, and he yelled louder than ever. The wash-rag was put away, and regardless of her own clean clothes, Flossie started in to scrape the dough off, until both Nan and Bert made her stop.
“I’ll dust him good first,” said Bert, and began such a vigorous use of the whisk-broom that everybody began to sneeze.
“Oh, Bert, not so hard!” said Nan, and ran to open the back door. “Bring him here.”
Poor Freddie had a lump of dough in his left ear and was trying in vain to get it out with one hand while rubbing his eyes with the other. Nan brushed his face with care, and even wiped off the end of his tongue, and got the lump out of his ear. In the meantime Flossie started to set the flour barrel up once more.
“Don’t touch the barrel, Flossie!” called Bert. “You keep away, or you’ll be as dirty as Freddie.”
It was very hard work to get Freddie’s clothes even half clean, and some of the flour refused to budge from his hair. By the time he was made half presentable once more the kitchen was in a mess from end to end.
“What were you doing near the flour barrel?” asked Nan.
“Going to get flour for the cake.”
“But we don’t want that kind of flour, Freddie. We want this,” and she brought forth the package.
“Dinah uses this,” answered the little boy.
“Yes, for bread. But we are not going to make bread. You had better sit down and watch Bert and me work, and you, Flossie, had better do the same.”
“Ain’t no chairs to sit down on,” said Freddie, after a look around. “All full of flour.”
“I declare, we forgot to dust the chairs,” answered Nan. “Bert, will you clean them?”
Bert did so, and Freddie and Flossie sat down to watch the process of cake-making, being assured that they should have the first slices if the cake was a success.
Nan had watched cake-making many times, so she knew exactly how to go to work. Bert was a good helper, and soon the batter was ready for the oven. The fire had been started up, and now Nan put the batter in the cake tin.
The children waited impatiently while the cake was baking. Nan gave Freddie another cleaning, and Bert cleaned up the pantry and the kitchen floor. The flour had made a dreadful mess and the cleaning process was only half-successful.
“’Most time for that cake to be done, isn’t it?” questioned Bert, after a quarter of an hour had passed.
“Not quite,” answered Nan.
Presently she opened the oven door and tried the cake by sticking a broom whisp into it. The flour was just a bit sticky and she left the cake in a li
ttle longer.
When it came out it certainly looked very nice. The top was a golden brown and had raised beautifully. The cake was about a foot in diameter and Nan was justly proud of it.
“Wished you had put raisins in it,” said Freddie. “Raisins are beautiful.”
“No, I like plain cake the best,” said Bert.
“I like chocolate,” came from Flossie.
“And I like layer cake, with currant jelly in between,” said Nan. “But I didn’t dare to open any jelly without asking mamma.”
“Let us surprise her with the cake,” said Bert.
“Want cake now,” protested Freddie. “Don’t want to wait ’t all!”
But he was persuaded to wait, and the cake was hidden away in the dining-room closet until the hour for the evening meal.
When Dinah came home she noticed the mussed-up kitchen, but Nan begged of her to keep quiet.
“All right, honey,” said the colored cook. “But I know youse been a-bakin’—I kin spell it in de air.”
When they sat down to the evening meal all of the children produced the cake in great triumph.
“Oh, Nan, a real cake!” cried Mrs. Bobbsey. “How nice it looks!”
“We’ve got some real housekeepers around here,” said Mr. Bobbsey. “I’ll have to try that sure.”
When the cake was cut all ate liberally of it. They declared it just right and said it could not be better. Even Dinah was tickled.
“Couldn’t do no better maself,” she declared. “Bymeby Dinah will be cut out of a job—wid Miss Nan a-doin’ ob de bakin’.”
“No, Dinah, you shall stay even if I do do the baking,” answered Nan; and went to bed feeling very happy.
CHAPTER XIV
Christmas
As the time for Christmas drew shorter all of the Bobbsey children wondered what Santa Claus would bring them and what they would receive from their relatives at a distance.
Freddie and Flossie had made out long lists of the things they hoped to get. Freddie wished a fireman’s suit with a real trumpet, a railroad track with a locomotive that could go, and some building blocks and picture books. Flossie craved more dolls and dolls’ dresses, a real trunk with a lock, fancy slippers, a pair of rubber boots, and some big card games.
“All I want is a set of furs,” said Nan, not once but many times. “A beautiful brown set, just like mamma’s.”
“And all I want is some good story books, some games, a new pocket-knife, a big wagon, and some money,” said Bert.
“Mercy, you don’t want much, Bert,” cried Nan. “How much money—a thousand dollars?”
“I want money, too,” piped in Freddie. “Want to start a bank account just like papa’s.”
By dint of hard saving Bert and Nan had accumulated two dollars and ten cents between them, while Freddie and Flossie had each thirty-five cents. There was a wonderful lot of planning between the twins, and all put their money together, to buy papa and mamma and Dinah and Sam some Christmas presents. Freddie and Flossie had not yet purchased the cologne and handkerchief before mentioned, and now it was decided to get Mr. Bobbsey a new cravat, Mrs. Bobbsey a flower in a pot, Dinah a fancy apron, and Sam a pair of gloves. Nan and Bert made the purchases which, after being duly inspected by all, were hidden away in the garret storeroom.
As the time for Christmas came on Flossie and Freddie grew very anxious, wanting to know if Santa Claus would be sure to come. Flossie inspected the chimney several times.
“It’s a dreadfully small place and very dirty,” said she. “I am afraid Santa Claus won’t be able to get down with a very big load. And some of his things will get all mussed up.”
