are awful strong!"

"They couldn't push a railroad train," said Flossie.

"They could too!" cried her little brother, quickly.

"They could not. Could they, papa?"

"What?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, absentmindedly.

"Could an elephant push a railroad train?" asked Flossie.

"I know they could," declared Freddie. "Couldn't they, papa?"

"Now, children, don't argue. Look out of the windows," advised their
mother.

And while the circus men are trying to catch the escaped animals I will
tell you something more about the Bobbseys, and about the other books,
before this one, relating to their doings.

Mr. Richard Bobbsey, and his wife Mary, the parents of the Bobbsey
twins, lived in an Eastern city called Lakeport, on Lake Metoka. Mr.
Bobbsey was in the lumber business, and the yard, with its great piles
of logs and boards, was near the lake, on which the twins often went in
boats. There was also a river running into the lake, not far from the
saw mill.

Their house was about a quarter of a mile away from the lumber yard, on
a fashionable street, and about it was a large lawn, while in the back
Sam Johnson, the colored man of all work, and the husband of Dinah, had
a fine garden. The Bobbseys had many vegetables from this garden.

There was also a barn near the house, and in this the children had many
good times. Flossie and Freddie played there more than did Nan and
Bert, who were growing too old for games of that sort.

As I have said, Bert and Nan were rather tall and thin, while Flossie
and Freddie were short and fat. Mr. Bobbsey used often to call Flossie
his "Fat Fairy," which always made her laugh. And Freddie had a pet
name, too. It was "Fat Fireman," for he often played that he was a
fireman; putting out makebelieve fires, and pretending he was a fire
engine. Once or twice his father had taken him to see a real one, and
this pleased Freddie very much.

In the first book of this series, called "The Bobbsey Twins," I told
you something of the fun the four children had in their home town.
They had troubles, too, and Danny Rugg, one of the few bad boys in
Lakeport, was the cause of some. Also about a certain broken window;
what happened when the twins went coasting, how they had a good time in
an ice boat, and how they did many other things.

Snoop, the fat, black kitten, played a part in the story also. The
Bobbsey twins were very fond of Snoop, and had kept him so many years
that I suppose he ough