“Yes, and some dill pickles, too!”

“Oh, I just love dill pickles!” exclaimed Grace, “and we didn’t have one in the house.”

“I’ll give you some of mine,” offered Nan.

Flossie and Freddie were too excited, looking at sights along the road, to talk much, but they were as happy as if they had been chattering away like the others.

“Did your dog Snap bite your finger, Bert?” asked Dannie Rugg.

“No, my knife slipped when I was making Freddie a boat.  Say, Freddie,” he asked the little fellow, “did you lose your boat?”

“Nope, I have it here,” and he held it up.

“Oh, all right.”

On rumbled the trucks, raising clouds of dust.  On each big auto were several grown folks, officers of the Sunday school, who were looking after the children.  Some were fathers and mothers of the boys and girls.

Pine Grove was several miles outside the town of Lakeport, on the shores of a little lake.  It was there the yearly picnics of the Sunday schools were always held, and the Bobbsey twins, as well as the other young people of the town, looked forward with pleasure to the outings.

“What you say we get up a ball game?” asked Dannie of Bert, when they were all settled in their places.

“Sure we will,” Bert agreed.  “Have we got enough fellows?”

“If you haven’t, some of us girls will play,” offered Nan.

“Pooh!  Girls can’t play ball!” sneered Charlie Mason.

“I can!  I can bat a ball as far as you!” declared Nellie Parks.

“Maybe you can—­if you can hit it!” admitted Charlie.

“I want to play ball!” chimed in Freddie.  “I know how!”

“I guess if you sail your boat it will be all you want to do,” said Bert, looking at his cut finger to see if it would hinder him from taking part in a game.  He decided that it would not.

“We’ll have lots of fun,” said Dannie.  “If we haven’t enough for two nines we’ll play a scrub game.”

“Sure!” agreed Bert.

They were well out in the country now, and almost at the Grove.  To reach it the trucks had to cross a bridge over a creek that flowed into Pine Lake, as the body of water was called.

The first truck passed over this bridge with a rumble like thunder.  As it reached the other side Bert saw the driver of it lean from his seat, look back, and shout something to the driver of the truck on which the Bobbsey twins rode.  What the man said Bert could not hear, and as he was wondering about it the second truck started over the bridge.

Suddenly there was a cracking of wood, a splintering, breaking sound, and the heavy truck, loaded with children, the Bobbsey twins among them, seemed to be sinking down.

“Oh, the bridge is breaking!” screamed Grace.

“We’ll fall in the creek!” added Nellie.

There was a thundering sound as the auto driver turned on full power, and then, with another loud cracking noise, the truck came to a stop, and seemed to be sinking down through the breaking bridge!