The two girls ran toward the lodge. When they explained their plan to Mrs. Bobbsey and the small twins, Freddie and Flossie insisted upon going into the tunnel with them.
“Be careful, children,” Mrs. Bobbsey cautioned, as she handed Nan a large flashlight “Call if you run into anything unusual. I’ll stay right here in the kitchen.”
“Yes, Mother,” Nan agreed.
“Wow, it’s dark!” Dorothy cried, peering over her cousin’s shoulder, as Nan led the way down a narrow stairway, flashing the beam over walls and floor. After them came Freddie, then Flossie.
Stone walls, glistening with moisture, seemed to press in upon them. Cobwebs spread their silky touch over the children’s faces, and a scurrying sound indicated that mice lived here.
“Ooh, it’s spooky!” Flossie quavered.
Suddenly Nan stopped, turned off her flash, and held up a hand to warn the others. “I think I see a light beaming ahead,” she whispered. “I—I hope it’s Bert and Harry!”
Motionless and silent, the children watched a ray of light play on the walls, floor, and ceiling. Gradually it came nearer. Nan gasped as the beam flashed on her face.
“It’s Nan!” she heard Harry cry triumphantly. Then he and Bert rushed up to join the others.
Nan laughed. “Even though I knew it must be you,” she explained, “it was still scary!”
Excited over their discovery, the children went through the tunnel into the kitchen. All during lunch they discussed the secret tunnel. Why did it lead from the kitchen to the old smokehouse? And what had it been used for?
“We’ll ask Mr. Carford the next time we see him,” Nan said eagerly.
Bert spoke up. “Do you realize it’s Christmas Eve? We have a lot to do this afternoon!”
Mr. Bobbsey agreed. “I think the first order of business for us men is to cut the Christmas tree!”
Bundling up well and carrying two axes from the tool house, Mr. Bobbsey, Bert, Freddie, and Harry set out.
As soon as they left, Nan and Dorothy began to pop corn to make strings of it to hang on the tree. Mrs. Bobbsey and Flossie assembled brightly colored cardboard and cans of water-color paint Flossie had found in a kitchen drawer.
For the next hour the little group busied themselves stringing the white corn puffs, painting walnut shells in gay colors, and cutting the cardboard into fantastic shapes. Soon they had a large pile of glittering tree ornaments.
“Oh, Flossie ! Look at you!” her mother cried when they had finished. The little girl was liberally sprinkled with red and green dots which had splashed from her brush.
“I’m a Christmas tree ornament!” Flossie exclaimed, jumping up and running around the room waving her arms.
“That’s right,” Nan agreed teasingly. “We’ll hang you on the top of the tree, and you can be the Christmas angel!”
“I’d rather be down with the rest of you,” Flossie decided, “so I’ll wash off the paint!”
The little girl scampered off. As she returned to the living room they heard pounding on the front door. When Nan opened it, the children beheld the largest spruce tree they had ever seen ! It appeared to walk into the room by itself but behind it came Mr. Bobbsey and the boys, their faces glowing from the cold.
“That’s bee-yoo-ti-ful, Daddy!” Flossie cried as her father set the giant tree up in a corner of the living room.
“It certainly is,” her mother agreed. “Let’s have supper now, and then we’ll have plenty of time to trim it.”
All the children helped, and soon the meal had been eaten and the dishes washed. Then everyone gathered around the tree.
“I said this would be an old-fashioned Christmas,” Mr. Bobbsey reminded the twins. “In place of electric lights on the tree, we’ll have large birthday candles. We are celebrating a birthday, you know.”
After the colorful ornaments and strings of popcorn had been arranged among the branches, Bert and Harry helped Mr. Bobbsey attach the candles.
As Dorothy stood back to admire their handiwork, she exclaimed, “I have an idea!” Grabbing a sweater, she ran outdoors. In a few minutes she returned, her arms full of pine cones.
“Oh, that’s wonderful, Dorothy!” Nan cried. “They’re just what we need. We’ll color them and hang them on the ends of the branches.”
