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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16756-h.zip b/16756-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea8994e --- /dev/null +++ b/16756-h.zip diff --git a/16756-h/16756-h.htm b/16756-h/16756-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4651d17 --- /dev/null +++ b/16756-h/16756-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5541 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair, by Laura Lee Hope. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + img {border: 0;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair, by Laura Lee Hope + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: September 26, 2005 [EBook #16756] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + + +<h1>The Bobbsey Twins at</h1> +<h1>the County Fair</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>LAURA LEE HOPE</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES,"</h3> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="War Disclaimer"> +<tr><td align='left'><img src="./images/embleml.jpg" alt="Decoration" title="Decoration" /></td><td align='justify'><big><b>This book, while produced under<br />wartime conditions, in full compliance<br />with government regulations<br />for the conservation of paper<br />and other essential materials, is<br />COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED</b></big></td><td align='left'><img src="./images/emblemr.jpg" alt="Decoration" title="Decoration" /></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="center">NEW YORK</div> + +<div class="center">GROSSET & DUNLAP</div> + +<div class="center">PUBLISHERS</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="center">Made in the United States of America</div> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1922, by +GROSSET & DUNLAP</div> + +<div class="center"><i>The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair</i> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/frontis.jpg" alt=""OH, LOOK! FREDDIE'S IN A RACE!" CRIED FLOSSIE." title=""OH, LOOK! FREDDIE'S IN A RACE!" CRIED FLOSSIE." /></div> + +<div class='center'>"OH, LOOK! FREDDIE'S IN A RACE!" CRIED FLOSSIE.<br /> + +<i>The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair</i><br /> +<i>Frontispiece</i> (<a href="#Page_133"><i>Page 133</i></a>)</div> + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">chapter</span></td> +<td align='left'></td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Broken Bridge</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td> +<td align='left'>"<span class="smcap">There's a Snake</span>!"</td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_14'>14</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Merry-Go-Round</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_25'>25</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Missing Coat</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Sam is Worried</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Happy Days Coming</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_57'>57</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Crying Boy</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_68'>68</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Angry Mr. Blipper</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_79'>79</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Big Swing</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_89'>89</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Down a Big Hole</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_99'>99</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The County Fair</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_108'>108</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">On the Track</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_121'>121</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Cornfield</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_129'>129</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Freddie and the Pumpkin</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_139'>139</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Up in a Balloon</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_148'>148</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">On the Island</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_158'>158</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XVII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Searching Party</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_167'>167</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">On the Rocks</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_173'>173</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Two Little Sailors</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_182'>182</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Happy Meeting</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_194'>194</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bert, Nan and Bob</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_199'>199</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Joyous Times</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_207'>207</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT </h2> +<h2>THE COUNTY FAIR</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE BROKEN BRIDGE</h3> + + +<p>"Aren't you glad, Nan? Aren't you terrible glad?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course I am, Flossie!"</p> + +<p>"And aren't you glad, too, Bert?" Flossie Bobbsey, who had first asked +this question of her sister, now paused in front of her older brother. +She looked up at him smiling as he cut away with his knife at a soft +piece of wood he was shaping into a boat for Freddie. "Aren't you +terrible glad, Bert?"</p> + +<p>"I sure am, Flossie!" Bert answered, with a laugh. "What makes you ask +such funny questions?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you're glad why doesn't you wig<a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>gle like I do?" asked Flossie, +without answering Bert. "I feel just like wigglin' and squigglin' inside +and outside!" she added.</p> + +<p>"Well, wiggle as much as you please, dear, but don't get your dress +dirty, whatever you do," advised Nan, with the air of a little mother, +for she felt that she must look after her smaller sister, since Mrs. +Bobbsey was not there to do it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I won't get my dress dirty!" laughed Flossie. "'Cause if I do——"</p> + +<p>"'Cause if you do you can't go to the picnic!" finished Freddie, who was +so interested in watching brother Bert make the little wooden ship that +he forgot all about talking.</p> + +<p>"I'm just goin' to wiggle standin' up," Flossie said, and she did so, +squirming about in delight at the fun which was soon to come.</p> + +<p>"Don't forget your 'g' letters!" called Nan, shaking her finger at her +sister. "You must say 'going' and 'standing' not 'goin',' my dear, or +'standin',' you know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know. But when you feel like wigglin'—I mean wigglING," and +Flossie said the last syllable very loudly, "why, then you <a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>don't think +about 'g' letters; do you, Freddie?"</p> + +<p>"I don't guess so," he answered, not taking his eyes off the knife that +was flashing in Bert's hand, making the white slivers of wood scatter +over the green grass.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just can hardly wait till the auto truck comes; can you, Nan?" +asked Flossie, dancing over the lawn like a fairy in a play. "Oh, I'm so +glad it doesn't rain!" and she looked anxiously up at the sky as if some +cloud might float across the wonderful blue and spoil the day of +pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the weather is lovely," agreed Nan. "And if you don't think so +much about it, Flossie, the truck will get here all the sooner."</p> + +<p>"But I <i>like</i> to think about it!" cried Flossie. "It's the same as +Christmas! The more you think about it the more fun it is! Oh, I'm going +to look down the road and see if the truck is coming!"</p> + +<p>Down toward the front gate she skipped, the big bow of ribbon on her +hair flapping up and down like the wings of some great blue butterfly.</p> + +<p>"Be careful about climbing on the gate!"<a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a> warned Nan. "If you get rusty +spots on your white dress they won't come out!"</p> + +<p>"I'll be careful," Flossie promised, calling back over her shoulder, +and, as she tripped along she sang: "We're going to a picnic! We're +going to a picnic!"</p> + +<p>"I think I'd better watch her so she won't soil her clothes," said Nan, +getting up from a bench, where she had been sitting beside the boxes and +baskets of lunch. "It would be too bad if she should get her dress dirty +and couldn't go."</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to get my clothes dirty, am I, Nan?" asked Freddie, as he +looked at his white blouse.</p> + +<p>"I hope not," Nan answered.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was an exclamation from Bert, as Nan started down the +path toward Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Ouch!" cried Bert.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" Nan asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Cut myself!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh, dear!" screamed Freddie, who did not like the sight of the red +blood which oozed from the end of his brother's finger.<a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, don't get any on my clean blouse, else I can't go to the picnic!"</p> + +<p>Bert, who had popped the cut finger into his mouth as soon as he felt +the hurt, now took it out to laugh.</p> + +<p>"That's all you care about me, Freddie!" he joked. "I cut my finger, +while making you a little boat, and all you care about is that I mustn't +dirty your white blouse! I'll make you a lot more ships—I guess not!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I am sorry for you!" Freddie declared. "Only I do so want to go +to the picnic!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," Bert went on, seeing that Freddie was taking his talk too +seriously. "I won't get any blood on you!"</p> + +<p>"Is it much of a cut?" asked Nan "Do you want me to get the iodine?" +Their Mother had taught the Bobbsey twins not to neglect hurts of this +kind, and iodine, they knew, was good to "kill the germs," whatever that +meant. Iodine smarted when put into a cut, but it was better to stand a +little smart at first than a big pain afterward, so Daddy Bobbsey had +said.<a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, it isn't much of a cut," Bert said. "I guess I don't need any +iodine. You'd better go look after Flossie. The trucks may be along any +time now, and we don't want to keep them waiting."</p> + +<p>"All right. But you'd better not whittle any more on that boat or you +may cut yourself so bad you can't go to the picnic."</p> + +<p>"Let the boat go!" advised Freddie. "It's good enough, anyhow, and I +want you to go to the picnic, Bert."</p> + +<p>"All right. The little ship is almost finished, anyhow. I just have to +make about three more cuts and then I'm done."</p> + +<p>His finger had stopped bleeding—indeed the cut was a very small +one—and Bert was soon putting the last touches to the tiny craft which +Freddie wanted to sail in the little lake at the picnic grounds.</p> + +<p>Just as Bert handed the homemade toy to his brother, and when Nan +reached Flossie, in time to stop her from climbing on the gate, a noise +of honking horns was heard down the street.<a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, here they come! Here come the trucks!" cried Flossie, dancing up +and down.</p> + +<p>"Get the lunch!" called Freddie, to make sure they would not go hungry +on the picnic.</p> + +<p>"I'll go in and tell mother we're going," called Nan to Bert, who shut +up his knife, brushed the whittlings off his clothes, and began to +gather up the boxes and baskets of lunch. "Watch Flossie!" Nan added, +for there was no telling what the excitable little "fairy" might do at +the last moment.</p> + +<p>"All right," Bert answered. "Here, Freddie!" he called. "Don't run with +that sharp-pointed boat in your hand. If you fall on it you'll get +hurt."</p> + +<p>"But I'm not going to fall!" said Freddie.</p> + +<p>"You can't tell what you're going to do! Go easy!" Bert advised, and +Freddie walked as slowly as he could to the gate where Flossie was +eagerly gazing down the road.</p> + +<p>The noise of the auto horns sounded more loudly, and soon two big +trucks, filled with children and gay with flags, came into view. Boxes +had been placed in the trucks for seats, <a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>and on these boxes, laughing, +shouting, waving their hands and flags, were scores of happy, smiling +boys and girls.</p> + +<p>One of the trucks drew up at the gate of the house where lived the +Bobbsey twins, the other auto keeping on, as it was well filled. But +room had been saved in this one for Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Nan! Come on!" cried Flossie, still jumping up and down.</p> + +<p>"Tell Nan to hurry!" added Freddie to his brother.</p> + +<p>"She's coming," Bert said, as he walked down to the gate with the +packages of lunch.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Bert!" called Charlie Mason, from the truck. "Got enough to +eat?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so," Bert answered his chum, holding up the boxes and baskets. +"Enough for two picnics I should say!"</p> + +<p>"You can eat a lot when you're off in the woods," added Dannie Rugg. +"It's like camping out."</p> + +<p>"Here comes Nan!" exclaimed Grace Lavine, a particular chum of the older +Bobbsey girl.<a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a></p> + +<p>Nan, having hurried in to tell her mother the trucks had arrived, now +hastened down the path, her hair flying in the wind.</p> + +<p>"Have you everything? Take good care of Flossie and Freddie! Have a good +time, and don't fall into the water!" Mrs. Bobbsey said, as she waved +good-by to her twins while they clambered up into the truck.</p> + +<p>"We will!" they answered.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Mother! Good-by!"</p> + +<p>"Good-by, children!"</p> + +<p>"Honk! Honk!" tooted the auto horn.</p> + +<p>"All aboard!" called Nellie Parks. "All aboard!"</p> + +<p>"I want to sit on the end!" declared Freddie, struggling to get in this +position.</p> + +<p>"You might fall out going up hill," said Bert. "I'll sit there, Freddie, +and you can sit next me." The little fellow had to be content with this.</p> + +<p>With children laughing, children singing, children shouting and children +smiling, with flags flying and the horn tooting, the big auto started +off, having taken aboard the Bobbsey twins; and soon the two trucks were +out of <a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>sight around a turn in the road, bound for Pine Grove, on the +outskirts of the town of Lakeport. It was the yearly picnic of one of +the Lakeport Sunday schools.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it a wonderful day?" asked Grace of Nan. The two friends and +Nellie were sitting together.</p> + +<p>"Yes, beautiful. We nearly always have a good day for the picnic."</p> + +<p>"Did you bring any olives in your lunch. Nan?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and some dill pickles, too!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just love dill pickles!" exclaimed Grace, "and we didn't have one +in the house."</p> + +<p>"I'll give you some of mine," offered Nan.</p> + +<p>Flossie and Freddie were too excited, looking at sights along the road, +to talk much, but they were as happy as if they had been chattering away +like the others.</p> + +<p>"Did your dog Snap bite your finger, Bert?" asked Dannie Rugg.</p> + +<p>"No, my knife slipped when I was making Freddie a boat. Say, Freddie," +he asked the little fellow, "did you lose your boat?"<a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a></p> + +<p>"Nope, I have it here," and he held it up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right."</p> + +<p>On rumbled the trucks, raising clouds of dust. On each big auto were +several grown folks, officers of the Sunday school, who were looking +after the children. Some were fathers and mothers of the boys and girls.</p> + +<p>Pine Grove was several miles outside the town of Lakeport, on the shores +of a little lake. It was there the yearly picnics of the Sunday schools +were always held, and the Bobbsey twins, as well as the other young +people of the town, looked forward with pleasure to the outings.</p> + +<p>"What you say we get up a ball game?" asked Dannie of Bert, when they +were all settled in their places.</p> + +<p>"Sure we will," Bert agreed. "Have we got enough fellows?"</p> + +<p>"If you haven't, some of us girls will play," offered Nan.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! Girls can't play ball!" sneered Charlie Mason.</p> + +<p>"I can! I can bat a ball as far as you!" declared Nellie Parks.<a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a></p> + +<p>"Maybe you can—if you can hit it!" admitted Charlie.</p> + +<p>"I want to play ball!" chimed in Freddie. "I know how!"</p> + +<p>"I guess if you sail your boat it will be all you want to do," said +Bert, looking at his cut finger to see if it would hinder him from +taking part in a game. He decided that it would not.</p> + +<p>"We'll have lots of fun," said Dannie. "If we haven't enough for two +nines we'll play a scrub game."</p> + +<p>"Sure!" agreed Bert.</p> + +<p>They were well out in the country now, and almost at the Grove. To reach +it the trucks had to cross a bridge over a creek that flowed into Pine +Lake, as the body of water was called.</p> + +<p>The first truck passed over this bridge with a rumble like thunder. As +it reached the other side Bert saw the driver of it lean from his seat, +look back, and shout something to the driver of the truck on which the +Bobbsey twins rode. What the man said Bert could <a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>not hear, and as he +was wondering about it the second truck started over the bridge.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a cracking of wood, a splintering, breaking sound, +and the heavy truck, loaded with children, the Bobbsey twins among them, +seemed to be sinking down.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the bridge is breaking!" screamed Grace.</p> + +<p>"We'll fall in the creek!" added Nellie.</p> + +<p>There was a thundering sound as the auto driver turned on full power, +and then, with another loud cracking noise, the truck came to a stop, +and seemed to be sinking down through the breaking bridge!<a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>"THERE'S A SNAKE!"</h3> + + +<p>With the first cries of alarm, Bert Bobbsey had jumped to his feet, one +arm had gone out toward his sister Nan, and the other toward Flossie and +Freddie. But no boy has arms long enough to reach for three relatives at +once, especially when two of them, as Flossie and Freddie happened to +be, were some distance away.</p> + +<p>Bert did, however, manage to put one arm around Nan, and he pulled her +toward him, though just why he hardly knew. As he did so there was a +frightened movement on the part of all the other children aboard the +truck, for they seemed to be sliding down toward the front of it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bert! what has happened?" cried Nan. "Get hold of Flossie and +Freddie, can't you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm trying to," he answered.<a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a></p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" Flossie called to Nan and Bert. "We're all slipping +down!"</p> + +<p>And this was just what was happening. The bridge over the stream seemed +to have broken in the middle, just as the heavy truck got to that spot, +and the auto's front wheels being lower than the rear ones, had slid the +load of picnic merrymakers into a heap.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" screamed Grace Lavine. "What is going to happen?"</p> + +<p>"You'll be all right if you just keep quiet!" called the driver of the +auto in a loud voice. "The bridge has only sagged a little! It isn't +going to fall!"</p> + +<p>This was good news provided it was true.</p> + +<p>"All of you get off, and do it quietly," advised the driver. "You'll be +all right."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?" asked Mrs. Simpson, one of the ladies in charge of the +children.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, ma'am. There's no danger," declared the man. He had jumped +from his seat and was looking at the floor of the bridge under the front +wheels of the truck.</p> + +<p>"Keep quiet, every one!" ordered Mr. Blake, one of the gentlemen who had +agreed <a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>to help the ladies look after the children. "Don't scream or +cry, and move as quietly as you can. The easier you move the less danger +there will be. The bridge hasn't quite broken in two yet."</p> + +<p>But it was in grave danger of doing that, as Mr. Blake saw, and he was +fearful that a bad accident would soon happen.</p> + +<p>However, the thing to do now was to get all the children off the truck, +over the bridge, and safe on solid ground. After that it might be +possible to get the truck over and keep on to the picnic.</p> + +<p>One by one the children, including the Bobbsey twins, started to get off +the truck. They moved as carefully as they could, for they felt that +they were like skaters on thin ice. The least quick movement might break +something.</p> + +<p>The truck that had gotten safely over the bridge had come to a stop, and +children and grown folks were piling off it to see what they could do to +save those in danger on the broken bridge.</p> + +<p>And while the work of rescue is going on I <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>will take a moment or two to +tell my new readers something about the Bobbsey twins. Those of you who +have read the other books in this series do not need to be introduced to +Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie.</p> + +<p>Those were the names of the four children. Bert and Nan were the older +twins, and Flossie and Freddie the younger. You are first told about +them in the book called "The Bobbsey Twins," and in that you learn that +the Bobbsey family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bobbsey and their +four children, lived in Lakeport, an eastern city on the shore of Lake +Metoka, where Mr. Bobbsey had a lumber business.</p> + +<p>In the family, though not exactly members of it, were Dinah, the jolly, +fat, colored cook, and Sam Johnson, her husband. Then we must not forget +Snap, the dog, and Snoop, the big cat.</p> + +<p>Following the first book are a number of volumes telling of the +adventures of the Bobbsey twins. They went to the country to visit Uncle +Daniel, and at the seashore they had fun at the home of Uncle William. +After that <a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>the Bobbseys enjoyed a trip in a houseboat, they journeyed +to a great city, camped on Blueberry Island, saw the sights of +Washington and even sailed to sea.</p> + +<p>As if this was not enough Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey took their children on a +western trip among the cowboys, and just before the present story opens +Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had come back from Cedar Camp, +where they had had some exciting adventures.</p> + +<p>Now it was summer again, and one of the first delights of that season +was the Sunday school picnic which had started off so well but which +seemed likely now to end in an accident.</p> + +<p>It was too bad that one truck should have gotten safely over the bridge, +and that the other had to break through. The second truck was heavier +than the first. The first may have cracked the bridge beams and the +second one broken them.</p> + +<p>"Careful now, children, careful!" warned Mr. Blake. "Don't jump down! +Come to the end of the truck and I'll lift you down!"</p> + +<p>"And as soon as you are down walk to the <a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>other side of the bridge; +don't run—walk!" ordered the driver.</p> + +<p>Bert remembered that it said this on the programs of the moving picture +theaters, and he decided it was good advice.</p> + +<p>One by one the children made their way up the sloping floor of the truck +to the tailboard, and there Mr. Blake, Mrs. Simpson, and other men and +women helped the little ones down.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I feel like fainting!" sighed Grace.</p> + +<p>"Don't be silly!" exclaimed Nan. "Nothing is going to happen!"</p> + +<p>It was a good thing Nan felt this way, though, as a matter of fact, +something dreadful might happen at any moment. If the cracked beams of +the bridge should break all the way through, the auto would slide down +into the water. And, though the creek was not very deep, still many +would be hurt in the crash.</p> + +<p>The Bobbsey twins, being nearest the rear of the auto, were among the +first off. They did what the driver told them—walked quietly off the +bridge.</p> + +<p>At the farther end they joined the picnic party that had gotten off the +first truck. And <a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>there, almost breathless, they watched the work of +rescue going on.</p> + +<p>One by one little boys and girls were lifted down off the truck, and +then, when the last had reached safely the far shore, Mr. Blake, Mrs. +Simpson, and the other men and women made their way carefully to land.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you coming?" asked Mr. Blake of the truck driver, for the man +was still close to his big car, looking at it and the sagging floor of +the bridge.</p> + +<p>"I want to see if I can get this truck off," he answered. "The machine +isn't damaged any—it's only the bridge. I guess the load was too heavy +for it."</p> + +<p>"I heard it cracking as I went over," called the driver of the first +truck. "I shouted a warning to you, but it was too late."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was too late to save the bridge, but maybe I can get my truck +off," the other driver went on. "Anyhow, none of the children is hurt."</p> + +<p>And this was so—something for which the Sunday school officers were +very glad, indeed. <a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a></p> + +<p>"If we had some pieces of wood to put under the bridge, to brace it up, +maybe you could get the truck over," said the driver of the big auto +that was safe on the far shore.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you take fence rails?" asked Bert, who felt better, now that +his sisters and brother were all right.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we could do that," agreed the driver of the second auto. "Come +on—give me a hand!" he called to his companion.</p> + +<p>The two men worked away for a time, and braced up the bridge so that the +auto could be driven carefully over it, though it was not easy to get it +up the hill made when the bridge had sunk into the shape of the letter +V.</p> + +<p>But finally the empty second truck was safe on the other side of the +stream, near the first one, and rails were put across the road to warn +other vehicles not to try to cross the bridge. It was safe enough for a +person to walk across, but it would not hold up an auto or a horse and +wagon.</p> + +<p>"We may as well go on to the picnic grounds," said Mr. Blake, when the +smaller, <a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>frightened children had gotten over their crying.</p> + +<p>"How we going to get home again if we can't cross the bridge?" asked +Flossie, looking at the sagging structure.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's another bridge over the creek, about two miles down," the +driver of the second truck said. "That will be all right."</p> + +<p>Soon the children and grown folks were on the autos again, and moving +toward the picnic grounds. This time there was not so much merry +laughter and singing, for all felt that there had been a narrow escape +from a terrible accident.</p> + +<p>But gloom does not long remain with a party of jolly boys and girls, and +by the time they alighted at Pine Grove each one was in high spirits +again.</p> + +<p>There were plenty of amusements at the picnic grounds. Little rustic +pavilions here and there formed places where one could sit in the shade +and eat lunch. There were swings for those who liked them, and boats for +the older ones.</p> + +<p>A green meadow, not far away, made a <a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>fine baseball field, and Bert, +Charlie, and Dannie, with some of the older boys, at once made a rush +for the field to start a baseball game.</p> + +<p>"You take care of the lunch, Nan," Bert begged his older sister. "I'll +come back when it's time to eat."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know that all right!" laughed Nan.</p> + +<p>"Can't I play ball?" Freddie called, starting to follow Bert.</p> + +<p>"You stay and sail your boat," Bert advised. "I made it for you to sail +on the lake."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"You can sail it when I get tired," Freddie offered.</p> + +<p>"I want to go in a big boat—a rowboat!" declared Flossie.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>The fun was now in full sway at the picnic grounds. Over in the meadow +the boys were <a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>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.</p> + +<p>"I'm hungry!" declared Freddie, seeing some children with sandwiches.</p> + +<p>"So'm I!" added Flossie.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>Flossie had taken only a few bites of her sandwich when she suddenly +jumped up and ran to Nan.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried the little girl. "There's a snake! A snake!" <a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE MERRY-GO-ROUND</h3> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Freddie, who had taken his sandwich a little +distance away to eat.</p> + +<p>"A snake! I saw a big snake!" cried Flossie again.</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" asked Nan, for, as yet, she had caught no sight of any +serpent.</p> + +<p>"I—I almost sat on it," explained Flossie, clinging to Nan, and looking +down over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>Nan glanced toward where her sister had <a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>been sitting just before the +alarm. She saw no wiggling snake crawling over the ground.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure, Flossie?" Nan asked. "Are you sure you saw a snake?"</p> + +<p>"Course I did. He almost put his head in my lap."</p> + +<p>"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:</p> + +<p>"There it is again! Oh, the snake! The snake! Don't let him get me, +Nan!"</p> + +<p>Nan, too, saw something round and black moving near the place where +Flossie had been sitting, and, fearing for the safety of her sister, the +older Bobbsey girl lifted Flossie in her arms.</p> + +<p>But no snake glided across the brown pine needles, and there was no +hissing sound nor any forked tongue playing rapidly in and out, as Nan +had once seen in a little snake Bert and Charlie Mason had caught.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe there is a snake," Nan said, <a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>as Flossie slipped to the +ground. "If there was one it has gone away."</p> + +<p>"I'll hit him with a stone!" cried Freddie, turning to look for a rock. +And as he moved Flossie cried again:</p> + +<p>"There it is! I saw it move! That black thing!"</p> + +<p>This time she pointed so carefully that Nan, letting her eye follow +along Flossie's finger, saw what the little girl meant. And Nan laughed.</p> + +<p>"Why, that isn't a snake!" she cried. "It's only a crooked, black tree +branch! It does look a little like a snake, but it isn't really one, +Flossie."</p> + +<p>"But what made it move?" the little girl asked.</p> + +<p>"I think it was Freddie, though he didn't do it on purpose," went on +Nan. "Take another step, Freddie, as you did when you were looking for a +stone."</p> + +<p>Freddie moved a little and then they all saw what it was that had caused +Flossie's fright. A long, dead branch of a tree lay on the ground. The +larger end of it was close <a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>to where Flossie had been sitting with Nan, +and this end did look somewhat like a snake, with a mouth and eyes. The +middle of the stick was covered with pine needles, and the lower end +stuck out beyond the needles and dried leaves close to where Freddie +stood.</p> + +<p>When the little boy took a step his foot touched the thin end of the +branch, and made the thick end, near Flossie, move. Flossie took this +for the swaying of a snake's head, and so she had screamed in fright.</p> + +<p>"There's your snake—only a tree branch!" laughed Nan, as she lifted the +dead limb and held it up.</p> + +<p>"Ho! Ho!" laughed Freddie.</p> + +<p>"Was that it—for sure?" asked Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Of course!" answered Nan. "Come sit down and finish your sandwich. Then +we'll play until it's time to eat our regular lunch."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad it wasn't a real snake," sighed Flossie, as she took her +place with her sister beneath the tree.</p> + +<p>"If it had been a real snake I'd 'a' pegged a rock at it!" boasted +Freddie.</p> + +<p>This was not the only fright at the picnic, <a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>for a little girl about +Flossie's age cried when she saw a big frog in a pool, and a little boy +ran screaming to his mother because a grasshopper perched on his +shoulder.</p> + +<p>But things like these always happen at picnics, and when the little +frights were over even the children themselves laughed at their +short-lived terror.</p> + +<p>After the ball game Bert and Nan took the smaller Bobbsey twins for a +row in a boat. Everything went well except that Freddie, in trying to +sail his tiny ship over the side of the rowboat, nearly fell in himself. +But Bert caught him just in time and pulled him back.</p> + +<p>Then it was time for lunch, and what a good time all the children had, +sitting at tables in the little rustic houses, or on the ground, eating +from boxes and baskets. The Bobbsey twins, with a group of their +friends, sat in a little pavilion by themselves.</p> + +<p>Besides the lunch which each child or group of children brought, there +was to be ice cream and cake, given by the Sunday school. The big +freezers had been arranged in a sort of shed, and the cake and cream +treat was to be <a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>given after the picnic lunches had been eaten. Just +before the time for this part of the program, Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey +arrived at the grounds, driving over in the auto, as they had promised +to do.</p> + +<p>"Well, children, having fun?" asked the father of the Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"A dandy time!" exclaimed Bert. "My team won the ball game."</p> + +<p>"And I 'most fell out of a boat!" boasted Freddie.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! That's nothing! I 'most saw a snake!" exclaimed Flossie.</p> + +<p>"A snake!" cried her mother.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't real," Nan hastened to add, and Mrs. Bobbsey seemed to +breathe easier.</p> + +<p>"Well, you have had some excitement as well as fun," observed Mr. +Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Excitement!" cried Bert. "Say, Daddy, you ought to have been there when +the truck almost smashed through the bridge!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, did that happen?" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"No, but almost," Bert went on.</p> + +<p>"Well, it seems to me that everything 'al<a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>most' happened," said Mrs. +Bobbsey. "Flossie <i>almost</i> saw a snake, Freddie <i>almost</i> fell overboard +and the truck <i>almost</i> broke the bridge."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the bridge really <i>is</i> broken," Nan said. And she told about that +accident. Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey had come to the picnic grounds by another +road, and so had not seen the bridge that sagged in the middle.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Do you want to help the ladies dish out the ice cream?" asked Mr. +Blake.</p> + +<p>"Surely!" answered the twins' father. "Wait until I take off my coat. +Dishing out ice cream is rather messy work."</p> + +<p>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 <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>the picnic children began gathering at the rustic shed.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I hope it isn't going to rain," said Mrs. Morris, as she held a plate +of ice cream in one hand.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think it is?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"No, the sun is shining," said the twins' mother.</p> + +<p>"But I'm sure that is thunder," went on Mrs. Morris.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what it is," mused Mrs. Bobbsey. "I hope no 'almost' accidents +are going to happen." <a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a></p> + +<p>"I'll go see what it is," offered Bert.</p> + +<p>He ran down the road, was gone a little while, and came back, his eyes +shining with eagerness.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's a big merry-go-round!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"A merry-go-round?" repeated his mother, busy at the ice cream.</p> + +<p>"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!"</p> + +<p>"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!" <a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>A MISSING COAT</h3> + + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey came hurrying over to the ice cream pavilion, with Bert +almost running beside him to keep up with his father.</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"No," agreed Mr. Bobbsey with a smile.<a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a> "We don't. I'll go see about it," +and off he went, followed by Bert. Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had +already joined the group of children down near the road that extended +along one edge of the picnic grove.</p> + +<p>As Bert and his father neared the place, a loud, hissing sound was heard +and a white cloud of steam shot into the air, while the little ones +screamed and scattered.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" cried Bert.</p> + +<p>"I hope those youngsters don't go too near!" murmured Mr. Bobbsey. "The +safety valve of his steam engine is blowing off. He's got too much +pressure on. It may be dangerous," and Mr. Bobbsey broke into a run, +which Bert imitated as well as he could with his shorter legs.</p> + +<p>However, there was no great danger. As Mr. Bobbsey had said, the safety +valve of a steam engine, on one of the trucks which carried the +merry-go-round outfit, was blowing off, and a short, stout man, with a +very red face, and a lanky boy, wearing ragged clothes, were working +about the engine.</p> + +<p>"Keep back, children! Keep back!" called<a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a> Mr. Bobbsey, as he reached the +road. "This merry-go-round isn't going to be set up here. Keep back out +of danger!"</p> + +<p>"That's what I wish they'd do, mister!" said the red-faced man in no +very friendly voice. "They're under foot, and some of 'em may get +stepped on. I've got trouble enough without a bunch of kids getting in +the way."</p> + +<p>He did not speak very nicely of children, Bert thought, and Nan was +evidently of the same opinion from the way in which she looked at her +brother. Flossie and Freddie thought nothing of this. They were too +excited in looking at the merry-go-round outfit.</p> + +<p>This fun-making machine was loaded on four large trucks, hauled by four +sturdy horses each. On one truck was an engine, with a fire in it and +smoke and steam coming from it. It was this that seemed to be causing +the trouble which the red-faced man and the lanky boy were trying to +make better.</p> + +<p>Behind the engine truck, which was in the lead, were three other trucks, +and the drivers of the horses kept to their seats, not offering to help +the red-faced man. <a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a></p> + +<p>The three trucks were piled high with the frame and roof of the +merry-go-round. There were posts, boards, long iron rods, greasy cog +wheels and all sorts of queer things. But what interested the children +most were the wooden animals that made up the more showy part of the +merry-go-round. There were horses, lions, tigers, camels, elephants, +zebras, an ostrich and a cow.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want to ride on the cow!" cried Freddie.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to get on the lion's back!" exclaimed Flossie.</p> + +<p>"No, I want the lion, you can have the cow!" yelled Freddie. "I want the +lion!"</p> + +<p>"I had him first! I choosed him first an' he's mine! Daddy, can't I have +the lion?" begged Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Hush, children!" said Mr. Bobbsey, as Freddie opened his mouth to wail +that he wanted the king of beasts. "The merry-go-round isn't going to be +set up here. No one is going to get a ride."</p> + +<p>"That's what, mister!" exclaimed the red-faced man. "I'm not going to +stop here. I'm <a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>on my way to the Bolton County Fair with this +merry-go-round outfit. I'm going to be there for a week or more. Just +had a little trouble with this engine. I got steam up on it while on the +road to see what the matter was."</p> + +<p>"Is it fixed now?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Yes, seems to be. Here, Bob," he called to the lanky boy, "haul the +fire now, and we'll let her cool down. I guess she'll work now. Got up a +good steam pressure, anyhow."</p> + +<p>The ragged boy did something to the engine, when suddenly a burst of +melody struck on the ears of all, and from an organ there was ground out +a gay dancing tune.</p> + +<p>"Oh, music!" cried Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Where's the hand organ monkey?" Freddie wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to get Grace and we can dance!" exclaimed Nan, for she and +her chums did simple little dances at school.</p> + +<p>"I want to see the monkey!" wailed Freddie again.</p> + +<p>"There isn't any monkey," Bert said. "It isn't exactly a hand organ. +It's one that works <a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>by steam, I imagine," he said. "It's part of the +merry-go-round."</p> + +<p>"That's right. It's a good organ, too," said the ragged, lanky boy, who +was working away at the engine, while the red-faced man had started for +the front of the truck. Hearing the melody the red-faced man turned to +the boy and angrily cried:</p> + +<p>"Here! I didn't tell you to turn that music on! Shut it off, do you +hear!"</p> + +<p>"My, what a cross man!" said Flossie, in what she meant to be a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" her father said.</p> + +<p>"Shut that organ off! What'd you turn it on for, Bob?" grumbled the man.</p> + +<p>"I didn't turn it on, Mr. Blipper. It turned itself on—too much steam, +I guess."</p> + +<p>"Well, shut it off, do you hear! I don't want to play music when I don't +get any money for it. Shut it off!"</p> + +<p>The boy did something to the engine and the organ music died away in a +sad wail.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Now we can't have any dance," lamented Nan. <a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a></p> + +<p>"How long are you going to stop here, Mr.—er—did I understand your +name was Blipper?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, thinking he might arrange to have +the organ played a little while for the children.</p> + +<p>"Blipper is my name—Aaron Blipper," answered the man. "Sole owner and +proprietor of Blipper's Merry-Go-Round which will exhibit for a week, +and maybe more, at the Bolton County Fair."</p> + +<p>"My name is Bobbsey," went on the father of the twins. "Your name and +mine have the same first letter, anyhow. I was going to say that if you +were going to remain here a while I'd give you a dollar to let the organ +play for the children. This is a Sunday school picnic."</p> + +<p>"I guessed it was," said Mr. Blipper. "Well, if you was to give me a +dollar I'd have Bob turn the music on again. I think a dollar will pay +for what coal I burn in the engine. The organ is worked by the engine. I +can't turn it by hand, or I'd let Bob do that. But I'll play for a +dollar."</p> + +<p>"Here you are then," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he passed over a bill. <a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a></p> + +<p>"Turn the organ on, Bob!" ordered Mr. Blipper. "And while we're waiting +here get a pail and water the horses. Might as well make yourself useful +as well as ornamental."</p> + +<p>To the Bobbsey twins it seemed that Bob had been making himself busy, if +not useful, ever since the merry-go-round had halted near the picnic +grounds.</p> + +<p>The boy turned a handle and once more the organ began grinding out music +of one kind or another. It was not very good, of course, but it pleased +the children. Soon Flossie and Freddie were dancing on the green grass +beside the road, and Nan and many of the other children were also +enjoying themselves in this way. Though it was a Sunday school picnic, +such simple dances as the children did could not be found fault with by +any one.</p> + +<p>Bert and his especial chums did not dance. They walked about the trucks +of the merry-go-round, looking at the wooden animals. Mainly, however, +they were interested in the steam engine which not only turned the +machine around, once it was set up, but also played the organ. <a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a></p> + +<p>"I'd like to see this thing going," said Charlie Mason.</p> + +<p>"So would I," agreed Dannie Rugg.</p> + +<p>"Maybe my father will take me to the Bolton County Fair," remarked Bert. +"If he does I'll have a ride."</p> + +<p>Then the ragged boy, who had been watering the horses, while the drivers +dozed on their high seats, came up with an empty pail. He looked at the +engine, changed the organ so that it played a different tune and let +some hot water run out of a little faucet.</p> + +<p>"Do you know how to run the engine?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"Sure I do!"</p> + +<p>"What's your name?" asked Charlie.</p> + +<p>"Bob."</p> + +<p>"Bob what?" Dannie wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Bob Guess."</p> + +<p>"Bob Guess! That's a queer name," remarked Bert.</p> + +<p>"Well, it isn't exactly my real name," the ragged lad went on. "I'm an +orphan. I haven't had any real folks in a long time. I was taken out of +the asylum by this man, so <a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>he says. He adopted me, I reckon, and he +said he gave me that name 'cause he had to <i>guess</i> what my real name +was. So I'm called Bob Guess."</p> + +<p>"A queer name," murmured Bert. "But I'd like to know how to work a steam +engine."</p> + +<p>"So'd I!" agreed the other boys.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! It's easy," said Bob Guess, who seemed to like to show off. For +he turned another little faucet, thereby sending out a cloud of steam, +and causing Charlie Mason to jump back.</p> + +<p>"Don't be skeered! It won't hurt you!" laughed Bob.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it hot?"</p> + +<p>"Not after it comes from the boiler. Look, I can hold my hand right in +it," which Bob Guess did, letting a cloud of steam envelop both his +rather dirty hands.</p> + +<p>"Whew!" whistled Dannie, in amazement.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to try it!" said Bert, rightly guessing that at a short +distance from the faucet the steam cooled off; which was true, as you +know if you have ever "felt" of the <a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>steam coming from a house radiator +on a cold day.</p> + +<p>But as Bert stretched out his hand to test the steam as Bob had done, +Mr. Blipper called from where he stood talking to the driver of the last +truck.</p> + +<p>"Stop monkeying with that engine, Bob!" yelled the red-faced man. "You +want to get it all out of kilter again!"</p> + +<p>"I was only testin' the steam gauge," the boy answered.</p> + +<p>"Well, you let it alone, do you hear, and water the horses."</p> + +<p>"I have watered 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Well, water 'em some more! I'm not going to stop again till I get to +the Bolton County Fair if I can help it."</p> + +<p>"He's sort of cross, isn't he?" asked Charlie, as Bob moved off.</p> + +<p>"More than that—he's mean!" declared the ragged lad.</p> + +<p>Bert and his chums stood looking at the steam engine and listening to +the organ, while Nan and the smaller children danced. Then up came Mr. +Blipper. <a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a></p> + +<p>"I guess this is a dollar's worth of music," he announced.</p> + +<p>"I believe so," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile. "The children have +enjoyed it. Thank you!"</p> + +<p>"Um!" grunted Mr. Blipper. "Here you, Bob!" he roared. "Come and shut +off this steam. We're going to travel!"</p> + +<p>He climbed up on the seat, and Bob, after hanging the water pail on a +hook beneath the truck, shut off the engine. The organ ceased playing, +and the trucks containing the merry-go-round lumbered off.</p> + +<p>"Good-by!" called the Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"Good-by!" echoed Bob Guess.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if we'll ever see him again," murmured Bert.</p> + +<p>And he was to see the strange lad again, under queer circumstances.</p> + +<p>"Come, children, your ice cream will get cold!" called Mrs. Bobbsey, who +had come from the pavilion to summon the little guests.</p> + +<p>"Ice cream get cold! Ha! Ha!" laughed Grace Lavine.</p> + +<p>"I like mine cold," chuckled Dannie Rugg. <a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a></p> + +<p>Back across the fields ran the merry, laughing children. The Sunday +school picnic, in spite of the danger at the bridge, had turned out most +wonderfully.</p> + +<p>Soon the caravan of the merry-go-round was but a series of faint specks +down the dusty road. It was taking a route that would not take it across +the broken bridge.</p> + +<p>The Bobbsey twins and their friends sat about eating ice cream and cake, +and some of them talked about the strange boy and the organ that was +played by steam.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to have an organ like that when I grow up," said Freddie.</p> + +<p>"An' I'm goin' to help you play it, an' ride on a lion," added Flossie, +and the others laughed.</p> + +<p>Picnics, however delightful, cannot go on forever, and this one came to +an end as the afternoon shadows were falling. Mr. Bobbsey had been very +busy helping his wife and the other ladies, and now, as the time came +for him to go home in the small auto in which he and his wife had ridden +to the grove, he rolled down his sleeves, and looked about him. <a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a></p> + +<p>"What are you after?" his wife asked.</p> + +<p>"My coat. I hung it on a tree limb right here, I thought."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I saw you," said Nan.</p> + +<p>"But it isn't here now!" her father went on.</p> + +<p>"Here's some sort of coat," announced Bert, picking up one from the +ground under a tree near the ice cream pavilion.