THE BIG SWING
Mr. Bobbsey and Bert now looked on a rather sad scene in the hotel
sitting room. On one side of the apartment stood Mr. Blipper, having
hold of the coat collar of Bob Guess. And Bob was crying again.
On the other side of the room stood Mrs. Bobbsey with Nan, Flossie, and
Freddie close to her. At one end of the room, looking in through the
door, was the good-natured but easy-going proprietor of the hotel and
some of the servants.
"What is going on here?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"I'm going away, if that's what you mean!" snapped out Mr. Blipper in
angry tones. "I traced this runaway adopted son of mine here, and I'm
taking him back with me. This lady says I can't!"
"I told him to wait until you came back," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I didn't
want him to take poor Bob away. I don't believe he has any right to take
him."
"I don't know who you are!" spluttered the angry Mr. Blipper. "But you
haven't any right to stop me."
"This lady is my wife," said Mr. Bobbsey, and he spoke in such a way
that Mr. Blipper at once lost some of his bluster. "She has the same
right that any one has to inquire into something he thinks is wrong."
"But this isn't wrong!" cried Mr. Blipper. "I have a right to this boy.
I adopted him legally, I did! I gave him a name when he didn't have any
before. Bob Guess I call him, 'cause I had to guess at his name. I took
him out of an orphan asylum and give him a good home!"
"Home!" cried Bob Guess. "You didn't give me any _home_! You keep
dragging me all over the country with that merry-go-round! I haven't any
home except sleepin' in a truck."
"You were glad enough to come with me!" sneered Mr. Blipper.
"Anyway, I'm sick of it. That's why I ran away."
"Well, you're going to run back again!" said Mr. Blipper, grimly, as he
gave the boy a shake.
"Wait a minute," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Have you a legal right to this boy?"
"That's what I have. I expected some such question would be asked of me,
and I brought along my papers. There they are. You can look 'em over for
yourself."
He tossed a long envelope containing papers to Mr. Bobbsey, and the
latter looked at the documents.
"Don't let him take me back!" pleaded Bob Guess. "I don't like him!"
"I don't like you, when it comes to that!" sneered the angry man. "But
I'm going to have you back! I have a right to you, and you've got to
work for me."
"These papers seem to be all right," said Mr. Bobbsey, slowly. "He is
your legal guardian, Bob. You had better go with him, and do as he says.
But if he treats you cruelly let me know. I am going to the Bolton
County Fair, and when I get there I'll keep my eye on you."
"Say, who are you, anyhow?" sneered Mr. Blipper.
"My name is Bobbsey," answered the children's father. "I live in
Lakeport. I thought perhaps you might know my name."
"How should I know your name?"
"It was on some papers in my coat that disappeared from the Sunday
school picnic grounds the day you had trouble with your engine near the
grove."
Mr. Blipper looked first at Bob and then at Mr. Bobbsey.
"Say!" cried the merry-go-round owner, "maybe you think I know something
about your coat."
"Maybe you do," answered Mr. Bobbsey, easily.
"And the lap robe!" whispered Bert.
"Hush, Bert!" warned his mother. "Leave this to Daddy!"
"Well, I don't know anything about your coat or a lap robe, either!"
declared Mr. Blipper. "All I know is that Bob ran away from me, and now
I'm going to run him back!"
There seemed no help for it. Mr. Bobbsey sadly shook his head when the
twins and his wife pleaded with him to do something to save Bob.
"Those papers show the boy is adopted," he said. "I can do nothing. But
we'll keep our eyes on him. We are going to the fair, and if Bob is not
kindly treated I'll complain to the Children's Aid Society."
"You don't need to worry!" gruffly said Mr. Blipper. "I'll treat him as
well as he deserves."
"Am I to keep these clothes?" asked Bob, as Mr. Blipper led him away.
"Of course," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I bought them for you."
"What's that? Who's been giving you clothes?" demanded Mr. Blipper.
"Don't you think he needed them?" inquired Mrs. Bobbsey, gently.
"Well--er--I was going to buy him a new suit after we took in some money
at the Bolton Fair," sheepishly said Mr. Blipper. "I--I'm much obliged
to you folks, though. Bob isn't a bad boy when he wants to be good. Come
on now. I've a rig outside and we can get back to the fair grounds
to-night if we hurry."
