Four Little Blossoms and Their Winter Fun | Page 3

the white
curtains to look out as she heard footsteps on the porch roof. "He might
fall; it's ever so slippery!"
It was slippery; in fact, the roof was much harder to walk on than
Bobby had suspected. For one thing, the roof sloped, and he had to
cling to the side of the house as he walked; then, too, the fine driving
snow almost blinded him; and a third reason that made it hard going
was the way the snow caked and clung to his shoes.
He had reached the window where Meg was waiting, so interested in
watching him that she had forgotten why he was coming, and he
stooped for a handful of fresh snow. Meg grinned cheerfully at him as
he straightened up.

"I'll let you in," she called through the glass, beginning to push up the
window.
Bobby reached out to get a good grip on the window frame, missed the
ledge and lost his balance. His foot slipped as he threw out his arms to
save himself.

CHAPTER II
BOBBY IS RESCUED
Before the frightened gaze of three pairs of eyes Bobby slid backward
over the edge of the porch roof, out of sight.
"He'll be killed!" sobbed Meg, dashing for the door.
She unlocked it and fled down the hall, followed by Dot and Twaddles.
"What is it? What is it?" screamed Norah, as she caught a glimpse of
Meg's white face from the dining-room where she was beginning to set
the supper table. "Has anything happened to any of ye?"
Meg was already out of the front door. Norah caught up her red shawl
and ran after her.
Norah had lived with the Blossoms ever since Bobby was a baby. He
was now seven years old. There were four little Blossoms now, and
never a dispute about the "baby of the family," for there were two of
them! Dot and Twaddles were twins, you see. They were four years old,
but liked to be considered older, as many of the younger children do.
If you have read the first book of this series, called "Four Little
Blossoms at Brookside Farm," you already know many of their friends,
and above all their Aunt Polly Hayward, who was their mother's older
sister. Brookside Farm was Aunt Polly's home, and the four children
spent a beautiful summer there with her and learned about farm life and
were given a calf, "Carlotta," for their very own. This first book, too,

explains about the real names of the four little Blossoms. Bobby was
Robert Hayward Blossom, Meg's right name Margaret Alice, like her
mother's, and Dot's, Dorothy Anna. Twaddles had a very nice name,
too, Arthur Gifford Blossom, and no one ever knew why he was called
Twaddles. It seemed to suit him, somehow.
The Blossoms, Father and Mother Blossom and the four children, lived
in a town called Oak Hill, where Father Blossom owned a large
foundry at one end of the town. Meg and Bobby, of course, went to
school. You may have read the book before this one, called "Four Little
Blossoms at Oak Hill School," which tells about the troubles Bobby
encountered and how he came safely through them, and of how the
twins were so eager to go to school that they finally did in spite of the
fact that they were only four years old. If you read that book you will
remember that Aunt Polly came down to visit Mother Blossom over
Thanksgiving and went to the school exercises to hear Meg and Bobby
recite. She stayed for Christmas, too. And finally, because every one
loved her very much and because she had no little people of her own at
Brookside, she yielded to the persuasion of Father and Mother Blossom
and promised to spend the rest of the winter in Oak Hill.
Besides Norah, there lived with the Blossoms Sam Layton, who ran
Father Blossom's car and did all the outside work about the place;
Philip, a very intelligent and amiable dog, and Annabel Lee, an
affectionate and much beloved cat. Dear me, Twaddles had some
rabbits, too. He would want you to know those. And now that you are
properly introduced, let us go and see what happened to Bobby.
Meg fell down every one of the front steps in her anxiety to reach her
brother, and Norah alone saved the twins from a like fall. They tumbled
into her and the three held each other up. At least that is the way
Twaddles explained it.
"Bobby! Oh, Bobby, are you dead?" wailed Meg, looking, for some
inexplicable reason, toward the porch roof. Of course Bobby couldn't
be up there when he had fallen off.
"Of course I'm not dead," the indignant voice of Bobby assured her.

"I'm all right,