Bert had gazed into the windows a number of times, and even walked
through the one big department store of which the town boasted, and they
had told Freddie and Flossie of many of the things to be seen.

"Oh, I want to see them, too!" cried Flossie, and begged her mother to
take her along the next time she went out.

"I want to go, too," put in Freddie. "Bert says there are _sixteen_
rocking horses all in a row, with white and black tails. I want to see
them."

"I am going to the stores to-morrow," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "You can go
with me, after school. It will be better to go now than later on, when
the places are filled with Christmas shoppers."

The twins were in high glee, and Freddie said he was going to spend the
twenty-five cents he had been saving up for several months.

"Let us buy mamma something for Christmas," said Flossie, who had the
same amount of money.

"What shall we buy?"

That question was a puzzling one. Flossie thought a nice doll would be
the right thing, while Freddie thought an automobile that could be wound
up and made to run around the floor would be better. At last both
consulted Nan.

"Oh, mamma doesn't want a doll," said Nan. "And she ought to have a real
automobile, not a tin one."