</p> + +<p>"That's where I hung my coat," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And this coat isn't +mine. Mine was a good, new one. This is an old, ragged one. Dear me! I +hope my coat hasn't been stolen! It had some money in one pocket, and +also some papers I need at the lumber office! Where is my coat?" <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>SAM IS WORRIED</h3> + + +<p>While fathers, mothers, and other relatives were gathering up their own +children, or children of whom they had charge, to see that they were +safely loaded into the two big trucks to go home from the picnic, the +Bobbsey twins—at least Bert and Nan—were searching for their father's +coat. Flossie and Freddie were too small to pay much attention to +anything of this sort. The smaller twins were talking about the +merry-go-round and starting over again the dispute as to who should ride +on the wooden lion.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you left your coat hanging on the tree limb?" asked Mrs. +Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"I'm certain of it," her husband answered. "And this old coat never was +mine—I wouldn't own it!" <a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a></p> + +<p>He dropped to the ground the ragged garment that had been found lying +beneath the tree.</p> + +<p>"I thought maybe you had hung your coat over by the ice cream shed," +went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "You may have done that and have forgotten about +it."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't do that," said the father of the Bobbsey twins. "I +remember hanging my coat on the tree, for I recall noticing what a +regular hook, like one on our rack at home, a broken piece of the branch +made. My coat was here. But it's gone now, and this old one is left in +place of it."</p> + +<p>There was no question about that. Search as Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and the +children did, over the picnic grounds, the lumberman's coat, with money +in one pocket and papers in another, was gone.</p> + +<p>"Who do you s'pose could have taken it?" asked Nan, as her father looked +about him with a puzzled air.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," he answered, "unless——"</p> + +<p>"Maybe it was tramps!" interrupted Bert.</p> + +<p>"There weren't any tramps here on our pic<a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>nic grounds," said Mrs. +Bobbsey. "Some of the drivers of the merry-go-round trucks looked like +tramps, but they didn't get off their seats, did they?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I noticed," her husband answered. "Well, there's no use +looking farther. My coat is gone—stolen I'm afraid. This old one is +left in its place. I haven't any use for this," and he kicked it to one +side. "Never mind. It isn't cold. I can ride home without a coat."</p> + +<p>"There's a lap robe in the auto," Mrs. Bobbsey said. "You can wrap that +about you if you get chilly on the way home."</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, "I can do that. Trot along, Bobbsey twins. +Get into your picnic truck, and we'll see who gets home first."</p> + +<p>"Like Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf," laughed Flossie.</p> + +<p>While Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey walked over to where Mr. Bobbsey had left the +runabout auto in which he and his wife had come to the picnic grounds, +Bert, Nan, and the other children took their places in the big truck. <a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a></p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">"Merrily we roll along—roll along—roll along!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Some one started that song as the trucks rumbled out of the picnic +grove. On account of the broken bridge a different road home had to be +taken; a longer one. Having a lighter car than the trucks, Mr. Bobbsey +and his wife could go faster than the loads of merry-makers, and the +twins waved good-by to their parents, who were soon lost to sight.</p> + +<p>"I guess they'll get home first," said Nan to Bert.</p> + +<p>"I guess so—I Bob Guess so!" he added, making a joke on the name of the +strange lad who had worked the steam organ of the merry-go-round.</p> + +<p>"I feel sorry for that boy," said Nan. "Mr. Blipper was so cross and +mean to him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he was cross," agreed Bert. "I hope daddy finds his coat," he +added. "It's funny to have a coat stolen at a Sunday school picnic."</p> + +<p>"Maybe somebody took it by mistake," suggested his sister. <a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a></p> + +<p>"I don't believe they would, and leave an old ragged coat in place of a +good one," Bert remarked.</p> + +<p>"Maybe not," said Nan.</p> + +<p>The picnic party was rather more quiet on the journey home than it had +been on the way to Pine Grove. The reason was that the children were +tired, and some of them sleepy. They sang for a while after leaving the +grove, Bert and Nan starting many melodies in which the others joined.</p> + +<p>But finally the songs died away, and about the only noise that was heard +was the rumble of the big trucks.</p> + +<p>"Do we have to cross any bridges?" asked Mrs. Morris, of the driver of +the auto in which she rode with the Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"One bridge—yes, lady," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"Dear me! I hope it doesn't break down as the white one did to-day," +exclaimed the nervous little lady.</p> + +<p>"No danger. It's a big iron one," said the driver.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that," went on Mrs. Morris. "I'm always worried when I +cross a bridge." <a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a></p> + +<p>But there were no more accidents. The trucks took a little longer +returning to Lakeport than they had making the trip earlier in the day, +for they had to go a roundabout way. But finally the outskirts of the +town were reached, and the children began getting off as they neared +their homes.</p> + +<p>"Good-by! Good-by!" they called one to another.</p> + +<p>Finally the home of the Bobbsey twins came in sight in the early summer +evening.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Bert and Nan!" called their chums.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Flossie and Freddie!"</p> + +<p>"Good-by! Good-by!" echoed the Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"Dad is home ahead of us," remarked Bert to Nan, as they went up the +steps.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" asked Nan.</p> + +<p>"Because I see the runabout there," and Bert pointed toward the garage. +"Seems to be something wrong," Bert went on. "Mother is there and so is +Sam."</p> + +<p>"Let's go see what it is," suggested Nan, as Dinah came to the door, +calling: <a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a></p> + +<p>"Am mah honey lambs safe an' sound?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dinah!" said Freddie. "And I'm hungry, too!"</p> + +<p>"Ah spects yo' is, honey! Ah spects yo' is!" laughed the jolly, fat +cook. "Come right in yeah an' hab some cake!"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to ride on a lion, I am!" stated Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Good lan', chile! A lion!" exclaimed Dinah, raising her hands in +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yep! A lion!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mah honey lamb! Don't yo' do no sich a thing!" cried Dinah. "A lion +done eat yo' laigs off!"</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't a real lion. I mean a wooden lion on a merry-go-round like we +saw to-day," Flossie explained.</p> + +<p>"Oh, a wooden lion!" and Dinah laughed. "Well, come in yeah, honey +lambs, an' I'll feed yo'. Ah'll make beliebe yo' all is hungry lions, +an' Ah'll feed yo'!"</p> + +<p>And while Flossie and Freddie went into the house with Dinah, Bert and +Nan hurried toward the garage, where they saw their <a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>father and mother +talking with Sam Johnson.</p> + +<p>"I's done suah I put dat lap robe in de auto," said Dinah's husband.</p> + +<p>"I thought you did, Sam," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Yet when Mr. Bobbsey +looked for it, to put around him, as he had no coat, the robe was gone."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure it isn't in the garage, Sam?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Sartin suah, sah! I done put it in de little auto when yo' all started +off, 'case I reckoned it'd be dusty."</p> + +<p>"Well, the lap robe is gone like my coat," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Too bad, +for it was a new one."</p> + +<p>"It suah am too bad!" declared Sam. "Yo' all has me worried!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you don't need to worry, Sam," said Mrs. Bobbsey kindly. "It +isn't your fault. I know you put the robe in the auto, for I saw it when +we started. But when I wanted it to wrap around Mr. Bobbsey, after his +coat was taken, and it was cool riding home, the robe was gone." <a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a></p> + +<p>"Stolen, Mother, do you think?" asked Nan.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't say that. It may have fallen out on the way."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's two things gone the same day," said Mr. Bobbsey, who was +still in his shirt sleeves, as he had come from the picnic. "My coat and +the lap robe. I guess that Blipper's merry-go-round, which is to show at +the Bolton County Fair, didn't bring me any good luck."</p> + +<p>Bert and Nan were wondering if Bob Guess or the red-faced man knew +anything of their father's coat and the missing lap robe when from the +kitchen Dinah's voice excitedly called:</p> + +<p>"Come heah! Come heah if yo' please, Mr. Bobbsey! Suffin's done gone an' +happened!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "What's the matter now?" <a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>HAPPY DAYS COMING</h3> + + +<p>When Dinah called in this fashion, with worry making itself heard in her +voice, Mrs. Bobbsey always hurried to see what the matter was. Generally +it was something the smaller Bobbsey twins had done. And as she knew +Flossie and Freddie were now in the kitchen, Mother Bobbsey feared one +of the smaller children had been hurt.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Dinah?" asked the mother, as she hurried back toward the +house. Bert and Nan, with their father, waiting only a moment, followed +Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"I should think Freddie and Flossie would have had enough fun at the +picnic not to want to do any more cutting up," remarked Nan.</p> + +<p>"You never can tell what those tykes will do," observed Bert. "I don't +hear either of 'em yelling, and that's a good sign." <a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a></p> + +<p>But just as he spoke there came a wail from the kitchen, which, by this +time, Mrs. Bobbsey had reached, disappearing within.</p> + +<p>"That's Flossie," said Nan.</p> + +<p>Again came the voice of a little child, crying either in fear or in +delight at some funny happening, it could not be told which.</p> + +<p>"There goes Freddie, letting off steam," said Bert. "I guess it isn't +anything very much. Freddie always laughs in that squealing way when +something tickles him."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey, with the two older twins, entered the kitchen soon after +Mrs. Bobbsey. There stood Flossie and Freddie before a low kitchen +table, one leaf of which was down, so that whatever was under could not +be seen very well, on account of the shadow cast by the electric light. +And beside Flossie and Freddie stood Dinah.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Dinah says Snoop, our cat, has caught some sort of animal and has it +under the table," said Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"It's a big animal and it's got fur on," declared Flossie, greatly +excited. <a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a></p> + +<p>"An' it's got yellow eyes and four legs an' it's long—it's as long as +my arm!" added Freddie, his eyes big with wonder. "Oh, it was awful +funny!" he went on, squealing with delight. "I saw Snoop drag it under +the table and I called Dinah. Didn't I, Dinah?"</p> + +<p>"Dat's whut yo' done, honey lamb! Ah don't know whut it is Snoop has, +Mis' Bobbsey," went on the colored cook, "but it's some sort o' +animile!"</p> + +<p>"And Snoop growled, he did, when he dragged it under the table!" +exclaimed Flossie. "I heard Snoop growl, I did! Listen!"</p> + +<p>Surely enough the cat growled again, just as a lion or a tiger in the +jungle would growl after catching its dinner—only not so loud, of +course.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" murmured Flossie, making a dive for her mother's skirts.</p> + +<p>"There! Look! I saw its tail!" cried Freddie.</p> + +<p>As he spoke just a flash of some furry animal was seen under the table +where Snoop had gone to hide. <a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a></p> + +<p>"I hope it isn't a little skunk!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry!" advised her husband. "If it was a young skunk that Snoop +had, you'd have known it long before this. And Snoop never would try to +catch a skunk—Snoop would know better."</p> + +<p>"But what is it? He has something!" insisted Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Maybe I can coax Snoop out," put in Nan. "He minds me better than he +does any one else. Here, Snoop! Come on out, nice Snoop!" she called in +a gentle voice.</p> + +<p>But Snoop only growled in answer, and seemed to be shaking, beneath the +table, the unknown animal he had caught and dragged there.</p> + +<p>"Shall I get the rake and pull him out?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"No, you might hurt him," replied Mr. Bobbsey. "Go out to the garage and +get the big flash lamp from Sam. I can shine that under the table and we +can see what it is before we do anything. Evidently Snoop isn't going to +come out until he gets ready.<a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a> And it may be he has a large rat or——"</p> + +<p>Dinah gave a scream.</p> + +<p>"Oh—a rat!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's only a little mouse—I like a funny little mouse," said +Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't," said Dinah. "They eats mah food."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's only a little mole from the garden," went on Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"It's bigger'n a ground mole!" declared Freddie. "I saw it, an' it's +long and brown and has legs an' brown eyes that shine."</p> + +<p>"Well, whatever it is it can't be very dangerous," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If +it was, Snoop never would have dared to get it. But I don't want to +reach under there in the dark and perhaps get bitten and scratched by +Snoop, or whatever he has. We'll wait for the flash light."</p> + +<p>Bert now came running in with this, Sam following when he heard that the +cat had something strange under the table in the kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Dey suah am lots ob t'ings happenin' dis day," observed Sam.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey flashed the light under the <a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>table. The four twins had +stooped down to get a better view, and Freddie cried:</p> + +<p>"I see its eyes shining!"</p> + +<p>"I can see its tail! Oh, no, that's Snoop's tail!" added Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Snoop, what have you there? Stop growling and give it to me!" demanded +Mr. Bobbsey, thrusting his hand under the table.</p> + +<p>"Be careful," advised his wife. "It may bite."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey laughed and thrust his hand farther under the table. There +was a little scuffle as Snoop tried to hold fast to what he had. He +clung so hard to it with teeth and claws that he was dragged over the +smooth linoleum on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Here's your wild beast!" cried Mr. Bobbsey, as he arose, and held +something covered with brown fur dangling from one hand.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "That's not a rat."</p> + +<p>"No, it's your fur neck piece," her husband said, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wore it to the picnic, for I thought it would be cool coming +home," said Mrs.<a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a> Bobbsey, as she took the piece of fur. "And I laid it +on the hall table. I forgot about Snoop. He must have seen it, thought +it was a strange animal, and carried it away with him. Oh, Snoop!" and +she shook her finger at the cat which, now that it had nothing to play +with, came out from beneath the table.</p> + +<p>"It does look like an animal," said Nan.</p> + +<p>And indeed the fur piece did. For it was fashioned with an imitation of +an animal's head, with yellow glass eyes. The fur piece was quite long +and four little legs were fastened to it. So that it is no wonder a cat, +or even a boy or a girl, at first look, would take it for something +real.</p> + +<p>"Well, Snoop had a good time with it, while it lasted," said Mr. +Bobbsey, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"And my fur wouldn't have lasted much longer with him, if he'd started +to claw and bite it," remarked Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm glad you called me in, +Dinah."</p> + +<p>"Yessum, Ah thought maybe yo'd better see what the cat had, 'cause Ah +couldn't make out what 'twas," the cook answered.</p> + +<p>"Well, now that the excitement is over, we'd <a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>better have supper," said +Mr. Bobbsey. "Or did you youngsters have enough at the picnic to last +until morning?"</p> + +<p>"We want to eat now!" decided Bert. "That wasn't so much we had at the +picnic."</p> + +<p>"I guess you were extra hungry, from being out of doors all day," his +mother said. "Well, supper will soon be ready."</p> + +<p>As they ate they talked over the fun they had had at Pine Grove, and +Flossie remarked:</p> + +<p>"I'm going to ride on a wooden lion, I am—on the merry-go-round. I'm +going to ride on the lion."</p> + +<p>"So'm I," declared Freddie. "There are two lions, an' I'm going to ride +on one an' Flossie on the other one."</p> + +<p>"Where's your merry-go-round?" asked Nan.</p> + +<p>"At the fair—the Bolton County Fair," said Freddie. "I heard that funny +red-faced man say so."</p> + +<p>"But the Bolton Fair is a long way off," went on Nan.</p> + +<p>"Daddy will take us; won't you?" asked<a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a> Flossie. "Can't we go to the +fair and ride on the merry-go-round?" she teased.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know," answered Mr. Bobbsey slowly. "I suppose it would +be a good thing to visit a big county fair, and this is one of the +largest."</p> + +<p>"But we'd have to go and stay for some time," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Bolton +is a long way off. We couldn't go and come the same day."</p> + +<p>"One ought to spend more than a day at a big fair if he wants to see +everything," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "I never could stay as long as I +wanted to when I was a boy. Now, I was thinking perhaps we could all go +to Meadow Brook Farm for a little visit. From Meadow Brook it isn't far +to the Bolton County Fair."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's go!" cried Bert and Nan.</p> + +<p>"What about school?" asked their mother.</p> + +<p>"School doesn't open until later this fall than usual," explained Mr. +Bobbsey. "They are repairing the school house and the work will not be +finished in time for the regular fall <a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>opening. I know, for the school +board buys lumber of me.</p> + +<p>"So, as long as the children don't have to be back until the middle of +October, we could all go to Meadow Brook, and from there visit the fair. +Would you like that?" he asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"I think it would be lovely!"</p> + +<p>"So do I!" echoed the Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, we'll think about it," promised their father. "You will +have some happy days to think about until it is time to go. And now I +think it is time for my little Fairy and my brave Fireman to go to bed." +Daddy Bobbsey sometimes called the small twins by these pet names. "Come +on! Up to bed!" he called. "We'll talk more about the Bolton County Fair +another day!"</p> + +<p>As he was carrying the smaller children up to bed, a style of travel the +little twins loved, there came a ring at the front door bell. Dinah, who +answered, came back to say:</p> + +<p>"Dere's a p'liceman outside whut wants to see yo', Mr. Bobbsey."</p> + +<p>"A policeman?" <a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a></p> + +<p>"Yas, sah!"</p> + +<p>"A policeman for me?"</p> + +<p>"Yas, sah!"</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" Mr. Bobbsey murmured. "What can be the matter now!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy!" squealed Flossie, at once filled with excitement.</p> + +<p>"What do you suppose——" began Bert, and then stopped in the midst of +his speech.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he has found your lost coat," suggested Nan, as her father put +Flossie and Freddie down in an easy chair. <a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE CRYING BOY</h3> + + +<p>There had been so much excitement over the strange "animal" which Snoop +had under the table that, for a time, the Bobbsey twins had forgotten +about their father's coat having been taken at the picnic. Nor had they +remembered about the missing lap robe. But now, as Nan said this, every +one—except perhaps the smaller twins—thought about the things that +were gone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's so!" exclaimed Bert, following what his sister said. "Maybe +the policeman has come to bring back your lost coat, Daddy!"</p> + +<p>"I hope he has," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Not only do I not want to lose the +coat, for a suit of clothes isn't of much use without a coat, but I +don't like to lose the money and papers."</p> + +<p>"No, sah, Mr. Bobbsey, de p'liceman didn't hab no coat," said Dinah. <a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a></p> + +<p>"He didn't?" remarked Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"No, sah. He didn't."</p> + +<p>"Well then, I can't imagine what he wants," went on the father of the +Bobbsey twins. "Ask him to come in, Dinah."</p> + +<p>In came the policeman. He was one the children knew, from having often +seen him pass the house.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Mr. Bobbsey," said the officer, the light flashing on his +brass buttons. "I came up to see about a lap robe stolen from your +auto."</p> + +<p>"Did you find it?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm so glad! And did you find +Mr. Bobbsey's coat, also?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no, Mrs. Bobbsey, I didn't," answered Policeman Murphy. "I didn't +know about any lost coat. I was just sent up from the police station to +inquire about the robbery of a lap robe. Somebody telephoned down that a +policeman was wanted because a lap robe had been stolen. That's why I +came up—because of the telephone message."</p> + +<p>"Telephone!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey. "I didn't telephone for you, Mr. +Murphy." <a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a></p> + +<p>"Neither did I," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Perhaps it was one of the +children," and she looked at Bert and Nan.</p> + +<p>The older Bobbsey twins shook their heads. Flossie and Freddie, though +they knew how to telephone, would hardly have thought of calling up the +police. But they were asked about it.</p> + +<p>"Nope, we didn't do it," Flossie said. "Though we likes p'licemans; +don't we, Freddie?"</p> + +<p>"Yeppie," he answered sleepily. "When I grows up I'm goin' be a +p'licemans or a firesmans—I forget which."</p> + +<p>"He's sleepy," laughed the officer. "But what about this, Mr. Bobbsey? +Some one must have telephoned."</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. I wonder if it could have been Mr. Blipper or that lad +who called himself Bob Guess?"</p> + +<p>"Who are they?" the officer asked.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Blipper is a man who owns a merry-go-round he takes to fairs and +circuses. He passed the picnic grounds where we were to-day. He's on his +way to the Bolton County<a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a> Fair. He had with him a boy named Bob +Guess—called that because the lad is an orphan and they had to 'guess' +at his name. Soon after this Blipper and his outfit left, I missed my +coat, and, coming home, we found the lap robe gone. I was going to ride +after him, but we had a little excitement here, and I haven't had a +chance. Then you came along and——"</p> + +<p>The sound of steps was heard on the side porch, and in came Sam, quite +excited.</p> + +<p>"'Scuse me!" he murmured, as he entered. "Oh, de p'liceman done come!" +he exclaimed. "He's heah! I'm glad!"</p> + +<p>"Did you expect him?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sah, Mr. Bobbsey, I did! When de lap robe was gone I t'ought maybe +you t'ink I might 'a' been careless like, an' let some chicken t'ieves +in. So I telephoned fo' a p'liceman to come an' see if he could cotch de +burglar!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sam, you didn't need to do that!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "We know +it wasn't your fault that the lap robe was taken, any more than it was +that Mr. Bobbsey's coat was stolen." <a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a></p> + +<p>"Of course not!" echoed her husband.</p> + +<p>"Well, I t'ought better we have a p'liceman," murmured Sam.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what there is for him to do," said Mr. Bobbsey. "As nearly +as I can figure it out, my coat was stolen at the picnic grounds and the +lap robe was taken about the same time."</p> + +<p>"It was," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey. "And I think that Blipper—or perhaps Bob +Guess—had something to do with both thefts."</p> + +<p>"It might be," replied the officer. "Those traveling show people aren't +very careful, sometimes. I'll report back to the chief and see what he +says. If we get sight of this merry-go-round crowd, Mr. Bobbsey, we'll +stop them and ask them about your coat and the robe."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I wish you would. But I don't imagine you'll see them. They +are on their way to Bolton, and we shall be there ourselves next week, +so we can make some inquiries."</p> + +<p>Officer Murphy left, finding there was nothing he could do. Flossie and +Freddie were <a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>carried up to bed, and Nan danced about the room, singing:</p> + +<p>"We're going to the fair! We're going to the fair! We're going to the +Bolton County Fair!"</p> + +<p>And Bert echoed:</p> + +<p>"Maybe we'll find daddy's coat when we get there!"</p> + +<p>Then, tired but happy over their fun at the picnic and too sleepy to +worry much over the lost articles, the Bobbsey twins at last went to +bed.</p> + +<p>As their parents had said, school would not open as early that fall as +in other years, because some rebuilding work was being done in a few of +the rooms. So there was time to go to Meadow Brook, and from there to +visit Bolton, a few miles away, where the big fair was being held.</p> + +<p>"Do you really think we can go, Mother?" asked Nan, the next day.</p> + +<p>"I don't see why not. Your father seems to have made up his mind to it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope he doesn't change it, as he does sometimes," said Bert, +with a laugh.<a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a> "They're going to have airships and a balloon at the +fair, Charlie Mason says, and maybe I can go up in the balloon. Wouldn't +that be great, Nan?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not going up in any balloon!"</p> + +<p>"I am!" decided Bert, as if that was all there was to it.</p> + +<p>"An' I'm going to ride on a lion!" cried Flossie.</p> + +<p>"So'm I!" chimed in her brother Freddie.</p> + +<p>Uncle Daniel Bobbsey and his wife Sarah, with their son Harry, lived at +Meadow Brook Farm. The Bobbsey twins had been there more than once, as +those who have read the other books of this series will remember. And +now it was proposed to go there again.</p> + +<p>"But we'll be at the fair more than we will be at Meadow Brook, sha'n't +we?" asked Nan of her father.</p> + +<p>"Well, sort of betwixt and between," he answered, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>Uncle Daniel having been written to, said he would be delighted to have +his brother and his brother's family come out for the remainder <a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>of the +summer and early fall. And in about a week all preparations were made.</p> + +<p>The trip was to be made in the Bobbsey's big auto, and would take about +a day. By starting early in the morning Meadow Brook Farm could be +reached by night. From there it was only a short distance to Bolton +where, each year, a big fair was held.</p> + +<p>"And if I see that Bob Guess I'll make him tell where daddy's coat is!" +declared Bert.</p> + +<p>"And the lap robe, too!" added Nan.</p> + +<p>It was a fine, sunny day when the start was made. Into the auto piled +the Bobbsey twins, with boxes and baskets of lunch.</p> + +<p>"It's like another picnic!" laughed Nan, as she saw Bert piling away the +good things to eat.</p> + +<p>"Hab a good time, honey lambs!" called fat Dinah, as she and her husband +stood on the steps, waving good-by.</p> + +<p>"Take good care of Snoop and Snap!" begged Nan.</p> + +<p>"We will!" promised Sam.</p> + +<p>Snap, the dog, wanted to come along, but <a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>as he could not very well be +looked after on this trip he had to be left behind, much to his sorrow. +He howled dismally as the auto went down the road.</p> + +<p>Not very much happened on the way to Meadow Brook. Once a tire was +punctured and Mr. Bobbsey had to stop to put on a spare one. But this +happened near a garage, so he had a man from there do the work, while he +and his wife, with the twins, went into a little grove of trees and ate +lunch.</p> + +<p>"Be careful of your coat!" warned Mrs. Bobbsey, as her husband took it +off and hung it on a tree while he built a fire to heat the water for +tea.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no one is going to steal this one!" he said. "Anyhow, it's an old +one. But there's no one here to take it. No Mr. Blipper or Bob Guess +around now."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't forget, and go off, leaving it hang on the tree," warned +his wife.</p> + +<p>"I won't," said Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>A fire was made, and as Mrs. Bobbsey was sitting with her back against a +stump, comfortably sipping her tea, she heard the sound <a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>of crying. As +Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, were gathering flowers not far +away, Mrs. Bobbsey could see that it was none of her twins who was +sobbing.</p> + +<p>But the crying kept up, and she looked around to see whence it came. Mr. +Bobbsey was busy packing up the lunch things, for there was enough food +left to serve a little tea around five o'clock, since Meadow Brook Farm +would not be reached before seven o'clock that evening, on account of +the delay over the tire.</p> + +<p>"Who is that crying, Dick?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Crying? Why, I don't hear—yes, I do, too!" her husband added, as the +sound of sobs came to his ears. He looked to make sure his own children +were all right and then glanced about.</p> + +<p>As he did so there came from a little clump of trees, not far from the +grove where the Bobbseys had eaten lunch, a ragged boy, who seemed in +pain or distress, for he was crying very hard.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the poor lad!" said Mrs. Bobbsey in a <a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>kind voice. "Go see what the +matter is, Dick! He is in trouble of some sort! I wonder who he is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, without doubt, the lad's in trouble. We'll see what we can do," +answered the father of the twins.</p> + +<p>The crying boy walked slowly toward the Bobbsey family, and now the +twins, hearing his sobs, looked up in wonder from their +flower-gathering. <a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>ANGRY MR. BLIPPER</h3> + + +<p>"Why, it's Bob Guess!" cried Bert, dropping his bunch of flowers, so +excited was he. "It's Bob Guess!"</p> + +<p>"So it is!" agreed Nan. "And he's crying."</p> + +<p>There was no doubt of that: It was Bob Guess, the lad the Bobbsey twins +had seen working at the merry-go-round engine the day of the Sunday +school picnic. Bob came slowly along, sobbing hard.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Bob?" asked Bert, who had taken a liking to the +ragged chap. For the time being Mr. Bobbsey's missing coat and the lap +robe were forgotten. "Why are you crying?"</p> + +<p>"Can we help you?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>Bob Guess ceased sobbing and looked up. He seemed surprised to see the +children and their parents. <a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, I—I didn't know anybody was here," he stammered.</p> + +<p>"That's all right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If there's anything we can do to +help you—— Where's Mr. Blipper, by the way? There is something I +should like to ask him. Or perhaps you can tell me."</p> + +<p>"Not now, Dick, not now," said Mrs. Bobbsey in a whisper, with a shake +of her head at her husband. She knew what he wanted to ask—about his +coat and the robe. "Not now; he is too miserable," she went on.</p> + +<p>"Has anything happened?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, changing his first line of +questions.</p> + +<p>"Ye—yes," stammered Bob, not sobbing so hard now. "I—I've run away +from Mr. Blipper!"</p> + +<p>"You've run away!" echoed Nan.</p> + +<p>Bob nodded his head vigorously to show that he meant "yes," and he went +on:</p> + +<p>"He treated me mean! There was a lot of hard work setting up the +merry-go-round at the Bolton Fair, and I had more than my share. He +wouldn't give me any money—he hardly <a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>gave me enough to eat. And I ran +away. I'm not done running yet, only I'm so hungry I can't go very fast +any more."</p> + +<p>"You poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey. "Is that why you cried—because +you were hungry?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—yes'm," murmured Bob Guess.</p> + +<p>"Well, we have plenty to eat," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a kindly pat on +the shoulder of the ragged boy. "Here, we'll give you a lunch, and then +maybe you can tell me what I want to know. Where is Mr. Blipper?"</p> + +<p>"He's back there at the merry-go-round. We had some trouble with the +engine. But I guess he has it fixed by now. He's back at the fair +grounds. It opens to-morrow. That is, he's there unless he has come +chasing after me."</p> + +<p>"Do you think he'd do that?" asked Bert. It was quite an exciting +adventure, Bert thought, to run away and be chased by Mr. Blipper.</p> + +<p>"Well, he said if I ever ran away he'd run after me and bring me back," +answered Bob.<a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a> "Anyhow, I've run away, but it isn't as much fun as I +thought it'd be. Only I can't stand Mr. Blipper! He's too cross!"</p> + +<p>"Poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey again. "Get him something to eat, +Dick. He must be very hungry!"</p> + +<p>And Bob was, to judge by the manner in which he ate some of the +Bobbsey's lunch. It was a good thing there was plenty. Having eaten all +he seemed to care for and drinking two glasses of milk, Bob leaned back +against a tree stump and said:</p> + +<p>"Now can't I do something to pay you for my meal?"</p> + +<p>"Do something to pay for it?" repeated Mrs. Bobbsey, wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mr. Blipper says I've always got to work for my board. Sometimes +he says I'm not worth my salt."</p> + +<p>"Well, this time there is no need of doing anything for us," said Mr. +Bobbsey. "You are welcome to what you have had to eat. But now what are +you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to run away farther if I can," Bob Guess answered. <a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a></p> + +<p>"Hum! I'm not so sure that we ought to let you, now that we know about +you," went on the father of the Bobbsey twins. "Has this Mr. Blipper any +claim on you?"</p> + +<p>"He says he adopted me and can keep me until I'm twenty-one years old."</p> + +<p>"He may be right. I don't know about that. It must be looked into. +Anyhow, I don't feel like letting you run away, Bob," went on Mr. +Bobbsey kindly. "I'd like to have a talk with Blipper on my own account, +and I could ask him about you. Did you happen to see——"</p> + +<p>But before Mr. Bobbsey could ask what he intended to—about his missing +coat and the lap robe—a man from the garage where the automobile had +been left to have the tire changed came across the field.</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing you stopped when you did, Mr. Bobbsey," said the +garage man.</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Because if you had gone on a little farther one of the wheels of your +car would have come off, and if you had been going fast, or down-hill, +you might have had a bad accident. I found the break when I was putting +on the tire, <a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>and I came over to ask if you wanted me to fix it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose so. I'll come and have a look. We don't want to go on if +there is any danger."</p> + +<p>"There is danger. And it will take half a day to mend the break."</p> + +<p>"Half a day!" said Mr. Bobbsey, as he followed the man, forgetting for +the time all about Bob and Mr. Blipper. "That means we'll not get to +Meadow Brook to-night. Is there a good hotel in town?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a very good one not far from my garage."</p> + +<p>"Well then, in case we have to remain, we can stay at the hotel. But +wait until I take a look at the broken wheel."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey found that the garage man was right. The automobile was in +need of repairs, and had the party gone on, without noticing the break, +a bad accident might have happened.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey, when told of the news, "must we stay +here all night?"</p> + +<p>"Unless I hire another auto, or you and the <a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>children go on by train," +said her husband. "I shall have to stay here to bring our car on."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't want that! No, we'll stay at the hotel. But what about +him?" she asked in a low voice, pointing to Bob Guess, who was talking +to the twins.</p> + +<p>"That's so. We can't turn him adrift," Mr. Bobbsey agreed. "Well, I'll +get a room for him at the hotel. In the morning I can decide what to do. +I don't like to send him back to Blipper. But if the man has adopted him +he has a claim on the boy. We'll see what happens by morning."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bobbsey may have disliked to break the journey and stay at a +strange hotel, but the Bobbsey twins thought it great fun. The hotel was +a small country one, clean and neat, and the Bobbseys and Bob Guess were +about the only guests there.</p> + +<p>"I'm not fit to stop at a hotel," said the ragged boy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're all right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Perhaps I can get you some +clothes here. If there isn't a store that sells them I may be <a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>able to +get you a second-hand suit from the hotel keeper."</p> + +<p>As it happened, there was no clothing store in the village of Montville, +where the stop was made. But the hotel proprietor had some clothes of +one of his sons who had gone to the city to work. Bob was given a partly +worn but very good coat and trousers.</p> + +<p>"He's a nice looking boy when he's dressed well," said Mrs. Bobbsey, as +the lad discarded his old clothes.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed her husband. "He has a good, honest face. And yet, when I +think of my coat and the lap robe—— But I'll wait until I see +Blipper."</p> + +<p>"Do you think you will see him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I imagine he'll follow this boy. He's a hard worker, Bob is, and +Blipper won't want to lose him. I shouldn't wonder but what he came on +after Bob."</p> + +<p>"How will he know where to find him?" asked Bert, who heard what his +father and mother said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he can make inquiries along the way. But I'll do what I can for +Bob." <a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a></p> + +<p>Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had good times at the country +hotel. Their rooms were on a long corridor, and the twins raced up and +down this, playing tag and other games. No one seemed to mind.</p> + +<p>At supper Bob ate a good meal, but did not talk much. And every time the +dining room door opened he looked around quickly, as if fearing to see +Mr. Blipper come in.</p> + +<p>In the evening Mr. Bobbsey went down to the garage to see how the men +were progressing with the repairs to his car, for they had promised to +work all night. Bert went with his father.</p> + +<p>"I guess you'll be able to go on in the morning, Mr. Bobbsey," the +garage man said.</p> + +<p>"I hope so. My youngsters are anxious to get to Meadow Brook, and from +there go to the Bolton County Fair."</p> + +<p>"That's quite a fair. Lots of attractions I hear. A merry-go-round, a +balloon, airships, and auto races. I'd go myself if I had time."</p> + +<p>As Bert and his father reached the hotel a little later they heard loud +talking coming from the sitting room where they had left Mrs.<a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a> Bobbsey +and the children. The voice of an angry man was saying:</p> + +<p>"Well, I tell you I'm going to have that boy back! He ran away from me! +I'm his legally appointed guardian, and I want him back! You come along +with me, Bob Guess!"</p> + +<p>Then Mrs. Bobbsey said firmly:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Blipper, you shall not take this boy away until my husband comes +back. Mr. Bobbsey wants to see you. You can't take Bob away like this. I +won't let you. If necessary I'll call a policeman. You must wait until +my husband comes back!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to wait! I'm going to take that boy now!" cried the angry +man, as Bert and his father hurried in. <a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE BIG SWING</h3> + + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey and Bert now looked on a rather sad scene in the hotel +sitting room. On one side of the apartment stood Mr. Blipper, having +hold of the coat collar of Bob Guess. And Bob was crying again.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the room stood Mrs. Bobbsey with Nan, Flossie, and +Freddie close to her. At one end of the room, looking in through the +door, was the good-natured but easy-going proprietor of the hotel and +some of the servants.</p> + +<p>"What is going on here?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"I'm going away, if that's what you mean!" snapped out Mr. Blipper in +angry tones. "I traced this runaway adopted son of mine here, and I'm +taking him back with me. This lady says I can't!" <a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a></p> + +<p>"I told him to wait until you came back," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I didn't +want him to take poor Bob away. I don't believe he has any right to take +him."</p> + +<p>"I don't know who you are!" spluttered the angry Mr. Blipper. "But you +haven't any right to stop me."</p> + +<p>"This lady is my wife," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he spoke in such a way +that Mr. Blipper at once lost some of his bluster. "She has the same +right that any one has to inquire into something he thinks is wrong."</p> + +<p>"But this isn't wrong!" cried Mr. Blipper. "I have a right to this boy. +I adopted him legally, I did! I gave him a name when he didn't have any +before. Bob Guess I call him, 'cause I had to guess at his name. I took +him out of an orphan asylum and give him a good home!"</p> + +<p>"Home!" cried Bob Guess. "You didn't give me any <i>home!</i> You keep +dragging me all over the country with that merry-go-round! I haven't any +home except sleepin' in a truck."</p> + +<p>"You were glad enough to come with me!" sneered Mr. Blipper. <a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a></p> + +<p>"Anyway, I'm sick of it. That's why I ran away."</p> + +<p>"Well, you're going to run back again!" said Mr. Blipper, grimly, as he +gave the boy a shake.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Have you a legal right to this boy?"</p> + +<p>"That's what I have. I expected some such question would be asked of me, +and I brought along my papers. There they are. You can look 'em over for +yourself."</p> + +<p>He tossed a long envelope containing papers to Mr. Bobbsey, and the +latter looked at the documents.</p> + +<p>"Don't let him take me back!" pleaded Bob Guess. "I don't like him!"</p> + +<p>"I don't like you, when it comes to that!" sneered the angry man. "But +I'm going to have you back! I have a right to you, and you've got to +work for me."</p> + +<p>"These papers seem to be all right," said Mr. Bobbsey, slowly. "He is +your legal guardian, Bob. You had better go with him, and do as he says. +But if he treats you cruelly let me know. I am going to the Bolton +County<a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a> Fair, and when I get there I'll keep my eye on you."</p> + +<p>"Say, who are you, anyhow?" sneered Mr. Blipper.</p> + +<p>"My name is Bobbsey," answered the children's father. "I live in +Lakeport. I thought perhaps you might know my name."</p> + +<p>"How should I know your name?"</p> + +<p>"It was on some papers in my coat that disappeared from the Sunday +school picnic grounds the day you had trouble with your engine near the +grove."</p> + +<p>Mr. Blipper looked first at Bob and then at Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Say!" cried the merry-go-round owner, "maybe you think I know something +about your coat."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you do," answered Mr. Bobbsey, easily.</p> + +<p>"And the lap robe!" whispered Bert.</p> + +<p>"Hush, Bert!" warned his mother. "Leave this to Daddy!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know anything about your coat or a lap robe, either!" +declared Mr. Blip<a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>per. "All I know is that Bob ran away from me, and now +I'm going to run him back!"</p> + +<p>There seemed no help for it. Mr. Bobbsey sadly shook his head when the +twins and his wife pleaded with him to do something to save Bob.</p> + +<p>"Those papers show the boy is adopted," he said. "I can do nothing. But +we'll keep our eyes on him. We are going to the fair, and if Bob is not +kindly treated I'll complain to the Children's Aid Society."</p> + +<p>"You don't need to worry!" gruffly said Mr. Blipper. "I'll treat him as +well as he deserves."</p> + +<p>"Am I to keep these clothes?" asked Bob, as Mr. Blipper led him away.</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I bought them for you."</p> + +<p>"What's that? Who's been giving you clothes?" demanded Mr. Blipper.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think he needed them?" inquired Mrs. Bobbsey, gently.</p> + +<p>"Well—er—I was going to buy him a new suit after we took in some money +at the Bolton<a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a> Fair," sheepishly said Mr. Blipper. "I—I'm much obliged +to you folks, though. Bob isn't a bad boy when he wants to be good. Come +on now. I've a rig outside and we can get back to the fair grounds +to-night if we hurry."</p> + +<p>With a sad look at the friends who had been so kind to him, Bob followed +his adopted father out of the room. He did not cry, but he seemed to +want to.</p> + +<p>"Good-by!" called the Bobbsey twins. "We'll see you at the fair!"</p> + +<p>"Good-by!" echoed Bob Guess.</p> + +<p>The Bobbsey twins wondered when they would see him again.</p> + +<p>It might be thought that the excitement of the runaway boy who was +caught again would keep Bert and Nan awake. Flossie and Freddie were too +young to give the matter much attention. But though the older Bobbsey +twins felt sorry for the lad, they had the idea that their father would +make matters all right concerning him, and so they did not lie awake +vainly worrying.</p> + +<p>They slept soundly, the night passed quietly, and in the morning after +an early breakfast <a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>the family were on their way again in the automobile +which had been mended during the night.</p> + +<p>"We'll soon be at Meadow Brook Farm, sha'n't we?" asked Freddie over and +over again.</p> + +<p>"Yes," his mother told him.</p> + +<p>"And I'm going to milk a cow, I am!" announced Flossie.</p> + +<p>"So'm I!" echoed Freddie. "I'm goin' milk two cows, I am!"</p> + +<p>"I guess you mean you're going to see them milked!" laughed Nan. +"Milking cows would be hard work even for Bert."</p> + +<p>"Maybe I could milk a little teeny weeny cow," suggested Freddie.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll have some fun, anyhow!" said Nan.</p> + +<p>And fun they did have! It started almost as soon as they reached the +farm of their Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah.</p> + +<p>"Say, I'm glad you came!" exclaimed Harry, as he greeted his four +cousins while the older folks were talking among themselves. "I have +something fine to show you." <a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a></p> + +<p>"What?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"A big swing! You ought to see it! It's out under the apple tree down by +the brook!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm going to sail my boat in the brook!" cried Freddie, as soon as +he heard the mention of water.</p> + +<p>"An' I'll get Rosamond an' give her a ride on your boat!" cried Flossie. +Rosamond was a small doll Flossie had brought along.</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Bert, seeing a chance for the smaller twins to play +by themselves while he and Nan experimented with the swing. "You get +your boat, Freddie, and you get your doll, Flossie, and we'll all go +down to the brook and apple tree together."</p> + +<p>"Be careful, now!" called Mrs. Bobbsey, as the children ran off.</p> + +<p>"We will," they promised. And really they meant to, but you know how it +often is—things happen that you can't help.</p> + +<p>"There's the swing!" cried Harry, pointing to it dangling from the +sturdy limb of the big apple tree. "Daddy put it up for me last week. +I'm glad you came. We can have lots of fun in it." <a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a></p> + +<p>"We want some swings!" cried Freddie.</p> + +<p>"After a bit," promised Nan. "Sail your boat now, and give Rosamond a +ride, Flossie, and you shall have some swings after that."</p> + +<p>The water was more of an attraction for the smaller twins than was the +swing, and thus Nan, Bert and Harry had it to themselves. While Flossie +and Freddie played with the doll and the boat, the older children took +turns seeing how high they could go. Then they would let the "old cat +die," that is, stay in the swing, without trying to make it sway, until +it came to a dead stop.</p> + +<p>"I know what we can do!" cried Bert, when they were tired of swinging.</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Harry.</p> + +<p>"We can shinny up the rope like sailors. I can go 'way up to the limb."</p> + +<p>Bert was a sturdy chap, and soon he was "shinnying," or climbing, up the +rope like a human monkey. Then Harry did it, managing to reach the big +limb, to which the rope was fastened, more quickly than had Bert.