Part 29 (1/2)

”Oh, Freddie!” cried Flossie, who was walking with him. ”Your clothes are all spoiled!”

”Well, I--I couldn't help it,” Freddie said, looking down at the dripping mud and water. ”I didn't see the slippery place.”

”You must hurry home as soon as you can, and change into dry things, Freddie,” said Nan, who was on the other side of the street with Ellen Moore and Nellie Parks. Nan had seen her little brother fall. ”Run,” Nan went on, ”I'll hold your hand so you won't fall again.”

Freddie gave his books to Flossie to carry, and he hurried on with Nan, running so he would be warmer and not take cold, for though the snow was melting it was still Winter.

As Nan and Freddie reached the house, they heard several persons talking in the parlor.

”Oh, there's company!” cried Nan. ”They mustn't see you, Freddie, looking like this. I'll take you up the back stairs and change your clothes myself, or get Dinah to. Come on.”

But just as Nan and Freddie were about to slip past the parlor door Mrs. Bobbsey came out to see who had come in, and with her came a boy about Bert's age. At the sight of him Freddie cried:

”Why, it isn't company. It's cousin Harry!”

”Oh, Freddie! What happened to you?” his mother asked.

”I--I fell down in a puddle,” said the little boy. ”But I couldn't help it, Mother. Oh, Harry, I'm glad you've come!” Freddie went on. ”We can slide down hill---- Oh, no, we can't either,” he said quickly. ”All the snow is melted. But Bert made a hill in our back yard and when it snows again we'll have lots of fun on it. Did Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah come?”

”Yes, we're here,” said Aunt Sarah herself, coming to the door. ”Oh, but mercy, child! What happened?”

”Fell in a mud puddle,” answered Freddie. ”Where's Uncle Dan?”

”In there, talking to daddy,” replied Mrs. Bobbsey. ”But don't stand here talking, Freddie. Cousin Harry will excuse you until you change your clothes.”

”Of course,” answered Harry. ”Where's Bert?” he asked of Nan.

”Coming along with Charley Mason. They're just down the street. I hurried on with Freddie.”

”I guess I'll go to meet him,” said Harry. ”I'll see you when I come back, Freddie, and be sure you're good and dry.”

”I will,” promised the little chap, as his mother led him upstairs. ”How long can Cousin Harry stay, Mother?” Freddie asked.

”Oh, about a week I guess.”

”I hope he can stay until there's more snow.”

Uncle Daniel, with Aunt Sarah and Harry, had come from Meadow Brook to pay a visit in Lakeport, just as Cousin Dorothy had come from the seash.o.r.e some time before.

A little later, when Freddie had on dry clothes, he and Bert, with Harry and Charley, went out in the barn to play. Nan had to go to the store for her mother.

Freddie's hope that snow would come soon was not to be gratified--at least right away. The weather remained warm for nearly a week, and what little snow was left melted. Bert and Charley had no chance to show Harry how they could walk on the barrel-stave shoes. But Harry noticed how they were made, and said when he went back to Meadow Brook he was going to make a pair for himself.

Then one night the weather suddenly turned cold. It was a cold ”snap,”

as Mr. Bobbsey said, and certainly there was ”snap” to it, for the cold made the boards of the house crack and snap like a toy pistol.

”My, but it's cold!” exclaimed Nan, as she came down to breakfast.

”Just what we want!” cried Bert. ”Eh, Harry?”

”Sure. This will make skating all right. Do you think the lake will be frozen over?”