"Papa, when can we go sailing in the houseboat?"
"May I take my fire engine along?"
"Where did you leave that boy?"
"Did he get a ride to Lemby?"
"Thus Bert, Freddie, Flossie and Nan questioned Mr. Bobbsey when he came home to supper after the visit to the Bluebird.
"My! My!" exclaimed the lumber merchant, as he stopped in the hall to hang up his hat. "What a lot of talk all at once! Let me see—whose question shall I answer first?"
"Did you manage to get that poor boy a ride?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
It was the first time she had had a chance to ask her question.
"Answer mamma first," said Bert politely. "The rest of us can wait."
Mr. Bobbsey gave his older son a pleased look, and then replied:
"Yes, I found that one of our lumber wagons was going within half a mile of the village of Lemby, so I let the boy ride with the driver. It will give him a good lift."
"Indeed it will," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I felt so sorry for him. I wishI could help him!"
"I hope the horses don't run away," spoke Freddie with such a serious air that they all laughed.
"I guess they won't run away, little fat fireman!" said Mr. Bobbsey, as he caught Freddie up in his arms. "They are good, steady horses, and they had a pretty heavy load to drag. So Will won't be in any danger. But I hope supper is ready. I'm hungry!"
"But you didn't answer my question," said Nan. "When are we going in the houseboat, father?"
"Oh, whenever school ends and your mother is ready," was the answer."I should say in about two weeks."
"Good!" cried Bert. "And are we going to take Snap along?" he asked, as he caught sight of the trick dog outside, standing on his hind legs, while Sam Johnson held up a bone for him. Snap was "begging" for his supper, as he often did.
"Yes, I think we can find room for Snap on board," the lumber man said.
"What about our cat, Snoop?" asked Flossie. "I want to take Snoop along. Wouldn't you like to go in a boat, Snoop?" and Flossie picked the fat cat up in her arms. Snoop was quite an armful now. "Don't you want to go, Snoop?"
"Meow!" was all Snoop said, and that might have meant anything at all.
"Supper first," suggested Mr. Bobbsey, "and after that we'll talk about the boat."
The meal was a merry one, and there was much talk and laughter. As Dinah brought on one good thing to eat after another, Mrs. Bobbsey said:
"I hope every one has as nice a supper as we have."
"Were you thinking of any one in particular?" asked her husband.
"Yes, of that poor boy who came on the boat to-day," she answered. "I wonder if he has a good supper after his long walk this morning?"
"Well, they say Mr. Hardee doesn't feed his help any too well," spokeMr. Bobbsey. "But now let's talk about our houseboat trip."
"Oh, what fun we'll have!" cried Freddie and Flossie, clapping their chubby hands.
"Did you plan a trip?" Mrs. Bobbsey wanted to know.
"Well, partly, yes. I thought we could go down Lake Metoka to LembyCreek. We haven't been down that direction in some time."
"Lemby Creek!" exclaimed Bert. "Isn't that the name of the place where that boy came from?" "Well, Lemby is a town on Lemby Creek," spoke his father. "Will Watson works on Mr. Hardee's farm, and that is just outside the village. Lemby Creek is about ten miles long, and by going along that we can get into Lake Romano. That is a large body of water, and there is a waterfall at the farther end."
"A waterfall!" cried Freddie. "Oh, goodie! Can we go see it, papa?"
"I guess so," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We'll make this a long trip. It will take over a month, but of course we won't travel every day. Some days we'll just anchor the boat in a shady place, and—-"
"Fish!" interrupted Bert.
"Yes, fish, or go in swimming—anything to have a good time," Mr.Bobbsey said.
"Oh, won't we have fun!" cried Freddie again. "We'll take Snoop andSnap along, and they'll like it, too."
"I guess Snap will, because he's fond of the water," said Bert, with a laugh. "But Snoop doesn't care for it."
"Snoop can sleep on deck in the sun," said Nan. "She'll like that. I wish I could ask one of my girl friends to come along with us for the houseboat trip. We have so many nice rooms on the Bluebird it seems a pity not to use them."
"And I'd like one of my boy chums, too," spoke Bert. Flossie and Freddie were busy trying to make Snoop do one of the tricks the circus lady had taught her. But Snoop wanted to go out in the kitchen, and have Dinah give her some supper.
"Company, eh?" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey, slowly. "Well, I don't know. We have plenty of room on the Bluebird. I wonder how it would do to ask Harry and Dorothy to come with us?" he inquired of his wife.
"Oh, Cousin Harry!" cried Bert. "That would be fine!"
"And Cousin Dorothy!" added Nan. "She and I could have lovely times together. Do ask her, mother!"
"We might ask the cousins," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey. "They haven't been to visit us in some time, and I think both Harry and Dorothy would enjoy the trip."
Harry and Dorothy, as I have told you, were cousins of the Bobbseys.Harry lived at Meadow Brook, in the country, and Dorothy at OceanCliff, near the sea.
"I'll write to-morrow," said Mrs. Bobbsey, "and find out if they can go with us. Now have we anything else to settle about our trip?"
"What about something to eat?" asked Freddie, in such a funny, anxious voice, that all the others laughed.
"My goodness, little fat fireman!" exclaimed his father. "Here you have just finished your supper, and you are already hungry again."
"Oh, I'm not hungry now," explained Freddie, "but I will be on the boat."
"Don't worry," said his mother. "Dinah is coming with us."
"Oh, then it will be all right," went on the little twin, with a contented sigh. "Come on, Flossie," he called to his small sister, "I know how we can have some fun. 'Scuse me," he murmured, as he and the other little twin slipped from their chairs.
Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey, with Nan and Bert, remained at the table for some time longer, talking about the coming trip in the Bluebird. As Mr. Bobbsey had said, it would be about two weeks, yet, before they could start. There were two weeks more of school, but the classes would close earlier than usual that summer, because an addition was to be built to the school building, and the men wanted to get to work on it, to have it finished in time for school early in September.