“Santa Claus can spirit himself wherever he wants to, dear,” said Mrs. Bobbsey, with a quiet smile.
“What do you mean by spirit himself, mamma?”
“Never mind now, Flossie; you’ll understand that when you grow older.”
“Does mamma mean a ghost?” asked Flossie, later on, of Nan.
“No, Flossie; she means the part of a person that lives but can’t be seen.”
“Oh, I know,” cried the child, brightening. “It’s just like when a person is good. Then they say it’s the spirit of goodness within him. I guess it’s the good spirit of Santa Claus that can’t be seen. But we can feel it, can’t we? and that’s what’s best.”
On the day before Christmas the sitting-room door was closed and locked, so that none of the children might enter the room. Freddie was very anxious to look through the keyhole, but Bert told him that wouldn’t be fair, so he stayed away.
“We are to hang up our stockings tonight,” said Nan. “And mamma says we must go to bed early, too.”
“That’s to give Santa Claus a chance to get around,” said Freddie. “Papa said so. He said Santa Claus had his hands more than full, with so many boys and girls all over the world to take care of.”
“Santa Claus must be a twin, just like you and me,” said Flossie. “Maybe he’s a twin a hundred times over.”
At this Freddie roared. “What a funny twin that would be—with each one having the same name!”
The stockings were hung up with great care, and Freddie and Flossie made up their minds to stay awake and watch Santa Claus at his work.
“Won’t say a word when he comes,” said the little boy. “Just peek out at him from under the covers.” But alas! long before Santa Claus paid his visit that Christmas Eve both Freddie and Flossie were in dreamland, and so were Bert and Nan.
It was Flossie who was the first awake in the morning. For the moment after she opened her eyes and sat up she could not remember why she had awakened thus early. But it was for some reason, she was sure of that.
“Merry Christmas!” she burst out, all at once, and the cry awoke Freddie. “Merry Christmas!” he repeated. “Merry Christmas, ev’rybody!” he roared out, at the top of his lungs.
The last call awoke Nan and Bert, and before long all were scrambling out to see what the stockings might contain.
“Oh, I’ve got a doll!” shrieked Flossie, and brought forth a wonderful affair of paper.
“I have a jumping-jack!” came from Freddie, and he began to work the toy up and down in a most comical fashion.
There was some small gift for everybody and several apples and oranges besides, and quantities of nuts in the stockings.
“We must get the presents for the others,” whispered Nan to Bert and the smaller twins, and soon all were dressed and bringing the things down from the storeroom.
It was a happy party that gathered in the dining room. “Merry Christmas!” said everybody to everybody else, and then Mr. Bobbsey, who was in the sitting room, blew a horn and opened the folding doors.
There, on a large side stand, rested a beautiful Christmas tree, loaded down with pretty ornaments and apples and candies, and with many prettily colored candles. Around the bottom of the tree were four heaps of presents, one for each of the children.
“Oh, look at the big doll!” screamed Flossie, and caught the present up in her arms and kissed it.
“And look at my fireman’s suit!” roared Freddie, and then, seeing a trumpet, he took it up and bellowed: “Bring up the engine! Play away lively there!” just like a real fireman.
Bert had his books and other things, and under them was hidden a real bank book, showing that there had been deposited to his credit ten dollars in the Lakeport Savings Bank. Nan had a similar bank book, and of these the twins were very, very proud. Bert felt as if he was truly getting to be quite a business man.
“Oh! oh!” cried Nan, as she opened a big box that was at the bottom of her pile of presents, and then the tears of joy stood in her eyes as she brought forth the hoped-for set of furs. They were beautiful, and so soft she could not resist brushing them against her cheek over and over again.
“Oh, mamma, I think they are too lovely for anything!” she said, rushing up and kissing her parent. “I am sure no girl ever had such a nice set of furs before!”
“I shall take the very best of care of them,” said Nan, and my readers may be sure that she did.
“And now we have something for you, too,” said Bert, and brought out the various articles. Flossie gave their mamma her present, and Freddie gave papa what was coming to him. Then Nan gave Dinah the fancy apron and Bert took Sam the new gloves.
“Well this is truly a surprise!” cried Mr. Bobbsey, as he inspected the cravat. “It is just what I need.”
“And this flower is beautiful,” said Mrs. Bobbsey as she smelt of the potted plant. “It will bloom a long while, I am sure.”
Dinah was tickled over the apron and Sam with his gloves.
“Yo’ chillun am the sweetest in de world,” said the cook.
“Dem globes am de werry t’ing I needed to keep ma hands warm,” came from Sam.
It was fully an hour before the children felt like sitting down to breakfast. Before they began the repast Mr. Bobbsey brought forth the family Bible and read the wonderful story of Christ’s birth to them, and asked the blessing. All were almost too excited to eat.
After breakfast all must go out and show their presents to their friends and see what the friends had received. It was truly a happy time. Then all went coasting until lunch.
“The expressman is coming!” cried Bert a little later, and sure enough he drove up to the Bobbsey house with two boxes. One was from their Uncle Daniel Bobbsey, who lived at Meadow Brook, and the other from their Uncle William Minturn, who lived at Ocean Cliff.
“More presents!” cried Nan, and she was right. Uncles and aunts had sent each something; and the twins were made happier than ever.
“Oh, but Christmas is just the best day in the whole year,” said Bert that evening, after the eventful day was over.
“Wish Christmas would come ev’ry week,” said Freddie. “Wouldn’t it be beautiful?”
The Bobbsey Twins Megapack Page 7