The Bobbsey Twins at Cedar Camp Part 6

Bert went upstairs, climbed out on the porch roof, and a little later was over in the tree where Snoop was perched.

"Mew! Mew!" dismally cried the cat.

"I'm coming to get you," said Bert, kindly. "Wait a minute, Snoop!"

From the ground Flossie, Freddie and Nan watched Bert make his way out on a limb toward Snoop. And then, all of a sudden, there was a cracking, breaking sound and Bert cried:

"Oh, I'm falling! I'm going to fall!"

CHAPTER V--CHRISTMAS TREES

Several things happened all in a moment. The cracking limb, Bert's cries, and the swaying of the bough as it bent toward the ground with the weight of the Bobbsey boy frightened Snoop, the cat. All this did just what was needed, for it so frightened Snoop that down he scrambled out of the tree, not caring whether or not he fell.

Bert, as soon as he felt the tree branch giving way with him, reached out his arms and grasped whatever came first to his hands. This happened to be another branch over his head, so that there he was, his feet on one limb that was slowly bending beneath his weight, and his hands grasping a branch above him.

And, to add to the excitement, Flossie and Freddie, who saw what danger Bert 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. "Catch Bert before he falls!"

Nan ran out under the tree and stood with her dress held up, as she used to do when her father picked apples and dropped them down to her. Nan may have thought Bert could drop down and she would catch him, as a man jumps into a circus net from the top of the tent. But, again, perhaps Nan was so excited that she really did not know what she was doing.

However, daddy and mother came hurrying to the window, attracted by the cries 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 the chicken 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 rear door 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 dey a fire some place?"

"No fire!" answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "But Bert is up a tree and he is falling! Mr. Bobbsey wants the ladder to get him down! Hurry!"

"Oh!" answered Sam. Then he hurried to the chicken house, got the ladder, and hurried around to the front of the house with it.

"Can you hold on a little longer, Bert?" asked his father anxiously, as Sam 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 few minutes later they had rescued Bert, helping him so that he could put his feet on the ladder and climb down.

"What made you go up?" asked his mother, when the excitement was all over.

"I went up after Snoop," said Bert. "A strange dog chased him up the tree."

"Well, of course, you meant to be kind," said his father. "But you must be careful when in a tree. Very often a branch may look sound and strong, as though it would hold you up. But when you step on it or pull on it, it breaks. It is always a good plan, if you climb a tree in the woods--or anywhere else--to pull on a limb to test it before you bear your full weight on it. If you hear a cracking sound it means that the branch will break."

"I heard a cracking sound," Bert said. "But that was after I got out on the limb with my feet."

"Then it was almost too late," his father said. "But remember always to test a branch before you trust yourself to it."

The Bobbsey twins and the others went back into the house, and the rest of the Thanksgiving day pa.s.sed pleasantly. Snoop and Snap had been given especially good dinners in honor of the occasion.

In the morning, when Flossie and Freddie awakened, which generally happened at the same time, the little fellow ran to the window and looked 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 our sleds! Come on, we'll go coasting!"

Later the two smaller Bobbsey twins, having had their breakfasts, ran out to play in the snow. Quite a little had fallen during the night, and more was coming down. It was just about right for starting to make a coasting hill.

Not far from the Bobbsey home, on a side street, was a hill where the smaller children had their fun. Bert and Nan, with some of the older boys and girls, generally went to a longer and steeper hill some distance away. But this time Bert and Nan had not gotten out their sleds.

"I'm going to wait for Charlie Mason," said Bert. "He said he'd come over 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 of carpet to tack on if you'll let me ride."

"Sure we'll let you," agreed Bert. And then he went to telephone over to ask if Charlie were coming.

Meanwhile Flossie and Freddie and some of their friends were having fun on the small hill. Each of the smaller Bobbsey twins had a sled, and the children had races to see who would get first to the bottom of the slope. With merry shouts and laughter they played amid the swirling flakes of white snow.

The fun was at its liveliest, and Flossie and Freddie were among the merriest, when along came Nick Malone, the boy whom Freddie had locked in the tool shed at school.

"Oh, Freddie! Look!" whispered Flossie, dropping the rope of her sled and moving closer to her brother.

"What is it?" asked Freddie, for he was watching Sammie Henderson go down 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 no teacher or princ.i.p.al here! There!" and he reached over as if to pull Flossie's hair.

"You let my sister alone!" cried Freddie.