is book is about them.

It may be that some boy or girl is reading this as his or her first
venture into the volumes of the "Bobbsey Twins Series." If so, I will
state that there are a number of books which come before this, though
this story is complete in itself.

To begin with there were four Bobbsey twins, as you have guessed before
this. Nan and Bert were about ten years old, tall and dark, with eyes
and hair to match.

Flossie and Freddie were short and fat, and had light hair and blue
eyes. So, now that you know them you will have no trouble in telling the
twins, one from the other.

With their mother and their father, who owned a large lumberyard, the
twins lived in the eastern city of Lakeport near the head of Lake
Metoka. There were others in the family besides the twins and their
parents. There was dear old, black, fat Dinah, the cook, who made such
good pies, and there was Sam, her husband. And I must not forget Snoop,
the black cat, nor Snap, the big dog, who once did tricks in a circus.
You will hear more about them later.

"The Bobbsey Twins," is the name of the first book, and in that you may
read of many adventures that befell the children. They had more
adventures in the country, and there is a book telling all about that
happy time, and also one about the seashore.

When the Bobbsey twins went to school there was more fun and excitement
"than you could shake a stick at," as Dinah used to say, though why any
one would want to shake a stick at fun I can't tell. Then came jolly
times at "Snow Lodge," and on a houseboat. From there the twins went to
"Meadow Brook," and afterward came home, there to have more fun.

The book just before this one you are reading is called "The Bobbsey
Twins in a Great City." In that you may learn how Bert, Nan, Flossie and
Freddie went to New York where Mr. Bobbsey had some business to look
after. While there the twins helped to solve a mystery about a poor old
man. I think, however, that I had better not tell you any more about it,
but let you read it for yourself.

And now we find the twins back in Lakeport, ready for a good time during
the summer that would soon be at hand. Only the gypsy scare had rather
alarmed every one for the time being.

"But now let me hear what it is all about," said Mr. Bobbsey, who had
come home from the office of his lumberyard to find an excited crowd in
front of his house. "Were there really any gypsies?" he asked his wife.
"And di