</p> + +<p>"Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Nan, when the two boys were on the ground +again. <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a></p> + +<p>"Pooh! Girls can't climb ropes!" declared Harry.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can, too! You watch!"</p> + +<p>Nan was almost as strong as her brother. She caught hold of the rope, +and managed to scramble up, though it was hard work.</p> + +<p>"You can't do it!" laughed Harry, when, almost at the top, she paused +for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can! I can! You just watch!"</p> + +<p>Nan gave a wiggle, another scramble, and then, just as she managed to +get one leg over the limb, she slipped.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" she screamed. "I'm going to fall!"</p> + +<p>But she did not fall. Instead, one foot caught in a loop of the rope, +and there poor Nan hung, half way over the limb, one leg dangling down, +and her hands clutching the rope. She could neither get up nor down! She +was caught on the limb of the tree! <a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>DOWN A BIG HOLE</h3> + + +<p>For a few seconds Bert and Harry were so surprised at what had happened +to Nan that they could do nothing but stand and stare up at her.</p> + +<p>As for Nan, she also was surprised at the suddenness of her tumble when +she was almost perched safely astride the limb to which the rope of the +swing was tied. As she felt herself slipping she had clung with all her +might, one hand and part of her arm over the branch, another hand +grasping the rope, one leg partly up over the limb, and the other leg +tangled in the rope.</p> + +<p>This was what had caused the trouble—the leg getting caught and tangled +in a loop of the rope. But for that, Nan could have swung this leg up +over the limb and so have perched there in safety. <a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a></p> + +<p>"Come on down!" cried Harry.</p> + +<p>"Don't fall!" begged Bert. "Oh, Nan, be careful! Mother'll think I +oughtn't to have let you climb up there!"</p> + +<p>"You didn't—you didn't let—me!" panted Nan. "I did it myself!"</p> + +<p>"Well, come on down!" begged Harry again.</p> + +<p>"I—I can't!" half sobbed Nan, with a catch in her voice. "I—I'm stuck! +Go get a ladder—get something to help me. I can't hold on much longer!"</p> + +<p>"Shall we get the tennis net and let you fall into that?" asked Bert, +starting toward the swing with half an idea that he could climb up the +rope and loosen Nan.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want to fall!" cried his sister. "Get a ladder so I can +climb down. Call daddy!"</p> + +<p>"I'll call my father!" offered Harry. "He's got a long ladder!"</p> + +<p>"Do something! Quick!" begged Nan desperately.</p> + +<p>As Bert and Harry started to run toward the house to summon their +fathers and mothers, Flossie and Freddie, tired of playing with <a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>the +little boat in the brook, came up to the apple tree. Freddie saw Nan +hanging there, some distance above the ground.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nan's doing circus tricks! Nan's doing circus tricks!" cried +Freddie. "Look at her, Flossie. Nan's doing circus tricks an' I want to +do 'em, too!"</p> + +<p>"No, no, Freddie!" screamed Nan, as her little brother ran under the +limb to which she was desperately clinging. "Go away! Don't stand under +me this way! I might fall on you!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm going to get mother!" exclaimed Flossie. "She won't want you to +fall, Nan!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I—I can't hold on much longer!" sobbed Nan.</p> + +<p>Though if she had let go her grasp on the tree limb she would probably +not have fallen, for one foot was tangled in the swing rope. However, +hanging by one leg high in the air would not have been very pleasant. +Nan was not enough of a circus performer for that, though she and Bert +had often done "stunts" on a trapeze in the back yard at home when they +gave "shows." <a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a></p> + +<p>However, help was on its way to Nan. The excited story told by Harry and +Bert to the two Mr. Bobbseys started both men into action. They got a +long ladder and, having run with it to the tree, placed it up against +the limb. Then Mr. Richard Bobbsey climbed up, while his brother held +steady the foot of the ladder on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Why, Nan!" exclaimed her father, as he climbed up to set her free, +"what in the world made you do this?"</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know, Daddy! But Bert and Harry climbed up, and they did it +all right. But when I went up something slipped, and I nearly fell, and +I grabbed the rope and the branch, and there I was!"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a good thing you stuck here instead of falling down there," +and Mr. Bobbsey looked to the ground below. "You're all right now. Don't +cry."</p> + +<p>But Nan could not help crying a little, though she was glad she could +feel her father's arms about her. Mr. Bobbsey soon loosened the little +girl's leg from the loop of the rope, and then he carried her down the +ladder. <a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a></p> + +<p>"You're just like a fireman, aren't you, Daddy?" cried Freddie, as his +father set Nan on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Well, a little, yes," admitted Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "But better +not any more of you try those firemen tricks," he warned the children as +the ladder was taken down.</p> + +<p>"I'll have to put the swing away if you climb the rope any more," +threatened Uncle Daniel.</p> + +<p>"We won't shinny up it any more," promised Bert and Harry, and their +fathers knew that if the boys did not do it Nan would not.</p> + +<p>"I guess we've had enough swinging," said Bert. "Let's play something +else, Harry. Got any new games?"</p> + +<p>"We can go down to the pond and fish."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I love to fish!" exclaimed Nan. "What kind of fish can you catch in +the pond, Harry?"</p> + +<p>"Bullfrogs, mostly."</p> + +<p>"They aren't fish," laughed Nan.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's just as much fun," went on the country boy.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'd better go help mother unpack the trunks," Nan said, for she +saw the expressman drive up with two trunks that had <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>been sent on +ahead. "Mother will want me to help her get the things out so we can go +to the Bolton County Fair to-morrow. You're coming, aren't you, Harry?"</p> + +<p>"Sure! It'll be great. But now we'll go fishing for bullfrogs. Come on, +Bert!"</p> + +<p>"I want to fish!" begged Freddie, hearing this magic word.</p> + +<p>"No, you and Flossie come with me," directed Nan, knowing that the two +boys would not have much fun if they had to watch the small children and +keep them from tumbling into the pond.</p> + +<p>"Don't want to come with you!" pouted Flossie. "We wants to go fishing!"</p> + +<p>"How would you and Freddie like to go after eggs?" asked Nan, as she saw +her brother and Harry making signals to her for her to do her best to +keep Flossie and Freddie from following. "Wouldn't you like to gather +eggs?"</p> + +<p>"Where do you get the eggs?" asked Freddie, who had forgotten.</p> + +<p>"In the barn. We'll take the eggs out of <a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>the nests, and you and Flossie +can carry the eggs in a little basket to Aunt Bobbsey."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" cried Flossie. "I want to do that!"</p> + +<p>"So do I!" added Freddie. Anything Flossie wanted to do he generally did +also.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Nan, waving to Bert and Harry to hurry away before the +small twins changed their minds. "Come with me, and after I help mother +unpack the trunk we'll go and get the eggs."</p> + +<p>As it happened, however, Mrs. Bobbsey did not need Nan's help. Aunt +Sarah said she would aid in getting the things out of the trunks, so Nan +was allowed to go with Flossie and Freddie to the barn to gather eggs.</p> + +<p>What fun it was to climb over the sweet hay, sliding down little hills +of it and landing on the barn floor, where more hay made a place like a +cushion! What fun it was to look in at the horses chewing their fodder! +And when the children poked their heads in the horses stopped eating, to +turn around and look to see who was watching them. <a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, I've found some eggs!" suddenly cried Flossie, as she spied some of +the white objects in a nest in the hay.</p> + +<p>"Pick them up carefully," advised Nan. "Eggs break very easily."</p> + +<p>"I want to help pick up the eggs!" cried Freddie, hurrying over to his +little sister's side.</p> + +<p>"No, you go find a nest of your own!" exclaimed Flossie. "These are my +eggs!"</p> + +<p>"There are plenty of nests," said Nan. "You ought each to find two or +three. Come on, Freddie, we'll look for a nest for you. Be careful of +those eggs, Flossie! I guess I'd better help you pick them up and put +them in a basket while Freddie looks for another nest."</p> + +<p>So while Nan stayed with Flossie, Freddie started off by himself to look +for another nest. And as Nan discovered a second nest not far from where +Flossie had found the first one, it took the sisters some time to pick +up all the eggs.</p> + +<p>This gave Freddie more time to himself, and he saw a ladder leading into +the upper <a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>part of the barn where most of the hay was stored.</p> + +<p>"I guess maybe I'll find eggs up there," he said.</p> + +<p>He climbed the ladder, going slowly and carefully, and soon found +himself up in the haymow. It was rather dark there, but when he had been +in the place a little while Freddie could see better.</p> + +<p>"I guess hens come up here to lay 'cause it's nice and quiet. Now I must +find some nests and eggs."</p> + +<p>He walked about over the slippery hay, peering here and there for a +cluster of white eggs. Suddenly Freddie felt himself sliding down. +Faster and faster he went, feet first, and before he knew it he had slid +down into a big hole together with a lot of hay.</p> + +<p>"Nan! Nan!" he cried. "Come an' get me! I'm down in a hole!" <a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE COUNTY FAIR</h3> + + +<p>Just as Nan and Flossie finished putting the last of the eggs into their +basket they heard Freddie's cries for help. Surprised and a little +frightened, they ran out of that part of the barn where Flossie had +found the first nest and Nan the second.</p> + +<p>"Freddie! Freddie!" cried Nan. "Where are you, Freddie?"</p> + +<p>"Down in a hole!" came the muffled answer.</p> + +<p>"What hole?" Nan wanted to know. "Tell me where the hole is so I can +come and get you out. What hole, Freddie?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's a dark hole," suggested Flossie. "You 'member the verse: +'Charcoal! Charcoal! Put me in a dark hole.' Maybe Freddie is in a dark +hole."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is dark!" again sounded the muffled <a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>voice of the little boy. +"I can hear you, Nan, but I can't see you. Get me out of the dark hole!"</p> + +<p>Nan was puzzled. She, too, could hear Freddie calling, but she could not +see him. There were so many nooks and corners in the old barn that it +was not strange Freddie was not easily found. It was a great place for +playing hide and go seek, so many dark spots were there in which to +crouch, and the seeker might be right alongside of you and not spy you.</p> + +<p>"How did you get in the hole, Freddie?" asked Nan, knowing that talking +and listening to Freddie's answers was the best way to find out where he +was.</p> + +<p>"I was looking for a nest," he said, his voice still muffled and far +away, "and I slipped on some hay and went down the hole. There's a lot +of hay in the hole with me now, and I'm stuck. I'm about half way down +in the hole, Nan."</p> + +<p>Then Nan began to understand what had taken place. She remembered that +once something like this had happened to her. <a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a></p> + +<p>"Are you sliding down or standing still, Freddie?" she called to her +brother.</p> + +<p>"I was sliding, but I'm standing still now," he answered. "I'm stuck +fast in a lot of hay."</p> + +<p>"Well, wiggle as hard as you can," advised Nan. "I know where you are. +You're in one of the chutes, or wooden tubes, that Uncle Daniel shoves +hay down from the top floor of the barn to the lower floor. You stepped +into a hay chute and you're stuck half way down. Wiggle, and you'll +slide down the rest of the way and you'll be out."</p> + +<p>So Freddie wiggled as hard as he could and, surely enough, he felt +himself again sliding down. He was not hurt, for there was soft hay on +all sides of him. But it tickled, and it scratched the back of his neck, +as well as his hands and face.</p> + +<p>Some of the hay dust got up his nose, too, and made him want to sneeze. +He gave one little sneeze—making a queer sound cooped up as he was—and +then he cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm stuck again, Nan! I started sliding and now I'm stuck again!"</p> + +<p>"Wiggle some more," advised his sister. <a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a></p> + +<p>She had set down the basket of eggs and was looking toward a dark side +of the barn where she could see the lower ends of several wooden chutes. +Some were for oats and others for hay. She did not know just which +wooden chute Freddie would slide down. The chutes did not come all the +way to the floor, there being room under each one to set a box or bushel +basket.</p> + +<p>"Wiggle some more, Freddie!" again advised Nan.</p> + +<p>"I will!" came the answer. "I'll wiggle hard and I'll—Oh—kerchoo!"</p> + +<p>That was Freddie sneezing, and he sneezed so hard that it did more good +than his wiggling, for it sent him sliding down with a mass of hay to +the bottom of the chute.</p> + +<p>"Here I am!" he cried, and with a thump he landed on the barn floor, so +wrapped and tangled in a clump of hay that he was not in the least hurt. +"I'm all—kerchoo—right—kerchoo—Nan!" he said, talking and sneezing +at the same time.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad we found you, anyhow!" laughed his sister. "How did it +happen?" <a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, it just happened," was all Freddie could say. "I was looking for +eggs, and I slipped. I'm glad I didn't slip in a hen's nest, else I'd +'a' broken a lot of eggs."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that, too," agreed Nan. "Well, Flossie and I are 'way ahead +of you. We have found two nests!"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to find one myself!" declared Freddie, and a little later he +did. This nest had many eggs in it, for it was used by several hens in +turn, so that now the basket was half filled.</p> + +<p>Then, by searching about, the children found more nests and eggs until +the basket was quite full. Now arose a dispute between Flossie and +Freddie, for each one wanted to carry the basket. Nan was afraid either +of the little twins might stumble and fall, thereby breaking the eggs.</p> + +<p>"I know what we'll do," Nan said, making up a little plan, as she often +had to do to get Freddie and Flossie into a new way of thinking. "We'll +play hide and go seek. I'll go on ahead and hide, and whoever finds me +can carry the basket a little way." <a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Freddie. "Come on, Flossie! Blind your +eyes."</p> + +<p>"Don't come until I get ready!" said Nan.</p> + +<p>The children promised they would not. Carefully they closed their eyes, +covering them with their hands. Nan hurried away, walking softly so the +twins could not guess which way she was going. And she picked out a +hiding place close to the house, right at the foot of the steps, in +fact.</p> + +<p>"Whichever one finds me won't have very far to carry the eggs, and they +won't be so likely to drop them," thought Nan, as she crouched down +behind the rain-water barrel.</p> + +<p>"Coop!" cried Nan, this being a signal that she was hidden.</p> + +<p>"Ready or not we're coming!" shouted Freddie. He and his sister opened +their eyes and began running about, eagerly searching. It was some +little time before they found Nan behind the barrel, and Flossie spied +her first.</p> + +<p>"I see you! I see you!" laughed the delighted little girl, and she was +so excited over finding Nan that she never realized she had only a few +steps to carry the basket of eggs. <a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a></p> + +<p>Flossie covered those few steps safely, and the eggs were put away in +the closet by Aunt Sarah, later to be made into puddings and cakes for +the Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"When are we going to the Bolton County Fair?" asked Bert that evening +after supper, when he and Harry were resting after their sport in +catching bullfrogs.</p> + +<p>"And I'm going to ride on a lion!" declared Freddie.</p> + +<p>"We might go over to the fair to-morrow," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Do you +folks want to go?" he asked his brother and Aunt Sarah.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I'll have time," answered Mr. Bobbsey's brother.</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Aunt Sarah. "I have a lot of cooking to do."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm going to stay at home and help you," offered the mother of the +Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't we go to the fair?" wailed Flossie and Freddie, almost ready +to cry.</p> + +<p>"Of course you may go!" replied Mother Bobbsey. "I was going to say that +daddy could take you children—Harry may go, may he not?" she asked his +mother. <a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, yes."</p> + +<p>"Hurray!" cried Harry, and Bert and Nan echoed his cry of joy.</p> + +<p>So it was arranged that Mr. Bobbsey would take the children to the +Bolton County Fair, there to see the many wonderful things of which they +had dreamed for days and nights.</p> + +<p>The Bolton County Fair was one of the largest in that part of the state. +Every year it was held, and farmers from many miles away brought their +largest pumpkins and squashes, and their longest ears of corn, hoping to +win prizes with them. The farmers' wives brought samples of their +needlework, such as bedquilts, lace or embroidery, and samples of their +cooking and preserving. The farm boys and girls made things or raised +something to exhibit at the fair.</p> + +<p>Besides this there were new kinds of machinery for the farmers to look +at, such as windmills and plows and electrical appliances to be used on +the farms. Men who raised horses and cattle took their best specimens to +the fair to show them for prizes. <a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a></p> + +<p>Then there were to be automobile races and horse races, and there were +many amusements from the big merry-go-round to the little tents and +booths where one could throw baseballs at dolls or toss rings over +canes. There were also booths and tents where candy, ice-cream, lemonade +and cider were sold, as well as places to eat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's wonderful!" cried Nan, as she and her brothers, her sister, +Harry and her father got out of their automobile and walked through the +big gates into the fair grounds. "Don't you like it, Bert?"</p> + +<p>"Sure! It's fine!"</p> + +<p>"Let's go over and look at the airship," proposed Harry.</p> + +<p>"And the balloon," added Bert. "Do you s'pose I could go up in the +balloon?" he asked his father.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't suppose you could—I wouldn't like you to," said Mr. +Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"But why, Dad? The balloon is fast to the ground. It can't get away!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure about that. I don't want <a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>you to go up. You'll have +plenty of other fun."</p> + +<p>"I wanted to go up in the balloon," and Bert sighed in disappointment.</p> + +<p>"We'll go look at it, anyhow," suggested Harry.</p> + +<p>"I want a ride on a lion!" insisted Freddie.</p> + +<p>"So do I!" added Flossie.</p> + +<p>"All right, I'll take you children to the merry-go-round," said Mr. +Bobbsey. "You come there and meet us after you finish looking at the +balloon and the airship," he said to Bert and Harry.</p> + +<p>"I'll stay with you, Daddy," said Nan. "I want a ride on the +merry-go-round, too," and she laughed.</p> + +<p>They could hear the music of the "carrousel," as a merry-go-round is +sometimes called.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" urged Flossie and Freddie, tugging at their father's hands.</p> + +<p>He led them over to the crowd that surrounded the machine on which a +whirling ride could be had for five cents. <a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a></p> + +<p>"This way! This way for the merry-go-round!" cried a boy's voice. "Only +five cents a ride! Get your tickets and take a ride! On an elephant or a +tiger!"</p> + +<p>"I want a lion!" cried Freddie.</p> + +<p>"All right! This way for your lions!" cried the voice.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey, pushing his way through the crowd with the children, saw +Bob Guess on the merry-go-round. The boy was helping children to their +seats on the wooden animals, strapping them safely so they would be +ready when the machinery started. The organ kept on playing all the +while.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Bob!" called Nan, as she climbed up on a wooden horse, while +Flossie and Freddie, with their father, looked for lions.</p> + +<p>The strange boy glanced up in some surprise. But when he saw Nan a smile +came over his rather sad face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, hello!" he said. "How did you get here?"</p> + +<p>"We came just now in my father's auto. Do you run the merry-go-round?"</p> + +<p>"I help when Mr. Blipper isn't here. I take <a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>up the tickets after she +starts. Have you got your tickets?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, daddy bought them. My little brother and sister want to ride on +lions."</p> + +<p>"There's a pair right behind you," said Bob Guess.</p> + +<p>Nan turned and saw her father just finishing the strapping up of Flossie +and Freddie each on a big wooden lion. The small twins were smiling with +delight.</p> + +<p>"Gid-dap!" called Flossie to her lion.</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't say 'gid-dap' to a lion," objected Freddie.</p> + +<p>"What should you say?" asked Flossie, turning to look at her brother.</p> + +<p>"You ought to say—now—er—'Scat!'"</p> + +<p>"That's what you say to a cat!" declared Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Well, then say 'Boo!' I guess that's what you say to a lion," went on +Freddie. "Say 'Boo!'"</p> + +<p>The little girl looked doubtful.</p> + +<p>"All right. Boo!" cried Flossie, after a moment.</p> + +<p>It was not quite time, however, for the <a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>merry-go-round to start. Mr. +Bobbsey made his way along the platform to Bob, who stood near Nan.</p> + +<p>"Where is Mr. Blipper?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "I want to see him."</p> + +<p>"He's away to-day, Mr. Bobbsey," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"Away! Oh, I am sorry," was the reply of the Bobbsey twins' father.</p> + +<p>"This is his day off," went on the lad.</p> + +<p>"Will he be here to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. But look out now, she's going to start!" <a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>ON THE TRACK</h3> + + +<p>Creaking and squeaking as it slowly started, the merry-go-round began to +go faster and faster until it was whirling rapidly, the music of the +organ mingling with the shouts of the delighted children.</p> + +<p>Seeing that Flossie and Freddie were all right, being strapped to their +wooden lions, and that Nan could look after herself, Mr. Bobbsey took a +seat in one of the gilded cars that were provided for older persons who +did not like to sit astride a wooden animal. He watched Bob Guess making +his way around the carrousel collecting the tickets. The boy seemed +bright and very business like.</p> + +<p>"He's a good lad," thought Mr. Bobbsey. "I wish a better man than Mr. +Blipper had charge of him. I must look into this matter."</p> + +<p>At one place on the outside of the merry-<a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>go-round was a post with an +arm extending down from it. Into this arm, which was hollow, a boy +dropped iron rings, with, now and then, a brass one among them. Those +whirling about on the carrousel could reach up and pull a ring from the +arm, if they were quick and skillful enough.</p> + +<p>"Get the brass ring and have a free ride!" sang out the boy dropping the +black, iron rings into the hollow arm. There were, a great many iron +rings, but only a few brass ones. Of course, every one wanted to get the +brass ring, but this went by luck as much as by skill.</p> + +<p>Flossie and Freddie were too small to reach over and try for any of the +rings. But Nan, like the older boys and girls and some of the grown +folks, had no trouble in catching rings.</p> + +<p>"Get the brass ring, and have an extra ride!" cried the boy in charge.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could!" thought Nan.</p> + +<p>Once she almost got it. She saw the brass ring gleaming at the end of +the arm. A boy two horses ahead of her made a grab for it and missed. So +did the girl directly in front of<a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a> Nan. When Nan reached for the ring +she did not put out her arm far enough, and she, too, missed it. A girl +riding on a camel behind Nan got it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Nan.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said a voice at her side, and she saw Bob Guess. "Here's a +brass ring for you. Take it and have the next ride free!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, will that be right?" asked Nan.</p> + +<p>"Sure it will! I'm in charge of taking the tickets when Blipper is away. +Some one grabbed this ring and dropped it. I picked it up. It's good for +a ride. Take it. I don't know who dropped it or I'd give it to 'em. You +take it!"</p> + +<p>And Nan did. It was not to be dreamed of that Flossie and Freddie would +be content with one ride. They had to stay on for the second. Mr. +Bobbsey got off to buy more tickets.</p> + +<p>"I don't need a ticket!" Nan called to him. "I have the brass ring, +Daddy!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you were very lucky!"</p> + +<p>"Bob gave it to me," she explained, telling how it came about.</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose it is all right to take it,"<a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a> her father said. "Bob +knows what he is doing."</p> + +<p>"But I want to get a brass ring my own self," Nan said. And she did, +though not on the next trip. Her father had to buy her a ticket for +that.</p> + +<p>Then came the final ride, for though Flossie and Freddie would have +remained and ridden all day, their father knew this was not good for +them. And it was on the last ride that Nan got her brass ring.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now I can ride again!" she gayly cried.</p> + +<p>"Not now," her father told her. "If you ride, Flossie and Freddie will +want to, and I'm afraid they'll be ill."</p> + +<p>"But what shall I do with the ring?" asked Nan, slipping down off the +wooden horse and holding up the brass ring.</p> + +<p>"It'll be good to-morrow," said Bob Guess. "You can keep it, or I'll +save it here for you."</p> + +<p>"I guess you'd better keep it, Bob," said Nan, with a laugh. "I might +lose it."</p> + +<p>"I'll save it for you," promised Bob. "I'll look for you to-morrow. Get +your tickets—<a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>your tickets for the merry-go-round!" he cried, as a new +crowd surged up to get on.</p> + +<p>"May we have some pop corn?" asked Freddie, when told there were to be +no more rides that day.</p> + +<p>"And ice-cream?" added Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey, "I don't know which will be worse for +you. Let's look about a bit."</p> + +<p>"I'm thirsty!" announced Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll have some lemonade—that will be good for all of us, I +think," suggested Mr. Bobbsey. Bert and Harry, coming back just then +from having been to look at the balloon, were taken to the lemonade +stand with the others.</p> + +<p>If I were to tell you all the things the Bobbsey twins saw at the County +Fair and all they did, it would take a larger book than this to hold it +all. So I can only tell you a few of the many things that happened.</p> + +<p>After drinking the lemonade the children hardly knew at what to look +next, there were so many things to see. Presently Mr. Bobbsey said: <a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a></p> + +<p>"You have been among a lot of wooden animals on the merry-go-round, +suppose we go see some real, live animals?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" cried Nan.</p> + +<p>"Let's go to see the race horses," suggested Bert.</p> + +<p>"And I want to see cows and pigs!" announced Freddie.</p> + +<p>"And sheeps! I want to see sheeps!" exclaimed Flossie.</p> + +<p>"They're on the way to the racing horse stables," explained Harry. "All +the live stock is together."</p> + +<p>There was a race track at the fair grounds and some races had been run +off before the Bobbseys arrived. More were to take place soon.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey and the other children were so interested in looking at the +prize cattle, at great hogs, some weighing nearly a thousand pounds, and +at bulls weighing more than this, that they did not notice the absence +of Freddie Bobbsey. That little chap, however, had slipped away and, +before he knew it, he was in the stable with the race horses. <a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a></p> + +<p>As many of the stablemen were outside with their animals, some bringing +their steeds back from the track and others taking racers over to have a +part in the next contest, there were not many persons in the stable when +Freddie wandered there.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a nice lot of horses!" he exclaimed, and indeed the racers +were among the best of their kind. "I like horses!" went on Freddie.</p> + +<p>One beautiful animal leaned out of its stall and rubbed a velvet nose on +Freddie's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"You like me, don't you, horsie?" asked the little chap. The horse +whinnied, which might mean anything, but Freddie took it for "yes."</p> + +<p>"I guess maybe you'd like to have me get on your back," he said. "I got +on one of Uncle Dan's horses once. I know how to ride."</p> + +<p>The horse was in a large box stall, and the door was not hard to open. +In walked Freddie, and, by standing up on a keg which was in the stall, +he managed to scramble up on the back of the horse. To keep from sliding +off, <a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>though, Freddie had to clasp his arms around the neck of the +animal.</p> + +<p>Whether the horse took this for a signal to move along, or whether it +just "happened," I don't know. But the horse walked out of the stall, +across the grass of the paddock, and, as the big gate happened to be +open, he walked right out on the race track with Freddie clinging to his +neck. <a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>IN THE CORNFIELD</h3> + + +<p>Just about this time a race was going to be run. There were a number of +horses, with jockey lads on their backs, waiting for the signal to begin +their fast pace around the track. Up in the booth, where the judges and +the starter were standing to give the signal, everything was in +readiness. The people around the race track were all excited, for they +wanted to see which horse would win.</p> + +<p>And then, just as the starter gave the word, and the jockey boys on +their horses' backs called to their steeds to run fast, out on the track +walked the horse to whose neck Freddie was clinging!</p> + +<p>At first the little fellow had been so startled when the animal to whose +back he had scram<a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>bled walked out of the barn with him that he had not +known what to do. He just clung there.</p> + +<p>But, finding that the horse was very gentle and did not try to reach +back and bite his legs, Freddie began rather to like it.</p> + +<p>"Go 'long, nice horsie! Go 'long!" called Freddie, and he clapped his +heels against the sides of the animal.</p> + +<p>The horse went along all right—fairly out on to the race track, and +just as the race was starting!</p> + +<p>"Here! Where you going?"</p> + +<p>"Come back with that horse!"</p> + +<p>"Look out! Stop him, somebody! That boy will be hurt!"</p> + +<p>These were only a few of the many cries that rose from the grandstand +and the space in front of it when the people saw Freddie right in the +path of the rushing horses.</p> + +<p>"Ring that bell!" cried one of the judges to the starter.</p> + +<p>The starter pulled the cord of the big gong which is rung to bring the +horses back if they <a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>have not made an even start, as very often happens.</p> + +<p>Clang! went the gong. The jockeys on the backs of the horses knew what +the ringing of the bell meant. Some of them had begun to guide their +horses so as not to run into Freddie and his mount, but there were so +many racers that one or two of them might have bumped into the little +fellow. But when the jockeys heard the ringing of the bell they knew it +was a false start and they pulled in their steeds and some turned back.</p> + +<p>But now something else happened. While the horse Freddie had climbed up +on was kind and gentle, yet he was a race horse. And as soon as he found +himself out on the track he must have thought he had been ridden there +to take part in a race.</p> + +<p>At any rate, before Freddie could stop him, even if the little Bobbsey +lad had been able to do this, the horse began to trot around the track. +Perhaps he thought the ringing of the bell meant for him to start.</p> + +<p>So away he ran, going faster and faster <a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>with poor Freddie bobbing up +and down, but still clinging to the animal's neck. It was all Freddie +could do, as there was no saddle horn to grasp.</p> + +<p>"Whoa! Whoa!" begged the little chap. "Nice horsie! Whoa now!"</p> + +<p>It was not so much fun as Freddie had at first thought to take a ride in +this way. At the beginning he had an idea that he might some day be a +jockey and wear a gayly colored silk blouse. But he never imagined race +horses went so fast.</p> + +<p>"Whoa! Whoa!" cried Freddie again. But his horse did not stop. Indeed, +it only went faster.</p> + +<p>"Somebody get after that boy!" yelled the starter, leaning from the +judges' stand. "He'll be hurt if you don't get him!"</p> + +<p>"I'll get him!" offered one of the jockeys. He called to his horse and +was soon speeding around the track after Freddie. And now the horse on +whose back the little Bobbsey boy was seated, hearing another steed +coming after him, began to think it was a race in real earnest, and he +commenced to go faster. All the<a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a> "whoa" shouts Freddie uttered were of +no use.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Tomato! Go on!" cried the jockey to his horse. "Go on, Tomato!" +Tomato was the name of his animal.</p> + +<p>The shouts and the screams of the crowd attracted the attention of Mr. +Bobbsey and the other children as they came from the animal tent. And as +Mr. Bobbsey neared the race track he had a glimpse of his little son +clinging to a horse and riding very fast, while a jockey on another +horse chased him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look! Freddie's in a race!" cried Flossie! "Oh, maybe Freddie will +win!"</p> + +<p>"My goodness! how did this happen?" cried Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Will he be hurt?" gasped Nan.</p> + +<p>But just then, to the great relief of the Bobbsey family, the jockey +managed to come up alongside of Freddie's galloping horse. The jockey +reached over with one hand, caught Freddie by the seat of his little +trousers, and fairly lifted him off the back of the now excited horse.</p> + +<p>Then, placing Freddie on the saddle in front of him, the jockey turned +his horse about and <a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>rode slowly back to the stand. Some of the +stablemen then ran out and caught the other horse.</p> + +<p>"Why, Freddie! what in the world were you trying to do?" asked his +father, when the little boy was placed in his arms.</p> + + +<p>"I—I just wanted a ride," Freddie explained. "I got tired of ridin' on +wooden lions. I wanted a live horse."</p> + +<p>"Well, he picked a lively one all right!" laughed a man in the crowd. +"That horse he rode has won every race, so far."</p> + +<p>"You must never do such a thing again, Freddie," his father told him, +when the excitement had died down and the racing was once more started. +"Never again."</p> + +<p>"No, I won't," Freddie promised. "But when I grow up I'm goin' to ride +horses, I am!"</p> + +<p>"That will be a good while yet," laughed Bert.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad your mother wasn't here," said Mr. Bobbsey. "She would have +almost fainted, I'm sure, if she had seen you out on the race track like +a regular jockey." <a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a></p> + +<p>"Did I look like a jockey?" Freddie asked, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Well, not exactly," Bert said. "You didn't have any silk blouse on."</p> + +<p>"I'll get Dinah to make me one when I go home," Freddie declared. "I'll +have a red one, I guess, and then if I get tired of ridin' horses I can +be a fireman."</p> + +<p>"Well, I think we've had excitement enough for one day," remarked Mr. +Bobbsey. "We'll have something to eat, look around a little more, and +then go home."</p> + +<p>"But we can come back again, can't we?" asked Bert. "I haven't seen the +balloon go up yet."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we want to see that," added Harry.</p> + +<p>"I'll bring you to the fair again to-morrow or next day," promised Mr. +Bobbsey. "I want to come back myself. I've met a number of men to-day +I'd like to talk with further. Then I'd like to have a talk with that +Mr. Blipper."</p> + +<p>That night, at Meadow Brook Farm, Mr. Bobbsey and his wife, after the +children had gone to bed, talked over the strange disap<a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>pearance of Mr. +Bobbsey's coat and the auto lap robe.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure that Blipper knows something about them," said Mrs. Bobbsey. +"Or perhaps that strange Bob Guess—what an odd name."</p> + +<p>"It is an odd name," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, "But it fits, for they don't +know what his real name is—at least he says he doesn't. But I don't +believe Bob had anything to do with the taking of my coat and the robe. +I'd like to find out more about the boy. He seems bright, and I feel +sorry for him. I must see that man, Blipper, and have a talk with him."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't he at his merry-go-round to-day?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"No, he had gone off somewhere. But I am going to the fair again with +the children, and I'll get at Blipper sooner or later."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you go to the fair again, please keep an eye on Freddie!" +begged the mother of the Bobbsey twins. "He's a little tyke when it +comes to slipping away and doing strange things." <a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes, he is," agreed her husband. But the next day was to prove that +Flossie could also "slip away," when there was a chance.</p> + +<p>The Bobbsey twins, with Harry, were out in the cornfield gathering ears +of corn to feed to the hogs and chickens. The corn had been cut and +stacked into piles called "shocks," and it was from the stalks in these +shocks that the ears of yellow corn were broken off and placed in +baskets to be taken to the house.</p> + +<p>"Let's play hide and go seek for a while," suggested Nan to her brother +and Harry. "Flossie and Freddie are over there by themselves, shelling +corn." The smaller twins had been given a little basket, and they were +now busy breaking off kernels of corn from some small ears, and dropping +the corn into their basket.</p> + +<p>"For the chickies," Flossie had explained.</p> + +<p>So while the smaller twins were thus "kept out of mischief," as Nan +said, she, with Bert and Harry, began a game of hide and go seek. It was +lots of fun, dodging in and out among the tall corn shocks, which rose +above the chil<a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>dren's heads. The game went on for some time, until even +Bert and Harry said they were tired.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll take the corn up to the house," announced Nan. "Come, +Flossie and Freddie," she called. Freddie came up, carrying the basket +of shelled corn, but Flossie was not with him.</p> + +<p>"Where's your sister?" asked Harry.</p> + +<p>"Who, Flossie? Oh, she went away. She said she was going home," Freddie +answered. "She went home a good while ago!"</p> + +<p>"Went home!" echoed Nan, with a gasping breath. "Why, she never could +find the way all by herself. Oh, maybe she's lost!" <a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>FREDDIE AND THE PUMPKIN</h3> + + +<p>The cornfield where the Bobbsey twins and Harry had gone to work and +play was a long distance from the farmhouse. Nan knew this, and that is +why she was frightened when Freddie said that Flossie had "gone home."</p> + +<p>"Maybe she could find her way," said Bert.</p> + +<p>"She's a smart little girl," added Harry. "I wish I had a sister like +her."</p> + +<p>"How long ago did she leave you, Freddie?" asked Nan.</p> + +<p>"Oh, 'bout maybe three four hours," answered the little boy.</p> + +<p>"We haven't been here an hour!" exclaimed Bert.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe it was minutes, then," admitted Freddie. He did not have a +very good idea of time, you see.</p> + +<p>"If it was only a little while ago she can't <a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>have gone very far," said +Nan. "Flossie! Flossie!" she called. "Where are you?"</p> + +<p>But there was no answer. Bert and Harry then took up the call, as they +had louder voices than had Nan, and even Freddie added his shout, but it +was of no use. Flossie did not answer.</p> + +<p>"I guess she's too far away," Harry stated.</p> + +<p>"We'd better hurry after her!" said Bert.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come on!" cried Nan, half sobbing. "Mother told me to keep good +watch over her, and I didn't! I shouldn't have played hide and go seek!"</p> + +<p>"It wasn't your fault!" her brother consoled her. "It was as much mine +as yours. But we'll find Flossie all right. I guess she's home by this +time."</p> + +<p>But when they had hurried to the farmhouse there was no sign of the +little girl. Mrs. Bobbsey became much frightened when told what had +happened.</p> + +<p>"Is there any water she could fall into?" she asked Aunt Sarah.</p> + +<p>"No, not even a duck pond near the cornfield. She's all right, I'm +sure," said the other<a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a> Mrs. Bobbsey. "We'll go back to the cornfield and +find her hiding, I feel certain."</p> + +<p>"But she wasn't playing hide and go seek," declared Nan. "She wouldn't +hide from us."</p> + +<p>"You can't tell," said Aunt Sarah, so cheerfully that the others took +heart. Back they hurried to the field where the big shocks of dried +cornstalks stood. The two Mr. Bobbseys also went along to help in the +search.</p> + +<p>"Now show us where you and Flossie were playing at shell the corn," said +the mother of the twins.</p> + +<p>"Right here," Freddie stated, and he pointed to some of the yellow +kernels on the ground.</p> + +<p>The father of the Bobbsey twins stooped down and looked at the soft +earth. He soon found what he was looking for—the tiny footprints of his +little girl.</p> + +<p>"She went over this way," he said. "Come on, we'll pretend we are +hunters on the trail. We'll soon find Flossie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is fun!" laughed Freddie. But it was not exactly fun for the +others. Even Nan and Bert were worried.</p> + +<p>The footprints of Flossie wandered off <a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>among the shocks of corn, and in +a few moments they stopped at a place where two or three shocks had been +piled together, making a large heap.</p> + +<p>And then, before any one could say a word, from behind this pile of +cornstalks a sleepy voice called, asking:</p> + +<p>"Where are you, Freddie?"</p> + +<p>"There she is! That's Flossie!" cried Bert.</p> + +<p>He and his mother made a dash around the big shock and there, lying with +her little cloak wrapped around her, was Flossie, nestled amid the corn +husks, curled up and just awakening from a nap.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Flossie! why did you run away?" asked her mother, clasping her +little daughter in her arms.</p> + +<p>"I didn't runned away, I walked!" declared Flossie, rubbing her eyes. +"What you all lookin' at me for?" she wanted to know. "Was I a bad girl, +Mother?"</p> + +<p>"Not exactly bad, but you frightened us," her father said. "However, +we're glad we have found you." <a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a></p> + +<p>Flossie had just wandered away by herself, unnoticed by Bert, Nan, or +Harry, and, growing tired and sleepy, had nestled in the corn to take a +nap. Freddie had been so busy shelling corn that he did not notice which +way his little sister went.</p> + +<p>But everything was all right now, and the happy families went back to +the farmhouse, the smaller twins being allowed to feed some of their +corn to the chickens.</p> + +<p>True to his promise, Mr. Richard Bobbsey took his children to the Bolton +County Fair the next day, his wife going with him this time. Of course +Harry also went along, for it would not have been polite to leave him at +home. As for Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah, they said they would go to the +fair another day.</p> + +<p>"Will you ask Mr. Blipper about your coat and the missing robe?" asked +Mrs. Bobbsey, on the way to the fair grounds.</p> + +<p>"Yes. And I'll ask him about Bob Guess, also," her husband answered. +"There is something strange about that boy." <a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a></p> + +<p>The Bobbsey twins and Harry were talking among themselves, while Nan +also looked after Flossie and Freddie.</p> + +<p>"They're going to put the big balloon up to-day," said Harry.</p> + +<p>"They are if the wind doesn't blow too much," Bert agreed. "And I'm +afraid it's blowing too hard. Do you think the wind is blowing too much +for them to send the big balloon up?" he anxiously asked his father.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey looked at the sky.</p> + +<p>"To my mind," he said, "I think there is going to be a storm. I'm afraid +the wind will keep on blowing harder all day. Of course I don't know how +strong a wind it takes to keep a balloon man from going up, but I should +say there would be danger in going up to-day."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Bert. "I wanted to see the man go up in the +balloon!"</p> + +<p>"So did I!" added Harry. "But maybe the wind will die out."</p> + +<p>However, it did not, and it was still blowing rather hard when the fair +grounds were reached.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Mrs. Bobbsey, when she <a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>saw how disappointed Harry +and Bert seemed to feel. "If the balloon doesn't go up to-day it will +to-morrow, and we can come again. There are plenty of other things to +look at besides balloons."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to go to see some of the big vegetables and the fruits, and +look at the patchwork quilts and the lace," said Nan.</p> + +<p>"Very well," agreed her father. "We'll go there first, and maybe by that +time the wind will have died down. But I hardly think so."</p> + +<p>Truth to tell Bert and Harry did not care much for the big pumpkins, +squashes, and other vegetables. And they hardly looked at the fancy work +in which Nan and her mother took an interest.</p> + +<p>"Oh, wouldn't this make a dandy jack-o'-lantern!" cried Freddie, as he +crawled under a railing around a platform, on which were many large +vegetables. "Look what a big pumpkin!"</p> + +<p>"Freddie, you mustn't go in there," called his mother. "Come out. Don't +touch that big pumpkin."</p> + +<p>But it was too late! Freddie was already <a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>on the wooden platform, and he +was rolling the pumpkin. It was almost perfectly round, and the little +fellow could easily move it.</p> + +<p>"Come away!" called Mr. Bobbsey, adding his voice to that of his wife.</p> + +<p>"I want to see if I can lift this pumpkin!" exclaimed Freddie.</p> + +<p>And then, suddenly, the big pumpkin rolled off the platform, toward the +back of the tent.</p> + +<p>"Get it, Freddie! Get it!" cried Bert, for he knew the pumpkin was on +exhibition in order to take a prize, if possible. It would be too bad if +anything happened to it.</p> + +<p>Freddie made a dive for the big, yellow vegetable, but, as it happened, +the tent stood on the top of a hill. And as the pumpkin rolled off the +platform it slipped under the tent and began going down the grassy hill +outside.</p> + +<p>"Whoa! Whoa!" called Freddie, as he had called to the race horse that +had walked out on the track with him. "Whoa, pumpkin!"</p> + +<p>But the pumpkin kept on rolling! The little chap made a dive for it, +missed it by a few <a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>inches, and then, falling over, he, too, rolled out +under the tent and down the hill.</p> + +<p>Freddie was not quite so round as a pumpkin, but he managed to get a +good start, and rolled over and over. And as his father, mother, and the +others hurried out of the tent they saw Freddie and the big yellow +vegetable tumbling down the hill together.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look! Look!" cried a little girl. "A boy and a pumpkin are having a +race! Oh, look! How funny! A boy and a pumpkin are having a race!" <a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>UP IN A BALLOON</h3> + + +<p>The pumpkin won the race. I suppose you had already guessed that it +would. For the pumpkin, being almost perfectly round, could roll down +the hill faster than Freddie could.</p> + +<p>So the pumpkin was the first to reach the bottom of the little grassy +hill on which stood the tent where the prize fruits and vegetables were +on exhibition. And Freddie came tumbling after, like Jack and Jill, you +know.</p> + +<p>And I believe it is a good thing the pumpkin reached the bottom of the +hill first, for if Freddie had been first the big, heavy pumpkin would +have rolled up against him with a bump, and might have hurt him. But +Freddie, bumping into the pumpkin, as he did, was not hurt at all.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you funny little boy!" cried the little girl who had laughed, as +she ran up to Fred<a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>die, who was now sitting on the grass. "The pumpkin +beat you in the rolling race down hill. But maybe you'll win next time."</p> + +<p>"There isn't going to be any next time," laughed Mother Bobbsey, as she +ran to pick Freddie up. "He didn't do that on purpose, little girl."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought he did. Anyhow, it was funny!" and she laughed again.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was funny," agreed Bert. "And here comes a man after the +pumpkin, I guess."