The Bobbsey Twins | Page 4

"Go--go on!"
She had now reached eighty-five. Nellie Parks was counting:
"Eighty-six, eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety!" she went
on. "Ninety-one-, ninety-two----"
"No--not so--so fast!" panted Grace. "I--I--oh!"
And then, just as Nellie was counting "Ninety-seven," she sank down in
a heap, with her eyes closed and her face as white as a sheet.
For a moment the other girls looked on in blank wonder, not knowing
what to make of it. Then Nan gave a scream.
"Oh, girls, she has fainted!"
"Perhaps she is dead!" burst out Nellie Parks. "And if she is, we killed
her, for we turned the rope!"
"Oh, Nellie, please don't say that!" said Nan. She could scarcely speak
the words.
"Shall I go and tell Mrs. Lavine?" asked another girl who stood near.

"No--yes," answered Nan. She was so bewildered she scarcely knew
what to say. "Oh, isn't it awful!"
They gathered close around the fallen girl, but nobody dared to touch
her. While they were there, and one had gone to tell Mrs. Lavine, a
gentleman came up. It was Mr. Bobbsey, coming home from the
lumber yard for lunch.
"What is the trouble?" he asked, and then saw Grace. "What happened
to her?"
"She was--was jumping rope, and couldn't jump any more," sobbed
Nan. "Oh, papa, she--isn't de--dead, is she?"
Mr. Bobbsey was startled and with good reason, for he had heard of
more than one little girl dying from too much jumping. He took the
limp form up in his arms and hurried to the Lavine house with it. "Run
and tell Doctor Briskett," he called back to Nan.
The physician mentioned lived but a short block away, and Nan ran as
fast as her feet could carry her. The doctor had just come in from
making his morning calls and had his hat and overcoat still on.
"Oh, Doctor Briskett, do come at once!" she sobbed. "Grace Lavine is
dead, and we did it, turning the rope for her!"
"Grace Lavine dead?" repeated the dumfounded doctor.
"Yes! yes!"
"Where is she?"
"Papa just carried her into her house."
Without waiting to hear more, Doctor Briskett ran toward the Lavine
residence, around which quite a crowd had now collected. In the crowd
was Bert.
"Is Grace really dead?" he asked.

"I--I--guess so," answered Nan. "Oh, Bert, it's dreadful! I was turning
the rope and she had reached ninety-seven, when all at once she sank
down, and----" Nan could not go on, but leaned on her twin brother's
arm for support.
"You girls are crazy to jump rope so much," put in a big boy, Danny
Rugg by name. Danny was something of a bully and very few of the
girls liked him.
"It's no worse than playing football," said a big girl.
"Yes, it is, much worse," retorted Danny. "Rope jumping brings on
heart disease. I heard father tell about it."
"I hope Grace didn't get heart disease," sobbed Nan.
"You turned the rope," went on Danny maliciously. "If she dies, they'll
put you in prison, Nan Bobbsey."
"They shan't do it!" cried Bert, coming to his sister's rescue. "I won't let
them."
"Much you can stop 'em, Bert Bobbsey."
"Can't I?"
"No, you can't."
"I'll see if I can't," answered Bert, and he gave Danny such a look that
the latter edged away, thinking he was going to be attacked.
Doctor Briskett had gone into the house and the crowd hung around
impatiently, waiting for news. The excitement increased, and Mrs.
Bobbsey came forth, followed by Freddie and Flossie, who had just
finished playing horse.
"Nan, Nan! what can it mean?" said Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Oh, mamma!" murmured Nan, and sank, limp and helpless, into her

mother's arms.
Just then Mr. Bobbsey came forth from the Lavine residence. Seeing
his wife supporting their daughter, he hurried in that direction.
"Grace is not dead," he announced. "She had a fainting spell, that is all.
But I think after this she had better leave rope skipping alone."

CHAPTER III
THE FIRST SNOW STORM
Nan felt greatly relieved to learn that Grace was not dead.
"Oh, mamma, I am so glad!" she said, over and over again.
"I am glad too," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "Her mamma has told her
several times not to jump so much."
"Yes, I heard her." Nan's eyes dropped. "I was wicked to turn the rope
for her."
In the end Nan told her mother the whole story, to which Mrs. Bobbsey
listened very gravely.
"It was certainly wrong, Nan," she said. "After this I hope my little girl
will try to do better."
"I shall try," answered Nan.
It was long after the dinner hour before the excitement died away. Then
it was learned that Grace was resting quietly in an easy chair and the
doctor had ordered that she be kept