"So we'll get an extra week or so of vacation," explained Bert. "And we'll spend it all on the houseboat."
"Well, perhaps not all of it," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I may not be able to stay with you all that while. But we'll spend a month or two on the Bluebird."
"What will we do the rest of vacation?" asked Bert.
"Oh, perhaps we'll go to the mountains, or some place like that," his mother said with a smile. "It isn't settled yet."
"Is it a high waterfall at Lake Romano?" asked Nan. "I just love them."
"Yes, it's a pretty high one," her father said. "I haven't been to Lake Romano in some years, but I remember it as a very beautiful place."
"I'm sure we shall enjoy it," Mrs. Bobbsey said.
"Is the fishing good?" Bert wanted to know.
"So I have heard. We'll take some poles and lines along, anyhow, and try our luck," his father replied.
Mr. Bobbsey pushed back his chair from the table, and looked around for the evening paper. Bert and Nan had some home work to do, to get ready their lessons for the next day's school classes, and Mrs. Bobbsey got out her sewing basket. There were always stockings to mend, if there was nothing else of the children's that needed attention.
The house was quiet except for the distant rattling of dishes in the kitchen, where fat Dinah was singing away as she worked. Suddenly her song ceased, and she was heard to exclaim:
"Now yo' want t' be careful, honey lamb! Doan't yo' go to muxin' upDinah's clean kitchen flo'."
"No, we won't, Dinah!" replied Freddie's voice.
"If any gets spilled, I'll wipe it up," said Flossie.
"I wonder what those children are up to now?" remarked Mrs. Bobbsey, as she rolled up two stockings she had just darned.
"Oh, I guess they're all right," said Mr. Bobbsey easily, as he turned over a page of the evening paper.
The next moment there came a shout from Dinah in the kitchen.
"Stop it, Freddie. Stop it, I say!" cried the fat, colored cook. "Yo' suah am gittin' me all wet! Oh, there it goes ag'in! Stop it!"
"I—I can't!" cried Freddie. "Hold your hand over it, Flossie!"
"Oh, now it's squirting on me!" came in Flossie's tones. "Make it stop, Freddie."
"It—it won't stop!" was the frightened answer.
"Oh! Land ob massy!" shouted Dinah. "Sam! Sam! Mr. Bobbsey, come heah quick! It's squirtin' all ober!"
"Oh! Something has happened!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, starting toward the kitchen.
"Maybe a water pipe has burst," suggested Mr. Bobbsey, dropping his paper and making a jump toward the kitchen. As he did so, he heard Dinah cry again:
"Oh, yo' am all wet, honey lamb! Yo' is all soakin' wet! Oh, now it's comin' fo' me ag'in! Oh, stop it, Freddie! Stop it!"
"I—I can't!" was all Freddie said.
The next moment Mr. Bobbsey, followed by his wife, had reached the kitchen. There they saw a queer sight.
In the middle of the floor stood Flossie and Freddie, water dripping from their hands and faces. Dinah, too, was wet, and she was fairly flying around, with a plate in one hand and a dish towel in the other.
And, all about the kitchen was spurting a stream of water, while over by the stove stood Freddie's toy fire engine. It was this engine that was spraying the water all over the room.
"Oh, Freddie! What has happened?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
"It—it's the—-" began Freddie, but that was as far as he got, for just then the stream of water from his toy engine spurted right into his open mouth.
"Shut it off!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "Here, I'll do it!"
He started across the kitchen floor.
"Look out, Massa Bobbsey!" yelled Dinah. "It'll cotch yo' shuah. It done cotched me!" and then as she saw the little rubber hose of Freddie's fire engine swing around, and the nozzle point at her, the fat cook ran into the dish-closet and shut the door.
"How did it happen?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, not so excited, now that she found nothing serious was the matter.
"Freddie—Freddie—he wanted to try how his fire engine worked, 'cause he hadn't played with it this week," explained Flossie. Freddie was busy wiping the water from his face. "So he filled the tank, and wound it up, and now—and now—it won't—it won't stop-squirtin'!" went on Flossie. "It—it—-"
And then she, too, had to stop talking, for the hose was spurting water at her now.
"I'll shut it off. Something must be the matter with the spring," said Mr. Bobbsey. He walked toward Freddie's fire engine, which was pretty large, for a toy. But before he reached it, the water hose had swung around, and, instead of sprinkling Flossie, was aimed at Mr. Bobbsey. However he did not mind. Holding the newspaper in front of his face, Freddie's father reached the fire engine, and turned off the machinery that pumped the water.
"There!" he cried. "The fire's out! The only damage is from water," and he laughed, for he was wet, and so were Mrs. Bobbsey, Flossie and Freddie; and the kitchen itself was pretty well sprinkled.
"What's it all about?" asked Bert, for he and Nan, who had been studying their lessons, had heard the noise of the excitement, and had run to the kitchen to see what had caused it.
"Oh, Freddie turned in a false alarm," said Mr. Bobbsey. "How did you come to put water in your engine, when mamma has told you not to do so in the house?" he asked the little boy.
"Be—be—cause," said Freddie slowly, "I wanted to see if it would—work. I'm going to take it on the houseboat with me."
"Well, I guess it WORKED all right," Bert said, as he looked around at the wet kitchen. Luckily there was oil cloth on the floor, and the walls were painted, so the water really did no harm.
Dinah slowly opened the door of the dish-closet, and peered out.
"Am it all done, honey lamb?" she asked, looking at Freddie.
"Yes, Dinah! It's all done squirtin'," he said. "I guess there isn't any more water, anyhow."
"No," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a smile, as he looked in the tank of the engine, "it's all pumped out."
