AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE
Quickly, after the first guests had arrived came the others. Nellie
Parks, Grace Lavine friends of Nan, and Willie Porter and his sister
Sadie, came first, and Freddie and Flossie let them in, the Porter
children being some of their best-liked playmates.
All the children wore their best clothes, and for a time they were
a bit stiff and unnatural, standing shyly about in corners, against
the walls, or sitting on chairs.
The boys seemed to all crowd together in one part of the room, and
the girls in another. Flossie and Freddie, Nan and Bert, were so
busy answering the door that they did not notice this at first.
But Aunt Sarah, their mother's sister, who had come over to help
Mrs. Bobbsey, looking in the parlor and library, saw what the
trouble was.
"My!" she cried, with a good-natured laugh, as she noticed how
"stiff" the children were. "This will never do. You're not that way
at school, I don't believe. Come, be lively. Mix up--play games.
Pretend this is recess at school, and make as much noise as you
like."
For a moment the boys and girls did not know what to think of this
invitation. But just then Snap, the circus dog, came in the room,
and, with a bark of welcome, he turned a somersault, and then
marched around on his hind legs, carrying a broomstick like a
gun--pretending he was a soldier. Bert had given it to him.
Then how the children laughed and clapped their hands! And Snap barked
so loudly--for he liked applause--that there was noise enough for
even jolly Aunt Sarah. After that there was no trouble. The boys
and girls talked together and soon they were playing games, and
having the best kind of fun.
For some of the games simple prizes had been offered and it was
quite exciting toward the end to see who would win. Flossie and
Freddie thought they had never had such a good time in all their
lives. Nan and Bert were enjoying themselves, too, with their
friends, who were slightly older than those who had been asked for
the younger Bobbsey twins.
"Going to Jerusalem," was one game that created lots of enjoyment.
A number of chairs were placed in the centre of the room, and the
boys and girls marched around them while Mrs. Bobbsey played the
piano. But there was one less chair than there were players, so
that when the music would suddenly stop, which was a signal for
each one who could, to sit down, someone was sure to be left. Then
this one had to stay out of the game.
Then a chair would be taken away, so as always to have one less
than the number of players, and the game went on. It was great fun,
scrambling to see who would get a seat, and not be left without
one, and finally there but one chair left, while Grace Lavine and
John Blake marched about. Mrs. Bobbsey kept playing quite some
time, as the two went around and around that one chair. Everyone
was laughing, wondering who would get a seat and so win the game,
when, all at once, Mrs. Bobbsey stopped the music. She had her back
turned so it would be perfectly fair.
Grace and John made a rush for the one chair, but Grace got to it
first, and so she won.
"Well, I'm glad you did, anyhow," said John, politely.
Other games were "peanut races" and "potato scrambles." In the
first each player had a certain number of peanuts and they had to
start at one end of the room, and lay the nuts at equal distances
apart across to the other side, coming back each time to their pile
of peanuts to get one.
Sometimes a boy would slip, he was in such a hurry, or a girl would
drop her peanuts, and this made fun and confusion.
Nan won this race easily.
In the potato scramble several rows of potatoes were made across
the room. Each player was given a large spoon, and whoever first
took up all his or her potatoes in the spoon, one at a time, and
piled them up at the far end of the room, won the game. In this
Charley Mason was successful, and won the prize--a pretty little
pin for his tie.
The afternoon wore on, and, almost before the children realized it
the hour for supper had arrived. They were not sorry, either, for
they all had good appetites.
"Come into the dining room, children," invited Mrs. Bobbsey.
And Oh! such gasps of pleased surprise as were heard when the children
saw what had been prepared for them! For Mr. and Mrs Bobbsey, while
not going to any great expense, and not making the children's party
too fanciful, had made it beautiful and simple.
The long table was set with dishes and pretty glasses. There were
flowers in the centre, and at each end, and also blooms in vases about
the room. Then, from the centre chandelier to the four corners of
the table, were strings of green smilax in which had been entwined
carnations of various colors.
The lights were softly glowing on the pretty scene, and there
were prettily shaded candles to add to the effect. But what caught
the eyes of all the children more than anything else were two large
cakes--one at either end of the table.
On each cake burned five candles, and on one cake was the name
"Flossie," while the other was marked "Freddie." The names were in
pink icing on top of the white frosting that covered the birthday
cakes.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" could be heard all about the room. "Isn't that too
sweet for anything!"
"I guess they are sweet!" piped up Freddie in his shrill little
voice, "'cause Dinah put lots of sugar in 'em; didn't you, Dinah?"
and he looked at Dinah, who had thrust her laughing, black,
good-natured face into the dining room door.
"Dat's what I did, honey! Dat's what I did!" she exclaimed. "If
anybody's got a toofache he'd better not eat any ob dem cakes,
'cause dey suah am sweet."
How the children laughed at that!
"All ready, now, children, sit down," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Your
names are at your plates."
There was a little confusion getting them all seated, as those on
one side of the table found that their name cards were on the other
side. But Flossie and Freddie, and Nan and Bert, helped the guests
to find their proper places and soon everyone was in his or her
chair.
"Can't Snap sit with us, too?" asked Freddie, looking about for
his pet, who had done all his tricks well that evening.
"No, dear," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Snap is a good dog, but we don't
want him in the dining room when we are eating. It gives him bad
habits."
"Then can't I send him out some cakes?" asked Flossie, for Snap
had almost as large a "sweet tooth" as the children themselves.
"Yes, as it is your birthday, I suppose you can give him some of
your good things," said Mamma Bobbsey.
"Here, Dinah!" called Freddie to the cook, as he piled a plate full
of cakes. "Please give these to Snap."
"Land sakes goodness me alive!" cried Dinah. "Dat suah am queer.
Feedin' a dog jest laik a human at a party. I can't bring mahself
to it, nohow."
"I'll take 'em out to him," said her husband.
Then the feast began, and such a feast at it was! Mrs. Bobbsey,
knowing how easily the delicate stomachs of children can be upset,
had wisely selected the food and sweets, and she saw to it that no
one ate too much, though she was gently suggestive about it instead
of ordering.
"Don't eat too much," advised Freddie to some of the friends who
sat near him. "We've got a lot of ice cream coming. Save room for
that."
"That's so--I almost forgot," spoke Jimmie Black.
A little later Mrs. Bobbsey said to Dinah:
"I think you may bring in the cream now, and I will help you serve
it."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, goodie!" cried Freddie. "Ice cream's coming!" and he waved
his spoon above his head.
"Freddie--Freddie" said his mother, in gentle reproof.
Dinah went out on the back stoop, looked around and came running
back to the dining room, where Mrs. Bobbsey was. Dinah's eyes were
big with wonder and surprise.
"Mrs. Bobbsey! Mrs. Bobbsey!" she cried. "Suffin's done gone an'
happened!"
"What is it?" asked Mamma Bobbsey, quickly. "Is anyone hurt?"
"No'm, but dat ice cream freezer hab jest gone and walked right
off de back stoop, an' it ain't dere at all, nohow! De ice cream
is all gone!"
The children looked at one another with pained surprise showing on
their faces.
The ice cream was gone!