JUST IN TIME
Bert Bobbsey, who had gone out to clear some of the snow from the side
porch, hurried back into the house just as Nan called to him. He, also,
saw and smelled the smoke. And he heard the cries of fire, not only
shouted by Flossie and Freddie, but also by Mrs. Pry.
The old lady in her excitement, and in spite of the pain in her back,
had gotten out of bed and was hurrying around the room, gathering up
such of her things as she could find.
“Bert! Bert!” cried Nan again. “What is it? Is the house on fire?”
Much as he feared to admit this, Bert began to think it was what had,
most unfortunately, happened.
“Guess I made too much of a blaze in the furnace!” gasped the boy.
Nan saw Bert rushing for the door leading to the cellar.
“Don’t go down there!” she cried.
“I’ve got to! That’s where the fire has started!” he called back. “I’ll
see if I can’t put it out before it gets any worse.”
“No! No!” shouted Nan. “You’ll get burned. If the house is on fire we
must telephone in an alarm. Mother always said to call the engines
first thing! Telephone in the alarm, Bert!”
“I can’t telephone the alarm in, Nan,” he said.
“Why not?”
“The telephone’s broken! I’ll have to run down the street and pull the
box!”
“Can’t you go next door and telephone?” Nan wanted to know. “Oh, of
course you can’t! Oh, it’s getting worse, Bert!”
It surely was--at least the smoke was.
“Get Flossie and Freddie out!” gasped the boy. “And Aunt Sallie! Never
mind the house--let it burn!”
“Oh, Bert Bobbsey! Let our lovely house burn!”
“Well, we can’t put it out, can we? Get Flossie and Freddie out and
Mrs. Pry! I’ll go pull the fire box!”
It seemed the best thing to do. Upstairs ran Nan to the playroom where
Flossie and Freddie were crying, for they were much frightened.
“Come!” called Nan. “We must get out! The house is burning!”
“I’m going to take my dolls!” exclaimed Flossie, catching two or three
of her most cherished ones in her arms.
“And I’m going to take my fire engine!” shouted Freddie. “If it was a
bigger one, maybe it could put out the fire.”
“Don’t stop to pick up any of your toys!” ordered Nan. “But come with
me!”
She caught the children, each by an arm, and fairly pulled them out
into the hall. At the same time she cried:
“Can you get down, Aunt Sallie? The house is on fire!”
“No need to tell me that!” cried the old lady, who seemed suddenly to
forget about her aches and pains. “I can smell smoke, even if I am a
little deaf!”
She hobbled out into the hall, having slipped a warm bathrobe on.
In one hand she carried her shoes, and in the other her half-filled
valise, while under her arms she had bundles of her clothing.
“Land sakes, this is terrible! Driven out in the middle of winter!” she
cried.
As Bert opened the front door to rush down the street to the nearest
fire box he almost fell off the porch in his excitement, for, rushing
up the front walk was--his father!
And behind him came Mrs. Bobbsey!
“Bert! Bert!” cried his father, seeing the smoke. “What has happened?”
“House on fire!” shouted Bert. “I’m going to turn in the alarm!
Telephone’s broke!”
As he swung out of the gate Bert was given a further surprise by
colliding with Sam Johnson, who dropped the valise he was carrying.
“Fo’ de lan’ sakes!” gasped Sam.
The breath was almost knocked out of Bert, but he had a vision of
fat Dinah waddling up the street. At first Bert thought it was all
a dream--his father and mother and Sam and Dinah all coming home at
once and so unexpectedly! But he was soon sure it was no dream, and
certainly the smoke pouring out of the front door was real enough.
“Oh, Sam! The house is on fire!” cried Mrs. Bobbsey. “Where are the
children? Nan! Flossie! Freddie! And where’s Mrs. Pry?”
“They’re coming out!” cried Bert. “You look after them. I’ll get the
engines!”
“Don’t get de engines!” shouted Sam. “Don’t!”
“But the house is on fire!” exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey.
“No it ain’t!” insisted Sam. “I know whut it is. I kin tell by de smell
ob de smoke. It’s de furnace in de cellar. Did you put on wood, Bert?”
“Yes, I just made a new fire!”