When this had been done, Mr. Bobbsey and the boys lighted the candles one by one. Everyone oh-ed and ah-ed.
“It’s simply gorgeous!” said Dorothy.
“Now for the carols, Mommy!” Flossie pleaded.
Smiling, her mother went over to the old-fashioned spinet piano and began to play a familiar Christmas song. The children gathered around, and soon the air was full of sweet Christmas music.
As the strains of a carol died away Bert suddenly put up his hand. “Wait!” he whispered. “I hear something in the kitchen!”
At that moment Snap, who had been napping before the fireplace, stood up, his fur bristling.
He let out a low whine and started toward the kitchen.
“Let’s see what it is !” Nan said, tiptoeing after the dog.
When she reached the door into the kitchen she opened it quickly. Then Nan gasped, as she saw the door in the fireplace closing stealthily!
CHAPTER XIII
THE SEARCH
WHEN Nan saw the hidden door closing, she could not repress a scream. Immediately the others crowded into the kitchen.
“What’s the matter, Nan? What did you see?” her father asked quickly.
Still shaking, the girl pointed to the fireplace. “That—that door,” she gasped. “I saw it close !”
Mr. Bobbsey dashed over and carefully pulled the door open. No one stood on the other side or on the steps that led down to the tunnel.
“Bring me a flashlight, Bert,” his father requested.
Snap was growling softly. As soon as Mr. Bobbsey beamed the light below, the dog started down the steps. The twins’ father followed. But though both went the full length of the tunnel and looked out the smokehouse door, they found no sign of an intruder, and returned.
“Nan,” said her father, “perhaps you didn’t close the fireplace door tightly this morning. Then when you opened the kitchen door a little while ago maybe the draft made the other one close.”
Seeing that Nan was still unconvinced and that the other children were nervous, Mrs. Bobbsey said lightly, “If there was anybody in here, we’ll make sure he doesn’t return this way!”
She asked Bert and Harry to move a small wooden bench in front of the fireplace door, and at her request Mr. Bobbsey swung one of the huge, heavy iron pots onto the bench.
“Now,” said the twins’ mother, “let’s have one more carol, then hang up your stockings, and everyone go to bed. Remember, tomorrow’s the big day!”
When the music ended, the children climbed the stairs drowsily and were soon fast asleep.
Flossie was the first one awake the next morning. She ran from room to room calling out, “Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!”
Soon everyone was up and dressed and gathered in the living room. The stocking treasures were excitedly explored. There was a great laugh as Dorothy pulled out a toy lobster that instantly “pinched” her.
“Santa played a joke on you!” Freddie giggled.
Finally, at Mrs. Bobbsey’s urging, the family gathered around the dining table to enjoy a breakfast of broiled ham and waffles.
“All right, children! Now for the real presents!” the twins’ father called jovially.
Mrs. Bobbsey led the way to the tree where the gaily wrapped packages were piled high. For the next two hours, cries of “Just what I wanted !” and “Oh, thanks a million!” and “You remembered!” echoed through the house.
Freddie and Flossie were particularly delighted with gifts which Bert and Nan had made for them—a miniature sleigh for Flossie’s doll Susie, fashioned after Mr. Carford’s real one, and a wooden firehouse for Freddie’s pumper.
“Is this what you and Nan were
doing in the basement work shop?” Freddie asked.
“That’s right,” Bert replied. “Nan designed and painted them and I built them!”
“They’re bee-yoo-tiful!” Flossie declared.
The hours until dinnertime were happily spent in trying on or playing with the new possessions. Then everyone sat down to a late afternoon turkey dinner, which proved to be so plentiful that Freddie had a difficult time finishing his plum pudding.
“Let’s hunt for the money again,” Bert suggested as they arose. “I need exercise after that dinner!”
They all agreed to continue the hunt, and Nan said, “I still think the missing money is near a mantelpiece. Remember the money disappeared from a mantelpiece. How many are there here?”
“Well,” Harry began thoughtfully, “there’s the living-room mantel, one in the den, and one in the kitchen.”
