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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6950.txt b/6950.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0cff7d --- /dev/null +++ b/6950.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5120 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore, by Laura Lee Hope + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Posting Date: September 27, 2012 [EBook #6950] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 17, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE *** + + + + +Produced by Gordon Keener + + + + + + + + + +The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore + +Laura Lee Hope + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CHASING THE DUCK + + +"Suah's yo' lib, we do keep a-movin'!" cried Dinah, as she climbed +into the big depot wagon. + +"We didn't forget Snoop this time," exclaimed Freddie, following close +on Dinah's heels, with the box containing Snoop, his pet cat, who +always went traveling with the little fellow. + +"I'm glad I covered up the ferns with wet paper," Flossie remarked, +"for this sun would surely kill them if it could get at them." + +"Bert, you may carry my satchel," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and be careful, +as there are some glasses of jelly in it, you know." + +"I wish I had put my hat in my trunk," remarked Nan. "I'm sure +someone will sit on this box and smash it before we get there." + +"Now, all ready!" called Uncle Daniel, as he prepared to start old +Bill, the horse. + +"Wait a minute!" Aunt Sarah ordered. "There was another box, I'm +sure. Freddie, didn't you fix that blue shoe box to bring along?" + +"Oh, yes, that's my little duck, Downy. Get him quick, somebody, he's +on the sofa in the bay window!" + +Bert climbed out and lost no time in securing the missing box. + +"Now we are all ready this time," Mr. Bobbsey declared, while Bill +started on his usual trot down the country road to the depot. + +The Bobbseys were leaving the country for the seashore. As told in +our first volume, "The Bobbsey Twins," the little family consisted of +two pairs of twins, Nan and Bert, age eight, dark and handsome, and as +like as two peas, and Flossie and Freddie, age four, as light as the +others were dark, and "just exactly chums," as Flossie always +declared. + +The Bobbsey twins lived at Lakeport, where Mr. Richard Bobbsey had +large lumber yards. The mother and father were quite young +themselves, and so enjoyed the good times that came as naturally as +sunshine to the little Bobbseys. Dinah, the colored maid, had been +with the family so long the children at Lakeport called her Dinah +Bobbsey, although her real name was Mrs. Sam Johnston, and her +husband, Sam, was the man of all work about the Bobbsey home. + +Our first volume told all about the Lakeport home, and our second +book, "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country," was the story of the +Bobbseys on a visit to Aunt Sarah and Uncle Daniel Bobbsey in their +beautiful country home at Meadow Brook. Here Cousin Harry, a boy +Bert's age, shared all the sports with the family from Lakeport. Now +the Lakeport Bobbseys were leaving Meadow Brook, to spend the month of +August with Uncle William and Aunt Emily Minturn at their seashore +home, called Ocean Cliff, located near the village of Sunset Beach. +There they were also to meet their cousin, Dorothy Minturn, who was +just a year older than Nan. + +It was a beautiful morning, the very first day of August, that our +little party started off. Along the Meadow Brook road everybody +called out "Good-by!" for in the small country place all the Bobbseys +were well known, and even those from Lakeport had many friends there. + +Nettie Prentice, the one poor child in the immediate neighborhood (she +only lived two farms away from Aunt Sarah), ran out to the wagon as +Uncle Daniel hurried old Bill to the depot. + +"Oh, here, Nan!" she called. "Do take these flowers if you can carry +them. They are in wet cotton battin at the stems, and they won't fade +a bit all day," and Nettie offered to Nan a gorgeous bouquet of lovely +pure white, waxy lilies, that grow so many on a stalk and have such a +delicious fragrance. Nettie's house was an old homestead, and there +delicate blooms crowded around the sitting-room window. + +Nan let her hatbox down and took the flowers. + +"These are lovely, Nettie," she exclaimed; "I'll take them, no matter +how I carry them. Thank you so much, and I hope I'll see you next +summer." + +"Yes, do come out again!" Nettie faltered, for she would miss Nan, the +city girl had always been so kind--even lent her one of her own +dresses for the wonderful Fourth of July parade. + +"Maybe you will come down to the beach on an excursion," called Nan, +as Bill started off again with no time to lose. + +"I don't think so," answered Nettie, for she had never been on an +excursion--poor people can rarely afford to spend money for such +pleasures. + +"I've got my duck," called Freddie to the little girl, who had given +the little creature to Freddie at the farewell party as a souvenir of +Meadow Brook. + +"Have you?" laughed Nettie. "Give him plenty of water, Freddie, let +him loose in the ocean for a swim!" Then Nettie ran back to her home +duties. + +"Queer," remarked Nan, as they hurried on. "The two girls I thought +the most of in Meadow Brook were poor: Nettie Prentice, and Nellie the +little cash girl at the fresh-air camp. Somehow, poor girls seem so +real and they talk to you so close--I mean they seem to just speak +right out of their eyes and hearts." + +"That's what we call sincerity, daughter," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "You +see, children who have trials learn to appreciate more keenly than we, +who have everything we need. That appreciation shows in their eyes, +and so they seem closer to you, as you say." + +"Oh! oh! oh!" screamed Freddie, "I think my duck is choked. He's got +his head out the hole. Take Snoop, quick, Bert, till I get Downy in +again," and the poor little fellow looked as scared as did the duck +with his "head out of the hole." + +"He can't get it in again," cried Freddie, pushing gently on the +little lump of down with the queer yellow bill--the duck's head. "The +hole ain't big enough and he'll surely choke in it." + +"Tear the cardboard down," said Bert. "That's easy enough," and the +older brother, coming to the rescue, put his fingers under the choking +neck, gave the paper box a jerk, and freed poor Downy. + +"When we get to the depot we will have to paste some paper over the +tear," continued Bert, "or Downy will get out further next time." + +"Here we are," called Uncle Daniel, pulling up to the old station. + +"I'll attend to the baggage," announced Mr. Bobbsey, "while you folks +all go to the farther end of the platform. Our car will stop there." + +For a little place like Meadow Brook seven people getting on the +Express seemed like an excursion, and Dave, the lame old agent, +hobbled about with some consequence, as he gave the man in the baggage +car instruction about the trunk and valises. During that brief +period, Harry, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Daniel were all busy with +"good-byes": Aunt Sarah giving Flossie one kiss more, and Uncle Daniel +tossing Freddie up in the air in spite of the danger to Downy, the +duck. + +"All aboard!" called the conductor. + +"Good-by!" + +"Good-by!" + +"Come and see us at Christmas!" called Bert to Harry. + +"I may go down to the beach!" answered Harry while the train brakes +flew off. + +"We will expect you Thanksgiving," Mrs. Bobbsey nodded out the window +to Aunt Sarah. + +"I'll come if I can," called back the other. + +"Good-by! Good-by!" + +"Now, let us all watch out for the last look at dear old Meadow +Brook," exclaimed Nan, standing up by the window. + +"Let Snoop see!" said Freddie, with his hand on the cover of the +kitten's box. + +"Oh, no!" called everybody at once. "If you let that cat out we will +have just as much trouble as we did coming up. Keep him in his box." + +"He would like to see too," pouted Freddie. "Snoop liked Meadow +Brook. Didn't you, Snoopy!" putting his nose close to the holes in +the box. + +"I suppose by the time we come back from the beach Freddie will have a +regular menagerie," said Bert, with a laugh. "He had a kitten first, +now he has a kitten and a duck, and next he'll have a kitten, a duck, +and a---" + +"Sea-serpent," put in Freddie, believing that he might get such a +monster if he cared to possess one. + +"There goes the last of Meadow Brook," sighed Nan, as the train +rounded a curve and slowed up on a pretty bridge. "And we did have +such a lovely time there!" + +"Isn't it going to be just as nice at the ocean?" Freddie inquired, +with some concern. + +"We hope so," his mother replied, "but sister Nan always likes to be +grateful for what she has enjoyed." + +"So am I," insisted the little fellow, not really knowing what he +meant himself. + +"I likes dis yere car de best," spoke up Dinah, looking around at the +ordinary day coach, the kind used in short journeys. "De red velvet +seats seems de most homey," she went on, throwing her kinky head back, +"and I likes to lean back wit'out tumbling ober." + +"And there's more to see," agreed Bert. "In the Pullman cars there +are so few people and they're always---" + +"Proud," put in Flossie. + +"Yes, they seem so," declared her brother, "but see all the people in +this car, just eating and sleeping and enjoying themselves." + +Now in our last book, "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country," we told +about the trip to Meadow Brook in the Pullman car, and how Snoop, the +kitten, got out of his box, and had some queer experiences. This time +our friends were traveling in the car with the ordinary passengers, +and, of course, as Bert said, there was more to be seen and the sights +were different. + +"It is splendid to have so much room," declared Mrs. Bobbsey, for Nan +and Flossie had a big seat turned towards Bert and Freddie's, while +Dinah had a seat all to herself (with some boxes of course), and +Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey had another seat. The high-back, broad plush +seats gave more room than the narrow, revolving chairs, besides, the +day coach afforded so much more freedom for children. + +"What a cute little baby!" exclaimed Nan, referring to a tiny tot +sleeping under a big white netting, across the aisle. + +"We must be quiet," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and let the little baby sleep. +It is hard to travel in hot weather." + +"Don't you think the duck should have a drink?" suggested Mr. Bobbsey. +"You have a little cup for him, haven't you, Freddie?" + +"Yep!" answered Freddie, promptly, pulling the cover off Downy's box. + +Instantly the duck flew out! + +"Oh! oh! oh!" yelled everybody, as the little white bird went flying +out through the car. First he rested on the seat, then he tried to +get through the window. Somebody near by thought he had him, but the +duck dodged, and made straight for the looking glass at the end of the +car. + +"Oh, do get him, somebody!" cried Freddie, while the other strange +children in the car yelled in delight at the fun. + +"He's kissing himself in the looking glass," declared one youngster, +as the frightened little duck flapped his wings helplessly against the +mirror. + +"He thinks it's another duck," called a boy from the back of the car, +clapping his hands in glee. + +Mr. Bobbsey had gone up carefully with his soft hat in his hand. +Everybody stopped talking, so the duck would keep in its place. + +Nan held Freddie and insisted on him not speaking a word. + +Mr. Bobbsey went as cautiously as possible. One step more and he +would have had the duck. + +He raised his hand with the open hat--and brought it down on the +looking glass! + +The duck was now gazing down from the chandelier! + +"Ha! ha! ha!" the boys laughed, "that's a wild duck, sure!" + +"Who's got a gun!" the boy in the back hollered. + +"Oh, will they shoot my duck!" cried Freddie, in real tears. + +"No, they're only making fun," said Bert. "You keep quiet and we will +get him all right." + +By this time almost everyone in the car had joined in the duck hunt, +while the frightened little bird seemed about ready to surrender. +Downy had chosen the highest hanging lamps as his point of vantage, +and from there he attempted to ward off all attacks of the enemy. No +matter what was thrown at him he simply flew around the lamp. + +As it was a warm day, chasing the duck was rather too vigorous +exercise to be enjoyable within the close confines of a poorly +ventilated car, but that bird had to be caught somehow. + +"Oh, the net!" cried Bert, "that mosquito netting over there. We +could stretch it up and surely catch him." + +This was a happy thought. The baby, of course, was awake and joined +in the excitement, so that her big white mosquito netting was readily +placed at the disposal of the duck hunters. + +A boy named Will offered to help Bert. + +"I'll hold one end here," said Will, "and you can stretch yours +opposite, so we will screen off half of the car, then when he comes +this way we can readily bag him." + +Will was somewhat older than Bert, and had been used to hunting, so +that the present emergency was sport to him. + +The boys now brought the netting straight across the car like a big +white screen, for each held his hands up high, besides standing on the +arm of the car seats. + +"Now drive him this way," called Bert to his father and the men who +were helping him. + +"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!" yelled everybody, throwing hats, books, and +newspapers at the poor lost duck. + +"Shoo!" again called a little old lady, actually letting her black +silk bag fly at the lamp. + +Of course poor Downy had to shoo, right into the net! + +Bert and Will brought up the four ends of the trap and Downy flopped. + +"That's the time we bagged our game," laughed Will, while everybody +shouted and clapped, for it does not take much to afford real +amusement to passengers, who are traveling and can see little but the +other people, the conductor, and newspapers. + +"We've got him at last," cried Freddie in real glee, for he loved the +little duck and feared losing his companionship. + +"And he will have to have his meals served in his room for the rest of +his trip," laughed Mrs. Bobbsey, as the tired little Downy was once +more put in his perforated box, along the side of the tin dipper of +water, which surely the poor duck needed by this time. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A TRAVELING MENAGERIE + + +It took some time for the people to get settled down again, for all +had enjoyed the fun with the duck. The boys wanted Freddie to let him +out of the box, on the quiet, but Bert overheard the plot and put a +stop to it. Then, when the strange youngsters got better acquainted, +and learned that the other box contained a little black kitten, they +insisted on seeing it. + +"We'll hold him tight," declared the boy from the back seat, "and +nothing will happen to him." + +"But you don't know Snoop," insisted Bert. "We nearly lost him +coming up in the train, and he's the biggest member of Freddie's +menagerie, so we have to take good care of him." + +Mr. Bobbsey, too, insisted that the cat should not be taken out of the +box; so the boys reluctantly gave in. + +"Now let us look around a little," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey, when quiet +had come again, and only the rolling of the train and an occasional +shrill whistle broke in on the continuous rumble of the day's journey. + +"Yes, Dinah can watch the things and we can look through the other +cars," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "We might find someone we know going down +to the shore." + +"Be awful careful of Snoop and Downy," cautioned Freddie, as Dinah +took up her picket duty. "Look out the boys don't get 'em," with a +wise look at the youngsters, who were spoiling for more sport of some +kind. + +"Dis yeah circus won't move 'way from Dinah," she laughed. "When I +goes on de police fo'ce I takes good care ob my beat, and you needn't +be a-worryin', Freddie, de Snoopy kitty cat and de Downy duck will be +heah when you comes back," and she nodded her wooly head in real +earnest. + +It was an easy matter to go from one car to the other as they were +vestibuled, so that the Bobbsey family made a tour of the entire +train, the boys with their father even going through the smoker into +the baggage car, and having a chance to see what their own trunk +looked like with a couple of railroad men sitting on it. + +"Don't you want a job?" the baggagemaster asked Freddie. "We need a +man about your size to lift trunks off the cars for us." + +Of course the man was only joking, but Freddie always felt like a real +man and he answered promptly: + +"Nope, I'm goin' to be a fireman. I've put lots of fires out already, +besides gettin' awful hurted on the ropes with 'Frisky.'" + +"Frisky, who is he?" inquired the men. + +"Why, our cow out in Meadow Brook. Don't you know Frisky?" and +Freddie looked very much surprised that two grown-up people had never +met the cow that had given him so much trouble. + +"Why didn't you bring him along?" the men asked further. + +"Have you got a cow car?" Freddie asked in turn. + +"Yes, we have. Would you like to see one?" went on one of the +railroaders. "If your papa will bring you out on the platform at the +next stop, I'll show you how our cows travel." + +Mr. Bobbsey promised to do this, and the party moved back to meet Nan, +Flossie, and their mamma. Freddie told them at once about his +promised excursion to the cattle car, and, of course, the others +wanted to see, too. + +"If we stop for a few minutes you may all come out," Mr. Bobbsey said. +"But it is always risky to get off and have to scramble to get back +again. Sometimes they promise us five minutes and give us two, taking +the other three to make up for lost time." + +The train gave a jerk, and the next minute they drew up to a little +way station. + +"Here we are, come now," called Mr. Bobbsey, picking Freddie up in his +arms, and telling the others to hurry after him. + +"Oh, there go the boys from our car!" called Bert, as quite a party of +youngsters alighted. "They must be going on a picnic; see their lunch +boxes." + +"I hope Snoop is all right," Freddie reflected, seeing all the lunch +boxes that looked so much like Snoop's cage. + +"Come on, little fellow," called the baggage man, "we only have a few +minutes." + +Then they took Freddie to the rear car and showed him a big cage of +cows--it was a cage made of slates, with openings between, and through +the openings could be seen the crowded cattle. + +"Oh, I would never put Frisky in a place like that," declared Freddie; +"he wouldn't have room to move." + +"There is not much room, that's a fact," agreed the man. "But you see +cows are not first-class passengers." + +"But they are good, and know how to play, and they give milk," said +Freddie, speaking up bravely for his country friends. "What are you +going to do with all of these cows?" + +"I don't know," replied the man, not just wanting to talk about +beefsteak. "Maybe they're going out to the pasture." + +One pretty little cow tried to put her head out through the bars, and +Bert managed to give her a couple of crackers from his pocket. She +nibbled them up and bobbed her head as if to say: + +"Thank you, I was very hungry." + +"They are awfully crowded," Nan ventured, "and it must be dreadful to +be packed in so. How do they manage to get a drink?" + +"They will be watered to-night," replied the man, and then the +Bobbseys had to all hurry to get on the train again, for the +locomotive whistle had blown and the bell was ringing. + +They found Dinah with her face pressed close to the window pane, +enjoying the sights on the platform. + +"I specked you was clean gone and left me," she laughed. "S'pose you +saw lots of circuses, Freddie?" + +"A whole carful," he answered, "but, Dinah," he went on, looking +scared, "where's Snoop?" + +The box was gone! + +"Right where you left him," she declared. "I nebber left dis yeah +spot, and nobody doan come ter steal de Snoopy kitty cat." + +Dinah was crawling around much excited, looking for the missing box. +Bert, Nan, and Flossie, of course, all rummaged about, and even +Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey joined in the search. But there was no box to be +found. + +"Oh, the boys have stoled my cat!" wailed Freddie. "I dust knowed +they would!" and he cried outright, for Snoop was a dear companion of +the little fellow, and why should he not cry at losing his pet? + +"Now wait," commanded his father, "we must not give up so easily. +Perhaps the boys hid him some place." + +"But suah's you lib I nebber did leab dis yeah seat," insisted Dinah, +which was very true. But how could she watch those boys and keep her +face so close to the window? Besides, a train makes lots of noise to +hide boys' pranks. + +"Now, we will begin a systematic search," said Mr. Bobbsey, who had +already found out from the conductor and brakeman that they knew +nothing about the lost box. "We will look in and under every seat. +Then we will go through all the baggage in the hangers" (meaning the +overhead wire baskets), "and see if we cannot find Snoop." + +The other passengers were very kind and all helped in the hunt. The +old lady who had thrown her hand bag at Downy thought she had seen a +boy come in the door at the far end of the car, and go out again +quickly, but otherwise no one could give any information that would +lead to the discovery of the person or parties who had stolen Snoop. + +All kinds of traveling necessities were upset in the search. Some +jelly got spilled, some fresh country eggs were cracked, but everybody +was good-natured and no one complained. + +Yet, after a thorough overhauling of the entire car there was no Snoop +to be found! + +"He's gone!" they all admitted, the children falling into tears, while +the older people looked troubled. + +"They could hardly have stolen him," Mr. Bobbsey reflected, "and the +conductor is sure not one of those boys went in another car, for they +all left the train at Ramsley's." + +"I don't care!" cried Freddie, aloud, "I'll just have every one of +them arrested when we get to Auntie's. I knowed they had Snoop in +their boxes." + +How Snoop could be "in boxes" and how the boys could be found at +Auntie's were two much mixed points, but no one bothered Freddie about +such trifles in his present grief. + +"Why doan you call dat kitty cat?" suggested Dinah, for all this time +no one had thought of that. + +"I couldn't," answered Freddie, "'cause he ain't here to call." And +he went on crying. + +"Snoop! Snoop! Snoop Cat!" called Dinah, but there was no familiar +"me-ow" to answer her. + +"Now, Freddie boy," she insisted, "if dat cat is alibe he will answer +if youse call him, so just you stop a-sniffing and come along. Dere's +a good chile," and she patted him in her old way. "Come wit Dinah and +we will find Snoop." + +With a faint heart the little fellow started to call, beginning at the +front door and walking slowly along toward the rear. + +"Stoop down now and den," ordered Dinah, "cause he might be hiding, +you know." + +Freddie had reached the rear door and he stopped. + +"Now jist gib one more good call" said Dinah, and Freddie did. + +"Snoop! Snoop!" he called. + +"Me-ow," came a faint answer. + +"Oh, I heard him!" cried Freddie. + +"So did I!" declared Dinah. + +Instantly all the other Bobbseys were on the scene. + +"He's somewhere down here," said Dinah. "Call him, Freddie!" + +"Snoop! Snoop!" called the boy again. + +"Me-ow--me-ow!" came a distant answer. + +"In the stove!" declared Bert, jerking open the door of the stove, +which, of course, was not used in summer, and bringing out the poor, +frightened, little cat. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +RAILROAD TENNIS + + +"Oh, poor little Snoop!" whispered Freddie, right into his kitten's +ear. "I'm so glad I got you back again!" + +"So are we all," said a kind lady passenger who had been in the +searching party. "You have had quite some trouble for a small boy, +with two animals to take care of." + +Everybody seemed pleased that the mischievous boys' pranks had not +hurt the cat, for Snoop was safe enough in the stove, only, of course, +it was very dark and close in there, and Snoop thought he surely was +deserted by all his good friends. Perhaps he expected Freddie would +find him, at any rate he immediately started in to "purr-rr," in a +cat's way of talking, when Freddie took him in his arms, and fondled +him. + +"We had better have our lunch now," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey, "I'm sure +the children are hungry." + +"It's just like a picnic," remarked Flossie, when Dinah handed around +the paper napkins and Mrs. Bobbsey served out the chicken and +cold-tongue sandwiches. There were olives and celery too, besides +apples and early peaches from Uncle Daniel's farm. + +"Let us look at the timetable, see where we are now, and then see +where we will be when we finish," proposed Bert. + +"Oh yes," said Nan, "let us see how many miles it takes to eat a +sandwich." + +Mr. Bobbsey offered one to the conductor, who just came to punch +tickets. + +"This is not the regular business man's five-minute lunch, but the +five-mile article seems more enjoyable," said Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Easier digested," agreed the conductor, accepting a sandwich. "You +had good chickens out at Meadow Brook," he went on, complimenting the +tasty morsel he was chewing with so much relish. + +"Yes, and ducks," said Freddie, which remark made everybody laugh, for +it brought to mind the funny adventure of little white Downy, the +duck. + +"They certainly can fly," said the conductor with a smile, as he went +along with a polite bow to the sandwich party. + +Bert had attended to the wants of the animals, not trusting Freddie to +open the boxes. Snoop got a chicken leg and Downy had some of his own +soft food, that had been prepared by Aunt Sarah and carried along in a +small tin can. + +"Well, I'se done," announced Dinah, picking up her crumbs in her +napkins. "Bert, how many miles you say it takes me to eat?" + +"Let me see! Five, eight, twelve, fourteen: well, I guess Dinah, you +had fifteen miles of a chicken sandwich." + +"An' you go 'long!" she protested. "'Taint no sech thing. I ain't +got sich a long appetite as date. Fifteen miles! Lan'a massa! whot +you take me fo?" + +Everybody laughed and the children clapped hands at the length of +Dinah's appetite, but when the others had finished they found their +own were even longer than the maid's, the average being eighteen +miles! + +"When will we get to Aunt Emily's?" Flossie asked, growing tired over +the day's journey. + +"Not until night," her father answered. "When we leave the train we +will have quite a way to go by stage. We could go all the way by +train, but it would be a long distance around, and I think the stage +ride in the fresh air will do us good." + +"Oh yes, let's go by the stage," pleaded Freddie, to whom the word +stage was a stranger, except in the way it had been used at the Meadow +Brook circus. + +"This stage will be a great, big wagon," Bert told him, "with seats +along the sides." + +"Can I sit up top and drive?" the little one asked. + +"Maybe the man will let you sit by him," answered Mr. Bobbsey, "but +you could hardly drive a big horse over those rough roads." + +The train came to a standstill, just then, on a switch. There was no +station, but the shore train had taken on another section. + +"Can Flossie and I walk through that new car?" Nan asked, as the cars +had been separated and the new section joined to that directly back of +the one which the Bobbseys were in. + +"Why, yes, if you are very careful," the mother replied, and so the +two little girls started off. + +Dinah took Freddie on her lap and told him his favorite story about +"Pickin' cotton in de Souf," and soon the tired little yellow head +fell off in the land of Nod. + +Bert and his father were enjoying their magazines, while Mrs. Bobbsey +busied herself with some fancy work, so a half-hour passed without any +more excitement. At the end of that time the girls returned. + +"Oh, mother!" exclaimed Nan, "we found Mrs. Manily, the matron of the +Meadow Brook Fresh Air Camp, and she told us Nellie, the little cash +girl, was so run down the doctors think she will have to go to the +seashore. Mother, couldn't we have her down with us awhile?" + +"We are only going to visit, you know, daughter, and how can we invite +more company? But where is Mrs. Manily? I would like to talk to her," +said Mrs. Bobbsey, who was always interested in those who worked to +help the poor. + +Nan and Flossie brought their mother into the next car to see the +matron. We told in our book, "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country," how +good a matron this Mrs. Manily was, and how little Nellie, the cash +girl, one of the visitors at the Fresh Air Camp, was taken sick while +there, and had to go to the hospital tent. It was this little girl +that Nan wanted to have enjoy the seashore, and perhaps visit Aunt +Emily. + +Mrs. Manily was very glad to see Mrs. Bobbsey, for the latter had +helped with money and clothing to care for the poor children at the +Meadow Brook Camp. + +"Why, how pleasant to meet a friend in traveling!" said the matron as +she shook hands with Mrs. Bobbsey. "You are all off for the seashore, +the girls tell me." + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Bobbsey. "One month at the beach, and we must +then hurry home to Lakeport for the school days. But Nan tells me +little Nellie is not well yet?" + +"No, I am afraid she will need another change of air to undo the +trouble made by her close confinement in a city store. She is not +seriously sick, but so run down that it will take some time for her to +get strong again," said the matron. + +"Have you a camp at the seashore?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"No; indeed, I wish we had," answered the matron. "I am just going +down now to see if I can't find some place where Nellie can stay for a +few weeks." + +"I'm going to visit my sister, Mrs. Minturn, at Ocean Cliff, near +Sunset Beach," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "They have a large cottage and are +always charitable. If they have no other company I think, perhaps, +they would be glad to give poor little Nellie a room." + +"That would be splendid!" exclaimed the matron. "I was going to do a +line of work I never did before. I was just going to call on some of +the well-to-do people, and ask them to take Nellie. We had no funds, +and I felt so much depended on the change of air, I simply made up my +mind to go and do what I could." + +"Then you can look in at my sister's first," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "If +she cannot accommodate you, perhaps she can tell who could. Now, +won't you come in the other car with us, and we can finish our journey +together?" + +"Yes, indeed I will. Thank you," said the matron, gathering up her +belongings and making her way to the Bobbsey quarters in the other +car. + +"Won't it be lovely to have Nellie with us!" Nan said to Flossie, as +they passed along. "I am sure Aunt Emily will say yes." + +"So am I," said little Flossie, whose kind heart always went out when +it should. "I know surely they would not let Nellie die in the city +while we enjoy the seaside." + +Freddie was awake now, and also glad to see Mrs. Manily. + +"Where's Sandy?" he inquired at once. Sandy had been his little chum +from the Meadow Brook Camp. + +"I guess he is having a nice time somewhere," replied Mrs. Manily. +"His aunt found him out, you know, and is going to take care of him +now." + +"Well, I wish he was here too," said Freddie, rubbing his eyes. +"We're goin' to have lots of fun fishing in the ocean." + +The plan for Nellie was told to Mr. Bobbsey, who, of course agreed it +would be very nice if Aunt Emily and Uncle William were satisfied. + +"And what do you suppose those boxes contain?" said Mrs. Bobbsey to +Mrs. Manily, pointing to the three boxes in the hanger above them. + +"Shoes?" ventured the matron. + +"Nope," said Freddie. "One hat, and my duck and my cat. Downy is my +duck and Snoop is my cat." + +Then Nan told about the flight of the duck and the "kidnapping" of +Snoop. + +"We put them up there out of the way," finished Nan, "so that nothing +more can happen to them." + +The afternoon was wearing out now, and the strong summer sun shrunk +into thin strips through the trees, while the train dashed along. As +the ocean air came in the windows, the long line of woodland melted +into pretty little streams, that make their way in patches for many +miles from the ocean front. "Like 'Baby Waters'" Nan said, "just +growing out from the ocean, and getting a little bit bigger every +year." + +"Won't we soon be there?" asked Freddie, for long journeys are always +tiresome, especially to a little boy accustomed to many changes in the +day's play. + +"One hour more," said Mr. Bobbsey, consulting his watch. + +"Let's have a game of ball, Nan?" suggested Bert, who never traveled +without a tennis ball in his pocket. + +"How could we?" the sister inquired. + +"Easily," said Bert. "We'll make up a new kind of game. We will +start in the middle of the car, at the two center seats, and each move +a seat away at every catch. Then, whoever misses first must go back +to center again, and the one that gets to the end first, wins." + +"All right," agreed Nan, who always enjoyed her twin brother's games. +"We will call it Railroad Tennis." + +Just as soon as Nan and Bert took their places, the other passengers +became very much interested. There is such a monotony on trains that +the sports the Bobbseys introduced were welcome indeed. + +We do not like to seem proud, but certainly these twins did look +pretty. Nan with her fine back eyes and red cheeks, and Bert just +matching her; only his hair curled around, while hers fell down. +Their interest in Railroad Tennis made their faces all the prettier, +and no wonder the people watched them so closely. + +Freddie was made umpire, to keep him out of a more active part, +because he might do damage with a ball in a train, his mother said; +so, as Nan and Bert passed the ball, he called,--his father prompting +him: + +"Ball one!" + +"Ball two!" + +"Ball three!" + +Bert jerked with a sudden jolt of the train and missed. + +"Striker's out!" called the umpire, while everybody laughed because +the boy had missed first. + +Then Bert had to go all the way back to center, while Nan was four +seats down. + +Three more balls were passed, then Nan missed. + +"I shouldn't have to go all the way back for the miss," protested Nan. +"You went three seats back, so I'll go three back." + +This was agreed to by the umpire, and the game continued. + +A smooth stretch of road gave a good chance for catching, and both +sister and brother kept moving toward the doors now, with three points +"to the good" for Nan, as a big boy said. + +Who would miss now? Everybody waited to see. The train struck a +curve! Bert threw a wild ball and Nan missed it. + +"Foul ball!" called the umpire, and Bert did not dispute it. + +Then Nan delivered the ball. + +"Oh, mercy me!" shrieked the old lady, who had thrown the handbag at +Downy, the duck, "my glasses!" and there, upon the floor, lay the +pieces. Nan's ball had hit the lady right in the glasses, and it was +very lucky they did not break until they came in contact with the +floor. + +"I'm so sorry!" Nan faltered. "The car jerked so I could not keep +it." + +"Never mind, my dear," answered the nice old lady, "I just enjoyed +that game as much as you did, and if I hadn't stuck my eyes out so, +they would not have met your ball. So, it's all right. I have +another pair in my bag." + +So the game ended with the accident, for it was now time to gather up +the baggage for the last stop. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +NIGHT IN A BARN + + +"Beach Junction! All off for the Junction!" called the train men, +while the Bobbseys and Mrs. Manily hurried out to the small station, +where numbers of carriages waited to take passengers to their cottages +on the cliffs or by the sea. + +"Sure we haven't forgotten anything?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, taking a +hasty inventory of the hand baggage. + +"Bert's got Snoop and I've got Downy," answered Freddie, as if the +animals were all that counted. + +"And I've got my hatbox and flowers," added Nan. + +"And I have my ferns," said little Flossie. + +"I guess we're all here this time," Mr. Bobbsey finished, for nothing +at all seemed to be missing. + +It was almost nightfall, and the beautiful glow of an ocean sunset +rested over the place. At the rear of the station an aged stage +driver sat nodding on his turnout. The stage coach was an "old +timer," and had carried many a merry party of sightseers through the +sandy roads of Oceanport and Sunset Beach, while Hank, the driver, +called out all spots of interest along the way. And Hank had a way of +making things interesting. + +"Pike's Peak," he would call out for Cliff Hill. + +"The Giant's Causeway," he would announce for Rocky Turn. + +And so Hank was a very popular stage driver, and never had to look for +trade--it always came to him. + +"That's our coach," said Mr. Bobbsey, espying Hank. "Hello there! +Going to the beach?" he called to the sleepy driver. + +"That's for you to say," replied Hank, straightening up. + +"Could we get to Ocean Cliff--Minturn's place--before dark?" asked +Mr. Bobbsey, noticing how rickety the old stagecoach was. + +"Can't promise," answered Hank, "but you can just pile in and we'll +try it." + +There was no choice, so the party "piled" into the carryall. + +"Isn't this fun?" remarked Mrs. Manily, taking her seat up under the +front window. "It's like going on a May ride." + +"I'm afraid it will be a moonlight ride at this rate," laughed +Mr. Bobbsey, as the stagecoach started to rattle on. Freddie wanted +to sit in front with Hank but Mrs. Bobbsey thought it safer inside, +for, indeed, the ride was risky enough, inside or out. As they +joggled on the noise of the wheels grew louder and louder, until our +friends could only make themselves heard by screaming at each other. + +"Night is coming," called Mrs. Bobbsey, and Dinah said: "Suah 'nough +we be out in de night dis time." + +It seemed as if the old horses wanted to stand still, they moved so +slowly, and the old wagon creaked and cracked until Hank, himself, +turned round, looked in the window, and shouted: + +"All right there?" + +"Guess so," called back Mr. Bobbsey, "but we don't see the ocean yet." + +"Oh, we'll get there," drawled Hank, lazily. + +"We should have gone all the way by train," declared Mrs. Bobbsey, in +alarm, as the stage gave one squeak louder than the others. + +"Haven't you got any lanterns?" shouted Mr. Bobbsey to Hank, for it +was pitch-dark now. + +"Never use one," answered the driver. "When it's good and dark the +moon will come up, but we'll be there 'fore that. Get 'long there, +Doll!" he called to one horse. "Go 'long, Kit!" he urged the other. + +The horses did move a little faster at that, then suddenly something +snapped and the horses turned to one side. + +"Whoa! Whoa!" called Hank, jerking on the reins. But it was too late! +The stage coach was in a hole! Several screamed. + +"Sit still!" called Mr. Bobbsey to the excited party. "It's only a +broken shaft and the coach can't upset now." + +Flossie began to cry. It was so dark and black in that hole. + +Hank looked at the broken wagon. + +"Well, we're done now," he announced, with as little concern as if the +party had been safely landed on Aunt Emily's piazza, instead of in a +hole on the roadside. + +"Do you mean to say you can't fix it up?" Mr. Bobbsey almost gasped. + +"Not till I get the stage to the blacksmith's," replied Hank. + +"Then, what are we going to do?" Mr. Bobbsey asked, impatiently. + +"Well, there's an empty barn over there," Hank answered. "The best +thing you can do is pitch your tent there till I get back with another +wagon." + +"Barn!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"How long will it take you to get a wagon?" demanded Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Not long," said Hank, sprucing up a trifle. "You just get yourselves +comfortable in that there barn. I'll get the coach to one side, and +take a horse down to Sterritt's. He'll let me have a horse and a +wagon, and I'll be back as soon as I kin make it." + +"There seems nothing else to do," Mr. Bobbsey said. "We may as well +make the best of it." + +"Why, yes," Mrs. Manily spoke up, "we can pretend we are having a barn +dance." And she smiled, faintly. + +Nevertheless, it was not very jolly to make their way to the barn in +the dark. Dinah had to carry Freddie, he was so sleepy; Mrs. Manily +took good care of Flossie. But, of course, there was the duck and the +cat, that could not be very safely left in the broken-down stagecoach. + +"Say, papa!" Bert exclaimed, suddenly, "I saw an old lantern up under +the seat in that stagecoach. Maybe it has some oil in it. I'll go +back and see." + +"All right, son," replied the father, "we won't get far ahead of you." +And while Bert made his way back to the wagon, the others bumped up +and down through the fields that led to the vacant barn. + +There was no house within sight. The barn belonged to a house up the +road that the owners had not moved into that season. + +"I got one!" called Bert, running up from the road. "This lantern has +oil in, I can hear it rattle. Have you a match, pa?" + +Mr. Bobbsey had, and when the lantern had been lighted, Bert marched +on ahead of the party, swinging it in real signal fashion. + +"You ought to be a brakeman," Nan told her twin brother, at which +remark Bert swung his light above his head and made all sorts of funny +railroad gestures. + +The barn door was found unlocked, and excepting for the awful +stillness about, it was not really so bad to find refuge in a good, +clean place like that, for outside it was very damp--almost wet with +the ocean spray. Mr. Bobbsey found seats for all, and with the big +carriage doors swung open, the party sat and listened for every sound +that might mean the return of the stage driver. + +"Come, Freddie chile," said Dinah, "put yer head down on Dinah's lap. +She won't let nothin' tech you. An' youse kin jest go to sleep if +youse a mind ter. I'se a-watchin' out." + +The invitation was welcome to the tired little youngster, and it was +not long before he had followed Dinah's invitation. + +Next, Flossie cuddled up in Mrs. Manily's arms and stopped thinking +for a while. + +"It is awfully lonely," whispered Nan, to her mother, "I do wish that +man would come back." + +"So do I," agreed the mother. "This is not a very comfortable hotel, +especially as we are all tired out from a day's journey." + +"What was that?" asked Bert, as a strange sound, like a howl, was +heard. + +"A dog," lightly answered the father. + +"I don't think so," said Bert. "Listen!" + +"Oh!" cried Flossie, starting up and clinging closer to Mrs. Manily, +"I'm just scared to death!" + +"Dinah, I want to go home," cried Freddie. "Take me right straight +home." + +"Hush, children, you are safe," insisted their mother. "The stage +driver will be back in a few minutes." + +"But what is that funny noise?" asked Freddie. "It ain't no cow, nor +no dog." + +The queer "Whoo-oo-oo" came louder each time. It went up and down +like a scale, and "left a hole in the air," Bert declared. + +"It's an owl!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, and she was right, for up in +the abandoned hay loft the queer old birds had found a quiet place, +and had not been disturbed before by visitors. + +"Let's get after them," proposed Bert, with lantern in hand. + +"You would have a queer hunt," his father told him; "I guess you had +better not think of it. Hark! there's a wagon! I guess Hank is +coming back to us," and the welcome sound of wheels on the road +brought the party to their feet again. + +"Hello there!" called Hank. "Here you are. Come along now, we'll +make it this time." + +It did not take the Bobbseys long to reach the roadside and there they +found Hank with a big farm wagon. The seats were made of boards, and +there was nothing to hold on to but the edge of the boards. + +But the prospect of getting to Aunt Emily's at last made up for all +their inconveniences, and when finally Hank pulled the reins again, +our friends gave a sigh of relief. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A QUEER STAGE DRIVER + + +"I reckon I'll have to make another trip to get that old coach down to +the shop," growled the stage driver, as he tried to hurry the horses, +Kit and Doll, along. + +"I hardly think it is worth moving," Mr. Bobbsey said, feeling +somewhat indignant that a hackman should impose upon his passengers by +risking their lives in such a broken-down wagon. + +"Not worth it? Wall! I guess Hank don't go back on the old coach like +that. Why, a little grease and a few bolts will put that rig in +tip-top order." And he never made the slightest excuse for the +troubles he had brought upon the Bobbseys. + +"Oh, my!" cried Nan, "my hatbox! Bert you have put your foot right +into my best hat!" + +"Couldn't help it," answered the brother; "I either had to go through +your box or go out of the back of this wagon, when that seat slipped," +and he tried to adjust the board that had fallen into the wagon. + +"Land sakes alive!" exclaimed Dinah. "Say, you driver man there!" she +called in real earnest, "ef you doan go a little carefuler wit dis +yere wagon you'll be spilling us all out. I just caught dat cat's box +a-sliding, and lan' only knows how dat poor little Downy duck is, way +down under dat old board." + +"Hold on tight," replied Hank, as if the whole thing were a joke, and +his wagon had the privilege of a toboggan slide. + +"My!