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+Project Gutenberg's The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook, 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 Meadow Brook
+
+Author: Laura Lee Hope
+
+Posting Date: September 27, 2012 [EBook #6576]
+Release Date: September, 2004
+First Posted: December 29, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Alessandro, Charles Franks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
+
+By Laura Lee Hope
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+    I. A CROCKERY CRASH
+
+   II. NEW SUMMER PLANS
+
+  III. THE RUNAWAY BOY
+
+   IV. OFF FOR MEADOW BROOK
+
+    V. SNAP'S ESCAPE
+
+   VI. AT MEADOW BROOK
+
+  VII. THE PICNIC
+
+ VIII. LOST IN THE HAY
+
+   IX. THE FIVE-PIN SHOW
+
+    X. A SHAM BATTLE
+
+   XI. MOVING PICTURES
+
+  XII. THE BOBBSEYS ACT
+
+ XIII. THE CIRCUS
+
+  XIV. FREDDIE IS MISSING
+
+   XV. FOUND AGAIN
+
+  XVI. FRANK'S STORY
+
+ XVII. A WILD ANIMAL SCARE
+
+XVIII. WHAT FREDDIE SAW
+
+  XIX. IN SWIMMING
+
+   XX. FRANK COMES BACK
+
+  XXI. BAD MONEY
+
+ XXII. HAPPY DAYS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A CROCKERY CRASH
+
+
+"Well, here we are back home again!" exclaimed Nan Bobbsey, as she sat
+down in a chair on the porch. "Oh, but we have had _such_ a good
+time!"
+
+"The best ever!" exclaimed her brother Bert, as he set down the valise
+he had been carrying, and walked back to the front gate to take a
+small satchel from his mother.
+
+"I'm going to carry mine! I want to carry mine all the way!" cried
+little fat Freddie Bobbsey, thinking perhaps his bigger brother might
+want to take, too, his bundle.
+
+"All right, you can carry your own, Freddie," said Bert, pleasantly.
+"But it's pretty heavy for you."
+
+"It--it isn't very heavy," panted Freddie, as he struggled on with his
+bundle, his short fat legs fairly "twinkling" to and fro as he came up
+the walk. "It's got some cookies in, too, my bundle has; and Flossie
+and I are going to eat 'em when we get on the porch."
+
+"Oh, so that's the reason you didn't want Bert to take your package,
+is it?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile, as she patted the little fat
+chap on the head.
+
+"Oh, well, I'll give Bert a cookie if he wants one," said Freddie,
+generously, "but I'm strong enough to carry my own bundle all the way;
+aren't I, Dinah?" and he appealed to a fat, good-natured looking
+colored woman, who was waddling along, carrying a number of packages.
+
+"Dat's what yo' is, honey lamb! Dat's what yo' is!" Dinah exclaimed.
+"An' ef I could see dat man ob mine, Sam Johnson, I'd make him take
+some ob dese yeah t'ings."
+
+As Dinah spoke there came from around the corner of the house a tall,
+slim colored man, who as soon as he saw the party of returning
+travelers, ran forward to help them carry their luggage.
+
+"Well, it's about time dat yo' come t' help us, Sam Johnson!"
+exclaimed his wife. "It's about time!"
+
+"Didn't know yo' all was a-comin', Dinah! Didn't know yo' all would
+get heah so soon, 'deed I didn't!" Sam exclaimed, with a laugh, that
+showed his white teeth in strange contrast to his black face.
+"Freddie, shall I take yo' package? Flossie, let me reliebe yo',
+little Missie!"
+
+"No, Sam, thank you!" answered the little girl, who was just about the
+size and build of Freddie. "I have only Snoop, our cat, and I can
+carry him easily enough. You help Dinah!"
+
+"'Deed an' he had better help me!" exclaimed the colored cook.
+
+Sam took all the packages he could carry, and hurried with them to the
+stoop. But he had not gone very far before something happened.
+
+From behind him rushed a big dog, barking and leaping about, glad,
+probably, to be home again from part of the summer vacation.
+
+"Look out, Sam!" called Bert Bobbsey, who was carrying the valise his
+mother had had. "Look out!"
+
+"What's de mattah? Am I droppin' suffin?" asked Sam, trying to turn
+about and look at all the bundles and packages he had in his arms and
+hands.
+
+"It's Snap!" cried Nan, who was sitting comfortably on the shady
+porch. "Look out for him, Sam."
+
+"Snap! Behave yourself!" ordered little fat Flossie, as she set down a
+wooden cage containing a black cat. "Be good, Snap!"
+
+"Here, Snap! Snap! Come here!" called Freddie.
+
+Snap, the big dog, was too excited just then to mind. With another
+loud, joyous bark he rushed up behind Sam, and, as the colored man of
+all work about the Bobbsey place had very bow, or curved, legs, Snap
+ran right between them. That is, he ran half way, and then, as he was
+a pretty fat dog, he stuck there.
+
+"Good land ob massy!" exclaimed Sam, as he looked down to see the dog
+half way between his bow legs, Snap's head sticking out one way, and
+his wagging tail the other. "Get out ob dat, Snap!" cried Sam. "Get
+out! Move on, sah!"
+
+"Bow wow!" barked Snap, which might have meant almost anything.
+
+"Look out!" shouted Sam. "Yo'll upset me! Dat's what you will!"
+
+And indeed it did seem as though this might happen. For Sam was so
+laden down with packages that he could not balance himself very well,
+and had almost toppled over.
+
+"Here, Snap!" called Bert, who was laughing so hard that he could
+hardly stand up, for really it was a funny sight.
+
+"Don't call him, Bert," advised Mrs. Bobbsey. "If you do he'll run
+out, and then Sam surely will be knocked over. And there are some
+fresh eggs in one of those packages he took from Dinah."
+
+Snap himself did not seem to know what to do. There he was, tightly
+held fast, his fat sides between Sam's bow legs. Snap could go neither
+forward nor backward just then. He barked and wagged his tail, for he
+knew it was all in fun.
+
+"Open your legs wider, Sam, man!" exclaimed his wife. "Den de dorg kin
+git out!"
+
+Sam, holding tightly to the packages, did manage to stoop down and so
+spread his legs a little farther apart. This released Snap, who, with
+a happy bark, and a wild wagging of his tail, bounded up on the stoop
+where Nan sat.
+
+A little later the whole Bobbsey family, with the exception of Mr.
+Bobbsey, were sitting comfortably in the porch chairs, while Sam was
+opening the front shutters, having already unlocked the front door for
+the returning family.
+
+"Home again!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, with a little sigh, as she
+looked around at the familiar scenes. "My, but how dusty it is after
+being on the lovely water."
+
+"Yes'm, dey shuah has been lots ob dust!" exclaimed Sam. "We need rain
+mighty bad, an' I've had de garden hose goin' ebery night, too."
+
+"I'll soon sweep off dish yeah porch," said Dinah. "Sam, yo' git me a
+broom."
+
+"Oh, don't bother now, Dinah," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Make a cup of tea,
+first. The dust doesn't matter, and we'll not be here long."
+
+"Won't we?" exclaimed Nan. "Oh, where are we going next?"
+
+"We'll talk about it as soon as your father comes home," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey, for her husband had stopped on the way from the houseboat
+dock, where the family had lately landed, to go to his lumber office
+for a little while.
+
+"Let Snoop out!" begged little Flossie. "Snoop's tired of being shut
+up in that box." In order to carry him from the boat to the house
+Snoop had been put in a small traveling crate.
+
+"I'll let him out as soon as I get a screwdriver," promised Bert. "My,
+but it's hot here!"
+
+"Indeed it is," agreed his mother, who was fanning herself with her
+pocket handkerchief as she sat in a rocking-chair. "It isn't much like
+our nice houseboat, is it?"
+
+"No, indeed," agreed Nan. "I wish we hadn't come home."
+
+"And summer is only half over," went on Bert. "Here it is only
+August."
+
+"Oh, well, there are plenty of good times ahead of you children yet,
+before school begins," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Now let's see. Have we
+everything?" and she looked at the pile of bundles and valises on the
+porch.
+
+"I guess we didn't forget anything, except papa," said Freddie. "And
+he's coming," he added, as the others laughed.
+
+"Sam, am de fire made?" demanded Dinah. "I wants t' make a cup ob
+tea."
+
+"Fire all made," reported the colored man. "I'll go git a fresh pail
+ob water now. I didn't know jest prezackly when yo' was comin'," he
+said to Mrs. Bobbsey, "or I'd a' been down to de dock t' meet de
+houseboat."
+
+"Might a' come anyhow," muttered Dinah. "Yo' all didn't hab nuffin' t'
+do heah!"
+
+"Huh! I didn't, eh?" cried Sam. "Nuffin t' do! Why, I cut de grass,
+an' fed de chickens, an' watered de lawn, an'--an'--"
+
+"Go 'long wif yo'," ordered his wife with a laugh. "Bring in some mo'
+wood for de fire!"
+
+"And get a screw-driver so I can let Snoop out," begged Flossie. "He's
+tired of being shut up in the crate!"
+
+"Right away, Missie! Right away!" promised good-natured Sam.
+
+A little later Snoop, the black cat, was stretching himself on the
+porch, while Snap, the big dog, rushed up and down the lawn, barking
+loudly to let all the neighbors' dogs know he was back home again--at
+least for a time.
+
+Meanwhile Bert, as the "little man of the house," had brought in the
+packages and satchels from the porch. Nan was helping her mother get
+out a cool kimona, while Dinah was down in the kitchen getting ready a
+cup of tea for Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+Flossie and Freddie, as the youngest Bobbsey twins, had nothing in
+particular to do, so they ran about, here, there, everywhere, renewing
+acquaintance with the familiar objects about the yard--things they had
+forgotten during the two months they had been away on a houseboat, for
+part of their summer vacation.
+
+"Oh, look! My flower-bed is full of weeds!" cried Flossie, as she came
+to a corner of the yard where she had set out some pansy plants just
+before going away.
+
+"And I can't even see the lettuce I planted," said Freddie. "I guess
+Sam didn't weed our gardens."
+
+"Never mind, we can make new ones," Flossie said. "Oh, Freddie, look!
+There's a strange cat!" Both children ran to where Snoop was making
+the acquaintance of a pussy friend. The cats seemed to like one
+another and the strange one let the little twins pet it as it lapped
+some milk from Snoop's saucer.
+
+A little later Dinah called Flossie and Freddie into the house to have
+a glass of milk and some bread and jam, for it was past lunch time.
+The small twins came willingly enough.
+
+"What are we going to do the rest of the summer?" asked Nan, as she
+sat next to her mother at the table. "Are we going away again?"
+
+"I hope so!" exclaimed Bert. "The houseboat suited me, but if we can
+have a trip to the seashore, or go to the country, so much the
+better."
+
+"We shall see," half-promised Mrs. Bobbsey. "As soon as papa comes
+home from the office, he will know how much more time he can spare
+from business to go with us. Then I can tell you--"
+
+"There he comes now, mamma!" exclaimed Nan. "Oh, excuse me for
+interrupting you," she went on, for Mrs. Bobbsey insisted upon the
+children being just as polite at home, and to one another, as they
+would be among strangers.
+
+"That's all right, Nan," said her mother kindly. "When papa comes in,
+and has had a cup of tea, we'll talk over matters, and decide what to
+do."
+
+"Well, are you all settled?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, as he came in,
+catching little Freddie up in his strong arms. "Haven't put out any
+fires since you got here, have you?" he asked, for Freddie had a great
+love for playing fireman, and he often put out "make-believe" blazes
+with a toy fire engine he had, which squirted real water.
+
+"No alarms to-day," laughed Freddie, for his father was tickling him
+in his "fat ribs," as Freddie called them.
+
+"How's my little fat fairy?" went on Mr. Bobbsey, catching Flossie up
+as he had Freddie.
+
+"All right." she answered. "Oh, papa, your whiskers prick!" she cried,
+as Mr. Bobbsey kissed her.
+
+"Sit down and have a cup of tea," invited Mrs. Bobbsey. "Then we can
+talk about what we are to do. The children are anxious to get away
+again, and if we _are_ to go there is no need of unpacking more than
+we have to."
+
+"Would you like to go to Meadow Brook?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, looking at
+his happy family.
+
+"You know I would," answered his wife, with a smile.
+
+"Meadow Brook! Oh, are we going there?" cried Nan.
+
+"Well, Uncle Daniel has sent us an invitation," said Mr. Bobbsey, "and
+your mother and I are thinking of it."
+
+"Can you leave your lumber business long enough to go with us?" asked
+Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"I think so," replied her husband. "I just stopped at the office, and
+everything there is going along nicely. So I think we'll go to Meadow
+Brook, in the country, for the rest of the summer."
+
+"Hurray! Hurrah! Oh, how nice!" cried the children.
+
+"Dinah, I think I'll have another cup of tea," went on Mr. Bobbsey, as
+the colored cook waddled in. "Make it cold, this time--with ice in it.
+I am very warm."
+
+"Yais-sah," said Dinah, taking his cup.
+
+Then followed a confusion of talk, the two sets of twins doing the
+most. They were joyfully excited at the idea of going to Meadow Brook
+farm.
+
+"I'm going to turn somersaults in the grass--just like this," cried
+Freddie, rolling over and over on the floor. He rolled toward the door
+that led from the dining-room to the kitchen, and, just as he reached
+it, Dinah came in with Mr. Bobbsey's cup of iced tea.
+
+Before Freddie could stop himself, and before fat Dinah could get out
+of the way, the little Bobbsey chap had rolled right into the cook,
+and down she went in a heap on the floor, the cup and saucer crashing
+into dozens of pieces, and the tea spilling all over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+NEW SUMMER PLANS
+
+
+"Oh, Freddie!"
+
+"Oh, Dinah!"
+
+"Are you hurt?"
+
+Thus came the cries, and as Snap, the dog, rushed in just then,
+barking and leaping about, he made the confusion all the worse.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey sprang from his chair, lifted Freddie out of the way, and
+then helped Dinah to her feet. The fat, colored cook looked around in
+a dazed manner, and Freddie, too, did not seem to know just what had
+happened to him.
+
+"Oh, don't tell me he is hurt--or Dinah, either!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey,
+holding her hands over her eyes, as though she might see something
+unpleasant.
+
+"I--I'm not hurt," said Freddie, "but I--I'm all wet!"
+
+"Bress yo' heart, honey lamb! I'se glad ob dat!" cried Dinah, as she
+wiped her face on her apron, for the tea had splashed on her.
+
+"Are you all right, Dinah?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, setting Freddie down,
+for he had caught his little fat son up in his arms.
+
+"Shuah, I'se all right, sah," the colored cook answered. "Jest shook
+up a bit. I'se so fat it doesn't hurt me t' fall," she explained. "An'
+I shuah am glad I didn't fall on Freddie. He done knocked mah feet
+right out from under me!"
+
+"Yes, you shouldn't have turned somersaults in the house," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey. "That wasn't right, Freddie."
+
+"I--I wasn't exactly turning somersaults," Freddie explained, as he
+dried his face in his pocket handkerchief. "I was jest rollin' over
+an' over, like I'm goin' to do down at Meadow Brook."
+
+"Well, it was almost as bad as turning somersaults," said Nan. "My,
+but I got _so_ excited."
+
+"Pooh! It wasn't anything," spoke Bert. "It's a good thing, though,
+that it was iced tea, instead of being hot."
+
+"Indeed that was a blessing," said Mrs. Bobbsey, while Dinah began
+picking up the pieces of the cup and saucer. "You must be more
+careful, Freddie."
+
+"I will, ma," he promised. "But tell us about Meadow Brook. When can
+we go?"
+
+"Not until you get a dry suit on, at least," said Mr. Bobbsey with a
+smile. "You had better change, Freddie. You are all wet from my cup of
+tea."
+
+"I'll put dry things on him," offered Nan, leading the little fellow
+from the room. "But don't talk over any plans until I come back," she
+begged.
+
+"We won't," promised her mother.
+
+And while the house is settling into quietness, after the confusion of
+the temporary home-coming, and the upsetting of Dinah and Freddie, I
+will take just a few moments to tell my new readers something about
+the Bobbsey Twins as they have been written about in the other books
+of this series.
+
+There were two sets of twins, and that may seem strange until I tell
+you that Bert and Nan, aged about nine, formed one set, and Flossie
+and Freddie, aged four years younger, made up the second set. Bert and
+Nan were tall and slim, with dark hair and eyes, while Flossie and
+Freddie were fat and short, with light hair and blue eyes, making a
+very different appearance from the older twins.
+
+Besides the two sets of Bobbsey twins, there was Mr. Richard Bobbsey,
+and his wife Mary. They lived in an Eastern city called Lakeport, on
+Lake Metoka, where Mr. Bobbsey had a large lumber business.
+
+I might say that Dinah Johnson, and her husband Sam, also formed part
+of the Bobbsey household, for without Dinah to cook, and without Sam
+to do everything around the house, from watering the grass to putting
+out the ashes, I do not know how Mrs. Bobbsey would have gotten
+along. And then, of course, there was Snoop, the black cat, and Snap,
+the nice dog, who had once been in a circus, and could do many tricks.
+
+So much for the Bobbsey family. As for what they did, if you will read
+the first book of the series, which volume is called "The Bobbsey
+Twins," you will get a good idea of the many good times Flossie,
+Freddie, Bert and Nan had.
+
+Uncle Daniel Bobbsey, who was Mr. Bobbsey's brother, and his wife,
+Aunt Sarah, lived in the country at Meadow Brook Farm. They had a ten
+year old son, named Harry, and he and Bert were great chums whenever
+they were together.
+
+The Bobbsey twins often went to the country, and also to the seashore,
+where their Uncle William and Aunt Emily, as well as their cousin
+Dorothy, lived, at a place called Ocean Cliff.
+
+You may read of the fun the twins had at these places in the country
+and seashore books.
+
+Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie also had fun at school, and when they
+went to Snow Lodge they had what were, to them, a wonderful series of
+adventures, and solved a strange mystery.
+
+Their last trip had been on a houseboat. It was called the _Bluebird_,
+and they had voyaged down Lake Metoka to Lemby Creek, and through that
+to Lake Romano, where they had fine times. There was a mystery on the
+_Bluebird_, but Bert, and his cousin Harry, who was with him, found
+out what made the queer noises.
+
+Cousin Dorothy was also a guest on the houseboat trip, and she and
+Nan, who were about the same age, greatly enjoyed themselves. The
+Bobbseys, and their country and seashore cousins, had come back from
+the trip, Dorothy going to her home, and Harry to his, when there
+happened the little accident to Freddie and Dinah, which I have
+mentioned in the first chapter of this book.
+
+Now the house was quiet once again. Freddie had on a clean dry suit,
+Dinah had changed her damp apron for a fresh one, and Mr. Bobbsey was
+sipping his cup of iced tea, which was not spilled this time.
+
+"Now can you tell us what we are going to do the rest of this summer
+vacation?" asked Bert.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Bobbsey, "I can. Your Uncle William, as I started to
+tell you, before Freddie gave us that circus exhibition, has invited
+us up to Meadow Brook. And, as I have a little time I can spare from
+my business, I think I shall take you all down there. We can go to the
+country and have a fine time."
+
+"We had a good time on the houseboat," said Nan. "It was lovely
+there."
+
+"Indeed it was," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"And when we found the ghost!" exclaimed Bert.
+
+"Hush! You mustn't say ghost!" cautioned Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile.
+"It wasn't a ghost, you know."
+
+"Well, we thought it was--at first," laughed Bert. "Anyhow we'll have
+some fun at Meadow Brook."
+
+"I'm going to fly a kite!" declared Freddie.
+
+"All right, as long as you don't tie Snoop to the tail of it," said
+his father.
+
+"And I'm going to feed the chickens," exclaimed Flossie.
+
+"But you mustn't chase the rooster," cautioned her mother.
+
+"I won't," promised the little fat twin.
+
+"Now when are we going?" asked Nan.
+
+"What train do we take?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"I'll have to see to all that to-morrow," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We might
+as well go right off to the country, for it is not very pleasant
+staying in the hot city. We won't need to unpack much, for we'll stay
+here only this one night. To-morrow morning we shall start for Meadow
+Brook."
+
+"And are we going to take the _Bluebird_ along?" inquired Flossie.
+
+"No, the houseboat will stay at home this trip," her mother said.
+"There isn't enough water at Meadow Brook to sail the _Bluebird_."
+
+They talked over their new summer plans, and the children were
+delighted at the prospect of going to see their cousin, their uncle
+and their aunt.
+
+"Dinah is going, isn't she?" asked Nan.
+
+"Oh, yes, we couldn't get along without her," answered Mrs. Bobbsey
+with a smile.
+
+"And I'm going to take Snoop!" cried Freddie, hugging the big, black
+cat, which did not seem to mind being loved so hard.
+
+"Well if Snoop goes, then we ought to take Snap, the dog, too,"
+declared Bert. "Snap would be lonesome if he were left behind,
+wouldn't he?"
+
+"Oh, may we take them both, mamma?" begged Nan.
+
+"Well, I guess so," was the answer, as Mrs. Bobbsey looked at her
+husband.
+
+"That will be all right," he nodded. "The country is just the place
+for dogs and cats--it's better for them than houseboats."
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have!" sang Flossie. "What lovely times!"
+
+"And I'm going to take my fire engine, and squirt water in it from the
+brook," declared Freddie.
+
+"Well, be careful not to fall in," his father said. "And now I shall
+have to go back to the office again, to do a little work so as to get
+ready for going away again. So I'll leave my little fat fireman and
+fat fairy for a while," and he smiled at Freddie and Flossie, as he
+called them by their pet names.
+
+As the Bobbseys were to leave town soon, they did not unpack very much
+from the valises they had brought from the houseboat.
+
+This boat was tied up at a dock in the lumber yard, which was on the
+edge of the lake. The children spent the morning playing about in the
+yard, some of their friends, who had not gone away for the summer,
+coming to join in their games.
+
+After lunch Mr. Bobbsey came up to the house in an automobile,
+bringing his wife some things she had asked him to get from the store.
+
+"Oh, may I have a ride?" begged Freddie, when he saw his father in the
+machine, which Mr. Bobbsey and some of the other members of his lumber
+firm used when they were in a hurry.
+
+"Yes, jump in!" invited his father. "Want to come, Bert?" he asked of
+the older Bobbsey boy.
+
+"Yes, thank you," was the answer. "Where are you going?"
+
+"I have to go up the lake shore, to a place called Tenbly, to see
+another lumber dealer on some business," Mr. Bobbsey said. "Where are
+Nan and Flossie?" he asked his wife, who had come out on the porch
+just then. "I could take them along also. There is plenty of room."
+
+"Flossie and Nan have gone over to Mrs. Black's house," Mrs. Bobbsey
+said. "Run along without them. It's just as well. I'd rather they
+wouldn't be out in the hot sun, as we have to take a long train
+journey to-morrow."
+
+"All right," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, as he started off in the automobile
+with Freddie and Bert. "We'll soon be back."
+
+Neither Mr. Bobbsey nor the boys knew what was to happen on that ride,
+nor how it was to affect them afterward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE RUNAWAY BOY
+
+
+It was a pleasant trip for Freddie and Bert to ride with their father
+in the automobile along the shady shores of the lake. The little twin,
+and the bigger one, sat back on the cushions, now and then bouncing up
+and down as the machine went over a rough place in the road.
+
+Freddie, being lighter than Bert, bounced up and down oftener, but
+then he was so fat, almost "like a lump of butter," as his mother used
+to say, that he did not much mind it.
+
+"I wish we could take this machine to Meadow Brook Farm with us," said
+Bert, as they neared the lumber yard of Mr. Mason, with whom Mr.
+Bobbsey had business that day.
+
+"We can ride in one of Uncle Daniel's carriages," said Freddie. "Or
+maybe I can ride horse-back. That would be fun!" he cried, his bright
+eyes sparkling.
+
+"It's fun--if you don't fall off," Bert said.
+
+As the automobile passed around a curve in the road, where the lake
+could be seen stretching out its sparkling waters in the bright sun,
+Bert suddenly uttered a cry, and pointed ahead.
+
+"Look!" he exclaimed. "There are two little girls drifting out in that
+boat, and they don't seem to know how to row to shore."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey steered the machine down to the edge of the lake, over the
+grass at one side of the road. As he did so he and the two boys heard
+voices faintly calling:
+
+"Help!! Help! Oh, somebody please come and get us!"
+
+"I'll get them--I can row, and there's another boat on shore," said
+Bert, pointing to a craft drawn up on the sand.
+
+"I guess I'd better go out--you stay with Freddie," directed the
+lumber merchant, as he brought the automobile to a stop, and jumped
+out.
+
+"I'm coming!" he called to the two little girls in the drifting boat.
+"Don't be afraid, and sit still! Don't stand up!"
+
+He needed to caution them thus, for one of the girls, seeing that help
+was on the way, grew so excited that she stood up, and this is always
+dangerous to do in a rowboat on the water. Rowboats tip over very
+easily, and sometimes even good swimmers may be caught under them.
+
+"I wish I could help get them," sighed fat Freddie, as he saw his
+father run down to the shore of the lake, and shove the other boat
+into the water.
+
+"It's best to let papa do it," said Bert, though he himself would have
+liked to have gone to the rescue.
+
+"They'll mind papa, and sit down and keep still, but they wouldn't
+mind us," went on Bert, explaining matters to his little brother.
+
+"That's right," agreed Freddie. "Girls are awful 'fraid in a boat,
+anyhow. I'm not afraid."
+
+"Well, not all girls are afraid, either," said Bert with a smile. "Nan
+isn't afraid."
+
+"Of course not--she's our sister, and so is Flossie!" exclaimed
+Freddie, as if that made a difference!
+
+Mr. Bobbsey was now rowing out to the two small girls in the drifting
+boat. They did not seem to have any oars, and Bert and Freddie heard
+their father call to them again to sit down, so they would not tip
+over.
+
+Then the lumber man reached the drifting craft, and carefully fastened
+it by a rope to the boat he was in.
+
+"Now sit quietly and I'll pull you to shore," he said to the girls.
+"You must not come out in a boat all alone. Where is your home?"
+
+"Up there," replied the older girl, pointing to a house back of the
+lake shore road. "We didn't mean to come out," she went on. "We just
+sat in the boat when it was tied fast to the dock, but the knot must
+have come loose, and we drifted out. We're ever so much obliged to you
+for coming out to us."
+
+"Well, don't get in boats again, unless some older person is with
+you," cautioned Mr. Bobbsey. By this time he had towed the boat, with
+the girls in it, to shore. As he did so a woman came running from the
+house, calling out:
+
+"Oh, what has happened? Oh, are they drowned?"
+
+"Nothing at all has happened," said Mr. Bobbsey, quietly. "Your children
+just drifted out, and I went and got them."
+
+"Oh, and I've told them never, never to get into a boat!" cried the
+mother. "Girls, girls! What am I going to do to you?" she went on.
+"You might have fallen overboard."
+
+"Yes, that is true, they might have," said Mr. Bobbsey. "But I think
+this will be a lesson to them, and no harm has come to them this time.
+But it is best for children to keep out of boats."
+
+"Indeed it is," agreed the lady. "Oh, I can't thank you enough, sir!"
+she said to Mr. Bobbsey. "I have told Sallie and Jane never to go out
+on the lake unless Frank is with them, but he isn't here now."
+
+"Is Frank their brother?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Not exactly a brother. My husband is his guardian," the lady went on.
+"I am Mrs. Mason."
+
+"Oh, I am glad to know you," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I am on my way to your
+husband's office now, to see him on business. I am glad I could do you
+a favor."
+
+"Indeed it is more than a favor," said Mrs. Mason. "I cannot thank you
+enough. When Frank was home I did not worry so much about the girls,
+as he looked after them. But my husband thinks he is now old enough to
+help in the lumber yard, and so he keeps him down at the office. You
+are going down there, you say?"
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Bobbsey. "I am going along the river road."
+
+"I can show you a shorter route," said Mrs. Mason, who now had tight
+hold of her daughters' hands, as though she feared they would run down
+to the boats again. "My husband has cut a new road through the
+orchard, down to his office," she went on. "You can come that way in
+your machine, and save nearly a mile."
+
+"I shall be glad to do that," Mr. Bobbsey answered, "as I haven't very
+much time today. We are getting ready to go away."
+
+Mrs. Mason showed Mr. Bobbsey where he could cross the main road, and
+take a short cut through an old orchard, to reach the lumber office,
+and soon, after waving good-bye to the frightened little girls, Mr.
+Bobbsey, Bert and Freddie were again on their way.
+
+"Is--is the lake very deep where those girls were?" Freddie wanted to
+know.
+
+"It doesn't make much difference whether it is deep or not," said Mr.
+Bobbsey, "they would probably have been drowned if they had fallen
+overboard. You must always be careful about boats," he cautioned the
+little fellow.
+
+"I will," Freddie promised.
+
+"That must be the lumber yard!" exclaimed Bert a little later, when
+they turned from the new orchard road into another highway.
+
+"Yes, that is it," Mr. Bobbsey agreed. "I never came this way before.
+It is a good road to know when you are in a hurry."
+
+Mr. Mason's lumber yard, like that of Mr. Bobbsey, was partly on the
+edge of the lake, so the logs, boards and planks could be easily
+loaded and unloaded from boats. Part of the yard was on the other side
+of the road, back from the lake, and it was on this side that the
+office was built.
+
+As Mr. Bobbsey and his two boys rode up in the automobile, they saw
+out in front of the office a strange and not very pleasant sight. A
+man stood there, roughly shaking a boy about Bert's age. The boy
+seemed to be crying, and trying to get away, but the man held him
+tightly by one arm, and shook him again and again.
+
+"I don't like that," said Mr. Bobbsey in a low voice, as he stopped
+the automobile.
+
+"What makes him do it?" asked Freddie. "Is the boy bad?"
+
+"I'll teach you to make me lose money that way!" cried the man as he
+again roughly shook the boy. "You ought to have better sense than to
+be cheated that way! It wasn't your money that you lost, it was mine,
+and money isn't so easily made these days!"
+
+"But I couldn't help it!" the boy cried, trying to pull his arm away.
+He could not do this, for the man held it too tightly.
+
+"Yes, you could help it too, if you'd had your eyes open!" the man
+said in harsh tones. "I left you in charge of the office, and you
+ought to have been sharp enough not to be fooled and cheated. I--I
+don't know what to do to you!"
+
+Again he shook the boy.
+
+"Ouch! You hurt, Mr. Mason!" cried the lad.
+
+"Well, you deserve to be hurt, losing money that way," was the answer.
+"I--I've a good notion to--"
+
+But the sentence was not finished. Just then, by a sudden motion, the
+boy pulled away from the man who was shaking him, and ran down the
+road. For a moment it seemed as if the man would run after him, but he
+did not. The two stood looking at one another, while Mr. Bobbsey,
+having alighted from the automobile, walked up toward the lumber
+office.
+
+"You'd better come back here, Frank," called the man who had been
+shaking the boy. "You'd better come back."
+
+"I'll never come back!" was the answer. "I--I'm going to run away!
+I'll never live with you again! You treat me too mean! It wasn't my
+fault about that bad money! I couldn't help it. I'm going to run away,
+and I'm never coming back again. I can't stand it here!"
+
+Bursting into tears, the boy raced off down the road in a cloud of
+dust.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OFF FOR MEADOW BROOK
+
+
+Little Freddie, who sat beside his older brother, Bert, in Mr.
+Bobbsey's automobile, looked on with wonder in his childish eyes, as
+he saw the boy Mr. Mason had been shaking run down the road.
+
+"What's the matter with him, Bert?" Freddie asked. "Didn't he like to
+be shook?"
+
+"I should say _not_!" exclaimed Bert "And I wouldn't myself. I don't
+think that man did right to shake him so."
+
+"It was too bad," added Freddie. "Say, Bert," he went on eagerly,
+"maybe we could catch up to him in the automobile, and we could take
+him to Meadow Brook with us. Nobody would shake him there."
+
+"No, I guess they wouldn't," said Bert: slowly, thinking how kind his
+uncle and aunt were.
+
+"Then let's go after him!" begged Freddie.
+
+"No, we couldn't do that, Freddie," Bert said with a smile at his
+little brother. "The boy maybe wouldn't want to come with us, and
+besides, papa wouldn't let me run the auto, though I know which
+handles to turn, for I've watched him," Bert went on, with a firm
+belief that he could run the big car almost as well as could Mr.
+Bobbsey.
+
+"Well, when papa comes back I'm going to ask him to go after that boy
+and bring him with us," declared Freddie. "I don't like to see boys
+shook."
+
+"I don't, either," murmured Bert.
+
+By this time Mr. Bobbsey had come up to where Mr. Mason was standing.
+
+"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Bobbsey," spoke the other lumber man. "I
+didn't expect to see you for some days."
+
+"I did come a little ahead of time," went on the twins' father. "But I
+am going to take my family off to the country, so I thought I would
+come and see you, and finish up our business before going away."
+
+"I'm always glad to talk business," Mr. Mason said, "but I thought
+your folks were out somewhere on a houseboat."
+
+"We were, and just came back to-day. But the summer isn't over, and
+we're going to my brother's place, at Meadow Brook Farm. But you seem
+to be having some trouble," he went on, nodding down the road in the
+direction the sobbing boy had run. "Of course it isn't any affair of
+mine, but--"
+
+"Yes, trouble! Lots of it!" interrupted Mr. Mason bitterly. "I have
+had a lot of trouble with that boy."
+
+"That's too bad," spoke Mr. Bobbsey. "He seems a bright sort of chap.
+He isn't your son, is he?"
+
+"No, I'm his guardian. He's my ward. His father was a friend of mine
+in business, and when he died he asked me to look after the boy. His
+name is Frank Kennedy."
+
+"Oh, yes, I heard about him," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Heard about him! I guess you didn't hear any good then!" exclaimed
+the other lumber man, rather crossly. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, we came past your house a little while ago," said Mr. Bobbsey,
+"and your wife mentioned a Frank Kennedy who used to take your two
+daughters out rowing. If he had been there to-day the girls probably
+wouldn't have gone out alone, and drifted away."
+
+"Drifted away! What do you mean?" cried Mr. Mason. "Has anything
+happened?"
+
+"It's all right, my papa went out in a boat and got 'em!" cried
+Freddie in his shrill, childish voice, for he heard what his father
+and Mr. Mason were saying.
+
+"I--I don't understand," said the other lumber dealer, seriously. "Was
+there an accident?"
+
+"Oh, it wasn't anything," Mr. Bobbsey said. "When I went past your
+house, near the river, I saw the two girls adrift in a boat, not far
+from shore. They had floated out while playing. I went after them and
+your wife, before she showed me this short cut to your place, spoke
+about an adopted boy, Frank Kennedy, who used to play with the
+children."
+
+"Oh, I'm much obliged to you," said Mr. Mason, after a pause. "Yes,
+Frank did look after the girls some. That was he who just ran down the
+road. But he did better at home than he's doing in my office.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, wondering why it was that Mr.
+Mason had so severely shaken the boy who had run away.
+
+"Well, I mean that Frank just lost twenty dollars for me," proceeded
+the lumber man.
+
+"Twenty dollars! How was that?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"I left him in charge of my office, while I was out on some other
+business," went on the lumber dealer, "and a strange man came in and
+bought two dollars worth of expensive boards. Frank gave them to him,
+and the man took them away with him, as they were not very large, or
+heavy to carry."
+
+"Two dollars--I thought you said twenty!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"So I did. Wait until I tell you all. As I said, Frank sold this
+strange man two dollars worth of boards. The man gave Frank a twenty
+dollar bill, and Frank gave him back eighteen dollars in change."
+
+"Well, wasn't that right?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile. "Two
+dollars from twenty leave eighteen--or it used to when I went to
+school."
+
+"That part is all right," Mr. Mason said, bitterly, "but the fact is
+that the twenty dollar bill Frank took from the strange man is no
+good. It is bad money, and no one but a child would take it. It's a
+bill that was gotten out by the Confederate states during the Civil
+War, and of course their money isn't any better than waste-paper now.
+I don't see how Frank was fooled that way. I wouldn't have been if I
+had been in the office."
+
+"Perhaps the boy never saw a Confederate bill before," suggested Mr.
+Bobbsey.
+
+"No matter, he should have known that it wasn't good United States'
+money!" declared Mr. Mason. "By his carelessness to-day he lost me
+twenty dollars; the eighteen dollars in my good money that he gave the
+man in change, and the two dollars worth of boards. And all I have to
+show for it is that worthless piece of paper!" and Mr. Mason took from
+his pocket a crumpled bill.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey looked at it carefully.
+
+"Yes, that's one of the old Confederate States' bills all right," he
+said, "and it isn't worth anything, except as a curiosity."
+
+"It cost me twenty dollars, all right," said Mr. Mason, with a sour
+look on his face. "I can't see how Frank was so foolish as to be taken
+in by it."
+
+"Well, the poor boy knew no better, and probably he is sorry enough
+now," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"I guess he's sorry enough!" exclaimed Mr. Mason, bitterly. "I gave
+him a good shaking, as he is too big to whip. I shook him and scolded
+him."
+
+"Well, almost anyone, not very familiar with money, might have made
+that mistake," spoke Mr. Bobbsey. "This Confederate bill looks very
+much like some of ours, and a person in a hurry might have been fooled
+by it."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" broke in Mr. Mason. "There was no excuse for Frank
+being fooled as he was. I won't listen to any such talk! He lost me
+twenty dollars and he'll have to make it up to me, somehow."
+
+"But how can he, when he has run away?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, and he felt
+very sorry for Frank, who was not much older than Bert. Mr. Bobbsey
+knew how grieved he would be if something like that happened to his
+son.
+
+"Yes, he pretended to run away," said Mr. Mason, "but he'll soon run
+back again."
+
+"How do you know?" Mr. Bobbsey wanted to know. "Did he ever run away
+before?"
+
+"No, he never did," admitted Mr. Mason, "but he'll have to run back
+because he has nowhere to run to. He can't get anything to eat, he has
+no money, and he can't find a place to sleep. Of course he'll come
+back!
+
+"And when he does come back," Mr. Mason went on, "I'll make him work
+doubly hard to pay back that twenty dollars. I can't afford to lose
+that much money."
+
+"But it was an accident; a mistake that anyone might have made," said
+Mr. Bobbsey again.
+
+"Nonsense!" cried the other lumber man. "I'll make Frank Kennedy pay
+for his mistake!"
+
+"Perhaps the strange man did not mean to give him the Confederate
+bill," went on Bert's father. "Some persons carry those old Southern
+bills as souvenirs, or pocket-pieces, and this man might have paid his
+out by mistake. I know that once happened to me with a piece of money.
+He may come back and give you a good twenty dollar bill."
+
+"I am not so foolish as to hope anything like that will happen," said
+Mr. Mason. "No, I'm out twenty good hard-earned dollars. That's all
+there is to it. But I'll get it out of Frank Kennedy, somehow."
+
+"If he ever comes back," said Mr. Bobbsey, in a low voice.
+
+"Oh, he'll come back--never fear!" responded the other lumber dealer.
+Mr. Bobbsey gently shook his head. He was not so sure of that. Frank,
+as he ran down the road, crying, seemed to feel very badly indeed, and
+when he said he would never come back it sounded as though he meant
+it.
+
+"Poor little chap!" thought Mr. Bobbsey to himself. "I am very sorry
+for him. I wonder where he will sleep to-night?" And he could not help
+thinking how badly he would feel if he knew his own two dear boys had
+to be without a place to sleep, or somewhere to get a meal.
+
+Mr. Mason did not appear to worry about the plight of his ward, for
+whom he was guardian.
+
+The lumber dealers finished their business and Mr. Mason again thanked
+Mr. Bobbsey for what he had done for the two girls in the boat.
+
+"I guess I'd better keep Frank at the house after this," went on Mr.
+Mason. "He's safer there than at the office, and wouldn't lose me so
+much money. But I'll get it out of him, some way," and he thrust back
+into his pocket the bad twenty dollar bill.
+
+Bert had understood most of the talk between his father and Mr. Mason,
+but little Freddie did not know much of what went on except that Frank
+had run away.
+
+"I wouldn't run away from my home," he said. "I like it too much."
+
+"Yes, but you haven't anyone at your home to shake you as hard as that
+man did," said Bert. "I don't blame Frank for running away."
+
+"Poor boy!" sighed Mr. Bobbsey. "Life is a hard matter for a little
+chap with no real home."
+
+In the automobile the lumber man and his two boys went back to
+Lakeport, passing on their way the house where Mr. Mason lived. The
+two little girls waved their hands to Freddie and Bert as the boys
+rode past. But there was no sign of Frank Kennedy.
+
+The sadness of the scene the two Bobbsey boys had witnessed was soon
+forgotten in the joys of getting ready to go to Meadow Brook. They
+spent that night in their city house, unpacking only such few things
+as they needed. When morning came Flossie and Freddie were the first
+up.
+
+"We're going to the country!" sang Flossie, walking about in a long
+night-gown that trailed over the floor.
+
+"Going to Meadow Brook!" chanted Freddie. "Where's Snoop? I'm going to
+take him!"
+
+"And may we take Snap, too?" asked Bert, who had taught the former
+circus dog many new tricks.
+
+[Illustration: THE BOBBSEY HOUSE WAS SOON A VERY BUSY PLACE]
+
+"Yes, we'll take them both," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Now hurry, children
+dear. We are going to leave soon after breakfast, and it is a long
+ride in the train, you know."
+
+"Are we going to ride in the 'merry-go-round car'?" asked Flossie.
+
+"She means a parlor car, with chairs that swing around," said Nan,
+with a laugh.
+
+"Yes, we'll ride in a chair car," decided Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+The Bobbsey house was soon a very busy place. Valises that had been
+opened were packed again. Dinah got a quick breakfast. Mr. Bobbsey had
+much telephoning to do about business matters, and Mrs. Bobbsey--well,
+she had to do what all mothers do on such occasions--look after
+everything. Nan and Bert helped as much as they could.
+
+Flossie and Freddie tried to help, but you know how it is with little
+children. The two smaller twins were very anxious that Snoop, the
+black cat, be taken with them in his little traveling crate.
+
+"I'll get him and pack him up," said Freddie.
+
+"And I'll help," offered Flossie.
+
+Soon all was in readiness for the start to the depot where the
+Bobbseys would take the train for Meadow Brook. Just as the automobile
+came up to the door to take the family, there arose a cry from the
+direction of the side porch where Flossie and Freddie had gone with
+the cat-cage, in which to put Snoop.
+
+"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "I wonder what has happened now? I
+hope those twins are all right!"
+
+"I'll go see!" offered Nan, setting off on a run.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SNAP'S ESCAPE
+
+
+Nan found Flossie and Freddie, standing one on either side of the
+wooden crate in which Snoop made his journeys. The twins each had hold
+of the black cat, who did not seem to be enjoying life very much just
+then.
+
+"He goes in this way, I tell you!" shouted Freddie.
+
+"No, he goes in the other way!" cried Flossie, and then they both
+tried, at the same time, to thrust poor Snoop into his cage.
+
+The cat cried out, and scrambled to get away.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Nan. "What does all this mean, Flossie and
+Freddie? Don't you know the automobile is waiting to take us to the
+station?"
+
+"Well, I want to put Snoop in his cage!" insisted Freddie.
+
+"And so do I!" cried Flossie.
+
+"But she--she--Flossie wants to put him in, tail end first!" went on
+the excited little boy.
+
+"Course--'cause that's right!" went on the little girl. "Freddie says
+he ought to go in head first," she exclaimed, "and you know, Nan, if
+you stand Snoop on his head he'll get dizzy, like I did when I hung
+dingle-dangle by my legs from the swing."
+
+"And if he goes in tail first he'll get all tangled up!" retorted
+Freddie, who was almost crying now.
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Nan. "I guess I'll have to call papa or mamma,
+and they have enough to look after as it is, with the auto here, and
+almost train time. I never saw such children! What am I to do?"
+
+"Let me put Snoop in tail first!" cried Flossie.
+
+"No, he ought to go in his box head first!" declared her brother, and
+neither one of them would let go of the black cat. Snoop looked sadly
+at Nan, as though he wished she would rescue him, and put him in the
+traveling box either end first, if only he might be left in peace and
+quietness.
+
+"Oh, dear!" Nan exclaimed again. "I really don't know what to do! I
+guess we'll leave Snoop home altogether!"
+
+"Oh, no!" cried Flossie and Freddie.
+
+"Here! What's all the trouble?" asked Bert, running around to the side
+porch. "Hurry up! The auto is waiting."
+
+"It's these twins!" said Nan, hopelessly.
+
+"It's Flossie!" accused Freddie. "She wants Snoop to go in tail end
+first, and he'll get all tangled up, 'cause he's got an awful long
+tail."
+
+"And Freddie wants to put him in head first, and he'll get dizzy same
+as I did in the swing!" accused Flossie.
+
+"Here! I'll settle this!" cried Bert, like a manly little chap. "Give
+me that cat!"
+
+He took Snoop from Flossie and Freddie, who let go willingly enough.
+If Snoop could have talked he would have said, "Thank you, Bert!" I am
+sure he would have.
+
+"There, we'll put him in feet first," Bert went on, carefully lowering
+the black cat into the box that way. "A cat always likes to land feet
+first," he explained, "then he won't get tangled up in his tail, nor
+dizzy. Now, Flossie and Freddie, hustle around front and get into the
+auto. I'll bring Snoop" he continued, as he fastened down the lid of
+the traveling cage.
+
+"That's right! Feet first!" cried Freddie, a happy smile on his face.
+
+"Of course! Why didn't we think of putting Snoop in that way?" asked
+Flossie, as she put her chubby hand in her brother's and ran with him
+around to the front porch.
+
+"Oh, such children!" sighed Nan as she followed Bert, who carried
+Snoop in his cage. The black cat curled up and went to sleep. He was
+used to traveling this way.
+
+"My! What was the trouble?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. Nan and Bert
+explained, while Flossie and Freddie took their places in the gasoline
+machine.
+
+"Are you all ready?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "How about you, Dinah?" for
+the colored cook was being taken to the country to help look after the
+smaller twins.
+
+"Oh, indeedy I'se all right, Mrs. Bobbsey," was Dinah's answer. "Heah,
+Freddie, let ole Dinah carry dat cat-box," for Bert had given Snoop in
+his cage to the small twin boy.
+
+"No, I want to hold him," Freddie insisted, and he was allowed to have
+his way.
+
+Sam, Dinah's husband, was to stay home to look after the Bobbsey city
+house, and he waved a good-bye as the automobile started off.
+
+"Where's Snap?" asked Flossie, as they were rolling down the street.
+
+"He's coming," reported Nan, for the big dog was running alongside the
+car. There would have been room for him to ride in it, but he
+preferred racing along the street, and he would be at the depot
+waiting for the family when they arrived.
+
+"The train will be here in about five minutes," said Mr. Bobbsey,
+after they had reached the depot, and he had purchased the tickets.
+Then, while Flossie and Freddie took turns looking in at black Snoop
+through the slats of the box, Nan and Bert helped gather the valises
+into one pile. Mr. Bobbsey went to see about getting the trunks
+checked, and also about sending Snap in the baggage car, for the dog
+would have to ride that way to Meadow Brook.
+
+At last, with a toot of the whistle, and a ringing of the bell, the
+engine, drawing the train, puffed into the station.
+
+"All aboard!" called the conductor.
+
+Many persons were getting on, while others were getting off. Mr.
+Bobbsey gathered his little family down toward the parlor, or chair,
+car.
+
+"Heah you am, sah!" exclaimed the colored porter as he swung Flossie
+and Freddie up the steps, and helped Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah. Nan and
+Bert felt big enough not to need any help.
+
+"Hello! What's dish yeah?" cried the porter, as he picked up the box
+containing Snoop. "Am dish good to eat?" he asked, looking in at the
+black cat. "What am it?"
+
+"Oh, it's our Snoop!" cried Flossie. "Don't hurt him!"
+
+"'Deed an' I won't, little Missie!" laughed the colored porter. "I
+thought maybe it was a watermelon yo' all had in dat box."
+
+"All aboard!" called the conductor again, and then, with the Bobbseys
+safely in their chair car, the train puffed away again, going faster
+and faster.
+
+"The engine can hardly get its breath," remarked Freddie, as he
+listened to the puffing of the locomotive.
+
+"I guess it's going up hill," said Bert, with a laugh.
+
+The ride to Meadow Brook would take nearly all day, and Mrs. Bobbsey
+settled herself comfortably in the easy chair to look out of the
+window, after she had seen that Flossie and Freddie were all right.
+Nan and Bert looked after themselves, and Mr. Bobbsey, having seen
+that his family was comfortable, began to read his paper. Dinah took a
+chair in one corner where she could doze off. It always made her
+sleepy to ride in a train, she said.
+
+Nan and Bert looked out at the passing scenery, as did Flossie and
+Freddie, when they were not taking turns peeking in at Snoop. As for
+the black cat himself, he had curled up into a little round ball, and
+was fast asleep.
+
+
+He had become a traveler by this time, for once he had been to Cuba,
+when the circus lady took him, as I told you in one of the other
+books.
+
+"I wonder how Snap is getting along in the baggage car?" said Bert to
+Nan, after a bit. "I think I'll go in and see."
+
+"Oh, will papa let you?" inquired his sister.
+
+"I don't know. I'll ask him."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey was a little doubtful about letting Bert pass from one car
+to another when the train was moving.
+
+"But it's a vestibule train, papa," said the boy. "It's like one big
+car. I can't fall off."
+
+"Well, I don't know," said Mr. Bobbsey, slowly.
+
+"I'll take him up front, if he wants to see about the dog," said a
+brakeman who had heard Bert's talk.
+
+"Oh, thank you," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Be careful, Bert."
+
+But, as it turned out, there was no danger at all. As Bert had said,
+the cars were joined together with "vestibules," that made the train
+like one big railway coach. And as it was slowing up to stop at a
+station, when Bert went forward to the baggage car, he had no trouble
+at all in walking along with the brake-man.
+
+Bert found Snap very glad indeed to see him, and as the train was then
+at a standstill the boy took the chain off the dog's collar, and let
+him run about the car a little, for he had to be kept chained fast
+while the cars were in motion.
+
+"I guess you want to run about a bit, eh, Snap?" said Bert.
+
+"Bow wow!" barked the dog, and that was the best answer he could make.
+The man in the baggage car had seen to it that Snap had plenty of
+water to drink, for the day was very hot.
+
+"Better chain him up again, my boy," suggested the baggage man, after
+a bit. "We'll start pretty soon now."
+
+Bert led Snap over to the side of the car, where the collar-chain
+dangled, but, just then, Snap, looking out of the door of the baggage
+car, saw a strange dog on the depot platform. Whether Snap knew this
+dog, or thought he did, Bert could not tell.
+
+But, an instant later, with a bark, Snap pulled away from Bert's grasp
+on his collar, and leaped out of the open car door. At the same moment
+the train started off.
+
+"Snap! Snap!" cried Bert. "Come back here!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+AT MEADOW BROOK
+
+
+The train was not going very fast when Snap leaped from the baggage
+car, but, even if it had been moving at greater speed, it is not
+likely that Snap would have been hurt.
+
+As it was, when the dog leaped from the open door, he did a somersault
+in the air, for he had learned to do that while in the circus, when he
+jumped from a high place.
+
+"Snap! Snap!" called Bert again.
+
+But Snap landed lightly on his feet, and raced across the depot
+platform toward the dog he had seen.
+
+"Say, that's a fine dog of yours!" cried the baggage man admiringly to
+Bert. "He must be a trick one."
+
+"He is!" answered Bert. "But can I get him back again? Oh, I must get
+him!" and he looked about for some way to do this.
+
+"Don't jump out, whatever you do!" warned the brakeman who had brought
+Bert to the baggage car. The man stood in front of the open door, out
+of which trunks were taken. But Bert had no idea of doing what Snap
+had done. Besides, the train was moving quite rapidly now.
+
+"Oh, how can I get my dog back?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"You can telegraph back, from the next station we stop at, and have
+the agent there send him on, wherever you are going," explained the
+baggage man.