</p> + +<p>"Be careful that he doesn't take you and put you on exhibition in the +tent," said Nan to her little brother.</p> + +<p>"Will he, Mother?" asked Flossie.</p> + +<p>"No, of course not. Nan is only joking."</p> + +<p>"The pumpkin isn't hurt any," said Harry, helping the man lift it up on +his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of it," the man said. "It has won the prize, and the farmer +who owns it wouldn't like it if it should be broken."</p> + +<p>"Let's go over to the merry-go-round," suggested Freddie, who did not +like so many people looking at him, for quite a crowd had gathered when +word of the funny pumpkin <a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>race spread. "I want a ride on the +merry-go-round."</p> + +<p>"So do I," added Flossie.</p> + +<p>"And then it will be time for the balloon to go up," added Bert. "Do you +think the wind is too strong?" he asked his father.</p> + +<p>"Well, it is blowing pretty hard, and it's getting worse. I think there +is going to be a storm. But I see men working around the balloon, and I +think they are going to send it up. Perhaps they think they can send it +up and let it come down again before the storm."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's hurry and see it!" cried Nan, who was as much interested in +the big gas bag as were the boys.</p> + +<p>"First we'll give Flossie and Freddie a ride on the merry-go-round, I +think," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey. So they all voted to have a ride, as Mr. +Bobbsey wanted a chance to speak to Mr. Blipper.</p> + +<p>But, just as had happened the other time, Mr. Blipper was not there. Bob +Guess was taking tickets, and when he saw Nan he smiled. <a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a></p> + +<p>"I'll get you the brass ring," he promised, and he did.</p> + +<p>The children liked the lively music, and also the whirling ride on the +backs of the wooden animals. Even Mrs. Bobbsey took one ride, but she +said that was enough. Nan had a special ride, because Bob Guess had +saved for her the brass ring, and when the other children learned that +Nan was to ride for nothing, of course they wanted an extra ride, for +which Mr. Bobbsey had to pay.</p> + +<p>"When do you think Mr. Blipper will be here?" Mr. Bobbsey asked of Bob, +as the party was leaving. "I want to talk to him."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," was the boy's answer. "He doesn't stay at the +merry-go-round as much as he used to. He lets me and one of his men run +it. He's away a lot."</p> + +<p>"Well, you tell him I want to see him," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "I shall be +here to-morrow and the next day."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell him," promised Bob Guess.</p> + +<p>"Now let's go see the balloon," suggested Bert.</p> + +<p>"They're getting ready to send it up!" ex<a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>claimed Harry, as they neared +the place where the big bag, already partly filled with gas, was swaying +to and fro. Over the bag was a net work of strong cords, and the cords +were fastened to the rim of a large square basket. To the basket were +tied ropes, and to the ends of these ropes were bags of sand, thus +holding the balloon to the ground.</p> + +<p>"What makes it go up?" asked Flossie, as she watched the swaying bag.</p> + +<p>"Gas," explained Mr. Bobbsey. "They put in the big bag some gas, +sometimes one kind and sometimes another, just like the gas in your toy +balloons. This gas is so very light—it's not even so heavy as air—that +it wants to go up into the air, all by itself. And when it is inside a +bag the gas takes the bag up into the air with it."</p> + +<p>"And the basket too? Doesn't it take the basket?" Freddie asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the basket goes up with the balloon," said Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Who goes in the basket?" asked Freddie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the man," his father answered. <a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a></p> + +<p>"Do any children go in the balloon?" called out Flossie. "Any boys or +girls?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" quickly said Nan, for she did not want her little sister and +brother to tease for a ride in a balloon basket.</p> + +<p>"I'd like a ride in a balloon," murmured Freddie.</p> + +<p>Just then the wind began to blow more strongly, and the big gas bag +swayed to one side, toward a crowd of people who ran to get out of the +way.</p> + +<p>"Get more ropes!" cried one of the balloon men. "Get more ropes and sand +bags!"</p> + +<p>"That's right!" shouted another man. "There's going to be a storm. I +don't know whether we ought to send the balloon up!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, let her go!" cried several in the crowd. They did not want to be +disappointed. Bert and Harry added their voices to the cries for an +ascension.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll have to tie the balloon down until we get more gas in it," +said the first man. "Come on now, more ropes and sand bags!"</p> + +<p>While these were being brought the Bobbsey <a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>twins and their relatives +drew as near to the balloon as they could get, closely looking at it. At +times the big bag, partly filled with gas, swayed until it swept the +ground. The basket, too, pulled and tugged at the ropes that held it +down.</p> + +<p>"What does the man do when he's in the basket?" Freddie asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he sits there and rides along up in the clouds," said Bert. "I wish +I could go up."</p> + +<p>"Does he have anything to eat?" Flossie wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said Nan. "There are things to eat in the basket. See!" And +she held Flossie up so she could look over the edge and down into the +basket. Of course Freddie had to be lifted up, also.</p> + +<p>The basket seemed a cosy place. There were blankets in it, for it is +often very cold high up in the air where balloons go, though it may be +very warm on the earth. And there were boxes and packages containing +food and many strange things at which the Bobbsey twins wondered.</p> + +<p>The wind kept blowing harder and harder, <a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>and the crowd grew larger as +word went around the fair grounds that the balloon was soon to go up.</p> + +<p>"What about those ropes?" cried the man who was in charge of the +balloon.</p> + +<p>"They're coming," another man told him. "Be here right away!"</p> + +<p>"Well, those lads want to hurry if this balloon isn't to go sailing off +by itself! My, but the wind is blowing hard! I've a good notion to call +this off. I'm afraid we're in for a bad storm."</p> + +<p>"We can't stop it now," said the second man. "The crowd expects us to go +up, and we'll have to go."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll try it. But we must tie the balloon down and put in more +gas. It won't go up very far only half filled as it is."</p> + +<p>Suddenly some voices cried:</p> + +<p>"One side! One side if you please!"</p> + +<p>It was the men coming up with ropes to tie the balloon down.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey tried to gather the children close to them, to get +them out of the way of the men. But, in some manner, Flossie <a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>and +Freddie turned to one side, and before they knew it they were separated +from their friends. And then Flossie and Freddie found themselves pushed +close up against the balloon basket.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's get in!" cried Freddie.</p> + +<p>"We'll just sit down for a minute and then get out," agreed Flossie.</p> + +<p>The crowd was so excited, trying to get out of the way of the men with +the coils of rope, that no one noticed what the small Bobbsey twins did. +And so Freddie and Flossie climbed into the balloon basket and snuggled +down in the blankets.</p> + +<p>"Quick now with those ropes!" cried the head man. "She's going to tear +loose! Feel that wind!"</p> + +<p>There came a heavy blow, causing the balloon to sway back and forth.</p> + +<p>"Look out!" cried another voice. "There she goes!"</p> + +<p>Almost as he spoke there was a further scramble on the part of the +crowd, and the balloon tore loose from the holding ropes before the men +had time to put on the new ones. <a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a></p> + +<p>"There she goes!" echoed the crowd. "Up goes the balloon!"</p> + +<p>And up it went, taking Flossie and Freddie with it! Up and up it rose, +shooting above the heads of the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, "what's going to happen?"</p> + +<p>"We're going up in a balloon!" shouted Freddie, and then he laughed. He +thought it was fun.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want to get down!" screamed Flossie. She looked over the edge of +the basket, as did her brother, and just then Mrs. Bobbsey glanced up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my children! Flossie and Freddie!" she gasped, pointing. "They're +in the balloon!" <a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>ON THE ISLAND</h3> + + +<p>There was great excitement down on the ground when the cry of Mrs. +Bobbsey told her husband, the other children, and the big crowd that +Flossie and Freddie had been carried away in the balloon. At first some +did not believe it, and even Mr. Bobbsey found it hard to imagine that +such a thing could happen.</p> + +<p>But one look up at the swaying basket dangling from the runaway balloon +showed him the faces of Flossie and Freddie looking down at the earth +which seemed to be dropping away from them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my children! My children! Flossie! Freddie!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, +tears streaming down her cheeks, as she raised her hands toward the +swiftly rising balloon.</p> + +<p>"Get them down!" <a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a></p> + +<p>"We'll catch 'em if they jump!"</p> + +<p>"Get a ladder!"</p> + +<p>"Have the man in the aeroplane go after them!"</p> + +<p>These were some of the cries—foolish cries in some cases—that sounded +on all sides as Flossie and Freddie were carried away. For how could any +ladder be long enough to reach up to the balloon?</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't we do something?" wailed Mrs. Bobbsey, holding to her +husband.</p> + +<p>"We'll save them! We'll save Flossie and Freddie," said Mr. Bobbsey. Nan +was crying also, and Harry and Bert looked at each other with strange +faces. They didn't know what to do or say.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey felt the wind blowing stronger and stronger and saw the +gathering storm. As he saw how fast the balloon was moving upward and +onward, away from the fair grounds, he, too, was much frightened.</p> + +<p>"How did those children get in there?" asked one of the balloon men.</p> + +<p>"They must have crawled in the basket when we weren't looking," answered +Mr. Bobbsey. <a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a></p> + +<p>"Is there any way of saving my little children?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Now don't you worry," said the balloon man kindly. "They'll be all +right if they stay in the basket. The balloon hasn't all its gas in, and +it won't blow very far. It will soon come down to the ground."</p> + +<p>"But won't they be killed?"</p> + +<p>"No, a balloon comes down very gently when the gas gives out." said the +man. "It's almost like a parachute. Your children will come down like +feathers. We'll get up a searching party and go after them." He knew +there was great danger but he did not want to add to Mrs. Bobbsey's +fears.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! Do something!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "We must save them!"</p> + +<p>While down below there was all excitement and while a searching party +was getting ready to start out to rescue Flossie and Freddie, the two +little children themselves were safe enough in the balloon basket. That +is they were safe for the time being, for they could not fall unless +they climbed over the side of the basket, and they would hardly do this. +They were <a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>also safe from banging into anything, for they were now high +in the air, well above all trees and buildings, and there were no other +balloons or any aeroplanes in sight.</p> + +<p>At the fair grounds was an aeroplane, but it had not gone up yet, and +could not, for the engine was broken, and the man had to mend it before +he could make a flight. So as long as Flossie and Freddie remained in +the basket they were safe.</p> + +<p>They did not even feel the wind blow, for as they were being carried +right along in the gale, being a part of it, so to speak, they did not +feel it as they had when standing on the ground.</p> + +<p>But, in spite of all this, Flossie's little heart was beating very fast +and tears came into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Freddie!" she half sobbed, "what you s'pose's goin' to happen to +us?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," he answered. "But anyhow we're up in a balloon and we're +having a fine sail. I like a balloon, don't you, Flossie?"</p> + +<p>Flossie thought it over for a moment. Now that the first fright was +passed she rather en<a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>joyed the quiet, easy motion. For there were no +bumps as in an automobile, and there was no swaying as on the +merry-go-round. It was like flying with the birds, and Flossie had +always wanted to be a bird.</p> + +<p>"It is—yes, I guess it is nice," she said. "Are we high up?"</p> + +<p>"Not very," Freddie answered. "Don't look over the edge or you might +fall out of the basket," he told his sister, as he saw her getting ready +to stand on her tiptoes and peer down. Freddie had looked down once, as +had Flossie, when they first felt themselves going up, and it had made +him a little dizzy. He did not want Flossie to fall out.</p> + +<p>"Let's see if we can find something to eat," suggested the little boy. +"I'm hungry."</p> + +<p>"So'm I," agreed Flossie. This was something new to think about.</p> + +<p>They poked among the things in the balloon basket. There were funny +objects, the uses of which they could only guess at, but there were also +some crackers and sandwiches, as well as a bottle of milk, and some +water.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we can have a regular camp-out!"<a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a> laughed Flossie. "We'll make +believe we're on a steamer."</p> + +<p>"It'll be lots of fun," agreed Freddie. So they ate and were quite +happy, while those they had left behind were very much worried and +miserable.</p> + +<p>The wind blew harder and harder, but, as I have said, Flossie and +Freddie did not notice it. Soon, however, they began to notice something +else, and this was some drops of water.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the balloon's leaking!" cried Flossie, as she felt a damp spot on +her red cheek.</p> + +<p>Freddie also felt some wet splashes, but he saw at once what they were.</p> + +<p>"It's raining!" he cried. And so it was. The storm had broken.</p> + +<p>"Raining!" cried Flossie. "And we hasn't got any umbrella!"</p> + +<p>"We don't need one," said the little boy. "The balloon's so big it will +be like an umbrella over us."</p> + +<p>This was partly true. The bag of the balloon bulged out over the heads +of the children, keeping off most of the rain. But some blew in sideways +over the top of the basket, and the <a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>children would have been quite wet +had they not wrapped themselves in blankets. These kept them warm and +dry, for one of the blankets was of rubber.</p> + +<p>Thus the little Bobbsey twins sailed on in a balloon, the first ride of +this kind they had ever taken. Their first fright was over, but they +began wondering what would happen next.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Flossie discovered a hole in the bottom of the basket, through +which she could look down to the earth. And as she looked she cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Freddie, we're going down into a lake!"</p> + +<p>Freddie looked and saw what his sister had seen. The balloon was now +going down. Probably the gas had leaked out, or there may not have been +more than enough to carry the balloon a short distance. At any rate it +was now falling, and, as the children saw, straight toward a body of +water.</p> + +<p>"Shall we fall into the water?" asked Flossie.</p> + +<p>"No—no, I don't guess so," Freddie an<a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>swered. He hoped that was not +going to happen. But as he looked down and saw the water seemingly +coming nearer and nearer, though of course it was the balloon going +down, the little boy did not feel at all sure but they would drop right +into the lake.</p> + +<p>"We'd better hold on hard to the basket," said Freddie, after thinking +over the best thing to do. "When we get in the lake we can hold on to +the basket until somebody comes."</p> + +<p>This idea made Flossie feel a little better. She was glad she had +Freddie with her, and Freddie was glad Flossie was with him.</p> + +<p>Down, down the balloon gently dropped. The rain was pouring hard now, +splashing into the lake, which was covered in some places with a blanket +of fog.</p> + +<p>Then, just when it seemed that Flossie and Freddie and the balloon would +splash into the water, an island loomed in sight.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if we could only land on the island!" cried Freddie.</p> + +<p>And that's just what happened! Through the branches of trees the balloon +crashed, this helping to stop it more gently. Down to the <a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>island it +fell, the basket banging on the ground. The basket tipped over sideways, +spilling Flossie and Freddie out, but not hurting them as they fell in a +pile of dried leaves. Some of the things in the basket fell out with +them.</p> + +<p>Once the children were out of the balloon it rose a little, was blown +along a short distance by the wind, and then, getting tangled in the +tree branches, came to a stop.</p> + +<p>"Well, we're all right now," said Freddie, as he arose and brushed the +leaves from him.</p> + +<p>"But I'm getting all wet!" sobbed Flossie. "I'm soaked!"</p> + +<p>And so she was, as well as Freddie, for it was raining hard. <a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>THE SEARCHING PARTY</h3> + + +<p>Every one at the fair grounds was anxious to help Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey +get back Flossie and Freddie, who had been carried off in the runaway +balloon. The men who owned the big gas bag were the first to make the +right sort of plans.</p> + +<p>"The balloon is being blown over the lake," said Mr. Trench, the owner +of the big bag. "We must go in that direction."</p> + +<p>"Over the lake!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "Oh, if they should fall in!"</p> + +<p>"The balloon will float on the water," her husband told her. "The +children will be all right, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," agreed Mr. Trench. "Don't worry, lady. We'll get your +children back. The first thing to do is to go to the lake, and then we +can hire a motor-boat there." <a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a></p> + +<p>"I'm going with you!" declared Mrs. Bobbsey, as she saw the preparations +being made for the searching party.</p> + +<p>"I think you had better stay with Bert and Nan," said Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll be all right!" Nan hastened to tell her father.</p> + +<p>"Can't Harry and I come on the searching party?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"No, I would rather not," his father answered. "You stay with your +mother and Nan."</p> + +<p>"I simply am coming with you, Dick!" said Mrs. Bobbsey, and when she +spoke in that tone her husband knew there was no use trying to get her +to change her mind.</p> + +<p>"Very well," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "We will go to the lake in my auto. Mr. +Trench knows where we can hire a motor-boat."</p> + +<p>The lake, a large one, came within a few miles of the fair grounds. The +balloon man knew in which direction the water lay, and he had seen the +wind carrying the big gas bag toward the water.</p> + +<p>"Bert, you and Nan and Harry must go <a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>back to Meadow Brook Farm," +directed Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll see if I can't hire an auto to take you +there, as it is going to storm soon. It's sprinkling now."</p> + +<p>"We'll take them back," offered a gentleman who had come to the fair +with his wife in their auto. "I know where Meadow Brook Farm is. We'll +take these children there."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, very much," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And tell your uncle and aunt +what has happened, Bert. Tell them we expect to be home before night +with Flossie and Freddie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if we only can be!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"We'll find the little ones all right—never fear!" said Mr. Trench. "If +you're ready now, we'll start."</p> + +<p>So while Nan, Bert and Harry remained behind in charge of Mr. Blackford, +who had offered to take them home in his automobile, Mr. and Mrs. +Bobbsey, with some men who had charge of the balloon, started off to go +to the lake, there to hire a boat and search for Flossie and Freddie.</p> + +<p>"They're out of sight. How far away they <a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>must be!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey, +as she entered the automobile. She looked up, but could not see the +balloon, so fast had it been blown away.</p> + +<p>"They aren't so far as it seems," declared Mr. Trench. "It's getting +foggy, and it's going to rain hard soon."</p> + +<p>As Bert, Nan, and Harry were getting in Mr. Blackford's automobile to go +to Meadow Brook Farm, Bob Guess came hurrying up through the rain. The +merry-go-round, as well as other amusements at the fair, had shut down +on account of the storm.</p> + +<p>"Where's your father?" asked Bob of Bert. "I've something to tell him. +Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"He's gone off after the balloon. Flossie and Freddie are in it," Nan +answered.</p> + +<p>"Whew! Those little children taking a balloon ride!" cried Bob. "How did +they dare?"</p> + +<p>"It was an accident," Harry explained. "They didn't mean to."</p> + +<p>"Well, tell your father I want to see him when he gets back," said Bob, +as he hurried back to the merry-go-round. "I have something to tell him +about Mr. Blipper."</p> + +<p>However, Bert and Nan had other things <a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>to think about then than about +Mr. Blipper. They were worried over what might happen to Flossie and +Freddie.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were hastening toward the lake. Mr. +Bobbsey drove his car as fast as he dared through the storm. It was now +raining hard.</p> + +<p>"How long would the balloon stay up in the air?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of +Mr. Trench.</p> + +<p>"It all depends. On a hot day, when the sun warms the gas, it would stay +up a long time. But when it is cool, like this, and rains, it will not +stay up so long. It will come down gently, and I am sure the children +will not be hurt."</p> + +<p>As they drove along they stopped now and then to ask people if they had +seen the runaway balloon. Many had, and all said it was sailing toward +the lake.</p> + +<p>When the lake was reached and a motor-boat had been found which would +take them out on the water, several men said they had seen the big gas +bag beginning to go down near Hemlock Island, the largest island in the +lake. <a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a></p> + +<p>"If they have only landed there they may be all right," Mrs. Bobbsey +said. "Oh, hurry and get there, Dick!"</p> + +<p>"We'll hurry all we can," her husband told her, as they got into the +boat to continue the search. "But this is a bad storm. We must be +careful." <a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>ON THE ROCKS</h3> + + +<p>The whole world seemed a very dreary and unhappy place to Mr. and Mrs. +Bobbsey as they started off in the motor-boat to look for Flossie and +Freddie. In the first place, if one of the little Bobbsey twins had just +been lost—plain lost—as Flossie was in the cornfield, it would have +been sad enough. But when both tots were missing, and when the last seen +of them had been a sight of them shooting away in a balloon through a +gathering storm, well, it was enough to make any father and mother feel +very unhappy.</p> + +<p>Besides this, there was the rain, and as the motor-boat, in charge of +Captain Craig, swung out into the lake, the big, pelting drops came down +harder than ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a sad, sad day!" sighed Mrs.<a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a> Bobbsey. "And it started off so +happily, too!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it will end happily," said Mr. Bobbsey, hopefully. "It will not +be night for several hours yet, and before then we may find Flossie and +Freddie. In fact I'm sure we shall!"</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," declared Mr. Trench, the owner of the balloon. "That +craft of mine wasn't filled with enough gas to go far, and it had to +come down soon."</p> + +<p>"But where would it come down? That's the point!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. +"If it came down in the lake——"</p> + +<p>"It's on Hemlock Island, take my word for it!" growled out Captain +Craig, in whose motor-boat the searching party was riding. It was not +because he was cross that his voice had a growling sound. It was just +naturally hoarse. He was out on the water so much, often in the cold and +rain, that he seemed to have an everlasting cold. "We'll find the +balloon and the children, too, on Hemlock Island," he went on. "Half a +dozen men I talked to, just before you came, said they saw something big +and black, like an airship, swooping down <a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>on the island. We'll find 'em +there, never fear!"</p> + +<p>"How far are we from Hemlock Island?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of Captain +Craig, when they had been in the motor-boat about fifteen minutes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, a few miles—just a few miles," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"And how long will it take to get there?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's hard to say," was the answer. "It might take us a long +while, and again it might not take us so long."</p> + +<p>"Why is that?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, wondering whether Bert and Nan would +be all right, left to themselves as they were. But then they would have +their uncle, aunt, and cousin to look after them.</p> + +<p>"Well," went on Captain Craig, as he steered the boat to one side, "you +see it's getting thicker and thicker—I mean the weather. The rain is +coming down harder and it's getting foggy, too. I can't very well see +where to steer, and I have to run at slow speed. So it will take me +longer to get to<a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a> Hemlock Island than if it was a clear day and I could +run as fast as my boat would go."</p> + +<p>"Well, get there as soon as you can," begged Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm sure if +Flossie and Freddie are on the island in all this rain they will be +terribly frightened!"</p> + +<p>"Well, they may be—a little," admitted Mr. Bobbsey. "But Flossie and +Freddie are brave children. They'll make the best of things I'm sure!"</p> + +<p>The motor-boat went chug-chugging its way across the big lake, not +running as fast as it could have done on a fair day. The rain poured +down, making a hissing sound in the water. Those in the boat wore rubber +coats, for Captain Craig had supplied them at his boathouse before +starting out. He owned a boat dock, and also a fishing pier, and +supplied pleasure parties with nearly everything they needed for fair +weather or stormy.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Mrs. Bobbsey, who was straining her eyes to peer through the +mist and rain, uttered a cry. <a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a></p> + +<p>"There's something!" she called out.</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked her husband, and Captain Craig leaned forward, his hands +gripping the spokes of the steering wheel.</p> + +<p>"Right straight ahead," went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "Something black is +looming up in the fog. Maybe it's the balloon!"</p> + +<p>"We can't be anywhere near the island yet," said the captain. "That is +unless I'm away off my course. But we'll soon find out what it is."</p> + +<p>They could all see the black object now, though it looked dim and +uncertain, for a fog was settling down over the lake and the mist and +vapor, together with the rain, made it hard to see more than a few feet +ahead.</p> + +<p>"It's a boat!" suddenly cried Mr. Bobbsey. "A large boat."</p> + +<p>And that is what it was.</p> + +<p>"Ahoy there!" called Captain Craig in his deep voice. "Ahoy there!"</p> + +<p>"Ahoy!" answered the men in the boat.</p> + +<p>"Have you seen anything of a runaway balloon?" asked Mr. Trench. "Mine +got away <a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>from the Bolton County Fair, and it had two little children in +the balloon basket. Have you seen them?"</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and all in the motor boat waited anxiously for the +answer. Captain Craig had shut off his engine so its noise would not +drown the words of those in the other boat.</p> + +<p>"We saw something big and black sailing through the air over our heads +about an hour ago," was the answer. "We thought it was the aeroplane +from the fair grounds."</p> + +<p>"That was my balloon!" declared Mr. Trench.</p> + +<p>"Did you see anything of my children?" Mrs. Bobbsey begged to know.</p> + +<p>"No. But we couldn't see very well on account of the fog and because the +balloon—if that's what it was—kept up pretty high," came the answer.</p> + +<p>"Which way was she heading?" Captain Craig wanted to know, this being +his sailor way of asking which way the balloon was going.</p> + +<p>"Due north," answered one of the men in <a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>the other boat, which was a +craft containing a number of fishermen.</p> + +<p>"Towards Hemlock Island," stated another.</p> + +<p>"Well, we're going in the right direction," went on Captain Craig. "Much +obliged," he called to the fishermen, as the motor-boat again started +off through the fog.</p> + +<p>Soon the vessel that had been hailed was lost to sight in the mist, and +again all eyes, including those of Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey, were strained +in looking for a first sight of Hemlock Island.</p> + +<p>"Are you warm enough?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of his wife, wrapping the +rubber coat more closely about her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. I'm not thinking of myself," she answered, with a sigh. "I am +worried about my darlings!"</p> + +<p>"I think they'll come out of it all right," said her husband. "Flossie +and Freddie, as well as Bert and Nan, have been in many a scrape, but +the Bobbsey luck seems to hold good. They always get out all right."</p> + +<p>"Yes. And I hope they will this time,"<a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a> answered Mrs. Bobbsey, trying to +appear more cheerful.</p> + +<p>For a while they ran along in silence, every one peering out into the +rain and the mist striving to catch sight, if not of the balloon, at +least of the shore of Hemlock Island.</p> + +<p>"My, but this fog is getting thicker and thicker!" exclaimed Captain +Craig. "I'll have to go a bit slower yet."</p> + +<p>He cut down the speed of the engine until the boat was moving at less +than half speed. But even this did not save her from an accident which +came a short time later.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as they were cruising along, every eye on the lookout for a +sight of the island, there came a violent crash. All in the boat were +thrown forward.</p> + +<p>"Gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, as she struggled to regain her seat.</p> + +<p>"What have we struck?" Mr. Bobbsey asked.</p> + +<p>"We've struck Hemlock Island," said Captain Craig grimly. "We've fairly +bumped into it. I ought to have known I was some<a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>where near it. We've +fairly rammed it, and we're on the rocks!"</p> + +<p>"'On the rocks!'" repeated Mrs. Bobbsey. "Are we in danger?"</p> + +<p>"That's what I'm going to find out," said the captain. "At least we +can't sink, for we're right on shore," and as he spoke the fog blew away +for a moment, showing a bleak shore of rocks with hemlock trees a little +way up from the beach. "Yes, sir, we ran plumb on the rocks!" muttered +Captain Craig, as he stood up and tried to peer through the fog that was +now closing in again. <a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>TWO LITTLE SAILORS</h3> + + +<p>Now it is time for us to inquire what was happening to Freddie and +Flossie, the two smaller Bobbsey twins. They had fallen out of the +balloon basket when the big gas bag was blown down on Hemlock Island in +the storm. But Flossie and Freddie had toppled out on piles of soft, +dried leaves, so they were not hurt. But, as Flossie had said, she was +soaking wet.</p> + +<p>"We ought to have umbrellas," said Freddie, as he felt the drops of rain +pelting down. "If we had umbrellas this would be fun, 'cause we aren't +hurt from our balloon ride."</p> + +<p>"No, we aren't hurt," agreed Flossie, "'ceptin' I'm jiggled up a lot."</p> + +<p>"So'm I," Freddie stated. "I'm jiggled, too!" <a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a></p> + +<p>"And we hasn't got any umbrella, and I'm gettin' wetter'n wetter!" half +sobbed Flossie.</p> + +<p>Indeed it was raining harder, and as the fog was closing in on the +children they could not see very far on any side of them.</p> + +<p>It was not the first time the small Bobbsey twins had been lost +together, nor the first time they had been in trouble. And, as he had +done more than once, Freddie began to think of some way by which he +could comfort Flossie.</p> + +<p>The little boy was hungry, and he felt that if he could get something to +eat it would make him feel better. And surely what made him feel better +ought to make Flossie happier if she had some of the same.</p> + +<p>"Are you hungry, Flossie?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," answered the little girl.</p> + +<p>"Well, let's eat some more of the things that were in the balloon +basket," proposed her brother. "They tumbled out when we did. I can see +some of 'em mixed up with the blankets and other things."</p> + +<p>When the bumping of the balloon basket had spilled out Flossie and +Freddie it had also toppled out the supply of food and the tools <a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>and +instruments the balloon men had intended using on their sail through the +air.</p> + +<p>"Let's get 'em before the rain soaks 'em all up," suggested Flossie, for +the rain was now pouring down on everything.</p> + +<p>"I guess that balloon won't be any good any more," said Freddie, as he +looked at the big gas bag, now almost empty and tangled in the trees and +bushes.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess we won't ever get another ride in it," agreed Flossie.</p> + +<p>That part was true enough; but, later, the balloon men took the bag from +the island, mended the holes in it, and went up in many a flight from +other fair grounds.</p> + +<p>Gathering up some of the spilled food gave Flossie and Freddie something +to do, and, for a time, they forgot about the rain pouring down. But it +was the kind of rain one could not easily forget for very long, and +after putting some tin boxes of crackers under an overhanging stump, +to keep the food dry, and after eating some, Flossie exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't like it to be so wet!" Then she wept a little. <a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a></p> + +<p>Freddie did not like it, either, but he made up his mind he must be +brave and not cry. Not that Flossie could not be brave, too, but she +didn't just then happen to think of it.</p> + +<p>"I know what we can do!" Freddie exclaimed. "We can wrap the rubber +blanket around us, and that will be like an umbrella—almost!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" cried Flossie! "That will keep us from getting wet!"</p> + +<p>And the rubber blanket turned out to be a fairly good umbrella. It was +large enough for Flossie and Freddie to put over their shoulders and +walk under. And it was while they were thus walking through the woods, +wondering what would happen next and if their father and mother would +ever find them, that Freddie saw something.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Flossie! There's a house!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Where?" demanded the little girl.</p> + +<p>"Right over there! Among the trees! Down near the shore!"</p> + +<p>Freddie pointed and Flossie, looking, saw <a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>dimly through the fog the +outlines of some sort of building.</p> + +<p>"Let's go there and they can telephone to daddy that we're here," said +Flossie. "I guess we're all right now. And maybe Bert and Nan will wish +they'd come on a balloon ride with us."</p> + +<p>"Maybe," agreed Freddie, as he tramped along with his sister under the +rubber blanket toward the building on the shore of the lake.</p> + +<p>But alas for the hopes of the children! When they reached the place they +found that what Freddie had thought was a house was only an old empty +cabin. It had once been used by campers or by fishermen, and at one time +may have been a cosy place. But now the glass in the windows was broken, +the door hung sagging by one hinge, and inside there was a rusty stove +which showed no signs of a warm, cheerful fire.</p> + +<p>"There's nobody here," said Flossie sadly, after they had looked inside +and had seen that the shack was deserted.</p> + +<p>"Well, but it doesn't rain so hard inside as <a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>it does outside," remarked +Freddie. "Let's go in. This blanket makes me tired."</p> + +<p>The rubber covering was rather heavy for the little children, and they +were glad to step inside the cabin. Even though the roof leaked in +places, there were spots where it did not. Picking out one of these +spaces, Freddie moved some boxes over to it, and he and his sister sat +down, tired and wet, but feeling better now that they were within some +sort of shelter.</p> + +<p>"This isn't a very nice place," Flossie observed, looking around.</p> + +<p>"No. But it's better'n being outside," stated Freddie. "And maybe +there's a bed in the next room." The cabin consisted of two rooms, the +door between them being shut. "I'm going to look," Freddie went on.</p> + +<p>"No, don't!" begged Flossie, clutching Freddie by the sleeve.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he asked. "Don't you want me to look in that room and see if +there's a bed? 'Cause maybe we'll have to stay all night."</p> + +<p>"Don't look!" begged Flossie "Maybe—maybe Mr. Blipper is in there!" <a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a></p> + +<p>"Mr. Blipper?" echoed Freddie. "What would he be doing here? He's at his +merry-go-round."</p> + +<p>"No, he isn't at his merry-go-round," insisted Flossie. "'Cause we was +there and he wasn't there when daddy wanted to ask him about the coat +and the lap robe. Maybe Mr. Blipper's in that room, and I don't like +him—he's so cross!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he's cross," agreed Freddie. "And he was mean to Bob Guess. But +maybe Mr. Blipper isn't in that room. I'm going to look!"</p> + +<p>But Freddie never did. He got down off the old box he was using for a +seat, under a part of the roof that didn't leak, when Flossie gave a +cry, and pointed out-of-doors.</p> + +<p>"Look!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Is somebody coming?" Freddie wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"No, but I see a boat," Flossie went on. "We can get in the boat and row +back on the fair grounds and we'll be all right."</p> + +<p>Freddie looked to where she pointed and saw a rowboat drawn up on the +shore. <a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a></p> + +<p>"If it's got oars in we could row," he said, for both he and his little +sister knew something of handling boats, their father having taught +them.</p> + +<p>"Let's go down and look," proposed Flossie. "It isn't raining so hard +now."</p> + +<p>The big drops were not, indeed, pelting down quite so fast, but it was +still far from dry.</p> + +<p>Getting under the rubber blanket again, the children ran out of the +cabin and toward the boat. They were delighted to find oars in it, and, +seeing that the rowboat was in good shape, Freddie got in.</p> + +<p>"Ouch!" he exclaimed as he sat down on a wet seat. "Here, wait a minute +before you sit there, Flossie. I'll put the rubber blanket down to sit +on."</p> + +<p>The inside of the rubber blanket was dry, and Freddie put the wet side +down on the wooden seat. This gave the children something more +comfortable to sit on than a wet piece of wood.</p> + +<p>"We'll each take an oar and row," proposed<a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a> Freddie, for he and Flossie +were sitting on the same seat. This was the only way to use the same +rubber blanket.</p> + +<p>Loosening the rope by which the boat was made fast to a stump on shore, +Freddie pushed out into the lake. The rain had almost stopped now, and +the children were feeling happier.</p> + +<p>"Now we'll row home," announced Freddie.</p> + +<p>"Had we better go back and get some of the crackers we left under the +stump?" asked Flossie. "Maybe it's a long way to the fair grounds or to +Meadow Brook Farm, and we might get hungry."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess we'll soon be home," said Freddie, hopefully. "Come on and +row, Flossie."</p> + +<p>Together they rowed the boat out from shore. But they could not make the +heavy craft go very fast. There was water in the bottom, probably from +the rain and perhaps because the boat leaked. But Freddie and Flossie +did not think about this, even though their feet were getting wet. Or, +at least, wetter. Their feet were already wet from having tramped about +in the heavy rain. <a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a></p> + +<p>"We'll soon be home now," said Freddie again.</p> + +<p>They were some little distance out from the shore, two brave but tired +and miserable little sailors, when, all at once, it began to rain again.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Flossie, letting go her oar, "I'm getting all soaked +again!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you care," advised her brother. "Keep on rowing!"</p> + +<p>But Flossie cried, shook her head, and would not pick up the oar. +Freddie could not row the boat alone, and he did not know what to do. +Down pelted the rain, harder than before.</p> + +<p>"I want to go back where we were!" sobbed Flossie. "Back to the cabin. +Maybe we can build a fire in the stove and get warm! I'm cold!"</p> + +<p>"All right; we'll go back!" agreed Freddie. He was beginning to fear it +was not so easy to row home as he had hoped.</p> + +<p>Down came the rain, and with it came a fog. Soon the children were +enveloped in the white <a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>mist, and they could see only a little distance +from the boat in which they sat.</p> + +<p>"Come on! Row!" called Freddie to his sister. "We'll row back to the +cabin."</p> + +<p>"How do you know where it is?" Flossie asked, as she took up the oar +again.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess I can find it," said her brother. "You hold your oar still +in the water and I'll pull on mine and turn us around." He knew how to +do this quite well, and soon the boat was turned, and the children were +again pulling as hard as they could pull.</p> + +<p>It was by good luck and not by any skill of theirs that they soon +reached land again. They might, for all they knew about it, have rowed +out into the middle of the lake.</p> + +<p>But soon a bumping sound told them they had reached shore, and Freddie +scrambled out and held the boat while Flossie made her way to land.</p> + +<p>"Is it the same place?" she asked, as Freddie reached for the rubber +blanket.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can see the old cabin. We'll go up there and get warm."</p> + +<p>Up the little hill, through the rain, trudged <a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>the children, getting +what shelter they could under the blanket. Even Freddie was beginning to +lose heart now, for he could see that darkness was coming on, and they +were far from home. The rain, too, was pouring down harder than ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sighed Flossie.</p> + +<p>"Don't cry!" begged her brother. "I'll make a fire and we'll eat some +more crackers. I'll go get them from under the stump."</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you," declared Flossie, firmly, "I'm not going to stay +alone."</p> + +<p>Together they pulled out some of the lunch they had found in the balloon +basket. Back to the shack they went, and Freddie was looking about for +some matches in the old cabin when Flossie suddenly called out:</p> + +<p>"Hark! I hear something!" <a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>A HAPPY MEETING</h3> + + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and the friends who had gone with them in Captain +Craig's motor-boat to search for the runaway balloon, waited anxiously +after they had run on the rocks for what was to happen next.</p> + +<p>"Is there any danger?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"No, lady, there doesn't seem to be—that is, if you mean danger of +sinking," said Captain Craig. "As I remarked at first, we're plumb fast +on the rocks. But maybe if we were to get out and thus lighten the boat, +she would float off the rocks and we could keep on."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea!" declared Mr. Bobbsey. "We must keep on, no matter +what happens, and find those children!"</p> + +<p>"I think we'll find them!" declared Mr. Trench, and he seemed so much in +earnest that Mrs. Bobbsey asked:</p> + +<p>"When?" <a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a></p> + +<p>"Very soon now," answered the balloon man. "If my gas bag came down here +on Hemlock Island—that's where we are now—it won't take long to search +all over it and find your Flossie and Freddie. That's what I think."</p> + +<p>"But first let me see how badly the boat is damaged," went on the +captain. "I'm afraid it's in bad shape."</p> + +<p>"Can't we get away from here?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "That is, I mean, +after we find the children? I wouldn't go until we have found them!" she +exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"It all depends on what shape my boat is in," went on the captain. "As +soon as you are all out I'll take a look."</p> + +<p>The searching party stood about in the rain on the shore of Hemlock +Island under the dripping trees, the drops splashing on their rubber +coats, while Captain Craig looked over his boat. He took some little +time to do this, and at last he shook his head in gloomy fashion.</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Not well—bad!" answered the captain. "We can't go on until the boat is +mended. She <a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>isn't as badly smashed as I thought, and it doesn't leak +much, which is a good thing. But I can't use the engine to drive her +along until it's fixed. We'll have to stay on the island until I get +help, I guess."</p> + +<p>"How are we going to get help in all this rain and fog?" Mr. Bobbsey +wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"There used to be some campers' huts here," said the captain. "Maybe +some of those fellows left a rowboat. I could go over to the mainland in +that and get help. Some of you can come with me if you like."</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to!" announced Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm going to stay here and +find Flossie and Freddie!"</p> + +<p>"So am I, my dear!" added Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, let's look around for a boat. If I find one I'll go for +help in it, and you can stay here," said Captain Craig.</p> + +<p>He made his own damaged craft fast close to the shore, and then the +searching party set off through the woods to look for a cabin, a +rowboat, and for the missing children.</p> + +<p>"It ought to be easy to see that balloon, it's so big," said Captain +Craig. <a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a></p> + +<p>"I can spot that balloon of mine as soon as any one, I guess," said Mr. +Trench. "This isn't the first time I've hunted for it. You never can +tell exactly where a balloon will come down."</p> + +<p>Through the underbrush, between trees, and in the dripping rain and +swirling fog, the searching party tramped on. Suddenly one of the men +gave a cry.</p> + +<p>"I see something!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Is it my children?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked, her voice trembling with +eagerness.</p> + +<p>"No, I think it's the balloon," was the answer.</p> + +<p>And the balloon it was. Draped over bushes and trees was the big gas +bag, now almost emptied of the vapor that had lifted it and carried it +away from the fair grounds with Flossie and Freddie in the basket.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but where are my little ones—my Bobbsey twins?" cried the mother.</p> + +<p>"They must be somewhere around here," said Captain Craig.</p> + +<p>And then, thrilling the hearts of all, came two young voices, calling: <a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a></p> + +<p>"Daddy! Mother! Here we are! Oh, we're so glad you came! Here we are!"</p> + +<p>Out of the woods rushed Flossie and Freddie, to be caught up in the arms +of Mother and Daddy Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"We—we were in the hut!" breathlessly explained Flossie. "And I heard a +noise, and I said for Freddie to hark, and he harked, and then we heard +talking and we ran out and—and here we are!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, darlings, here you are!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, tears running down +her cheeks. "But, oh, why did you ever do it? Why did you get into the +balloon?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, jest 'cause," answered Freddie. And they all laughed at his +answer. <a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>BERT, NAN, AND BOB</h3> + + +<p>While this happy meeting and reunion was taking place on Hemlock Island +and while the smaller Bobbsey twins were thus made happy by finding +their father and mother again, Bert and Nan were very unhappy back at +Meadow Brook Farm. They had safely reached the home of their uncle and +aunt, being taken there in Mr. Blackford's automobile.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear me, what dreadful news!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah, when told about +Flossie and Freddie having been carried away in the balloon. "Shall we +ever see those dear children again?"</p> + +<p>"Of course we shall, Mother!" said Uncle Daniel, with a laugh. "Don't +worry, Flossie and Freddie will be all right."</p> + +<p>And of course Flossie and Freddie were, in <a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>the end, only Bert and Nan +and their uncle, aunt, and cousin did not know that then, so of course +they worried.