The wind howled around Snow Lodge while the white flakes came down thicker and faster.

"Maybe we'll be snowed in," said Nan.

"That would be fun!" cried Bert.

CHAPTER XXI

THE FALLING TREE

How the wind did blow! How the snow swirled and drifted about the old farmhouse! But within it all were warm and comfortable. The fire on the open hearth was kept roaring up the chimney, Sam piling on log after log. In the cozy kitchen Dinah kept at her work over the range, singing old plantation melodies.

The blowing wind and the drifting snow kept up all day. Flossie and Freddie begged to be allowed to go out for a little while, but their mother would not think of it. Bert and Harry tried to go a little way beyond the barn but were driven back by the cold, wintry blasts. Dorothy and Nan managed to have a good time in the attic of the old house, dressing up in some clothes of a by-gone age, which they found in some trunks.

"My! I hope the chimneys don't blow off!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, as a particularly fierce blast shook the old house. "A fire now would be dreadful."

"I don't imagine there is much danger," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh.

"The way they built houses and chimneys when Snow Lodge was put up was different from nowadays. They were built to stay."

"Oh, but this is a terrible storm!"

"Yes, and it seems to be getting worse," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "I hope no one is out in it. But, as I said, we have plenty to eat, and wood to keep us warm, and that is all we can ask."

The day slowly pa.s.sed, but toward afternoon Flossie and Freddie grew fretful from having been kept in. They were used to going out of doors in almost any kind of weather.

"Come on up in the attic with us," suggested Nan, "and we'll have a sort of circus."

"And Snap can do tricks," cried Freddie, "and I'll give an exhibition with my fire engine."

"Of course!" exclaimed Dorothy, and the little Bobbsey twins forgot their fretfulness in a new series of games.

Harder blew the wind, and fiercer fell the snow. The path Mr. Bobbsey had shoveled was soon filled up again. Out at the back door was a drift that covered the rear stoop.

"If this keeps up we will be snowed in," said Mr. Bobbsey to his wife, as they prepared to lock up for the night.

They were gathered around the big open fire, popping corn and roasting apples, when a louder blast of wind than ever shook the house.

"Oh, what a night!" said Mrs. Bobbsey, with a shudder. "I wish we were in our home again!"

Hardly had she spoken than there came a fearful crash, and the whole house trembled. At the same time a blast of cold wind swept through it, scattering the fire on the hearth.

"Oh, what was that?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.

"That old apple tree, at the corner of the house," said Mr. Bobbsey.

"The storm has blown it over, and it has smashed a corner of the Lodge.

Don't be afraid. We'll be all right," and he ran to close the door, to keep out the cold wind.

CHAPTER XXII

THE MISSING MONEY

"What happened?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, when her husband had come back after going out to take a look around. "Is the house safe?"

"As safe as ever," he answered. "Just as I told you, the old apple tree blew over, and smashed the corner of the house near this living room.

That's why we felt the crash so. But there is no great harm done. We can keep this door closed and not use that other part of the house at all.

We have room enough without it. The wind and storm can't get at us here."

"I suah 'nuff thought de house was comin' down," said Dinah, who had run in from the kitchen at the sound of the crash.

"It was a hard blow," said Bert "Look, all the ashes are scattered," and he pointed to where the wind had blown them about the hearth.

Dinah soon swept them up, however, and more wood was put on the fire, and the Bobbseys were as comfortable as before. The part of the house which had been smashed by the tree was closed off from the rest.

Soon it was time to go to bed, but all night long the storm raged, making Snow Lodge tremble in the blast. Everyone was up early in the morning to see by daylight what damage had been done.

The sun rose clear, for the storm had pa.s.sed. But oh? what a lot of snow there was! In big drifts it was scattered all over the place, and one side door was snowed in completely; and could not be opened. Sam had to shovel a lot of snow away from the kitchen steps before Dinah could go out.

"Let's go see where the tree fell," suggested Bert to Harry, when they were dressed, Nan and Dorothy joined them. They went to the corner of the house and there saw a strange sight. The old apple tree lay partly in the room into which it had crashed through the side of the house. And much snow had blown in also.

This room, however, was little used, except for storage, and there was nothing in it to be damaged save some old furniture. Bert and Harry made their way into the apartment, and the girls followed.

They were looking about at the odd sight, when something in a corner of the room, along the wall that was next to the living room, where the Bobbseys had spent the evening, caught Bert's eyes. He went toward it.

He picked up a roll of what seemed to be green paper. It had been in a crack of the wall that had been made wider by the falling tree.

"Oh, look?" he cried. "What is this? Why, it's money!"

"A roll of bills!" added Harry, looking over his cousin's shoulder.

Slowly Bert unrolled them. There seemed to be considerable money there.

One bill was for a hundred dollars.

"Where did it come from?" asked Nan.

"From a crack in the wall," spoke her brother. "It must have slipped down, and the falling tree made the crack wider, so I could see it."

"I wonder who could have put it there?" said Dorothy.

Bert and Nan looked at each other. The same thought came into their minds.

"The missing money!" cried Bert, "The roll of bills that Mr. Carford thought his nephew took! Can this be it?"