+
+"Oh, but we're going a long way," Bert said. "I'm afraid Snap would be
+lost, traveling alone. Oh, what will Nan say!"
+
+Nan was as fond of Snap as was Bert himself, though perhaps the
+smaller twins, Flossie and Freddie cared more for Snoop, the black
+cat. But of course they loved Snap very much.
+
+Poor Bert did not know what to do. Just then his father came running
+into the car.
+
+"Did Snap get away?" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Your mother saw a dog on the
+station platform that looked like him," went on the lumber man to
+Bert. "Is Snap--"
+
+"He's gone!" interrupted Bert. "He jumped out of the car just now,
+and--"
+
+"We must stop the train!" Mr. Bobbsey explained.
+
+"All right, I guess we can make up any time we lose," the brakeman
+said. He reached up and pulled the cord that ran overhead in the car.
+There was a hissing of air, the locomotive whistle blew sharply, and
+the train came slowly to a stop. The brakeman had pulled an air
+whistle in the engine cab, and the engineer, hearing it, and knowing
+the train ought to stop, had turned off the steam.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey then went to the door of the baggage car, and, leaning
+out, whistled in a way Snap well knew. He could see the dog, back on
+the depot platform, "wagging tails" with another dog.
+
+"Here, Snap! Snap!" called Mr. Bobbsey, as the train slowly came to a
+stop. "Here Snap!"
+
+Bert leaned out beside his father, and also whistled and called. Then
+Snap knew he had done wrong to jump out, and back he came, racing as
+hard as he could.
+
+"I'll open the end door of the car if you wish, so he can come up the
+steps," offered the brakeman.
+
+"You don't need to, thank you," replied Mr. Bobbsey. "I guess Snap can
+jump up here, though it is pretty high."
+
+By this time a number of persons from the train had either gotten out,
+or thrust their heads from the windows, to learn the reason for the
+sudden stop. But when they saw the dog they understood.
+
+"Up, Snap! Up!" called Mr. Bobbsey, as the children's pet came leaping
+along beside the track. Snap gave one look up at the high sill of the
+baggage car door, and then, with a loud bark, he gave a great leap and
+landed right beside Bert.
+
+"Say, that dog's a fine jumper!" cried several railroad men who had
+come up to see what the trouble was.
+
+"Yes, he is a pretty good dog, nearly always," Mr. Bobbsey said, "but
+he made trouble for us to-day. Now, Snap, you'll have to stay chained
+up the rest of the trip, until we get to Meadow Brook."
+
+Snap would not like that, Bert knew, but nothing else could be done.
+The train soon started off again, and when Bert and his father went
+back to the parlor car where the rest of the family were riding they
+told all that had happened.
+
+"Snoop is better than Snap," said Freddie as he listened to the story.
+
+"Yes, indeed," agreed his sister Flossie. "Snoop wouldn't jump out of
+a train and make a lot of trouble."
+
+"Well, he did run away, once," declared Nan, who did not like to hear
+Snap talked about.
+
+"Besides, Snoop is fast in a box, and he wouldn't get out if he wanted
+to," added Bert, with a laugh.
+
+So the children talked about their pets, now and then looking out of
+the windows at the scenery, while Dinah dozed off in her chair, and
+Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey spoke of different matters.
+
+Bert heard something of what his father and mother were saying, and
+once he heard mentioned the name of Frank Kennedy.
+
+"That's the boy who ran away from Mr. Mason, the lumber man," said
+Bert to himself. "I wonder what became of him, and if we'll ever see
+poor Frank again?"
+
+And he little thought how soon, and under what circumstances, he was
+to meet the unfortunate lad again.
+
+One of the porters, wearing a white cap, jacket and apron walked
+through the chair car about noon, calling out:
+
+"First call fo' dinner in de dinin' car! First call fo' dinner!"
+
+"Do they eat on trains?" asked Flossie.
+
+"Yes, and at cute little tables," said Nan.
+
+"Did we eat at them the last time we went to Meadow Brook?" Freddie
+wanted to know.
+
+"No, you were too little then," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and we brought our
+lunch with us. But this time we shall go to the diner."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Flossie.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey led the way for his family into the dining-coach. As Nan
+had said, there were cute little tables against the side of the car,
+and on each table was a little dish of ferns, and other green plants,
+making a pretty decoration.
+
+Dinah would not come. She said she would rather eat some chicken
+sandwiches she had in her bag, and Mr. Bobbsey let the dear old
+colored cook do as she pleased.
+
+The Bobbsey twins found it so strange to eat in a car, at a real
+table, while rushing along, that I think they did not eat as much as
+they would have done at home. But they enjoyed it just the same,
+though Freddie did splash some water from his finger bowl on the table
+cloth.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" he exclaimed when he saw what he had done. He looked
+anxiously at his mother.
+
+"Dat's all right, little man," said the colored waiter with a smile
+that showed all his white teeth. "Got t' put a clean cloth on anyhow,
+an' watah doesn't matter."
+
+Freddie felt better then.
+
+The afternoon passed slowly enough. Mr. Bobbsey and Bert went to the
+baggage car once more, to see about Snap, but they found he was all
+right, having made friends with one of the men who looked after the
+travelers' trunks.
+
+Nan read a story book which her mother bought from the train boy, and
+Flossie and Freddie did what Dinah was doing--took a little nap.
+
+The train was due to arrive at Meadow Brook about five o'clock, and
+Mr. Bobbsey's brother, Uncle Daniel, was to meet the family at the
+station.
+
+"Ours is the next stop," said the twins' papa, after a while. "Get
+your things together now."
+
+"Oh, I had a fine sleep!" cried Freddie, stretching his chubby little
+arms.
+
+"So did I," added Flossie. "I wonder if Snoop slept any?"
+
+"I guess that's all he has been doing since we started," Mrs. Bobbsey
+answered. "He's all curled up into a black ball."
+
+Flossie and Freddie looked at their pet, and Snoop stretched, and
+opened his mouth very wide, sticking out his red tongue.
+
+"My! What a lot of teeth Snoop has!" cried Flossie.
+
+"Did we bring his tooth brush?" asked Freddie.
+
+"Cats don't have tooth brushes!" said Flossie.
+
+"Their tongue is their tooth brush," explained Mrs. Bobbsey. "Did you
+ever feel how rough a cat's tongue is?"
+
+"I never did!" said Flossie. "I'm going to feel now," and she knelt
+down on the carpeted floor of the car, and tried to get Snoop to put
+his red tongue out between the bars of the box.
+
+"Oh, we haven't time for that now," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Get ready to
+leave the train, Flossie."
+
+Bundles and valises were gotten together, and, a little later, with a
+screeching of the brakes on the wheels, the train pulled slowly into
+the Meadow Brook station.
+
+"I see Uncle Daniel!" cried Nan, looking from a window.
+
+"Yes, and there's Harry!" cried Bert, as he spied his country cousin.
+"Oh, how glad I am!"
+
+"Well, well! How are you all!" laughed Uncle Daniel as he hugged and
+kissed the two sets of twins. "My, but I'm glad to see you all!" he
+cried. "Welcome to Meadow Brook!"
+
+"And we're glad to be here!" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "How is Aunt Sarah?"
+
+"Just as fine as can be!" said her husband. "Now I have the same big
+wagon I had when you were here before. There's room for everybody in
+it, and all your baggage, too. Where's Dinah? You didn't leave her
+home, I hope!"
+
+"No, indeedy! I'se heah!" exclaimed the fat, colored cook, who was
+carrying many bundles.
+
+"Oh, we must get Snap out of the baggage car, before the train carries
+him away," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he hurried to do that, while his
+brother, Uncle Daniel, helped the boys and girls and Mrs. Bobbsey into
+the big wagon from the Bobbsey farm. The wagon had seats running along
+the side and was very comfortable to ride in.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey soon came back with Snap, who was bouncing about, barking
+and wagging his tail, so glad was he to be among his friends again.
+
+"Well, are you all ready to start?" asked Uncle Daniel, as I shall call
+him, to distinguish him from Mr. Bobbsey, who was the farmer's brother.
+
+"All ready, I think," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. And off they started for
+Meadow Brook farm, the horses prancing through the village streets.
+
+"We'll have a lot of fun," said Harry to Bert, the two boys sitting
+next each other. "Maybe not as much fun as we had on your houseboat,
+Bert, but some, anyhow."
+
+"I'm sure we shall," Bert said. "I like a farm just as much as I do a
+houseboat," he added politely.
+
+"Have you got any little calves, Uncle Daniel?" asked Freddie.
+
+"Yes," answered the farmer.
+
+"And are there any little lambs?" Flossie wanted to know.
+
+"Yes, but there's an old ram, too, and you want to look out that he
+doesn't chase you, and knock you down," Mr. Bobbsey's brother went on.
+
+"Oh, is the ram dangerous?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, quickly.
+
+"Oh, no!" her brother-in-law informed her. "His horns are so curved
+that he can't use the sharp points, but he just does love to come up
+behind and butt you down. He did it to me the other day. But I keep
+the ram in a pasture by himself."
+
+The wagon rolled along the shady road, under the green trees, which
+made a grateful shade, for it was hot even though it was late in the
+afternoon.
+
+"Oh, there is Tom Mason!" cried Bert, as he saw a country boy he had
+met when on a visit to Meadow Brook some time before. He waved his
+hand to Tom who was in his front yard, his house not being far from
+Mr. Bobbsey's.
+
+"And there's Mabel Herold!" added Nan, as she saw a country girl she
+knew. "My, how she has grown!" Nan went on. "She didn't use to be up
+to my shoulder, and now she is taller than I am."
+
+"Oh, the country is a great place for growing," Uncle Daniel said,
+with a chuckle.
+
+"Mabel and Tom have been counting on your coming," said Harry. "I told
+them we expected you. We'll have some fine times together!"
+
+"I'm sure of it," agreed Bert.
+
+"Here we are!" called Uncle Daniel a little later, as the horses
+turned up a driveway in front of the Bobbsey country home. Lines of
+boxwood hedge grew along the graveled drive, and back of this hedge
+were beds of beautiful flowers, the perfume of which could be smelled
+this warm, August day.
+
+"Oh, how lovely it is here," sighed Nan, turning around from having
+waved a welcome to Mabel Herold.
+
+"Yes, I always like to come to Meadow Brook," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Whoa!" called Uncle Daniel.
+
+The door of the house opened, and in it stood Aunt Sarah, and behind
+her Martha, the smiling servant.
+
+"Oh, how glad I am to see you!" cried Aunt Sarah, as the children
+piled down from the wagon to hug and kiss her. "Now get your things
+off, and we'll have supper," she went on.
+
+"I'm hungry!" announced Freddie.
+
+"So am I!" added Flossie. "There was so much to look at in that eating
+car, I didn't eat half enough.
+
+"Well, we have plenty here, my dear," said her aunt.
+
+"We must let Snoop out. I guess he's hungry, too," said Freddie, who
+never forgot the black cat. Snap, the dog, had raced along beside the
+wagon, and was now cooling his thirst at the spring near the side
+door.
+
+The Bobbsey visitors were out on the shady porch, having laid aside
+their traveling wraps, and Uncle Daniel was coming down from the barn,
+having put away the horses, when a man rushed up the gravel drive,
+crying:
+
+"Oh, Mr. Bobbsey! Mr. Bobbsey! He's out! He's loose!"
+
+"Who's out? Who's loose?" the twins' uncle wanted to know.
+
+"That old big ram! He's loose, and he's coming this way!" was the
+answer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE PICNIC
+
+
+The man who had brought the news about the runaway ram, stood on the
+gravel drive near the porch, breathing hard, for he had run very fast
+to give the warning. He caught his breath, and then said again:
+
+"The old ram is loose! He butted down the fence and got out. He's
+headed this way. What'll we do?"
+
+"Children! Into the house with you--quick!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "Let me hide! Let me hide!"
+
+"Pooh! I'm not afraid of a ram!" declared Freddie. "If I had my fire
+engine unpacked, I'd squirt water on him!"
+
+"Better not try that, little fat fireman," said his father with a
+laugh. "Into the house with you, son. Your mother will look after
+you."
+
+Nan had already started from the porch, leading Flossie, who kept
+looking back over her shoulder. From behind the hedge came a cry that
+sounded like:
+
+"Baa! Baa! Baa!"
+
+"There he comes!" exclaimed Nan. "Come on in, Bert and Harry," she
+begged the two boy cousins, who were peering eagerly down the road.
+
+"I'm going to watch 'em catch him," said Bert.
+
+"Better not let him see you," advised Harry, the country cousin. "That
+old ram is a hard hitter."
+
+"Is there really any danger?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of his farmer-brother.
+
+"Well, the old ram is pretty rough, I must say," answered Uncle
+Daniel, "and most of the men on the farm are afraid of him."
+
+"He's coming right this way, I tell you!" exclaimed the hired man who
+had brought the news.
+
+"Why should he head this way?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Come along and I'll tell you," his brother promised. "You children
+had better go into the house," he advised. "Yes, you too, Bert and
+Harry," he went on, as he saw his own son and Bert following him and
+Mr. Bobbsey. "No telling what notions old Upsetter will take."
+
+"Is his name Upsetter?" asked Bert.
+
+"It is," replied his uncle. "I call him that because he upsets so many
+things. He used to be a pet when he was little," he continued, "and
+that's what makes him come to the house now, whenever he gets loose.
+My wife got in the habit of feeding him salt, which all sheep like
+very much. I guess he must remember that. But Aunt Sarah wouldn't dare
+salt him now. Go back into the house, boys, and we men folks will look
+after the ram."
+
+The sounds were nearer now:
+
+"Baa! Baa! Baa!"
+
+"Oh, he's coming!" cried Flossie, who stood with her nose pressed flat
+against a window near the porch.
+
+"Had we better go in?" asked Bert of Harry.
+
+"We really had," answered his cousin.
+
+Uncle Daniel, Mr. Bobbsey and the hired man found some heavy sticks
+with which to scare the ram if he came too close. The big sheep was
+not yet in sight, though he could be heard bleating.
+
+"Up this way," directed Uncle Daniel. "We can head him off and drive
+him into the barnyard, perhaps. Then I can shut him up until I have
+the fence mended that he knocked down."
+
+"Why not get some salt for him?" suggested Mr. Bobbsey. "If he gets
+some to eat it may make him gentle, and then you could slip a rope
+around him and tie him up."
+
+"That's a good idea!" cried the farmer. "Sam, please go to the house
+and get some salt," he directed.
+
+Before the hired man returned, the ram had run into the driveway
+leading to the barn. Just as Uncle Daniel had said, the ram was headed
+for the house, which he must have remembered as a pleasant place ever
+since the days when he was a baby lamb. But now the ram was big and
+strong, and not very good-natured.
+
+He stood for a moment, looking at Uncle Daniel, Mr. Bobbsey and the
+hired man. Then, pawing the ground with his fore feet, and lowering
+and shaking his head with its big horns, the ram started forward
+again.
+
+"Oh, he's going to butt papa!" cried Flossie, who could see, from the
+window, what was going on.
+
+"Papa will get out of the way, dear," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Don't
+worry."
+
+On came the ram, and then Uncle Daniel, taking the salt from the hired
+man, scattered some of it on the ground in front of the big sheep.
+
+"That will stop him, I think," said the farmer. And indeed it did.
+Sheep, and all cattle, are very fond of licking up salt from the
+ground, and they will go a long way to find it. It keeps cattle
+healthy. The old ram, as soon as he smelled the salt, began licking it
+up with his tongue.
+
+He paid no more attention to the men standing in front of him, though
+if the salt had not been there he probably would have run at them, and
+knocked them down with his big curved horns.
+
+"Now's our chance!" whispered Mr. Bobbsey, as if the ram could
+understand what was said. "Get a rope and we can tie him up."
+
+"I'll get one," offered the hired man, and when he came back with the
+clothes line Uncle Daniel made a loop in one end, such as the cowboys
+on the Western plains make when they lasso cattle.
+
+And while the ram was busy licking up the salt, Uncle Daniel tossed
+the noose of the rope around the sheep's head, and, in another second,
+he and Mr. Bobbsey pulled it tight.
+
+"Oh, they've caught him! They've caught him!" cried Nan, who stood
+near Flossie at the window.
+
+"Come on out and look at him!" said Bert.
+
+"No, no!" objected his mother, as the two boy cousins started from the
+room.
+
+"Oh, I guess there's no danger now, if they have a rope on him," said
+Aunt Sarah.
+
+"I'll go 'long with you," offered Freddie, "and I'd squirt water on
+that ram from my fire engine--if I had it unpacked."
+
+"You stay right here with me," advised his mother, putting her arms
+around him.
+
+Bert and Harry went out to look at the captured ram. The animal was
+not ugly now. Perhaps the salt made him good-natured. And he was soon
+led away, and tied up in a stable until his pasture fence could be
+mended.
+
+"My! What a lot of excitement!" exclaimed Nan, when it was all over.
+"Nothing like this happened when we were on the houseboat."
+
+"You forget the make-believe ghost," said Harry, with a laugh, for he
+had helped solve that mystery.
+
+"Oh, that's so," agreed Nan. "That was exciting for a while."
+
+The Bobbsey twins, as well as their father and mother, to say nothing
+of Dinah, were so tired from their long railroad journey that they
+went to bed early that night. The sun was shining brightly when they
+awakened next morning. Harry and Bert slept in the same room, and when
+the country boy arose from bed he went to the window to look out.
+
+"Oh, dear! The sun's shining!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"Maybe," admitted Harry. "But if it had been raining we might have
+gone fishing. As it is, I shall have to work."
+
+"What doing?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"Help pick apples in the orchard. We are shipping them away this year,
+and they have to be picked, and packed in barrels."
+
+"I'll help you," offered Bert, and, after breakfast, the two boys went
+out to the big orchard, where Uncle Daniel and some of his men already
+were busy.
+
+The apples were picked by men standing on long ladders that reached up
+into the trees. Each filled a canvas bag with apples. These bags hung
+around their necks, and when one was full, the man came down the
+ladder with it. This was so the apples would not be bruised, for a
+bruised apple rots very quickly, and even one rotten apple in a barrel
+full, will soon make many bad ones.
+
+"Can we pick apples on a ladder?" asked Bert.
+
+"No, that's a little too dangerous for small boys," said Uncle Daniel.
+"But you and Harry may pick those you can reach from the ground. Some
+of the tree limbs are very low, and you won't have any trouble. Take
+some of the bags to put the apples in. Don't bruise them."
+
+Harry and Bert were soon busy, picking off as many apples as they
+could reach. When their bags were filled, they emptied them carefully
+in a wooden bin, and from that bin Uncle Daniel sorted the apples into
+barrels, which were "headed up" ready to be taken to the city.
+
+Nan had gone over to the home of Mabel Herold, the country girl, and
+Flossie and Freddie found many things to amuse them about the farm.
+Later on they came out to the orchard, and picked up apples from the
+ground.
+
+"I'll help fill Bert's bag, and you can help Harry," said Freddie to
+Flossie.
+
+"No, little fat fireman," said Harry, using the pet name his uncle
+called Freddie. "The apples on the ground are called 'windfalls.' The
+wind blows them down, and they get crushed and bruised by falling on
+the hard dirt, or stones. It would not do to put them in with the good
+hand-picked apples."
+
+"But what do you do with all those on the ground?" asked Bert, for
+there were a great many of them.
+
+"Send them to the cider-mill, or feed them to the pigs," said Harry.
+"The grunters and squeakers don't mind bruised apples."
+
+The children spent nearly all day in the shady orchard, until Uncle
+Daniel said Bert and Harry had done enough work for the time.
+
+"Then let's get our poles and go fishing," suggested Harry.
+
+They did go, but got no bites. Harry said that morning was the best
+time to fish.
+
+When Flossie and Freddie became tired of picking apples up from the
+ground, they found an old swing, and took turns in this, having lots
+of fun.
+
+Snoop and Snap enjoyed their life in the country. Snoop did not go far
+from the house. There was another cat there, and the two soon became
+great friends. Snap also found other dogs with whom he could romp and
+play in the long meadow grass.
+
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah spent many hours talking over matters of
+interest to them, while Dinah, and Martha, who was Aunt Sarah's cook,
+spent most of their time in the kitchen, making good things to eat.
+
+"'Cause dem chilluns suttinly does eat a turrible lot!" exclaimed
+Dinah, as she finished making several pies.
+
+Picking the apples kept Uncle Daniel and his men busy for a number of
+days. Harry had to help, for everyone on a farm has to work, and Bert
+always lent his cousin a hand. But there were times when they were
+allowed a play-spell. Sometimes Tom Mason, another country boy, would
+come over, and, when the work was done, the three boys would go off to
+have good times together.
+
+One or two days it rained, and then nothing could be done out of doors
+in the way of farm work. During one of the rainy days Bert and Harry
+went fishing.
+
+"We'll be sure to get plenty of bites to-day," Harry said, as they
+started off with their poles and lines, well protected from the
+weather by rubber boots and coats.
+
+"I hope we catch a lot of fish," said Bert.
+
+But they caught only two little sun-fish, which Harry threw back into
+the creek, as they were too small to keep.
+
+"I guess we'll have to wait for a sunny day," sighed Harry, as they
+started home. "I thought rain was good fishing-weather, but it doesn't
+seem to be."
+
+"Never mind, we had a good time, anyhow." Bert answered.
+
+When the two boys reached the farmhouse, they found Flossie, Freddie,
+Nan and Mabel Herold sitting in the dining-room, all talking at once,
+it seemed.
+
+"And we'll take five baskets of lunch," Freddie was saying, "and my
+fire engine is unpacked now, so I can take that with us, and I'll
+squirt water on snakes and--and other things."
+
+"Oh, snakes!" cried Mabel. "I hope we don't see any of the horrid
+things!"
+
+"I'm not afraid!" boasted Freddie.
+
+"Maybe there won't be any," suggested Nan.
+
+"Well, I'm going to take my doll, anyhow," said Flossie.
+
+"What's this all about?" asked Bert. "Are you going somewhere?"
+
+"Picnic!" exclaimed Flossie. "We're going to have a picnic!"
+
+"I'm going!" added Freddie, as though he was afraid of being left.
+
+"We all are," added Nan.
+
+"First I heard about it," Harry said, with a laugh.
+
+"We planned it while you and Bert were off fishing," spoke his mother.
+"The children are going to take their lunch to the woods in a day or
+two, as soon as the weather clears."
+
+A few days later the sun came out from behind the clouds, the rain
+ceased falling and with joyous shouts and laughter the Bobbsey twins,
+cousin Harry, and some country boys and girls, who had been invited,
+went off on a woodland picnic.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LOST IN THE HAY
+
+
+"Oh, isn't it just lovely in the woods," sighed Nan, as she sat down
+on a green mossy seat beneath a great oak tree. "I could live here
+forever!"
+
+"So could I!" exclaimed Mabel Herold. "There is no place so lovely as
+the woods."
+
+"You--you wouldn't stay here all night, would you?" asked Freddie, as
+he set down the basket of sandwiches he had been carrying, and looked
+at a dark hole under some bushes.
+
+"I wouldn't mind," sighed Nan again. "It is so lovely here."
+
+"I used to think I liked the seashore best," said Mabel, "but now I
+think the country is prettiest."
+
+"Well, I'm not going to stay here all night," decided Freddie.
+"There--there's bugs--and--and--things!"
+
+"I thought you weren't afraid of them," spoke Nan with a smile.
+
+"I--I meant in daytime--I'm not afraid then," declared Freddie. "But
+at night, why--why, I'd rather be home in bed."
+
+"And I guess we all would," exclaimed Nan, hugging the little fat
+fellow.
+
+"Oh, there goes a rabbit!" cried Bert to Harry. "Let's see if we can
+catch him!"
+
+"Come on!" agreed the country boy.
+
+"I'm with you!" shouted Tom Mason.
+
+"Oh, will they hurt the little bunny?" asked Flossie, with quivering
+lips, for she dearly loved all animals.
+
+"I guess there isn't much danger of them catching the rabbit," said
+Mr. Bobbsey, sitting down beside his wife in a shady green spot. "A
+bunny can hop very fast."
+
+And so it proved. The three boys raced about through the woods until
+they were quite tired, and very much heated up. But the rabbit got
+safely away.
+
+"Ah, well, we didn't want him anyhow," said Harry, fanning himself
+with his cap, after the chase.
+
+"No," agreed Bert, "we just wanted to see if we could get him."
+
+"My! It's warm!" exclaimed Tom, looking at the basket in which the
+lemonade was packed in bottles. "I'm very thirsty," he said.
+
+"You must not drink when you are too warm," advised Mr. Bobbsey. "Wait
+until you cool off a bit. If you take cold water, or icy lemonade,
+into your stomach after you are all heated up from running, you may be
+made ill. Rest a while before you drink, is good advice."
+
+So the boys waited, and a little later they were allowed to have some
+of the cool lemonade.
+
+"Are we going to eat our lunch here?" asked Freddie.
+
+"No, a little farther on in the woods," said his Aunt Sarah.
+
+So they walked on, under the shady trees, with the green carpet of
+moss under foot, until they came to a little glade, where the trees
+grew in a circle about a grassy space.
+
+"It--it's just like a circus ring!" exclaimed Freddie. "Oh, couldn't
+we have a circus, or a show, while we're here at the farm?" he asked.
+
+"We'll see," half-promised his mother.
+
+The table-cloth was spread out on the green grass, and the wooden
+plates set on it. Then the lunch baskets were opened and the good
+things passed around. There were sandwiches of several kinds, and cake
+and cookies, as well as more lemonade.
+
+"Isn't it nice to eat this way?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "When we have
+finished, there are no dishes to wash; just the wooden plates to throw
+away."
+
+"Yes'm," declared Dinah, with a chuckle. "I spects dish yeah would be
+a good way to do back home--but it would be kinder cold, eatin' out in
+de woods in de winter time."
+
+"I wouldn't want to live here in winter," said Freddie. "There isn't
+any place to hang up your stocking Christmas, and no chimney for Santa
+Claus to come down!" he added.
+
+"And that would never do!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey. "But we will enjoy
+these woods all we can."
+
+When the woodland picnic lunch was finished, the party sat about on
+the grass, in the shade of the trees, and Mr. Bobbsey told stories to
+the two small children. Flossie and Freddie enjoyed this very much.
+
+Nan and Mabel went for a little walk in the woods, and Bert and Harry
+said they were going to try for some fish, as they had brought hooks
+and lines along, and could cut poles in the woods. This time they had
+very good luck.
+
+"I have one!" suddenly called Harry, pulling up his line. There was a
+flash, as of silver, in the air, and he hauled a fish up from the
+water, landing it flapping on the grass behind him.
+
+"Oh, what a big one!" cried Bert, running over to look. "I wish I
+could get one now."
+
+"Maybe you will," said Harry, trying to catch the flopping creature.
+"Put on some fresh bait." But Harry caught another fish before Bert
+had even a good bite.
+
+By this time Mr. Bobbsey had finished his story, and Flossie had taken
+out her doll to pretend to get it to sleep. Freddie wandered over to
+where Bert and Harry were fishing.
+
+"Oh, I have one! I have one!" Bert suddenly shouted, and he, too,
+landed a good-sized fish. It was taken off the hook, and strung on a
+willow twig, and then, fastened so it could not swim away, it was put
+back into the water to keep fresh until it was time to go home.
+
+Freddie was very much interested in the captive fish. He went down to
+the edge of the creek to watch them as they tried to swim away. But
+they could not, for the willow twigs held them.
+
+Suddenly one of the fish gave a big jump in the shallow pool, where
+Bert had put them.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Freddie, springing back. Then his foot slipped on a
+wet, mossy stone, and the next moment the little fellow fell down into
+the water.
+
+"Bert!! Harry! Come and get me! I'm in!" he cried.
+
+Bert and Harry dropped their poles and came up on the run, but there
+was no danger, for the water was only a few inches deep, near shore,
+and Freddie was already on his feet when they reached him.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" sobbed the little fellow. "I--I'm all wet."
+
+"Never mind, you have your old clothes on," said his brother. "And
+I'll tell mother it was an accident."
+
+It was a warm summer day and a little wetting would not harm Freddie.
+He was taken back to a sunny place by Bert, and told to sit in the
+warm spot until he had dried out. Then the two larger boys went back
+to fish, but Freddie's accident must have scared all the fish away,
+for Bert and Harry caught no more.
+
+"My, but you are a sight, Freddie!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, when she
+saw the wet and muddy little twin. "But I suppose you could not help
+it."
+
+"No, mamma," he answered. "The fish made me fall in."
+
+It was almost time for the picnic party to start back home now. Dinah
+was packing up the knives, forks, and glasses, and throwing away the
+wooden plates.
+
+As she knelt over to fold up the table-cloth, she felt something touch
+her back, and the next moment something cold and wet touched her
+cheek.
+
+"Go 'long wif yo' now, Bert!" she exclaimed, not turning around.
+"Don't yo' put any ob dem wet slimy fish on me. Don't you do it!"
+
+Then something almost pushed Dinah over, and again she felt the wet
+object on the back of her neck.
+
+"Stop it! Stop it!" cried the colored cook. "Don't yo' put any toad
+down mah back, Bert!"
+
+"I'm not doing anything," Bert answered, and at the sound of his voice
+Dinah looked up and saw him some distance off. At the same time,
+though, Bert and Harry burst into a laugh.
+
+"Oh, look what Dinah thought was me!" cried Bert.
+
+Dinah turned around, just as a loud "Moo!" sounded in her ear, making
+her jump.
+
+"Good land ob massy!" she cried. "It's a cow!"
+
+And, surely enough, so it was. The cow had wandered out of the woods,
+and, coming up behind Dinah, had licked her neck with a big red
+tongue. Perhaps the cow thought Dinah was a lump of black salt!
+
+"Go 'way! Go 'long outer heah! Leef me be!" screamed Dinah, and
+catching up a handful of wooden plates she threw them at the cow. They
+rattled on the animal's horns, and then, with another "Moo!" the
+creature turned and crashed back through the bushes.
+
+"And Dinah thought that was I, tickling her with a fish tail," said
+Bert, laughing.
+
+"Dat's what I did, honey!" the colored cook said, with a laugh. "I
+s'pected yo' was up to some ob yo' all tricks!"
+
+They all laughed at this, and amid much fun and jollity the picnic
+things were packed up and the homeward walk begun.
+
+"Oh, we have had _such_ a good time!" sighed Nan. "I am sorry it is
+over."
+
+"Oh, we'll have more good times," said Bert, as he and Harry walked
+along with the fish they had caught. Their chum, Tom Mason, had two
+smaller ones.
+
+There were days of work and play on the farm, and Harry had his share
+of tasks to perform. Bert helped him all he could. One day, when the
+boys and girls had counted on going out rowing on a little lake not
+far from Meadow Brook, it rained. When they arose in the morning,
+ready for their fun, the big drops were splashing down.
+
+"Oh, we can't go!" sighed Freddie. "I don't like rain!"
+
+"I thought all firemen liked water," his father said, with a laugh.
+
+"This is too much water!" went on the little chap. "We can't have any
+fun."
+
+"Oh, yes, we can," said Harry. "We can go out in the barn and play in
+the hay. The big barn is full of new hay now, and we can slide down
+the mow and play hide and go seek in it."
+
+"That will be great!" exclaimed Bert. "Come on."
+
+Snap, the dog, must have thought he was also invited, for he ran out
+barking, with the children. Umbrellas kept the rain off them until
+they reached the barn, and then began a good time.
+
+They went to the top of the big pile of fragrant hay in the mow, and
+slid down it to the barn floor, where a carpet of more hay made a soft
+place on which to fall. Snap slid with the rest, barking and wagging
+his tail every minute.
+
+"Now let's play hide and go seek!" suggested Harry after a bit. "I'll
+'blind' and when I say 'ready or not, I'm coming,' I'm going to start
+to find you."
+
+The game began. Harry closed his eyes, so he would not see where the
+others hid, and Nan, Bert and the rest of them picked out spots in the
+hay, and about the barn where they thought Harry could not see them.
+But Harry knew the old barn well, and he easily found Bert. Then he
+spied Nan and Flossie, hiding together. A little later he discovered
+where Tom Mason and Mabel Herold were.
+
+"Now I've only to find Freddie," said the country cousin. But Freddie
+was not so easy to find. Harry looked all over but could not locate
+him.
+
+"There are so many holes in the barn," the country boy said, "and
+Freddie is so small, that I guess I'd better give him up. I'll let him
+come in free. Givey-up! Givey-up!" he called. "Come on in free,
+Freddie."
+
+But Freddie did not answer. They all kept quiet, but all they could
+hear was the patter of rain drops on the barn roof.
+
+"Freddie! Freddie! Freddie! Where are you?" cried Nan.
+
+"Come on in free!" added Harry.
+
+"Come on, little fat fireman," went on Bert. "Harry won't tag you, and
+you can hide again."
+
+But Freddie's childish voice did not reply. The boys and girls looked
+anxiously at one another.
+
+"Where's Freddie?" asked Flossie, and her lips began to tremble as
+they did just before she started to cry.
+
+"Oh, we'll find him," said Bert, easily.
+
+"Yes, he's probably hiding so far off he can't hear us," went on
+Harry.
+
+"Maybe he's lost under the hay," suggested Tom. "I read of a boy
+getting caught under a pile of hay once, and they didn't get him out
+for a long time."
+
+"Oh, Freddie's lost! Freddie's lost!" cried Flossie, bursting into
+tears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FIVE-PIN SHOW.
+
+
+"Hush, Flossie, don't cry, dear!" begged Nan, putting her arms around
+her little sister.
+
+"But--but I--I can't help it," stammered Flossie. "Freddie's losted!"
+
+"We'll find him!" said Bert. "He's somewhere inside the barn, that is
+sure. He'd never go out in all this rain," for the big drops were now
+coming down thick and fast.
+
+"Freddie isn't afraid of water--he's a fireman--papa's little fat
+fireman, and I'm papa's little fat fairy, and Freddie's
+losted--and--and--oh, dear!" sobbed Flossie, as she thought of her
+missing brother.
+
+"Come on, let's start in all together and find him," suggested Harry.
+"He must be hid somewhere around here."
+
+"Away down under the hay," suggested Tom Mason.
+
+"Hush! Don't say that," spoke Bert in a low tone. "You'll scare the
+girls!"
+
+"Maybe we'd better go tell papa and mamma," said Nan.
+
+"Let's try by ourselves, first," suggested her brother. "We'll find
+Freddie, never fear."
+
+The children began a search of the barn, now almost filled with
+sweet-smelling hay. Up and down in the mow they looked to find where
+Freddie might have hidden himself away. They called and shouted to him,
+but no answer came.
+
+"I don't see why he doesn't reply to us," said Nan to Bert. "He
+wouldn't keep quiet when we've told him he could come in free. Freddie
+is too fond of playing hide and go seek to stay away, unless he had
+to. I am afraid something has happened to him, Bert."
+
+"What could happen to him?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, I don't know, but--" and Nan hesitated and looked worried.
+
+Where could Freddie have hidden himself away in the hay, and stranger,
+still, why did he not answer the many calls made for him? For the
+children kept shouting as they searched.
+
+Bert had made up his mind, after looking about for some time, that
+perhaps, after all, he had better go into the house and tell his
+father what had happened. Just then Tom Mason slid down from a high
+part of the haymow to a little hollowed-out place. As he landed, a
+crackling sound was heard, and then Tom cried:
+
+"Oh, my! Now I have done it! Oh, dear! What a mess! Oh! Oh!"
+
+"Have you found him? Is Freddie there?" asked Flossie from where she
+stood in the middle of the barn floor.
+
+"No, but I slid right into a hen's nest, and I've broken all the
+eggs!" cried Tom. "Oh, me! Oh, my!"
+
+He managed to get to his feet, and there he stood, his hands held out
+in front of him, for they were dripping with the whites and yolks of
+the broken eggs. Tom's clothes were pretty well splashed up.
+
+"What a sight I am!" he murmured. "And I've broken all the eggs!"
+
+"Never mind! You couldn't help it," said Harry kindly. "The old hen
+oughtn't to have laid her eggs in here, and they wouldn't have been
+smashed. Hens like to steal away, and lay their eggs in hay."
+
+"Oh, but you do look _so_ funny!" cried Nan, then she laughed in spite
+of her worry about lost Freddie.
+
+"He--he looks like a cake before it's baked!" giggled Mabel.
+
+They all laughed heartily at Tom's sorry plight.
+
+"Please lend me a handkerchief, somebody," he begged. "I can't reach
+in my pocket to get mine, and there's some egg running in my eye."
+
+"I'll wipe it for you," offered Bert, laughing so heartily that he
+could hardly stand up.
+
+"Hark! What's that?" suddenly asked Nan.
+
+They all stopped laughing at once. From somewhere down in the hay,
+near the smashed nest of eggs, came a voice, asking:
+
+"What's the matter? Isn't anybody going to find me?"
+
+"It's Freddie!" cried Nan.
+
+"Freddie!" shouted Bert. "Where are you?"
+
+"Oh, Freddie is found! Freddie isn't lost any more!" exclaimed
+Flossie, jumping up and down in delight.
+
+And then, from a little nest in the hay, crawled Freddie himself,
+rubbing his eyes, and pulling wisps from his tousled hair.
+
+"Have you been there all the while?" asked Harry.
+
+"I--I guess so," answered Freddie, as if he hardly knew himself.
+
+"Well, then, why didn't you answer us?" asked Nan. "We were so
+frightened about you, Freddie. Why didn't you answer when we called?"
+
+"I--I guess I was asleep," he said. "I didn't hear you until you all
+began to laugh. Then I woke up."
+
+And that was what had happened. Freddie had found a good hiding place
+in a hole in the hay, and, while waiting for Harry to come and look
+for him, the little chap had dozed off, it was so warm and cozy in his
+hay-nest. And he had slept all through the search made for him, not
+hearing the calls. But when Tom rolled into the hen's nest, and the
+others laughed so heartily at him, that awakened the sleeping "little
+fat fireman."
+
+"My! But you gave us a fright!" said Nan. "But it's all right now,
+dear," and she helped Freddie pull the hay out of his hair.
+
+"I guess we've had enough of this game," suggested Harry. "Let's do
+something else."
+
+"I'm hungry," announced Freddie. "Can't we play an eating game?"
+
+"I think so," said Bert. "Dinah and Martha were starting to bake
+cookies before we came out to the barn, and they ought to be done now.
+Let's go in."
+
+Into the house, through the rain, tramped the children, and soon,
+eating cookies, they were telling about Freddie going to sleep in the
+hay, and Tom trying to make an omelet of himself in the hen's nest.
+
+"Well, this certainly was a nice day, even if it did rain," said Nan,
+as they were ready to go to bed that night. "I wonder what we can do
+to-morrow?"
+
+"I know," answered Bert. "Harry and I have a fine plan."
+
+"Oh, tell me what it is," begged his sister.
+
+"It's a secret," he laughed as he went upstairs.
+
+After breakfast next morning Nan, who did not get up very early,
+looked for Harry and her brother.
+
+"Where are the boys?" she asked her mother.
+
+"Out in the barn," was the answer. "They took some big sheets of paper
+with them."
+
+"They must be going to make kites," Nan said.
+
+But when she saw what Bert and Harry were doing, she knew it was not a
+kite game they were planning. For in letters, made with a black stick
+on the sheets of paper, Nan read the words:
+
+     FIVE-PIN SHOW
+  COME ONE   COME ALL
+
+"Oh, what is it?" she cried. "Please tell me, Bert!"
+
+"We're going to have a show," said Harry, "and we're going to charge
+five pins to come in."
+
+"Oh, may I be in it?" asked Nan. "I'll do anything you want me to.
+Mayn't I be in it?"
+
+"Shall we let her?" asked Bert of his country cousin.
+
+"Sure," said Harry kindly. "We boys won't be enough. We'll have to
+have the girls."
+
+"Where's it going to be?" asked Nan.
+
+"Here in the barn," her brother said. "We're going to make a cage for
+Snap--he's going to be the lion."
+
+"Can Snoop be one of the animals, too?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes, Snoop will be the black tiger," decided Harry. "I only hope he
+keeps awake, and growls now and then. That will make it seem real."
+
+"Snoop sometimes growls when he gets a piece of meat," suggested Nan.
+
+"Then we'll give him meat in the show," decided Bert.
+
+He and Harry finished making the show bills, and then began to get
+ready for the performance. With some old sheets they made a curtain
+across one corner of the barn, in front of the haymow. Nan helped with
+this, as she could use a needle, thread and thimble better than could
+the boys.
+
+Then Tom Mason, Mabel Herold and some other of the country boys and
+girls came over, and they were allowed to be in the show. Bert was to
+be a clown, and he put on an old suit, turned inside out, and whitened
+his face with starch, which he begged from Martha.
+
+Harry was to be the wild animal trainer, and show off the black tiger,
+which was Snoop, and the fierce lion in a cage, which lion was only
+Snap, the dog.
+
+The show was not to take place until the next day, as Bert said the
+performers needed time for practice. But some of the "show bills" were
+fastened up about the village streets, and many boys and girls said
+they would come if they could get the five pins.
+
+Finally all was ready for the little play. Flossie was made door-keeper
+and took up the admission pins. Freddie wanted to be a fireman
+in the show, so they let him do this. His mother made a little red
+coat for him, and he had his toy fire engine that pumped real water.
+
+"But you mustn't squirt it on anyone in the audience," cautioned Bert.
+
+"No, I'll just squirt it on the wild animals if they get bad," said
+the little fellow.
+
+Nan was to be a bare-back rider, and Harry had made her a wooden steed
+from a saw-horse, with rope for reins. Nan perched herself up on the
+saw-horse, and pretended she was galloping about the ring.
+
+A number of boys and girls came to the show, each one bringing the
+five pins, so that Flossie had many of them to stick on the cushion
+which was her cash-box.
+
+Bert was very funny as a clown, and he turned somersaults in the hay.
+Once he landed on a hard place on the barn floor, and cried:
+
+"Ouch!"
+
+Everyone laughed at that, and they laughed harder when Bert made a
+funny face as he rubbed his sore elbow.
+
+Harry exhibited Snoop and Snap as the wild animals, but Snoop rather
+spoiled the performance by not growling as a black tiger should.
+
+"This tiger used to be very wild, ladies and gentlemen," said Harry,
+"and no keeper dared go in the cage with him. But he is a good tiger
+now, and loves his keeper," and Harry put his hand in, and stroked
+Snoop, who purred happily.
+
+"Oh, I think this is a lovely show!" exclaimed Nellie Johnson. "I'm
+coming every day."
+
+A little later, near the box which had been made into a cage for
+Snoop, there came a loud noise. Snoop meowed very hard, and hissed as
+he used to do when he saw a strange dog. At the same time something
+went:
+
+"Gobble-obblcobble!" Then came a great crash, more cries from Snoop
+and out into the middle of the barn floor dashed the black cat with a
+big, long-legged, feathered creature clinging to poor Snoop's tail.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "The wild animals are loose!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A SHAM BATTLE
+
+
+For a few moments there was wild confusion in that part of the barn
+where the "show" was going on. Nan gave one look at the strange
+mixture of the howling Snoop and the gobbling bird in the centre of
+the floor, and then, catching Flossie up in her arms, Nan made a
+spring for the haymow.
+
+"Wait! Wait!" cried Flossie. "I'm losing all the pins! I've dropped
+the pin cushion!"
+
+That was her cash-box--the pins she had taken in as admission to the
+little play.
+
+"We can't stop for it now!" cried Nan. "We must get out of the way."
+
+"The cat has a fit!" cried Tom Mason.
+
+"Oh, poor Snoop!" wailed Flossie.
+
+"Grab him, somebody!" shouted Harry.
+
+"No, let Snoop alone!" advised Bert. "He might bite, if you touched
+him now, though he wouldn't mean to."
+
+"But what is it? What gave him the fit?" asked Mabel Herold.
+
+"Our old turkey gobbler," answered Harry. "The gobbler has caught
+Snoop by the tail. It's enough to give any cat a fit."
+
+"I should say so!" cried Bert. "Look out! They're coming over this
+way! Look out!"
+
+The children scrambled to one side, for Snoop and the big turkey
+gobbler were sliding, rolling and tumbling over the barn floor toward
+the board seats where the show audience, but a little while before,
+were enjoying the performance.
+
+The girls had followed Nan and Flossie up to a low part of the haymow,
+and were out of the way. But the boys wanted to be nearer where they
+could see what was going on.
+
+The noise and the excitement had roused Snap, the dog, who had curled
+up in his cage and was sleeping, after having been exhibited as a
+raging and roaring lion, and now Snap was barking and growling, trying
+to understand what was going on. Perhaps he wanted to join in the fun,
+for it was fun for the turkey gobbler, if it was not for poor Snoop.
+
+"Look out the way! Clear the track! Toot! Toot!" came a sudden cry and
+little Freddie came running toward the gobbler and cat, dragging after
+him his much-prized toy fire engine.
+
+"Get back out of the way, Freddie!" ordered Bert. "Snoop may scratch
+or bite you, or the gobbler may pick you. Get out of the way!"
+
+"I'm a fireman!" cried the fat little fellow. "Firemans never get out
+of the way! Toot! Toot! Clear the track! Chuu! Chuu! Chuu!" and he
+puffed out his cheeks, making a noise like an engine.
+
+"You must come here!" insisted Bert, making a spring toward his little
+brother.
+
+"I can't come back! Firemans never come back!" half screamed Freddie.
+"I'm going to squirt water on the bad gobble-obble bird that's biting
+my Snoop!"
+
+And then, before anyone could stop him, Freddie unreeled the little
+rubber hose of his fire engine, and pointed the nozzle at the
+struggling gobbler and cat in the middle of the barn floor.
+
+I have told you, I think, that Freddie's engine held real water, and,
+by winding up a spring a little pump could be started, squirting a
+stream of water for some distance.
+
+"Whoop! Here comes the water!" cried Freddie, as he started the pump
+working.
+
+Then a stream shot out, right toward the cat and turkey. It was the
+best plan that could have been tried for separating them.
+
+With a howl and a yowl Snoop pulled his claws loose from where they
+were tangled up in the turkey's feathers. With a final gobble, the
+turkey let go of Snoop's tail. The water spurted out in a spraying
+stream, Freddie's engine being a strong one, for a toy.
+
+"That's the way I do it!" cried Freddie, just like Mr. Punch. "That's
+the way I do it! Look, I made them stop!"
+
+"Why--why, I believe you did!" exclaimed Bert, with a laugh.
+
+The gobbler ran out through the open barn door, his feathers wet and
+bedraggled. He must have thought he had been caught in a rainstorm.
+And poor Snoop was glad enough to crawl away in a dark corner, to lick
+himself dry with his red tongue.
+
+"Poor Snoop!" said Freddie, as he stopped his engine from pumping any
+more water. "I'm sorry I got you wet, Snoop, but I couldn't help it. I
+only meant to sprinkle the gobbler."
+
+He patted Snoop, who began purring.
+
+"Well, I guess that ends the show," said Bert, who looked funnier than
+ever now, as a clown, for the white on his face was streaked in many
+ways with the water, some of which had sprayed on him.
+
+"Yes, the performance is over," announced Harry.
+
+"Oh, but it was lovely!" said Nan, as she slid down the hay with
+Flossie. "I don't see how you boys ever got it up."
+
+"Oh, we're smart boys!" laughed Harry.
+
+"But I lost all the pins!" wailed Flossie. "Nan wouldn't let me stop
+to pick them up!"
+
+"I should say not! With that queer wild animal bursting in on us!"
+exclaimed Mabel. "Oh, but I was so frightened!"
+
+"Pooh! I wasn't!" boasted Freddie. "I knew my fire engine would scare
+them."
+
+"Well, it did all right," announced Bert "I guess we'd better let Snap
+out now," he said, for the dog was barking loudly, and trying to break
+out of the packing box of which his cage was made.
+
+Snoop's cage was broken, where the black cat had forced his way out.
+
+"His tail must have been hanging down through the bars," explained
+Bert, "and the gobbler came along and nipped it. That made Snoop mad,
+and he got out and clawed the turkey."
+
+"I guess that was it," agreed Harry. "Well, we had fun anyhow, if
+Snoop and the turkey did have a hard time."
+
+Snoop was soon dry again, and not much the worse for what had happened
+to him. The gobbler, except for the loss of a few feathers, was not
+hurt. But after that the turkey and cat kept well out of each other's
+way.
+
+Everyone voted the show a great success, and the children planned to
+have another one before they left Meadow Brook farm. But the Bobbsey
+twins did not know all that was in store for them before they went
+back to the city.
+
+One day, when they were all seated at dinner in the pleasant Bobbsey
+farmhouse, Uncle Daniel paused, with a piece of pie half raised on his
+fork, and said:
+
+"Hark!"
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Aunt Sarah. "Did you think you heard the
+old ram coming again?"
+
+"No, but it sounded like thunder," replied her husband, "and if it's
+going to rain I must hurry, and get those tomatoes picked."
+
+"I heard something, too," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"So did I," spoke up Freddie. "Maybe it's the old black bull down in
+the pasture."
+
+"No. There it goes again!" said Uncle Daniel. "It must be thunder!"
+
+There sounded a dull distant booming noise, that was repeated several
+times.
+
+Uncle Daniel got up hastily from the table and went to the door.
+
+"Not a cloud in the sky," he remarked, "and yet that noise is growing
+louder."
+
+It was, indeed, as they all could hear.
+
+"It's guns, that's what it is," declared Bert "It sounds like Fourth
+of July."
+
+"That's what it does," agreed his cousin Harry. "It's back of those
+hills. I'm going to see what it is."
+
+"So am I!" cried Bert. The boys had finished their dinners, and now
+started off on a run in the direction of the booming sounds.
+
+"Come along," said Uncle Daniel to Mr. Bobbsey. "We may as well go
+also."
+
+"I want to come!" cried Freddie.
+
+"Not now," said his mother. "Wait until papa comes back."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey, with his brother and the two boys, soon reached the top
+of the hill. All the while the sound like thunder was growing louder.
+Then puffs of smoke could be seen rising in the air.
+
+"What can it be?" asked Bert.
+
+"I can't imagine," answered Harry.
+
+They saw, in another minute, what it was.
+
+Down in a valley below them was a crowd of soldiers, with cannon and
+guns, firing at one another. The soldiers were divided into two
+parties. First one party would run forward, and then the other, both
+sides firing as fast as they could.
+
+"It's a war!" cried Bert. "It's a battle!"
+
+"It's only a sham battle!" said Mr. Bobbsey. "No one is being hurt,
+for they are using blank cartridges. It must be that the soldiers are
+practicing so as to know how to fight if a real war comes. It is only
+a sham battle."
+
+The cannons roared, the rifles rattled and flashes of fire and puffs
+of smoke were on all sides.
+
+"Oh, look at the horses--the cavalry!" cried Harry, as a company of
+men, mounted on horses, galloped toward some of the soldiers, who
+turned their rifles on them.
+
+Then one man, on a big black horse, left the main body and came
+straight on toward Mr. Bobbsey, Uncle Daniel, and the two boys.
+
+"We'd better look out!" cried Bert "Maybe he wants to capture us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+MOVING PICTURES
+
+
+The man on the black horse continued to ride toward the two boys,
+Uncle Daniel and Mr. Bobbsey. Behind him more men on horses rushed
+forward, but they were going toward some soldiers on foot, who were
+firing their rifles at the "cavalry," as Harry called them, that being
+the name for horse-soldiers.
+
+"Oh, look, some of the men are falling off their horses!" cried Bert
+
+"Maybe they are hurt," Harry said.
+
+"No, I guess it's only making believe, if this is a sham battle," went
+on Bert.
+
+By this time the man on the black horse was near Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"You had better stand farther back, if you don't mind," he said.
+
+"Why, are we in danger here?" asked Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Well, not exactly danger, for we are using only blank cartridges. But
+you are too near the camera. You'll have your pictures taken if you
+don't look out," and he smiled, while his horse pawed the ground,
+making the soldier's sword rattle against his spurs.
+
+"Camera!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey. "Is someone taking pictures of this
+sham battle?"
+
+"Yes, we are taking moving pictures," replied the soldier. "The man
+with the camera is right over there," and he pointed to a little hill,
+on top of which stood a man with what looked like a little box on
+three legs. The man was turning a crank.
