The Bobbsey Twins Megapack

by Laura Lee Hope

  It did not take Mr. Bobbsey and Bert long to get started on the search for the missing ones, for Flossie and Freddie in the ice-boat had sailed around the point of land, as I told you, and were out of sight of their folks.

  Mrs. Bobbsey and Nan were taken home by some friends who happened to pass the lake in their automobile, and half-way to the woodcutter’s cabin, though he had no idea the children had been there, Mr. Bobbsey and Bert met them being driven to Lakeport by Uncle Jack.

  “Oh, there’s Daddy!” cried Freddie.

  “And Bert!” added Flossie, as she saw her brother. “Your ice-boat’s all right,” she added. “We just fell out of it.”

  “Are you all right?” asked Mr. Bobbsey, stopping his horses.

  “Fine!” cried Freddie. “And we had bread and milk.”

  “Well, I’m sure I’m much obliged to you, Uncle Jack,” said the children’s father. “It was very kind of you.”

  Then Flossie and Freddie told their story, and the woodchopper told of having seen them tossed into the snow and of how he helped them out, and then Mr. Bobbsey told what had happened to him, the children’s mother, Bert and Nan.

  “I just pulled on the wrong rope, that’s all, and I guess I steered the boat crooked,” said Freddie with a laugh.

  “You’re lucky it was no worse,” remarked Bert, laughing also. “But as long as you two are all right, and the Bird isn’t damaged, I’m glad.”

  Mr. Bobbsey was also, and then he took the children into his sleigh, driving home with them while Uncle Jack turned back.

  “I like him,” said Flossie, speaking of the old woodchopper to her father. “He hasn’t a chick or a child and he lives all alone in the woods.”

  “Yes, poor Uncle Jack doesn’t have a very happy life,” said Mr. Bobbsey. “I must see what we can do to help him.”

  Little was talked of in the Bobbsey home that afternoon and evening but the adventure with the ice-boat, and what had happened to Flossie and Freddie when it ran away with them.

  The next day Bert and Tommy Todd got the Bird back and had fine times sailing in it. Flossie and Freddie, as well as some of their friends, were also given rides, but Bert cut the sail smaller so his boat would not go so fast, making it safer.

  When the Bobbsey twins were not ice-boating they were skating, or building snow forts or snow men. Once Flossie and Freddie built a little snow house and got inside it with Snoop, the black cat, and Snap, the dog.

  Everything was very nice, but the house was so small that, when they were all in it, there was not room for Snap to wag his tail. And as there never was a dog yet, with a tail, who did not want to wag it, you can easily guess what happened.

  Either Snap wagged his tail in the faces of Flossie and Freddie or he whacked Snoop with it, and as the cat did not like that she ran out of the snow house.

  But Snap kept on wagging his tail, and as Flossie and Freddie made him get to one side when he did it the only other place he had to wag it was against the sides of the snow house.

  Now these snow sides were not very thick or strong—they were not made to be wagged against by a big dog’s tail, and, all of a sudden, Snap wagged his tail right through the snow house.

  Then, with a swish and a swush, down the snow house toppled right on the heads of Flossie, Freddie and Snap. Snap gave a howl and dug his way out. But the two small twins were laughing so hard that it took them a little longer to dig their way out.

  They were not hurt in the least, however, and they thought it great fun to have the snow house fall on them when Snap’s tail wagged too hard.

  It was about a week after the funny ice-boat ride that Mr. Bobbsey came home from his office a little earlier than usual. He was smiling, and when his wife saw him she asked:

  “Did it come?”

  “Did what come?” asked Nan. “Are we going to have a new automobile, Mother?”

  “Not yet, Nan.”

  “Then what came?”

  “Glorious news!” cried her father, catching her up and kissing her. “Glorious news came in a letter. We are all going to a great city!”

  “To live?”

  “No, just on a visit,” said Mrs. Bobbsey. “Oh, it is good news! I have been wanting to go for a long while. Come in, Bert—and you too, Flossie and Freddie—and hear the good news!” she called to the other twins. “Daddy has glorious news for us!”

