The train was not going very fast when Snap leaped from the baggage car, but, even if it had been moving at greater speed, it is not likely that Snap would have been hurt.
As it was, when the dog leaped from the open door, he did a somersault in the air, for he had learned to do that while in the circus, when he jumped from a high place.
"Snap! Snap!" called Bert again.
But Snap landed lightly on his feet, and raced across the depot platform toward the dog he had seen.
"Say, that's a fine dog of yours!" cried the baggage man admiringly toBert. "He must be a trick one."
"He is!" answered Bert. "But can I get him back again? Oh, I must get him!" and he looked about for some way to do this.
"Don't jump out, whatever you do!" warned the brakeman who had brought Bert to the baggage car. The man stood in front of the open door, out of which trunks were taken. But Bert had no idea of doing what Snap had done. Besides, the train was moving quite rapidly now.
"Oh, how can I get my dog back?" Bert wanted to know.
"You can telegraph back, from the next station we stop at, and have the agent there send him on, wherever you are going," explained the baggage man.
"Oh, but we're going a long way," Bert said. "I'm afraid Snap would be lost, traveling alone. Oh, what will Nan say!"
Nan was as fond of Snap as was Bert himself, though perhaps the smaller twins, Flossie and Freddie cared more for Snoop, the black cat. But of course they loved Snap very much.
Poor Bert did not know what to do. Just then his father came running into the car.
"Did Snap get away?" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Your mother saw a dog on the station platform that looked like him," went on the lumber man to Bert. "Is Snap—"
"He's gone!" interrupted Bert. "He jumped out of the car just now, and—"
"We must stop the train!" Mr. Bobbsey explained.
"All right, I guess we can make up any time we lose," the brakeman said. He reached up and pulled the cord that ran overhead in the car. There was a hissing of air, the locomotive whistle blew sharply, and the train came slowly to a stop. The brakeman had pulled an air whistle in the engine cab, and the engineer, hearing it, and knowing the train ought to stop, had turned off the steam.
Mr. Bobbsey then went to the door of the baggage car, and, leaning out, whistled in a way Snap well knew. He could see the dog, back on the depot platform, "wagging tails" with another dog.
"Here, Snap! Snap!" called Mr. Bobbsey, as the train slowly came to a stop. "Here Snap!"
Bert leaned out beside his father, and also whistled and called. Then Snap knew he had done wrong to jump out, and back he came, racing as hard as he could.
"I'll open the end door of the car if you wish, so he can come up the steps," offered the brakeman.
"You don't need to, thank you," replied Mr. Bobbsey. "I guess Snap can jump up here, though it is pretty high."
By this time a number of persons from the train had either gotten out, or thrust their heads from the windows, to learn the reason for the sudden stop. But when they saw the dog they understood.
"Up, Snap! Up!" called Mr. Bobbsey, as the children's pet came leaping along beside the track. Snap gave one look up at the high sill of the baggage car door, and then, with a loud bark, he gave a great leap and landed right beside Bert.
"Say, that dog's a fine jumper!" cried several railroad men who had come up to see what the trouble was.
"Yes, he is a pretty good dog, nearly always," Mr. Bobbsey said, "but he made trouble for us to-day. Now, Snap, you'll have to stay chained up the rest of the trip, until we get to Meadow Brook."
Snap would not like that, Bert knew, but nothing else could be done. The train soon started off again, and when Bert and his father went back to the parlor car where the rest of the family were riding they told all that had happened.
"Snoop is better than Snap," said Freddie as he listened to the story.
"Yes, indeed," agreed his sister Flossie. "Snoop wouldn't jump out of a train and make a lot of trouble."
"Well, he did run away, once," declared Nan, who did not like to hearSnap talked about.
"Besides, Snoop is fast in a box, and he wouldn't get out if he wanted to," added Bert, with a laugh.
So the children talked about their pets, now and then looking out of the windows at the scenery, while Dinah dozed off in her chair, and Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey spoke of different matters.
Bert heard something of what his father and mother were saying, and once he heard mentioned the name of Frank Kennedy.
"That's the boy who ran away from Mr. Mason, the lumber man," said Bert to himself. "I wonder what became of him, and if we'll ever see poor Frank again?"
And he little thought how soon, and under what circumstances, he was to meet the unfortunate lad again.
One of the porters, wearing a white cap, jacket and apron walked through the chair car about noon, calling out:
"First call fo' dinner in de dinin' car! First call fo' dinner!"
"Do they eat on trains?" asked Flossie.
"Yes, and at cute little tables," said Nan.
"Did we eat at them the last time we went to Meadow Brook?" Freddie wanted to know.
"No, you were too little then," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and we brought our lunch with us. But this time we shall go to the diner."
"Oh, what fun!" cried Flossie.
Mr. Bobbsey led the way for his family into the dining-coach. As Nan had said, there were cute little tables against the side of the car, and on each table was a little dish of ferns, and other green plants, making a pretty decoration.
Dinah would not come. She said she would rather eat some chicken sandwiches she had in her bag, and Mr. Bobbsey let the dear old colored cook do as she pleased.
The Bobbsey twins found it so strange to eat in a car, at a real table, while rushing along, that I think they did not eat as much as they would have done at home. But they enjoyed it just the same, though Freddie did splash some water from his finger bowl on the table cloth.
"Oh! Oh!" he exclaimed when he saw what he had done. He looked anxiously at his mother.
"Dat's all right, little man," said the colored waiter with a smile that showed all his white teeth. "Got t' put a clean cloth on anyhow, an' watah doesn't matter."
Freddie felt better then.
The afternoon passed slowly enough. Mr. Bobbsey and Bert went to the baggage car once more, to see about Snap, but they found he was all right, having made friends with one of the men who looked after the travelers' trunks.
Nan read a story book which her mother bought from the train boy, andFlossie and Freddie did what Dinah was doing—took a little nap.
The train was due to arrive at Meadow Brook about five o'clock, and Mr. Bobbsey's brother, Uncle Daniel, was to meet the family at the station.
