CHAPTER VII--IN THE NORTH WOODS
"It's just lovely to take a trip like this," said Nan, as she leanedback in the automobile.
"Swell, I call it," declared Bert.
Flossie and Freddie said nothing just then. They were too busy lookingfrom the windows.
Mr. Bobbsey owned a large, closed automobile, which even had anarrangement for heating, and it was just the proper vehicle for a triplike this. It easily held all the Bobbseys and their baggage, which hadbeen piled in to go with them.
It had not taken long to make preparations for the trip. Dinah and Samwould be left in charge of the Lakeport house, and would care for Snoopand Snap.
"I wish we could take our cat along," sighed Flossie.
"And Snap would be just right for the woods," said Freddie. "Everybodyhas a dog in the woods."
"We haven't time to bother with Snoop and Snap now," said Mrs. Bobbsey,so the dog and cat had been left at home, as much to their sorrow as tothat of the Bobbsey twins.
Cedar Camp was in what was called the "North Woods," about forty orfifty miles from Lakeport. It was a wild, desolate region, especially inthe winter. In summer many camping parties made the place more lively.
Mr. Bobbsey owned some timberland there, from which was cut some of thelumber he used in his business. And it was only this year that he haddecided to go into the Christmas tree trade. He had ordered manyhundreds of the small cedars, spruce, and hemlocks cut and shipped tohim, some to Lakeport and others to a more distant and larger city.
But something had gone wrong with the carloads of trees. They hadstarted from Cedar Camp all right, but that was the last heard of them.
"I can trace them from the North Woods end better than from down here,"Mr. Bobbsey had said, as a reason for making the trip.
The men who went into the woods to cut timber and Christmas trees had tostay in winter camps. They lived in log or slab cabins, and there weremany of them scattered through the North Woods. It was in one of thesecabins, which had formerly been used by a foreman and his family, thatMr. Bobbsey planned to have his wife and children stay for about a week.It would take him that long, he thought, to locate the missing Christmastrees.
And so now the Bobbsey twins were on the first part of their journey inthe large, closed automobile. It was almost as comfortable as travelingin a Pullman railroad car, and it was much more fun, the childrenthought.
They had brought with them plenty of lunch, some extra wraps, and someblankets and bed-clothes.
"What shall we eat when we get to the North Woods?" asked Freddie, as hemunched some cookies his mother passed to him and Flossie. "Shall wehave any--chicken?"
"If we could 'a' brought the one in the trolley car we could," suggestedFlossie. "Wasn't she funny, an' the rooster, too?"
"I wish we could 'a' caught them," Freddie murmured.
"Oh, I think we'll have enough to eat without those fowls," said theirmother.
"They will if they like baked beans," said Mr. Bobbsey. "The lumbermenhave plenty of those. They bake big pans of them."
"I'll help mother cook," offered Nan.
"There will be a woman at the camp to cook," Mr. Bobbsey explained. "Iwrote up and engaged the wife of one of the lumbermen," he said. "Ithought you'd like a little rest from looking after housework even incamp," he said to his wife.
"Thank you, I will," she said. "It will be quite nice to be in the woodsin winter; especially the Christmas tree woods, where there is so muchgreenery."
On went the automobile, driven by Mr. Bobbsey. Lakeport was left behindand they were on a country road. The weather was fine, with hardly acloud in the sky, and Mr. Bobbsey was glad that he had taken his familyon this little trip.
It looked as though they were going to have good luck all the way. Nooncame and saw them more than half over their journey, and as yet nomishaps had befallen them. There was no tire trouble and the engine ofthe big automobile seemed glad to work as hard as it could going up hilland on the level with the Bobbsey twins.
Mr. Bobbsey planned to get to Cedar Camp before dark, and he would havedone so but for a little accident. They had left the town of Bunkport,which was the last village before the North Woods was reached, when themotor began to chug in a queer manner.
"What's that?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "One of the cylinders seems to bemissing."
The Bobbsey twins knew what this meant. That one of the parts of theautomobile engine was not working properly.
"Oh, Daddy!" exclaimed Freddie.
"I guess the spark plug needs cleaning," said Mr. Bobbsey. "But we won'tstop for that now. I think we can reach Cedar Camp, and then I'll haveplenty of time to take it out and look at it."
But the automobile continued to go more and more slowly, and once, on ahill, it almost stopped.
"If we can get over the top we can coast down and soon be in CedarCamp," said Mr. Bobbsey, in answer to an anxious look from his wife.
The car did manage to climb the hill, and then it was easy to go downthe other side. But there was still a farther distance to go than Mr.Bobbsey had thought. The night settled down, it became dark, and then,suddenly, when the car was on a rough road in a sort of lane cut throughthe evergreen trees, the engine, with a sort of cough and chug, stoppedaltogether.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "We're stalled!"
"Looks like it," said Mr. Bobbsey, preparing to get out and see what thetrouble was.
"Where are we?" asked Bert, getting ready to follow his father and helpif he could.
"We're in the North Woods," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "Several miles fromCedar Camp, I'm afraid."
"It--it's awful dark!" whispered Flossie. "Aren't they going to turn onthe lights?"
"There aren't ever any lights in the woods 'ceptin' fireflies, arethere, Daddy?" asked Freddie.
"Only our auto lights," answered his father. "Well, we may be able totravel soon."
As he was getting out of the car into the dark road, a mournful, shrillcry that echoed all about sounded through the forest.
"What's that?" gasped Nan, shrinking close to her mother. "Oh, what isit?"