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey, putting her arms closer about Flossie, "I +hope nothing more happens." + +"I am sure we are all right now," Mrs. Manily assured her. "The road +is broad and smooth here, and it can't be far to the beach." + +"Here comes a carriage," said Bert, as two pretty coach lights flashed +through the trees. + +"Hello there!" called someone from the carriage. + +"Uncle William!" Nan almost screamed, and the next minute the carriage +drew up alongside the wagon. + +"Well, I declare," said Uncle William Minturn, jumping front his seat, +and beginning to help the stranded party. + +"We are all here," began Mr. Bobbsey, "but it was hard work to keep +ourselves together." + +"Oh, Uncle William," cried Freddie, "put me in your carriage. This +one is breakin' down every minute." + +"Come right along, my boy. I'll fix you up first," declared the +uncle, giving his little nephew a good hug as he placed him on the +comfortable cushions inside the big carriage. + +There was not much chance for greetings as everybody was too anxious +to get out of the old wagon. So, when all the boxes had been +carefully put outside with the driver, and all the passengers had +taken their places on the long side seats (it was one of those large +side-seated carriages that Uncle William had brought, knowing he would +have a big party to carry), then with a sigh of relief Mrs. Bobbsey +attempted to tell something of their experiences. + +"But how did you know where we were?" Bert asked. + +"We had been waiting for you since four o'clock," replied Uncle +William. "Then I found out that the train was late, and we waited +some more. But when it came to be night and you had not arrived, I +set out looking for you. I went to the Junction first, and the agent +there told me you had gone in Hank's stage. I happened to be near +enough to the livery stable to hear some fellows talking about Hank's +breakdown, with a big party aboard. I knew then what had happened, +and sent Dorothy home,--she had been out most of the afternoon +waiting--got this carryall, and here we are," and Uncle William only +had to hint "hurry up" to his horses and away they went. + +"Oh, we did have the awfulest time," insisted Freddie. + +"I feel as if we hadn't seen a house in a whole year," sighed little +Flossie. + +"And we only left Meadow Brook this morning," added Nan. "It does +seem much longer than a day since we started." + +"Well, you will be in Aunt Emily's arms in about two minutes now," +declared Uncle William, as through the trees the lights from Ocean +Cliff, the Minturn cottage, could now be seen. + +"Hello! Hello!" called voices from the veranda. + +"Aunt Emily and Dorothy!" exclaimed Bert, and called back to them: + +"Here we come! Here we are!" and the wagon turned in to the broad +steps at the side of the veranda. + +"I've been worried to death," declared Aunt Emily, as she began +kissing the girls. + +"We have brought company," said Mrs. Bobbsey, introducing Mrs. Manily, +"and I don't know what we should have done in all our troubles if she +had not been along to cheer us up." + +"We are delighted to have you," said Aunt Emily to Mrs. Manily, while +they all made their way indoors. + +"Oh, Nan!" cried Dorothy, hugging her cousin as tightly as ever she +could, "I thought you would never come!" + +"We were an awfully long time getting here," Nan answered, returning +her cousin's caress, "but we had so many accidents." + +"Nothing happened to your appetites, I hope," laughed Uncle William, +as the dining-room doors were swung open and a table laden with good +things came into sight. + +"I think I could eat," said Mrs. Bobbsey, then the mechanical piano +player was started, and the party made their way to the dining room. + +Uncle William took Mrs. Manily to her place, as she was a stranger; +Bert sat between Dorothy and Nan, Mr. Bobbsey looked after Aunt Emily, +and Mr. Jack Burnet, a friend of Uncle William, who had been spending +the evening at the cottage, escorted Mrs. Bobbsey to her place. + +"Come, Flossie, my dear, you see I have gotten a tall chair for you," +said Aunt Emily, and Flossie was made comfortable in one of those +"between" chairs, higher than the others, and not as high as a baby's. + +It was quite a brilliant dinner party, for the Minturns were +well-to-do and enjoyed their prosperity as they went along. +Mrs. Minturn had been a society belle when she was married. She was +now a graceful young hostess, with a handsome husband. She had +married earlier than her sister, Mrs. Bobbsey, but kept up her good +times in spite of the home cares that followed. During the dinner, +Dinah helped the waitress, being perhaps a little jealous that any +other maid should look after the wants of Flossie and Freddie. + +"Oh, Dinah!" exclaimed Freddie, as she came in with more milk for him, +"did you take Snoop out of the box and did you give Downy some water?" + +"I suah did, chile," said Dinah, "and you jest ought ter see that +Downy duck fly 'round de kitchen. Why, he jest got one of dem fits he +had on de train, and we had to shut him in de pantry to get hold ob +him." + +The waitress, too, told about the flying duck, and everybody enjoyed +hearing about the pranks of Freddie's animals. + +"We've got a lovely little pond for him, Freddie," said Dorothy. +"There is a real little lake out near my donkey barn, and your duck +will have a lovely time there." + +"But he has to swim in the ocean," insisted Freddie, "'cause we're +going to train him to be a circus duck." + +"You will have to put him in a bag and tie a rope to him then," Uncle +William teased, "because that's the only way a duck can swim in the +ocean." + +"But you don't know about Downy," argued Freddie. "He's wonderful! +He even tried to swim without any water, on the train." + +"Through the looking glass!" said Bert, laughing. + +"And through the air," added Nan. + +"I tell you, Freddie," said Uncle William, quite seriously: "we could +get an airship for him maybe; then he could really swim without +water." + +But Freddie took no notice of the way they tried to make fun of his +duck, for he felt Downy was really wonderful, as he said, and would do +some wonderful things as soon as it got a chance. + +When dinner was over, Dorothy took Nan up to her room. On the +dresser, in a cut-glass bowl, were little Nettie Prentice's lilies +that Nan had carried all the way from Meadow Brook, and they were +freshened up beautifully, thanks to Dorothy's thoughtfulness in giving +them a cold spray in the bath tub. + +"What a lovely room!" Nan exclaimed, in unconcealed admiration. + +"Do you like it?" said Dorothy. "It has a lovely view of the ocean +and I chose it for you because I know you like to see pretty sights +out of your window. The sun seems to rise just under this window," +and she brushed aside the dainty curtains. + +The moonlight made a bright path out on the ocean and Nan stood +looking out, spellbound. + +"I think the ocean is so grand," she said. "It always makes me feel +so small and helpless." + +"When you are under a big wave," laughed her cousin, who had a way of +being jolly. "I felt that way the other day. Just see my arm," and +Dorothy pushed up her short sleeve, displaying a black and blue bruise +too high up to be seen except in an evening dress or bathing costume. + +"How did you do that?" asked Nan, in sympathy. + +"Ran into a pier," returned the cousin, with unconcern. "I thought my +arm was broken first. But we must go down," said Dorothy, while Nan +wanted to see all the things in her pretty room. "We always sit +outside before retiring. Mamma says the ocean sings a lullaby that +cures all sorts of bad dreams and sleeplessness." + +On the veranda Nan and Dorothy joined the others. Freddie was almost +asleep in Aunt Emily's arms; Uncle William, Mr. Bobbsey, and +Mr. Burnet were talking, with Bert as an interested listener; while +Mrs. Manily told Aunt Emily of her mission to the beach. As the +children had thought, Aunt Emily readily gave consent to have Nellie, +the little cash girl, come to Ocean Cliff, and on the morrow Nan and +Dorothy were to write the letter of invitation. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE OCEAN + + +Is there anything more beautiful than sunrise on the ocean? + +Nan crept out of bed at the first peep of dawn, and still in her white +robe, she sat in the low window seat to see the sun rise "under her +window." + +"What a beautiful place!" Nan thought, when dawn gave her a chance to +see Ocean Cliff. "Dorothy must be awfully happy here. To see the +ocean from a bedroom window!" and she watched the streaks of dawn make +maps on the waves. "If I were a writer I would always put the ocean +in my book," she told herself, "for there are so many children who +never have a chance to see the wonderful world of water!" + +Nettie's flowers were still on the dresser. + +"Poor little Nettie Prentice," thought Nan. "She has never seen the +ocean and I wonder if she ever will!" + +Nan touched the lilies reverently. There was something in the +stillness of daybreak that made the girl's heart go out to poor +Nettie, just like the timid little sunbeams went out over the waters, +trying to do their small part in lighting up a day. + +"I'll just put the lilies out in the dew," Nan went on to herself, +raising the window quietly, for the household was yet asleep. +"Perhaps I'll find someone sick or lonely to-morrow who will like +them, and it will be so much better if they bring joy to someone, for +they are so sweet and pretty to die just for me." + +"Oh!" screamed Nan the next minute, for someone had crept up behind +her and covered her eyes with hands. "It is you, Dorothy!" she +declared, getting hold of the small fingers. "Did I wake you with the +window?" + +"Yes, indeed, I thought someone was getting in from the piazza. They +always come near morning," said Dorothy, dropping down on the cushions +of the window seat like a goddess of morn, for Dorothy was a beautiful +girl, all pink and gold, Bert said, excepting for her eyes, and they +were like Meadow Brook violets, deep blue. "Did you have the +nightmare?" she asked. + +"Nightmare, indeed!" Nan exclaimed. "Why, you told me the sun would +rise under my window and I got up to---" + +"See it do the rise!" laughed Dorothy, in her jolly way. "Well, if I +had my say I'd make Mr. Sol-Sun wear a mask and keep his glare to +himself until respectable people felt like crawling out. I lower my +awning and close the inside blinds every night. I like sunshine in +reasonable doses at reasonable hours, but the moon is good enough for +me in the meantime," and she fell over in a pretty lump, feigning +sleep in Nan's cushions. + +"I hope I did not wake anyone else," said Nan. + +"Makes no difference about me, of course," laughed the jolly Dorothy. +"Well, I'll pay you back, Nan. Be careful. I am bound to get even," +and Nan knew that some trick was in store for her, as Dorothy had the +reputation of being full of fun, and always playing tricks. + +The sun was up in real earnest now, and the girls raised the window +sash to let in the soft morning air. + +"I think this would really cure Nellie, my little city friend," said +Nan, "and you don't know what a nice girl she is." + +"Just bring her down and I'll find out all about her," said Dorothy. +"I love city girls. They are so wide awake, and never say silly +things like--like some girls I know," she finished, giving her own +cousin a good hug that belied the attempt at making fun of her. + +"Nellie is sensible," Nan said, "and yet she knows how to laugh, too. +She said she had never been in a carriage until she had a ride with us +at Meadow Brook. Think of that!" + +"Wait till she sees my donkeys!" Dorothy finished, gathering herself +up from the cushions and preparing to leave. "Well, Nannie dear, I +have had a lovely time," and she made a mock social bow. "Come to see +me some time and have some of my dawn, only don't come before eleven +A.M. or you might get mixed up, for its awful dark in the blue room +until that hour." And like a real fairy Dorothy shook her golden hair +and, stooping low in myth fashion, made a "bee-line" across the hall. + +"She doesn't need any brother," Nan thought as she saw Dorothy bolt in +her door like a squirrel; "she is so jolly and funny!" + +But the girls were not the only ones who arose early that morning, for +Bert and his father came in to breakfast from a walk on the sands. + +"It's better than Meadow Brook," Bert told Nan, as she took her place +at the table. "I wish Harry would come down." + +"It is so pleasant we want all our friends to enjoy it," said +Mrs. Bobbsey. "But I'm sure you have quite a hotel full now, haven't +you, Dorothy?" + +"Lots more rooms up near the roof," replied Dorothy, "and it's a pity +to waste them when there's plenty of ocean to spare. Now, Freddie," +went on Dorothy, "when we finish breakfast I am going to show you my +donkeys. I called one Doodle and the other Dandy, because papa gave +them to me on Decoration Day." + +"Why didn't you call one Uncle Sam?" asked Freddie, remembering his +part in the Meadow Brook parade. + +"Well, I thought Doodle Dandy was near enough red, white, and blue," +said Dorothy. + +The children finished breakfast rather suddenly and then made their +way to the donkey barn. + +"Oh, aren't they lovely!" exclaimed Nan, patting the pretty gray +animals. "I think they are prettier than horses, they are not so +tall." + +"I know all about goats and donkeys," declared Freddie. + +"I know Nan likes everything early, so we will give her an early +ride," proposed Dorothy. + +The Bobbseys watched their cousin with interest as she fastened all +the bright buckles and put the straps together, harnessing the +donkeys. Bert helped so readily that he declared he would do all the +harnessing thereafter. The cart was one of those pretty, little +basket affairs, with seats at the side, and Bert was very proud of +being able to drive a team. There were Dorothy, Nan, Freddie, +Flossie, and Bert in the cart when they rode along the sandy driveway, +and they made a very pretty party in their bright summer costumes. +Freddie had hold of Doodle's reins, and he insisted that his horse +went along better than did Dandy, on the other side. + +"Oh, won't Nellie enjoy this!" cried Nan, thinking of the little city +girl who had only had one carriage ride in all her life. + +"Mrs. Manily is going up to the city to bring her to-day," said Bert. +"Aunt Emily sent for the depot wagon just as we came out." + +Like many people at the seashore, the Minturns did not keep their own +horses, but simply had to telephone from their house to the livery +stable when they wanted a carriage. + +"Oh, I see the ocean!" called out Freddie, as Bert drove nearer the +noise of the waves. "Why didn't we bring Downy for his swim?" + +"Too early to bathe yet!" said Dorothy. "We have a bathing house all +to ourselves,--papa rented it for the summer,--and about eleven +o'clock we will come down and take a dip. Mamma always comes with me +or sends Susan, our maid. Mamma cannot believe I really know how to +swim." + +"And do you?" asked Nan, in surprise. + +"Wait until you see!" replied the cousin. "And I am going to teach +you, too." + +"I'd love to know how, but it must be awfully hard to learn," answered Nan. + +"Not a bit," went on Dorothy; "I learned in one week. We have a pool +just over there, and lots of girls are learning every day. You can +drive right along the beach, Bert; the donkeys are much safer than +horses and never attempt to run away." + +How delightful it was to ride so close to the great rolling ocean! +Even Freddie stopped exclaiming, and just watched the waves, as one +after another they tried to get right under Dorothy's cart. + +"It makes me almost afraid!" faltered little Flossie, as the great big +waves came up so high out on the waters, they seemed like mountains +that would surely cover up the donkey cart. But when they "broke" on +the sands they were only little splashy puddles for babies to wash +their pink toes in. + +"There's Blanche Bowden," said Dorothy, as another little cart, a pony +cart, came along. "We have lovely times together. I have invited her +up to meet us this afternoon, Nan." + +The other girl bowed pleasantly from her cart, and even Freddie +remembered to raise his cap, something he did not always think +necessary for "just girls." + +"Some afternoon our dancing class is going to have a matinee," said +Dorothy. "Do you like dancing, Bert?" + +"Some," replied her cousin in a boy's indifferent way. "Nan is a good +dancer." + +"Oh, we don't have real dances," protested Nan; "they are mostly +drills and exercises. Mamma doesn't believe in young children going +right into society. She thinks we will be old soon enough." + +"We don't have grown-up dances," said Dorothy, "only the two-step and +minuet. I think the minuet is the prettiest of all dances." + +"We have had the varsovienne," said Nan, "that is like the minuet. +Mother says they are old-time dances, but they are new in our class." + +"We may have a costume affair next month," went on Dorothy. "Some of +the girls want it, but I don't like wigs and long dresses, especially +for dancing. I get all tangled up in a train dress." + +"I never wore one," said Nan, "excepting at play, and I can't see how +any girl can dance with a lot of long skirts dangling around." + +"Oh, they mostly bow and smile," put in Bert, "and a boy has to be +awfully careful at one of those affairs. If he should step on a skirt +there surely would be trouble," and he snapped his whip at the donkeys +with the air of one who had little regard for the graceful art of +dancing. + +"We had better go back now," said Dorothy, presently. "You haven't +had a chance to see our own place yet, but I thought you wanted to get +acquainted with the ocean first. Everybody does!" + +"I have enjoyed it so much!" declared Nan. "It is pleasanter now than +when the sun grows hot." + +"But we need the sun for bathing," Dorothy told her. "That is why we +'go in' at the noon hour." + +The drive back to the Cliff seemed very short, and when the children +drove up to the side porch they found Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily +sitting outside with their fancy work. + +Freddie could hardly find words to tell his mother how big the ocean +was, and Flossie declared the water ran right into the sky it was so +high. + +"Now, girls," said Aunt Emily, "Mrs. Manily has gone to bring Nellie +down, so you must go and arrange her room. I think the front room +over Nan's will be best. Now get out all your pretty things, Dorothy, +for little Nellie may be lonely and want some things to look at." + +"All right, mother," answered Dorothy, letting Bert put the donkeys +away, "we'll make her room look like--like a valentine," she finished, +always getting some fun in even where very serious matters were +concerned. + +The two girls, with Flossie looking on, were soon very busy with +Nellie's room. + +"We must not make it too fussy," said Dorothy, "or Nellie may not feel +at home; and we certainly want her to enjoy herself. Will we put a +pink or blue set on the dresser?" + +"Blue," said Nan, "for I know she loves blue. She said so when we +picked violets at Meadow Brook." + +"All right," agreed Dorothy. "And say! Let's fix up something funny! +We'll get all the alarm clocks in the house and set them so they will +go off one after the other, just when Nellie gets to bed, say about +nine o'clock. We'll hide them so she will just about find one when +the other starts! She isn't really sick, is she?" Dorothy asked, +suddenly remembering that the visitor might not be in as good spirits +as she herself was. + +"Oh, no, only run down," answered Nan, "and I'm sure she would enjoy +the joke." + +So the girls went on fixing up the pretty little room. Nan ran +downstairs and brought up Nettie Prentice's flowers. + +"I thought they would do someone good," she said. "They are so +fragrant." + +"Aren't they!" Dorothy said, burying her pretty nose in the white +lilies. "They smell better than florists' bouquets. I suppose that's +from the country air. Now I'll go collect clocks," and without asking +anyone's permission Dorothy went from room to room, snatching alarm +clocks from every dresser that held one. + +"Susan's is a peach," she told Nan, apologizing with a smile, for the +slang. "It goes off for fifteen minutes if you don't stop it, and it +sounds like a church bell." + +"Nellie will think she has gotten into college," Nan said, laughing. +"This is like hazing, isn't it?" + +"Only we won't really annoy her," said Dorothy. "We just want to make +her laugh. College boys, they say, do all sorts of mean things. Make +a boy swim in an icy river and all that." + +"I hope Bert never goes to a school where they do hazing," said Nan, +feeling for her brother's safety. "I think such sport is just +wicked!" + +"So do I," declared Dorothy, "and if I were a new fellow, and they +played such tricks on me, I would just wait for years if I had to, to +pay them back." + +"I'd put medicine in their coffee, or do something." + +"They ought to be arrested," Nan said, "and if the professors can't +stop it they should not be allowed to run such schools." + +"There," said Dorothy, "I guess everything is all right for Nellie." +She put a rose jar on a table in the alcove window. "Now I'll wind +the clocks. You mustn't look where I put them," and she insisted that +not even Nan should know the mystery of the clocks. "This will be a +real surprise party," finished Dorothy, having put each of five clocks +in its hiding place, and leaving the tick-ticks to think it over, all +by themselves, before going off. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +NELLIE + + +"Shall I take my cart over to meet Nellie and Mrs. Manily, mother?" +Dorothy asked Mrs. Minturn, that afternoon, when the city train was +about due. + +"Why, yes, daughter, I think that would be very nice," replied the +mother. "I intended to send the depot wagon, but the cart would be +very enjoyable." + +Bert had the donkeys hitched up and at the door for Nan and Dorothy in +a very few minutes, and within a half-hour from that time Nan was +greeting Nellie at the station, and making her acquainted with +Dorothy. + +If Dorothy had expected to find in the little cash girl a poor, +sickly, ill child, she must have been disappointed, for the girl that +came with Mrs. Manily had none of these failings. She was tall and +graceful, very pale, but nicely dressed, thanks to Mrs. Manily's +attention after she reached the city on the morning train. With a +gift from Mrs. Bobbsey, Nellie was "fitted up from head to foot," and +now looked quite as refined a little girl as might be met anywhere. + +"You were so kind to invite me!" Nellie said to Dorothy, as she took +her seat in the cart. "This is such a lovely place!" and she nodded +toward the wonderful ocean, without giving a hint that she had never +before seen it. + +"Yes, you are sure the air is so strong you must swallow strength all +the time," and Nellie knew from the remark that Dorothy was a jolly +girl, and would not talk sickness, like the people who visit poor +children at hospital tents. + +Even Mrs. Manily, who knew Nellie to be a capable girl, was surprised +at the way she "fell in" with Nan and Dorothy, and Mrs. Manily was +quite charmed with her quiet, reserved manner. The fact was that +Nellie had met so many strangers in the big department store, she was +entirely at ease and accustomed to the little polite sayings of people +in the fashionable world. + +When Nellie unpacked her bag she brought out something for Freddie. +It was a little milk wagon, with real cans, which Freddie could fill +up with "milk" and deliver to customers. + +"That is to make you think of Meadow Brook," said Nellie, when she +gave him the little wagon. + +"Yes, and when there's a fire," answered Freddie, "I can fill the cans +with water and dump it on the fire like they do in Meadow Brook, too." +Freddie always insisted on being a fireman and had a great idea of +putting fires out and climbing ladders. + +There was still an hour to spare before dinner, and Nan proposed that +they take a walk down to the beach. Nellie went along, of course, but +when they got to the great stretch of white sand, near the waves, the +girls noticed Nellie was about to cry. + +"Maybe she is too tired," Nan whispered to Dorothy, as they made some +excuse to go back home again. All along the way Nellie was very +quiet, almost in tears, and the other girls were disappointed, for +they had expected her to enjoy the ocean so much. As soon as they +reached home Nellie went to her room, and Nan and Dorothy told +Mrs. Minturn about their friend's sudden sadness. Mrs. Minturn of +course, went up to see if she could do anything for Nellie. + +There she found the little stranger crying as if her heart would +break. + +"Oh, I can't help it, Mrs. Minturn!" she sobbed. "It was the ocean. +Father must be somewhere in that big, wild sea!" and again she cried +almost hysterically. + +"Tell me about it, dear," said Mrs. Minturn, with her arm around the +child. "Was your father drowned at sea?" + +"Oh no; that is, we hope he wasn't." said Nellie, through her tears, +"but sometimes we feel he must be dead or he would write to poor +mother." + +"Now dry your tears, dear, or you will have a headache," said +Mrs. Minturn, and Nellie soon recovered her composure. + +"You see," she began, "we had such a nice home and father was always +so good. But a man came and asked him to go to sea. The man said +they would make lots of money in a short time. This man was a great +friend of father and he said he needed someone he could trust on this +voyage. First father said no, but when he talked it over with mother, +they, thought it would be best to go, if they could get so much money +in a short time, so he went." + +Here Nellie stopped again and her dark eyes tried hard to keep back +the tears. + +"When was that?" Mrs. Minturn asked. + +"A year ago," Nellie replied, "and he was only to be away six months +at the most." + +"And that was why you had to leave school, wasn't it?" Mrs. Minturn +questioned further. + +"Yes, we had not much money saved, and mother got sick from worrying, +so I did not mind going to work. I'm going back to the store again as +soon as the doctor says I can," and the little girl showed how anxious +she was to help her mother. + +"But your father may come back," said Mrs. Minturn; "sailors are often +out drifting about for months, and come in finally. I would not be +discouraged--you cannot tell what day your father may come back with +all the money, and even more than he expected." + +"Oh, I know," said Nellie. "I won't feel like that again. It was +only because it was the first time I saw the ocean. I'm never +homesick or blue. I don't believe in making people pity you all the +time." And the brave little girl jumped up, dried her eyes, and +looked as if she would never cry again as long as she lived--like one +who had cried it out and done with it. + +"Yes, you must have a good time with the girls," said Mrs. Minturn. +"I guess you need fun more than any medicine." + +That evening at dinner Nellie was her bright happy self again, and the +three girls chatted merrily about all the good times they would have +at the seashore. + +There was a ride to the depot after dinner, for Mrs. Manily insisted +that she had to leave for the city that evening, and after a game of +ball on the lawn, in which everybody, even Flossie and Freddie, had a +hand, the children prepared to retire. There was to be a shell hunt +very early in the morning (that was a long walk on the beach, looking +for choice shells), so the girls wanted to go to bed an hour before +the usual time. + +"Wait till the clock strikes, Nellie," sang Dorothy, as they went +upstairs, and, of course, no one but Nan knew what she meant. + +Two hours after this the house was all quiet, when suddenly, there was +the buzz of an alarm clock. + +"What was that?" asked Mrs. Minturn, coming out in the hall. + +"An alarm clock," called Nellie, in whose room the disturbance was. +"I found it under my pillow," she added innocently, never suspecting +that Dorothy had put it there purposely. + +By and by everything was quiet again, when another gong went off. + +"Well, I declare!" said Mrs. Minturn. "I do believe Dorothy has been +up to some pranks." + +_"Ding--a-ling--a-long--a-ling!"_ went the clock, and Nellie was +laughing outright, as she searched about the room for the newest +alarm. She had a good hunt, too, for the clock was in the shoe box in +the farthest corner of the room. + +After that there was quite an intermission, as Dorothy expressed it. +Even Nellie had stopped laughing and felt very sleepy, when another +clock started. + +This was the big gong that belonged in Susan's room, and at the sound +of it Freddie rushed out in the hall, yelling. + +"That's a fire bell! Fire! fire! fire!" he shouted, while everybody +else came out this time to investigate the disturbance. + +"Now, Dorothy!" said Mrs. Minturn, "I know you have done this. Where +did you put those clocks?" + +Dorothy only laughed in reply, for the big bell was ringing furiously +all the time. Nellie had her dressing robe on, and opened the door to +those outside her room. + +"I guess it's ghosts," she laughed. "They are all over." + +"A serenade," called Bert, from his door. + +"What ails dem der clocks?" shouted Dinah. "'Pears like as if dey had +a fit, suah. Nebber heard such clockin' since we was in de country," +and Susan, who had discovered the loss of her clock, laughed heartily, +knowing very well who had taken the alarm away. + +When the fifteen minutes were up that clock stopped, and another +started. Then there was a regularly cannonading, Bert said, for there +was scarcely a moment's quiet until every one of the six clocks had +gone off "bing, bang, biff," as Freddie said. + +There was no use trying to locate them, for they went off so rapidly +that Nellie knew they would go until they were "all done," so she just +sat down and waited. + +"Think you'll wake up in time?" asked Dorothy, full of mischief as she +came into the clock corner. + +"I guess so," Nellie answered, laughing. "We surely were alarmed +to-night." Then aside to Nan, Nellie whispered: "Wait, we'll get even +with her, won't we?" And Nan nodded with a sparkle in her eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +EXPLORING--A RACE FOR POND LILIES + + +"Now let's explore," Bert said to the girls the next morning. "We +haven't had a chance yet to see the lake, the woods, or the island." + +"Hal Bingham is coming over to see you this morning," Dorothy told +Bert. "He said you must be tired toting girls around, and he knows +everything interesting around here to show you." + +"Glad of it," said Bert. "You girls are very nice, of course, but a +boy needs another fellow in a place like this," and he swung himself +over the rail of the veranda, instead of walking down the steps. + +It was quite early, for there was so much planned, to be accomplished +before the sun got too hot, that all the children kept to their +promise to get up early, and be ready for the day's fun by seven +o'clock. The girls, with Mrs. Bobbsey, Mrs. Minturn, and Freddie, +were to go shell hunting, but as Bert had taken that trip with his +father on the first morning after their arrival, he preferred to look +over the woods and lake at the back of the Minturn home, where the +land slid down from the rough cliff upon which the house stood. + +"Here comes Hal now," called Dorothy, as a boy came whistling up the +path. He was taller than Bert, but not much older, and he had a very +"jolly squint" in his black eyes; that is, Dorothy called it a "jolly +squint," but other people said it was merely a twinkle. But all +agreed that Hal was a real boy, the greatest compliment that could be +paid him. + +There was not much need of an introduction, although Dorothy did call +down from the porch, "Bert that's Hal; Hal that's Bert," to which +announcement the boys called back, "All right, Dorothy. We'll get +along." + +"Have you been on the lake yet?" Hal asked, as they started down the +green stretch that bounded the pretty lake on one side, while a strip +of woodland pressed close to the edge across the sheet of water. + +"No," Bert answered, "we have had so much coming and going to the +depot since we came down, I couldn't get a chance to look around much. +It's an awfully pretty lake, isn't it?" + +"Yes, and it runs in and out for miles," Hal replied. "I have a canoe +down here at our boathouse. Let's take a sail." + +The Bingham property, like the Minturn, was on a cliff at the front, +and ran back to the lake, where the little boathouse was situated. +The house was made of cedars, bound together in rustic fashion, and +had comfortable seats inside for ladies to keep out of the sun while +waiting for a sail. + +"Father and I built this house," Hal told Bert. "We were waiting so +long for the carpenters, we finally got a man to bring these cedars in +from Oakland. Then we had him cut them, that is, the line of +uprights, and we built the boathouse without any trouble at all. It +was sport to arrange all the little turns and twists, like building a +block house in the nursery." + +"You certainly made a good job of it," said Bert, looking critically +over the boathouse. + +"It's all in the design, of course; the nailing together is the +easiest part." + +"You might think so," said Hal, "but it's hard to drive a nail in +round cedar. But we thought it so interesting, we didn't mind the +trouble," finished Hal, as he prepared to untie his canoe. + +"What a pretty boat!" exclaimed Bert, in real admiration. + +The canoe was green and brown, the body being colored like bark, while +inside, the lining was of pale green. The name, _Dorothy_, shone in +rustic letters just above the water edge. + +"And you called it _Dorothy_," Bert remarked. + +"Yes, she's the liveliest girl I know, and a good friend of mine all +summer," said Hal. "There are some boys down the avenue, but they +don't know as much about good times as Dorothy does. Why, she can +swim, row, paddle, climb trees, and goes in for almost any sport +that's on. Last week she swam so far in the sun she couldn't touch an +oar or paddle for days, her arms were so blistered. But she didn't go +around with her hands in a muff at that. Dorothy's all right," +finished Hal. + +Bert liked to hear his cousin complimented, especially when he had +such admiration himself for the girl who never pouted, and he knew +that the tribute did not in any way take from Dorothy's other good +quality, that of being a refined and cultured girl. + +"Girls don't have to be babies to be ladylike," added Bert. "Nan +always plays ball with me, and can skate and all that. She's not +afraid of a snowball, either." + +"Well, I'm all alone," said Hal. "Haven't even got a first cousin. +We've been coming down here since I was a youngster, so that's why +Dorothy seems like my sister. We used to make mud pies together." + +The boys were in the canoe now, and each took a paddle. The water was +so smooth that the paddles merely patted it, like "brushing a cat's +back," Bert said, and soon the little bark was gliding along down the +lake, in and out of the turns, until the "narrows" were reached. + +"Here's where we get our pond lilies," said Hal. + +"Oh, let's get some!" exclaimed Bert. "Mother is so fond of them." + +It was not difficult to gather the beautiful blooms, that nested so +cosily on the cool waters, too fond of their cradle to ever want to +creep, or walk upon their slender green limbs. They just rocked +there, with every tiny ripple of the water, and only woke up to see +the warm sunlight bleaching their dainty, yellow heads. + +"Aren't they fragrant?" said Bert, as he put one after the other into +the bottom of the canoe. + +"There's nothing like them," declared Hal. "Some people like roses +best, but give me the pretty pond lilies," he finished. + +The morning passed quickly, for there was so much to see around the +lake. Wild ducks tried to find out how near they could go to the +water without touching it, and occasionally one would splash in, by +accident. + +"What large birds there are around the sea," Bert remarked. "I +suppose they have to be big and strong to stand long trips without +food when the waves are very rough and they can hardly see fish." + +"Yes, and they have such fine plumage," said Hal. "I've seen birds +around here just like those in museums, all colors, and with all kinds +of feathers--Birds of Paradise, I guess they call them." + +"Do you ever go shooting?" + +"No, not in summer time," replied Hal. "But sometimes father and I +take a run down here about Thanksgiving. That's the time for seaside +sport. Why, last year we fished with rakes; just raked the fish up in +piles--'frosties,' they call them." + +"That must be fun," reflected Bert. + +"Maybe you could come this year," continued Hal. "We might make up a +party, if you have school vacation for a week. We could camp out in +our house, and get our meals at the hotel." + +"That would be fine!" exclaimed Bert. "Maybe Uncle William would +come, and perhaps my Cousin Harry, from Meadow Brook. He loves that +sort of sport. By the way, we expect him down for a few days; perhaps +next week." + +"Good!" cried Hal. "The boat carnival is on next week. I'm sure he +would enjoy that." + +The boys were back at the boathouse now, and Bert gathered up his pond +lilies. + +"There'll be a scramble for them when the girls see them," he said. +"Nellie McLaughlin, next to Dorothy, is out for fun. She is not a bit +like a sick girl." + +"Perhaps she isn't sick now," said Hal, "but has to be careful. She +seems quite thin." + +"Mother says she wants fun, more than medicine," went on Bert. "I +guess she had to go to work because her father is away at sea. He's +been gone a year and he only expected to be away six months." + +"So is my Uncle George," remarked Hal. "He went to the West Indies to +bring back a valuable cargo of wood. He had only a small vessel, and +a few men. Say, did you say her name was McLaughlin?" exclaimed Hal, +suddenly. + +"Yes; they call him Mack for short, but his name is McLaughlin." + +"Why, that was the name of the man who went with Uncle George!" +declared Hal. "Maybe it was her father." + +"Sounds like it," Bert said. "Tell Uncle William about it sometime. +I wouldn't mention it to Nellie, she cut up so, they said, the first +time she saw the ocean. Poor thing! I suppose she just imagined her +father was tossing about in the waves." + +The boys had tied the canoe to its post, and now made their way up +over the hill toward the house. + +"Here they come," said Bert, as Nan, Nellie, and Dorothy came racing +down the hill. + +"Oh!" cried Dorothy, "give me some!" + +"Oh, you know me, Bert?" pleaded Nellie. + +"Hal, I wound up your kite string, didn't I?" insisted Nan, by way of +showing that she surely deserved some of Hal's pond lilies. + +"And I found your ball in the bushes, Bert," urged Dorothy. + +"They're not for little girls," Hal said, waving his hand comically, +like a duke in a comic opera. "Run along, little girls, run along," +he said, rolling his r's in real stage fashion, and holding the pond +lilies against his heart. + +"But if we get them, may we have them sir knight?" asked Dorothy, +keeping up the joke. + +"You surely can!" replied Hal, running short on his stage words. + +At this Nellie dashed into the path ahead of Hal, and Dorothy turned +toward Bert. Nan crowded in close to Dorothy, and the boys had some +dodging to get a start. Finally Hal shot out back of the big bush, +and Nellie darted after him. Of course, the boys were better runners +than the girls, but somehow, girls always expect something wonderful +to happen, when they start on a race like that. Hal had tennis +slippers on, and he went like a deer. But just as he was about to +call "home free" and as he reached the donkey barn, he turned on his +ankle. + +Nellie had her hands on the pond lilies instantly, for Hal was obliged +to stop and nurse his ankle. + +"They're yours," he gave in, handing her the beautiful bunch of +blooms. + +"Oh, aren't they lovely!" exclaimed the little cash girl, but no one +knew that was the first time she ever, in all her life, held a pond +lily in her hand. + +"I'm going to give them to Mrs. Bobbsey," she decided, starting at +once to the house with the fragrant prize in her arms. Neither +Dorothy nor Nan had caught Bert, but he handed his flowers to his +cousin. + +"Give them to Aunt Emily," he said gallantly, while Dorothy took the +bouquet and declared she could have caught Bert, anyhow, if she "only +had a few more feet," whatever that meant. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FUN ON THE SANDS + + +"How many shells did you get in your hunt?" Bert asked the girls, when +the excitement over the pond lilies had died away. + +"We never went," replied Dorothy. "First, Freddie fell down and had +to cry awhile, then he had to stop to see the gutter band, next he had +a ride on the five-cent donkey, and by that time there were so many +people out, mother said there would not be a pretty shell left, so we +decided to go to-morrow morning." + +"Then Hal and I will go along," said Bert. "I want to look for nets, +to put in my den at home." + +"We are going for a swim now," went on Dorothy; "we only came back for +our suits." + +"There seems so much to do down here, it will take a week to have a +try at everything," said Bert. "I've only been in the water once, but +I'm going for a good swim now. Come along, Hal." + +"Yes, we always go before lunch," said Hal starting off for his suit. + +Soon Dorothy, Nan, Nellie, and Flossie appeared with their suits done +up in the neat little rubber bags that Aunt Emily had bought at a +hospital fair. Then Freddie came with Mrs. Bobbsey, and Dorothy, with +her bag on a stick over her shoulder, led the procession to the beach. + +As Dorothy told Nan, they had a comfortable bathhouse rented for the +season, with plenty of hooks to hang things on, besides a mirror, to +see how one's hair looked, after the waves had done it up mermaid +fashion. + +It did not take the girls long to get ready, and presently all +appeared on the beach in pretty blue and white suits, with the large +white sailor collars, that always make bathing suits look just right, +because real sailors wear that shape of collar. + +Flossie wore a white flannel suit, and with her pretty yellow curls, +she "looked like a doll," so Nellie said. Freddie's suit was white +too, as he always had things as near like his twin sister's as a boy's +clothes could be. Altogether the party made a pretty summer picture, +as they ran down to the waves, and promptly dipped in. + +"Put your head under or you'll take cold," called Dorothy, as she +emerged from a big wave that had completely covered her up. + +Nellie and Nan "ducked" under, but Flossie was a little timid, and +held her mother's right hand even tighter than Freddie clung to her +left. + +"We must get hold of the ropes," declared Mrs. Bobbsey, seeing a big +wave coming. + +They just reached the ropes when the wave caught them. Nellie and Nan +were out farther, and the billow struck Nellie with such force it +actually washed her up on shore. + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Dorothy, "Nellie got the first tumble." And then +the waves kept dashing in so quickly that there was no more chance for +conversation. Freddie ducked under as every wave came, but Flossie +was not always quick enough, and it was very hard for her to keep hold +of the ropes when a big splasher dashed against her. Dorothy had not +permission to swim out as far as she wanted to go, for her mother did +not allow her outside the lines, excepting when Mr. Minturn was +swimming near her, so she had to be content with floating around near +where the other girls bounced up and down, like the bubbles on the +billows. + +"Look out, Nan!" called Dorothy, suddenly, as Nan stood for a moment +fixing her belt. But the warning came too late, for the next minute a +wave picked Nan up and tossed her with such force against a pier, that +everybody thought she must be hurt. Mrs. Bobbsey was quite +frightened, and ran out on the beach, putting Freddie and Flossie at a +safe distance from the water, while she made her way to where Nan had +been tossed. + +For a minute or so, it seemed, Nan disappeared, but presently she +bobbed up, out of breath, but laughing, for Hal had her by the hand, +and was helping her to shore. The boys had been swimming around by +themselves near by, and Hal saw the wave making for Nan just in time +to get there first. + +"I had to swim that time," laughed Nan, "whether I knew how or not." + +"You made a pretty good attempt," Hal told her; "and the water is very +deep around those piles. You had better not go out so far again, +until you've learned a few strokes in the pools. Get Dorothy to teach +you." + +"Oh, oh, oh, Nellie!" screamed Mrs. Bobbsey. "Where is she? She has +gone under that wave!" + +Sure enough, Nellie had disappeared. She had only let go the ropes +one minute, but she had her back to the ocean watching Nan's rescue, +when a big billow struck her, knocked her down, and then where was +she? + +"Oh," cried Freddie. "She is surely drowned!" + +Hal struck out toward where Nellie had been last seen, but he had only +gone a few strokes when Bert appeared with Nellie under his arm. She +had received just the same kind of toss Nan got, and fortunately Bert +was just as near by to save her, as Hal had been to save Nan. Nellie, +too, was laughing and out of breath when Bert towed her in. + +"I felt like a rubber ball," she said, as soon as she could speak, +"and Bert caught me on the first bounce." + +"You girls should have ropes around your waists, and get someone to +hold the other end," teased Dorothy, coming out with the others on the +sands. + +"Well, I think we have all had enough of the water for this morning," +said Mrs. Bobbsey, too nervous to let the girls go in again. + +Boys and girls were willing to take a sun bath on the beach, so, while +Hal and Bert started in to build a sand house for Freddie, the four +girls capered around, playing tag and enjoying themselves generally. +Flossie thought it great fun to dig for the little soft crabs that +hide in the deep damp sand. She found a pasteboard box and into this +she put all her fish. + +"I've got a whole dozen!" she called to Freddie, presently. But +Freddie was so busy with his sand castle he didn't have time to bother +with baby crabs. + +"Look at our fort," called Bert to the girls. "We can shoot right +through our battlements," he declared, as he sank down in the sand and +looked out through the holes in the sand fort. + +"Shoot the Indian and you get a cigar," called Dorothy, taking her +place as "Indian" in front of the fort, and playing target for the +boys. + +First Hal tossed a pebble through a window in the fort, then Bert +tried it, but neither stone went anywhere near Dorothy, the "Indian." + +"Now, my turn," she claimed, squatting down back of the sand wall and +taking aim at Hal, who stood out front. + +And if she didn't hit him--just on the foot with a little white +pebble! + +"Hurrah for our sharpshooter!" cried Bert. + +Of course the hard part of the trick was to toss a pebble through the +window without knocking down the wall, but Dorothy stood to one side, +and swung her arm, so that the stone went straight through and reached +Hal, who stood ten feet away. + +"I'm next," said Nellie, taking her place behind "the guns." + +Nellie swung her arm and down came the fort! + +"Oh my!" called Freddie, "you've knocked down the whole gun wall. +You'll have to be---" + +"Court-martialed," said Hal, helping Freddie out with his war terms. + +"She's a prisoner of war," announced Bert, getting hold of Nellie, who +dropped her head and acted like someone in real distress. Just as if +it were all true, Nan and Dorothy stood by, wringing their hands, in +horror, while the boys brought the poor prisoner to the frontier, +bound her hands with a piece of cord, and stood her up against an +abandoned umbrella pole. + +Hal acted as judge. + +"Have you anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced upon +you?" he asked in a severe voice. + +"I have," sighed Nellie. "I did not intend to betray my country. The +enemy caused the--the--downfall of Quebec," she stammered, just +because the name of that place happened to come to her lips. + +"Who is her counsel?" asked the Judge. + +"Your honor," spoke up Dorothy, "this soldier has done good service. +She has pegged stones at your honor with good effect, she has even +captured a company of wild pond lilies in your very ranks, and now, +your honor, I plead for mercy." + +The play of the children had, by this time, attracted quite a crowd, +for the bathing hour was over, and idlers tarried about. + +"Fair play!" called a strange boy in the crowd, taking up the spirit +of fun. "That soldier has done good service. She took a sassy little +crab out of my ear this very day!" + +Freddie looked on as if it were all true. Flossie did not laugh a +bit, but really seemed quite frightened. + +"I move that sentence be pronounced," called Bert, being on the side +of the prosecution. + +"The prisoner will look this way!" commanded Hal. + +Nellie tossed back her wet brown curls and faced the crowd. + +"The sentence of the court is that the prisoner be transported for +life," announced Hal, while four boys fell in around Nellie, and she +silently marched in military fashion toward the bathing pavilion, with +Dorothy and Nan at her heels. + +Here the war game ended, and everyone was satisfied with that day's +fun on the sands. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SHELL HUNT + + +"Now, all ready for the hunting expedition," called Uncle William, +very early the next morning, he having taken a day away from his +office in the city, to enjoy himself with the Bobbseys at the +seashore. + +It was to be a long journey, so Aunt Emily thought it wise to take the +donkey cart, so that the weary travelers, as they fell by the wayside, +might be put in the cart until refreshed. Besides, the shells and +things could be brought home in the cart. Freddie expected to capture +a real sea serpent, and Dorothy declared she would bring back a whale. +Nellie had an idea she would find something valuable, maybe a diamond, +that some fish had swallowed in mistake for a lump of sugar at the +bottom of the sea. So, with pleasant expectations, the party started +off, Bert and Hal acting as guides, and leading the way. + +"If you feel like climbing down the rocks here we can walk all along +the edge," said Hal. "But be careful!" he cautioned, "the rocks are +awfully slippery. Dorothy will have to go on ahead down the road with +the donkeys, and we can meet her at the Point." + +Freddie and Flossie went along with Dorothy, as the descent was +considered too dangerous for the little ones. Dorothy let Freddie +drive to make up for the fun the others had sliding down the rocks. + +Uncle Daniel started down the cliffs first, and close behind him came +Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily. Nan and Nellie took another path, if a +small strip of jagged rock could be called a path, while Hal and Bert +scaled down over the very roughest part, it seemed to the girls. + +"Oh, mercy!" called Nan, as a rock slipped from under her foot and she +promptly slipped after it. "Nellie, give me your hand or I'll slide +into the ocean!" + +Nellie tried to cross over to Nan, but in doing so she lost her +footing and fell, then turned over twice, and only stopped as she came +in contact with Uncle William's heels. + +"Are you hurt?" everybody asked at once, but Nellie promptly jumped +up, showing the toss had not injured her in the least. + +"I thought I was going to get an unexpected bath that time," she said, +laughing, "only for Mr. Minturn interfering. I saw a star in each +heel of his shoe," she declared' "and I was never before glad to bump +my nose." + +Without further accident the party reached the sands, and saw Dorothy +and the little ones a short distance away. Freddie had already filled +his cap with little shells, and Flossie was busy selecting some of the +finest from a collection she had made. + +"Let's dig," said Hal to Bert. "There are all sorts of mussels, +crabs, clams, and oysters around here. The fisheries are just above +that point." + +So the boys began searching in the wet sand, now and then bringing up +a "fairy crab" or a baby clam. + +"Here's an oyster," called Nellie, coming up with the shellfish in her +hand. It was a large oyster and had been washed quite clean by the +noisy waves. + +"Let's open it," said Hal. "Shall I, Nellie?" + +"Yes, if you want to," replied the girl, indifferently, for she did +not care about the little morsel. Hal opened it easily with his +knife, and then he asked who was hungry. + +"Oh, see here!" he called, suddenly. "What this? It looks like a +pearl." + +"Let me see," said Mr. Minturn, taking the little shell in his hand, +and turning out the oyster. "Yes, that surely is a pearl. Now, +Nellie, you have a prize. Sometimes these little pearls are quite +valuable. At any rate, you can have it set in a ring," declared +Mr. Minturn. + +"Oh, let me see," pleaded Dorothy. "I've always looked for pearls, +and never could find one. How lucky you are, Nellie. It's worth some +money." + +"Maybe it isn't a pearl at all," objected Nellie, hardly believing +that anything of value could be picked up so easily. + +"Yes, it is," declared Mr. Minturn. "I've seen that kind before. +I'll take care of it for you, and find out what it is worth," and he +very carefully sealed the tiny speck in an envelope which he put in +his pocketbook. + +After that everybody wanted to dig for oysters, but it seemed the one +that Nellie found had been washed in somehow, for the oyster beds were +out in deeper water. Yet, every time Freddie found a clam or a +mussel, he wanted it opened to look for pearls. + +"Let us get a box of very small shells and we can string them for +necklaces," suggested Nan. "We can keep them for Christmas gifts too, +if we string them well." + +"Oh, I've got enough for beads and bracelets," declared Flossie, for, +indeed, she had lost no time in filling her box with the prettiest +shells to be found on the sands. + +"Oh, I see a net," called Bert, running toward a lot of driftwood in +which an old net was tangled. Bert soon disentangled it and it proved +to be a large piece of seine, the kind that is often used to decorate +walls in libraries. + +"Just what I wanted!" he declared. "And smell the salt. I will +always have the ocean in my room now, for I can close my eyes and +smell the salt water." + +"It is a good piece," declared Hal. "You were lucky to find it. +Those sell for a couple of dollars to art dealers." + +"Well, I won't sell mine at any price," Bert said. "I've been wishing +for a net to put back of my swords and Indian arrows. They make a +fine decoration." + +The grown folks had come up now, and all agreed the seine was a very +pretty one. + +"Well, I declare!" said Uncle William, "I have often looked for a +piece of net and never could get that kind. You and Nellie were the +lucky ones to-day." + +"Oh, oh, oh!" screamed Freddie. "What's that?" and before he had a +chance to think, he ran down to the edge of the water to meet a big +barrel that had been washed in. + +"Look out!" screamed Bert, but Freddie was looking in, and at that +moment the water washed in right over Freddie's shoes, stockings, and +all. + +"Oh!" screamed everybody in chorus, for the next instant a stronger +wave came in and knocked Freddie down. Quick as a flash Dorothy, who +was nearest the edge, jumped in after Freddie, for as the wave receded +the little boy fell in again, and might have been washed out into real +danger if he had not been promptly rescued. + +But as it was he was dripping wet, even his curls had been washed, and +his linen suit looked just like one of Dinah's dish towels. Dorothy, +too, was wet to the knees, but she did not mind that. The day was +warming up and she could get along without shoes or stockings until +she reached home. + +"Freddie's always fallin' in," gasped Flossie, who was always getting +frightened at her twin brother's accidents. + +"Well, I get out, don't I?" pouted Freddie, not feeling very happy in +his wet clothing. + +"Now we must hurry home," insisted Mrs. Bobbsey, as she put Freddie in +the donkey cart, while Dorothy, after pulling off her wet shoes and +stockings, put a robe over her feet, whipped up the donkeys, Doodle +and Dandy, and with Freddie and Flossie in the seat of the cart, the +shells and net in the bottom, started off towards the cliffs, there to +fix Freddie up in dry clothing. Of course he was not "wet to the +skin," as he said, but his shoes and stockings were soaked, and his +waist was wet, and that was enough. Five minutes later Dorothy pulled +up the donkeys at the kitchen door, where Dinah took Freddie in her +arms, and soon after fixed him up. + +"You is de greatest boy for fallin' in," she declared. "Nebber saw +sech a faller. But all de same you'se Dinah's baby boy," and +kind-hearted Dinah rubbed Freddie's feet well, so he would not take +cold; then, with fresh clothing, she made him just as comfortable and +happy as he had been when he had started out shell hunting. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +DOWNY ON THE OCEAN + + +"Harry is coming to-day," Bert told Freddie, on the morning following +the shell hunt, "and maybe Aunt Sarah will come with him. I'm going +to get the cart now to drive over to the station. You may come along, +Freddie, mother said so. Get your cap and hurry up," and Bert rushed +off to the donkey barn to put Doodle and Dandy in harness. + +Freddie was with Bert as quickly as he could grab his cap off the +rack, and the two brothers promptly started for the station. + +"I hope they bring peaches," Freddie said, thinking of the beautiful +peaches in the Meadow Brook orchard that had not been quite ripe when +the Bobbseys left the country for the seaside. + +Numbers of people were crowded around the station when the boys got +there, as the summer season was fast waning, so that Bert and Freddie +had hard work to get a place near the platform for their cart. + +"That's the train!" cried Bert. "Now watch out so that we don't miss +them in the crowd," and the older brother jumped out of the cart to +watch the faces as they passed along. + +"There he is," cried Freddie, clapping his hands. "Harry! Harry! Aunt +Sarah!" he called, until everybody around the station was looking at +him. + +"Here we are!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah the next minute, having heard +Freddie's voice, and followed it to the cart. + +"I'm so glad you came," declared Bert to Harry. + +"And I'm awfully glad you came," Freddie told Aunt Sarah, when she +stopped kissing him. + +"But we cannot ride in that little cart," Aunt Sarah said, as Bert +offered to help her in. + +"Oh, yes, you can," Bert assured her. "These donkeys are very strong, +and so is the cart. Put your satchel right in here," and he shoved +the valise up in front, under the seat. + +"But we have a basket of peaches somewhere," said Aunt Sarah. "They +came in the baggage car." + +"Oh goody! goody!" cried Freddie, clapping his little brown hands. +"Let's get them." + +"No, we had better have them sent over," Bert insisted, knowing that +the basket would take up too much room, also that Freddie might want +to sample the peaches first, and so make trouble in the small cart. +Much against his will the little fellow left the peaches, and started +off for the cliffs. + +The girls, Dorothy, Nellie, and Nan, were waiting at the driveway, and +all shouted a welcome to the people from Meadow Brook. + +"You just came in time," declared Dorothy. "We are going to have a +boat carnival tomorrow, and they expect it will be lovely this year." + +Aunt Emily and Mrs. Bobbsey met the others now, and extended such a +hearty welcome, there could be no mistaking how pleased they all were +to see Harry and Aunt Sarah. As soon as Harry had a chance to lay his +traveling things aside Bert and Freddie began showing him around. + +"Come on down to the lake, first," Bert insisted. "Hal Bingham may +have his canoe out. He's a fine fellow, and we have splendid times +together." + +"And you'll see my duck, Downy," said Freddie. "Oh, he's growed so +big--he's just like a turkey." + +Harry thought Downy must be a queer duck if he looked that way, but, +of course, he did not question Freddie's description. + +"Here, Downy, Downy!" called Freddie, as they came to the little +stream where the duck always swam around. But there was no duck to be +seen. + +"Where is he?" Freddie asked, anxiously. + +"Maybe back of some stones," ventured Harry. Then he and Bert joined +in the search, but no duck was to be found. + +"That's strange," Bert reflected. "He's always around here." + +"Where does the lake run to?" Harry inquired. + +"Into the ocean," answered Bert; "but Downy never goes far. There's +Hal now. We'll get in his boat and see if we can find the duck." + +Hal, seeing his friends, rowed in to the shore with his father's new +rowboat that he was just trying. + +"We have lost Freddie's duck," said Bert. "Have you seen him +anywhere?" + +"No, I just came out," replied Hal. "But get in and we'll go look for +him." + +"This is my Cousin Harry I told you about," said Bert, introducing +Harry, and the two boys greeted each other, cordially. + +All four got into the boat, and Harry took care of Freddie while the +other boys rowed. + +"Oh. I'm afraid someone has stoled Downy," cried Freddie, "and maybe +they'll make--make--pudding out of him." + +"No danger," said Hal, laughing. "No one around here would touch your +duck. But he might have gotten curious to see the ocean. He +certainly doesn't seem to be around here." + +The boys had reached the line where the little lake went in a tunnel +under a road, and then opened out into the ocean. + +"We'll have to leave the boat here," said Hal, "and go and ask people +if Downy came down this way." + +Tying up the boat to a stake, the boys crossed the bridge, and made +their way through the crowd of bathers down to the waves. + +"Oh, oh!" screamed Freddie. "I see him! There he is!" and sure +enough, there was Downy, like a tiny speck, rolling up and down on the +waves, evidently having a fine swim, and not being in the least +alarmed at the mountains of water that came rolling in. + +"Oh, how can we get him?" cried Freddie, nearly running into the water +in his excitement. + +"I don't know," Hal admitted. "He's pretty far out." + +Just then a life-saver came along. Freddie always insisted the +life-guards were not white people, because they were so awfully +browned from the sun, and really, this one looked like some foreigner, +for he was almost black. + +"What's the trouble?" he asked, seeing Freddie's distress. + +"Oh, Downy is gone!" cried the little fellow in tears now. + +"Gone!" exclaimed the guard, thinking Downy was some boy who had swam +out too far. + +"Yes, see him out there," sobbed Freddie, and before the other boys +had a chance to tell the guard that Downy was only a duck, the +life-saver was in his boat, and pulling out toward the spot where +Freddie said Downy was "downing"! + +"There's someone drowning!" went up the cry all around. Then numbers +of men and boys, who had been bathing, plunged into the waves, and +followed the life-saver out to the deeper water. + +It was useless for Harry, Hal, or Bert to try to explain to anyone +about the duck, for the action of the life-saver told a different +story. Another guard had come down to the beach now, and was getting +his ropes ready, besides opening up the emergency case, that was +locked in the boat on the shore. + +"Wait till they find out," whispered Hal to Bert, watching the guard +in the boat nearing the white speck on the waves. It was a long ways +out, but the boys could see the guard stop rowing. + +"He's got him," shouted the crowd, also seeing the guard pick +something out of the water. "I guess he had to lay him in the bottom +of the boat." + +"Maybe he's dead!" the people said, still believing the life-saver had +been after some unfortunate swimmer. + +"Oh, he's got him! He's got him!" cried Freddie, joyfully, still +keeping up the mistake for the sightseers. + +As the guard in the boat had his back to shore, and pulled in that +way, even his companion on land had not yet discovered his mistake, +and he waited to help revive whoever lay in the bottom of the boat. + +The crowd pressed around so closely now that Freddie's toes were +painfully trampled upon. + +"He's mine," cried the little fellow. "Let me have him." + +"It's his brother," whispered a sympathetic boy, almost in tears. +"Let him get over by the boat," and so the crowd made room for +Freddie, as the life-saver pulled up on the beach. + +The people held their breath. + +"He's dead!" insisted a number, when there was no move in the bottom +of the boat. Then the guard stooped down and brought up--Downy! + +"Only a duck!" screamed all the boys in the crowd, while the other +life-saver laughed heartily over his preparations to restore a duck to +consciousness. + +"He's mine! He's mine!" insisted Freddie, as the life-saver fondled +the pretty white duck, and the crowd cheered. + +"Yes, he does belong to my little brother," Bert said, "and he didn't +mean to fool you at all. It was just a mistake," the older brother +apologized. + +"Oh, I know that," laughed the guard. "But when we think there is any +danger we don't wait for particulars. He's a very pretty duck all the +same, and a fine swimmer, and I'm glad I got him for the little +fellow, for likely he would have kept on straight out to smooth water. +Then he would never have tried to get back." + +The guard now handed Downy over to his young owner, and without +further remarks than "Thank you," Freddie started off through the +crowd, while everybody wanted to see the wonderful duck. The joke +caused no end of fun, and it took Harry, Hal, and Bert to save Freddie +and Downy from being too roughly treated, by the boys who were +over-curious to see both the wonderful duck and the happy owner. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +REAL INDIANS + + +"Now we will have to watch Downy or he will be sure to take that trip +again," said Bert, as they reached home with the enterprising duck. + +"We could build a kind of dam across the narrowest part of the lake," +suggested Hal; "kind of a close fence he would not go through. See, +over there it is only a little stream, about five feet wide. We can +easily fence that up. I've got lots of material up in our garden +house." + +"That would be a good idea," agreed Bert. "We can put Downy in the +barn until we get it built. We won't take any more chances." So +Downy was shut up in his box, back of the donkey stall, for the rest +of the day. + +"How far back do these woods run?" Harry asked his companions, he +always being interested in acres, as all real country boys are. + +"I don't know," Hal Bingham answered. "I never felt like going to the +end to find out. But they say the Indians had reservations out here +not many years ago." + +"Then I'll bet there are lots of arrow heads and stone hatchets +around. Let's go look. Have we time before dinner, Bert?" Harry +asked. + +"I guess so," replied the cousin. "Uncle William's train does not get +in until seven, and we can be back by that time. We'll have to slip +away from Freddie, though. Here he comes. Hide!" and at this the +boys got behind things near the donkey house, and Freddie, after +calling and looking around, went back to the house without finding the +"boy boys." + +"We can cross the lake in my boat," said Hal, as they left their +hiding-places. "Then, we will be right in the woods. I'll tie the +boat on the other side until we come back; no one will touch it." + +"Is there no bridge?" Harry asked. + +"Not nearer than the crossings, away down near the ocean beach," said +Bert. "But the boat will be all right. There are no thieves around +here." + +It was but a few minutes' work to paddle across the lake and tie up +the canoe on the opposite shore. Hal and Bert started off, feeling +they would find something interesting, under Harry's leadership. + +It was quite late in the afternoon, and the thick pines and ferns made +the day almost like night, as the boys tramped along. + +"Fine big birds around here," remarked Harry, as the feathered +creatures of the ocean darted through the trees, making their way to +the lake's edge. + +"Yes, we're planning for a Thanksgiving shoot," Hal told him. "We +hope, if we make it up, you can come down." + +"I'd like to first-rate," said Harry. "Hello!" he suddenly exclaimed, +"I thought I kicked over a stone hatchet head." + +Instantly the three boys were on their knees searching through the +brown pine needles. + +"There it is!" declared Harry, picking up a queer-shaped stone. +"That's real Indian--I know. Father has some, but this is the first I +was ever lucky enough to find." + +The boys examined the stone. There were queer marks on it, but they +were so worn down it was impossible to tell what they might mean. + +"What tribe camped here?" asked Harry. + +"I don't know," answered Hal. "I just heard an old farmer, out +Berkley way, talking about the Indians. You see, we only come down +here in the summer time. Then we keep so close to the ocean we don't +do much exploring." + +The boys were so interested now they did not notice how dark it was +getting. Neither did they notice the turns they were making in the deep +woodlands. Now and then a new stone would attract their attention. +They would kick it over, pick it up, and if it were of queer shape it +would be pocketed for further inspection. + +"Say," said Hal, suddenly, "doesn't it look like night?" and at that +he ran to a clear spot between the trees, where he might see the sky. + +"Sure as you live it is night!" he called back to the others. "We +better pick the trail back to our canoe, or we may have to become real +Indians and camp out here in spite of our appetites." + +Then the boys discovered that the trees were much alike, and there +were absolutely no paths to follow. + +"Well, there's where the sun went down, so we must turn our back to +that," advised Hal, as they tramped about, without making any progress +toward finding the way home. + +What at first seemed to be fun, soon turned out to be a serious +matter; for the boys really could not find their way home. Each, in +turn, thought he had the right way, but soon found he was mistaken. + +"Well, I'll give up!" said Hal. "To think we could be lost like three +babies!" + +"Only worse," added Harry, "for little fellows would cry and someone +might help them." + +"Oh! oh! oh! oh! we're lost! We're the babes in the woods!" shouted +Bert at the top of his voice, joking, yet a little in earnest. + +"Let's build a fire," suggested Harry. "That's the way the Indians +used to do. When our comrades see the smoke of the fire they will +come and rescue us." + +The other boys agreed to follow the chief's direction. So they set to +work. It took some time to get wood together, and to start the fire, +but when it was finally lighted, they sat around it and wasted a lot +of time. It would have been better had they tried to get out of the +woods, for as they waited, it grew darker. + +"I wouldn't mind staying here all night," drawled Harry, stretching +himself out on the dry leaves alongside the fire. + +"Well, I'd like supper first," put in Hal. "We were to have roast +duck to-night," and he smacked his lips. + +"What was that!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up. + +"A bell, I thought," whispered Hal, quite frightened. + +"Indians!" added Bert. "Oh, take me home!" he wailed, and while he +tried to laugh, it was a failure, for he really felt more like crying. + +"There it is again. A cow bell!" declared Harry, who could not be +mistaken on bells. + +"Let's find the cow and maybe she will then find us," he suggested, +starting off in the direction that the "tink-tink-tink-tink" came +from. + +"Here she is!" he called, the next moment, as he walked up to a pretty +little cow with the bell on her neck. "Now, where do you belong?" +Harry asked the cow. "Do you know where the Cliffs are, and how we +can get home?" + +The cow was evidently hungry for her supper, and bellowed loud and +long. Then she rubbed her head against Harry's sleeve, and started to +walk through the dark woods. + +"If we follow her she will take us out, all right," said Harry, and so +the three boys willingly started off after the cow. + +Just as Harry had said, she made her way to a path, then the rest of +the way was clear. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Hal, "I smell supper already," and now, at the end of +the path, an opening in the trees showed a few scattered houses. + +"Why, we are away outside of Berkley," went on Hal. "Now, we will +have a long tramp home, but I'm glad even at that, for a night under +the trees was not a pleasant prospect." + +"We must take this cow home first," said Harry, with a farmer's +instinct. "Where do you suppose she belongs?" + +"We might try that house first," suggested Bert, pointing to a cottage +with a small barn, a little way from the wood. + +"Come, Cush," said Harry, to the strange cow, and the animal +obediently walked along. + +There was no need to make inquiries, for outside of the house a little +woman met them. + +"Oh, you've found her!" she began. "Well, my husband was just going +to the pound, for that old miser of a pound master takes a cow in +every chance he gets, just for the fine. Come, Daisy, you're hungry," +and she patted the cow affectionately. "Now, young men, I'm obliged +to you, and you have saved a poor man a day's pay, for that is just +what the fine would be. If you will accept a pail of milk each, I +have the cans, and would be glad to give you each a quart. You might +have berries for dinner," she finished. + +"We would be very glad of the milk," spoke up Harry, promptly, always +wide awake and polite when there was a question that concerned +farmers. + +"Do you live far?" asked the woman. + +"Only at the Cliffs," said Harry. "We will soon he home now. But we +were lost until your cow found us. She brought us here, or we would +be in the woods yet." + +"Well, I do declare!" laughed the little woman, filling each of three +pails from the fresh milk, that stood on a bench, under the kitchen +window. "Now, our man goes right by your house to-morrow morning, and +if you leave the pails outside he will get them. Maybe your mothers +might like some fresh milk, or buttermilk, or fresh eggs, or new +butter?" she asked. + +"Shouldn't wonder," said Hal. "We have hard work to get fresh stuff; +they seem to send it all to the hotels. I'll let the man know when he +comes for the pails." + +"Thank you, thank you," replied the little woman, "and much obliged +for bringing Daisy home. If you ever want a drink of milk, and are +out this way, just knock at my door and I'll see you don't go away +thirsty." + +After more thanks on both sides, the lost boys started homeward, like +a milk brigade, each with his bright tin pail of sweet new milk in his +hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE BOAT CARNIVAL + + +"It didn't seem right to take all this milk," remarked Hal, as the +three boys made their way in the dark, along the ocean road. + +"But we would have offended the lady had we refused," said Harry. +"Besides, we may be able to get her good customers by giving out the +samples," he went on. "I'm sure it is good milk, for the place was +clean, and that cow we found, or that found us, was a real Jersey." + +The other boys did not attempt to question Harry's right to give +expert views where cows and milk were concerned; so they made their +way along without further comment. + +"I suppose our folks will think we are lost," ventured Hal. + +"Then they will think right," admitted Bert, "for that was just what +we were, lost." + +Crossing the bridge, the boys could hear voices. + +"That's father," declared Hal. Then they listened. + +"And that's Uncle William," said Bert, as another voice reached them. + +"Gracious! I'm sorry this happened the first day I came," spoke up +Harry, realizing that the other boys would not have gone into the deep +woods if he had not acted as leader. + +"Here we are!" called Hal. + +"Hello there! That you, Hal?" came a call. + +"Yes; we're coming," Hal answered, and the lost boys quickened their +steps, as much as the pails of milk allowed. + +Presently Uncle William and Mr. Bingham came up, and were so glad to +find that Hal, Harry, and Bert were safe, they scarcely required any +explanation for the delay in getting home. Of course, both men had +been boys themselves, and well remembered how easy it was to get lost, +and be late reaching home. + +The milk pails, too, bore out the boys' story, had there been any +doubt about it, but beyond a word of caution about dangerous places in +deep woodlands there was not a harsh word spoken. + +A little farther on the road home, Dorothy, Nan, and Nellie met the +wanderers, and then the woodland escapade seemed a wild tale about +bears, Indians, and even witches, for each girl added, to the boys' +story, so much of her own imagination that the dark night and the +roaring of the ocean, finished up a very wild picture, indeed. + +"Now, you are real heroes," answered Dorothy, "and you are the bravest +boys I know. I wish I had been along. Just think of sitting by a +campfire in a dark woods, and having no one to bring you home but a +poor little cow!" and Dorothy insisted on carrying Bert's milk pail to +show her respect for a real hero. + +Even Dinah and Susan did not complain about serving a late dinner to +the boys, and both maids said they had never before seen such +perfectly splendid milk as came from the farmhouse. + +"We really might take some extra milk from that farm," said Aunt +Emily, "for what we get is nothing like as rich in cream as this is." + +So, as Harry said, the sample brought good results, for on the +following morning, when the man called for the empty pail, Susan +ordered two quarts a day, besides some fresh eggs and new butter to be +delivered twice a week. + +"Do you know," said Uncle William to Mrs. Bobbsey next morning at +breakfast, when the children had left the table, "Mr. Bingham was +telling me last night that his brother is at sea, on just such a +voyage as little Nellie's father went on. And a man named McLaughlin +went with him, too. Now, that's Nellie's name, and I believe George +Bingham is the very man he went with." + +"You don't tell me!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "And have they heard any +news from Mr. Bingham's brother?" + +"Nothing very definite, but a vessel sighted the schooner ten days +ago. Mr. Bingham has no idea his brother is lost, as he is an +experienced seaman, and the Binghams are positive it is only a matter +of the schooner being disabled, and the crew having a hard time to +reach port," replied Mr. Minturn. + +"If Nellie's mother only knew that," said Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Tell you what I'll do," said the brother-in-law; "just give me +Mrs. McLaughlin's address, and I'll go to see her to-day while I'm in +town. Then I can find out whether we have the right man in mind or +not." + +Of course, nothing was said to Nellie about the clew to her father's +whereabouts, but Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily were quite excited over +it, for they were very fond of Nellie, and besides, had visited her +mother and knew of the poor woman's distress. + +"If it only could be true that the vessel is trying to get into port," +reflected Mrs. Bobbsey. "Surely, there would be enough help along the +coast to save the crew." + +While this very serious matter was occupying the attention of the +grown-up folks, the children were all enthusiasm over the water +carnival, coming off that afternoon. + +Hal and Bert were dressed like real Indians, and were to paddle in +Hal's canoe, while Harry was fixed up like a student, a French +explorer, and he was to row alone in Hal's father's boat, to represent +Father Marquette, the discoverer of the upper Mississippi River. + +It was quite simple to make Harry look like the famous discoverer, for +he was tall and dark, and the robes were easily arranged with Susan's +black shawl, a rough cord binding it about his waist. Uncle William's +traveling cap answered perfectly for the French skullcap. + +"Then I'm going to be Pocahontas," insisted Dorothy, as the boys' +costumes brought her mind back to Colonial days. + +"Oh, no," objected Hal, "you girls better take another period of +history. We can't all be Indians." + +"Well, I'll never be a Puritan, not even for fun," declared Dorothy, +whose spirit of frolic was certainly quite opposite that of a +Priscilla. + +"Who was some famous girl or woman in American history?" asked Harry, +glad to get a chance to "stick" Dorothy. + +"Oh, there are lots of them," answered the girl, promptly. "Don't +think that men were the only people in America who did anything worth +while." + +"Then be one that you particularly admire," teased Harry, knowing very +well Dorothy could not, at that minute, name a single character she +would care to impersonate. + +"Oh, let us be real," suggested Nellie. "Everybody will be all +make-believe. I saw lots of people getting ready, and I'm sure they +will all look like Christmas-tree things, tinsel and paper and colored +stuffs." + +"What would be real?', questioned Dorothy. + +"Well, the Fisherman's Daughters," Nellie said, very slowly. "We have +a picture at home of two little girls waiting--for their--father." + +The boys noticed Nellie's manner, and knew why she hesitated. Surely +it would be real for her to be a fisherman's daughter, waiting for her +father! + +"Oh, good!" said Dorothy. "I've got that picture in a book, and we +can copy it exactly. You and I can be in a boat alone. I can row." + +"You had better have a line to my boat," suggested Harry. "It would +be safer in the crowd." + +It had already been decided that Flossie, Freddie, and Nan should go +in the Minturn launch, that was made up to look like a Venetian +gondola. Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily and Aunt Sarah were to be +Italian ladies, not that they cared to be in the boat parade, but +because Aunt Emily, being one of the cottagers, felt obliged to +encourage the social features of the little colony. + +It was quite extraordinary how quickly and how well Dorothy managed to +get up her costume and Nellie's. Of course, the boys were wonderful +Indians, and Harry a splendid Frenchman; Mrs. Bobbsey, Aunt Sarah, and +Aunt Emily only had to add lace headpieces to their brightest dinner +gowns to be like the showy Italians, while Freddie looked like a +little prince in his black velvet suit, with Flossie's red sash tied +from shoulder to waist, in gay court fashion. Flossie wore the pink +slip that belonged under her lace dress, and on her head was a silk +handkerchief pinned up at the ends, in that square quaint fashion of +little ladies of Venice. + +There were to be prizes, of course, for the best costumes and +prettiest boats, and the judges' stand was a very showy affair, built +at the bridge end of the lake. + +There was plenty of excitement getting ready, but finally all hands +were dressed, and the music from the lake told our friends the +procession was already lining up. + +Mrs. Minturn's launch was given second place, just back of the +Mayor's, and Mrs. Bingham's launch, fixed up to represent an +automobile, came next. Then, there were all kinds of boats, some made +to represent impossible things, like big swans, eagles, and one even +had a lot of colored ropes flying about it, while an automobile lamp, +fixed up in a great paper head, was intended to look like a monster +sea-serpent, the ropes being its fangs. By cutting out a queer face +in the paper over the lighted lamp the eyes blazed, of course, while +the mouth was red, and wide open, and there were horns, too, made of +twisted pieces of tin, so that altogether the sea-serpent looked very +fierce, indeed. + +The larger boats were expected to be very fine, so that as the +procession passed along the little lake the steam launches did not +bring out much cheering from the crowd. But now the single boats were +coming. + +"Father Marquette!" cried the people, instantly recognizing the +historic figure Harry represented. + +So slowly his boat came along, and so solemn he looked! + +Then, as he reached the judges' stand, he stood up, put his hand over +his eyes, looking off in the distance, exactly like the picture of the +famous French explorer. + +This brought out long and loud cheering, and really Harry deserved it, +for he not only looked like, but really acted, the character. + +There were a few more small boats next. In one the summer girl was +all lace and parasol, in another there was a rude fisherman, then; +some boys were dressed to look like dandies, and they seemed to enjoy +themselves more than did the people looking at them. There was also a +craft fixed up to look like a small gunboat. + +Hal and Bert then paddled along. + +They were perfect Indians, even having their faces browned with dark +powder. Susan's feather duster had been dissected to make up the +boys' headgear, and two overall suits, with jumpers, had been slashed +to pieces to make the Indian suits. The canoe, of course, made a +great stir. + +"Who are they?" everybody wanted to know. But no one could guess. + +"Oh, look at this!" called the people, as an old boat with two little +girls drifted along. + +The Fisherman's Daughters! + +Perhaps it was because there was so much gayety around that these +little girls looked so real. From the side of their weather-beaten +boat dragged an old fishnet. Each girl had on her head a queer +half-hood, black, and from under this Nellie's brown hair fell in +tangles on her bare shoulders, and Dorothy's beautiful yellow ringlets +framed in her own pretty face. The children wore queer bodices, like +those seen in pictures of Dutch girls, and full skirts of dark stuff +finished out their costumes. + +As they sat in the boat and looked out to sea, "watching for the +fisherman's return," their attitude and pose were perfect. + +The people did not even cheer. They seemed spellbound. + +"That child is an actress," they said, noting the "real" look on +Nellie's face. But Nellie was not acting. She was waiting for the +lost father at sea. + +When would he come back to her? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE FIRST PRIZE + + +When the last craft in the procession had passed the judges' stand, +and the little lake was alive with decorations and nautical novelties, +everybody, of course, in the boats and on land, was anxious to know +who would get the prizes. + +There were four to be given, and the fortunate ones could have gifts +in silver articles or the value in money, just as they chose. + +Everybody waited anxiously, when the man at the judges' stand stood up +and called through the big megaphone: + +"Let the Fisherman's Daughters pass down to the stand!" + +"Oh, we are going to get a prize," Dorothy said to Nellie. "I'll just +cut the line to Harry's boat and row back to the stand." + +Then, when the two little girls sailed out all by themselves, Dorothy +rowing gracefully, while Nellie helped some, although not accustomed +to the oars, the people fairly shouted. + +For a minute the girls waited in front of the stand. But the more +people inspected them the better they appeared. Finally, the head +judge stood up. + +"First prize is awarded to the Fisherman's Daughters," he announced. + +The cheering that followed his words showed the approval of the crowd. +Nellie and Dorothy were almost frightened at the noise. Then they +rowed their boat to the edge, and as the crowd gathered around them to +offer congratulations, the other prizes were awarded. + +The second prize went to the Indians! + +"Lucky they don't know us," said Hal to Bert, "for they would never +let the two best prizes get in one set." The Indians were certainly +well made-up, and their canoe a perfect redman's bark. + +The third prize went to the "Sea-serpent," for being the funniest boat +in the procession; and the fourth to the gunboat. Then came a great +shouting! + +A perfect day had added to the success of the carnival, and now many +people adjourned to the pavilion, where a reception was held, and good +things to eat were bountifully served. + +"But who was the little girl with Dorothy Minturn?" asked the mayor's +wife. Of course everybody knew Dorothy, but Nellie was a stranger. + +Mrs. Minturn, Mrs. Bobbsey, Aunt Sarah, Mrs. Bingham, and Mrs. Blake, +the latter being the mayor's wife, had a little corner in the pavilion +to themselves. Here Nellie's story was quietly told. + +"How nice it was she got the prize," said Mrs. Blake, after hearing +about Nellie's hardships. "I think we had better have it in +money--and we might add something to it," she suggested. "I am sure +Mr. Blake would be glad to. He often gives a prize himself. I'll +just speak to him." + +Of course Dorothy was to share the prize, and she accepted a pretty +silver loving cup. But what do you suppose they gave Nellie? + +Fifty dollars! + +Was not that perfectly splendid? + +The prize for Nellie was twenty-five dollars, but urged by Mrs. Blake, +the mayor added to it his own check for the balance. + +Naturally Nellie wanted to go right home to her mother with it, and +nothing about the reception had any interest for her after she +received the big check. However, Mrs. Bobbsey insisted that +Mr. Minturn would take the money to Nellie's mother the next day, so +the little girl had to be content. + +Then, when all the festivities were over, and the children's +excitement had brought them to bed very tired that night, Nellie sat +by her window and looked out at the sea! + +Always the same prayer, but to-night, somehow, it seemed answered! + +Was it the money for mother that made the father seem so near? + +The roaring waves seemed to call out: + +"Nellie--Nellie dear! I'm coming--coming home to you!" + +And while the little girl was thus dreaming upstairs, Mr. Minturn down +in the library was telling about his visit to Nellie's mother. + +"There is no doubt about it," he told Mrs. Bobbsey. "It was Nellie's +father who went away with George Bingham, and it was certainly that +schooner that was sighted some days ago." + +The ladies, of course, were overjoyed at the prospect of the best of +luck for Nellie--her father's possible return,--and then it was +decided that Uncle William should again go to Mrs. McLaughlin, this +time to take her the prize money, and that Mrs. Bobbsey should go +along with him, as it was such an important errand. + +"And you remember that little pearl that Nellie found on the beach? +Well, I'm having it set in a ring for her. It is a real pearl, but +not very valuable, yet I thought it would be a souvenir of her visit +at the Cliffs," said Mr. Minturn. + +"That will be very nice," declared Mrs. Bobbsey. "I am sure no one +deserves to be made happy more than that child does, for just fancy, +how she worked in that store as cash girl until her health gave way. +And now she is anxious to go back to the store again. Of course she +is worried about her mother, but the prize money ought to help +Mrs. McLaughlin so that Nellie would not need to cut her vacation +short." + +"What kind of treasure was it that these men went to sea after?" Aunt +Emily asked Uncle William. + +"A cargo of mahogany," Mr. Minturn replied. "You see, that wood is +scarce now, a cargo is worth a fortune, and a shipload was being +brought from the West Indies to New York when a storm blew the vessel +out to a very dangerous point. Of course, the vessel was wrecked, and +so were two others that later attempted to reach the valuable cargo. +You see the wind always blows the one way there, and it is impossible +to get the mahogany out of its trap. Now, George Bingham was offered +fifty thousand dollars to bring that wood to port, and he decided that +he could do it by towing each log around the reef by canoes. The logs +are very heavy, each one is worth between eighty and one hundred +dollars, but the risk meant such a reward, in case of success, that +they went at it. Of course the real danger is around the wreck. Once +free from that point and the remainder of the voyage would be only +subject to the usual ocean storms." + +"And those men were to go through the dangerous waters in little +canoes!" exclaimed Aunt Emily. + +"But the danger was mostly from winds to the sails of vessels," +explained Uncle William. "Small craft are safest in such waters." + +"And if they succeeded in bringing the mahogany in?" asked +Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Nellie would be comparatively rich, for her father went as George +Bingham's partner," finished Mr. Minturn. + +So, the evening went into night, and Nellie, the Fisherman's Daughter, +slept on, to dream that the song of the waves came true. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LOST ON AN ISLAND + + +The calm that always follows a storm settled down upon the Cliffs the +day after the carnival. The talk of the entire summer settlement was +Nellie and her prize, and naturally, the little girl herself thought +of home and the lonely mother, who was going to receive such a +surprise--fifty dollars! + +It was a pleasant morning, and Freddie and Flossie were out watching +Downy trying to get through the fence that the boys had built to keep +him out of the ocean. Freddie had a pretty little boat Uncle William +had brought down from the city. It had sails, that really caught the +wind, and carried the boat along. + +Of course Freddie had a long cord tied to it, so it could not get out +of his reach, and while Flossie tried to steer the vessel with a long +whip, Freddie made believe he was a canal man, and walked along the +tow path with the cord in hand. + +"I think I would have got a prize in the boat parade if I had this +steamer," said Freddie, feeling his craft was really as fine as any +that had taken part in the carnival. + +"Maybe you would," agreed Flossie. "Now let me sail it a little." + +"All right," said Freddie, and he offered the cord to his twin sister. + +"Oh," she exclaimed, "I dropped it!" + +The next minute the little boat made a turn with the breeze, and +before Flossie could get hold of the string it was all in the water! + +"Oh, my boat!" cried Freddie. "Get it quick!" + +"I can't!" declared Flossie. "It is out too far! Oh, what shall we +do!" + +"Now you just get it! You let it go," went on the brother, without +realizing that his sister could not reach the boat, nor the string +either, for that matter. + +"Oh, it's going far away!" cried Flossie; almost in tears. + +The little boat was certainly making its way out into the lake, and it +sailed along so proudly, it must have been very glad to be free. + +"There's Hal Bingham's boat," ventured Flossie. "Maybe I could go out +a little ways in that." + +"Of course you can," promptly answered Freddie. "I can row." + +"I don't know, we might upset!" Flossie said, hesitating. + +"But it isn't deep. Why, Downy walks around out here," went on the +brother. + +This assurance gave the little girl courage, and slipping the rope off +the peg that secured the boat to the shore, very carefully she put +Freddie on one seat, while she sat herself on the other. + +The oars were so big she did not attempt to handle them, but just +depended on the boat to do its own sailing. + +"Isn't this lovely!" declared Freddie, as the boat drifted quietly +along. + +"Yes, but how can we get back?" asked Flossie, beginning to realize +their predicament. + +"Oh, easy!" replied Freddie, who suddenly seemed to have become a man, +he was so brave. "The tide comes down pretty soon, and then our boat +will go back to shore." + +Freddie had heard so much about the tide he felt he understood it +perfectly. Of course, there was no tide on the lake, although the +waters ran lazily toward the ocean at times. + +"But we are not getting near my boat," Freddie complained, for indeed +the toy sailboat was drifting just opposite their way. + +"Well, I can't help it, I'm sure," cried Flossie. "And I just wish I +could get back. I'm going to call somebody." + +"Nobody can hear you," said her brother. "They are all down by the +ocean, and there's so much noise there you can't even hear thunder." + +Where the deep woods joined the lake there was a little island. This +was just around the turn, and entirely out of view of either the +Minturn or the Bingham boat landing. Toward this little island the +children's boat was now drifting. + +"Oh, we'll be real Robinson Crusoes!" exclaimed Freddie, delighted at +the prospect of such an adventure. + +"I don't want to be no Robinson Crusoe!" pouted his sister. "I just +want to get back home," and she began to cry. + +"We're going to bunk," announced Freddie, as at that minute the boat +did really bump into the little island. "Come, Flossie, let us get +ashore," said the brother, in that superior way that had come to him +in their distress. + +Flossie willingly obeyed. + +"Be careful!" she cautioned. "Don't step out till I get hold of your +hand. It is awfully easy to slip getting out of a boat." + +Fortunately for the little ones they had been taught to be careful +when around boats, so that they were able to take care of themselves +pretty well, even in their present danger. + +Once on land, Flossie's fears left her, and she immediately set about +picking the pretty little water flowers, that grew plentifully among +the ferns and flag lilies. + +"I'm going to build a hut," said Freddie, putting pieces of dry sticks +up against a willow tree. Soon the children became so interested they +did not notice their boat drift away, and really leave them all alone +on the island! + +In the meantime everybody at the house was looking for the twins. +Their first fear, of course, was the ocean, and down to the beach +Mrs. Bobbsey, Aunt Sarah, and the boys hurried, while Aunt Emily and +the girls made their way to the Gypsy Camp, fearing the fortune +tellers might have stolen the children in order to get money for +bringing them back again. + +Dorothy walked boldly up to the tent. An old woman sat outside and +looked very wicked, her face was so dark and her hair so black and +tangled. + +"Have you seen a little boy and girl around here?" asked Dorothy, +looking straight into the tent. + +"No, nobody round here. Tell your fortune, lady?" This to Aunt Emily, +who waited for Dorothy. + +"Not to-day," answered Aunt Emily. "We are looking for two children. +Are you sure you have not seen them?" + +"No, lady. Gypsy tell lady's fortune, then lady find them," she +suggested, with that trick her class always uses, trying to impose on +persons in trouble with the suggestion of helping them out of it. + +"No, we have not time," insisted Aunt Emily; really quite alarmed now +that there was no trace of the little twins. + +"Let me look through your tent?" asked Dorothy, bravely. + +"What for?" demanded the old woman. + +"To make sure the children are not hiding," and without waiting for a +word from the old woman, Dorothy walked straight into that gypsy tent! + +Even Aunt Emily was frightened. + +Suppose somebody inside should keep Dorothy? + +"Come out of my house!" muttered the woman, starting after Dorothy. + +"Come out, Dorothy," called her mother, but the girl was making her +way through the old beds and things inside, to make sure there was no +Freddie or Flossie to be found in the tent. + +It was a small place, of course, and it did not take Dorothy very long +to search it. + +Presently she appeared again, much to the relief of her mother, Nan, +and Nellie, who waited breathlessly outside. + +"They are not around here," said Dorothy. "Now, mother, give the old +woman some change to make up for my trespassing." + +Aunt Emily took a coin from her chatelaine. + +"Thank the lady! Good lady," exclaimed the old gypsy. "Lady find her +babies; babies play--see!" (And she pretended to look into the future +with some dirty cards.) "Babies play in woods. Natalie sees babies +picking flowers." + +Now, how could anybody ever guess that the old gypsy had just come +down from picking dandelions by the lake, where she really had seen +Freddie and Flossie on the island? + +And how could anybody know that she was too wicked to tell Aunt Emily +this, but was waiting until night, to bring the children back home +herself, and get a reward for doing so? + +She had seen the boat drift away and she knew the little ones were +helpless to return home unless someone found them. + +Mrs. Bobbsey and the boys were now coming up from the beach. + +What, at first, seemed only a mishap, now looked like a very serious +matter. + +"We must go to the woods," insisted Dorothy. "Maybe that old woman +knew they were in the woods." + +But as such things always happen, the searchers went to the end of the +woods, far away from the island. Of course they all called loudly, +and the boys gave the familiar yodel, but the noise of the ocean made +it impossible for the call to reach Freddie and Flossie. + +"Oh, I'm so afraid they are drowned!