"Ours is the next stop," said the twins' papa, after a while. "Get your things together now."
"Oh, I had a fine sleep!" cried Freddie, stretching his chubby little arms.
"So did I," added Flossie. "I wonder if Snoop slept any?"
"I guess that's all he has been doing since we started," Mrs. Bobbsey answered. "He's all curled up into a black ball."
Flossie and Freddie looked at their pet, and Snoop stretched, and opened his mouth very wide, sticking out his red tongue.
"My! What a lot of teeth Snoop has!" cried Flossie.
"Did we bring his tooth brush?" asked Freddie.
"Cats don't have tooth brushes!" said Flossie.
"Their tongue is their tooth brush," explained Mrs. Bobbsey. "Did you ever feel how rough a cat's tongue is?"
"I never did!" said Flossie. "I'm going to feel now," and she knelt down on the carpeted floor of the car, and tried to get Snoop to put his red tongue out between the bars of the box.
"Oh, we haven't time for that now," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Get ready to leave the train, Flossie."
Bundles and valises were gotten together, and, a little later, with a screeching of the brakes on the wheels, the train pulled slowly into the Meadow Brook station.
"I see Uncle Daniel!" cried Nan, looking from a window.
"Yes, and there's Harry!" cried Bert, as he spied his country cousin."Oh, how glad I am!"
"Well, well! How are you all!" laughed Uncle Daniel as he hugged and kissed the two sets of twins. "My, but I'm glad to see you all!" he cried. "Welcome to Meadow Brook!"
"And we're glad to be here!" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "How is Aunt Sarah?"
"Just as fine as can be!" said her husband. "Now I have the same big wagon I had when you were here before. There's room for everybody in it, and all your baggage, too. Where's Dinah? You didn't leave her home, I hope!"
"No, indeedy! I'se heah!" exclaimed the fat, colored cook, who was carrying many bundles.
"Oh, we must get Snap out of the baggage car, before the train carries him away," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he hurried to do that, while his brother, Uncle Daniel, helped the boys and girls and Mrs. Bobbsey into the big wagon from the Bobbsey farm. The wagon had seats running along the side and was very comfortable to ride in.
Mr. Bobbsey soon came back with Snap, who was bouncing about, barking and wagging his tail, so glad was he to be among his friends again.
"Well, are you all ready to start?" asked Uncle Daniel, as I shall call him, to distinguish him from Mr. Bobbsey, who was the farmer's brother.
"All ready, I think," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. And off they started forMeadow Brook farm, the horses prancing through the village streets.
"We'll have a lot of fun," said Harry to Bert, the two boys sitting next each other. "Maybe not as much fun as we had on your houseboat, Bert, but some, anyhow."
"I'm sure we shall," Bert said. "I like a farm just as much as I do a houseboat," he added politely.
"Have you got any little calves, Uncle Daniel?" asked Freddie.
"Yes," answered the farmer.
"And are there any little lambs?" Flossie wanted to know.
"Yes, but there's an old ram, too, and you want to look out that he doesn't chase you, and knock you down," Mr. Bobbsey's brother went on.
"Oh, is the ram dangerous?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, quickly.
"Oh, no!" her brother-in-law informed her. "His horns are so curved that he can't use the sharp points, but he just does love to come up behind and butt you down. He did it to me the other day. But I keep the ram in a pasture by himself."
The wagon rolled along the shady road, under the green trees, which made a grateful shade, for it was hot even though it was late in the afternoon.
"Oh, there is Tom Mason!" cried Bert, as he saw a country boy he had met when on a visit to Meadow Brook some time before. He waved his hand to Tom who was in his front yard, his house not being far from Mr. Bobbsey's.
"And there's Mabel Herold!" added Nan, as she saw a country girl she knew. "My, how she has grown!" Nan went on. "She didn't use to be up to my shoulder, and now she is taller than I am."
"Oh, the country is a great place for growing," Uncle Daniel said, with a chuckle.
"Mabel and Tom have been counting on your coming," said Harry. "I told them we expected you. We'll have some fine times together!"
"I'm sure of it," agreed Bert.
"Here we are!" called Uncle Daniel a little later, as the horses turned up a driveway in front of the Bobbsey country home. Lines of boxwood hedge grew along the graveled drive, and back of this hedge were beds of beautiful flowers, the perfume of which could be smelled this warm, August day.
"Oh, how lovely it is here," sighed Nan, turning around from having waved a welcome to Mabel Herold.
"Yes, I always like to come to Meadow Brook," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Whoa!" called Uncle Daniel.
The door of the house opened, and in it stood Aunt Sarah, and behind her Martha, the smiling servant.
"Oh, how glad I am to see you!" cried Aunt Sarah, as the children piled down from the wagon to hug and kiss her. "Now get your things off, and we'll have supper," she went on.
"I'm hungry!" announced Freddie.
"So am I!" added Flossie. "There was so much to look at in that eating car, I didn't eat half enough.
"Well, we have plenty here, my dear," said her aunt.
"We must let Snoop out. I guess he's hungry, too," said Freddie, who never forgot the black cat. Snap, the dog, had raced along beside the wagon, and was now cooling his thirst at the spring near the side door.
The Bobbsey visitors were out on the shady porch, having laid aside their traveling wraps, and Uncle Daniel was coming down from the barn, having put away the horses, when a man rushed up the gravel drive, crying:
"Oh, Mr. Bobbsey! Mr. Bobbsey! He's out! He's loose!"
"Who's out? Who's loose?" the twins' uncle wanted to know.
"That old big ram! He's loose, and he's coming this way!" was the answer.
The man who had brought the news about the runaway ram, stood on the gravel drive near the porch, breathing hard, for he had run very fast to give the warning. He caught his breath, and then said again:
"The old ram is loose! He butted down the fence and got out. He's headed this way. What'll we do?"
"Children! Into the house with you—quick!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "Let me hide! Let me hide!"
"Pooh! I'm not afraid of a ram!" declared Freddie. "If I had my fire engine unpacked, I'd squirt water on him!"
