Meanwhile Freddie and Flossie, already home from school, were playing in the snow in front of their house. “I know what!” the little girl exclaimed. “Let’s make our own sleigh. We can tie a box on your sled, Freddie—”
“And Snap can be the horse!” her twin interrupted. “What’ll we use for harness and reins?”
Flossie’s brow furrowed. “Well,” she said thoughtfully, “we can use Snap’s leash for the harness, and—I know! My long hair ribbons will make pretty reins.”
“Swell!” her brother replied. “You get your ribbons and I’ll find the sled and the box and the leash.” He started toward the house, calling, “Snap! Here, boy!”
Around a corner of the house bounded the dog, who had once belonged to a circus. Seeing his young master and mistress, Snap barked joyously and walked toward them on his hind feet along a shoveled path. Freddie patted him lovingly while Flossie hurried inside the house.
Fifteen minutes later, everything was ready for the sleigh trip. Freddie had torn the top and front side from a large paper packing box and tied it onto his sled. Flossie helped her twin make the final adjustments on the harness. At last Freddie straightened and said:
“That should do it. Did you tie those ribbons together real tight?” At Flossie’s nod, he added, “Well, climb aboard!”
Freddie sat in the back of the box with Flossie in front. Each child took one of the ribbon reins.
“Giddap!” they cried together, and Snap, with one questioning glance back at his drivers, started off, giving an excited bark.
“It works!” Flossie cried triumphantly as the homemade sleigh skimmed over the snow.
Eyes dancing and cheeks a bright pink from the wind, both twins yelled, “Faster! Faster!” to the obliging Snap.
“Those ribbons had better hold!” Freddie yelled as Snap hesitated, turned in a wide arc, and dashed pell-mell up a side street.
“Hey!” the little boy cried. “I thought we were driving this sleigh! Where’s Snap going?”
Flossie, breathless from their sudden speed, pointed ahead and gasped, “Nan and Bert!”
Some distance up the street the older twins stood staring in surprise at the dog and sled racing toward them.
“It’s Snap!” Bert exclaimed. “Whoa, boy! Slow down!” he called. “Pull back on the reins, Freddie and Flossie!”
The younger children obeyed, and Snap’s pace slowed to a walk. But when he reached Bert and Nan, the dog leaped up and put his paws on the boy’s shoulders.
As the animal rose, so did the front of the sled! The reins broke, and Freddie and Flossie tumbled out head over heels!
Laughing and sputtering from the snow in their faces, the young twins scrambled to their feet and righted the sleigh.
“Don’t you know that’s not the way to pull a sleigh?” Flossie said, pretending to scold Snap, who stood looking up at her, his tail wagging furiously.
“Poor Snap is tired out,” Nan said, smiling as she leaned down to pat the dog. “Why don’t you two come on home with us and let him rest?”
Obligingly, Freddie and Flossie removed the reins from the dog’s collar. Then, pulling the sled, both fell into step with Bert and Nan.
“What happened about the frozen snowball on the school steps?” Freddie asked eagerly.
Bert gave him a full account of the scene in the principal’s office. Freddie clenched his fists. “I’d like to get even with Danny Rugg!” he cried.
Flossie also looked indignant. “It was mean of Mr. Tetlow to think you did it, Bert!”
“Well, my knife was found under the snowball so I can’t blame him for believing I had something to do with it. And he did give me a chance to clear myself.” Bert defended the principal.
“That’s right,” Nan agreed. “Wasn’t it lucky that Mr. Carford came by just at that moment?”
“I like Mr. Carford,” Freddie said. “He’s a real Santa Claus.”
By this time the children had reached the Bobbsey house. Their mother met them at the door, and again Bert had to tell about the huge snowball and Mr. Carford’s help.
Mrs. Bobbsey put one arm around Bert. “Well,” she said, “I’m glad everything turned out all right. Danny is certainly a mischief maker.”
“Why are you wearing your heavy sweater, Mommy?” Flossie asked. “Are you going out?”
Mrs. Bobbsey frowned. “No, dear, but the furnace isn’t giving us much heat. Dinah is staying near the oven in the kitchen, and I had to put on this sweater.”
