ds together, made a lot of rings. Each ring before being pasted, was
slipped into another, and soon he had A paper chain. To make the
lantern he used a piece of paper made into a roll, with slits all
around the middle of it where the light would have come out had there
been a candle in it. And the handle was a narrow slip of paper pasted
over the top of the lantern.

"Very fine Indeed," said Mamma Bobbsey. "Run out now to play. If you
stay in the house too much you will soon lose all the lovely tan you
got in the country, and at the seashore."

"Children," said the principal to the Bobbseys and all the others in
school the next day, "I have a little treat for you. Tomorrow will be
a holiday, and, as the weather is very warm, we will close the school
at noon, and go off in the woods for a little picnic."

"Oh, good!" cried a number of the boys and girls, and, though it was
against the rules to speak aloud during the school hours, none of the
teachers objected.

"But I expect you all to have perfect marks from now until Friday," Mr.
Tetlow went on. "You may bring your lunches to school with you Friday
morning, if your parents will let you, and we will leave here at noon,
and go to Ward's woods."

It was rather hard work to study after such good news, but, somehow,
the pupils managed it. Finally Friday came, and nearly every boy and
girl came to school with a basket or bundle holding his or her lunch.
Mrs. Bobbsey put up two baskets for her children, Nan taking one and
Bert the other.

"Oh, we'll have a lovely time!" cried Freddie, dancing about on his
little fat legs.

Twelve o'clock came, and with each teacher at the head of her class,
and Mr. Tetlow marching in front of all, the whole school started off
for the woods.

CHAPTER X

A SCARE

THE way to the woods where the little school outing was to be held ran
close to the road on which the Bobbsey house stood. As Freddie and
Flossie, with Nan and Bert, marched along with the others, Freddie
cried out:

"Oh, I hope we see mamma, and then we can wave to her."

"Yes, and maybe she'll come with us," suggested Flossie. "Wouldn't
that be nice?"

"Pooh!" exclaimed Bert. "Mamma's too busy to come to a picnic today.
She's expecting company."

"Yes," added Nan, "the minister and his wife are coming, and mamma's
cooking a lot of things."

"Why, does a minister eat more than other folks?" asked Freddie. "If
they does, I'm going to be a minister