  CHAPTER VI

  On to New York

  “Are we going?” cried Flossie, when she heard that the family was about to make some sort of a journey.

  “And can we take the ice-boat?” Freddie asked eagerly.

  “Yes, of course you’re going,” said Mrs. Bobbsey.

  “But no ice-boat,” added Bert. “There’s no chance to sail one in New York City—and if there was we wouldn’t have time.”

  “Oh, are we going to New York?” cried Flossie.

  “Yes,” her father nodded.

  “Then I’m going to take my fire engine!” cried Freddie. “They have fires in New York, don’t they, Daddy?”

  “Plenty of them, I think. And they have big engines there to put them out—larger ones than we have in Lakeport. But now let’s get quiet so I can tell Mother and you the news.”

  Then, with the smaller twins cuddled up on his lap and Bert and Nan seated near their mother, Mr. Bobbsey told the news. He was going to start a new business, from which he hoped to make a great deal of money, and he had to go to New York to see about it. The trip would take the best part of a day from Lakeport, and Mr. Bobbsey would have to stay in the big city several weeks.

  He had long promised his wife that when the time came to go to New York he would take her and the whole family with him, and that time had now come.

  “When can we start?” Flossie inquired.

  “Tonight?” asked Freddie eagerly.

  “Oh, indeed not!” laughed his mother. “It will take at least a week to get ready, and perhaps longer. You children have to have some new clothes, and Daddy has to look after his business here. I think we will close this house, and Dinah and Sam can visit their friends.”

  “What about Snap and Snoop?” asked Flossie.

  “Oh, let’s take them!” begged Freddie.

  “It would be no fun going to New York with pet cats and dogs,” said Bert. “They’d only be in the way or get lost.”

  “I wouldn’t want either one of ’em to get lost,” put in Flossie.

  “Then we’ll leave them with Dinah,” said Mother Bobbsey, glad that that part was over. Every time they went away it was always hard to get the younger twins to consent to leave Snoop and Snap at Home.

  “It will be great, going to New York!” cried Bert. “I want to see some of the flying machines I’ve read about.”

  “And I want to see some of the lovely stylish dresses the girls wear as they ride on Fifth Avenue,” declared Nan. “Mother, do you think I could have a real dress from New York?” she asked in a whisper. “Not one that’s too stylish, of course, but so I could say it came from New York.”

  “I guess so,” and Mrs. Bobbsey smiled. “But let’s hear what Flossie and Freddie most want to see in New York,” and she looked at the two small twins.

  Flossie and Freddie thought for a moment, and then the blue-eyed boy, shaking his flaxen curls, cried:

  “I want to see a big fire, and watch the firemen put it out. But I hope nobody gets hurt!”

  “That last part is good, anyhow,” said Mr. Bobbsey. “And how about my little fat fairy?” and he playfully pinched Flossie’s plump leg. “What do you want to see?”

  Flossie did not answer at once, but when she did she cried:

  “A monkey!”

  “A monkey?” repeated her father.

  “Yes, the monkeys in the park. I read about them, and how they do such funny tricks their cages. That’s what I want to see—the monkeys in the park.”

  “Oh, so do I!” cried Freddie. “Can I see the monkeys and a fire too?”

  “Well, I g
uess so,” answered his father. “But we will hope no big fires will occur while we are in New York. As for monkeys, I guess there will be plenty of them in the park.”

  The children were so excited, thinking about the trip to the great city of New York, they could hardly sleep that night, even though they stayed up later than usual.

  And the next day a busy time began. Mrs. Bobbsey had to see to getting ready the clothes for herself and the children. At this Nan helped some, but Flossie and Freddie could not, for they were too small. Bert ran on a number of errands for his father, before and after school, for the children had their lessons to do even while getting ready for the trip.

  Of course they could not go to school in New York very well, but Mr. Bobbsey arranged with the teachers in Lakeport that the twins could make up, when they came back, any lessons they should miss. And as Nan and Bert were ahead of their class, and as Flossie and Freddie were only in the “baby” grade, where they did not have hard lessons, as yet, staying from school would do not great harm to any of them.

