Though Flossie and Freddie had what they called "good times" in the log
cabin at Cedar Camp, and though Old Jim played with them, making boats
and dolls of wood, still the small Bobbsey twins wished for the time to
come when they might go out of doors. They also began to wish for the
return of Bert and Nan.
"When _will_ they come, Mother?" Flossie asked over and over again.
"And bring us chestnuts!" teased Freddie.
"Oh, they'll come soon now," Mrs. Bobbsey said, as she looked out of the
window at the flakes of snow, still falling, and listened to the whistle
of the cold wind around the cabin.
And in her heart how very much Mrs. Bobbsey wished that Bert and Nan
would come back soon! Mr. Bobbsey wished the same thing, and the only
comfort the father and mother had in those worrisome days was the
thought that their older twins _must_ have found shelter somewhere in
the woods.
Old Jim declared that this was so, as, likewise, did Tom Case and Jim
Denton. But it was still storming too much for another searching party
to set out and look for Nan and Bert. Those who searched might
themselves become lost in the blizzard. For that is what the storm now
was--a regular blizzard.
Mr. Bobbsey could do nothing toward searching for the lost shipment of
Christmas trees. The lumbermen could not work at cutting down trees,
floating or sledding them to the mill or carting them to the railroad.
Even the sawmill was shut down, and all there was to do was to wait.
Flossie and Freddie were not used to staying in the house so long at a
time. They wanted to go out and play even if there was snow, but their
mother would not let them in such an unusual storm.
"It's like when we were at Snow Lodge," sighed Flossie, as she stood
with her little nose pressed flat against the window, thereby making her
face cold.
"We could go out a little there," sighed Freddie.
"I think you children are very lucky," said their mother. "You have a
warm place to stay. Think of poor Nan and Bert. They may----"
She stopped suddenly. She dared not think of what her older son and
daughter might be suffering. She glanced quickly at Flossie and Freddie.
She was afraid lest she should make them worry, too.
But, fortunately, Flossie and Freddie were not that sort. They did not
believe in worrying, unless it was over not having fun enough. However,
the log cabin was of good size, and with Old Jim to come over now and
then to amuse them with cutting out wooden toys, the two Bobbsey twins
did not have such a sad time as might be imagined.
To-day, however, when the storm had kept up so long, and when they had
not had a chance to go out, they felt rather lonesome and as if they
wanted to "do something." So, presently, when Flossie had grown tired of
pressing her nose against the glass, making it cold, and then holding it
on Freddie's cheek to hear him exclaim in surprise, the little girl
wandered about looking for something to do. Freddie joined her, and
while their mother was in another room, talking to Mr. Bobbsey, and
saying he ought, soon, to make another trip and search for Bert and Nan,
Flossie and Freddie went up in the top story of the log cabin.
The log cabin was the largest in that part of the woods, and was higher
than most, so that in addition to the bedrooms on the second floor,
there was, above them, an open attic, reached by a short flight of
steps, and in it were stored all sorts of odds and ends.
"Maybe we can find something here to play with," suggested Flossie.
"Maybe," agreed Freddie.
They rummaged around in the half-dark place, back in corners where the
roof came down slanting and making little "cubby-holes," and it was
after a glance into one of these places that Flossie drew back and
whispered to Freddie:
"There's a bear in here!"
"A bear! Where?" and Freddie moved over closer to Flossie and looked
where she pointed.
"There," said the little girl, and, glancing along the line of her
outstretched finger, Freddie saw a big, furry heap in a dark corner. "I
touched it first with my foot," said Flossie, "and it was soft, just
like the bear I touched that the Italian had once, leading around by a
string in his nose. And then I put out my hand and I felt his fur!"
"Oh!" exclaimed Freddie. "Did he--did he bite you?" He had been looking
for something to play with on the other side of the attic, and,
therefore, had not seen all that Flossie had.
"Course he didn't bite me!" the little girl answered. "You didn't hear
me holler, did you?"
"No," said Freddie, "I didn't. I'm going to touch him!"
"Come over here," advised Flossie, moving to one side so Freddie could
thrust his hand forward and touch that mysterious heap of fur. "I--I
guess maybe he's asleep, that's why he didn't growl or nothin'!"
