"Daddy will tell you a story, little fat fairy!" said Mr. Bobbsey as he gently pinched the chubby cheek of his little girl. "I'll tell you and my little fireman a story after supper."
Flossie and Freddie clapped their hands and danced along the sidewalk in glee at hearing this.
The little party was soon at the Bobbsey home, and you can imagine how surprised Mrs. Bobbsey was when she saw, not only her husband, the children, and Sam coming in the gate, but a strange man. She must have shown the surprise she felt, for Mr. Bobbsey said:
"Mary, you remember Hiram Hickson, don't you? He and I used to know each other when I was a boy in Cedarville."
"Why, of course I remember you!" said the children's mother. "Though I don't know that I should have known you if I had met you in the street."
"No, I've changed a lot, I suppose," said the old man.
"And you have been in the wreck! You are hurt!" exclaimed Mrs.
Bobbsey. "Shall I get a doctor?"
"Oh, I'm not hurt anything to speak of," said the man. "Just shaken up a bit and scratched. I'll be all right once I get a cup of tea."
After supper Flossie and Freddie, as had been promised, were taken up on their father's lap, and they listened to one of daddy's wonderful make-believe stories.
"Please put a fairy in it!" Flossie had begged.