Bobbsey Twins

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oh dear cried freddy just then he heard flossie scream she had come out on the side porch and she saw the team coming toward her little brother nan bert screamed flossie look at freddy nan and bert jumped up and raced down the path freddy's in trouble again thought bert it was not the first time freddy had gotten into mischief though usually he was a pretty good boy he sometimes made trouble without intending to i have told you there were two sets of bobbsey twins and those of you who have read the first book of this series know what i mean by that the first book is called the bobbsey twins and in that i told you how the bobbsey family lived in an eastern city called lakeport at the head of lake mr bobbsey was a lumber merchant and owned a large sawmill and a yard near the lake in which yard were piled many stacks of lumber nan and bert were the older bobbsey twins being past nine while flossie and freddie were about half-past five so you see that is how there were two sets of twins nan was a tall slender girl with a dark face and red cheeks her eyes were brown and so were her curls bert too was quite dark like nan flossie and freddie were very light with blue eyes they were short and fat instead of tall and thin so you see the two sets of twins were very different oh such good times as the bobbsey twins had i could not tell you all of them if i wrote a dozen books but some of the good times i have related in the first book in the second called the bobbsey twins in the country there are more happenings mentioned uncle daniel bobbsey his wife sarah and their son harry lived in the country at a place called meadow brook and there the twins often went on their vacation uncle william minturn and his wife emily with their nine-year-old daughter dorothy lived at ocean cliff as you might guess this was on the coast and in the third book the bobbsey twins at the seashore i have told you of the good times the children had there how they saw a wreck and what came of it in the bobbsey twins at school you will find out how they came to get the dog snap as a pet they already had a black cat named snoop but one day when the twins with their father and mother were on a railroad train something happened and snoop was lost they found snap instead he was a circus dog and but there if you want to read of snap you must do in the book about him i shall tell you this much though snap was a very fine dog and could do many tricks and in the end the bobbseys kept him for a pet as well as getting back their lost cat snoop when school was over for the winter holidays one year the bobbseys went to snow lodge and in the book of that name i have told you about a queer mystery the twins helped solve while out amid the snow and ice now the bobbseys were back in their fine house in lakeport where dinah the fat cook gave them such good things to eat and where sam johnson her husband kept the lawns so nice and green for the children to play on just now freddie bobbsey would have been very glad indeed to be playing on that same lawn instead of being on his brother's bicycle rolling toward the team of lumber horses who were coming straight for him oh look at freddy look at freddy screamed flossie dropping the two book-straps which she had at last found save him nan bert oh freddy ay clear to goodness exclaimed fat dinah in the kitchen dem chilluns an up to some o trouble freddie steer to one side steer out of the way shouted bert as he ran for the gate he could not hope to reach his little brother in time though freddie was too frightened and excited to steer the bicycle was going fast faster than he had ever ridden on it before all he could do was to sit tight and hold fast to the handle bars oh he'll be run over cried nan and she too raced after bert the team with no driver to guide it ran faster and faster freddie began to cry and then all at once the front wheel of the bicycle ran over a stone and turned to one side the handle-bars were jerked from freddie's grasp and over he went wheel and all luckily for him he fell to one side of the road on the soft grass or he might have been injured but as it was the fall did not hurt him at all one of his little fat legs though became tangled up in the wire spokes of the front wheel and freddie lay there with the wheel on top of him unable to get up oh bert bert screamed nan grab him quick shouted dinah waddling down the walk but she was too fat to go fast enough to do any good roll out of the way freddie cried bert freddie was too much entangled in the wheel to be able to move and all the while the lumber team was coming nearer and nearer to him would the horses with no driver at the reins know enough to turn to one side or would the wheels roll over poor freddy and the bicycle nan covered her face with her hands she did not want to look at what was going to happen i must get there in time to pull him out of the way thought bert and he ran as fast as he could but the team was almost on freddy now suddenly the dog snap who had jumped up when he heard the shouts saw what the danger was snap knew about horses and he was smart enough to know that freddie was in danger without waiting for anyone to tell him what to do snap ran straight for the lumber team leaping up in front of them and barking as loudly as he could snap turned the trotting horses to one side and just in time too for a little more and one of the front wheels of the heavily loaded lumber wagon would have run over the bicycle in which freddie was still entangled bow wow barked snap the horses were perhaps afraid of being bitten though snap was very gentle at any rate they turned aside and would have run on faster only snap leaping up grabbed the dangling reins in his teeth and pulled hard on them whoa called bert when the horses heard this and felt the tug on the lines they knew it meant to stop and stop they did snap had saved freddy chapter two CHAPTER THREE DINA'S UPSET what's the matter what has happened asked mrs bobbsey who had run out to the front porch upon hearing the excited cries and the exclamations of fat dinah the cook oh has anything happened to any of the children yes'm i specs there has ma'am said dinah poor little freddy am done smashed all up flatter'n a pancake mrs bobbsey freddy oh he's all right shouted bert who had by this time reached his little brother and was lifting him out of the bicycle not hurt a bit are you freddy n-no i guess not said freddy a bit doubtfully i-i'm scared though nothing to be frightened at now freddy said bert holding up the little chap so his mother could see him why freddy isn't hurt dinah said mrs bobbsey in great relief what made you think so well i seed him all tingled up in dat two-wheeled velocipede o bert's an de hoss team was comin right down on de honey lamb i thought sure he was gun to be squashed flat on a pancake but he ain't bless my soul he ain't ah dere's my cake burnin and into the kitchen ran dinah glad indeed that nothing had happened worse than the scare freddy received good snap good old dog said nan as she patted his head bow wow barked snap he still held the horse reins in his strong white teeth he was not going to let the horses go yet oh freddy cried mrs bobbsey when she understood what had happened what danger you were in why did you take bert's wheel i-i wanted to ride mamma i didn't think i'd fall off or that that team would come you must never do it again said mrs bobbsey never get on bert's wheel again unless he is with you to hold you you are too small yet for a bicycle yes'm said freddie in a low voice but where is the driver of the wagon went on mrs bobbsey looking at the empty seat maybe he fell off suggested nan who had taken freddy from bert the latter picking up his wheel and looking to see if it had been damaged by the fall but it was all right here comes a driver now said flossie who saw one of the men from her father's lumber yard hurrying along the road is anybody hurt the man asked as he came up running and breathing fast for he had come a long way no one i think answered mrs bobbsey but my little boy had a very narrow escape i am sorry said the driver i left the team standing out in front of the lumber yard while i went in the office to find out where i was to deliver the planks when i came out the horses were trotting away i guess they were scared by something i ran fast but i could not catch them snap caught them for you said the twins mother as she looked at the former circus dog who was still holding the horse reins yes he's a good dog the lumber wagon driver said i was afraid when i saw how far the horses had gone that they might do some damage but i'm glad no one was hurt i think we are all glad spoke mrs bobbsey it was partly my little boy's own fault for he should not have gotten on his brother's bicycle but he won't do it again no i never will promised freddy as he rubbed his leg where it had been bruised a little from becoming tangled up in the wire spokes snap barked and wagged his tail as the driver took the lines from him and then when the man drove off with the horses and the load of lumber mrs bobbsey went with the twins back into the yard well i'm glad all the excitement is over she said where were you nan grace levine called for you but i looked out in the yard and did not see you so she went away again why i went down to papa's office mamma with the letter you gave me for him yes i know but i supposed you had come back what kept you so long well i er i was talking to papa nan did not want to go on for she did not want to tell that she had been talking about the houseboat mr bobbsey had been intending to keep that as a little secret surprise for his wife but now if her mother asked about it nan felt she would have to tell she hardly knew what to say but just then something happened that made everything all right mr bobbsey himself came hurrying down the street from the direction of his lumber office he seemed much excited and his hat was on crooked as though he had not taken time to put it on straight is everything all right he called to his wife none of the children hurt no none of them she answered with a smile mr bobbsey could see that for himself now since freddie and flossie were going up the walk together freddie tying one of the book straps around the dog's neck while nan and bert followed behind them with mrs bobbsey some one telephoned to me said the lumber merchant that they saw one of our teams running away down this street and i was afraid our children or those of some of the neighbours might be hurt so i hurried down to see did you notice anything of a runaway team yes said mrs bobbsey but everything is all right now Only I haven't yet heard what it was that kept Nan so long down at your office.

