ver to the place his sister
gave up.

"Are you tired, dearie?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, leaning forward and
smoothing out her daughter's hair with her hand. "If you would like to
sit with me and put your head in my lap, papa can go to another seat
and--"

"Oh, no, mamma, I'm not as tired as that," and Nan laughed. "I was
just wondering how soon we'd be home."

"I'd rather be back at the seashore," said Bert, not turning his gaze
from the window, for the train was passing along some fields just then,
and in one a boy was driving home some cows to be milked, as evening
was coming on. Bert was wondering if one of the cows might not chase
the boy. Bert didn't really want to see the boy hurt by a cow, of
course, but he thought that if the cow was going to take after the boy,
anyhow, he might just as well see it. But the cows were very
well-behaved, and went along slowly.

"Yes, the seashore was nice," murmured Nan, as she leaned her head back
on the cushioned seat, "but I'm glad to be going home again. I want to
see some of the girls, and--"

"Yes, and I'll be looking for some of the boys, too," put in Bert.
"But school will soon begin, and that's no fun!"

Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey smiled at each other, and Mr. Bobbsey, taking out
a timetable, looked to see how much longer they would be on the train.

"It's about an hour yet," he said to Nan, and she sighed. Really she
was more tired than she cared to let her mother know.

Just ahead of the two Bobbsey children were another set of them. I say
"set" for the Bobbsey children came "in sets."

There were two pairs of twins, Bert and Nan, nearly nine years of age,
and Flossie and Freddie, almost five. And, whereas the two older
children were rather tall and slim, with dark brown hair and eyes, the
littler twins were short and fat, and had light hair and blue eyes.
The two pairs of twins were quite a contrast, and many persons stopped
to look at them as they passed along the street together.

"No, sir," went on Bert musingly, "school's no fun, and it starts about
a week after we get home. No chance to have a good time!"

"We've had fun all summer," replied his sister. "I rather like school."

"Mamma, are we going to school this year?" asked Flossie, as she looked
back with a quick turning of her head that set her yellow curls to
dancing.

"If we are, I'm going to sit with Flossie--can't I?" asked Freddie,
kneeling in the seat so that he could face back to his fath