"Well, all's well that ends well, so they say," remarked Mr. Bobbsey, "and we're glad you are having a good time. Yes, Mr. Blake, what is it?" he asked, for Mr. Blake, had come to where Mr. Bobbsey was talking to the children, and had called aloud. "Do you want to help the ladies dish out the ice cream?" asked Mr. Blake. "Surely!" answered the twins' father. "Wait until I take off my coat. Dishing out ice cream is rather messy work." He removed his coat, hanging it on the limb of a tree near the shed where the ice cream freezers had been placed. Mrs. Bobbsey also offered to help, and when it became known that it was time for the ice cream and cake treat the picnic children began gathering at the rustic shed. Before the dainties could be served, however, there came from down the road, in the opposite direction from the broken bridge, a low, rumbling sound. "I hope it isn't going to rain," said Mrs. Morris, as she held a plate of ice cream in one hand. "What makes you think it is?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked. "Didn't you hear that thunder? I can't see the sky, on account of the trees, but I'm afraid it's clouding over." "No, the sun is shining," said the twins' mother. "But I'm sure that is thunder," went on Mrs. Morris. There was a rumbling sound down the road, and there seemed to be some excitement there, for a number of children who had started toward the ice cream pavilion turned back. "I wonder what it is," mused Mrs. Bobbsey. "I hope no 'almost' accidents are going to happen." "I'll go see what it is," offered Bert. He ran down the road, was gone a little while, and came back, his eyes shining with eagerness. "Oh, it's a big merry-go-round!" he cried. "A merry-go-round?" repeated his mother, busy at the ice cream. "Yes, a man has a big merry-go-round in pieces on three or four big wagons," Bert reported. "Something's the matter with the engine--it runs by a steam engine, and something's the matter!" "Bert, go call your father," said Mrs. Bobbsey, for her husband had gone to the far side of the grove to get another ice cream tub from the truck on which they were brought to the picnic. "We don't want any strange men setting up a merry-go-round here. Call your father!" CHAPTER IV A MISSING COAT Mr. Bobbsey came hurrying over to the ice cream pavilion, with Bert almost running beside him to keep up with his father. "What's all this, Mother?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, who, with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up, was working hard to help the ladies at the Sunday school picnic. "What's all this about a merry-go-round coming here?" "I don't know that it is coming here," answered Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile. "But some sort of affair is thundering along the road. You can see the crowd of children near it. A merry-go-round some one said. I thought perhaps some men owning one of those traveling affairs had heard about our picnic and had come here to set up a machine. We don't want anything like that."