The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West

by Laura Lee Hope

  Produced by Rose Koven, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franksand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST

  BY

  LAURA LEE HOPE

  Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "TheBunny Brown Series," "The OutdoorGirls Series," "The Six LittleBunkers Series," Etc.

  ILLUSTRATED

  NEW YORK1920

  BOOKS BY LAURA LEE HOPE12mo. Cloth, Illustrated.

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN WASHINGTON

  THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST

  THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER. SUE PLAYING CIRCUS

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW

  BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE

  THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES

  SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S

  SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S

  SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S

  SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S

  SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S

  SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S

  THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES

  (Ten Titles)

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I. THE TRAIN WRECK

  II. THE QUEER OLD MAN

  III. MR. BOBBSEY REMEMBERS

  IV. THE OLD MAN'S STORY

  V. NEWS FROM THE WEST

  VI. AUNT EMELINE

  VII. HAPPY DAYS

  VIII. OFF FOR THE WEST

  IX. DINNER FOR TWO

  X. FREDDIE, AS USUAL

  XI. IN CHICAGO

  XII. NEARING LUMBERVILLE

  XIII. THE SAWMILL

  XIV. THE BIG TREE

  XV. BILL DAYTON

  XVI. THE TRAIN CRASH

  XVII. AT THE RANCH

  XVIII. A RUNAWAY PONY

  XIX. THE WILD STEER

  XX. THE ROUND-UP

  XXI. IN THE STORM

  XXII. NEW NAMES

  CHAPTER I

  THE TRAIN WRECK

  "Come on, let's make a snow man!" cried Bert Bobbsey, as he ran aboutin the white drifts of snow that were piled high in the yard in frontof the house.

  "That'll be lots of fun!" chimed in Freddie Bobbsey, who was Bert'ssmall brother. "We can make a man, and then throw snowballs at him,and he won't care a bit; will he, Bert?"

  "No, I guess a snow man doesn't care how many times you hit him withsnowballs," laughed the older boy, as he tried to catch a dog that wasleaping about in the drifts, barking for joy. "The more snowballs youthrow at a snow man the bigger he gets," said Bert.

  "Oh, Bert Bobbsey, he does not!" cried a girl with dark hair andsparkling brown eyes, as she ran along with a smaller girl holding herred-mittened hand. "A snow man can't grow any bigger! What makes youtell Freddie so?"

  "Course a snow man can grow bigger!" declared Bert. "A snowball growsbigger the more you roll it in the snow, doesn't it?"

  "Yes," admitted Nan--Nan being the name of the brown-eyed girl, Bert'stwin sister. "I know a snowball grows bigger the more you roll it, butyou don't roll a snow man!" went on the brown-eyed girl.

  "Ho, ho! wouldn't that be funny?" laughed the little girl, whose handNan held.

  "What would be funny, Flossie?" asked Freddie, and one look at the twosmaller Bobbsey children would have told you that they, too, weretwins. In fact the four Bobbseys were twins--that is there were twosets of them--Bert and Nan, and Flossie and Freddie. "What would befunny?" Freddie wanted to know. "Tell me! I want to laugh."

  "Yes, you generally do want to laugh, little fireman!" and BertBobbsey laughed himself as he gave his small brother the pet name thatDaddy Bobbsey had thought up some time ago. "But, as Flossie says, itwould be funny to see a snow man rolling around in the drifts to makehimself bigger," went on Bert.

  "But you said he'd get bigger if we threw snowballs at him," insistedNan.

  "And he will," went on Bert. "You see, a snowball gets bigger when youroll it around the yard, because more snow keeps sticking to it allthe while. And if we make a snow man and then throw little snowballsat him, these snowballs will stick to him and he'll grow bigger, won'the?"

  "Oh, I didn't know you meant _that_ way!" and now Nan, herself,began to laugh. Of course Flossie and Freddie joined in, though I amnot sure that they knew what the joke was all about, but they werehaving fun in the snow and that was all they cared for.

  It was a fine snow storm, at least for the Bobbsey twins and the otherchildren of Lakeport. It was not too cold, and the white flakes hadcome down so fast that there was now enough snow to make many snow menand snowballs, and leave plenty for coasting down hill.

  The Bobbsey twins had hurried out to play in the snow as soon as theygot home from school, and now they were having fine fun. Snap, theirdog, was playing with them, leaping about in the drifts, divingthrough them, as the Bobbsey twins had seen swimmers dive throughwaves down at the seashore and Snap would come out on the other sideof the drift all covered with white flakes, as though he were a snowdog.

  Dear old Dinah, the fat, jolly, good-natured colored cook, who hadbeen with the Bobbseys many years, stood at the window looking at thechildren having fun in the snow.

  "Why doesn't yo' go out an' jine 'em?" she asked, as she looked at asleek cat that was curled up asleep near the stove. "Why doesn't yo'go out in de snow? Dat's whut I asks yo', Snoop," went on Dinah. "Dardey is--Flossie an' Freddie an' Nan an' Bert. An' Snap's out wif 'em,too. Why don't yo' go out an' jine de party?"

  But Snoop seemed to like it better by the warm fire. He didn't want to"jine" any party, as Dinah called it. Snoop didn't like snow or water.

  "Well, shall we make a snow man?" asked Bert, as he raced about withSnap, making the dog chase after sticks which would become buried deepunder the snow, where Snap had to dig them out. But the dog likedthis.

  "Let's make a snow house. I think that would be more fun," said Nan.

  "Oh, yes, and I can get my doll, and we can have a play party in thesnow house," cried Flossie.