“Ooh, it is cold!” Nan exclaimed, shivering as she removed her heavy coat.
“I think you’d all better put on sweaters,” their mother said. “I don’t want you taking cold —especially just before Christmas.”
“What are we going to do about Christmas, Mother?” Nan asked eagerly.
Mrs. Bobbsey gave an anxious sigh. “I don’t know! I’ve called all the hotels in town and they’re booked solid for the holidays. The only thing they can do is to call us if there are any cancellations.”
“I guess we’re out of luck,” Bert said sadly.
“Your father will be home tomorrow,” Mrs. Bobbsey reminded the twins. “I’m sure he’ll know what to do.”
“I’ll be so glad to see Daddy,” Flossie said. “It seems as if he’d been away for years and years!”
“I have an idea about what we can do now to get warmer,” Nan spoke up.
“What?” they all chorused.
“Let’s play hide and seek. I’ll be ‘it.’ ”
They all looked at Mrs. Bobbsey. “May we, Mommy?” Flossie asked, her eyes dancing in anticipation.
“Yes, if you don’t upset things too much,” their mother agreed. Then, relieved that the children were in better spirits, she settled down on the sofa with some mending.
Nan hid her eyes in her arm and began to count slowly. The other three children tiptoed carefully from the room.
“Ninety-nine, one hundred!” Nan cried. “Here I come, ready or not!”
She ran out into the hall and flung open the door of the coat closet. No one was there. Then as she started into the dining room, Flossie raced down the stairs and into the living room, crying, “Home free!”
Now Nan began to climb the stairs. There was a giggle and Freddie ran from behind the tall clock in the lower hall. “I’m free, too!” he called, as he gained the living-room sofa.
Laughing, Nan went on up the stairs, and a few minutes later Freddie and Flossie heard her cry, “I see you, Bert!” as the boy emerged from the clothes closet in Nan and Flossie’s bedroom.
When the children had gathered in the living room again, panting from their game, Mrs. Bobbsey looked up. “I was so worried about the furnace,” she explained, “that I forgot to tell you something, Bert and Nan. You have letters on the mantel.”
“Hooray!” Bert exclaimed. “I hope mine’s from Harry. He hasn’t written to me for a long time!” Harry was the son of the children’s Uncle Daniel Bobbsey. The Lakeport Bobbseys had had many good times at their cousin Harry’s home, Meadowbrook Farm.
“Maybe mine’s from Dorothy Minturn!” Nan said eagerly. Cousin Dorothy lived at Ocean Cliff. Her mother was Mrs. Bobbsey’s sister, and the young cousins were all good friends.
In another minute the older twins had opened their letters, and each was busily reading. Bert spoke first. “Listen to this, from Harry:
“Just between you and me, Bert, I’m going to have a terrible Christmas. Mother and Dad and I are going to visit old Aunt Martha for the holidays. She must be at least a hundred, and there aren’t any boys around to play with. I’ll be glad when we get home again!”
Mrs. Bobbsey looked sympathetic. “Poor Harry!” she said. “I agree it won’t be much fun for him.”
Nan looked up from her letter. “Dorothy is having the same trouble,” she announced. “Uncle William and Aunt Emily are taking her to Florida for the holidays. Dorothy says she has lots of swimming in the summer and wants to spend the Christmas holidays
where there’s snow. But there doesn’t seem to be any hope of that!”
“It looks,” Bert observed wryly, “as if all the Bobbsey children are in the same boat. No place to spend Christmas that we like!”
“Wouldn’t it be great,” Nan said, “if we could all be together some place?” The other twins nodded and grinned.
“It would be a cousin Christmas,” Flossie observed.
CHAPTER V
PART OF THE SECRET
THE NEXT day at school was spent by the twins and many of their friends in putting on a Christmas play. Flossie was an adorable angel, Freddie the innkeeper. Bert was a shepherd, while Nan played the part of Mary.
Danny and his pals seemed very subdued and went out of their way to avoid Bert. Because the bully had been responsible for blocking the school entrance with the huge snowball, there was a good deal of teasing about snowballs.
As the twins met after school, Nan said, “Let’s go past the lumberyard office and see if Dad’s back.” To their delight, he was.
