Hardly had she spoken than there came a fearful crash, and the whole house trembled. At the same time a blast of cold wind swept through it, scattering the fire on the hearth.
"Oh, what was that?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
"That old apple tree, at the corner of the house," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"The storm has blown it over, and it has smashed a corner of the Lodge.
Don't be afraid. We'll be all right," and he ran to close the door, to
keep out the cold wind.
CHAPTER XXII
THE MISSING MONEY
"What happened?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, when her husband had come back after going out to take a look around. "Is the house safe?"
"As safe as ever," he answered. "Just as I told you, the old apple tree blew over, and smashed the corner of the house near this living room. That's why we felt the crash so. But there is no great harm done. We can keep this door closed and not use that other part of the house at all. We have room enough without it. The wind and storm can't get at us here."
"I suah 'nuff thought de house was comin' down," said Dinah, who had run in from the kitchen at the sound of the crash.
"It was a hard blow," said Bert "Look, all the ashes are scattered," and he pointed to where the wind had blown them about the hearth.
Dinah soon swept them up, however, and more wood was put on the fire, and the Bobbseys were as comfortable as before. The part of the house which had been smashed by the tree was closed off from the rest.