"Better not try that, little fat fireman," said his father with a laugh. "Into the house with you, son. Your mother will look after you."
Nan had already started from the porch, leading Flossie, who kept looking back over her shoulder. From behind the hedge came a cry that sounded like:
"Baa! Baa! Baa!"
"There he comes!" exclaimed Nan. "Come on in, Bert and Harry," she begged the two boy cousins, who were peering eagerly down the road.
"I'm going to watch 'em catch him," said Bert.
"Better not let him see you," advised Harry, the country cousin. "That old ram is a hard hitter."
"Is there really any danger?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of his farmer-brother.
"Well, the old ram is pretty rough, I must say," answered UncleDaniel, "and most of the men on the farm are afraid of him."
"He's coming right this way, I tell you!" exclaimed the hired man who had brought the news.
"Why should he head this way?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"Come along and I'll tell you," his brother promised. "You childrenhad better go into the house," he advised. "Yes, you too, Bert andHarry," he went on, as he saw his own son and Bert following him andMr. Bobbsey. "No telling what notions old Upsetter will take."
"Is his name Upsetter?" asked Bert.
"It is," replied his uncle. "I call him that because he upsets so many things. He used to be a pet when he was little," he continued, "and that's what makes him come to the house now, whenever he gets loose. My wife got in the habit of feeding him salt, which all sheep like very much. I guess he must remember that. But Aunt Sarah wouldn't dare salt him now. Go back into the house, boys, and we men folks will look after the ram."
The sounds were nearer now:
"Baa! Baa! Baa!"
"Oh, he's coming!" cried Flossie, who stood with her nose pressed flat against a window near the porch.
"Had we better go in?" asked Bert of Harry.
"We really had," answered his cousin.
Uncle Daniel, Mr. Bobbsey and the hired man found some heavy sticks with which to scare the ram if he came too close. The big sheep was not yet in sight, though he could be heard bleating.
"Up this way," directed Uncle Daniel. "We can head him off and drive him into the barnyard, perhaps. Then I can shut him up until I have the fence mended that he knocked down."
"Why not get some salt for him?" suggested Mr. Bobbsey. "If he gets some to eat it may make him gentle, and then you could slip a rope around him and tie him up."
"That's a good idea!" cried the farmer. "Sam, please go to the house and get some salt," he directed.
Before the hired man returned, the ram had run into the driveway leading to the barn. Just as Uncle Daniel had said, the ram was headed for the house, which he must have remembered as a pleasant place ever since the days when he was a baby lamb. But now the ram was big and strong, and not very good-natured.
He stood for a moment, looking at Uncle Daniel, Mr. Bobbsey and the hired man. Then, pawing the ground with his fore feet, and lowering and shaking his head with its big horns, the ram started forward again.
"Oh, he's going to butt papa!" cried Flossie, who could see, from the window, what was going on.
"Papa will get out of the way, dear," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Don't worry."
On came the ram, and then Uncle Daniel, taking the salt from the hired man, scattered some of it on the ground in front of the big sheep.
"That will stop him, I think," said the farmer. And indeed it did. Sheep, and all cattle, are very fond of licking up salt from the ground, and they will go a long way to find it. It keeps cattle healthy. The old ram, as soon as he smelled the salt, began licking it up with his tongue.
He paid no more attention to the men standing in front of him, though if the salt had not been there he probably would have run at them, and knocked them down with his big curved horns.
"Now's our chance!" whispered Mr. Bobbsey, as if the ram could understand what was said. "Get a rope and we can tie him up."
"I'll get one," offered the hired man, and when he came back with the clothes line Uncle Daniel made a loop in one end, such as the cowboys on the Western plains make when they lasso cattle.
And while the ram was busy licking up the salt, Uncle Daniel tossed the noose of the rope around the sheep's head, and, in another second, he and Mr. Bobbsey pulled it tight.
"Oh, they've caught him! They've caught him!" cried Nan, who stood near Flossie at the window.
"Come on out and look at him!" said Bert.
"No, no!" objected his mother, as the two boy cousins started from the room.
"Oh, I guess there's no danger now, if they have a rope on him," saidAunt Sarah.
"I'll go 'long with you," offered Freddie, "and I'd squirt water on that ram from my fire engine—if I had it unpacked."
"You stay right here with me," advised his mother, putting her arms around him.
Bert and Harry went out to look at the captured ram. The animal was not ugly now. Perhaps the salt made him good-natured. And he was soon led away, and tied up in a stable until his pasture fence could be mended.
"My! What a lot of excitement!" exclaimed Nan, when it was all over."Nothing like this happened when we were on the houseboat."
"You forget the make-believe ghost," said Harry, with a laugh, for he had helped solve that mystery.
"Oh, that's so," agreed Nan. "That was exciting for a while."
The Bobbsey twins, as well as their father and mother, to say nothing of Dinah, were so tired from their long railroad journey that they went to bed early that night. The sun was shining brightly when they awakened next morning. Harry and Bert slept in the same room, and when the country boy arose from bed he went to the window to look out.
"Oh, dear! The sun's shining!" he exclaimed.
"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Bert wanted to know.
"Maybe," admitted Harry. "But if it had been raining we might have gone fishing. As it is, I shall have to work."
"What doing?" Bert wanted to know.
"Help pick apples in the orchard. We are shipping them away this year, and they have to be picked, and packed in barrels."
"I'll help you," offered Bert, and, after breakfast, the two boys went out to the big orchard, where Uncle Daniel and some of his men already were busy.
The apples were picked by men standing on long ladders that reached up into the trees. Each filled a canvas bag with apples. These bags hung around their necks, and when one was full, the man came down the ladder with it. This was so the apples would not be bruised, for a bruised apple rots very quickly, and even one rotten apple in a barrel full, will soon make many bad ones.
"Can we pick apples on a ladder?" asked Bert.
"No, that's a little too dangerous for small boys," said Uncle Daniel. "But you and Harry may pick those you can reach from the ground. Some of the tree limbs are very low, and you won't have any trouble. Take some of the bags to put the apples in. Don't bruise them."
