nut burst, and a piece of it hit Dinah on the end of her shiny, black nose.
"What am dat all?" she cried. "Who am frowin' t'ings at me? Was dat yo', Freddie lamb?"
"No, Dinah. It was a chestnut—one of mine. But I don't see what makes 'em pop that way, like corn."
"Did you make any holes in your chestnuts, or cut a little slit in the shell?" asked Bert of his brother.
"No. Do you have to do that?"
"You do unless you want your chestnuts to burst. You see," explained Bert, "there is water inside a chestnut, especially a new one. And when you put a nut on top of the hot stove the water is boiled and turned to steam, just as it is in the tea kettle. Then if the steam can't find any way to get out, as it swells it just bursts the shell of the nut and sends the pieces flying. That's what happened to yours, Freddie. I stuck a fork in each one of mine, and the little holes, made by the fork, let out the steam. Look here."
Freddie went over to the stove to look at