Freddie's toy fire engine was a large and expensive one his uncle had given him on Christmas. It was made as nearly like a real engine as possible, only instead of working by steam, it worked by a spring. When a spring was wound up, it operated a small pump in the engine. The pump made water spurt out through a little rubber hose, and the water for the engine was poured into a tank. The tank held about two gallons, so you see when it was all pumped out in the kitchen, and spurted on those in the room, it made them pretty wet.
"It's clean water," said Nan, when every one had somewhat cooled down, "and it's so warm to-night, I wouldn't mind being sprayed with a hose myself."
"Still, Freddie shouldn't have done it," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I have told you not to play with your engine in the house, when it had water in it, Freddie. How did you come to disobey me?" she asked, for usually the little fellow was very good about minding.
"I—I didn't mean to, mamma," he said "First I just wanted to see if the engine tank leaked, so I put in some water. I didn't think it would hurt, out here on the kitchen oil cloth, and honestly I wasn't going to squirt it."
"No, I suppose not," said Mr. Bobbsey, wiping the water from his face, and glancing at his soaked newspaper.
"So I just filled the tank with water from the sink," explainedFreddie.
"I—I helped him," confessed Flossie, ready to take her share of the blame.
"What happened next?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Why—er—I just wanted to see if the spring was all right, so I wound that up," Freddie went on. "Then I sort of forgot about the water in the tank, and before I knew it, why it—it went off—sudden like."
"Land ob massy! I should say it done did go off—suddint laik!" exclaimed Dinah. "Fust I knowed I was dryin' de dishes an' den I got a mouth full ob watah. I shuah did t'ink a watah pipe had done gone an' busted. I shuah did!"
"It—it just kept on squirtin'!" said Freddie. "I couldn't stop it like it always used to stop."
"No, the pump is out of order," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he looked at the now empty fire engine. "It wouldn't stop pumping. Well, I'm glad it wasn't a real fire, and glad that no one is hurt. Put your engine away now, Freddie, and, after this, don't play with water in the house, when mamma has told you not to."
"I won't," promised Freddie. "But it's a good engine, isn't it?"
"Oh, yes, it's a good engine, all right."
"And I can take it on the houseboat, can't I?"
"Yes, but you won't need to put any water in. There'll be enough in the creek and lakes," said Mrs. Bobbsey with a smile. "Come now, Flossie and Freddie, you are wet, so you might as well get undressed and go to bed. It is nearly time, anyhow, and you have had quite a day of it. Off to bed!"
Off to bed the twins went.
Dinah wiped up the kitchen, and, as she did so, she murmured over and over again: "It shuah did go off suddint laik! It shuah did!"
Flossie and Freddie, little the worse for their wetting, went off to school next day, with Nan and Bert. The two sets of twins talked of many things on their way to their classes, but, most of all, they talked of the coming trip on the houseboat, and of the accident to the fire engine the night before.
"I do hope Cousin Dorothy can come with us," said Nan, as she leftBert to walk along with Nellie Parks.
"And I hope Harry can go," said Bert. "Better hurry along, Freddie," he called to his little brother. "There goes your bell, and yours, too, Flossie."
The two little tots turned into the gate of the school that led to the yard where the smallest pupils formed in line.
"Well, even if Harry and Dorothy can't go, I'll take my fire engine," said Freddie.
"And we'll take Snoop and Snap, so we won't be lonesome," suggestedFlossie. "Oh, won't it be fun, Freddie!"
"Yes, I wish it was time to go now. I'm tired of school," said the little fellow.
But school must go on, whether there are houseboat parties or not, so the Bobbsey twins had to study their lessons. I think that day, however, Bert must have been thinking of other things than his books, for when the teacher asked him what an island was, Bert gave a queer answer. Instead of saying it was a body of land, surrounded by water, Bert said:
"An island is a fire engine in the kitchen."
"Why, Bert Bobbsey! What ARE you thinking of?" asked the teacher.
"Oh, I—I was thinking of something that happened at our house last night," Bert went on, while all the children in the room laughed.
"Then you'd better tell us about it," suggested Miss Teeter, the instructor, for she was very kind. So Bert told of Freddie's mishap, and how it was he happened to be thinking of that instead of the right answer to the question about the island.
"I hear you have a houseboat, Bert," said John Blake, a boy in the same room, as the children came out of school that afternoon.
"Yes, my father bought the one Mr. Marvin owned," said Bert. "It's a fine one, too. We're going to have a trip in her soon."
"You're a lucky boy!" exclaimed John. "Can't you take me down and show me over the boat?"
"I'd like to," said Bert, "but father said I wasn't to go aboard, when he was not with me."
"Pooh! He'll never know," suggested Danny Rugg, a boy with whom Bert had had more or less trouble. "You needn't tell your father you went to the boat. Come on, take us down and let's see it."
"No," said Bert, quietly but firmly. "Maybe my father wouldn't know I had been on board, but I'd know it."
"Aw, you're a fraid-cat!" sneered Danny. "Come on, take us down, and we'll have some fun."
"No," said Bert with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry. Some other time, after I've asked my father if I may, I'll show you all over the Bluebird."
"I want to go now," Danny said.
"Oh, there's plenty of time," spoke John, pleasantly. "I wouldn't want Bert to do what his father told him not to, just to oblige me. I'll see the boat some other time, Bert; that will do just as well."
"Huh! He's a fraid-cat!" muttered Danny again, as he shuffled off, muttering to himself. Several times he had made trouble for the Bobbsey twins, and Bert was not any too friendly with him. Danny was a bully in the school.
Bert wished, very much indeed, that he could have taken some of his boy friends down to the houseboat, but his father had a good reason for not wanting any boys aboard, unless he could be with them. Workmen were making certain changes in the craft, and doing some painting inside and outside.