</p> + +<p>The storm which had been only threatening when Bert and his sister had +been sent home from the fair grounds now broke, and it rained hard. At +Meadow Brook, as on most farms, little could be done when it rained, and +the children saw Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah sitting around talking in +low tones.</p> + +<p>"I just wish I could do something!" gloomily remarked Bert, as he stood +with his face pressed against the window, down which the rain drops were +chasing each other.</p> + +<p>"So do I," echoed Nan. "I think they might have let us help them look +for Flossie and Freddie."</p> + +<p>"I guess your father and mother knew best," said Harry. "And I think the +balloon will come down soon in all this rain. It sure is pouring!"</p> + +<p>And it was. The storm kept up all day, and in the afternoon, when Nan +was on the verge of tears and Bert had almost made up his mind to go +back alone to the fair grounds and <a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>see if he could hear any news, there +came a knock at the back door.</p> + +<p>"There's some one!" cried Nan, jumping from her chair.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's Flossie and Freddie come back!" added Bert.</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't knock at the back door," observed his aunt. "Harry, go +and see who it is. Maybe it's good news."</p> + +<p>Harry returned in a few moments to say:</p> + +<p>"It's that boy from the merry-go-round, Bob Guess. He wants to see your +father, Bert."</p> + +<p>"Well, dad isn't here, and——"</p> + +<p>"I told him, and then he said he wants to see some of us—my father I +think he means. He has something to tell."</p> + +<p>"Bring him in here," advised Uncle Daniel, who was trying to read the +paper, though half the time he had it upside down, for he was thinking +too much about poor Flossie and Freddie to pay attention to anything +else.</p> + +<p>Bob Guess came in, dripping wet, though not as ragged as when Bert and +Nan had first seen him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Daniel <a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>in his jolly voice. "Can't you +do any business at the fair on account of the rain?"</p> + +<p>"No. And I don't want ever to do any more business at the fair," +answered Bob, in such strange tones that they all looked at him.</p> + +<p>"Don't you like the merry-go-round any more?" Bert asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it isn't that," said Bob. "It's that man Blipper. I can't stand him +any longer! He blamed me for poor business to-day, and it wasn't my +fault at all. In the first place, all the people went over to see the +balloon go up. Hardly anybody took rides on our machine. Then the +children—I mean your little brother and sister," he said to Nan, "got +carried off, and everybody got scared for fear something would happen to +their children, and they wouldn't even let 'em ride on the +merry-go-round. And then the rain came down, and Blipper seemed to blame +me for that."</p> + +<p>"He isn't a very fair sort of man, even if he has his machine at a +county fair," joked Uncle Daniel.</p> + +<p>"He's terribly ugly," blurted out Bob Guess. "And I think he's worse +than that!" <a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a></p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think he takes things that don't belong to him," went on Bob. +"Your father lost a coat some time ago, didn't he?" the strange boy +asked the older Bobbsey twins.</p> + +<p>"Yes, at our Sunday school picnic," answered Nan.</p> + +<p>"And a lap robe was taken from our auto about the same time," added +Bert.</p> + +<p>"That's what I thought," said Bob. "Well, would you know any of your +father's papers if you saw them?" he asked, as he began to fumble in his +pocket. "I mean would you know his writing on a letter, or something +like that?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I know my father's writing!" declared Bert.</p> + +<p>"Well, look at this!" said Bob Guess suddenly. He held out an envelope, +torn open at one end as if the letter had been taken out.</p> + +<p>"That's father's writing!" exclaimed Bert. "This is a letter he wrote to +Mr. Clarkson who buys lumber from dad. I know, for I've been in the +office when he called. I guess my father must have been in a hurry and +he ad<a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>dressed this letter himself with a pen, and didn't wait for his +typewriter to do it. That's my father's writing!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Bob slowly, "I found that letter in the tent where Mr. +Blipper and I live. We sort of camp out at the different fair grounds +where we set up the merry-go-round," he added. "I have to live with Mr. +Blipper. He claims I'm his adopted son, but I don't like him for an +adopted father. Anyhow, I saw this letter drop out of his coat. He +didn't see it, and I picked it up."</p> + +<p>"Was it my father's coat?" asked Nan.</p> + +<p>"That I don't know," Bob answered. "I never saw your father wearing his +coat. But Mr. Blipper used to have an old ragged coat, and right after +we had that breakdown at the Sunday school picnic grounds he had a new +coat.</p> + +<p>"I asked him where he got it, 'cause I thought maybe he'd get me one, I +was so ragged, and he said it wasn't any of my affair where he got his +coats. Then the next day I noticed he had a new robe as a blanket for +his bed. I asked him about that, too, 'cause I had <a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>only a ragged quilt, +and he told me to keep still.</p> + +<p>"So when you folks asked me if I had seen your father's coat and the lap +robe I didn't know for sure, and, anyhow, I was afraid to say anything. +But I'm not afraid any more."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked Uncle Daniel.</p> + +<p>"'Cause," answered Bob, "I heard Mr. Blipper and his partner, a man +named Hardy, quarreling to-day. First it started over bad business on +account of the rain and nobody riding on the merry-go-round because the +balloon was going up. Then I heard my name mentioned and the quarrel +grew worse. Mr. Hardy said Mr. Blipper didn't have any right to treat me +as mean as he does. Mr. Blipper said he'd do as he pleased, and then Mr. +Hardy said if he did he'd tell on Mr. Blipper."</p> + +<p>"What did he mean—tell on him?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, exactly," answered Bob Guess. "It was all sort of queer. +Maybe Mr. Hardy meant he was going to tell about Mr. Blipper taking your +father's coat and the lap robe." <a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a></p> + +<p>"I'm sure Mr. Blipper must have daddy's coat," declared Nan. "This +letter dropped from the pocket, and there was money and there were other +papers, too."</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything about them," murmured Bob.</p> + +<p>"Well, I know something!" cried Bert. "And that is this! What Mr. Hardy +said he was going to tell on Blipper about was you, Bob Guess!"</p> + +<p>"Me?" cried the strange boy.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you! I don't believe you belong to Mr. Blipper at all!" <a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>JOYOUS TIMES</h3> + + +<p>Bob Guess could, for a moment, only stare at Bert after this strange +remark.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked the boy from the merry-go-round. "Don't I have +to stay with Mr. Blipper if I don't want to?"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe you do," went on Bert. "I heard my father and mother +talking about it," he explained to the others. "My father said he was +going to find out if Mr. Blipper had really adopted you. And if you stay +here until my father comes back he'll have this Mr. Blipper arrested for +taking his coat. Just you stay here, Bob!"</p> + +<p>"I'd like to," sighed the unhappy lad. "I don't like Blipper. And if I +go back now, after having run away again, he'll beat me!"</p> + +<p>"We won't let him!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah. "Here, I'll get you some dry +clothes. Harry <a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>has a suit you can wear. And then we'll see about this +Blipper man!"</p> + +<p>As she started to leave the room to get some dry clothing for Bob Guess, +who was soaking wet, there was a noise and some excitement out in the +yard. Then Nan caught the sound of a voice she well knew.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's Flossie!" she cried. "It's Flossie! They've found them!"</p> + +<p>Instantly there was a mad rush for the door, and a little later into the +warm, comfortable farmhouse came Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey with the missing +twins—poor little wet twins, but happy for all that.</p> + +<p>"Oh, hurray!" cried Bert, grabbing hold of Harry and dancing around the +room with him. "Now everything's all right!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what happened to you?" asked Nan through her tears, as she kissed +first Freddie and then Flossie and then both the twins at the same time.</p> + +<p>"Well, we found them!" said Mr. Bobbsey to Uncle Daniel.</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"On Hemlock Island, where the balloon <a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>came down. The motor-boat we got +to go across the lake was also wrecked on the same island. And Flossie +and Freddie started out in a rowboat to come to shore, but they got +lost in the fog and had to turn back. And they heard us on the island +and came to us."</p> + +<p>"How did you get off if your motor-boat was wrecked?" asked Bert.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Captain Craig managed to patch it up, and it got us back to the +mainland. We went back to where we had started from—Captain Craig's +dock—and then we came on here in my auto. Oh, what a day this has +been!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey, sinking wearily into a chair.</p> + +<p>"But it all ends happily," said his wife. "Oh, here's Bob Guess!" she +exclaimed, as she noticed the strange boy.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and he knows where your missing coat is, and the lap robe, too!" +exclaimed Bert. "Blipper has 'em!"</p> + +<p>"My, everything is happening at once!" laughed Mother Bobbsey. "But we +must get Flossie and Freddie to bed. They have had a hard day!" <a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a></p> + +<p>"Don't want to go to bed!" declared Freddie. "Want to see Bob. Did you +bring the merry-go-round?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"As if he hadn't troubles enough!" exclaimed Nan.</p> + +<p>Finally the smaller Bobbsey twins were induced to take off their damp +clothes and go to bed, where they fell asleep almost as soon as their +heads touched the pillows. They were very weary, for they had had an +exciting trip, though they did not really think so at the time.</p> + +<p>When all the stories had been told of how the children had been found on +the island, how the motor-boat had been repaired, and of the trip back +to the mainland safely made, Mr. Bobbsey turned to Bob Guess.</p> + +<p>"Now we can give you a little attention," he said. "What's your +trouble?"</p> + +<p>So Bob told the same story he had related to Bert and Nan.</p> + +<p>"I always thought there was something wrong about Blipper!" declared the +father of the Bobbsey twins. "Now I know it! We'll get after Blipper in +the morning. You stay here to-night, Bob. We'll call you Bob Guess <a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>for +the present, but I think we can find a better name for you soon. I think +we shall all feel better for a little rest."</p> + +<p>"And something to eat," added Aunt Sarah. "I'm sure you must be +starved!"</p> + +<p>"I am!" admitted Mother Bobbsey. "I couldn't eat when I was worrying +about Flossie and Freddie, but now that they are safe I could eat two +meals at once!"</p> + +<p>There was a merry party around the farmhouse supper table, while the +little Bobbsey twins slept peacefully upstairs, probably dreaming about +their trip in the balloon.</p> + +<p>The storm was over the next day, and after talking to several newspaper +reporters who came to Meadow Brook Farm to get the story of the +wonderful trip of Flossie and Freddie, Daddy Bobbsey started for the +fair grounds with Bert and Bob Guess. They stopped in the village to get +a policeman and also a lawyer.</p> + +<p>"If Blipper wants to put up a fight we'll be ready for him," said Mr. +Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>But when the fair grounds were reached there was no Blipper to be found. +In the night he had packed up his merry-go-round and had <a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>traveled on, +leaving no word as to where he was going.</p> + +<p>"I don't care where he's gone!" said the partner, Mr. Hardy. "I'm +through with him. We've broken up the partnership. I sold my share to +him. I don't care to have anything to do with such a man. He's a thief!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you can tell us about this boy—Bob Guess," suggested Mr. +Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can. I told Blipper I'd tell, after I found out he'd taken a +coat and a robe that didn't belong to him. He carted them away with him +too, so if they're yours there's no use looking for them," he added to +Mr. Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, I gave them up for lost some time ago," said the lumber +dealer. "I managed to get copies of the papers that were in my pockets, +and I wouldn't wear the coat again, anyhow. But what about Bob?"</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Hardy told the story. Mr. Blipper had found Bob, a little chap, +wandering about the streets of a big city. The boy, it seemed, lived +with an Italian who said he had once known Bob's father and mother who +had been dead some time. <a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a></p> + +<p>"I don't know how Blipper managed it, but he got the boy away from the +Italian," said Mr. Hardy, "and gave out that he had adopted Bob Guess as +his son. But I knew better, though I didn't see much use in telling +about it. In fact, I didn't know who to tell. I didn't know who would +look after Bob if Blipper didn't, in his own rough way. So I kept still, +though after Blipper and I quarreled, I threatened to tell. And now I +have."</p> + +<p>"I'll see if we can find Bob's relatives," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If we +can't, why, I think he will be provided for."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad!" exclaimed Bob. "I'd rather belong to anybody but +Blipper!"</p> + +<p>And, a few days later, inquiries having been made, it was found that +Bob's father and mother had died in a distant city and that, there being +no one to look after the poor boy, the Italian had taken him in. Then, +in some manner, Blipper got him and treated him harshly.</p> + +<p>Bob was only a small boy when Mr. Blipper got control of him, and the +merry-go-round man told a wrong story about having taken the lad from an +orphan asylum. If Bob had been <a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>in an asylum he would have been well +treated, and no person would have been allowed to take him away until +they had been looked up, to make sure the boy would be well cared for.</p> + +<p>Mr. Blipper forged, or made out himself, the papers showing that Bob was +his adopted son, and Bob was too small to know any better when Mr. +Blipper told him this and also told how he had been taken from an +asylum. Bob had only a dim remembrance of the Italian who looked after +him for a time, following the death of the boy's father and mother. The +Italian was much kinder than Mr. Blipper had been.</p> + +<p>"How would you like to come and live on this farm with me?" asked Uncle +Daniel, when it became evident that Bob had no folks living.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean forever?" asked the boy, delight showing in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes, forever. Come here as my son. I'll adopt you properly. Harry +always wanted a brother, and now he can have one. Will you come?"</p> + +<p>"Will I come?" cried Bob. "I'll come—<i>twice!</i>" he laughed. <a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a></p> + +<p>"Then it's settled," said Uncle Daniel. "And from now on your name will +be Bob Bobbsey!"</p> + +<p>And so it was.</p> + +<p>"And daddy never found his coat after all!" said Nan, when, several days +later, they were talking over the wonderful things that had happened.</p> + +<p>"No, but I found a brother!" laughed Harry, who was very happy to have +Bob live with him.</p> + +<p>The whole adventure had been a lot of fun, but more good times awaited +them which will be related in "The Bobbsey Twins Camping Out."</p> + +<p>And then came happy days and joyous times for all. Though Blipper's +merry-go-round had been taken away from the fair grounds, there were +enough other amusements.</p> + +<p>Mr. Trench even got his balloon back, had it mended, and the regular man +went up in it several times to the great delight of the crowds. But you +may be sure Mrs. Bobbsey watched Flossie and Freddie very closely, to +see that they did not get near the big basket. The little brother and +sister were objects of curiosity wherever they went on the fair +<a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>grounds, for the newspapers had published stories of their strange +trip, all alone, in a balloon to Hemlock Island.</p> + +<p>"When I grow up," declared Freddie, "I'm going to run an airship."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm never going to run a merry-go-round; I've had enough of +them!" declared Bob Guess—or, to give him the name he was to have from +then on, Bob Bobbsey.</p> + +<p>"Well, we certainly had plenty of adventures at the Bolton County Fair," +remarked Bert, when the exhibition came to a close.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" cried all of the others.</p> + +<p>And here let us say good-by.</p> + + +<h2>THE END <a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a></h2> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair +by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE *** + +***** This file should be named 16756-h.htm or 16756-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/7/5/16756/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: September 26, 2005 [EBook #16756] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + +The Bobbsey Twins at +the County Fair + +BY +LAURA LEE HOPE + +AUTHOR OF "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES," + + =This book, while produced under wartime conditions, in full + compliance with government regulations for the conservation + of paper and other essential materials, is COMPLETE AND + UNABRIDGED= + +NEW YORK +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS + +Made in the United States of America + +COPYRIGHT, 1922, by +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +_The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair_ + + +[Illustration: "OH, LOOK! FREDDIE'S IN A RACE!" CRIED FLOSSIE. + +_The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair_ + +_Frontispiece_ (_Page 133_)] + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. THE BROKEN BRIDGE 1 + + II. "THERE'S A SNAKE!" 14 + + III. THE MERRY-GO-ROUND 25 + + IV. A MISSING COAT 34 + + V. SAM IS WORRIED 48 + + VI. HAPPY DAYS COMING 57 + + VII. THE CRYING BOY 68 + + VIII. ANGRY MR. BLIPPER 79 + + IX. THE BIG SWING 89 + + X. DOWN A BIG HOLE 99 + + XI. THE COUNTY FAIR 108 + + XII. ON THE TRACK 121 + + XIII. IN THE CORNFIELD 129 + + XIV. FREDDIE AND THE PUMPKIN 139 + + XV. UP IN A BALLOON 148 + + XVI. ON THE ISLAND 158 + + XVII. THE SEARCHING PARTY 167 + +XVIII. ON THE ROCKS 173 + + XIX. TWO LITTLE SAILORS 182 + + XX. A HAPPY MEETING 194 + + XXI. BERT, NAN AND BOB 199 + + XXII. JOYOUS TIMES 207 + + + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BROKEN BRIDGE + + +"Aren't you glad, Nan? Aren't you terrible glad?" + +"Why, of course I am, Flossie!" + +"And aren't you glad, too, Bert?" Flossie Bobbsey, who had first asked +this question of her sister, now paused in front of her older brother. +She looked up at him smiling as he cut away with his knife at a soft +piece of wood he was shaping into a boat for Freddie. "Aren't you +terrible glad, Bert?" + +"I sure am, Flossie!" Bert answered, with a laugh. "What makes you ask +such funny questions?" + +"Well, if you're glad why doesn't you wiggle like I do?" asked Flossie, +without answering Bert. "I feel just like wigglin' and squigglin' inside +and outside!" she added. + +"Well, wiggle as much as you please, dear, but don't get your dress +dirty, whatever you do," advised Nan, with the air of a little mother, +for she felt that she must look after her smaller sister, since Mrs. +Bobbsey was not there to do it. + +"Oh, I won't get my dress dirty!" laughed Flossie. "'Cause if I do----" + +"'Cause if you do you can't go to the picnic!" finished Freddie, who was +so interested in watching brother Bert make the little wooden ship that +he forgot all about talking. + +"I'm just goin' to wiggle standin' up," Flossie said, and she did so, +squirming about in delight at the fun which was soon to come. + +"Don't forget your 'g' letters!" called Nan, shaking her finger at her +sister. "You must say 'going' and 'standing' not 'goin',' my dear, or +'standin',' you know." + +"Yes, I know. But when you feel like wigglin'--I mean wigglING," and +Flossie said the last syllable very loudly, "why, then you don't think +about 'g' letters; do you, Freddie?" + +"I don't guess so," he answered, not taking his eyes off the knife that +was flashing in Bert's hand, making the white slivers of wood scatter +over the green grass. + +"Oh, I just can hardly wait till the auto truck comes; can you, Nan?" +asked Flossie, dancing over the lawn like a fairy in a play. "Oh, I'm so +glad it doesn't rain!" and she looked anxiously up at the sky as if some +cloud might float across the wonderful blue and spoil the day of +pleasure. + +"Yes, the weather is lovely," agreed Nan. "And if you don't think so +much about it, Flossie, the truck will get here all the sooner." + +"But I _like_ to think about it!" cried Flossie. "It's the same as +Christmas! The more you think about it the more fun it is! Oh, I'm going +to look down the road and see if the truck is coming!" + +Down toward the front gate she skipped, the big bow of ribbon on her +hair flapping up and down like the wings of some great blue butterfly. + +"Be careful about climbing on the gate!" warned Nan. "If you get rusty +spots on your white dress they won't come out!" + +"I'll be careful," Flossie promised, calling back over her shoulder, +and, as she tripped along she sang: "We're going to a picnic! We're +going to a picnic!" + +"I think I'd better watch her so she won't soil her clothes," said Nan, +getting up from a bench, where she had been sitting beside the boxes and +baskets of lunch. "It would be too bad if she should get her dress dirty +and couldn't go." + +"I'm not going to get my clothes dirty, am I, Nan?" asked Freddie, as he +looked at his white blouse. + +"I hope not," Nan answered. + +Suddenly there was an exclamation from Bert, as Nan started down the +path toward Flossie. + +"Ouch!" cried Bert. + +"What's the matter?" Nan asked quickly. + +"Cut myself!" + +"Oh! Oh, dear!" screamed Freddie, who did not like the sight of the red +blood which oozed from the end of his brother's finger. + +"Oh, don't get any on my clean blouse, else I can't go to the picnic!" + +Bert, who had popped the cut finger into his mouth as soon as he felt +the hurt, now took it out to laugh. + +"That's all you care about me, Freddie!" he joked. "I cut my finger, +while making you a little boat, and all you care about is that I mustn't +dirty your white blouse! I'll make you a lot more ships--I guess not!" + +"Oh, but I am sorry for you!" Freddie declared. "Only I do so want to go +to the picnic!" + +"Yes, I know," Bert went on, seeing that Freddie was taking his talk too +seriously. "I won't get any blood on you!" + +"Is it much of a cut?" asked Nan "Do you want me to get the iodine?" +Their Mother had taught the Bobbsey twins not to neglect hurts of this +kind, and iodine, they knew, was good to "kill the germs," whatever that +meant. Iodine smarted when put into a cut, but it was better to stand a +little smart at first than a big pain afterward, so Daddy Bobbsey had +said. + +"Oh, it isn't much of a cut," Bert said. "I guess I don't need any +iodine. You'd better go look after Flossie. The trucks may be along any +time now, and we don't want to keep them waiting." + +"All right. But you'd better not whittle any more on that boat or you +may cut yourself so bad you can't go to the picnic." + +"Let the boat go!" advised Freddie. "It's good enough, anyhow, and I +want you to go to the picnic, Bert." + +"All right. The little ship is almost finished, anyhow. I just have to +make about three more cuts and then I'm done." + +His finger had stopped bleeding--indeed the cut was a very small +one--and Bert was soon putting the last touches to the tiny craft which +Freddie wanted to sail in the little lake at the picnic grounds. + +Just as Bert handed the homemade toy to his brother, and when Nan +reached Flossie, in time to stop her from climbing on the gate, a noise +of honking horns was heard down the street. + +"Oh, here they come! Here come the trucks!" cried Flossie, dancing up +and down. + +"Get the lunch!" called Freddie, to make sure they would not go hungry +on the picnic. + +"I'll go in and tell mother we're going," called Nan to Bert, who shut +up his knife, brushed the whittlings off his clothes, and began to +gather up the boxes and baskets of lunch. "Watch Flossie!" Nan added, +for there was no telling what the excitable little "fairy" might do at +the last moment. + +"All right," Bert answered. "Here, Freddie!" he called. "Don't run with +that sharp-pointed boat in your hand. If you fall on it you'll get +hurt." + +"But I'm not going to fall!" said Freddie. + +"You can't tell what you're going to do! Go easy!" Bert advised, and +Freddie walked as slowly as he could to the gate where Flossie was +eagerly gazing down the road. + +The noise of the auto horns sounded more loudly, and soon two big +trucks, filled with children and gay with flags, came into view. Boxes +had been placed in the trucks for seats, and on these boxes, laughing, +shouting, waving their hands and flags, were scores of happy, smiling +boys and girls. + +One of the trucks drew up at the gate of the house where lived the +Bobbsey twins, the other auto keeping on, as it was well filled. But +room had been saved in this one for Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie. + +"Come on, Nan! Come on!" cried Flossie, still jumping up and down. + +"Tell Nan to hurry!" added Freddie to his brother. + +"She's coming," Bert said, as he walked down to the gate with the +packages of lunch. + +"Hello, Bert!" called Charlie Mason, from the truck. "Got enough to +eat?" + +"I guess so," Bert answered his chum, holding up the boxes and baskets. +"Enough for two picnics I should say!" + +"You can eat a lot when you're off in the woods," added Dannie Rugg. +"It's like camping out." + +"Here comes Nan!" exclaimed Grace Lavine, a particular chum of the older +Bobbsey girl. + +Nan, having hurried in to tell her mother the trucks had arrived, now +hastened down the path, her hair flying in the wind. + +"Have you everything? Take good care of Flossie and Freddie! Have a good +time, and don't fall into the water!" Mrs. Bobbsey said, as she waved +good-by to her twins while they clambered up into the truck. + +"We will!" they answered. + +"Good-by, Mother! Good-by!" + +"Good-by, children!" + +"Honk! Honk!" tooted the auto horn. + +"All aboard!" called Nellie Parks. "All aboard!" + +"I want to sit on the end!" declared Freddie, struggling to get in this +position. + +"You might fall out going up hill," said Bert. "I'll sit there, Freddie, +and you can sit next me." The little fellow had to be content with this. + +With children laughing, children singing, children shouting and children +smiling, with flags flying and the horn tooting, the big auto started +off, having taken aboard the Bobbsey twins; and soon the two trucks were +out of sight around a turn in the road, bound for Pine Grove, on the +outskirts of the town of Lakeport. It was the yearly picnic of one of +the Lakeport Sunday schools. + +"Isn't it a wonderful day?" asked Grace of Nan. The two friends and +Nellie were sitting together. + +"Yes, beautiful. We nearly always have a good day for the picnic." + +"Did you bring any olives in your lunch. Nan?" + +"Yes, and some dill pickles, too!" + +"Oh, I just love dill pickles!" exclaimed Grace, "and we didn't have one +in the house." + +"I'll give you some of mine," offered Nan. + +Flossie and Freddie were too excited, looking at sights along the road, +to talk much, but they were as happy as if they had been chattering away +like the others. + +"Did your dog Snap bite your finger, Bert?" asked Dannie Rugg. + +"No, my knife slipped when I was making Freddie a boat. Say, Freddie," +he asked the little fellow, "did you lose your boat?" + +"Nope, I have it here," and he held it up. + +"Oh, all right." + +On rumbled the trucks, raising clouds of dust. On each big auto were +several grown folks, officers of the Sunday school, who were looking +after the children. Some were fathers and mothers of the boys and girls. + +Pine Grove was several miles outside the town of Lakeport, on the shores +of a little lake. It was there the yearly picnics of the Sunday schools +were always held, and the Bobbsey twins, as well as the other young +people of the town, looked forward with pleasure to the outings. + +"What you say we get up a ball game?" asked Dannie of Bert, when they +were all settled in their places. + +"Sure we will," Bert agreed. "Have we got enough fellows?" + +"If you haven't, some of us girls will play," offered Nan. + +"Pooh! Girls can't play ball!" sneered Charlie Mason. + +"I can! I can bat a ball as far as you!" declared Nellie Parks. + +"Maybe you can--if you can hit it!" admitted Charlie. + +"I want to play ball!" chimed in Freddie. "I know how!" + +"I guess if you sail your boat it will be all you want to do," said +Bert, looking at his cut finger to see if it would hinder him from +taking part in a game. He decided that it would not. + +"We'll have lots of fun," said Dannie. "If we haven't enough for two +nines we'll play a scrub game." + +"Sure!" agreed Bert. + +They were well out in the country now, and almost at the Grove. To reach +it the trucks had to cross a bridge over a creek that flowed into Pine +Lake, as the body of water was called. + +The first truck passed over this bridge with a rumble like thunder. As +it reached the other side Bert saw the driver of it lean from his seat, +look back, and shout something to the driver of the truck on which the +Bobbsey twins rode. What the man said Bert could not hear, and as he +was wondering about it the second truck started over the bridge. + +Suddenly there was a cracking of wood, a splintering, breaking sound, +and the heavy truck, loaded with children, the Bobbsey twins among them, +seemed to be sinking down. + +"Oh, the bridge is breaking!" screamed Grace. + +"We'll fall in the creek!" added Nellie. + +There was a thundering sound as the auto driver turned on full power, +and then, with another loud cracking noise, the truck came to a stop, +and seemed to be sinking down through the breaking bridge! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +"THERE'S A SNAKE!" + + +With the first cries of alarm, Bert Bobbsey had jumped to his feet, one +arm had gone out toward his sister Nan, and the other toward Flossie and +Freddie. But no boy has arms long enough to reach for three relatives at +once, especially when two of them, as Flossie and Freddie happened to +be, were some distance away. + +Bert did, however, manage to put one arm around Nan, and he pulled her +toward him, though just why he hardly knew. As he did so there was a +frightened movement on the part of all the other children aboard the +truck, for they seemed to be sliding down toward the front of it. + +"Oh, Bert! what has happened?" cried Nan. "Get hold of Flossie and +Freddie, can't you?" + +"I'm trying to," he answered. + +"What's the matter?" Flossie called to Nan and Bert. "We're all slipping +down!" + +And this was just what was happening. The bridge over the stream seemed +to have broken in the middle, just as the heavy truck got to that spot, +and the auto's front wheels being lower than the rear ones, had slid the +load of picnic merrymakers into a heap. + +"Oh! Oh!" screamed Grace Lavine. "What is going to happen?" + +"You'll be all right if you just keep quiet!" called the driver of the +auto in a loud voice. "The bridge has only sagged a little! It isn't +going to fall!" + +This was good news provided it was true. + +"All of you get off, and do it quietly," advised the driver. "You'll be +all right." + +"Are you sure?" asked Mrs. Simpson, one of the ladies in charge of the +children. + +"Oh, yes, ma'am. There's no danger," declared the man. He had jumped +from his seat and was looking at the floor of the bridge under the front +wheels of the truck. + +"Keep quiet, every one!" ordered Mr. Blake, one of the gentlemen who had +agreed to help the ladies look after the children. "Don't scream or +cry, and move as quietly as you can. The easier you move the less danger +there will be. The bridge hasn't quite broken in two yet." + +But it was in grave danger of doing that, as Mr. Blake saw, and he was +fearful that a bad accident would soon happen. + +However, the thing to do now was to get all the children off the truck, +over the bridge, and safe on solid ground. After that it might be +possible to get the truck over and keep on to the picnic. + +One by one the children, including the Bobbsey twins, started to get off +the truck. They moved as carefully as they could, for they felt that +they were like skaters on thin ice. The least quick movement might break +something. + +The truck that had gotten safely over the bridge had come to a stop, and +children and grown folks were piling off it to see what they could do to +save those in danger on the broken bridge. + +And while the work of rescue is going on I will take a moment or two to +tell my new readers something about the Bobbsey twins. Those of you who +have read the other books in this series do not need to be introduced to +Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie. + +Those were the names of the four children. Bert and Nan were the older +twins, and Flossie and Freddie the younger. You are first told about +them in the book called "The Bobbsey Twins," and in that you learn that +the Bobbsey family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bobbsey and their +four children, lived in Lakeport, an eastern city on the shore of Lake +Metoka, where Mr. Bobbsey had a lumber business. + +In the family, though not exactly members of it, were Dinah, the jolly, +fat, colored cook, and Sam Johnson, her husband. Then we must not forget +Snap, the dog, and Snoop, the big cat. + +Following the first book are a number of volumes telling of the +adventures of the Bobbsey twins. They went to the country to visit Uncle +Daniel, and at the seashore they had fun at the home of Uncle William. +After that the Bobbseys enjoyed a trip in a houseboat, they journeyed +to a great city, camped on Blueberry Island, saw the sights of +Washington and even sailed to sea. + +As if this was not enough Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey took their children on a +western trip among the cowboys, and just before the present story opens +Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had come back from Cedar Camp, +where they had had some exciting adventures. + +Now it was summer again, and one of the first delights of that season +was the Sunday school picnic which had started off so well but which +seemed likely now to end in an accident. + +It was too bad that one truck should have gotten safely over the bridge, +and that the other had to break through. The second truck was heavier +than the first. The first may have cracked the bridge beams and the +second one broken them. + +"Careful now, children, careful!" warned Mr. Blake. "Don't jump down! +Come to the end of the truck and I'll lift you down!" + +"And as soon as you are down walk to the other side of the bridge; +don't run--walk!" ordered the driver. + +Bert remembered that it said this on the programs of the moving picture +theaters, and he decided it was good advice. + +One by one the children made their way up the sloping floor of the truck +to the tailboard, and there Mr. Blake, Mrs. Simpson, and other men and +women helped the little ones down. + +"Oh, I feel like fainting!" sighed Grace. + +"Don't be silly!" exclaimed Nan. "Nothing is going to happen!" + +It was a good thing Nan felt this way, though, as a matter of fact, +something dreadful might happen at any moment. If the cracked beams of +the bridge should break all the way through, the auto would slide down +into the water. And, though the creek was not very deep, still many +would be hurt in the crash. + +The Bobbsey twins, being nearest the rear of the auto, were among the +first off. They did what the driver told them--walked quietly off the +bridge. + +At the farther end they joined the picnic party that had gotten off the +first truck. And there, almost breathless, they watched the work of +rescue going on. + +One by one little boys and girls were lifted down off the truck, and +then, when the last had reached safely the far shore, Mr. Blake, Mrs. +Simpson, and the other men and women made their way carefully to land. + +"Aren't you coming?" asked Mr. Blake of the truck driver, for the man +was still close to his big car, looking at it and the sagging floor of +the bridge. + +"I want to see if I can get this truck off," he answered. "The machine +isn't damaged any--it's only the bridge. I guess the load was too heavy +for it." + +"I heard it cracking as I went over," called the driver of the first +truck. "I shouted a warning to you, but it was too late." + +"Yes, it was too late to save the bridge, but maybe I can get my truck +off," the other driver went on. "Anyhow, none of the children is hurt." + +And this was so--something for which the Sunday school officers were +very glad, indeed. + +"If we had some pieces of wood to put under the bridge, to brace it up, +maybe you could get the truck over," said the driver of the big auto +that was safe on the far shore. + +"Why don't you take fence rails?" asked Bert, who felt better, now that +his sisters and brother were all right. + +"Yes, we could do that," agreed the driver of the second auto. "Come +on--give me a hand!" he called to his companion. + +The two men worked away for a time, and braced up the bridge so that the +auto could be driven carefully over it, though it was not easy to get it +up the hill made when the bridge had sunk into the shape of the letter +V. + +But finally the empty second truck was safe on the other side of the +stream, near the first one, and rails were put across the road to warn +other vehicles not to try to cross the bridge. It was safe enough for a +person to walk across, but it would not hold up an auto or a horse and +wagon. + +"We may as well go on to the picnic grounds," said Mr. Blake, when the +smaller, frightened children had gotten over their crying. + +"How we going to get home again if we can't cross the bridge?" asked +Flossie, looking at the sagging structure. + +"Oh, there's another bridge over the creek, about two miles down," the +driver of the second truck said. "That will be all right." + +Soon the children and grown folks were on the autos again, and moving +toward the picnic grounds. This time there was not so much merry +laughter and singing, for all felt that there had been a narrow escape +from a terrible accident. + +But gloom does not long remain with a party of jolly boys and girls, and +by the time they alighted at Pine Grove each one was in high spirits +again. + +There were plenty of amusements at the picnic grounds. Little rustic +pavilions here and there formed places where one could sit in the shade +and eat lunch. There were swings for those who liked them, and boats for +the older ones. + +A green meadow, not far away, made a fine baseball field, and Bert, +Charlie, and Dannie, with some of the older boys, at once made a rush +for the field to start a baseball game. + +"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!" + +Nan, too, saw something round and black moving near the place where +Flossie had been sitting, and, fearing for the safety of her sister, the +older Bobbsey girl lifted Flossie in her arms. + +But no snake glided across the brown pine needles, and there was no +hissing sound nor any forked tongue playing rapidly in and out, as Nan +had once seen in a little snake Bert and Charlie Mason had caught. + +"I don't believe there is a snake," Nan said, as Flossie slipped to the +ground. "If there was one it has gone away." + +"I'll hit him with a stone!" cried Freddie, turning to look for a rock. +And as he moved Flossie cried again: + +"There it is! I saw it move! That black thing!" + +This time she pointed so carefully that Nan, letting her eye follow +along Flossie's finger, saw what the little girl meant. And Nan laughed. + +"Why, that isn't a snake!" she cried. "It's only a crooked, black tree +branch! It does look a little like a snake, but it isn't really one, +Flossie." + +"But what made it move?" the little girl asked. + +"I think it was Freddie, though he didn't do it on purpose," went on +Nan. "Take another step, Freddie, as you did when you were looking for a +stone." + +Freddie moved a little and then they all saw what it was that had caused +Flossie's fright. A long, dead branch of a tree lay on the ground. The +larger end of it was close to where Flossie had been sitting with Nan, +and this end did look somewhat like a snake, with a mouth and eyes. The +middle of the stick was covered with pine needles, and the lower end +stuck out beyond the needles and dried leaves close to where Freddie +stood. + +When the little boy took a step his foot touched the thin end of the +branch, and made the thick end, near Flossie, move. Flossie took this +for the swaying of a snake's head, and so she had screamed in fright. + +"There's your snake--only a tree branch!" laughed Nan, as she lifted the +dead limb and held it up. + +"Ho! Ho!" laughed Freddie. + +"Was that it--for sure?" asked Flossie. + +"Of course!" answered Nan. "Come sit down and finish your sandwich. Then +we'll play until it's time to eat our regular lunch." + +"Well, I'm glad it wasn't a real snake," sighed Flossie, as she took her +place with her sister beneath the tree. + +"If it had been a real snake I'd 'a' pegged a rock at it!" boasted +Freddie. + +This was not the only fright at the picnic, for a little girl about +Flossie's age cried when she saw a big frog in a pool, and a little boy +ran screaming to his mother because a grasshopper perched on his +shoulder. + +But things like these always happen at picnics, and when the little +frights were over even the children themselves laughed at their +short-lived terror. + +After the ball game Bert and Nan took the smaller Bobbsey twins for a +row in a boat. Everything went well except that Freddie, in trying to +sail his tiny ship over the side of the rowboat, nearly fell in himself. +But Bert caught him just in time and pulled him back. + +Then it was time for lunch, and what a good time all the children had, +sitting at tables in the little rustic houses, or on the ground, eating +from boxes and baskets. The Bobbsey twins, with a group of their +friends, sat in a little pavilion by themselves. + +Besides the lunch which each child or group of children brought, there +was to be ice cream and cake, given by the Sunday school. The big +freezers had been arranged in a sort of shed, and the cake and cream +treat was to be given after the picnic lunches had been eaten. Just +before the time for this part of the program, Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey +arrived at the grounds, driving over in the auto, as they had promised +to do. + +"Well, children, having fun?" asked the father of the Bobbsey twins. + +"A dandy time!" exclaimed Bert. "My team won the ball game." + +"And I 'most fell out of a boat!" boasted Freddie. + +"Pooh! That's nothing! I 'most saw a snake!" exclaimed Flossie. + +"A snake!" cried her mother. + +"It wasn't real," Nan hastened to add, and Mrs. Bobbsey seemed to +breathe easier. + +"Well, you have had some excitement as well as fun," observed Mr. +Bobbsey. + +"Excitement!" cried Bert. "Say, Daddy, you ought to have been there when +the truck almost smashed through the bridge!" + +"Oh, did that happen?" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"No, but almost," Bert went on. + +"Well, it seems to me that everything 'almost' happened," said Mrs. +Bobbsey. "Flossie _almost_ saw a snake, Freddie _almost_ fell overboard +and the truck _almost_ broke the bridge." + +"Oh, the bridge really _is_ broken," Nan said. And she told about that +accident. Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey had come to the picnic grounds by another +road, and so had not seen the bridge that sagged in the middle. + +"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." + +"No," agreed Mr. Bobbsey with a smile. "We don't. I'll go see about it," +and off he went, followed by Bert. Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had +already joined the group of children down near the road that extended +along one edge of the picnic grove. + +As Bert and his father neared the place, a loud, hissing sound was heard +and a white cloud of steam shot into the air, while the little ones +screamed and scattered. + +"What's that?" cried Bert. + +"I hope those youngsters don't go too near!" murmured Mr. Bobbsey. "The +safety valve of his steam engine is blowing off. He's got too much +pressure on. It may be dangerous," and Mr. Bobbsey broke into a run, +which Bert imitated as well as he could with his shorter legs. + +However, there was no great danger. As Mr. Bobbsey had said, the safety +valve of a steam engine, on one of the trucks which carried the +merry-go-round outfit, was blowing off, and a short, stout man, with a +very red face, and a lanky boy, wearing ragged clothes, were working +about the engine. + +"Keep back, children! Keep back!" called Mr. Bobbsey, as he reached the +road. "This merry-go-round isn't going to be set up here. Keep back out +of danger!" + +"That's what I wish they'd do, mister!" said the red-faced man in no +very friendly voice. "They're under foot, and some of 'em may get +stepped on. I've got trouble enough without a bunch of kids getting in +the way." + +He did not speak very nicely of children, Bert thought, and Nan was +evidently of the same opinion from the way in which she looked at her +brother. Flossie and Freddie thought nothing of this. They were too +excited in looking at the merry-go-round outfit. + +This fun-making machine was loaded on four large trucks, hauled by four +sturdy horses each. On one truck was an engine, with a fire in it and +smoke and steam coming from it. It was this that seemed to be causing +the trouble which the red-faced man and the lanky boy were trying to +make better. + +Behind the engine truck, which was in the lead, were three other trucks, +and the drivers of the horses kept to their seats, not offering to help +the red-faced man. + +The three trucks were piled high with the frame and roof of the +merry-go-round. There were posts, boards, long iron rods, greasy cog +wheels and all sorts of queer things. But what interested the children +most were the wooden animals that made up the more showy part of the +merry-go-round. There were horses, lions, tigers, camels, elephants, +zebras, an ostrich and a cow. + +"Oh, I want to ride on the cow!" cried Freddie. + +"I'm going to get on the lion's back!" exclaimed Flossie. + +"No, I want the lion, you can have the cow!" yelled Freddie. "I want the +lion!" + +"I had him first! I choosed him first an' he's mine! Daddy, can't I have +the lion?" begged Flossie. + +"Hush, children!" said Mr. Bobbsey, as Freddie opened his mouth to wail +that he wanted the king of beasts. "The merry-go-round isn't going to be +set up here. No one is going to get a ride." + +"That's what, mister!" exclaimed the red-faced man. "I'm not going to +stop here. I'm on my way to the Bolton County Fair with this +merry-go-round outfit. I'm going to be there for a week or more. Just +had a little trouble with this engine. I got steam up on it while on the +road to see what the matter was." + +"Is it fixed now?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Yes, seems to be. Here, Bob," he called to the lanky boy, "haul the +fire now, and we'll let her cool down. I guess she'll work now. Got up a +good steam pressure, anyhow." + +The ragged boy did something to the engine, when suddenly a burst of +melody struck on the ears of all, and from an organ there was ground out +a gay dancing tune. + +"Oh, music!" cried Flossie. + +"Where's the hand organ monkey?" Freddie wanted to know. + +"I'm going to get Grace and we can dance!" exclaimed Nan, for she and +her chums did simple little dances at school. + +"I want to see the monkey!" wailed Freddie again. + +"There isn't any monkey," Bert said. "It isn't exactly a hand organ. +It's one that works by steam, I imagine," he said. "It's part of the +merry-go-round." + +"That's right. It's a good organ, too," said the ragged, lanky boy, who +was working away at the engine, while the red-faced man had started for +the front of the truck. Hearing the melody the red-faced man turned to +the boy and angrily cried: + +"Here! I didn't tell you to turn that music on! Shut it off, do you +hear!" + +"My, what a cross man!" said Flossie, in what she meant to be a whisper. + +"Hush!" her father said. + +"Shut that organ off! What'd you turn it on for, Bob?" grumbled the man. + +"I didn't turn it on, Mr. Blipper. It turned itself on--too much steam, +I guess." + +"Well, shut it off, do you hear! I don't want to play music when I don't +get any money for it. Shut it off!" + +The boy did something to the engine and the organ music died away in a +sad wail. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Flossie. + +"Now we can't have any dance," lamented Nan. + +"How long are you going to stop here, Mr.--er--did I understand your +name was Blipper?