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, breaking +down and crying. + +"No, mamma," insisted Nan, "I am sure they are not. Flossie is so +afraid of the water, and Freddie always minds Flossie. They must be +playing somewhere. Maybe they are home by this time," and so it was +agreed to go back to the house and if the little ones were not +there--then---- + +"But they must be there," insisted Nellie, starting on a run over the +swampy grounds toward the Cliffs. + +And all this time Freddie and Flossie were quite unconcerned playing +on the island. + +"Oh, there's a man!" shouted Freddie, seeing someone in the woods. +"Maybe it's Friday. Say there, Mister!" he shouted. "Say, will you +help us get to land?" + +The man heard the child's voice and hurried to the edge of the lake. + +"Wall, I declare!" he exclaimed, "if them babies ain't lost out there. +And here comes their boat. Well, I'll just fetch them in before they +try to swim out," he told himself, swinging into the drifting boat, +and with the stout stick he had in his hand, pushing off for the +little island. + +The island was quite near to shore on that side, and it was only a few +minutes' work for the man to reach the children. + +"What's your name?" he demanded, as soon as he touched land. + +"Freddie Bobbsey," spoke up the little fellow, bravely, "and we live +at the Cliffs." + +"You do, eh? Then it was your brothers who brought my cow home, so I +can pay them back by taking you home now. I can't row to the far +shore with this stick, so we'll have to tramp it through the woods. +Come along." and carefully he lifted the little ones into the boat, +pushing to the woods, and started off to walk the round-about way, +through the woods, to the bridge, then along the road back to the +Cliffs, where a whole household was in great distress because of the +twins' absence. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +DOROTHY'S DOINGS + + +"Here they come!" called Nellie, who was searching around the barn, +and saw the farmer with the two children crossing the hill. + +"I'm Robinson Crusoe!" insisted Freddie, "and this is my man, Friday," +he added, pointing to the farmer. + +Of course it did not take long to clear up the mystery of the little +ones' disappearance. But since his return Freddie acted like a hero, +and certainly felt like one, and Flossie brought home with her a +dainty bouquet of pink sebatia, that rare little flower so like a tiny +wild rose. The farmer refused to take anything for his time and +trouble, being glad to do our friends a favor. + +Aunt Sarah and Harry were to leave for Meadow Brook that afternoon, +but the worry over the children being lost made Aunt Sarah feel quite +unequal to the journey, so Aunt Emily prevailed upon her to wait +another day. + +"There are so many dangers around here," remarked Aunt Sarah, when all +the "scare" was over. "It is different in the country. We never +worry about lost children out in Meadow Brook." + +"But I often got lost out there," insisted Freddie. "Don't you +remember?" + +Aunt Sarah had some recollection of the little fellow's adventures in +that line, and laughed over them, now that they were recalled. + +Late that afternoon Dorothy, Nan, and Nellie had a conference: that +is, they talked with their heads so close together not even Flossie +could get an idea of what they were planning. But it was certainly +mischief, for Dorothy had most to say, and she would rather have a +good joke than a good dinner any day, so Susan said. + +Harry, Hal, and Bert had been chasing through the woods after a +queer-looking bird. It was large, and had brilliant feathers, and +when it rested for a moment on a tree it would pick at the bark as if +it were trying to play a tune with its beak. Each time it struck the +bark its head bobbed up and down in a queer way for a bird. But the +boys could not get it. They set Hal's trap, and even used an air +rifle in hopes of bringing it down without killing it, but the bird +puttered from place to place, not in a very great hurry, but just +fast enough to keep the boys busy chasing it. + +That evening, at dinner, the strange bird was much talked about. + +"Dat's a ban-shee!" declared Dinah, jokingly. "Dat bird came to bring +a message from somebody. You boys will hear dat tonight, see if you +doesn't," and she gave a very mysterious wink at Dorothy, who just +then nearly choked with her dessert. + +A few hours later the house was all quiet. The happenings of the day +brought a welcome night, and tired little heads comfortably hugged +their pillows. + +It must have been about midnight, Bert was positive he had just heard +the clock strike a lot of rings, surely a dozen or so, when at his +window came a queer sound, like something pecking. At first Bert got +it mixed up with his dreams, but as it continued longer and louder, he +called to Harry, who slept in the alcove in Bert's room, and together +the boys listened, attentively. + +"That's the strange bird," declared Harry. "Sure enough it is +bringing us a message, as Dinah said," and while the boys took the +girl's words in a joke, they really seemed to be coming true. + +"Don't light the gas," cautioned Bert, "or that will surely frighten +it off. We can get our air guns, and I'll go crawl out on the veranda +roof back of it, so as to get it if possible." + +All this time the "peck-peck-peck" kept at the window, but just as +soon as Bert went out in the hall to make his way through the +storeroom window to the veranda roof, the pecking ceased. Harry +hurried after Bert to tell him the bird was gone, and then together +the boys put their heads out of their own window. + +But there was not a sound, not even the distant flutter of a bird's +wing to tell the boys the messenger had gone. + +"Back to bed for us," said Harry, laughing. "I guess that bird is a +joker and wants to keep us busy," and both boys being healthy were +quite ready to fall off to sleep as soon as they felt it was of no use +to stay awake longer looking for their feathered visitor. + +"There it is again," called Bert, when Harry had just begun to dream +of hazelnuts in Meadow Brook. "I'll get him this time!" and without +waiting to go through the storeroom, Bert raised the window and bolted +out on the roof. + +"What's de matter down dere?" called Dinah from the window above. +"'Pears like as if you boys had de nightmare. Can't you let nobody +get a wink ob sleep? Ebbery time I puts my head down, bang! comes a +noise and up pops my head. Now, what's a-ailin' ob you, Bert?" and +the colored girl showed by her tone of voice she was not a bit angry, +but "chock-full of laugh," as Bert whispered to Harry. + +But the boys had not caught the bird, had not even seen it, for that +matter. + +Both Bert and Harry were now on the roof in their pajamas. + +"What's--the--matter--there?" called Dorothy, in a very drowsy voice, +from her window at the other end of the roof. + +"What are you boys after?" called Uncle William, from a middle window. + +"Anything the matter?" asked Aunt Sarah, anxiously, from the spare +room. + +"Got a burgulor?" shrieked Freddie, from the nursery. + +"Do you want any help?" offered Susan, her head out of the top-floor +window. + +All these questions came so thick and fast on the heads of Bert and +Harry that the boys had no idea of answering them. Certainly the bird +was nowhere to be seen, and they did not feel like advertising their +"April-fool game" to the whole house, so they decided to crawl into +bed again and let others do the same. + +The window in the boys' room was a bay, and each time the pecking +disturbed them they thought the sound came from a different part of +the window. Bert said it was the one at the left, so where the "bird" +called from was left a mystery. + +But neither boy had time to close his eyes before the noise started up +again! + +"Well, if that isn't a ghost it certainly is a ban-shee, as Dinah +said," whispered Bert. "I'm going out to Uncle William's room and +tell him. Maybe he will have better luck than we had," and so saying, +Bert crept out into the hall and down two doors to his uncle's room. + +Uncle William had also heard the sound. + +"Don't make a particle of noise," cautioned the uncle, "and we can go +up in the cupola and slide down a post so quietly the bird will not +hear us," and as he said this, he, in his bath robe, went cautiously +up the attic stairs, out of a small window, and slid down the post +before Bert had time to draw his own breath. + +But there was no bird to be seen anywhere! + +"I heard it this very minute!" declared Harry, from the window. + +"It might be bats!" suggested Uncle William. "But listen! I thought +I heard the girls laughing," and at that moment an audible titter was +making its way out of Nan's room! + +"That's Dorothy's doings!" declared Uncle William, getting ready to +laugh himself. "She's always playing tricks," and he began to feel +about the outside ledge of the bay window. + +But there was nothing there to solve the mystery. + +"A tick-tack!" declared Harry, "I'll bet, from the girls' room!" and +without waiting for another word he jumped out of his window, ran +along the roof to Nan's room, and then grabbed something. + +"Here it is!" he called, confiscating the offending property. "You +just wait, girls!" he shouted in the window. "If we don't give you a +good ducking in the ocean for this to-morrow!" + +The laugh of the three girls in Nan's room made the joke on the boys +more complete, and as Uncle William went back to his room he declared +to Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily that his girl, Dorothy, was more fun +than a dozen boys, and he would match her against that number for the +best piece of good-natured fun ever played. + +"A bird!" sneered Bert, making fun of himself for being so easily +fooled. + +"A girls' game of tick-tack!" laughed Harry, making up his mind that +if he did not "get back at Dorothy," he would certainly have to haul +in his colors as captain of the Boys' Brigade of Meadow Brook; "for +she certainly did fool me," he admitted, turning over to sleep at +last. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +OLD FRIENDS + + +"Now, Aunt Sarah," pleaded Nan the next morning, "you might just as +well wait and go home on the excursion train. All Meadow Brook will +be down, and it will be so much pleasanter for you. The train will be +here by noon and leave at three o'clock." + +"But think of the hour that would bring us to Meadow Brook!" objected +Aunt Sarah. + +"Well, you will have lots of company, and if Uncle Daniel shouldn't +meet you, you can ride up with the Hopkinses or anybody along your +road." + +Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily added their entreaties to Nan's, and Aunt +Sarah finally agreed to wait. + +"If I keep on," she said, "I'll be here all summer. And think of the +fruit that's waiting to be preserved!" + +"Hurrah!" shouted Bert, giving his aunt a good hug. "Then Harry and I +can have a fine time with the Meadow Brook boys," and Bert dashed out +to take the good news to Harry and Hal Bingham, who were out at the +donkey house. + +"Come on, fellows!" he called. "Down to the beach! We can have a +swim before the crowd gets there." And with renewed interest the trio +started off for the breakers. + +"I would like to live at the beach all summer," remarked Harry. "Even +in winter it must be fine here." + +"It is," said Hal. "But the winds blow everything away regularly, and +they all have to be carted back again each spring. This shore, with +all its trimmings now, will look like a bald head by the first of +December." + +All three boys were fine swimmers, and they promptly struck off for +the water that was "straightened out," as Bert said, beyond the +tearing of the breakers at the edge. There were few people in the +surf and the boys made their way around as if they owned the ocean. + +Suddenly Hal thought he heard a call! + +Then a man's arm appeared above the water's surface, a few yards away. + +"Cramps," yelled Hal to Harry and Bert, while all three hurried to +where the man's hand had been seen. + +But it did not come up again. + +"I'll dive down!" spluttered Hal, who had the reputation of being able +to stay a long time under water. + +It seemed quite a while to Bert and Harry before Hal came up again, +but when he did he was trying to pull with him a big, fat man, who was +all but unconscious. + +"Can't move," gasped Hal, as the heavy burden was pulling him down. + +Bit by bit the man with cramps gained a little strength, and with the +boys' help he was towed in to shore. + +There was not a life-guard in sight, and Hal had to hurry off to the +pier for some restoratives, for the man was very weak. On his way, +Hal met a guard who, of course, ran to the spot where Harry and Bert +were giving the man artificial respiration. + +"You boys did well!" declared the guard, promptly, seeing how hard +they worked with the sick man. + +"Yes--they saved--my life!" gasped the half-drowned man. "This little +fellow"--pointing to Hal--"brought--me up--almost--from--the bottom!" +and he caught his breath, painfully. + +The man was assisted to a room at the end of the pier, and after a +little while he became much better. Of course the boys did not stand +around, being satisfied they could be of no more use. + +"I must get those lads' names," declared the man to the guard. "Mine +is ----," and he gave the name of the famous millionaire who had a +magnificent summer home in another colony, three miles away. + +"And you swam from the Cedars, Mr. Black," exclaimed the guard. "No +wonder you got cramps." + +An hour later the millionaire was walking the beach looking for the +life-savers. He finally spied Hal. + +"Here, there, you boy," he called, and Hal came in to the edge, but +hardly recognized the man in street clothes. + +"I want your name," demanded the stranger. "Do you know there are +medals given to young heroes like you?" + +"Oh, that was nothing," stammered Hal, quite confused now. + +"Nothing! Why, I was about dead, and pulled on you with all my two +hundred pounds. You knew, too, you had hardly a chance to bring me +up. Yes, indeed, I want your name," and as he insisted, Hal +reluctantly gave it, but felt quite foolish to make such a fuss "over +nothing," as he said. + +It was now about time for the excursion train to come in, so the boys +left the water and prepared to meet their old friends. + +"I hope Jack Hopkins comes," said Bert, for Jack was a great friend. + +"Oh, he will be along," Harry remarked. "Nobody likes a good time +better than Jack." + +"Here they come!" announced Hal, the next minute, as a crowd of +children with many lunch boxes came running down to the ocean. + +"Hello there! Hello there!" called everybody at once, for, of course, +all the children knew Harry and many also knew Bert. + +There were Tom Mason, Jack Hopkins, August Stout, and Ned Prentice in +the first crowd, while a number of girls, friends of Nan's, were in +another group. Nan, Nellie, and Dorothy had been detained by somebody +further up on the road, but were now coming down, slowly. + +Such a delight as the ocean was to the country children! + +As each roller slipped out on the sands the children unconsciously +followed it, and so, many unsuspected pairs of shoes were caught by +the next wave that washed in. + +"Well, here comes Uncle Daniel!" called Bert, as, sure enough, down to +the edge came Uncle Daniel with Dorothy holding on one arm, Nan +clinging to the other, while Nellie carried his small satchel. + +Santa Claus could hardly have been more welcome to the Bobbseys at +that moment than was Uncle Daniel. They simply overpowered him, as +the surprise of his coming made the treat so much better. The girls +had "dragged him" down to the ocean, he said, when he had intended +first going to Aunt Emily's. + +"I must see the others," he insisted; "Freddie and Flossie." + +"Oh, they are all coming down," Nan assured him. "Aunt Sarah, too, is +coming." + +"All right, then," agreed Uncle Daniel. "I'll wait awhile. Well, +Harry, you look like an Indian. Can you see through that coat of +tan?" + +Harry laughed and said he had been an Indian in having a good time. + +Presently somebody jumped up on Uncle Daniel's back. As he was +sitting on the sands the shock almost brought him down. Of course it +was Freddie, who was so overjoyed he really treated the good-natured +uncle a little roughly. + +"Freddie boy! Freddie boy!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel, giving his nephew +a good long hug. "And you have turned Indian, too! Where's that +sea-serpent you were going to catch for me?" + +"I'll get him yet," declared the little fellow. "It hasn't rained +hardly since we came down, and they only come in to land out of the +rain." + +This explanation made Uncle Daniel laugh heartily. The whole family +sat around on the sands, and it was like being in the country and at +the seashore at the one time, Flossie declared. + +The boys, of course, were in the water. August Stout had not learned +much about swimming since he fell off the plank while fishing in +Meadow Brook, so that out in the waves the other boys had great fun +with their fat friend. + +"And there is Nettie Prentice!" exclaimed Nan, suddenly, as she espied +her little country friend looking through the crowd, evidently +searching for friends. + +"Oh, Nan!" called Nettie, in delight, "I'm just as glad to see you as +I am to see the ocean, and I never saw that before," and the two +little girls exchanged greetings of genuine love for each other. + +"Won't we have a perfectly splendid time?" declared Nan. "Dorothy, my +cousin, is so jolly, and here's Nellie--you remember her?" + +Of course Nettie did remember her, and now all the little girls went +around hunting for fun in every possible corner where fun might be +hidden. + +As soon as the boys were satisfied with their bath they went in search +of the big sun umbrellas, so that Uncle William, Aunt Emily, +Mrs. Bobbsey, and Aunt Sarah might sit under the sunshades, while +eating lunch. Then the boys got long boards and arranged them from +bench to bench in picnic style, so that all the Meadow Brook friends +might have a pleasant time eating their box lunches. + +"Let's make lemonade," suggested Hal. "I know where I can get a pail +of nice clean water." + +"I'll buy the lemons," offered Harry. + +"I'll look after sugar," put in Bert. + +"And I'll do the mixing," declared August Stout, while all set to work +to produce the wonderful picnic lemonade. + +"Now, don't go putting in white sand instead of sugar," teased Uncle +Daniel, as the "caterers," with sleeves rolled up, worked hard over +the lemonade. + +"What can we use for cups?" asked Nan. + +"Oh, I know," said Harry, "over at the Indian stand they have a lot of +gourds, the kind of mock oranges that Mexicans drink out of. I can +buy them for five cents each, and after the picnic we can bring them +home and hang them up for souvenirs." + +"Just the thing!" declared Hal, who had a great regard for things that +hang up and look like curios. "I'll go along and help you make the +bargain." + +When the boys came back they had a dozen of the funny drinking cups. + +The long crooked handles were so queer that each person tried to get +the cup to his or her mouth in a different way. + +"We stopped at the hydrant and washed the gourds thoroughly," declared +Hal, "so you need not expect to find any Mexican diamonds in them." + +"Or tarantulas," put in Uncle Daniel. + +"What's them?" asked Freddie, with an ear for anything that sounded +like a menagerie. + +"A very bad kind of spider, that sometimes comes in fruit from other +countries," explained Uncle Daniel. Then Nan filled his gourd from +the dipper that stood in the big pail of lemonade, and he smacked his +lips in appreciation. + +There was so much to do and so much to see that the few hours allowed +the excursionists slipped by all too quickly. Dorothy ran away and +soon returned with her donkey cart, to take Nettie Prentice and a few +of Nettie's friends for a ride along the beach. Nan and Nellie did +not go, preferring to give the treat to the little country girls. + +"Now don't go far," directed Aunt Emily, for Aunt Sarah and Uncle +Daniel were already leaving the beach to make ready for the train. Of +course Harry and Aunt Sarah were all "packed up" and had very little +to do at Aunt Emily's before starting. + +Hal and Bert were sorry, indeed, to have Harry go, for Harry was such +a good leader in outdoor sports, his country training always standing +by him in emergencies. + +Finally Dorothy came back with the girls from their ride, and the +people were beginning to crowd into the long line of cars that waited +on a switch near the station. + +"Now, Nettie, be sure to write to me," said Nan, bidding her little +friend good-by. + +"And come down next year," insisted Dorothy. + +"I had such a lovely time," declared Nettie. "I'm sure I will come +again if I can." + +The Meadow Brook Bobbseys had secured good seats in the middle +car,--Aunt Sarah thought that the safest,--and now the locomotive +whistle was tooting, calling the few stragglers who insisted on +waiting at the beach until the very last minute. + +Freddie wanted to cry when he realized that Uncle Daniel, Aunt Sarah, +and even Harry were going away, but with the promises of meeting again +Christmas, and possibly Thanksgiving, all the good-bys were said, and +the excursion train puffed out on its long trip to dear old Meadow +Brook, and beyond. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE STORM + + +When Uncle William Minturn came in from the city that evening he had +some mysterious news. Everybody guessed it was about Nellie, but as +surprises were always cropping up at Ocean Cliff, the news was kept +secret and the whispering increased. + +"I had hard work to get her to come," said Uncle William to +Mrs. Bobbsey, still guarding the mystery, "but I finally prevailed +upon her and she will be down on the morning train." + +"Poor woman, I am sure it will do her good," remarked Mrs. Bobbsey. +"Your house has been a regular hotel this summer," she said to +Mr. Minturn. + +"That's what we are here for," he replied. "We would not have much +pleasure, I am sure, if our friends were not around us." + +"Did you hear anything more about the last vessel?" asked Aunt Emily. + +"Yes, I went down to the general office today, and an incoming steamer +was sure it was the West Indies vessel that was sighted four days +ago." + +"Then they should be near port now?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"They ought to be," replied Uncle William, "but the cargo is so heavy, +and the schooner such a very slow sailer, that it takes a long time to +cover the distance." + +Next morning, bright and early, Dorothy had the donkeys in harness. + +"We are going to the station to meet some friends, Nellie," she said. +"Come along?" + +"What! More company?" exclaimed Nellie. "I really ought to go home. +I am well and strong now." + +"Indeed you can't go until we let you," said Dorothy, laughing. "I +suppose you think all the fun went with Harry," she added, teasingly, +for Dorothy knew Nellie had been acting lonely ever since the +carnival. She was surely homesick to see her mother and talk about +the big prize. + +The two girls had not long to wait at the station, for the train +pulled in just as they reached the platform. Dorothy looked about a +little uneasily. + +"We must watch for a lady in a linen suit with black hat," she said to +Nellie; "she's a stranger." + +That very minute the linen suit appeared. + +"Oh, oh!" screamed Nellie, unable to get her words. "There is my +mother!" and the next thing Dorothy knew, Nellie was trying to "wear +the same linen dress" that the stranger appeared in--at least, that +was how Dorothy afterwards told about Nellie's meeting with her +mother. + +"My daughter!" exclaimed the lady, "I have been so lonely I came to +bring you home." + +"And this is Dorothy," said Nellie, recovering herself. "Dorothy is +my best friend, next to Nan." + +"You have surely been among good friends," declared the mother, "for +you have gotten the roses back in your cheeks again. How well you do +look!" + +"Oh, I've had a perfectly fine time," declared Nellie. + +"Fine and dandy," repeated Dorothy, unable to restrain her fun-making +spirit. + +At a glance Dorothy saw why Nellie, although poor, was so genteel, for +her mother was one of those fine-featured women that seem especially +fitted to say gentle things to children. + +Mrs. McLaughlin was not old,--no older than Nan's mother,--and she had +that wonderful wealth of brown hair, just like Nellie's. Her eyes +were brown, too, while Nellie's were blue, but otherwise Nellie was +much like her mother, so people said. + +Aunt Emily and Mrs. Bobbsey had visited Mrs. McLaughlin in the city, +so that they were quite well acquainted when the donkey cart drove up, +and they all had a laugh over the surprise to Nellie. Of course that +was Uncle William's secret, and the mystery of the whispering the +evening before. + +"But we must go back on the afternoon train," insisted +Mrs. McLaughlin, who had really only come down to the shore to bring +Nellie home. + +"Indeed, no," objected Aunt Emily, "that would be too much traveling +in one day. You may go early in the morning." + +"Everybody is going home," sighed Dorothy. "I suppose you will be the +next to go, Nan," and she looked quite lonely at the prospect. + +"We are going to have a big storm," declared Susan, who had just come +in from the village. "We have had a long dry spell, now we are going +to make up for it." + +"Dear me," sighed Mrs. McLaughlin, "I wish we had started for home." + +"Oh, there's lots of fun here in a storm," laughed Dorothy. "The +ocean always tries to lick up the whole place, but it has to be +satisfied with pulling down pavilions and piers. Last year the water +really went higher than the gas lights along the boulevard." + +"Then that must mean an awful storm at sea," reflected Nellie's +mother. "Storms are bad enough on land, but at sea they must be +dreadful!" And she looked out toward the wild ocean, that was keeping +from her the fate of her husband. + +Long before there were close signs of storm, life-guards, on the +beach, were preparing for it. They were making fast everything that +could be secured and at the life-saving station all possible +preparations were being made to help those who might suffer from the +storm. + +It was nearing September and a tidal wave had swept over the southern +ports. Coming in all the way from the tropics the storm had made +itself felt over a great part of the world, in some places taking the +shape of a hurricane. + +On this particular afternoon, while the sun still shone brightly over +Sunset Beach, the storm was creeping in under the big waves that +dashed up on the sands. + +"It is not safe to let go the ropes," the guards told the people, but +the idea of a storm, from such a pretty sky, made some daring enough +to disobey these orders. The result was that the guards were kept +busy trying to bring girls and women to their feet, who were being +dashed around by the excited waves. + +This work occupied the entire afternoon, and as soon as the crowd left +the beach the life-guards brought the boats down to the edge, got +their lines ready, and when dark came on, they were prepared for the +life-patrol,--the long dreary watch of the night, so near the noisy +waves, and so far from the voice of distress that might call over the +breakers to the safe shores, where the life-savers waited, watched, +and listened. + +The rain began to fall before it was entirely dark. The lurid sunset, +glaring through the dark and rain, gave an awful, yellow look to the +land and sea alike. + +"It is like the end of the world," whispered Nellie to Nan, as the two +girls looked out of the window to see the wild storm approaching. + +Then the lightning came in blazing blades, cutting through the +gathering clouds. + +The thunder was only like muffled rolls, for the fury of the ocean +deadened every other sound of heaven or earth. + +"It will be a dreadful storm," said Aunt Emily to Mrs. Bobbsey. "We +must all go into the sitting room and pray for the sailors." + +Everyone in the house assembled in the large sitting room, and Uncle +William led the prayers. Poor Mrs. McLaughlin did not once raise her +head. Nellie, too, hid her pale face in her hands. + +Dorothy was frightened, and when all were saying good-night she +pressed a kiss on Nellie's cheek, and told her that the life-savers on +Sunset Beach would surely be able to save all the sailors that came +that way during the big storm. + +Nellie and her mother occupied the same room. Of course the mother +had been told that the long delayed boat had been sighted, and now, +how anxiously she awaited more news of Nellie's father. + +"We must not worry," she told Nellie, "for who knows but the storm may +really help father's boat to get into port?" + +So, while the waves lashed furiously upon Sunset Beach, all the people +in the Minturn cottage were sleeping, or trying to sleep, for, indeed, +it was not easy to rest when there was so much danger at their very +door. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +LIFE-SAVERS + + +"Mother, mother!" called Nellie, "look down at the beach. The +life-guards are burning the red signal lights! They have found a +wreck!" + +It was almost morning, but the black storm clouds held the daylight +back. Mrs. McLaughlin and her little daughter strained their eyes to +see, if possible, what might be going on down at the beach. While +there was no noise to give the alarm, it seemed, almost everybody in +that house felt the presence of the wreck, for in a very few minutes, +Bert was at his window, Dorothy and Nan were looking out of theirs, +while the older members of the household were dressing hastily, to see +if they might be of any help in case of accident at the beach. + +"Can I go with you, Uncle?" called Bert, who had heard his uncle +getting ready to run down to the water's edge. + +"Yes, come along," answered Mr. Minturn, and as day began to peep +through the heavy clouds, the two hurried down to the spot where the +life-guards were burning their red light to tell the sailors their +signal had been seen. + +"There's the vessel!" exclaimed Bert, as a rocket flew up from the +water. + +"Yes, that's the distress signal," replied the uncle. "It is lucky +that daylight is almost here." + +Numbers of other cottagers were hurrying to the scene now, Mr. Bingham +and Hal being among the first to reach the spot. + +"It's a schooner," said Mr. Bingham to Mr. Minturn, "and she has a +very heavy cargo." + +The sea was so wild it was impossible to send out the life-savers' +boats, so the guards were making ready the breeches buoy. + +"They are going to shoot the line out now," explained Hal to Bert, as +the two-wheel car with the mortar or cannon was dragged down to the +ocean's edge. + +Instantly there shot out to sea a ball of thin cord. To this cord was +fastened a heavy rope or cable. + +"They've got it on the schooner." exclaimed a man, for the thin cord +was now pulling the cable line out, over the water. + +"What's that board for?" asked Bert, as he saw a board following the +cable. + +"That's the directions," said Hal. + +"They are printed in a number of languages, and they tell the crew to +carry the end of the cable high up the mast and fasten it strongly +there." + +"Oh, I see," said Bert, "the line will stretch then, and the breeches +buoy will go out on a pulley." + +"That's it," replied Hal. "See, there goes the buoy," and then the +queer-looking life-preserver made of cork, and shaped like breeches, +swung out over the waves. + +It was clear day now, and much of the wicked storm had passed. Its +effect upon the sea was, however, more furious every hour, for while +the storm had left the land, it was raging somewhere else, and the +sensitive sea felt every throb of the excited elements. + +With the daylight came girls and women to the beach. + +Mrs. Bobbsey, Mrs. Minturn, Nellie and her mother, besides Dorothy and +Nan, were all there; Flossie and Freddie being obliged to stay home +with Dinah and Susan. + +Of course the girls asked all sorts of questions and Bert and Hal +tried to answer them as best they could. + +It seemed a long time before any movement of the cable showed that the +buoy was returning. + +"Here she comes! Here she comes!" called the crowd presently, as the +black speck far out, and the strain on the cord, showed the buoy was +coming back. + +Up and down in the waves it bobbed, sometimes seeming to go all the +way under. Nearer and nearer it came, until now a man's head could be +seen. + +"There's a man in it!" exclaimed the boys, all excitement, while the +life-guards pulled the cord steadily, dragging in their human freight. + +The girls and women were too frightened to talk, and Nellie clung +close to her mother. + +A big roller dashing in finished the work for the life-guards, and a +man in the cork belt bounded upon shore. + +He was quite breathless when the guards reached him, but insisted on +walking up instead of being carried. Soon he recovered himself and +the rubber protector was pulled off his face. + +Everybody gathered around, and Nellie with a strange face, and a +stranger hope, broke through the crowd to see the rescued man. + +"Oh--it is--_my_--_father_!" she screamed, falling right into the arms +of the drenched man. + +"Be careful," called Mr. Minturn, fearing the child might be mistaken, +or Mrs. McLaughlin might receive too severe a shock from the surprise. + +But the half-drowned man rubbed his eyes as if he could not believe +them, then the next minute he pressed his little daughter to his +heart, unable to speak a word. + +What a wonderful scene it was! + +The child almost unconscious in her father's arms, he almost dead from +exhaustion, and the wife and mother too overcome to trust herself to +believe it could be true. + +Even the guards, who were busy again at the ropes, having left the man +to willing hands on the beach, could not hide their surprise over the +fact that it was mother, father, and daughter there united under such +strange conditions. + +"My darling, my darling!" exclaimed the sailor to Nellie, as he raised +himself and then he saw his wife. + +Mrs. Bobbsey had been holding Mrs. McLaughlin back, but now the sailor +was quite recovered, so they allowed her to speak to him. + +Mr. Bingham and Hal had been watching it all, anxiously. + +"Are you McLaughlin?" suddenly asked Mr. Bingham. + +"I am," replied the sailor. + +"And is George Bingham out there?" anxiously asked the brother. + +"Safe and well," came the welcome answer. "Just waiting for his turn +to come in." + +"Oh!" screamed Dorothy, "Hal's uncle is saved too. I guess our +prayers were heard last night." + +"Here comes another man!" exclaimed the people, as this time a big man +dashed on the sands. + +"All right!" exclaimed the man, as he landed, for he had had a good +safe swing in, and was in no way exhausted. + +"Hello there!" called Mr. Bingham: "Well, if this isn't luck. George +Bingham!" + +Sure enough it was Hal's Uncle George, and Hal was hugging the big wet +man, while the man was jolly, and laughing as if the whole thing were +a good joke instead of the life-and-death matter it had been. + +"I only came in to tell you," began George Bingham, "that we are all +right, and the boat is lifting off the sand bar we stuck on. But I'm +glad I came in to--the reception," he said, laughing. "So you've +found friends, McLaughlin," he added, seeing the little family united. +"Why, how do you do, Mrs. McLaughlin?" he went on, offering her his +hand. "And little Nellie! Well, I declare, we did land on a friendly +shore." + +Just as Mr. Bingham said, the life-saving work turned out to be a +social affair, for there was a great time greeting Nellie's father and +Hal's uncle. + +"Wasn't it perfectly splendid that Nellie and her mother were here!" +declared Dorothy. + +"And Hal and his father, too," put in Nan. "It is just like a story +in a book." + +"But we don't have to look for the pictures," chimed in Bert, who was +greatly interested in the sailors, as well as in the work of the +life-saving corps. + +As Mr. Bingham told the guards it would not be necessary to haul any +more men in, and as the sea was calm enough now to launch a life-boat, +both Nellie's father and Hal's uncle insisted on going back to the +vessel to the other men. + +Nellie was dreadfully afraid to have her father go out on the ocean +again, but he only laughed at her fears, and said he would soon be in +to port, to go home with her, and never go on the big, wild ocean +again. + +Two boats were launched, a strong guard going in each, with +Mr. McLaughlin in one and Mr. Bingham in the other, and now they +pulled out steadily over the waves, back to the vessel that was +freeing itself from the sand bar. + +What a morning that was at Sunset Beach! + +The happiness of two families seemed to spread all through the little +colony, and while the men were thinking of the more serious work of +helping the sailors with their vessel, the girls and women were +planning a great welcome for the men who had been saved from the +waves. + +"I'm so glad we prayed," said little Flossie to Freddie, when she +heard the good news. + +"It was Uncle William prayed the loudest," insisted Freddie, +believing, firmly, that to reach heaven a long and loud prayer is +always best. + +"But we all helped," declared his twin sister, while surely the angels +had listened to even the sleepy whisper of the little ones, who had +asked help for the poor sailors in their night of peril. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE HAPPY REUNION + + +A beautiful day had grown out of the dreadful storm. + +The sun seemed stronger each time it made its way out from behind a +cloud, just as little girls and boys grow strong in body by exercise, +and strong in character by efforts to do right. + +And everybody was so happy. + +The _Neptune_--the vessel that had struck on the sand bar--was now +safely anchored near shore, and the sailors came in and out in +row-boats, back and forth to land, just as they wished. + +Of course Captain Bingham, Hal's uncle, was at the Bingham cottage, +and the first mate, Nellie's father, was at Minturn's. + +But that evening there was a regular party on Minturn's veranda. +Numbers of cottagers called to see the sailors, and all were invited +to remain and hear about the strange voyage of the _Neptune_. + +"There is not much to tell," began the captain. "Of course I knew we +were going to have trouble getting that mahogany. Two vessels had +been wrecked trying to get it, so when we got to the West Indies I +decided to try canoes and not risk sails, where the wind always blew +such a gale, it dragged any anchor that could be dropped. Well, it +was a long, slow job to drag those heavy logs around that point, and +just when we were making headway, along comes a storm that drove the +schooner and canoes out of business." + +Here Mate McLaughlin told about the big storm and how long it took the +small crew to repair the damage done to the sails. + +"Then we had to go back to work at the logs," went on the captain, +"and then one of our crew took a fever. Well, then we were +quarantined. Couldn't get things to eat without a lot of trouble, and +couldn't go on with the carting until the authorities decided the +fever was not serious. That was what delayed us so. + +"Finally, we had every log loaded on the schooner and we started off. +But I never could believe any material would be as heavy as that +mahogany; why, we just had to creep along, and the least contrary wind +left us motionless on the sea. + +"We counted on getting home last week, when this last storm struck us +and drove us out of our course. But we are not sorry for our delay +now, since we have come back to our own." + +"About the value?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, who was down from the city. + +"The value," repeated the captain aside, so that the strangers might +not hear. "Well, I'm a rich man now, and so is my mate, McLaughlin, +for that wood was contracted for by the largest and richest piano firm +in this country, and now it is all but delivered to them and the money +in our hands." + +"Then it was well worth all your sacrifice?" said Mr. Minturn. + +"Yes, indeed. It would have taken us a lifetime to accumulate as much +money as we have earned in this year. Of course, it was hard for the +men who had families, McLaughlin especially; the others were all +working sailors, but he was a landsman and my partner in the +enterprise; but I will make it up to him, and the mahogany hunt will +turn out the best paying piece of work he ever undertook." + +"Oh, isn't it perfectly splendid!" declared Nan and Dorothy, hugging +Nellie. "You will never again have to go back to that horrid store +that made you so pale, and your mother will have a lovely time and +nothing to worry about." + +"I can hardly believe it all," replied their little friend. "But +having father back is the very best of all." + +"But all the same," sighed Dorothy, "I just know you will all be going +home before we leave for the city, and I shall just die of +loneliness." + +"But we have to go to school," said Nan, "and we have only a few days +more." + +"Of course," continued Dorothy; "and our school will not open for two +weeks yet." + +"Maybe Aunt Emily will take you down to the city on her shopping +tour," suggested Nan. + +"Indeed I do not like shopping," answered the cousin. "Every time I +go in a store that is crowded with stuff on the counters under +people's elbows, I feel like knocking the things all over. I did a +lot of damage that way once. It was holiday time, and a counter that +stuck out in the middle of the store was full of little statues. My +sleeve touched one, and the whole lot fell down as if a cannon had +struck them. I broke ten and injured more than I wanted to count." + +"And Aunt Emily had to pay for them?" said Nan. + +"No, she didn't, either," corrected Dorothy. "The manager came up +and said the things should not be put out in people's way. He made +the clerks remove all the truck from the aisles and I guess everybody +was glad the army fell down. I never can forget those pink-and-white +soldiers," and Dorothy straightened herself up in comical "soldier's +arms" fashion, imitating the unfortunate statues. + +"I hope you can come to Lakeport for Thanksgiving," said Nan. "We +have done so much visiting this summer, out to Aunt Sarah's and down +here, mamma feels we ought to have a grand reunion at our house next. +If we do, I am going to try to have some of the country girls down and +give them all a jolly good time." + +"Oh, I'll come if you make it jolly," answered Dorothy. "If there is +one thing in this world worth while, it is fun," and she tossed her +yellow head about like a buttercup, that has no other way of laughing. + +That had been an eventful day at Ocean Cliff, and the happy ending of +it, with a boat and its crew saved, was, as some of the children said, +just like a story in a book, only the pictures were all alive! + +The largest hotel at Sunset Beach was thrown open to the sailors that +night, and here Captain Bingham and Mate McLaughlin, together with the +rest of the crew, took up comfortable lodgings. + +It was very late, long after the little party had scattered from +Minturn's piazza, that the sailors finished dancing their hornpipe for +the big company assembled to greet them in the hotel. + +Never had they danced to such fine music before, for the hotel +orchestra played the familiar tune and the sailors danced it nimbly, +hitching up first one side then the other--crossing first one leg then +the other, and wheeling around in that jolly fashion. + +How rugged and handsome the men looked! The rough ocean winds had +tanned them like bronze, and their muscles were as firm and strong +almost as the cables that swing out with the buoys. The wonderful +fresh air that these men lived in, night and day, had brightened their +eyes too, so that even the plainest face, and the most awkward man +among them, was as nimble as an athlete, from his perfect exercise. + +"And last night what an awful experience they had!" remarked one of +the spectators. "It is no wonder that they are all so happy +to-night." + +"Besides," added someone else, "they are all going to receive extra +good pay, for the captain and mate will be very rich when the cargo is +landed." + +So the sailors danced until they were tired, and then after a splendid +meal they went to sleep, in as comfortable beds as might be found in +any hotel on Sunset Beach. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +GOOD-BY + + +"I don't know how to say good-by to you," Nellie told Dorothy and Nan +next morning. "To think how kind you have been to me, and how +splendidly it has all turned out! Now father is home again, I can +hardly believe it! Mother told me last night she was going to put +back what money she had to use out of my prize, the fifty dollars you +know, and I am to make it a gift to the Fresh Air Fund." + +"Oh, that will be splendid!" declared Nan. "Perhaps they will buy +another tent with it, for they need more room out at Meadow Brook." + +"You are quite rich now, aren't you?" remarked Dorothy. "I suppose +your father will buy a big house, and maybe next time we meet you, +you will put on airs and walk like this?" and Dorothy went up and down +the room like the pictures of Cinderella's proud sisters. + +"No danger," replied Nellie, whose possible tears at parting had been +quickly chased away by the merry Dorothy. "But I hope we will have a +nice home, for mother deserves it, besides I am just proud enough to +want to entertain a few young ladies, among them Miss Nan Bobbsey and +Miss Dorothy Minturn." + +"And we will be on hand, thank you," replied the joking Dorothy. "Be +sure to have ice cream and chocolates--I want some good fresh +chocolates. Those we get down here always seem soft and salty, like +the spray." + +"Come, Nellie," called Mrs. McLaughlin, "I am ready. Where is your +hat?" + +"Oh, yes, mother, I'm coming!" replied Nellie. + +Bert had the donkey cart hitched and there was now no time to spare. +Nellie kissed Freddie and Flossie affectionately, and promised to +bring the little boy all through a big city, real fire-engine house +when he came to see her. + +"And can I ring the bell and make the horses jump?" he asked. + +"We might be able to manage that, too," Nellie told him. "My uncle is +a fireman and he can take us through his engine house." + +Nan went to the station with her friends, and when the last good-bys +were said and the train steamed out, the twins turned back again to +the Minturn Cottage. + +"Our turn next," remarked Bert, as he pulled the donkeys into the +drive. + +"Yes, it seems it is nothing but going and coming all the time. I +wonder if all the other girls will be home at Lakeport in time for the +first day of school?" said Nan. + +"Most of them, I guess," answered Bert. "Well, we have had a good +vacation, and I am willing to go to work again." + +"So am I!" declared Nan. "Vacation was just long enough, I think." + +Mr. Bobbsey was down from the city, of course, to take the family +home, and now all hands, even Freddie and Flossie, were busy packing +up. There were the shells to be looked after, the fish nets, besides +Downy, the duck, and Snoop, the cat. + +"And just to add one more animal to your menagerie," said Uncle +William, "I have brought you a little goldfinch. It will sing +beautifully for you, and be easy to carry in its little wooden cage. +Then, I have ordered, sent directly to your house, a large cage for +him to live in, so he will have plenty of freedom, and perhaps +Christmas you may get some more birds to put in the big house, to keep +Dick company." + +Of course Freddie was delighted with the gift, for it was really a +beautiful little bird, with golden wings, and a much prettier pet than +a duck or a cat, although he still loved his old friends. + +The day passed very quickly with all that was crowded into it: the +last ocean bath taking up the best part of two hours, while a sail in +Hal's canoe did away with almost as much, more time. Dorothy gave Nan +a beautiful little gold locket with her picture in it, and Flossie +received the dearest little real shell pocketbook ever seen. Hal +Bingham gave Bert a magnifying glass, to use at school in chemistry or +physics, so that every one of the Bobbseys received a suitable +souvenir of Sunset Beach. + +"You-uns must be to bed early and not go sleep in de train," insisted +Dinah, when Freddie and Flossie pleaded for a little more time on the +veranda that evening. "Come along now; Dinah hab lots to do too," and +with her little charges the good-natured colored girl hobbled off, +promising to tell Freddie how Nellie's father and Hal's uncle were to +get into port again when they set out to sea, instead of trying to get +the big boat into land at Sunset Beach. + +And so our little friends had spent all their vacation. + +The last night at the seashore was passed, and the early morning found +them once more traveling away--this time for dear old home, sweet +home. + +"If we only didn't have to leave our friends," complained Nan, +brushing back a tear, as the very last glint of Cousin Dorothy's +yellow head passed by the train window. + +"I hope we will meet them all soon again," said Nan's mother. "It is +not long until Thanksgiving. Then, perhaps, we can give a real +harvest party out at Lakeport and try to repay our friends for some of +their hospitality to us." + +"Well, I like Hal Bingham first-rate," declared Bert, thinking of the +friend from whom he had just parted. + +"There goes the last of the ocean. Look!" called Flossie, as the +train made a turn, and whistled a good-by to the Bobbsey Twins at the +Seashore. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore, by +Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE *** + +***** This file should be named 6950.txt or 6950.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/9/5/6950/ + +Produced by Gordon Keener + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6950] +[This file was first posted on February 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Gordon Keener. + + + + +The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore +Laura Lee Hope + + +CHAPTER I +CHASING THE DUCK + +"Suah's yo' lib, we do keep a-movin'!" cried Dinah, as she climbed +into the big depot wagon. + +"We didn't forget Snoop this time," exclaimed Freddie, following close +on Dinah's heels, with the box containing Snoop, his pet cat, who +always went traveling with the little fellow. + +"I'm glad I covered up the ferns with wet paper," Flossie remarked, +"for this sun would surely kill them if it could get at them." + +"Bert, you may carry my satchel," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and be careful, +as there are some glasses of jelly in it, you know." + +"I wish I had put my hat in my trunk," remarked Nan. "I'm sure +someone will sit on this box and smash it before we get there." + +"Now, all ready!" called Uncle Daniel, as he prepared to start old +Bill, the horse. + +"Wait a minute!" Aunt Sarah ordered. "There was another box, I'm +sure. Freddie, didn't you fix that blue shoe box to bring along?" + +"Oh, yes, that's my little duck, Downy. Get him quick, somebody, he's +on the sofa in the bay window!" + +Bert climbed out and lost no time in securing the missing box. + +"Now we are all ready this time," Mr. Bobbsey declared, while Bill +started on his usual trot down the country road to the depot. + +The Bobbseys were leaving the country for the seashore. As told in +our first volume, "The Bobbsey Twins," the little family consisted of +two pairs of twins, Nan and Bert, age eight, dark and handsome, and as +like as two peas, and Flossie and Freddie, age four, as light as the +others were dark, and "just exactly chums," as Flossie always +declared. + +The Bobbsey twins lived at Lakeport, where Mr. Richard Bobbsey had +large lumber yards. The mother and father were quite young +themselves, and so enjoyed the good times that came as naturally as +sunshine to the little Bobbseys. Dinah, the colored maid, had been +with the family so long the children at Lakeport called her Dinah +Bobbsey, although her real name was Mrs. Sam Johnston, and her +husband, Sam, was the man of all work about the Bobbsey home. + +Our first volume told all about the Lakeport home, and our second +book, "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country," was the story of the +Bobbseys on a visit to Aunt Sarah and Uncle Daniel Bobbsey in their +beautiful country home at Meadow Brook. Here Cousin Harry, a boy +Bert's age, shared all the sports with the family from Lakeport. Now +the Lakeport Bobbseys were leaving Meadow Brook, to spend the month of +August with Uncle William and Aunt Emily Minturn at their seashore +home, called Ocean Cliff, located near the village of Sunset Beach. +There they were also to meet their cousin, Dorothy Minturn, who was +just a year older than Nan. + +It was a beautiful morning, the very first day of August, that our +little party started off. Along the Meadow Brook road everybody +called out "Good-by!" for in the small country place all the Bobbseys +were well known, and even those from Lakeport had many friends there. + +Nettie Prentice, the one poor child in the immediate neighborhood (she +only lived two farms away from Aunt Sarah), ran out to the wagon as +Uncle Daniel hurried old Bill to the depot. + +"Oh, here, Nan!" she called. "Do take these flowers if you can carry +them. They are in wet cotton battin at the stems, and they won't fade +a bit all day," and Nettie offered to Nan a gorgeous bouquet of lovely +pure white, waxy lilies, that grow so many on a stalk and have such a +delicious fragrance. Nettie's house was an old homestead, and there +delicate blooms crowded around the sitting-room window. + +Nan let her hatbox down and took the flowers. + +"These are lovely, Nettie," she exclaimed; "I'll take them, no matter +how I carry them. Thank you so much, and I hope I'll see you next +summer." + +"Yes, do come out again!" Nettie faltered, for she would miss Nan, the +city girl had always been so kind--even lent her one of her own +dresses for the wonderful Fourth of July parade. + +"Maybe you will come down to the beach on an excursion," called Nan, +as Bill started off again with no time to lose. + +"I don't think so," answered Nettie, for she had never been on an +excursion--poor people can rarely afford to spend money for such +pleasures. + +"I've got my duck," called Freddie to the little girl, who had given +the little creature to Freddie at the farewell party as a souvenir of +Meadow Brook. + +"Have you?" laughed Nettie. "Give him plenty of water, Freddie, let +him loose in the ocean for a swim!" Then Nettie ran back to her home +duties. + +"Queer," remarked Nan, as they hurried on. "The two girls I thought +the most of in Meadow Brook were poor: Nettie Prentice, and Nellie the +little cash girl at the fresh-air camp. Somehow, poor girls seem so +real and they talk to you so close--I mean they seem to just speak +right out of their eyes and hearts." + +"That's what we call sincerity, daughter," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "You +see, children who have trials learn to appreciate more keenly than we, +who have everything we need. That appreciation shows in their eyes, +and so they seem closer to you, as you say." + +"Oh! oh! oh!" screamed Freddie, "I think my duck is choked. He's got +his head out the hole. Take Snoop, quick, Bert, till I get Downy in +again," and the poor little fellow looked as scared as did the duck +with his "head out of the hole." + +"He can't get it in again," cried Freddie, pushing gently on the +little lump of down with the queer yellow bill--the duck's head. "The +hole ain't big enough and he'll surely choke in it." + +"Tear the cardboard down," said Bert. "That's easy enough," and the +older brother, coming to the rescue, put his fingers under the choking +neck, gave the paper box a jerk, and freed poor Downy. + +"When we get to the depot we will have to paste some paper over the +tear," continued Bert, "or Downy will get out further next time." + +"Here we are," called Uncle Daniel, pulling up to the old station. + +"I'll attend to the baggage," announced Mr. Bobbsey, "while you folks +all go to the farther end of the platform. Our car will stop there." + +For a little place like Meadow Brook seven people getting on the +Express seemed like an excursion, and Dave, the lame old agent, +hobbled about with some consequence, as he gave the man in the baggage +car instruction about the trunk and valises. During that brief +period, Harry, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Daniel were all busy with +"good-byes": Aunt Sarah giving Flossie one kiss more, and Uncle Daniel +tossing Freddie up in the air in spite of the danger to Downy, the +duck. + +"All aboard!" called the conductor. + +"Good-by!" + +"Good-by!" + +"Come and see us at Christmas!" called Bert to Harry. + +"I may go down to the beach!" answered Harry while the train brakes +flew off. + +"We will expect you Thanksgiving," Mrs. Bobbsey nodded out the window +to Aunt Sarah. + +"I'll come if I can," called back the other. + +"Good-by! Good-by!" + +"Now, let us all watch out for the last look at dear old Meadow +Brook," exclaimed Nan, standing up by the window. + +"Let Snoop see!" said Freddie, with his hand on the cover of the +kitten's box. + +"Oh, no!" called everybody at once. "If you let that cat out we will +have just as much trouble as we did coming up. Keep him in his box." + +"He would like to see too," pouted Freddie. "Snoop liked Meadow +Brook. Didn't you, Snoopy!" putting his nose close to the holes in +the box. + +"I suppose by the time we come back from the beach Freddie will have a +regular menagerie," said Bert, with a laugh. "He had a kitten first, +now he has a kitten and a duck, and next he'll have a kitten, a duck, +and a---" + +"Sea-serpent," put in Freddie, believing that he might get such a +monster if he cared to possess one. + +"There goes the last of Meadow Brook," sighed Nan, as the train +rounded a curve and slowed up on a pretty bridge. "And we did have +such a lovely time there!" + +"Isn't it going to be just as nice at the ocean?" Freddie inquired, +with some concern. + +"We hope so," his mother replied, "but sister Nan always likes to be +grateful for what she has enjoyed." + +"So am I," insisted the little fellow, not really knowing what he +meant himself. + +"I likes dis yere car de best," spoke up Dinah, looking around at the +ordinary day coach, the kind used in short journeys. "De red velvet +seats seems de most homey," she went on, throwing her kinky head back, +"and I likes to lean back wit'out tumbling ober." + +"And there's more to see," agreed Bert. "In the Pullman cars there +are so few people and they're always---" + +"Proud," put in Flossie. + +"Yes, they seem so," declared her brother, "but see all the people in +this car, just eating and sleeping and enjoying themselves." + +Now in our last book, "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country," we told +about the trip to Meadow Brook in the Pullman car, and how Snoop, the +kitten, got out of his box, and had some queer experiences. This time +our friends were traveling in the car with the ordinary passengers, +and, of course, as Bert said, there was more to be seen and the sights +were different. + +"It is splendid to have so much room," declared Mrs. Bobbsey, for Nan +and Flossie had a big seat turned towards Bert and Freddie's, while +Dinah had a seat all to herself (with some boxes of course), and +Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey had another seat. The high-back, broad plush +seats gave more room than the narrow, revolving chairs, besides, the +day coach afforded so much more freedom for children. + +"What a cute little baby!" exclaimed Nan, referring to a tiny tot +sleeping under a big white netting, across the aisle. + +"We must be quiet," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and let the little baby sleep. +It is hard to travel in hot weather." + +"Don't you think the duck should have a drink?" suggested Mr. Bobbsey. +"You have a little cup for him, haven't you, Freddie?" + +"Yep!" answered Freddie, promptly, pulling the cover off Downy's box. + +Instantly the duck flew out! + +"Oh ! oh! oh!" yelled everybody, as the little white bird went flying +out through the car. First he rested on the seat, then he tried to +get through the window. Somebody near by thought he had him, but the +duck dodged, and made straight for the looking glass at the end of the +car. + +"Oh, do get him, somebody!" cried Freddie, while the other strange +children in the car yelled in delight at the fun. + +"He's kissing himself in the looking glass," declared one youngster, +as the frightened little duck flapped his wings helplessly against the +mirror. + +"He thinks it's another duck," called a boy from the back of the car, +clapping his hands in glee. + +Mr. Bobbsey had gone up carefully with his soft hat in his hand. +Everybody stopped talking, so the duck would keep in its place. + +Nan held Freddie and insisted on him not speaking a word. + +Mr. Bobbsey went as cautiously as possible. One step more and he +would have had the duck. + +He raised his hand with the open hat--and brought it down on the +looking glass! + +The duck was now gazing down from the chandelier! + +"Ha! ha! ha!" the boys laughed, "that's a wild duck, sure!" + +"Who's got a gun!" the boy in the back hollered. + +"Oh, will they shoot my duck!" cried Freddie, in real tears. + +"No, they're only making fun," said Bert. "You keep quiet and we will +get him all right." + +By this time almost everyone in the car had joined in the duck hunt, +while the frightened little bird seemed about ready to surrender. +Downy had chosen the highest hanging lamps as his point of vantage, +and from there he attempted to ward off all attacks of the enemy. No +matter what was thrown at him he simply flew around the lamp. + +As it was a warm day, chasing the duck was rather too vigorous +exercise to be enjoyable within the close confines of a poorly +ventilated car, but that bird had to be caught somehow. + +"Oh, the net!" cried Bert, "that mosquito netting over there. We +could stretch it up and surely catch him." + +This was a happy thought. The baby, of course, was awake and joined +in the excitement, so that her big white mosquito netting was readily +placed at the disposal of the duck hunters. + +A boy named Will offered to help Bert. + +"I'll hold one end here," said Will, "and you can stretch yours +opposite, so we will screen off half of the car, then when he comes +this way we can readily bag him." + +Will was somewhat older than Bert, and had been used to hunting, so +that the present emergency was sport to him. + +The boys now brought the netting straight across the car like a big +white screen, for each held his hands up high, besides standing on the +arm of the car seats. + +"Now drive him this way," called Bert to his father and the men who +were helping him. + +"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!" yelled everybody, throwing hats, books, and +newspapers at the poor lost duck. + +"Shoo!" again called a little old lady, actually letting her black +silk bag fly at the lamp. + +Of course poor Downy had to shoo, right into the net! + +Bert and Will brought up the four ends of the trap and Downy flopped. + +"That's the time we bagged our game," laughed Will, while everybody +shouted and clapped, for it does not take much to afford real +amusement to passengers, who are traveling and can see little but the +other people, the conductor, and newspapers. + +"We've got him at last," cried Freddie in real glee, for he loved the +little duck and feared losing his companionship. + +"And he will have to have his meals served in his room for the rest of +his trip," laughed Mrs. Bobbsey, as the tired little Downy was once +more put in his perforated box, along the side of the tin dipper of +water, which surely the poor duck needed by this time. + + +CHAPTER II +A TRAVELING MENAGERIE + +It took some time for the people to get settled down again, for all +had enjoyed the fun with the duck. The boys wanted Freddie to let him +out of the box, on the quiet, but Bert overheard the plot and put a +stop to it. Then, when the strange youngsters got better acquainted, +and learned that the other box contained a little black kitten, they +insisted on seeing it. + +"We'll hold him tight," declared the boy from the back seat, "and +nothing will happen to him." + +'`But you don't know Snoop," insisted Bert. "We nearly lost him +coming up in the train, and he's the biggest member of Freddie's +menagerie, so we have to take good care of him." + +Mr. Bobbsey, too, insisted that the cat should not be taken out of the +box; so the boys reluctantly gave in. + +"Now let us look around a little," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey, when quiet +had come again, and only the rolling of the train and an occasional +shrill whistle broke in on the continuous rumble of the day's journey. + +"Yes, Dinah can watch the things and we can look through the other +cars," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "We might find someone we know going down +to the shore." + +"Be awful careful of Snoop and Downy," cautioned Freddie, as Dinah +took up her picket duty. "Look out the boys don't get 'em," with a +wise look at the youngsters, who were spoiling for more sport of some +kind. + +"Dis yeah circus won't move 'way from Dinah," she laughed. "When I +goes on de police fo'ce I takes good care ob my beat, and you needn't +be a-worryin', Freddie, de Snoopy kitty cat and de Downy duck will be +heah when you comes back," and she nodded her wooly head in real +earnest. + +It was an easy matter to go from one car to the other as they were +vestibuled, so that the Bobbsey family made a tour of the entire +train, the boys with their father even going through the smoker into +the baggage car, and having a chance to see what their own trunk +looked like with a couple of railroad men sitting on it. + +"Don't you want a job?" the baggagemaster asked Freddie. "We need a +man about your size to lift trunks off the cars for us." + +Of course the man was only joking, but Freddie always felt like a real +man and he answered promptly: + +"Nope, I'm goin' to be a fireman. I've put lots of fires out already, +besides gettin' awful hurted on the ropes with 'Frisky.'" + +"Frisky, who is he?" inquired the men. + +"Why, our cow out in Meadow Brook. Don't you know Frisky?" and +Freddie looked very much surprised that two grown-up people had never +met the cow that had given him so much trouble. + +"Why didn't you bring him along?" the men asked further. + +"Have you got a cow car?" Freddie asked in turn. + +"Yes, we have. Would you like to see one?" went on one of the +railroaders. "If your papa will bring you out on the platform at the +next stop, I'll show you how our cows travel." + +Mr. Bobbsey promised to do this, and the party moved back to meet Nan, +Flossie, and their mamma. Freddie told them at once about his +promised excursion to the cattle car, and, of course, the others +wanted to see, too. + +"If we stop for a few minutes you may all come out," Mr. Bobbsey said. +"But it is always risky to get off and have to scramble to get back +again. Sometimes they promise us five minutes and give us two, taking +the other three to make up for lost time." + +The train gave a jerk, and the next minute they drew up to a little +way station. + +"Here we are, come now," called Mr. Bobbsey, picking Freddie up in his +arms, and telling the others to hurry after him. + +"Oh, there go the boys from our car!" called Bert, as quite a party of +youngsters alighted. "They must be going on a picnic; see their lunch +boxes." + +"I hope Snoop is all right," Freddie reflected, seeing all the lunch +boxes that looked so much like Snoop's cage. + +"Come on, little fellow," called the baggage man, "we only have a few +minutes." + +Then they took Freddie to the rear car and showed him a big cage of +cows--it was a cage made of slates, with openings between, and through +the openings could be seen the crowded cattle. + +"Oh, I would never put Frisky in a place like that," declared Freddie; +"he wouldn't have room to move." + +"There is not much room, that's a fact," agreed the man. "But you see +cows are not first-class passengers." + +"But they are good, and know how to play, and they give milk," said +Freddie, speaking up bravely for his country friends. "What are you +going to do with all of these cows'" + +"I don't know," replied the man, not just wanting to talk about +beefsteak. "Maybe they're going out to the pasture." + +One pretty little cow tried to put her head out through the bars, and +Bert managed to give her a couple of crackers from his pocket. She +nibbled them up and bobbed her head as if to say: + +"Thank you, I was very hungry." + +"They are awfully crowded," Nan ventured, "and it must be dreadful to +be packed in so. How do they manage to get a drink?" + +"They will be watered to-night," replied the man, and then the +Bobbseys had to all hurry to get on the train again, for the +locomotive whistle had blown and the bell was ringing. + +They found Dinah with her face pressed close to the window pane, +enjoying the sights on the platform. + +"I specked you was clean gone and left me," she laughed. "S'pose you +saw lots of circuses, Freddie?" + +"A whole carful," he answered, "but, Dinah," he went on, looking +scared, "where's Snoop?" + +The box was gone! + +"Right where you left him," she declared. "I nebber left dis yeah +spot, and nobody doan come ter steal de Snoopy kitty cat." + +Dinah was crawling around much excited, looking for the missing box. +Bert, Nan, and Flossie, of course, all rummaged about, and even +Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey joined in the search. But there was no box to be +found. + +"Oh, the boys have stoled my cat!" wailed Freddie. "I dust knowed +they would!" and he cried outright, for Snoop was a dear companion of +the little fellow, and why should he not cry at losing his pet? + +"Now wait," commanded his father, "we must not give up so easily. +Perhaps the boys hid him some place." + +"But suah's you lib I nebber did leab dis yeah seat," insisted Dinah, +which was very true. But how could she watch those boys and keep her +face so close to the window? Besides, a train makes lots of noise to +hide boys' pranks. + +"Now, we will begin a systematic search," said Mr. Bobbsey, who had +already found out from the conductor and brakeman that they knew +nothing about the lost box. "We will look in and under every seat. +Then we will go through all the baggage in the hangers" (meaning the +overhead wire baskets), "and see if we cannot find Snoop." + +The other passengers were very kind and all helped in the hunt. The +old lady who had thrown her hand bag at Downy thought she had seen a +boy come in the door at the far end of the car, and go out again +quickly, but otherwise no one could give any information that would +lead to the discovery of the person or parties who had stolen Snoop. + +All kinds of traveling necessities were upset in the search. Some +jelly got spilled, some fresh country eggs were cracked, but everybody +was good-natured and no one complained. + +Yet, after a thorough overhauling of the entire car there was no Snoop +to be found! + +"He's gone!" they all admitted, the children falling into tears, while +the older people looked troubled. + +"They could hardly have stolen him," Mr. Bobbsey reflected, "and the +conductor is sure not one of those boys went in another car, for they +all left the train at Ramsley's." + +"I don't care!" cried Freddie, aloud, "I'll just have every one of +them arrested when we get to Auntie's. I knowed they had Snoop in +their boxes." + +How Snoop could be "in boxes" and how the boys could be found at +Auntie's were two much mixed points, but no one bothered Freddie about +such trifles in his present grief. + +"Why doan you call dat kitty cat?" suggested Dinah, for all this time +no one had thought of that. + +"I couldn't," answered Freddie, "'cause he ain't here to call." And +he went on crying. + +"Snoop! Snoop! Snoop Cat!" called Dinah, but there was no familiar +"me-ow" to answer her. + +"Now, Freddie boy," she insisted, "if dat cat is alibe he will answer +if youse call him, so just you stop a-sniffing and come along. Dere's +a good chile," and she patted him in her old way. "Come wit Dinah and +we will find Snoop." + +With a faint heart the little fellow started to call, beginning at the +front door and walking slowly along toward the rear. + +"Stoop down now and den," ordered Dinah, "cause he might be hiding, +you know." + +Freddie had reached the rear door and he stopped. + +"Now jist gib one more good call" said Dinah, and Freddie did. + +"Snoop! Snoop!" he called. + +"Me-ow," came a faint answer. + +"Oh, I heard him!" cried Freddie. + +"So did I!" declared Dinah. + +Instantly all the other Bobbseys were on the scene. + +"He's somewhere down here," said Dinah. "Call him, Freddie!" + +"Snoop! Snoop!" called the boy again. + +"Me-ow--me-ow!" came a distant answer. + +"In the stove!" declared Bert, jerking open the door of the stove, +which, of course, was not used in summer, and bringing out the poor, +frightened, little cat. + + +CHAPTER III +RAILROAD TENNIS + +"Oh, poor little Snoop!" whispered Freddie, right into his kitten's +ear. "I'm so glad I got you back again!" + +"So are we all," said a kind lady passenger who had been in the +searching party. "You have had quite some trouble for a small boy, +with two animals to take care of." + +Everybody seemed pleased that the mischievous boys' pranks had not +hurt the cat, for Snoop was safe enough in the stove, only, of course, +it was very dark and close in there, and Snoop thought he surely was +deserted by all his good friends. Perhaps he expected Freddie would +find him, at any rate he immediately started in to "purr-rr," in a +cat's way of talking, when Freddie took him in his arms, and fondled +him. + +"We had better have our lunch now," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey, "I'm sure +the children are hungry." + +"It's just like a picnic," remarked Flossie, when Dinah handed around +the paper napkins and Mrs. Bobbsey served out the chicken and +cold-tongue sandwiches. There were olives and celery too, besides +apples and early peaches from Uncle Daniel's farm. + +"Let us look at the timetable, see where we are now, and then see +where we will be when we finish," proposed Bert. + +"Oh yes," said Nan, "let us see how many miles it takes to eat a +sandwich." + +Mr. Bobbsey offered one to the conductor, who just came to punch +tickets. + +"This is not the regular business man's five-minute lunch, but the +five-mile article seems more enjoyable," said Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Easier digested," agreed the conductor, accepting a sandwich. "You +had good chickens out at Meadow Brook," he went on, complimenting the +tasty morsel he was chewing with so much relish. + +"Yes, and ducks," said Freddie, which remark made everybody laugh, for +it brought to mind the funny adventure of little white Downy, the +duck. + +"They certainly can fly," said the conductor with a smile, as he went +along with a polite bow to the sandwich party. + +Bert had attended to the wants of the animals, not trusting Freddie to +open the boxes. Snoop got a chicken leg and Downy had some of his own +soft food, that had been prepared by Aunt Sarah and carried along in a +small tin can. + +"Well, I'se done," announced Dinah, picking up her crumbs in her +napkins. "Bert, how many miles you say it takes me to eat?" + +"Let me see! Five, eight, twelve, fourteen: well, I guess Dinah, you +had fifteen miles of a chicken sandwich." + +"An' you go 'long!" she protested. "'Taint no sech thing. I ain't +got sich a long appetite as date. Fifteen miles! Lan'a massa! whot +you take me fo?" + +Everybody laughed and the children clapped hands at the length of +Dinah's appetite, but when the others had finished they found their +own were even longer than the maid's, the average being eighteen +miles! + +"When will we get to Aunt Emily's?" Flossie asked, growing tired over +the day's journey. + +"Not until night," her father answered. "When we leave the train we +will have quite a way to go by stage. We could go all the way by +train, but it would be a long distance around, and I think the stage +ride in the fresh air will do us good." + +"Oh yes, let's go by the stage," pleaded Freddie, to whom the word +stage was a stranger, except in the way it had been used at the Meadow +Brook circus. + +"This stage will be a great, big wagon," Bert told him, "with seats +along the sides." + +"Can I sit up top and drive?" the little one asked. + +"Maybe the man will let you sit by him," answered Mr. Bobbsey, "but +you could hardly drive a big horse over those rough roads." + +The train came to a standstill, just then, on a switch. There was no +station, but the shore train had taken on another section. + +"Can Flossie and I walk through that new car?" Nan asked, as the cars +had been separated and the new section joined to that directly back of +the one which the Bobbseys were in. + +"Why, yes, if you are very careful," the mother replied, and so the +two little girls started off. + +Dinah took Freddie on her lap and told him his favorite story about +"Pickin' cotton in de Souf," and soon the tired little yellow head +fell off in the land of Nod. + +Bert and his father were enjoying their magazines, while Mrs. Bobbsey +busied herself with some fancy work, so a half-hour passed without any +more excitement. At the end of that time the girls returned. + +"Oh, mother!" exclaimed Nan, "we found Mrs. Manily, the matron of the +Meadow Brook Fresh Air Camp, and she told us Nellie, the little cash +girl, was so run down the doctors think she will have to go to the +seashore. Mother, couldn't we have her down with us awhile?" + +"We are only going to visit, you know, daughter, and how can we invite +more company? But where is Mrs. Manily? I would like to talk to her," +said Mrs. Bobbsey, who was always interested in those who worked to +help the poor. + +Nan and Flossie brought their mother into the next car to see the +matron. We told in our book, "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country," how +good a matron this Mrs. Manily was, and how little Nellie, the cash +girl, one of the visitors at the Fresh Air Camp, was taken sick while +there, and had to go to the hospital tent. It was this little girl +that Nan wanted to have enjoy the seashore, and perhaps visit Aunt +Emily. + +Mrs. Manily was very glad to see Mrs. Bobbsey, for the latter had +helped with money and clothing to care for the poor children at the +Meadow Brook Camp. + +"Why, how pleasant to meet a friend in traveling!" said the matron as +she shook hands with Mrs. Bobbsey. "You are all off for the seashore, +the girls tell me." + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Bobbsey. "One month at the beach, and we must +then hurry home to Lakeport for the school days. But Nan tells me +little Nellie is not well yet?" + +"No, I am afraid she will need another change of air to undo the +trouble made by her close confinement in a city store. She is not +seriously sick, but so run down that it will take some time for her to +get strong again," said the matron. + +"Have you a camp at the seashore?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"No; indeed, I wish we had," answered the matron. "I am just going +down now to see if I can't find some place where Nellie can stay for a +few weeks." + +"I'm going to visit my sister, Mrs. Minturn, at Ocean Cliff, near +Sunset Beach," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "They have a large cottage and are +always charitable. If they have no other company I think, perhaps, +they would be glad to give poor little Nellie a room." + +"That would be splendid!" exclaimed the matron. "I was going to do a +line of work I never did before. I was just going to call on some of +the well-to-do people, and ask them to take Nellie. We had no funds, +and I felt so much depended on the change of air, I simply made up my +mind to go and do what I could." + +"Then you can look in at my sister's first," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "If +she cannot accommodate you, perhaps she can tell who could. Now, +won't you come in the other car with us, and we can finish our journey +together?" + +"Yes, indeed I will. Thank you," said the matron, gathering up her +belongings and making her way to the Bobbsey quarters in the other +car. + +"Won't it be lovely to have Nellie with us!" Nan said to Flossie, as +they passed along. "I am sure Aunt Emily will say yes." + +"So am I," said little Flossie, whose kind heart always went out when +it should. "I know surely they would not let Nellie die in the city +while we enjoy the seaside." + +Freddie was awake now, and also glad to see Mrs. Manily. + +"Where's Sandy?" he inquired at once. Sandy had been his little chum +from the Meadow Brook Camp. + +"I guess he is having a nice time somewhere," replied Mrs. Manily. +"His aunt found him out, you know, and is going to take care of him +now." + +"Well, I wish he was here too," said Freddie, rubbing his eyes. +"We're goin' to have lots of fun fishing in the ocean." + +The plan for Nellie was told to Mr. Bobbsey, who, of course agreed it +would be very nice if Aunt Emily and Uncle William were satisfied. + +"And what do you suppose those boxes contain?" said Mrs. Bobbsey to +Mrs. Manily, pointing to the three boxes in the hanger above them. + +"Shoes?" ventured the matron. + +"Nope," said Freddie. "One hat, and my duck and my cat. Downy is my +duck and Snoop is my cat." + +Then Nan told about the flight of the duck and the "kidnapping" of +Snoop. + +"We put them up there out of the way," finished Nan, "so that nothing +more can happen to them." + +The afternoon was wearing out now, and the strong summer sun shrunk +into thin strips through the trees, while the train dashed along. As +the ocean air came in the windows, the long line of woodland melted +into pretty little streams, that make their way in patches for many +miles from the ocean front. "Like 'Baby Waters'" Nan said, "just +growing out from the ocean, and getting a little bit bigger every +year." + +"Won't we soon be there?" asked Freddie, for long journeys are always +tiresome, especially to a little boy accustomed to many changes in the +day's play. + +"One hour more," said Mr. Bobbsey, consulting his watch. + +"Let's have a game of ball, Nan?" suggested Bert, who never traveled +without a tennis ball in his pocket. + +"How could we?" the sister inquired. + +"Easily," said Bert. "We'll make up a new kind of game. We will +start in the middle of the car, at the two center seats, and each move +a seat away at every catch. Then, whoever misses first must go back +to center again, and the one that gets to the end first, wins." + +"All right," agreed Nan, who always enjoyed her twin brother's games. +"We will call it Railroad Tennis." + +Just as soon as Nan and Bert took their places, the other passengers +became very much interested. There is such a monotony on trains that +the sports the Bobbseys introduced were welcome indeed. + +We do not like to seem proud, but certainly these twins did look +pretty. Nan with her fine back eyes and red cheeks, and Bert just +matching her; only his hair curled around, while hers fell down. +Their interest in Railroad Tennis made their faces all the prettier, +and no wonder the people watched them so closely. + +Freddie was made umpire, to keep him out of a more active part, +because he might do damage with a ball in a train, his mother said; +so, as Nan and Bert passed the ball, he called,--his father prompting +him: + +"Ball one!" + +"Ball two!" + +"Ball three " + +Bert jerked with a sudden jolt of the train and missed. + +"Striker's out!" called the umpire, while everybody laughed because +the boy had missed first. + +Then Bert had to go all the way back to center, while Nan was four +seats down. + +Three more balls were passed, then Nan missed. + +"I shouldn't have to go all the way back for the miss," protested Nan. +"You went three seats back, so I'll go three back." + +This was agreed to by the umpire, and the game continued. + +A smooth stretch of road gave a good chance for catching, and both +sister and brother kept moving toward the doors now, with three points +"to the good" for Nan, as a big boy said. + +Who would miss now? Everybody waited to see. The train struck a +curve! Bert threw a wild ball and Nan missed it. + +"Foul ball!" called the umpire, and Bert did not dispute it. + +Then Nan delivered the ball. + +"Oh, mercy me!" shrieked the old lady, who had thrown the handbag at +Downy, the duck, "my glasses!" and there, upon the floor, lay the +pieces. Nan's ball had hit the lady right in the glasses, and it was +very lucky they did not break until they came in contact with the +floor. + +"I'm so sorry!" Nan faltered. "The car jerked so I could not keep +it." + +"Never mind, my dear," answered the nice old lady, "I just enjoyed +that game as much as you did, and if I hadn't stuck my eyes out so, +they would not have met your ball. So, it's all right. I have +another pair in my bag." + +So the game ended with the accident, for it was now time to gather up +the baggage for the last stop. + + +CHAPTER IV +NIGHT IN A BARN + +"Beach Junction! All off for the Junction!" called the train men, +while the Bobbseys and Mrs. Manily hurried out to the small station, +where numbers of carriages waited to take passengers to their cottages +on the cliffs or by the sea. + +"Sure we haven't forgotten anything?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, taking a +hasty inventory of the hand baggage. + +"Bert's got Snoop and I've got Downy," answered Freddie, as if the +animals were all that counted. + +"And I've got my hatbox and flowers," added Nan. + +"And I have my ferns," said little Flossie. + +"I guess we're all here this time," Mr. Bobbsey finished, for nothing +at all seemed to be missing. + +It was almost nightfall, and the beautiful glow of an ocean sunset +rested over the place. At the rear of the station an aged stage +driver sat nodding on his turnout. The stage coach was an "old +timer," and had carried many a merry party of sightseers through the +sandy roads of Oceanport and Sunset Beach, while Hank, the driver, +called out all spots of interest along the way. And Hank had a way of +making things interesting. + +"Pike's Peak," he would call out for Cliff Hill. + +"The Giant's Causeway," he would announce for Rocky Turn. + +And so Hank was a very popular stage driver, and never had to look for +trade--it always came to him. + +"That's our coach," said Mr. Bobbsey, espying Hank. "Hello there! +Going to the beach?" he called to the sleepy driver. + +"That's for you to say," replied Hank, straightening up. + +"Could we get to Ocean Cliff--Minturn's place--before dark?" asked +Mr. Bobbsey, noticing how rickety the old stagecoach was. + +"Can't promise," answered Hank, "but you can just pile in and we'll +try it." + +There was no choice, so the party "piled" into the carryall. + +"Isn't this fun?" remarked Mrs. Manily, taking her seat up under the +front window. "It's like going on a May ride." + +"I'm afraid it will be a moonlight ride at this rate," laughed +Mr. Bobbsey, as the stagecoach started to rattle on. Freddie wanted +to sit in front with Hank but Mrs. Bobbsey thought it safer inside, +for, indeed, the ride was risky enough, inside or out. As they +joggled on the noise of the wheels grew louder and louder, until our +friends could only make themselves heard by screaming at each other. + +"Night is coming," called Mrs. Bobbsey, and Dinah said: "Suah 'nough +we be out in de night dis time." + +It seemed as if the old horses wanted to stand still, they moved so +slowly, and the old wagon creaked and cracked until Hank, himself, +turned round, looked in the window, and shouted: + +"All right there?" + +"Guess so," called back Mr. Bobbsey, "but we don't see the ocean yet." + +"Oh, we'll get there," drawled Hank, lazily. + +"We should have gone all the way by train," declared Mrs. Bobbsey, in +alarm, as the stage gave one squeak louder than the others. + +"Haven't you got any lanterns?" shouted Mr. Bobbsey to Hank, for it +was pitch-dark now. + +"Never use one," answered the driver. "When it's good and dark the +moon will come up, but we'll be there 'fore that. Get 'long there, +Doll!" he called to one horse. "Go 'long, Kit!" he urged the other. + +The horses did move a little faster at that, then suddenly something +snapped and the horses turned to one side. + +"Whoa! Whoa!" called Hank, jerking on the reins. But it was too late! +The stage coach was in a hole! Several screamed. + +"Sit still!" called Mr. Bobbsey to the excited party. "It's only a +broken shaft and the coach can't upset now." + +Flossie began to cry. It was so dark and black in that hole. + +Hank looked at the broken wagon. + +"Well, we're done now," he announced, with as little concern as if the +party had been safely landed on Aunt Emily's piazza, instead of in a +hole on the roadside. + +"Do you mean to say you can't fix it up?" Mr. Bobbsey almost gasped. + +"Not till I get the stage to the blacksmith's," replied Hank. + +"Then, what are we going to do?" Mr. Bobbsey asked, impatiently. + +"Well, there's an empty barn over there," Hank answered. "The best +thing you can do is pitch your tent there till I get back with another +wagon." + +"Barn!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"How long will it take you to get a wagon?" demanded Mr. Bobbsey. + +"Not long," said Hank, sprucing up a trifle. "You just get yourselves +comfortable in that there barn. I'll get the coach to one side, and +take a horse down to Sterritt's. He'll let me have a horse and a +wagon, and I'll be back as soon as I kin make it." + +"There seems nothing else to do," Mr. Bobbsey said. "We may as well +make the best of it." + +"Why, yes," Mrs. Manily spoke up, "we can pretend we are having a barn +dance." And she smiled, faintly. + +Nevertheless, it was not very jolly to make their way to the barn in +the dark. Dinah had to carry Freddie, he was so sleepy; Mrs. Manily +took good care of Flossie. But, of course, there was the duck and the +cat, that could not be very safely left in the broken-down stagecoach. + +"Say, papa!" Bert exclaimed, suddenly, "I saw an old lantern up under +the seat in that stagecoach. Maybe it has some oil in it. I'll go +back and see." + +"All right, son," replied the father, "we won't get far ahead of you." +And while Bert made his way back to the wagon, the others bumped up +and down through the fields that led to the vacant barn. + +There was no house within sight. The barn belonged to a house up the +road that the owners had not moved into that season. + +"I got one!" called Bert, running up from the road. "This lantern has +oil in, I can hear it rattle. Have you a match, pa?" + +Mr. Bobbsey had, and when the lantern had been lighted, Bert marched +on ahead of the party, swinging it in real signal fashion. + +"You ought to be a brakeman," Nan told her twin brother, at which +remark Bert swung his light above his head and made all sorts of funny +railroad gestures. + +The barn door was found unlocked, and excepting for the awful +stillness about, it was not really so bad to find refuge in a good, +clean place like that, for outside it was very damp--almost wet with +the ocean spray. Mr. Bobbsey found seats for all, and with the big +carriage doors swung open, the party sat and listened for every sound +that might mean the return of the stage driver. + +"Come, Freddie chile," said Dinah, "put yer head down on Dinah's lap. +She won't let nothin' tech you. An' youse kin jest go to sleep if +youse a mind ter. I'se a-watchin' out." + +The invitation was welcome to the tired little youngster, and it was +not long before he had followed Dinah's invitation. + +Next, Flossie cuddled up in Mrs. Manily's arms and stopped thinking +for a while. + +"It is awfully lonely," whispered Nan, to her mother, "I do wish that +man would come back." + +"So do I," agreed the mother. "This is not a very comfortable hotel, +especially as we are all tired out from a day's journey." + +"What was that?" asked Bert, as a strange sound, like a howl, was +heard. + +"A dog," lightly answered the father. + +"I don't think so," said Bert. "Listen!" + +"Oh!" cried Flossie, starting up and clinging closer to Mrs. Manily, +"I'm just scared to death!" + +"Dinah, I want to go home," cried Freddie. "Take me right straight +home." + +"Hush, children, you are safe," insisted their mother. "The stage +driver will be back in a few minutes." + +"But what is that funny noise?" asked Freddie. "It ain't no cow, nor +no dog." + +The queer "Whoo-oo-oo" came louder each time. It went up and down +like a scale, and "left a hole in the air," Bert declared. + +"It's an owl!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, and she was right, for up in +the abandoned hay loft the queer old birds had found a quiet place, +and had not been disturbed before by visitors. + +"Let's get after them," proposed Bert, with lantern in hand. + +"You would have a queer hunt," his father told him; "I guess you had +better not think of it. Hark! there's a wagon! I guess Hank is +coming back to us," and the welcome sound of wheels on the road +brought the party to their feet again. + +"Hello there!" called Hank. "Here you are. Come along now, we'll +make it this time." + +It did not take the Bobbseys long to reach the roadside and there they +found Hank with a big farm wagon. The seats were made of boards, and +there was nothing to hold on to but the edge of the boards. + +But the prospect of getting to Aunt Emily's at last made up for all +their inconveniences, and when finally Hank pulled the reins again, +our friends gave a sigh of relief. + + +CHAPTER V +A QUEER STAGE DRIVER + +"I reckon I'll have to make another trip to get that old coach down to +the shop," growled the stage driver, as he tried to hurry the horses, +Kit and Doll, along. + +"I hardly think it is worth moving," Mr. Bobbsey said, feeling +somewhat indignant that a hackman should impose upon his passengers by +risking their lives in such a broken-down wagon. + +"Not worth it? Wall! I guess Hank don't go back on the old coach like +that. Why, a little grease and a few bolts will put that rig in +tip-top order." And he never made the slightest excuse for the +troubles he had brought upon the Bobbseys. + +"Oh, my!" cried Nan, "my hatbox! Bert you have put your foot right +into my best hat!" + +"Couldn't help it," answered the brother; "I either had to go through +your box or go out of the back of this wagon, when that seat slipped," +and he tried to adjust the board that had fallen into the wagon. + +"Land sakes alive!" exclaimed Dinah. "Say, you driver man there!" she +called in real earnest, "ef you doan go a little carefuler wit dis +yere wagon you'll be spilling us all out. I just caught dat cat's box +a-sliding, and lan' only knows how dat poor little Downy duck is, way +down under dat old board." + +"Hold on tight," replied Hank, as if the whole thing were a joke, and +his wagon had the privilege of a toboggan slide. + +"My!