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

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.

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.

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!”

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:

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.”

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.

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.

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!”

“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.

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.