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Flossie's Tarts · The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank

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  Chapter twenty one of The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to
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  volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank by Laura
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  Lee Hope Flossie's Tarts. Freddie Bobbsey was a resourceful little lad for his age.
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  It was not the first time he and Bert had gone exploring together,
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  nor the first time something had happened. So now, instead of rushing into
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  the small cave after his brother, as many boys or girls might have done,
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  Freddie turned to hurry back to his father and mother. I'll go and
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  get somebody to help you, Bert, he called. Maybe if I went
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  in, i'd fall too, cause it looks dark. I'll get help.
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  Bert did not answer, and this made Freddy fear lest something serious had happened.
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  But even then he knew the best thing to do was to bring help
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  as quickly as possible. Back he hurried to the others, running all the
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  way. Missus Bobbsey could tell by the look on her small son's face and
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  by his manner, that something unusual had taken place. Where's Bert, she
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  quickly asked. For she remembered that the two boys had gone into the deeper
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  part of Buttermilk Glen together. He's in the Pirate's cave, answered Freddie,
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  panting for breath. He hollered something about falling down, and then he didn't
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  holler anymore, And I came back to tell you instantly. There was great
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  excitement in the Pirate's cave. Is he lost FLOSSI wanted to know you did
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  right to come back so quickly and tell us. Mister Bobbsey said, do
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  you know where this cave is? He asked missus Watson. Yes, I
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  know of a cave, she answered. It isn't a very large place,
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  nor is it dangerous. I can't understand about Bert's falling. There are no
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  holes in the place that I know of. I haven't been in it for
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  years. Maybe he stumbled over a ledge and fell, striking his head,
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  suggested mister Bobbsey. As he jumped up and went to his coat, which
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  was hanging on a tree near by, he took some matches from one of
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  the pockets. I'll make a bark torch to go into the cave and find
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  Bert, he said to his wife. I didn't bring the flashlight. Can
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  you show me where the cave is ready? I can lead you to the
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  cave, said Missus Watson, noticing that baby Jenny was still peacefully sleeping.
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  Nan, you and FLOSSI stay here with her and your mother, and I
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  will go with your father and Freddy to the cave. Nan and Flossie would
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  have liked to go too, to search for Bert, but they said nothing
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  as they watched the others start. It did not take them long to reach
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  the place. Missus Watson had often been to the glen on picnics, and
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  she knew all its windings and turns. Soon they stood in front of the
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  small cavern which Bert, in common with other boys, had named Pirate's Cave.
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  Bert, Bert, are you all right? His mother called, but
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  still there was no answer. He didn't speak to me after he hollered about
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  falling, reported Freddie. He must be in a faint after falling and hitting
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  his head, suggested mister Bobbsey. I'll go in with the torch and see.
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  I'm coming too, insisted Missus Bobbsey, while Missus Watson said she would
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  stay outside with Freddie. Bert's father pulled off some dry bark and twisting it
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  into a torch, set fire to it. This gave him and his wife
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  light enough to see, though rather dimly, as they entered the small cavern.
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  It was just about high enough to stand upright in, and seemed to
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  be a cave that had been hollowed out by a washing of high water in
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  the glen. Holding the torch before him, mister Bobbsey went inside, followed
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  by his wife. He had taken only a few steps before he suddenly cried,
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  Stop, don't come any farther. There's a hole here and you may
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  tumble in. Is Bert there, asked Missus Bobbsey. Her husband flashed the
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  torch down and as far ahead of him as he could, and then he
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  said, yes, he's here, and he seems to be all right too.
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  He's moving. I guess he was dazed by the blow on his head.
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  Hold the torch, Mary, and I'll lift him out. This was
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  done, and a little later Bert, in the arms of his father,
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  was carried out of the cave, his mother following with the torch. Is
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  he all right, asked missus Watson. Bert, getting down out of his
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  father's arms, answered for himself, sure, I'm all right. What happened
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  anyhow, You went into the cave, fell and hit your head so hard
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  that you fainted, his mother told him, while she parted his hair to
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  look for a possible cut or gash. Oh I remember now, Bert said,
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  in a dazed sort of way, putting his hand to his head.
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  I felt myself falling, and I yelled to Freddy, so you wouldn't come
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  in and get in the hole. Yes, I hit my head, all
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  right, but it was nothing worse than this, and aside from a little
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  cut on his scalp, Bert suffered no injury. A drink of water and
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  some more of the cool fluid on his head soon made him feel all right
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  again. It isn't safe to go into a dark cave without a light unless
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  you know every step of the way, warned mister Bobbsey as they went back
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  to where Nan and Flossy had been left with the baby. But before that
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  was done, mister Bobbsey explored the cave. He found that the recent rain
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  had washed out a deep hole near the entrance, and it was this hole
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  into which Bert had unsuspectingly stepped. Some One else may do the same thing,
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  mister Bobbsey said, I'll put some tree branches in front of the cave
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  as a warning. Later, we'll make a danger sign to fasten up.