A few days after this, when the Bobbsey twins reached home from school, Mrs. Bobbsey met them at the door, saying:
"I have good news for you, children!"
"What is it?" cried Bert.
"Don't we have to go to school any more?" Freddie.
"Are we going on the houseboat sooner than we expected?" Nan wanted to know.
"It's about your two cousins—Harry and Dorothy," went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "They have both accepted our invitations, and they will come with us on the trip! Won't that be nice?"
"Lovely!" exclaimed Nan, her eyes shining with delight. "Dorothy andI'll have such nice times together!"
"And Harry and I'll catch a lot of fish," declared Bert.
The days went on. The houseboat was nearly ready for her trip. Very soon school would close.
"Come on, Bert, can't you show us over the boat now?" asked Danny Rugg one afternoon, on his way home from school, with Nan's brother, and some other boys.
"I can't to-day, but perhaps I can to-morrow," said Bert. "I'll ask my father."
"He'll never know about it," tempted Danny again, but Bert could not be influenced that way.
"Never mind, I'll fix you!" threatened Danny, which was what he usually said, when he could not have his own way.
Bert thought little of the threat at the time, though later he recalled it vividly.
It was that night, just as the smaller twins were getting ready for bed, that the telephone in the Bobbsey house rang out a call.
"I'll answer it," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he went to the instrument."Hello!" he called. Then his wife and children heard him cry:
"What! Is that so! That's too bad! Yes, I'll attend to it right away.I wonder how it happened?"
"Oh, what has happened?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, in alarm.
"Is the lumber yard on fire again?" asked Freddie, thinking of his toy engine.
"Not as bad as that," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he quickly put on his hat. "But the watchman at the dock just telephoned me that our houseboat, the Bluebird, has gotten adrift, and is floating out into the lake."
For a few seconds after Mr. Bobbsey told of the news he had heard over the telephone, none of the twins seemed to know what to say. They just stared at their father, and I really believe, for a moment, that Flossie and Freddie thought he was playing a joke on them. Then Mrs. Bobbsey seemed to understand it.
"What!" she cried. "Our houseboat adrift?"
"That's what the watchman tells me," said Mr. Bobbsey, as he started for the front door.
"But who did it?" asked Bert, managing to get his tongue in working order.
"Can't you get her back again?" asked Nan. "Our boat, I mean."
"Let me come with you!" pleaded Freddie.
"And I want to come, too!" added Flossie. She seldom wanted to be left behind, when her twin brother went anywhere.
"No, no! You children must stay here," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I will hurry down to the lake, and come right back. I'll tell you all about it, when I return."
"But what could have happened?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "What would make our boat go adrift?"
"Oh, some of the ropes might have come loose," replied her husband. "Or the ropes might even have been cut through, rubbing against the dock. The wind is blowing a little, and that is sending the boat out into the lake. I'll get one of our steam tugs, and go after her. It will not take long nor be hard work to bring her back."
A number of small steam tugs were owned by Mr. Bobbsey for use in hauling lumber boats, and lumber rafts about Lake Metoka. Some of these tugs were always at the dock, and one always had steam up, ready for instant use.
"Well, I hope you get the Bluebird back all right," said Bert. "We don't want to miss our trip, especially after we have asked Harry and Dorothy."
"Oh, it would be too bad to disappoint them," put in Nan.
"Oh, I'll get the boat back all right," declared Mr. Bobbsey.
Flossie and Freddie breathed sighs of relief. They were not worried now, for they knew their father would do as he said.
Fat Dinah put her head in through the door of the sitting room.
"Am anyt'ing de mattah?" she asked. "I done heah yo' all talkin' in heah, an' I t'inks maybe dat honey lamb Freddie done got his steam enjine squirtin' watah ag'in."
"Not this time, Dinah," said Mrs. Bobbsey, for the cook was almost like one of the family. Then the twins' mother explained what the trouble was.
"I 'clar t' goodness!" Dinah exclaimed. "Suffin's always happenin' in dish yeah fambily."
It was not a very serious happening this time. Mr. Bobbsey hurried down to his lumber yard in the darkness of the June evening.
He was gone about an hour, when the telephone rang. On account of the little excitement Flossie and Freddie had been allowed to stay up, although it was long past their usual bedtime.
"I'll answer it," said Mrs. Bobbsey, as the telephoned bell stopped jingling, for Bert had started from his seat.
"Oh, it's papa," the twins' mother went on, after she had listened for a second after saying "Hello!"
"Is the boat all right?" asked Nan, anxiously.
"Yes," answered her mother, and then she turned to listen to the rest of Mr. Bobbsey's talk over the telephone.
"Papa went after the Bluebird, and brought her safely back," Mrs. Bobbsey explained, when she had hung up the receiver. "He'll be here in a few minutes to tell us all about it. He telephoned from the lumber office after he had our boat safe."
"Oh, I'm so glad the boat's all right," said Nan.
"Pooh, I knowed it would be—when papa went after it," said Freddie, with a sleepy yawn.
"You must say 'knew,' not 'knowed,' dear," spoke Mamma Bobbsey. "And now I think it is time for you and Flossie to go to bed."
Neither of the smaller twins offered any objection. They were too sleepy to want to stay up and listen to the story of the bringing back of the Bluebird.
Nan and Bert were anxious to hear it, and Mr. Bobbsey came in soon after Flossie and Freddie were tucked in bed. He told the story of the drifting houseboat.
"How did it break loose?" asked Bert.
"It didn't break loose," said his father. "Some one untied the knots in the ropes."
"Untied!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "How did it happen?"
"Why, some one went aboard the boat," explained Mr. Bobbsey, "and I think it must have been some boys, for I found this cap," and he held up a gray one.
"Why!" cried Bert when he saw it. "That's Danny Rugg's cap!"