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey, putting her arms closer about Flossie, "I +hope nothing more happens." + +"I am sure we are all right now," Mrs. Manily assured her. "The road +is broad and smooth here, and it can't be far to the beach." + +"Here comes a carriage," said Bert, as two pretty coach lights flashed +through the trees. + +"Hello there!" called someone from the carriage. + +"Uncle William!" Nan almost screamed, and the next minute the carriage +drew up alongside the wagon. + +"Well, I declare," said Uncle William Minturn, jumping front his seat, +and beginning to help the stranded party. + +"We are all here," began Mr. Bobbsey, "but it was hard work to keep +ourselves together." + +"Oh, Uncle William," cried Freddie, "put me in your carriage. This +one is breakin' down every minute." + +"Come right along, my boy. I'll fix you up first," declared the +uncle, giving his little nephew a good hug as he placed him on the +comfortable cushions inside the big carriage. + +There was not much chance for greetings as everybody was too anxious +to get out of the old wagon. So, when all the boxes had been +carefully put outside with the driver, and all the passengers had +taken their places on the long side seats (it was one of those large +side-seated carriages that Uncle William had brought, knowing he would +have a big party to carry), then with a sigh of relief Mrs. Bobbsey +attempted to tell something of their experiences. + +"But how did you know where we were?" Bert asked. + +"We had been waiting for you since four o'clock," replied Uncle +William. "Then I found out that the train was late, and we waited +some more. But when it came to be night and you had not arrived, I +set out looking for you. I went to the Junction first, and the agent +there told me you had gone in Hank's stage. I happened to be near +enough to the livery stable to hear some fellows talking about Hank's +breakdown, with a big party aboard. I knew then what had happened, +and sent Dorothy home,--she had been out most of the afternoon +waiting--got this carryall, and here we are," and Uncle William only +had to hint "hurry up" to his horses and away they went. + +"Oh, we did have the awfulest time," insisted Freddie. + +"I feel as if we hadn't seen a house in a whole year," sighed little +Flossie. + +"And we only left Meadow Brook this morning," added Nan. "It does +seem much longer than a day since we started." + +"Well, you will be in Aunt Emily's arms in about two minutes now," +declared Uncle William, as through the trees the lights from Ocean +Cliff, the Minturn cottage, could now be seen. + +"Hello! Hello!" called voices from the veranda. + +"Aunt Emily and Dorothy!" exclaimed Bert, and called back to them: + +"Here we come! Here we are!" and the wagon turned in to the broad +steps at the side of the veranda. + +"I've been worried to death," declared Aunt Emily, as she began +kissing the girls. + +"We have brought company," said Mrs. Bobbsey, introducing Mrs. Manily, +"and I don't know what we should have done in all our troubles if she +had not been along to cheer us up." + +"We are delighted to have you," said Aunt Emily to Mrs. Manily, while +they all made their way indoors. + +"Oh, Nan!" cried Dorothy, hugging her cousin as tightly as ever she +could, "I thought you would never come!" + +"We were an awfully long time getting here," Nan answered, returning +her cousin's caress, "but we had so many accidents." + +"Nothing happened to your appetites, I hope," laughed Uncle William, +as the dining-room doors were swung open and a table laden with good +things came into sight. + +"I think I could eat," said Mrs. Bobbsey, then the mechanical piano +player was started, and the party made their way to the dining room. + +Uncle William took Mrs. Manily to her place, as she was a stranger; +Bert sat between Dorothy and Nan, Mr. Bobbsey looked after Aunt Emily, +and Mr. Jack Burnet, a friend of Uncle William, who had been spending +the evening at the cottage, escorted Mrs. Bobbsey to her place. + +"Come, Flossie, my dear, you see I have gotten a tall chair for you," +said Aunt Emily, and Flossie was made comfortable in one of those +"between" chairs, higher than the others, and not as high as a baby's. + +It was quite a brilliant dinner party, for the Minturns were +well-to-do and enjoyed their prosperity as they went along. +Mrs. Minturn had been a society belle when she was married. She was +now a graceful young hostess, with a handsome husband. She had +married earlier than her sister, Mrs. Bobbsey, but kept up her good +times in spite of the home cares that followed. During the dinner, +Dinah helped the waitress, being perhaps a little jealous that any +other maid should look after the wants of Flossie and Freddie. + +"Oh, Dinah!" exclaimed Freddie, as she came in with more milk for him, +"did you take Snoop out of the box and did you give Downy some water?" + +"I suah did, chile," said Dinah, "and you jest ought ter see that +Downy duck fly 'round de kitchen. Why, he jest got one of dem fits he +had on de train, and we had to shut him in de pantry to get hold ob +him." + +The waitress, too, told about the flying duck, and everybody enjoyed +hearing about the pranks of Freddie's animals. + +"We've got a lovely little pond for him, Freddie," said Dorothy. +"There is a real little lake out near my donkey barn, and your duck +will have a lovely time there." + +"But he has to swim in the ocean," insisted Freddie, "'cause we're +going to train him to be a circus duck." + +"You will have to put him in a bag and tie a rope to him then," Uncle +William teased, "because that's the only way a duck can swim in the +ocean." + +"But you don't know about Downy," argued Freddie. "He's wonderful! +He even tried to swim without any water, on the train." + +"Through the looking glass!" said Bert, laughing. + +"And through the air," added Nan. + +"I tell you, Freddie," said Uncle William, quite seriously: "we could +get an airship for him maybe; then he could really swim without +water." + +But Freddie took no notice of the way they tried to make fun of his +duck, for he felt Downy was really wonderful, as he said, and would do +some wonderful things as soon as it got a chance. + +When dinner was over, Dorothy took Nan up to her room. On the +dresser, in a cut-glass bowl, were little Nettie Prentice's lilies +that Nan had carried all the way from Meadow Brook, and they were +freshened up beautifully, thanks to Dorothy's thoughtfulness in giving +them a cold spray in the bath tub. + +"What a lovely room!" Nan exclaimed, in unconcealed admiration. + +"Do you like it?" said Dorothy. "It has a lovely view of the ocean +and I chose it for you because I know you like to see pretty sights +out of your window. The sun seems to rise just under this window," +and she brushed aside the dainty curtains. + +The moonlight made a bright path out on the ocean and Nan stood +looking out, spellbound. + +"I think the ocean is so grand," she said. "It always makes me feel +so small and helpless." + +"When you are under a big wave," laughed her cousin, who had a way of +being jolly. "I felt that way the other day. Just see my arm," and +Dorothy pushed up her short sleeve, displaying a black and blue bruise +too high up to be seen except in an evening dress or bathing costume. + +"How did you do that?" asked Nan, in sympathy. + +"Ran into a pier," returned the cousin, with unconcern. "I thought my +arm was broken first. But we must go down," said Dorothy, while Nan +wanted to see all the things in her pretty room. "We always sit +outside before retiring. Mamma says the ocean sings a lullaby that +cures all sorts of bad dreams and sleeplessness." + +On the veranda Nan and Dorothy joined the others. Freddie was almost +asleep in Aunt Emily's arms; Uncle William, Mr. Bobbsey, and +Mr. Burnet were talking, with Bert as an interested listener; while +Mrs. Manily told Aunt Emily of her mission to the beach. As the +children had thought, Aunt Emily readily gave consent to have Nellie, +the little cash girl, come to Ocean Cliff, and on the morrow Nan and +Dorothy were to write the letter of invitation. + + +CHAPTER VI +THE OCEAN + +Is there anything more beautiful than sunrise on the ocean? + +Nan crept out of bed at the first peep of dawn, and still in her white +robe, she sat in the low window seat to see the sun rise "under her +window." + +"What a beautiful place!" Nan thought, when dawn gave her a chance to +see Ocean Cliff. "Dorothy must be awfully happy here. To see the +ocean from a bedroom window!" and she watched the streaks of dawn make +maps on the waves. "If I were a writer I would always put the ocean +in my book," she told herself, "for there are so many children who +never have a chance to see the wonderful world of water!" + +Nettie's flowers were still on the dresser. + +"Poor little Nettie Prentice," thought Nan. "She has never seen the +ocean and I wonder if she ever will!" + +Nan touched the lilies reverently. There was something in the +stillness of daybreak that made the girl's heart go out to poor +Nettie, just like the timid little sunbeams went out over the waters, +trying to do their small part in lighting up a day. + +"I'll just put the lilies out in the dew," Nan went on to herself, +raising the window quietly, for the household was yet asleep. +"Perhaps I'll find someone sick or lonely to-morrow who will like +them, and it will be so much better if they bring joy to someone, for +they are so sweet and pretty to die just for me." + +"Oh!" screamed Nan the next minute, for someone had crept up behind +her and covered her eyes with hands. "It is you, Dorothy!" she +declared, getting hold of the small fingers. "Did I wake you with the +window?" + +"Yes, indeed, I thought someone was getting in from the piazza. They +always come near morning," said Dorothy, dropping down on the cushions +of the window seat like a goddess of morn, for Dorothy was a beautiful +girl, all pink and gold, Bert said, excepting for her eyes, and they +were like Meadow Brook violets, deep blue. "Did you have the +nightmare?" she asked. + +"Nightmare, indeed!" Nan exclaimed. "Why, you told me the sun would +rise under my window and I got up to---" + +"See it do the rise!" laughed Dorothy, in her jolly way. "Well, if I +had my say I'd make Mr. Sol-Sun wear a mask and keep his glare to +himself until respectable people felt like crawling out. I lower my +awning and close the inside blinds every night. I like sunshine in +reasonable doses at reasonable hours, but the moon is good enough for +me in the meantime," and she fell over in a pretty lump, feigning +sleep in Nan's cushions. + +"I hope I did not wake anyone else," said Nan. + +"Makes no difference about me, of course," laughed the jolly Dorothy. +"Well, I'll pay you back, Nan. Be careful. I am bound to get even," +and Nan knew that some trick was in store for her, as Dorothy had the +reputation of being full of fun, and always playing tricks. + +The sun was up in real earnest now, and the girls raised the window +sash to let in the soft morning air. + +"I think this would really cure Nellie, my little city friend," said +Nan, "and you don't know what a nice girl she is." + +"Just bring her down and I'll find out all about her," said Dorothy. +"I love city girls. They are so wide awake, and never say silly +things like--like some girls I know," she finished, giving her own +cousin a good hug that belied the attempt at making fun of her. + +"Nellie is sensible," Nan said, "and yet she knows how to laugh, too. +She said she had never been in a carriage until she had a ride with us +at Meadow Brook. Think of that!" + +"Wait till she sees my donkeys!" Dorothy finished, gathering herself +up from the cushions and preparing to leave. "Well, Nannie dear, I +have had a lovely time," and she made a mock social bow. "Come to see +me some time and have some of my dawn, only don't come before eleven +A.M. or you might get mixed up, for its awful dark in the blue room +until that hour." And like a real fairy Dorothy shook her golden hair +and, stooping low in myth fashion, made a "bee-line" across the hall. + +"She doesn't need any brother," Nan thought as she saw Dorothy bolt in +her door like a squirrel; "she is so jolly and funny!" + +But the girls were not the only ones who arose early that morning, for +Bert and his father came in to breakfast from a walk on the sands. + +"It's better than Meadow Brook," Bert told Nan, as she took her place +at the table. "I wish Harry would come down." + +"It is so pleasant we want all our friends to enjoy it," said +Mrs. Bobbsey. "But I'm sure you have quite a hotel full now, haven't +you, Dorothy?" + +"Lots more rooms up near the roof," replied Dorothy, "and it's a pity +to waste them when there's plenty of ocean to spare. Now, Freddie," +went on Dorothy, "when we finish breakfast I am going to show you my +donkeys. I called one Doodle and the other Dandy, because papa gave +them to me on Decoration Day." + +"Why didn't you call one Uncle Sam?" asked Freddie, remembering his +part in the Meadow Brook parade. + +"Well, I thought Doodle Dandy was near enough red, white, and blue," +said Dorothy. + +The children finished breakfast rather suddenly and then made their +way to the donkey barn. + +"Oh, aren't they lovely!" exclaimed Nan, patting the pretty gray +animals. "I think they are prettier than horses, they are not so +tall." + +"I know all about goats and donkeys," declared Freddie. + +"I know Nan likes everything early, so we will give her an early +ride," proposed Dorothy. + +The Bobbseys watched their cousin with interest as she fastened all +the bright buckles and put the straps together, harnessing the +donkeys. Bert helped so readily that he declared he would do all the +harnessing thereafter. The cart was one of those pretty, little +basket affairs, with seats at the side, and Bert was very proud of +being able to drive a team. There were Dorothy, Nan, Freddie, +Flossie, and Bert in the cart when they rode along the sandy driveway, +and they made a very pretty party in their bright summer costumes. +Freddie had hold of Doodle's reins, and he insisted that his horse +went along better than did Dandy, on the other side. + +"Oh, won't Nellie enjoy this!" cried Nan, thinking of the little city +girl who had only had one carriage ride in all her life. + +"Mrs. Manily is going up to the city to bring her to-day," said Bert. +"Aunt Emily sent for the depot wagon just as we came out." + +Like many people at the seashore, the Minturns did not keep their own +horses, but simply had to telephone from their house to the livery +stable when they wanted a carriage. + +"Oh, I see the ocean!" called out Freddie, as Bert drove nearer the +noise of the waves. "Why didn't we bring Downy for his swim?" + +"Too early to bathe yet!" said Dorothy. "We have a bathing house all +to ourselves,--papa rented it for the summer,--and about eleven +o'clock we will come down and take a dip. Mamma always comes with me +or sends Susan, our maid. Mamma cannot believe I really know how to +swim." + +"And do you?" asked Nan, in surprise. + +"Wait until you see!" replied the cousin. "And I am going to teach +you, too." + +"I'd love to know how, but it must be awfully hard to learn," answered Nan. + +"Not a bit," went on Dorothy; "I learned in one week. We have a pool +just over there, and lots of girls are learning every day. You can +drive right along the beach, Bert; the donkeys are much safer than +horses and never attempt to run away." + +How delightful it was to ride so close to the great rolling ocean! +Even Freddie stopped exclaiming, and just watched the waves, as one +after another they tried to get right under Dorothy's cart. + +"It makes me almost afraid!" faltered little Flossie, as the great big +waves came up so high out on the waters, they seemed like mountains +that would surely cover up the donkey cart. But when they "broke" on +the sands they were only little splashy puddles for babies to wash +their pink toes in. + +"There's Blanche Bowden," said Dorothy, as another little cart, a pony +cart, came along. "We have lovely times together. I have invited her +up to meet us this afternoon, Nan." + +The other girl bowed pleasantly from her cart, and even Freddie +remembered to raise his cap, something he did not always think +necessary for "just girls." + +"Some afternoon our dancing class is going to have a matinee," said +Dorothy. "Do you like dancing, Bert?" + +"Some," replied her cousin in a boy's indifferent way. "Nan is a good +dancer." + +"Oh, we don't have real dances," protested Nan; "they are mostly +drills and exercises. Mamma doesn't believe in young children going +right into society. She thinks we will be old soon enough." + +"We don't have grown-up dances," said Dorothy, "only the two-step and +minuet. I think the minuet is the prettiest of all dances." + +"We have had the varsovienne," said Nan, "that is like the minuet. +Mother says they are old-time dances, but they are new in our class." + +"We may have a costume affair next month," went on Dorothy. "Some of +the girls want it, but I don't like wigs and long dresses, especially +for dancing. I get all tangled up in a train dress." + +"I never wore one," said Nan, "excepting at play, and I can't see how +any girl can dance with a lot of long skirts dangling around." + +"Oh, they mostly bow and smile," put in Bert, "and a boy has to be +awfully careful at one of those affairs. If he should step on a skirt +there surely would be trouble," and he snapped his whip at the donkeys +with the air of one who had little regard for the graceful art of +dancing. + +"We had better go back now," said Dorothy, presently. "You haven't +had a chance to see our own place yet, but I thought you wanted to get +acquainted with the ocean first. Everybody does!" + +"I have enjoyed it so much!" declared Nan. "It is pleasanter now than +when the sun grows hot." + +"But we need the sun for bathing," Dorothy told her. "That is why we +'go in' at the noon hour." + +The drive back to the Cliff seemed very short, and when the children +drove up to the side porch they found Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily +sitting outside with their fancy work. + +Freddie could hardly find words to tell his mother how big the ocean +was, and Flossie declared the water ran right into the sky it was so +high. + +"Now, girls," said Aunt Emily, "Mrs. Manily has gone to bring Nellie +down, so you must go and arrange her room. I think the front room +over Nan's will be best. Now get out all your pretty things, Dorothy, +for little Nellie may be lonely and want some things to look at." + +"All right, mother," answered Dorothy, letting Bert put the donkeys +away, "we'll make her room look like--like a valentine," she finished, +always getting some fun in even where very serious matters were +concerned. + +The two girls, with Flossie looking on, were soon very busy with +Nellie's room. + +"We must not make it too fussy," said Dorothy, "or Nellie may not feel +at home; and we certainly want her to enjoy herself. Will we put a +pink or blue set on the dresser?" + +"Blue," said Nan, "for I know she loves blue. She said so when we +picked violets at Meadow Brook." + +"All right," agreed Dorothy. "And say! Let's fix up something funny! +We'll get all the alarm clocks in the house and set them so they will +go off one after the other, just when Nellie gets to bed, say about +nine o'clock. We'll hide them so she will just about find one when +the other starts! She isn't really sick, is she?" Dorothy asked, +suddenly remembering that the visitor might not be in as good spirits +as she herself was. + +"Oh, no, only run down," answered Nan, "and I'm sure she would enjoy +the joke." + +So the girls went on fixing up the pretty little room. Nan ran +downstairs and brought up Nettie Prentice's flowers. + +"I thought they would do someone good," she said. "They are so +fragrant." + +"Aren't they!" Dorothy said, burying her pretty nose in the white +lilies. "They smell better than florists' bouquets. I suppose that's +from the country air. Now I'll go collect clocks," and without asking +anyone's permission Dorothy went from room to room, snatching alarm +clocks from every dresser that held one. + +"Susan's is a peach," she told Nan, apologizing with a smile, for the +slang. "It goes off for fifteen minutes if you don't stop it, and it +sounds like a church bell." + +"Nellie will think she has gotten into college," Nan said, laughing. +"This is like hazing, isn't it?" + +"Only we won't really annoy her," said Dorothy. "We just want to make +her laugh. College boys, they say, do all sorts of mean things. Make +a boy swim in an icy river and all that." + +"I hope Bert never goes to a school where they do hazing," said Nan, +feeling for her brother's safety. "I think such sport is just +wicked!" + +"So do I," declared Dorothy, "and if I were a new fellow, and they +played such tricks on me, I would just wait for years if I had to, to +pay them back." + +"I'd put medicine in their coffee, or do something." + +"They ought to be arrested," Nan said, "and if the professors can't +stop it they should not be allowed to run such schools." + +"There," said Dorothy, "I guess everything is all right for Nellie." +She put a rose jar on a table in the alcove window. "Now I'll wind +the clocks. You mustn't look where I put them," and she insisted that +not even Nan should know the mystery of the clocks. "This will be a +real surprise party," finished Dorothy, having put each of five clocks +in its hiding place, and leaving the tick-ticks to think it over, all +by themselves, before going off. + + +CHAPTER VII +NELLIE + +"Shall I take my cart over to meet Nellie and Mrs. Manily, mother?" +Dorothy asked Mrs. Minturn, that afternoon, when the city train was +about due. + +"Why, yes, daughter, I think that would be very nice," replied the +mother. "I intended to send the depot wagon, but the cart would be +very enjoyable." + +Bert had the donkeys hitched up and at the door for Nan and Dorothy in +a very few minutes, and within a half-hour from that time Nan was +greeting Nellie at the station, and making her acquainted with +Dorothy. + +If Dorothy had expected to find in the little cash girl a poor, +sickly, ill child, she must have been disappointed, for the girl that +came with Mrs. Manily had none of these failings. She was tall and +graceful, very pale, but nicely dressed, thanks to Mrs. Manily's +attention after she reached the city on the morning train. With a +gift from Mrs. Bobbsey, Nellie was "fitted up from head to foot," and +now looked quite as refined a little girl as might be met anywhere. + +"You were so kind to invite me!" Nellie said to Dorothy, as she took +her seat in the cart. "This is such a lovely place!" and she nodded +toward the wonderful ocean, without giving a hint that she had never +before seen it. + +"Yes, you are sure the air is so strong you must swallow strength all +the time," and Nellie knew from the remark that Dorothy was a jolly +girl, and would not talk sickness, like the people who visit poor +children at hospital tents. + +Even Mrs. Manily, who knew Nellie to be a capable girl, was surprised +at the way she "fell in" with Nan and Dorothy, and Mrs. Manily was +quite charmed with her quiet, reserved manner. The fact was that +Nellie had met so many strangers in the big department store, she was +entirely at ease and accustomed to the little polite sayings of people +in the fashionable world. + +When Nellie unpacked her bag she brought out something for Freddie. +It was a little milk wagon, with real cans, which Freddie could fill +up with "milk" and deliver to customers. + +"That is to make you think of Meadow Brook," said Nellie, when she +gave him the little wagon. + +"Yes, and when there's a fire," answered Freddie, "I can fill the cans +with water and dump it on the fire like they do in Meadow Brook, too." +Freddie always insisted on being a fireman and had a great idea of +putting fires out and climbing ladders. + +There was still an hour to spare before dinner, and Nan proposed that +they take a walk down to the beach. Nellie went along, of course, but +when they got to the great stretch of white sand, near the waves, the +girls noticed Nellie was about to cry. + +"Maybe she is too tired," Nan whispered to Dorothy, as they made some +excuse to go back home again. All along the way Nellie was very +quiet, almost in tears, and the other girls were disappointed, for +they had expected her to enjoy the ocean so much. As soon as they +reached home Nellie went to her room, and Nan and Dorothy told +Mrs. Minturn about their friend's sudden sadness. Mrs. Minturn of +course, went up to see if she could do anything for Nellie. + +There she found the little stranger crying as if her heart would +break. + +"Oh, I can't help it, Mrs. Minturn!" she sobbed. "It was the ocean. +Father must be somewhere in that big, wild sea!" and again she cried +almost hysterically. + +"Tell me about it, dear," said Mrs. Minturn, with her arm around the +child. "Was your father drowned at sea?" + +"Oh no; that is, we hope he wasn't." said Nellie, through her tears, +"but sometimes we feel he must be dead or he would write to poor +mother." + +"Now dry your tears, dear, or you will have a headache," said +Mrs. Minturn, and Nellie soon recovered her composure. + +"You see," she began, "we had such a nice home and father was always +so good. But a man came and asked him to go to sea. The man said +they would make lots of money in a short time. This man was a great +friend of father and he said he needed someone he could trust on this +voyage. First father said no, but when he talked it over with mother, +they, thought it would be best to go, if they could get so much money +in a short time, so he went." + +Here Nellie stopped again and her dark eyes tried hard to keep back +the tears. + +"When was that?" Mrs. Minturn asked. + +"A year ago," Nellie replied, "and he was only to be away six months +at the most." + +"And that was why you had to leave school, wasn't it?" Mrs. Minturn +questioned further. + +"Yes, we had not much money saved, and mother got sick from worrying, +so I did not mind going to work. I'm going back to the store again as +soon as the doctor says I can," and the little girl showed how anxious +she was to help her mother. + +"But your father may come back," said Mrs. Minturn; "sailors are often +out drifting about for months, and come in finally. I would not be +discouraged--you cannot tell what day your father may come back with +all the money, and even more than he expected." + +"Oh, I know," said Nellie. "I won't feel like that again. It was +only because it was the first time I saw the ocean. I'm never +homesick or blue. I don't believe in making people pity you all the +time." And the brave little girl jumped up, dried her eyes, and +looked as if she would never cry again as long as she lived--like one +who had cried it out and done with it. + +"Yes, you must have a good time with the girls," said Mrs. Minturn. +"I guess you need fun more than any medicine." + +That evening at dinner Nellie was her bright happy self again, and the +three girls chatted merrily about all the good times they would have +at the seashore. + +There was a ride to the depot after dinner, for Mrs. Manily insisted +that she had to leave for the city that evening, and after a game of +ball on the lawn, in which everybody, even Flossie and Freddie, had a +hand, the children prepared to retire. There was to be a shell hunt +very early in the morning (that was a long walk on the beach, looking +for choice shells), so the girls wanted to go to bed an hour before +the usual time. + +"Wait till the clock strikes, Nellie," sang Dorothy, as they went +upstairs, and, of course, no one but Nan knew what she meant. + +Two hours after this the house was all quiet, when suddenly, there was +the buzz of an alarm clock. + +"What was that?" asked Mrs. Minturn, coming out in the hall. + +"An alarm clock," called Nellie, in whose room the disturbance was. +"I found it under my pillow," she added innocently, never suspecting +that Dorothy had put it there purposely. + +By and by everything was quiet again, when another gong went off. + +"Well, I declare!" said Mrs. Minturn. "I do believe Dorothy has been +up to some pranks." + +_"Ding--a-ling--a-long--a-ling!"_ went the clock, and Nellie was +laughing outright, as she searched about the room for the newest +alarm. She had a good hunt, too, for the clock was in the shoe box in +the farthest corner of the room. + +After that there was quite an intermission, as Dorothy expressed it. +Even Nellie had stopped laughing and felt very sleepy, when another +clock started. + +This was the big gong that belonged in Susan's room, and at the sound +of it Freddie rushed out in the hall, yelling. + +"That's a fire bell! Fire! fire! fire!" he shouted, while everybody +else came out this time to investigate the disturbance. + +"Now, Dorothy!" said Mrs. Minturn, "I know you have done this. Where +did you put those clocks?" + +Dorothy only laughed in reply, for the big bell was ringing furiously +all the time. Nellie had her dressing robe on, and opened the door to +those outside her room. + +"I guess it's ghosts," she laughed. "They are all over." + +"A serenade," called Bert, from his door. + +"What ails dem der clocks?" shouted Dinah. "'Pears like as if dey had +a fit, suah. Nebber heard such clockin' since we was in de country," +and Susan, who had discovered the loss of her clock, laughed heartily, +knowing very well who had taken the alarm away. + +When the fifteen minutes were up that clock stopped, and another +started. Then there was a regularly cannonading, Bert said, for there +was scarcely a moment's quiet until every one of the six clocks had +gone off "bing, bang, biff," as Freddie said. + +There was no use trying to locate them, for they went off so rapidly +that Nellie knew they would go until they were "all done," so she just +sat down and waited. + +"Think you'll wake up in time?" asked Dorothy, full of mischief as she +came into the clock corner. + +"I guess so," Nellie answered, laughing. "We surely were alarmed +to-night." Then aside to Nan, Nellie whispered: "Wait, we'll get even +with her, won't we?" And Nan nodded with a sparkle in her eyes. + + +CHAPTER VIII +EXPLORING--A RACE FOR POND LILIES + +"Now let's explore," Bert said to the girls the next morning. "We +haven't had a chance yet to see the lake, the woods, or the island." + +"Hal Bingham is coming over to see you this morning," Dorothy told +Bert. "He said you must be tired toting girls around, and he knows +everything interesting around here to show you." + +"Glad of it," said Bert. "You girls are very nice, of course, but a +boy needs another fellow in a place like this," and he swung himself +over the rail of the veranda, instead of walking down the steps. + +It was quite early, for there was so much planned, to be accomplished +before the sun got too hot, that all the children kept to their +promise to get up early, and be ready for the day's fun by seven +o'clock. The girls, with Mrs. Bobbsey, Mrs. Minturn, and Freddie, +were to go shell hunting, but as Bert had taken that trip with his +father on the first morning after their arrival, he preferred to look +over the woods and lake at the back of the Minturn home, where the +land slid down from the rough cliff upon which the house stood. + +"Here comes Hal now," called Dorothy, as a boy came whistling up the +path. He was taller than Bert, but not much older, and he had a very +"jolly squint" in his black eyes; that is, Dorothy called it a "jolly +squint," but other people said it was merely a twinkle. But all +agreed that Hal was a real boy, the greatest compliment that could be +paid him. + +There was not much need of an introduction, although Dorothy did call +down from the porch, "Bert that's Hal; Hal that's Bert," to which +announcement the boys called back, "All right, Dorothy. We'll get +along." + +"Have you been on the lake yet?" Hal asked, as they started down the +green stretch that bounded the pretty lake on one side, while a strip +of woodland pressed close to the edge across the sheet of water. + +"No," Bert answered, "we have had so much coming and going to the +depot since we came down, I couldn't get a chance to look around much. +It's an awfully pretty lake, isn't it?" + +"Yes, and it runs in and out for miles," Hal replied. "I have a canoe +down here at our boathouse. Let's take a sail." + +The Bingham property, like the Minturn, was on a cliff at the front, +and ran back to the lake, where the little boathouse was situated. +The house was made of cedars, bound together in rustic fashion, and +had comfortable seats inside for ladies to keep out of the sun while +waiting for a sail. + +"Father and I built this house," Hal told Bert. "We were waiting so +long for the carpenters, we finally got a man to bring these cedars in +from Oakland. Then we had him cut them, that is, the line of +uprights, and we built the boathouse without any trouble at all. It +was sport to arrange all the little turns and twists, like building a +block house in the nursery." + +"You certainly made a good job of it," said Bert, looking critically +over the boathouse. + +"It's all in the design, of course; the nailing together is the +easiest part." + +"You might think so," said Hal, "but it's hard to drive a nail in +round cedar. But we thought it so interesting, we didn't mind the +trouble," finished Hal, as he prepared to untie his canoe. + +"What a pretty boat!" exclaimed Bert, in real admiration. + +The canoe was green and brown, the body being colored like bark, while +inside, the lining was of pale green. The name, _Dorothy_, shone in +rustic letters just above the water edge. + +"And you called it _Dorothy_," Bert remarked. + +"Yes, she's the liveliest girl I know, and a good friend of mine all +summer," said Hal. "There are some boys down the avenue, but they +don't know as much about good times as Dorothy does. Why, she can +swim, row, paddle, climb trees, and goes in for almost any sport +that's on. Last week she swam so far in the sun she couldn't touch an +oar or paddle for days, her arms were so blistered. But she didn't go +around with her hands in a muff at that. Dorothy's all right," +finished Hal. + +Bert liked to hear his cousin complimented, especially when he had +such admiration himself for the girl who never pouted, and he knew +that the tribute did not in any way take from Dorothy's other good +quality, that of being a refined and cultured girl. + +"Girls don't have to be babies to be ladylike," added Bert. "Nan +always plays ball with me, and can skate and all that. She's not +afraid of a snowball, either." + +"Well, I'm all alone," said Hal. "Haven't even got a first cousin. +We've been coming down here since I was a youngster, so that's why +Dorothy seems like my sister. We used to make mud pies together." + +The boys were in the canoe now, and each took a paddle. The water was +so smooth that the paddles merely patted it, like "brushing a cat's +back," Bert said, and soon the little bark was gliding along down the +lake, in and out of the turns, until the "narrows" were reached. + +"Here's where we get our pond lilies," said Hal. + +"Oh, let's get some!" exclaimed Bert. "Mother is so fond of them." + +It was not difficult to gather the beautiful blooms, that nested so +cosily on the cool waters, too fond of their cradle to ever want to +creep, or walk upon their slender green limbs. They just rocked +there, with every tiny ripple of the water, and only woke up to see +the warm sunlight bleaching their dainty, yellow heads. + +"Aren't they fragrant?" said Bert, as he put one after the other into +the bottom of the canoe. + +"There's nothing like them," declared Hal. "Some people like roses +best, but give me the pretty pond lilies," he finished. + +The morning passed quickly, for there was so much to see around the +lake. Wild ducks tried to find out how near they could go to the +water without touching it, and occasionally one would splash in, by +accident. + +"What large birds there are around the sea," Bert remarked. "I +suppose they have to be big and strong to stand long trips without +food when the waves are very rough and they can hardly see fish." + +"Yes, and they have such fine plumage," said Hal. "I've seen birds +around here just like those in museums, all colors, and with all kinds +of feathers--Birds of Paradise, I guess they call them." + +"Do you ever go shooting?" + +"No, not in summer time," replied Hal. "But sometimes father and I +take a run down here about Thanksgiving. That's the time for seaside +sport. Why, last year we fished with rakes; just raked the fish up in +piles--'frosties,' they call them." + +"That must be fun," reflected Bert. + +"Maybe you could come this year," continued Hal. "We might make up a +party, if you have school vacation for a week. We could camp out in +our house, and get our meals at the hotel." + +"That would be fine!" exclaimed Bert. "Maybe Uncle William would +come, and perhaps my Cousin Harry, from Meadow Brook. He loves that +sort of sport. By the way, we expect him down for a few days; perhaps +next week." + +"Good!" cried Hal. "The boat carnival is on next week. I'm sure he +would enjoy that." + +The boys were back at the boathouse now, and Bert gathered up his pond +lilies. + +"There'll be a scramble for them when the girls see them," he said. +"Nellie McLaughlin, next to Dorothy, is out for fun. She is not a bit +like a sick girl." + +"Perhaps she isn't sick now," said Hal, "but has to be careful. She +seems quite thin." + +"Mother says she wants fun, more than medicine," went on Bert. "I +guess she had to go to work because her father is away at sea. He's +been gone a year and he only expected to be away six months." + +"So is my Uncle George," remarked Hal. "He went to the West Indies to +bring back a valuable cargo of wood. He had only a small vessel, and +a few men. Say, did you say her name was McLaughlin?" exclaimed Hal, +suddenly. + +"Yes; they call him Mack for short, but his name is McLaughlin." + +"Why, that was the name of the man who went with Uncle George!" +declared Hal. "Maybe it was her father." + +"Sounds like it," Bert said. "Tell Uncle William about it sometime. +I wouldn't mention it to Nellie, she cut up so, they said, the first +time she saw the ocean. Poor thing! I suppose she just imagined her +father was tossing about in the waves." + +The boys had tied the canoe to its post, and now made their way up +over the hill toward the house. + +"Here they come," said Bert, as Nan, Nellie, and Dorothy came racing +down the hill. + +"Oh!" cried Dorothy, "give me some!" + +"Oh, you know me, Bert?" pleaded Nellie. + +"Hal, I wound up your kite string, didn't I?" insisted Nan, by way of +showing that she surely deserved some of Hal's pond lilies. + +"And I found your ball in the bushes, Bert," urged Dorothy. + +"They're not for little girls," Hal said, waving his hand comically, +like a duke in a comic opera. "Run along, little girls, run along," +he said, rolling his r's in real stage fashion, and holding the pond +lilies against his heart. + +"But if we get them, may we have them sir knight?" asked Dorothy, +keeping up the joke. + +"You surely can!" replied Hal, running short on his stage words. + +At this Nellie dashed into the path ahead of Hal, and Dorothy turned +toward Bert. Nan crowded in close to Dorothy, and the boys had some +dodging to get a start. Finally Hal shot out back of the big bush, +and Nellie darted after him. Of course, the boys were better runners +than the girls, but somehow, girls always expect something wonderful +to happen, when they start on a race like that. Hal had tennis +slippers on, and he went like a deer. But just as he was about to +call "home free" and as he reached the donkey barn, he turned on his +ankle. + +Nellie had her hands on the pond lilies instantly, for Hal was obliged +to stop and nurse his ankle. + +"They're yours," he gave in, handing her the beautiful bunch of +blooms. + +"Oh, aren't they lovely!" exclaimed the little cash girl, but no one +knew that was the first time she ever, in all her life, held a pond +lily in her hand. + +"I'm going to give them to Mrs. Bobbsey," she decided, starting at +once to the house with the fragrant prize in her arms. Neither +Dorothy nor Nan had caught Bert, but he handed his flowers to his +cousin. + +"Give them to Aunt Emily," he said gallantly, while Dorothy took the +bouquet and declared she could have caught Bert, anyhow, if she "only +had a few more feet," whatever that meant. + + +CHAPTER IX +FUN ON THE SANDS + +"How many shells did you get in your hunt?" Bert asked the girls, when +the excitement over the pond lilies had died away. + +"We never went," replied Dorothy. "First, Freddie fell down and had +to cry awhile, then he had to stop to see the gutter band, next he had +a ride on the five-cent donkey, and by that time there were so many +people out, mother said there would not be a pretty shell left, so we +decided to go to-morrow morning." + +"Then Hal and I will go along," said Bert. "I want to look for nets, +to put in my den at home." + +"We are going for a swim now," went on Dorothy; "we only came back for +our suits." + +"There seems so much to do down here, it will take a week to have a +try at everything," said Bert. "I've only been in the water once, but +I'm going for a good swim now. Come along, Hal." + +"Yes, we always go before lunch," said Hal starting off for his suit. + +Soon Dorothy, Nan, Nellie, and Flossie appeared with their suits done +up in the neat little rubber bags that Aunt Emily had bought at a +hospital fair. Then Freddie came with Mrs. Bobbsey, and Dorothy, with +her bag on a stick over her shoulder, led the procession to the beach. + +As Dorothy told Nan, they had a comfortable bathhouse rented for the +season, with plenty of hooks to hang things on, besides a mirror, to +see how one's hair looked, after the waves had done it up mermaid +fashion. + +It did not take the girls long to get ready, and presently all +appeared on the beach in pretty blue and white suits, with the large +white sailor collars, that always make bathing suits look just right, +because real sailors wear that shape of collar. + +Flossie wore a white flannel suit, and with her pretty yellow curls, +she "looked like a doll," so Nellie said. Freddie's suit was white +too, as he always had things as near like his twin sister's as a boy's +clothes could be. Altogether the party made a pretty summer picture, +as they ran down to the waves, and promptly dipped in. + +"Put your head under or you'll take cold," called Dorothy, as she +emerged from a big wave that had completely covered her up. + +Nellie and Nan "ducked" under, but Flossie was a little timid, and +held her mother's right hand even tighter than Freddie clung to her +left. + +"We must get hold of the ropes," declared Mrs. Bobbsey, seeing a big +wave coming. + +They just reached the ropes when the wave caught them. Nellie and Nan +were out farther, and the billow struck Nellie with such force it +actually washed her up on shore. + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Dorothy, "Nellie got the first tumble." And then +the waves kept dashing in so quickly that there was no more chance for +conversation. Freddie ducked under as every wave came, but Flossie +was not always quick enough, and it was very hard for her to keep hold +of the ropes when a big splasher dashed against her. Dorothy had not +permission to swim out as far as she wanted to go, for her mother did +not allow her outside the lines, excepting when Mr. Minturn was +swimming near her, so she had to be content with floating around near +where the other girls bounced up and down, like the bubbles on the +billows. + +"Look out, Nan!" called Dorothy, suddenly, as Nan stood for a moment +fixing her belt. But the warning came too late, for the next minute a +wave picked Nan up and tossed her with such force against a pier, that +everybody thought she must be hurt. Mrs. Bobbsey was quite +frightened, and ran out on the beach, putting Freddie and Flossie at a +safe distance from the water, while she made her way to where Nan had +been tossed. + +For a minute or so, it seemed, Nan disappeared, but presently she +bobbed up, out of breath, but laughing, for Hal had her by the hand, +and was helping her to shore. The boys had been swimming around by +themselves near by, and Hal saw the wave making for Nan just in time +to get there first. + +"I had to swim that time," laughed Nan, "whether I knew how or not." + +"You made a pretty good attempt," Hal told her; "and the water is very +deep around those piles. You had better not go out so far again, +until you've learned a few strokes in the pools. Get Dorothy to teach +you." + +"Oh, oh, oh, Nellie!" screamed Mrs. Bobbsey. "Where is she? She has +gone under that wave!" + +Sure enough, Nellie had disappeared. She had only let go the ropes +one minute, but she had her back to the ocean watching Nan's rescue, +when a big billow struck her, knocked her down, and then where was +she? + +"Oh," cried Freddie. "She is surely drowned!" + +Hal struck out toward where Nellie had been last seen, but he had only +gone a few strokes when Bert appeared with Nellie under his arm. She +had received just the same kind of toss Nan got, and fortunately Bert +was just as near by to save her, as Hal had been to save Nan. Nellie, +too, was laughing and out of breath when Bert towed her in. + +"I felt like a rubber ball," she said, as soon as she could speak, +"and Bert caught me on the first bounce." + +"You girls should have ropes around your waists, and get someone to +hold the other end," teased Dorothy, coming out with the others on the +sands. + +"Well, I think we have all had enough of the water for this morning," +said Mrs. Bobbsey, too nervous to let the girls go in again. + +Boys and girls were willing to take a sun bath on the beach, so, while +Hal and Bert started in to build a sand house for Freddie, the four +girls capered around, playing tag and enjoying themselves generally. +Flossie thought it great fun to dig for the little soft crabs that +hide in the deep damp sand. She found a pasteboard box and into this +she put all her fish. + +"I've got a whole dozen!" she called to Freddie, presently. But +Freddie was so busy with his sand castle he didn't have time to bother +with baby crabs. + +"Look at our fort," called Bert to the girls. "We can shoot right +through our battlements," he declared, as he sank down in the sand and +looked out through the holes in the sand fort. + +"Shoot the Indian and you get a cigar," called Dorothy, taking her +place as "Indian" in front of the fort, and playing target for the +boys. + +First Hal tossed a pebble through a window in the fort, then Bert +tried it, but neither stone went anywhere near Dorothy, the "Indian." + +"Now, my turn," she claimed, squatting down back of the sand wall and +taking aim at Hal, who stood out front. + +And if she didn't hit him--just on the foot with a little white +pebble! + +"Hurrah for our sharpshooter!" cried Bert. + +Of course the hard part of the trick was to toss a pebble through the +window without knocking down the wall, but Dorothy stood to one side, +and swung her arm, so that the stone went straight through and reached +Hal, who stood ten feet away. + +"I'm next," said Nellie, taking her place behind "the guns." + +Nellie swung her arm and down came the fort! + +"Oh my!" called Freddie, "you've knocked down the whole gun wall. +You'll have to be---" + +"Court-martialed," said Hal, helping Freddie out with his war terms. + +"She's a prisoner of war," announced Bert, getting hold of Nellie, who +dropped her head and acted like someone in real distress. Just as if +it were all true, Nan and Dorothy stood by, wringing their hands, in +horror, while the boys brought the poor prisoner to the frontier, +bound her hands with a piece of cord, and stood her up against an +abandoned umbrella pole. + +Hal acted as judge. + +"Have you anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced upon +you?" he asked in a severe voice. + +"I have," sighed Nellie. "I did not intend to betray my country. The +enemy caused the--the--downfall of Quebec," she stammered, just +because the name of that place happened to come to her lips. + +"Who is her counsel?" asked the Judge. + +"Your honor," spoke up Dorothy, "this soldier has done good service. +She has pegged stones at your honor with good effect, she has even +captured a company of wild pond lilies in your very ranks, and now, +your honor, I plead for mercy." + +The play of the children had, by this time, attracted quite a crowd, +for the bathing hour was over, and idlers tarried about. + +"Fair play!" called a strange boy in the crowd, taking up the spirit +of fun. "That soldier has done good service. She took a sassy little +crab out of my ear this very day!" + +Freddie looked on as if it were all true. Flossie did not laugh a +bit, but really seemed quite frightened. + +"I move that sentence be pronounced," called Bert, being on the side +of the prosecution. + +"The prisoner will look this way!" commanded Hal. + +Nellie tossed back her wet brown curls and faced the crowd. + +"The sentence of the court is that the prisoner be transported for +life," announced Hal, while four boys fell in around Nellie, and she +silently marched in military fashion toward the bathing pavilion, with +Dorothy and Nan at her heels. + +Here the war game ended, and everyone was satisfied with that day's +fun on the sands. + + +CHAPTER X +THE SHELL HUNT + +"Now, all ready for the hunting expedition," called Uncle William, +very early the next morning, he having taken a day away from his +office in the city, to enjoy himself with the Bobbseys at the +seashore. + +It was to be a long journey, so Aunt Emily thought it wise to take the +donkey cart, so that the weary travelers, as they fell by the wayside, +might be put in the cart until refreshed. Besides, the shells and +things could be brought home in the cart. Freddie expected to capture +a real sea serpent, and Dorothy declared she would bring back a whale. +Nellie had an idea she would find something valuable, maybe a diamond, +that some fish had swallowed in mistake for a lump of sugar at the +bottom of the sea. So, with pleasant expectations, the party started +off, Bert and Hal acting as guides, and leading the way. + +"If you feel like climbing down the rocks here we can walk all along +the edge," said Hal. "But be careful!" he cautioned, "the rocks are +awfully slippery. Dorothy will have to go on ahead down the road with +the donkeys, and we can meet her at the Point." + +Freddie and Flossie went along with Dorothy, as the descent was +considered too dangerous for the little ones. Dorothy let Freddie +drive to make up for the fun the others had sliding down the rocks. + +Uncle Daniel started down the cliffs first, and close behind him came +Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily. Nan and Nellie took another path, if a +small strip of jagged rock could be called a path, while Hal and Bert +scaled down over the very roughest part, it seemed to the girls. + +"Oh, mercy!" called Nan, as a rock slipped from under her foot and she +promptly slipped after it. "Nellie, give me your hand or I'll slide +into the ocean!" + +Nellie tried to cross over to Nan, but in doing so she lost her +footing and fell, then turned over twice, and only stopped as she came +in contact with Uncle William's heels. + +"Are you hurt?" everybody asked at once, but Nellie promptly jumped +up, showing the toss had not injured her in the least. + +"I thought I was going to get an unexpected bath that time," she said, +laughing, "only for Mr. Minturn interfering. I saw a star in each +heel of his shoe," she declared' "and I was never before glad to bump +my nose." + +Without further accident the party reached the sands, and saw Dorothy +and the little ones a short distance away. Freddie had already filled +his cap with little shells, and Flossie was busy selecting some of the +finest from a collection she had made. + +"Let's dig," said Hal to Bert. "There are all sorts of mussels, +crabs, clams, and oysters around here. The fisheries are just above +that point." + +So the boys began searching in the wet sand, now and then bringing up +a "fairy crab" or a baby clam. + +"Here's an oyster," called Nellie, coming up with the shellfish in her +hand. It was a large oyster and had been washed quite clean by the +noisy waves. + +"Let's open it," said Hal. "Shall I, Nellie?" + +"Yes, if you want to," replied the girl, indifferently, for she did +not care about the little morsel. Hal opened it easily with his +knife, and then he asked who was hungry. + +"Oh, see here!" he called, suddenly. "What this? It looks like a +pearl." + +"Let me see," said Mr. Minturn, taking the little shell in his hand, +and turning out the oyster. "Yes, that surely is a pearl. Now, +Nellie, you have a prize. Sometimes these little pearls are quite +valuable. At any rate, you can have it set in a ring," declared +Mr. Minturn. + +"Oh, let me see," pleaded Dorothy. "I've always looked for pearls, +and never could find one. How lucky you are, Nellie. It's worth some +money." + +"Maybe it isn't a pearl at all," objected Nellie, hardly believing +that anything of value could be picked up so easily. + +"Yes, it is," declared Mr. Minturn. "I've seen that kind before. +I'll take care of it for you, and find out what it is worth," and he +very carefully sealed the tiny speck in an envelope which he put in +his pocketbook. + +After that everybody wanted to dig for oysters, but it seemed the one +that Nellie found had been washed in somehow, for the oyster beds were +out in deeper water. Yet, every time Freddie found a clam or a +mussel, he wanted it opened to look for pearls. + +"Let us get a box of very small shells and we can string them for +necklaces," suggested Nan. "We can keep them for Christmas gifts too, +if we string them well." + +"Oh, I've got enough for beads and bracelets," declared Flossie, for, +indeed, she had lost no time in filling her box with the prettiest +shells to be found on the sands. + +"Oh, I see a net," called Bert, running toward a lot of driftwood in +which an old net was tangled. Bert soon disentangled it and it proved +to be a large piece of seine, the kind that is often used to decorate +walls in libraries. + +"Just what I wanted!" he declared. "And smell the salt. I will +always have the ocean in my room now, for I can close my eyes and +smell the salt water." + +"It is a good piece," declared Hal. "You were lucky to find it. +Those sell for a couple of dollars to art dealers." + +"Well, I won't sell mine at any price," Bert said. "I've been wishing +for a net to put back of my swords and Indian arrows. They make a +fine decoration." + +The grown folks had come up now, and all agreed the seine was a very +pretty one. + +"Well, I declare!" said Uncle William, "I have often looked for a +piece of net and never could get that kind. You and Nellie were the +lucky ones to-day." + +"Oh, oh, oh!" screamed Freddie. "What's that?" and before he had a +chance to think, he ran down to the edge of the water to meet a big +barrel that had been washed in. + +"Look out!" screamed Bert, but Freddie was looking in, and at that +moment the water washed in right over Freddie's shoes, stockings, and +all. + +"Oh!" screamed everybody in chorus, for the next instant a stronger +wave came in and knocked Freddie down. Quick as a flash Dorothy, who +was nearest the edge, jumped in after Freddie, for as the wave receded +the little boy fell in again, and might have been washed out into real +danger if he had not been promptly rescued. + +But as it was he was dripping wet, even his curls had been washed, and +his linen suit looked just like one of Dinah's dish towels. Dorothy, +too, was wet to the knees, but she did not mind that. The day was +warming up and she could get along without shoes or stockings until +she reached home. + +"Freddie's always fallin' in," gasped Flossie, who was always getting +frightened at her twin brother's accidents. + +"Well, I get out, don't I?" pouted Freddie, not feeling very happy in +his wet clothing. + +"Now we must hurry home," insisted Mrs. Bobbsey, as she put Freddie in +the donkey cart, while Dorothy, after pulling off her wet shoes and +stockings, put a robe over her feet, whipped up the donkeys, Doodle +and Dandy, and with Freddie and Flossie in the seat of the cart, the +shells and net in the bottom, started off towards the cliffs, there to +fix Freddie up in dry clothing. Of course he was not "wet to the +skin," as he said, but his shoes and stockings were soaked, and his +waist was wet, and that was enough. Five minutes later Dorothy pulled +up the donkeys at the kitchen door, where Dinah took Freddie in her +arms, and soon after fixed him up. + +"You is de greatest boy for fallin' in," she declared. "Nebber saw +sech a faller. But all de same you'se Dinah's baby boy," and +kind-hearted Dinah rubbed Freddie's feet well, so he would not take +cold; then, with fresh clothing, she made him just as comfortable and +happy as he had been when he had started out shell hunting. + + +CHAPTER XI +DOWNY ON THE OCEAN + +"Harry is coming to-day," Bert told Freddie, on the morning following +the shell hunt, "and maybe Aunt Sarah will come with him. I'm going +to get the cart now to drive over to the station. You may come along, +Freddie, mother said so. Get your cap and hurry up," and Bert rushed +off to the donkey barn to put Doodle and Dandy in harness. + +Freddie was with Bert as quickly as he could grab his cap off the +rack, and the two brothers promptly started for the station. + +"I hope they bring peaches," Freddie said, thinking of the beautiful +peaches in the Meadow Brook orchard that had not been quite ripe when +the Bobbseys left the country for the seaside. + +Numbers of people were crowded around the station when the boys got +there, as the summer season was fast waning, so that Bert and Freddie +had hard work to get a place near the platform for their cart. + +"That's the train!" cried Bert. "Now watch out so that we don't miss +them in the crowd," and the older brother jumped out of the cart to +watch the faces as they passed along. + +"There he is," cried Freddie, clapping his hands. "Harry! Harry! Aunt +Sarah!" he called, until everybody around the station was looking at +him. + +"Here we are!