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  Over the entrance, they found Nan and her sister anxiously waiting, and the
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  two girls were relieved to find out that Bert wasn't hurt much. Baby Jenny
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  had awakened by this time, and as it was nearly noon, Missus Bobbsey
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  and Missus Watson decided to set out the picnic lunch, which was done on
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  a flat stump within sight and sound of buttermilk falls. Don't eat too much,
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  Bert, his mother warned him, as the good things from the basket
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  were ready. Why not, he asked, because after a blow on the
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  head, you might be made ill if you ate too heartily. Oh I'm
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  all right, insisted the lad with a brave little smile. There was head
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  ached somewhat. I didn't know what happened. I felt myself going down,
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  and I yelled, and then I seemed to go to sleep. The remainder
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  of the day was passed pleasantly in the woods. Later, the other children
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  were allowed to peer into the cave while their father held a torch that eliminated
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  it. I wouldn't want to be a pirate and live there, said Nan
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  with a short of her shoulders as she turned away. Pirates don't mind the
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  dark, they like it, said Freddie, as if he knew all about
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  it. The next day was a busy one, for many peaches had to
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  be sorted to be taken to the auction market. The children rode to Hitchville
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  again, for they liked the busy excitement of the place. It was well
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  that mister Watson got a good quantity of his fruit over to Hitchville. For
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  the following day it rained, when it would not have been wise to transport
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  the peaches. The storm was a hard one, and for Midsummer the day
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  was raw and cold. As the Bobbsey twins could not go out, they
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  managed to have fun in one of the barns. Sam Porter, who had
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  gone fishing with Bert the day the bees swarmed, came over and taught the
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  children some new games. He and Bert decided to give a circus act,
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  as they called it. They made trapiezs of bits of harness and some old
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  broom handles, and swung by their legs and arms. Watch me do the
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  giant's turn, cried Bert, as he took an especially long swing on the
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  trapeze, but one of the straps broke. The end of the trapeze bar
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  slipped down and Bert had a fall. Oh cried the other children as they
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  saw the boy drop, But Bert came to no harm, for the trapezes
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  were over big deep piles of hay, and he fell on one of these
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  piles. Mister Bobbsey, when he learned what sort of game the boys were
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  playing, had insisted that the hay be piled under the trapezes, for he
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  was afraid lest they break. It's lucky that hay was there, Bert said,
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  I know now why they put nets under the high trap pieces in the
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  circuits. In the afternoon, it had not cleared, and Nan, getting
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  tired of playing in the barn, went back to the house. She heard
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  Missus Watson saying to Missus Bobbsey, if I wasn't so busy, I'd make
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  some peach tarts. There are plenty of soft peaches that ought to be used.
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  Oh could I make the tarts? Begged Nan. I know how to
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  make biscuits, and I guess I could make tarts. I'll show you how,
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  offered her mother, after Missus Watson had said Nan might use the kitchen,
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  and I want to make some, too, put in Flossi. No,
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  dear, you are too little, Nan replied, But you can watch
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  me, and when you get a little older you'll know how. But I
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  want to make some myself, insisted Flossie. However, they would not let
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  her, so she had to be content to sit in a chair near the
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  kitchen table and watch while NaN's mother showed her how to mix the dough and
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  roll out the crust, cutting it in till circles, which, when filled
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  with cut up peaches and baked, would be tarts. But when Nan had
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  a batch of the tarts ready to go into the oven, she left the
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  kitchen a minute. And this was just the chance Flossi had been waiting for,
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  said the little girl to herself. I'll show em I can make tarts
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  just as good as Nan. All the things Nan had used were on the
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  table, flour, milk, mixing bowls and the like. Flossy sifted to
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  some flour into a brown bowl, poured in some milk, added a little
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  salt and lard, and then began to stir the mixture. But she found
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  that the table was too high for her to reach in comfort, even while
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  standing on a chair. I'll set the bowl on the floor, decided Flossi.
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  Then I can stir my tarts and then i'll cut them out like Nan
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  did, and put in the peaches and bake em. She lifted the bowl
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  on the table and was climbing down out of the chair when suddenly she slipped.
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  Just as Nan opened the door to come back and clean up, she
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  saw Flossi fall to the floor with a bowl of dough. Crash, What
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  a sound it was, oh, cried Nan. Oh gasped Flossi. And
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  then you should have seen her end of chapter twenty one.