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, thinking he might arrange to have +the organ played a little while for the children. + +"Blipper is my name--Aaron Blipper," answered the man. "Sole owner and +proprietor of Blipper's Merry-Go-Round which will exhibit for a week, +and maybe more, at the Bolton County Fair." + +"My name is Bobbsey," went on the father of the twins. "Your name and +mine have the same first letter, anyhow. I was going to say that if you +were going to remain here a while I'd give you a dollar to let the organ +play for the children. This is a Sunday school picnic." + +"I guessed it was," said Mr. Blipper. "Well, if you was to give me a +dollar I'd have Bob turn the music on again. I think a dollar will pay +for what coal I burn in the engine. The organ is worked by the engine. I +can't turn it by hand, or I'd let Bob do that. But I'll play for a +dollar." + +"Here you are then," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he passed over a bill. + +"Turn the organ on, Bob!" ordered Mr. Blipper. "And while we're waiting +here get a pail and water the horses. Might as well make yourself useful +as well as ornamental." + +To the Bobbsey twins it seemed that Bob had been making himself busy, if +not useful, ever since the merry-go-round had halted near the picnic +grounds. + +The boy turned a handle and once more the organ began grinding out music +of one kind or another. It was not very good, of course, but it pleased +the children. Soon Flossie and Freddie were dancing on the green grass +beside the road, and Nan and many of the other children were also +enjoying themselves in this way. Though it was a Sunday school picnic, +such simple dances as the children did could not be found fault with by +any one. + +Bert and his especial chums did not dance. They walked about the trucks +of the merry-go-round, looking at the wooden animals. Mainly, however, +they were interested in the steam engine which not only turned the +machine around, once it was set up, but also played the organ. + +"I'd like to see this thing going," said Charlie Mason. + +"So would I," agreed Dannie Rugg. + +"Maybe my father will take me to the Bolton County Fair," remarked Bert. +"If he does I'll have a ride." + +Then the ragged boy, who had been watering the horses, while the drivers +dozed on their high seats, came up with an empty pail. He looked at the +engine, changed the organ so that it played a different tune and let +some hot water run out of a little faucet. + +"Do you know how to run the engine?" asked Bert. + +"Sure I do!" + +"What's your name?" asked Charlie. + +"Bob." + +"Bob what?" Dannie wanted to know. + +"Bob Guess." + +"Bob Guess! That's a queer name," remarked Bert. + +"Well, it isn't exactly my real name," the ragged lad went on. "I'm an +orphan. I haven't had any real folks in a long time. I was taken out of +the asylum by this man, so he says. He adopted me, I reckon, and he +said he gave me that name 'cause he had to _guess_ what my real name +was. So I'm called Bob Guess." + +"A queer name," murmured Bert. "But I'd like to know how to work a steam +engine." + +"So'd I!" agreed the other boys. + +"Pooh! It's easy," said Bob Guess, who seemed to like to show off. For +he turned another little faucet, thereby sending out a cloud of steam, +and causing Charlie Mason to jump back. + +"Don't be skeered! It won't hurt you!" laughed Bob. + +"Isn't it hot?" + +"Not after it comes from the boiler. Look, I can hold my hand right in +it," which Bob Guess did, letting a cloud of steam envelop both his +rather dirty hands. + +"Whew!" whistled Dannie, in amazement. + +"I'm going to try it!" said Bert, rightly guessing that at a short +distance from the faucet the steam cooled off; which was true, as you +know if you have ever "felt" of the steam coming from a house radiator +on a cold day. + +But as Bert stretched out his hand to test the steam as Bob had done, +Mr. Blipper called from where he stood talking to the driver of the last +truck. + +"Stop monkeying with that engine, Bob!" yelled the red-faced man. "You +want to get it all out of kilter again!" + +"I was only testin' the steam gauge," the boy answered. + +"Well, you let it alone, do you hear, and water the horses." + +"I have watered 'em!" + +"Well, water 'em some more! I'm not going to stop again till I get to +the Bolton County Fair if I can help it." + +"He's sort of cross, isn't he?" asked Charlie, as Bob moved off. + +"More than that--he's mean!" declared the ragged lad. + +Bert and his chums stood looking at the steam engine and listening to +the organ, while Nan and the smaller children danced. Then up came Mr. +Blipper. + +"I guess this is a dollar's worth of music," he announced. + +"I believe so," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile. "The children have +enjoyed it. Thank you!" + +"Um!" grunted Mr. Blipper. "Here you, Bob!" he roared. "Come and shut +off this steam. We're going to travel!" + +He climbed up on the seat, and Bob, after hanging the water pail on a +hook beneath the truck, shut off the engine. The organ ceased playing, +and the trucks containing the merry-go-round lumbered off. + +"Good-by!" called the Bobbsey twins. + +"Good-by!" echoed Bob Guess. + +"I wonder if we'll ever see him again," murmured Bert. + +And he was to see the strange lad again, under queer circumstances. + +"Come, children, your ice cream will get cold!" called Mrs. Bobbsey, who +had come from the pavilion to summon the little guests. + +"Ice cream get cold! Ha! Ha!" laughed Grace Lavine. + +"I like mine cold," chuckled Dannie Rugg. + +Back across the fields ran the merry, laughing children. The Sunday +school picnic, in spite of the danger at the bridge, had turned out most +wonderfully. + +Soon the caravan of the merry-go-round was but a series of faint specks +down the dusty road. It was taking a route that would not take it across +the broken bridge. + +The Bobbsey twins and their friends sat about eating ice cream and cake, +and some of them talked about the strange boy and the organ that was +played by steam. + +"I'm going to have an organ like that when I grow up," said Freddie. + +"An' I'm goin' to help you play it, an' ride on a lion," added Flossie, +and the others laughed. + +Picnics, however delightful, cannot go on forever, and this one came to +an end as the afternoon shadows were falling. Mr. Bobbsey had been very +busy helping his wife and the other ladies, and now, as the time came +for him to go home in the small auto in which he and his wife had ridden +to the grove, he rolled down his sleeves, and looked about him. + +"What are you after?" his wife asked. + +"My coat. I hung it on a tree limb right here, I thought." + +"Yes, I saw you," said Nan. + +"But it isn't here now!" her father went on. + +"Here's some sort of coat," announced Bert, picking up one from the +ground under a tree near the ice cream pavilion. + +"That's where I hung my coat," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And this coat isn't +mine. Mine was a good, new one. This is an old, ragged one. Dear me! I +hope my coat hasn't been stolen! It had some money in one pocket, and +also some papers I need at the lumber office! Where is my coat?" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SAM IS WORRIED + + +While fathers, mothers, and other relatives were gathering up their own +children, or children of whom they had charge, to see that they were +safely loaded into the two big trucks to go home from the picnic, the +Bobbsey twins--at least Bert and Nan--were searching for their father's +coat. Flossie and Freddie were too small to pay much attention to +anything of this sort. The smaller twins were talking about the +merry-go-round and starting over again the dispute as to who should ride +on the wooden lion. + +"Are you sure you left your coat hanging on the tree limb?" asked Mrs. +Bobbsey. + +"I'm certain of it," her husband answered. "And this old coat never was +mine--I wouldn't own it!" + +He dropped to the ground the ragged garment that had been found lying +beneath the tree. + +"I thought maybe you had hung your coat over by the ice cream shed," +went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "You may have done that and have forgotten about +it." + +"No, I didn't do that," said the father of the Bobbsey twins. "I +remember hanging my coat on the tree, for I recall noticing what a +regular hook, like one on our rack at home, a broken piece of the branch +made. My coat was here. But it's gone now, and this old one is left in +place of it." + +There was no question about that. Search as Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and the +children did, over the picnic grounds, the lumberman's coat, with money +in one pocket and papers in another, was gone. + +"Who do you s'pose could have taken it?" asked Nan, as her father looked +about him with a puzzled air. + +"I don't know," he answered, "unless----" + +"Maybe it was tramps!" interrupted Bert. + +"There weren't any tramps here on our picnic grounds," said Mrs. +Bobbsey. "Some of the drivers of the merry-go-round trucks looked like +tramps, but they didn't get off their seats, did they?" + +"Not that I noticed," her husband answered. "Well, there's no use +looking farther. My coat is gone--stolen I'm afraid. This old one is +left in its place. I haven't any use for this," and he kicked it to one +side. "Never mind. It isn't cold. I can ride home without a coat." + +"There's a lap robe in the auto," Mrs. Bobbsey said. "You can wrap that +about you if you get chilly on the way home." + +"Yes," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, "I can do that. Trot along, Bobbsey twins. +Get into your picnic truck, and we'll see who gets home first." + +"Like Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf," laughed Flossie. + +While Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey walked over to where Mr. Bobbsey had left the +runabout auto in which he and his wife had come to the picnic grounds, +Bert, Nan, and the other children took their places in the big truck. + + "Merrily we roll along--roll along--roll along!" + +Some one started that song as the trucks rumbled out of the picnic +grove. On account of the broken bridge a different road home had to be +taken; a longer one. Having a lighter car than the trucks, Mr. Bobbsey +and his wife could go faster than the loads of merry-makers, and the +twins waved good-by to their parents, who were soon lost to sight. + +"I guess they'll get home first," said Nan to Bert. + +"I guess so--I Bob Guess so!" he added, making a joke on the name of the +strange lad who had worked the steam organ of the merry-go-round. + +"I feel sorry for that boy," said Nan. "Mr. Blipper was so cross and +mean to him." + +"Yes, he was cross," agreed Bert. "I hope daddy finds his coat," he +added. "It's funny to have a coat stolen at a Sunday school picnic." + +"Maybe somebody took it by mistake," suggested his sister. + +"I don't believe they would, and leave an old ragged coat in place of a +good one," Bert remarked. + +"Maybe not," said Nan. + +The picnic party was rather more quiet on the journey home than it had +been on the way to Pine Grove. The reason was that the children were +tired, and some of them sleepy. They sang for a while after leaving the +grove, Bert and Nan starting many melodies in which the others joined. + +But finally the songs died away, and about the only noise that was heard +was the rumble of the big trucks. + +"Do we have to cross any bridges?" asked Mrs. Morris, of the driver of +the auto in which she rode with the Bobbsey twins. + +"One bridge--yes, lady," was the answer. + +"Dear me! I hope it doesn't break down as the white one did to-day," +exclaimed the nervous little lady. + +"No danger. It's a big iron one," said the driver. + +"I'm glad of that," went on Mrs. Morris. "I'm always worried when I +cross a bridge." + +But there were no more accidents. The trucks took a little longer +returning to Lakeport than they had making the trip earlier in the day, +for they had to go a roundabout way. But finally the outskirts of the +town were reached, and the children began getting off as they neared +their homes. + +"Good-by! Good-by!" they called one to another. + +Finally the home of the Bobbsey twins came in sight in the early summer +evening. + +"Good-by, Bert and Nan!" called their chums. + +"Good-by, Flossie and Freddie!" + +"Good-by! Good-by!" echoed the Bobbsey twins. + +"Dad is home ahead of us," remarked Bert to Nan, as they went up the +steps. + +"How do you know?" asked Nan. + +"Because I see the runabout there," and Bert pointed toward the garage. +"Seems to be something wrong," Bert went on. "Mother is there and so is +Sam." + +"Let's go see what it is," suggested Nan, as Dinah came to the door, +calling: + +"Am mah honey lambs safe an' sound?" + +"Yes, Dinah!" said Freddie. "And I'm hungry, too!" + +"Ah spects yo' is, honey! Ah spects yo' is!" laughed the jolly, fat +cook. "Come right in yeah an' hab some cake!" + +"I'm going to ride on a lion, I am!" stated Flossie. + +"Good lan', chile! A lion!" exclaimed Dinah, raising her hands in +surprise. + +"Yep! A lion!" + +"Oh, mah honey lamb! Don't yo' do no sich a thing!" cried Dinah. "A lion +done eat yo' laigs off!" + +"'Tisn't a real lion. I mean a wooden lion on a merry-go-round like we +saw to-day," Flossie explained. + +"Oh, a wooden lion!" and Dinah laughed. "Well, come in yeah, honey +lambs, an' I'll feed yo'. Ah'll make beliebe yo' all is hungry lions, +an' Ah'll feed yo'!" + +And while Flossie and Freddie went into the house with Dinah, Bert and +Nan hurried toward the garage, where they saw their father and mother +talking with Sam Johnson. + +"I's done suah I put dat lap robe in de auto," said Dinah's husband. + +"I thought you did, Sam," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Yet when Mr. Bobbsey +looked for it, to put around him, as he had no coat, the robe was gone." + +"Are you sure it isn't in the garage, Sam?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Sartin suah, sah! I done put it in de little auto when yo' all started +off, 'case I reckoned it'd be dusty." + +"Well, the lap robe is gone like my coat," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Too bad, +for it was a new one." + +"It suah am too bad!" declared Sam. "Yo' all has me worried!" + +"Well, you don't need to worry, Sam," said Mrs. Bobbsey kindly. "It +isn't your fault. I know you put the robe in the auto, for I saw it when +we started. But when I wanted it to wrap around Mr. Bobbsey, after his +coat was taken, and it was cool riding home, the robe was gone." + +"Stolen, Mother, do you think?" asked Nan. + +"I wouldn't say that. It may have fallen out on the way." + +"Well, that's two things gone the same day," said Mr. Bobbsey, who was +still in his shirt sleeves, as he had come from the picnic. "My coat and +the lap robe. I guess that Blipper's merry-go-round, which is to show at +the Bolton County Fair, didn't bring me any good luck." + +Bert and Nan were wondering if Bob Guess or the red-faced man knew +anything of their father's coat and the missing lap robe when from the +kitchen Dinah's voice excitedly called: + +"Come heah! Come heah if yo' please, Mr. Bobbsey! Suffin's done gone an' +happened!" + +"Oh, dear!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "What's the matter now?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +HAPPY DAYS COMING + + +When Dinah called in this fashion, with worry making itself heard in her +voice, Mrs. Bobbsey always hurried to see what the matter was. Generally +it was something the smaller Bobbsey twins had done. And as she knew +Flossie and Freddie were now in the kitchen, Mother Bobbsey feared one +of the smaller children had been hurt. + +"What is it, Dinah?" asked the mother, as she hurried back toward the +house. Bert and Nan, with their father, waiting only a moment, followed +Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"I should think Freddie and Flossie would have had enough fun at the +picnic not to want to do any more cutting up," remarked Nan. + +"You never can tell what those tykes will do," observed Bert. "I don't +hear either of 'em yelling, and that's a good sign." + +But just as he spoke there came a wail from the kitchen, which, by this +time, Mrs. Bobbsey had reached, disappearing within. + +"That's Flossie," said Nan. + +Again came the voice of a little child, crying either in fear or in +delight at some funny happening, it could not be told which. + +"There goes Freddie, letting off steam," said Bert. "I guess it isn't +anything very much. Freddie always laughs in that squealing way when +something tickles him." + +Mr. Bobbsey, with the two older twins, entered the kitchen soon after +Mrs. Bobbsey. There stood Flossie and Freddie before a low kitchen +table, one leaf of which was down, so that whatever was under could not +be seen very well, on account of the shadow cast by the electric light. +And beside Flossie and Freddie stood Dinah. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Dinah says Snoop, our cat, has caught some sort of animal and has it +under the table," said Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"It's a big animal and it's got fur on," declared Flossie, greatly +excited. + +"An' it's got yellow eyes and four legs an' it's long--it's as long as +my arm!" added Freddie, his eyes big with wonder. "Oh, it was awful +funny!" he went on, squealing with delight. "I saw Snoop drag it under +the table and I called Dinah. Didn't I, Dinah?" + +"Dat's whut yo' done, honey lamb! Ah don't know whut it is Snoop has, +Mis' Bobbsey," went on the colored cook, "but it's some sort o' +animile!" + +"And Snoop growled, he did, when he dragged it under the table!" +exclaimed Flossie. "I heard Snoop growl, I did! Listen!" + +Surely enough the cat growled again, just as a lion or a tiger in the +jungle would growl after catching its dinner--only not so loud, of +course. + +"Oh!" murmured Flossie, making a dive for her mother's skirts. + +"There! Look! I saw its tail!" cried Freddie. + +As he spoke just a flash of some furry animal was seen under the table +where Snoop had gone to hide. + +"I hope it isn't a little skunk!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Don't worry!" advised her husband. "If it was a young skunk that Snoop +had, you'd have known it long before this. And Snoop never would try to +catch a skunk--Snoop would know better." + +"But what is it? He has something!" insisted Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Maybe I can coax Snoop out," put in Nan. "He minds me better than he +does any one else. Here, Snoop! Come on out, nice Snoop!" she called in +a gentle voice. + +But Snoop only growled in answer, and seemed to be shaking, beneath the +table, the unknown animal he had caught and dragged there. + +"Shall I get the rake and pull him out?" asked Bert. + +"No, you might hurt him," replied Mr. Bobbsey. "Go out to the garage and +get the big flash lamp from Sam. I can shine that under the table and we +can see what it is before we do anything. Evidently Snoop isn't going to +come out until he gets ready. And it may be he has a large rat or----" + +Dinah gave a scream. + +"Oh--a rat!" she cried. + +"Maybe it's only a little mouse--I like a funny little mouse," said +Flossie. + +"Well, I don't," said Dinah. "They eats mah food." + +"Maybe it's only a little mole from the garden," went on Mr. Bobbsey. + +"It's bigger'n a ground mole!" declared Freddie. "I saw it, an' it's +long and brown and has legs an' brown eyes that shine." + +"Well, whatever it is it can't be very dangerous," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If +it was, Snoop never would have dared to get it. But I don't want to +reach under there in the dark and perhaps get bitten and scratched by +Snoop, or whatever he has. We'll wait for the flash light." + +Bert now came running in with this, Sam following when he heard that the +cat had something strange under the table in the kitchen. + +"Dey suah am lots ob t'ings happenin' dis day," observed Sam. + +Mr. Bobbsey flashed the light under the table. The four twins had +stooped down to get a better view, and Freddie cried: + +"I see its eyes shining!" + +"I can see its tail! Oh, no, that's Snoop's tail!" added Flossie. + +"Snoop, what have you there? Stop growling and give it to me!" demanded +Mr. Bobbsey, thrusting his hand under the table. + +"Be careful," advised his wife. "It may bite." + +Mr. Bobbsey laughed and thrust his hand farther under the table. There +was a little scuffle as Snoop tried to hold fast to what he had. He +clung so hard to it with teeth and claws that he was dragged over the +smooth linoleum on the floor. + +"Here's your wild beast!" cried Mr. Bobbsey, as he arose, and held +something covered with brown fur dangling from one hand. + +"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "That's not a rat." + +"No, it's your fur neck piece," her husband said, with a laugh. + +"Oh, I wore it to the picnic, for I thought it would be cool coming +home," said Mrs. Bobbsey, as she took the piece of fur. "And I laid it +on the hall table. I forgot about Snoop. He must have seen it, thought +it was a strange animal, and carried it away with him. Oh, Snoop!" and +she shook her finger at the cat which, now that it had nothing to play +with, came out from beneath the table. + +"It does look like an animal," said Nan. + +And indeed the fur piece did. For it was fashioned with an imitation of +an animal's head, with yellow glass eyes. The fur piece was quite long +and four little legs were fastened to it. So that it is no wonder a cat, +or even a boy or a girl, at first look, would take it for something +real. + +"Well, Snoop had a good time with it, while it lasted," said Mr. +Bobbsey, with a laugh. + +"And my fur wouldn't have lasted much longer with him, if he'd started +to claw and bite it," remarked Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm glad you called me in, +Dinah." + +"Yessum, Ah thought maybe yo'd better see what the cat had, 'cause Ah +couldn't make out what 'twas," the cook answered. + +"Well, now that the excitement is over, we'd better have supper," said +Mr. Bobbsey. "Or did you youngsters have enough at the picnic to last +until morning?" + +"We want to eat now!" decided Bert. "That wasn't so much we had at the +picnic." + +"I guess you were extra hungry, from being out of doors all day," his +mother said. "Well, supper will soon be ready." + +As they ate they talked over the fun they had had at Pine Grove, and +Flossie remarked: + +"I'm going to ride on a wooden lion, I am--on the merry-go-round. I'm +going to ride on the lion." + +"So'm I," declared Freddie. "There are two lions, an' I'm going to ride +on one an' Flossie on the other one." + +"Where's your merry-go-round?" asked Nan. + +"At the fair--the Bolton County Fair," said Freddie. "I heard that funny +red-faced man say so." + +"But the Bolton Fair is a long way off," went on Nan. + +"Daddy will take us; won't you?" asked Flossie. "Can't we go to the +fair and ride on the merry-go-round?" she teased. + +"Well, I don't know," answered Mr. Bobbsey slowly. "I suppose it would +be a good thing to visit a big county fair, and this is one of the +largest." + +"But we'd have to go and stay for some time," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Bolton +is a long way off. We couldn't go and come the same day." + +"One ought to spend more than a day at a big fair if he wants to see +everything," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "I never could stay as long as I +wanted to when I was a boy. Now, I was thinking perhaps we could all go +to Meadow Brook Farm for a little visit. From Meadow Brook it isn't far +to the Bolton County Fair." + +"Oh, let's go!" cried Bert and Nan. + +"What about school?" asked their mother. + +"School doesn't open until later this fall than usual," explained Mr. +Bobbsey. "They are repairing the school house and the work will not be +finished in time for the regular fall opening. I know, for the school +board buys lumber of me. + +"So, as long as the children don't have to be back until the middle of +October, we could all go to Meadow Brook, and from there visit the fair. +Would you like that?" he asked his wife. + +"I think it would be lovely!" + +"So do I!" echoed the Bobbsey twins. + +"Well, then, we'll think about it," promised their father. "You will +have some happy days to think about until it is time to go. And now I +think it is time for my little Fairy and my brave Fireman to go to bed." +Daddy Bobbsey sometimes called the small twins by these pet names. "Come +on! Up to bed!" he called. "We'll talk more about the Bolton County Fair +another day!" + +As he was carrying the smaller children up to bed, a style of travel the +little twins loved, there came a ring at the front door bell. Dinah, who +answered, came back to say: + +"Dere's a p'liceman outside whut wants to see yo', Mr. Bobbsey." + +"A policeman?" + +"Yas, sah!" + +"A policeman for me?" + +"Yas, sah!" + +"Dear me!" Mr. Bobbsey murmured. "What can be the matter now!" + +"Oh, Daddy!" squealed Flossie, at once filled with excitement. + +"What do you suppose----" began Bert, and then stopped in the midst of +his speech. + +"Maybe he has found your lost coat," suggested Nan, as her father put +Flossie and Freddie down in an easy chair. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE CRYING BOY + + +There had been so much excitement over the strange "animal" which Snoop +had under the table that, for a time, the Bobbsey twins had forgotten +about their father's coat having been taken at the picnic. Nor had they +remembered about the missing lap robe. But now, as Nan said this, every +one--except perhaps the smaller twins--thought about the things that +were gone. + +"Oh, that's so!" exclaimed Bert, following what his sister said. "Maybe +the policeman has come to bring back your lost coat, Daddy!" + +"I hope he has," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Not only do I not want to lose the +coat, for a suit of clothes isn't of much use without a coat, but I +don't like to lose the money and papers." + +"No, sah, Mr. Bobbsey, de p'liceman didn't hab no coat," said Dinah. + +"He didn't?" remarked Mr. Bobbsey. + +"No, sah. He didn't." + +"Well then, I can't imagine what he wants," went on the father of the +Bobbsey twins. "Ask him to come in, Dinah." + +In came the policeman. He was one the children knew, from having often +seen him pass the house. + +"Good evening, Mr. Bobbsey," said the officer, the light flashing on his +brass buttons. "I came up to see about a lap robe stolen from your +auto." + +"Did you find it?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm so glad! And did you find +Mr. Bobbsey's coat, also?" + +"Why, no, Mrs. Bobbsey, I didn't," answered Policeman Murphy. "I didn't +know about any lost coat. I was just sent up from the police station to +inquire about the robbery of a lap robe. Somebody telephoned down that a +policeman was wanted because a lap robe had been stolen. That's why I +came up--because of the telephone message." + +"Telephone!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey. "I didn't telephone for you, Mr. +Murphy." + +"Neither did I," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Perhaps it was one of the +children," and she looked at Bert and Nan. + +The older Bobbsey twins shook their heads. Flossie and Freddie, though +they knew how to telephone, would hardly have thought of calling up the +police. But they were asked about it. + +"Nope, we didn't do it," Flossie said. "Though we likes p'licemans; +don't we, Freddie?" + +"Yeppie," he answered sleepily. "When I grows up I'm goin' be a +p'licemans or a firesmans--I forget which." + +"He's sleepy," laughed the officer. "But what about this, Mr. Bobbsey? +Some one must have telephoned." + +"Yes, of course. I wonder if it could have been Mr. Blipper or that lad +who called himself Bob Guess?" + +"Who are they?" the officer asked. + +"Mr. Blipper is a man who owns a merry-go-round he takes to fairs and +circuses. He passed the picnic grounds where we were to-day. He's on his +way to the Bolton County Fair. He had with him a boy named Bob +Guess--called that because the lad is an orphan and they had to 'guess' +at his name. Soon after this Blipper and his outfit left, I missed my +coat, and, coming home, we found the lap robe gone. I was going to ride +after him, but we had a little excitement here, and I haven't had a +chance. Then you came along and----" + +The sound of steps was heard on the side porch, and in came Sam, quite +excited. + +"'Scuse me!" he murmured, as he entered. "Oh, de p'liceman done come!" +he exclaimed. "He's heah! I'm glad!" + +"Did you expect him?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Yes, sah, Mr. Bobbsey, I did! When de lap robe was gone I t'ought maybe +you t'ink I might 'a' been careless like, an' let some chicken t'ieves +in. So I telephoned fo' a p'liceman to come an' see if he could cotch de +burglar!" + +"Oh, Sam, you didn't need to do that!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "We know +it wasn't your fault that the lap robe was taken, any more than it was +that Mr. Bobbsey's coat was stolen." + +"Of course not!" echoed her husband. + +"Well, I t'ought better we have a p'liceman," murmured Sam. + +"I don't know what there is for him to do," said Mr. Bobbsey. "As nearly +as I can figure it out, my coat was stolen at the picnic grounds and the +lap robe was taken about the same time." + +"It was," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey. "And I think that Blipper--or perhaps Bob +Guess--had something to do with both thefts." + +"It might be," replied the officer. "Those traveling show people aren't +very careful, sometimes. I'll report back to the chief and see what he +says. If we get sight of this merry-go-round crowd, Mr. Bobbsey, we'll +stop them and ask them about your coat and the robe." + +"Thank you, I wish you would. But I don't imagine you'll see them. They +are on their way to Bolton, and we shall be there ourselves next week, +so we can make some inquiries." + +Officer Murphy left, finding there was nothing he could do. Flossie and +Freddie were carried up to bed, and Nan danced about the room, singing: + +"We're going to the fair! We're going to the fair! We're going to the +Bolton County Fair!" + +And Bert echoed: + +"Maybe we'll find daddy's coat when we get there!" + +Then, tired but happy over their fun at the picnic and too sleepy to +worry much over the lost articles, the Bobbsey twins at last went to +bed. + +As their parents had said, school would not open as early that fall as +in other years, because some rebuilding work was being done in a few of +the rooms. So there was time to go to Meadow Brook, and from there to +visit Bolton, a few miles away, where the big fair was being held. + +"Do you really think we can go, Mother?" asked Nan, the next day. + +"I don't see why not. Your father seems to have made up his mind to it." + +"Well, I hope he doesn't change it, as he does sometimes," said Bert, +with a laugh. "They're going to have airships and a balloon at the +fair, Charlie Mason says, and maybe I can go up in the balloon. Wouldn't +that be great, Nan?" + +"I'm not going up in any balloon!" + +"I am!" decided Bert, as if that was all there was to it. + +"An' I'm going to ride on a lion!" cried Flossie. + +"So'm I!" chimed in her brother Freddie. + +Uncle Daniel Bobbsey and his wife Sarah, with their son Harry, lived at +Meadow Brook Farm. The Bobbsey twins had been there more than once, as +those who have read the other books of this series will remember. And +now it was proposed to go there again. + +"But we'll be at the fair more than we will be at Meadow Brook, sha'n't +we?" asked Nan of her father. + +"Well, sort of betwixt and between," he answered, with a laugh. + +Uncle Daniel having been written to, said he would be delighted to have +his brother and his brother's family come out for the remainder of the +summer and early fall. And in about a week all preparations were made. + +The trip was to be made in the Bobbsey's big auto, and would take about +a day. By starting early in the morning Meadow Brook Farm could be +reached by night. From there it was only a short distance to Bolton +where, each year, a big fair was held. + +"And if I see that Bob Guess I'll make him tell where daddy's coat is!" +declared Bert. + +"And the lap robe, too!" added Nan. + +It was a fine, sunny day when the start was made. Into the auto piled +the Bobbsey twins, with boxes and baskets of lunch. + +"It's like another picnic!" laughed Nan, as she saw Bert piling away the +good things to eat. + +"Hab a good time, honey lambs!" called fat Dinah, as she and her husband +stood on the steps, waving good-by. + +"Take good care of Snoop and Snap!" begged Nan. + +"We will!" promised Sam. + +Snap, the dog, wanted to come along, but as he could not very well be +looked after on this trip he had to be left behind, much to his sorrow. +He howled dismally as the auto went down the road. + +Not very much happened on the way to Meadow Brook. Once a tire was +punctured and Mr. Bobbsey had to stop to put on a spare one. But this +happened near a garage, so he had a man from there do the work, while he +and his wife, with the twins, went into a little grove of trees and ate +lunch. + +"Be careful of your coat!" warned Mrs. Bobbsey, as her husband took it +off and hung it on a tree while he built a fire to heat the water for +tea. + +"Oh, no one is going to steal this one!" he said. "Anyhow, it's an old +one. But there's no one here to take it. No Mr. Blipper or Bob Guess +around now." + +"Well, don't forget, and go off, leaving it hang on the tree," warned +his wife. + +"I won't," said Mr. Bobbsey. + +A fire was made, and as Mrs. Bobbsey was sitting with her back against a +stump, comfortably sipping her tea, she heard the sound of crying. As +Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, were gathering flowers not far +away, Mrs. Bobbsey could see that it was none of her twins who was +sobbing. + +But the crying kept up, and she looked around to see whence it came. Mr. +Bobbsey was busy packing up the lunch things, for there was enough food +left to serve a little tea around five o'clock, since Meadow Brook Farm +would not be reached before seven o'clock that evening, on account of +the delay over the tire. + +"Who is that crying, Dick?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Crying? Why, I don't hear--yes, I do, too!" her husband added, as the +sound of sobs came to his ears. He looked to make sure his own children +were all right and then glanced about. + +As he did so there came from a little clump of trees, not far from the +grove where the Bobbseys had eaten lunch, a ragged boy, who seemed in +pain or distress, for he was crying very hard. + +"Oh, the poor lad!" said Mrs. Bobbsey in a kind voice. "Go see what the +matter is, Dick! He is in trouble of some sort! I wonder who he is?" + +"Yes, without doubt, the lad's in trouble. We'll see what we can do," +answered the father of the twins. + +The crying boy walked slowly toward the Bobbsey family, and now the +twins, hearing his sobs, looked up in wonder from their +flower-gathering. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ANGRY MR. BLIPPER + + +"Why, it's Bob Guess!" cried Bert, dropping his bunch of flowers, so +excited was he. "It's Bob Guess!" + +"So it is!" agreed Nan. "And he's crying." + +There was no doubt of that: It was Bob Guess, the lad the Bobbsey twins +had seen working at the merry-go-round engine the day of the Sunday +school picnic. Bob came slowly along, sobbing hard. + +"What's the matter, Bob?" asked Bert, who had taken a liking to the +ragged chap. For the time being Mr. Bobbsey's missing coat and the lap +robe were forgotten. "Why are you crying?" + +"Can we help you?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +Bob Guess ceased sobbing and looked up. He seemed surprised to see the +children and their parents. + +"Oh, I--I didn't know anybody was here," he stammered. + +"That's all right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If there's anything we can do to +help you---- Where's Mr. Blipper, by the way? There is something I +should like to ask him. Or perhaps you can tell me." + +"Not now, Dick, not now," said Mrs. Bobbsey in a whisper, with a shake +of her head at her husband. She knew what he wanted to ask--about his +coat and the robe. "Not now; he is too miserable," she went on. + +"Has anything happened?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, changing his first line of +questions. + +"Ye--yes," stammered Bob, not sobbing so hard now. "I--I've run away +from Mr. Blipper!" + +"You've run away!" echoed Nan. + +Bob nodded his head vigorously to show that he meant "yes," and he went +on: + +"He treated me mean! There was a lot of hard work setting up the +merry-go-round at the Bolton Fair, and I had more than my share. He +wouldn't give me any money--he hardly gave me enough to eat. And I ran +away. I'm not done running yet, only I'm so hungry I can't go very fast +any more." + +"You poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey. "Is that why you cried--because +you were hungry?" + +"Yes--yes'm," murmured Bob Guess. + +"Well, we have plenty to eat," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a kindly pat on +the shoulder of the ragged boy. "Here, we'll give you a lunch, and then +maybe you can tell me what I want to know. Where is Mr. Blipper?" + +"He's back there at the merry-go-round. We had some trouble with the +engine. But I guess he has it fixed by now. He's back at the fair +grounds. It opens to-morrow. That is, he's there unless he has come +chasing after me." + +"Do you think he'd do that?" asked Bert. It was quite an exciting +adventure, Bert thought, to run away and be chased by Mr. Blipper. + +"Well, he said if I ever ran away he'd run after me and bring me back," +answered Bob. "Anyhow, I've run away, but it isn't as much fun as I +thought it'd be. Only I can't stand Mr. Blipper! He's too cross!" + +"Poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey again. "Get him something to eat, +Dick. He must be very hungry!" + +And Bob was, to judge by the manner in which he ate some of the +Bobbsey's lunch. It was a good thing there was plenty. Having eaten all +he seemed to care for and drinking two glasses of milk, Bob leaned back +against a tree stump and said: + +"Now can't I do something to pay you for my meal?" + +"Do something to pay for it?" repeated Mrs. Bobbsey, wonderingly. + +"Yes, Mr. Blipper says I've always got to work for my board. Sometimes +he says I'm not worth my salt." + +"Well, this time there is no need of doing anything for us," said Mr. +Bobbsey. "You are welcome to what you have had to eat. But now what are +you going to do?" + +"I'm going to run away farther if I can," Bob Guess answered. + +"Hum! I'm not so sure that we ought to let you, now that we know about +you," went on the father of the Bobbsey twins. "Has this Mr. Blipper any +claim on you?" + +"He says he adopted me and can keep me until I'm twenty-one years old." + +"He may be right. I don't know about that. It must be looked into. +Anyhow, I don't feel like letting you run away, Bob," went on Mr. +Bobbsey kindly. "I'd like to have a talk with Blipper on my own account, +and I could ask him about you. Did you happen to see----" + +But before Mr. Bobbsey could ask what he intended to--about his missing +coat and the lap robe--a man from the garage where the automobile had +been left to have the tire changed came across the field. + +"It's a good thing you stopped when you did, Mr. Bobbsey," said the +garage man. + +"Why so?" + +"Because if you had gone on a little farther one of the wheels of your +car would have come off, and if you had been going fast, or down-hill, +you might have had a bad accident. I found the break when I was putting +on the tire, and I came over to ask if you wanted me to fix it." + +"Yes, I suppose so. I'll come and have a look. We don't want to go on if +there is any danger." + +"There is danger. And it will take half a day to mend the break." + +"Half a day!" said Mr. Bobbsey, as he followed the man, forgetting for +the time all about Bob and Mr. Blipper. "That means we'll not get to +Meadow Brook to-night. Is there a good hotel in town?" + +"Yes, a very good one not far from my garage." + +"Well then, in case we have to remain, we can stay at the hotel. But +wait until I take a look at the broken wheel." + +Mr. Bobbsey found that the garage man was right. The automobile was in +need of repairs, and had the party gone on, without noticing the break, +a bad accident might have happened. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey, when told of the news, "must we stay +here all night?" + +"Unless I hire another auto, or you and the children go on by train," +said her husband. "I shall have to stay here to bring our car on." + +"Oh, I don't want that! No, we'll stay at the hotel. But what about +him?" she asked in a low voice, pointing to Bob Guess, who was talking +to the twins. + +"That's so. We can't turn him adrift," Mr. Bobbsey agreed. "Well, I'll +get a room for him at the hotel. In the morning I can decide what to do. +I don't like to send him back to Blipper. But if the man has adopted him +he has a claim on the boy. We'll see what happens by morning." + +Mrs. Bobbsey may have disliked to break the journey and stay at a +strange hotel, but the Bobbsey twins thought it great fun. The hotel was +a small country one, clean and neat, and the Bobbseys and Bob Guess were +about the only guests there. + +"I'm not fit to stop at a hotel," said the ragged boy. + +"Oh, you're all right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Perhaps I can get you some +clothes here. If there isn't a store that sells them I may be able to +get you a second-hand suit from the hotel keeper." + +As it happened, there was no clothing store in the village of Montville, +where the stop was made. But the hotel proprietor had some clothes of +one of his sons who had gone to the city to work. Bob was given a partly +worn but very good coat and trousers. + +"He's a nice looking boy when he's dressed well," said Mrs. Bobbsey, as +the lad discarded his old clothes. + +"Yes," agreed her husband. "He has a good, honest face. And yet, when I +think of my coat and the lap robe---- But I'll wait until I see +Blipper." + +"Do you think you will see him?" + +"Yes, I imagine he'll follow this boy. He's a hard worker, Bob is, and +Blipper won't want to lose him. I shouldn't wonder but what he came on +after Bob." + +"How will he know where to find him?" asked Bert, who heard what his +father and mother said. + +"Oh, he can make inquiries along the way. But I'll do what I can for +Bob." + +Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had good times at the country +hotel. Their rooms were on a long corridor, and the twins raced up and +down this, playing tag and other games. No one seemed to mind. + +At supper Bob ate a good meal, but did not talk much. And every time the +dining room door opened he looked around quickly, as if fearing to see +Mr. Blipper come in. + +In the evening Mr. Bobbsey went down to the garage to see how the men +were progressing with the repairs to his car, for they had promised to +work all night. Bert went with his father. + +"I guess you'll be able to go on in the morning, Mr. Bobbsey," the +garage man said. + +"I hope so. My youngsters are anxious to get to Meadow Brook, and from +there go to the Bolton County Fair." + +"That's quite a fair. Lots of attractions I hear. A merry-go-round, a +balloon, airships, and auto races. I'd go myself if I had time." + +As Bert and his father reached the hotel a little later they heard loud +talking coming from the sitting room where they had left Mrs. Bobbsey +and the children. The voice of an angry man was saying: + +"Well, I tell you I'm going to have that boy back! He ran away from me! +I'm his legally appointed guardian, and I want him back! You come along +with me, Bob Guess!" + +Then Mrs. Bobbsey said firmly: + +"Mr. Blipper, you shall not take this boy away until my husband comes +back. Mr. Bobbsey wants to see you. You can't take Bob away like this. I +won't let you. If necessary I'll call a policeman. You must wait until +my husband comes back!" + +"I'm not going to wait! I'm going to take that boy now!" cried the angry +man, as Bert and his father hurried in. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BIG SWING + + +Mr. Bobbsey and Bert now looked on a rather sad scene in the hotel +sitting room. On one side of the apartment stood Mr. Blipper, having +hold of the coat collar of Bob Guess. And Bob was crying again. + +On the other side of the room stood Mrs. Bobbsey with Nan, Flossie, and +Freddie close to her. At one end of the room, looking in through the +door, was the good-natured but easy-going proprietor of the hotel and +some of the servants. + +"What is going on here?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. + +"I'm going away, if that's what you mean!" snapped out Mr. Blipper in +angry tones. "I traced this runaway adopted son of mine here, and I'm +taking him back with me. This lady says I can't!" + +"I told him to wait until you came back," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I didn't +want him to take poor Bob away. I don't believe he has any right to take +him." + +"I don't know who you are!" spluttered the angry Mr. Blipper. "But you +haven't any right to stop me." + +"This lady is my wife," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he spoke in such a way +that Mr. Blipper at once lost some of his bluster. "She has the same +right that any one has to inquire into something he thinks is wrong." + +"But this isn't wrong!" cried Mr. Blipper. "I have a right to this boy. +I adopted him legally, I did! I gave him a name when he didn't have any +before. Bob Guess I call him, 'cause I had to guess at his name. I took +him out of an orphan asylum and give him a good home!" + +"Home!" cried Bob Guess. "You didn't give me any _home_! You keep +dragging me all over the country with that merry-go-round! I haven't any +home except sleepin' in a truck." + +"You were glad enough to come with me!" sneered Mr. Blipper. + +"Anyway, I'm sick of it. That's why I ran away." + +"Well, you're going to run back again!" said Mr. Blipper, grimly, as he +gave the boy a shake. + +"Wait a minute," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Have you a legal right to this boy?" + +"That's what I have. I expected some such question would be asked of me, +and I brought along my papers. There they are. You can look 'em over for +yourself." + +He tossed a long envelope containing papers to Mr. Bobbsey, and the +latter looked at the documents. + +"Don't let him take me back!" pleaded Bob Guess. "I don't like him!" + +"I don't like you, when it comes to that!" sneered the angry man. "But +I'm going to have you back! I have a right to you, and you've got to +work for me." + +"These papers seem to be all right," said Mr. Bobbsey, slowly. "He is +your legal guardian, Bob. You had better go with him, and do as he says. +But if he treats you cruelly let me know. I am going to the Bolton +County Fair, and when I get there I'll keep my eye on you." + +"Say, who are you, anyhow?" sneered Mr. Blipper. + +"My name is Bobbsey," answered the children's father. "I live in +Lakeport. I thought perhaps you might know my name." + +"How should I know your name?" + +"It was on some papers in my coat that disappeared from the Sunday +school picnic grounds the day you had trouble with your engine near the +grove." + +Mr. Blipper looked first at Bob and then at Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Say!" cried the merry-go-round owner, "maybe you think I know something +about your coat." + +"Maybe you do," answered Mr. Bobbsey, easily. + +"And the lap robe!" whispered Bert. + +"Hush, Bert!" warned his mother. "Leave this to Daddy!" + +"Well, I don't know anything about your coat or a lap robe, either!" +declared Mr. Blipper. "All I know is that Bob ran away from me, and now +I'm going to run him back!" + +There seemed no help for it. Mr. Bobbsey sadly shook his head when the +twins and his wife pleaded with him to do something to save Bob. + +"Those papers show the boy is adopted," he said. "I can do nothing. But +we'll keep our eyes on him. We are going to the fair, and if Bob is not +kindly treated I'll complain to the Children's Aid Society." + +"You don't need to worry!" gruffly said Mr. Blipper. "I'll treat him as +well as he deserves." + +"Am I to keep these clothes?" asked Bob, as Mr. Blipper led him away. + +"Of course," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I bought them for you." + +"What's that? Who's been giving you clothes?" demanded Mr. Blipper. + +"Don't you think he needed them?" inquired Mrs. Bobbsey, gently. + +"Well--er--I was going to buy him a new suit after we took in some money +at the Bolton Fair," sheepishly said Mr. Blipper. "I--I'm much obliged +to you folks, though. Bob isn't a bad boy when he wants to be good. Come +on now. I've a rig outside and we can get back to the fair grounds +to-night if we hurry." + +With a sad look at the friends who had been so kind to him, Bob followed +his adopted father out of the room. He did not cry, but he seemed to +want to. + +"Good-by!" called the Bobbsey twins. "We'll see you at the fair!" + +"Good-by!" echoed Bob Guess. + +The Bobbsey twins wondered when they would see him again. + +It might be thought that the excitement of the runaway boy who was +caught again would keep Bert and Nan awake. Flossie and Freddie were too +young to give the matter much attention. But though the older Bobbsey +twins felt sorry for the lad, they had the idea that their father would +make matters all right concerning him, and so they did not lie awake +vainly worrying. + +They slept soundly, the night passed quietly, and in the morning after +an early breakfast the family were on their way again in the automobile +which had been mended during the night. + +"We'll soon be at Meadow Brook Farm, sha'n't we?" asked Freddie over and +over again. + +"Yes," his mother told him. + +"And I'm going to milk a cow, I am!" announced Flossie. + +"So'm I!" echoed Freddie. "I'm goin' milk two cows, I am!" + +"I guess you mean you're going to see them milked!" laughed Nan. +"Milking cows would be hard work even for Bert." + +"Maybe I could milk a little teeny weeny cow," suggested Freddie. + +"Well, we'll have some fun, anyhow!" said Nan. + +And fun they did have! It started almost as soon as they reached the +farm of their Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah. + +"Say, I'm glad you came!" exclaimed Harry, as he greeted his four +cousins while the older folks were talking among themselves. "I have +something fine to show you." + +"What?" asked Bert. + +"A big swing! You ought to see it! It's out under the apple tree down by +the brook!" + +"Oh, I'm going to sail my boat in the brook!" cried Freddie, as soon as +he heard the mention of water. + +"An' I'll get Rosamond an' give her a ride on your boat!" cried Flossie. +Rosamond was a small doll Flossie had brought along. + +"All right," agreed Bert, seeing a chance for the smaller twins to play +by themselves while he and Nan experimented with the swing. "You get +your boat, Freddie, and you get your doll, Flossie, and we'll all go +down to the brook and apple tree together." + +"Be careful, now!" called Mrs. Bobbsey, as the children ran off. + +"We will," they promised. And really they meant to, but you know how it +often is--things happen that you can't help. + +"There's the swing!" cried Harry, pointing to it dangling from the +sturdy limb of the big apple tree. "Daddy put it up for me last week. +I'm glad you came. We can have lots of fun in it." + +"We want some swings!" cried Freddie. + +"After a bit," promised Nan. "Sail your boat now, and give Rosamond a +ride, Flossie, and you shall have some swings after that." + +The water was more of an attraction for the smaller twins than was the +swing, and thus Nan, Bert and Harry had it to themselves. While Flossie +and Freddie played with the doll and the boat, the older children took +turns seeing how high they could go. Then they would let the "old cat +die," that is, stay in the swing, without trying to make it sway, until +it came to a dead stop. + +"I know what we can do!" cried Bert, when they were tired of swinging. + +"What?" asked Harry. + +"We can shinny up the rope like sailors. I can go 'way up to the limb." + +Bert was a sturdy chap, and soon he was "shinnying," or climbing, up the +rope like a human monkey. Then Harry did it, managing to reach the big +limb, to which the rope was fastened, more quickly than had Bert. + +"Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Nan, when the two boys were on the ground +again. + +"Pooh! Girls can't climb ropes!" declared Harry. + +"Yes, I can, too! You watch!" + +Nan was almost as strong as her brother. She caught hold of the rope, +and managed to scramble up, though it was hard work. + +"You can't do it!" laughed Harry, when, almost at the top, she paused +for a moment. + +"Yes, I can! I can! You just watch!" + +Nan gave a wiggle, another scramble, and then, just as she managed to +get one leg over the limb, she slipped. + +"Oh! Oh!" she screamed. "I'm going to fall!" + +But she did not fall. Instead, one foot caught in a loop of the rope, +and there poor Nan hung, half way over the limb, one leg dangling down, +and her hands clutching the rope. She could neither get up nor down! She +was caught on the limb of the tree! