Bobbsey Twins 05: The Bobbsey Twins and the Mystery at SnowLodge

AT DOROTHY’S cry the others stopped and peered ahead. There was a light, dimmed considerably by the falling snow, but still easily seen. It was about twenty yards ahead and perhaps thirty to their left, back among the trees.

The children floundered through the snow toward the light. The distance seemed so great! They felt as if they had traveled miles before seeing the dim outline of a large house.

As the children reached the front door, Bert pounded on it, calling, “Mother! Dad!”

The door opened, and a broad beam of warm yellow light shone across the snow. The next moment Nan gave a sob of relief—Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were silhouetted in the doorway! She ran forward. But then, more tired than she realized, she slipped on an icy patch and crumpled in the snow.

Instantly Mr. Bobbsey rushed out and caught Nan up in his arms and hurried inside. Mrs. Bobbsey, with a fervent “Thank goodness, you are here at last!” urged the other three children to hasten indoors.

Fifteen minutes later the children, in dry clothes, were seated in front of a roaring fire in the living room, drinking hot lemonade which Mrs. Bobbsey had hurriedly prepared for them.

“Don’t try to tell us what happened,” Mrs. Bobbsey cautioned. “Just rest until I have supper ready. Then we can all hear your story together.”

“Isn’t this a lovely place!” Nan exclaimed, gazing around at the enormous living room.

A wall of fieldstone formed one long side and contained the five-foot-square fireplace opening. Above it stretched a wide walnut mantel. French doors opened onto a terrace at the far end. The high ceiling was supported by large, hand-hewn walnut beams.

“I’d love to live here,” Dorothy remarked, admiring the hand-hooked rugs, the paneled walls, and the comfortable, dark red leather furniture.

“Let’s start our search for the missing money right after supper,” Bert suggested with an eager look.

By the time Mrs. Bobbsey brought in a steaming hot supper which she set on a table in one corner of the room, the four children were feeling rested. They ate hungrily and eagerly told of their adventure in the storm.

Freddie and Flossie listened wide-eyed, and Freddie sighed as he said, “I wish I’d been there!”

“I don’t!” Flossie said energetically. “It makes me cold just to listen!”

Mr. Bobbsey said he had been getting ready to organize a search party for the missing children when he heard Bert pounding on the door.

“The rest of us arrived here in good time,” Mr. Bobbsey explained, “and were busy unpacking and looking around the lodge. We didn’t realize it was snowing so hard.”

Supper finished, the children helped Mrs. Bobbsey with the dishes. Then Bert again suggested a tour of the house and a search for the missing money.

Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey looked at each other and grinned. “You children certainly have boundless energy. Go ahead,” Mrs. Bobbsey said. “But we’ll set a time limit so you can get a good night’s sleep. You may search for one hour.”

“Come on, kids, let’s get started,” Bert urged. He took a flashlight from the mantel.

The four children, followed by Flossie and Freddie, walked slowly around the spacious living room. They examined the floors for trap doors and knocked on the paneled walls for signs of secret passageways or hollow spots.

Coming to a door at the end of the fireplace wall, Dorothy asked, “Where does this lead?”

“To the den. That part of the house is only one story high,” Freddie explained, proud of his knowledge. “Go on in.”

What a fascinating room it was! Deerskins, old rifles, powder horns, mounted fish, and a huge moosehead decorated the walls. Before a hearth lay as large a bear rug as any the children had ever seen. They made a careful search of the room but found no signs of any hiding place which might contain the lost money.

“Our time is almost up,” Nan observed. “Let’s take a quick look at the kitchen.”

Almost one entire side of this room was taken up by a huge, walk-in fireplace of stone. Old iron pots hung from cranes, the same as had been used in olden days.

“Isn’t this exciting?” Nan said enthusiastically as she stepped into the fireplace and peered up the old chimney. As she turned to come back into the room an iron ring in the wall caught her eye. “I wonder—” she mused. She took hold of the rusty ring and pulled.

“Bert! Dorothy! Harry!” she called. “I’ve found something!”

The others came running and crowded into the fireplace. Bert beamed his flashlight carefully into the space where the door had been. It showed a flight of steps leading downward.

At this moment Mrs. Bobbsey came into the kitchen to tell the children their hour for searching was up. “Okay, Mother,” said Nan. “We’ve made a big discovery tonight and tomorrow we’ll see where this tunnel leads!”

But when they gathered for breakfast the next morning, Mr. Bobbsey thought they had better change their plans.

“How about hiking back and getting the Icebird while the weather’s good?” he proposed to the older children.

“Oh yes, we should, before somebody takes it,” Bert agreed.

He and Nan, Dorothy, and Harry donned warm coats, boots, and mittens and climbed to the summit of a large, wooded hill not far from the lodge to see if they could spot the iceboat.

What a marvelous view stretched before them ! Fields and deep forests and a few scattered houses met their gaze. The broad, flat expanse of white in the distance must surely be Lake Metoka.

“I think I see the Icebird!” Nan exclaimed. “Over there, about a mile from the lodge.”

“A mile!” Dorothy groaned. “Last night it seemed more like a hundred miles!”

“It shouldn’t be any trouble to get the boat and moor it nearer the house,” Harry said. “Let’s go!”

When they reached the abandoned craft a quick examination revealed that it had weathered the storm very well. With no wind to help them, it took the children a long time to drag the iceboat across the snow-covered lake to the dock at the lodge. But at last they had it tied fast.

“That’s a good job done,” Bert said with satisfaction, rubbing his hands together to warm them. “What do you suppose that little building is over there?” He pointed to a small stone house about a hundred yards from the lodge.

As they made their way over to the dilapidated-looking structure, they speculated as to its use. Pushing open the sagging door, they saw a dirt-covered floor. The ceiling was high, with long hooks hanging from the rafters.

“A smokehouse !” Harry cried. “We used to have one like this at Meadowbrook.”

While the boys examined the hooks, Nan and Dorothy were scuffling around the floor. Suddenly Dorothy stumbled over something. It was another iron ring.

“Let’s see if we can lift it,” Nan suggested, leaning over and grasping the handle firmly. To her surprise it moved easily and a trap door raised up. A flight of steps ran down from it

“These steps have been used recently!” Bert exclaimed. “I wonder if this connects with the tunnel starting from the lodge kitchen!”

Nan’s brown eyes sparkled. “Dorothy and I will go back there and start through the tunnel. You and Harry go down these steps and we’ll see if we meet!”

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.”

“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.

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.

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.

“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!