15 - Bobbsey Twins at Cedar Camp by Laura Lee Hope

Caught in a blizzard and swept into unexpected adventures, the Bobbsey Twins face cold weather and warm-hearted lessons at Cedar Camp. Discover hundreds of ad-free audiobooks, soothing sounds for sleep and meditation, and more—unwind and learn at www.adfreebooks.com!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Read by John Brandon. The Bobsey Twins at Cedar Camp
by Laura Lee Hope a bare cupboard. Having finished drinking
the weak tea which Missus Bimby brewed for them, eating
with it some of the lunch they had brought along,
Burton Nan sat in the lonely cabin in the woods,

(00:21):
wondering what would happen next. There was no other cabin
or house near them, And as they heard the wind
howl down the chimney and mowed around the corners and
heard the rattle of hard snow against the window, the
older Bobbsey Twinds were glad they had found the shelter.
Do you think we'll be able to start back soon,
Missus Bimby asked Nan, as she helped the old woman

(00:44):
clear the tea things off the table. Back where dearie
back to our camp? Oh not to night, surely, said
Missus Bimby. You won't dare venture out in this storm.
It's getting worse and black night is coming out. You
just stay here with me. I can make up beds
for you, and I'm glad to have you since my

(01:06):
Jim isn't coming back. I reckon, what do you think
has become of him, asked Bert, who was interested in
looking at a gun that hung over the mattele Well,
I reckon he got to the village but found the
storm so bad he didn't dare to start back, answered
missus Bimby. Of course she did not know what happened

(01:27):
to old Jim any more than Jim knew that the
older Bopsey twins were in his own cabin. But Jim'll
be here in the morning, said his wife. And I
do hope he'll bring in something to eat. If he doesn't,
she did not finish what she started to say, and
Nan asked, will you starve, missus Bimby, Well, not exactly starve,

(01:51):
for I suppose a body could keep alive on tea
and condensed milk for a while. But we'll be pretty hungry.
There'll be three to feed instead of just one, the
old woman went on. We've some food left, said Bert,
And we can cook our chestnuts. We got quite a
few before the storm came. Bless your heart's dearies, exclaimed

(02:12):
Missus Bimby. You may be able to eat chestnuts, but
my old teeth are too poor for that. But I
dare say we'll get along somehow, even if the cupboard
is almost bare. Don't you want to go to bed?
Oh it's too early, objected Bert. Have you any games
we could play? Asked Nan. She and her brother were

(02:33):
in the habit of playing simple games at home before
going to bed, and it seemed natural to do it now.
After the first shock of feeling that they were lost
in the snowstorm had passed, the Bopsy twins were quite content.
They felt that their father and mother must realize that
they were safe. Games. Dearie asked missus Bimby. Well, seems

(02:55):
to me there's some dominoes around somewhere, and I did
see a check of board the other day. Jim used
to play him when the loggers came in. I'll see
if I can dig him out. She rummaged through an
old chest and brought to light a box of battered dominoes.
But if several were missing, it was hard to play
a good game with them. As for the checkers, the

(03:17):
board was there, but the pieces or men were not
to be found. But you can take kernels of corn,
said Missus Bimby. I've often seen my Jim do that.
Checker men have to be of different color, said Nan,
and corn is all one color, isn't it? There are
red ears, suggested Bert. Don't you remember we saw some

(03:38):
when we were in the country. Oh yes, exclaimed Nan.
That's what I was going to say, remarked missus Bimby.
I can give you some yellow kernels and some red ones,
and you can play checkers if you like. This suited
Nan and Bert, and though it was hard to make
kings by placing one kernel of corn on top of another,

(04:00):
they managed to go on with the game, using pins
to fasten two red or two yellow kernels one on
top of the other when the king row was reached.
Grains of corn or some other cereal of perhaps colored stones,
were very likely the first sort of men used in
the ancient game of checkers, and Bert and Nan got

(04:22):
along very well in this way. Missus Bimby kept stoking
the fire, putting on stick after stick of wood as
it burned away, and the cabin was kept warm and cozy. Outside.
The storm raged, the wind blew, and the snow came
pelting down, but at times the older Bopsey twins were

(04:43):
so interested in their checker game that they hardly heard
the sounds outside the log cabin. At last, missus Bimby,
with a look at the clock, said it's after nine, dearies,
hadn't you better go to bed. My Jim won't come
home to night. That's and I don't believe any of
your folks will come for you. They don't know where

(05:05):
we are, said Nan, No more they do, Dearie. Well,
I'll show you where you're to sleep. I'm glad I've
got covers enough for two extra beds. There were three
rooms in the second story of the log cabin. Two
of the rooms were small, each one containing a little
single cot. The other room was larger and had a

(05:27):
bed in it. Missus Bimby slept there, and she gave
Burton Nan each one of the smaller rooms. There was
a window in each of the bedrooms, and being above
the warm downstairs room, where a hot fire had been
blazing all evening, the sleeping chambers were more comfortable than
one would have supposed. Bert and Nan were so sleepy