+
+"Moving pictures!" repeated Uncle Daniel, looking in the direction
+indicated.
+
+"That's what this sham battle is for," went on the soldier who sat
+astride the black horse. "We are pretending to have a hard battle, to
+make an exciting picture. Soon the camera will be pointed over this
+way, and as it wouldn't look well to have you gentlemen and boys in
+the picture, I'll be obliged to you if you'll move back a little."
+
+"Of course we will," agreed Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Especially as it looks as though the soldiers were coming our way."
+
+"Yes, part of the sham battle will soon take place here," the
+cavalryman went on.
+
+"Come on back, boys!" cried Uncle Daniel, "We can watch just as well
+behind those trees, and we won't be in the way, and have our pictures
+taken without knowing it."
+
+"Yes, and we won't be in any danger of having some of the paper
+wadding from a blank cartridge blown into our eyes," added Mr.
+Bobbsey.
+
+"Say, this is great!" cried Harry. "I'm glad we came."
+
+"So am I," said Bert
+
+The boys looked on eagerly while the battle kept up. They saw the
+soldiers charge back and forth. The cannon shot out puffs of white
+smoke, but no cannon balls, of course, for no one wanted to be hurt.
+Back and forth rushed the soldiers on horses, and others on foot,
+firing with their rifles.
+
+Of course they were not real soldiers, but were dressed in soldiers'
+uniforms to make the picture seem real. I suppose you have often seen
+in moving picture theatres pictures of a battle.
+
+It was well that Mr. Bobbsey and the others had gotten out of the way,
+for shortly afterward the men rushed right across the spot where Bert
+and Harry had been standing.
+
+"If we were there, then we'd have been walked on," said Bert.
+
+"Yes, and we'd have had our pictures taken, too," said Harry, pointing
+to the man with the camera who had taken a new position.
+
+"I wouldn't mind that, would you?" asked Bert.
+
+"No, I don't know as I would," replied the country cousin. "It would
+be fun to see yourself in moving pictures, I think. Oh, look! That
+horse went down, and the soldier shot right over his head."
+
+A horse had stumbled and fallen, bringing down the rider with him. But
+whether this was an accident, or whether it was done on purpose, to
+make the moving picture look more natural, the boys could not tell.
+
+The firing was now louder than ever. A number of cannon were being
+used, horses drawing them up with loud rumblings, while the men
+wheeled the guns into place, loaded and fired them.
+
+On all sides men were falling down, pretending to be shot, for those
+who took the moving pictures wanted them to seem as nearly like real
+war as possible.
+
+"Oh, here they are!" suddenly exclaimed a voice back of Mr. Bobbsey
+and the others.
+
+Turning, Bert saw his mother, with Aunt Sarah, Flossie, Freddie and
+Nan. They had come up the hill to look down into the valley and see
+what all the excitement was about.
+
+"Yes, here we are!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Isn't this great? It's a sham
+battle."
+
+"What for?" asked his wife, and she had to speak loudly to be heard
+above the rattle and bang of the guns.
+
+"For moving pictures," answered Mr. Bobbsey, pointing to the men with
+the cameras, for now three or four of them were at work, taking views
+of the "fight" from different places.
+
+"Mercy! What a racket!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Oh, I don't like it!" cried Flossie, covering her ears with her
+chubby hands. "Take me away, mamma; I'm afraid of the guns!"
+
+"Pooh! There's nothing to be scared of!" exclaimed Freddie. "I'm going
+to be a soldier when I grow up, and shoot a gun."
+
+"You can't play with me if you do," declared Flossie, when the bang of
+the cannon stopped for a moment, leaving the air quiet.
+
+"I don't want to play with girls--I'm going to be a fighting soldier!"
+declared Freddie. "Hi! Hark to the guns! Boom! Boom!" and he jumped up
+and down as the cannon thundered again.
+
+"Oh, I don't like it! I want to go home and play with my doll!"
+half-sobbed Flossie. "I don't like fighting."
+
+"And I don't, either," said Nan, though she was not afraid. It was the
+noise for which she did not care.
+
+"Hi! That was a fine one!" cried Freddie, as one of the largest cannon
+fired a blank shot at a group of horse soldiers.
+
+"Please take me home!" sobbed Flossie, and there were tears in her
+blue eyes now.
+
+"Yes, we'll go home," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"You can play you are a nurse, Flossie, and take care of your doll.
+We'll leave the battle to the boys and men."
+
+"I can stay, can't I?" asked Freddie, who was delighted at the lively
+scene down below, and he jumped about in delight as cannon after
+cannon went off.
+
+"Yes, you may stay," said his father.
+
+"We'll look after him," he added to his wife.
+
+Freddie crowded up to where Bert and Harry were eagerly watching the
+sham battle, and stood between his brother and cousin.
+
+"Boom! Boom!" he cried. "I like this!"
+
+But little Flossie covered her ears with her hands and went on down
+the hill, toward the farmhouse, with her mother and aunt. Nan went
+with them also, as she said the firing made her head ache.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE BOBBSEYS ACT
+
+
+"Well, I guess the battle is over now," said Bert, after a while. The
+cannon had stopped firing, and the "soldiers" no longer "shot" at each
+other with their rifles.
+
+"See, the men on horses have captured the other men," spoke Harry. And
+he pointed to where the cavalry had surrounded a number of the foot
+soldiers, or infantry, as they are called, and were driving them over
+the fields toward some log cabins.
+
+"They must have built those log houses on purposes for the moving
+picture play," said Uncle Daniel. "For they weren't here the other
+day, when I was over in this valley."
+
+"Very likely they did," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "It takes a great deal of
+work to make a moving picture play now-a-days, and often a company
+will build a whole house, only to set fire to it, or tear it down to
+make a good picture."
+
+"If they set a house on fire," broke in Freddie, "I could put it out
+with my fire engine, and I'd be in the movies then."
+
+"Oh, you and your fire engine!" laughed Bert, ruffling up his little
+brother's hair. "You think you can do anything with it."
+
+"Well, I stopped the turkey gobbler from eating up Snoop," Freddie
+cried. "Didn't I?"
+
+"So you did!" exclaimed Harry. "You and your fire engine are all
+right, Freddie."
+
+The soldiers who had fallen off their horses, or who had toppled over
+in the grass, to pretend that they were shot in battle, now got
+up--"coming to life," Bert called it.
+
+The battle scene was over, but the men were not yet done using the
+cameras, for they took them farther down the valley toward the log
+cabins. The soldiers were now grouped around these buildings, and Bert
+and Harry could see several ladies, in brightly colored dresses,
+mingled with the soldiers in uniform.
+
+"I wonder what they are doing now?" asked Bert.
+
+"Oh, taking a more peaceful scene for the movies," answered his
+father. "They have had enough of war, I guess."
+
+"That would suit Flossie," remarked Uncle Daniel with a laugh.
+
+The valley was now quiet, but over it hung a cloud of smoke from the
+cannon. The wind was, however, blowing the smoke away.
+
+"Can we go up to the log cabins and watch them make more pictures,
+father?" asked Bert.
+
+"Well, yes, I guess so; if you don't get in the way of the cameras. Do
+you want to come?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of Uncle Daniel. "You don't often
+get a chance to see moving pictures out here, I guess. Better come."
+
+"No, not now, thank you," was the answer, "I must get back and look
+after my tomatoes. They need to be picked. But you can go on with the
+boys."
+
+So Mr. Bobbsey took Bert and Harry up to where other moving pictures
+were being made. The boys did not understand all that was being done,
+but they watched eagerly just the same.
+
+They saw men and soldiers talking to the ladies, who were members of
+the moving picture company. Then they saw soldiers, who pretended to
+have been hurt in the sham-battle, being put on cots, and bandaged up.
+
+"This is a make-believe hospital," Mr. Bobbsey explained to the boys.
+"They want it to look as natural as possible, you see."
+
+The boys watched while "doctors" went among the "wounded," giving them
+"medicine," all make-believe, of course. Then one of the ladies,
+dressed as a nurse, came through the rows of cots which were placed in
+the open air, under some trees.
+
+"How do you like it?" asked one of the moving picture men of Mr.
+Bobbsey, coming over to where Bert's father was standing. The man had
+been turning the crank of one of the cameras, but, just then, he had
+nothing to do.
+
+"It is very interesting," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We heard your firing and
+came over to look on. Are you going to be here long?"
+
+"Only a few days. But there will be no more battle pictures. They cost
+too much money to make. The rest of the scenes will be more peaceful."
+
+"That would suit my little girl," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "She
+didn't like the cannon and guns."
+
+"Oh, have you a little girl?" asked the moving picture man, who seemed
+to be one of those in charge of the actors and actresses.
+
+"Yes, I have a little girl," Mr. Bobbsey replied.
+
+"And these two boys?" asked the camera man.
+
+"No, only one of the boys is mine," and Bert's father nodded at his
+son. "The other is my nephew."
+
+"Do you live around here?" the man went on. "Excuse my asking you so
+many questions," he continued. "My name is Weston, and I have charge
+of making these moving pictures. We need some children to take small
+parts in one of the scenes, and, as we have no little ones in our
+company, I was wondering whether we could not get some country boys
+and girls to pose for us, or, rather, act for us, for we want them to
+move, not to just stand still. And I thought if you lived around
+here," he said to Mr. Bobbsey, "you might know where we could borrow a
+dozen children for an hour or so."
+
+"I don't live here," Mr. Bobbsey replied, "but I am staying on my
+brother's farm. What sort of acting do you want the children to do for
+the moving pictures?"
+
+"Oh, something very simple. You see, one of the ladies in our company
+is supposed to be a school teacher before the war breaks out. We have
+taken the war scenes already--that sham battle you looked at was all
+we need of that.
+
+"The school teacher goes to the front as a nurse, but before she goes,
+we want a scene showing her in front of the school surrounded by her
+pupils."
+
+"I see," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Now we have the schoolhouse," said Mr. Weston, "or, rather, there is
+an old schoolhouse down the road that will do very nicely to
+photograph. We have permission to use it, as this is vacation time. We
+also have the lady who will act as the teacher, and, later as the Red
+Cross nurse. But we need children to act as school pupils.
+
+"I thought perhaps you might know of some children who would like to
+act for the movies," the man went on. "It will take only a little
+time, and it will not be at all unpleasant. They will just have to act
+naturally, as any school children would do."
+
+"Well, I have four children of my own," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he
+thought of his two sets of twins, "and my brother has a boy. There are
+also several children in the village. Perhaps it could be arranged to
+have their pictures taken."
+
+"I hope it can!" exclaimed Mr. Weston. "I'll talk to you about it in a
+few minutes. I must go see about this hospital scene now."
+
+He hurried away, while Bert and Harry looked at one another.
+
+"Do you want to be in the movies?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"I don't mind," spoke Harry, smiling.
+
+"Neither do I," added Bert. "Freddie would like it, too, but Flossie
+wouldn't come if they shot any guns."
+
+"They wouldn't shoot guns where children were," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+"I'll see what your mother, and Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah say."
+
+Later that day the moving picture man explained just what was wanted,
+and as Mrs.
+
+Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah had no objections, it was decided to let the
+Bobbsey twins, as well as Harry, take part in the moving pictures. Tom
+Mason, Mabel Herold and some others of the country village were also
+to be in the scene.
+
+It was taken, or "filmed," as the moving picture people say, the next
+morning. Down to the old schoolhouse, on the country road, went the
+children, laughing and talking, a little bit shy, some of them.
+
+But the actress who was to pretend to be a school teacher was so nice
+that she soon made the little children feel at ease. Flossie and
+Freddie loved her from the first, and each insisted upon walking along
+with her, hand in hand.
+
+"That will make a pretty picture," said the moving picture man. "Just
+walk along the road, Miss Burns," he said to the actress, "with
+Flossie on one side, and Freddie on the other. I'll take your pictures
+as if you were going to school."
+
+This was done. Flossie and Freddie soon forgot that they were really
+"acting" for the movies, and were as natural as could be wished.
+
+"I--I've got a fire engine!" said Freddie, as he trudged along with
+the actress-teacher.
+
+"Have you, indeed?" she asked pleasantly. "Don't look at the camera,"
+she cautioned Flossie. "Just pretend it isn't there."
+
+"And I've got a doll!" Flossie said, not to let Freddie get the best
+of her.
+
+"And my fire engine pumps real water," Freddie went on, "and I
+squirted it on our cat and on the old turkey gobbler."
+
+"Oh, but why did you do that?" asked the actress. "Wasn't that
+unkind?"
+
+"Oh, no!" exclaimed Freddie, his eyes big and round. "The gobbler was
+pinching our cat's tail, and Snoop was scratching the turkey. I had to
+squirt water on them to make them stop."
+
+"Oh, I see!" exclaimed Miss Burns with a jolly laugh.
+
+"Well, anyhow, my doll can open and shut her eyes," said Flossie. "So
+I don't care!"
+
+"That's enough of that scene," said Mr. Weston. "Now all you children
+crowd up around the school steps, as if you were going in after the
+last bell had rung. Pretend you are going into school."
+
+The village children were a little bashful at first, but Bert, Nan and
+Harry, taking the lead, showed them what to do, and after one trial
+everything went off well.
+
+The children grouped themselves about the actress-teacher, who clasped
+her arms about the shoulders of as many as she could reach. It made a
+pretty scene in front of the old school-house, with the green trees
+for a background. The use of the school had been allowed the moving
+picture company for the day.
+
+"Now play about, as if it were recess," directed Mr. Weston, after the
+first scene had been taken. "Be as natural as you can. And you grown
+folks please keep back out of the way," he asked, for Mrs. Bobbsey and
+a number of the fathers and mothers had come to see their children
+pose for the moving picture camera.
+
+By this time the children had lost their bashfulness, and were acting
+as naturally as though they really were at school. They played tag and
+other simple games, while the camera clicked their images on the
+celluloid film. Miss Burns, as the teacher, took part in some of the
+girls' games.
+
+"Now I want a larger boy and girl to walk down the road together, the
+boy carrying the girl's books," said Mr. Weston. "You'll do," he went
+on to Nan, "and you," to Harry. Soon the two cousins were strolling
+along, having their pictures taken.
+
+"I want to go with Nan!" cried Freddie "I want my picture taken some
+more."
+
+"Not now, dear," said Miss Burns, who was not in the scene with Nan
+and Harry. "Wait a little."
+
+"No, I want to go with Nan now," insisted Freddie, and he broke from
+the hand of the actress and rushed after his sister.
+
+"Oh, he'll spoil the picture!" cried Bert, solicitously. "Come back,
+Freddie; that's a good boy!"
+
+But Freddie did not intend to come back.
+
+"Nan, Nan! Wait for me!" begged Freddie.
+
+Nan did not know what to do. She had been told to walk down the road,
+pretending to talk to Harry, and to take half an apple which he would
+hand her, in view of the camera.
+
+"That's all right--let the little fellow get into the picture,"
+directed Mr. Weston. "It will make it all the prettier."
+
+So Freddie had his wish, to walk beside his sister. But he had not
+gone far before he saw, on the edge of a little brook, a bright red
+flower.
+
+"I'm going to get it!" he cried. "I can hold it in my hand. It will
+look nice in the picture."
+
+"No, no!" cried Nan. "Stay with me, Freddie."
+
+"Going to get the flower!" he shouted, as he ran on ahead.
+
+And, just as he reached the edge of the brook, his foot slipped, and
+down he went with a great splash, into the water.
+
+"Oh, Freddie's fallen in! Freddie's fallen in!" cried Nan, rushing
+forward.
+
+"I'll pull him out!" cried the man grinding away at the crank of the
+camera.
+
+"No, you stay there and get the moving picture," said Mr. Watson. "It
+will make a funny scene, and Freddie is in no danger. The water isn't
+deep! I'll get him out!"
+
+"That's the second time Freddie's fallen in," said Bert, as he ran
+toward the brook.
+
+"Help me out! Help me out!" sobbed Freddie, splashing about in the
+water.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE CIRCUS
+
+
+"There you are, my little man! Not hurt a bit! Up again! Out again!"
+and Mr. Weston picked little Freddie out of the brook, and set him on
+his feet. "All right, aren't you?" asked the moving picture man.
+
+"Ye--yes, I--I guess so," stammered the "little fat fireman," as he
+looked down at his dripping knickerbockers. "But I--I'm terrible wet!
+I'm awful wet--ma--mamma!" he stammered.
+
+"Never mind, Freddie," Mrs. Bobbsey answered with a smile. "You'll
+dry."
+
+"I say!" called one of the men who had been turning the crank of the
+moving picture camera. "I say, Mr. Weston, I got the picture of the
+boy falling in the water on this film. I couldn't help it."
+
+"That's all right," said the manager. "It won't spoil the picture any.
+It will only make it look more natural."
+
+"And it's natural for Freddie to be wet;" said Bert, with a laugh.
+"He's always playing with that toy fire engine of his, and getting
+soaked."
+
+"But I didn't have the fire engine this time, Bert," said the chubby
+little chap. "I--I fell in!"
+
+"You poor little dear!" exclaimed the actress-schoolteacher, putting
+her arms around him. "It was all my fault, too!"
+
+"No, it was mine," said Freddie, generously. "I don't mind. I like
+being wet!"
+
+They all laughed at this. Mrs. Bobbsey said Freddie wanted to be
+polite.
+
+A few more pictures were made of the village children, the Bobbsey
+twins, with the exception of Freddie, taking part. Freddie was hurried
+off by his mother to the farmhouse to be put into dry clothes.
+
+Then, with thanks to those who had helped make the scenes, Mr. Weston,
+Miss Burns and the camera man went back to the village hotel where
+they were stopping.
+
+"Wasn't it great, Bert!" exclaimed Harry, as he and his cousin
+strolled over the fields.
+
+"It certainly was," agreed Bert.
+
+"If we could only see the pictures when they are finished," suggested
+Mabel Herold. "It must be queer to see yourself in the movies."
+
+"I think so, too," said Nan. "I'm going to find out where this play
+will be shown, in some theatre, and maybe mamma will take us to it."
+
+"I hope she does," Bert said. "It will be fun to see Freddie falling
+in."
+
+"Poor little fellow!" murmured Nan.
+
+"But he was real brave," Mabel added.
+
+For several days the Bobbsey twins, their cousin and their country
+friends talked of the moving pictures in which they had had a part.
+They went again to the valley, where more scenes were being made, but
+none were as exciting as the sham-battle.
+
+"Aren't they going to shoot any more guns?" asked Freddie, his eyes
+big and shining with the hope of excitement.
+
+"I guess that's all over," spoke Bert.
+
+"And I'm glad of it," Nan declared.
+
+"So am I," exclaimed Flossie, looking around as though she would hear
+a boom from a cannon.
+
+One day Bert and Harry went alone to the place where the moving
+picture company had erected tents and log cabins in the valley. They
+found the men packing things up, taking down the tents and knocking
+apart the wooden cabins.
+
+"Are you all through?" Bert asked Mr. Weston.
+
+"All through, my lad," was the answer. "We are going to another place
+soon, to get different moving pictures. But we'll be here for a day or
+two yet, at least some of the camera men will. They have to take
+pictures of a circus parade."
+
+"Circus parade!" exclaimed Harry. "Is a circus coming here?"
+
+"Well, not exactly here," replied Mr. Weston. "But it is coming to
+Rosedale--that's the next town--and I am going to have some moving
+pictures made of it."
+
+"The circus coming to Rosedale!" cried Bert, looking at Harry. The
+same thought came to both of them.
+
+"Let's go!" exclaimed Harry, eagerly.
+
+"If our folks will let us," added Bert.
+
+"Oh, I guess mine will," spoke the country boy. "Circuses don't come
+around here very often, and when they do, we generally go. I do hope
+they'll let you come, Bert."
+
+"It's going to be a large circus," said Mr. Weston. "They have a good
+collection of wild animals."
+
+"I don't believe they can beat our combination of a wild cat, Snoop,
+and a crazy turkey gobbler," said Bert to Harry with a laugh, when the
+two boys were on their way back to the farmhouse.
+
+Passing along a country road Bert saw something that caused him to cry
+out:
+
+"Look, there it is, Harry!"
+
+"What?"
+
+"The circus! See it!" and Bert pointed to a barn.
+
+"Oh, you mean the circus posters," went on Harry, for Bert had pointed
+to the bright-colored pictures advertising the performance. There were
+shown men jumping through paper hoops or hanging from dizzy heights on
+trapeze bars, ladies riding galloping horses, and all sorts of wild
+animals, from the long-necked giraffe to the hippopotamus, who
+appeared to have no neck at all, and from the big elephant to the
+little monkey.
+
+"Oh, I do hope we can see it!" cried Bert, as he and his cousin stood
+before the gay pictures.
+
+"I'm going to do my best to go!" declared Harry.
+
+The two boys hurried home, talking on the way of the circus posters
+they had seen, and wondering if there really would be shown all the
+wild animals pictured on the side of the barn.
+
+Bert saw his father and mother sitting out in the side yard under a
+shady tree, and, running up to them he asked:
+
+"Oh, can't we go? We want to so much! Nan, you ask, too!" he cried.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey looked at him rather surprised.
+
+"What's it all about?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile.
+
+"And what am I to ask?"
+
+"For a circus--wild animals--moving pictures--the parade--an
+elephant--lions, tigers--everything!" cried Bert, stopping because he
+ran out of breath.
+
+"Ask for all that?" exclaimed Nan, wonderingly.
+
+"No, Bert means the circus is coming," explained Harry, with a laugh.
+"The moving picture people are going to get views of the parade. The
+posters are up on the barns and fences. It's coming to Rosedale, the
+circus is, and--"
+
+"Oh, do let us go!" broke in Bert. Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey looked at one
+another, questioningly.
+
+"Oh, wouldn't it be just grand!" sighed Nan.
+
+"What is it?" demanded Freddie, toddling up just then. "Is there going
+to be a fire? Can I squirt with my engine?"
+
+"Always thinking of that, little fat fireman!" laughed his father.
+"No, it isn't a fire, Freddie."
+
+"It's a circus coming!" cried Bert "Can't you take us, father?"
+
+"I'm afraid not, son," he said. "I have just had a letter calling me
+back to Lakeport on business."
+
+"Oh!" cried Nan and Bert in a chorus.
+
+"Do we have to go back to the city, too?" asked Bert, after a pause.
+
+"No, I am going to let you and mamma stay here," said Mr. Bobbsey,
+"but I have to go. I'll come back, of course, but not in time to take
+you to the circus, I'm afraid."
+
+"Mamma can take us," said Freddie.
+
+"Hardly," said Mrs. Bobbsey with a smile. "I want papa along when I
+have four children to take to a circus."
+
+"My father will take us," said Harry. "He always goes to a circus when
+one comes around here."
+
+"Oh, fine!" cried Bert. "Uncle Daniel will take us! Uncle Daniel will
+take us!" and he caught Nan around the waist and went dancing over the
+lawn with her.
+
+"Now may we go, papa?" asked Nan, when Bert let her go.
+
+"Well, I guess so," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "Uncle Daniel can look after
+you as well as I could."
+
+"If Uncle Daniel goes, it will be all right," Mrs. Bobbsey said.
+
+"And will you go, too, mamma?" asked Bert, slipping up to her, and
+giving her a kiss.
+
+"Oh, yes, I suppose I'll have to help feed the elephant peanuts," she
+laughed.
+
+"Hurray! Hurrah!" cried Bert, swinging his cap in the air. "We're
+going to the circus! We're going to the circus!"
+
+The children were delighted with the pleasure in store for them. They
+talked of little else, and when they found that Tom Mason and Mabel
+Herold were also going to the show, they were more than delighted.
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have!" cried Nan.
+
+"I--I hope none of the wild animals get loose," said Flossie, with
+rather a serious face.
+
+"Nonsense! Of course they won't!" cried Bert.
+
+"If they do, I--I'll squirt my fire engine on them!" cried Freddie.
+"Lions and tigers are afraid of water."
+
+"But elephants aren't, are they, mamma?" asked Flossie. "I saw a
+picture of an elephant squirting water through his nose-trunk just
+like your fire engine, Freddie. Elephants aren't afraid of water."
+
+"Well, elephants won't hurt you, anyhow," spoke the little fat fellow.
+"And if a lion or tiger gets loose, I'll play the hose on him, just as
+I did at The Five-Pin Show."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey was obliged to go back to the city next day, but he said
+he would return to Meadow Brook as soon as he could.
+
+"And if you see that poor boy, bring him back with you, and we'll take
+him to the circus with us," said Freddie.
+
+"What poor boy?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"You know, the one who had the no-good money, and who ran away when we
+were out with you in the auto that time, and the two girls in the
+boat--don't you remember?" asked Freddie, ending somewhat
+breathlessly, for that was rather a long sentence for him.
+
+"Oh, you mean Frank Kennedy, who worked for Mr. Mason," said the
+lumber merchant.
+
+"Yes, that's the boy," went on Freddie. "If you see him, tell him to
+run this way, and we'll take him to the circus with us."
+
+"Poor boy," sighed Mrs. Bobbsey. "I wonder what has become of him?"
+
+"I don't know," answered her husband. "I'll ask Mr. Mason, if I see
+him. He said Frank was sure to come back. It is a hard life for a boy
+to lead. Well, take care of yourselves, children, and I'll come back
+as soon as I can. Have a good time at the circus."
+
+"We will, papa!" chorused the Bobbsey twins.
+
+Uncle Daniel readily promised to take the whole family to the circus.
+Rosedale, where the show would be held, in the big tents, was not far
+from Meadow Brook.
+
+"I'll just hitch up the team to the big wagon," said the farmer, "put
+plenty of soft straw in the bottom, and we'll go over in style. We'll
+take our lunch with us, and have a good time."
+
+"Is Dinah going?" asked Flossie.
+
+"Yes, I think we'll take her and Martha, too," said Mrs. Bobbsey, but
+when Flossie went to tell the colored cook the treat in store for her,
+Dinah cried:
+
+"'Deed an' I ain't gwine t' no circus. I doan't want t' be et up by no
+ragin' lion who goeth about seekin' what he may devour, laik it says
+in de Good Book. Dere's enough wild animiles right yeah on dish year
+farm--wild bulls, wild rams an' turkey gobblers, what pulls cats by
+dere tails. No, sah! honey lamb--I ain't gwine t' no circus!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+FREDDIE IS MISSING
+
+
+Flossie came back from her talk with Dinah, looking very disappointed.
+
+"What is the matter, dear?" asked her mother, noting the sorrowful
+look on the little girl's face.
+
+"Dinah isn't going to the circus," said Flossie, almost ready to cry,
+for she was very fond of the faithful and loving colored woman.
+
+"Oh, I guess she'll go with us," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Why doesn't she
+want to come?"
+
+"She's afraid of the wild animals," answered Flossie.
+
+"Pooh! I'm not afraid!" boasted Freddie. "You tell her, Flossie, that
+I'll take my fire engine along an' scare 'em. Wait, I'll tell her
+myself."
+
+Out Freddie ran to the kitchen, where Dinah was helping Martha with
+the baking.
+
+"Don't you be afraid, Dinah!" he cried. "I won't let any of the wild
+animals get you!"
+
+"Bress yo' heart, honey lamb!" exclaimed the colored cook with a laugh
+that made her shake "like a bowl full of jelly."
+
+"I--I'll scare 'em off with my fire engine," Freddie went on.
+
+"Will yo', honey lamb? So yo' won't let ole black Dinah get hurted,
+eh? Well, honey, lamb, I'd gib yo' all a hug but mah hands am all
+flour," and Dinah held them up for Freddie to see.
+
+"Never mind, you can hug me some other time--you can hug me twice to
+make up for this," said Freddie. "Now you'll come to the circus, won't
+you?"
+
+"I--I'll see, honey lamb," Dinah half-promised.
+
+Later Mrs. Bobbsey told the colored cook there would be no danger, and
+when Dinah learned that Uncle Daniel was going, as well as one of his
+hired men, she made no more objections.
+
+The day of the circus came, bright and sunny. Everyone was up early in
+the farm-house, for Uncle Daniel said they wanted to be in time to
+see the morning parade. Then they would eat their dinner, which they
+would take with them, as though it were a picnic, and go to the show
+in the afternoon.
+
+"Oh, I wish papa were here!" sighed Nan, as she and Bert left the
+breakfast table.
+
+"Why, you're not afraid, are you?" he asked.
+
+"No, only I'd like him to see the show," she said. Nan was always
+thoughtful for her father.
+
+"Yes, it would be nicer if he could come with us," agreed Bert. And
+then he forgot all about it, because he and Harry had a discussion as
+to whether an elephant or a hippopotamus could eat the most hay.
+
+Work on the farm was almost forgotten that circus day. Uncle Daniel
+and the hired man did what had to be done, and then the horses were
+hitched to the big wagon, which was filled with straw.
+
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah were busy dressing Flossie and Freddie.
+Bert, Harry and Nan could look out for themselves. Dinah and
+Martha were busy in the kitchen putting up the lunch.
+
+"Here comes Tom Mason!" called Bert to his cousin, as he saw the
+country boy, dressed in his best, coming up the walk.
+
+"Oh, I do hope Mabel isn't late," exclaimed Flossie. Mabel and Tom
+were to go to the circus with Uncle Daniel, as the guests of the
+Bobbsey twins.
+
+"There she comes--down the road," announced Harry, after greeting Tom.
+"Here comes Mabel!"
+
+The children gathered out on the lawn to wait for the older folks.
+Finally everything was in readiness, the wagon, drawn by the prancing
+horses, rattled up, and into it piled the children, sitting down in
+the soft, clean straw.
+
+"Where's Dinah?" called Flossie.
+
+"Heah I is, honey lamb," answered the colored cook, as she came out
+with a big basket of good things to eat.
+
+"Oh, I'm going to sit next to Dinah!" cried Bert with a laugh. "I
+always did like you, didn't I, Dinah?" he demanded.
+
+"Go 'long wif you, honey!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Yo' all doan't git none ob de stuff in dish yeah basket 'till lunch
+time--no, suh! No mattah how lubbin' yo' is!"
+
+Off they started, with laughter and shouts, Uncle Daniel and his hired
+man sitting on the front seat, taking turns driving the horses.
+Freddie wanted to hold the reins, but his uncle said the animals were
+too frisky that morning for such little hands.
+
+"When they come back they will be tired, and won't be so anxious to
+run away," the farmer said. "Then you may drive, Freddie."
+
+All along the road were circus posters, and at each new one which they
+saw the children would shout and laugh in delight. They saw many other
+farm wagons going along, also filled with family parties, who, like
+themselves, were going to the circus.
+
+"Hurrah for the big show!" Bert or Nan would call out.
+
+"Hurray! Hurray!" the children in other wagons would answer back.
+"Isn't it jolly?"
+
+And indeed it was a jolly time for everyone. Even Dinah forgot her
+fear of the wild animals when from a distance she caught sight of the
+white circus tents with the gaily colored flags streaming from them.
+
+Uncle Bobbsey found a shed, near the circus grounds, where he could
+leave the horses and wagon, for he did not want to take the team into
+town, for fear the sight of the circus animals, and the music of the
+band, and the steam piano, or Calliope, might scare them, and make
+them run away.
+
+"We'll watch the parade," Uncle Daniel said. "Then we'll come back
+here, eat our lunch, and go to the show in the afternoon."
+
+This plan was carried out, and a little later the children and the old
+folks were standing in line in the big crowd, waiting for the circus
+parade to come past. Every once in a while someone would step out into
+the middle of the street, and look up and down.
+
+"Is it coming? Is it coming?" others in the crowd would ask.
+
+"Not yet," would be the answer.
+
+"Oh, look!" suddenly exclaimed Bert, pointing to the window of an
+office building near which they were standing. "There's Mr. Westen
+taking moving pictures!"
+
+"Oh, so he is!" cried Nan. And there indeed, with his camera pointed
+out of the window, was their old friend.
+
+He saw the children and waved to them.
+
+"Here it comes! Here it comes!" was the sudden cry, and from the
+distance came the sound of music.
+
+"The parade has started! The parade has started!" was the cry that ran
+through the crowd.
+
+"Oh, isn't this great!" cried Nan, clasping her chum Mabel by the arm.
+
+"It's just lovely!" the country girl said, "and so nice of your mother
+and uncle and aunt to ask me."
+
+"Oh, we were only too glad to have you," said Nan, politely, but she
+meant it.
+
+Freddie snuggled close up to fat Dinah.
+
+"Don't you be afraid," he said to the black cook. "I--I won't let any
+wild animals get you!"
+
+"Dat's a good boy, honey lamb!" she murmured, as she took hold of his
+hand.
+
+Louder played the music. The children in the crowd began dancing up
+and down, so excited were they.
+
+"Here it comes! Here it comes!" they cried over and over again.
+
+Then swept past the horses, gay with plumes, and covered with blankets
+of gold and silver, of purple and red. On the backs of the horses rode
+men and women with scarlet cloaks, carrying spears tipped with
+glittering silver.
+
+Then came a herd of elephants, swinging themselves along, now and then
+sucking up dust from the street and blowing it on their big backs to
+keep off the flies. Men rode on top of the elephants' heads.
+
+"Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid, Dinah!" said Freddie over and over
+again.
+
+Ponies, camels, donkeys, more horses, more elephants and other animals
+went past in the parade.
+
+Then came the gilded wagons, filled with gaily dressed men and women
+who nodded, smiled and waved their hands at the crowds in the streets.
+
+Bert looked up at the window where Mr. Weston was perched with his
+camera, and saw him taking moving pictures.
+
+"Oh, look! There's a lion in a cage!" cried Freddie, suddenly.
+
+Just then the big beast sent out a roar that seemed to shake the very
+ground, and he threw himself against the bars of his cage.
+
+"Oh, he's going to get out! He's going to get out!" came the cry and
+the people rushed back away from the street.
+
+"No danger! No danger!" shouted the circus men.
+
+"Hold on to me, Dinah!" cried Freddie. "Hold on to me. I won't let him
+bite you!"
+
+More cages of wild animals rumbled past, but most of the beasts slept
+peacefully. Only the lion seemed to want to get out, and far down the
+street his roar could be heard.
+
+"He's a new lion," said someone in the crowd. "He isn't used to being
+shut up, and he is trying to get out."
+
+"Well, I hope he done stays shut up," murmured Dinah.
+
+The parade came to an end at last, with the steam piano bringing up in
+the rear of the procession. The man played puffy little tunes, with a
+tooting chorus that made one want to dance.
+
+[Illustration: THEN CAME A HERD OF ELEPHANTS.]
+
+"Now for lunch, and then to see the big show," said Uncle Daniel, as
+he led the way back to where the wagon had been left.
+
+And what a jolly party it was, to sit in the straw and eat nice
+sandwiches, pies, cookies and cakes Martha and Dinah had put into the
+baskets. There was lemonade, too, and if it was not pink, like the
+kind the circus men sold, it was much better and sweeter.
+
+"But when are we going into the circus?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"Soon now," said Uncle Daniel.
+
+A little later they made their way to the big tents. First they went
+in the one where the wild animals, in cages, were drawn up in a circle
+inside. There were lions, tigers, bears, giraffes, rhinocerosi,
+hippopotami, and elephants, to say nothing of the cute monkeys.
+
+"Are dem cages good an' strong, mistah?" asked Dinah of one of the
+circus attendants.
+
+"Oh, yes," he answered, as he passed a carrot in to one of the
+monkeys.
+
+"Well, dat's good," she said. "'Cause I doan't want none ob dem bears
+or lions t' come after me when I'se watchin' de circus performers."
+
+"I'll see that none of them get loose," promised the circus man with a
+laugh at Dinah's fears.
+
+Then the Bobbsey party went on in to the main tent. I wish I could
+tell you all they saw, but I have not the room in this book. There was
+a parade around the ring to start with, and then in came rushing the
+comical clowns, the men and women who rode on horses and who jumped
+from one trapeze to another.
+
+Jugglers they were, men with trained horses, trick ponies, trained
+dogs and trained elephants. Some elephants played a ball game, others
+turned somersaults. Clowns jumped over their backs, and through paper
+hoops.
+
+"Look here!" Nan would exclaim.
+
+"No, see over there!" Bert would cry.
+
+"Oh, mamma, a man jumped from the top of the tent right into a big
+fish net!" exclaimed Freddie.
+
+"Look at the monkey riding on the dog's back," Flossie shouted.
+
+"And see that man jump off a horse and jump on him again backwards!"
+called Tom Mason.
+
+"Oh, but look at the cute ponies," sighed Mabel Herold.
+
+There was so much to see and talk about that the children's eyes must
+have been tired, and their necks aching before the circus was over.
+
+At last it came to an end with the exciting chariot races, and the
+crowd began to leave the big tent.
+
+"Now keep close together, children," warned Mrs. Bobbsey. "You must
+not get lost in this crowd."
+
+"Yes, follow me," advised Uncle Daniel.
+
+How it happened they could not tell, but when they reached the
+outside of the tent, and found a space where the crowd was not so
+thick, Freddie was missing.
+
+"Where is Freddie?" asked Nan, looking about for him.
+
+"Freddie!" exclaimed her mother! "Isn't he here?"
+
+But Freddie was not with them, and with anxious faces they looked at
+one another.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+FOUND AGAIN
+
+
+"Where can he be?" asked Bert.
+
+"I saw him but a moment ago," said Aunt Sarah.
+
+"An' he jest had hold ob mah hand!" cried Dinah. "Oh, mah honey lamb
+am done et up by de ragin' lion what goes about seekin' who he kin
+devouer! Oh landy!"
+
+"Quiet, Dinah, please," said Uncle Daniel. For Dinah had called out so
+loudly that many in the crowd turned to look at her.
+
+"But I wants Freddie--mah honey lamb!" the loving colored woman went
+on. "I wants him an' he's losted!"
+
+"We'll find him," said Uncle Daniel. "Now whom was he with when we
+came out of the tent?"
+
+"He had hold of my hand," said Bert, "but he pulled away and said he
+wanted to walk with Dinah."
+
+"De lubbin honey lamb!" crooned Dinah.
+
+"Did he come with you, Dinah?" went on Uncle Daniel, trying to find
+out exactly who had seen Freddie last.
+
+"Yais, sah, he done comed wif me fo' a little while in de crowd, an'
+den he slid away--he just seem t' melt away laik," explained the cook.
+
+"Which way did he go?" Uncle Daniel wanted to know.
+
+"Which way? I dunno," Dinah answered.
+
+"Oh, perhaps he went back to the animal tent," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey.
+She was not really frightened as yet. Often before Freddie had been
+lost, but he had generally been found within a few minutes. But he had
+never before been lost at a circus. This time he seemed to have melted
+away in the big crowd.
+
+"Let's go back to the animal tent," suggested Uncle Daniel. "Freddie
+was so taken with feeding the elephants peanuts that he may have gone
+back to do that. We'll look."
+
+"Oh, if only dem ugly lions or tigers habn't got him!" sighed Dinah.
+
+"The wild animals couldn't get him, 'cause they're shut up in cages,
+aren't they?" asked Flossie.
+
+"Yes, dear," Nan said to her, not wanting her little sister to be
+frightened. "No wild animals could get Freddie."
+
+"We'll soon find him," declared Bert.
+
+"We'll help you look," spoke Tom Mason. "Come on, Harry."
+
+The three boys started to push their way back through the crowd toward
+the animal tent.
+
+"Now don't you three get lost," said Uncle Daniel.
+
+"We won't!" answered Bert, "but we're going to find Freddie!"
+
+"Oh, where can the darling be?" gasped Aunt Sarah, looking around at
+the crowd all about her.
+
+"What is it? What's the matter?" asked several ladies.
+
+"A little boy is lost--my nephew," Aunt Sarah explained.
+
+"Oh, isn't that too bad!" cried the sympathetic ladies. "We hope you
+find him!"
+
+Back into the animal tent the Bobbseys and their relatives and friends
+pushed their way. It was not easy to work back through the crowd that
+was anxious to get away, now that the afternoon performance of the
+circus was over.
+
+"He must be in there," said Uncle Daniel. "We'll find him."
+
+Carefully he looked through the crowd of persons who were still in the
+animal tent. A number had remained, with their children, to get
+another look at the elephants, lions and tigers. Men were feeding some
+of the animals, now that there was a little quiet spell, and this was
+interesting to the youngsters.
+
+"He doesn't seem to be here," said Aunt Sarah, as she peered through
+her spectacles.
+
+"Oh, he must be!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "He can't have gone on ahead
+of us, and if he turned back he would have to come into this tent."
+
+"Oh, isn't it too bad!" exclaimed Nan, looking at her brother Bert, as
+though he could help. But Bert, Harry and Tom, though they had quickly
+made a round of the circle of animal cages, had come back to say that
+they found no trace of Freddie.
+
+"I know what to do, mamma," spoke up Flossie.
+
+"What, dear?" asked her mother, hardly knowing what she was saying.
+
+"We ought to get a policeman," went on Flossie. "Policemans can find
+losted people. One found me once."
+
+"That isn't a bad idea," spoke Uncle Daniel. "I think perhaps I had
+better speak to some of the town constables who are on duty here."
+
+"Suppose we look in the big main tent," said Tom Mason. "Freddie may
+have wandered back in there to try and turn a somersault on one of the
+trapezes."
+
+"Yes, it wouldn't do any harm to take a look," agreed Uncle Daniel.
+"We'll go in the big tent."
+
+Into that large canvas house they went. Men were busy putting away
+some of the articles used for the animal tricks, and the balls, hoops
+knives and things the Japanese jugglers had used.
+
+"Oh, where can he be?" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Something the matter, ma'am?" asked the ring-master, in his shiny
+tall hat, as he cracked his long whip. "Is someone lost?"
+
+"Yes, my little boy Freddie, and we are so worried about him!"
+
+"Well, don't worry," said the ring-master kindly. "Boys, and girls
+too, are lost every day at our circus performances, but they are
+always found all right. Don't worry. I'll have some of the men hunt
+for him. And you folks come with me. It's just possible he has been
+found and taken to the lost tent."
+
+"The lost tent!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel. "Have you lost a tent, too?"
+
+"No, but we have a sort of headquarters tent, or office, where all
+lost children are taken as soon as the circus men find them. A woman
+in the tent takes care of the little ones until their folks come for
+them. Your boy may be there waiting for you."
+
+To the lost tent went the Bobbseys. They found two or three youngsters
+there, crying for their fathers or mothers, but Freddie was not among
+them.
+
+"Oh, he isn't here!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, and tears were in her eyes
+now. "I wish his father were here," she went on. "He would know what
+to do."
+
+"Now don't you worry, ma'am," said the ring-master again. "We'll
+surely find him for you. He may have gone in one of the side shows, to
+see the fat lady, or the strong man. I'll have those places searched
+for you."
+
+The ring-master did send some of his men to look in the side-show
+tents, but they came back to say that no one like Freddie had been
+seen. By this time Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah were almost frantic
+with fright. Nan was crying, and even Bert, brave as he was, looked
+worried. A number of persons who had come to the circus offered to
+help look for Freddie, but, though they searched all over, the little
+fat fellow could not be found.
+
+"Oh, dear! What shall we do!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Dat ugly ole lion--" began Dinah, when Nan gave a scream.
+
+"Oh, what is it, child?" asked Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Look. There's Freddie!" cried Nan. "There he comes!" and she pointed
+to her little brother being led toward them by a boy about Bert's age.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FRANK'S STORY
+
+
+They all gazed in the direction in which Nan pointed. The crowd of
+visitors to the circus was thinning out now, and down toward the edge
+of a little creek could be seen the missing Freddie walking along, his
+hand thrust trustingly into that of the strange boy.
+
+"Why--why!" began Bert. "That fellow--that boy--he--" and then he
+stopped. Bert was not exactly sure of what he was going to say.
+
+"Oh, Freddie!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, running forward. "Where have you
+been! Such a start as you've given us! Where were you?"
+
+But Freddie himself did not seem as anxious to rush into his mother's
+arms as she was to clasp him. He plodded along with the strange boy,
+looking quite content, and as if he wondered what all the fuss was
+about.
+
+"Dere de honey lamb am!" exclaimed black
+
+Dinah, a grin spreading over her face. "De ole lion didn't cotch him
+after all. Dere's mah honey lamb!"
+
+"Freddie! Freddie!" cried Flossie, who had been resting in Uncle
+Daniel's arms, "did a lion eat you, Freddie? Did he?"
+
+"A lion eat him? Of course not!" laughed Bert. And Bert was doing some
+hard thinking as he stared at the strange boy who had Freddie by the
+hand.
+
+"I thought we should find him," said Uncle Daniel. "I knew he couldn't
+be lost with all these circus people around. I say!" called Mr.
+Bobbsey's brother to one of the men who had been helping hunt for the
+missing boy. "Just tell them that we found him, will you, please?
+Freddie's found."
+
+"Yes, sir, I'll tell 'em," said the man. "I'm glad he's all right.
+I'll tell 'em!"
+
+"But where were you, Freddie?" asked his mother, who by this time had
+him safely in her arms. "Oh, where were you?"
+
+"I found him down by the edge of the creek, watching 'em water the
+elephants," explained the strange boy, who, Mrs. Bobbsey thought, had
+a good, kind face. "You see, we water the elephants every afternoon
+when the show is over," the boy went on, "and it was down there I
+found him."
+
+"Oh, I can't thank you enough for bringing him back to us," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey. "You were so good!"
+
+"I didn't know just where he belonged," the strange boy explained.
+"But he told me his name, and where he lived, and of course I knew I
+could send word to his folks, though I didn't see, at first, how he
+got here all the way from Lakeport."
+
+"Oh, we are visiting at his uncle's farm at Meadow Brook," explained
+Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"So he said," went on the boy. "I was bringing him to the lost tent,
+when he spied you and said you were his folks."
+
+"And I saw 'em water the elephants!" cried Freddie, struggling to get
+loose from his mother's arms. "The elephant sucked the water up into
+his nose, ma, and then he squirted it down his throat just like my
+fire engine squirts water. Only, 'course an elephant squirts lots more
+water than my engine. But I'm goin' to get a bigger one that squirts
+as much as a elephant, that's what I goin' to do. And I saw one
+elephant, ma, he went right out in the water and laid down in it. What
+do you think of that!"
+
+"The elephants often do that, ma'am," explained the strange boy. "They
+like to get a bath now and then, but we don't often have time to give
+it to them."
+
+"You speak as though you belonged to the circus," said Uncle Daniel.
+
+"I do," answered the boy. "That is, I'm with one of the side-shows,
+and I help around when there's nothing else to do."
+
+"Well, it was very kind of you to bring back my little boy," went on
+Mrs. Bobbsey. Freddie was busy telling Flossie all the wonderful
+things he had seen.
+
+"Oh, I didn't do anything, ma'am," the boy said. "I sort of knew this
+little fellow."
+
+"You knew him?" questioned Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Well, that is I'd seen him before."
+
+"But I can't understand how Freddie became lost," said Mrs. Bobbsey,
+while Uncle Daniel was wondering where the strange boy had seen Freddie
+before. "How did you get lost, Freddie?" his mother asked him.
+
+"Lost! I wasn't lost!" he exclaimed. "I knew where I was all the time.
+I was with the elephants. It was you who got lost, mamma--you and Nan
+and Flossie and Bert--"
+
+"Well, we called you lost," laughed Uncle Daniel. "But you're all
+right now, thanks to this boy. Do you live around here?" he asked. "I
+don't seem to remember you, though I know most of the folks in this
+section. But if you have seen Freddie before you must live around
+here."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," was the answer. "I'm with the circus. But I used to
+live--"
+
+"I know you now!" interrupted Bert. "You're Frank Kennedy, and I was
+with my father, calling on Mr. Mason, when I saw you. Freddie was with
+me then. Don't you remember, Freddie?" asked Bert. "This is the boy we
+saw--the boy we saw getting a--"
+
+And Bert stopped. He did not want to say "shaking," for it was when
+Frank Kennedy was being severely shaken by Mr. Mason, on account of
+the bad twenty dollar bill, that the strange boy had last been seen by
+the Bobbsey lads. And on that occasion Frank had run away.
+
+"Oh, now I know you!" cried Freddie, laughing.
+
+"Yes, I am the boy you saw getting a shaking, for something that
+wasn't my fault!" exclaimed Frank, and his voice was hard and bitter.
+"I made up my mind I wouldn't stand Mr. Mason's cruel treatment any
+longer, so I ran away. I did see you two boys that time I got a
+shaking," Frank admitted. "You were in an automobile then," he went
+on, "and Mr. Bobbsey was with you." He looked around as though in
+search of the twins' father.
+
+"Mr. Bobbsey had to go back to Lakeport on business," explained Mrs.
+Bobbsey. "We came over from Meadow Brook to the circus here to-day.
+And I remember Mr. Bobbsey speaking of you. So you ran away?"
+
+"Yes'm, I ran away. I couldn't stand it in that lumber office any
+longer the way Mr. Mason treated me. It wasn't fair. And I'm never
+going back again, either. I don't like him, and he doesn't like me.
+I'll never let him be my guardian again."
+
+"Poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey. "You must have had a hard time. Did
+you come with this circus as soon as you ran away?"
+
+"No'm, I had a pretty bad spell first along. When I ran away I had
+only the clothes I wore, and only a little money. It was my own!" he
+said, quickly, lest they think he might have taken it from Mr. Mason's
+lumber office. But one look at Frank's face showed that he was honest.
+
+"What did you do?" asked Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Well, I walked as far as I could the first night," Frank said, going
+on with his story. "Then I crawled in a barn to sleep."
+
+"Didn't you have anything to eat?" asked Nan softly. She felt very
+sorry for the boy.
+
+"Well, I had a couple of crackers I had saved from my lunch that day,"
+he explained. "Then near the barn was a cow, and I milked her. That
+and the crackers was all I had for supper. But I slept good in the
+hay."
+
+"I had a good sleep in some hay!" exclaimed Freddie, as he remembered
+the time they had played hide-and-go-seek in the barn.
+
+"It makes a good bed when you're tired," said Frank.
+
+"What did you have for breakfast?" asked Flossie. "I like an orange
+and oatmeal for mine."
+
+"Well, I didn't have anything like that for mine," explained Frank
+with a smile. "I didn't have much of anything the first morning. I
+tramped on, and finally I found a place where I could chop some wood,
+and a lady gave me some bread and milk. It tasted very good."
+
+"How did you get with the circus?" asked Bert. That part interested
+him more than how Frank got something to eat.
+
+"Well, I just happened to come to the town where the circus was giving
+a show," explained Frank. "I was around when the men were watering the
+horses and other animals, and I helped carry water. Then one of the
+men asked me if I didn't want work, and I said I did. I was hungry
+then, too, and I could smell the things cooking in the circus kitchen
+tent. So I went to work for this show, and I've been here ever since.
+It's better than working in a lumber office when you get shook up
+every now and then," he added with a smile.
+
+"And do you still help water the elephants?" asked Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Oh, no, I help take tickets at one of the side shows," explained
+Frank. "The one where the fat lady and snakes are. I like it, though
+sometimes I help water the animals when I have nothing else to do. The
+circus people are good to me. I've earned enough money to get some
+clothes, and I'm never hungry any more. I was pretty ragged when I
+came to the circus, for I had been tramping around sleeping in barns,
+or wherever I could."
+
+"Wouldn't it have been better to have gone back to Mr. Mason, your
+guardian?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, for she had heard her husband tell of
+the time he, Bert and Freddie had seen the boy shaken before he ran
+away.
+
+"Oh, no'm!" Frank exclaimed. "I'm never going back to that lumber
+office. Mr. Mason accused me of losing twenty dollars for him. Well
+perhaps I did, but it wasn't my fault that the man gave me bad money
+that looked like good. I'm never going back!"
+
+"Well, I don't know as I blame you," said Uncle Daniel softly, "but a
+circus is no place for a young boy. It's a hard life."
+
+"Are you going to stay with this show?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Until I can get something better to do," answered Frank. "I know it
+isn't a good business, but I'll stay here until I can save some money,
+and then I'll look for something better. But I'll have to stay here
+for a while."