Harry and Bert were soon busy, picking off as many apples as they could reach. When their bags were filled, they emptied them carefully in a wooden bin, and from that bin Uncle Daniel sorted the apples into barrels, which were "headed up" ready to be taken to the city.
Nan had gone over to the home of Mabel Herold, the country girl, andFlossie and Freddie found many things to amuse them about the farm.Later on they came out to the orchard, and picked up apples from theground.
"I'll help fill Bert's bag, and you can help Harry," said Freddie toFlossie.
"No, little fat fireman," said Harry, using the pet name his uncle called Freddie. "The apples on the ground are called 'windfalls.' The wind blows them down, and they get crushed and bruised by falling on the hard dirt, or stones. It would not do to put them in with the good hand-picked apples."
"But what do you do with all those on the ground?" asked Bert, for there were a great many of them.
"Send them to the cider-mill, or feed them to the pigs," said Harry."The grunters and squeakers don't mind bruised apples."
The children spent nearly all day in the shady orchard, until UncleDaniel said Bert and Harry had done enough work for the time.
"Then let's get our poles and go fishing," suggested Harry.
They did go, but got no bites. Harry said that morning was the best time to fish.
When Flossie and Freddie became tired of picking apples up from the ground, they found an old swing, and took turns in this, having lots of fun.
Snoop and Snap enjoyed their life in the country. Snoop did not go far from the house. There was another cat there, and the two soon became great friends. Snap also found other dogs with whom he could romp and play in the long meadow grass.
Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah spent many hours talking over matters of interest to them, while Dinah, and Martha, who was Aunt Sarah's cook, spent most of their time in the kitchen, making good things to eat.
"'Cause dem chilluns suttinly does eat a turrible lot!" exclaimedDinah, as she finished making several pies.
Picking the apples kept Uncle Daniel and his men busy for a number of days. Harry had to help, for everyone on a farm has to work, and Bert always lent his cousin a hand. But there were times when they were allowed a play-spell. Sometimes Tom Mason, another country boy, would come over, and, when the work was done, the three boys would go off to have good times together.
One or two days it rained, and then nothing could be done out of doors in the way of farm work. During one of the rainy days Bert and Harry went fishing.
"We'll be sure to get plenty of bites to-day," Harry said, as they started off with their poles and lines, well protected from the weather by rubber boots and coats.
"I hope we catch a lot of fish," said Bert.
But they caught only two little sun-fish, which Harry threw back into the creek, as they were too small to keep.
"I guess we'll have to wait for a sunny day," sighed Harry, as they started home. "I thought rain was good fishing-weather, but it doesn't seem to be."
"Never mind, we had a good time, anyhow." Bert answered.
When the two boys reached the farmhouse, they found Flossie, Freddie, Nan and Mabel Herold sitting in the dining-room, all talking at once, it seemed.
"And we'll take five baskets of lunch," Freddie was saying, "and my fire engine is unpacked now, so I can take that with us, and I'll squirt water on snakes and—and other things."
"Oh, snakes!" cried Mabel. "I hope we don't see any of the horrid things!"
"I'm not afraid!" boasted Freddie.
"Maybe there won't be any," suggested Nan.
"Well, I'm going to take my doll, anyhow," said Flossie.
"What's this all about?" asked Bert. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Picnic!" exclaimed Flossie. "We're going to have a picnic!"
"I'm going!" added Freddie, as though he was afraid of being left.
"We all are," added Nan.
"First I heard about it," Harry said, with a laugh.
"We planned it while you and Bert were off fishing," spoke his mother. "The children are going to take their lunch to the woods in a day or two, as soon as the weather clears."
A few days later the sun came out from behind the clouds, the rain ceased falling and with joyous shouts and laughter the Bobbsey twins, cousin Harry, and some country boys and girls, who had been invited, went off on a woodland picnic.
"Oh, isn't it just lovely in the woods," sighed Nan, as she sat down on a green mossy seat beneath a great oak tree. "I could live here forever!"
"So could I!" exclaimed Mabel Herold. "There is no place so lovely as the woods."
"You—you wouldn't stay here all night, would you?" asked Freddie, as he set down the basket of sandwiches he had been carrying, and looked at a dark hole under some bushes.
"I wouldn't mind," sighed Nan again. "It is so lovely here."
"I used to think I liked the seashore best," said Mabel, "but now I think the country is prettiest."
"Well, I'm not going to stay here all night," decided Freddie."There—there's bugs—and—and—things!"
"I thought you weren't afraid of them," spoke Nan with a smile.
"I—I meant in daytime—I'm not afraid then," declared Freddie. "But at night, why—why, I'd rather be home in bed."
"And I guess we all would," exclaimed Nan, hugging the little fat fellow.
"Oh, there goes a rabbit!" cried Bert to Harry. "Let's see if we can catch him!"
"Come on!" agreed the country boy.
"I'm with you!" shouted Tom Mason.
"Oh, will they hurt the little bunny?" asked Flossie, with quivering lips, for she dearly loved all animals.
"I guess there isn't much danger of them catching the rabbit," said Mr. Bobbsey, sitting down beside his wife in a shady green spot. "A bunny can hop very fast."
And so it proved. The three boys raced about through the woods until they were quite tired, and very much heated up. But the rabbit got safely away.
"Ah, well, we didn't want him anyhow," said Harry, fanning himself with his cap, after the chase.
"No," agreed Bert, "we just wanted to see if we could get him."
"My! It's warm!" exclaimed Tom, looking at the basket in which the lemonade was packed in bottles. "I'm very thirsty," he said.
"You must not drink when you are too warm," advised Mr. Bobbsey. "Wait until you cool off a bit. If you take cold water, or icy lemonade, into your stomach after you are all heated up from running, you may be made ill. Rest a while before you drink, is good advice."
So the boys waited, and a little later they were allowed to have some of the cool lemonade.
"Are we going to eat our lunch here?" asked Freddie.
"No, a little farther on in the woods," said his Aunt Sarah.
So they walked on, under the shady trees, with the green carpet of moss under foot, until they came to a little glade, where the trees grew in a circle about a grassy space.