(05:50):
that they did not lie awake long after getting to bed.
As there were no pajamas for Bert and no night
gown for Nan, the children slept in their underclothes, taking
off only their shoes and outer garments. In spite of
the fact that he fell asleep soon after going to
bed because he was tired from the day's tramp After chestnuts,

(06:13):
Bert was awakened in the middle of the night by
hearing Nan call, mother, please give me a drink. It
was a request Bert had often heard his sister make before,
and now he realized that she was either half awake
and did not remember where she was, or else she
was talking in her sleep. He raised up on his

(06:36):
elbow and listened again. Nan said, I want a drink.
Bert knew how hard it was to try to sleep
when thirsty, so he got up, and, having noticed on
coming to bed the evening before, a pail of water
on a chair in the upper hall, he brought Nan
a dipper full. Missus Bimby had left a lantern burning,

(06:59):
so it was not dark in the cabin. Oh, Bert,
I dreamed I was back home, said Nan, as she
took to drink. Her brother handed her Thank you. Welcome,
he said, struggling to keep his sleepy eyes open. Is
it still snowing, asked Nan, hard answered Bert, looking out

(07:21):
of the window, though truth to tell, he could see nothing.
It was so pitch dark outside, but he could hear
the rattle of snow against the glass. I hope it
stops by morning, sighed Nan. So do I long enough
for us to get back to camp. Anyhow, added Bert.

(07:42):
He got himself a drink and went to bed. There
to sleep soundly until morning, when Missus Bimby called him
and Nan to get up. Come, dearies, said the old woman.
We'll have breakfast such as it is. For a few
moments after awakening, Bert and Nan could not quite remember

(08:03):
where they were. Bert afterwards said that he hoped there
would be hot buckwheat cakes for breakfast with maple syrup,
such as they had had in the cabin when Missus
Baxter acted as cook. But there was no such appetizing
smell as that of pancakes coming up from Missus Bimby's kitchen.
I'm sorry I haven't any more to offer you, she

(08:27):
said to the children as she sat before them. Some
more weak tea and a few pieces of bread and butter.
If my gim had come back, we'd have had enough
to eat. But as it is, I'm afraid you'll go
hungry soon. We'll eat what's left of our lunch, said Bert,
and cook some chestnuts, added Nan. We'll pretend we've been shipwrecked.

(08:52):
Were you ever shipwrecked, missus Bimby, Nan asked as cheerfully
as she could. No, dearie, but I've had the room
tis and I reckon that's most as bad. But let's
eat what we've got and we'll hope for more before
the day is over. It's still snowing, isn't it, remarked Nan,

(09:12):
as she hungrily ate some of the dry food and
swallowed some of the weak but warm tea. Yes, and
it's likely to keep up all day, said missus Bimby.
It'll be hipped deep by night and we'll be completely
snowed in. I declare, I don't know what we'll do.
Maybe it'll stop, suggested Bert, trying to look on the

(09:35):
bright side, or maybe it won't be so bad. But
what we can go out, added Nan. And if we
get back to camp, we can send you something to
eat by one of the men in a sleigh. Missus Bimby.
I wouldn't let you go out in this storm, not
for anything, declared the kind old woman. The only safe

(09:58):
place is this cab'n. When it snows this way, you
can't starve to death as quickly as you can freeze
to death. That's a comfort. And we've got enough for
one more meal anyhow. But when noon came, after a
long morning during which the Bobbsey twins played more chatter
games with grains of corn, and when almost all there

(10:21):
was in the cupboard had been eaten, Missus Bimby opened
the doors, looked at the bare shelves and said, I declare,
I don't know what we're going to do. Almost everything
is gone. The cupboard indeed was nearly bare. For some
reason or other, Bert's eyes rested on the gun on
the wall over the mantel. Is the gun loaded, Missus Bimby,

(10:45):
He asked, Yes, I reckon tis? She answered, Jim always
keeps it loaded for he goes hunting sometimes. What after,
asked Bert, Oh, squirrels and rabbits. That's what I'm going
to do, Then cried Bert. If I could shoot some
squirrels of rabbits, we'd have a pot pie and we

(11:07):
wouldn't be hungry. Will you please get that gun down
for me? Missus Bimby. She looked at Bert and smiled.
You're pretty small to handle a gun, she said, but
maybe you could fire it if I showed you how
I've shot it more'n once, and I brought down a
cawing crow last winter. Sometimes the rabbits come close up

(11:29):
to our cabin. Here, wait till I take a look.
She went to the window to hear out into the storm,
and Nan did likewise, while Bert continued to gaze at
the gun on the wall. It was a shotgun, not
very heavy, and he felt certain he could aim it
at a rabbit and pull the trigger. Missus Bimby shook

(11:49):
her head as she turned away from her window. There's
no game here, she said. Guess we'll have to go
without a pot pie. But Nan suddenly uttered an excelient Oh,
I see one, she cried, I see a big rabbit,
two of them. Oh Bert, it's a shame to shoot

(12:09):
the bunnies, but we can't starve. Get the gun. End
of chapter fifteen.