+
+"Maybe you could give him work on the farm," suggested Aunt Sarah to
+her husband in a whisper. "I don't like him to be with a circus. And
+he was so good to Freddie that we ought to do something for him."
+
+"He's too young to work on a farm," replied Uncle Daniel. "And he
+might be in a worse place than this circus. But we must be starting
+back home. It's getting late."
+
+Freddie was hugged and kissed by his sisters, mother and aunt, and
+Mrs. Bobbsey insisted on making Frank a little present of money, for
+his kindness to Freddie. Frank did not want to take it, but finally he
+did.
+
+"I'll buy some new shoes with it," he said.
+
+"I shall tell my husband how good you were to find Freddie," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey, "and I am sure he will want to do something for you. I wish
+you would write to me once in a while. We should like to keep track of
+you."
+
+"I will," promised the boy, as he put down the Bobbsey address. "I
+expect to be with this circus all summer," he said, as Freddie and the
+other children bade him good-bye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A WILD ANIMAL SCARE
+
+
+Back to the shed where they had left the horses, went the Bobbsey
+party, the children talking on the way of the wonderful things they
+had seen in the circus, while the older folks spoke of Freddie being
+lost, and found again, by Frank Kennedy.
+
+"But I wasn't lost!" the little chap insisted. "I knew where I was all
+the time. Besides, the elephants were with me, and so was Frank, the
+boy who was shooked. I saw him shooked and so did Bert, didn't you?"
+and Freddie looked at his older brother.
+
+"Well, we won't talk about that part of it," said his mother with a
+smile. "It isn't nice to think about, and I am glad Frank is in a
+place now where he will be kindly treated. Though perhaps Mr. Mason
+did not mean to be cruel. He was probably very sorry at losing so much
+money."
+
+"I like Frank," said Freddie. "He let me, take hold of one of the
+elephant's tooths."
+
+"Oh, Freddie!" exclaimed Dinah. "It's a wonder he didn't cotch an'
+bite yo, honey lamb!"
+
+"Oh, I didn't take hold of one of his tooths away back in his mouth,"
+explained Freddie, "it was the long tooth-pick tooth that stuck out
+under his nose."
+
+"He means the elephant's tusk," explained Bert with a laugh.
+
+"Oh, Freddie! I hope you weren't in any danger!" his mother cried.
+
+"What an escape he had!" sighed Aunt Sarah. "Suppose an elephant had
+eaten him!"
+
+"Pooh! Elephants don't eat anything but hay," said Freddie, who, of
+course, did not mean to be impolite, speaking to his aunt that way.
+"Frank told me so," he went on, "and I saw them eat hay. They eat a
+awful lot, and one of them took all my peanuts."
+
+"Well, I'll buy you some more," said Uncle Daniel with a laugh. "You
+deserve it after the trouble you have had--getting lost and all that."
+
+"I--I wasn't losted!" declared Freddie again. "I knew--"
+
+"Oh, look at the balloons!" cried Flossie, as she saw a man outside
+the circus grounds selling the red, green and yellow gas-bags. "I want
+one, mamma!" cried the little girl.
+
+"And so do I!" added Freddie, forgetting what he was going to say
+about not being lost "I want a balloon!"
+
+They each had one, and then the children and older folks took their
+places in the wagon, and soon were on their way to Meadow Brook farm
+again, talking over the wonderful good time they had had.
+
+"I'm coming to the circus to-morrow," announced Freddie, as though
+going to circuses was all there was to do in this world.
+
+"The circus won't be there," said Bert.
+
+"Won't be there? Where will it go?" asked Freddie, wonderingly.
+
+"It will travel to the next town," Bert went on. "A circus stays in a
+town only one day, unless it's a very big place. This show will be far
+away by this time to-morrow."
+
+"And will Frank be away, too?" asked
+
+[Illustration: UP, UP, UP, WENT THE RED AND BLUE BALLOONS]
+
+Flossie. "I like Frank, 'cause he found Freddie."
+
+"Yes, Frank will be away, too, poor boy," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "that is,
+if he stays with the circus. I wish Richard could do something for
+him," she went on to Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah. "I feel sure that
+boy ought to be back in his guardian's home."
+
+"But he said Mr. Mason was cruel to him," declared Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Perhaps he wouldn't be any more," remarked Mrs. Bobbsey, wondering
+how anyone could be really cruel to children. She loved her twins very
+much.
+
+"Well, I'se glad mah honey lamb am safe!" murmured Dinah, as she
+cuddled Freddie up in her big arms.
+
+"Oh--oh, Dinah!" cried the little fellow with a laugh. "You squeeze me
+like an elephant's trunk!"
+
+"Dat's 'cause I lubs yo', honey lamb!" went on the dear old colored
+woman.
+
+Back to Meadow Brook in the cool of the evening came the Bobbseys and
+their friends. Tom and Mabel declared they had never had such a good
+time, and as for Freddie and Flossie they were too busy playing with
+their toy balloons to say much. But you may be sure they had enjoyed
+themselves, and Freddie forgot all about being lost.
+
+On their way home the Bobbseys had met Mr. Weston with his moving
+picture camera. He said he had made several fine views of the circus.
+
+"What about _our_ pictures?" asked Nan. "The ones you took of us
+children near the school?"
+
+"They will soon be finished," said Mr. Weston. "And when they are
+ready to be shown, I shall send your father word, so he may bring you,
+and let you look at yourselves on the white screen in our moving
+picture theatre. Won't you like that?"
+
+"That will be great!" cried Bert. "I never saw myself in moving
+pictures."
+
+"Nor I," said Nan.
+
+Back in the pleasant farmhouse that evening all the happenings of the
+day were gone over again, until Mrs. Bobbsey, noticing that Flossie
+and Freddie were nodding their heads, and blinking their eyes real
+often, said:
+
+"Come now, little tots, time you were in bed. To-morrow is another
+day."
+
+"I'm going to take my balloon to bed with me," said Freddie.
+
+"So am I!" exclaimed Flossie, who wanted to do as many things as did
+her brother.
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't," their mother said. "Leave the balloons here until
+morning."
+
+"And then we'll have a balloon race," proposed Bert.
+
+"What's a balloon race?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"No more talk to-night, little fat fireman!" said his mother. "Off to
+bed you go!" and he and Flossie were "packed off," the other children
+coming soon after.
+
+Freddie and Flossie were up bright and early next morning, out playing
+with their balloons before breakfast. They tied long threads to them,
+and let them float above the trees.
+
+"When will we have the balloon race?" asked Freddie.
+
+"Whenever you like," Bert answered. "Only to have a race you have to
+let your balloon sail off, without any string fast to it, and you will
+not get it back again."
+
+At first Freddie would not hear of that, but finally he and Flossie
+became tired of the toy circus balloons, and came to Bert to beg him
+to make a race for them.
+
+Bert cut the string off both balloons. Freddie's was red and Flossie's
+blue.
+
+"Now we'll let go of both balloons at the same time," Bert explained,
+"and the balloon that goes up highest will win the race. Now watch,
+everyone!"
+
+They all watched, as Bert let go the toys, one from either hand. Up,
+up, up, went the red and blue balloons.
+
+"Oh, mine's going faster!" cried Freddie.
+
+"No, mine is!" exclaimed Flossie.
+
+And, for a time first the red balloon would be ahead, and then the
+blue one. But finally they both were at exactly the same height, and
+in that way they sailed onward and upward until they were only little
+specks in the blue sky, so no one could tell which one was ahead in
+the race.
+
+It was while the children were out in the yard in front of the Meadow
+Brook farmhouse, watching the disappearing balloons, that Bert heard a
+stranger's voice calling.
+
+"I say, do you children know where there is a circus around here?" was
+the question, and, turning, Nan, Bert and the others saw a man in a
+carriage, on the road just outside the fence.
+
+"A circus?" repeated Bert.
+
+"Yes, I heard there was one showing around here," the man went on,
+"and I'd like to find it."
+
+"There was a circus over at Rosedale yesterday," spoke Bert, "but it
+has traveled on by this time. If you inquired there you could find out
+where it went."
+
+"I'll do that," the man said. "I'm much obliged to you," and he was
+about to drive on, when Bert asked:
+
+"Aren't you Mr. Mason, who has a lumber yard near my father's?"
+
+"Whoa!" called the man to his horse. "Yes, I'm Mr. Mason," he went on,
+"and I have a lumber yard. But I don't seem to know you."
+
+"I'm Bert Bobbsey," the lad said, "and my father--"
+
+"Oh, yes, to be sure! Of course I know you!" the man exclaimed. "Why,
+you were the boy in the automobile the day my ward, Frank Kennedy, ran
+away from me."
+
+"Yes, I was there," said Bert.
+
+"Well, it's about Frank that I came on here," said Mr. Mason. "I have
+been tracing him. I heard he joined a circus when he ran away from me,
+and I want to find him and take him back. I came on here by train, and
+hired this horse and carriage to drive about the country. But now,
+when I am almost up to the circus, you tell me it has moved. That's
+too bad, and I'm not sure, when I find it, that Frank will be with
+it."
+
+"I think he will be, Mr. Mason," said Bert, quietly.
+
+"What's that?" cried Mr. Mason. "You think Frank will be with the
+circus? What makes you think so?"
+
+"Because we saw him with it yesterday," said Nan, taking part in the
+talk, "and he said he was going to travel with it."
+
+"Yes, that's right," agreed Bert. He thought it only fair to give
+information about Frank, since Mrs. Bobbsey had said she thought it
+would be best for the runaway boy to go back to his guardian.
+
+"Hum!" exclaimed Mr. Mason. "If Frank is with the circus, I'll soon
+get him. I'll drive over to Rosedale, and inquire where the show went
+from there. I can easily trace it. Much obliged to you for your
+information," he called over his shoulder, as he drove off. He did not
+stop to inquire how Frank was, nor how he had fared since running
+away. Perhaps Mr. Mason did not think of this.
+
+"Oh, I hope he--I hope he doesn't shake Frank, when he finds him,"
+said Nan, as the lumber man drove on.
+
+"I don't believe he will," remarked Bert. "I fancy Frank will make his
+guardian promise to treat him better if he goes back to the lumber
+office."
+
+Nan and Bert went in the house to tell their mother of meeting the man
+who was looking for Frank. She said they had done right to tell what
+they knew.
+
+"Poor boy," she sighed, "he hasn't had a very happy life, but perhaps
+this will be all for the good, and he may be better treated now."
+
+That afternoon, as Harry and the Bobbsey children, with Tom Mason and
+Mabel Herold were going down the road to pick some blackberries, they
+met a farmer boy driving an empty hay wagon. This boy knew Bert, Harry
+and Tom.
+
+"Hello!" he called to them, "did you hear the news about the circus?"
+
+"What news?" asked Bert, wondering if the boy meant that Mr. Mason had
+reached the show and taken away Frank.
+
+"News about the wild animals escaping from the circus," went on the
+boy on the hay-wagon.
+
+"Wild animals escaping!" exclaimed Nan, with a frightened look over
+her shoulder, while Flossie came over closer to her sister.
+
+"That's it!" said the boy. "When the show was moving out of Rosedale
+last night, some tigers and lions got loose, and ran off in the woods.
+They looked for 'em, but couldn't find 'em. Some of the farmers around
+here are out now with guns."
+
+"Oh, Nan!" exclaimed Flossie. "Let's go back home! I don't like wild
+animals!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+WHAT FREDDIE SAW
+
+
+For a few seconds Bert and Harry, his cousin, stared at the boy on the
+hay-wagon. Then Harry, who knew him well, asked:
+
+"Say, Jim Bates, are you joking or did you really hear about some wild
+animals escaping from the circus?"
+
+"Indeed I'm not joking!" cried Jim. "I did hear it! Bill Snowden told
+me. You know he lives over on the road that runs from Rosedale to
+Blaisdell and the circus went there. It went right past his house in
+the night, and he looked out of his window and saw the camels and
+elephants and wild animal cages."
+
+"I saw the elephants, too!" exclaimed Freddie. "I took hold of one's
+big toothpick tooth. Elephants eat hay. Were they eating any hay when
+that boy saw 'em? I wish elephants would go past our house."
+
+"Quiet, Freddie dear, please," said Nan. "We want to hear about the
+wild animals. Did they really get loose?" she asked, and she looked
+over her shoulder, as did Flossie and Mabel Herold.
+
+"Well, that's what Bill Snowden said," replied Jim Bates. "Of course I
+didn't see 'em run away myself, but I'm all ready for 'em, if I meet
+any bears, or lions or tigers," he added.
+
+"Ready for 'em--how do you mean?" asked Bert.
+
+"I've got a big club, and some stones," answered Jim, and he took up
+from the seat beside him a stout stick, and showed where he had made a
+little pile of stones in the wagon.
+
+"They wouldn't hurt a lion," said Freddie. "Lions or tigers aren't
+afraid of sticks or stones. I'm going to get my fire engine. It
+squirts water, and wild animals is afraid of water."
+
+"Yes, we've heard that story before," said Bert, with a laugh. "But
+don't you go out hunting for wild animals with that toy engine of
+yours, Freddie!" his older brother advised.
+
+"No, indeed," added Nan. "Oh, I think we ought to go home, Bert."
+
+"I'm going home," said the boy on the wagon, "and if I meet any
+animals on the way; I'm going to throw stones at 'em."
+
+"Pooh! They won't be afraid of stones," declared Freddie.
+
+"Yes, they will, too!" declared Jim Bates. "I read in a book that a
+bear's nose is very soft and tender, and if you hit him on it he'll
+howl, and run away."
+
+"I heard that, too," said Harry. "I hope it's true."
+
+"Well, if a bear's nose is tender, a lion's or a tiger's must be
+tender also," went on Jim, "and if I meet any wild animals I'm going
+to hit 'em on the nose."
+
+"That's a good idea," Bert said, with a laugh. "But how can you be
+sure you'll hit 'em on the nose?"
+
+"Oh, I can't be sure," admitted Jim, "but I'm a pretty good shot
+throwing stones, and I've got plenty, so if I miss the first time I'll
+hit 'em on the nose later. There isn't any wild animal going to get
+me. No sir!" and he looked at the stones and his stout club.
+
+"I should think," said Mabel Herold, "that if you had a good team of
+horses you could drive fast and get away from any wild animals you
+might meet."
+
+"Well, I could do that, too," replied the boy On the hay-wagon. "And
+if I throw all my stones, and don't hit a lion or a bear on the nose,
+I'll whip up and get away."
+
+"Well, I'm going to get away now," decided Nan. "Come on, Flossie and
+Mabel. We won't go berrying to-day. Bears like blackberries, so I've
+read, and no one can tell but that there might be one in the berry
+patch where we are going."
+
+"Oh, I don't think so!" exclaimed Bert. "Maybe there isn't any truth
+in that story after all, about the wild animals escaping. That other
+boy didn't see 'em get away, did he?" asked Bert of Jim.
+
+"No, he didn't exactly see 'em," admitted the boy on the hay-wagon,
+"but he heard the circus men talking in the night about how the lion
+and the bear and the tiger got out of their cages."
+
+"Oh, come on home, Nan! Come on home!" begged Flossie. "This is worse
+than the shooting in the moving pictures. Let's go home."
+
+Nan was very willing to go, and so was Mabel. Freddie, too, after
+thinking it over, decided that he had better go back with the girls,
+and get his toy fire engine ready for any possible danger.
+
+"What do you say, Bert, shall we go back?" inquired Harry.
+
+"Well, I don't know," slowly replied the older Bobbsey lad. "I don't
+really believe in the least that any wild animals are loose, but if
+the girls aren't going berrying there's no use in us going."
+
+"I guess that's right," agreed Tom. "No use going on alone."
+
+And, though none of the older boys would admit it, I think they, too,
+were rather glad to turn back after having heard the story of the
+escape of the wild circus animals.
+
+"Well, I'm all ready for 'em, if I meet any," declared Jim, as he
+drove on, having told the news.
+
+On the way back Bert and the others met several farmers who knew Harry
+or Tom, and each of these men said they had also heard the story of
+the escape of a lion, tiger and bear.
+
+"And if they are loose, some of us may miss some cattle or sheep,"
+declared Mr. Ames, who lived not far from Uncle Daniel. "I think we
+farmers will have to get up a hunting party."
+
+"I'd like to come," broke in Freddie. "I've got a fire engine, and
+wild animals is afraid--"
+
+"That will do, dear," said Nan, gently putting her finger across his
+lips. "Little boys can't go hunting wild animals."
+
+By the time the Bobbsey twins and their friends had almost reached
+Meadow Brook, on their way back, they had met several persons--men or
+boys--who spoke of having heard of the escape of the circus animals.
+
+When the children came up the gravel walk of the farmhouse, Mrs.
+Bobbsey, seeing them from the side porch, where she was sitting,
+stringing beans for supper, called out:
+
+"Well you are back early. Did you get many berries?"
+
+"We didn't get any, mother," said Nan. "We--"
+
+"It's wild animals!" burst out Freddie, unable to keep quiet any
+longer. "A lion, a tiger and a bear! They got away from the circus,
+and they--they--"
+
+"What's all this?" interrupted Aunt Sarah, coming out with her sewing
+in her hands.
+
+Then, by turns, with many interruptions from Freddie, the story was
+told. Dinah listened with wide-opened eyes, and if she could have
+turned pale I think she would have done so. But of course she could
+not, for she was the color of a chocolate cake, and had to stay that
+way.
+
+"Oh, I don't believe a word of it!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel, when he
+heard the tale. "Every time a circus comes to town there is a story of
+wild animals escaping, but I've never seen any yet. I don't believe it
+at all!"
+
+But the children did, and later, when Uncle Daniel came back from a
+visit to the village store that evening, he had to admit that several
+persons had spoken to him about the wild beasts being loose.
+
+"Hadn't you better see if your shot gun is loaded?" his wife asked
+him.
+
+"Well, I will, if it will make you feel any easier," he agreed. "But
+there's no danger of any of them coming near here, even if they have
+escaped, which I don't believe."
+
+The children were rather frightened that night, and would not go far
+from the porch to play in the moonlight, which they usually did before
+going to bed.
+
+Of course Bert and Harry were not as frightened as were Flossie and
+Freddie, but they looked nervously over their shoulders at the dark
+places under the bushes as they passed them.
+
+Freddie, true to his promise, got out his toy fire engine, and filled
+the tank with water, winding up the spring that worked the pump and
+sent out the stream from the little rubber hose.
+
+"Now I'm ready for a lion or a tiger or a bear," he said.
+
+"Well, don't dream of them," said his mother. "Now it's time for bed."
+
+Whether the talk of the circus animals had made Freddie nervous, or
+whether he did dream of them, he could not clearly tell afterward. All
+he knew was that he did not sleep well, and, some time after going to
+bed he awakened with a start.
+
+There was no light in his room, but the moon shone in. He could look
+across to where Flossie was asleep in her crib.
+
+Then Freddie heard a noise. It came from outside and sounded like:
+"Wuff!"
+
+"Oh! Oh!" whispered Freddie to himself. "That's him! That's one of the
+wild animals! It's a bear! That's how bears go--'wuff!' Oh, it's come,
+and what shall I do!"
+
+He sat up in bed listening. He heard the noise again!
+
+"Wuff! Wuff!"
+
+Then Freddie decided he must be brave. Without waking Flossie, the
+little fellow slid from bed, and crossed to the window. The bear, if
+such it was, could not be in his room. He was sure of that, for the
+place was made bright by the moonlight that streamed in the window.
+
+Over to this window Freddie went. He looked out, and as he did so, he
+saw something shaggy and black walk under the lilac bush in front of
+the house.
+
+"There he is!" whispered Freddie to himself. Then in his shrill
+childish voice he called loud:
+
+"Mamma! Bert! Nan! It's come! The bear! He's out in front under the
+bush! Oh! Oh! Oh!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+IN SWIMMING
+
+
+Freddie's cries roused the whole house at Meadow Brook, for the little
+Bobbsey boy had a strong, ringing voice.
+
+His mother was suddenly awakened from her sleep in the next room. Aunt
+Sarah and Uncle Daniel heard him in their apartment. Nan, Bert and
+Harry also heard him.
+
+"Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, who slept in the same room with her
+little brother. "What is it? What is it, Freddie?" and she sat up in
+her crib.
+
+"It's a bear--out in front--under a bush. The circus bear!" answered
+Freddie. "I didn't see the lion or tiger, but they must be out there
+too, unless the bear ate them up!"
+
+"Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "Oh, dear!"
+
+"Mamma! Nan! Bert!" cried Nan. "Come, oh, come here! Dinah!"
+
+"I'se comin', honey lamb! I'se comin'!" cried the colored cook, as she
+heard Freddie's wild cry. "What am de mattah, honey lamb?"
+
+Others were asking this question now.
+
+"What's it all about?" called Bert.
+
+"A bear!" answered Freddie.
+
+"Lions and tigers," added Flossie, half sobbing.
+
+"Gracious! Freddie's been dreaming, or else he's talking in his
+sleep," said Bert to Harry, who was also awakened by the shouts of the
+little boy.
+
+By this time Mrs. Bobbsey was up, and had put on a dressing gown and
+slippers. She hurried out into the hall, to meet Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Oh, something dreadful must have happened," said Freddie's mother.
+But when she went in his room, she found him and Flossie safe, with
+the little boy standing in the moonlight, near the open window.
+
+"What is it, little man?" asked Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Hush! Not so loud!" cautioned Flossie. "It's bears and lions and
+tigers. Freddie saw 'em!" She was not so frightened now.
+
+"I did not see 'em!" cried Freddie. "I only saw a bear!"
+
+"Oh, yes, the bear ate the lion and tiger," went on Flossie, "and if
+Snap or Snoop would only eat the bear now, it would be all right."
+
+"What does it all mean?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "Did you really see
+something, Freddie, or were you dreaming?"
+
+"I did see something, mamma, and it went: 'Wuff! Wuff!'" Freddie
+explained. "Then it went and hid under the lilac bush. I'll show you,"
+and, taking his mother's hand, he led her to the window, out of which
+he pointed.
+
+Now Nan, Bert and Harry came into the small twins' room.
+
+"What is it?" they asked.
+
+By turns Flossie and Freddie told their story, Freddie doing the
+"Wuff! Wuff!" part very earnestly, until Flossie begged him to stop,
+as he "skeered" her.
+
+Dinah, too, came waddling into the room, bringing a candle which
+dripped grease down on her bare feet. The grease was hot, and as Dinah
+felt it, she gave a yell which was almost as startling as was
+Freddie's.
+
+"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Candle grease done splashed on mah toe, an' burnt me," Dinah
+explained, as she stood on one foot, and held the other on top of it
+to ease the pain.
+
+"There it is! There it is!" suddenly cried Freddie. "There's the
+bear!" and he leaned so far out of the window that Bert had to catch
+his little brother by his night gown to save him from a possible fall.
+
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah looked out, and saw a big black object
+come into the moonlight.
+
+"Oh, it _is_ a bear!" declared Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"It does look like some strange beast," agreed Aunt Sarah.
+
+"I wish Mr. Bobbsey were here," said the lumber merchant's wife.
+
+"Uncle Daniel will fix him!" declared Freddie. "Uncle Daniel's got a
+gun. Mamma, can't I take my fire engine and squirt water on that
+bear?"
+
+"No, indeed!" answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "Get back to bed right away."
+
+"Dan, you'd better see what it is," said Aunt
+
+Sarah, as her husband, half dressed, was heard out in the hall. "There
+_is_ some animal under the lilac bush."
+
+"I'll soon have him out of that," said the farmer. He had his gun with
+him, and while the children watched from the window, they saw him step
+out of the kitchen door.
+
+"Oh, he's going to shoot!" cried Freddie in a shrill whisper, as he
+watched his uncle.
+
+"I don't want to hear him!" murmured Flossie, as she got into her
+crib, and pulled the bed clothes over her ears.
+
+But Bert, Nan and the others watched. Then, just as Uncle Daniel
+raised the gun, to shoot at something black which he saw beneath the
+lilac bush, an animal rushed out, and gave a howl.
+
+Hardly had that died away than there sounded a loud:
+
+"Bow! Wow! Wow!" This was repeated several times.
+
+"Oh, it's only a dog!" cried Bert.
+
+"Is it Snap?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"No, it's a big black stray dog," answered Bert.
+
+"No wonder Freddie thought it was a bear," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Now
+it's all over, go back to bed, and sleep in peace."
+
+And it was only a dog that had caused all the excitement. The animal
+ran out into the moonlight, stood a moment looking at Uncle Daniel
+with the gun, and then gave more barks.
+
+It was as if he said he did not like to be chased away in that
+fashion.
+
+"Well, it's a good thing I didn't shoot him," said Uncle Daniel as he
+came back into the house.
+
+"Whose dog was it?" asked his wife.
+
+"Snook's big black one. He was hunting for a bone, I guess, and he
+must have sniffed and snuffed when the dirt got up his nose. That woke
+Freddie. It was only a dog."
+
+"Only a dog!" murmured Freddie. "I thought it was a bear!"
+
+"Well, I'm glad it wasn't, or a tiger or lion, either," said Flossie,
+as she curled up in her cot.
+
+Soon the house was quiet again, and everyone went to sleep. In the
+morning Freddie and Flossie went out to look at the place under the
+lilac bush where the dog had been seen. They found a hole where he had
+been digging up a bone he had hidden there.
+
+And, a little later that day, the dog himself came over, to make
+friends with Snap. He let Freddie pat him.
+
+"He isn't half as big as he looked in the night," said the little
+fellow.
+
+"No, daylight often makes many things seem smaller--even troubles,
+that look very big at night," said Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile.
+
+"But maybe we'll see some wild animals that got away from the circus,"
+hopefully said Freddie at dinner.
+
+"No, you won't!" exclaimed his uncle with a laugh.
+
+"Why not?" asked Bert.
+
+"Because none got away," was the answer. "I met one of the circus men
+in the village this morning. He stayed behind to settle up some bills,
+and he said not a single animal got away. It was all a false alarm; no
+truth in it."
+
+"Well, I'm glad of it!" declared Mrs. Bobbsey, and I think everyone
+felt better on hearing that news.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey came back to Meadow Brook the next day, and heard all
+about the wild animal scare, and also about Freddie being lost at the
+circus, and Frank Kennedy finding him.
+
+"And Mr. Mason is looking for Frank at the circus, wherever the show
+is now," said Bert.
+
+"Yes, so I heard," remarked Mr. Bobbsey. "Well, I hope he treats the
+poor boy kindly if he takes him back."
+
+It was a hot, quiet summer afternoon, a few days later, that Bert and
+Harry, with Tom Mason, sat under the trees in front of the farmhouse.
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah had gone calling, Flossie and Freddie were
+asleep in the house, and Nan had gone over to see Mabel Herold.
+
+"What can we do?" asked Bert, stretching his arms.
+
+"I don't want to do much except keep cool," spoke Harry.
+
+"That's what I say!" exclaimed Tom. "And I know a good way to get that
+way, too."
+
+"What way?" asked Bert, closing his eyes.
+
+"Cool. Let's go swimming. It's just right for that!"
+
+"All right!" agreed Harry.
+
+"Fine!" cried Bert. "Let's do it."
+
+A little later they were on their way to the old swimming hole, near
+the willow tree that grew on the edge of the brook, or little river.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+FRANK COMES BACK
+
+
+"Watch me dive in!"
+
+"I can swim under water!"
+
+"Let's see who can first swim across to the other side of the big
+hole!"
+
+Bert Bobbsey, his cousin Harry, Tom Mason and some other boys were
+standing on the bank of the little brook, or river, as it was
+sometimes called, all ready for a cool bath that hot summer day. The
+water of the "old swimming hole," as it was called, was not deep
+enough to be dangerous, and Mrs. Bobbsey was not afraid to have Bert
+go there without his father. Bert's father had taught him to swim.
+
+"All ready now?" asked Harry, as the boys stood in line on the edge of
+the little pool, waiting for the dive.
+
+"All ready!" answered Bert.
+
+"Then go!" cried the farm-boy.
+
+Into the water they splashed, head first, disappearing under the
+waves. Up they bounced again, like corks, and then they began swimming
+for the other side.
+
+"A race! A race!" cried Bert, shaking his head to get the water out of
+his eyes and nose. He had held his mouth tightly shut when diving, so
+no water had been able to get between his lips.
+
+"I'll race you!" exclaimed Tom Mason, and soon the boys were swimming
+as hard as they could toward the other bank. Some of them could not
+swim very well, but they paddled, or swam "dog-fashion."
+
+"Tom's going to win!" cried one of the boys who could not swim fast.
+He was now standing up in the water, looking at the three boys in the
+lead.
+
+"No, I think Bert will get to the other side first!" said another boy,
+who stood on the bank, not yet having dived in.
+
+"You're all wrong, Harry will beat!" exclaimed a third boy, and so it
+proved. Harry soon passed Bert and Tom, and reached the farther bank
+first. Then Tom came next, while poor Bert was last.
+
+"Too bad you couldn't win," said Harry kindly.
+
+"Oh, you two are better swimmers than I am," said Bert. "I don't mind
+being beaten that way. I guess I need more practice."
+
+"That's it," his cousin said. "I have had more chances to swim than
+you do, so of course I ought to be better."
+
+"You can beat me, and I swim as much as you do," said Tom, who had
+lived in the country all his life, and near the little river. "I used
+to beat Harry every time," said Tom to Bert, "but now he goes ahead of
+me."
+
+"Well, maybe you'll beat him next time," remarked Bert, with a laugh.
+
+After the little race the boys swam about as they pleased, now jumping
+in, or diving head first from the bank near the deeper part of the
+pool, sometimes swimming under water, and then jumping out to lie in
+the warm sand, or on the green grass.
+
+"Oh, this is great fun!" exclaimed Bert, as he sat on the edge of the
+bank, swinging his bare feet to and fro. "I'm glad we came!"
+
+"Look out!" suddenly called Tom, but he spoke too late. Just then
+Harry slipped quietly up behind Bert and pushed him into the water.
+
+"Whoop!" yelled Bert, as he splashed in. He went under, but soon came
+up again, and, swimming to shore, crawled out.
+
+"You wait until I get hold of you!" he cried laughingly to Harry.
+"I'll toss you in! Just wait!"
+
+"You've got to get me first!" replied Harry, keeping out of Bert's
+way. Bert raced after Harry but did not catch him. However, Bert
+waited his chance and a little later, when he saw Harry sitting on the
+edge of the hole, talking to one of the other boys, Bert stole softly
+up behind his cousin, and pushed him into the water.
+
+"Wow!" cried Harry as he splashed in.
+
+"Now we're even," Bert said with a laugh.
+
+After this the boys played some games in the water, swimming about,
+"ducking" one another, and having lots of fun.
+
+"Well, I guess it's about time we started for home," said Harry, after
+a bit, as he noticed the sun, like a ball of fire, sinking to rest in
+the western sky. "I'll have to go after the cows soon."
+
+"I'll go with you," offered Bert, as the boys came out of the water,
+and began to dress.
+
+They were almost ready to start back home when Bert noticed a boy
+walking along the path that extended on one side of the river.
+
+At first Bert did not pay much attention to the boy, after giving him
+one glance, but as the strange lad came nearer Bert looked at him more
+closely.
+
+"I wonder where I've seen that boy before?" he said aloud.
+
+"What boy?"
+
+"Over there," replied Bert, pointing.
+
+Harry gave one look, and exclaimed:
+
+"Why, don't you remember? That's the boy who found Freddie when he was
+lost at the circus!"
+
+"Oh, so it is!" exclaimed Bert. "But what is he doing here? Why isn't
+he with the show?"
+
+"I don't know," answered Harry, who was trying to untangle a hard knot
+in his shoe lace. "Better ask him."
+
+"I will, if he comes near enough," decided Bert, as he finished
+dressing. Then he "ruffled" up his hair, so it would dry more quickly.
+
+By this time they had on their clothes, and the other boy had noticed
+the lads who had just finished swimming. He gave them one look, and
+then turned hurriedly away, as if he did not want them to see him.
+
+"Hold on wait a minute--Frank!" called Bert.
+
+The boy stopped as he heard his name mentioned.
+
+"Who wants me?" he asked.
+
+"I do--Bert Bobbsey," was the answer. "You know me. You found my
+little brother Freddie, when he was lost at the circus. Don't you
+remember?"
+
+"Oh--yes," was the answer.
+
+The boy walked slowly forward, and as he came nearer Bert could see
+that he looked tired and hungry.
+
+"What's the matter?" Harry asked. "Why aren't you with the circus any
+more? Did you lose your place?"
+
+"Well, no, not exactly," replied Frank, "but the side show I worked
+for busted up--I mean it failed, and I was out of a place. There was
+nothing else for me to do in the circus, so I had to leave it. I
+haven't any work now, and I don't know what to do."
+
+"That's too bad," said Bert kindly. "What are you going to do?"
+
+"I don't know," and Frank's voice was sad.
+
+"Are you going back to the lumber office?" asked Harry, for he had
+heard his cousin tell how Frank had run away from his guardian, Mr.
+Mason, who punished the boy for taking in a Confederate twenty dollar
+bill, that was worthless.
+
+"No, I'll never go back there!" exclaimed Frank, with flashing eyes.
+
+"Mr. Mason was looking for you, the day after the circus showed in
+Rosedale," said Bert. "Did he see you?"
+
+"No, he didn't, and I don't want to see him," Frank said. "After I
+lost my place in the side show, where I took in tickets at the tent
+entrance, I started to tramp, and look for work. But I haven't found
+any yet. So I thought I'd come back to Meadow Brook. I heard there
+were some farms around here, and I thought maybe I could get work on
+one of them. If I can't--I don't know what to do," and it sounded as
+if Frank was trying to keep from crying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+BAD MONEY
+
+
+Bert, Harry and their chums hardly knew what to do. They felt sorry
+for Frank, and wanted to help him, but they did not know just how to
+go about it.
+
+"Do you know how to work on a farm?" asked Harry.
+
+"Well, no, not exactly," replied Frank. "But I know something about
+the lumber business, and I guess I could chop wood. They have to do
+that on farms, don't they?" he asked, and he was smiling a little now.
+
+"Oh, yes, wood has to be chopped," said Harry. "Entirely too much of
+it, I think. It makes my back ache."
+
+"Say, why can't we ask him to come back with us?" whispered Bert to
+Harry, as Frank picked up a stone and tossed it into the water.
+
+"I guess we could," said Harry, slowly.
+
+"Then I'm going to do it," went on Bert. "I say," he spoke to Frank,
+"wouldn't you like to come back to my uncle's house, and get something
+to eat? Maybe he could give you work. I know Harry and I have plenty
+to do."
+
+"I would like to come, very much," replied Frank, a brighter look
+coming over his face. "I'll do all the work I can, too," he added,
+quickly.
+
+"Come along then," invited Harry, and as Bert and Frank walked along
+together, ahead of the others, Harry told his chums how he had first
+met Frank at the circus, the time Freddie was lost. He also explained
+to the boys what Bert had told him about Frank running away.
+
+Leaving their chums with whom they had gone swimming, Bert and Harry
+led Frank down toward the pleasant farmhouse. Freddie was out in
+front, playing with his toy fire engine as usual. As soon as the
+little Bobbsey twin saw the circus lad, he exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, there's my boy--my elephant-boy that found me when everybody was
+lost but me. Oh, I'm glad to see you!" he cried, and he ran to Frank,
+who caught Freddie up in his arms, and kissed him.
+
+Nan and Flossie came down off the porch to see what all the excitement
+was about.
+
+"Oh, it's the circus-boy!" Flossie cried. "Did you bring any trained
+monkeys or elephants with you?" she asked.
+
+"No, not this time, I'm sorry to say," replied Frank. "They wouldn't
+let me take any of the animals with me when I came away."
+
+"Well, did you bring any--any peanuts?" asked Freddie. "Peanuts are
+good, even if you haven't any elephants to eat 'em."
+
+"No peanuts, either," went on Frank. Poor lad! He looked so hungry
+that if he had had any peanuts he probably would have eaten them
+himself.
+
+"Well, did you bring any--any balloons?" Flossie wanted to know.
+
+"Well, yes, I have some toy balloons," said Frank, and he pulled some
+pieces of rubber from his pocket. "These are circus balloons before
+they are blown up," explained Frank. "You can use a hollow goose quill
+to blow them full of air, and then tie a string, or thread, around the
+bottom, so the air won't come out. They won't go up like circus
+balloons, though," Frank said.
+
+"Why not?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"Because they have only air in them, instead of gas," Frank
+explained. "Gas is lighter than air, and that makes it lift the
+balloon. But you can have some fun with these," and he gave two each
+to Flossie and Freddie. "One of the circus men gave them to me," he
+went on. The children were soon playing with the balloons.
+
+By this time Mrs. Bobbsey had come out of the house, and when she saw
+Frank she remembered him at once.
+
+"Oh, it is very good to see you again," she exclaimed, and she looked
+sorry when he told her he had lost his place with the circus.
+
+"Well, perhaps it is all for the best," said Mr. Bobbsey, when he
+heard the news. "A circus is not the nicest place in the world for a
+growing boy, though many good men and women are in circuses."
+
+"I think I'd like to work on a farm for a change," said Frank.
+
+"Well, you won't find farm work very easy," spoke Uncle Daniel, as he
+came out to listen to the runaway's story. "And I think you had better
+go back to your guardian," he added. "He has been looking for you."
+
+"So Bert said," remarked Frank, "but I'll never go back to that lumber
+office to be treated as I was before. Mr. Mason really wasn't fair to
+me."
+
+"Perhaps he meant to be," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Well, didn't he punish me for something that wasn't my fault--taking
+that bad twenty dollar bill?" asked Frank.
+
+"He did punish you, yes," admitted Mr. Bobbsey, "and I am not saying
+he did right in that. But you were put in his charge by the courts,
+and he has authority to look after you, the same as a father would
+look after his children."
+
+"I think it is best that you go back to him," went on Uncle Daniel.
+
+"I never will!" exclaimed Frank.
+
+"Would you if I saw Mr. Mason and got him to promise to treat you more
+kindly, and overlook the loss of the twenty dollars?" asked the
+farmer.
+
+"Well, I might," replied Frank, slowly.
+
+"That's better!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel. "I like a young lad to have a
+real home," he went on, "and not be traveling about with a circus, no
+matter how good a show it is. What happened to the side-show you were
+with?" he asked Frank.
+
+"Oh, our biggest snake died," said the boy, "and the fat lady was
+taken sick, and got so thin she wasn't a curiosity any more, so the
+show 'busted up,' as the circus people called it."
+
+"Well, maybe it's just as well," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I never did like
+snakes, anyhow, and it can't be healthful to be as fat as that lady
+was. I hope she gets better, and is thin enough to be comfortable. And
+now we must look after you, Frank. You will stay with us a few days,
+until Mr. Bobbsey and Uncle Daniel can arrange about your going back
+to your guardian."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Now that you have promised, Frank, I shall
+write to Mr. Mason, telling him you are here. He is probably
+searching for you, wondering what has happened to you since you lost
+your place with the circus."
+
+"You are very kind to me," murmured the homeless boy.
+
+"Yes, and I think Mr. Mason will be kind to you, too, after we have
+had a talk with him," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Now, Frank, make yourself at
+home here, and have a good time."
+
+Frank certainly needed a good time if anyone did, for he had not had
+much fun thus far in life.
+
+Aunt Sarah took Frank to the dining-room, and soon Dinah had served a
+meal that would make any hungry boy feel very much at home, Frank
+said.
+
+"He shore hab got some appetite!" exclaimed Dinah, as she looked in
+through a crack in the kitchen door, and watched Frank eat.
+
+"Well, I guess anyone would have an appetite if they had to live on
+hay and oats," said Martha.
+
+"Hay an' oats!" cried Dinah. "Did he hab t' eat hay an' oats?"
+
+"He must have," Martha replied. "That's about all they have in
+circuses."
+
+"Pore boy!" sighed Dinah. "I'se gwine t' bake him a whole chocolate
+cake fo' his ownse'f; dat's what I am!"
+
+And she did, too, though Frank shared his treat with the others, a day
+or so later, when it was given to him.
+
+Meanwhile Frank was taken in almost as one of the family by the
+Bobbseys and their relatives and friends. Freddie never wanted to be
+away from his "circus-boy," as he called Frank, and Flossie, too, was
+quite in love with the wanderer.
+
+"It makes me homesick for Mrs. Mason's two little girls," said Frank
+to Mrs. Bobbsey, as he came in one day from having taken Freddie and
+Flossie for a walk.
+
+"Well, it's a good sign to be homesick," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "It shows
+you like your home, in spite of some bad times there. You will soon be
+back again."
+
+Mr. Mason had been written to, and told that his ward was at Meadow
+Brook, and would go back with him if he called. But no answer had yet
+been received.
+
+"I suppose he is trying to find you by following up the circus," said
+Mr. Bobbsey to Frank.
+
+A few days after this Bert, Harry and Frank were on their way to the
+village store to get some groceries for Aunt Sarah. As they came near
+the place, in front of which was a large porch, a man was seen peering
+around the corner of the building. At the sight of him Frank started
+and pulled Bert by the sleeve.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Harry's cousin.
+
+"That man!" whispered Frank. "See him! That's the one who gave me the
+bad money--the Confederate twenty dollar bill. What can he be doing
+here? Oh, if I could only get Mr. Mason's money back from that man!"
+
+"Let's wait and see what he is doing," suggested Harry. The man had
+not yet seen them. The boys could watch him as he seemed to be hiding
+back of the corner of the country store.
+
+"He's up to some trick, I'm sure," said Bert.
+
+A few seconds later Mr. Mack, the owner of the store, came out and
+walked down the village street. Hardly had he started off than the
+strange man quickly went into the store.
+
+"He's going to take the money!" exclaimed Bert. "There's no one in the
+store now. He waited for Mr. Mack to come out, so he could go in and
+get the money."
+
+"No, I don't think that," spoke Harry. "George Smith, a boy I know,
+works for Mr. Mack, and attends to the store when Mr. Mack goes out.
+George must be in there now."
+
+"Well, that man is up to some trick, I'm sure!" exclaimed Frank. "How
+can we find out what it is?"
+
+"We can go in the store through the back door," said Harry. "Come on,
+we'll do it, and sneak in quietly! Then we can see what's going on."
+
+Quietly the three boys went into the store through the rear entrance.
+No one up front could see them because of the piles of boxes and
+barrels in front of the counters.
+
+"Well, what can I do for you to-day?" the three heard George Smith ask
+the stranger.
+
+"I want two pounds of the best butter," was the man's answer. "And I
+suppose you can change a twenty dollar bill, can't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said George. "We've got that much change."
+
+"You were sure of that?" asked the man, glancing around the store
+nervously.
+
+"Yes, sir, we always keep plenty of change on hand."
+
+"Very well then, go and weigh out the butter and be sure and give me
+good weight."
+
+"We always give full weight, sir," answered George.
+
+Bert and the others could hear, but could not see George as he weighed
+out the butter. Then Frank whispered:
+
+"I want to get near enough so I can see what kind of a twenty dollar
+bill that man gives this boy. Maybe it will be no good, just as he
+fooled me."
+
+"Come over here," whispered Harry. "You can look through this crack
+between two boxes. It's right near the cash drawer, and you can see
+the bill when George makes change for it."
+
+Frank crept up to make an observation, and as the store boy took the
+bill from the man, and began making change, Frank could not hold back
+any longer. He saw that the bill was the same kind that had fooled
+him. It was Confederate money, and utterly worthless.
+
+"Don't give that man any change!" cried Frank. "That's bad money!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HAPPY DAYS
+
+
+Bert and Harry were so surprised at Frank's sudden call, that, for a
+few seconds, they did not know what to do or say. George Smith, the
+boy in the store, was also startled. He stood with the bad twenty
+dollar bill in his hand, wondering where the warning voice had come
+from. And then Frank showed how quick he could be.
+
+"Hurry up!" he whispered to Bert and Harry. "One of you slip around
+and lock the front door, and the other one lock the back. Then we'll
+have this man trapped, and maybe I can make him pay back the money he
+got from me. Quick!"
+
+"I'll go to the front door!" exclaimed Harry.
+
+"And I'll lock the back one!" said Bert.
+
+The man, who had heard Frank's call from behind the pile of boxes,
+must have known something had gone wrong with his plan to cheat.
+
+"Never mind about the butter," he said quickly. "I guess I won't buy
+any after all. Just give me back my twenty dollar bill, and I'll get
+along."
+
+"Oh, no, you won't!" exclaimed Harry, as he slipped around some
+barrels. Quickly running to the front door, the country boy locked it,
+and stood in front of it.
+
+"Hurry! Give me my money back, I tell you!" cried the man to George,
+who stood near the cash drawer, not knowing what to do.
+
+"Don't you give it to him!" advised Frank, stepping out. "Lock the
+back door, Bert," he called.
+
+"I have!" cried the older Bobbsey boy.
+
+The man started to run behind the counter, to find a way out, but he
+was too late. Bert had locked the door, and taken out the key.
+
+"Let me out of here!" cried the stranger. "Let me out!"
+
+Bert and Harry were somewhat frightened, but Frank was brave.
+
+"You don't get out of here until you pay back the twenty dollars you
+cheated out of Mr. Mason," he said.
+
+"I don't know anything about any Mr. Mason!" the stranger said. "I
+want my twenty dollar bill back, I won't need any butter to-day!"
+
+"Don't give him that money!" cried Frank to George. "It's bad, and if
+you give it to him, he'll try to cheat someone else with it."
+
+"I'll fix you!" cried the man. But at that instant there was a
+rattling sound at the front door, and Harry, looking through the glass
+panels, saw Mr. Mack, the store owner, and two or three other men
+outside.
+
+"What's the matter? What has happened? Why am I locked out of my own
+store?" cried Mr. Mack, rattling the knob.
+
+"There's a cheat in here!" cried Harry, unlocking the door. "There he
+is!" he went on, as Mr. Mack rushed in. "That man tried to pass a bad
+twenty dollar bill on your boy," went on Harry.
+
+"He did, eh?" cried Mr. Mack. "Well, I'll see about that!"
+
+"You let me go!" exclaimed the strange man. "I haven't done anything.
+I wanted some butter, but I changed my mind. There isn't anything
+wrong in that. Give me my twenty dollar bill and I'll go!"
+
+"Oh, no, you'll not--not until you explain," said Mr. Mack, and he
+caught the man by the arm. Then the man tried to break away.
+
+"Here, help me hold him!" Mr. Mack called to some of his friends who
+had come in with him. "We'll see what this is all about. Who can
+explain?" he asked, looking at Bert, Harry and Frank, in turn.
+
+"He can," said Bert, pointing to the former circus boy.
+
+At this the stranger took a good look at Frank, and he seemed much
+worried.
+
+"I see you know me," said Frank with a smile.
+
+The man muttered something to himself.
+
+In a few words Frank told how he had been cheated by the old twenty
+dollar Confederate bill the man had passed on him some time ago, in
+the lumber office.
+
+"And when I saw that man, to-day, for the first time since, hiding
+around your store," went on Frank to Mr. Mack, "I thought perhaps he
+was up to some of his old tricks. He went in as soon as you went out,
+and I saw him give your clerk the same kind of a bad bill he gave me.
+Only I gave him eighteen good dollars in change."
+
+"But I didn't," said George Smith with a grateful look at Frank. "I
+was warned in time."
+
+"I tell you it is all a mistake," said the man. "You had better let me
+go."
+
+"The only place you will go to is prison," cried Mr. Mack. "Take him
+away, Constable Sprigg," he said to one of the men who had come into
+the store with him. "Take him away!"
+
+So the man who had cheated Frank, and who had nearly cheated Mr.
+Mack, was locked up in jail. It was found that he had many
+Confederate bills with him. That money was once good in the Southern
+States, during war-times, but now it is of no value, and will not buy
+even a stick of candy.
+
+Of course grown persons could not be fooled by the Confederate bills,
+but boys, who had never seen any of that money, might be easily
+deceived. And it was on boys that the man played his tricks, giving
+them bad twenty dollar bills for some small purchase, and getting good
+money in change.
+
+"He just waited until Mr. Mack went out of his store," explained
+Frank, "and he knew only a boy was left in charge. That's how he
+tricked me, waiting until Mr. Mason was out of the office."
+
+"Well, you did me a good service," said Mr. Mack, "and if ever you are
+in need of work, I'll give you a place in my store to help George when
+I am out."
+
+"I guess Frank is going back in the lumber business," said Bert.
+
+The next day Mr. Mason came in answer to the letter he had received
+about Frank. He brought with him the bad twenty dollar bill the man
+had cheated Frank with, and a little later the dishonest man was taken
+away by a policeman, and put in a place where he would have to work
+hard as a punishment for cheating honest persons. The Bobbseys never
+saw him again.
+
+Everyone said Frank was very smart to catch the cheat as he had done.
+Mr. Mason received back his twenty dollars, for the man had some good
+money in his pockets when arrested.
+
+"And now are you ready to come back with me, Frank?" asked Mr. Mason,
+when everything had come out right.
+
+"I--I guess so," was the rather slow answer.
+
+"My girls are anxious to see you again," the lumber merchant went on.
+"They have missed you very much. And I want to say I am sorry I was so
+cross and severe with you," he added. "I was provoked that you should
+be cheated, but I realize now that it was not your fault. That man
+made it his business to fool boys with his bad bills. Will you come
+back, Frank? I promise to treat you better from now on."
+
+"Yes, he will go back," said Uncle Daniel, "but he hasn't had much fun
+this summer. Suppose you leave him here at Meadow Brook for a while. I
+think it will do Frank good."
+
+"All right," agreed Mr. Mason. "But my wife and the girls are anxious
+to have him home. But let him stay here for a time."
+
+And so happy days began for Frank Kennedy, and the happy days
+continued for the Bobbsey twins, and their friends and relatives. The
+long summer days on the farm were filled with good times.
+
+One morning Freddie and Flossie went out in the kitchen where Dinah
+and Martha were busy making sandwiches and wrapping cakes in waxed
+paper.
+
+"Are we going to have company?" asked Flossie.
+
+"We's gwine t' hab annuder picnic!" exclaimed Dinah. "A big one!"
+
+"Oh, goodie!" cried Freddie. "And I'm going to take my fire engine to
+the woods and squirt water on snakes."
+
+"Well, don't pump any fire engine watah on ole Dinah, honey lamb!"
+begged the fat cook.
+
+"Oh, a picnic! What fun!" cried Nan, when she heard about it.
+
+And such good times as the Bobbseys had when they went to the cool
+green woods, with well-filled lunch baskets! Mr. Mack, the store
+keeper, was so grateful to Frank, for having saved the twenty dollars
+for him, that he sent a large bag of cakes and oranges for the
+woodland-dinner.
+
+Frank went with the others, and a number of country boys and girls
+were invited. They played games and sat about in the long grass under
+shady trees to eat the good things Dinah and Martha had cooked.
+Freddie played with his fire engine to his heart's content, and,
+though he managed to get pretty wet himself, no one else suffered
+much.
+
+And, a few days before Frank was to go back to his guardian Mr.
+Bobbsey gave the children another treat. They were taken to a nice
+moving picture show at Rosedale where the circus had been.
+
+After some funny reels had been shown, there was flashed on the screen
+a schoolhouse, with the children clustering about the teacher.
+
+"Oh, it's us! It's us!" whispered Nan. "Those are our pictures!"
+
+"So they are!" agreed Bert. And they were. Views of the sham battle
+the children had witnessed were thrown on the screen, and then came a
+scene showing Freddie. No sooner had he noticed himself in the
+pictures than he cried out loud:
+
+"Oh, that's me! Now watch me fall in the brook!"
+
+And he did, amid the laughter of the audience.
