The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West | Page 3

to go out again with her doll, Nan went with her, carrying a bag, at which Snap sniffed hungrily.
"What you got?" asked the little girl.
"Oh, you'll see pretty soon," Nan answered,
"Is it a secret?" Flossie kept on teasing.
"Sort of secret," Nan answered.
When the two girls reached the place where they had left the two boys, Bert was beginning to make a snow house and Freddie was rolling a snowball as the start of a snow man. You know how they are made; a small snowball for the man's head, and a larger one for his body, with legs underneath. Freddie hoped Bert would help him when it came to the big snowball part of it.
"Is the snow house ready?" asked Flossie, who had gone in especially to get her doll, so she might have a "play party."
"Oh, no, it takes a good while to make a snow house," Bert said. "I don't believe I'll get it done before night if you don't help me."
"I'll help," offered Flossie. "Can I make the chimbley?"
"They don't have chimbleys on a snow house!" declared Freddie, pausing in his rolling of the snowball. "They don't have chimbleys on snow houses, 'cause they don't have fires in 'em; do they Bert?"
"That's right, Freddie," agreed the older boy. "But maybe, if Flossie wants it, we could put a make-believe chimney on the snow house."
"Oh, I do want it--awful much!" cried Flossie. "Come on, Nan, you help Bert make the snow house, and then we can all play in it.
"And you've got to let my snow man come in!" cried Freddie.
"Yes, we'll let him come in if you don't make him too big," agreed Bert, with a laugh.
Bert and Nan, the older Bobbsey twins, generally did what they could to please Flossie and Freddie, who sometimes wanted their own way too much.
"I guess I'll help make the snow house first," went on Freddie, walking away from the snowball he had partly rolled. "After that I'll make the man. It's better to make the house first, and then I'll know how big I can make the man."
"Yes, that would be a good idea, little fireman!" returned Bert, with a laugh and a look at Nan. And then Bert caught sight of the bag in his sister's hand--the bag around which Snap was sniffing so hungrily.
"What have you, Nan?" asked Bert, pausing in the midst of shoveling snow in a heap for the start of the snow house.
"Oh--something!" and Nan smiled.
"Something good?" Bert went on.
"I guess they're good," Nan said, smiling. "I haven't tasted 'em yet, but Dinah nearly always makes good cookies!"
"Oh, have you got some of Dinah's cookies?" cried Bert, dropping the shovel, and running toward Nan. "Give me some! Please!"
"I want some, too!" cried Flossie.
"So do I!" chimed in Freddie.
Snap didn't say anything, but from the way he barked and leaped about I am sure he, too, wanted some of the cookies.
"Dinah gave me enough for all of us," said Nan, as she opened the bag. "Yes, and there's a broken piece off one that you can have," she went on to Snap, the dog.
Beginning with Flossie, then handing one to Freddie, next passing a cookie to Bert and helping herself last, as was polite, Nan gave out the cookies. Forgotten, now, were snow houses, snow men, snowballs, and even Flossie's doll. The Bobbsey twins were eating Dinah's cookies.
They had each begun on the second helping, when suddenly a loud crash sounded, which seemed to come from the direction of the railroad tracks which ran not far from the Bobbsey home. The crash was followed by loud shouting.
"I wonder what that was?" cried Bert.
"Sounded like thunder," returned Nan.
"Let's go and see," said Bert.
Just as they were starting from the yard, Charley Mason, a boy who lived farther up the street, on the hill, came running along.
"Oh, you ought to see it!" he cried, his eyes big with wonder.
"See what?" asked Bert.
"Smash-up on the railroad, down in the rocky cut!" answered Charlie. "Two engines smashed together, and the cars are all busted! I saw it from the top of the hill! I'm going down! Come on!"

CHAPTER II
THE QUEER OLD MAN
The first impulse of Bert and Nan Bobbsey was, of course, to rush out of the yard and go with Charley Mason to see the train wreck. And, naturally, as soon as Bert and Nan began to run, Flossie and Freddie, forgetting snow men, snow houses, and even Dinah's cookies, started after their older brother and sister.
"Go on back!" cried Bert to the two smaller children. "You can't come with us!"
"We want to see the wreck!" declared Freddie. "Maybe it's on fire, an' if I'm goin' to be a fireman I must see fires!"
He always declared he was going to be a fireman when he grew up, and he