ie, making a dive
after Snoop, the cat, who was hiding under the table.

"Have you heard yet whether you are to go?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, of her
husband, when the noisy greetings to the children were over.

"No, not yet," he answered, and he made a motion with his head, as if to
tell his wife not to speak of a certain matter before the children.

"Oh, I saw you wink!" cried Nan, clapping her hands. "What does it mean?
Is it a secret, Momsey?"

"Well, yes, Nan. You shall be told in plenty of time, if anything comes of
it."

"Oh, that's two secrets!" cried Nan. "Bert has one and now there's one
here."

"What is Bert's secret?" asked Nan's mother.

"I don't know yet; he won't tell me."

"Yes, I'll tell you to-morrow," said her brother. "But what's this about
Father going away, Mother? Are we going too?"

"Supper am ready, chilluns!" exclaimed the voice of Dinah, the cook, and
that ended the talk about secrets for the time being.

"But when are you going to tell me _yours?_" Nan managed to whisper to her
brother when the dessert was being served.

"Come down to the lumberyard to-morrow afternoon," he whispered. "It's
almost done."

Without telling Flossie or Freddie anything about it, Nan slipped off by
herself the next afternoon, and from the watchman in her father's
lumberyard learned that Bert and another boy were in one of the sheds. As
Nan came closer she could hear the noise of hammering and sawing.

"Oh, Bert, what are you making?" cried Nan, as she saw her brother and
Tommy Todd busy with sticks, boards, hammer and nails.

"This is the _Bird!_" cried Bert, waving a hammer at something that, so
far, did not look like much of anything.

"A bird?" cried Nan. "It looks more like a scare-crow!"

"Just wait until it's finished!" said Tommy Todd. "When we get the sail
on----"

"Oh, Bert! is it a _boat?_" cried Nan eagerly.

"Yes, it's going to be an ice-boat, and I've called it the _Bird_," was
the answer. "I got the idea of building it after I'd seen Mr. Watson's.
Father said I might, and he gave me the lumber, and let me have a
carpenter to help, for Tommy and I couldn't do it all. But now the
ice-boat is almost done and in a few days I'll sail it."

"And may I have a ride?" asked Nan.

"Of course. I'll take the whole family," said Bert. "Just you wait," and
then he and Tommy went on hammering and sawing.

CHAPTER III

A RUNAWAY

"All aboard!"

"Don't forget your baggage!"

"This