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah the next minute, having heard +Freddie's voice, and followed it to the cart. + +"I'm so glad you came," declared Bert to Harry. + +"And I'm awfully glad you came," Freddie told Aunt Sarah, when she +stopped kissing him. + +"But we cannot ride in that little cart," Aunt Sarah said, as Bert +offered to help her in. + +"Oh, yes, you can," Bert assured her. "These donkeys are very strong, +and so is the cart. Put your satchel right in here," and he shoved +the valise up in front, under the seat. + +"But we have a basket of peaches somewhere," said Aunt Sarah. "They +came in the baggage car." + +"Oh goody! goody!" cried Freddie, clapping his little brown hands. +"Let's get them." + +"No, we had better have them sent over," Bert insisted, knowing that +the basket would take up too much room, also that Freddie might want +to sample the peaches first, and so make trouble in the small cart. +Much against his will the little fellow left the peaches, and started +off for the cliffs. + +The girls, Dorothy, Nellie, and Nan, were waiting at the driveway, and +all shouted a welcome to the people from Meadow Brook. + +"You just came in time," declared Dorothy. "We are going to have a +boat carnival tomorrow, and they expect it will be lovely this year." + +Aunt Emily and Mrs. Bobbsey met the others now, and extended such a +hearty welcome, there could be no mistaking how pleased they all were +to see Harry and Aunt Sarah. As soon as Harry had a chance to lay his +traveling things aside Bert and Freddie began showing him around. + +"Come on down to the lake, first," Bert insisted. "Hal Bingham may +have his canoe out. He's a fine fellow, and we have splendid times +together." + +"And you'll see my duck, Downy," said Freddie. "Oh, he's growed so +big--he's just like a turkey." + +Harry thought Downy must be a queer duck if he looked that way, but, +of course, he did not question Freddie's description. + +"Here, Downy, Downy!" called Freddie, as they came to the little +stream where the duck always swam around. But there was no duck to be +seen. + +"Where is he?" Freddie asked, anxiously. + +"Maybe back of some stones," ventured Harry. Then he and Bert joined +in the search, but no duck was to be found. + +"That's strange," Bert reflected. "He's always around here." + +"Where does the lake run to?" Harry inquired. + +"Into the ocean," answered Bert; "but Downy never goes far. There's +Hal now. We'll get in his boat and see if we can find the duck." + +Hal, seeing his friends, rowed in to the shore with his father's new +rowboat that he was just trying. + +"We have lost Freddie's duck," said Bert. "Have you seen him +anywhere?" + +"No, I just came out," replied Hal. "But get in and we'll go look for +him." + +"This is my Cousin Harry I told you about," said Bert, introducing +Harry, and the two boys greeted each other, cordially. + +All four got into the boat, and Harry took care of Freddie while the +other boys rowed. + +"Oh. I'm afraid someone has stoled Downy," cried Freddie, "and maybe +they'll make--make--pudding out of him." + +"No danger," said Hal, laughing. "No one around here would touch your +duck. But he might have gotten curious to see the ocean. He +certainly doesn't seem to be around here." + +The boys had reached the line where the little lake went in a tunnel +under a road, and then opened out into the ocean. + +"We'll have to leave the boat here," said Hal, "and go and ask people +if Downy came down this way." + +Tying up the boat to a stake, the boys crossed the bridge, and made +their way through the crowd of bathers down to the waves. + +"Oh, oh!" screamed Freddie. "I see him! There he is!" and sure +enough, there was Downy, like a tiny speck, rolling up and down on the +waves, evidently having a fine swim, and not being in the least +alarmed at the mountains of water that came rolling in. + +"Oh, how can we get him?" cried Freddie, nearly running into the water +in his excitement. + +"I don't know," Hal admitted. "He's pretty far out." + +Just then a life-saver came along. Freddie always insisted the +life-guards were not white people, because they were so awfully +browned from the sun, and really, this one looked like some foreigner, +for he was almost black. + +"What's the trouble?" he asked, seeing Freddie's distress. + +"Oh, Downy is gone!" cried the little fellow in tears now. + +"Gone!" exclaimed the guard, thinking Downy was some boy who had swam +out too far. + +"Yes, see him out there," sobbed Freddie, and before the other boys +had a chance to tell the guard that Downy was only a duck, the +life-saver was in his boat, and pulling out toward the spot where +Freddie said Downy was "downing"! + +"There's someone drowning!" went up the cry all around. Then numbers +of men and boys, who had been bathing, plunged into the waves, and +followed the life-saver out to the deeper water. + +It was useless for Harry, Hal, or Bert to try to explain to anyone +about the duck, for the action of the life-saver told a different +story. Another guard had come down to the beach now, and was getting +his ropes ready, besides opening up the emergency case, that was +locked in the boat on the shore. + +"Wait till they find out," whispered Hal to Bert, watching the guard +in the boat nearing the white speck on the waves. It was a long ways +out, but the boys could see the guard stop rowing. + +"He's got him," shouted the crowd, also seeing the guard pick +something out of the water. "I guess he had to lay him in the bottom +of the boat." + +"Maybe he's dead!" the people said, still believing the life-saver had +been after some unfortunate swimmer. + +"Oh, he's got him! He's got him!" cried Freddie, joyfully, still +keeping up the mistake for the sightseers. + +As the guard in the boat had his back to shore, and pulled in that +way, even his companion on land had not yet discovered his mistake, +and he waited to help revive whoever lay in the bottom of the boat. + +The crowd pressed around so closely now that Freddie's toes were +painfully trampled upon. + +"He's mine," cried the little fellow. "Let me have him." + +"It's his brother," whispered a sympathetic boy, almost in tears. +"Let him get over by the boat," and so the crowd made room for +Freddie, as the life-saver pulled up on the beach. + +The people held their breath. + +"He's dead!" insisted a number, when there was no move in the bottom +of the boat. Then the guard stooped down and brought up--Downy! + +"Only a duck!" screamed all the boys in the crowd, while the other +life-saver laughed heartily over his preparations to restore a duck to +consciousness. + +"He's mine! He's mine!" insisted Freddie, as the life-saver fondled +the pretty white duck, and the crowd cheered. + +"Yes, he does belong to my little brother," Bert said, "and he didn't +mean to fool you at all. It was just a mistake," the older brother +apologized. + +"Oh, I know that," laughed the guard. "But when we think there is any +danger we don't wait for particulars. He's a very pretty duck all the +same, and a fine swimmer, and I'm glad I got him for the little +fellow, for likely he would have kept on straight out to smooth water. +Then he would never have tried to get back." + +The guard now handed Downy over to his young owner, and without +further remarks than "Thank you," Freddie started off through the +crowd, while everybody wanted to see the wonderful duck. The joke +caused no end of fun, and it took Harry, Hal, and Bert to save Freddie +and Downy from being too roughly treated, by the boys who were +over-curious to see both the wonderful duck and the happy owner. + + +CHAPTER XII +REAL INDIANS + +"Now we will have to watch Downy or he will be sure to take that trip +again," said Bert, as they reached home with the enterprising duck. + +"We could build a kind of dam across the narrowest part of the lake," +suggested Hal; "kind of a close fence he would not go through. See, +over there it is only a little stream, about five feet wide. We can +easily fence that up. I've got lots of material up in our garden +house." + +"That would be a good idea," agreed Bert. "We can put Downy in the +barn until we get it built. We won't take any more chances." So +Downy was shut up in his box, back of the donkey stall, for the rest +of the day. + +"How far back do these woods run?" Harry asked his companions, he +always being interested in acres, as all real country boys are. + +"I don't know," Hal Bingham answered. "I never felt like going to the +end to find out. But they say the Indians had reservations out here +not many years ago." + +"Then I'll bet there are lots of arrow heads and stone hatchets +around. Let's go look. Have we time before dinner, Bert?" Harry +asked. + +"I guess so," replied the cousin. "Uncle William's train does not get +in until seven, and we can be back by that time. We'll have to slip +away from Freddie, though. Here he comes. Hide!" and at this the +boys got behind things near the donkey house, and Freddie, after +calling and looking around, went back to the house without finding the +"boy boys." + +"We can cross the lake in my boat," said Hal, as they left their +hiding-places. "Then, we will be right in the woods. I'll tie the +boat on the other side until we come back; no one will touch it." + +"Is there no bridge?" Harry asked. + +"Not nearer than the crossings, away down near the ocean beach," said +Bert. "But the boat will be all right. There are no thieves around +here." + +It was but a few minutes' work to paddle across the lake and tie up +the canoe on the opposite shore. Hal and Bert started off, feeling +they would find something interesting, under Harry's leadership. + +It was quite late in the afternoon, and the thick pines and ferns made +the day almost like night, as the boys tramped along. + +"Fine big birds around here," remarked Harry, as the feathered +creatures of the ocean darted through the trees, making their way to +the lake's edge. + +"Yes, we're planning for a Thanksgiving shoot," Hal told him. "We +hope, if we make it up, you can come down." + +"I'd like to first-rate," said Harry. "Hello!" he suddenly exclaimed, +"I thought I kicked over a stone hatchet head." + +Instantly the three boys were on their knees searching through the +brown pine needles. + +"There it is!" declared Harry, picking up a queer-shaped stone. +"That's real Indian--I know. Father has some, but this is the first I +was ever lucky enough to find." + +The boys examined the stone. There were queer marks on it, but they +were so worn down it was impossible to tell what they might mean. + +"What tribe camped here?" asked Harry. + +"I don't know," answered Hal. "I just heard an old farmer, out +Berkley way, talking about the Indians. You see, we only come down +here in the summer time. Then we keep so close to the ocean we don't +do much exploring " + +The boys were so interested now they did not notice how dark it was +getting. Neither did they notice the turns they were making in the deep +woodlands. Now and then a new stone would attract their attention. +They would kick it over, pick it up, and if it were of queer shape it +would be pocketed for further inspection. + +"Say," said Hal, suddenly, "doesn't it look like night?" and at that +he ran to a clear spot between the trees, where he might see the sky. + +"Sure as you live it is night!" he called back to the others. "We +better pick the trail back to our canoe, or we may have to become real +Indians and camp out here in spite of our appetites." + +Then the boys discovered that the trees were much alike, and there +were absolutely no paths to follow. + +"Well, there's where the sun went down, so we must turn our back to +that," advised Hal, as they tramped about, without making any progress +toward finding the way home. + +What at first seemed to be fun, soon turned out to be a serious +matter; for the boys really could not find their way home. Each, in +turn, thought he had the right way, but soon found he was mistaken. + +"Well, I'll give up!" said Hal. "To think we could be lost like three +babies!" + +"Only worse," added Harry, "for little fellows would cry and someone +might help them." + +"Oh! oh! oh! oh! we're lost! We're the babes in the woods!" shouted +Bert at the top of his voice, joking, yet a little in earnest. + +"Let's build a fire," suggested Harry. "That's the way the Indians +used to do. When our comrades see the smoke of the fire they will +come and rescue us." + +The other boys agreed to follow the chief's direction. So they set to +work. It took some time to get wood together, and to start the fire, +but when it was finally lighted, they sat around it and wasted a lot +of time. It would have been better had they tried to get out of the +woods, for as they waited, it grew darker. + +"I wouldn't mind staying here all night," drawled Harry, stretching +himself out on the dry leaves alongside the fire. + +"Well, I'd like supper first," put in Hal. "We were to have roast +duck to-night," and he smacked his lips. + +"What was that!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up. + +"A bell, I thought," whispered Hal, quite frightened. + +"Indians!" added Bert. "Oh, take me home!" he wailed, and while he +tried to laugh, it was a failure, for he really felt more like crying. + +"There it is again. A cow bell!" declared Harry, who could not be +mistaken on bells. + +"Let's find the cow and maybe she will then find us," he suggested, +starting off in the direction that the "tink-tink-tink-tink" came +from. + +"Here she is!" he called, the next moment, as he walked up to a pretty +little cow with the bell on her neck. "Now, where do you belong?" +Harry asked the cow. "Do you know where the Cliffs are, and how we +can get home?" + +The cow was evidently hungry for her supper, and bellowed loud and +long. Then she rubbed her head against Harry's sleeve, and started to +walk through the dark woods. + +"If we follow her she will take us out, all right," said Harry, and so +the three boys willingly started off after the cow. + +Just as Harry had said, she made her way to a path, then the rest of +the way was clear. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Hal, "I smell supper already," and now, at the end of +the path, an opening in the trees showed a few scattered houses. + +"Why, we are away outside of Berkley," went on Hal. "Now, we will +have a long tramp home, but I'm glad even at that, for a night under +the trees was not a pleasant prospect." + +"We must take this cow home first," said Harry, with a farmer's +instinct. "Where do you suppose she belongs?" + +"We might try that house first," suggested Bert, pointing to a cottage +with a small barn, a little way from the wood. + +"Come, Cush," said Harry, to the strange cow, and the animal +obediently walked along. + +There was no need to make inquiries, for outside of the house a little +woman met them. + +"Oh, you've found her!" she began. "Well, my husband was just going +to the pound, for that old miser of a pound master takes a cow in +every chance he gets, just for the fine. Come, Daisy, you're hungry," +and she patted the cow affectionately. "Now, young men, I'm obliged +to you, and you have saved a poor man a day's pay, for that is just +what the fine would be. If you will accept a pail of milk each, I +have the cans, and would be glad to give you each a quart. You might +have berries for dinner," she finished. + +"We would be very glad of the milk," spoke up Harry, promptly, always +wide awake and polite when there was a question that concerned +farmers. + +"Do you live far?" asked the woman. + +"Only at the Cliffs," said Harry. "We will soon he home now. But we +were lost until your cow found us. She brought us here, or we would +be in the woods yet." + +"Well, I do declare!" laughed the little woman, filling each of three +pails from the fresh milk, that stood on a bench, under the kitchen +window. "Now, our man goes right by your house to-morrow morning, and +if you leave the pails outside he will get them. Maybe your mothers +might like some fresh milk, or buttermilk, or fresh eggs, or new +butter?" she asked. + +"Shouldn't wonder," said Hal. "We have hard work to get fresh stuff; +they seem to send it all to the hotels. I'll let the man know when he +comes for the pails." + +"Thank you, thank you," replied the little woman, "and much obliged +for bringing Daisy home. If you ever want a drink of milk, and are +out this way, just knock at my door and I'll see you don't go away +thirsty." + +After more thanks on both sides, the lost boys started homeward, like +a milk brigade, each with his bright tin pail of sweet new milk in his +hand. + + +CHAPTER XIII +THE BOAT CARNIVAL + +"It didn't seem right to take all this milk," remarked Hal, as the +three boys made their way in the dark, along the ocean road. + +"But we would have offended the lady had we refused," said Harry. +"Besides, we may be able to get her good customers by giving out the +samples," he went on. "I'm sure it is good milk, for the place was +clean, and that cow we found, or that found us, was a real Jersey." + +The other boys did not attempt to question Harry's right to give +expert views where cows and milk were concerned; so they made their +way along without further comment. + +"I suppose our folks will think we are lost," ventured Hal. + +"Then they will think right," admitted Bert, "for that was just what +we were, lost." + +Crossing the bridge, the boys could hear voices. + +"That's father," declared Hal. Then they listened. + +"And that's Uncle William," said Bert, as another voice reached them. + +"Gracious! I'm sorry this happened the first day I came," spoke up +Harry, realizing that the other boys would not have gone into the deep +woods if he had not acted as leader. + +"Here we are!" called Hal. + +"Hello there! That you, Hal?" came a call. + +"Yes; we're coming," Hal answered, and the lost boys quickened their +steps, as much as the pails of milk allowed. + +Presently Uncle William and Mr. Bingham came up, and were so glad to +find that Hal, Harry, and Bert were safe, they scarcely required any +explanation for the delay in getting home. Of course, both men had +been boys themselves, and well remembered how easy it was to get lost, +and be late reaching home. + +The milk pails, too, bore out the boys' story, had there been any +doubt about it, but beyond a word of caution about dangerous places in +deep woodlands there was not a harsh word spoken. + +A little farther on the road home, Dorothy, Nan, and Nellie met the +wanderers, and then the woodland escapade seemed a wild tale about +bears, Indians, and even witches, for each girl added, to the boys' +story, so much of her own imagination that the dark night and the +roaring of the ocean, finished up a very wild picture, indeed. + +"Now, you are real heroes," answered Dorothy, "and you are the bravest +boys I know. I wish I had been along. Just think of sitting by a +campfire in a dark woods, and having no one to bring you home but a +poor little cow!" and Dorothy insisted on carrying Bert's milk pail to +show her respect for a real hero. + +Even Dinah and Susan did not complain about serving a late dinner to +the boys, and both maids said they had never before seen such +perfectly splendid milk as came from the farmhouse. + +"We really might take some extra milk from that farm," said Aunt +Emily, "for what we get is nothing like as rich in cream as this is." + +So, as Harry said, the sample brought good results, for on the +following morning, when the man called for the empty pail, Susan +ordered two quarts a day, besides some fresh eggs and new butter to be +delivered twice a week. + +"Do you know," said Uncle William to Mrs. Bobbsey next morning at +breakfast, when the children had left the table, "Mr. Bingham was +telling me last night that his brother is at sea, on just such a +voyage as little Nellie's father went on. And a man named McLaughlin +went with him, too. Now, that's Nellie's name, and I believe George +Bingham is the very man he went with." + +"You don't tell me!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "And have they heard any +news from Mr. Bingham's brother?" + +"Nothing very definite, but a vessel sighted the schooner ten days +ago. Mr. Bingham has no idea his brother is lost, as he is an +experienced seaman, and the Binghams are positive it is only a matter +of the schooner being disabled, and the crew having a hard time to +reach port," replied Mr. Minturn. + +"If Nellie's mother only knew that," said Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Tell you what I'll do," said the brother-in-law; "just give me +Mrs. McLaughlin's address, and I'll go to see her to-day while I'm in +town. Then I can find out whether we have the right man in mind or +not." + +Of course, nothing was said to Nellie about the clew to her father's +whereabouts, but Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily were quite excited over +it, for they were very fond of Nellie, and besides, had visited her +mother and knew of the poor woman's distress. + +"If it only could be true that the vessel is trying to get into port," +reflected Mrs. Bobbsey. "Surely, there would be enough help along the +coast to save the crew." + +While this very serious matter was occupying the attention of the +grown-up folks, the children were all enthusiasm over the water +carnival, coming off that afternoon. + +Hal and Bert were dressed like real Indians, and were to paddle in +Hal's canoe, while Harry was fixed up like a student, a French +explorer, and he was to row alone in Hal's father's boat, to represent +Father Marquette, the discoverer of the upper Mississippi River. + +It was quite simple to make Harry look like the famous discoverer, for +he was tall and dark, and the robes were easily arranged with Susan's +black shawl, a rough cord binding it about his waist. Uncle William's +traveling cap answered perfectly for the French skullcap. + +"Then I'm going to be Pocahontas," insisted Dorothy, as the boys' +costumes brought her mind back to Colonial days. + +"Oh, no," objected Hal, "you girls better take another period of +history. We can't all be Indians." + +"Well, I'll never be a Puritan, not even for fun," declared Dorothy, +whose spirit of frolic was certainly quite opposite that of a +Priscilla. + +"Who was some famous girl or woman in American history?" asked Harry, +glad to get a chance to "stick" Dorothy. + +"Oh, there are lots of them," answered the girl, promptly. "Don't +think that men were the only people in America who did anything worth +while." + +"Then be one that you particularly admire," teased Harry, knowing very +well Dorothy could not, at that minute, name a single character she +would care to impersonate. + +"Oh, let us be real," suggested Nellie. "Everybody will be all +make-believe. I saw lots of people getting ready, and I'm sure they +will all look like Christmas-tree things, tinsel and paper and colored +stuffs." + +"What would be real?', questioned Dorothy. + +"Well, the Fisherman's Daughters," Nellie said, very slowly. "We have +a picture at home of two little girls waiting--for their--father." + +The boys noticed Nellie's manner, and knew why she hesitated. Surely +it would be real for her to be a fisherman's daughter, waiting for her +father! + +"Oh, good!" said Dorothy. "I've got that picture in a book, and we +can copy it exactly. You and I can be in a boat alone. I can row." + +"You had better have a line to my boat," suggested Harry. "It would +be safer in the crowd." + +It had already been decided that Flossie, Freddie, and Nan should go +in the Minturn launch, that was made up to look like a Venetian +gondola. Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily and Aunt Sarah were to be +Italian ladies, not that they cared to be in the boat parade, but +because Aunt Emily, being one of the cottagers, felt obliged to +encourage the social features of the little colony. + +It was quite extraordinary how quickly and how well Dorothy managed to +get up her costume and Nellie's. Of course, the boys were wonderful +Indians, and Harry a splendid Frenchman; Mrs. Bobbsey, Aunt Sarah, and +Aunt Emily only had to add lace headpieces to their brightest dinner +gowns to be like the showy Italians, while Freddie looked like a +little prince in his black velvet suit, with Flossie's red sash tied +from shoulder to waist, in gay court fashion. Flossie wore the pink +slip that belonged under her lace dress, and on her head was a silk +handkerchief pinned up at the ends, in that square quaint fashion of +little ladies of Venice. + +There were to be prizes, of course, for the best costumes and +prettiest boats, and the judges' stand was a very showy affair, built +at the bridge end of the lake. + +There was plenty of excitement getting ready, but finally all hands +were dressed, and the music from the lake told our friends the +procession was already lining up. + +Mrs. Minturn's launch was given second place, just back of the +Mayor's, and Mrs. Bingham's launch, fixed up to represent an +automobile, came next. Then, there were all kinds of boats, some made +to represent impossible things, like big swans, eagles, and one even +had a lot of colored ropes flying about it, while an automobile lamp, +fixed up in a great paper head, was intended to look like a monster +sea-serpent, the ropes being its fangs. By cutting out a queer face +in the paper over the lighted lamp the eyes blazed, of course, while +the mouth was red, and wide open, and there were horns, too, made of +twisted pieces of tin, so that altogether the sea-serpent looked very +fierce, indeed. + +The larger boats were expected to be very fine, so that as the +procession passed along the little lake the steam launches did not +bring out much cheering from the crowd. But now the single boats were +coming. + +"Father Marquette!" cried the people, instantly recognizing the +historic figure Harry represented. + +So slowly his boat came along, and so solemn he looked! + +Then, as he reached the judges' stand, he stood up, put his hand over +his eyes, looking off in the distance, exactly like the picture of the +famous French explorer. + +This brought out long and loud cheering, and really Harry deserved it, +for he not only looked like, but really acted, the character. + +There were a few more small boats next. In one the summer girl was +all lace and parasol, in another there was a rude fisherman, then; +some boys were dressed to look like dandies, and they seemed to enjoy +themselves more than did the people looking at them. There was also a +craft fixed up to look like a small gunboat. + +Hal and Bert then paddled along. + +They were perfect Indians, even having their faces browned with dark +powder. Susan's feather duster had been dissected to make up the +boys' headgear, and two overall suits, with jumpers, had been slashed +to pieces to make the Indian suits. The canoe, of course, made a +great stir. + +"Who are they?" everybody wanted to know. But no one could guess. + +"Oh, look at this!" called the people, as an old boat with two little +girls drifted along. + +The Fisherman's Daughters! + +Perhaps it was because there was so much gayety around that these +little girls looked so real. From the side of their weather-beaten +boat dragged an old fishnet. Each girl had on her head a queer +half-hood, black, and from under this Nellie's brown hair fell in +tangles on her bare shoulders, and Dorothy's beautiful yellow ringlets +framed in her own pretty face. The children wore queer bodices, like +those seen in pictures of Dutch girls, and full skirts of dark stuff +finished out their costumes. + +As they sat in the boat and looked out to sea, "watching for the +fisherman's return," their attitude and pose were perfect. + +The people did not even cheer. They seemed spellbound. + +"That child is an actress," they said, noting the "real" look on +Nellie's face. But Nellie was not acting. She was waiting for the +lost father at sea. + +When would he come back to her? + + +CHAPTER XIV +THE FIRST PRIZE + +When the last craft in the procession had passed the judges' stand, +and the little lake was alive with decorations and nautical novelties, +everybody, of course, in the boats and on land, was anxious to know +who would get the prizes. + +There were four to be given, and the fortunate ones could have gifts +in silver articles or the value in money, just as they chose. + +Everybody waited anxiously, when the man at the judges' stand stood up +and called through the big megaphone: + +"Let the Fisherman's Daughters pass down to the stand!" + +"Oh, we are going to get a prize," Dorothy said to Nellie. "I'll just +cut the line to Harry's boat and row back to the stand." + +Then, when the two little girls sailed out all by themselves, Dorothy +rowing gracefully, while Nellie helped some, although not accustomed +to the oars, the people fairly shouted. + +For a minute the girls waited in front of the stand. But the more +people inspected them the better they appeared. Finally, the head +judge stood up. + +"First prize is awarded to the Fisherman's Daughters," he announced. + +The cheering that followed his words showed the approval of the crowd. +Nellie and Dorothy were almost frightened at the noise. Then they +rowed their boat to the edge, and as the crowd gathered around them to +offer congratulations, the other prizes were awarded. + +The second prize went to the Indians! + +"Lucky they don't know us," said Hal to Bert, "for they would never +let the two best prizes get in one set." The Indians were certainly +well made-up, and their canoe a perfect redman's bark. + +The third prize went to the "Sea-serpent," for being the funniest boat +in the procession; and the fourth to the gunboat. Then came a great +shouting! + +A perfect day had added to the success of the carnival, and now many +people adjourned to the pavilion, where a reception was held, and good +things to eat were bountifully served. + +"But who was the little girl with Dorothy Minturn?" asked the mayor's +wife. Of course everybody knew Dorothy, but Nellie was a stranger. + +Mrs. Minturn, Mrs. Bobbsey, Aunt Sarah, Mrs. Bingham, and Mrs. Blake, +the latter being the mayor's wife, had a little corner in the pavilion +to themselves. Here Nellie's story was quietly told. + +"How nice it was she got the prize," said Mrs. Blake, after hearing +about Nellie's hardships. "I think we had better have it in +money--and we might add something to it," she suggested. "I am sure +Mr. Blake would be glad to. He often gives a prize himself. I'll +just speak to him." + +Of course Dorothy was to share the prize, and she accepted a pretty +silver loving cup. But what do you suppose they gave Nellie? + +Fifty dollars! + +Was not that perfectly splendid? + +The prize for Nellie was twenty-five dollars, but urged by Mrs. Blake, +the mayor added to it his own check for the balance. + +Naturally Nellie wanted to go right home to her mother with it, and +nothing about the reception had any interest for her after she +received the big check. However, Mrs. Bobbsey insisted that +Mr. Minturn would take the money to Nellie's mother the next day, so +the little girl had to be content. + +Then, when all the festivities were over, and the children's +excitement had brought them to bed very tired that night, Nellie sat +by her window and looked out at the sea! + +Always the same prayer, but to-night, somehow, it seemed answered! + +Was it the money for mother that made the father seem so near? + +The roaring waves seemed to call out: + +"Nellie--Nellie dear! I'm coming--coming home to you!" + +And while the little girl was thus dreaming upstairs, Mr. Minturn down +in the library was telling about his visit to Nellie's mother. + +"There is no doubt about it," he told Mrs. Bobbsey. "It was Nellie's +father who went away with George Bingham, and it was certainly that +schooner that was sighted some days ago." + +The ladies, of course, were overjoyed at the prospect of the best of +luck for Nellie--her father's possible return,--and then it was +decided that Uncle William should again go to Mrs. McLaughlin, this +time to take her the prize money, and that Mrs. Bobbsey should go +along with him, as it was such an important errand. + +"And you remember that little pearl that Nellie found on the beach? +Well, I'm having it set in a ring for her. It is a real pearl, but +not very valuable, yet I thought it would be a souvenir of her visit +at the Cliffs," said Mr. Minturn. + +"That will be very nice," declared Mrs. Bobbsey. "I am sure no one +deserves to be made happy more than that child does, for just fancy, +how she worked in that store as cash girl until her health gave way. +And now she is anxious to go back to the store again. Of course she +is worried about her mother, but the prize money ought to help +Mrs. McLaughlin so that Nellie would not need to cut her vacation +short." + +"What kind of treasure was it that these men went to sea after?" Aunt +Emily asked Uncle William. + +"A cargo of mahogany," Mr. Minturn replied. "You see, that wood is +scarce now, a cargo is worth a fortune, and a shipload was being +brought from the West Indies to New York when a storm blew the vessel +out to a very dangerous point. Of course, the vessel was wrecked, and +so were two others that later attempted to reach the valuable cargo. +You see the wind always blows the one way there, and it is impossible +to get the mahogany out of its trap. Now, George Bingham was offered +fifty thousand dollars to bring that wood to port, and he decided that +he could do it by towing each log around the reef by canoes. The logs +are very heavy, each one is worth between eighty and one hundred +dollars, but the risk meant such a reward, in case of success, that +they went at it. Of course the real danger is around the wreck. Once +free from that point and the remainder of the voyage would be only +subject to the usual ocean storms." + +"And those men were to go through the dangerous waters in little +canoes!" exclaimed Aunt Emily. + +"But the danger was mostly from winds to the sails of vessels," +explained Uncle William. "Small craft are safest in such waters." + +"And if they succeeded in bringing the mahogany in?" asked +Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"Nellie would be comparatively rich, for her father went as George +Bingham's partner," finished Mr. Minturn. + +So, the evening went into night, and Nellie, the Fisherman's Daughter, +slept on, to dream that the song of the waves came true. + + +CHAPTER XV +LOST ON AN ISLAND + +The calm that always follows a storm settled down upon the Cliffs the +day after the carnival. The talk of the entire summer settlement was +Nellie and her prize, and naturally, the little girl herself thought +of home and the lonely mother, who was going to receive such a +surprise--fifty dollars! + +It was a pleasant morning, and Freddie and Flossie were out watching +Downy trying to get through the fence that the boys had built to keep +him out of the ocean. Freddie had a pretty little boat Uncle William +had brought down from the city. It had sails, that really caught the +wind, and carried the boat along. + +Of course Freddie had a long cord tied to it, so it could not get out +of his reach, and while Flossie tried to steer the vessel with a long +whip, Freddie made believe he was a canal man, and walked along the +tow path with the cord in hand. + +"I think I would have got a prize in the boat parade if I had this +steamer," said Freddie, feeling his craft was really as fine as any +that had taken part in the carnival. + +"Maybe you would," agreed Flossie. "Now let me sail it a little." + +"All right," said Freddie, and he offered the cord to his twin sister. + +"Oh," she exclaimed, "I dropped it!" + +The next minute the little boat made a turn with the breeze, and +before Flossie could get hold of the string it was all in the water! + +"Oh, my boat!" cried Freddie. "Get it quick!" + +"I can't!" declared Flossie. "It is out too far! Oh, what shall we +do!" + +"Now you just get it! You let it go," went on the brother, without +realizing that his sister could not reach the boat, nor the string +either, for that matter. + +"Oh, it's going far away!" cried Flossie; almost in tears. + +The little boat was certainly making its way out into the lake, and it +sailed along so proudly, it must have been very glad to be free. + +"There's Hal Bingham's boat," ventured Flossie. "Maybe I could go out +a little ways in that." + +"Of course you can," promptly answered Freddie. "I can row." + +"I don't know, we might upset!" Flossie said, hesitating. + +"But it isn't deep. Why, Downy walks around out here," went on the +brother. + +This assurance gave the little girl courage, and slipping the rope off +the peg that secured the boat to the shore, very carefully she put +Freddie on one seat, while she sat herself on the other. + +The oars were so big she did not attempt to handle them, but just +depended on the boat to do its own sailing. + +"Isn't this lovely!" declared Freddie, as the boat drifted quietly +along. + +"Yes, but how can we get back?" asked Flossie, beginning to realize +their predicament. + +"Oh, easy!" replied Freddie, who suddenly seemed to have become a man, +he was so brave. "The tide comes down pretty soon, and then our boat +will go back to shore." + +Freddie had heard so much about the tide he felt he understood it +perfectly. Of course, there was no tide on the lake, although the +waters ran lazily toward the ocean at times. + +"But we are not getting near my boat," Freddie complained, for indeed +the toy sailboat was drifting just opposite their way. + +"Well, I can't help it, I'm sure," cried Flossie. "And I just wish I +could get back. I'm going to call somebody." + +"Nobody can hear you," said her brother. "They are all down by the +ocean, and there's so much noise there you can't even hear thunder." + +Where the deep woods joined the lake there was a little island. This +was just around the turn, and entirely out of view of either the +Minturn or the Bingham boat landing. Toward this little island the +children's boat was now drifting. + +"Oh, we'll be real Robinson Crusoes!" exclaimed Freddie, delighted at +the prospect of such an adventure. + +"I don't want to be no Robinson Crusoe!" pouted his sister. "I just +want to get back home," and she began to cry. + +"We're going to bunk," announced Freddie, as at that minute the boat +did really bump into the little island. "Come, Flossie, let us get +ashore," said the brother, in that superior way that had come to him +in their distress. + +Flossie willingly obeyed. + +"Be careful!" she cautioned. "Don't step out till I get hold of your +hand. It is awfully easy to slip getting out of a boat." + +Fortunately for the little ones they had been taught to be careful +when around boats, so that they were able to take care of themselves +pretty well, even in their present danger. + +Once on land, Flossie's fears left her, and she immediately set about +picking the pretty little water flowers, that grew plentifully among +the ferns and flag lilies. + +"I'm going to build a hut," said Freddie, putting pieces of dry sticks +up against a willow tree. Soon the children became so interested they +did not notice their boat drift away, and really leave them all alone +on the island! + +In the meantime everybody at the house was looking for the twins. +Their first fear, of course, was the ocean, and down to the beach +Mrs. Bobbsey, Aunt Sarah, and the boys hurried, while Aunt Emily and +the girls made their way to the Gypsy Camp, fearing the fortune +tellers might have stolen the children in order to get money for +bringing them back again. + +Dorothy walked boldly up to the tent. An old woman sat outside and +looked very wicked, her face was so dark and her hair so black and +tangled. + +"Have you seen a little boy and girl around here?" asked Dorothy, +looking straight into the tent. + +"No, nobody round here. Tell your fortune, lady?" This to Aunt Emily, +who waited for Dorothy. + +"Not to-day," answered Aunt Emily. "We are looking for two children. +Are you sure you have not seen them?" + +"No, lady. Gypsy tell lady's fortune, then lady find them," she +suggested, with that trick her class always uses, trying to impose on +persons in trouble with the suggestion of helping them out of it. + +"No, we have not time," insisted Aunt Emily; really quite alarmed now +that there was no trace of the little twins. + +"Let me look through your tent?" asked Dorothy, bravely. + +"What for?" demanded the old woman. + +"To make sure the children are not hiding," and without waiting for a +word from the old woman, Dorothy walked straight into that gypsy tent! + +Even Aunt Emily was frightened. + +Suppose somebody inside should keep Dorothy? + +"Come out of my house!" muttered the woman, starting after Dorothy. + +"Come out, Dorothy," called her mother, but the girl was making her +way through the old beds and things inside, to make sure there was no +Freddie or Flossie to be found in the tent. + +It was a small place, of course, and it did not take Dorothy very long +to search it. + +Presently she appeared again, much to the relief of her mother, Nan, +and Nellie, who waited breathlessly outside. + +"They are not around here," said Dorothy. "Now, mother, give the old +woman some change to make up for my trespassing." + +Aunt Emily took a coin from her chatelaine. + +"Thank the lady! Good lady," exclaimed the old gypsy. "Lady find her +babies; babies play--see!" (And she pretended to look into the future +with some dirty cards.) "Babies play in woods. Natalie sees babies +picking flowers." + +Now, how could anybody ever guess that the old gypsy had just come +down from picking dandelions by the lake, where she really had seen +Freddie and Flossie on the island? + +And how could anybody know that she was too wicked to tell Aunt Emily +this, but was waiting until night, to bring the children back home +herself, and get a reward for doing so? + +She had seen the boat drift away and she knew the little ones were +helpless to return home unless someone found them. + +Mrs. Bobbsey and the boys were now coming up from the beach. + +What, at first, seemed only a mishap, now looked like a very serious +matter. + +"We must go to the woods," insisted Dorothy. "Maybe that old woman +knew they were in the woods." + +But as such things always happen, the searchers went to the end of the +woods, far away from the island. Of course they all called loudly, +and the boys gave the familiar yodel, but the noise of the ocean made +it impossible for the call to reach Freddie and Flossie. + +"Oh, I'm so afraid they are drowned!