"I guess maybe," agreed Freddie. Neither of the Bobbsey twins felt
surprised because they had an idea a bear might be in the attic with
them. Nor were they afraid. A sleeping bear is not dangerous, of course.
Any little boy or girl knows that!
Freddie crawled a little way farther under the sloping roof and, by
stretching out his hand, managed to touch the fur. It felt warm and soft
to his fingers.
"Oh, it _is_ a bear!" he whispered, and he was delighted. "Let's go and
tell mother, and we can bring it downstairs and play with it. I guess
it's a little bear!"
"Yes, we'd better tell mother," agreed Flossie. Somehow, the more she
thought of a bear being up in the attic the more she thought it better
to have some of the older folks know about it.
Down the stairs went the two Bobbsey twins, walking softly so as not to
awaken the bear. They didn't want him suddenly aroused from his sleep
and made cross. Who would?
"Where have you children been?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, as she saw the two
twins. They were covered with dust and cobwebs from having crawled so
far under the sloping roof in the attic. The floor was dirty, too, not
having been swept in many months, and they had sat right down in the
worst of the dust.
"Oh, Mother!" gasped Flossie, "we've been up in the attic, and what do
you think's up there? It's a----"
"_Bear!_" burst out Freddie, not wanting his sister to tell all the
wonderful news. "He's asleep, an' I touched him!"
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "A bear? It can't be!"
And yet she knew there were bears in the North Woods, and it might be
possible that one had crawled into the cabin before they had come, and
had gone to the attic to have his long winter sleep.
"Yes, it is a bear!" insisted Flossie, and both children were so certain
about the heap of fur that Mrs. Bobbsey called her husband, who was out
in the woodshed with Tom Case and Jim Bimby.
"A bear!" cried the mill foreman. "Well, there are some around these
woods, but I never knew of one coming into a cabin. I'll take a look."
"Hadn't you better take a gun?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, as he and Old Jim
followed the foreman upstairs. "There's one here."
"Well, you might hand it to me," said Mr. Case. "But I reckon if it is a
bear that's crawled in to go to sleep, he'll be so lazy I can take him
by the back of the neck and throw him out."
Freddie and Flossie waited with their mother while their father and the
two men went to the attic. They could hear the three moving around up
overhead, and soon there was a shout of laughter.
"Maybe it's a circus bear, and he's doing tricks!" exclaimed Flossie.
"Oh, I hope it is!" added Freddie, feeling quite excited.
Their father and the two men came downstairs. Tom Case carried
something--something brown and shaggy, just like the fur of some animal.
"There's your 'bear!'" he said, laughing, as he tossed the furry object
over a chair. "A bear skin! Ha! Ha!"
And that is what it was. The skin of a big bear, made into a lap robe
for use in cold weather. The fur was warm, thick and soft, and when the
skin was huddled up in a heap in a corner no wonder the Bobbsey twins
mistook it for a real bear, especially in the dark.
"That's a good warm fur robe," said Old Jim. "If it was made into a fur
coat it would keep out the cold."
"Maybe that's what the man who used to live here was going to use it
for," said Mr. Bobbsey. "He moved away and forgot it. Well, you children
can play with it," he said to Flossie and Freddie. "It was a bear once."
And the Bobbsey twins had fun taking turns wrapping the bear skin about
them and pretending to be different kinds of wild animals.
It was when the storm began to grow less severe, the wind not blowing so
hard and the snow not coming down so thickly, that Mr. Bobbsey, looking
from the window when Flossie and Freddie were playing "bear," said:
"I think I'll start out again."
"Where?" asked his wife.
"To find Bert and Nan," he answered. "I think the blizzard is about
over, and they will probably be starting for home. I'll go to meet
them."
"Oh, take us!" cried Flossie and Freddie. "We want to see Bert and Nan."
"Oh, no, I couldn't take you," said their father. "The snow is piled
deep in drifts, and you'd sink away down in--over your heads. I'll take
some of the men and start," he said to his wife.
And so, a little later, another searching party started away from Cedar
Camp to find the missing Bobbsey twins.
"I'll go along," said Old Jim, who was now able to travel. "I must take
some food to my wife. She'll be 'most starved."
"Yes, come with us," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We'll take some food to Mrs.
Bimby."