+
+I wish I had space to tell you of all the other things the Bobbseys
+did at Meadow Brook, but this book is as full as it will hold. So I
+will just say that when the time came Frank went back to Mr. Mason's
+home, and, a little later, the Bobbseys taking Snoop and Snap, went
+back to Lakeport, there to spend some weeks at home, until it was time
+to go on another vacation. And so, having enjoyed the company of the
+twins, we will say goodbye to them.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook, by 
+Laura Lee Hope
+
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+Project Gutenberg's The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook, by Laura Lee Hope
+#15 in our series by Laura Lee Hope
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook
+
+Author: Laura Lee Hope
+
+Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6576]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on December 29, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Alessandro, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
+
+By Laura Lee Hope
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+    I. A CROCKERY CRASH
+
+   II. NEW SUMMER PLANS
+
+  III. THE RUNAWAY BOY
+
+   IV. OFF FOR MEADOW BROOK
+
+    V. SNAP'S ESCAPE
+
+   VI. AT MEADOW BROOK
+
+  VII. THE PICNIC
+
+ VIII. LOST IN THE HAY
+
+   IX. THE FIVE-PIN SHOW
+
+    X. A SHAM BATTLE
+
+   XI. MOVING PICTURES
+
+  XII. THE BOBBSEYS ACT
+
+ XIII. THE CIRCUS
+
+  XIV. FREDDIE IS MISSING
+
+   XV. FOUND AGAIN
+
+  XVI. FRANK'S STORY
+
+ XVII. A WILD ANIMAL SCARE
+
+XVIII. WHAT FREDDIE SAW
+
+  XIX. IN SWIMMING
+
+   XX. FRANK COMES BACK
+
+  XXI. BAD MONEY
+
+ XXII. HAPPY DAYS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A CROCKERY CRASH
+
+
+"Well, here we are back home again!" exclaimed Nan Bobbsey, as she sat
+down in a chair on the porch. "Oh, but we have had _such_ a good
+time!"
+
+"The best ever!" exclaimed her brother Bert, as he set down the valise
+he had been carrying, and walked back to the front gate to take a
+small satchel from his mother.
+
+"I'm going to carry mine! I want to carry mine all the way!" cried
+little fat Freddie Bobbsey, thinking perhaps his bigger brother might
+want to take, too, his bundle.
+
+"All right, you can carry your own, Freddie," said Bert, pleasantly.
+"But it's pretty heavy for you."
+
+"It--it isn't very heavy," panted Freddie, as he struggled on with his
+bundle, his short fat legs fairly "twinkling" to and fro as he came up
+the walk. "It's got some cookies in, too, my bundle has; and Flossie
+and I are going to eat 'em when we get on the porch."
+
+"Oh, so that's the reason you didn't want Bert to take your package,
+is it?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile, as she patted the little fat
+chap on the head.
+
+"Oh, well, I'll give Bert a cookie if he wants one," said Freddie,
+generously, "but I'm strong enough to carry my own bundle all the way;
+aren't I, Dinah?" and he appealed to a fat, good-natured looking
+colored woman, who was waddling along, carrying a number of packages.
+
+"Dat's what yo' is, honey lamb! Dat's what yo' is!" Dinah exclaimed.
+"An' ef I could see dat man ob mine, Sam Johnson, I'd make him take
+some ob dese yeah t'ings."
+
+As Dinah spoke there came from around the corner of the house a tall,
+slim colored man, who as soon as he saw the party of returning
+travelers, ran forward to help them carry their luggage.
+
+"Well, it's about time dat yo' come t' help us, Sam Johnson!"
+exclaimed his wife. "It's about time!"
+
+"Didn't know yo' all was a-comin', Dinah! Didn't know yo' all would
+get heah so soon, 'deed I didn't!" Sam exclaimed, with a laugh, that
+showed his white teeth in strange contrast to his black face.
+"Freddie, shall I take yo' package? Flossie, let me reliebe yo',
+little Missie!"
+
+"No, Sam, thank you!" answered the little girl, who was just about the
+size and build of Freddie. "I have only Snoop, our cat, and I can
+carry him easily enough. You help Dinah!"
+
+"'Deed an' he had better help me!" exclaimed the colored cook.
+
+Sam took all the packages he could carry, and hurried with them to the
+stoop. But he had not gone very far before something happened.
+
+From behind him rushed a big dog, barking and leaping about, glad,
+probably, to be home again from part of the summer vacation.
+
+"Look out, Sam!" called Bert Bobbsey, who was carrying the valise his
+mother had had. "Look out!"
+
+"What's de mattah? Am I droppin' suffin?" asked Sam, trying to turn
+about and look at all the bundles and packages he had in his arms and
+hands.
+
+"It's Snap!" cried Nan, who was sitting comfortably on the shady
+porch. "Look out for him, Sam."
+
+"Snap! Behave yourself!" ordered little fat Flossie, as she set down a
+wooden cage containing a black cat. "Be good, Snap!"
+
+"Here, Snap! Snap! Come here!" called Freddie.
+
+Snap, the big dog, was too excited just then to mind. With another
+loud, joyous bark he rushed up behind Sam, and, as the colored man of
+all work about the Bobbsey place had very bow, or curved, legs, Snap
+ran right between them. That is, he ran half way, and then, as he was
+a pretty fat dog, he stuck there.
+
+"Good land ob massy!" exclaimed Sam, as he looked down to see the dog
+half way between his bow legs, Snap's head sticking out one way, and
+his wagging tail the other. "Get out ob dat, Snap!" cried Sam. "Get
+out! Move on, sah!"
+
+"Bow wow!" barked Snap, which might have meant almost anything.
+
+"Look out!" shouted Sam. "Yo'll upset me! Dat's what you will!"
+
+And indeed it did seem as though this might happen. For Sam was so
+laden down with packages that he could not balance himself very well,
+and had almost toppled over.
+
+"Here, Snap!" called Bert, who was laughing so hard that he could
+hardly stand up, for really it was a funny sight.
+
+"Don't call him, Bert," advised Mrs. Bobbsey. "If you do he'll run
+out, and then Sam surely will be knocked over. And there are some
+fresh eggs in one of those packages he took from Dinah."
+
+Snap himself did not seem to know what to do. There he was, tightly
+held fast, his fat sides between Sam's bow legs. Snap could go neither
+forward nor backward just then. He barked and wagged his tail, for he
+knew it was all in fun.
+
+"Open your legs wider, Sam, man!" exclaimed his wife. "Den de dorg kin
+git out!"
+
+Sam, holding tightly to the packages, did manage to stoop down and so
+spread his legs a little farther apart. This released Snap, who, with
+a happy bark, and a wild wagging of his tail, bounded up on the stoop
+where Nan sat.
+
+A little later the whole Bobbsey family, with the exception of Mr.
+Bobbsey, were sitting comfortably in the porch chairs, while Sam was
+opening the front shutters, having already unlocked the front door for
+the returning family.
+
+"Home again!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, with a little sigh, as she
+looked around at the familiar scenes. "My, but how dusty it is after
+being on the lovely water."
+
+"Yes'm, dey shuah has been lots ob dust!" exclaimed Sam. "We need rain
+mighty bad, an' I've had de garden hose goin' ebery night, too."
+
+"I'll soon sweep off dish yeah porch," said Dinah. "Sam, yo' git me a
+broom."
+
+"Oh, don't bother now, Dinah," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Make a cup of tea,
+first. The dust doesn't matter, and we'll not be here long."
+
+"Won't we?" exclaimed Nan. "Oh, where are we going next?"
+
+"We'll talk about it as soon as your father comes home," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey, for her husband had stopped on the way from the houseboat
+dock, where the family had lately landed, to go to his lumber office
+for a little while.
+
+"Let Snoop out!" begged little Flossie. "Snoop's tired of being shut
+up in that box." In order to carry him from the boat to the house
+Snoop had been put in a small traveling crate.
+
+"I'll let him out as soon as I get a screwdriver," promised Bert. "My,
+but it's hot here!"
+
+"Indeed it is," agreed his mother, who was fanning herself with her
+pocket handkerchief as she sat in a rocking-chair. "It isn't much like
+our nice houseboat, is it?"
+
+"No, indeed," agreed Nan. "I wish we hadn't come home."
+
+"And summer is only half over," went on Bert. "Here it is only
+August."
+
+"Oh, well, there are plenty of good times ahead of you children yet,
+before school begins," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Now let's see. Have we
+everything?" and she looked at the pile of bundles and valises on the
+porch.
+
+"I guess we didn't forget anything, except papa," said Freddie. "And
+he's coming," he added, as the others laughed.
+
+"Sam, am de fire made?" demanded Dinah. "I wants t' make a cup ob
+tea."
+
+"Fire all made," reported the colored man. "I'll go git a fresh pail
+ob water now. I didn't know jest prezackly when yo' was comin'," he
+said to Mrs. Bobbsey, "or I'd a' been down to de dock t' meet de
+houseboat."
+
+"Might a' come anyhow," muttered Dinah. "Yo' all didn't hab nuffin' t'
+do heah!"
+
+"Huh! I didn't, eh?" cried Sam. "Nuffin t' do! Why, I cut de grass,
+an' fed de chickens, an' watered de lawn, an'--an'--"
+
+"Go 'long wif yo'," ordered his wife with a laugh. "Bring in some mo'
+wood for de fire!"
+
+"And get a screw-driver so I can let Snoop out," begged Flossie. "He's
+tired of being shut up in the crate!"
+
+"Right away, Missie! Right away!" promised good-natured Sam.
+
+A little later Snoop, the black cat, was stretching himself on the
+porch, while Snap, the big dog, rushed up and down the lawn, barking
+loudly to let all the neighbors' dogs know he was back home again--at
+least for a time.
+
+Meanwhile Bert, as the "little man of the house," had brought in the
+packages and satchels from the porch. Nan was helping her mother get
+out a cool kimona, while Dinah was down in the kitchen getting ready a
+cup of tea for Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+Flossie and Freddie, as the youngest Bobbsey twins, had nothing in
+particular to do, so they ran about, here, there, everywhere, renewing
+acquaintance with the familiar objects about the yard--things they had
+forgotten during the two months they had been away on a houseboat, for
+part of their summer vacation.
+
+"Oh, look! My flower-bed is full of weeds!" cried Flossie, as she came
+to a corner of the yard where she had set out some pansy plants just
+before going away.
+
+"And I can't even see the lettuce I planted," said Freddie. "I guess
+Sam didn't weed our gardens."
+
+"Never mind, we can make new ones," Flossie said. "Oh, Freddie, look!
+There's a strange cat!" Both children ran to where Snoop was making
+the acquaintance of a pussy friend. The cats seemed to like one
+another and the strange one let the little twins pet it as it lapped
+some milk from Snoop's saucer.
+
+A little later Dinah called Flossie and Freddie into the house to have
+a glass of milk and some bread and jam, for it was past lunch time.
+The small twins came willingly enough.
+
+"What are we going to do the rest of the summer?" asked Nan, as she
+sat next to her mother at the table. "Are we going away again?"
+
+"I hope so!" exclaimed Bert. "The houseboat suited me, but if we can
+have a trip to the seashore, or go to the country, so much the
+better."
+
+"We shall see," half-promised Mrs. Bobbsey. "As soon as papa comes
+home from the office, he will know how much more time he can spare
+from business to go with us. Then I can tell you--"
+
+"There he comes now, mamma!" exclaimed Nan. "Oh, excuse me for
+interrupting you," she went on, for Mrs. Bobbsey insisted upon the
+children being just as polite at home, and to one another, as they
+would be among strangers.
+
+"That's all right, Nan," said her mother kindly. "When papa comes in,
+and has had a cup of tea, we'll talk over matters, and decide what to
+do."
+
+"Well, are you all settled?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, as he came in,
+catching little Freddie up in his strong arms. "Haven't put out any
+fires since you got here, have you?" he asked, for Freddie had a great
+love for playing fireman, and he often put out "make-believe" blazes
+with a toy fire engine he had, which squirted real water.
+
+"No alarms to-day," laughed Freddie, for his father was tickling him
+in his "fat ribs," as Freddie called them.
+
+"How's my little fat fairy?" went on Mr. Bobbsey, catching Flossie up
+as he had Freddie.
+
+"All right." she answered. "Oh, papa, your whiskers prick!" she cried,
+as Mr. Bobbsey kissed her.
+
+"Sit down and have a cup of tea," invited Mrs. Bobbsey. "Then we can
+talk about what we are to do. The children are anxious to get away
+again, and if we _are_ to go there is no need of unpacking more than
+we have to."
+
+"Would you like to go to Meadow Brook?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, looking at
+his happy family.
+
+"You know I would," answered his wife, with a smile.
+
+"Meadow Brook! Oh, are we going there?" cried Nan.
+
+"Well, Uncle Daniel has sent us an invitation," said Mr. Bobbsey, "and
+your mother and I are thinking of it."
+
+"Can you leave your lumber business long enough to go with us?" asked
+Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"I think so," replied her husband. "I just stopped at the office, and
+everything there is going along nicely. So I think we'll go to Meadow
+Brook, in the country, for the rest of the summer."
+
+"Hurray! Hurrah! Oh, how nice!" cried the children.
+
+"Dinah, I think I'll have another cup of tea," went on Mr. Bobbsey, as
+the colored cook waddled in. "Make it cold, this time--with ice in it.
+I am very warm."
+
+"Yais-sah," said Dinah, taking his cup.
+
+Then followed a confusion of talk, the two sets of twins doing the
+most. They were joyfully excited at the idea of going to Meadow Brook
+farm.
+
+"I'm going to turn somersaults in the grass--just like this," cried
+Freddie, rolling over and over on the floor. He rolled toward the door
+that led from the dining-room to the kitchen, and, just as he reached
+it, Dinah came in with Mr. Bobbsey's cup of iced tea.
+
+Before Freddie could stop himself, and before fat Dinah could get out
+of the way, the little Bobbsey chap had rolled right into the cook,
+and down she went in a heap on the floor, the cup and saucer crashing
+into dozens of pieces, and the tea spilling all over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+NEW SUMMER PLANS
+
+
+"Oh, Freddie!"
+
+"Oh, Dinah!"
+
+"Are you hurt?"
+
+Thus came the cries, and as Snap, the dog, rushed in just then,
+barking and leaping about, he made the confusion all the worse.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey sprang from his chair, lifted Freddie out of the way, and
+then helped Dinah to her feet. The fat, colored cook looked around in
+a dazed manner, and Freddie, too, did not seem to know just what had
+happened to him.
+
+"Oh, don't tell me he is hurt--or Dinah, either!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey,
+holding her hands over her eyes, as though she might see something
+unpleasant.
+
+"I--I'm not hurt," said Freddie, "but I--I'm all wet!"
+
+"Bress yo' heart, honey lamb! I'se glad ob dat!" cried Dinah, as she
+wiped her face on her apron, for the tea had splashed on her.
+
+"Are you all right, Dinah?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, setting Freddie down,
+for he had caught his little fat son up in his arms.
+
+"Shuah, I'se all right, sah," the colored cook answered. "Jest shook
+up a bit. I'se so fat it doesn't hurt me t' fall," she explained. "An'
+I shuah am glad I didn't fall on Freddie. He done knocked mah feet
+right out from under me!"
+
+"Yes, you shouldn't have turned somersaults in the house," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey. "That wasn't right, Freddie."
+
+"I--I wasn't exactly turning somersaults," Freddie explained, as he
+dried his face in his pocket handkerchief. "I was jest rollin' over
+an' over, like I'm goin' to do down at Meadow Brook."
+
+"Well, it was almost as bad as turning somersaults," said Nan. "My,
+but I got _so_ excited."
+
+"Pooh! It wasn't anything," spoke Bert. "It's a good thing, though,
+that it was iced tea, instead of being hot."
+
+"Indeed that was a blessing," said Mrs. Bobbsey, while Dinah began
+picking up the pieces of the cup and saucer. "You must be more
+careful, Freddie."
+
+"I will, ma," he promised. "But tell us about Meadow Brook. When can
+we go?"
+
+"Not until you get a dry suit on, at least," said Mr. Bobbsey with a
+smile. "You had better change, Freddie. You are all wet from my cup of
+tea."
+
+"I'll put dry things on him," offered Nan, leading the little fellow
+from the room. "But don't talk over any plans until I come back," she
+begged.
+
+"We won't," promised her mother.
+
+And while the house is settling into quietness, after the confusion of
+the temporary home-coming, and the upsetting of Dinah and Freddie, I
+will take just a few moments to tell my new readers something about
+the Bobbsey Twins as they have been written about in the other books
+of this series.
+
+There were two sets of twins, and that may seem strange until I tell
+you that Bert and Nan, aged about nine, formed one set, and Flossie
+and Freddie, aged four years younger, made up the second set. Bert and
+Nan were tall and slim, with dark hair and eyes, while Flossie and
+Freddie were fat and short, with light hair and blue eyes, making a
+very different appearance from the older twins.
+
+Besides the two sets of Bobbsey twins, there was Mr. Richard Bobbsey,
+and his wife Mary. They lived in an Eastern city called Lakeport, on
+Lake Metoka, where Mr. Bobbsey had a large lumber business.
+
+I might say that Dinah Johnson, and her husband Sam, also formed part
+of the Bobbsey household, for without Dinah to cook, and without Sam
+to do everything around the house, from watering the grass to putting
+out the ashes, I do not know how Mrs. Bobbsey would have gotten
+along. And then, of course, there was Snoop, the black cat, and Snap,
+the nice dog, who had once been in a circus, and could do many tricks.
+
+So much for the Bobbsey family. As for what they did, if you will read
+the first book of the series, which volume is called "The Bobbsey
+Twins," you will get a good idea of the many good times Flossie,
+Freddie, Bert and Nan had.
+
+Uncle Daniel Bobbsey, who was Mr. Bobbsey's brother, and his wife,
+Aunt Sarah, lived in the country at Meadow Brook Farm. They had a ten
+year old son, named Harry, and he and Bert were great chums whenever
+they were together.
+
+The Bobbsey twins often went to the country, and also to the seashore,
+where their Uncle William and Aunt Emily, as well as their cousin
+Dorothy, lived, at a place called Ocean Cliff.
+
+You may read of the fun the twins had at these places in the country
+and seashore books.
+
+Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie also had fun at school, and when they
+went to Snow Lodge they had what were, to them, a wonderful series of
+adventures, and solved a strange mystery.
+
+Their last trip had been on a houseboat. It was called the _Bluebird_,
+and they had voyaged down Lake Metoka to Lemby Creek, and through that
+to Lake Romano, where they had fine times. There was a mystery on the
+_Bluebird_, but Bert, and his cousin Harry, who was with him, found
+out what made the queer noises.
+
+Cousin Dorothy was also a guest on the houseboat trip, and she and
+Nan, who were about the same age, greatly enjoyed themselves. The
+Bobbseys, and their country and seashore cousins, had come back from
+the trip, Dorothy going to her home, and Harry to his, when there
+happened the little accident to Freddie and Dinah, which I have
+mentioned in the first chapter of this book.
+
+Now the house was quiet once again. Freddie had on a clean dry suit,
+Dinah had changed her damp apron for a fresh one, and Mr. Bobbsey was
+sipping his cup of iced tea, which was not spilled this time.
+
+"Now can you tell us what we are going to do the rest of this summer
+vacation?" asked Bert.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Bobbsey, "I can. Your Uncle William, as I started to
+tell you, before Freddie gave us that circus exhibition, has invited
+us up to Meadow Brook. And, as I have a little time I can spare from
+my business, I think I shall take you all down there. We can go to the
+country and have a fine time."
+
+"We had a good time on the houseboat," said Nan. "It was lovely
+there."
+
+"Indeed it was," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"And when we found the ghost!" exclaimed Bert.
+
+"Hush! You mustn't say ghost!" cautioned Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile.
+"It wasn't a ghost, you know."
+
+"Well, we thought it was--at first," laughed Bert. "Anyhow we'll have
+some fun at Meadow Brook."
+
+"I'm going to fly a kite!" declared Freddie.
+
+"All right, as long as you don't tie Snoop to the tail of it," said
+his father.
+
+"And I'm going to feed the chickens," exclaimed Flossie.
+
+"But you mustn't chase the rooster," cautioned her mother.
+
+"I won't," promised the little fat twin.
+
+"Now when are we going?" asked Nan.
+
+"What train do we take?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"I'll have to see to all that to-morrow," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We might
+as well go right off to the country, for it is not very pleasant
+staying in the hot city. We won't need to unpack much, for we'll stay
+here only this one night. To-morrow morning we shall start for Meadow
+Brook."
+
+"And are we going to take the _Bluebird_ along?" inquired Flossie.
+
+"No, the houseboat will stay at home this trip," her mother said.
+"There isn't enough water at Meadow Brook to sail the _Bluebird_."
+
+They talked over their new summer plans, and the children were
+delighted at the prospect of going to see their cousin, their uncle
+and their aunt.
+
+"Dinah is going, isn't she?" asked Nan.
+
+"Oh, yes, we couldn't get along without her," answered Mrs. Bobbsey
+with a smile.
+
+"And I'm going to take Snoop!" cried Freddie, hugging the big, black
+cat, which did not seem to mind being loved so hard.
+
+"Well if Snoop goes, then we ought to take Snap, the dog, too,"
+declared Bert. "Snap would be lonesome if he were left behind,
+wouldn't he?"
+
+"Oh, may we take them both, mamma?" begged Nan.
+
+"Well, I guess so," was the answer, as Mrs. Bobbsey looked at her
+husband.
+
+"That will be all right," he nodded. "The country is just the place
+for dogs and cats--it's better for them than houseboats."
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have!" sang Flossie. "What lovely times!"
+
+"And I'm going to take my fire engine, and squirt water in it from the
+brook," declared Freddie.
+
+"Well, be careful not to fall in," his father said. "And now I shall
+have to go back to the office again, to do a little work so as to get
+ready for going away again. So I'll leave my little fat fireman and
+fat fairy for a while," and he smiled at Freddie and Flossie, as he
+called them by their pet names.
+
+As the Bobbseys were to leave town soon, they did not unpack very much
+from the valises they had brought from the houseboat.
+
+This boat was tied up at a dock in the lumber yard, which was on the
+edge of the lake. The children spent the morning playing about in the
+yard, some of their friends, who had not gone away for the summer,
+coming to join in their games.
+
+After lunch Mr. Bobbsey came up to the house in an automobile,
+bringing his wife some things she had asked him to get from the store.
+
+"Oh, may I have a ride?" begged Freddie, when he saw his father in the
+machine, which Mr. Bobbsey and some of the other members of his lumber
+firm used when they were in a hurry.
+
+"Yes, jump in!" invited his father. "Want to come, Bert?" he asked of
+the older Bobbsey boy.
+
+"Yes, thank you," was the answer. "Where are you going?"
+
+"I have to go up the lake shore, to a place called Tenbly, to see
+another lumber dealer on some business," Mr. Bobbsey said. "Where are
+Nan and Flossie?" he asked his wife, who had come out on the porch
+just then. "I could take them along also. There is plenty of room."
+
+"Flossie and Nan have gone over to Mrs. Black's house," Mrs. Bobbsey
+said. "Run along without them. It's just as well. I'd rather they
+wouldn't be out in the hot sun, as we have to take a long train
+journey to-morrow."
+
+"All right," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, as he started off in the automobile
+with Freddie and Bert. "We'll soon be back."
+
+Neither Mr. Bobbsey nor the boys knew what was to happen on that ride,
+nor how it was to affect them afterward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE RUNAWAY BOY
+
+
+It was a pleasant trip for Freddie and Bert to ride with their father
+in the automobile along the shady shores of the lake. The little twin,
+and the bigger one, sat back on the cushions, now and then bouncing up
+and down as the machine went over a rough place in the road.
+
+Freddie, being lighter than Bert, bounced up and down oftener, but
+then he was so fat, almost "like a lump of butter," as his mother used
+to say, that he did not much mind it.
+
+"I wish we could take this machine to Meadow Brook Farm with us," said
+Bert, as they neared the lumber yard of Mr. Mason, with whom Mr.
+Bobbsey had business that day.
+
+"We can ride in one of Uncle Daniel's carriages," said Freddie. "Or
+maybe I can ride horse-back. That would be fun!" he cried, his bright
+eyes sparkling.
+
+"It's fun--if you don't fall off," Bert said.
+
+As the automobile passed around a curve in the road, where the lake
+could be seen stretching out its sparkling waters in the bright sun,
+Bert suddenly uttered a cry, and pointed ahead.
+
+"Look!" he exclaimed. "There are two little girls drifting out in that
+boat, and they don't seem to know how to row to shore."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey steered the machine down to the edge of the lake, over the
+grass at one side of the road. As he did so he and the two boys heard
+voices faintly calling:
+
+"Help!! Help! Oh, somebody please come and get us!"
+
+"I'll get them--I can row, and there's another boat on shore," said
+Bert, pointing to a craft drawn up on the sand.
+
+"I guess I'd better go out--you stay with Freddie," directed the
+lumber merchant, as he brought the automobile to a stop, and jumped
+out.
+
+"I'm coming!" he called to the two little girls in the drifting boat.
+"Don't be afraid, and sit still! Don't stand up!"
+
+He needed to caution them thus, for one of the girls, seeing that help
+was on the way, grew so excited that she stood up, and this is always
+dangerous to do in a rowboat on the water. Rowboats tip over very
+easily, and sometimes even good swimmers may be caught under them.
+
+"I wish I could help get them," sighed fat Freddie, as he saw his
+father run down to the shore of the lake, and shove the other boat
+into the water.
+
+"It's best to let papa do it," said Bert, though he himself would have
+liked to have gone to the rescue.
+
+"They'll mind papa, and sit down and keep still, but they wouldn't
+mind us," went on Bert, explaining matters to his little brother.
+
+"That's right," agreed Freddie. "Girls are awful 'fraid in a boat,
+anyhow. I'm not afraid."
+
+"Well, not all girls are afraid, either," said Bert with a smile. "Nan
+isn't afraid."
+
+"Of course not--she's our sister, and so is Flossie!" exclaimed
+Freddie, as if that made a difference!
+
+Mr. Bobbsey was now rowing out to the two small girls in the drifting
+boat. They did not seem to have any oars, and Bert and Freddie heard
+their father call to them again to sit down, so they would not tip
+over.
+
+Then the lumber man reached the drifting craft, and carefully fastened
+it by a rope to the boat he was in.
+
+"Now sit quietly and I'll pull you to shore," he said to the girls.
+"You must not come out in a boat all alone. Where is your home?"
+
+"Up there," replied the older girl, pointing to a house back of the
+lake shore road. "We didn't mean to come out," she went on. "We just
+sat in the boat when it was tied fast to the dock, but the knot must
+have come loose, and we drifted out. We're ever so much obliged to you
+for coming out to us."
+
+"Well, don't get in boats again, unless some older person is with
+you," cautioned Mr. Bobbsey. By this time he had towed the boat, with
+the girls in it, to shore. As he did so a woman came running from the
+house, calling out:
+
+"Oh, what has happened? Oh, are they drowned?"
+
+"Nothing at all has happened," said Mr. Bobbsey, quietly. "Your children
+just drifted out, and I went and got them."
+
+"Oh, and I've told them never, never to get into a boat!" cried the
+mother. "Girls, girls! What am I going to do to you?" she went on.
+"You might have fallen overboard."
+
+"Yes, that is true, they might have," said Mr. Bobbsey. "But I think
+this will be a lesson to them, and no harm has come to them this time.
+But it is best for children to keep out of boats."
+
+"Indeed it is," agreed the lady. "Oh, I can't thank you enough, sir!"
+she said to Mr. Bobbsey. "I have told Sallie and Jane never to go out
+on the lake unless Frank is with them, but he isn't here now."
+
+"Is Frank their brother?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Not exactly a brother. My husband is his guardian," the lady went on.
+"I am Mrs. Mason."
+
+"Oh, I am glad to know you," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I am on my way to your
+husband's office now, to see him on business. I am glad I could do you
+a favor."
+
+"Indeed it is more than a favor," said Mrs. Mason. "I cannot thank you
+enough. When Frank was home I did not worry so much about the girls,
+as he looked after them. But my husband thinks he is now old enough to
+help in the lumber yard, and so he keeps him down at the office. You
+are going down there, you say?"
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Bobbsey. "I am going along the river road."
+
+"I can show you a shorter route," said Mrs. Mason, who now had tight
+hold of her daughters' hands, as though she feared they would run down
+to the boats again. "My husband has cut a new road through the
+orchard, down to his office," she went on. "You can come that way in
+your machine, and save nearly a mile."
+
+"I shall be glad to do that," Mr. Bobbsey answered, "as I haven't very
+much time today. We are getting ready to go away."
+
+Mrs. Mason showed Mr. Bobbsey where he could cross the main road, and
+take a short cut through an old orchard, to reach the lumber office,
+and soon, after waving good-bye to the frightened little girls, Mr.
+Bobbsey, Bert and Freddie were again on their way.
+
+"Is--is the lake very deep where those girls were?" Freddie wanted to
+know.
+
+"It doesn't make much difference whether it is deep or not," said Mr.
+Bobbsey, "they would probably have been drowned if they had fallen
+overboard. You must always be careful about boats," he cautioned the
+little fellow.
+
+"I will," Freddie promised.
+
+"That must be the lumber yard!" exclaimed Bert a little later, when
+they turned from the new orchard road into another highway.
+
+"Yes, that is it," Mr. Bobbsey agreed. "I never came this way before.
+It is a good road to know when you are in a hurry."
+
+Mr. Mason's lumber yard, like that of Mr. Bobbsey, was partly on the
+edge of the lake, so the logs, boards and planks could be easily
+loaded and unloaded from boats. Part of the yard was on the other side
+of the road, back from the lake, and it was on this side that the
+office was built.
+
+As Mr. Bobbsey and his two boys rode up in the automobile, they saw
+out in front of the office a strange and not very pleasant sight. A
+man stood there, roughly shaking a boy about Bert's age. The boy
+seemed to be crying, and trying to get away, but the man held him
+tightly by one arm, and shook him again and again.
+
+"I don't like that," said Mr. Bobbsey in a low voice, as he stopped
+the automobile.
+
+"What makes him do it?" asked Freddie. "Is the boy bad?"
+
+"I'll teach you to make me lose money that way!" cried the man as he
+again roughly shook the boy. "You ought to have better sense than to
+be cheated that way! It wasn't your money that you lost, it was mine,
+and money isn't so easily made these days!"
+
+"But I couldn't help it!" the boy cried, trying to pull his arm away.
+He could not do this, for the man held it too tightly.
+
+"Yes, you could help it too, if you'd had your eyes open!" the man
+said in harsh tones. "I left you in charge of the office, and you
+ought to have been sharp enough not to be fooled and cheated. I--I
+don't know what to do to you!"
+
+Again he shook the boy.
+
+"Ouch! You hurt, Mr. Mason!" cried the lad.
+
+"Well, you deserve to be hurt, losing money that way," was the answer.
+"I--I've a good notion to--"
+
+But the sentence was not finished. Just then, by a sudden motion, the
+boy pulled away from the man who was shaking him, and ran down the
+road. For a moment it seemed as if the man would run after him, but he
+did not. The two stood looking at one another, while Mr. Bobbsey,
+having alighted from the automobile, walked up toward the lumber
+office.
+
+"You'd better come back here, Frank," called the man who had been
+shaking the boy. "You'd better come back."
+
+"I'll never come back!" was the answer. "I--I'm going to run away!
+I'll never live with you again! You treat me too mean! It wasn't my
+fault about that bad money! I couldn't help it. I'm going to run away,
+and I'm never coming back again. I can't stand it here!"
+
+Bursting into tears, the boy raced off down the road in a cloud of
+dust.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OFF FOR MEADOW BROOK
+
+
+Little Freddie, who sat beside his older brother, Bert, in Mr.
+Bobbsey's automobile, looked on with wonder in his childish eyes, as
+he saw the boy Mr. Mason had been shaking run down the road.
+
+"What's the matter with him, Bert?" Freddie asked. "Didn't he like to
+be shook?"
+
+"I should say _not_!" exclaimed Bert "And I wouldn't myself. I don't
+think that man did right to shake him so."
+
+"It was too bad," added Freddie. "Say, Bert," he went on eagerly,
+"maybe we could catch up to him in the automobile, and we could take
+him to Meadow Brook with us. Nobody would shake him there."
+
+"No, I guess they wouldn't," said Bert: slowly, thinking how kind his
+uncle and aunt were.
+
+"Then let's go after him!" begged Freddie.
+
+"No, we couldn't do that, Freddie," Bert said with a smile at his
+little brother. "The boy maybe wouldn't want to come with us, and
+besides, papa wouldn't let me run the auto, though I know which
+handles to turn, for I've watched him," Bert went on, with a firm
+belief that he could run the big car almost as well as could Mr.
+Bobbsey.
+
+"Well, when papa comes back I'm going to ask him to go after that boy
+and bring him with us," declared Freddie. "I don't like to see boys
+shook."
+
+"I don't, either," murmured Bert.
+
+By this time Mr. Bobbsey had come up to where Mr. Mason was standing.
+
+"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Bobbsey," spoke the other lumber man. "I
+didn't expect to see you for some days."
+
+"I did come a little ahead of time," went on the twins' father. "But I
+am going to take my family off to the country, so I thought I would
+come and see you, and finish up our business before going away."
+
+"I'm always glad to talk business," Mr. Mason said, "but I thought
+your folks were out somewhere on a houseboat."
+
+"We were, and just came back to-day. But the summer isn't over, and
+we're going to my brother's place, at Meadow Brook Farm. But you seem
+to be having some trouble," he went on, nodding down the road in the
+direction the sobbing boy had run. "Of course it isn't any affair of
+mine, but--"
+
+"Yes, trouble! Lots of it!" interrupted Mr. Mason bitterly. "I have
+had a lot of trouble with that boy."
+
+"That's too bad," spoke Mr. Bobbsey. "He seems a bright sort of chap.
+He isn't your son, is he?"
+
+"No, I'm his guardian. He's my ward. His father was a friend of mine
+in business, and when he died he asked me to look after the boy. His
+name is Frank Kennedy."
+
+"Oh, yes, I heard about him," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Heard about him! I guess you didn't hear any good then!" exclaimed
+the other lumber man, rather crossly. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, we came past your house a little while ago," said Mr. Bobbsey,
+"and your wife mentioned a Frank Kennedy who used to take your two
+daughters out rowing. If he had been there to-day the girls probably
+wouldn't have gone out alone, and drifted away."
+
+"Drifted away! What do you mean?" cried Mr. Mason. "Has anything
+happened?"
+
+"It's all right, my papa went out in a boat and got 'em!" cried
+Freddie in his shrill, childish voice, for he heard what his father
+and Mr. Mason were saying.
+
+"I--I don't understand," said the other lumber dealer, seriously. "Was
+there an accident?"
+
+"Oh, it wasn't anything," Mr. Bobbsey said. "When I went past your
+house, near the river, I saw the two girls adrift in a boat, not far
+from shore. They had floated out while playing. I went after them and
+your wife, before she showed me this short cut to your place, spoke
+about an adopted boy, Frank Kennedy, who used to play with the
+children."
+
+"Oh, I'm much obliged to you," said Mr. Mason, after a pause. "Yes,
+Frank did look after the girls some. That was he who just ran down the
+road. But he did better at home than he's doing in my office.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, wondering why it was that Mr.
+Mason had so severely shaken the boy who had run away.
+
+"Well, I mean that Frank just lost twenty dollars for me," proceeded
+the lumber man.
+
+"Twenty dollars! How was that?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"I left him in charge of my office, while I was out on some other
+business," went on the lumber dealer, "and a strange man came in and
+bought two dollars worth of expensive boards. Frank gave them to him,
+and the man took them away with him, as they were not very large, or
+heavy to carry."
+
+"Two dollars--I thought you said twenty!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"So I did. Wait until I tell you all. As I said, Frank sold this
+strange man two dollars worth of boards. The man gave Frank a twenty
+dollar bill, and Frank gave him back eighteen dollars in change."
+
+"Well, wasn't that right?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile. "Two
+dollars from twenty leave eighteen--or it used to when I went to
+school."
+
+"That part is all right," Mr. Mason said, bitterly, "but the fact is
+that the twenty dollar bill Frank took from the strange man is no
+good. It is bad money, and no one but a child would take it. It's a
+bill that was gotten out by the Confederate states during the Civil
+War, and of course their money isn't any better than waste-paper now.
+I don't see how Frank was fooled that way. I wouldn't have been if I
+had been in the office."
+
+"Perhaps the boy never saw a Confederate bill before," suggested Mr.
+Bobbsey.
+
+"No matter, he should have known that it wasn't good United States'
+money!" declared Mr. Mason. "By his carelessness to-day he lost me
+twenty dollars; the eighteen dollars in my good money that he gave the
+man in change, and the two dollars worth of boards. And all I have to
+show for it is that worthless piece of paper!" and Mr. Mason took from
+his pocket a crumpled bill.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey looked at it carefully.
+
+"Yes, that's one of the old Confederate States' bills all right," he
+said, "and it isn't worth anything, except as a curiosity."
+
+"It cost me twenty dollars, all right," said Mr. Mason, with a sour
+look on his face. "I can't see how Frank was so foolish as to be taken
+in by it."
+
+"Well, the poor boy knew no better, and probably he is sorry enough
+now," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"I guess he's sorry enough!" exclaimed Mr. Mason, bitterly. "I gave
+him a good shaking, as he is too big to whip. I shook him and scolded
+him."
+
+"Well, almost anyone, not very familiar with money, might have made
+that mistake," spoke Mr. Bobbsey. "This Confederate bill looks very
+much like some of ours, and a person in a hurry might have been fooled
+by it."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" broke in Mr. Mason. "There was no excuse for Frank
+being fooled as he was. I won't listen to any such talk! He lost me
+twenty dollars and he'll have to make it up to me, somehow."
+
+"But how can he, when he has run away?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, and he felt
+very sorry for Frank, who was not much older than Bert. Mr. Bobbsey
+knew how grieved he would be if something like that happened to his
+son.
+
+"Yes, he pretended to run away," said Mr. Mason, "but he'll soon run
+back again."
+
+"How do you know?" Mr. Bobbsey wanted to know. "Did he ever run away
+before?"
+
+"No, he never did," admitted Mr. Mason, "but he'll have to run back
+because he has nowhere to run to. He can't get anything to eat, he has
+no money, and he can't find a place to sleep. Of course he'll come
+back!
+
+"And when he does come back," Mr. Mason went on, "I'll make him work
+doubly hard to pay back that twenty dollars. I can't afford to lose
+that much money."
+
+"But it was an accident; a mistake that anyone might have made," said
+Mr. Bobbsey again.
+
+"Nonsense!" cried the other lumber man. "I'll make Frank Kennedy pay
+for his mistake!"
+
+"Perhaps the strange man did not mean to give him the Confederate
+bill," went on Bert's father. "Some persons carry those old Southern
+bills as souvenirs, or pocket-pieces, and this man might have paid his
+out by mistake. I know that once happened to me with a piece of money.
+He may come back and give you a good twenty dollar bill."
+
+"I am not so foolish as to hope anything like that will happen," said
+Mr. Mason. "No, I'm out twenty good hard-earned dollars. That's all
+there is to it. But I'll get it out of Frank Kennedy, somehow."
+
+"If he ever comes back," said Mr. Bobbsey, in a low voice.
+
+"Oh, he'll come back--never fear!" responded the other lumber dealer.
+Mr. Bobbsey gently shook his head. He was not so sure of that. Frank,
+as he ran down the road, crying, seemed to feel very badly indeed, and
+when he said he would never come back it sounded as though he meant
+it.
+
+"Poor little chap!" thought Mr. Bobbsey to himself. "I am very sorry
+for him. I wonder where he will sleep to-night?" And he could not help
+thinking how badly he would feel if he knew his own two dear boys had
+to be without a place to sleep, or somewhere to get a meal.
+
+Mr. Mason did not appear to worry about the plight of his ward, for
+whom he was guardian.
+
+The lumber dealers finished their business and Mr. Mason again thanked
+Mr. Bobbsey for what he had done for the two girls in the boat.
+
+"I guess I'd better keep Frank at the house after this," went on Mr.
+Mason. "He's safer there than at the office, and wouldn't lose me so
+much money. But I'll get it out of him, some way," and he thrust back
+into his pocket the bad twenty dollar bill.
+
+Bert had understood most of the talk between his father and Mr. Mason,
+but little Freddie did not know much of what went on except that Frank
+had run away.
+
+"I wouldn't run away from my home," he said. "I like it too much."
+
+"Yes, but you haven't anyone at your home to shake you as hard as that
+man did," said Bert. "I don't blame Frank for running away."
+
+"Poor boy!" sighed Mr. Bobbsey. "Life is a hard matter for a little
+chap with no real home."
+
+In the automobile the lumber man and his two boys went back to
+Lakeport, passing on their way the house where Mr. Mason lived. The
+two little girls waved their hands to Freddie and Bert as the boys
+rode past. But there was no sign of Frank Kennedy.
+
+The sadness of the scene the two Bobbsey boys had witnessed was soon
+forgotten in the joys of getting ready to go to Meadow Brook. They
+spent that night in their city house, unpacking only such few things
+as they needed. When morning came Flossie and Freddie were the first
+up.
+
+"We're going to the country!" sang Flossie, walking about in a long
+night-gown that trailed over the floor.
+
+"Going to Meadow Brook!" chanted Freddie. "Where's Snoop? I'm going to
+take him!"
+
+"And may we take Snap, too?" asked Bert, who had taught the former
+circus dog many new tricks.
+
+[Illustration: THE BOBBSEY HOUSE WAS SOON A VERY BUSY PLACE]
+
+"Yes, we'll take them both," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Now hurry, children
+dear. We are going to leave soon after breakfast, and it is a long
+ride in the train, you know."
+
+"Are we going to ride in the 'merry-go-round car'?" asked Flossie.
+
+"She means a parlor car, with chairs that swing around," said Nan,
+with a laugh.
+
+"Yes, we'll ride in a chair car," decided Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+The Bobbsey house was soon a very busy place. Valises that had been
+opened were packed again. Dinah got a quick breakfast. Mr. Bobbsey had
+much telephoning to do about business matters, and Mrs. Bobbsey--well,
+she had to do what all mothers do on such occasions--look after
+everything. Nan and Bert helped as much as they could.
+
+Flossie and Freddie tried to help, but you know how it is with little
+children. The two smaller twins were very anxious that Snoop, the
+black cat, be taken with them in his little traveling crate.
+
+"I'll get him and pack him up," said Freddie.
+
+"And I'll help," offered Flossie.
+
+Soon all was in readiness for the start to the depot where the
+Bobbseys would take the train for Meadow Brook. Just as the automobile
+came up to the door to take the family, there arose a cry from the
+direction of the side porch where Flossie and Freddie had gone with
+the cat-cage, in which to put Snoop.
+
+"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "I wonder what has happened now? I
+hope those twins are all right!"
+
+"I'll go see!" offered Nan, setting off on a run.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SNAP'S ESCAPE
+
+
+Nan found Flossie and Freddie, standing one on either side of the
+wooden crate in which Snoop made his journeys. The twins each had hold
+of the black cat, who did not seem to be enjoying life very much just
+then.
+
+"He goes in this way, I tell you!" shouted Freddie.
+
+"No, he goes in the other way!" cried Flossie, and then they both
+tried, at the same time, to thrust poor Snoop into his cage.
+
+The cat cried out, and scrambled to get away.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Nan. "What does all this mean, Flossie and
+Freddie? Don't you know the automobile is waiting to take us to the
+station?"
+
+"Well, I want to put Snoop in his cage!" insisted Freddie.
+
+"And so do I!" cried Flossie.
+
+"But she--she--Flossie wants to put him in, tail end first!" went on
+the excited little boy.
+
+"Course--'cause that's right!" went on the little girl. "Freddie says
+he ought to go in head first," she exclaimed, "and you know, Nan, if
+you stand Snoop on his head he'll get dizzy, like I did when I hung
+dingle-dangle by my legs from the swing."
+
+"And if he goes in tail first he'll get all tangled up!" retorted
+Freddie, who was almost crying now.
+
+"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Nan. "I guess I'll have to call papa or mamma,
+and they have enough to look after as it is, with the auto here, and
+almost train time. I never saw such children! What am I to do?"
+
+"Let me put Snoop in tail first!" cried Flossie.
+
+"No, he ought to go in his box head first!" declared her brother, and
+neither one of them would let go of the black cat. Snoop looked sadly
+at Nan, as though he wished she would rescue him, and put him in the
+traveling box either end first, if only he might be left in peace and
+quietness.
+
+"Oh, dear!" Nan exclaimed again. "I really don't know what to do! I
+guess we'll leave Snoop home altogether!"
+
+"Oh, no!" cried Flossie and Freddie.
+
+"Here! What's all the trouble?" asked Bert, running around to the side
+porch. "Hurry up! The auto is waiting."
+
+"It's these twins!" said Nan, hopelessly.
+
+"It's Flossie!" accused Freddie. "She wants Snoop to go in tail end
+first, and he'll get all tangled up, 'cause he's got an awful long
+tail."
+
+"And Freddie wants to put him in head first, and he'll get dizzy same
+as I did in the swing!" accused Flossie.
+
+"Here! I'll settle this!" cried Bert, like a manly little chap. "Give
+me that cat!"
+
+He took Snoop from Flossie and Freddie, who let go willingly enough.
+If Snoop could have talked he would have said, "Thank you, Bert!" I am
+sure he would have.
+
+"There, we'll put him in feet first," Bert went on, carefully lowering
+the black cat into the box that way. "A cat always likes to land feet
+first," he explained, "then he won't get tangled up in his tail, nor
+dizzy. Now, Flossie and Freddie, hustle around front and get into the
+auto. I'll bring Snoop" he continued, as he fastened down the lid of
+the traveling cage.
+
+"That's right! Feet first!" cried Freddie, a happy smile on his face.
+
+"Of course! Why didn't we think of putting Snoop in that way?" asked
+Flossie, as she put her chubby hand in her brother's and ran with him
+around to the front porch.
+
+"Oh, such children!" sighed Nan as she followed Bert, who carried
+Snoop in his cage. The black cat curled up and went to sleep. He was
+used to traveling this way.
+
+"My! What was the trouble?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. Nan and Bert
+explained, while Flossie and Freddie took their places in the gasoline
+machine.
+
+"Are you all ready?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "How about you, Dinah?" for
+the colored cook was being taken to the country to help look after the
+smaller twins.
+
+"Oh, indeedy I'se all right, Mrs. Bobbsey," was Dinah's answer. "Heah,
+Freddie, let ole Dinah carry dat cat-box," for Bert had given Snoop in
+his cage to the small twin boy.
+
+"No, I want to hold him," Freddie insisted, and he was allowed to have
+his way.
+
+Sam, Dinah's husband, was to stay home to look after the Bobbsey city
+house, and he waved a good-bye as the automobile started off.
+
+"Where's Snap?" asked Flossie, as they were rolling down the street.
+
+"He's coming," reported Nan, for the big dog was running alongside the
+car. There would have been room for him to ride in it, but he
+preferred racing along the street, and he would be at the depot
+waiting for the family when they arrived.
+
+"The train will be here in about five minutes," said Mr. Bobbsey,
+after they had reached the depot, and he had purchased the tickets.
+Then, while Flossie and Freddie took turns looking in at black Snoop
+through the slats of the box, Nan and Bert helped gather the valises
+into one pile. Mr. Bobbsey went to see about getting the trunks
+checked, and also about sending Snap in the baggage car, for the dog
+would have to ride that way to Meadow Brook.
+
+At last, with a toot of the whistle, and a ringing of the bell, the
+engine, drawing the train, puffed into the station.
+
+"All aboard!" called the conductor.
+
+Many persons were getting on, while others were getting off. Mr.
+Bobbsey gathered his little family down toward the parlor, or chair,
+car.
+
+"Heah you am, sah!" exclaimed the colored porter as he swung Flossie
+and Freddie up the steps, and helped Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah. Nan and
+Bert felt big enough not to need any help.
+
+"Hello! What's dish yeah?" cried the porter, as he picked up the box
+containing Snoop. "Am dish good to eat?" he asked, looking in at the
+black cat. "What am it?"
+
+"Oh, it's our Snoop!" cried Flossie. "Don't hurt him!"
+
+"'Deed an' I won't, little Missie!" laughed the colored porter. "I
+thought maybe it was a watermelon yo' all had in dat box."
+
+"All aboard!" called the conductor again, and then, with the Bobbseys
+safely in their chair car, the train puffed away again, going faster
+and faster.
+
+"The engine can hardly get its breath," remarked Freddie, as he
+listened to the puffing of the locomotive.
+
+"I guess it's going up hill," said Bert, with a laugh.
+
+The ride to Meadow Brook would take nearly all day, and Mrs. Bobbsey
+settled herself comfortably in the easy chair to look out of the
+window, after she had seen that Flossie and Freddie were all right.
+Nan and Bert looked after themselves, and Mr. Bobbsey, having seen
+that his family was comfortable, began to read his paper. Dinah took a
+chair in one corner where she could doze off. It always made her
+sleepy to ride in a train, she said.
+
+Nan and Bert looked out at the passing scenery, as did Flossie and
+Freddie, when they were not taking turns peeking in at Snoop. As for
+the black cat himself, he had curled up into a little round ball, and
+was fast asleep.
+
+
+He had become a traveler by this time, for once he had been to Cuba,
+when the circus lady took him, as I told you in one of the other
+books.
+
+"I wonder how Snap is getting along in the baggage car?" said Bert to
+Nan, after a bit. "I think I'll go in and see."
+
+"Oh, will papa let you?" inquired his sister.
+
+"I don't know. I'll ask him."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey was a little doubtful about letting Bert pass from one car
+to another when the train was moving.
+
+"But it's a vestibule train, papa," said the boy. "It's like one big
+car. I can't fall off."
+
+"Well, I don't know," said Mr. Bobbsey, slowly.
+
+"I'll take him up front, if he wants to see about the dog," said a
+brakeman who had heard Bert's talk.
+
+"Oh, thank you," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Be careful, Bert."
+
+But, as it turned out, there was no danger at all. As Bert had said,
+the cars were joined together with "vestibules," that made the train
+like one big railway coach. And as it was slowing up to stop at a
+station, when Bert went forward to the baggage car, he had no trouble
+at all in walking along with the brake-man.
+
+Bert found Snap very glad indeed to see him, and as the train was then
+at a standstill the boy took the chain off the dog's collar, and let
+him run about the car a little, for he had to be kept chained fast
+while the cars were in motion.
+
+"I guess you want to run about a bit, eh, Snap?" said Bert.
+
+"Bow wow!" barked the dog, and that was the best answer he could make.
+The man in the baggage car had seen to it that Snap had plenty of
+water to drink, for the day was very hot.
+
+"Better chain him up again, my boy," suggested the baggage man, after
+a bit. "We'll start pretty soon now."
+
+Bert led Snap over to the side of the car, where the collar-chain
+dangled, but, just then, Snap, looking out of the door of the baggage
+car, saw a strange dog on the depot platform. Whether Snap knew this
+dog, or thought he did, Bert could not tell.
+
+But, an instant later, with a bark, Snap pulled away from Bert's grasp
+on his collar, and leaped out of the open car door. At the same moment
+the train started off.
+
+"Snap! Snap!" cried Bert. "Come back here!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+AT MEADOW BROOK
+
+
+The train was not going very fast when Snap leaped from the baggage
+car, but, even if it had been moving at greater speed, it is not
+likely that Snap would have been hurt.
+
+As it was, when the dog leaped from the open door, he did a somersault
+in the air, for he had learned to do that while in the circus, when he
+jumped from a high place.
+
+"Snap! Snap!" called Bert again.
+
+But Snap landed lightly on his feet, and raced across the depot
+platform toward the dog he had seen.
+
+"Say, that's a fine dog of yours!" cried the baggage man admiringly to
+Bert. "He must be a trick one."
+
+"He is!" answered Bert. "But can I get him back again? Oh, I must get
+him!" and he looked about for some way to do this.
+
+"Don't jump out, whatever you do!" warned the brakeman who had brought
+Bert to the baggage car. The man stood in front of the open door, out
+of which trunks were taken. But Bert had no idea of doing what Snap
+had done. Besides, the train was moving quite rapidly now.
+
+"Oh, how can I get my dog back?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"You can telegraph back, from the next station we stop at, and have
+the agent there send him on, wherever you are going," explained the
+baggage man.
+
+"Oh, but we're going a long way," Bert said. "I'm afraid Snap would be
+lost, traveling alone. Oh, what will Nan say!"