"I thought so," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "Danny, and some of his chums, must have gone on the boat early this evening. They played about, as boys will, and some of them, either on purpose or accidentally, must have loosed the knots in the ropes before coming ashore. Then the boat just drifted away after that."
"Those boys had no right to go on our boat!" said Nan.
"No, they had not," agreed her father, "But I'm glad there was no real damage done. The watchman saw the Bluebird soon after she had drifted away from the dock, and he telephoned me. I went out in one of our tugs and soon brought her back. So you think this is Danny Rugg's cap, Bert?"
"I'm sure of it, yes, sir. Danny wanted me to take him, and some of the other boys, on the boat, but I wouldn't."
"I'm glad you remembered what I told you," spoke Mr. Bobbsey, and Bert blushed with pleasure.
"I'll give Danny his cap in the morning," Bert went on. "It may surprise him to know where he lost it."
"I don't believe you can surprise that Danny Rugg very much," saidMrs. Bobbsey.
The next morning, when Bert took Danny's cap to school with him, and handed it to the boy who had caused so much trouble, a queer look came over Danny's face.
"Thanks," he said. "I was wondering where I left that. I guess I must have dropped it, when I was—playing football over in the fields."
"No, you dropped it on our houseboat, the Bluebird, just before you and the other fellows untied the ropes that let her go adrift," said Bert. "And you'd better keep off her after this!"
"Huh! I'm not afraid of your father!" was all Danny growled, as he stuffed his cap in his pocket, for he had worn another to school.
When Danny's chums learned that it was known who had set the boat adrift, they were rather frightened. When they realized the damage they might have done, they kept away from Mr. Bobbsey's lumber yard for a long time.
One day, about a week after this, the Bobbsey twins hurried home from school without stopping to play with any of their friends.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" asked Grace Lavine of Nan.
"We expect our cousins to-day," Nan answered. "Then we are going to get ready to go away in our houseboat."
Surely enough, when the twins reached home, there the cousins were to greet them—Dorothy and Harry, one from the seashore, and the other from the country.
"Oh, but I'm SO glad to see you!" cried Nan, as she hugged and kissedDorothy.
"And I'm SO glad to come," Dorothy answered with a smile. "It was lovely of you to invite me to go on your boat."
"We'll have a lot of fun," said Bert to Harry.
"That's what we will," replied the boy from the country.
"We're both awful glad to see you!" chimed in Flossie, speaking both for herself and for Freddie. "But we can't play with the fire engine."
"Not if we put water in," added Freddie.
"What in the world do they mean?" asked Dorothy, wonderingly.
"Oh, I'll have to tell you," laughed Nan, as she explained about the accident.
The cousins had much to tell the twins, and talk about, and the twins had as much more to tell, so, for a time, there was a merry sound of talk and laughter.
Dorothy and Harry had come by different trains, one from the seashore and the other from the country, but they had reached the Bobbsey house at the same time. Their schools had not yet closed, but as they were both well advanced in their studies, their parents had allowed them to leave their classes ahead of time, since they were both sure to "pass."
"Just think!" cried Nan, when there was a moment of quiet. "In three days more OUR school will close, and then we'll go on the trip."
"Won't it be lovely!" murmured Dorothy.
I leave you to imagine all that took place in those three days. Schooldays came to an end, and the Bobbsey twins were among those at the heads of their classes. Then came a packing-up time, and the Bobbsey house was a scene of great excitement. Trunks and boxes were taken aboard the Bluebird, a man was hired to run the gasoline engine. Plenty of good things to eat were stowed away in the kitchen lockers, as cupboards are called on a boat. At last all was ready for the start.
Snoop and Snap, of course, were on hand, as was Dinah. Mr. Bobbsey saw to it that his family, and the two cousins, were safely aboard, and then he gave the order to cast off the lines. The Bluebird floated away from the dock, and out into the lake that was almost as blue as her name.
"All aboard!" cried Bert.
"Toot! Toot!" whistled Freddie, pretending to be an engine.
"Oh, look out! You're stepping on my doll!" screamed Flossie, who had put her toy down on the deck a moment.
"Good-bye! Good-bye!" called Nan to Grace Lavine, and some others of her girl friends, who had come down to the dock to see them off. "Good-bye!"
"Good-bye!" echoed the girls, waving their hands.
"Come on!" called Bert to Harry, as he started for the lower cabin.
"What are you going to do?" asked the boy from the country.
"Let's get out our fishing poles. Maybe we can catch something for dinner."
"That's right!" agreed Harry.
Slowly the Bluebird moved out into the lake, for the gasoline engine was working. The houseboat trip of the Bobbsey twins had begun, and many things were to happen before it was to end.
Nan and Dorothy, after waving good-bye to the girl friends on the dock, went down to the living room of the houseboat. There they found Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah putting away some of the things that had been brought on board at the last moment.
"I 'clar t' goodness!" exclaimed the colored cook, "dish yeah houseboatin' am wuss dan movin'!"
"Oh, not quite as bad as that," said Mrs. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "But what are you going to do, Nan, dear? Do you like it, Dorothy?"
"Oh! indeed I do," answered the "seashore cousin," as Nan called her to distinguish her from Harry, who lived in the country.
"We are just going to our rooms for a minute, mother," Nan answered."I want to show Dorothy my new sailor suit."
Every body on the houseboat was busy, even down to Flossie andFreddie, and the two little twins were busy having fun.
Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah were engaged in putting to rights the different rooms, for there were a number on the Bluebird, which was built for a large family. Bert and Harry were up on deck fishing, as the boat moved slowly through the blue waters of Metoka Lake. Flossie and Freddie, as I have said, were playing, the little girl with her doll, and Freddie with a new toy his father had bought him.
As for Mr. Bobbsey, he was down in the engine room with "CaptainWhite." Mr. White was one of Mr. Bobbsey's men who had once been incharge of a tugboat, but one day there was an accident aboard, and Mr.White was made lame for life.