“It’s de furnace all right,” said Sam. “You done got de damper turned
de wrong way. It happened to me once. It’s gwine to be aw right in a
minute. De house ain’t on fire. It’s jest de furnace. I’ll fix her!”
He dashed into the house and down the cellar steps. By this time Nan,
with the smaller twins and Aunt Sallie, reached the front steps.
In spite of the cold, a crowd was gathering in the street, attracted by
the smoke, and several men offered to turn in an alarm, but Mr. Bobbsey
told them to wait. In a minute or two Sam came out again, his eyes
running with tears on account of the smoke.
“Dat’s just whut I t’ought it was,” he gasped. “Damper turned de wrong
way. De furnace has stopped smokin’ now, an’ I opened a lot of windows.
We kin go back in de house soon.”
In a little while, they could do so. With the damper properly turned,
the smoke from the new fire in the furnace went up the chimney, as it
should, and through the open windows the smoke in the house soon blew
out.
“Well, my poor dears, what a fright you must have had!” said Mrs.
Bobbsey, holding Flossie and Freddie on her lap while Bert and Nan
stood near. “And all alone, too! We didn’t know until a little while
ago that Sam and Dinah were away. But I suppose Mrs. Pry looked after
you.”
“No, I’m sorry to say, I couldn’t,” said Mrs. Pry, who had by this time
put on a few clothes. “I was taken with the lumbago soon after Dinah
went away, and these children have been keeping house by themselves.
And very well they did it, too!”
“You ought to get back in bed, Aunt Sallie, with your lumbago!” said
Nan. “The doctor said we must keep you warm.”
“Yes, he did, my dear,” said Aunt Sallie, with a smile. “But I never
thought, and I don’t believe he did, either, that you’d make me think
the house was on fire to keep me warm. But I don’t seem to have any
lumbago left. I feel much better. I guess the fright cured me.”
And so it seemed, for Aunt Sallie moved about as well as before she had
had to go to bed.
The Bobbsey twins got over their fright, and the crowd, which had
feared the Bobbsey house was burning, moved away. Sam made the fire
good and hot, without letting it smoke. The house was soon put to
rights again. And once more there were happy, smiling faces.
“But we didn’t know you were coming home,” said Nan to her mother. “Is
Uncle Rossiter better?”
“Yes, he’s all right. We sent you word that we were coming, but I guess
you didn’t get any mail. We had none from you.”
“The storm was too bad,” stated Bert. “And didn’t you know Sam had to
go away and then Dinah had to go after Sam?”
“No, we didn’t know a thing about it,” said Mr. Bobbsey. “Coming home
on the train we saw Sam and Dinah get on at the junction early this
morning, and that was the first we knew they had had to leave.”
Dinah explained that she had found Sam not as sick as at first
reported, and she soon had him “on his feet again,” as she called it.
His brother, too, got better, so there was no need of Sam’s remaining
in the South, and the two faithful servants hurried back as soon as
they could.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re all back!” exclaimed Nan. “It’s been hard work,
keeping house alone.”
“It must have been, my dear,” said her mother. “You were brave
children. So many things must have happened.”
“There did,” sighed Nan.
“I sat in the biksits!” laughed Flossie.
“And Bert fell off the roof!” said Freddie.
“And the window’s broke!” added Flossie.
Then all the happenings were told, including how Bert found Danny’s
ring in the church.
A few days after that the weather cleared and it grew warmer. School
resumed, and one of the first things done was to make Danny Rugg get
up in front of all the classes and tell that he had broken the window.
Thus was Bert’s name cleared and Sam Todd was made to apologize to him.
“Well, I’m glad this is over,” said the principal. “I congratulate you,
Bert Bobbsey!”
And Bert felt very happy.
“Well, I guess you don’t need me any more,” said Mrs. Pry a few days
later.
“But we hope you’ll come and see us some other time,” said Mrs. Bobbsey.
“What’s that?” exclaimed Aunt Sallie. “Is the kitten hanging on the
line?”
When it was explained to her what Mrs. Bobbsey had said, Aunt Sallie
joined in laughing at her mistake.
And now that we can leave them happy and contented, we shall say
good-bye to the children until we meet them again. An interesting
vacation was to come to them soon, to be called, “The Bobbsey Twins at
Clover Bank.”