+
+Nan was as fond of Snap as was Bert himself, though perhaps the
+smaller twins, Flossie and Freddie cared more for Snoop, the black
+cat. But of course they loved Snap very much.
+
+Poor Bert did not know what to do. Just then his father came running
+into the car.
+
+"Did Snap get away?" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Your mother saw a dog on the
+station platform that looked like him," went on the lumber man to
+Bert. "Is Snap--"
+
+"He's gone!" interrupted Bert. "He jumped out of the car just now,
+and--"
+
+"We must stop the train!" Mr. Bobbsey explained.
+
+"All right, I guess we can make up any time we lose," the brakeman
+said. He reached up and pulled the cord that ran overhead in the car.
+There was a hissing of air, the locomotive whistle blew sharply, and
+the train came slowly to a stop. The brakeman had pulled an air
+whistle in the engine cab, and the engineer, hearing it, and knowing
+the train ought to stop, had turned off the steam.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey then went to the door of the baggage car, and, leaning
+out, whistled in a way Snap well knew. He could see the dog, back on
+the depot platform, "wagging tails" with another dog.
+
+"Here, Snap! Snap!" called Mr. Bobbsey, as the train slowly came to a
+stop. "Here Snap!"
+
+Bert leaned out beside his father, and also whistled and called. Then
+Snap knew he had done wrong to jump out, and back he came, racing as
+hard as he could.
+
+"I'll open the end door of the car if you wish, so he can come up the
+steps," offered the brakeman.
+
+"You don't need to, thank you," replied Mr. Bobbsey. "I guess Snap can
+jump up here, though it is pretty high."
+
+By this time a number of persons from the train had either gotten out,
+or thrust their heads from the windows, to learn the reason for the
+sudden stop. But when they saw the dog they understood.
+
+"Up, Snap! Up!" called Mr. Bobbsey, as the children's pet came leaping
+along beside the track. Snap gave one look up at the high sill of the
+baggage car door, and then, with a loud bark, he gave a great leap and
+landed right beside Bert.
+
+"Say, that dog's a fine jumper!" cried several railroad men who had
+come up to see what the trouble was.
+
+"Yes, he is a pretty good dog, nearly always," Mr. Bobbsey said, "but
+he made trouble for us to-day. Now, Snap, you'll have to stay chained
+up the rest of the trip, until we get to Meadow Brook."
+
+Snap would not like that, Bert knew, but nothing else could be done.
+The train soon started off again, and when Bert and his father went
+back to the parlor car where the rest of the family were riding they
+told all that had happened.
+
+"Snoop is better than Snap," said Freddie as he listened to the story.
+
+"Yes, indeed," agreed his sister Flossie. "Snoop wouldn't jump out of
+a train and make a lot of trouble."
+
+"Well, he did run away, once," declared Nan, who did not like to hear
+Snap talked about.
+
+"Besides, Snoop is fast in a box, and he wouldn't get out if he wanted
+to," added Bert, with a laugh.
+
+So the children talked about their pets, now and then looking out of
+the windows at the scenery, while Dinah dozed off in her chair, and
+Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey spoke of different matters.
+
+Bert heard something of what his father and mother were saying, and
+once he heard mentioned the name of Frank Kennedy.
+
+"That's the boy who ran away from Mr. Mason, the lumber man," said
+Bert to himself. "I wonder what became of him, and if we'll ever see
+poor Frank again?"
+
+And he little thought how soon, and under what circumstances, he was
+to meet the unfortunate lad again.
+
+One of the porters, wearing a white cap, jacket and apron walked
+through the chair car about noon, calling out:
+
+"First call fo' dinner in de dinin' car! First call fo' dinner!"
+
+"Do they eat on trains?" asked Flossie.
+
+"Yes, and at cute little tables," said Nan.
+
+"Did we eat at them the last time we went to Meadow Brook?" Freddie
+wanted to know.
+
+"No, you were too little then," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and we brought our
+lunch with us. But this time we shall go to the diner."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Flossie.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey led the way for his family into the dining-coach. As Nan
+had said, there were cute little tables against the side of the car,
+and on each table was a little dish of ferns, and other green plants,
+making a pretty decoration.
+
+Dinah would not come. She said she would rather eat some chicken
+sandwiches she had in her bag, and Mr. Bobbsey let the dear old
+colored cook do as she pleased.
+
+The Bobbsey twins found it so strange to eat in a car, at a real
+table, while rushing along, that I think they did not eat as much as
+they would have done at home. But they enjoyed it just the same,
+though Freddie did splash some water from his finger bowl on the table
+cloth.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" he exclaimed when he saw what he had done. He looked
+anxiously at his mother.
+
+"Dat's all right, little man," said the colored waiter with a smile
+that showed all his white teeth. "Got t' put a clean cloth on anyhow,
+an' watah doesn't matter."
+
+Freddie felt better then.
+
+The afternoon passed slowly enough. Mr. Bobbsey and Bert went to the
+baggage car once more, to see about Snap, but they found he was all
+right, having made friends with one of the men who looked after the
+travelers' trunks.
+
+Nan read a story book which her mother bought from the train boy, and
+Flossie and Freddie did what Dinah was doing--took a little nap.
+
+The train was due to arrive at Meadow Brook about five o'clock, and
+Mr. Bobbsey's brother, Uncle Daniel, was to meet the family at the
+station.
+
+"Ours is the next stop," said the twins' papa, after a while. "Get
+your things together now."
+
+"Oh, I had a fine sleep!" cried Freddie, stretching his chubby little
+arms.
+
+"So did I," added Flossie. "I wonder if Snoop slept any?"
+
+"I guess that's all he has been doing since we started," Mrs. Bobbsey
+answered. "He's all curled up into a black ball."
+
+Flossie and Freddie looked at their pet, and Snoop stretched, and
+opened his mouth very wide, sticking out his red tongue.
+
+"My! What a lot of teeth Snoop has!" cried Flossie.
+
+"Did we bring his tooth brush?" asked Freddie.
+
+"Cats don't have tooth brushes!" said Flossie.
+
+"Their tongue is their tooth brush," explained Mrs. Bobbsey. "Did you
+ever feel how rough a cat's tongue is?"
+
+"I never did!" said Flossie. "I'm going to feel now," and she knelt
+down on the carpeted floor of the car, and tried to get Snoop to put
+his red tongue out between the bars of the box.
+
+"Oh, we haven't time for that now," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Get ready to
+leave the train, Flossie."
+
+Bundles and valises were gotten together, and, a little later, with a
+screeching of the brakes on the wheels, the train pulled slowly into
+the Meadow Brook station.
+
+"I see Uncle Daniel!" cried Nan, looking from a window.
+
+"Yes, and there's Harry!" cried Bert, as he spied his country cousin.
+"Oh, how glad I am!"
+
+"Well, well! How are you all!" laughed Uncle Daniel as he hugged and
+kissed the two sets of twins. "My, but I'm glad to see you all!" he
+cried. "Welcome to Meadow Brook!"
+
+"And we're glad to be here!" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "How is Aunt Sarah?"
+
+"Just as fine as can be!" said her husband. "Now I have the same big
+wagon I had when you were here before. There's room for everybody in
+it, and all your baggage, too. Where's Dinah? You didn't leave her
+home, I hope!"
+
+"No, indeedy! I'se heah!" exclaimed the fat, colored cook, who was
+carrying many bundles.
+
+"Oh, we must get Snap out of the baggage car, before the train carries
+him away," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he hurried to do that, while his
+brother, Uncle Daniel, helped the boys and girls and Mrs. Bobbsey into
+the big wagon from the Bobbsey farm. The wagon had seats running along
+the side and was very comfortable to ride in.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey soon came back with Snap, who was bouncing about, barking
+and wagging his tail, so glad was he to be among his friends again.
+
+"Well, are you all ready to start?" asked Uncle Daniel, as I shall call
+him, to distinguish him from Mr. Bobbsey, who was the farmer's brother.
+
+"All ready, I think," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. And off they started for
+Meadow Brook farm, the horses prancing through the village streets.
+
+"We'll have a lot of fun," said Harry to Bert, the two boys sitting
+next each other. "Maybe not as much fun as we had on your houseboat,
+Bert, but some, anyhow."
+
+"I'm sure we shall," Bert said. "I like a farm just as much as I do a
+houseboat," he added politely.
+
+"Have you got any little calves, Uncle Daniel?" asked Freddie.
+
+"Yes," answered the farmer.
+
+"And are there any little lambs?" Flossie wanted to know.
+
+"Yes, but there's an old ram, too, and you want to look out that he
+doesn't chase you, and knock you down," Mr. Bobbsey's brother went on.
+
+"Oh, is the ram dangerous?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, quickly.
+
+"Oh, no!" her brother-in-law informed her. "His horns are so curved
+that he can't use the sharp points, but he just does love to come up
+behind and butt you down. He did it to me the other day. But I keep
+the ram in a pasture by himself."
+
+The wagon rolled along the shady road, under the green trees, which
+made a grateful shade, for it was hot even though it was late in the
+afternoon.
+
+"Oh, there is Tom Mason!" cried Bert, as he saw a country boy he had
+met when on a visit to Meadow Brook some time before. He waved his
+hand to Tom who was in his front yard, his house not being far from
+Mr. Bobbsey's.
+
+"And there's Mabel Herold!" added Nan, as she saw a country girl she
+knew. "My, how she has grown!" Nan went on. "She didn't use to be up
+to my shoulder, and now she is taller than I am."
+
+"Oh, the country is a great place for growing," Uncle Daniel said,
+with a chuckle.
+
+"Mabel and Tom have been counting on your coming," said Harry. "I told
+them we expected you. We'll have some fine times together!"
+
+"I'm sure of it," agreed Bert.
+
+"Here we are!" called Uncle Daniel a little later, as the horses
+turned up a driveway in front of the Bobbsey country home. Lines of
+boxwood hedge grew along the graveled drive, and back of this hedge
+were beds of beautiful flowers, the perfume of which could be smelled
+this warm, August day.
+
+"Oh, how lovely it is here," sighed Nan, turning around from having
+waved a welcome to Mabel Herold.
+
+"Yes, I always like to come to Meadow Brook," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Whoa!" called Uncle Daniel.
+
+The door of the house opened, and in it stood Aunt Sarah, and behind
+her Martha, the smiling servant.
+
+"Oh, how glad I am to see you!" cried Aunt Sarah, as the children
+piled down from the wagon to hug and kiss her. "Now get your things
+off, and we'll have supper," she went on.
+
+"I'm hungry!" announced Freddie.
+
+"So am I!" added Flossie. "There was so much to look at in that eating
+car, I didn't eat half enough.
+
+"Well, we have plenty here, my dear," said her aunt.
+
+"We must let Snoop out. I guess he's hungry, too," said Freddie, who
+never forgot the black cat. Snap, the dog, had raced along beside the
+wagon, and was now cooling his thirst at the spring near the side
+door.
+
+The Bobbsey visitors were out on the shady porch, having laid aside
+their traveling wraps, and Uncle Daniel was coming down from the barn,
+having put away the horses, when a man rushed up the gravel drive,
+crying:
+
+"Oh, Mr. Bobbsey! Mr. Bobbsey! He's out! He's loose!"
+
+"Who's out? Who's loose?" the twins' uncle wanted to know.
+
+"That old big ram! He's loose, and he's coming this way!" was the
+answer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE PICNIC
+
+
+The man who had brought the news about the runaway ram, stood on the
+gravel drive near the porch, breathing hard, for he had run very fast
+to give the warning. He caught his breath, and then said again:
+
+"The old ram is loose! He butted down the fence and got out. He's
+headed this way. What'll we do?"
+
+"Children! Into the house with you--quick!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "Let me hide! Let me hide!"
+
+"Pooh! I'm not afraid of a ram!" declared Freddie. "If I had my fire
+engine unpacked, I'd squirt water on him!"
+
+"Better not try that, little fat fireman," said his father with a
+laugh. "Into the house with you, son. Your mother will look after
+you."
+
+Nan had already started from the porch, leading Flossie, who kept
+looking back over her shoulder. From behind the hedge came a cry that
+sounded like:
+
+"Baa! Baa! Baa!"
+
+"There he comes!" exclaimed Nan. "Come on in, Bert and Harry," she
+begged the two boy cousins, who were peering eagerly down the road.
+
+"I'm going to watch 'em catch him," said Bert.
+
+"Better not let him see you," advised Harry, the country cousin. "That
+old ram is a hard hitter."
+
+"Is there really any danger?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of his farmer-brother.
+
+"Well, the old ram is pretty rough, I must say," answered Uncle
+Daniel, "and most of the men on the farm are afraid of him."
+
+"He's coming right this way, I tell you!" exclaimed the hired man who
+had brought the news.
+
+"Why should he head this way?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Come along and I'll tell you," his brother promised. "You children
+had better go into the house," he advised. "Yes, you too, Bert and
+Harry," he went on, as he saw his own son and Bert following him and
+Mr. Bobbsey. "No telling what notions old Upsetter will take."
+
+"Is his name Upsetter?" asked Bert.
+
+"It is," replied his uncle. "I call him that because he upsets so many
+things. He used to be a pet when he was little," he continued, "and
+that's what makes him come to the house now, whenever he gets loose.
+My wife got in the habit of feeding him salt, which all sheep like
+very much. I guess he must remember that. But Aunt Sarah wouldn't dare
+salt him now. Go back into the house, boys, and we men folks will look
+after the ram."
+
+The sounds were nearer now:
+
+"Baa! Baa! Baa!"
+
+"Oh, he's coming!" cried Flossie, who stood with her nose pressed flat
+against a window near the porch.
+
+"Had we better go in?" asked Bert of Harry.
+
+"We really had," answered his cousin.
+
+Uncle Daniel, Mr. Bobbsey and the hired man found some heavy sticks
+with which to scare the ram if he came too close. The big sheep was
+not yet in sight, though he could be heard bleating.
+
+"Up this way," directed Uncle Daniel. "We can head him off and drive
+him into the barnyard, perhaps. Then I can shut him up until I have
+the fence mended that he knocked down."
+
+"Why not get some salt for him?" suggested Mr. Bobbsey. "If he gets
+some to eat it may make him gentle, and then you could slip a rope
+around him and tie him up."
+
+"That's a good idea!" cried the farmer. "Sam, please go to the house
+and get some salt," he directed.
+
+Before the hired man returned, the ram had run into the driveway
+leading to the barn. Just as Uncle Daniel had said, the ram was headed
+for the house, which he must have remembered as a pleasant place ever
+since the days when he was a baby lamb. But now the ram was big and
+strong, and not very good-natured.
+
+He stood for a moment, looking at Uncle Daniel, Mr. Bobbsey and the
+hired man. Then, pawing the ground with his fore feet, and lowering
+and shaking his head with its big horns, the ram started forward
+again.
+
+"Oh, he's going to butt papa!" cried Flossie, who could see, from the
+window, what was going on.
+
+"Papa will get out of the way, dear," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Don't
+worry."
+
+On came the ram, and then Uncle Daniel, taking the salt from the hired
+man, scattered some of it on the ground in front of the big sheep.
+
+"That will stop him, I think," said the farmer. And indeed it did.
+Sheep, and all cattle, are very fond of licking up salt from the
+ground, and they will go a long way to find it. It keeps cattle
+healthy. The old ram, as soon as he smelled the salt, began licking it
+up with his tongue.
+
+He paid no more attention to the men standing in front of him, though
+if the salt had not been there he probably would have run at them, and
+knocked them down with his big curved horns.
+
+"Now's our chance!" whispered Mr. Bobbsey, as if the ram could
+understand what was said. "Get a rope and we can tie him up."
+
+"I'll get one," offered the hired man, and when he came back with the
+clothes line Uncle Daniel made a loop in one end, such as the cowboys
+on the Western plains make when they lasso cattle.
+
+And while the ram was busy licking up the salt, Uncle Daniel tossed
+the noose of the rope around the sheep's head, and, in another second,
+he and Mr. Bobbsey pulled it tight.
+
+"Oh, they've caught him! They've caught him!" cried Nan, who stood
+near Flossie at the window.
+
+"Come on out and look at him!" said Bert.
+
+"No, no!" objected his mother, as the two boy cousins started from the
+room.
+
+"Oh, I guess there's no danger now, if they have a rope on him," said
+Aunt Sarah.
+
+"I'll go 'long with you," offered Freddie, "and I'd squirt water on
+that ram from my fire engine--if I had it unpacked."
+
+"You stay right here with me," advised his mother, putting her arms
+around him.
+
+Bert and Harry went out to look at the captured ram. The animal was
+not ugly now. Perhaps the salt made him good-natured. And he was soon
+led away, and tied up in a stable until his pasture fence could be
+mended.
+
+"My! What a lot of excitement!" exclaimed Nan, when it was all over.
+"Nothing like this happened when we were on the houseboat."
+
+"You forget the make-believe ghost," said Harry, with a laugh, for he
+had helped solve that mystery.
+
+"Oh, that's so," agreed Nan. "That was exciting for a while."
+
+The Bobbsey twins, as well as their father and mother, to say nothing
+of Dinah, were so tired from their long railroad journey that they
+went to bed early that night. The sun was shining brightly when they
+awakened next morning. Harry and Bert slept in the same room, and when
+the country boy arose from bed he went to the window to look out.
+
+"Oh, dear! The sun's shining!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"Maybe," admitted Harry. "But if it had been raining we might have
+gone fishing. As it is, I shall have to work."
+
+"What doing?" Bert wanted to know.
+
+"Help pick apples in the orchard. We are shipping them away this year,
+and they have to be picked, and packed in barrels."
+
+"I'll help you," offered Bert, and, after breakfast, the two boys went
+out to the big orchard, where Uncle Daniel and some of his men already
+were busy.
+
+The apples were picked by men standing on long ladders that reached up
+into the trees. Each filled a canvas bag with apples. These bags hung
+around their necks, and when one was full, the man came down the
+ladder with it. This was so the apples would not be bruised, for a
+bruised apple rots very quickly, and even one rotten apple in a barrel
+full, will soon make many bad ones.
+
+"Can we pick apples on a ladder?" asked Bert.
+
+"No, that's a little too dangerous for small boys," said Uncle Daniel.
+"But you and Harry may pick those you can reach from the ground. Some
+of the tree limbs are very low, and you won't have any trouble. Take
+some of the bags to put the apples in. Don't bruise them."
+
+Harry and Bert were soon busy, picking off as many apples as they
+could reach. When their bags were filled, they emptied them carefully
+in a wooden bin, and from that bin Uncle Daniel sorted the apples into
+barrels, which were "headed up" ready to be taken to the city.
+
+Nan had gone over to the home of Mabel Herold, the country girl, and
+Flossie and Freddie found many things to amuse them about the farm.
+Later on they came out to the orchard, and picked up apples from the
+ground.
+
+"I'll help fill Bert's bag, and you can help Harry," said Freddie to
+Flossie.
+
+"No, little fat fireman," said Harry, using the pet name his uncle
+called Freddie. "The apples on the ground are called 'windfalls.' The
+wind blows them down, and they get crushed and bruised by falling on
+the hard dirt, or stones. It would not do to put them in with the good
+hand-picked apples."
+
+"But what do you do with all those on the ground?" asked Bert, for
+there were a great many of them.
+
+"Send them to the cider-mill, or feed them to the pigs," said Harry.
+"The grunters and squeakers don't mind bruised apples."
+
+The children spent nearly all day in the shady orchard, until Uncle
+Daniel said Bert and Harry had done enough work for the time.
+
+"Then let's get our poles and go fishing," suggested Harry.
+
+They did go, but got no bites. Harry said that morning was the best
+time to fish.
+
+When Flossie and Freddie became tired of picking apples up from the
+ground, they found an old swing, and took turns in this, having lots
+of fun.
+
+Snoop and Snap enjoyed their life in the country. Snoop did not go far
+from the house. There was another cat there, and the two soon became
+great friends. Snap also found other dogs with whom he could romp and
+play in the long meadow grass.
+
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah spent many hours talking over matters of
+interest to them, while Dinah, and Martha, who was Aunt Sarah's cook,
+spent most of their time in the kitchen, making good things to eat.
+
+"'Cause dem chilluns suttinly does eat a turrible lot!" exclaimed
+Dinah, as she finished making several pies.
+
+Picking the apples kept Uncle Daniel and his men busy for a number of
+days. Harry had to help, for everyone on a farm has to work, and Bert
+always lent his cousin a hand. But there were times when they were
+allowed a play-spell. Sometimes Tom Mason, another country boy, would
+come over, and, when the work was done, the three boys would go off to
+have good times together.
+
+One or two days it rained, and then nothing could be done out of doors
+in the way of farm work. During one of the rainy days Bert and Harry
+went fishing.
+
+"We'll be sure to get plenty of bites to-day," Harry said, as they
+started off with their poles and lines, well protected from the
+weather by rubber boots and coats.
+
+"I hope we catch a lot of fish," said Bert.
+
+But they caught only two little sun-fish, which Harry threw back into
+the creek, as they were too small to keep.
+
+"I guess we'll have to wait for a sunny day," sighed Harry, as they
+started home. "I thought rain was good fishing-weather, but it doesn't
+seem to be."
+
+"Never mind, we had a good time, anyhow." Bert answered.
+
+When the two boys reached the farmhouse, they found Flossie, Freddie,
+Nan and Mabel Herold sitting in the dining-room, all talking at once,
+it seemed.
+
+"And we'll take five baskets of lunch," Freddie was saying, "and my
+fire engine is unpacked now, so I can take that with us, and I'll
+squirt water on snakes and--and other things."
+
+"Oh, snakes!" cried Mabel. "I hope we don't see any of the horrid
+things!"
+
+"I'm not afraid!" boasted Freddie.
+
+"Maybe there won't be any," suggested Nan.
+
+"Well, I'm going to take my doll, anyhow," said Flossie.
+
+"What's this all about?" asked Bert. "Are you going somewhere?"
+
+"Picnic!" exclaimed Flossie. "We're going to have a picnic!"
+
+"I'm going!" added Freddie, as though he was afraid of being left.
+
+"We all are," added Nan.
+
+"First I heard about it," Harry said, with a laugh.
+
+"We planned it while you and Bert were off fishing," spoke his mother.
+"The children are going to take their lunch to the woods in a day or
+two, as soon as the weather clears."
+
+A few days later the sun came out from behind the clouds, the rain
+ceased falling and with joyous shouts and laughter the Bobbsey twins,
+cousin Harry, and some country boys and girls, who had been invited,
+went off on a woodland picnic.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LOST IN THE HAY
+
+
+"Oh, isn't it just lovely in the woods," sighed Nan, as she sat down
+on a green mossy seat beneath a great oak tree. "I could live here
+forever!"
+
+"So could I!" exclaimed Mabel Herold. "There is no place so lovely as
+the woods."
+
+"You--you wouldn't stay here all night, would you?" asked Freddie, as
+he set down the basket of sandwiches he had been carrying, and looked
+at a dark hole under some bushes.
+
+"I wouldn't mind," sighed Nan again. "It is so lovely here."
+
+"I used to think I liked the seashore best," said Mabel, "but now I
+think the country is prettiest."
+
+"Well, I'm not going to stay here all night," decided Freddie. "There
+--there's bugs--and--and--things!"
+
+"I thought you weren't afraid of them," spoke Nan with a smile.
+
+"I--I meant in daytime--I'm not afraid then," declared Freddie. "But
+at night, why--why, I'd rather be home in bed."
+
+"And I guess we all would," exclaimed Nan, hugging the little fat
+fellow.
+
+"Oh, there goes a rabbit!" cried Bert to Harry. "Let's see if we can
+catch him!"
+
+"Come on!" agreed the country boy.
+
+"I'm with you!" shouted Tom Mason.
+
+"Oh, will they hurt the little bunny?" asked Flossie, with quivering
+lips, for she dearly loved all animals.
+
+"I guess there isn't much danger of them catching the rabbit," said
+Mr. Bobbsey, sitting down beside his wife in a shady green spot. "A
+bunny can hop very fast."
+
+And so it proved. The three boys raced about through the woods until
+they were quite tired, and very much heated up. But the rabbit got
+safely away.
+
+"Ah, well, we didn't want him anyhow," said Harry, fanning himself
+with his cap, after the chase.
+
+"No," agreed Bert, "we just wanted to see if we could get him."
+
+"My! It's warm!" exclaimed Tom, looking at the basket in which the
+lemonade was packed in bottles. "I'm very thirsty," he said.
+
+"You must not drink when you are too warm," advised Mr. Bobbsey. "Wait
+until you cool off a bit. If you take cold water, or icy lemonade,
+into your stomach after you are all heated up from running, you may be
+made ill. Rest a while before you drink, is good advice."
+
+So the boys waited, and a little later they were allowed to have some
+of the cool lemonade.
+
+"Are we going to eat our lunch here?" asked Freddie.
+
+"No, a little farther on in the woods," said his Aunt Sarah.
+
+So they walked on, under the shady trees, with the green carpet of
+moss under foot, until they came to a little glade, where the trees
+grew in a circle about a grassy space.
+
+"It--it's just like a circus ring!" exclaimed Freddie. "Oh, couldn't
+we have a circus, or a show, while we're here at the farm?" he asked.
+
+"We'll see," half-promised his mother.
+
+The table-cloth was spread out on the green grass, and the wooden
+plates set on it. Then the lunch baskets were opened and the good
+things passed around. There were sandwiches of several kinds, and cake
+and cookies, as well as more lemonade.
+
+"Isn't it nice to eat this way?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "When we have
+finished, there are no dishes to wash; just the wooden plates to throw
+away."
+
+"Yes'm," declared Dinah, with a chuckle. "I spects dish yeah would be
+a good way to do back home--but it would be kinder cold, eatin' out in
+de woods in de winter time."
+
+"I wouldn't want to live here in winter," said Freddie. "There isn't
+any place to hang up your stocking Christmas, and no chimney for Santa
+Claus to come down!" he added.
+
+"And that would never do!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey. "But we will enjoy
+these woods all we can."
+
+When the woodland picnic lunch was finished, the party sat about on
+the grass, in the shade of the trees, and Mr. Bobbsey told stories to
+the two small children. Flossie and Freddie enjoyed this very much.
+
+Nan and Mabel went for a little walk in the woods, and Bert and Harry
+said they were going to try for some fish, as they had brought hooks
+and lines along, and could cut poles in the woods. This time they had
+very good luck.
+
+"I have one!" suddenly called Harry, pulling up his line. There was a
+flash, as of silver, in the air, and he hauled a fish up from the
+water, landing it flapping on the grass behind him.
+
+"Oh, what a big one!" cried Bert, running over to look. "I wish I
+could get one now."
+
+"Maybe you will," said Harry, trying to catch the flopping creature.
+"Put on some fresh bait." But Harry caught another fish before Bert
+had even a good bite.
+
+By this time Mr. Bobbsey had finished his story, and Flossie had taken
+out her doll to pretend to get it to sleep. Freddie wandered over to
+where Bert and Harry were fishing.
+
+"Oh, I have one! I have one!" Bert suddenly shouted, and he, too,
+landed a good-sized fish. It was taken off the hook, and strung on a
+willow twig, and then, fastened so it could not swim away, it was put
+back into the water to keep fresh until it was time to go home.
+
+Freddie was very much interested in the captive fish. He went down to
+the edge of the creek to watch them as they tried to swim away. But
+they could not, for the willow twigs held them.
+
+Suddenly one of the fish gave a big jump in the shallow pool, where
+Bert had put them.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Freddie, springing back. Then his foot slipped on a
+wet, mossy stone, and the next moment the little fellow fell down into
+the water.
+
+"Bert!! Harry! Come and get me! I'm in!" he cried.
+
+Bert and Harry dropped their poles and came up on the run, but there
+was no danger, for the water was only a few inches deep, near shore,
+and Freddie was already on his feet when they reached him.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" sobbed the little fellow. "I--I'm all wet."
+
+"Never mind, you have your old clothes on," said his brother. "And
+I'll tell mother it was an accident."
+
+It was a warm summer day and a little wetting would not harm Freddie.
+He was taken back to a sunny place by Bert, and told to sit in the
+warm spot until he had dried out. Then the two larger boys went back
+to fish, but Freddie's accident must have scared all the fish away,
+for Bert and Harry caught no more.
+
+"My, but you are a sight, Freddie!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, when she
+saw the wet and muddy little twin. "But I suppose you could not help
+it."
+
+"No, mamma," he answered. "The fish made me fall in."
+
+It was almost time for the picnic party to start back home now. Dinah
+was packing up the knives, forks, and glasses, and throwing away the
+wooden plates.
+
+As she knelt over to fold up the table-cloth, she felt something touch
+her back, and the next moment something cold and wet touched her
+cheek.
+
+"Go 'long wif yo' now, Bert!" she exclaimed, not turning around.
+"Don't yo' put any ob dem wet slimy fish on me. Don't you do it!"
+
+Then something almost pushed Dinah over, and again she felt the wet
+object on the back of her neck.
+
+"Stop it! Stop it!" cried the colored cook. "Don't yo' put any toad
+down mah back, Bert!"
+
+"I'm not doing anything," Bert answered, and at the sound of his voice
+Dinah looked up and saw him some distance off. At the same time,
+though, Bert and Harry burst into a laugh.
+
+"Oh, look what Dinah thought was me!" cried Bert.
+
+Dinah turned around, just as a loud "Moo!" sounded in her ear, making
+her jump.
+
+"Good land ob massy!" she cried. "It's a cow!"
+
+And, surely enough, so it was. The cow had wandered out of the woods,
+and, coming up behind Dinah, had licked her neck with a big red
+tongue. Perhaps the cow thought Dinah was a lump of black salt!
+
+"Go 'way! Go 'long outer heah! Leef me be!" screamed Dinah, and
+catching up a handful of wooden plates she threw them at the cow. They
+rattled on the animal's horns, and then, with another "Moo!" the
+creature turned and crashed back through the bushes.
+
+"And Dinah thought that was I, tickling her with a fish tail," said
+Bert, laughing.
+
+"Dat's what I did, honey!" the colored cook said, with a laugh. "I
+s'pected yo' was up to some ob yo' all tricks!"
+
+They all laughed at this, and amid much fun and jollity the picnic
+things were packed up and the homeward walk begun.
+
+"Oh, we have had _such_ a good time!" sighed Nan. "I am sorry it is
+over."
+
+"Oh, we'll have more good times," said Bert, as he and Harry walked
+along with the fish they had caught. Their chum, Tom Mason, had two
+smaller ones.
+
+There were days of work and play on the farm, and Harry had his share
+of tasks to perform. Bert helped him all he could. One day, when the
+boys and girls had counted on going out rowing on a little lake not
+far from Meadow Brook, it rained. When they arose in the morning,
+ready for their fun, the big drops were splashing down.
+
+"Oh, we can't go!" sighed Freddie. "I don't like rain!"
+
+"I thought all firemen liked water," his father said, with a laugh.
+
+"This is too much water!" went on the little chap. "We can't have any
+fun."
+
+"Oh, yes, we can," said Harry. "We can go out in the barn and play in
+the hay. The big barn is full of new hay now, and we can slide down
+the mow and play hide and go seek in it."
+
+"That will be great!" exclaimed Bert. "Come on."
+
+Snap, the dog, must have thought he was also invited, for he ran out
+barking, with the children. Umbrellas kept the rain off them until
+they reached the barn, and then began a good time.
+
+They went to the top of the big pile of fragrant hay in the mow, and
+slid down it to the barn floor, where a carpet of more hay made a soft
+place on which to fall. Snap slid with the rest, barking and wagging
+his tail every minute.
+
+"Now let's play hide and go seek!" suggested Harry after a bit. "I'll
+'blind' and when I say 'ready or not, I'm coming,' I'm going to start
+to find you."
+
+The game began. Harry closed his eyes, so he would not see where the
+others hid, and Nan, Bert and the rest of them picked out spots in the
+hay, and about the barn where they thought Harry could not see them.
+But Harry knew the old barn well, and he easily found Bert. Then he
+spied Nan and Flossie, hiding together. A little later he discovered
+where Tom Mason and Mabel Herold were.
+
+"Now I've only to find Freddie," said the country cousin. But Freddie
+was not so easy to find. Harry looked all over but could not locate
+him.
+
+"There are so many holes in the barn," the country boy said, "and
+Freddie is so small, that I guess I'd better give him up. I'll let him
+come in free. Givey-up! Givey-up!" he called. "Come on in free,
+Freddie."
+
+But Freddie did not answer. They all kept quiet, but all they could
+hear was the patter of rain drops on the barn roof.
+
+"Freddie! Freddie! Freddie! Where are you?" cried Nan.
+
+"Come on in free!" added Harry.
+
+"Come on, little fat fireman," went on Bert. "Harry won't tag you, and
+you can hide again."
+
+But Freddie's childish voice did not reply. The boys and girls looked
+anxiously at one another.
+
+"Where's Freddie?" asked Flossie, and her lips began to tremble as
+they did just before she started to cry.
+
+"Oh, we'll find him," said Bert, easily.
+
+"Yes, he's probably hiding so far off he can't hear us," went on
+Harry.
+
+"Maybe he's lost under the hay," suggested Tom. "I read of a boy
+getting caught under a pile of hay once, and they didn't get him out
+for a long time."
+
+"Oh, Freddie's lost! Freddie's lost!" cried Flossie, bursting into
+tears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FIVE-PIN SHOW.
+
+
+"Hush, Flossie, don't cry, dear!" begged Nan, putting her arms around
+her little sister.
+
+"But--but I--I can't help it," stammered Flossie. "Freddie's losted!"
+
+"We'll find him!" said Bert. "He's somewhere inside the barn, that is
+sure. He'd never go out in all this rain," for the big drops were now
+coming down thick and fast.
+
+"Freddie isn't afraid of water--he's a fireman--papa's little fat
+fireman, and I'm papa's little fat fairy, and Freddie's losted--and--
+and--oh, dear!" sobbed Flossie, as she thought of her missing brother.
+
+"Come on, let's start in all together and find him," suggested Harry.
+"He must be hid somewhere around here."
+
+"Away down under the hay," suggested Tom Mason.
+
+"Hush! Don't say that," spoke Bert in a low tone. "You'll scare the
+girls!"
+
+"Maybe we'd better go tell papa and mamma," said Nan.
+
+"Let's try by ourselves, first," suggested her brother. "We'll find
+Freddie, never fear."
+
+The children began a search of the barn, now almost filled with sweet-
+smelling hay. Up and down in the mow they looked to find where Freddie
+might have hidden himself away. They called and shouted to him, but no
+answer came.
+
+"I don't see why he doesn't reply to us," said Nan to Bert. "He
+wouldn't keep quiet when we've told him he could come in free. Freddie
+is too fond of playing hide and go seek to stay away, unless he had
+to. I am afraid something has happened to him, Bert."
+
+"What could happen to him?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, I don't know, but--" and Nan hesitated and looked worried.
+
+Where could Freddie have hidden himself away in the hay, and stranger,
+still, why did he not answer the many calls made for him? For the
+children kept shouting as they searched.
+
+Bert had made up his mind, after looking about for some time, that
+perhaps, after all, he had better go into the house and tell his
+father what had happened. Just then Tom Mason slid down from a high
+part of the haymow to a little hollowed-out place. As he landed, a
+crackling sound was heard, and then Tom cried:
+
+"Oh, my! Now I have done it! Oh, dear! What a mess! Oh! Oh!"
+
+"Have you found him? Is Freddie there?" asked Flossie from where she
+stood in the middle of the barn floor.
+
+"No, but I slid right into a hen's nest, and I've broken all the
+eggs!" cried Tom. "Oh, me! Oh, my!"
+
+He managed to get to his feet, and there he stood, his hands held out
+in front of him, for they were dripping with the whites and yolks of
+the broken eggs. Tom's clothes were pretty well splashed up.
+
+"What a sight I am!" he murmured. "And I've broken all the eggs!"
+
+"Never mind! You couldn't help it," said Harry kindly. "The old hen
+oughtn't to have laid her eggs in here, and they wouldn't have been
+smashed. Hens like to steal away, and lay their eggs in hay."
+
+"Oh, but you do look _so_ funny!" cried Nan, then she laughed in spite
+of her worry about lost Freddie.
+
+"He--he looks like a cake before it's baked!" giggled Mabel.
+
+They all laughed heartily at Tom's sorry plight.
+
+"Please lend me a handkerchief, somebody," he begged. "I can't reach
+in my pocket to get mine, and there's some egg running in my eye."
+
+"I'll wipe it for you," offered Bert, laughing so heartily that he
+could hardly stand up.
+
+"Hark! What's that?" suddenly asked Nan.
+
+They all stopped laughing at once. From somewhere down in the hay,
+near the smashed nest of eggs, came a voice, asking:
+
+"What's the matter? Isn't anybody going to find me?"
+
+"It's Freddie!" cried Nan.
+
+"Freddie!" shouted Bert. "Where are you?"
+
+"Oh, Freddie is found! Freddie isn't lost any more!" exclaimed
+Flossie, jumping up and down in delight.
+
+And then, from a little nest in the hay, crawled Freddie himself,
+rubbing his eyes, and pulling wisps from his tousled hair.
+
+"Have you been there all the while?" asked Harry.
+
+"I--I guess so," answered Freddie, as if he hardly knew himself.
+
+"Well, then, why didn't you answer us?" asked Nan. "We were so
+frightened about you, Freddie. Why didn't you answer when we called?"
+
+"I--I guess I was asleep," he said. "I didn't hear you until you all
+began to laugh. Then I woke up."
+
+And that was what had happened. Freddie had found a good hiding place
+in a hole in the hay, and, while waiting for Harry to come and look
+for him, the little chap had dozed off, it was so warm and cozy in his
+hay-nest. And he had slept all through the search made for him, not
+hearing the calls. But when Tom rolled into the hen's nest, and the
+others laughed so heartily at him, that awakened the sleeping "little
+fat fireman."
+
+"My! But you gave us a fright!" said Nan. "But it's all right now,
+dear," and she helped Freddie pull the hay out of his hair.
+
+"I guess we've had enough of this game," suggested Harry. "Let's do
+something else."
+
+"I'm hungry," announced Freddie. "Can't we play an eating game?"
+
+"I think so," said Bert. "Dinah and Martha were starting to bake
+cookies before we came out to the barn, and they ought to be done now.
+Let's go in."
+
+Into the house, through the rain, tramped the children, and soon,
+eating cookies, they were telling about Freddie going to sleep in the
+hay, and Tom trying to make an omelet of himself in the hen's nest.
+
+"Well, this certainly was a nice day, even if it did rain," said Nan,
+as they were ready to go to bed that night. "I wonder what we can do
+to-morrow?"
+
+"I know," answered Bert. "Harry and I have a fine plan."
+
+"Oh, tell me what it is," begged his sister.
+
+"It's a secret," he laughed as he went upstairs.
+
+After breakfast next morning Nan, who did not get up very early,
+looked for Harry and her brother.
+
+"Where are the boys?" she asked her mother.
+
+"Out in the barn," was the answer. "They took some big sheets of paper
+with them."
+
+"They must be going to make kites," Nan said.
+
+But when she saw what Bert and Harry were doing, she knew it was not a
+kite game they were planning. For in letters, made with a black stick
+on the sheets of paper, Nan read the words:
+
+     FIVE-PIN SHOW
+  COME ONE   COME ALL
+
+"Oh, what is it?" she cried. "Please tell me, Bert!"
+
+"We're going to have a show," said Harry, "and we're going to charge
+five pins to come in."
+
+"Oh, may I be in it?" asked Nan. "I'll do anything you want me to.
+Mayn't I be in it?"
+
+"Shall we let her?" asked Bert of his country cousin.
+
+"Sure," said Harry kindly. "We boys won't be enough. We'll have to
+have the girls."
+
+"Where's it going to be?" asked Nan.
+
+"Here in the barn," her brother said. "We're going to make a cage for
+Snap--he's going to be the lion."
+
+"Can Snoop be one of the animals, too?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes, Snoop will be the black tiger," decided Harry. "I only hope he
+keeps awake, and growls now and then. That will make it seem real."
+
+"Snoop sometimes growls when he gets a piece of meat," suggested Nan.
+
+"Then we'll give him meat in the show," decided Bert.
+
+He and Harry finished making the show bills, and then began to get
+ready for the performance. With some old sheets they made a curtain
+across one corner of the barn, in front of the haymow. Nan helped with
+this, as she could use a needle, thread and thimble better than could
+the boys.
+
+Then Tom Mason, Mabel Herold and some other of the country boys and
+girls came over, and they were allowed to be in the show. Bert was to
+be a clown, and he put on an old suit, turned inside out, and whitened
+his face with starch, which he begged from Martha.
+
+Harry was to be the wild animal trainer, and show off the black tiger,
+which was Snoop, and the fierce lion in a cage, which lion was only
+Snap, the dog.
+
+The show was not to take place until the next day, as Bert said the
+performers needed time for practice. But some of the "show bills" were
+fastened up about the village streets, and many boys and girls said
+they would come if they could get the five pins.
+
+Finally all was ready for the little play. Flossie was made door-
+keeper and took up the admission pins. Freddie wanted to be a fireman
+in the show, so they let him do this. His mother made a little red
+coat for him, and he had his toy fire engine that pumped real water.
+
+"But you mustn't squirt it on anyone in the audience," cautioned Bert.
+
+"No, I'll just squirt it on the wild animals if they get bad," said
+the little fellow.
+
+Nan was to be a bare-back rider, and Harry had made her a wooden steed
+from a saw-horse, with rope for reins. Nan perched herself up on the
+saw-horse, and pretended she was galloping about the ring.
+
+A number of boys and girls came to the show, each one bringing the
+five pins, so that Flossie had many of them to stick on the cushion
+which was her cash-box.
+
+Bert was very funny as a clown, and he turned somersaults in the hay.
+Once he landed on a hard place on the barn floor, and cried:
+
+"Ouch!"
+
+Everyone laughed at that, and they laughed harder when Bert made a
+funny face as he rubbed his sore elbow.
+
+Harry exhibited Snoop and Snap as the wild animals, but Snoop rather
+spoiled the performance by not growling as a black tiger should.
+
+"This tiger used to be very wild, ladies and gentlemen," said Harry,
+"and no keeper dared go in the cage with him. But he is a good tiger
+now, and loves his keeper," and Harry put his hand in, and stroked
+Snoop, who purred happily.
+
+"Oh, I think this is a lovely show!" exclaimed Nellie Johnson. "I'm
+coming every day."
+
+A little later, near the box which had been made into a cage for
+Snoop, there came a loud noise. Snoop meowed very hard, and hissed as
+he used to do when he saw a strange dog. At the same time something
+went:
+
+"Gobble-obblcobble!" Then came a great crash, more cries from Snoop
+and out into the middle of the barn floor dashed the black cat with a
+big, long-legged, feathered creature clinging to poor Snoop's tail.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "The wild animals are loose!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A SHAM BATTLE
+
+
+For a few moments there was wild confusion in that part of the barn
+where the "show" was going on. Nan gave one look at the strange
+mixture of the howling Snoop and the gobbling bird in the centre of
+the floor, and then, catching Flossie up in her arms, Nan made a
+spring for the haymow.
+
+"Wait! Wait!" cried Flossie. "I'm losing all the pins! I've dropped
+the pin cushion!"
+
+That was her cash-box--the pins she had taken in as admission to the
+little play.
+
+"We can't stop for it now!" cried Nan. "We must get out of the way."
+
+"The cat has a fit!" cried Tom Mason.
+
+"Oh, poor Snoop!" wailed Flossie.
+
+"Grab him, somebody!" shouted Harry.
+
+"No, let Snoop alone!" advised Bert. "He might bite, if you touched
+him now, though he wouldn't mean to."
+
+"But what is it? What gave him the fit?" asked Mabel Herold.
+
+"Our old turkey gobbler," answered Harry. "The gobbler has caught
+Snoop by the tail. It's enough to give any cat a fit."
+
+"I should say so!" cried Bert. "Look out! They're coming over this
+way! Look out!"
+
+The children scrambled to one side, for Snoop and the big turkey
+gobbler were sliding, rolling and tumbling over the barn floor toward
+the board seats where the show audience, but a little while before,
+were enjoying the performance.
+
+The girls had followed Nan and Flossie up to a low part of the haymow,
+and were out of the way. But the boys wanted to be nearer where they
+could see what was going on.
+
+The noise and the excitement had roused Snap, the dog, who had curled
+up in his cage and was sleeping, after having been exhibited as a
+raging and roaring lion, and now Snap was barking and growling, trying
+to understand what was going on. Perhaps he wanted to join in the fun,
+for it was fun for the turkey gobbler, if it was not for poor Snoop.
+
+"Look out the way! Clear the track! Toot! Toot!" came a sudden cry and
+little Freddie came running toward the gobbler and cat, dragging after
+him his much-prized toy fire engine.
+
+"Get back out of the way, Freddie!" ordered Bert. "Snoop may scratch
+or bite you, or the gobbler may pick you. Get out of the way!"
+
+"I'm a fireman!" cried the fat little fellow. "Firemans never get out
+of the way! Toot! Toot! Clear the track! Chuu! Chuu! Chuu!" and he
+puffed out his cheeks, making a noise like an engine.
+
+"You must come here!" insisted Bert, making a spring toward his little
+brother.
+
+"I can't come back! Firemans never come back!" half screamed Freddie.
+"I'm going to squirt water on the bad gobble-obble bird that's biting
+my Snoop!"
+
+And then, before anyone could stop him, Freddie unreeled the little
+rubber hose of his fire engine, and pointed the nozzle at the
+struggling gobbler and cat in the middle of the barn floor.
+
+I have told you, I think, that Freddie's engine held real water, and,
+by winding up a spring a little pump could be started, squirting a
+stream of water for some distance.
+
+"Whoop! Here comes the water!" cried Freddie, as he started the pump
+working.
+
+Then a stream shot out, right toward the cat and turkey. It was the
+best plan that could have been tried for separating them.
+
+With a howl and a yowl Snoop pulled his claws loose from where they
+were tangled up in the turkey's feathers. With a final gobble, the
+turkey let go of Snoop's tail. The water spurted out in a spraying
+stream, Freddie's engine being a strong one, for a toy.
+
+"That's the way I do it!" cried Freddie, just like Mr. Punch. "That's
+the way I do it! Look, I made them stop!"
+
+"Why--why, I believe you did!" exclaimed Bert, with a laugh.
+
+The gobbler ran out through the open barn door, his feathers wet and
+bedraggled. He must have thought he had been caught in a rainstorm.
+And poor Snoop was glad enough to crawl away in a dark corner, to lick
+himself dry with his red tongue.
+
+"Poor Snoop!" said Freddie, as he stopped his engine from pumping any
+more water. "I'm sorry I got you wet, Snoop, but I couldn't help it. I
+only meant to sprinkle the gobbler."
+
+He patted Snoop, who began purring.
+
+"Well, I guess that ends the show," said Bert, who looked funnier than
+ever now, as a clown, for the white on his face was streaked in many
+ways with the water, some of which had sprayed on him.
+
+"Yes, the performance is over," announced Harry.
+
+"Oh, but it was lovely!" said Nan, as she slid down the hay with
+Flossie. "I don't see how you boys ever got it up."
+
+"Oh, we're smart boys!" laughed Harry.
+
+"But I lost all the pins!" wailed Flossie. "Nan wouldn't let me stop
+to pick them up!"
+
+"I should say not! With that queer wild animal bursting in on us!"
+exclaimed Mabel. "Oh, but I was so frightened!"
+
+"Pooh! I wasn't!" boasted Freddie. "I knew my fire engine would scare
+them."
+
+"Well, it did all right," announced Bert "I guess we'd better let Snap
+out now," he said, for the dog was barking loudly, and trying to break
+out of the packing box of which his cage was made.
+
+Snoop's cage was broken, where the black cat had forced his way out.
+
+"His tail must have been hanging down through the bars," explained
+Bert, "and the gobbler came along and nipped it. That made Snoop mad,
+and he got out and clawed the turkey."
+
+"I guess that was it," agreed Harry. "Well, we had fun anyhow, if
+Snoop and the turkey did have a hard time."
+
+Snoop was soon dry again, and not much the worse for what had happened
+to him. The gobbler, except for the loss of a few feathers, was not
+hurt. But after that the turkey and cat kept well out of each other's
+way.
+
+Everyone voted the show a great success, and the children planned to
+have another one before they left Meadow Brook farm. But the Bobbsey
+twins did not know all that was in store for them before they went
+back to the city.
+
+One day, when they were all seated at dinner in the pleasant Bobbsey
+farmhouse, Uncle Daniel paused, with a piece of pie half raised on his
+fork, and said:
+
+"Hark!"
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Aunt Sarah. "Did you think you heard the
+old ram coming again?"
+
+"No, but it sounded like thunder," replied her husband, "and if it's
+going to rain I must hurry, and get those tomatoes picked."
+
+"I heard something, too," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"So did I," spoke up Freddie. "Maybe it's the old black bull down in
+the pasture."
+
+"No. There it goes again!" said Uncle Daniel. "It must be thunder!"
+
+There sounded a dull distant booming noise, that was repeated several
+times.
+
+Uncle Daniel got up hastily from the table and went to the door.
+
+"Not a cloud in the sky," he remarked, "and yet that noise is growing
+louder."
+
+It was, indeed, as they all could hear.
+
+"It's guns, that's what it is," declared Bert "It sounds like Fourth
+of July."
+
+"That's what it does," agreed his cousin Harry. "It's back of those
+hills. I'm going to see what it is."
+
+"So am I!" cried Bert. The boys had finished their dinners, and now
+started off on a run in the direction of the booming sounds.
+
+"Come along," said Uncle Daniel to Mr. Bobbsey. "We may as well go
+also."
+
+"I want to come!" cried Freddie.
+
+"Not now," said his mother. "Wait until papa comes back."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey, with his brother and the two boys, soon reached the top
+of the hill. All the while the sound like thunder was growing louder.
+Then puffs of smoke could be seen rising in the air.
+
+"What can it be?" asked Bert.
+
+"I can't imagine," answered Harry.
+
+They saw, in another minute, what it was.
+
+Down in a valley below them was a crowd of soldiers, with cannon and
+guns, firing at one another. The soldiers were divided into two
+parties. First one party would run forward, and then the other, both
+sides firing as fast as they could.
+
+"It's a war!" cried Bert. "It's a battle!"
+
+"It's only a sham battle!" said Mr. Bobbsey. "No one is being hurt,
+for they are using blank cartridges. It must be that the soldiers are
+practicing so as to know how to fight if a real war comes. It is only
+a sham battle."
+
+The cannons roared, the rifles rattled and flashes of fire and puffs
+of smoke were on all sides.
+
+"Oh, look at the horses--the cavalry!" cried Harry, as a company of
+men, mounted on horses, galloped toward some of the soldiers, who
+turned their rifles on them.
+
+Then one man, on a big black horse, left the main body and came
+straight on toward Mr. Bobbsey, Uncle Daniel, and the two boys.
+
+"We'd better look out!" cried Bert "Maybe he wants to capture us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+MOVING PICTURES
+
+
+The man on the black horse continued to ride toward the two boys,
+Uncle Daniel and Mr. Bobbsey. Behind him more men on horses rushed
+forward, but they were going toward some soldiers on foot, who were
+firing their rifles at the "cavalry," as Harry called them, that being
+the name for horse-soldiers.
+
+"Oh, look, some of the men are falling off their horses!" cried Bert
+
+"Maybe they are hurt," Harry said.
+
+"No, I guess it's only making believe, if this is a sham battle," went
+on Bert.
+
+By this time the man on the black horse was near Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"You had better stand farther back, if you don't mind," he said.
+
+"Why, are we in danger here?" asked Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Well, not exactly danger, for we are using only blank cartridges. But
+you are too near the camera. You'll have your pictures taken if you
+don't look out," and he smiled, while his horse pawed the ground,
+making the soldier's sword rattle against his spurs.
+
+"Camera!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey. "Is someone taking pictures of this
+sham battle?"
+
+"Yes, we are taking moving pictures," replied the soldier. "The man
+with the camera is right over there," and he pointed to a little hill,
+on top of which stood a man with what looked like a little box on
+three legs. The man was turning a crank.
