Part 31 (2/2)
But she and Freddie stayed longer than they meant to, for Mrs. Todd knew many stories and she told the little twins two or three as they sat by the fire.
”Oh, it's snowing--snowing hard!” said Freddie suddenly, as he looked out of the window when Mrs. Todd had finished a story about a little red hen.
”Then we must hurry home,” said Flossie.
They put on their wraps and overshoes and, bidding Mrs. Todd good-bye, off they went. But they had no sooner got outdoors than they found themselves in a bad storm. The wind was blowing hard, and the white flakes were swirling all around them.
”Why--why, I can hardly see!” cried Flossie. ”It's just like a fog.”
”And--and it's hard to breathe,” said Freddie. ”The wind blows right down my mouth.”
”We could walk backwards and then it wouldn't,” said Flossie, and they tried that for a while.
The children had been out in storms before, but they could not remember ever having been in one where the snow was so thick. As Flossie had said, she could hardly see because there were so many flakes coming down.
”Take hold of my hand, Freddie, and don't let go,” said Flossie to her brother. ”We don't want to get lost.”
Along the street they walked as best they could, sometimes going backward so the wind would not blow in their faces so hard, and when they walked with their faces to the wind they held down their heads.
”Are we 'most home?” asked Flossie after a while.
”Well, I don't see our house,” replied Freddie. ”We've come far enough to be there, too.”
They walked on a little farther and then Freddie stopped.
”What's the matter?” asked Flossie.
”I can't see any houses, or anything,” answered her brother. ”I--I guess we've come the wrong way, Flossie. I don't know where we are.”
”Do you mean we--we're lost, Freddie?”
”I'm afraid so.”
CHAPTER XXI
THE STRANGE MAN
The two Bobbsey twins stood in the snowstorm, looking at each other.
Though they were both brave they were rather worried now, for they did not know which way to go to get home. If there had been no snow it would have been easy, but the white flakes were so thick that they could hardly see ten feet ahead of them.
”What are we going to do, Freddie?” Flossie asked.
”Well, I don't know,” he answered. ”I guess we'll just have to keep on walking until we come to a house, and then we can ask which way our home is. Maybe somebody in the house will take us home.”
”But we can't see any houses. How can we ask?” said Flossie, and her voice was trembling.
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