As Daddy Bobbsey was leaving for work one morning he smiled to himself,
for he had just heard this conversation:
“Let’s play house!” Freddie had suggested.
“I’ll be Aunt Sallie,” shouted Flossie.
“We’ll not sit in biscuits!” laughed Nan.
“Nor have a fire!” added Bert.
THE END
THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS
_by_ Laura Lee Hope
These are books that charm boys and girls between the ages of three and
ten. Many of the adventures of these famous twins are comical in the
extreme, and all the accidents and incidents that ordinarily happen to
youthful personages happen to these many-sided little mortals.
THE BOBBSEY TWINS
IN THE COUNTRY
AT THE SEASHORE
AT SCHOOL
AT SNOW LODGE
ON A HOUSEBOAT
AT MEADOW BROOK
AT HOME
IN A GREAT CITY
ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND
ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA
IN WASHINGTON
IN THE GREAT WEST
AT CEDAR CAMP
AT THE COUNTY FAIR
CAMPING OUT
BABY MAY
KEEPING HOUSE
AT CLOVERBANK
AT CHERRY CORNERS
AND THEIR SCHOOLMATES
TREASURE HUNTING
AT SPRUCE LAKE
WONDERFUL SECRET
AT THE CIRCUS
ON AN AIRPLANE TRIP
SOLVE A MYSTERY
ON A RANCH
IN ESKIMO LAND
IN A RADIO PLAY
AT WINDMILL COTTAGE
AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT
AT INDIAN HOLLOW
THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS
_by_ Helen Louise Thorndyke
Honey Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is to
take her to your heart at once. Little girls everywhere will want to
discover what interesting experiences she is having wherever she goes.
HONEY BUNCH:
JUST A LITTLE GIRL
HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY
HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM
HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE
HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN
HER FIRST DAY IN CAMP
HER FIRST AUTO TOUR
HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN
HER FIRST TRIP WEST
HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND
HER FIRST TRIP ON THE GREAT LAKES
HER FIRST TRIP IN AN AEROPLANE
HER FIRST VISIT TO THE ZOO
HER FIRST BIG ADVENTURE
HER FIRST BIG PARADE
HER FIRST LITTLE MYSTERY
HER FIRST LITTLE CIRCUS
HER FIRST LITTLE TREASURE HUNT
HER FIRST LITTLE CLUB
HER FIRST TRIP IN A TRAILER
HER FIRST TRIP TO A BIG FAIR
HER FIRST TWIN PLAYMATES
GROSSET & DUNLAP
_Publishers_ NEW YORK
Stories of Fun and Friendship
THE MAIDA BOOKS
by INEZ HAYNES IRWIN
MAIDA’S LITTLE SHOP
In a darling little shop of her own Maida makes many friends with the
school children who buy her fascinating wares.
MAIDA’S LITTLE HOUSE
All of her friends spend a happy summer in Maida’s perfect little house
that has everything a child could wish for.
MAIDA’S LITTLE SCHOOL
Three delightful grownups come to visit and the children study many
subjects without knowing that they are really “going to school.”
MAIDA’S LITTLE ISLAND
Great is the joy of the Big Eight when Maida’s father takes them for a
vacation to _Spectacles_, where exploring the island provides endless
fun and many thrilling adventures.
MAIDA’S LITTLE CAMP
High in the Adirondacks the four boys and four girls of the Big Eight
spend a glorious month of fun and discovery.
GROSSET & DUNLAP: _Publishers_: NEW YORK
THE LITTLE INDIAN SERIES
_by_ David Cory
The beauty of Indian legend--the thrill of Indian adventure--the poetry
of the Indian’s religion, and, above all, the sturdy manhood and the
idealism of the Indian boy will be an inspiration to every child.
LITTLE INDIAN
WHITE OTTER
RED FEATHER
STAR MAIDEN
LONE STAR
RAVEN WING
HAWK EYE
CHIPPEWA TRAIL
GROSSET & DUNLAP
_Publishers_ NEW YORK
Transcriber’s Note:
Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation
in the text. These have been left unchanged, as were jargon, dialect,
obsolete and alternative spellings.
Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
this_. Obvious printing errors, such as partially printed letters
and punctuation, were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of
sentences and abbreviations were added. “You” was changed to “yum”
....“Oh, yum! It’s good!”...