But Mr. Bobbsey liked his faithful employee, and kept him at work, and since Mr. White could not do heavy tasks, he was allowed to do easy ones.
Mr. White was called "Captain" by every one, though he was not really a captain. Still, he knew a great deal about boats, the weather clouds and storms, and all things such as sea captains are supposed to know.
When Mr. Bobbsey bought Mr. Marvin's houseboat, he at once began to think of some one who could sail it for him, and take care of the gasoline engine. Naturally, he thought of Captain White. So the Bluebird was put in charge of Captain White, who, you may be sure, was very glad to be on the water again, even if it was only in a slow-moving houseboat, and not in a swift steam tug.
Mr. Bobbsey and Captain White were down in the motor, or engine room together. Mr. Bobbsey was learning how to run the gasoline engine.
I have told you how the Bluebird was driven along through the water by a small engine. It was not a steam engine, such as are found in many boats, but a gasoline one, such as those in most automobiles.
Mr. Bobbsey did not intend to sail very fast in the houseboat. In fact, for many days, he expected to just drift along, or push the boat with a long pole through some shallow creek, or in parts of the lake where it was not deep. When he wanted to move more quickly from place to place, there was the gasoline engine all ready to use. And Captain White knew how to use it.
Mr. Bobbsey came up out of the little motor room after a while, and watched his wife and Dinah putting things away. The boat was moving down the lake.
"Oh, look at your face!" suddenly cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
"What's the matter with it?" asked her husband, putting his hand up to his nose, as almost any person will do when you speak of his face.
"It's all black!" went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "So are your hands. Oh,Richard! What have you been doing?"
"Learning to run the gasoline engine," he said. "I want to know how it works so that if we need to start any time when Captain White is on shore, or asleep, I can do it."
"I hope you won't start off any time when Captain White is on shore," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "You don't know enough about a boat to run it without him."
"Very well, then. I promise I'll run the gasoline engine only when Captain White is asleep," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "And then, if anything happens, I'll only have to awaken him, and ask him what is wrong."
"That's the best plan," said Mrs. Bobbsey, also laughing. "And now you had better go wash your face. Some one might see you—looking like that."
There was a nice little bathroom aboard the Bluebird, and Mr. Bobbsey was soon splashing away with the water and soap. Meanwhile Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah finished their work, and went up on deck.
It was a very pleasant day, and with the sun shining down from a blue sky overhead, just warm enough, and not too hot, with a gentle breeze that hardly ruffled the surface of the lake, but which made it delightfully cool as the boat moved slowly along. In short, it was just perfect weather, as the Bobbsey twins started off on their houseboat.
Nan and Dorothy, having finished looking at each other's dresses, which always seems to delight girls, had come up on deck so that now the whole Bobbsey family, and their country, and seashore cousin visitors also, were there.
"Have you caught any fish yet?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, walking over to where Bert and Harry were dangling their lines in the water.
"Not yet, but we've had two or three bites," said Bert, hopefully.
"I think you'll have better luck when we reach some quiet place, and anchor," Mr. Bobbsey went on. "At any rate, you need not worry, if you don't catch any fish. Dinah will be able to give us something else for dinner, I think."
"I think so, too," said Harry with a laugh. "I can smell something cooking now."
This was so. For, though the Bobbseys had started early that morning, there was so much to do that it was now nearly noon. To them it seemed only an hour or so since they had started. Dinah was a good cook. She kept one eye on the clock and the other on the things she was cooking. And she made up her mind that the meals would be on time, even if they were served on a houseboat. So it was the cooking of dinner that Harry smelled.
"Oh, Dorothy!" exclaimed Nan, after a little while, during which the two girls looked across the lake to the distant shores they had left. "I must show you a new trick Snap has learned."
"What! Another trick?" cried Dorothy. "My! He knows a lot of them now.He certainly is a clever dog!"
Snap, as I have told you, used to belong to a circus before the Bobbseys bought him, so perhaps learning tricks came easier to him than to most dogs.
"Yes, I taught him this trick myself," went on Nan. "He will walk around on his hind legs, and carry a doll in his front paws, just like a nurse girl. When I dress him up in one of my old skirts and a jacket, he is too funny for anything! I'll make him do the trick now, only I won't dress him up, for I can't find the clothes he wears. I don't believe we brought them. But I'll make him carry the doll for you. Here, Snap!" called Nan.
The dog, who had been sleeping in a sunny Spot on deck, near Snoop, the black cat, sprang up, when he heard his name called.
"Where are you going to get a doll for him to carry?" asked Dorothy.
"I'll take Flossie's. You'll let sister take your doll to make Snap do a trick, won't you, dear?" she asked.
"Yes, Nan," answered flaxen-haired Flossie. "I just love to see Snap do that trick! He carries the doll so cute!"
Flossie brought her doll to Nan, and Snap stood near, wagging his tail, for he seemed to know what was coming.
"Now, Snap," said Nan, pointing her finger at the dog, "I want you to show Dorothy how you play nurse-girl, and carry a doll."
"Bow wow!" barked Snap. That was what he always said when any one spoke to him. I suppose HE knew what he meant, but no one else did. At any rate, he seemed to understand what was said to him.
"Up, Snap! Up!" called Nan suddenly, and Snap rose on his hind legs, holding his fore paws out in front of him, so Nan could place the doll on them.
This the little girl did, putting Flossie's "sawdust baby" carefully across Snap's paws.
"Now take the doll for a walk!" ordered Nan, and, with another bark, off Snap started, parading across the deck.
"Oh, isn't he too cute!" cried Dorothy, laughing and clapping her hands. "Oh, what a smart dog he is!"
"Isn't he!" agreed Nan. "Bert said I never could teach him to do a trick, but I did."
