"I--I couldn't help it!" said Freddie, stopping in his rush to the fire to pick up his sister's toy. "You got right in my way."

"I did not--Freddie Bobbsey!"

"Yes, you did, too, and I'm going to squirt water on you, and put you out. You're on fire! Your cheeks are all red!"

This was true enough. Flossie did get very red cheeks when she was excited.

"Don't you put any water on me!" she cried. "I'll tell mamma on you! And you've broke my best doll, too! Oh, dear!" and Flossie burst into tears, so there was no need for Freddie to use his toy engine to wet her flaming cheeks.

This frightened Freddie. He seldom made his twin sister cry, and he was very much alarmed.

"I--I didn't mean to, Flossie," he said, putting his arms around her. "I guess I was running pretty fast. Don't cry, and you can squirt my engine. Maybe if you squirted some water on your doll she'd be all right," and Freddie picked up the talking toy.

"Don't you dare put any water on her!" screamed Flossie. "You'll make her catch cold, and then she won't talk at all, Oh, dear! I wish you didn't have that old engine."

Mrs. Bobbsey came into the room just then, or there is no telling what might have happened. She knew what to do, and soon she had straightened out matters. It was not very often that Flossie and Freddie had trouble of this kind, but they were only human children, just like any others, and they had their little disputes now and then.

"Oh, dear! This will never do!" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Freddie, you must not rush about the house so fast."

"But, mamma, firemens is always fast. They have to be fast, and I was going to a fire," the fat little fellow said.

"I know, dear, but you should look where you are going. And, Flossie, dear, you must watch out before you rush into a room, you know."

"Yes, mamma, but, you see, I was pretending my doll was sick, and I was running to the doctor's with her."

"Oh, dear!" cried Mamma Bobbsey. "You were both in too much of a hurry, I think. Never mind. Let's see if the doll is hurt, much."

It seemed that she was, for though she would walk across the room when wound up, she would not cry out "Mamma!" But Mrs. Bobbsey was used to mending broken toys, and after poking about in the wheels and springs with a hairpin she soon had the doll so it would talk again. Then Flossie was happy, and her tears were forgotten.

Freddie said he was sorry he had been in such a hurry, so all was forgiven, and he went on playing fireman. He was in the midst of putting out a make-believe blaze in the village church when the doorbell rang, and the postman's whistle was heard.

"Will you get the mail, dear?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey of Freddie. "Dinah is busy, I'm sure. Let me see how mamma's little fat fireman can get the letters. But don't run!" she exclaimed, "or you might fall downstairs."

"I won't, mamma," said Freddie.

He came back with several letters, and he was again playing he was a fireman, and Flossie was making believe she was a doctor for her sick doll, when Mrs. Bobbsey exclaimed:

"Oh, this will be good news for Bert," and she looked up from a letter she was reading.

"What is it, mamma?" asked Flossie. "Is someone sending him more Christmas presents?"

"No, dear, but Harry, your cousin from the country, you know, is coming to visit us. Bert will have someone to play with. Won't that be nice?"

"And can I play with him, too?" asked Freddie.

"I guess so, sometimes," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "But you must remember that Harry is about ten years old, and he won't always want to be with little boys."

"I'm a big boy!" declared Freddie. "I'm 'most as big as Bert."

"Well, I guess you can have some fun," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Bert will be glad to hear this. Now, who can this other letter be from?" and she tore open the envelope.

"Why!" she cried, as she quickly read it "It's from Uncle William Minturn, at the seash.o.r.e, and he says his daughter Dorothy is coming to pay us a visit. Well, did you ever! Our two cousins--one from the country and the other from the seash.o.r.e--both coming at the same time!

Oh, this will please Bert and Nan!"

"And can't we have a good time, too?" asked Flossie.

"Of course," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Let me see now; how will I arrange the rooms for them? Oh, I forgot, we're going to Snow Lodge soon. I wonder what I can do? Both Dorothy and Harry will be here before I can tell them not to come. I must telephone to papa!"

Bert and Nan came in just then, in time to hear this last.

"Telephone to papa!" exclaimed Bert "What's the matter, mother? Has anything happened?"

"Nothing, only your cousins, Dorothy and Harry, are coming to visit you.

And I don't know what to do about it, as we are going to Snow Lodge!"

"Do about it?" cried Bert. "Why, we won't do anything about it, except to let them come. Say, this is the best news yet! Harry can go with me on the ice-boat. Hurray! Hurray!"

"Yes, and Dorothy and I can skate on the lake!" said Nan. "Oh, how glad I am!"

"We'll take them both to Snow Lodge!" cried Bert. "Now we won't have to look for any other boys or girls. Well have our own cousins! Whoop!" and he threw his arms around his mother, while Nan tried to kiss her.

Flossie and Freddie looked on in pleased surprise. The letters had come just in time. Now there would be a jolly party at Snow Lodge.

CHAPTER XIII

IN A HARD BLOW

"Are you girls warm enough?" asked Bert Bobbsey, as he and his cousin Harry started toward the frozen lake one afternoon, the day before they were all to start for Snow Lodge.

"If we aren't we will never be," answered Dorothy Minturn, who was Nan's "seash.o.r.e cousin" as she called the visitor. "I've got on so many things that it would be easier to roll along instead of walking," went on Dorothy with a laugh.

"Well, it's a good thing to be warm, for it will be cold on the ice-boat; won't it, Bert?" asked Harry.

"That's what it will. There's a good wind blowing, too. It's stronger than I thought it was," and Bert bent to the blast as he walked along with the others.

"Will there be any danger?" asked Dorothy, who was not used to the activities of the Bobbseys.

"Oh, don't worry!" cried Harry. "We'll look after you girls."

"They think they will," murmured Nan looking at her cousin, "I guess I know almost as much about the _Ice Bird_ as Bert does."

"Where is your ice-boat?" asked Harry of Bert, as they kept on along the path that led to the lake.

"Over in the next cove. I had her out the other day, and the wind died out, leaving me there. Since then we've been so busy getting ready to go to Snow Lodge that I haven't had time to bring her back to the dock."

"Will she be safe over there?"