"It—it's just like a circus ring!" exclaimed Freddie. "Oh, couldn't we have a circus, or a show, while we're here at the farm?" he asked.
"We'll see," half-promised his mother.
The table-cloth was spread out on the green grass, and the wooden plates set on it. Then the lunch baskets were opened and the good things passed around. There were sandwiches of several kinds, and cake and cookies, as well as more lemonade.
"Isn't it nice to eat this way?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "When we have finished, there are no dishes to wash; just the wooden plates to throw away."
"Yes'm," declared Dinah, with a chuckle. "I spects dish yeah would be a good way to do back home—but it would be kinder cold, eatin' out in de woods in de winter time."
"I wouldn't want to live here in winter," said Freddie. "There isn't any place to hang up your stocking Christmas, and no chimney for Santa Claus to come down!" he added.
"And that would never do!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey. "But we will enjoy these woods all we can."
When the woodland picnic lunch was finished, the party sat about on the grass, in the shade of the trees, and Mr. Bobbsey told stories to the two small children. Flossie and Freddie enjoyed this very much.
Nan and Mabel went for a little walk in the woods, and Bert and Harry said they were going to try for some fish, as they had brought hooks and lines along, and could cut poles in the woods. This time they had very good luck.
"I have one!" suddenly called Harry, pulling up his line. There was a flash, as of silver, in the air, and he hauled a fish up from the water, landing it flapping on the grass behind him.
"Oh, what a big one!" cried Bert, running over to look. "I wish I could get one now."
"Maybe you will," said Harry, trying to catch the flopping creature. "Put on some fresh bait." But Harry caught another fish before Bert had even a good bite.
By this time Mr. Bobbsey had finished his story, and Flossie had taken out her doll to pretend to get it to sleep. Freddie wandered over to where Bert and Harry were fishing.
"Oh, I have one! I have one!" Bert suddenly shouted, and he, too, landed a good-sized fish. It was taken off the hook, and strung on a willow twig, and then, fastened so it could not swim away, it was put back into the water to keep fresh until it was time to go home.
Freddie was very much interested in the captive fish. He went down to the edge of the creek to watch them as they tried to swim away. But they could not, for the willow twigs held them.
Suddenly one of the fish gave a big jump in the shallow pool, whereBert had put them.
"Oh!" exclaimed Freddie, springing back. Then his foot slipped on a wet, mossy stone, and the next moment the little fellow fell down into the water.
"Bert!! Harry! Come and get me! I'm in!" he cried.
Bert and Harry dropped their poles and came up on the run, but there was no danger, for the water was only a few inches deep, near shore, and Freddie was already on his feet when they reached him.
"Oh! Oh!" sobbed the little fellow. "I—I'm all wet."
"Never mind, you have your old clothes on," said his brother. "AndI'll tell mother it was an accident."
It was a warm summer day and a little wetting would not harm Freddie. He was taken back to a sunny place by Bert, and told to sit in the warm spot until he had dried out. Then the two larger boys went back to fish, but Freddie's accident must have scared all the fish away, for Bert and Harry caught no more.
"My, but you are a sight, Freddie!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, when she saw the wet and muddy little twin. "But I suppose you could not help it."
"No, mamma," he answered. "The fish made me fall in."
It was almost time for the picnic party to start back home now. Dinah was packing up the knives, forks, and glasses, and throwing away the wooden plates.
As she knelt over to fold up the table-cloth, she felt something touch her back, and the next moment something cold and wet touched her cheek.
"Go 'long wif yo' now, Bert!" she exclaimed, not turning around."Don't yo' put any ob dem wet slimy fish on me. Don't you do it!"
Then something almost pushed Dinah over, and again she felt the wet object on the back of her neck.
"Stop it! Stop it!" cried the colored cook. "Don't yo' put any toad down mah back, Bert!"
"I'm not doing anything," Bert answered, and at the sound of his voice Dinah looked up and saw him some distance off. At the same time, though, Bert and Harry burst into a laugh.
"Oh, look what Dinah thought was me!" cried Bert.
Dinah turned around, just as a loud "Moo!" sounded in her ear, making her jump.
"Good land ob massy!" she cried. "It's a cow!"
And, surely enough, so it was. The cow had wandered out of the woods, and, coming up behind Dinah, had licked her neck with a big red tongue. Perhaps the cow thought Dinah was a lump of black salt!
"Go 'way! Go 'long outer heah! Leef me be!" screamed Dinah, and catching up a handful of wooden plates she threw them at the cow. They rattled on the animal's horns, and then, with another "Moo!" the creature turned and crashed back through the bushes.
"And Dinah thought that was I, tickling her with a fish tail," saidBert, laughing.
"Dat's what I did, honey!" the colored cook said, with a laugh. "I s'pected yo' was up to some ob yo' all tricks!"
They all laughed at this, and amid much fun and jollity the picnic things were packed up and the homeward walk begun.
"Oh, we have hadsucha good time!" sighed Nan. "I am sorry it is over."
"Oh, we'll have more good times," said Bert, as he and Harry walked along with the fish they had caught. Their chum, Tom Mason, had two smaller ones.
There were days of work and play on the farm, and Harry had his share of tasks to perform. Bert helped him all he could. One day, when the boys and girls had counted on going out rowing on a little lake not far from Meadow Brook, it rained. When they arose in the morning, ready for their fun, the big drops were splashing down.
"Oh, we can't go!" sighed Freddie. "I don't like rain!"
"I thought all firemen liked water," his father said, with a laugh.
"This is too much water!" went on the little chap. "We can't have any fun."
"Oh, yes, we can," said Harry. "We can go out in the barn and play in the hay. The big barn is full of new hay now, and we can slide down the mow and play hide and go seek in it."
"That will be great!" exclaimed Bert. "Come on."
Snap, the dog, must have thought he was also invited, for he ran out barking, with the children. Umbrellas kept the rain off them until they reached the barn, and then began a good time.