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DOWN A BIG HOLE + + +For a few seconds Bert and Harry were so surprised at what had happened +to Nan that they could do nothing but stand and stare up at her. + +As for Nan, she also was surprised at the suddenness of her tumble when +she was almost perched safely astride the limb to which the rope of the +swing was tied. As she felt herself slipping she had clung with all her +might, one hand and part of her arm over the branch, another hand +grasping the rope, one leg partly up over the limb, and the other leg +tangled in the rope. + +This was what had caused the trouble--the leg getting caught and tangled +in a loop of the rope. But for that, Nan could have swung this leg up +over the limb and so have perched there in safety. + +"Come on down!" cried Harry. + +"Don't fall!" begged Bert. "Oh, Nan, be careful! Mother'll think I +oughtn't to have let you climb up there!" + +"You didn't--you didn't let--me!" panted Nan. "I did it myself!" + +"Well, come on down!" begged Harry again. + +"I--I can't!" half sobbed Nan, with a catch in her voice. "I--I'm stuck! +Go get a ladder--get something to help me. I can't hold on much longer!" + +"Shall we get the tennis net and let you fall into that?" asked Bert, +starting toward the swing with half an idea that he could climb up the +rope and loosen Nan. + +"No, I don't want to fall!" cried his sister. "Get a ladder so I can +climb down. Call daddy!" + +"I'll call my father!" offered Harry. "He's got a long ladder!" + +"Do something! Quick!" begged Nan desperately. + +As Bert and Harry started to run toward the house to summon their +fathers and mothers, Flossie and Freddie, tired of playing with the +little boat in the brook, came up to the apple tree. Freddie saw Nan +hanging there, some distance above the ground. + +"Oh, Nan's doing circus tricks! Nan's doing circus tricks!" cried +Freddie. "Look at her, Flossie. Nan's doing circus tricks an' I want to +do 'em, too!" + +"No, no, Freddie!" screamed Nan, as her little brother ran under the +limb to which she was desperately clinging. "Go away! Don't stand under +me this way! I might fall on you!" + +"Oh, I'm going to get mother!" exclaimed Flossie. "She won't want you to +fall, Nan!" + +"Well, I--I can't hold on much longer!" sobbed Nan. + +Though if she had let go her grasp on the tree limb she would probably +not have fallen, for one foot was tangled in the swing rope. However, +hanging by one leg high in the air would not have been very pleasant. +Nan was not enough of a circus performer for that, though she and Bert +had often done "stunts" on a trapeze in the back yard at home when they +gave "shows." + +However, help was on its way to Nan. The excited story told by Harry and +Bert to the two Mr. Bobbseys started both men into action. They got a +long ladder and, having run with it to the tree, placed it up against +the limb. Then Mr. Richard Bobbsey climbed up, while his brother held +steady the foot of the ladder on the ground. + +"Why, Nan!" exclaimed her father, as he climbed up to set her free, +"what in the world made you do this?" + +"I--I don't know, Daddy! But Bert and Harry climbed up, and they did it +all right. But when I went up something slipped, and I nearly fell, and +I grabbed the rope and the branch, and there I was!" + +"Well, it's a good thing you stuck here instead of falling down there," +and Mr. Bobbsey looked to the ground below. "You're all right now. Don't +cry." + +But Nan could not help crying a little, though she was glad she could +feel her father's arms about her. Mr. Bobbsey soon loosened the little +girl's leg from the loop of the rope, and then he carried her down the +ladder. + +"You're just like a fireman, aren't you, Daddy?" cried Freddie, as his +father set Nan on the ground. + +"Well, a little, yes," admitted Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "But better +not any more of you try those firemen tricks," he warned the children as +the ladder was taken down. + +"I'll have to put the swing away if you climb the rope any more," +threatened Uncle Daniel. + +"We won't shinny up it any more," promised Bert and Harry, and their +fathers knew that if the boys did not do it Nan would not. + +"I guess we've had enough swinging," said Bert. "Let's play something +else, Harry. Got any new games?" + +"We can go down to the pond and fish." + +"Oh, I love to fish!" exclaimed Nan. "What kind of fish can you catch in +the pond, Harry?" + +"Bullfrogs, mostly." + +"They aren't fish," laughed Nan. + +"Well, it's just as much fun," went on the country boy. + +"I guess I'd better go help mother unpack the trunks," Nan said, for she +saw the expressman drive up with two trunks that had been sent on +ahead. "Mother will want me to help her get the things out so we can go +to the Bolton County Fair to-morrow. You're coming, aren't you, Harry?" + +"Sure! It'll be great. But now we'll go fishing for bullfrogs. Come on, +Bert!" + +"I want to fish!" begged Freddie, hearing this magic word. + +"No, you and Flossie come with me," directed Nan, knowing that the two +boys would not have much fun if they had to watch the small children and +keep them from tumbling into the pond. + +"Don't want to come with you!" pouted Flossie. "We wants to go fishing!" + +"How would you and Freddie like to go after eggs?" asked Nan, as she saw +her brother and Harry making signals to her for her to do her best to +keep Flossie and Freddie from following. "Wouldn't you like to gather +eggs?" + +"Where do you get the eggs?" asked Freddie, who had forgotten. + +"In the barn. We'll take the eggs out of the nests, and you and Flossie +can carry the eggs in a little basket to Aunt Bobbsey." + +"Oh, yes!" cried Flossie. "I want to do that!" + +"So do I!" added Freddie. Anything Flossie wanted to do he generally did +also. + +"All right," said Nan, waving to Bert and Harry to hurry away before the +small twins changed their minds. "Come with me, and after I help mother +unpack the trunk we'll go and get the eggs." + +As it happened, however, Mrs. Bobbsey did not need Nan's help. Aunt +Sarah said she would aid in getting the things out of the trunks, so Nan +was allowed to go with Flossie and Freddie to the barn to gather eggs. + +What fun it was to climb over the sweet hay, sliding down little hills +of it and landing on the barn floor, where more hay made a place like a +cushion! What fun it was to look in at the horses chewing their fodder! +And when the children poked their heads in the horses stopped eating, to +turn around and look to see who was watching them. + +"Oh, I've found some eggs!" suddenly cried Flossie, as she spied some of +the white objects in a nest in the hay. + +"Pick them up carefully," advised Nan. "Eggs break very easily." + +"I want to help pick up the eggs!" cried Freddie, hurrying over to his +little sister's side. + +"No, you go find a nest of your own!" exclaimed Flossie. "These are my +eggs!" + +"There are plenty of nests," said Nan. "You ought each to find two or +three. Come on, Freddie, we'll look for a nest for you. Be careful of +those eggs, Flossie! I guess I'd better help you pick them up and put +them in a basket while Freddie looks for another nest." + +So while Nan stayed with Flossie, Freddie started off by himself to look +for another nest. And as Nan discovered a second nest not far from where +Flossie had found the first one, it took the sisters some time to pick +up all the eggs. + +This gave Freddie more time to himself, and he saw a ladder leading into +the upper part of the barn where most of the hay was stored. + +"I guess maybe I'll find eggs up there," he said. + +He climbed the ladder, going slowly and carefully, and soon found +himself up in the haymow. It was rather dark there, but when he had been +in the place a little while Freddie could see better. + +"I guess hens come up here to lay 'cause it's nice and quiet. Now I must +find some nests and eggs." + +He walked about over the slippery hay, peering here and there for a +cluster of white eggs. Suddenly Freddie felt himself sliding down. +Faster and faster he went, feet first, and before he knew it he had slid +down into a big hole together with a lot of hay. + +"Nan! Nan!" he cried. "Come an' get me! I'm down in a hole!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE COUNTY FAIR + + +Just as Nan and Flossie finished putting the last of the eggs into their +basket they heard Freddie's cries for help. Surprised and a little +frightened, they ran out of that part of the barn where Flossie had +found the first nest and Nan the second. + +"Freddie! Freddie!" cried Nan. "Where are you, Freddie?" + +"Down in a hole!" came the muffled answer. + +"What hole?" Nan wanted to know. "Tell me where the hole is so I can +come and get you out. What hole, Freddie?" + +"Maybe it's a dark hole," suggested Flossie. "You 'member the verse: +'Charcoal! Charcoal! Put me in a dark hole.' Maybe Freddie is in a dark +hole." + +"Yes, it is dark!" again sounded the muffled voice of the little boy. +"I can hear you, Nan, but I can't see you. Get me out of the dark hole!" + +Nan was puzzled. She, too, could hear Freddie calling, but she could not +see him. There were so many nooks and corners in the old barn that it +was not strange Freddie was not easily found. It was a great place for +playing hide and go seek, so many dark spots were there in which to +crouch, and the seeker might be right alongside of you and not spy you. + +"How did you get in the hole, Freddie?" asked Nan, knowing that talking +and listening to Freddie's answers was the best way to find out where he +was. + +"I was looking for a nest," he said, his voice still muffled and far +away, "and I slipped on some hay and went down the hole. There's a lot +of hay in the hole with me now, and I'm stuck. I'm about half way down +in the hole, Nan." + +Then Nan began to understand what had taken place. She remembered that +once something like this had happened to her. + +"Are you sliding down or standing still, Freddie?" she called to her +brother. + +"I was sliding, but I'm standing still now," he answered. "I'm stuck +fast in a lot of hay." + +"Well, wiggle as hard as you can," advised Nan. "I know where you are. +You're in one of the chutes, or wooden tubes, that Uncle Daniel shoves +hay down from the top floor of the barn to the lower floor. You stepped +into a hay chute and you're stuck half way down. Wiggle, and you'll +slide down the rest of the way and you'll be out." + +So Freddie wiggled as hard as he could and, surely enough, he felt +himself again sliding down. He was not hurt, for there was soft hay on +all sides of him. But it tickled, and it scratched the back of his neck, +as well as his hands and face. + +Some of the hay dust got up his nose, too, and made him want to sneeze. +He gave one little sneeze--making a queer sound cooped up as he was--and +then he cried: + +"Oh, I'm stuck again, Nan! I started sliding and now I'm stuck again!" + +"Wiggle some more," advised his sister. + +She had set down the basket of eggs and was looking toward a dark side +of the barn where she could see the lower ends of several wooden chutes. +Some were for oats and others for hay. She did not know just which +wooden chute Freddie would slide down. The chutes did not come all the +way to the floor, there being room under each one to set a box or bushel +basket. + +"Wiggle some more, Freddie!" again advised Nan. + +"I will!" came the answer. "I'll wiggle hard and I'll--Oh--kerchoo!" + +That was Freddie sneezing, and he sneezed so hard that it did more good +than his wiggling, for it sent him sliding down with a mass of hay to +the bottom of the chute. + +"Here I am!" he cried, and with a thump he landed on the barn floor, so +wrapped and tangled in a clump of hay that he was not in the least hurt. +"I'm all--kerchoo--right--kerchoo--Nan!" he said, talking and sneezing +at the same time. + +"Well, I'm glad we found you, anyhow!" laughed his sister. "How did it +happen?" + +"Oh, it just happened," was all Freddie could say. "I was looking for +eggs, and I slipped. I'm glad I didn't slip in a hen's nest, else I'd +'a' broken a lot of eggs." + +"I'm glad of that, too," agreed Nan. "Well, Flossie and I are 'way ahead +of you. We have found two nests!" + +"I'm going to find one myself!" declared Freddie, and a little later he +did. This nest had many eggs in it, for it was used by several hens in +turn, so that now the basket was half filled. + +Then, by searching about, the children found more nests and eggs until +the basket was quite full. Now arose a dispute between Flossie and +Freddie, for each one wanted to carry the basket. Nan was afraid either +of the little twins might stumble and fall, thereby breaking the eggs. + +"I know what we'll do," Nan said, making up a little plan, as she often +had to do to get Freddie and Flossie into a new way of thinking. "We'll +play hide and go seek. I'll go on ahead and hide, and whoever finds me +can carry the basket a little way." + +"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Freddie. "Come on, Flossie! Blind your +eyes." + +"Don't come until I get ready!" said Nan. + +The children promised they would not. Carefully they closed their eyes, +covering them with their hands. Nan hurried away, walking softly so the +twins could not guess which way she was going. And she picked out a +hiding place close to the house, right at the foot of the steps, in +fact. + +"Whichever one finds me won't have very far to carry the eggs, and they +won't be so likely to drop them," thought Nan, as she crouched down +behind the rain-water barrel. + +"Coop!" cried Nan, this being a signal that she was hidden. + +"Ready or not we're coming!" shouted Freddie. He and his sister opened +their eyes and began running about, eagerly searching. It was some +little time before they found Nan behind the barrel, and Flossie spied +her first. + +"I see you! I see you!" laughed the delighted little girl, and she was +so excited over finding Nan that she never realized she had only a few +steps to carry the basket of eggs. + +Flossie covered those few steps safely, and the eggs were put away in +the closet by Aunt Sarah, later to be made into puddings and cakes for +the Bobbsey twins. + +"When are we going to the Bolton County Fair?" asked Bert that evening +after supper, when he and Harry were resting after their sport in +catching bullfrogs. + +"And I'm going to ride on a lion!" declared Freddie. + +"We might go over to the fair to-morrow," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Do you +folks want to go?" he asked his brother and Aunt Sarah. + +"I don't believe I'll have time," answered Mr. Bobbsey's brother. + +"Nor I," said Aunt Sarah. "I have a lot of cooking to do." + +"Then I'm going to stay at home and help you," offered the mother of the +Bobbsey twins. + +"Oh, can't we go to the fair?" wailed Flossie and Freddie, almost ready +to cry. + +"Of course you may go!" replied Mother Bobbsey. "I was going to say that +daddy could take you children--Harry may go, may he not?" she asked his +mother. + +"Oh, yes." + +"Hurray!" cried Harry, and Bert and Nan echoed his cry of joy. + +So it was arranged that Mr. Bobbsey would take the children to the +Bolton County Fair, there to see the many wonderful things of which they +had dreamed for days and nights. + +The Bolton County Fair was one of the largest in that part of the state. +Every year it was held, and farmers from many miles away brought their +largest pumpkins and squashes, and their longest ears of corn, hoping to +win prizes with them. The farmers' wives brought samples of their +needlework, such as bedquilts, lace or embroidery, and samples of their +cooking and preserving. The farm boys and girls made things or raised +something to exhibit at the fair. + +Besides this there were new kinds of machinery for the farmers to look +at, such as windmills and plows and electrical appliances to be used on +the farms. Men who raised horses and cattle took their best specimens to +the fair to show them for prizes. + +Then there were to be automobile races and horse races, and there were +many amusements from the big merry-go-round to the little tents and +booths where one could throw baseballs at dolls or toss rings over +canes. There were also booths and tents where candy, ice-cream, lemonade +and cider were sold, as well as places to eat. + +"Oh, it's wonderful!" cried Nan, as she and her brothers, her sister, +Harry and her father got out of their automobile and walked through the +big gates into the fair grounds. "Don't you like it, Bert?" + +"Sure! It's fine!" + +"Let's go over and look at the airship," proposed Harry. + +"And the balloon," added Bert. "Do you s'pose I could go up in the +balloon?" he asked his father. + +"No, I don't suppose you could--I wouldn't like you to," said Mr. +Bobbsey. + +"But why, Dad? The balloon is fast to the ground. It can't get away!" + +"I'm not so sure about that. I don't want you to go up. You'll have +plenty of other fun." + +"I wanted to go up in the balloon," and Bert sighed in disappointment. + +"We'll go look at it, anyhow," suggested Harry. + +"I want a ride on a lion!" insisted Freddie. + +"So do I!" added Flossie. + +"All right, I'll take you children to the merry-go-round," said Mr. +Bobbsey. "You come there and meet us after you finish looking at the +balloon and the airship," he said to Bert and Harry. + +"I'll stay with you, Daddy," said Nan. "I want a ride on the +merry-go-round, too," and she laughed. + +They could hear the music of the "carrousel," as a merry-go-round is +sometimes called. + +"Come on!" urged Flossie and Freddie, tugging at their father's hands. + +He led them over to the crowd that surrounded the machine on which a +whirling ride could be had for five cents. + +"This way! This way for the merry-go-round!" cried a boy's voice. "Only +five cents a ride! Get your tickets and take a ride! On an elephant or a +tiger!" + +"I want a lion!" cried Freddie. + +"All right! This way for your lions!" cried the voice. + +Mr. Bobbsey, pushing his way through the crowd with the children, saw +Bob Guess on the merry-go-round. The boy was helping children to their +seats on the wooden animals, strapping them safely so they would be +ready when the machinery started. The organ kept on playing all the +while. + +"Hello, Bob!" called Nan, as she climbed up on a wooden horse, while +Flossie and Freddie, with their father, looked for lions. + +The strange boy glanced up in some surprise. But when he saw Nan a smile +came over his rather sad face. + +"Oh, hello!" he said. "How did you get here?" + +"We came just now in my father's auto. Do you run the merry-go-round?" + +"I help when Mr. Blipper isn't here. I take up the tickets after she +starts. Have you got your tickets?" + +"Yes, daddy bought them. My little brother and sister want to ride on +lions." + +"There's a pair right behind you," said Bob Guess. + +Nan turned and saw her father just finishing the strapping up of Flossie +and Freddie each on a big wooden lion. The small twins were smiling with +delight. + +"Gid-dap!" called Flossie to her lion. + +"You shouldn't say 'gid-dap' to a lion," objected Freddie. + +"What should you say?" asked Flossie, turning to look at her brother. + +"You ought to say--now--er--'Scat!'" + +"That's what you say to a cat!" declared Flossie. + +"Well, then say 'Boo!' I guess that's what you say to a lion," went on +Freddie. "Say 'Boo!'" + +The little girl looked doubtful. + +"All right. Boo!" cried Flossie, after a moment. + +It was not quite time, however, for the merry-go-round to start. Mr. +Bobbsey made his way along the platform to Bob, who stood near Nan. + +"Where is Mr. Blipper?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "I want to see him." + +"He's away to-day, Mr. Bobbsey," was the answer. + +"Away! Oh, I am sorry," was the reply of the Bobbsey twins' father. + +"This is his day off," went on the lad. + +"Will he be here to-morrow?" + +"Yes, sir. But look out now, she's going to start!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ON THE TRACK + + +Creaking and squeaking as it slowly started, the merry-go-round began to +go faster and faster until it was whirling rapidly, the music of the +organ mingling with the shouts of the delighted children. + +Seeing that Flossie and Freddie were all right, being strapped to their +wooden lions, and that Nan could look after herself, Mr. Bobbsey took a +seat in one of the gilded cars that were provided for older persons who +did not like to sit astride a wooden animal. He watched Bob Guess making +his way around the carrousel collecting the tickets. The boy seemed +bright and very business like. + +"He's a good lad," thought Mr. Bobbsey. "I wish a better man than Mr. +Blipper had charge of him. I must look into this matter." + +At one place on the outside of the merry-go-round was a post with an +arm extending down from it. Into this arm, which was hollow, a boy +dropped iron rings, with, now and then, a brass one among them. Those +whirling about on the carrousel could reach up and pull a ring from the +arm, if they were quick and skillful enough. + +"Get the brass ring and have a free ride!" sang out the boy dropping the +black, iron rings into the hollow arm. There were, a great many iron +rings, but only a few brass ones. Of course, every one wanted to get the +brass ring, but this went by luck as much as by skill. + +Flossie and Freddie were too small to reach over and try for any of the +rings. But Nan, like the older boys and girls and some of the grown +folks, had no trouble in catching rings. + +"Get the brass ring, and have an extra ride!" cried the boy in charge. + +"I wish I could!" thought Nan. + +Once she almost got it. She saw the brass ring gleaming at the end of +the arm. A boy two horses ahead of her made a grab for it and missed. So +did the girl directly in front of Nan. When Nan reached for the ring +she did not put out her arm far enough, and she, too, missed it. A girl +riding on a camel behind Nan got it. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Nan. + +"Never mind," said a voice at her side, and she saw Bob Guess. "Here's a +brass ring for you. Take it and have the next ride free!" + +"Oh, will that be right?" asked Nan. + +"Sure it will! I'm in charge of taking the tickets when Blipper is away. +Some one grabbed this ring and dropped it. I picked it up. It's good for +a ride. Take it. I don't know who dropped it or I'd give it to 'em. You +take it!" + +And Nan did. It was not to be dreamed of that Flossie and Freddie would +be content with one ride. They had to stay on for the second. Mr. +Bobbsey got off to buy more tickets. + +"I don't need a ticket!" Nan called to him. "I have the brass ring, +Daddy!" + +"Oh, you were very lucky!" + +"Bob gave it to me," she explained, telling how it came about. + +"Well, I suppose it is all right to take it," her father said. "Bob +knows what he is doing." + +"But I want to get a brass ring my own self," Nan said. And she did, +though not on the next trip. Her father had to buy her a ticket for +that. + +Then came the final ride, for though Flossie and Freddie would have +remained and ridden all day, their father knew this was not good for +them. And it was on the last ride that Nan got her brass ring. + +"Oh, now I can ride again!" she gayly cried. + +"Not now," her father told her. "If you ride, Flossie and Freddie will +want to, and I'm afraid they'll be ill." + +"But what shall I do with the ring?" asked Nan, slipping down off the +wooden horse and holding up the brass ring. + +"It'll be good to-morrow," said Bob Guess. "You can keep it, or I'll +save it here for you." + +"I guess you'd better keep it, Bob," said Nan, with a laugh. "I might +lose it." + +"I'll save it for you," promised Bob. "I'll look for you to-morrow. Get +your tickets--your tickets for the merry-go-round!" he cried, as a new +crowd surged up to get on. + +"May we have some pop corn?" asked Freddie, when told there were to be +no more rides that day. + +"And ice-cream?" added Flossie. + +"Dear me!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey, "I don't know which will be worse for +you. Let's look about a bit." + +"I'm thirsty!" announced Flossie. + +"Well, we'll have some lemonade--that will be good for all of us, I +think," suggested Mr. Bobbsey. Bert and Harry, coming back just then +from having been to look at the balloon, were taken to the lemonade +stand with the others. + +If I were to tell you all the things the Bobbsey twins saw at the County +Fair and all they did, it would take a larger book than this to hold it +all. So I can only tell you a few of the many things that happened. + +After drinking the lemonade the children hardly knew at what to look +next, there were so many things to see. Presently Mr. Bobbsey said: + +"You have been among a lot of wooden animals on the merry-go-round, +suppose we go see some real, live animals?" + +"Oh, yes!" cried Nan. + +"Let's go to see the race horses," suggested Bert. + +"And I want to see cows and pigs!" announced Freddie. + +"And sheeps! I want to see sheeps!" exclaimed Flossie. + +"They're on the way to the racing horse stables," explained Harry. "All +the live stock is together." + +There was a race track at the fair grounds and some races had been run +off before the Bobbseys arrived. More were to take place soon. + +Mr. Bobbsey and the other children were so interested in looking at the +prize cattle, at great hogs, some weighing nearly a thousand pounds, and +at bulls weighing more than this, that they did not notice the absence +of Freddie Bobbsey. That little chap, however, had slipped away and, +before he knew it, he was in the stable with the race horses. + +As many of the stablemen were outside with their animals, some bringing +their steeds back from the track and others taking racers over to have a +part in the next contest, there were not many persons in the stable when +Freddie wandered there. + +"Oh, what a nice lot of horses!" he exclaimed, and indeed the racers +were among the best of their kind. "I like horses!" went on Freddie. + +One beautiful animal leaned out of its stall and rubbed a velvet nose on +Freddie's shoulder. + +"You like me, don't you, horsie?" asked the little chap. The horse +whinnied, which might mean anything, but Freddie took it for "yes." + +"I guess maybe you'd like to have me get on your back," he said. "I got +on one of Uncle Dan's horses once. I know how to ride." + +The horse was in a large box stall, and the door was not hard to open. +In walked Freddie, and, by standing up on a keg which was in the stall, +he managed to scramble up on the back of the horse. To keep from sliding +off, though, Freddie had to clasp his arms around the neck of the +animal. + +Whether the horse took this for a signal to move along, or whether it +just "happened," I don't know. But the horse walked out of the stall, +across the grass of the paddock, and, as the big gate happened to be +open, he walked right out on the race track with Freddie clinging to his +neck. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN THE CORNFIELD + + +Just about this time a race was going to be run. There were a number of +horses, with jockey lads on their backs, waiting for the signal to begin +their fast pace around the track. Up in the booth, where the judges and +the starter were standing to give the signal, everything was in +readiness. The people around the race track were all excited, for they +wanted to see which horse would win. + +And then, just as the starter gave the word, and the jockey boys on +their horses' backs called to their steeds to run fast, out on the track +walked the horse to whose neck Freddie was clinging! + +At first the little fellow had been so startled when the animal to whose +back he had scrambled walked out of the barn with him that he had not +known what to do. He just clung there. + +But, finding that the horse was very gentle and did not try to reach +back and bite his legs, Freddie began rather to like it. + +"Go 'long, nice horsie! Go 'long!" called Freddie, and he clapped his +heels against the sides of the animal. + +The horse went along all right--fairly out on to the race track, and +just as the race was starting! + +"Here! Where you going?" + +"Come back with that horse!" + +"Look out! Stop him, somebody! That boy will be hurt!" + +These were only a few of the many cries that rose from the grandstand +and the space in front of it when the people saw Freddie right in the +path of the rushing horses. + +"Ring that bell!" cried one of the judges to the starter. + +The starter pulled the cord of the big gong which is rung to bring the +horses back if they have not made an even start, as very often happens. + +Clang! went the gong. The jockeys on the backs of the horses knew what +the ringing of the bell meant. Some of them had begun to guide their +horses so as not to run into Freddie and his mount, but there were so +many racers that one or two of them might have bumped into the little +fellow. But when the jockeys heard the ringing of the bell they knew it +was a false start and they pulled in their steeds and some turned back. + +But now something else happened. While the horse Freddie had climbed up +on was kind and gentle, yet he was a race horse. And as soon as he found +himself out on the track he must have thought he had been ridden there +to take part in a race. + +At any rate, before Freddie could stop him, even if the little Bobbsey +lad had been able to do this, the horse began to trot around the track. +Perhaps he thought the ringing of the bell meant for him to start. + +So away he ran, going faster and faster with poor Freddie bobbing up +and down, but still clinging to the animal's neck. It was all Freddie +could do, as there was no saddle horn to grasp. + +"Whoa! Whoa!" begged the little chap. "Nice horsie! Whoa now!" + +It was not so much fun as Freddie had at first thought to take a ride in +this way. At the beginning he had an idea that he might some day be a +jockey and wear a gayly colored silk blouse. But he never imagined race +horses went so fast. + +"Whoa! Whoa!" cried Freddie again. But his horse did not stop. Indeed, +it only went faster. + +"Somebody get after that boy!" yelled the starter, leaning from the +judges' stand. "He'll be hurt if you don't get him!" + +"I'll get him!" offered one of the jockeys. He called to his horse and +was soon speeding around the track after Freddie. And now the horse on +whose back the little Bobbsey boy was seated, hearing another steed +coming after him, began to think it was a race in real earnest, and he +commenced to go faster. All the "whoa" shouts Freddie uttered were of +no use. + +"Go on, Tomato! Go on!" cried the jockey to his horse. "Go on, Tomato!" +Tomato was the name of his animal. + +The shouts and the screams of the crowd attracted the attention of Mr. +Bobbsey and the other children as they came from the animal tent. And as +Mr. Bobbsey neared the race track he had a glimpse of his little son +clinging to a horse and riding very fast, while a jockey on another +horse chased him. + +"Oh, look! Freddie's in a race!" cried Flossie! "Oh, maybe Freddie will +win!" + +"My goodness! how did this happen?" cried Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Will he be hurt?" gasped Nan. + +But just then, to the great relief of the Bobbsey family, the jockey +managed to come up alongside of Freddie's galloping horse. The jockey +reached over with one hand, caught Freddie by the seat of his little +trousers, and fairly lifted him off the back of the now excited horse. + +Then, placing Freddie on the saddle in front of him, the jockey turned +his horse about and rode slowly back to the stand. Some of the +stablemen then ran out and caught the other horse. + +"Why, Freddie! what in the world were you trying to do?" asked his +father, when the little boy was placed in his arms. + + +"I--I just wanted a ride," Freddie explained. "I got tired of ridin' on +wooden lions. I wanted a live horse." + +"Well, he picked a lively one all right!" laughed a man in the crowd. +"That horse he rode has won every race, so far." + +"You must never do such a thing again, Freddie," his father told him, +when the excitement had died down and the racing was once more started. +"Never again." + +"No, I won't," Freddie promised. "But when I grow up I'm goin' to ride +horses, I am!" + +"That will be a good while yet," laughed Bert. + +"I'm glad your mother wasn't here," said Mr. Bobbsey. "She would have +almost fainted, I'm sure, if she had seen you out on the race track like +a regular jockey." + +"Did I look like a jockey?" Freddie asked, eagerly. + +"Well, not exactly," Bert said. "You didn't have any silk blouse on." + +"I'll get Dinah to make me one when I go home," Freddie declared. "I'll +have a red one, I guess, and then if I get tired of ridin' horses I can +be a fireman." + +"Well, I think we've had excitement enough for one day," remarked Mr. +Bobbsey. "We'll have something to eat, look around a little more, and +then go home." + +"But we can come back again, can't we?" asked Bert. "I haven't seen the +balloon go up yet." + +"Yes, we want to see that," added Harry. + +"I'll bring you to the fair again to-morrow or next day," promised Mr. +Bobbsey. "I want to come back myself. I've met a number of men to-day +I'd like to talk with further. Then I'd like to have a talk with that +Mr. Blipper." + +That night, at Meadow Brook Farm, Mr. Bobbsey and his wife, after the +children had gone to bed, talked over the strange disappearance of Mr. +Bobbsey's coat and the auto lap robe. + +"I'm sure that Blipper knows something about them," said Mrs. Bobbsey. +"Or perhaps that strange Bob Guess--what an odd name." + +"It is an odd name," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, "But it fits, for they don't +know what his real name is--at least he says he doesn't. But I don't +believe Bob had anything to do with the taking of my coat and the robe. +I'd like to find out more about the boy. He seems bright, and I feel +sorry for him. I must see that man, Blipper, and have a talk with him." + +"Wasn't he at his merry-go-round to-day?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"No, he had gone off somewhere. But I am going to the fair again with +the children, and I'll get at Blipper sooner or later." + +"Well, if you go to the fair again, please keep an eye on Freddie!" +begged the mother of the Bobbsey twins. "He's a little tyke when it +comes to slipping away and doing strange things." + +"Yes, he is," agreed her husband. But the next day was to prove that +Flossie could also "slip away," when there was a chance. + +The Bobbsey twins, with Harry, were out in the cornfield gathering ears +of corn to feed to the hogs and chickens. The corn had been cut and +stacked into piles called "shocks," and it was from the stalks in these +shocks that the ears of yellow corn were broken off and placed in +baskets to be taken to the house. + +"Let's play hide and go seek for a while," suggested Nan to her brother +and Harry. "Flossie and Freddie are over there by themselves, shelling +corn." The smaller twins had been given a little basket, and they were +now busy breaking off kernels of corn from some small ears, and dropping +the corn into their basket. + +"For the chickies," Flossie had explained. + +So while the smaller twins were thus "kept out of mischief," as Nan +said, she, with Bert and Harry, began a game of hide and go seek. It was +lots of fun, dodging in and out among the tall corn shocks, which rose +above the children's heads. The game went on for some time, until even +Bert and Harry said they were tired. + +"Well, we'll take the corn up to the house," announced Nan. "Come, +Flossie and Freddie," she called. Freddie came up, carrying the basket +of shelled corn, but Flossie was not with him. + +"Where's your sister?" asked Harry. + +"Who, Flossie? Oh, she went away. She said she was going home," Freddie +answered. "She went home a good while ago!" + +"Went home!" echoed Nan, with a gasping breath. "Why, she never could +find the way all by herself. Oh, maybe she's lost!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +FREDDIE AND THE PUMPKIN + + +The cornfield where the Bobbsey twins and Harry had gone to work and +play was a long distance from the farmhouse. Nan knew this, and that is +why she was frightened when Freddie said that Flossie had "gone home." + +"Maybe she could find her way," said Bert. + +"She's a smart little girl," added Harry. "I wish I had a sister like +her." + +"How long ago did she leave you, Freddie?" asked Nan. + +"Oh, 'bout maybe three four hours," answered the little boy. + +"We haven't been here an hour!" exclaimed Bert. + +"Well, maybe it was minutes, then," admitted Freddie. He did not have a +very good idea of time, you see. + +"If it was only a little while ago she can't have gone very far," said +Nan. "Flossie! Flossie!" she called. "Where are you?" + +But there was no answer. Bert and Harry then took up the call, as they +had louder voices than had Nan, and even Freddie added his shout, but it +was of no use. Flossie did not answer. + +"I guess she's too far away," Harry stated. + +"We'd better hurry after her!" said Bert. + +"Oh, come on!" cried Nan, half sobbing. "Mother told me to keep good +watch over her, and I didn't! I shouldn't have played hide and go seek!" + +"It wasn't your fault!" her brother consoled her. "It was as much mine +as yours. But we'll find Flossie all right. I guess she's home by this +time." + +But when they had hurried to the farmhouse there was no sign of the +little girl. Mrs. Bobbsey became much frightened when told what had +happened. + +"Is there any water she could fall into?" she asked Aunt Sarah. + +"No, not even a duck pond near the cornfield. She's all right, I'm +sure," said the other Mrs. Bobbsey. "We'll go back to the cornfield and +find her hiding, I feel certain." + +"But she wasn't playing hide and go seek," declared Nan. "She wouldn't +hide from us." + +"You can't tell," said Aunt Sarah, so cheerfully that the others took +heart. Back they hurried to the field where the big shocks of dried +cornstalks stood. The two Mr. Bobbseys also went along to help in the +search. + +"Now show us where you and Flossie were playing at shell the corn," said +the mother of the twins. + +"Right here," Freddie stated, and he pointed to some of the yellow +kernels on the ground. + +The father of the Bobbsey twins stooped down and looked at the soft +earth. He soon found what he was looking for--the tiny footprints of his +little girl. + +"She went over this way," he said. "Come on, we'll pretend we are +hunters on the trail. We'll soon find Flossie." + +"Oh, this is fun!" laughed Freddie. But it was not exactly fun for the +others. Even Nan and Bert were worried. + +The footprints of Flossie wandered off among the shocks of corn, and in +a few moments they stopped at a place where two or three shocks had been +piled together, making a large heap. + +And then, before any one could say a word, from behind this pile of +cornstalks a sleepy voice called, asking: + +"Where are you, Freddie?" + +"There she is! That's Flossie!" cried Bert. + +He and his mother made a dash around the big shock and there, lying with +her little cloak wrapped around her, was Flossie, nestled amid the corn +husks, curled up and just awakening from a nap. + +"Oh, Flossie! why did you run away?" asked her mother, clasping her +little daughter in her arms. + +"I didn't runned away, I walked!" declared Flossie, rubbing her eyes. +"What you all lookin' at me for?" she wanted to know. "Was I a bad girl, +Mother?" + +"Not exactly bad, but you frightened us," her father said. "However, +we're glad we have found you." + +Flossie had just wandered away by herself, unnoticed by Bert, Nan, or +Harry, and, growing tired and sleepy, had nestled in the corn to take a +nap. Freddie had been so busy shelling corn that he did not notice which +way his little sister went. + +But everything was all right now, and the happy families went back to +the farmhouse, the smaller twins being allowed to feed some of their +corn to the chickens. + +True to his promise, Mr. Richard Bobbsey took his children to the Bolton +County Fair the next day, his wife going with him this time. Of course +Harry also went along, for it would not have been polite to leave him at +home. As for Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah, they said they would go to the +fair another day. + +"Will you ask Mr. Blipper about your coat and the missing robe?" asked +Mrs. Bobbsey, on the way to the fair grounds. + +"Yes. And I'll ask him about Bob Guess, also," her husband answered. +"There is something strange about that boy." + +The Bobbsey twins and Harry were talking among themselves, while Nan +also looked after Flossie and Freddie. + +"They're going to put the big balloon up to-day," said Harry. + +"They are if the wind doesn't blow too much," Bert agreed. "And I'm +afraid it's blowing too hard. Do you think the wind is blowing too much +for them to send the big balloon up?" he anxiously asked his father. + +Mr. Bobbsey looked at the sky. + +"To my mind," he said, "I think there is going to be a storm. I'm afraid +the wind will keep on blowing harder all day. Of course I don't know how +strong a wind it takes to keep a balloon man from going up, but I should +say there would be danger in going up to-day." + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Bert. "I wanted to see the man go up in the +balloon!" + +"So did I!" added Harry. "But maybe the wind will die out." + +However, it did not, and it was still blowing rather hard when the fair +grounds were reached. + +"Never mind," said Mrs. Bobbsey, when she saw how disappointed Harry +and Bert seemed to feel. "If the balloon doesn't go up to-day it will +to-morrow, and we can come again. There are plenty of other things to +look at besides balloons." + +"I'd like to go to see some of the big vegetables and the fruits, and +look at the patchwork quilts and the lace," said Nan. + +"Very well," agreed her father. "We'll go there first, and maybe by that +time the wind will have died down. But I hardly think so." + +Truth to tell Bert and Harry did not care much for the big pumpkins, +squashes, and other vegetables. And they hardly looked at the fancy work +in which Nan and her mother took an interest. + +"Oh, wouldn't this make a dandy jack-o'-lantern!" cried Freddie, as he +crawled under a railing around a platform, on which were many large +vegetables. "Look what a big pumpkin!" + +"Freddie, you mustn't go in there," called his mother. "Come out. Don't +touch that big pumpkin." + +But it was too late! Freddie was already on the wooden platform, and he +was rolling the pumpkin. It was almost perfectly round, and the little +fellow could easily move it. + +"Come away!" called Mr. Bobbsey, adding his voice to that of his wife. + +"I want to see if I can lift this pumpkin!" exclaimed Freddie. + +And then, suddenly, the big pumpkin rolled off the platform, toward the +back of the tent. + +"Get it, Freddie! Get it!" cried Bert, for he knew the pumpkin was on +exhibition in order to take a prize, if possible. It would be too bad if +anything happened to it. + +Freddie made a dive for the big, yellow vegetable, but, as it happened, +the tent stood on the top of a hill. And as the pumpkin rolled off the +platform it slipped under the tent and began going down the grassy hill +outside. + +"Whoa! Whoa!" called Freddie, as he had called to the race horse that +had walked out on the track with him. "Whoa, pumpkin!" + +But the pumpkin kept on rolling! The little chap made a dive for it, +missed it by a few inches, and then, falling over, he, too, rolled out +under the tent and down the hill. + +Freddie was not quite so round as a pumpkin, but he managed to get a +good start, and rolled over and over. And as his father, mother, and the +others hurried out of the tent they saw Freddie and the big yellow +vegetable tumbling down the hill together. + +"Oh, look! Look!" cried a little girl. "A boy and a pumpkin are having a +race! Oh, look! How funny! A boy and a pumpkin are having a race!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +UP IN A BALLOON + + +The pumpkin won the race. I suppose you had already guessed that it +would. For the pumpkin, being almost perfectly round, could roll down +the hill faster than Freddie could. + +So the pumpkin was the first to reach the bottom of the little grassy +hill on which stood the tent where the prize fruits and vegetables were +on exhibition. And Freddie came tumbling after, like Jack and Jill, you +know. + +And I believe it is a good thing the pumpkin reached the bottom of the +hill first, for if Freddie had been first the big, heavy pumpkin would +have rolled up against him with a bump, and might have hurt him. But +Freddie, bumping into the pumpkin, as he did, was not hurt at all. + +"Oh, you funny little boy!" cried the little girl who had laughed, as +she ran up to Freddie, who was now sitting on the grass. "The pumpkin +beat you in the rolling race down hill. But maybe you'll win next time." + +"There isn't going to be any next time," laughed Mother Bobbsey, as she +ran to pick Freddie up. "He didn't do that on purpose, little girl." + +"Oh, I thought he did. Anyhow, it was funny!" and she laughed again. + +"Yes, it was funny," agreed Bert. "And here comes a man after the +pumpkin, I guess." + +"Be careful that he doesn't take you and put you on exhibition in the +tent," said Nan to her little brother. + +"Will he, Mother?" asked Flossie. + +"No, of course not. Nan is only joking." + +"The pumpkin isn't hurt any," said Harry, helping the man lift it up on +his shoulder. + +"I'm glad of it," the man said. "It has won the prize, and the farmer +who owns it wouldn't like it if it should be broken." + +"Let's go over to the merry-go-round," suggested Freddie, who did not +like so many people looking at him, for quite a crowd had gathered when +word of the funny pumpkin race spread. "I want a ride on the +merry-go-round." + +"So do I," added Flossie. + +"And then it will be time for the balloon to go up," added Bert. "Do you +think the wind is too strong?" he asked his father. + +"Well, it is blowing pretty hard, and it's getting worse. I think there +is going to be a storm. But I see men working around the balloon, and I +think they are going to send it up. Perhaps they think they can send it +up and let it come down again before the storm." + +"Oh, let's hurry and see it!" cried Nan, who was as much interested in +the big gas bag as were the boys. + +"First we'll give Flossie and Freddie a ride on the merry-go-round, I +think," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey. So they all voted to have a ride, as Mr. +Bobbsey wanted a chance to speak to Mr. Blipper. + +But, just as had happened the other time, Mr. Blipper was not there. Bob +Guess was taking tickets, and when he saw Nan he smiled. + +"I'll get you the brass ring," he promised, and he did. + +The children liked the lively music, and also the whirling ride on the +backs of the wooden animals. Even Mrs. Bobbsey took one ride, but she +said that was enough. Nan had a special ride, because Bob Guess had +saved for her the brass ring, and when the other children learned that +Nan was to ride for nothing, of course they wanted an extra ride, for +which Mr. Bobbsey had to pay. + +"When do you think Mr. Blipper will be here?" Mr. Bobbsey asked of Bob, +as the party was leaving. "I want to talk to him." + +"I don't know," was the boy's answer. "He doesn't stay at the +merry-go-round as much as he used to. He lets me and one of his men run +it. He's away a lot." + +"Well, you tell him I want to see him," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "I shall be +here to-morrow and the next day." + +"I'll tell him," promised Bob Guess. + +"Now let's go see the balloon," suggested Bert. + +"They're getting ready to send it up!" exclaimed Harry, as they neared +the place where the big bag, already partly filled with gas, was swaying +to and fro. Over the bag was a net work of strong cords, and the cords +were fastened to the rim of a large square basket. To the basket were +tied ropes, and to the ends of these ropes were bags of sand, thus +holding the balloon to the ground. + +"What makes it go up?" asked Flossie, as she watched the swaying bag. + +"Gas," explained Mr. Bobbsey. "They put in the big bag some gas, +sometimes one kind and sometimes another, just like the gas in your toy +balloons. This gas is so very light--it's not even so heavy as air--that +it wants to go up into the air, all by itself. And when it is inside a +bag the gas takes the bag up into the air with it." + +"And the basket too? Doesn't it take the basket?" Freddie asked. + +"Yes, the basket goes up with the balloon," said Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Who goes in the basket?" asked Freddie. + +"Oh, the man," his father answered. + +"Do any children go in the balloon?" called out Flossie. "Any boys or +girls?" + +"Oh, no!" quickly said Nan, for she did not want her little sister and +brother to tease for a ride in a balloon basket. + +"I'd like a ride in a balloon," murmured Freddie. + +Just then the wind began to blow more strongly, and the big gas bag +swayed to one side, toward a crowd of people who ran to get out of the +way. + +"Get more ropes!" cried one of the balloon men. "Get more ropes and sand +bags!" + +"That's right!" shouted another man. "There's going to be a storm. I +don't know whether we ought to send the balloon up!" + +"Oh, let her go!" cried several in the crowd. They did not want to be +disappointed. Bert and Harry added their voices to the cries for an +ascension. + +"Well, we'll have to tie the balloon down until we get more gas in it," +said the first man. "Come on now, more ropes and sand bags!" + +While these were being brought the Bobbsey twins and their relatives +drew as near to the balloon as they could get, closely looking at it. At +times the big bag, partly filled with gas, swayed until it swept the +ground. The basket, too, pulled and tugged at the ropes that held it +down. + +"What does the man do when he's in the basket?" Freddie asked. + +"Oh, he sits there and rides along up in the clouds," said Bert. "I wish +I could go up." + +"Does he have anything to eat?" Flossie wanted to know. + +"Oh, yes," said Nan. "There are things to eat in the basket. See!" And +she held Flossie up so she could look over the edge and down into the +basket. Of course Freddie had to be lifted up, also. + +The basket seemed a cosy place. There were blankets in it, for it is +often very cold high up in the air where balloons go, though it may be +very warm on the earth. And there were boxes and packages containing +food and many strange things at which the Bobbsey twins wondered. + +The wind kept blowing harder and harder, and the crowd grew larger as +word went around the fair grounds that the balloon was soon to go up. + +"What about those ropes?" cried the man who was in charge of the +balloon. + +"They're coming," another man told him. "Be here right away!" + +"Well, those lads want to hurry if this balloon isn't to go sailing off +by itself! My, but the wind is blowing hard! I've a good notion to call +this off. I'm afraid we're in for a bad storm." + +"We can't stop it now," said the second man. "The crowd expects us to go +up, and we'll have to go." + +"Well, we'll try it. But we must tie the balloon down and put in more +gas. It won't go up very far only half filled as it is." + +Suddenly some voices cried: + +"One side! One side if you please!" + +It was the men coming up with ropes to tie the balloon down. + +Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey tried to gather the children close to them, to get +them out of the way of the men. But, in some manner, Flossie and +Freddie turned to one side, and before they knew it they were separated +from their friends. And then Flossie and Freddie found themselves pushed +close up against the balloon basket. + +"Oh, let's get in!" cried Freddie. + +"We'll just sit down for a minute and then get out," agreed Flossie. + +The crowd was so excited, trying to get out of the way of the men with +the coils of rope, that no one noticed what the small Bobbsey twins did. +And so Freddie and Flossie climbed into the balloon basket and snuggled +down in the blankets. + +"Quick now with those ropes!" cried the head man. "She's going to tear +loose! Feel that wind!" + +There came a heavy blow, causing the balloon to sway back and forth. + +"Look out!" cried another voice. "There she goes!" + +Almost as he spoke there was a further scramble on the part of the +crowd, and the balloon tore loose from the holding ropes before the men +had time to put on the new ones. + +"There she goes!" echoed the crowd. "Up goes the balloon!" + +And up it went, taking Flossie and Freddie with it! Up and up it rose, +shooting above the heads of the crowd. + +"Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, "what's going to happen?" + +"We're going up in a balloon!" shouted Freddie, and then he laughed. He +thought it was fun. + +"Oh, I want to get down!" screamed Flossie. She looked over the edge of +the basket, as did her brother, and just then Mrs. Bobbsey glanced up. + +"Oh, my children! Flossie and Freddie!" she gasped, pointing. "They're +in the balloon!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ON THE ISLAND + + +There was great excitement down on the ground when the cry of Mrs. +Bobbsey told her husband, the other children, and the big crowd that +Flossie and Freddie had been carried away in the balloon. At first some +did not believe it, and even Mr. Bobbsey found it hard to imagine that +such a thing could happen. + +But one look up at the swaying basket dangling from the runaway balloon +showed him the faces of Flossie and Freddie looking down at the earth +which seemed to be dropping away from them. + +"Oh, my children! My children! Flossie! Freddie!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, +tears streaming down her cheeks, as she raised her hands toward the +swiftly rising balloon. + +"Get them down!" + +"We'll catch 'em if they jump!" + +"Get a ladder!" + +"Have the man in the aeroplane go after them!" + +These were some of the cries--foolish cries in some cases--that sounded +on all sides as Flossie and Freddie were carried away. For how could any +ladder be long enough to reach up to the balloon? + +"Oh, can't we do something?" wailed Mrs. Bobbsey, holding to her +husband. + +"We'll save them! We'll save Flossie and Freddie," said Mr. Bobbsey. Nan +was crying also, and Harry and Bert looked at each other with strange +faces. They didn't know what to do or say. + +Mr. Bobbsey felt the wind blowing stronger and stronger and saw the +gathering storm. As he saw how fast the balloon was moving upward and +onward, away from the fair grounds, he, too, was much frightened. + +"How did those children get in there?" asked one of the balloon men. + +"They must have crawled in the basket when we weren't looking," answered +Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Is there any way of saving my little children?