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, breaking +down and crying. + +"No, mamma," insisted Nan, "I am sure they are not. Flossie is so +afraid of the water, and Freddie always minds Flossie. They must be +playing somewhere. Maybe they are home by this time," and so it was +agreed to go back to the house and if the little ones were not +there--then--- + +"But they must be there," insisted Nellie, starting on a run over the +swampy grounds toward the Cliffs. + +And all this time Freddie and Flossie were quite unconcerned playing +on the island. + +"Oh, there's a man!" shouted Freddie, seeing someone in the woods. +"Maybe it's Friday. Say there, Mister!" he shouted. "Say, will you +help us get to land?" + +The man heard the child's voice and hurried to the edge of the lake. + +"Wall, I declare!" he exclaimed, "if them babies ain't lost out there. +And here comes their boat. Well, I'll just fetch them in before they +try to swim out," he told himself, swinging into the drifting boat, +and with the stout stick he had in his hand, pushing off for the +little island. + +The island was quite near to shore on that side, and it was only a few +minutes' work for the man to reach the children. + +"What's your name?" he demanded, as soon as he touched land. + +"Freddie Bobbsey," spoke up the little fellow, bravely, "and we live +at the Cliffs." + +"You do, eh? Then it was your brothers who brought my cow home, so I +can pay them back by taking you home now. I can't row to the far +shore with this stick, so we'll have to tramp it through the woods. +Come along." and carefully he lifted the little ones into the boat, +pushing to the woods, and started off to walk the round-about way, +through the woods, to the bridge, then along the road back to the +Cliffs, where a whole household was in great distress because of the +twins' absence. + + +CHAPTER XVI +DOROTHY'S DOINGS + +"Here they come!" called Nellie, who was searching around the barn, +and saw the farmer with the two children crossing the hill. + +"I'm Robinson Crusoe!" insisted Freddie, "and this is my man, Friday," +he added, pointing to the farmer. + +Of course it did not take long to clear up the mystery of the little +ones' disappearance. But since his return Freddie acted like a hero, +and certainly felt like one, and Flossie brought home with her a +dainty bouquet of pink sebatia, that rare little flower so like a tiny +wild rose. The farmer refused to take anything for his time and +trouble, being glad to do our friends a favor. + +Aunt Sarah and Harry were to leave for Meadow Brook that afternoon, +but the worry over the children being lost made Aunt Sarah feel quite +unequal to the journey, so Aunt Emily prevailed upon her to wait +another day. + +"There are so many dangers around here," remarked Aunt Sarah, when all +the "scare" was over. "It is different in the country. We never +worry about lost children out in Meadow Brook." + +"But I often got lost out there," insisted Freddie. "Don't you +remember?" + +Aunt Sarah had some recollection of the little fellow's adventures in +that line, and laughed over them, now that they were recalled. + +Late that afternoon Dorothy, Nan, and Nellie had a conference: that +is, they talked with their heads so close together not even Flossie +could get an idea of what they were planning. But it was certainly +mischief, for Dorothy had most to say, and she would rather have a +good joke than a good dinner any day, so Susan said. + +Harry, Hal, and Bert had been chasing through the woods after a +queer-looking bird. It was large, and had brilliant feathers, and +when it rested for a moment on a tree it would pick at the bark as if +it were trying to play a tune with its beak. Each time it struck the +bark its head bobbed up and down in a queer way for a bird. But the +boys could not get it. They set Hal's trap, and even used an air +rifle in hopes of bringing it down without killing it, but the bird +puttered from place to place, not in a very great hurry, but just +fast enough to keep the boys busy chasing it. + +That evening, at dinner, the strange bird was much talked about. + +"Dat's a ban-shee!" declared Dinah, jokingly. "Dat bird came to bring +a message from somebody. You boys will hear dat tonight, see if you +doesn't," and she gave a very mysterious wink at Dorothy, who just +then nearly choked with her dessert. + +A few hours later the house was all quiet. The happenings of the day +brought a welcome night, and tired little heads comfortably hugged +their pillows. + +It must have been about midnight, Bert was positive he had just heard +the clock strike a lot of rings, surely a dozen or so, when at his +window came a queer sound, like something pecking. At first Bert got +it mixed up with his dreams, but as it continued longer and louder, he +called to Harry, who slept in the alcove in Bert's room, and together +the boys listened, attentively. + +"That's the strange bird," declared Harry. "Sure enough it is +bringing us a message, as Dinah said," and while the boys took the +girl's words in a joke, they really seemed to be coming true. + +"Don't light the gas," cautioned Bert, "or that will surely frighten +it off. We can get our air guns, and I'll go crawl out on the veranda +roof back of it, so as to get it if possible." + +All this time the "peck-peck-peck" kept at the window, but just as +soon as Bert went out in the hall to make his way through the +storeroom window to the veranda roof, the pecking ceased. Harry +hurried after Bert to tell him the bird was gone, and then together +the boys put their heads out of their own window. + +But there was not a sound, not even the distant flutter of a bird's +wing to tell the boys the messenger had gone. + +"Back to bed for us," said Harry, laughing. "I guess that bird is a +joker and wants to keep us busy," and both boys being healthy were +quite ready to fall off to sleep as soon as they felt it was of no use +to stay awake longer looking for their feathered visitor. + +"There it is again," called Bert, when Harry had just begun to dream +of hazelnuts in Meadow Brook. "I'll get him this time!" and without +waiting to go through the storeroom, Bert raised the window and bolted +out on the roof. + +"What's de matter down dere?" called Dinah from the window above. +"'Pears like as if you boys had de nightmare. Can't you let nobody +get a wink ob sleep? Ebbery time I puts my head down, bang! comes a +noise and up pops my head. Now, what's a-ailin' ob you, Bert?" and +the colored girl showed by her tone of voice she was not a bit angry, +but "chock-full of laugh," as Bert whispered to Harry. + +But the boys had not caught the bird, had not even seen it, for that +matter. + +Both Bert and Harry were now on the roof in their pajamas. + +"What's--the--matter--there?" called Dorothy, in a very drowsy voice, +from her window at the other end of the roof. + +"What are you boys after?" called Uncle William, from a middle window. + +"Anything the matter?" asked Aunt Sarah, anxiously, from the spare +room. + +"Got a burgulor?" shrieked Freddie, from the nursery. + +"Do you want any help?" offered Susan, her head out of the top-floor +window. + +All these questions came so thick and fast on the heads of Bert and +Harry that the boys had no idea of answering them. Certainly the bird +was nowhere to be seen, and they did not feel like advertising their +"April-fool game" to the whole house, so they decided to crawl into +bed again and let others do the same. + +The window in the boys' room was a bay, and each time the pecking +disturbed them they thought the sound came from a different part of +the window. Bert said it was the one at the left, so where the "bird" +called from was left a mystery. + +But neither boy had time to close his eyes before the noise started up +again! + +"Well, if that isn't a ghost it certainly is a ban-shee, as Dinah +said," whispered Bert. "I'm going out to Uncle William's room and +tell him. Maybe he will have better luck than we had," and so saying, +Bert crept out into the hall and down two doors to his uncle's room. + +Uncle William had also heard the sound. + +"Don't make a particle of noise," cautioned the uncle, "and we can go +up in the cupola and slide down a post so quietly the bird will not +hear us," and as he said this, he, in his bath robe, went cautiously +up the attic stairs, out of a small window, and slid down the post +before Bert had time to draw his own breath. + +But there was no bird to be seen anywhere! + +"I heard it this very minute!" declared Harry, from the window. + +"It might be bats!" suggested Uncle William. "But listen! I thought +I heard the girls laughing," and at that moment an audible titter was +making its way out of Nan's room! + +"That's Dorothy's doings!" declared Uncle William, getting ready to +laugh himself. "She's always playing tricks," and he began to feel +about the outside ledge of the bay window. + +But there was nothing there to solve the mystery. + +"A tick-tack!" declared Harry, "I'll bet, from the girls' room!" and +without waiting for another word he jumped out of his window, ran +along the roof to Nan's room, and then grabbed something. + +"Here it is!" he called, confiscating the offending property. "You +just wait, girls!" he shouted in the window. "If we don't give you a +good ducking in the ocean for this to-morrow!" + +The laugh of the three girls in Nan's room made the joke on the boys +more complete, and as Uncle William went back to his room he declared +to Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily that his girl, Dorothy, was more fun +than a dozen boys, and he would match her against that number for the +best piece of good-natured fun ever played. + +"A bird!" sneered Bert, making fun of himself for being so easily +fooled. + +"A girls' game of tick-tack!" laughed Harry, making up his mind that +if he did not "get back at Dorothy," he would certainly have to haul +in his colors as captain of the Boys' Brigade of Meadow Brook; "for +she certainly did fool me," he admitted, turning over to sleep at +last. + + +CHAPTER XVII +OLD FRIENDS + +"Now, Aunt Sarah," pleaded Nan the next morning, "you might just as +well wait and go home on the excursion train. All Meadow Brook will +be down, and it will be so much pleasanter for you. The train will be +here by noon and leave at three o'clock." + +"But think of the hour that would bring us to Meadow Brook!" objected +Aunt Sarah. + +"Well, you will have lots of company, and if Uncle Daniel shouldn't +meet you, you can ride up with the Hopkinses or anybody along your +road." + +Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily added their entreaties to Nan's, and Aunt +Sarah finally agreed to wait. + +"If I keep on," she said, "I'll be here all summer. And think of the +fruit that's waiting to be preserved!" + +"Hurrah!" shouted Bert, giving his aunt a good hug. "Then Harry and I +can have a fine time with the Meadow Brook boys," and Bert dashed out +to take the good news to Harry and Hal Bingham, who were out at the +donkey house. + +"Come on, fellows!" he called. "Down to the beach! We can have a +swim before the crowd gets there." And with renewed interest the trio +started off for the breakers. + +"I would like to live at the beach all summer," remarked Harry. "Even +in winter it must be fine here." + +"It is," said Hal. "But the winds blow everything away regularly, and +they all have to be carted back again each spring. This shore, with +all its trimmings now, will look like a bald head by the first of +December." + +All three boys were fine swimmers, and they promptly struck off for +the water that was "straightened out," as Bert said, beyond the +tearing of the breakers at the edge. There were few people in the +surf and the boys made their way around as if they owned the ocean. + +Suddenly Hal thought he heard a call! + +Then a man's arm appeared above the water's surface, a few yards away. + +"Cramps," yelled Hal to Harry and Bert, while all three hurried to +where the man's hand had been seen. + +But it did not come up again. + +"I'll dive down!" spluttered Hal, who had the reputation of being able +to stay a long time under water. + +It seemed quite a while to Bert and Harry before Hal came up again, +but when he did he was trying to pull with him a big, fat man, who was +all but unconscious. + +"Can't move," gasped Hal, as the heavy burden was pulling him down. + +Bit by bit the man with cramps gained a little strength, and with the +boys' help he was towed in to shore. + +There was not a life-guard in sight, and Hal had to hurry off to the +pier for some restoratives, for the man was very weak. On his way, +Hal met a guard who, of course, ran to the spot where Harry and Bert +were giving the man artificial respiration. + +"You boys did well!" declared the guard, promptly, seeing how hard +they worked with the sick man. + +"Yes--they saved--my life!" gasped the half-drowned man. "This little +fellow"--pointing to Hal--"brought--me up--almost--from--the bottom!" +and he caught his breath, painfully. + +The man was assisted to a room at the end of the pier, and after a +little while he became much better. Of course the boys did not stand +around, being satisfied they could be of no more use. + +"I must get those lads' names," declared the man to the guard. "Mine +is ----," and he gave the name of the famous millionaire who had a +magnificent summer home in another colony, three miles away. + +"And you swam from the Cedars, Mr. Black," exclaimed the guard. "No +wonder you got cramps." + +An hour later the millionaire was walking the beach looking for the +life-savers. He finally spied Hal. + +"Here, there, you boy," he called, and Hal came in to the edge, but +hardly recognized the man in street clothes. + +"I want your name," demanded the stranger. "Do you know there are +medals given to young heroes like you?" + +"Oh, that was nothing," stammered Hal, quite confused now. + +"Nothing! Why, I was about dead, and pulled on you with all my two +hundred pounds. You knew, too, you had hardly a chance to bring me +up. Yes, indeed, I want your name," and as he insisted, Hal +reluctantly gave it, but felt quite foolish to make such a fuss "over +nothing," as he said. + +It was now about time for the excursion train to come in, so the boys +left the water and prepared to meet their old friends. + +"I hope Jack Hopkins comes," said Bert, for Jack was a great friend. + +"Oh, he will be along," Harry remarked. "Nobody likes a good time +better than Jack." + +"Here they come!" announced Hal, the next minute, as a crowd of +children with many lunch boxes came running down to the ocean. + +"Hello there! Hello there!" called everybody at once, for, of course, +all the children knew Harry and many also knew Bert. + +There were Tom Mason, Jack Hopkins, August Stout, and Ned Prentice in +the first crowd, while a number of girls, friends of Nan's, were in +another group. Nan, Nellie, and Dorothy had been detained by somebody +further up on the road, but were now coming down, slowly. + +Such a delight as the ocean was to the country children! + +As each roller slipped out on the sands the children unconsciously +followed it, and so, many unsuspected pairs of shoes were caught by +the next wave that washed in. + +"Well, here comes Uncle Daniel!" called Bert, as, sure enough, down to +the edge came Uncle Daniel with Dorothy holding on one arm, Nan +clinging to the other, while Nellie carried his small satchel. + +Santa Claus could hardly have been more welcome to the Bobbseys at +that moment than was Uncle Daniel. They simply overpowered him, as +the surprise of his coming made the treat so much better. The girls +had "dragged him" down to the ocean, he said, when he had intended +first going to Aunt Emily's. + +"I must see the others," he insisted; "Freddie and Flossie." + +"Oh, they are all coming down," Nan assured him. "Aunt Sarah, too, is +coming." + +"All right, then," agreed Uncle Daniel. "I'll wait awhile. Well, +Harry, you look like an Indian. Can you see through that coat of +tan?" + +Harry laughed and said he had been an Indian in having a good time. + +Presently somebody jumped up on Uncle Daniel's back. As he was +sitting on the sands the shock almost brought him down. Of course it +was Freddie, who was so overjoyed he really treated the good-natured +uncle a little roughly. + +"Freddie boy! Freddie boy!" exclaimed Uncle Daniel, giving his nephew +a good long hug. "And you have turned Indian, too! Where's that +sea-serpent you were going to catch for me?" + +"I'll get him yet," declared the little fellow. "It hasn't rained +hardly since we came down, and they only come in to land out of the +rain." + +This explanation made Uncle Daniel laugh heartily. The whole family +sat around on the sands, and it was like being in the country and at +the seashore at the one time, Flossie declared. + +The boys, of course, were in the water. August Stout had not learned +much about swimming since he fell off the plank while fishing in +Meadow Brook, so that out in the waves the other boys had great fun +with their fat friend. + +"And there is Nettie Prentice!" exclaimed Nan, suddenly, as she espied +her little country friend looking through the crowd, evidently +searching for friends. + +"Oh, Nan!" called Nettie, in delight, "I'm just as glad to see you as +I am to see the ocean, and I never saw that before," and the two +little girls exchanged greetings of genuine love for each other. + +"Won't we have a perfectly splendid time?" declared Nan. "Dorothy, my +cousin, is so jolly, and here's Nellie--you remember her?" + +Of course Nettie did remember her, and now all the little girls went +around hunting for fun in every possible corner where fun might be +hidden. + +As soon as the boys were satisfied with their bath they went in search +of the big sun umbrellas, so that Uncle William, Aunt Emily, +Mrs. Bobbsey, and Aunt Sarah might sit under the sunshades, while +eating lunch. Then the boys got long boards and arranged them from +bench to bench in picnic style, so that all the Meadow Brook friends +might have a pleasant time eating their box lunches. + +"Let's make lemonade," suggested Hal. "I know where I can get a pail +of nice clean water." + +"I'll buy the lemons," offered Harry. + +"I'll look after sugar," put in Bert. + +"And I'll do the mixing," declared August Stout, while all set to work +to produce the wonderful picnic lemonade. + +"Now, don't go putting in white sand instead of sugar," teased Uncle +Daniel, as the "caterers," with sleeves rolled up, worked hard over +the lemonade. + +"What can we use for cups ?" asked Nan. + +"Oh, I know," said Harry, "over at the Indian stand they have a lot of +gourds, the kind of mock oranges that Mexicans drink out of. I can +buy them for five cents each, and after the picnic we can bring them +home and hang them up for souvenirs." + +"Just the thing!" declared Hal, who had a great regard for things that +hang up and look like curios. "I'll go along and help you make the +bargain." + +When the boys came back they had a dozen of the funny drinking cups. + +The long crooked handles were so queer that each person tried to get +the cup to his or her mouth in a different way. + +"We stopped at the hydrant and washed the gourds thoroughly," declared +Hal, "so you need not expect to find any Mexican diamonds in them." + +"Or tarantulas," put in Uncle Daniel. + +"What's them?" asked Freddie, with an ear for anything that sounded +like a menagerie. + +"A very bad kind of spider, that sometimes comes in fruit from other +countries," explained Uncle Daniel. Then Nan filled his gourd from +the dipper that stood in the big pail of lemonade, and he smacked his +lips in appreciation. + +There was so much to do and so much to see that the few hours allowed +the excursionists slipped by all too quickly. Dorothy ran away and +soon returned with her donkey cart, to take Nettie Prentice and a few +of Nettie's friends for a ride along the beach. Nan and Nellie did +not go, preferring to give the treat to the little country girls. + +"Now don't go far," directed Aunt Emily, for Aunt Sarah and Uncle +Daniel were already leaving the beach to make ready for the train. Of +course Harry and Aunt Sarah were all "packed up" and had very little +to do at Aunt Emily's before starting. + +Hal and Bert were sorry, indeed, to have Harry go, for Harry was such +a good leader in outdoor sports, his country training always standing +by him in emergencies. + +Finally Dorothy came back with the girls from their ride, and the +people were beginning to crowd into the long line of cars that waited +on a switch near the station. + +"Now, Nettie, be sure to write to me," said Nan, bidding her little +friend good-by. + +"And come down next year," insisted Dorothy. + +"I had such a lovely time," declared Nettie. "I'm sure I will come +again if I can." + +The Meadow Brook Bobbseys had secured good seats in the middle +car,--Aunt Sarah thought that the safest,--and now the locomotive +whistle was tooting, calling the few stragglers who insisted on +waiting at the beach until the very last minute. + +Freddie wanted to cry when he realized that Uncle Daniel, Aunt Sarah, +and even Harry were going away, but with the promises of meeting again +Christmas, and possibly Thanksgiving, all the good-bys were said, and +the excursion train puffed out on its long trip to dear old Meadow +Brook, and beyond. + + +CHAPTER XVIII +THE STORM + +When Uncle William Minturn came in from the city that evening he had +some mysterious news. Everybody guessed it was about Nellie, but as +surprises were always cropping up at Ocean Cliff, the news was kept +secret and the whispering increased. + +"I had hard work to get her to come," said Uncle William to +Mrs. Bobbsey, still guarding the mystery, "but I finally prevailed +upon her and she will be down on the morning train." + +"Poor woman, I am sure it will do her good," remarked Mrs. Bobbsey. +"Your house has been a regular hotel this summer," she said to +Mr. Minturn. + +"That's what we are here for," he replied. "We would not have much +pleasure, I am sure, if our friends were not around us." + +"Did you hear anything more about the last vessel?" asked Aunt Emily. + +"Yes, I went down to the general office today, and an incoming steamer +was sure it was the West Indies vessel that was sighted four days +ago." + +"Then they should be near port now?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. + +"They ought to be," replied Uncle William, "but the cargo is so heavy, +and the schooner such a very slow sailer, that it takes a long time to +cover the distance." + +Next morning, bright and early, Dorothy had the donkeys in harness. + +"We are going to the station to meet some friends, Nellie," she said. +"Come along?" + +"What! More company?" exclaimed Nellie. "I really ought to go home. +I am well and strong now." + +"Indeed you can't go until we let you," said Dorothy, laughing. "I +suppose you think all the fun went with Harry," she added, teasingly, +for Dorothy knew Nellie had been acting lonely ever since the +carnival. She was surely homesick to see her mother and talk about +the big prize. + +The two girls had not long to wait at the station, for the train +pulled in just as they reached the platform. Dorothy looked about a +little uneasily. + +"We must watch for a lady in a linen suit with black hat," she said to +Nellie; "she's a stranger." + +That very minute the linen suit appeared. + +"Oh, oh!" screamed Nellie, unable to get her words. "There is my +mother!" and the next thing Dorothy knew, Nellie was trying to "wear +the same linen dress" that the stranger appeared in--at least, that +was how Dorothy afterwards told about Nellie's meeting with her +mother. + +"My daughter!" exclaimed the lady, "I have been so lonely I came to +bring you home." + +"And this is Dorothy," said Nellie, recovering herself. "Dorothy is +my best friend, next to Nan." + +"You have surely been among good friends," declared the mother, "for +you have gotten the roses back in your cheeks again. How well you do +look!" + +"Oh, I've had a perfectly fine time," declared Nellie. + +"Fine and dandy," repeated Dorothy, unable to restrain her fun-making +spirit. + +At a glance Dorothy saw why Nellie, although poor, was so genteel, for +her mother was one of those fine-featured women that seem especially +fitted to say gentle things to children. + +Mrs. McLaughlin was not old,--no older than Nan's mother,--and she had +that wonderful wealth of brown hair, just like Nellie's. Her eyes +were brown, too, while Nellie's were blue, but otherwise Nellie was +much like her mother, so people said. + +Aunt Emily and Mrs. Bobbsey had visited Mrs. McLaughlin in the city, +so that they were quite well acquainted when the donkey cart drove up, +and they all had a laugh over the surprise to Nellie. Of course that +was Uncle William's secret, and the mystery of the whispering the +evening before. + +"But we must go back on the afternoon train," insisted +Mrs. McLaughlin, who had really only come down to the shore to bring +Nellie home. + +"Indeed, no," objected Aunt Emily, "that would be too much traveling +in one day. You may go early in the morning." + +"Everybody is going home," sighed Dorothy. "I suppose you will be the +next to go, Nan," and she looked quite lonely at the prospect. + +"We are going to have a big storm," declared Susan, who had just come +in from the village. "We have had a long dry spell, now we are going +to make up for it." + +"Dear me," sighed Mrs. McLaughlin, "I wish we had started for home." + +"Oh, there's lots of fun here in a storm," laughed Dorothy. "The +ocean always tries to lick up the whole place, but it has to be +satisfied with pulling down pavilions and piers. Last year the water +really went higher than the gas lights along the boulevard." + +"Then that must mean an awful storm at sea," reflected Nellie's +mother. "Storms are bad enough on land, but at sea they must be +dreadful!" And she looked out toward the wild ocean, that was keeping +from her the fate of her husband. + +Long before there were close signs of storm, life-guards, on the +beach, were preparing for it. They were making fast everything that +could be secured and at the life-saving station all possible +preparations were being made to help those who might suffer from the +storm. + +It was nearing September and a tidal wave had swept over the southern +ports. Coming in all the way from the tropics the storm had made +itself felt over a great part of the world, in some places taking the +shape of a hurricane. + +On this particular afternoon, while the sun still shone brightly over +Sunset Beach, the storm was creeping in under the big waves that +dashed up on the sands. + +"It is not safe to let go the ropes," the guards told the people, but +the idea of a storm, from such a pretty sky, made some daring enough +to disobey these orders. The result was that the guards were kept +busy trying to bring girls and women to their feet, who were being +dashed around by the excited waves. + +This work occupied the entire afternoon, and as soon as the crowd left +the beach the life-guards brought the boats down to the edge, got +their lines ready, and when dark came on, they were prepared for the +life-patrol,--the long dreary watch of the night, so near the noisy +waves, and so far from the voice of distress that might call over the +breakers to the safe shores, where the life-savers waited, watched, +and listened. + +The rain began to fall before it was entirely dark. The lurid sunset, +glaring through the dark and rain, gave an awful, yellow look to the +land and sea alike. + +"It is like the end of the world," whispered Nellie to Nan, as the two +girls looked out of the window to see the wild storm approaching. + +Then the lightning came in blazing blades, cutting through the +gathering clouds. + +The thunder was only like muffled rolls, for the fury of the ocean +deadened every other sound of heaven or earth. + +"It will be a dreadful storm," said Aunt Emily to Mrs. Bobbsey. "We +must all go into the sitting room and pray for the sailors." + +Everyone in the house assembled in the large sitting room, and Uncle +William led the prayers. Poor Mrs. McLaughlin did not once raise her +head. Nellie, too, hid her pale face in her hands. + +Dorothy was frightened, and when all were saying good-night she +pressed a kiss on Nellie's cheek, and told her that the life-savers on +Sunset Beach would surely be able to save all the sailors that came +that way during the big storm. + +Nellie and her mother occupied the same room. Of course the mother +had been told that the long delayed boat had been sighted, and now, +how anxiously she awaited more news of Nellie's father. + +"We must not worry," she told Nellie, "for who knows but the storm may +really help father's boat to get into port?" + +So, while the waves lashed furiously upon Sunset Beach, all the people +in the Minturn cottage were sleeping, or trying to sleep, for, indeed, +it was not easy to rest when there was so much danger at their very +door. + + +CHAPTER XIX +LIFE-SAVERS + +"Mother, mother!" called Nellie, "look down at the beach. The +life-guards are burning the red signal lights! They have found a +wreck!" + +It was almost morning, but the black storm clouds held the daylight +back. Mrs. McLaughlin and her little daughter strained their eyes to +see, if possible, what might be going on down at the beach. While +there was no noise to give the alarm, it seemed, almost everybody in +that house felt the presence of the wreck, for in a very few minutes, +Bert was at his window, Dorothy and Nan were looking out of theirs, +while the older members of the household were dressing hastily, to see +if they might be of any help in case of accident at the beach. + +"Can I go with you, Uncle?" called Bert, who had heard his uncle +getting ready to run down to the water's edge. + +"Yes, come along," answered Mr. Minturn, and as day began to peep +through the heavy clouds, the two hurried down to the spot where the +life-guards were burning their red light to tell the sailors their +signal had been seen. + +"There's the vessel!" exclaimed Bert, as a rocket flew up from the +water. + +"Yes, that's the distress signal," replied the uncle. "It is lucky +that daylight is almost here." + +Numbers of other cottagers were hurrying to the scene now, Mr. Bingham +and Hal being among the first to reach the spot. + +"It's a schooner," said Mr. Bingham to Mr. Minturn, "and she has a +very heavy cargo." + +The sea was so wild it was impossible to send out the life-savers' +boats, so the guards were making ready the breeches buoy. + +"They are going to shoot the line out now," explained Hal to Bert, as +the two-wheel car with the mortar or cannon was dragged down to the +ocean's edge. + +Instantly there shot out to sea a ball of thin cord. To this cord was +fastened a heavy rope or cable. + +"They've got it on the schooner." exclaimed a man, for the thin cord +was now pulling the cable line out, over the water. + +"What's that board for?" asked Bert, as he saw a board following the +cable. + +"That's the directions," said Hal. + +"They are printed in a number of languages, and they tell the crew to +carry the end of the cable high up the mast and fasten it strongly +there." + +"Oh, I see," said Bert, "the line will stretch then, and the breeches +buoy will go out on a pulley." + +"That's it," replied Hal. "See, there goes the buoy," and then the +queer-looking life-preserver made of cork, and shaped like breeches, +swung out over the waves. + +It was clear day now, and much of the wicked storm had passed. Its +effect upon the sea was, however, more furious every hour, for while +the storm had left the land, it was raging somewhere else, and the +sensitive sea felt every throb of the excited elements. + +With the daylight came girls and women to the beach. + +Mrs. Bobbsey, Mrs. Minturn, Nellie and her mother, besides Dorothy and +Nan, were all there; Flossie and Freddie being obliged to stay home +with Dinah and Susan. + +Of course the girls asked all sorts of questions and Bert and Hal +tried to answer them as best they could. + +It seemed a long time before any movement of the cable showed that the +buoy was returning. + +"Here she comes! Here she comes!" called the crowd presently, as the +black speck far out, and the strain on the cord, showed the buoy was +coming back. + +Up and down in the waves it bobbed, sometimes seeming to go all the +way under. Nearer and nearer it came, until now a man's head could be +seen. + +"There's a man in it!" exclaimed the boys, all excitement, while the +life-guards pulled the cord steadily, dragging in their human freight. + +The girls and women were too frightened to talk, and Nellie clung +close to her mother. + +A big roller dashing in finished the work for the life-guards, and a +man in the cork belt bounded upon shore. + +He was quite breathless when the guards reached him, but insisted on +walking up instead of being carried. Soon he recovered himself and +the rubber protector was pulled off his face. + +Everybody. gathered around, and Nellie with a strange face, and a +stranger hope, broke through the crowd to see the rescued man. + +"Oh--it is--_my_--_father_!" she screamed, falling right into the arms +of the drenched man. + +"Be careful," called Mr. Minturn, fearing the child might be mistaken, +or Mrs. McLaughlin might receive too severe a shock from the surprise. + +But the half-drowned man rubbed his eyes as if he could not believe +them, then the next minute he pressed his little daughter to his +heart, unable to speak a word. + +What a wonderful scene it was! + +The child almost unconscious in her father's arms, he almost dead from +exhaustion, and the wife and mother too overcome to trust herself to +believe it could be true. + +Even the guards, who were busy again at the ropes, having left the man +to willing hands on the beach, could not hide their surprise over the +fact that it was mother, father, and daughter there united under such +strange conditions. + +"My darling, my darling!" exclaimed the sailor to Nellie, as he raised +himself and then he saw his wife. + +Mrs. Bobbsey had been holding Mrs. McLaughlin back, but now the sailor +was quite recovered, so they allowed her to speak to him. + +Mr. Bingham and Hal had been watching it all, anxiously. + +"Are you McLaughlin?" suddenly asked Mr. Bingham. + +"I am," replied the sailor. + +"And is George Bingham out there?" anxiously asked the brother. + +"Safe and well," came the welcome answer. "Just waiting for his turn +to come in." + +"Oh!" screamed Dorothy, "Hal's uncle is saved too. I guess our +prayers were heard last night." + +"Here comes another man!" exclaimed the people, as this time a big man +dashed on the sands. + +"All right!" exclaimed the man, as he landed, for he had had a good +safe swing in, and was in no way exhausted. + +"Hello there!" called Mr. Bingham: "Well, if this isn't luck. George +Bingham!" + +Sure enough it was Hal's Uncle George, and Hal was hugging the big wet +man, while the man was jolly, and laughing as if the whole thing were +a good joke instead of the life-and-death matter it had been. + +"I only came in to tell you," began George Bingham, "that we are all +right, and the boat is lifting off the sand bar we stuck on. But I'm +glad I came in to--the reception," he said, laughing. "So you've +found friends, McLaughlin," he added, seeing the little family united. +"Why, how do you do, Mrs. McLaughlin?" he went on, offering her his +hand. "And little Nellie! Well, I declare, we did land on a friendly +shore." + +Just as Mr. Bingham said, the life-saving work turned out to be a +social affair, for there was a great time greeting Nellie's father and +Hal's uncle. + +"Wasn't it perfectly splendid that Nellie and her mother were here!" +declared Dorothy. + +"And Hal and his father, too," put in Nan. "It is just like a story +in a book." + +"But we don't have to look for the pictures," chimed in Bert, who was +greatly interested in the sailors, as well as in the work of the +life-saving corps. + +As Mr. Bingham told the guards it would not be necessary to haul any +more men in, and as the sea was calm enough now to launch a life-boat, +both Nellie's father and Hal's uncle insisted on going back to the +vessel to the other men. + +Nellie was dreadfully afraid to have her father go out on the ocean +again, but he only laughed at her fears, and said he would soon be in +to port, to go home with her, and never go on the big, wild ocean +again. + +Two boats were launched, a strong guard going in each, with +Mr. McLaughlin in one and Mr. Bingham in the other, and now they +pulled out steadily over the waves, back to the vessel that was +freeing itself from the sand bar. + +What a morning that was at Sunset Beach! + +The happiness of two families seemed to spread all through the little +colony, and while the men were thinking of the more serious work of +helping the sailors with their vessel, the girls and women were +planning a great welcome for the men who had been saved from the +waves. + +"I'm so glad we prayed," said little Flossie to Freddie, when she +heard the good news. + +"It was Uncle William prayed the loudest," insisted Freddie, +believing, firmly, that to reach heaven a long and loud prayer is +always best. + +"But we all helped," declared his twin sister, while surely the angels +had listened to even the sleepy whisper of the little ones, who had +asked help for the poor sailors in their night of peril. + + +CHAPTER XX +THE HAPPY REUNION + +A beautiful day had grown out of the dreadful storm. + +The sun seemed stronger each time it made its way out from behind a +cloud, just as little girls and boys grow strong in body by exercise, +and strong in character by efforts to do right. + +And everybody was so happy. + +The _Neptune_--the vessel that had struck on the sand bar--was now +safely anchored near shore, and the sailors came in and out in +row-boats, back and forth to land, just as they wished. + +Of course Captain Bingham, Hal's uncle, was at the Bingham cottage, +and the first mate, Nellie's father, was at Minturn's. + +But that evening there was a regular party on Minturn's veranda. +Numbers of cottagers called to see the sailors, and all were invited +to remain and hear about the strange voyage of the _Neptune_. + +"There is not much to tell," began the captain. "Of course I knew we +were going to have trouble getting that mahogany. Two vessels had +been wrecked trying to get it, so when we got to the West Indies I +decided to try canoes and not risk sails, where the wind always blew +such a gale, it dragged any anchor that could be dropped. Well, it +was a long, slow job to drag those heavy logs around that point, and +just when we were making headway, along comes a storm that drove the +schooner and canoes out of business." + +Here Mate McLaughlin told about the big storm and how long it took the +small crew to repair the damage done to the sails. + +"Then we had to go back to work at the logs," went on the captain, +"and then one of our crew took a fever. Well, then we were +quarantined. Couldn't get things to eat without a lot of trouble, and +couldn't go on with the carting until the authorities decided the +fever was not serious. That was what delayed us so. + +"Finally, we had every log loaded on the schooner and we started off. +But I never could believe any material would be as heavy as that +mahogany; why, we just had to creep along, and the least contrary wind +left us motionless on the sea. + +"We counted on getting home last week, when this last storm struck us +and drove us out of our course. But we are not sorry for our delay +now, since we have come back to our own." + +"About the value?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, who was down from the city. + +"The value," repeated the captain aside, so that the strangers might +not hear. "Well, I'm a rich man now, and so is my mate, McLaughlin, +for that wood was contracted for by the largest and richest piano firm +in this country, and now it is all but delivered to them and the money +in our hands." + +"Then it was well worth all your sacrifice?" said Mr. Minturn. + +"Yes, indeed. It would have taken us a lifetime to accumulate as much +money as we have earned in this year. Of course, it was hard for the +men who had families, McLaughlin especially; the others were all +working sailors, but he was a landsman and my partner in the +enterprise; but I will make it up to him, and the mahogany hunt will +turn out the best paying piece of work he ever undertook." + +"Oh, isn't it perfectly splendid!" declared Nan and Dorothy, hugging +Nellie. "You will never again have to go back to that horrid store +that made you so pale, and your mother will have a lovely time and +nothing to worry about." + +"I can hardly believe it all," replied their little friend. "But +having father back is the very best of all." + +"But all the same," sighed Dorothy, "I just know you will all be going +home before we leave for the city, and I shall just die of +loneliness." + +"But we have to go to school," said Nan, "and we have only a few days +more." + +"Of course," continued Dorothy; "and our school will not open for two +weeks yet." + +"Maybe Aunt Emily will take you down to the city on her shopping +tour," suggested Nan. + +"Indeed I do not like shopping," answered the cousin. "Every time I +go in a store that is crowded with stuff on the counters under +people's elbows, I feel like knocking the things all over. I did a +lot of damage that way once. It was holiday time, and a counter that +stuck out in the middle of the store was full of little statues. My +sleeve touched one, and the whole lot fell down as if a cannon had +struck them. I broke ten and injured more than I wanted to count." + +"And Aunt Emily had to pay for them?" said Nan. + +"No, she didn't, either," corrected Dorothy. "The manager came up +and said the things should not be put out in people's way. He made +the clerks remove all the truck from the aisles and I guess everybody +was glad the army fell down. I never can forget those pink-and-white +soldiers," and Dorothy straightened herself up in comical "soldier's +arms" fashion, imitating the unfortunate statues. + +"I hope you can come to Lakeport for Thanksgiving," said Nan. "We +have done so much visiting this summer, out to Aunt Sarah's and down +here, mamma feels we ought to have a grand reunion at our house next. +If we do, I am going to try to have some of the country girls down and +give them all a jolly good time." + +"Oh, I'll come if you make it jolly," answered Dorothy. "If there is +one thing in this world worth while, it is fun," and she tossed her +yellow head about like a buttercup, that has no other way of laughing. + +That had been an eventful day at Ocean Cliff, and the happy ending of +it, with a boat and its crew saved, was, as some of the children said, +just like a story in a book, only the pictures were all alive! + +The largest hotel at Sunset Beach was thrown open to the sailors that +night, and here Captain Bingham and Mate McLaughlin, together with the +rest of the crew, took up comfortable lodgings. + +It was very late, long after the little party had scattered from +Minturn's piazza, that the sailors finished dancing their hornpipe for +the big company assembled to greet them in the hotel. + +Never had they danced to such fine music before, for the hotel +orchestra played the familiar tune and the sailors danced it nimbly, +hitching up first one side then the other--crossing first one leg then +the other, and wheeling around in that jolly fashion. + +How rugged and handsome the men looked! The rough ocean winds had +tanned them like bronze, and their muscles were as firm and strong +almost as the cables that swing out with the buoys. The wonderful +fresh air that these men lived in, night and day, had brightened their +eyes too, so that even the plainest face, and the most awkward man +among them, was as nimble as an athlete, from his perfect exercise. + +"And last night what an awful experience they had!" remarked one of +the spectators. "It is no wonder that they are all so happy +to-night." + +"Besides," added someone else, "they are all going to receive extra +good pay, for the captain and mate will be very rich when the cargo is +landed." + +So the sailors danced until they were tired, and then after a splendid +meal they went to sleep, in as comfortable beds as might be found in +any hotel on Sunset Beach. + + +CHAPTER XXI +GOOD-BY + +"I don't know how to say good-by to you," Nellie told Dorothy and Nan +next morning. "To think how kind you have been to me, and how +splendidly it has all turned out! Now father is home again, I can +hardly believe it! Mother told me last night she was going to put +back what money she had to use out of my prize, the fifty dollars you +know, and I am to make it a gift to the Fresh Air Fund." + +"Oh, that will be splendid!" declared Nan. "Perhaps they will buy +another tent with it, for they need more room out at Meadow Brook." + +"You are quite rich now, aren't you?" remarked Dorothy. "I suppose +your father will buy a big house, and maybe next time we meet you, +you will put on airs and walk like this?" and Dorothy went up and down +the room like the pictures of Cinderella's proud sisters. + +"No danger," replied Nellie, whose possible tears at parting had been +quickly chased away by the merry Dorothy. "But I hope we will have a +nice home, for mother deserves it, besides I am just proud enough to +want to entertain a few young ladies, among them Miss Nan Bobbsey and +Miss Dorothy Minturn." + +"And we will be on hand, thank you," replied the joking Dorothy. "Be +sure to have ice cream and chocolates--I want some good fresh +chocolates. Those we get down here always seem soft and salty, like +the spray." + +"Come, Nellie," called Mrs. McLaughlin, "I am ready. Where is your +hat?" + +"Oh, yes, mother, I'm coming!" replied Nellie. + +Bert had the donkey cart hitched and there was now no time to spare. +Nellie kissed Freddie and Flossie affectionately, and promised to +bring the little boy all through a big city, real fire-engine house +when he came to see her. + +"And can I ring the bell and make the horses jump?" he asked. + +"We might be able to manage that, too," Nellie told him. "My uncle is +a fireman and he can take us through his engine house." + +Nan went to the station with her friends, and when the last good-bys +were said and the train steamed out, the twins turned back again to +the Minturn Cottage. + +"Our turn next," remarked Bert, as he pulled the donkeys into the +drive. + +"Yes, it seems it is nothing but going and coming all the time. I +wonder if all the other girls will be home at Lakeport in time for the +first day of school?" said Nan. + +"Most of them, I guess," answered Bert. "Well, we have had a good +vacation, and I am willing to go to work again." + +"So am I!" declared Nan. "Vacation was just long enough, I think." + +Mr. Bobbsey was down from the city, of course, to take the family +home, and now all hands, even Freddie and Flossie, were busy packing +up. There were the shells to be looked after, the fish nets, besides +Downy, the duck, and Snoop, the cat. + +"And just to add one more animal to your menagerie," said Uncle +William, "I have brought you a little goldfinch. It will sing +beautifully for you, and be easy to carry in its little wooden cage. +Then, I have ordered, sent directly to your house, a large cage for +him to live in, so he will have plenty of freedom, and perhaps +Christmas you may get some more birds to put in the big house, to keep +Dick company." + +Of course Freddie was delighted with the gift, for it was really a +beautiful little bird, with golden wings, and a much prettier pet than +a duck or a cat, although he still loved his old friends. + +The day passed very quickly with all that was crowded into it: the +last ocean bath taking up the best part of two hours, while a sail in +Hal's canoe did away with almost as much, more time. Dorothy gave Nan +a beautiful little gold locket with her picture in it, and Flossie +received the dearest little real shell pocketbook ever seen. Hal +Bingham gave Bert a magnifying glass, to use at school in chemistry or +physics, so that every one of the Bobbseys received a suitable +souvenir of Sunset Beach. + +"You-uns must be to bed early and not go sleep in de train," insisted +Dinah, when Freddie and Flossie pleaded for a little more time on the +veranda that evening. "Come along now; Dinah hab lots to do too," and +with her little charges the good-natured colored girl hobbled off, +promising to tell Freddie how Nellie's father and Hal's uncle were to +get into port again when they set out to sea, instead of trying to get +the big boat into land at Sunset Beach. + +And so our little friends had spent all their vacation. + +The last night at the seashore was passed, and the early morning found +them once more traveling away--this time for dear old home, sweet +home. + +"If we only didn't have to leave our friends," complained Nan, +brushing back a tear, as the very last glint of Cousin Dorothy's +yellow head passed by the train window. + +"I hope we will meet them all soon again," said Nan's mother. "It is +not long until Thanksgiving. Then, perhaps, we can give a real +harvest party out at Lakeport and try to repay our friends for some of +their hospitality to us." + +"Well, I like Hal Bingham first-rate," declared Bert, thinking of the +friend from whom he had just parted. + +"There goes the last of the ocean. Look!" called Flossie, as the +train made a turn, and whistled a good-by to the Bobbsey Twins at the +Seashore. + + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE *** + +This file should be named tbtss10.txt or tbtss10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, tbtss11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tbtss10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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