"Oh, what a beautiful cup," she said, as she took it.

"And it cost a lot of money, too," said Flossie. "It's ours - our
birthday cup, and when I grow up I'm going to have a bracelet made from
my half."

"That will be nice," said the fat lady, as she prepared to drink.

But she never got more than a sip of the water Freddie had so kindly
brought her, for, no sooner did her lips touch the cup than there was a
grinding, shrieking sound, a jar to the railway coach, and the train
came to such a sudden stop that many passengers were thrown from their
seats.

Flossie and Freddie sat down suddenly in the aisle, but they were so fat
that they did not mind it in the least. As surprised as he was, Freddie
noticed that the fat lady was so large that she could not be thrown out
of her seat, no matter how suddenly the train stopped. The little
Bobbsey boy saw the water from the cup spill all over the fat lady, and
she held the silver vessel in her big, pudgy hand, looking curiously at
it, as though wondering what had so quickly become of the water.

"It's a wreck - the train's off the track!" a man exclaimed.

"We've hit something!" cried another.

"It's an accident, anyhow," said still a third, and then every one
seemed to be talking at once.