The Bobbsey Twins in Washington | Page 5

twins.
"Yes, I'll go for Dinah!" cried Nan. "She knows how to dig under the
hay, I guess!"
"And I'll start digging now," added Bert, as he began tossing aside the
wisps of dried grass that covered his small brother and sister from
sight.
And while the rescue of Freddie and Flossie is being arranged for, I
will take this chance to tell my new readers something of the four
children, about whom I am going to write in this book.
There are other books ahead of this one, and the first is named after the
children. It is called "The Bobbsey Twins," and relates some of the

early adventures of Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie. Those are the
names of the twins, as you have already learned.
The Bobbsey family lived in an eastern city called Lakeport, at the head
of Lake Metoka. Mr. Bobbsey was in the lumber business and had an
office near his lumberyard, which was "down town" as the children
called it.
Now I'll tell you just a little about the four children, their friends and
something about the other books, and then I'll get on with the story,
which I hope you will wish to read.
There were two sets of twins, you see. Bert and Nan were the older.
They each had dark brown hair, brown eyes and were rather tall for
their age, and not so very fat; though, of late, with all the good times
they had had in the country at Blueberry Island and on the deep, blue
sea, the older twins were getting stouter. "Fatter," Freddie called it.
Flossie and Freddie were just the opposite of Bert and Nan. The smaller
pair of twins were short and stout, and each had light hair, and blue
eyes that looked at you, sometimes, in the funniest way you can
imagine.
Besides Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey there was Dinah, the fat, good-natured
colored cook, who knew how to make more kinds of cake than you
could eat in one day. And then there was Sam Johnson, her husband.
Sam worked about the Bobbsey house and barn, looked after the horse
and sometimes drove the automobile, though he said he liked a horse
better. But the Bobbsey family liked the automobile, so the horse was
used down in the lumberyard more often than to take Bert, Nan, Flossie
and Freddie for a ride.
The Bobbsey twins had many friends and relations, but I will not take
up your time, now, telling you about them. I must not forget, however,
to mention Snoop and Snap. Snoop was a fine, big cat, and he was
named "Snoop" because he always seemed to be "snooping" into
everything, as Dinah said. Snoop didn't do that to be bad, he just
wanted to find out about things. Once he wanted to find out what was

inside an empty tin can, and so he stuck his head in and he couldn't get
it out until Bert helped him.
Snap was the Bobbsey dog, and he wasn't called "Snap" because he
would snap at you. No indeed! It was because, when Bert put a cracker
on his dog's nose, the animal would "snap" it off with a jerk of his head
and eat it--eat the cracker I mean. That was one reason he was called
"Snap." But there were other reasons, too.
And so the Bobbsey twins lived in a fine house in a pleasant city and
they had lots of fun. Those of you who have read the other books know
that. They went to the country and to the seashore, to visit Uncle
William at the latter place, and Uncle Daniel Bobbsey in the former.
Of course the Bobbsey twins went to school, and there is a book telling
about them there, and the fun and adventures they had. Later on they
went to "Snow Lodge," and after an exciting winter, they spent part of
the summer on a houseboat.
When Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie went to Meadow Brook, which
was the country home of Uncle Daniel, the twins never expected very
much to happen. But it did, and they talked about it for a long time.
Then they came home to have more good times, and, later on, went to a
great city. I haven't space, here, to tell you all that happened. You must
get the book and read it for yourself.
After that they spent a summer on Blueberry Island, and there were
gypsies on the island. Some strange things happened, but the Bobbsey
twins enjoyed every hour of their stay, and did not want to come home.
But they had to, of course, and still more strange adventures awaited
them. Those you may read about in the book just before this. It is called:
"The