“Let’s examine the stone fireplace wall in the living room first,” Nan proposed.
“There’s a magnifying glass in the table drawer,” Freddie announced. “That would be good to use. Real detectives do!”
“You’re a wonder!” Bert exclaimed, patting his little brother on the head. “Bring the glass over here!”
Freddie hurried to the other end of the room and returned a minute later with an old-fashioned reading glass. The children took turns using it to examine the stones around the mantel.
Fifteen minutes later Nan exclaimed, “I think I’ve found something!” She pointed to a crack between the mantel and the stone wall. The children followed its course down the side of the fireplace until it disappeared into the floor boards.
“Give me the magnifying glass a moment,” Bert said. “Just as I thought ! See these little marks along here? Someone has tried to pry this crack open with a chisel!”
“That’s right.” Nan nodded, bending to look again at the crack.
“This is the best clue we’ve found so far!” Harry exclaimed. “Let’s give it a look with the flashlight. Maybe the money dropped down this crack.”
Nothing resembling a stack of bills could be seen, however. Disappointed, the children continued their search of the living-room fireplace, but by bedtime they still had had no success in locating anything.
The next day, Sunday, was bright and clear. Mrs. Bobbsey insisted that the hunt be given up temporarily and that the children spend time out of doors after a little religious service.
“Since we can’t get to church today, we’ll have our own,” she said.
Mrs. Bobbsey went to the spinet. Each one chose a favorite hymn. Six were sung, then they recited the Lord’s Prayer together.
“And now let’s go skating,” Dorothy suggested. “The wind has swept the snow off the ice.”
Nan joined her, and the two girls skated back and forth, arm in arm, trying a few fancy figures, while Bert and Harry took the Icebird for a spin. Freddie was trying to teach his twin how to make a figure eight on the ice.
“It’s easy, Flossie,” he repeated. “See, you start off on one foot like this, lean to the—”
Suddenly Freddie stiffened. Pointing a shaking finger down the shoreline, he screamed:
“The Black Monster!”
Nan and Dorothy turned quickly just in time to see a dark, winged figure skim toward the shoreline and disappear into the woods some distance down the lake!
Wondering what the others were pointing at, Bert and Harry stopped the iceboat and joined them. When they heard the story, Bert said grimly, “It may have looked like a black monster, but it’s human. I’m going to track him down and find out who he is!”
“I’m with you,” said Harry. “Want to come along, Nan and Dorothy?” he asked. The girls accepted quickly.
“You’d better not come,” Nan said to Freddie and Flossie. “How about playing up by the lodge? And tell Mother you’re back.”
“Okay,” said Flossie. “It’s too cold here anyway.”
The four older children picked up their boots and, carrying them under their arms, skated off. Soon they located the trail of the strange person’s skate runners near the shoreline and followed the faint traces. In a short while they came to a trampled spot on the bank where the “monster” had evidently removed his skates and donned boots.
“These tracks should be fairly easy to follow,” Harry remarked.
The four children quickly changed to their boots and started inland. On and on they trudged through the woods. Some time later they came to an open field where most of the snow had been swept from the ground into a high drift on one side.
“It looks as if we’ve lost the bootprints,” Nan said woefully.
The children made a circle of the field but failed to pick up any traces of their quarry. “Guess we’d better head back,” Bert said in disappointment, and the others agreed.
“Which way did we come into this field?” Dorothy asked, looking about for their trail.
“I’m sort of turned around,” Harry admitted, “but we should be able to follow our own footprints back—that is, if we can find them.”
Wearily the four walked around the large field, scanning the snow at the edge. Finally Dorothy called out, “I’ve found them! This is where we came in!”
Bert, Nan, and their cousins started back into the woods. For a while they trudged along silently. Then Nan groaned and sat down on a fallen tree trunk. “I’m beat!” she cried. “I didn’t realize we had walked this far when we came in!”
Dorothy flopped down beside her. “I must say my legs feel like sticks,” she admitted. “How about a little rest, boys?”