They went to the top of the big pile of fragrant hay in the mow, and slid down it to the barn floor, where a carpet of more hay made a soft place on which to fall. Snap slid with the rest, barking and wagging his tail every minute.
"Now let's play hide and go seek!" suggested Harry after a bit. "I'll 'blind' and when I say 'ready or not, I'm coming,' I'm going to start to find you."
The game began. Harry closed his eyes, so he would not see where the others hid, and Nan, Bert and the rest of them picked out spots in the hay, and about the barn where they thought Harry could not see them. But Harry knew the old barn well, and he easily found Bert. Then he spied Nan and Flossie, hiding together. A little later he discovered where Tom Mason and Mabel Herold were.
"Now I've only to find Freddie," said the country cousin. But Freddie was not so easy to find. Harry looked all over but could not locate him.
"There are so many holes in the barn," the country boy said, "andFreddie is so small, that I guess I'd better give him up. I'll let himcome in free. Givey-up! Givey-up!" he called. "Come on in free,Freddie."
But Freddie did not answer. They all kept quiet, but all they could hear was the patter of rain drops on the barn roof.
"Freddie! Freddie! Freddie! Where are you?" cried Nan.
"Come on in free!" added Harry.
"Come on, little fat fireman," went on Bert. "Harry won't tag you, and you can hide again."
But Freddie's childish voice did not reply. The boys and girls looked anxiously at one another.
"Where's Freddie?" asked Flossie, and her lips began to tremble as they did just before she started to cry.
"Oh, we'll find him," said Bert, easily.
"Yes, he's probably hiding so far off he can't hear us," went onHarry.
"Maybe he's lost under the hay," suggested Tom. "I read of a boy getting caught under a pile of hay once, and they didn't get him out for a long time."
"Oh, Freddie's lost! Freddie's lost!" cried Flossie, bursting into tears.
"Hush, Flossie, don't cry, dear!" begged Nan, putting her arms around her little sister.
"But—but I—I can't help it," stammered Flossie. "Freddie's losted!"
"We'll find him!" said Bert. "He's somewhere inside the barn, that is sure. He'd never go out in all this rain," for the big drops were now coming down thick and fast.
"Freddie isn't afraid of water—he's a fireman—papa's little fat fireman, and I'm papa's little fat fairy, and Freddie's losted—and—and—oh, dear!" sobbed Flossie, as she thought of her missing brother.
"Come on, let's start in all together and find him," suggested Harry."He must be hid somewhere around here."
"Away down under the hay," suggested Tom Mason.
"Hush! Don't say that," spoke Bert in a low tone. "You'll scare the girls!"
"Maybe we'd better go tell papa and mamma," said Nan.
"Let's try by ourselves, first," suggested her brother. "We'll findFreddie, never fear."
The children began a search of the barn, now almost filled with sweet-smelling hay. Up and down in the mow they looked to find where Freddie might have hidden himself away. They called and shouted to him, but no answer came.
"I don't see why he doesn't reply to us," said Nan to Bert. "He wouldn't keep quiet when we've told him he could come in free. Freddie is too fond of playing hide and go seek to stay away, unless he had to. I am afraid something has happened to him, Bert."
"What could happen to him?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know, but—" and Nan hesitated and looked worried.
Where could Freddie have hidden himself away in the hay, and stranger, still, why did he not answer the many calls made for him? For the children kept shouting as they searched.
Bert had made up his mind, after looking about for some time, that perhaps, after all, he had better go into the house and tell his father what had happened. Just then Tom Mason slid down from a high part of the haymow to a little hollowed-out place. As he landed, a crackling sound was heard, and then Tom cried:
"Oh, my! Now I have done it! Oh, dear! What a mess! Oh! Oh!"
"Have you found him? Is Freddie there?" asked Flossie from where she stood in the middle of the barn floor.
"No, but I slid right into a hen's nest, and I've broken all the eggs!" cried Tom. "Oh, me! Oh, my!"
He managed to get to his feet, and there he stood, his hands held out in front of him, for they were dripping with the whites and yolks of the broken eggs. Tom's clothes were pretty well splashed up.
"What a sight I am!" he murmured. "And I've broken all the eggs!"
"Never mind! You couldn't help it," said Harry kindly. "The old hen oughtn't to have laid her eggs in here, and they wouldn't have been smashed. Hens like to steal away, and lay their eggs in hay."
"Oh, but you do looksofunny!" cried Nan, then she laughed in spite of her worry about lost Freddie.
"He—he looks like a cake before it's baked!" giggled Mabel.
They all laughed heartily at Tom's sorry plight.
"Please lend me a handkerchief, somebody," he begged. "I can't reach in my pocket to get mine, and there's some egg running in my eye."
"I'll wipe it for you," offered Bert, laughing so heartily that he could hardly stand up.
"Hark! What's that?" suddenly asked Nan.
They all stopped laughing at once. From somewhere down in the hay, near the smashed nest of eggs, came a voice, asking:
"What's the matter? Isn't anybody going to find me?"
"It's Freddie!" cried Nan.
"Freddie!" shouted Bert. "Where are you?"
"Oh, Freddie is found! Freddie isn't lost any more!" exclaimedFlossie, jumping up and down in delight.
And then, from a little nest in the hay, crawled Freddie himself, rubbing his eyes, and pulling wisps from his tousled hair.
"Have you been there all the while?" asked Harry.
"I—I guess so," answered Freddie, as if he hardly knew himself.
"Well, then, why didn't you answer us?" asked Nan. "We were so frightened about you, Freddie. Why didn't you answer when we called?"
"I—I guess I was asleep," he said. "I didn't hear you until you all began to laugh. Then I woke up."
And that was what had happened. Freddie had found a good hiding place in a hole in the hay, and, while waiting for Harry to come and look for him, the little chap had dozed off, it was so warm and cozy in his hay-nest. And he had slept all through the search made for him, not hearing the calls. But when Tom rolled into the hen's nest, and the others laughed so heartily at him, that awakened the sleeping "little fat fireman."
"My! But you gave us a fright!" said Nan. "But it's all right now, dear," and she helped Freddie pull the hay out of his hair.