+
+"Moving pictures!" repeated Uncle Daniel, looking in the direction
+indicated.
+
+"That's what this sham battle is for," went on the soldier who sat
+astride the black horse. "We are pretending to have a hard battle, to
+make an exciting picture. Soon the camera will be pointed over this
+way, and as it wouldn't look well to have you gentlemen and boys in
+the picture, I'll be obliged to you if you'll move back a little."
+
+"Of course we will," agreed Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Especially as it looks as though the soldiers were coming our way."
+
+"Yes, part of the sham battle will soon take place here," the
+cavalryman went on.
+
+"Come on back, boys!" cried Uncle Daniel, "We can watch just as well
+behind those trees, and we won't be in the way, and have our pictures
+taken without knowing it"
+
+"Yes, and we won't be in any danger of having some of the paper
+wadding from a blank cartridge blown into our eyes," added Mr.
+Bobbsey.
+
+"Say, this is great!" cried Harry. "I'm glad we came."
+
+"So am I," said Bert
+
+The boys looked on eagerly while the battle kept up. They saw the
+soldiers charge back and forth. The cannon shot out puffs of white
+smoke, but no cannon balls, of course, for no one wanted to be hurt.
+Back and forth rushed the soldiers on horses, and others on foot,
+firing with their rifles.
+
+Of course they were not real soldiers, but were dressed in soldiers'
+uniforms to make the picture seem real. I suppose you have often seen
+in moving picture theatres pictures of a battle.
+
+It was well that Mr. Bobbsey and the others had gotten out of the way,
+for shortly afterward the men rushed right across the spot where Bert
+and Harry had been standing.
+
+"If we were there, then we'd have been walked on," said Bert.
+
+"Yes, and we'd have had our pictures taken, too," said Harry, pointing
+to the man with the camera who had taken a new position.
+
+"I wouldn't mind that, would you?" asked Bert.
+
+"No, I don't know as I would," replied the country cousin. "It would
+be fun to see yourself in moving pictures, I think. Oh, look! That
+horse went down, and the soldier shot right over his head."
+
+A horse had stumbled and fallen, bringing down the rider with him. But
+whether this was an accident, or whether it was done on purpose, to
+make the moving picture look more natural, the boys could not tell.
+
+The firing was now louder than ever. A number of cannon were being
+used, horses drawing them up with loud rumblings, while the men
+wheeled the guns into place, loaded and fired them.
+
+On all sides men were falling down, pretending to be shot, for those
+who took the moving pictures wanted them to seem as nearly like real
+war as possible.
+
+"Oh, here they are!" suddenly exclaimed a voice back of Mr. Bobbsey
+and the others.
+
+Turning, Bert saw his mother, with Aunt Sarah, Flossie, Freddie and
+Nan. They had come up the hill to look down into the valley and see
+what all the excitement was about.
+
+"Yes, here we are!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Isn't this great? It's a sham
+battle."
+
+"What for?" asked his wife, and she had to speak loudly to be heard
+above the rattle and bang of the guns.
+
+"For moving pictures," answered Mr. Bobbsey, pointing to the men with
+the cameras, for now three or four of them were at work, taking views
+of the "fight" from different places.
+
+"Mercy! What a racket!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Oh, I don't like it!" cried Flossie, covering her ears with her
+chubby hands. "Take me away, mamma; I'm afraid of the guns!"
+
+"Pooh! There's nothing to be scared of!" exclaimed Freddie. "I'm going
+to be a soldier when I grow up, and shoot a gun."
+
+"You can't play with me if you do," declared Flossie, when the bang of
+the cannon stopped for a moment, leaving the air quiet.
+
+"I don't want to play with girls--I'm going to be a fighting soldier!"
+declared Freddie. "Hi! Hark to the guns! Boom! Boom!" and he jumped up
+and down as the cannon thundered again.
+
+"Oh, I don't like it! I want to go home and play with my doll!" half-
+sobbed Flossie. "I don't like fighting."
+
+"And I don't, either," said Nan, though she was not afraid. It was the
+noise for which she did not care.
+
+"Hi! That was a fine one!" cried Freddie, as one of the largest cannon
+fired a blank shot at a group of horse soldiers.
+
+"Please take me home!" sobbed Flossie, and there were tears in her
+blue eyes now.
+
+"Yes, we'll go home," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"You can play you are a nurse, Flossie, and take care of your doll.
+We'll leave the battle to the boys and men."
+
+"I can stay, can't I?" asked Freddie, who was delighted at the lively
+scene down below, and he jumped about in delight as cannon after
+cannon went off.
+
+"Yes, you may stay," said his father.
+
+"We'll look after him," he added to his wife.
+
+Freddie crowded up to where Bert and Harry were eagerly watching the
+sham battle, and stood between his brother and cousin.
+
+"Boom! Boom!" he cried. "I like this!"
+
+But little Flossie covered her ears with her hands and went on down
+the hill, toward the farmhouse, with her mother and aunt. Nan went
+with them also, as she said the firing made her head ache.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE BOBBSEYS ACT
+
+
+"Well, I guess the battle is over now," said Bert, after a while. The
+cannon had stopped firing, and the "soldiers" no longer "shot" at each
+other with their rifles.
+
+"See, the men on horses have captured the other men," spoke Harry. And
+he pointed to where the cavalry had surrounded a number of the foot
+soldiers, or infantry, as they are called, and were driving them over
+the fields toward some log cabins.
+
+"They must have built those log houses on purposes for the moving
+picture play," said Uncle Daniel. "For they weren't here the other
+day, when I was over in this valley."
+
+"Very likely they did," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "It takes a great deal of
+work to make a moving picture play now-a-days, and often a company
+will build a whole house, only to set fire to it, or tear it down to
+make a good picture."
+
+"If they set a house on fire," broke in Freddie, "I could put it out
+with my fire engine, and I'd be in the movies then."
+
+"Oh, you and your fire engine!" laughed Bert, ruffling up his little
+brother's hair. "You think you can do anything with it."
+
+"Well, I stopped the turkey gobbler from eating up Snoop," Freddie
+cried. "Didn't I?"
+
+"So you did!" exclaimed Harry. "You and your fire engine are all
+right, Freddie."
+
+The soldiers who had fallen off their horses, or who had toppled over
+in the grass, to pretend that they were shot in battle, now got up--
+"coming to life," Bert called it.
+
+The battle scene was over, but the men were not yet done using the
+cameras, for they took them farther down the valley toward the log
+cabins. The soldiers were now grouped around these buildings, and Bert
+and Harry could see several ladies, in brightly colored dresses,
+mingled with the soldiers in uniform.
+
+"I wonder what they are doing now?" asked Bert.
+
+"Oh, taking a more peaceful scene for the movies," answered his
+father. "They have had enough of war, I guess."
+
+"That would suit Flossie," remarked Uncle Daniel with a laugh.
+
+The valley was now quiet, but over it hung a cloud of smoke from the
+cannon. The wind was, however, blowing the smoke away.
+
+"Can we go up to the log cabins and watch them make more pictures,
+father?" asked Bert.
+
+"Well, yes, I guess so; if you don't get in the way of the cameras. Do
+you want to come?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of Uncle Daniel. "You don't often
+get a chance to see moving pictures out here, I guess. Better come."
+
+"No, not now, thank you," was the answer, "I must get back and look
+after my tomatoes. They need to be picked. But you can go on with the
+boys."
+
+So Mr. Bobbsey took Bert and Harry up to where other moving pictures
+were being made. The boys did not understand all that was being done,
+but they watched eagerly just the same.
+
+They saw men and soldiers talking to the ladies, who were members of
+the moving picture company. Then they saw soldiers, who pretended to
+have been hurt in the sham-battle, being put on cots, and bandaged up.
+
+"This is a make-believe hospital," Mr. Bobbsey explained to the boys."
+They want it to look as natural as possible, you see."
+
+The boys watched while "doctors" went among the "wounded," giving them
+"medicine," all make-believe, of course. Then one of the ladies,
+dressed as a nurse, came through the rows of cots which were placed in
+the open air, under some trees.
+
+"How do you like it?" asked one of the moving picture men of Mr.
+Bobbsey, coming over to where Bert's father was standing. The man had
+been turning the crank of one of the cameras, but, just then, he had
+nothing to do.
+
+"It is very interesting," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We heard your firing and
+came over to look on. Are you going to be here long?"
+
+"Only a few days. But there will be no more battle pictures. They cost
+too much money to make. The rest of the scenes will be more peaceful."
+
+"That would suit my little girl," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "She
+didn't like the cannon and guns."
+
+"Oh, have you a little girl?" asked the moving picture man, who seemed
+to be one of those in charge of the actors and actresses.
+
+"Yes, I have a little girl," Mr. Bobbsey replied.
+
+"And these two boys?" asked the camera man.
+
+"No, only one of the boys is mine," and Bert's father nodded at his
+son. "The other is my nephew."
+
+"Do you live around here?" the man went on. "Excuse my asking you so
+many questions," he continued. "My name is Weston, and I have charge
+of making these moving pictures. We need some children to take small
+parts in one of the scenes, and, as we have no little ones in our
+company, I was wondering whether we could not get some country boys
+and girls to pose for us, or, rather, act for us, for we want them to
+move, not to just stand still. And I thought if you lived around
+here," he said to Mr. Bobbsey, "you might know where we could borrow a
+dozen children for an hour or so."
+
+"I don't live here," Mr. Bobbsey replied, "but I am staying on my
+brother's farm. What sort of acting do you want the children to do for
+the moving pictures?"
+
+"Oh, something very simple. You see, one of the ladies in our company
+is supposed to be a school teacher before the war breaks out. We have
+taken the war scenes already--that sham battle you looked at was all
+we need of that.
+
+"The school teacher goes to the front as a nurse, but before she goes,
+we want a scene showing her in front of the school surrounded by her
+pupils."
+
+"I see," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Now we have the schoolhouse," said Mr. Weston, "or, rather, there is
+an old schoolhouse down the road that will do very nicely to
+photograph. We have permission to use it, as this is vacation time. We
+also have the lady who will act as the teacher, and, later as the Red
+Cross nurse. But we need children to act as school pupils.
+
+"I thought perhaps you might know of some children who would like to
+act for the movies," the man went on. "It will take only a little
+time, and it will not be at all unpleasant. They will just have to act
+naturally, as any school children would do."
+
+"Well, I have four children of my own," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he
+thought of his two sets of twins, "and my brother has a boy. There are
+also several children in the village. Perhaps it could be arranged to
+have their pictures taken."
+
+"I hope it can!" exclaimed Mr. Weston. "I'll talk to you about it in a
+few minutes. I must go see about this hospital scene now."
+
+He hurried away, while Bert and Harry looked at one another.
+
+"Do you want to be in the movies?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"I don't mind," spoke Harry, smiling.
+
+"Neither do I," added Bert. "Freddie would like it, too, but Flossie
+wouldn't come if they shot any guns."
+
+"They wouldn't shoot guns where children were," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+"I'll see what your mother, and Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah say."
+
+Later that day the moving picture man explained just what was wanted,
+and as Mrs.
+
+Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah had no objections, it was decided to let the
+Bobbsey twins, as well as Harry, take part in the moving pictures. Tom
+Mason, Mabel Herold and some others of the country village were also
+to be in the scene.
+
+It was taken, or "filmed," as the moving picture people say, the next
+morning. Down to the old schoolhouse, on the country road, went the
+children, laughing and talking, a little bit shy, some of them.
+
+But the actress who was to pretend to be a school teacher was so nice
+that she soon made the little children feel at ease. Flossie and
+Freddie loved her from the first, and each insisted upon walking along
+with her, hand in hand.
+
+"That will make a pretty picture," said the moving picture man. "Just
+walk along the road, Miss Burns," he said to the actress, "with
+Flossie on one side, and Freddie on the other. I'll take your pictures
+as if you were going to school."
+
+This was done. Flossie and Freddie soon forgot that they were really
+"acting" for the movies, and were as natural as could be wished.
+
+"I--I've got a fire engine!" said Freddie, as he trudged along with
+the actress-teacher.
+
+"Have you, indeed?" she asked pleasantly. "Don't look at the camera,"
+she cautioned Flossie. "Just pretend it isn't there."
+
+"And I've got a doll!" Flossie said, not to let Freddie get the best
+of her.
+
+"And my fire engine pumps real water," Freddie went on, "and I
+squirted it on our cat and on the old turkey gobbler."
+
+"Oh, but why did you do that?" asked the actress. "Wasn't that
+unkind?"
+
+"Oh, no!" exclaimed Freddie, his eyes big and round. "The gobbler was
+pinching our cat's tail, and Snoop was scratching the turkey. I had to
+squirt water on them to make them stop."
+
+"Oh, I see!" exclaimed Miss Burns with a jolly laugh.
+
+"Well, anyhow, my doll can open and shut her eyes," said Flossie. "So
+I don't care!"
+
+"That's enough of that scene," said Mr. Weston. "Now all you children
+crowd up around the school steps, as if you were going in after the
+last bell had rung. Pretend you are going into school."
+
+The village children were a little bashful at first, but Bert, Nan and
+Harry, taking the lead, showed them what to do, and after one trial
+everything went off well.
+
+The children grouped themselves about the actress-teacher, who clasped
+her arms about the shoulders of as many as she could reach. It made a
+pretty scene in front of the old school-house, with the green trees
+for a background. The use of the school had been allowed the moving
+picture company for the day.
+
+"Now play about, as if it were recess," directed Mr. Weston, after the
+first scene had been taken. "Be as natural as you can. And you grown
+folks please keep back out of the way," he asked, for Mrs. Bobbsey and
+a number of the fathers and mothers had come to see their children
+pose for the moving picture camera.
+
+By this time the children had lost their bashfulness, and were acting
+as naturally as though they really were at school. They played tag and
+other simple games, while the camera clicked their images on the
+celluloid film. Miss Burns, as the teacher, took part in some of the
+girls' games.
+
+"Now I want a larger boy and girl to walk down the road together, the
+boy carrying the girl's books," said Mr. Weston. "You'll do," he went
+on to Nan, "and you," to Harry. Soon the two cousins were strolling
+along, having their pictures taken.
+
+"I want to go with Nan!" cried Freddie "I want my picture taken some
+more."
+
+"Not now, dear," said Miss Burns, who was not in the scene with Nan
+and Harry. "Wait a little."
+
+"No, I want to go with Nan now," insisted Freddie, and he broke from
+the hand of the actress and rushed after his sister.
+
+"Oh, he'll spoil the picture!" cried Bert, solicitously. "Come back,
+Freddie; that's a good boy!"
+
+But Freddie did not intend to come back.
+
+"Nan, Nan! Wait for me!" begged Freddie.
+
+Nan did not know what to do. She had been told to walk down the road,
+pretending to talk to Harry, and to take half an apple which he would
+hand her, in view of the camera.
+
+"That's all right--let the little fellow get into the picture,"
+directed Mr. Weston. "It will make it all the prettier."
+
+So Freddie had his wish, to walk beside his sister. But he had not
+gone far before he saw, on the edge of a little brook, a bright red
+flower.
+
+"I'm going to get it!" he cried. "I can hold it in my hand. It will
+look nice in the picture."
+
+"No, no!" cried Nan. "Stay with me, Freddie."
+
+"Going to get the flower!" he shouted, as he ran on ahead.
+
+And, just as he reached the edge of the brook, his foot slipped, and
+down he went with a great splash, into the water.
+
+"Oh, Freddie's fallen in! Freddie's fallen in!" cried Nan, rushing
+forward.
+
+"I'll pull him out!" cried the man grinding away at the crank of the
+camera.
+
+"No, you stay there and get the moving picture," said Mr. Watson. "It
+will make a funny scene, and Freddie is in no danger. The water isn't
+deep! I'll get him out!"
+
+"That's the second time Freddie's fallen in," said Bert, as he ran
+toward the brook.
+
+"Help me out! Help me out!" sobbed Freddie, splashing about in the
+water.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE CIRCUS
+
+
+"There you are, my little man! Not hurt a bit! Up again! Out again!"
+and Mr. Weston picked little Freddie out of the brook, and set him on
+his feet. "All right, aren't you?" asked the moving picture man.
+
+"Ye--yes, I--I guess so," stammered the "little fat fireman," as he
+looked down at his dripping knickerbockers. "But I--I'm terrible wet!
+I'm awful wet--ma--mamma!" he stammered.
+
+"Never mind, Freddie," Mrs. Bobbsey answered with a smile. "You'll
+dry."
+
+"I say!" called one of the men who had been turning the crank of the
+moving picture camera. "I say, Mr. Weston, I got the picture of the
+boy falling in the water on this film. I couldn't help it."
+
+"That's all right," said the manager. "It won't spoil the picture any.
+It will only make it look more natural."
+
+"And it's natural for Freddie to be wet;" said Bert, with a laugh.
+"He's always playing with that toy fire engine of his, and getting
+soaked,"
+
+"But I didn't have the fire engine this time, Bert," said the chubby
+little chap. "I--I fell in!"
+
+"You poor little dear!" exclaimed the actress-schoolteacher, putting
+her arms around him. "It was all my fault, too!"
+
+"No, it was mine," said Freddie, generously. "I don't mind. I like
+being wet!"
+
+They all laughed at this. Mrs. Bobbsey said Freddie wanted to be
+polite.
+
+A few more pictures were made of the village children, the Bobbsey
+twins, with the exception of Freddie, taking part. Freddie was hurried
+off by his mother to the farmhouse to be put into dry clothes.
+
+Then, with thanks to those who had helped make the scenes, Mr. Weston,
+Miss Burns and the camera man went back to the village hotel where
+they were stopping.
+
+"Wasn't it great, Bert!" exclaimed Harry, as he and his cousin
+strolled over the fields.
+
+"It certainly was," agreed Bert.
+
+"If we could only see the pictures when they are finished," suggested
+Mabel Herold. "It must be queer to see yourself in the movies."
+
+"I think so, too," said Nan. "I'm going to find out where this play
+will be shown, in some theatre, and maybe mamma will take us to it."
+
+"I hope she does," Bert said. "It will be fun to see Freddie falling
+in."
+
+"Poor little fellow!" murmured Nan.
+
+"But he was real brave," Mabel added.
+
+For several days the Bobbsey twins, their cousin and their country
+friends talked of the moving pictures in which they had had a part.
+They went again to the valley, where more scenes were being made, but
+none were as exciting as the sham-battle.
+
+"Aren't they going to shoot any more guns?" asked Freddie, his eyes
+big and shining with the hope of excitement.
+
+"I guess that's all over," spoke Bert.
+
+"And I'm glad of it," Nan declared.
+
+"So am I," exclaimed Flossie, looking around as though she would hear
+a boom from a cannon.
+
+One day Bert and Harry went alone to the place where the moving
+picture company had erected tents and log cabins in the valley. They
+found the men packing things up, taking down the tents and knocking
+apart the wooden cabins.
+
+"Are you all through?" Bert asked Mr. Weston."
+
+"All through, my lad," was the answer. "We are going to another place
+soon, to get different moving pictures. But we'll be here for a day or
+two yet, at least some of the camera men will. They have to take
+pictures of a circus parade."
+
+"Circus parade!" exclaimed Harry. "Is a circus coming here?"
+
+"Well, not exactly here," replied Mr. Weston. "But it is coming to
+Rosedale--that's the next town--and I am going to have some moving
+pictures made of it."
+
+"The circus coming to Rosedale!" cried Bert, looking at Harry. The
+same thought came to both of them.
+
+"Let's go!" exclaimed Harry, eagerly.
+
+"If our folks will let us," added Bert.
+
+"Oh, I guess mine will," spoke the country boy. "Circuses don't come
+around here very often, and when they do, we generally go. I do hope
+they'll let you come, Bert."
+
+"It's going to be a large circus," said Mr. Weston. "They have a good
+collection of wild animals."
+
+"I don't believe they can beat our combination of a wild cat, Snoop,
+and a crazy turkey gobbler," said Bert to Harry with a laugh, when the
+two boys were on their way back to the farmhouse.
+
+Passing along a country road Bert saw something that caused him to cry
+out:
+
+"Look, there it is, Harry!"
+
+"What?"
+
+"The circus! See it!" and Bert pointed to a barn.
+
+"Oh, you mean the circus posters," went on Harry, for Bert had pointed
+to the bright-colored pictures advertising the performance. There were
+shown men jumping through paper hoops or hanging from dizzy heights on
+trapeze bars, ladies riding galloping horses, and all sorts of wild
+animals, from the long-necked giraffe to the hippopotamus, who
+appeared to have no neck at all, and from the big elephant to the
+little monkey.
+
+"Oh, I do hope we can see it!" cried Bert, as he and his cousin stood
+before the gay pictures.
+
+"I'm going to do my best to go!" declared Harry.
+
+The two boys hurried home, talking on the way of the circus posters
+they had seen, and wondering if there really would be shown all the
+wild animals pictured on the side of the barn.
+
+Bert saw his father and mother sitting out in the side yard under a
+shady tree, and, running up to them he asked:
+
+"Oh, can't we go? We want to so much! Nan, you ask, too!" he cried.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey looked at him rather surprised.
+
+"What's it all about?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile.
+
+"And what am I to ask?"
+
+"For a circus--wild animals--moving pictures--the parade--an elephant
+--lions, tigers--everything!" cried Bert, stopping because he ran out
+of breath.
+
+"Ask for all that?" exclaimed Nan, wonderingly.
+
+"No, Bert means the circus is coming," explained Harry, with a laugh.
+"The moving picture people are going to get views of the parade. The
+posters are up on the barns and fences. It's coming to Rosedale, the
+circus is, and--"
+
+"Oh, do let us go!" broke in Bert. Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey looked at one
+another, questioningly.
+
+"Oh, wouldn't it be just grand!" sighed Nan.
+
+"What is it?" demanded Freddie, toddling up just then. "Is there going
+to be a fire? Can I squirt with my engine?"
+
+"Always thinking of that, little fat fireman!" laughed his father.
+"No, it isn't a fire, Freddie."
+
+"It's a circus coming!" cried Bert "Can't you take us, father?"
+
+"I'm afraid not, son," he said. "I have just had a letter calling me
+back to Lakeport on business."
+
+"Oh!" cried Nan and Bert in a chorus.
+
+"Do we have to go back to the city, too?" asked Bert, after a pause.
+
+"No, I am going to let you and mamma stay here," said Mr. Bobbsey,
+"but I have to go. I'll come back, of course, but not in time to take
+you to the circus, I'm afraid."
+
+"Mamma can take us," said Freddie.
+
+"Hardly," said Mrs. Bobbsey with a smile. "I want papa along when I
+have four children to take to a circus."
+
+"My father will take us," said Harry. "He always goes to a circus when
+one comes around here."
+
+"Oh, fine!" cried Bert. "Uncle Daniel will take us! Uncle Daniel will
+take us!" and he caught Nan around the waist and went dancing over the
+lawn with her.
+
+"Now may we go, papa?" asked Nan, when Bert let her go.
+
+"Well, I guess so," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "Uncle Daniel can look after
+you as well as I could."
+
+"If Uncle Daniel goes, it will be all right," Mrs. Bobbsey said.
+
+"And will you go, too, mamma?" asked Bert, slipping up to her, and
+giving her a kiss.
+
+"Oh, yes, I suppose I'll have to help feed the elephant peanuts," she
+laughed.
+
+"Hurray! Hurrah!" cried Bert, swinging his cap in the air. "We're
+going to the circus! We're going to the circus!"
+
+The children were delighted with the pleasure in store for them. They
+talked of little else, and when they found that Tom Mason and Mabel
+Herold were also going to the show, they were more than delighted.
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have!" cried Nan.
+
+"I--I hope none of the wild animals get loose," said Flossie, with
+rather a serious face.
+
+"Nonsense! Of course they won't!" cried Bert.
+
+"If they do, I--I'll squirt my fire engine on them!" cried Freddie.
+"Lions and tigers are afraid of water."
+
+"But elephants aren't, are they, mamma?" asked Flossie. "I saw a
+picture of an elephant squirting water through his nose-trunk just
+like your fire engine, Freddie. Elephants aren't afraid of water."
+
+"Well, elephants won't hurt you, anyhow," spoke the little fat fellow.
+"And if a lion or tiger gets loose, I'll play the hose on him, just as
+I did at The Five-Pin Show."
+
+Mr. Bobbsey was obliged to go back to the city next day, but he said
+he would return to Meadow Brook as soon as he could.
+
+"And if you see that poor boy, bring him back with you, and we'll take
+him to the circus with us," said Freddie.
+
+"What poor boy?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"You know, the one who had the no-good money, and who ran away when we
+were out with you in the auto that time, and the two girls in the
+boat--don't you remember?" asked Freddie, ending somewhat
+breathlessly, for that was rather a long sentence for him.
+
+"Oh, you mean Frank Kennedy, who worked for Mr. Mason," said the
+lumber merchant.
+
+"Yes, that's the boy," went on Freddie. "If you see him, tell him to
+run this way, and we'll take him to the circus with us."
+
+"Poor boy," sighed Mrs. Bobbsey. "I wonder what has become of him?"
+
+"I don't know," answered her husband. "I'll ask Mr. Mason, if I see
+him. He said Frank was sure to come back. It is a hard life for a boy
+to lead. Well, take care of yourselves, children, and I'll come back
+as soon as I can. Have a good time at the circus."
+
+"We will, papa!" chorused the Bobbsey twins.
+
+Uncle Daniel readily promised to take the whole family to the circus.
+Rosedale, where the show would be held, in the big tents, was not far
+from Meadow Brook.
+
+"I'll just hitch up the team to the big wagon," said the farmer, "put
+plenty of soft straw in the bottom, and we'll go over in style. We'll
+take our lunch with us, and have a good time."
+
+"Is Dinah going?" asked Flossie.
+
+"Yes, I think we'll take her and Martha, too," said Mrs. Bobbsey, but
+when Flossie went to tell the colored cook the treat in store for her,
+Dinah cried:
+
+"'Deed an' I ain't gwine t' no circus. I doan't want t' be et up by no
+ragin' lion who goeth about seekin' what he may devour, laik it says
+in de Good Book. Dere's enough wild animiles right yeah on dish year
+farm--wild bulls, wild rams an' turkey gobblers, what pulls cats by
+dere tails. No, sah! honey lamb--I ain't gwine t' no circus!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+FREDDIE IS MISSING
+
+
+Flossie came back from her talk with Dinah, looking very disappointed.
+
+"What is the matter, dear?" asked her mother, noting the sorrowful
+look on the little girl's face.
+
+"Dinah isn't going to the circus," said Flossie, almost ready to cry,
+for she was very fond of the faithful and loving colored woman.
+
+"Oh, I guess she'll go with us," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Why doesn't she
+want to come?"
+
+"She's afraid of the wild animals," answered Flossie.
+
+"Pooh! I'm not afraid!" boasted Freddie. "You tell her, Flossie, that
+I'll take my fire engine along an' scare 'em. Wait, I'll tell her
+myself."
+
+Out Freddie ran to the kitchen, where Dinah was helping Martha with
+the baking.
+
+"Don't you be afraid, Dinah!" he cried. "I won't let any of the wild
+animals get you!"
+
+"Bress yo' heart, honey lamb!" exclaimed the colored cook with a laugh
+that made her shake "like a bowl full of jelly."
+
+"I--I'll scare 'em off with my fire engine," Freddie went on.
+
+"Will yo', honey lamb? So yo' won't let ole black Dinah get hurted,
+eh? Well, honey, lamb, I'd gib yo' all a hug but mah hands am all
+flour," and Dinah held them up for Freddie to see.
+
+"Never mind, you can hug me some other time--you can hug me twice to
+make up for this," said Freddie. "Now you'll come to the circus, won't
+you?"
+
+"I--I'll see, honey lamb," Dinah half-promised.
+
+Later Mrs. Bobbsey told the colored cook there would be no danger, and
+when Dinah learned that Uncle Daniel was going, as well as one of his
+hired men, she made no more objections.
+
+The day of the circus came, bright and sunny. Everyone was up early in
+the farm-house, for Uncle Daniel said they wanted to be in time to
+see the morning parade. Then they would eat their dinner, which they
+would take with them, as though it were a picnic, and go to the show
+in the afternoon.
+
+"Oh, I wish papa were here!" sighed Nan, as she and Bert left the
+breakfast table.
+
+"Why, you're not afraid, are you?" he asked.
+
+"No, only I'd like him to see the show," she said. Nan was always
+thoughtful for her father.
+
+"Yes, it would be nicer if he could come with us," agreed Bert. And
+then he forgot all about it, because he and Harry had a discussion as
+to whether an elephant or a hippopotamus could eat the most hay.
+
+Work on the farm was almost forgotten that circus day. Uncle Daniel
+and the hired man did what had to be done, and then the horses were
+hitched to the big wagon, which was filled with straw.
+
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah were busy dressing Flossie and Freddie.
+Bert, Harry and Nan could look out for themselves. Dinah and
+Martha were busy in the kitchen putting up the lunch.
+
+"Here comes Tom Mason!" called Bert to his cousin, as he saw the
+country boy, dressed in his best, coming up the walk.
+
+"Oh, I do hope Mabel isn't late," exclaimed Flossie. Mabel and Tom
+were to go to the circus with Uncle Daniel, as the guests of the
+Bobbsey twins.
+
+"There she comes--down the road," announced Harry, after greeting Tom.
+"Here comes Mabel!"
+
+The children gathered out on the lawn to wait for the older folks.
+Finally everything was in readiness, the wagon, drawn by the prancing
+horses, rattled up, and into it piled the children, sitting down in
+the soft, clean straw.
+
+"Where's Dinah?" called Flossie.
+
+"Heah I is, honey lamb," answered the colored cook, as she came out
+with a big basket of good things to eat.
+
+"Oh, I'm going to sit next to Dinah!" cried Bert with a laugh. "I
+always did like you, didn't I, Dinah?" he demanded.
+
+"Go 'long wif you, honey!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Yo' all doan't git none ob de stuff in dish yeah basket 'till lunch
+time--no, suh! No mattah how lubbin' yo' is!"
+
+Off they started, with laughter and shouts, Uncle Daniel and his hired
+man sitting on the front seat, taking turns driving the horses.
+Freddie wanted to hold the reins, but his uncle said the animals were
+too frisky that morning for such little hands.
+
+"When they come back they will be tired, and won't be so anxious to
+run away," the farmer said. "Then you may drive, Freddie."
+
+All along the road were circus posters, and at each new one which they
+saw the children would shout and laugh in delight. They saw many other
+farm wagons going along, also filled with family parties, who, like
+themselves, were going to the circus.
+
+"Hurrah for the big show!" Bert or Nan would call out.
+
+"Hurray! Hurray!" the children in other wagons would answer back.
+"Isn't it jolly?"
+
+And indeed it was a jolly time for everyone. Even Dinah forgot her
+fear of the wild animals when from a distance she caught sight of the
+white circus tents with the gaily colored flags streaming from them.
+
+Uncle Bobbsey found a shed, near the circus grounds, where he could
+leave the horses and wagon, for he did not want to take the team into
+town, for fear the sight of the circus animals, and the music of the
+band, and the steam piano, or Calliope, might scare them, and make
+them run away.
+
+"We'll watch the parade," Uncle Daniel said. "Then we'll come back
+here, eat our lunch, and go to the show in the afternoon."
+
+This plan was carried out, and a little later the children and the old
+folks were standing in line in the big crowd, waiting for the circus
+parade to come past. Every once in a while someone would step out into
+the middle of the street, and look up and down.
+
+"Is it coming? Is it coming?" others in the crowd would ask.
+
+"Not yet," would be the answer.
+
+"Oh, look!" suddenly exclaimed Bert, pointing to the window of an
+office building near which they were standing. "There's Mr. Westen
+taking moving pictures!"
+
+"Oh, so he is!" cried Nan. And there indeed, with his camera pointed
+out of the window, was their old friend.
+
+He saw the children and waved to them.
+
+"Here it comes! Here it comes!" was the sudden cry, and from the
+distance came the sound of music.
+
+"The parade has started! The parade has started!" was the cry that ran
+through the crowd.
+
+"Oh, isn't this great!" cried Nan, clasping her chum Mabel by the arm.
+
+"It's just lovely!" the country girl said, "and so nice of your mother
+and uncle and aunt to ask me."
+
+"Oh, we were only too glad to have you," said Nan, politely, but she
+meant it.
+
+Freddie snuggled close up to fat Dinah.
+
+"Don't you be afraid," he said to the black cook. "I--I won't let any
+wild animals get you!"
+
+"Dat's a good boy, honey lamb!" she murmured, as she took hold of his
+hand.
+
+Louder played the music. The children in the crowd began dancing up
+and down, so excited were they.
+
+"Here it comes! Here it comes!" they cried over and over again.
+
+Then swept past the horses, gay with plumes, and covered with blankets
+of gold and silver, of purple and red. On the backs of the horses rode
+men and women with scarlet cloaks, carrying spears tipped with
+glittering silver.
+
+Then came a herd of elephants, swinging themselves along, now and then
+sucking up dust from the street and blowing it on their big backs to
+keep off the flies. Men rode on top of the elephants' heads.
+
+"Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid, Dinah!" said Freddie over and over
+again.
+
+Ponies, camels, donkeys, more horses, more elephants and other animals
+went past in the parade.
+
+Then came the gilded wagons, filled with gaily dressed men and women
+who nodded, smiled and waved their hands at the crowds in the streets.
+
+Bert looked up at the window where Mr. Weston was perched with his
+camera, and saw him taking moving pictures.
+
+"Oh, look! There's a lion in a cage!" cried Freddie, suddenly.
+
+Just then the big beast sent out a roar that seemed to shake the very
+ground, and he threw himself against the bars of his cage.
+
+"Oh, he's going to get out! He's going to get out!" came the cry and
+the people rushed back away from the street.
+
+"No danger! No danger!" shouted the circus men.
+
+"Hold on to me, Dinah!" cried Freddie. "Hold on to me. I won't let him
+bite you!"
+
+More cages of wild animals rumbled past, but most of the beasts slept
+peacefully. Only the lion seemed to want to get out, and far down the
+street his roar could be heard.
+
+"He's a new lion," said someone in the crowd. "He isn't used to being
+shut up, and he is trying to get out."
+
+"Well, I hope he done stays shut up," murmured Dinah.
+
+The parade came to an end at last, with the steam piano bringing up in
+the rear of the procession. The man played puffy little tunes, with a
+tooting chorus that made one want to dance.
+
+[Illustration: THEN CAME A HERD OF ELEPHANTS.]
+
+"Now for lunch, and then to see the big show," said Uncle Daniel, as
+he led the way back to where the wagon had been left.
+
+And what a jolly party it was, to sit in the straw and eat nice
+sandwiches, pies, cookies and cakes Martha and Dinah had put into the
+baskets. There was lemonade, too, and if it was not pink, like the
+kind the circus men sold, it was much better and sweeter.
+
+"But when are we going into the circus?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"Soon now," said Uncle Daniel.
+
+A little later they made their way to the big tents. First they went
+in the one where the wild animals, in cages, were drawn up in a circle
+inside. There were lions, tigers, bears, giraffes, rhinocerosi,
+hippopotami, and elephants, to say nothing of the cute monkeys.
+
+"Are dem cages good an' strong, mistah?" asked Dinah of one of the
+circus attendants.
+
+"Oh, yes," he answered, as he passed a carrot in to one of the
+monkeys.
+
+"Well, dat's good," she said. "'Cause I doan't want none ob dem bears
+or lions t' come after me when I'se watchin' de circus performers."
+
+"I'll see that none of them get loose," promised the circus man with a
+laugh at Dinah's fears.
+
+Then the Bobbsey party went on in to the main tent. I wish I could
+tell you all they saw, but I have not the room in this book. There was
+a parade around the ring to start with, and then in came rushing the
+comical clowns, the men and women who rode on horses and who jumped
+from one trapeze to another.
+
+Jugglers they were, men with trained horses, trick ponies, trained
+dogs and trained elephants. Some elephants played a ball game, others
+turned somersaults. Clowns jumped over their backs, and through paper
+hoops.
+
+"Look here!" Nan would exclaim.
+
+"No, see over there!" Bert would cry.
+
+"Oh, mamma, a man jumped from the top of the tent right into a big
+fish net!" exclaimed Freddie.
+
+"Look at the monkey riding on the dog's back," Flossie shouted.
+
+"And see that man jump off a horse and jump on him again backwards!"
+called Tom Mason.
+
+"Oh, but look at the cute ponies," sighed Mabel Herold.
+
+There was so much to see and talk about that the children's eyes must
+have been tired, and their necks aching before the circus was over.
+
+At last it came to an end with the exciting chariot races, and the
+crowd began to leave the big tent.
+
+"Now keep close together, children," warned Mrs. Bobbsey. "You must
+not get lost in this crowd."
+
+"Yes, follow me," advised Uncle Daniel.
+
+How it happened they could not tell, but when they reached the
+outside of the tent, and found a space where the crowd was not so
+thick, Freddie was missing.
+
+"Where is Freddie?" asked Nan, looking about for him.
+
+"Freddie!" exclaimed her mother! "Isn't he here?"
+
+But Freddie was not with them, and with anxious faces they looked at
+one another.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+FOUND AGAIN
+
+
+"Where can he be?" asked Bert.
+
+"I saw him but a moment ago," said Aunt Sarah.
+
+"An' he jest had hold ob mah hand!" cried Dinah. "Oh, mah honey lamb
+am done et up by de ragin' lion what goes about seekin' who he kin
+devouer! Oh landy!"
+
+"Quiet, Dinah, please," said Uncle Daniel. For Dinah had called out so
+loudly that many in the crowd turned to look at her.
+
+"But I wants Freddie--mah honey lamb!" the loving colored woman went
+on. "I wants him an' he's losted!"
+
+"We'll find him," said Uncle Daniel. "Now whom was he with when we
+came out of the tent?"
+
+"He had hold of my hand," said Bert, "but he pulled away and said he
+wanted to walk with Dinah."
+
+"De lubbin honey lamb!" crooned Dinah.
+
+"Did he come with you, Dinah?" went on Uncle Daniel, trying to find
+out exactly who had seen Freddie last.
+
+"Yais, sah, he done comed wif me fo' a little while in de crowd, an'
+den he slid away--he just seem t' melt away laik," explained the cook.
+
+"Which way did he go?" Uncle Daniel wanted to know.
+
+"Which way? I dunno," Dinah answered.
+
+"Oh, perhaps he went back to the animal tent," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey.
+She was not really frightened as yet. Often before Freddie had been
+lost, but he had generally been found within a few minutes. But he had
+never before been lost at a circus. This time he seemed to have melted
+away in the big crowd.
+
+"Let's go back to the animal tent," suggested Uncle Daniel. "Freddie
+was so taken with feeding the elephants peanuts that he may have gone
+back to do that. We'll look."
+
+"Oh, if only dem ugly lions or tigers habn't got him!" sighed Dinah.
+
+"The wild animals couldn't get him, 'cause they're shut up in cages,
+aren't they?" asked Flossie.
+
+"Yes, dear," Nan said to her, not wanting her little sister to be
+frightened. "No wild animals could get Freddie."
+
+"We'll soon find him," declared Bert.
+
+"We'll help you look," spoke Tom Mason. "Come on, Harry."
+
+The three boys started to push their way back through the crowd toward
+the animal tent.
+
+"Now don't you three get lost," said Uncle Daniel.
+
+"We won't!" answered Bert, "but we're going to find Freddie!"
+
+"Oh, where can the darling be?" gasped Aunt Sarah, looking around at
+the crowd all about her.
+
+"What is it? What's the matter?" asked several ladies.
+
+"A little boy is lost--my nephew," Aunt Sarah explained.
+
+"Oh, isn't that too bad!" cried the sympathetic ladies. "We hope you
+find him!"
+
+Back into the animal tent the Bobbseys and their relatives and friends
+pushed their way. It was not easy to work back through the crowd that
+was anxious to get away, now that the afternoon performance of the
+circus was over.
+
+"He must be in there," said Uncle Daniel. "We'll find him."
+
+Carefully he looked through the crowd of persons who were still in the
+animal tent. A number had remained, with their children, to get
+another look at the elephants, lions and tigers. Men were feeding some
+of the animals, now that there was a little quiet spell, and this was
+interesting to the youngsters.
+
+"He doesn't seem to be here," said Aunt Sarah, as she peered through
+her spectacles.
+
+"Oh, he must be!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "He can't have gone on ahead
+of us, and if he turned back he would have to come into this tent."
+
+"Oh, isn't it too bad!" exclaimed Nan, looking at her brother Bert, as
+though he could help. But Bert, Harry and Tom, though they had quickly
+made a round of the circle of animal cages, had come back to say that
+they found no trace of Freddie.
+
+"I know what to do, mamma," spoke up Flossie.
+
+"What, dear?" asked her mother, hardly knowing what she was saying.
+
+"We ought to get a policeman," went on Flossie. "Policemans can find
+losted people. One found me once."
+
+"That isn't a bad idea," spoke Uncle Daniel. "I think perhaps I had
+better speak to some of the town constables who are on duty here."
+
+"Suppose we look in the big main tent," said Tom Mason. "Freddie may
+have wandered back in there to try and turn a somersault on one of the
+trapezes."
+
+"Yes, it wouldn't do any harm to take a look," agreed Uncle Daniel.
+"We'll go in the big tent."
+
+Into that large canvas house they went. Men were busy putting away
+some of the articles used for the animal tricks, and the balls, hoops
+knives and things the Japanese jugglers had used.
+
+"Oh, where can he be?" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Something the matter, ma'am?" asked the ring-master, in his shiny
+tall hat, as he cracked his long whip. "Is someone lost?"
+
+"Yes, my little boy Freddie, and we are so worried about him!"
+
+"Well, don't worry," said the ring-master kindly. "Boys, and girls
+too, are lost every day at our circus performances, but they are
+always found all right. Don't worry. I'll have some of the men hunt
+for him. And you folks come with me. It's just possible he has been
+found and taken to the lost tent."
+
+"The lost tent!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel. "Have you lost a tent, too?"
+
+"No, but we have a sort of headquarters tent, or office, where all
+lost children are taken as soon as the circus men find them. A woman
+in the tent takes care of the little ones until their folks come for
+them. Your boy may be there waiting for you."
+
+To the lost tent went the Bobbseys. They found two or three youngsters
+there, crying for their fathers or mothers, but Freddie was not among
+them.
+
+"Oh, he isn't here!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, and tears were in her eyes
+now. "I wish his father were here," she went on. "He would know what
+to do."
+
+"Now don't you worry, ma'am," said the ring-master again. "We'll
+surely find him for you. He may have gone in one of the side shows, to
+see the fat lady, or the strong man. I'll have those places searched
+for you."
+
+The ring-master did send some of his men to look in the side-show
+tents, but they came back to say that no one like Freddie had been
+seen. By this time Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah were almost frantic
+with fright. Nan was crying, and even Bert, brave as he was, looked
+worried. A number of persons who had come to the circus offered to
+help look for Freddie, but, though they searched all over, the little
+fat fellow could not be found.
+
+"Oh, dear! What shall we do!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Dat ugly ole lion--" began Dinah, when Nan gave a scream.
+
+"Oh, what is it, child?" asked Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Look. There's Freddie!" cried Nan. "There he comes!" and she pointed
+to her little brother being led toward them by a boy about Bert's age.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FRANK'S STORY
+
+
+They all gazed in the direction in which Nan pointed. The crowd of
+visitors to the circus was thinning out now, and down toward the edge
+of a little creek could be seen the missing Freddie walking along, his
+hand thrust trustingly into that of the strange boy.
+
+"Why--why!" began Bert. "That fellow--that boy--he--" and then he
+stopped. Bert was not exactly sure of what he was going to say.
+
+"Oh, Freddie!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, running forward. "Where have you
+been! Such a start as you've given us! Where were you?"
+
+But Freddie himself did not seem as anxious to rush into his mother's
+arms as she was to clasp him. He plodded along with the strange boy,
+looking quite content, and as if he wondered what all the fuss was
+about.
+
+"Dere de honey lamb am!" exclaimed black
+
+Dinah, a grin spreading over her face. "De ole lion didn't cotch him
+after all. Dere's mah honey lamb!"
+
+"Freddie! Freddie!" cried Flossie, who had been resting in Uncle
+Daniel's arms, "did a lion eat you, Freddie? Did he?"
+
+"A lion eat him? Of course not!" laughed Bert. And Bert was doing some
+hard thinking as he stared at the strange boy who had Freddie by the
+hand.
+
+"I thought we should find him," said Uncle Daniel. "I knew he couldn't
+be lost with all these circus people around. I say!" called Mr.
+Bobbsey's brother to one of the men who had been helping hunt for the
+missing boy. "Just tell them that we found him, will you, please?
+Freddie's found."
+
+"Yes, sir, I'll tell 'em," said the man. "I'm glad he's all right.
+I'll tell 'em!"
+
+"But where were you, Freddie?" asked his mother, who by this time had
+him safely in her arms. "Oh, where were you?"
+
+"I found him down by the edge of the creek, watching 'em water the
+elephants," explained the strange boy, who, Mrs. Bobbsey thought, had
+a good, kind face. "You see, we water the elephants every afternoon
+when the show is over," the boy went on, "and it was down there I
+found him."
+
+"Oh, I can't thank you enough for bringing him back to us," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey. "You were so good!"
+
+"I didn't know just where he belonged," the strange boy explained.
+"But he told me his name, and where he lived, and of course I knew I
+could send word to his folks, though I didn't see, at first, how he
+got here all the way from Lakeport."
+
+"Oh, we are visiting at his uncle's farm at Meadow Brook," explained
+Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"So he said," went on the boy. "I was bringing him to the lost tent,
+when he spied you and said you were his folks."
+
+"And I saw 'em water the elephants!" cried Freddie, struggling to get
+loose from his mother's arms. "The elephant sucked the water up into
+his nose, ma, and then he squirted it down his throat just like my
+fire engine squirts water. Only, 'course an elephant squirts lots more
+water than my engine. But I'm goin' to get a bigger one that squirts
+as much as a elephant, that's what I goin' to do. And I saw one
+elephant, ma, he went right out in the water and laid down in it. What
+do you think of that!"
+
+"The elephants often do that, ma'am," explained the strange boy. "They
+like to get a bath now and then, but we don't often have time to give
+it to them."
+
+"You speak as though you belonged to the circus," said Uncle Daniel.
+
+"I do," answered the boy. "That is, I'm with one of the side-shows,
+and I help around when there's nothing else to do."
+
+"Well, it was very kind of you to bring back my little boy," went on
+Mrs. Bobbsey. Freddie was busy telling Flossie all the wonderful
+things he had seen.
+
+"Oh, I didn't do anything, ma'am," the boy said. "I sort of knew this
+little fellow."
+
+"You knew him?" questioned Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Well, that is I'd seen him before."
+
+"But I can't understand how Freddie became lost," said Mrs. Bobbsey,
+while Uncle Daniel was wondering where the strange boy had seen Freddie
+before. "How did you get lost, Freddie?" his mother asked him.
+
+"Lost! I wasn't lost!" he exclaimed. "I knew where I was all the time.
+I was with the elephants. It was you who got lost, mamma--you and Nan
+and Flossie and Bert--"
+
+"Well, we called you lost," laughed Uncle Daniel. "But you're all
+right now, thanks to this boy. Do you live around here?" he asked. "I
+don't seem to remember you, though I know most of the folks in this
+section. But if you have seen Freddie before you must live around
+here."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," was the answer. "I'm with the circus. But I used to
+live--"
+
+"I know you now!" interrupted Bert. "You're Frank Kennedy, and I was
+with my father, calling on Mr. Mason, when I saw you. Freddie was with
+me then. Don't you remember, Freddie?" asked Bert. "This is the boy we
+saw--the boy we saw getting a--"
+
+And Bert stopped. He did not want to say "shaking," for it was when
+Frank Kennedy was being severely shaken by Mr. Mason, on account of
+the bad twenty dollar bill, that the strange boy had last been seen by
+the Bobbsey lads. And on that occasion Frank had run away.
+
+"Oh, now I know you!" cried Freddie, laughing.
+
+"Yes, I am the boy you saw getting a shaking, for something that
+wasn't my fault!" exclaimed Frank, and his voice was hard and bitter.
+"I made up my mind I wouldn't stand Mr. Mason's cruel treatment any
+longer, so I ran away. I did see you two boys that time I got a
+shaking," Frank admitted. "You were in an automobile then," he went
+on, "and Mr. Bobbsey was with you." He looked around as though in
+search of the twins' father.
+
+"Mr. Bobbsey had to go back to Lakeport on business," explained Mrs.
+Bobbsey. "We came over from Meadow Brook to the circus here to-day.
+And I remember Mr. Bobbsey speaking of you. So you ran away?"
+
+"Yes'm, I ran away. I couldn't stand it in that lumber office any
+longer the way Mr. Mason treated me. It wasn't fair. And I'm never
+going back again, either. I don't like him, and he doesn't like me.
+I'll never let him be my guardian again."
+
+"Poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey. "You must have had a hard time. Did
+you come with this circus as soon as you ran away?"
+
+"No'm, I had a pretty bad spell first along. When I ran away I had
+only the clothes I wore, and only a little money. It was my own!" he
+said, quickly, lest they think he might have taken it from Mr. Mason's
+lumber office. But one look at Frank's face showed that he was honest.
+
+"What did you do?" asked Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Well, I walked as far as I could the first night," Frank said, going
+on with his story. "Then I crawled in a barn to sleep."
+
+"Didn't you have anything to eat?" asked Nan softly. She felt very
+sorry for the boy.
+
+"Well, I had a couple of crackers I had saved from my lunch that day,"
+he explained. "Then near the barn was a cow, and I milked her. That
+and the crackers was all I had for supper. But I slept good in the
+hay."
+
+"I had a good sleep in some hay!" exclaimed Freddie, as he remembered
+the time they had played hide-and-go-seek in the barn.
+
+"It makes a good bed when you're tired," said Frank.
+
+"What did you have for breakfast?" asked Flossie. "I like an orange
+and oatmeal for mine."
+
+"Well, I didn't have anything like that for mine," explained Frank
+with a smile. "I didn't have much of anything the first morning. I
+tramped on, and finally I found a place where I could chop some wood,
+and a lady gave me some bread and milk. It tasted very good."
+
+"How did you get with the circus?" asked Bert. That part interested
+him more than how Frank got something to eat.
+
+"Well, I just happened to come to the town where the circus was giving
+a show," explained Frank. "I was around when the men were watering the
+horses and other animals, and I helped carry water. Then one of the
+men asked me if I didn't want work, and I said I did. I was hungry
+then, too, and I could smell the things cooking in the circus kitchen
+tent. So I went to work for this show, and I've been here ever since.
+It's better than working in a lumber office when you get shook up
+every now and then," he added with a smile.
+
+"And do you still help water the elephants?" asked Uncle Daniel.
+
+"Oh, no, I help take tickets at one of the side shows," explained
+Frank. "The one where the fat lady and snakes are. I like it, though
+sometimes I help water the animals when I have nothing else to do. The
+circus people are good to me. I've earned enough money to get some
+clothes, and I'm never hungry any more. I was pretty ragged when I
+came to the circus, for I had been tramping around sleeping in barns,
+or wherever I could."
+
+"Wouldn't it have been better to have gone back to Mr. Mason, your
+guardian?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, for she had heard her husband tell of
+the time he, Bert and Freddie had seen the boy shaken before he ran
+away.
+
+"Oh, no'm!" Frank exclaimed. "I'm never going back to that lumber
+office. Mr. Mason accused me of losing twenty dollars for him. Well
+perhaps I did, but it wasn't my fault that the man gave me bad money
+that looked like good. I'm never going back!"
+
+"Well, I don't know as I blame you," said Uncle Daniel softly, "but a
+circus is no place for a young boy. It's a hard life."
+
+"Are you going to stay with this show?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Until I can get something better to do," answered Frank. "I know it
+isn't a good business, but I'll stay here until I can save some money,
+and then I'll look for something better. But I'll have to stay here
+for a while."
+
+"Maybe you could give him work on the farm," suggested Aunt Sarah to
+her husband in a whisper. "I don't like him to be with a circus. And
+he was so good to Freddie that we ought to do something for him."