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Now don't you worry," said the balloon man kindly. "They'll be all +right if they stay in the basket. The balloon hasn't all its gas in, and +it won't blow very far. It will soon come down to the ground." + +"But won't they be killed?" + +"No, a balloon comes down very gently when the gas gives out." said the +man. "It's almost like a parachute. Your children will come down like +feathers. We'll get up a searching party and go after them." He knew +there was great danger but he did not want to add to Mrs. Bobbsey's +fears. + +"Oh, yes! Do something!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "We must save them!" + +While down below there was all excitement and while a searching party +was getting ready to start out to rescue Flossie and Freddie, the two +little children themselves were safe enough in the balloon basket. That +is they were safe for the time being, for they could not fall unless +they climbed over the side of the basket, and they would hardly do this. +They were also safe from banging into anything, for they were now high +in the air, well above all trees and buildings, and there were no other +balloons or any aeroplanes in sight. + +At the fair grounds was an aeroplane, but it had not gone up yet, and +could not, for the engine was broken, and the man had to mend it before +he could make a flight. So as long as Flossie and Freddie remained in +the basket they were safe. + +They did not even feel the wind blow, for as they were being carried +right along in the gale, being a part of it, so to speak, they did not +feel it as they had when standing on the ground. + +But, in spite of all this, Flossie's little heart was beating very fast +and tears came into her eyes. + +"Oh, Freddie!" she half sobbed, "what you s'pose's goin' to happen to +us?" + +"I don't know," he answered. "But anyhow we're up in a balloon and we're +having a fine sail. I like a balloon, don't you, Flossie?" + +Flossie thought it over for a moment. Now that the first fright was +passed she rather enjoyed the quiet, easy motion. For there were no +bumps as in an automobile, and there was no swaying as on the +merry-go-round. It was like flying with the birds, and Flossie had +always wanted to be a bird. + +"It is--yes, I guess it is nice," she said. "Are we high up?" + +"Not very," Freddie answered. "Don't look over the edge or you might +fall out of the basket," he told his sister, as he saw her getting ready +to stand on her tiptoes and peer down. Freddie had looked down once, as +had Flossie, when they first felt themselves going up, and it had made +him a little dizzy. He did not want Flossie to fall out. + +"Let's see if we can find something to eat," suggested the little boy. +"I'm hungry." + +"So'm I," agreed Flossie. This was something new to think about. + +They poked among the things in the balloon basket. There were funny +objects, the uses of which they could only guess at, but there were also +some crackers and sandwiches, as well as a bottle of milk, and some +water. + +"Oh, we can have a regular camp-out!" laughed Flossie. "We'll make +believe we're on a steamer." + +"It'll be lots of fun," agreed Freddie. So they ate and were quite +happy, while those they had left behind were very much worried and +miserable. + +The wind blew harder and harder, but, as I have said, Flossie and +Freddie did not notice it. Soon, however, they began to notice something +else, and this was some drops of water. + +"Oh, the balloon's leaking!" cried Flossie, as she felt a damp spot on +her red cheek. + +Freddie also felt some wet splashes, but he saw at once what they were. + +"It's raining!" he cried. And so it was. The storm had broken. + +"Raining!" cried Flossie. "And we hasn't got any umbrella!" + +"We don't need one," said the little boy. "The balloon's so big it will +be like an umbrella over us." + +This was partly true. The bag of the balloon bulged out over the heads +of the children, keeping off most of the rain. But some blew in sideways +over the top of the basket, and the children would have been quite wet +had they not wrapped themselves in blankets. These kept them warm and +dry, for one of the blankets was of rubber. + +Thus the little Bobbsey twins sailed on in a balloon, the first ride of +this kind they had ever taken. Their first fright was over, but they +began wondering what would happen next. + +Suddenly Flossie discovered a hole in the bottom of the basket, through +which she could look down to the earth. And as she looked she cried: + +"Oh, Freddie, we're going down into a lake!" + +Freddie looked and saw what his sister had seen. The balloon was now +going down. Probably the gas had leaked out, or there may not have been +more than enough to carry the balloon a short distance. At any rate it +was now falling, and, as the children saw, straight toward a body of +water. + +"Shall we fall into the water?" asked Flossie. + +"No--no, I don't guess so," Freddie answered. He hoped that was not +going to happen. But as he looked down and saw the water seemingly +coming nearer and nearer, though of course it was the balloon going +down, the little boy did not feel at all sure but they would drop right +into the lake. + +"We'd better hold on hard to the basket," said Freddie, after thinking +over the best thing to do. "When we get in the lake we can hold on to +the basket until somebody comes." + +This idea made Flossie feel a little better. She was glad she had +Freddie with her, and Freddie was glad Flossie was with him. + +Down, down the balloon gently dropped. The rain was pouring hard now, +splashing into the lake, which was covered in some places with a blanket +of fog. + +Then, just when it seemed that Flossie and Freddie and the balloon would +splash into the water, an island loomed in sight. + +"Oh, if we could only land on the island!" cried Freddie. + +And that's just what happened! Through the branches of trees the balloon +crashed, this helping to stop it more gently. Down to the island it +fell, the basket banging on the ground. The basket tipped over sideways, +spilling Flossie and Freddie out, but not hurting them as they fell in a +pile of dried leaves. Some of the things in the basket fell out with +them. + +Once the children were out of the balloon it rose a little, was blown +along a short distance by the wind, and then, getting tangled in the +tree branches, came to a stop. + +"Well, we're all right now," said Freddie, as he arose and brushed the +leaves from him. + +"But I'm getting all wet!" sobbed Flossie. "I'm soaked!" + +And so she was, as well as Freddie, for it was raining hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SEARCHING PARTY + + +Every one at the fair grounds was anxious to help Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey +get back Flossie and Freddie, who had been carried off in the runaway +balloon. The men who owned the big gas bag were the first to make the +right sort of plans. + +"The balloon is being blown over the lake," said Mr. Trench, the owner +of the big bag. "We must go in that direction." + +"Over the lake!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "Oh, if they should fall in!" + +"The balloon will float on the water," her husband told her. "The +children will be all right, I'm sure." + +"Yes, indeed," agreed Mr. Trench. "Don't worry, lady. We'll get your +children back. The first thing to do is to go to the lake, and then we +can hire a motor-boat there." + +"I'm going with you!" declared Mrs. Bobbsey, as she saw the preparations +being made for the searching party. + +"I think you had better stay with Bert and Nan," said Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Oh, we'll be all right!" Nan hastened to tell her father. + +"Can't Harry and I come on the searching party?" asked Bert. + +"No, I would rather not," his father answered. "You stay with your +mother and Nan." + +"I simply am coming with you, Dick!" said Mrs. Bobbsey, and when she +spoke in that tone her husband knew there was no use trying to get her +to change her mind. + +"Very well," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "We will go to the lake in my auto. Mr. +Trench knows where we can hire a motor-boat." + +The lake, a large one, came within a few miles of the fair grounds. The +balloon man knew in which direction the water lay, and he had seen the +wind carrying the big gas bag toward the water. + +"Bert, you and Nan and Harry must go back to Meadow Brook Farm," +directed Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll see if I can't hire an auto to take you +there, as it is going to storm soon. It's sprinkling now." + +"We'll take them back," offered a gentleman who had come to the fair +with his wife in their auto. "I know where Meadow Brook Farm is. We'll +take these children there." + +"Thank you, very much," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And tell your uncle and aunt +what has happened, Bert. Tell them we expect to be home before night +with Flossie and Freddie." + +"Oh, if we only can be!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"We'll find the little ones all right--never fear!" said Mr. Trench. "If +you're ready now, we'll start." + +So while Nan, Bert and Harry remained behind in charge of Mr. Blackford, +who had offered to take them home in his automobile, Mr. and Mrs. +Bobbsey, with some men who had charge of the balloon, started off to go +to the lake, there to hire a boat and search for Flossie and Freddie. + +"They're out of sight. How far away they must be!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey, +as she entered the automobile. She looked up, but could not see the +balloon, so fast had it been blown away. + +"They aren't so far as it seems," declared Mr. Trench. "It's getting +foggy, and it's going to rain hard soon." + +As Bert, Nan, and Harry were getting in Mr. Blackford's automobile to go +to Meadow Brook Farm, Bob Guess came hurrying up through the rain. The +merry-go-round, as well as other amusements at the fair, had shut down +on account of the storm. + +"Where's your father?" asked Bob of Bert. "I've something to tell him. +Where is he?" + +"He's gone off after the balloon. Flossie and Freddie are in it," Nan +answered. + +"Whew! Those little children taking a balloon ride!" cried Bob. "How did +they dare?" + +"It was an accident," Harry explained. "They didn't mean to." + +"Well, tell your father I want to see him when he gets back," said Bob, +as he hurried back to the merry-go-round. "I have something to tell him +about Mr. Blipper." + +However, Bert and Nan had other things to think about then than about +Mr. Blipper. They were worried over what might happen to Flossie and +Freddie. + +Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were hastening toward the lake. Mr. +Bobbsey drove his car as fast as he dared through the storm. It was now +raining hard. + +"How long would the balloon stay up in the air?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of +Mr. Trench. + +"It all depends. On a hot day, when the sun warms the gas, it would stay +up a long time. But when it is cool, like this, and rains, it will not +stay up so long. It will come down gently, and I am sure the children +will not be hurt." + +As they drove along they stopped now and then to ask people if they had +seen the runaway balloon. Many had, and all said it was sailing toward +the lake. + +When the lake was reached and a motor-boat had been found which would +take them out on the water, several men said they had seen the big gas +bag beginning to go down near Hemlock Island, the largest island in the +lake. + +"If they have only landed there they may be all right," Mrs. Bobbsey +said. "Oh, hurry and get there, Dick!" + +"We'll hurry all we can," her husband told her, as they got into the +boat to continue the search. "But this is a bad storm. We must be +careful." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ON THE ROCKS + + +The whole world seemed a very dreary and unhappy place to Mr. and Mrs. +Bobbsey as they started off in the motor-boat to look for Flossie and +Freddie. In the first place, if one of the little Bobbsey twins had just +been lost--plain lost--as Flossie was in the cornfield, it would have +been sad enough. But when both tots were missing, and when the last seen +of them had been a sight of them shooting away in a balloon through a +gathering storm, well, it was enough to make any father and mother feel +very unhappy. + +Besides this, there was the rain, and as the motor-boat, in charge of +Captain Craig, swung out into the lake, the big, pelting drops came down +harder than ever. + +"Oh, what a sad, sad day!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey. "And it started off so +happily, too!" + +"Perhaps it will end happily," said Mr. Bobbsey, hopefully. "It will not +be night for several hours yet, and before then we may find Flossie and +Freddie. In fact I'm sure we shall!" + +"I think so, too," declared Mr. Trench, the owner of the balloon. "That +craft of mine wasn't filled with enough gas to go far, and it had to +come down soon." + +"But where would it come down? That's the point!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. +"If it came down in the lake----" + +"It's on Hemlock Island, take my word for it!" growled out Captain +Craig, in whose motor-boat the searching party was riding. It was not +because he was cross that his voice had a growling sound. It was just +naturally hoarse. He was out on the water so much, often in the cold and +rain, that he seemed to have an everlasting cold. "We'll find the +balloon and the children, too, on Hemlock Island," he went on. "Half a +dozen men I talked to, just before you came, said they saw something big +and black, like an airship, swooping down on the island. We'll find 'em +there, never fear!" + +"How far are we from Hemlock Island?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of Captain +Craig, when they had been in the motor-boat about fifteen minutes. + +"Oh, a few miles--just a few miles," was the answer. + +"And how long will it take to get there?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked. + +"Well, that's hard to say," was the answer. "It might take us a long +while, and again it might not take us so long." + +"Why is that?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, wondering whether Bert and Nan would +be all right, left to themselves as they were. But then they would have +their uncle, aunt, and cousin to look after them. + +"Well," went on Captain Craig, as he steered the boat to one side, "you +see it's getting thicker and thicker--I mean the weather. The rain is +coming down harder and it's getting foggy, too. I can't very well see +where to steer, and I have to run at slow speed. So it will take me +longer to get to Hemlock Island than if it was a clear day and I could +run as fast as my boat would go." + +"Well, get there as soon as you can," begged Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm sure if +Flossie and Freddie are on the island in all this rain they will be +terribly frightened!" + +"Well, they may be--a little," admitted Mr. Bobbsey. "But Flossie and +Freddie are brave children. They'll make the best of things I'm sure!" + +The motor-boat went chug-chugging its way across the big lake, not +running as fast as it could have done on a fair day. The rain poured +down, making a hissing sound in the water. Those in the boat wore rubber +coats, for Captain Craig had supplied them at his boathouse before +starting out. He owned a boat dock, and also a fishing pier, and +supplied pleasure parties with nearly everything they needed for fair +weather or stormy. + +Suddenly Mrs. Bobbsey, who was straining her eyes to peer through the +mist and rain, uttered a cry. + +"There's something!" she called out. + +"Where?" asked her husband, and Captain Craig leaned forward, his hands +gripping the spokes of the steering wheel. + +"Right straight ahead," went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "Something black is +looming up in the fog. Maybe it's the balloon!" + +"We can't be anywhere near the island yet," said the captain. "That is +unless I'm away off my course. But we'll soon find out what it is." + +They could all see the black object now, though it looked dim and +uncertain, for a fog was settling down over the lake and the mist and +vapor, together with the rain, made it hard to see more than a few feet +ahead. + +"It's a boat!" suddenly cried Mr. Bobbsey. "A large boat." + +And that is what it was. + +"Ahoy there!" called Captain Craig in his deep voice. "Ahoy there!" + +"Ahoy!" answered the men in the boat. + +"Have you seen anything of a runaway balloon?" asked Mr. Trench. "Mine +got away from the Bolton County Fair, and it had two little children in +the balloon basket. Have you seen them?" + +Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and all in the motor boat waited anxiously for the +answer. Captain Craig had shut off his engine so its noise would not +drown the words of those in the other boat. + +"We saw something big and black sailing through the air over our heads +about an hour ago," was the answer. "We thought it was the aeroplane +from the fair grounds." + +"That was my balloon!" declared Mr. Trench. + +"Did you see anything of my children?" Mrs. Bobbsey begged to know. + +"No. But we couldn't see very well on account of the fog and because the +balloon--if that's what it was--kept up pretty high," came the answer. + +"Which way was she heading?" Captain Craig wanted to know, this being +his sailor way of asking which way the balloon was going. + +"Due north," answered one of the men in the other boat, which was a +craft containing a number of fishermen. + +"Towards Hemlock Island," stated another. + +"Well, we're going in the right direction," went on Captain Craig. "Much +obliged," he called to the fishermen, as the motor-boat again started +off through the fog. + +Soon the vessel that had been hailed was lost to sight in the mist, and +again all eyes, including those of Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey, were strained +in looking for a first sight of Hemlock Island. + +"Are you warm enough?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of his wife, wrapping the +rubber coat more closely about her. + +"Oh, yes. I'm not thinking of myself," she answered, with a sigh. "I am +worried about my darlings!" + +"I think they'll come out of it all right," said her husband. "Flossie +and Freddie, as well as Bert and Nan, have been in many a scrape, but +the Bobbsey luck seems to hold good. They always get out all right." + +"Yes. And I hope they will this time," answered Mrs. Bobbsey, trying to +appear more cheerful. + +For a while they ran along in silence, every one peering out into the +rain and the mist striving to catch sight, if not of the balloon, at +least of the shore of Hemlock Island. + +"My, but this fog is getting thicker and thicker!" exclaimed Captain +Craig. "I'll have to go a bit slower yet." + +He cut down the speed of the engine until the boat was moving at less +than half speed. But even this did not save her from an accident which +came a short time later. + +Suddenly, as they were cruising along, every eye on the lookout for a +sight of the island, there came a violent crash. All in the boat were +thrown forward. + +"Gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, as she struggled to regain her seat. + +"What have we struck?" Mr. Bobbsey asked. + +"We've struck Hemlock Island," said Captain Craig grimly. "We've fairly +bumped into it. I ought to have known I was somewhere near it. We've +fairly rammed it, and we're on the rocks!" + +"'On the rocks!'" repeated Mrs. Bobbsey. "Are we in danger?" + +"That's what I'm going to find out," said the captain. "At least we +can't sink, for we're right on shore," and as he spoke the fog blew away +for a moment, showing a bleak shore of rocks with hemlock trees a little +way up from the beach. "Yes, sir, we ran plumb on the rocks!" muttered +Captain Craig, as he stood up and tried to peer through the fog that was +now closing in again. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TWO LITTLE SAILORS + + +Now it is time for us to inquire what was happening to Freddie and +Flossie, the two smaller Bobbsey twins. They had fallen out of the +balloon basket when the big gas bag was blown down on Hemlock Island in +the storm. But Flossie and Freddie had toppled out on piles of soft, +dried leaves, so they were not hurt. But, as Flossie had said, she was +soaking wet. + +"We ought to have umbrellas," said Freddie, as he felt the drops of rain +pelting down. "If we had umbrellas this would be fun, 'cause we aren't +hurt from our balloon ride." + +"No, we aren't hurt," agreed Flossie, "'ceptin' I'm jiggled up a lot." + +"So'm I," Freddie stated. "I'm jiggled, too!" + +"And we hasn't got any umbrella, and I'm gettin' wetter'n wetter!" half +sobbed Flossie. + +Indeed it was raining harder, and as the fog was closing in on the +children they could not see very far on any side of them. + +It was not the first time the small Bobbsey twins had been lost +together, nor the first time they had been in trouble. And, as he had +done more than once, Freddie began to think of some way by which he +could comfort Flossie. + +The little boy was hungry, and he felt that if he could get something to +eat it would make him feel better. And surely what made him feel better +ought to make Flossie happier if she had some of the same. + +"Are you hungry, Flossie?" he asked. + +"Yes, I am," answered the little girl. + +"Well, let's eat some more of the things that were in the balloon +basket," proposed her brother. "They tumbled out when we did. I can see +some of 'em mixed up with the blankets and other things." + +When the bumping of the balloon basket had spilled out Flossie and +Freddie it had also toppled out the supply of food and the tools and +instruments the balloon men had intended using on their sail through the +air. + +"Let's get 'em before the rain soaks 'em all up," suggested Flossie, for +the rain was now pouring down on everything. + +"I guess that balloon won't be any good any more," said Freddie, as he +looked at the big gas bag, now almost empty and tangled in the trees and +bushes. + +"No, I guess we won't ever get another ride in it," agreed Flossie. + +That part was true enough; but, later, the balloon men took the bag from +the island, mended the holes in it, and went up in many a flight from +other fair grounds. + +Gathering up some of the spilled food gave Flossie and Freddie something +to do, and, for a time, they forgot about the rain pouring down. But it +was the kind of rain one could not easily forget for very long, and +after putting some tin boxes of crackers under an overhanging stump, +to keep the food dry, and after eating some, Flossie exclaimed: + +"Oh, I don't like it to be so wet!" Then she wept a little. + +Freddie did not like it, either, but he made up his mind he must be +brave and not cry. Not that Flossie could not be brave, too, but she +didn't just then happen to think of it. + +"I know what we can do!" Freddie exclaimed. "We can wrap the rubber +blanket around us, and that will be like an umbrella--almost!" + +"Oh, yes!" cried Flossie! "That will keep us from getting wet!" + +And the rubber blanket turned out to be a fairly good umbrella. It was +large enough for Flossie and Freddie to put over their shoulders and +walk under. And it was while they were thus walking through the woods, +wondering what would happen next and if their father and mother would +ever find them, that Freddie saw something. + +"Oh, Flossie! There's a house!" he shouted. + +"Where?" demanded the little girl. + +"Right over there! Among the trees! Down near the shore!" + +Freddie pointed and Flossie, looking, saw dimly through the fog the +outlines of some sort of building. + +"Let's go there and they can telephone to daddy that we're here," said +Flossie. "I guess we're all right now. And maybe Bert and Nan will wish +they'd come on a balloon ride with us." + +"Maybe," agreed Freddie, as he tramped along with his sister under the +rubber blanket toward the building on the shore of the lake. + +But alas for the hopes of the children! When they reached the place they +found that what Freddie had thought was a house was only an old empty +cabin. It had once been used by campers or by fishermen, and at one time +may have been a cosy place. But now the glass in the windows was broken, +the door hung sagging by one hinge, and inside there was a rusty stove +which showed no signs of a warm, cheerful fire. + +"There's nobody here," said Flossie sadly, after they had looked inside +and had seen that the shack was deserted. + +"Well, but it doesn't rain so hard inside as it does outside," remarked +Freddie. "Let's go in. This blanket makes me tired." + +The rubber covering was rather heavy for the little children, and they +were glad to step inside the cabin. Even though the roof leaked in +places, there were spots where it did not. Picking out one of these +spaces, Freddie moved some boxes over to it, and he and his sister sat +down, tired and wet, but feeling better now that they were within some +sort of shelter. + +"This isn't a very nice place," Flossie observed, looking around. + +"No. But it's better'n being outside," stated Freddie. "And maybe +there's a bed in the next room." The cabin consisted of two rooms, the +door between them being shut. "I'm going to look," Freddie went on. + +"No, don't!" begged Flossie, clutching Freddie by the sleeve. + +"Why not?" he asked. "Don't you want me to look in that room and see if +there's a bed? 'Cause maybe we'll have to stay all night." + +"Don't look!" begged Flossie "Maybe--maybe Mr. Blipper is in there!" + +"Mr. Blipper?" echoed Freddie. "What would he be doing here? He's at his +merry-go-round." + +"No, he isn't at his merry-go-round," insisted Flossie. "'Cause we was +there and he wasn't there when daddy wanted to ask him about the coat +and the lap robe. Maybe Mr. Blipper's in that room, and I don't like +him--he's so cross!" + +"Yes, he's cross," agreed Freddie. "And he was mean to Bob Guess. But +maybe Mr. Blipper isn't in that room. I'm going to look!" + +But Freddie never did. He got down off the old box he was using for a +seat, under a part of the roof that didn't leak, when Flossie gave a +cry, and pointed out-of-doors. + +"Look!" she exclaimed. + +"Is somebody coming?" Freddie wanted to know. + +"No, but I see a boat," Flossie went on. "We can get in the boat and row +back on the fair grounds and we'll be all right." + +Freddie looked to where she pointed and saw a rowboat drawn up on the +shore. + +"If it's got oars in we could row," he said, for both he and his little +sister knew something of handling boats, their father having taught +them. + +"Let's go down and look," proposed Flossie. "It isn't raining so hard +now." + +The big drops were not, indeed, pelting down quite so fast, but it was +still far from dry. + +Getting under the rubber blanket again, the children ran out of the +cabin and toward the boat. They were delighted to find oars in it, and, +seeing that the rowboat was in good shape, Freddie got in. + +"Ouch!" he exclaimed as he sat down on a wet seat. "Here, wait a minute +before you sit there, Flossie. I'll put the rubber blanket down to sit +on." + +The inside of the rubber blanket was dry, and Freddie put the wet side +down on the wooden seat. This gave the children something more +comfortable to sit on than a wet piece of wood. + +"We'll each take an oar and row," proposed Freddie, for he and Flossie +were sitting on the same seat. This was the only way to use the same +rubber blanket. + +Loosening the rope by which the boat was made fast to a stump on shore, +Freddie pushed out into the lake. The rain had almost stopped now, and +the children were feeling happier. + +"Now we'll row home," announced Freddie. + +"Had we better go back and get some of the crackers we left under the +stump?" asked Flossie. "Maybe it's a long way to the fair grounds or to +Meadow Brook Farm, and we might get hungry." + +"Oh, I guess we'll soon be home," said Freddie, hopefully. "Come on and +row, Flossie." + +Together they rowed the boat out from shore. But they could not make the +heavy craft go very fast. There was water in the bottom, probably from +the rain and perhaps because the boat leaked. But Freddie and Flossie +did not think about this, even though their feet were getting wet. Or, +at least, wetter. Their feet were already wet from having tramped about +in the heavy rain. + +"We'll soon be home now," said Freddie again. + +They were some little distance out from the shore, two brave but tired +and miserable little sailors, when, all at once, it began to rain again. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Flossie, letting go her oar, "I'm getting all soaked +again!" + +"Don't you care," advised her brother. "Keep on rowing!" + +But Flossie cried, shook her head, and would not pick up the oar. +Freddie could not row the boat alone, and he did not know what to do. +Down pelted the rain, harder than before. + +"I want to go back where we were!" sobbed Flossie. "Back to the cabin. +Maybe we can build a fire in the stove and get warm! I'm cold!" + +"All right; we'll go back!" agreed Freddie. He was beginning to fear it +was not so easy to row home as he had hoped. + +Down came the rain, and with it came a fog. Soon the children were +enveloped in the white mist, and they could see only a little distance +from the boat in which they sat. + +"Come on! Row!" called Freddie to his sister. "We'll row back to the +cabin." + +"How do you know where it is?" Flossie asked, as she took up the oar +again. + +"Oh, I guess I can find it," said her brother. "You hold your oar still +in the water and I'll pull on mine and turn us around." He knew how to +do this quite well, and soon the boat was turned, and the children were +again pulling as hard as they could pull. + +It was by good luck and not by any skill of theirs that they soon +reached land again. They might, for all they knew about it, have rowed +out into the middle of the lake. + +But soon a bumping sound told them they had reached shore, and Freddie +scrambled out and held the boat while Flossie made her way to land. + +"Is it the same place?" she asked, as Freddie reached for the rubber +blanket. + +"Yes, I can see the old cabin. We'll go up there and get warm." + +Up the little hill, through the rain, trudged the children, getting +what shelter they could under the blanket. Even Freddie was beginning to +lose heart now, for he could see that darkness was coming on, and they +were far from home. The rain, too, was pouring down harder than ever. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sighed Flossie. + +"Don't cry!" begged her brother. "I'll make a fire and we'll eat some +more crackers. I'll go get them from under the stump." + +"I'll go with you," declared Flossie, firmly, "I'm not going to stay +alone." + +Together they pulled out some of the lunch they had found in the balloon +basket. Back to the shack they went, and Freddie was looking about for +some matches in the old cabin when Flossie suddenly called out: + +"Hark! I hear something!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A HAPPY MEETING + + +Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and the friends who had gone with them in Captain +Craig's motor-boat to search for the runaway balloon, waited anxiously +after they had run on the rocks for what was to happen next. + +"Is there any danger?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"No, lady, there doesn't seem to be--that is, if you mean danger of +sinking," said Captain Craig. "As I remarked at first, we're plumb fast +on the rocks. But maybe if we were to get out and thus lighten the boat, +she would float off the rocks and we could keep on." + +"That's a good idea!" declared Mr. Bobbsey. "We must keep on, no matter +what happens, and find those children!" + +"I think we'll find them!" declared Mr. Trench, and he seemed so much in +earnest that Mrs. Bobbsey asked: + +"When?" + +"Very soon now," answered the balloon man. "If my gas bag came down here +on Hemlock Island--that's where we are now--it won't take long to search +all over it and find your Flossie and Freddie. That's what I think." + +"But first let me see how badly the boat is damaged," went on the +captain. "I'm afraid it's in bad shape." + +"Can't we get away from here?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "That is, I mean, +after we find the children? I wouldn't go until we have found them!" she +exclaimed. + +"It all depends on what shape my boat is in," went on the captain. "As +soon as you are all out I'll take a look." + +The searching party stood about in the rain on the shore of Hemlock +Island under the dripping trees, the drops splashing on their rubber +coats, while Captain Craig looked over his boat. He took some little +time to do this, and at last he shook his head in gloomy fashion. + +"Well?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Not well--bad!" answered the captain. "We can't go on until the boat is +mended. She isn't as badly smashed as I thought, and it doesn't leak +much, which is a good thing. But I can't use the engine to drive her +along until it's fixed. We'll have to stay on the island until I get +help, I guess." + +"How are we going to get help in all this rain and fog?" Mr. Bobbsey +wanted to know. + +"There used to be some campers' huts here," said the captain. "Maybe +some of those fellows left a rowboat. I could go over to the mainland in +that and get help. Some of you can come with me if you like." + +"I'm not going to!" announced Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'm going to stay here and +find Flossie and Freddie!" + +"So am I, my dear!" added Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Well, then, let's look around for a boat. If I find one I'll go for +help in it, and you can stay here," said Captain Craig. + +He made his own damaged craft fast close to the shore, and then the +searching party set off through the woods to look for a cabin, a +rowboat, and for the missing children. + +"It ought to be easy to see that balloon, it's so big," said Captain +Craig. + +"I can spot that balloon of mine as soon as any one, I guess," said Mr. +Trench. "This isn't the first time I've hunted for it. You never can +tell exactly where a balloon will come down." + +Through the underbrush, between trees, and in the dripping rain and +swirling fog, the searching party tramped on. Suddenly one of the men +gave a cry. + +"I see something!" he shouted. + +"Is it my children?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked, her voice trembling with +eagerness. + +"No, I think it's the balloon," was the answer. + +And the balloon it was. Draped over bushes and trees was the big gas +bag, now almost emptied of the vapor that had lifted it and carried it +away from the fair grounds with Flossie and Freddie in the basket. + +"Oh, but where are my little ones--my Bobbsey twins?" cried the mother. + +"They must be somewhere around here," said Captain Craig. + +And then, thrilling the hearts of all, came two young voices, calling: + +"Daddy! Mother! Here we are! Oh, we're so glad you came! Here we are!" + +Out of the woods rushed Flossie and Freddie, to be caught up in the arms +of Mother and Daddy Bobbsey. + +"We--we were in the hut!" breathlessly explained Flossie. "And I heard a +noise, and I said for Freddie to hark, and he harked, and then we heard +talking and we ran out and--and here we are!" + +"Yes, darlings, here you are!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, tears running down +her cheeks. "But, oh, why did you ever do it? Why did you get into the +balloon?" + +"Oh, jest 'cause," answered Freddie. And they all laughed at his +answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +BERT, NAN, AND BOB + + +While this happy meeting and reunion was taking place on Hemlock Island +and while the smaller Bobbsey twins were thus made happy by finding +their father and mother again, Bert and Nan were very unhappy back at +Meadow Brook Farm. They had safely reached the home of their uncle and +aunt, being taken there in Mr. Blackford's automobile. + +"Oh, dear me, what dreadful news!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah, when told about +Flossie and Freddie having been carried away in the balloon. "Shall we +ever see those dear children again?" + +"Of course we shall, Mother!" said Uncle Daniel, with a laugh. "Don't +worry, Flossie and Freddie will be all right." + +And of course Flossie and Freddie were, in the end, only Bert and Nan +and their uncle, aunt, and cousin did not know that then, so of course +they worried. + +The storm which had been only threatening when Bert and his sister had +been sent home from the fair grounds now broke, and it rained hard. At +Meadow Brook, as on most farms, little could be done when it rained, and +the children saw Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah sitting around talking in +low tones. + +"I just wish I could do something!" gloomily remarked Bert, as he stood +with his face pressed against the window, down which the rain drops were +chasing each other. + +"So do I," echoed Nan. "I think they might have let us help them look +for Flossie and Freddie." + +"I guess your father and mother knew best," said Harry. "And I think the +balloon will come down soon in all this rain. It sure is pouring!" + +And it was. The storm kept up all day, and in the afternoon, when Nan +was on the verge of tears and Bert had almost made up his mind to go +back alone to the fair grounds and see if he could hear any news, there +came a knock at the back door. + +"There's some one!" cried Nan, jumping from her chair. + +"Maybe it's Flossie and Freddie come back!" added Bert. + +"They wouldn't knock at the back door," observed his aunt. "Harry, go +and see who it is. Maybe it's good news." + +Harry returned in a few moments to say: + +"It's that boy from the merry-go-round, Bob Guess. He wants to see your +father, Bert." + +"Well, dad isn't here, and----" + +"I told him, and then he said he wants to see some of us--my father I +think he means. He has something to tell." + +"Bring him in here," advised Uncle Daniel, who was trying to read the +paper, though half the time he had it upside down, for he was thinking +too much about poor Flossie and Freddie to pay attention to anything +else. + +Bob Guess came in, dripping wet, though not as ragged as when Bert and +Nan had first seen him. + +"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Daniel in his jolly voice. "Can't you +do any business at the fair on account of the rain?" + +"No. And I don't want ever to do any more business at the fair," +answered Bob, in such strange tones that they all looked at him. + +"Don't you like the merry-go-round any more?" Bert asked. + +"Oh, it isn't that," said Bob. "It's that man Blipper. I can't stand him +any longer! He blamed me for poor business to-day, and it wasn't my +fault at all. In the first place, all the people went over to see the +balloon go up. Hardly anybody took rides on our machine. Then the +children--I mean your little brother and sister," he said to Nan, "got +carried off, and everybody got scared for fear something would happen to +their children, and they wouldn't even let 'em ride on the +merry-go-round. And then the rain came down, and Blipper seemed to blame +me for that." + +"He isn't a very fair sort of man, even if he has his machine at a +county fair," joked Uncle Daniel. + +"He's terribly ugly," blurted out Bob Guess. "And I think he's worse +than that!" + +"What do you mean?" asked Bert. + +"Well, I think he takes things that don't belong to him," went on Bob. +"Your father lost a coat some time ago, didn't he?" the strange boy +asked the older Bobbsey twins. + +"Yes, at our Sunday school picnic," answered Nan. + +"And a lap robe was taken from our auto about the same time," added +Bert. + +"That's what I thought," said Bob. "Well, would you know any of your +father's papers if you saw them?" he asked, as he began to fumble in his +pocket. "I mean would you know his writing on a letter, or something +like that?" + +"Of course I know my father's writing!" declared Bert. + +"Well, look at this!" said Bob Guess suddenly. He held out an envelope, +torn open at one end as if the letter had been taken out. + +"That's father's writing!" exclaimed Bert. "This is a letter he wrote to +Mr. Clarkson who buys lumber from dad. I know, for I've been in the +office when he called. I guess my father must have been in a hurry and +he addressed this letter himself with a pen, and didn't wait for his +typewriter to do it. That's my father's writing!" + +"Well," said Bob slowly, "I found that letter in the tent where Mr. +Blipper and I live. We sort of camp out at the different fair grounds +where we set up the merry-go-round," he added. "I have to live with Mr. +Blipper. He claims I'm his adopted son, but I don't like him for an +adopted father. Anyhow, I saw this letter drop out of his coat. He +didn't see it, and I picked it up." + +"Was it my father's coat?" asked Nan. + +"That I don't know," Bob answered. "I never saw your father wearing his +coat. But Mr. Blipper used to have an old ragged coat, and right after +we had that breakdown at the Sunday school picnic grounds he had a new +coat. + +"I asked him where he got it, 'cause I thought maybe he'd get me one, I +was so ragged, and he said it wasn't any of my affair where he got his +coats. Then the next day I noticed he had a new robe as a blanket for +his bed. I asked him about that, too, 'cause I had only a ragged quilt, +and he told me to keep still. + +"So when you folks asked me if I had seen your father's coat and the lap +robe I didn't know for sure, and, anyhow, I was afraid to say anything. +But I'm not afraid any more." + +"Why not?" asked Uncle Daniel. + +"'Cause," answered Bob, "I heard Mr. Blipper and his partner, a man +named Hardy, quarreling to-day. First it started over bad business on +account of the rain and nobody riding on the merry-go-round because the +balloon was going up. Then I heard my name mentioned and the quarrel +grew worse. Mr. Hardy said Mr. Blipper didn't have any right to treat me +as mean as he does. Mr. Blipper said he'd do as he pleased, and then Mr. +Hardy said if he did he'd tell on Mr. Blipper." + +"What did he mean--tell on him?" asked Bert. + +"I don't know, exactly," answered Bob Guess. "It was all sort of queer. +Maybe Mr. Hardy meant he was going to tell about Mr. Blipper taking your +father's coat and the lap robe." + +"I'm sure Mr. Blipper must have daddy's coat," declared Nan. "This +letter dropped from the pocket, and there was money and there were other +papers, too." + +"I don't know anything about them," murmured Bob. + +"Well, I know something!" cried Bert. "And that is this! What Mr. Hardy +said he was going to tell on Blipper about was you, Bob Guess!" + +"Me?" cried the strange boy. + +"Yes, you! I don't believe you belong to Mr. Blipper at all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +JOYOUS TIMES + + +Bob Guess could, for a moment, only stare at Bert after this strange +remark. + +"What do you mean?" asked the boy from the merry-go-round. "Don't I have +to stay with Mr. Blipper if I don't want to?" + +"I don't believe you do," went on Bert. "I heard my father and mother +talking about it," he explained to the others. "My father said he was +going to find out if Mr. Blipper had really adopted you. And if you stay +here until my father comes back he'll have this Mr. Blipper arrested for +taking his coat. Just you stay here, Bob!" + +"I'd like to," sighed the unhappy lad. "I don't like Blipper. And if I +go back now, after having run away again, he'll beat me!" + +"We won't let him!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah. "Here, I'll get you some dry +clothes. Harry has a suit you can wear. And then we'll see about this +Blipper man!" + +As she started to leave the room to get some dry clothing for Bob Guess, +who was soaking wet, there was a noise and some excitement out in the +yard. Then Nan caught the sound of a voice she well knew. + +"Oh, it's Flossie!" she cried. "It's Flossie! They've found them!" + +Instantly there was a mad rush for the door, and a little later into the +warm, comfortable farmhouse came Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey with the missing +twins--poor little wet twins, but happy for all that. + +"Oh, hurray!" cried Bert, grabbing hold of Harry and dancing around the +room with him. "Now everything's all right!" + +"Oh, what happened to you?" asked Nan through her tears, as she kissed +first Freddie and then Flossie and then both the twins at the same time. + +"Well, we found them!" said Mr. Bobbsey to Uncle Daniel. + +"Where?" + +"On Hemlock Island, where the balloon came down. The motor-boat we got +to go across the lake was also wrecked on the same island. And Flossie +and Freddie started out in a rowboat to come to shore, but they got +lost in the fog and had to turn back. And they heard us on the island +and came to us." + +"How did you get off if your motor-boat was wrecked?" asked Bert. + +"Oh, Captain Craig managed to patch it up, and it got us back to the +mainland. We went back to where we had started from--Captain Craig's +dock--and then we came on here in my auto. Oh, what a day this has +been!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey, sinking wearily into a chair. + +"But it all ends happily," said his wife. "Oh, here's Bob Guess!" she +exclaimed, as she noticed the strange boy. + +"Yes, and he knows where your missing coat is, and the lap robe, too!" +exclaimed Bert. "Blipper has 'em!" + +"My, everything is happening at once!" laughed Mother Bobbsey. "But we +must get Flossie and Freddie to bed. They have had a hard day!" + +"Don't want to go to bed!" declared Freddie. "Want to see Bob. Did you +bring the merry-go-round?" he asked. + +"As if he hadn't troubles enough!" exclaimed Nan. + +Finally the smaller Bobbsey twins were induced to take off their damp +clothes and go to bed, where they fell asleep almost as soon as their +heads touched the pillows. They were very weary, for they had had an +exciting trip, though they did not really think so at the time. + +When all the stories had been told of how the children had been found on +the island, how the motor-boat had been repaired, and of the trip back +to the mainland safely made, Mr. Bobbsey turned to Bob Guess. + +"Now we can give you a little attention," he said. "What's your +trouble?" + +So Bob told the same story he had related to Bert and Nan. + +"I always thought there was something wrong about Blipper!" declared the +father of the Bobbsey twins. "Now I know it! We'll get after Blipper in +the morning. You stay here to-night, Bob. We'll call you Bob Guess for +the present, but I think we can find a better name for you soon. I think +we shall all feel better for a little rest." + +"And something to eat," added Aunt Sarah. "I'm sure you must be +starved!" + +"I am!" admitted Mother Bobbsey. "I couldn't eat when I was worrying +about Flossie and Freddie, but now that they are safe I could eat two +meals at once!" + +There was a merry party around the farmhouse supper table, while the +little Bobbsey twins slept peacefully upstairs, probably dreaming about +their trip in the balloon. + +The storm was over the next day, and after talking to several newspaper +reporters who came to Meadow Brook Farm to get the story of the +wonderful trip of Flossie and Freddie, Daddy Bobbsey started for the +fair grounds with Bert and Bob Guess. They stopped in the village to get +a policeman and also a lawyer. + +"If Blipper wants to put up a fight we'll be ready for him," said Mr. +Bobbsey. + +But when the fair grounds were reached there was no Blipper to be found. +In the night he had packed up his merry-go-round and had traveled on, +leaving no word as to where he was going. + +"I don't care where he's gone!" said the partner, Mr. Hardy. "I'm +through with him. We've broken up the partnership. I sold my share to +him. I don't care to have anything to do with such a man. He's a thief!" + +"Perhaps you can tell us about this boy--Bob Guess," suggested Mr. +Bobbsey. + +"Yes, I can. I told Blipper I'd tell, after I found out he'd taken a +coat and a robe that didn't belong to him. He carted them away with him +too, so if they're yours there's no use looking for them," he added to +Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Oh, well, I gave them up for lost some time ago," said the lumber +dealer. "I managed to get copies of the papers that were in my pockets, +and I wouldn't wear the coat again, anyhow. But what about Bob?" + +Then Mr. Hardy told the story. Mr. Blipper had found Bob, a little chap, +wandering about the streets of a big city. The boy, it seemed, lived +with an Italian who said he had once known Bob's father and mother who +had been dead some time. + +"I don't know how Blipper managed it, but he got the boy away from the +Italian," said Mr. Hardy, "and gave out that he had adopted Bob Guess as +his son. But I knew better, though I didn't see much use in telling +about it. In fact, I didn't know who to tell. I didn't know who would +look after Bob if Blipper didn't, in his own rough way. So I kept still, +though after Blipper and I quarreled, I threatened to tell. And now I +have." + +"I'll see if we can find Bob's relatives," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If we +can't, why, I think he will be provided for." + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" exclaimed Bob. "I'd rather belong to anybody but +Blipper!" + +And, a few days later, inquiries having been made, it was found that +Bob's father and mother had died in a distant city and that, there being +no one to look after the poor boy, the Italian had taken him in. Then, +in some manner, Blipper got him and treated him harshly. + +Bob was only a small boy when Mr. Blipper got control of him, and the +merry-go-round man told a wrong story about having taken the lad from an +orphan asylum. If Bob had been in an asylum he would have been well +treated, and no person would have been allowed to take him away until +they had been looked up, to make sure the boy would be well cared for. + +Mr. Blipper forged, or made out himself, the papers showing that Bob was +his adopted son, and Bob was too small to know any better when Mr. +Blipper told him this and also told how he had been taken from an +asylum. Bob had only a dim remembrance of the Italian who looked after +him for a time, following the death of the boy's father and mother. The +Italian was much kinder than Mr. Blipper had been. + +"How would you like to come and live on this farm with me?" asked Uncle +Daniel, when it became evident that Bob had no folks living. + +"Do you mean forever?" asked the boy, delight showing in his eyes. + +"Yes, forever. Come here as my son. I'll adopt you properly. Harry +always wanted a brother, and now he can have one. Will you come?" + +"Will I come?" cried Bob. "I'll come--_twice_!" he laughed. + +"Then it's settled," said Uncle Daniel. "And from now on your name will +be Bob Bobbsey!" + +And so it was. + +"And daddy never found his coat after all!" said Nan, when, several days +later, they were talking over the wonderful things that had happened. + +"No, but I found a brother!" laughed Harry, who was very happy to have +Bob live with him. + +The whole adventure had been a lot of fun, but more good times awaited +them which will be related in "The Bobbsey Twins Camping Out." + +And then came happy days and joyous times for all. Though Blipper's +merry-go-round had been taken away from the fair grounds, there were +enough other amusements. + +Mr. Trench even got his balloon back, had it mended, and the regular man +went up in it several times to the great delight of the crowds. But you +may be sure Mrs. Bobbsey watched Flossie and Freddie very closely, to +see that they did not get near the big basket. The little brother and +sister were objects of curiosity wherever they went on the fair +grounds, for the newspapers had published stories of their strange +trip, all alone, in a balloon to Hemlock Island. + +"When I grow up," declared Freddie, "I'm going to run an airship." + +"Well, I'm never going to run a merry-go-round; I've had enough of +them!" declared Bob Guess--or, to give him the name he was to have from +then on, Bob Bobbsey. + +"Well, we certainly had plenty of adventures at the Bolton County Fair," +remarked Bert, when the exhibition came to a close. + +"Yes, indeed!" cried all of the others. + +And here let us say good-by. + + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair +by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE *** + +***** This file should be named 16756.txt or 16756.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/7/5/16756/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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