The Bobbsey Twins at School | Page 7

see to work, and this glare
gave the Bobbseys and other passengers on the train a chance to see
what was going on.
"There's a big elephant!" cried Freddie. "See him push the lion's cage
around. Elephants are awful strong!"
"They couldn't push a railroad train," said Flossie.
"They could too!" cried her little brother, quickly.
"They could not. Could they, papa?"
"What?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, absentmindedly.

"Could an elephant push a railroad train?" asked Flossie.
"I know they could," declared Freddie. "Couldn't they, papa?"
"Now, children, don't argue. Look out of the windows," adivsed their
mother.
And while the circus men are trying to catch the escaped animals I will
tell you something more about the Bobbseys, and about the other books,
before this one, relating to their doings.
Mr. Richard Bobbsey, and his wife Mary, the parents of the Bobbsey
twins, lived in an Eastern city called Lakeport, on Lake Metoka. Mr.
Bobbsey was in the lumber business, and the yard, with its great piles
of logs and boards, was near the lake, on which the twins often went in
boats. There was also a river running into the lake, not far from the saw
mill.
Their house was about a quarter of a mile away from the lumber yard,
on a fashionable street, and about it was a large lawn, while in the back
Sam Johnson, the colored man of all work, and the husband of Dinah,
had a fine garden. The Bobbseys had many vegetables from this
garden.
There was also a barn near the house, and in this the children had many
good times. Flossie and Freddie played there more than did Nan and
Bert, who were growing too old for games of that sort.
As I have said, Bert and Nan were rather tall and thin, while Flossie
and Freddie were short and fat. Mr. Bobbsey used often to call Flossie
his "Fat Fairy," which always made her laugh. And Freddie had a pet
name, too. It was "Fat Fireman," for he often played that he was a
fireman; putting out makebelieve fires, and pretending he was a fire
engine. Once or twice his father had taken him to see a real one, and
this pleased Freddie very much.
In the first book of this series, called "The Bobbsey Twins," I told you
something of the fun the four children had in their home town. They

had troubles, too, and Danny Rugg, one of the few bad boys in
Lakeport, was the cause of some. Also about a certain broken window;
what happened when the twins went coasting, how they had a good
time in an ice boat, and how they did many other things.
Snoop, the fat, black kitten, played a part in the story also. The
Bobbsey twins were very fond of Snoop, and had kept him so many
years that I suppose he ought to be called cat, instead of a kitten, now.
After the first winter's fun, told of in the book that began an account of
the doings of the Bobbseys, the twins and their parents went to the
home of Uncle Daniel Bobbsey, and his wife, Aunt Sarah, in Meadow
Brook.
In the book called "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country," I wrote down
many of the things that happened during the summer.
If they had fun going off to the country, taking Snoop with them, of
course, they had many more good times on arriving at the farm. There
was a picnic, jolly times in the woods, a Fourth of July celebration, and
though a midnight scare alarmed them for a time, still they did not
mind that.
But, though the twins liked the country very much, they soon had a
chance to see something of the ocean, and in the third book of the series,
called "The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore," my readers will find out
what happened there.
There was fun on the sand, and more fun in the water, and once the
little ones got lost on an island. A great storm came up, and a ship was
wrecked, and this gave the twins a chance to see the life savers, those
brave men who risk their lives to help others.
Then came closing days at Ocean Cliff, the home of Uncle William and
Aunt Emily Minturn at Sunset Beach. School was soon to open, and Mr.
and Mrs. Bobbsey were anxious to get back to their town home, for
Flossie and Freddie were to start regular lessons now, even though it
was but in the kindergarten class.

So goodbyes were said to the ocean, and though Dorothy Minturn cried
a little when her cousins Nan and Flossie, and Bert and Freddie, had to
leave, still she said she hoped they would come again. And so