“Maybe they thought a telegram would scare us,” suggested Nan. “Dinah was frightened when that one came about Sam.”
“That’s so,” agreed her brother. “I guess maybe that’s why mother didn’t telegraph us.”
“Or maybe the snow’s so deep where they are that the mail can’t get through,” went on Nan. “Lots of times, in winter, they can’t deliver the mail on account of snow.”
“That’s right,” said Bert. “I guess maybe they’re all right. Anyhow, there’s no good of worrying. And we’ll have fun keeping house by ourselves, won’t we?”
“Lots of fun,” agreed Nan.
However, a little later, it did not seem quite so much fun, for something happened that would not have happened, very likely, if Mrs. Bobbsey had been at home.
With Dinah away, it made more work for Mrs. Pry, who got the evening meal, though Nan and Bert helped all they could. They knew how to do many things about the kitchen and the dining room, for their mother had allowed them to help Dinah so they would have good training.
It happened that when Mrs. Pry was coming from the kitchen with a plate of slices of bread, Flossie saw her. All at once it entered into the mind of the little girl that she ought to help, as she had seen Nan doing. So, climbing down out of her chair, Flossie, with the kindest heart in the world, ran to Mrs. Pry, calling:
“I’ll help you, Aunt Sallie! Let me help! I’ll carry the plate of bread for you.”
“No, no, my dear!” objected the old lady. “You might spill the bread off the plate.”