Bert and Harry retraced their steps to where the girls were seated. “Good idea,” Bert agreed, “but it’s pretty cold. I don’t think we should sit here long.”
“We could build a fire,” Harry suggested. “If we get really warmed up, we can make better time back to the lake. Anyone have matches?”
“I do,” Bert said, pulling a packet from his pocket. “I thought we might want a fire by the lake this morning, so I picked these up as we came out.”
The others thought Harry’s suggestion a good one and scattered out to pick up pieces of dead wood with which to build the fire. Soon a small blaze was burning.
“This would be perfect if we only had something warm to drink,” Nan said. “My teeth are chattering!”
“I know!” exclaimed Dorothy. “Let’s make hot chocolate!”
“Great! But how?” Harry scoffed.
“You’ll see!” Dorothy replied, grinning. She went off into the woods and in a few minutes came back carrying a large can which had contained ground coffee. “I saw this under a tree we passed back there,” she explained.
Dorothy washed the can out with snow, then filled it with clean snow, and placed it over the fire, which had now died down to a low flame. Next she took two chocolate bars from her pocket, broke them into small pieces, and dropped them into the melted snow.
“There!” she announced triumphantly. “Hot chocolate!”
The steaming drink tasted delicious as they passed the can from one to another. When the chocolate was gone, the children prepared to leave their little rest site. Suddenly they all stopped abruptly in their tracks. The crunching sound of snow being trampled came to their ears.
Could it be the mysterious skater returning?
CHAPTER XIV
NEW-FOUND FRIEND
HARDLY daring to breathe, the little group listened to the approaching footsteps. Then from among the trees a young man came up to them. He was of medium height and rather chunkily built.
“Hello there!” he called. “Are you lost?”
The children heaved sighs of relief, and Bert answered, “No, we’re on our way back to the lake, but we’re cold and tired, and decided to rest here for a while.”
“It’s pretty raw weather to be sitting in the woods,” the stranger remarked. “My cabin isn’t too far from here. Why don’t you come back with me? I’ll give you some lunch and show you a shortcut to the lake.”
“That’s very nice of you, Mr.—” Nan replied.
“I’m Dave Burdock. I guide hunting parties in these woods,” the young man explained.
The twins looked at each other in amazement. This man must be Mr. Carford’s nephew!
Noticing their glances, Dave seemed puzzled. “Do you know me? I mean, have I met you before? I don’t remember—”
Nan smiled. “No, we’ve never met, but we do know your uncle, Mr. Carford. And your Aunt Emma Carford, too. In fact, we’re spending our Christmas vacation at Snow Lodge.”
At the mention of Mr. Carford’s name, Dave Burdock’s jaw set. Then to break the uncomfortable silence, Nan spoke up, “I think you know our father, Richard Bobbsey.”
Dave smiled. “Yes, indeed. I’m glad to know you. Your father was very good to me a few years ago, and I’ve never forgotten it. But you’re not all brothers and sisters, are you?”
The Bobbseys laughed and quickly introduced themselves and their cousins. Nan and Bert were wondering whether they should tell Dave that they knew the story of the missing money when he said: “This is funny. Here I stand talking when I should be getting you to my place where you can warm up and have something to eat. I’ll bet you’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“We sure are!” Harry exclaimed.
“Well, follow me,” Dave said. “We’ll be there in no time!”
The cousins picked up their skates and trudged after the young man. In a short while they came to a tiny log cabin nestled among tall fir trees. How comforting and inviting the little house looked, with smoke curling from a big chimney!
Dave entered first. Nan and Dorothy, after knocking the snow from their boots, followed, then the boys.
“This is terrific!” said Dorothy, looking at the cozy room and big fire.
While the children clustered in front of the burning logs, Dave went into the small kitchen. In a few minutes he returned carrying a tray on which were five bowls of steaming hot soup.
As the visitors ate hungrily, they began to talk about Snow Lodge and how much fun they were having there. Dave’s face became grim, and he said through clenched teeth, “I hate that place !”
The Bobbsey Twins and the Mystery at Snow Page 8