"Indeed you did!" agreed Dorothy.
"Now come back here, Snap!" ordered Nan. But just then something happened.
How it was no one knew exactly, but Bert suddenly caught a fish. He was so surprised at getting a hard bite on his line, that he jerked it up quickly. Something flashed in the sunlight, and, the next moment, a little sunfish landed flapping on the deck, right in front of the sleeping black cat Snoop.
"Flop!" went the fish, and Snoop awakened with a jump. Up to her feet she leaped like a flash, and then she saw the fish. Snoop was very fond of fish, and made a spring for the one Bert had caught. But the fish was wet and slippery, and no sooner had Snoop pounced on it with her claws than the fish slid across the deck of the houseboat. Snoop slid after it, just as she often slid across the kitchen oilcloth, when she sprang for a piece of string that Flossie or Freddie would pull along to make the cat play.
Right across the deck, after the slippery fish slid Snoop, and, the next instant, the poor cat had slid right off the deck, and fallen into the lake with a splash!
"There goes Snoop!"
"Oh, somebody get her!"
Nan and Dorothy both shouted at the same time. As for Bert, he was so surprised at having caught a fish, and at seeing the cat slide off the deck with it, that he could say nothing. It was almost the same with Harry. He had jumped to his feet, however, and had run toward Snoop, but too late.
Then, all of a sudden, Snap, with a loud bark, gave one spring, and the next moment he had jumped right over the deck railing, under which Snoop had slid. Right over it went Snap, and down into the lake. For he knew that Snoop had fallen in, and, being the kind of a dog that asks nothing better than to save something, or somebody, from the water, Snap was right on hand.
"Oh, my doll! My doll!" cried Flossie. "Snap is taking my doll into the lake with him! Come back, Snap! Come back!"
Snap did not stop to listen. He had, indeed, taken Flossie's doll with him. He had been holding it on his front paws as Snoop slid overboard, and, as he gave a jump, Snap did not come down on all four legs. He jumped while he was yet standing on his hind ones, and of course the doll went over the rail with him.
"What has happened?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, as she heard the screaming, and the splashes in the water. "Have any of the children fallen in?" For she had gone to another part of the deck, with Dinah, out of sight of the twins for a moment. Now she came hurrying back, and a single look showed her that the children were all safe.
"What has happened?" she asked again.
"As nearly as I can figure out," said Mr. Bobbsey, "Bert caught a fish, Snoop tried to get it and fell into the water, and now Snap has gone in after Snoop."
"And Snap has my doll! She'll get all wet—she'll be drowned!" criedFlossie.
"I'll get her for you," offered Harry. But just now they were all anxious to see what Snap and Snoop did. Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and the children looked over the side of the houseboat. They saw the black cat swimming about in the lake, and Snap, who was a fine water-dog, was paddling toward her.
"Hadn't you better stop the boat?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, for theBluebird was slowly floating away from the dog and the cat.
"Yes, I guess it would be best," said Mr. Bobbsey. So he called out:
"Captain! Captain White! Stop the boat! Something overboard!"
Down in the little motor room Mr. White heard the shout, and he at once shut off the gasoline engine. Then he came up on deck as fast as his lame leg would let him, to see what was wrong.
"What's that you say?" he asked. "Somebody fell overboard?"
"The dog and the cat," explained Mr. Bobbsey. "I wonder how we can get them out? It's Snoop and Snap who are in the water."
"And my doll!" added Flossie. "I want my doll back!"
"Oh, yes, and Flossie's doll," added Mr. Bobbsey. "I guess you'd better get in the rowboat, Captain White. It will be easier to lift them out from there."
"I'll do it, Mr. Bobbsey," the captain said, as he limped down stairs again. By this time Snap had swum to where poor Snoop was paddling about in the water. The dog gently took hold of the cat by the back of the neck, where her loose fur would give a good hold. Then Snap, holding Snoop's head well up out of the water, started back for the houseboat.
"Good old Snap!" called Mr. Bobbsey. Snap wanted to bark and wag his tail, as he always did when any one spoke pleasantly to him, but he knew if he opened his mouth to bark now, he would have to drop Snoop. And Snap had hard enough work swimming, without trying to wag his tail. On he came toward the boat.
By this time Captain White had gotten into the small boat, which was pulled after the Bluebird, by a rope, and he was rowing toward the dog. Seeing that the smaller boat was nearer, Snap swam toward that, instead of toward the larger one. He held Snoop carefully up out of the water.
"That's a good dog, Snap!" called Captain White, as Snap came nearer."I'll take her now."
The engineer lifted poor, wet, dripping Snoop into his boat. She crawled close up to Captain White, for she was much frightened. After Snap had delivered the cat he had rescued, he turned back again.
"Where are you going?" asked Captain White. "Don't you want to get in my boat, too, Snap?"
"Bow wow!" barked Snap. This time he could open his mouth, as he was not carrying a cat.
"Oh, he's going to get my doll!" cried Flossie. "Look, Snap is after my doll!"
And so he was. After taking Snoop safely to the boat, Snap had seen Flossie's doll floating on the top of the water, and had swum toward that, just as he would have gone toward a floating stick, had there been one near.
"OK, now he's got her!" cried the happy Flossie. "Now Snap has my doll. Goodie!"
"And, as she's a wooden doll, the water won't hurt her," said Nan, with a laugh, "Everything is coming out all right."
And so it seemed.
Taking the doll in his mouth, as he had taken the cat, Snap swam back toward the small boat, where Captain White waited for him, now and then petting poor Snoop. Just as the dog had done with the cat, so he did with the doll, giving her to the engineer of the Bluebird. Then, seeing that his work was all done, Snap once more swam toward the big boat, not trying to get into the small one.
