And the horse was not there, either, just then, for it was being used to pull a wagon about the streets of Lakeport. Mr. Bobbsey had an automobile, but he also kept the horse, and this animal was sometimes used by the clerks from the lumber office.
So out to the barn, which had in it-the winter supply of hay and oats for the horse, went the Bobbsey twins. Nan and Bert, being older, reached the place first, each one carrying some sugar and molasses cookies Dinah had given them. After Nan and Bert ran Flossie and Freddie, each one looking anxiously at the packages of cookies.
"Don't those cookies look good?" cried Flossie.
"And I guess they'll eat just as good as they look," was Freddie's comment.
Just then Nan's foot slipped on a small stone, and she came very near falling down.
"Oh!" cried Flossie and Freddie together.
"Don't drop your cookies, Nan!" came quickly from Bert.
"Oh, if you dropped 'em they'd get all dirty," said Flossie.
