The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair | Page 4

full power,
and then, with another loud cracking noise, the truck came to a stop,
and seemed to be sinking down through the breaking bridge!
CHAPTER II
"THERE'S A SNAKE!"
With the first cries of alarm, Bert Bobbsey had jumped to his feet, one
arm had gone out toward his sister Nan, and the other toward Flossie
and Freddie. But no boy has arms long enough to reach for three
relatives at once, especially when two of them, as Flossie and Freddie
happened to be, were some distance away.
Bert did, however, manage to put one arm around Nan, and he pulled
her toward him, though just why he hardly knew. As he did so there
was a frightened movement on the part of all the other children aboard
the truck, for they seemed to be sliding down toward the front of it.
"Oh, Bert! what has happened?" cried Nan. "Get hold of Flossie and
Freddie, can't you?"
"I'm trying to," he answered.
"What's the matter?" Flossie called to Nan and Bert. "We're all slipping
down!"
And this was just what was happening. The bridge over the stream

seemed to have broken in the middle, just as the heavy truck got to that
spot, and the auto's front wheels being lower than the rear ones, had
slid the load of picnic merrymakers into a heap.
"Oh! Oh!" screamed Grace Lavine. "What is going to happen?"
"You'll be all right if you just keep quiet!" called the driver of the auto
in a loud voice. "The bridge has only sagged a little! It isn't going to
fall!"
This was good news provided it was true.
"All of you get off, and do it quietly," advised the driver. "You'll be all
right."
"Are you sure?" asked Mrs. Simpson, one of the ladies in charge of the
children.
"Oh, yes, ma'am. There's no danger," declared the man. He had jumped
from his seat and was looking at the floor of the bridge under the front
wheels of the truck.
"Keep quiet, every one!" ordered Mr. Blake, one of the gentlemen who
had agreed to help the ladies look after the children. "Don't scream or
cry, and move as quietly as you can. The easier you move the less
danger there will be. The bridge hasn't quite broken in two yet."
But it was in grave danger of doing that, as Mr. Blake saw, and he was
fearful that a bad accident would soon happen.
However, the thing to do now was to get all the children off the truck,
over the bridge, and safe on solid ground. After that it might be
possible to get the truck over and keep on to the picnic.
One by one the children, including the Bobbsey twins, started to get off
the truck. They moved as carefully as they could, for they felt that they
were like skaters on thin ice. The least quick movement might break
something.

The truck that had gotten safely over the bridge had come to a stop, and
children and grown folks were piling off it to see what they could do to
save those in danger on the broken bridge.
And while the work of rescue is going on I will take a moment or two
to tell my new readers something about the Bobbsey twins. Those of
you who have read the other books in this series do not need to be
introduced to Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie.
Those were the names of the four children. Bert and Nan were the older
twins, and Flossie and Freddie the younger. You are first told about
them in the book called "The Bobbsey Twins," and in that you learn
that the Bobbsey family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bobbsey
and their four children, lived in Lakeport, an eastern city on the shore
of Lake Metoka, where Mr. Bobbsey had a lumber business.
In the family, though not exactly members of it, were Dinah, the jolly,
fat, colored cook, and Sam Johnson, her husband. Then we must not
forget Snap, the dog, and Snoop, the big cat.
Following the first book are a number of volumes telling of the
adventures of the Bobbsey twins. They went to the country to visit
Uncle Daniel, and at the seashore they had fun at the home of Uncle
William. After that the Bobbseys enjoyed a trip in a houseboat, they
journeyed to a great city, camped on Blueberry Island, saw the sights of
Washington and even sailed to sea.
As if this was not enough Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey took their children on
a western trip among the cowboys, and just before the present story
opens Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had come back from
Cedar Camp, where they had had some exciting adventures.