With a sad look at the friends who had been so kind to him, Bob followed
his adopted father out of the room. He did not cry, but he seemed to
want to.
"Good-by!" called the Bobbsey twins. "We'll see you at the fair!"
"Good-by!" echoed Bob Guess.
The Bobbsey twins wondered when they would see him again.
It might be thought that the excitement of the runaway boy who was
caught again would keep Bert and Nan awake. Flossie and Freddie were too
young to give the matter much attention. But though the older Bobbsey
twins felt sorry for the lad, they had the idea that their father would
make matters all right concerning him, and so they did not lie awake
vainly worrying.
They slept soundly, the night passed quietly, and in the morning after
an early breakfast the family were on their way again in the automobile
which had been mended during the night.
"We'll soon be at Meadow Brook Farm, sha'n't we?" asked Freddie over and
over again.
"Yes," his mother told him.
"And I'm going to milk a cow, I am!" announced Flossie.
"So'm I!" echoed Freddie. "I'm goin' milk two cows, I am!"
"I guess you mean you're going to see them milked!" laughed Nan.
"Milking cows would be hard work even for Bert."
"Maybe I could milk a little teeny weeny cow," suggested Freddie.
"Well, we'll have some fun, anyhow!" said Nan.
And fun they did have! It started almost as soon as they reached the
farm of their Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah.
"Say, I'm glad you came!" exclaimed Harry, as he greeted his four
cousins while the older folks were talking among themselves. "I have
something fine to show you."
"What?" asked Bert.
"A big swing! You ought to see it! It's out under the apple tree down by
the brook!"
"Oh, I'm going to sail my boat in the brook!" cried Freddie, as soon as
he heard the mention of water.
"An' I'll get Rosamond an' give her a ride on your boat!" cried Flossie.
Rosamond was a small doll Flossie had brought along.
"All right," agreed Bert, seeing a chance for the smaller twins to play
by themselves while he and Nan experimented with the swing. "You get
your boat, Freddie, and you get your doll, Flossie, and we'll all go
down to the brook and apple tree together."
"Be careful, now!" called Mrs. Bobbsey, as the children ran off.
"We will," they promised. And really they meant to, but you know how it
often is--things happen that you can't help.
"There's the swing!" cried Harry, pointing to it dangling from the
sturdy limb of the big apple tree. "Daddy put it up for me last week.
I'm glad you came. We can have lots of fun in it."
"We want some swings!" cried Freddie.
"After a bit," promised Nan. "Sail your boat now, and give Rosamond a
ride, Flossie, and you shall have some swings after that."
The water was more of an attraction for the smaller twins than was the
swing, and thus Nan, Bert and Harry had it to themselves. While Flossie
and Freddie played with the doll and the boat, the older children took
turns seeing how high they could go. Then they would let the "old cat
die," that is, stay in the swing, without trying to make it sway, until
it came to a dead stop.
"I know what we can do!" cried Bert, when they were tired of swinging.
"What?" asked Harry.
"We can shinny up the rope like sailors. I can go 'way up to the limb."
Bert was a sturdy chap, and soon he was "shinnying," or climbing, up the
rope like a human monkey. Then Harry did it, managing to reach the big
limb, to which the rope was fastened, more quickly than had Bert.
"Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Nan, when the two boys were on the ground
again.
"Pooh! Girls can't climb ropes!" declared Harry.
"Yes, I can, too! You watch!"
Nan was almost as strong as her brother. She caught hold of the rope,
and managed to scramble up, though it was hard work.
"You can't do it!" laughed Harry, when, almost at the top, she paused
for a moment.
"Yes, I can! I can! You just watch!"
Nan gave a wiggle, another scramble, and then, just as she managed to
get one leg over the limb, she slipped.
"Oh! Oh!" she screamed. "I'm going to fall!"
But she did not fall. Instead, one foot caught in a loop of the rope,
and there poor Nan hung, half way over the limb, one leg dangling down,
and her hands clutching the rope. She could neither get up nor down! She
was caught on the limb of the tree!