“You take care of the lunch, Nan,” Bert begged his older sister.  “I’ll come back when it’s time to eat.”

“Oh, I know that all right!” laughed Nan.

“Can’t I play ball?” Freddie called, starting to follow Bert.

“You stay and sail your boat,” Bert advised.  “I made it for you to sail on the lake.”

“That means I’ll have to stay and watch him so he doesn’t fall in,” sighed Nan.  “Well, you can’t sail it all day, Freddie.  I want to have some fun, too.”

“You can sail it when I get tired,” Freddie offered.

“I want to go in a big boat—­a rowboat!” declared Flossie.

“I’ll take you all for a row after the ball game,” Bert promised, and Nan held this pleasure out to them to get them to do what she wanted.

The fun was now in full sway at the picnic grounds.  Over in the meadow the boys were playing ball and shouting, and out on the little lake were many rowboats containing jolly parties.  Some of the picnic folks had already started to eat their lunches.

“I’m hungry!” declared Freddie, seeing some children with sandwiches.

“So’m I!” added Flossie.

“Well, we can eat a little,” decided Nan.  She opened one of the smaller boxes, and took out a few sandwiches.  “Let’s go over under that tree and eat,” she suggested, and soon they were sitting beneath a big pine tree, where the ground was covered with the smooth, brown needles.

Flossie had taken only a few bites of her sandwich when she suddenly jumped up and ran to Nan.

“Oh!” cried the little girl.  “There’s a snake!  A snake!”

CHAPTER III

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND

Nan, though several years older than Flossie, was at first as much frightened by the cry of “a snake!” as was her little sister.  Though Bert had often said only harmless snakes were in the woods around Lakeport, Nan could not help jumping up with a scream and pulling Flossie toward her.

“What’s the matter?” asked Freddie, who had taken his sandwich a little distance away to eat.

“A snake!  I saw a big snake!” cried Flossie again.

“Where is it?” asked Nan, for, as yet, she had caught no sight of any serpent.

“I—­I almost sat on it,” explained Flossie, clinging to Nan, and looking down over her shoulder.

Nan glanced toward where her sister had been sitting just before the alarm.  She saw no wiggling snake crawling over the ground.

“Are you sure, Flossie?” Nan asked.  “Are you sure you saw a snake?”

“Course I did.  He almost put his head in my lap.”

“Maybe he was hungry and wanted your sandwich,” suggested Freddie.  As he spoke he stepped forward to look at the place Flossie had pointed to as being the spot where she had seen the snake.  And no sooner did Freddie take a step than Flossie cried: 

“There it is again!  Oh, the snake!  The snake!  Don’t let him get me, Nan!”