+
+"He's too young to work on a farm," replied Uncle Daniel. "And he
+might be in a worse place than this circus. But we must be starting
+back home. It's getting late."
+
+Freddie was hugged and kissed by his sisters, mother and aunt, and
+Mrs. Bobbsey insisted on making Frank a little present of money, for
+his kindness to Freddie. Frank did not want to take it, but finally he
+did.
+
+"I'll buy some new shoes with it," he said.
+
+"I shall tell my husband how good you were to find Freddie," said Mrs.
+Bobbsey, "and I am sure he will want to do something for you. I wish
+you would write to me once in a while. We should like to keep track of
+you."
+
+"I will," promised the boy, as he put down the Bobbsey address. "I
+expect to be with this circus all summer," he said, as Freddie and the
+other children bade him good-bye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A WILD ANIMAL SCARE
+
+
+Back to the shed where they had left the horses, went the Bobbsey
+party, the children talking on the way of the wonderful things they
+had seen in the circus, while the older folks spoke of Freddie being
+lost, and found again, by Frank Kennedy.
+
+"But I wasn't lost!" the little chap insisted. "I knew where I was all
+the time. Besides, the elephants were with me, and so was Frank, the
+boy who was shooked. I saw him shooked and so did Bert, didn't you?"
+and Freddie looked at his older brother.
+
+"Well, we won't talk about that part of it," said his mother with a
+smile. "It isn't nice to think about, and I am glad Frank is in a
+place now where he will be kindly treated. Though perhaps Mr. Mason
+did not mean to be cruel. He was probably very sorry at losing so much
+money."
+
+"I like Frank," said Freddie. "He let me, take hold of one of the
+elephant's tooths."
+
+"Oh, Freddie!" exclaimed Dinah. "It's a wonder he didn't cotch an'
+bite yo, honey lamb!"
+
+"Oh, I didn't take hold of one of his tooths away back in his mouth,"
+explained Freddie, "it was the long tooth-pick tooth that stuck out
+under his nose."
+
+"He means the elephant's tusk," explained Bert with a laugh.
+
+"Oh, Freddie! I hope you weren't in any danger!" his mother cried.
+
+"What an escape he had!" sighed Aunt Sarah. "Suppose an elephant had
+eaten him!"
+
+"Pooh! Elephants don't eat anything but hay," said Freddie, who, of
+course, did not mean to be impolite, speaking to his aunt that way.
+"Frank told me so," he went on, "and I saw them eat hay. They eat a
+awful lot, and one of them took all my peanuts."
+
+"Well, I'll buy you some more," said Uncle Daniel with a laugh. "You
+deserve it after the trouble you have had--getting lost and all that."
+
+"I--I wasn't losted!" declared Freddie again. "I knew--"
+
+"Oh, look at the balloons!" cried Flossie, as she saw a man outside
+the circus grounds selling the red, green and yellow gas-bags. "I want
+one, mamma!" cried the little girl.
+
+"And so do I!" added Freddie, forgetting what he was going to say
+about not being lost "I want a balloon!"
+
+They each had one, and then the children and older folks took their
+places in the wagon, and soon were on their way to Meadow Brook farm
+again, talking over the wonderful good time they had had.
+
+"I'm coming to the circus to-morrow," announced Freddie, as though
+going to circuses was all there was to do in this world.
+
+"The circus won't be there," said Bert.
+
+"Won't be there? Where will it go?" asked Freddie, wonderingly.
+
+"It will travel to the next town," Bert went on. "A circus stays in a
+town only one day, unless it's a very big place. This show will be far
+away by this time to-morrow."
+
+"And will Frank be away, too?" asked
+
+[Illustration: UP, UP, UP, WENT THE RED AND BLUE BALLOONS]
+
+Flossie. "I like Frank, 'cause he found Freddie."
+
+"Yes, Frank will be away, too, poor boy," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "that is,
+if he stays with the circus. I wish Richard could do something for
+him," she went on to Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah. "I feel sure that
+boy ought to be back in his guardian's home."
+
+"But he said Mr. Mason was cruel to him," declared Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Perhaps he wouldn't be any more," remarked Mrs. Bobbsey, wondering
+how anyone could be really cruel to children. She loved her twins very
+much.
+
+"Well, I'se glad mah honey lamb am safe!" murmured Dinah, as she
+cuddled Freddie up in her big arms.
+
+"Oh--oh, Dinah!" cried the little fellow with a laugh. "You squeeze me
+like an elephant's trunk!"
+
+"Dat's 'cause I lubs yo', honey lamb!" went on the dear old colored
+woman.
+
+Back to Meadow Brook in the cool of the evening came the Bobbseys and
+their friends. Tom and Mabel declared they had never had such a good
+time, and as for Freddie and Flossie they were too busy playing with
+their toy balloons to say much. But you may be sure they had enjoyed
+themselves, and Freddie forgot all about being lost.
+
+On their way home the Bobbseys had met Mr. Weston with his moving
+picture camera. He said he had made several fine views of the circus.
+
+"What about _our_ pictures?" asked Nan. "The ones you took of us
+children near the school?"
+
+"They will soon be finished," said Mr. Weston. "And when they are
+ready to be shown, I shall send your father word, so he may bring you,
+and let you look at yourselves on the white screen in our moving
+picture theatre. Won't you like that?"
+
+"That will be great!" cried Bert. "I never saw myself in moving
+pictures."
+
+"Nor I," said Nan.
+
+Back in the pleasant farmhouse that evening all the happenings of the
+day were gone over again, until Mrs. Bobbsey, noticing that Flossie
+and Freddie were nodding their heads, and blinking their eyes real
+often, said:
+
+"Come now, little tots, time you were in bed. To-morrow is another
+day."
+
+"I'm going to take my balloon to bed with me," said Freddie.
+
+"So am I!" exclaimed Flossie, who wanted to do as many things as did
+her brother.
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't," their mother said. "Leave the balloons here until
+morning."
+
+"And then we'll have a balloon race," proposed Bert.
+
+"What's a balloon race?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"No more talk to-night, little fat fireman!" said his mother. "Off to
+bed you go!" and he and Flossie were "packed off," the other children
+coming soon after.
+
+Freddie and Flossie were up bright and early next morning, out playing
+with their balloons before breakfast. They tied long threads to them,
+and let them float above the trees.
+
+"When will we have the balloon race?" asked Freddie.
+
+"Whenever you like," Bert answered. "Only to have a race you have to
+let your balloon sail off, without any string fast to it, and you will
+not get it back again."
+
+At first Freddie would not hear of that, but finally he and Flossie
+became tired of the toy circus balloons, and came to Bert to beg him
+to make a race for them.
+
+Bert cut the string off both balloons. Freddie's was red and Flossie's
+blue.
+
+"Now we'll let go of both balloons at the same time," Bert explained,
+"and the balloon that goes up highest will win the race. Now watch,
+everyone!"
+
+They all watched, as Bert let go the toys, one from either hand. Up,
+up, up, went the red and blue balloons.
+
+"Oh, mine's going faster!" cried Freddie.
+
+"No, mine is!" exclaimed Flossie.
+
+And, for a time first the red balloon would be ahead, and then the
+blue one. But finally they both were at exactly the same height, and
+in that way they sailed onward and upward until they were only little
+specks in the blue sky, so no one could tell which one was ahead in
+the race.
+
+It was while the children were out in the yard in front of the Meadow
+Brook farmhouse, watching the disappearing balloons, that Bert heard a
+stranger's voice calling.
+
+"I say, do you children know where there is a circus around here?" was
+the question, and, turning, Nan, Bert and the others saw a man in a
+carriage, on the road just outside the fence.
+
+"A circus?" repeated Bert.
+
+"Yes, I heard there was one showing around here," the man went on,
+"and I'd like to find it."
+
+"There was a circus over at Rosedale yesterday," spoke Bert, "but it
+has traveled on by this time. If you inquired there you could find out
+where it went."
+
+"I'll do that," the man said. "I'm much obliged to you," and he was
+about to drive on, when Bert asked:
+
+"Aren't you Mr. Mason, who has a lumber yard near my father's?"
+
+"Whoa!" called the man to his horse. "Yes, I'm Mr. Mason," he went on,
+"and I have a lumber yard. But I don't seem to know you."
+
+"I'm Bert Bobbsey," the lad said, "and my father--"
+
+"Oh, yes, to be sure! Of course I know you!" the man exclaimed. "Why,
+you were the boy in the automobile the day my ward, Frank Kennedy, ran
+away from me."
+
+"Yes, I was there," said Bert.
+
+"Well, it's about Frank that I came on here," said Mr. Mason. "I have
+been tracing him. I heard he joined a circus when he ran away from me,
+and I want to find him and take him back. I came on here by train, and
+hired this horse and carriage to drive about the country. But now,
+when I am almost up to the circus, you tell me it has moved. That's
+too bad, and I'm not sure, when I find it, that Frank will be with
+it."
+
+"I think he will be, Mr. Mason," said Bert, quietly.
+
+"What's that?" cried Mr. Mason. "You think Frank will be with the
+circus? What makes you think so?"
+
+"Because we saw him with it yesterday," said Nan, taking part in the
+talk, "and he said he was going to travel with it."
+
+"Yes, that's right," agreed Bert. He thought it only fair to give
+information about Frank, since Mrs. Bobbsey had said she thought it
+would be best for the runaway boy to go back to his guardian.
+
+"Hum!" exclaimed Mr. Mason. "If Frank is with the circus, I'll soon
+get him. I'll drive over to Rosedale, and inquire where the show went
+from there. I can easily trace it. Much obliged to you for your
+information," he called over his shoulder, as he drove off. He did not
+stop to inquire how Frank was, nor how he had fared since running
+away. Perhaps Mr. Mason did not think of this.
+
+"Oh, I hope he--I hope he doesn't shake Frank, when he finds him,"
+said Nan, as the lumber man drove on.
+
+"I don't believe he will," remarked Bert. "I fancy Frank will make his
+guardian promise to treat him better if he goes back to the lumber
+office."
+
+Nan and Bert went in the house to tell their mother of meeting the man
+who was looking for Frank. She said they had done right to tell what
+they knew.
+
+"Poor boy," she sighed, "he hasn't had a very happy life, but perhaps
+this will be all for the good, and he may be better treated now."
+
+That afternoon, as Harry and the Bobbsey children, with Tom Mason and
+Mabel Herold were going down the road to pick some blackberries, they
+met a farmer boy driving an empty hay wagon. This boy knew Bert, Harry
+and Tom.
+
+"Hello!" he called to them, "did you hear the news about the circus?"
+
+"What news?" asked Bert, wondering if the boy meant that Mr. Mason had
+reached the show and taken away Frank.
+
+"News about the wild animals escaping from the circus," went on the
+boy on the hay-wagon.
+
+"Wild animals escaping!" exclaimed Nan, with a frightened look over
+her shoulder, while Flossie came over closer to her sister.
+
+"That's it!" said the boy. "When the show was moving out of Rosedale
+last night, some tigers and lions got loose, and ran off in the woods.
+They looked for 'em, but couldn't find 'em. Some of the farmers around
+here are out now with guns."
+
+"Oh, Nan!" exclaimed Flossie. "Let's go back home! I don't like wild
+animals!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+WHAT FREDDIE SAW
+
+
+For a few seconds Bert and Harry, his cousin, stared at the boy on the
+hay-wagon. Then Harry, who knew him well, asked:
+
+"Say, Jim Bates, are you joking or did you really hear about some wild
+animals escaping from the circus?"
+
+"Indeed I'm not joking!" cried Jim. "I did hear it! Bill Snowden told
+me. You know he lives over on the road that runs from Rosedale to
+Blaisdell and the circus went there. It went right past his house in
+the night, and he looked out of his window and saw the camels and
+elephants and wild animal cages."
+
+"I saw the elephants, too!" exclaimed Freddie. "I took hold of one's
+big toothpick tooth. Elephants eat hay. Were they eating any hay when
+that boy saw 'em? I wish elephants would go past our house."
+
+"Quiet, Freddie dear, please," said Nan. "We want to hear about the
+wild animals. Did they really get loose?" she asked, and she looked
+over her shoulder, as did Flossie and Mabel Herold.
+
+"Well, that's what Bill Snowden said," replied Jim Bates. "Of course I
+didn't see 'em run away myself, but I'm all ready for 'em, if I meet
+any bears, or lions or tigers," he added.
+
+"Ready for 'em--how do you mean?" asked Bert.
+
+"I've got a big club, and some stones," answered Jim, and he took up
+from the seat beside him a stout stick, and showed where he had made a
+little pile of stones in the wagon.
+
+"They wouldn't hurt a lion," said Freddie. "Lions or tigers aren't
+afraid of sticks or stones. I'm going to get my fire engine. It
+squirts water, and wild animals is afraid of water."
+
+"Yes, we've heard that story before," said Bert, with a laugh. "But
+don't you go out hunting for wild animals with that toy engine of
+yours, Freddie!" his older brother advised.
+
+"No, indeed," added Nan. "Oh, I think we ought to go home, Bert."
+
+"I'm going home," said the boy on the wagon, "and if I meet any
+animals on the way; I'm going to throw stones at 'em."
+
+"Pooh! They won't be afraid of stones," declared Freddie.
+
+"Yes, they will, too!" declared Jim Bates. "I read in a book that a
+bear's nose is very soft and tender, and if you hit him on it he'll
+howl, and run away."
+
+"I heard that, too," said Harry. "I hope it's true."
+
+"Well, if a bear's nose is tender, a lion's or a tiger's must be
+tender also," went on Jim, "and if I meet any wild animals I'm going
+to hit 'em on the nose."
+
+"That's a good idea," Bert said, with a laugh. "But how can you be
+sure you'll hit 'em on the nose?"
+
+"Oh, I can't be sure," admitted Jim, "but I'm a pretty good shot
+throwing stones, and I've got plenty, so if I miss the first time I'll
+hit 'em on the nose later. There isn't any wild animal going to get
+me. No sir!" and he looked at the stones and his stout club.
+
+"I should think," said Mabel Herold, "that if you had a good team of
+horses you could drive fast and get away from any wild animals you
+might meet."
+
+"Well, I could do that, too," replied the boy On the hay-wagon. "And
+if I throw all my stones, and don't hit a lion or a bear on the nose,
+I'll whip up and get away."
+
+"Well, I'm going to get away now," decided Nan. "Come on, Flossie and
+Mabel. We won't go berrying to-day. Bears like blackberries, so I've
+read, and no one can tell but that there might be one in the berry
+patch where we are going."
+
+"Oh, I don't think so!" exclaimed Bert. "Maybe there isn't any truth
+in that story after all, about the wild animals escaping. That other
+boy didn't see 'em get away, did he?" asked Bert of Jim.
+
+"No, he didn't exactly see 'em," admitted the boy on the hay-wagon,
+"but he heard the circus men talking in the night about how the lion
+and the bear and the tiger got out of their cages."
+
+"Oh, come on home, Nan! Come on home!" begged Flossie. "This is worse
+than the shooting in the moving pictures. Let's go home."
+
+Nan was very willing to go, and so was Mabel. Freddie, too, after
+thinking it over, decided that he had better go back with the girls,
+and get his toy fire engine ready for any possible danger.
+
+"What do you say, Bert, shall we go back?" inquired Harry.
+
+"Well, I don't know," slowly replied the older Bobbsey lad. "I don't
+really believe in the least that any wild animals are loose, but if
+the girls aren't going berrying there's no use in us going."
+
+"I guess that's right," agreed Tom. "No use going on alone."
+
+And, though none of the older boys would admit it, I think they, too,
+were rather glad to turn back after having heard the story of the
+escape of the wild circus animals.
+
+"Well, I'm all ready for 'em, if I meet any," declared Jim, as he
+drove on, having told the news.
+
+On the way back Bert and the others met several farmers who knew Harry
+or Tom, and each of these men said they had also heard the story of
+the escape of a lion, tiger and bear.
+
+"And if they are loose, some of us may miss some cattle or sheep,"
+declared Mr. Ames, who lived not far from Uncle Daniel. "I think we
+farmers will have to get up a hunting party."
+
+"I'd like to come," broke in Freddie. "I've got a fire engine, and
+wild animals is afraid--"
+
+"That will do, dear," said Nan, gently putting her finger across his
+lips. "Little boys can't go hunting wild animals."
+
+By the time the Bobbsey twins and their friends had almost reached
+Meadow Brook, on their way back, they had met several persons--men or
+boys--who spoke of having heard of the escape of the circus animals.
+
+When the children came up the gravel walk of the farmhouse, Mrs.
+Bobbsey, seeing them from the side porch, where she was sitting,
+stringing beans for supper, called out:
+
+"Well you are back early. Did you get many berries?"
+
+"We didn't get any, mother," said Nan. "We--"
+
+"It's wild animals!" burst out Freddie, unable to keep quiet any
+longer. "A lion, a tiger and a bear! They got away from the circus,
+and they--they--"
+
+"What's all this?" interrupted Aunt Sarah, coming out with her sewing
+in her hands.
+
+Then, by turns, with many interruptions from Freddie, the story was
+told. Dinah listened with wide-opened eyes, and if she could have
+turned pale I think she would have done so. But of course she could
+not, for she was the color of a chocolate cake, and had to stay that
+way.
+
+"Oh, I don't believe a word of it!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel, when he
+heard the tale. "Every time a circus comes to town there is a story of
+wild animals escaping, but I've never seen any yet. I don't believe it
+at all!"
+
+But the children did, and later, when Uncle Daniel came back from a
+visit to the village store that evening, he had to admit that several
+persons had spoken to him about the wild beasts being loose.
+
+"Hadn't you better see if your shot gun is loaded?" his wife asked
+him.
+
+"Well, I will, if it will make you feel any easier," he agreed. "But
+there's no danger of any of them coming near here, even if they have
+escaped, which I don't believe."
+
+The children were rather frightened that night, and would not go far
+from the porch to play in the moonlight, which they usually did before
+going to bed.
+
+Of course Bert and Harry were not as frightened as were Flossie and
+Freddie, but they looked nervously over their shoulders at the dark
+places under the bushes as they passed them.
+
+Freddie, true to his promise, got out his toy fire engine, and filled
+the tank with water, winding up the spring that worked the pump and
+sent out the stream from the little rubber hose.
+
+"Now I'm ready for a lion or a tiger or a bear," he said.
+
+"Well, don't dream of them," said his mother. "Now it's time for bed."
+
+Whether the talk of the circus animals had made Freddie nervous, or
+whether he did dream of them, he could not clearly tell afterward. All
+he knew was that he did not sleep well, and, some time after going to
+bed he awakened with a start.
+
+There was no light in his room, but the moon shone in. He could look
+across to where Flossie was asleep in her crib.
+
+Then Freddie heard a noise. It came from outside and sounded like:
+"Wuff!"
+
+"Oh! Oh!" whispered Freddie to himself. "That's him! That's one of the
+wild animals! It's a bear! That's how bears go--'wuff!' Oh, it's come,
+and what shall I do!"
+
+He sat up in bed listening. He heard the noise again!
+
+"Wuff! Wuff!"
+
+Then Freddie decided he must be brave. Without waking Flossie, the
+little fellow slid from bed, and crossed to the window. The bear, if
+such it was, could not be in his room. He was sure of that, for the
+place was made bright by the moonlight that streamed in the window.
+
+Over to this window Freddie went. He looked out, and as he did so, he
+saw something shaggy and black walk under the lilac bush in front of
+the house.
+
+"There he is!" whispered Freddie to himself. Then in his shrill
+childish voice he called loud:
+
+"Mamma! Bert! Nan! It's come! The bear! He's out in front under the
+bush! Oh! Oh! Oh!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+IN SWIMMING
+
+
+Freddie's cries roused the whole house at Meadow Brook, for the little
+Bobbsey boy had a strong, ringing voice.
+
+His mother was suddenly awakened from her sleep in the next room. Aunt
+Sarah and Uncle Daniel heard him in their apartment. Nan, Bert and
+Harry also heard him.
+
+"Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, who slept in the same room with her
+little brother. "What is it? What is it, Freddie?" and she sat up in
+her crib.
+
+"It's a bear--out in front--under a bush. The circus bear!" answered
+Freddie. "I didn't see the lion or tiger, but they must be out there
+too, unless the bear ate them up!"
+
+"Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "Oh, dear!"
+
+"Mamma! Nan! Bert!" cried Nan. "Come, oh, come here! Dinah!"
+
+"I'se comin', honey lamb! I'se comin'!" cried the colored cook, as she
+heard Freddie's wild cry. "What am de mattah, honey lamb?"
+
+Others were asking this question now.
+
+"What's it all about?" called Bert.
+
+"A bear!" answered Freddie.
+
+"Lions and tigers," added Flossie, half sobbing.
+
+"Gracious! Freddie's been dreaming, or else he's talking in his
+sleep," said Bert to Harry, who was also awakened by the shouts of the
+little boy.
+
+By this time Mrs. Bobbsey was up, and had put on a dressing gown and
+slippers. She hurried out into the hall, to meet Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Oh, something dreadful must have happened," said Freddie's mother.
+But when she went in his room, she found him and Flossie safe, with
+the little boy standing in the moonlight, near the open window.
+
+"What is it, little man?" asked Aunt Sarah.
+
+"Hush! Not so loud!" cautioned Flossie. "It's bears and lions and
+tigers. Freddie saw 'em!" She was not so frightened now.
+
+"I did not see 'em!" cried Freddie. "I only saw a bear!"
+
+"Oh, yes, the bear ate the lion and tiger," went on Flossie, "and if
+Snap or Snoop would only eat the bear now, it would be all right."
+
+"What does it all mean?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "Did you really see
+something, Freddie, or were you dreaming?"
+
+"I did see something, mamma, and it went: 'Wuff! Wuff!'" Freddie
+explained. "Then it went and hid under the lilac bush. I'll show you,"
+and, taking his mother's hand, he led her to the window, out of which
+he pointed.
+
+Now Nan, Bert and Harry came into the small twins' room.
+
+"What is it?" they asked.
+
+By turns Flossie and Freddie told their story, Freddie doing the
+"Wuff! Wuff!" part very earnestly, until Flossie begged him to stop,
+as he "skeered" her.
+
+Dinah, too, came waddling into the room, bringing a candle which
+dripped grease down on her bare feet. The grease was hot, and as Dinah
+felt it, she gave a yell which was almost as startling as was
+Freddie's.
+
+"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"Candle grease done splashed on mah toe, an' burnt me," Dinah
+explained, as she stood on one foot, and held the other on top of it
+to ease the pain.
+
+"There it is! There it is!" suddenly cried Freddie. "There's the
+bear!" and he leaned so far out of the window that Bert had to catch
+his little brother by his night gown to save him from a possible fall.
+
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah looked out, and saw a big black object
+come into the moonlight.
+
+"Oh, it _is_ a bear!" declared Mrs. Bobbsey.
+
+"It does look like some strange beast," agreed Aunt Sarah.
+
+"I wish Mr. Bobbsey were here," said the lumber merchant's wife.
+
+"Uncle Daniel will fix him!" declared Freddie. "Uncle Daniel's got a
+gun. Mamma, can't I take my fire engine and squirt water on that
+bear?"
+
+"No, indeed!" answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "Get back to bed right away."
+
+"Dan, you'd better see what it is," said Aunt
+
+Sarah, as her husband, half dressed, was heard out in the hall. "There
+_is_ some animal under the lilac bush."
+
+"I'll soon have him out of that," said the farmer. He had his gun with
+him, and while the children watched from the window, they saw him step
+out of the kitchen door.
+
+"Oh, he's going to shoot!" cried Freddie in a shrill whisper, as he
+watched his uncle.
+
+"I don't want to hear him!" murmured Flossie, as she got into her
+crib, and pulled the bed clothes over her ears.
+
+But Bert, Nan and the others watched. Then, just as Uncle Daniel
+raised the gun, to shoot at something black which he saw beneath the
+lilac bush, an animal rushed out, and gave a howl.
+
+Hardly had that died away than there sounded a loud:
+
+"Bow! Wow! Wow!" This was repeated several times.
+
+"Oh, it's only a dog!" cried Bert.
+
+"Is it Snap?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"No, it's a big black stray dog," answered Bert.
+
+"No wonder Freddie thought it was a bear," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Now
+it's all over, go back to bed, and sleep in peace."
+
+And it was only a dog that had caused all the excitement. The animal
+ran out into the moonlight, stood a moment looking at Uncle Daniel
+with the gun, and then gave more barks.
+
+It was as if he said he did not like to be chased away in that
+fashion.
+
+"Well, it's a good thing I didn't shoot him," said Uncle Daniel as he
+came back into the house.
+
+"Whose dog was it?" asked his wife.
+
+"Snook's big black one. He was hunting for a bone, I guess, and he
+must have sniffed and snuffed when the dirt got up his nose. That woke
+Freddie. It was only a dog."
+
+"Only a dog!" murmured Freddie. "I thought it was a bear!"
+
+"Well, I'm glad it wasn't, or a tiger or lion, either," said Flossie,
+as she curled up in her cot.
+
+Soon the house was quiet again, and everyone went to sleep. In the
+morning Freddie and Flossie went out to look at the place under the
+lilac bush where the dog had been seen. They found a hole where he had
+been digging up a bone he had hidden there.
+
+And, a little later that day, the dog himself came over, to make
+friends with Snap. He let Freddie pat him.
+
+"He isn't half as big as he looked in the night," said the little
+fellow.
+
+"No, daylight often makes many things seem smaller--even troubles,
+that look very big at night," said Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile.
+
+"But maybe we'll see some wild animals that got away from the circus,"
+hopefully said Freddie at dinner.
+
+"No, you won't!" exclaimed his uncle with a laugh.
+
+"Why not?" asked Bert.
+
+"Because none got away," was the answer. "I met one of the circus men
+in the village this morning. He stayed behind to settle up some bills,
+and he said not a single animal got away. It was all a false alarm; no
+truth in it."
+
+"Well, I'm glad of it!" declared Mrs. Bobbsey, and I think everyone
+felt better on hearing that news.
+
+Mr. Bobbsey came back to Meadow Brook the next day, and heard all
+about the wild animal scare, and also about Freddie being lost at the
+circus, and Frank Kennedy finding him.
+
+"And Mr. Mason is looking for Frank at the circus, wherever the show
+is now," said Bert.
+
+"Yes, so I heard," remarked Mr. Bobbsey. "Well, I hope he treats the
+poor boy kindly if he takes him back."
+
+It was a hot, quiet summer afternoon, a few days later, that Bert and
+Harry, with Tom Mason, sat under the trees in front of the farmhouse.
+Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah had gone calling, Flossie and Freddie were
+asleep in the house, and Nan had gone over to see Mabel Herold.
+
+"What can we do?" asked Bert, stretching his arms.
+
+"I don't want to do much except keep cool," spoke Harry.
+
+"That's what I say!" exclaimed Tom. "And I know a good way to get that
+way, too."
+
+"What way?" asked Bert, closing his eyes.
+
+"Cool. Let's go swimming. It's just right for that!"
+
+"All right!" agreed Harry.
+
+"Fine!" cried Bert. "Let's do it."
+
+A little later they were on their way to the old swimming hole, near
+the willow tree that grew on the edge of the brook, or little river.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+FRANK COMES BACK
+
+
+"Watch me dive in!"
+
+"I can swim under water!"
+
+"Let's see who can first swim across to the other side of the big
+hole!"
+
+Bert Bobbsey, his cousin Harry, Tom Mason and some other boys were
+standing on the bank of the little brook, or river, as it was
+sometimes called, all ready for a cool bath that hot summer day. The
+water of the "old swimming hole," as it was called, was not deep
+enough to be dangerous, and Mrs. Bobbsey was not afraid to have Bert
+go there without his father. Bert's father had taught him to swim.
+
+"All ready now?" asked Harry, as the boys stood in line on the edge of
+the little pool, waiting for the dive.
+
+"All ready!" answered Bert.
+
+"Then go!" cried the farm-boy.
+
+Into the water they splashed, head first, disappearing under the
+waves. Up they bounced again, like corks, and then they began swimming
+for the other side.
+
+"A race! A race!" cried Bert, shaking his head to get the water out of
+his eyes and nose. He had held his mouth tightly shut when diving, so
+no water had been able to get between his lips.
+
+"I'll race you!" exclaimed Tom Mason, and soon the boys were swimming
+as hard as they could toward the other bank. Some of them could not
+swim very well, but they paddled, or swam "dog-fashion."
+
+"Tom's going to win!" cried one of the boys who could not swim fast.
+He was now standing up in the water, looking at the three boys in the
+lead.
+
+"No, I think Bert will get to the other side first!" said another boy,
+who stood on the bank, not yet having dived in.
+
+"You're all wrong, Harry will beat!" exclaimed a third boy, and so it
+proved. Harry soon passed Bert and Tom, and reached the farther bank
+first. Then Tom came next, while poor Bert was last.
+
+"Too bad you couldn't win," said Harry kindly.
+
+"Oh, you two are better swimmers than I am," said Bert. "I don't mind
+being beaten that way. I guess I need more practice."
+
+"That's it," his cousin said. "I have had more chances to swim than
+you do, so of course I ought to be better."
+
+"You can beat me, and I swim as much as you do," said Tom, who had
+lived in the country all his life, and near the little river. "I used
+to beat Harry every time," said Tom to Bert, "but now he goes ahead of
+me."
+
+"Well, maybe you'll beat him next time," remarked Bert, with a laugh.
+
+After the little race the boys swam about as they pleased, now jumping
+in, or diving head first from the bank near the deeper part of the
+pool, sometimes swimming under water, and then jumping out to lie in
+the warm sand, or on the green grass.
+
+"Oh, this is great fun!" exclaimed Bert, as he sat on the edge of the
+bank, swinging his bare feet to and fro. "I'm glad we came!"
+
+"Look out!" suddenly called Tom, but he spoke too late. Just then
+Harry slipped quietly up behind Bert and pushed him into the water.
+
+"Whoop!" yelled Bert, as he splashed in. He went under, but soon came
+up again, and, swimming to shore, crawled out.
+
+"You wait until I get hold of you!" he cried laughingly to Harry.
+"I'll toss you in! Just wait!"
+
+"You've got to get me first!" replied Harry, keeping out of Bert's
+way. Bert raced after Harry but did not catch him. However, Bert
+waited his chance and a little later, when he saw Harry sitting on the
+edge of the hole, talking to one of the other boys, Bert stole softly
+up behind his cousin, and pushed him into the water.
+
+"Wow!" cried Harry as he splashed in.
+
+"Now we're even," Bert said with a laugh.
+
+After this the boys played some games in the water, swimming about,
+"ducking" one another, and having lots of fun.
+
+"Well, I guess it's about time we started for home," said Harry, after
+a bit, as he noticed the sun, like a ball of fire, sinking to rest in
+the western sky. "I'll have to go after the cows soon."
+
+"I'll go with you," offered Bert, as the boys came out of the water,
+and began to dress.
+
+They were almost ready to start back home when Bert noticed a boy
+walking along the path that extended on one side of the river.
+
+At first Bert did not pay much attention to the boy, after giving him
+one glance, but as the strange lad came nearer Bert looked at him more
+closely.
+
+"I wonder where I've seen that boy before?" he said aloud.
+
+"What boy?"
+
+"Over there," replied Bert, pointing.
+
+Harry gave one look, and exclaimed:
+
+"Why, don't you remember? That's the boy who found Freddie when he was
+lost at the circus!"
+
+"Oh, so it is!" exclaimed Bert. "But what is he doing here? Why isn't
+he with the show?"
+
+"I don't know," answered Harry, who was trying to untangle a hard knot
+in his shoe lace. "Better ask him."
+
+"I will, if he comes near enough," decided Bert, as he finished
+dressing. Then he "ruffled" up his hair, so it would dry more quickly.
+
+By this time they had on their clothes, and the other boy had noticed
+the lads who had just finished swimming. He gave them one look, and
+then turned hurriedly away, as if he did not want them to see him.
+
+"Hold on wait a minute--Frank!" called Bert.
+
+The boy stopped as he heard his name mentioned.
+
+"Who wants me?" he asked.
+
+"I do--Bert Bobbsey," was the answer. "You know me. You found my
+little brother Freddie, when he was lost at the circus. Don't you
+remember?"
+
+"Oh--yes," was the answer.
+
+The boy walked slowly forward, and as he came nearer Bert could see
+that he looked tired and hungry.
+
+"What's the matter?" Harry asked. "Why aren't you with the circus any
+more? Did you lose your place?"
+
+"Well, no, not exactly," replied Frank, "but the side show I worked
+for busted up--I mean it failed, and I was out of a place. There was
+nothing else for me to do in the circus, so I had to leave it. I
+haven't any work now, and I don't know what to do."
+
+"That's too bad," said Bert kindly. "What are you going to do?"
+
+"I don't know," and Frank's voice was sad.
+
+"Are you going back to the lumber office?" asked Harry, for he had
+heard his cousin tell how Frank had run away from his guardian, Mr.
+Mason, who punished the boy for taking in a Confederate twenty dollar
+bill, that was worthless.
+
+"No, I'll never go back there!" exclaimed Frank, with flashing eyes.
+
+"Mr. Mason was looking for you, the day after the circus showed in
+Rosedale," said Bert. "Did he see you?"
+
+"No, he didn't, and I don't want to see him," Frank said. "After I
+lost my place in the side show, where I took in tickets at the tent
+entrance, I started to tramp, and look for work. But I haven't found
+any yet. So I thought I'd come back to Meadow Brook. I heard there
+were some farms around here, and I thought maybe I could get work on
+one of them. If I can't--I don't know what to do," and it sounded as
+if Frank was trying to keep from crying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+BAD MONEY
+
+
+Bert, Harry and their chums hardly knew what to do. They felt sorry
+for Frank, and wanted to help him, but they did not know just how to
+go about it.
+
+"Do you know how to work on a farm?" asked Harry.
+
+"Well, no, not exactly," replied Frank. "But I know something about
+the lumber business, and I guess I could chop wood. They have to do
+that on farms, don't they?" he asked, and he was smiling a little now.
+
+"Oh, yes, wood has to be chopped," said Harry. "Entirely too much of
+it, I think. It makes my back ache."
+
+"Say, why can't we ask him to come back with us?" whispered Bert to
+Harry, as Frank picked up a stone and tossed it into the water.
+
+"I guess we could," said Harry, slowly.
+
+"Then I'm going to do it," went on Bert. "I say," he spoke to Frank,
+"wouldn't you like to come back to my uncle's house, and get something
+to eat? Maybe he could give you work. I know Harry and I have plenty
+to do."
+
+"I would like to come, very much," replied Frank, a brighter look
+coming over his face. "I'll do all the work I can, too," he added,
+quickly.
+
+"Come along then," invited Harry, and as Bert and Frank walked along
+together, ahead of the others, Harry told his chums how he had first
+met Frank at the circus, the time Freddie was lost. He also explained
+to the boys what Bert had told him about Frank running away.
+
+Leaving their chums with whom they had gone swimming, Bert and Harry
+led Frank down toward the pleasant farmhouse. Freddie was out in
+front, playing with his toy fire engine as usual. As soon as the
+little Bobbsey twin saw the circus lad, he exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, there's my boy--my elephant-boy that found me when everybody was
+lost but me. Oh, I'm glad to see you!" he cried, and he ran to Frank,
+who caught Freddie up in his arms, and kissed him.
+
+Nan and Flossie came down off the porch to see what all the excitement
+was about.
+
+"Oh, it's the circus-boy!" Flossie cried. "Did you bring any trained
+monkeys or elephants with you?" she asked.
+
+"No, not this time, I'm sorry to say," replied Frank. "They wouldn't
+let me take any of the animals with me when I came away."
+
+"Well, did you bring any--any peanuts?" asked Freddie. "Peanuts are
+good, even if you haven't any elephants to eat 'em."
+
+"No peanuts, either," went on Frank. Poor lad! He looked so hungry
+that if he had had any peanuts he probably would have eaten them
+himself.
+
+"Well, did you bring any--any balloons?" Flossie wanted to know.
+
+"Well, yes, I have some toy balloons," said Frank, and he pulled some
+pieces of rubber from his pocket. "These are circus balloons before
+they are blown up," explained Frank. "You can use a hollow goose quill
+to blow them full of air, and then tie a string, or thread, around the
+bottom, so the air won't come out. They won't go up like circus
+balloons, though," Frank said.
+
+"Why not?" Freddie wanted to know.
+
+"Because they have only air in them, instead of gas," Frank
+explained. "Gas is lighter than air, and that makes it lift the
+balloon. But you can have some fun with these," and he gave two each
+to Flossie and Freddie. "One of the circus men gave them to me," he
+went on. The children were soon playing with the balloons.
+
+By this time Mrs. Bobbsey had come out of the house, and when she saw
+Frank she remembered him at once.
+
+"Oh, it is very good to see you again," she exclaimed, and she looked
+sorry when he told her he had lost his place with the circus.
+
+"Well, perhaps it is all for the best," said Mr. Bobbsey, when he
+heard the news. "A circus is not the nicest place in the world for a
+growing boy, though many good men and women are in circuses."
+
+"I think I'd like to work on a farm for a change," said Frank.
+
+"Well, you won't find farm work very easy," spoke Uncle Daniel, as he
+came out to listen to the runaway's story. "And I think you had better
+go back to your guardian," he added. "He has been looking for you."
+
+"So Bert said," remarked Frank, "but I'll never go back to that lumber
+office to be treated as I was before. Mr. Mason really wasn't fair to
+me."
+
+"Perhaps he meant to be," said Mr. Bobbsey.
+
+"Well, didn't he punish me for something that wasn't my fault--taking
+that bad twenty dollar bill?" asked Frank.
+
+"He did punish you, yes," admitted Mr. Bobbsey, "and I am not saying
+he did right in that. But you were put in his charge by the courts,
+and he has authority to look after you, the same as a father would
+look after his children."
+
+"I think it is best that you go back to him," went on Uncle Daniel.
+
+"I never will!" exclaimed Frank.
+
+"Would you if I saw Mr. Mason and got him to promise to treat you more
+kindly, and overlook the loss of the twenty dollars?" asked the
+farmer.
+
+"Well, I might," replied Frank, slowly.
+
+"That's better!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel. "I like a young lad to have a
+real home," he went on, "and not be traveling about with a circus, no
+matter how good a show it is. What happened to the side-show you were
+with?" he asked Frank.
+
+"Oh, our biggest snake died," said the boy, "and the fat lady was
+taken sick, and got so thin she wasn't a curiosity any more, so the
+show 'busted up,' as the circus people called it."
+
+"Well, maybe it's just as well," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I never did like
+snakes, anyhow, and it can't be healthful to be as fat as that lady
+was. I hope she gets better, and is thin enough to be comfortable. And
+now we must look after you, Frank. You will stay with us a few days,
+until Mr. Bobbsey and Uncle Daniel can arrange about your going back
+to your guardian."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Now that you have promised, Frank, I shall
+write to Mr. Mason, telling him you are here. He is probably
+searching for you, wondering what has happened to you since you lost
+your place with the circus."
+
+"You are very kind to me," murmured the homeless boy.
+
+"Yes, and I think Mr. Mason will be kind to you, too, after we have
+had a talk with him," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Now, Frank, make yourself at
+home here, and have a good time."
+
+Frank certainly needed a good time if anyone did, for he had not had
+much fun thus far in life.
+
+Aunt Sarah took Frank to the dining-room, and soon Dinah had served a
+meal that would make any hungry boy feel very much at home, Frank
+said.
+
+"He shore hab got some appetite!" exclaimed Dinah, as she looked in
+through a crack in the kitchen door, and watched Frank eat.
+
+"Well, I guess anyone would have an appetite if they had to live on
+hay and oats," said Martha.
+
+"Hay an' oats!" cried Dinah. "Did he hab t' eat hay an' oats?"
+
+"He must have," Martha replied. "That's about all they have in
+circuses."
+
+"Pore boy!" sighed Dinah. "I'se gwine t' bake him a whole chocolate
+cake fo' his ownse'f; dat's what I am!"
+
+And she did, too, though Frank shared his treat with the others, a day
+or so later, when it was given to him.
+
+Meanwhile Frank was taken in almost as one of the family by the
+Bobbseys and their relatives and friends. Freddie never wanted to be
+away from his "circus-boy," as he called Frank, and Flossie, too, was
+quite in love with the wanderer.
+
+"It makes me homesick for Mrs. Mason's two little girls," said Frank
+to Mrs. Bobbsey, as he came in one day from having taken Freddie and
+Flossie for a walk.
+
+"Well, it's a good sign to be homesick," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "It shows
+you like your home, in spite of some bad times there. You will soon be
+back again."
+
+Mr. Mason had been written to, and told that his ward was at Meadow
+Brook, and would go back with him if he called. But no answer had yet
+been received.
+
+"I suppose he is trying to find you by following up the circus," said
+Mr. Bobbsey to Frank.
+
+A few days after this Bert, Harry and Frank were on their way to the
+village store to get some groceries for Aunt Sarah. As they came near
+the place, in front of which was a large porch, a man was seen peering
+around the corner of the building. At the sight of him Frank started
+and pulled Bert by the sleeve.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Harry's cousin.
+
+"That man!" whispered Frank. "See him! That's the one who gave me the
+bad money--the Confederate twenty dollar bill. What can he be doing
+here? Oh, if I could only get Mr. Mason's money back from that man!"
+
+"Let's wait and see what he is doing," suggested Harry. The man had
+not yet seen them. The boys could watch him as he seemed to be hiding
+back of the corner of the country store.
+
+"He's up to some trick, I'm sure," said Bert.
+
+A few seconds later Mr. Mack, the owner of the store, came out and
+walked down the village street. Hardly had he started off than the
+strange man quickly went into the store.
+
+"He's going to take the money!" exclaimed Bert. "There's no one in the
+store now. He waited for Mr. Mack to come out, so he could go in and
+get the money."
+
+"No, I don't think that," spoke Harry. "George Smith, a boy I know,
+works for Mr. Mack, and attends to the store when Mr. Mack goes out.
+George must be in there now."
+
+"Well, that man is up to some trick, I'm sure!" exclaimed Frank. "How
+can we find out what it is?"
+
+"We can go in the store through the back door," said Harry. "Come on,
+we'll do it, and sneak in quietly! Then we can see what's going on."
+
+Quietly the three boys went into the store through the rear entrance.
+No one up front could see them because of the piles of boxes and
+barrels in front of the counters.
+
+"Well, what can I do for you to-day?" the three heard George Smith ask
+the stranger.
+
+"I want two pounds of the best butter," was the man's answer. "And I
+suppose you can change a twenty dollar bill, can't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said George. "We've got that much change."
+
+"You were sure of that?" asked the man, glancing around the store
+nervously.
+
+"Yes, sir, we always keep plenty of change on hand."
+
+"Very well then, go and weigh out the butter and be sure and give me
+good weight."
+
+"We always give full weight, sir," answered George.
+
+Bert and the others could hear, but could not see George as he weighed
+out the butter. Then Frank whispered:
+
+"I want to get near enough so I can see what kind of a twenty dollar
+bill that man gives this boy. Maybe it will be no good, just as he
+fooled me."
+
+"Come over here," whispered Harry. "You can look through this crack
+between two boxes. It's right near the cash drawer, and you can see
+the bill when George makes change for it."
+
+Frank crept up to make an observation, and as the store boy took the
+bill from the man, and began making change, Frank could not hold back
+any longer. He saw that the bill was the same kind that had fooled
+him. It was Confederate money, and utterly worthless.
+
+"Don't give that man any change!" cried Frank. "That's bad money!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HAPPY DAYS
+
+
+Bert and Harry were so surprised at Frank's sudden call, that, for a
+few seconds, they did not know what to do or say. George Smith, the
+boy in the store, was also startled. He stood with the bad twenty
+dollar bill in his hand, wondering where the warning voice had come
+from. And then Frank showed how quick he could be.
+
+"Hurry up!" he whispered to Bert and Harry. "One of you slip around
+and lock the front door, and the other one lock the back. Then we'll
+have this man trapped, and maybe I can make him pay back the money he
+got from me. Quick!"
+
+"I'll go to the front door!" exclaimed Harry.
+
+"And I'll lock the back one!" said Bert.
+
+The man, who had heard Frank's call from behind the pile of boxes,
+must have known something had gone wrong with his plan to cheat.
+
+"Never mind about the butter," he said quickly. "I guess I won't buy
+any after all. Just give me back my twenty dollar bill, and I'll get
+along."
+
+"Oh, no, you won't!" exclaimed Harry, as he slipped around some
+barrels. Quickly running to the front door, the country boy locked it,
+and stood in front of it.
+
+"Hurry! Give me my money back, I tell you!" cried the man to George,
+who stood near the cash drawer, not knowing what to do.
+
+"Don't you give it to him!" advised Frank, stepping out. "Lock the
+back door, Bert," he called.
+
+"I have!" cried the older Bobbsey boy.
+
+The man started to run behind the counter, to find a way out, but he
+was too late. Bert had locked the door, and taken out the key.
+
+"Let me out of here!" cried the stranger. "Let me out!"
+
+Bert and Harry were somewhat frightened, but Frank was brave.
+
+"You don't get out of here until you pay back the twenty dollars you
+cheated out of Mr. Mason," he said.
+
+"I don't know anything about any Mr. Mason!" the stranger said. "I
+want my twenty dollar bill back, I won't need any butter to-day!"
+
+"Don't give him that money!" cried Frank to George. "It's bad, and if
+you give it to him, he'll try to cheat someone else with it."
+
+"I'll fix you!" cried the man. But at that instant there was a
+rattling sound at the front door, and Harry, looking through the glass
+panels, saw Mr. Mack, the store owner, and two or three other men
+outside.
+
+"What's the matter? What has happened? Why am I locked out of my own
+store?" cried Mr. Mack, rattling the knob.
+
+"There's a cheat in here!" cried Harry, unlocking the door. "There he
+is!" he went on, as Mr. Mack rushed in. "That man tried to pass a bad
+twenty dollar bill on your boy," went on Harry.
+
+"He did, eh?" cried Mr. Mack. "Well, I'll see about that!"
+
+"You let me go!" exclaimed the strange man. "I haven't done anything.
+I wanted some butter, but I changed my mind. There isn't anything
+wrong in that. Give me my twenty dollar bill and I'll go!"
+
+"Oh, no, you'll not--not until you explain," said Mr. Mack, and he
+caught the man by the arm. Then the man tried to break away.
+
+"Here, help me hold him!" Mr. Mack called to some of his friends who
+had come in with him. "We'll see what this is all about. Who can
+explain?" he asked, looking at Bert, Harry and Frank, in turn.
+
+"He can," said Bert, pointing to the former circus boy.
+
+At this the stranger took a good look at Frank, and he seemed much
+worried.
+
+"I see you know me," said Frank with a smile.
+
+The man muttered something to himself.
+
+In a few words Frank told how he had been cheated by the old twenty
+dollar Confederate bill the man had passed on him some time ago, in
+the lumber office.
+
+"And when I saw that man, to-day, for the first time since, hiding
+around your store," went on Frank to Mr. Mack, "I thought perhaps he
+was up to some of his old tricks. He went in as soon as you went out,
+and I saw him give your clerk the same kind of a bad bill he gave me.
+Only I gave him eighteen good dollars in change."
+
+"But I didn't," said George Smith with a grateful look at Frank. "I
+was warned in time."
+
+"I tell you it is all a mistake," said the man. "You had better let me
+go."
+
+"The only place you will go to is prison," cried Mr. Mack. "Take him
+away, Constable Sprigg," he said to one of the men who had come into
+the store with him. "Take him away!"
+
+So the man who had cheated Frank, and who had nearly cheated Mr.
+Mack, was locked up in jail. It was found that he had many
+Confederate bills with him. That money was once good in the Southern
+States, during war-times, but now it is of no value, and will not buy
+even a stick of candy.
+
+Of course grown persons could not be fooled by the Confederate bills,
+but boys, who had never seen any of that money, might be easily
+deceived. And it was on boys that the man played his tricks, giving
+them bad twenty dollar bills for some small purchase, and getting good
+money in change.
+
+"He just waited until Mr. Mack went out of his store," explained
+Frank, "and he knew only a boy was left in charge. That's how he
+tricked me, waiting until Mr. Mason was out of the office."
+
+"Well, you did me a good service," said Mr. Mack, "and if ever you are
+in need of work, I'll give you a place in my store to help George when
+I am out."
+
+"I guess Frank is going back in the lumber business," said Bert.
+
+The next day Mr. Mason came in answer to the letter he had received
+about Frank. He brought with him the bad twenty dollar bill the man
+had cheated Frank with, and a little later the dishonest man was taken
+away by a policeman, and put in a place where he would have to work
+hard as a punishment for cheating honest persons. The Bobbseys never
+saw him again.
+
+Everyone said Frank was very smart to catch the cheat as he had done.
+Mr. Mason received back his twenty dollars, for the man had some good
+money in his pockets when arrested.
+
+"And now are you ready to come back with me, Frank?" asked Mr. Mason,
+when everything had come out right.
+
+"I--I guess so," was the rather slow answer.
+
+"My girls are anxious to see you again," the lumber merchant went on.
+"They have missed you very much. And I want to say I am sorry I was so
+cross and severe with you," he added. "I was provoked that you should
+be cheated, but I realize now that it was not your fault. That man
+made it his business to fool boys with his bad bills. Will you come
+back, Frank? I promise to treat you better from now on."
+
+"Yes, he will go back," said Uncle Daniel, "but he hasn't had much fun
+this summer. Suppose you leave him here at Meadow Brook for a while. I
+think it will do Frank good."
+
+"All right," agreed Mr. Mason. "But my wife and the girls are anxious
+to have him home. But let him stay here for a time."
+
+And so happy days began for Frank Kennedy, and the happy days
+continued for the Bobbsey twins, and their friends and relatives. The
+long summer days on the farm were filled with good times.
+
+One morning Freddie and Flossie went out in the kitchen where Dinah
+and Martha were busy making sandwiches and wrapping cakes in waxed
+paper.
+
+"Are we going to have company?" asked Flossie.
+
+"We's gwine t' hab annuder picnic!" exclaimed Dinah. "A big one!"
+
+"Oh, goodie!" cried Freddie. "And I'm going to take my fire engine to
+the woods and squirt water on snakes."
+
+"Well, don't pump any fire engine watah on ole Dinah, honey lamb!"
+begged the fat cook.
+
+"Oh, a picnic! What fun!" cried Nan, when she heard about it.
+
+And such good times as the Bobbseys had when they went to the cool
+green woods, with well-filled lunch baskets! Mr. Mack, the store
+keeper, was so grateful to Frank, for having saved the twenty dollars
+for him, that he sent a large bag of cakes and oranges for the
+woodland-dinner.
+
+Frank went with the others, and a number of country boys and girls
+were invited. They played games and sat about in the long grass under
+shady trees to eat the good things Dinah and Martha had cooked.
+Freddie played with his fire engine to his heart's content, and,
+though he managed to get pretty wet himself, no one else suffered
+much.
+
+And, a few days before Frank was to go back to his guardian Mr.
+Bobbsey gave the children another treat. They were taken to a nice
+moving picture show at Rosedale where the circus had been.
+
+After some funny reels had been shown, there was flashed on the screen
+a schoolhouse, with the children clustering about the teacher.
+
+"Oh, it's us! It's us!" whispered Nan. "Those are our pictures!"
+
+"So they are!" agreed Bert. And they were. Views of the sham battle
+the children had witnessed were thrown on the screen, and then came a
+scene showing Freddie. No sooner had he noticed himself in the
+pictures than he cried out loud:
+
+"Oh, that's me! Now watch me fall in the brook!"
+
+And he did, amid the laughter of the audience.
+
+I wish I had space to tell you of all the other things the Bobbseys
+did at Meadow Brook, but this book is as full as it will hold. So I
+will just say that when the time came Frank went back to Mr. Mason's
+home, and, a little later, the Bobbseys taking Snoop and Snap, went
+back to Lakeport, there to spend some weeks at home, until it was time
+to go on another vacation. And so, having enjoyed the company of the
+twins, we will say goodbye to them.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook
+by Laura Lee Hope
+
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