  But at last all was ready for the start. The trunks and valises had been packed, the children had said good-bye to their many friends and playmates, Dinah and Sam had gone away and the dog and cat had been sent to board near the cook’s home until the Bobbseys should come back.

  Mr. Bobbsey had left his business with his partner to look after, and Bert had said Tommy Todd could sail the ice-boat as much as he pleased while Bert was in New York.

  “Well, I guess we’re ready to start,” said Mr. Bobbsey, when the house had been locked and the big automobile that was to take them to the station was puffing out in front. “All aboard!”

  “This isn’t the train, Daddy!” laughed Nan.

  “No, but we’ll soon be there,” her father answered, “Come along.”

  Into the automobile they piled, parents, twins, baggage and all, and off they started. On the way to the depot Flossie cried:

  “Oh, there’s Uncle Jack!” and the sled of the woodchopper was seen moving slowly down the village street, with a load of logs piled high on it.

  “Poor old man,” murmured Mrs. Bobbsey, “Did you see if you could help him in any way?” she asked her husband.

  “Yes, I have arranged it so that Uncle Jack will have plenty of food this Winter. He can keep warm, for he has a stove and can cut all the wood he wants. I sent our doctor to see him. But Dr. Haydon thinks Uncle Jack should go to a hospital.”

  “Then why don’t you send him? He was so good to the children—”

  “I know he was, but he won’t go to the hospital. He says he knows it costs money and he won’t let me spend any on him. But when I come back from New York I’ll see what I can do. I think he’ll be all right for a while, poor old man.”

  Uncle Jack, sitting on top of his load of wood, saw the children in the automobile and waved to them. The Bobbsey twins waved back.

  “We must bring him something from New York,” said Freddie.

  “We could get him a little toy chick, and then he wouldn’t be lonesome. Maybe he’d like that,” added Flossie.

  Little did the two small Bobbsey twins think what they would help to bring back from New York for the poor, old woodchopper.

  The train for New York was on time, and soon the twins, each pair in one seat, with Father and Mother Bobbsey behind them, were looking out of the car windows, happy and joyous as they started on their journey.

  They were on their way to the great city of New York.

  I shall not tell you all that happened on the trip. It was not really much, for by this time the twins had traveled so often that a railroad train was an old story to them. But they never tired of looking out of the windows.

  On and on clicked the train, rushing through the snow-covered country, now passing some small village, and again hurrying through a city.

  Now and then the car would rattle through some big piece of woods, and then Flossie and Freddie would remember how they were tossed out of the ice-boat, and how they had been so kindly cared for by Uncle Jack in his lonely log cabin.

  It was late in the afternoon when, after a change of cars, the Bobbsey family got aboard a Pennsylvania railroad train that took them over the New Jersey meadows. They crossed two rivers and then Flossie and Freddie, who were eagerly looking out of the windows, suddenly found themselves in darkness.

  “Oh, another tunnel!” cried Freddie.

  “Is it, Daddy?” asked Flossie.

  “Yes, it’s a big tunnel under the Hudson River. In a little while you will be in New York.”

  And not long afterward the train came to a stop. The children found themselves down in a sort of big hole in the ground, for the Pennsylvania trains come into the great Thirty-third Street station far below the street.

  Up the steps walked the Bobbsey family, red-capped porters carrying their hand-baggage, and, a little later, Flossie, Freddie and the others stood under the roof of the great station in New York. They were in the big city, and many things were to happen to them before they saw Lakeport again.

  CHAPTER VII

  On the Express Train

  Mr. Bobbsey wished to ask one of the railroad men in the big station some questions about the trunks, and he also had to send a telegram, so, while he was doing these things, he told his wife and children to sit down and wait for him. Mrs. Bobbsey led Nan and Bert and Flossie and Freddie to one of the many long benches in the large depot, but the two smaller twins were so excited at being in such an immense place that they had not been seated more than a few seconds before they jumped up to gaze all about them. Bert and Nan, too, though older than their brother and sister, were much astonished at what they saw.

  “Why—why!” gasped Freddie, “it’s bigger than our armory at home!” for in Lakeport there was a big hall where the soldiers drilled.

  “It’s three times as big,” said Flossie.

