CHAPTER V--CHRISTMAS TREES
Several things happened all in a moment. The cracking limb, Bert'scries, and the swaying of the bough as it bent toward the ground withthe weight of the Bobbsey boy frightened Snoop, the cat. All this didjust what was needed, for it so frightened Snoop that down he scrambledout of the tree, not caring whether or not he fell.
Bert, as soon as he felt the tree branch giving way with him, reachedout his arms and grasped whatever came first to his hands. This happenedto be another branch over his head, so that there he was, his feet onone limb that was slowly bending beneath his weight, and his handsgrasping a branch above him.
And, to add to the excitement, Flossie and Freddie, who saw what dangerBert was in, set up a dismal crying.
"Oh, Bert's going to fall! Bert's going to fall!" yelled Freddie.
"Daddy! Mother! Dinah! Somebody! Come quick!" exclaimed Flossie. "CatchBert before he falls!"
Nan ran out under the tree and stood with her dress held up, as she usedto do when her father picked apples and dropped them down to her. Nanmay have thought Bert could drop down and she would catch him, as a manjumps into a circus net from the top of the tent. But, again, perhapsNan was so excited that she really did not know what she was doing.
However, daddy and mother came hurrying to the window, attracted by thecries of the children, and Mr. Bobbsey, seeing just what was needed,said to his wife:
"Run and tell Sam to come here with the ladder. It stands back of thechicken house."
"I will," said Mrs. Bobbsey. So, instead of running out after Mr.Bobbsey to see poor Bert dangling in the tree, she hurried to the reardoor and called to Sam, who was working over Mr. Bobbsey's automobile.
"Sam! Sam! Bring the ladder out in front, quick!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Ladder! De ladder?" repeated the colored husband of fat Dinah. "Am deya fire some place?"
"No fire!" answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "But Bert is up a tree and he isfalling! Mr. Bobbsey wants the ladder to get him down! Hurry!"
"Oh!" answered Sam. Then he hurried to the chicken house, got theladder, and hurried around to the front of the house with it.
"Can you hold on a little longer, Bert?" asked his father anxiously, asSam began to raise the ladder up into the tree.
"I--I guess so," was the answer. "Is Snoop all right?"
"Yes, Snoop's all right. He jumped. But don't you jump!" called Nan.
"I--I won't," Bert answered.
Then his father and Sam raised the ladder up into the tree, and a fewminutes later they had rescued Bert, helping him so that he could puthis feet on the ladder and climb down.
"What made you go up?" asked his mother, when the excitement was allover.
"I went up after Snoop," said Bert. "A strange dog chased him up thetree."
"Well, of course, you meant to be kind," said his father. "But you mustbe careful when in a tree. Very often a branch may look sound andstrong, as though it would hold you up. But when you step on it or pullon it, it breaks. It is always a good plan, if you climb a tree in thewoods--or anywhere else--to pull on a limb to test it before you bearyour full weight on it. If you hear a cracking sound it means that thebranch will break."
"I heard a cracking sound," Bert said. "But that was after I got out onthe limb with my feet."
"Then it was almost too late," his father said. "But remember always totest a branch before you trust yourself to it."
The Bobbsey twins and the others went back into the house, and the restof the Thanksgiving day passed pleasantly. Snoop and Snap had been givenespecially good dinners in honor of the occasion.
In the morning, when Flossie and Freddie awakened, which generallyhappened at the same time, the little fellow ran to the window andlooked out.
"Oh, look, Flossie! Look!" he cried. "Come and see!"
"Is Snoop up the tree again?" asked the little girl.
"No, but it's snowing! Snowing hard! Now we can have some fun with oursleds! Come on, we'll go coasting!"
Later the two smaller Bobbsey twins, having had their breakfasts, ranout to play in the snow. Quite a little had fallen during the night, andmore was coming down. It was just about right for starting to make acoasting hill.
Not far from the Bobbsey home, on a side street, was a hill where thesmaller children had their fun. Bert and Nan, with some of the olderboys and girls, generally went to a longer and steeper hill somedistance away. But this time Bert and Nan had not gotten out theirsleds.
"I'm going to wait for Charlie Mason," said Bert. "He said he'd comeover as soon as it snowed. We're going to make a bob."
"May I have a ride on it?" asked Nan. "I'll help you get some pieces ofcarpet to tack on if you'll let me ride."
"Sure we'll let you," agreed Bert. And then he went to telephone over toask if Charlie were coming.
Meanwhile Flossie and Freddie and some of their friends were having funon the small hill. Each of the smaller Bobbsey twins had a sled, and thechildren had races to see who would get first to the bottom of theslope. With merry shouts and laughter they played amid the swirlingflakes of white snow.
The fun was at its liveliest, and Flossie and Freddie were among themerriest, when along came Nick Malone, the boy whom Freddie had lockedin the tool shed at school.
"Oh, Freddie! Look!" whispered Flossie, dropping the rope of her sledand moving closer to her brother.