"Good dog, Snap!" cried Mr. Bobbsey, as he leaned over to lift him in, for there were no steps by which to climb up the side of the Bluebird.
This time Snap barked and wagged his tail, and then he gave himself a big shake to get rid of the water. He sent a regular shower of spray all about.
"Come, girls!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey with a laugh, "this is no place for us. We haven't our bathing suits on!" and she, with Nan and Dorothy, ran back out of the way of the scattering drops from Snap's shaggy coat.
A little later Captain White rowed up with Snoop and Flossie's doll, and the little girl at once said she was going to put a dry dress on the doll, so she wouldn't "take cold."
"Well," said Mr. Bobbsey, when the excitement had died down. "That's over, at any rate. All that over one little fish!"
"That's so—my fish started it all!" said Bert. "I wonder what became of it?" and he looked at his empty hook, dangling from the line of his pole.
"The fish dropped off," said Harry. "I saw it. But it was only a little one. It wouldn't have been any good."
"Poor Snoop!" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "All your trouble for nothing! You didn't get the fish."
"Oh, I'll soon catch some more for her, won't we, Harry?" Bert asked.
"That's what we will," answered the country cousin.
"Now if yo' folks am all done fallin' ovahbo'd I'se ready t' gib yo' all suffin t' eat," said Dinah, coming up from the dining-room.
"And I think we are ready to eat," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "This traveling on the water has given me an appetite."
"I guess it has all of us," spoke Mr. Bobbsey with a laugh, as he noticed the eager, hungry looks on the faces of the children.
"And give Snoop and Snap something good and hot, so they won't take cold," suggested Nan. "Though I don't believe they will this weather, it's so warm."
"I'm going to give my dollie hot chocolate," said Flossie, who, by this time, had put a dry dress on her pet.
The meal was a merry one, though at first the children, especially Flossie and Freddie, were too excited to eat. Then, too, it was so strange eating on a boat that was moving through the water, for the engine had been started again. Several times, during the meal, the two smaller twins jumped up from the table to run to the windows and look out over the lake. At last their mother said:
"Now, Flossie and Freddie, you must sit still and finish your dinner. Otherwise you may be ill. You'll have plenty of time to see things after you leave the table."
Snap was soon dry, from lying in the sun, and, a little later, Snoop was as warm and fluffy as before she had fallen into the lake. She picked out a warm spot on deck near Snap, for they had been the best of friends since the first day they had met, when Snoop came back from her long trip to Cuba, as I have told you in another book.
All the rest of that day the houseboat traveled over Lake Metoka. The children sat on Heck, and watched other boats pass them. Some of them were loaded with lumber for Mr. Bobbsey. Others were pleasure boats, and those on board waved their hands to the Bobbsey twins and their cousins.
"Are we going to travel all night?" asked Bert of his father, whenDinah called that supper was ready.
"No, we are going to anchor soon. We will go a little nearer shore first, though."
"And when will we start through Lemby Creek toward Lake Romano?"
"Oh, in a day or so, I fancy."
It was such a pleasant evening, that even the little twins were allowed to stay up on deck past their usual bedtime, looking at the twinkling stars, and the lights of other boats on the lake.
When Flossie and Freddie did get to bed, they did not go to sleep at once. It was very strange to them, sleeping on a boat in the water.
Finally the two little people dozed off, and then the older folks went to bed. In the middle of the night Freddie woke up. At first he could not remember where he was, and he wondered at the queer rocking motion of the boat, for a little wind was ruffling the lake.
Suddenly there came a loud toot.
"Mamma! Papa! I heard something!" cried Freddie, sitting up.
"Yes, dear. It was only the whistle of another boat," said his mother, who was in the room next to him. "Go to sleep again."
Freddie did.
"Well, I sure am going to catch some fish to-day," said Bert, when he and Harry went up on deck next morning, after breakfast.
"We'll try, anyhow," Harry said. "We're nearer shore now, and the fishing ought to be better. I'll get my line.".
Whether it was on account of the bait they used, or because the fish were not plentiful, the boys did not know, but they did not get even one bite. Anyhow, they had fun.
The Bluebird went slowly across the lake. The Bobbseys were in no hurry, and they wanted to enjoy the pleasant weather. For three days they sailed over the blue waters, and then Mr. Bobbsey told Captain White to steer toward Lemby Creek.
"We'll go through the creek into Lake Romano," said the twins' father. "That is a much larger lake. We'll spend most of our houseboat vacation there. We will also visit the big waterfall."
"That will be lovely!" exclaimed Dorothy. Though she lived near the sea, she also loved inland waters, such as rivers and lakes.
The houseboat moved so slowly, and was such a safe craft, that Bert and Harry were allowed to steer at times, when Mr. Bobbsey or Captain White stood near them in case of any danger. The two boy cousins had taken turns steering, until the Bluebird was close to the place where Lemby Creek emptied into Lake Metoka.
"You'd better let me take the steering wheel, now," said Mr. Bobbsey to Bert. "There is a little current from the creek into the lake, and we don't want to run ashore."
In a little while the houseboat was safely in the creek. This stream of water was narrow, though it was deep enough to float the Bluebird easily. The shores were so close, at times, that the tree branches overhung the deck, and brushed the rails.
"I could almost jump ashore," said Harry.
"But you mustn't try it!" cautioned his aunt. "You might fall in, andSnap couldn't rescue you as easily as he did Snoop or the doll."
As the houseboat went slowly around a bend in the creek, Nan, who stood in front, near her father, suddenly uttered a cry, and pointed toward shore.
"What is it?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"There's that boy—Will Watson!" spoke Nan. "You know—the one who liked our boat so," and she pointed to the strange lad who worked for Mr. Hardee. The boy was walking along the shore of the creek, a fish pole over his shoulder.
"Oh, let's ask him how to catch fish!" proposed Bert. "We haven't had any luck at all!"