  "Can't we take the snow man into the snow house?" Freddie wanted toknow. "That'll be more fun than dolls. And we can make believe thesnow house gets on fire, and I'll be a fireman and put it out. Oh,let's play that!" he cried, his eyes shining in fun.

  "Yes, anything like playing fireman suits you," returned Bert. "But itwould be pretty hard even to _pretend_ a snow house was burning.Snow can't catch fire, Freddie!"

  "Well, we could make believe!" said the little fellow. "Anyhow, I'mgoing to start to make a snow man, and you can make the snow house."

  "And I'll get my doll!" added Flossie, starting toward the house, herlittle fat legs and feet making holes in the snow drifts a
s she triedto hurry along.

  "Wait, I'll carry you," offered Nan. "You're getting so fat, littlefairy, that you'll look like a snow man yourself, if you keep on."

  "Are snow mans always fat?" asked Flossie.

  "They always seem to be," Nan said, as she lifted up her little sisterin her arms. Snap, the dog, came flurrying through the snow afterthem. "My, I can hardly carry you!" panted Nan, for Flossie was indeedgrowing fast, and was heavy.

  However, Nan managed to carry Flossie over to a path Mr. Bobbsey hadtold Sam, who was Dinah's husband, to shovel through the snow thatmorning. It was easier for Flossie to walk on the shoveled path, soNan put her down.

  The two girls went into the house, Flossie to get her doll, while Nanwent to the kitchen and said something to Dinah, the fat, jolly cook.

  "Suah, I gibs 'em to yo'!" exclaimed Dinah, laughing all over at Nan'squestion. "I'll put 'em in a bag, so's yo'all won't spill 'em!"

  And when Flossie was ready to go out again with her doll, Nan wentwith her, carrying a bag, at which Snap sniffed hungrily.

  "What you got?" asked the little girl.

  "Oh, you'll see pretty soon," Nan answered,

  "Is it a secret?" Flossie kept on teasing.

  "Sort of secret," Nan answered.

  When the two girls reached the place where they had left the two boys,Bert was beginning to make a snow house and Freddie was rolling asnowball as the start of a snow man. You know how they are made; asmall snowball for the man's head, and a larger one for his body, withlegs underneath. Freddie hoped Bert would help him when it came to thebig snowball part of it.

  "Is the snow house ready?" asked Flossie, who had gone in especiallyto get her doll, so she might have a "play party."

  "Oh, no, it takes a good while to make a snow house," Bert said. "Idon't believe I'll get it done before night if you don't help me."

  "I'll help," offered Flossie. "Can I make the chimbley?"

  "They don't have chimbleys on a snow house!" declared Freddie, pausingin his rolling of the snowball. "They don't have chimbleys on snowhouses, 'cause they don't have fires in 'em; do they Bert?"

  "That's right, Freddie," agreed the older boy. "But maybe, if Flossiewants it, we could put a make-believe chimney on the snow house."

  "Oh, I do want it--awful much!" cried Flossie. "Come on, Nan, you helpBert make the snow house, and then we can all play in it.

  "And you've got to let my snow man come in!" cried Freddie.

  "Yes, we'll let him come in if you don't make him too big," agreedBert, with a laugh.

  Bert and Nan, the older Bobbsey twins, generally did what they couldto please Flossie and Freddie, who sometimes wanted their own way toomuch.

  "I guess I'll help make the snow house first," went on Freddie,walking away from the snowball he had partly rolled. "After that I'llmake the man. It's better to make the house first, and then I'll knowhow big I can make the man."

  "Yes, that would be a good idea, little fireman!" returned Bert, witha laugh and a look at Nan. And then Bert caught sight of the bag inhis sister's hand--the bag around which Snap was sniffing so hungrily.

  "What have you, Nan?" asked Bert, pausing in the midst of shovelingsnow in a heap for the start of the snow house.

  "Oh--something!" and Nan smiled.

  "Something good?" Bert went on.

  "I guess they're good," Nan said, smiling. "I haven't tasted 'em yet,but Dinah nearly always makes good cookies!"

  "Oh, have you got some of Dinah's cookies?" cried Bert, dropping theshovel, and running toward Nan. "Give me some! Please!"

  "I want some, too!" cried Flossie.

  "So do I!" chimed in Freddie.

  Snap didn't say anything, but from the way he barked and leaped aboutI am sure he, too, wanted some of the cookies.

  "Dinah gave me enough for all of us," said Nan, as she opened the bag."Yes, and there's a broken piece off one that you can have," she wenton to Snap, the dog.

  Beginning with Flossie, then handing one to Freddie, next passing acookie to Bert and helping herself last, as was polite, Nan gave outthe cookies. Forgotten, now, were snow houses, snow men, snowballs,and even Flossie's doll. The Bobbsey twins were eating Dinah'scookies.

  They had each begun on the second helping, when suddenly a loud crashsounded, which seemed to come from the direction of the railroadtracks which ran not far from the Bobbsey home. The crash was followedby loud shouting.

  "I wonder what that was?" cried Bert.

  "Sounded like thunder," returned Nan.

  "Let's go and see," said Bert.

  Just as they were starting from the yard, Charley Mason, a boy wholived farther up the street, on the hill, came running along.

  "Oh, you ought to see it!" he cried, his eyes big with wonder.

  "See what?" asked Bert.

  "Smash-up on the railroad, down in the rocky cut!" answered Charlie."Two engines smashed together, and the cars are all busted! I saw itfrom the top of the hill! I'm going down! Come on!"