"I guess we've had enough of this game," suggested Harry. "Let's do something else."
"I'm hungry," announced Freddie. "Can't we play an eating game?"
"I think so," said Bert. "Dinah and Martha were starting to bake cookies before we came out to the barn, and they ought to be done now. Let's go in."
Into the house, through the rain, tramped the children, and soon, eating cookies, they were telling about Freddie going to sleep in the hay, and Tom trying to make an omelet of himself in the hen's nest.
"Well, this certainly was a nice day, even if it did rain," said Nan, as they were ready to go to bed that night. "I wonder what we can do to-morrow?"
"I know," answered Bert. "Harry and I have a fine plan."
"Oh, tell me what it is," begged his sister.
"It's a secret," he laughed as he went upstairs.
After breakfast next morning Nan, who did not get up very early, looked for Harry and her brother.
"Where are the boys?" she asked her mother.
"Out in the barn," was the answer. "They took some big sheets of paper with them."
"They must be going to make kites," Nan said.
But when she saw what Bert and Harry were doing, she knew it was not a kite game they were planning. For in letters, made with a black stick on the sheets of paper, Nan read the words:
"Oh, what is it?" she cried. "Please tell me, Bert!"
"We're going to have a show," said Harry, "and we're going to charge five pins to come in."
"Oh, may I be in it?" asked Nan. "I'll do anything you want me to.Mayn't I be in it?"
"Shall we let her?" asked Bert of his country cousin.
"Sure," said Harry kindly. "We boys won't be enough. We'll have to have the girls."
"Where's it going to be?" asked Nan.
"Here in the barn," her brother said. "We're going to make a cage forSnap—he's going to be the lion."
"Can Snoop be one of the animals, too?" she inquired.
"Yes, Snoop will be the black tiger," decided Harry. "I only hope he keeps awake, and growls now and then. That will make it seem real."
"Snoop sometimes growls when he gets a piece of meat," suggested Nan.
"Then we'll give him meat in the show," decided Bert.
He and Harry finished making the show bills, and then began to get ready for the performance. With some old sheets they made a curtain across one corner of the barn, in front of the haymow. Nan helped with this, as she could use a needle, thread and thimble better than could the boys.
Then Tom Mason, Mabel Herold and some other of the country boys and girls came over, and they were allowed to be in the show. Bert was to be a clown, and he put on an old suit, turned inside out, and whitened his face with starch, which he begged from Martha.
Harry was to be the wild animal trainer, and show off the black tiger, which was Snoop, and the fierce lion in a cage, which lion was only Snap, the dog.
The show was not to take place until the next day, as Bert said the performers needed time for practice. But some of the "show bills" were fastened up about the village streets, and many boys and girls said they would come if they could get the five pins.
Finally all was ready for the little play. Flossie was made door-keeper and took up the admission pins. Freddie wanted to be a fireman in the show, so they let him do this. His mother made a little red coat for him, and he had his toy fire engine that pumped real water.
"But you mustn't squirt it on anyone in the audience," cautioned Bert.
"No, I'll just squirt it on the wild animals if they get bad," said the little fellow.
Nan was to be a bare-back rider, and Harry had made her a wooden steed from a saw-horse, with rope for reins. Nan perched herself up on the saw-horse, and pretended she was galloping about the ring.
A number of boys and girls came to the show, each one bringing the five pins, so that Flossie had many of them to stick on the cushion which was her cash-box.
Bert was very funny as a clown, and he turned somersaults in the hay.Once he landed on a hard place on the barn floor, and cried:
"Ouch!"
Everyone laughed at that, and they laughed harder when Bert made a funny face as he rubbed his sore elbow.
Harry exhibited Snoop and Snap as the wild animals, but Snoop rather spoiled the performance by not growling as a black tiger should.
"This tiger used to be very wild, ladies and gentlemen," said Harry, "and no keeper dared go in the cage with him. But he is a good tiger now, and loves his keeper," and Harry put his hand in, and stroked Snoop, who purred happily.
"Oh, I think this is a lovely show!" exclaimed Nellie Johnson. "I'm coming every day."
A little later, near the box which had been made into a cage for Snoop, there came a loud noise. Snoop meowed very hard, and hissed as he used to do when he saw a strange dog. At the same time something went:
"Gobble-obblcobble!" Then came a great crash, more cries from Snoop and out into the middle of the barn floor dashed the black cat with a big, long-legged, feathered creature clinging to poor Snoop's tail.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Flossie. "The wild animals are loose!"
For a few moments there was wild confusion in that part of the barn where the "show" was going on. Nan gave one look at the strange mixture of the howling Snoop and the gobbling bird in the centre of the floor, and then, catching Flossie up in her arms, Nan made a spring for the haymow.
"Wait! Wait!" cried Flossie. "I'm losing all the pins! I've dropped the pin cushion!"
That was her cash-box—the pins she had taken in as admission to the little play.
"We can't stop for it now!" cried Nan. "We must get out of the way."
"The cat has a fit!" cried Tom Mason.
"Oh, poor Snoop!" wailed Flossie.
"Grab him, somebody!" shouted Harry.
"No, let Snoop alone!" advised Bert. "He might bite, if you touched him now, though he wouldn't mean to."
"But what is it? What gave him the fit?" asked Mabel Herold.
"Our old turkey gobbler," answered Harry. "The gobbler has caughtSnoop by the tail. It's enough to give any cat a fit."
"I should say so!" cried Bert. "Look out! They're coming over this way! Look out!"
The children scrambled to one side, for Snoop and the big turkey gobbler were sliding, rolling and tumbling over the barn floor toward the board seats where the show audience, but a little while before, were enjoying the performance.
The girls had followed Nan and Flossie up to a low part of the haymow, and were out of the way. But the boys wanted to be nearer where they could see what was going on.
The noise and the excitement had roused Snap, the dog, who had curled up in his cage and was sleeping, after having been exhibited as a raging and roaring lion, and now Snap was barking and growling, trying to understand what was going on. Perhaps he wanted to join in the fun, for it was fun for the turkey gobbler, if it was not for poor Snoop.