“Oh, Daddy!” Flossie cried, rushing up and throwing her arms about her tall, handsome father. “We’re so glad you’re home!”
“Yes, we have lots to tell you!” Freddie announced.
Everyone talked at once. It was several minutes before Bert had a chance to ask Mr. Bobbsey about the mysterious Mr. Carford.
“What did he mean about a Bobbsey coming into his life five years ago, Dad?”
The twins’ father looked grave for a moment, then said, “Well, Bert—” He was interrupted by the telephone. After listening a few moments, he said, “Will you hold the line, please?”
Turning to the twins, Mr. Bobbsey told them this was an important, long-distance call. “You run along now. I’ll see you all at supper.”
The children waved good-by and filed out. Halfway home they suddenly heard the tinkle of bells behind them. Turning, they saw Mr. Carford’s beautiful old sleigh coming along the street.
The old man stopped his horse as he drew abreast of the Bobbseys and called a hearty “Hi there!”
When they had returned the greetings, he asked, “Would you children like to have a sleigh ride out to my home? I know my sister baked some cookies this morning, and—” he grinned, “there’s a surprise there I know you’ll enjoy.”
“Oh, we’d love to come!” chorused Flossie and Freddie. Nan and Bert also accepted the invitation.
Mr. Carford drove by the Bobbsey home, and the twins’ mother gladly gave permission for the visit.
The older twins climbed into the rear seat of the sleigh, while the young ones took seats on either side of Mr. Carford. Then they were off.
“Whoopee! This is great!” shouted Freddie a few minutes later, as Mr. Carford gave him the reins to hold. Freddie guided the horse importantly along the snowy road.
Shortly they drew up in front of an old farmhouse nestled among majestic pines, which swayed gently in the wind. A wisp of smoke curled from a huge stone chimney atop the shingled roof.
As the children scrambled to the ground, a plump woman came and stood in the front door and called a cheery welcome.
“This is my sister, Miss Emma Carford,” said their host. The maiden lady had gray hair and blue eyes much like Mr. Carford’s.
Miss Carford led the children inside the homey dwelling. While they removed their coats and Mr. Carford put Daisy in the stall, she brought out a snack of sugar cookies and milk.
“Yummy!” exclaimed Flossie. “These cookies are wonderful!”
“You’re a good cook!” burst out Freddie, who considered himself an expert on such matters. The others laughed.
When the Bobbseys had finished, the Carfords took them on a tour of inspection of the house. Nan was interested in the old-time four-poster beds on the second floor, for they were topped by canopies and covered with bright-colored patchwork quilts made by Miss Carford.
Her brother showed Bert his collection of Toby mugs which he had obtained on trips to England. Many of the little containers, which were shaped like jolly figures, dated back before the Revolutionary War.
Finally the group ended up in the kitchen, where there was a wide fireplace with a raised hearth such as those used in olden days. Bert helped Mr. Carford build a fire, and soon the flames gave the room a cheerful warmth.
“What are you children planning to do in your Christmas vacation?” Miss Carford asked.
“We’re probably going to have a hotel Christmas!” Freddie replied mournfully.
“A what?” the white-haired lady asked, and Nan and Bert told her about the furnace repairs.
“I like hotels,” Flossie confided, “but not at Christmastime. We couldn’t have a big Christmas tree in a little bedroom—”
The Carfords looked at each other but made no comment. In a few moments the elderly man said, “I copied this fireplace from one in Snow Lodge. How my brothers and sisters and I loved to sit in front of that one when we were children! It was a wonderful way to spend a long winter evening after a hard day’s work on the farm.”
Snow Lodge! Bert and Nan exchanged excited glances as Mr. Carford paused. Perhaps now they would learn something about the mystery after all!
“Our parents died when we children were small,” Mr. Carford continued. “Snow Lodge had to be sold, and each of us went to live with a different older relative. Over the years all except Emma and me were married. Gradually we lost touch with one another.”
The man’s blue eyes stared reminiscently into the fire. Finally he went on to say that when he had grown up he went to New York, where he had prospered in business. Finally he had retired, however, and decided to return to Lakeport. He had bought back Snow Lodge.
