She had set down the basket of eggs and was looking toward a dark side
of the barn where she could see the lower ends of several wooden chutes.
Some were for oats and others for hay. She did not know just which
wooden chute Freddie would slide down. The chutes did not come all the
way to the floor, there being room under each one to set a box or bushel
basket.

"Wiggle some more, Freddie!" again advised Nan.

"I will!" came the answer. "I'll wiggle hard and I'll--Oh--kerchoo!"

That was Freddie sneezing, and he sneezed so hard that it did more good
than his wiggling, for it sent him sliding down with a mass of hay to
the bottom of the chute.

"Here I am!" he cried, and with a thump he landed on the barn floor, so
wrapped and tangled in a clump of hay that he was not in the least hurt.
"I'm all--kerchoo--right--kerchoo--Nan!" he said, talking and sneezing
at the same time.

"Well, I'm glad we found you, anyhow!" laughed his sister. "How did it
happen?"

"Oh, it just happened," was all Freddie could say. "I was looking for
eggs, and I slipped. I'm glad I didn't slip in a hen's nest, else I'd
'a' broken a lot of eggs."

"I'm glad of that, too," agreed Nan. "Well, Flossie and I are 'way ahead
of you. We have found two nests!"

"I'm going to find one myself!" declared Freddie, and a little later he
did. This nest had many eggs in it, for it was used by several hens in
turn, so that now the basket was half filled.

Then, by searching about, the children found more nests and eggs until
the basket was quite full. Now arose a dispute between Flossie and
Freddie, for each one wanted to carry the basket. Nan was afraid either
of the little twins might stumble and fall, thereby breaking the eggs.

"I know what we'll do," Nan said, making up a little plan, as she often
had to do to get Freddie and Flossie into a new way of thinking. "We'll
play hide and go seek. I'll go on ahead and hide, and whoever finds me
can carry the basket a little way."

"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Freddie. "Come on, Flossie! Blind your
eyes."

"Don't come until I get ready!" said Nan.

The children promised they would not. Carefully they closed their eyes,
covering them with their hands. Nan hurried away, walking softly so the
twins could not guess which way she was going. And she picked out a
hiding place close to the house, right at the foot of the steps, in
fact.

"Whichever one finds me won't have very far to carry the eggs, and the