And she smiled.

Nan looked at her father and Mr. Bobsy looked at Nan.

That will do just as well.

Huh, he's a frayed cat, muttered Danny again, as he shuffled off.

muttering to himself several times he had made trouble for the bobbsey twins and bert was not any too friendly with him danny was a bully in the school bert wished very much indeed that he could have taken some of his

boy friends down to the houseboat

[tense music]

Oh, ladies and gentlemen, the Bobbsey Twins.

I am God.

I am everywhere.

The Bobbsey.

Was it Bobbsey Twins?

Bobbsey Twins.

Okay.

Was that what they called it, Bobbsey Twins?

I was gonna say, none of us know the name-

I know

There were dozens, maybe hundreds, of young adult and tween age book series in the late 19th and early 20th century.

There was like a 50-year span of just girl detectives, boy detectives, stuff like the Bobbsey Twins, all these books.

There's this huge-

Encyclopedia Brown.

Growing up in extreme poverty in Central Falls, Rhode Island, she says that at nine years old, writing was her fantasy.

She specifically mentions reading the Bobbsey Twins books and thinking, "I could make a life of that."

We have to look at the causality here.

Why the Bobbsey Twins?

Good question.

For a young Black girl living in deep poverty, dealing with the trauma of abuse and an incredibly chaotic environment, the Bobbsey Twins represented the ultimate escapism.

Because they're just so safe.

Exactly.

It was following her.

It's almost like thinking of the Bobbsey Twins, right? Um-

That, that kinda gave, I will say, that kinda gave me chills 'cause, like, uh, I, I would, uh, w- when we let...

Like, my friend that was schizophrenic actually, and he was older than me, and I met him through, like, a group therapy youth, kind of like disturbed youth [laughs] or whatever, like, a St. Leonard Society type thing, right? Of, like...

So we, okay, so we grew up, like, attached at the hip.

Everyone called us the Bobbsey Twins.

We would dress up on twin day at school like each other.

Yeah.