"What is it?" asked Freddie, for he was watching Sammie Henderson godown hill backward on a "dare."
"It's that--that bad boy!" whispered Flossie. "He might pull my hair!"
"If he does, I'll--I'll----" began Freddie, and then up swaggered Nick.
"Hu! you can't do nothin' to me now," he sneered. "There ain't noteacher or principal here! There!" and he reached over as if to pullFlossie's hair.
"You let my sister alone!" cried Freddie.
"Yah! Yah! Why don't you wear girls' dresses!" taunted Nick. "You're agirl-boy! Girl-boy!"
"I am not!" declared Freddie, while the other coasters gathered around."You go on away!"
"I'm going to have a coast! Here, I guess I'll take this sled!" criedNick, and before Freddie could stop him the bad boy caught Flossie'ssled from the ground and ran with it toward the top of the hill.
"Here! You come back! You let my sister's sled alone!" shouted Freddie,racing after Nick.
Now Freddie was a good runner, but Nick had the start of him, andreached the top of the hill first. However, Freddie was not far behind,and no sooner did Nick throw himself flat on the little Bobbsey girl'ssled, face down, than Freddie made a jump, and right on top of Nick'sback he landed!
"Hi! Get off!" cried Nick, his breath rather knocked out of him, forFreddie was a fat, chubby little fellow.
"You get off my sister's sled!" demanded Flossie's brother.
But it was too late for this. It was impossible for Nick to stop now,and down the hill he coasted on Flossie's sled, with Freddie on hisback, both boys coasting together!
It was a trick the children often did on the hill, and there was nothinghard about it. Only this time it happened to be an accident, and the twoboys were enemies and not friends.
Freddie was so surprised at the sudden and unexpected coast that he justhad to hold fast to Nick and he could say nothing more. But when thebottom of the hill was reached, Freddie, being on top, began to poundNick's back with his two sturdy fists.
"Hey! Quit! Let me up!" begged the bad boy.
"Not till you give me my sister's sled!" insisted Freddie.
"Well, how can I give it to her when you're sittin' on me?" yelled Nick.
With that Freddie got off the other lad's back, allowing him to get up.The other boys gathered around, thinking there might be a fight. ButNick had had enough. He found Freddie braver than he had thought, andturned away, muttering:
"Aw, I only wanted a ride an' I got it!"
"Yes, and Freddie had one too!" laughed Sam Miller.
Nick walked away, and then the younger Bobbsey twins again startedcoasting
, Freddie taking Flossie's sled back to her.
It was still snowing when noon came, and Flossie and Freddie had to gohome to lunch. They found Bert and Charlie busy making a bobsled in theback yard. The older boys were fastening together their sleds by a longplank, and Nan was helping by tacking some strips of carpet on theplank.
"Oh, can we ride on that?" asked Freddie.
"Maybe," said his brother. "How's the little hill?"
"Nice," Freddie answered.
"An' you ought to've seen Nick Malone take my sled and Freddie jump onhis back!" cried Flossie.
"Is that fellow bothering you two again?" demanded Bert, looking up witha hammer in his hand. "I'll get after him, that's what I will!"
"Freddie got after him," explained Flossie. "Oh, I'm so glad it snows!We're going coasting some more after dinner."
"Sure!" added Freddie.
At the dinner table Bert and Nan noticed that their father seemedworried over something. He went to the window several times to look outat the storm.
"If this keeps up the shipment will never arrive," he said to his wife.
"You mean the Christmas trees?" she asked.
"Yes," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "They are late now, and something seems tobe wrong up there in the woods."
"Shan't we have any Christmas tree?" asked Freddie, who did not knowjust what was being talked about.
"Oh, I guess so," his father said, and again he went to look at thesnow.
"Are you going to sell Christmas trees?" Bert asked. He had caught theword "shipment," and knew it had to do with some part of his father'slumber business.
"Yes, I am going into the Christmas tree business this year," said Mr.Bobbsey. "That is, I have bought a large shipment of them to be senthere to me from the North Woods. If they get here in time I can sellthem and make some money. But if this snow keeps up, the carloads oftrees, or the shipment, will be delayed, and if they don't get here atleast a week before Christmas they will be of little use to me. Butperhaps the snow will not be as heavy as I fear."
"I didn't know you sold Christmas trees," remarked Nan.
THE CHILDREN HAD GREAT FUN COASTING.]
"I never did before," her father said. "It's a new business for me, andI may make a failure of it."
Then the older Bobbsey twins began to understand how it is that snow canbring pleasure to boys and girls, but may often mean trouble for olderpeople in business.
"Well, we'll hope for the best," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he started back tothe office after dinner, when the white flakes were still fallingsteadily. "I may have to go up to the North Woods to see about thatshipment of trees if they don't get here soon."
"Could we go?" asked Bert, having a joyful vision of a mid-winter tripto one of his father's lumber camps.
"Well, I'll see," answered Mr. Bobbsey, and Nan and Bert looked at eachother in delight.
Some strange adventures were ahead of them, though they did not know it.