“I was lonely,” he confessed, “and hoped that some members of my family might like to live with me at the lodge. But they all had their own homes and did not want to.”
“That was too bad,” Nan said sympathetically.
Mr. Carford patted the girl on her shoulder and said, “Don’t feel sorry for me, because I’ve had a happy life for the most part. Besides, modernizing Snow Lodge kept me busy for some time. After the remodeling was done, I—”
“Oh, there they are!” Miss Carford interrupted. Glancing at her wrist watch, she added, “Right on time, too.”
She pointed out the wide kitchen window and the children saw an unusual sight—at least ten deer.
“Is this the surprise you told us about?” Freddie asked Mr. Carford, as they all donned coats and hats to go outside.
The white-haired gentleman nodded and smiled. “Yes. They come from the woods beyond my farm. We’ve trained them to eat from our hands.” He asked Bert to get a sack of grain from the pantry and to bring some lettuce from the refrigerator.
Eagerly, the Bobbseys tiptoed out the back door and quietly approached the beautiful, shy animals. Their large brown eyes darted about nervously until the children held out handfuls of grain and lettuce. Then, timidly, the deer edged closer.
A young fawn softly nuzzled Flossie’s palm.
“Oh, mine’s adorable!” exclaimed the little girl. “Please, may I take him home with me?” Without waiting for an answer, Flossie went on, “And I’ll call you Softy, ’cause that’s what you are.” She flung her arms around the startled animal’s neck and hugged him.
Nan smiled and went to Flossie’s side. “I’m afraid Softy would be terribly lonesome at our house, honey,” she said kindly.
“But—but he’d have me!” Flossie insisted. Then she paused. “You’re right, Nan. Softy might run away and get lost.”
Flossie turned back to her fawn. She gave the animal another quick hug, then whispered, “Good-by, Softy. Be a good deer and don’t get hurt.”
The older twins winked at the Carfords. A few minutes later the deer, their hunger satisfied, bounded back into the forest. Everyone returned to the kitchen, and Mr. Carford resumed his story.
“As I started to say, children, after the remodeling was done at Snow Lodge, I received word that my
elder sister, Louise Burdock, had been widowed. She was left with a ten-year-old boy, Dave, and had very little money. I invited them to come to Snow Lodge and live with me. They accepted. Not long after they arrived in Lakeport, however, Louise died. So I brought up Dave alone.”
“How wonderful of you!” Nan murmured.
“Dave was a fine boy,” said Mr. Carford. “He became like a son to me. We had grand times studying together, taking hikes in the woods, fishing, hunting, and—”
Suddenly a sad expression flickered briefly on the man’s face as he added, “But then, about five years ago, there was a—a misunderstanding between us. Dave left Snow Lodge. He will not return, unless—”
Nan and Bert looked at each other. Could this be the mystery they were curious about?
Regaining his composure, Mr. Carford concluded, “So I closed Snow Lodge and hired a neighboring farmer to keep it in good shape. When Emma,” he glanced at his sister, “wrote that she would like to stay with me, I bought this farmhouse.”
He stopped speaking, and there was a long silence. Bert decided that the “misunderstanding” between Mr. Carford and his nephew must have been very serious.
“Apparently Mr. Carford isn’t going to tell us what it is,” thought Nan in disappointment She looked at the kitchen clock. It was four-thirty. “We must be getting home,” she said.
“You’ll forgive an old man for talking so long,” Mr. Carford apologized, as his sister went for the twins’ coats, hats, and boots. “But I’ve enjoyed your visit. Will you come again some time?”
“We sure will,” said Freddie stoutly.
As the twins prepared to leave, there was a sudden uproar in the back yard. Chickens squawked frantically. A dog howled. What was going on?
CHAPTER VI
A BAD SPILL
FOR A moment, the group in the Carfords’ kitchen was too bewildered by the sudden clamor to speak. Then, flinging open the door, Bert dashed outside.
Bounding down the back steps, he stopped short as a rock sailed past his head and landed in the chicken run. Bert spun about just in time to catch a glimpse of the thrower running away.
The Bobbsey Twins and the Mystery at Snow Page 3