getting to be all woods now, only a driveway breaking through
the pines, maples, and chestnut trees that abounded in that section.

"Just turn in there, John!" Harry directed, as a particularly thick
group of trees appeared. Here were chosen the picnic grounds and all
the things taken from the wagon, and before John was out of sight on
the return home the children had established their camp and were flying
about the woods like little fairies.

"Let's build a furnace," Jack Hopkins suggested.

"Let's," said all the boys, who immediately set out carrying stones and
piling them up to build the stove. There was plenty of wood about, and
when the fire was built, the raw potatoes that Harry had secretly
brought along were roasted, finer than any oven could cook them.

Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah had spread the tablecloth on the grass, and
were now busy opening the baskets and arranging the places. There were
so many pretty little nooks to explore in the woods that Mrs. Bobbsey
had to warn the children not to get too far away.

"Are there giants?" Freddie asked.

"No, but there are very dark lonely places the woods and little boys
might find snakes."

"And bears!" put in Freddie, to which remark his mother said,
"perhaps," because there really might be bears in a woods so close to
the mountains.

CHAPTER VIII

FUN IN THE WOODS

"Dinner served in the dining car!" called Bert through the woods,
imitating the call of the porter on the Pullman car.

"All ready!" echoed the other boys, banging on an old boiler like the
Turks do, instead of ringing a bell.

"Oh, how pretty!" the girls all exclaimed, as they beheld the "feast in
the forest," as Nan put it. And indeed it was pretty, for at each place
was set a long plume of fern leaves with wood violets at the end, and
what could be more beautiful than such a decoration?

"Potatoes first!" Harry announced, "because they may get cold," and at
this order everybody broke the freshly roasted potatoes into the paper
napkins and touched it up with the extra butter that had come along.

"Simply fine!" declared Nan, with the air of one who knew. Now, my old
readers will remember how Nan baked such good cake. So she ought to be
an authority on baked potatoes, don't you think?

Next came the sandwiches, with the watercress Harry and Bert had
gathered before breakfast, then (and this was a surprise) hot
chocolate! This was brought out in Martha's cider jug, and heated in a