  “Four!” declared Freddie. “Come on!” he called to his sister, “let’s see how long it takes to walk around it.”

  “Don’t go too far away,” said Mrs. Bobbsey, who, for the moment, did not realize how really large the station was. “Don’t get lost!” she went on.

  “No’m, we won’t!” promised Flossie and Freddie.

  They started off to walk around the large depot, which, as you who have seen it know, takes up a whole New York City block, or “square,” as you will say if you live near Philadelphia.

  Mr. Bobbsey’s business took him a little longer than he expected, but as Bert and Nan begged to be allowed to buy a little candy at the newspaper stand near them, and as Mrs. Bobbsey wanted a magazine, the getting of these things took a little time, so the three did not notice how long Mr. Bobbsey was away from them.

  When he came back, having sent his message and found out what he wanted to know, the twins’ father asked:

  “Where are Flossie and Freddie?”

  “They’re walking around, just seeing how big the station is,” said Nan.

  “Trying to find out how much larger it is than our armory at home,” added Bert with a laugh.

  “Well, I hope they don’t get lost,” said Mr. Bobbsey, “This place is a good deal larger than our armory. I’d better go to look for them,” he went on as a glance around, near the news stand, did not show the two little ones anywhere in sight.

  “I’ll come with you,” offered Bert.

  “No, you’d better stay here with your mother,” said his father. “I don’t want you getting lost, too.” And he smiled at his son. “Stay right here. I’ll not be long.”

  But if Mr. Bobbsey thought he was going to find Flossie and Freddie soon he was disappointed. He wandered about under the big glass roof, which at first the two younger twins had taken for the sky; but he did not see Flossie or Freddie.

  “Has yo’all done lost suffin, boss?” inquired one of the colored porters.

  “I’m looking for my two little children,” explained Mr. Bobbsey. “They wandered away from their mother.”

  “Oh
, don’t yo’all worry ’bout dat, boss! Chilluns gits lost heah ebery day, an’ we all easy find ’em ag’in.”

  “Oh, I’m not worried,” answered Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile. “But it is time for us to go, and I want them. Did you see them—two little ones—about so high,” and he held his hand a short distance above the stone floor. “They have light hair and blue eyes.”

  The porter thought for a moment. Then he said:

  “Well, to tell yo’ de truff, boss, we has about seben hundred blue-eyed an’ light-haired chilluns in heah ebery day, and we has de same number ob dark ones, so it’s mighty hard t’ ’member ’em all.”

  “Yes, I suppose so. Well, I’ll walk about I dare say I shall find them.”

  “I’ll tell some ob de udder men,” offered the porter. “We often has t’ pick up lost little ones an’ take ’em to de waitin’ room. Ef yo’ doan’t find yo’ tots yo’se’f, stop in dere.”

  “I will,” said Mr. Bobbsey, and he was about to walk on when the porter called to him:

  “Heah comes a light-haired, blue-eyed gal now, an’ she’s runnin’ like she’s in a hurry. Maybe she’s yo’rs.”

  Mr. Bobbsey looked up in time to see Flossie running toward him from the front part of the station. She seemed much excited, and when she neared her father she called:

  “Oh, Daddy! guess what happened!”

  “I’m afraid I haven’t time,” said Mr. Bobbsey quickly, “We must hurry away. Where is Freddie?”

  “That’s what I mean! Guess what happened to him,” went on Flossie, who was rather out of breath.

  “I can’t,” said Mr. Bobbsey. “Tell me quickly, Flossie. Is he hurt?”

  “Oh, no; he’s all right. But he’s gone off down the street, and he went into a store where there was a lot of bugs in the window, and he says he’s going to buy some. I want some bugs, too!”

  “What in the world is she talking about?” asked Mrs. Bobbsey, who from where she sat had seen her husband and little girl and had hurried on to join them.

  “She says Freddie went down the street,” explained Mr. Bobbsey, “and that he—”

  “Yep! He went in a store with a lot of bugs in the window!” said Flossie again. “They’re great big bugs and they walk around and around and around!” and she shook her flaxen head as hard as she could, as she often did when excited.