"Look out the way! Clear the track! Toot! Toot!" came a sudden cry and little Freddie came running toward the gobbler and cat, dragging after him his much-prized toy fire engine.
"Get back out of the way, Freddie!" ordered Bert. "Snoop may scratch or bite you, or the gobbler may pick you. Get out of the way!"
"I'm a fireman!" cried the fat little fellow. "Firemans never get out of the way! Toot! Toot! Clear the track! Chuu! Chuu! Chuu!" and he puffed out his cheeks, making a noise like an engine.
"You must come here!" insisted Bert, making a spring toward his little brother.
"I can't come back! Firemans never come back!" half screamed Freddie. "I'm going to squirt water on the bad gobble-obble bird that's biting my Snoop!"
And then, before anyone could stop him, Freddie unreeled the little rubber hose of his fire engine, and pointed the nozzle at the struggling gobbler and cat in the middle of the barn floor.
I have told you, I think, that Freddie's engine held real water, and, by winding up a spring a little pump could be started, squirting a stream of water for some distance.
"Whoop! Here comes the water!" cried Freddie, as he started the pump working.
Then a stream shot out, right toward the cat and turkey. It was the best plan that could have been tried for separating them.
With a howl and a yowl Snoop pulled his claws loose from where they were tangled up in the turkey's feathers. With a final gobble, the turkey let go of Snoop's tail. The water spurted out in a spraying stream, Freddie's engine being a strong one, for a toy.
"That's the way I do it!" cried Freddie, just like Mr. Punch. "That's the way I do it! Look, I made them stop!"
"Why—why, I believe you did!" exclaimed Bert, with a laugh.
The gobbler ran out through the open barn door, his feathers wet and bedraggled. He must have thought he had been caught in a rainstorm. And poor Snoop was glad enough to crawl away in a dark corner, to lick himself dry with his red tongue.
"Poor Snoop!" said Freddie, as he stopped his engine from pumping any more water. "I'm sorry I got you wet, Snoop, but I couldn't help it. I only meant to sprinkle the gobbler."
He patted Snoop, who began purring.
"Well, I guess that ends the show," said Bert, who looked funnier than ever now, as a clown, for the white on his face was streaked in many ways with the water, some of which had sprayed on him.
"Yes, the performance is over," announced Harry.
"Oh, but it was lovely!" said Nan, as she slid down the hay withFlossie. "I don't see how you boys ever got it up."
"Oh, we're smart boys!" laughed Harry.
"But I lost all the pins!" wailed Flossie. "Nan wouldn't let me stop to pick them up!"
"I should say not! With that queer wild animal bursting in on us!" exclaimed Mabel. "Oh, but I was so frightened!"
"Pooh! I wasn't!" boasted Freddie. "I knew my fire engine would scare them."
"Well, it did all right," announced Bert "I guess we'd better let Snap out now," he said, for the dog was barking loudly, and trying to break out of the packing box of which his cage was made.
Snoop's cage was broken, where the black cat had forced his way out.
"His tail must have been hanging down through the bars," explained Bert, "and the gobbler came along and nipped it. That made Snoop mad, and he got out and clawed the turkey."
"I guess that was it," agreed Harry. "Well, we had fun anyhow, ifSnoop and the turkey did have a hard time."
Snoop was soon dry again, and not much the worse for what had happened to him. The gobbler, except for the loss of a few feathers, was not hurt. But after that the turkey and cat kept well out of each other's way.
Everyone voted the show a great success, and the children planned to have another one before they left Meadow Brook farm. But the Bobbsey twins did not know all that was in store for them before they went back to the city.
One day, when they were all seated at dinner in the pleasant Bobbsey farmhouse, Uncle Daniel paused, with a piece of pie half raised on his fork, and said:
"Hark!"
"What's the matter?" asked Aunt Sarah. "Did you think you heard the old ram coming again?"
"No, but it sounded like thunder," replied her husband, "and if it's going to rain I must hurry, and get those tomatoes picked."
"I heard something, too," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"So did I," spoke up Freddie. "Maybe it's the old black bull down in the pasture."
"No. There it goes again!" said Uncle Daniel. "It must be thunder!"
There sounded a dull distant booming noise, that was repeated several times.
Uncle Daniel got up hastily from the table and went to the door.
"Not a cloud in the sky," he remarked, "and yet that noise is growing louder."
It was, indeed, as they all could hear.
"It's guns, that's what it is," declared Bert "It sounds like Fourth of July."
"That's what it does," agreed his cousin Harry. "It's back of those hills. I'm going to see what it is."
"So am I!" cried Bert. The boys had finished their dinners, and now started off on a run in the direction of the booming sounds.
"Come along," said Uncle Daniel to Mr. Bobbsey. "We may as well go also."
"I want to come!" cried Freddie.
"Not now," said his mother. "Wait until papa comes back."
Mr. Bobbsey, with his brother and the two boys, soon reached the top of the hill. All the while the sound like thunder was growing louder. Then puffs of smoke could be seen rising in the air.
"What can it be?" asked Bert.
"I can't imagine," answered Harry.
They saw, in another minute, what it was.
Down in a valley below them was a crowd of soldiers, with cannon and guns, firing at one another. The soldiers were divided into two parties. First one party would run forward, and then the other, both sides firing as fast as they could.
"It's a war!" cried Bert. "It's a battle!"
"It's only a sham battle!" said Mr. Bobbsey. "No one is being hurt, for they are using blank cartridges. It must be that the soldiers are practicing so as to know how to fight if a real war comes. It is only a sham battle."
The cannons roared, the rifles rattled and flashes of fire and puffs of smoke were on all sides.
"Oh, look at the horses—the cavalry!" cried Harry, as a company of men, mounted on horses, galloped toward some of the soldiers, who turned their rifles on them.
Then one man, on a big black horse, left the main body and came straight on toward Mr. Bobbsey, Uncle Daniel, and the two boys.
"We'd better look out!" cried Bert "Maybe he wants to capture us!"