THE SEARCHING PARTY
Every one at the fair grounds was anxious to help Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey
get back Flossie and Freddie, who had been carried off in the runaway
balloon. The men who owned the big gas bag were the first to make the
right sort of plans.
"The balloon is being blown over the lake," said Mr. Trench, the owner
of the big bag. "We must go in that direction."
"Over the lake!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "Oh, if they should fall in!"
"The balloon will float on the water," her husband told her. "The
children will be all right, I'm sure."
"Yes, indeed," agreed Mr. Trench. "Don't worry, lady. We'll get your
children back. The first thing to do is to go to the lake, and then we
can hire a motor-boat there."
"I'm going with you!" declared Mrs. Bobbsey, as she saw the preparations
being made for the searching party.
"I think you had better stay with Bert and Nan," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"Oh, we'll be all right!" Nan hastened to tell her father.
"Can't Harry and I come on the searching party?" asked Bert.
"No, I would rather not," his father answered. "You stay with your
mother and Nan."
"I simply am coming with you, Dick!" said Mrs. Bobbsey, and when she
spoke in that tone her husband knew there was no use trying to get her
to change her mind.
"Very well," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "We will go to the lake in my auto. Mr.
Trench knows where we can hire a motor-boat."
The lake, a large one, came within a few miles of the fair grounds. The
balloon man knew in which direction the water lay, and he had seen the
wind carrying the big gas bag toward the water.
"Bert, you and Nan and Harry must go back to Meadow Brook Farm,"
directed Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll see if I can't hire an auto to take you
there, as it is going to storm soon. It's sprinkling now."
"We'll take them back," offered a gentleman who had come to the fair
with his wife in their auto. "I know where Meadow Brook Farm is. We'll
take these children there."
"Thank you, very much," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And tell your uncle and aunt
what has happened, Bert. Tell them we expect to be home before night
with Flossie and Freddie."
"Oh, if we only can be!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey.
"We'll find the little ones all right--never fear!" said Mr. Trench. "If
you're ready now, we'll start."
So while Nan, Bert and Harry remained behind in charge of Mr. Blackford,
who had offered to take them home in his automobile, Mr. and Mrs.
Bobbsey, with some men who had charge of the balloon, started off to go
to the lake, there to hire a boat and search for Flossie and Freddie.
"They're out of sight. How far away they must be!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey,
as she entered the automobile. She looked up, but could not see the
balloon, so fast had it been blown away.
"They aren't so far as it seems," declared Mr. Trench. "It's getting
foggy, and it's going to rain hard soon."
As Bert, Nan, and Harry were getting in Mr. Blackford's automobile to go
to Meadow Brook Farm, Bob Guess came hurrying up through the rain. The
merry-go-round, as well as other amusements at the fair, had shut down
on account of the storm.
"Where's your father?" asked Bob of Bert. "I've something to tell him.
Where is he?"
"He's gone off after the balloon. Flossie and Freddie are in it," Nan
answered.
"Whew! Those little children taking a balloon ride!" cried Bob. "How did
they dare?"
"It was an accident," Harry explained. "They didn't mean to."
"Well, tell your father I want to see him when he gets back," said Bob,
as he hurried back to the merry-go-round. "I have something to tell him
about Mr. Blipper."
However, Bert and Nan had other things to think about then than about
Mr. Blipper. They were worried over what might happen to Flossie and
Freddie.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were hastening toward the lake. Mr.
Bobbsey drove his car as fast as he dared through the storm. It was now
raining hard.
"How long would the balloon stay up in the air?" asked Mr. Bobbsey of
Mr. Trench.
"It all depends. On a hot day, when the sun warms the gas, it would stay
up a long time. But when it is cool, like this, and rains, it will not
stay up so long. It will come down gently, and I am sure the children
will not be hurt."
As they drove along they stopped now and then to ask people if they had
seen the runaway balloon. Many had, and all said it was sailing toward
the lake.
When the lake was reached and a motor-boat had been found which would
take them out on the water, several men said they had seen the big gas
bag beginning to go down near Hemlock Island, the largest island in the
lake.
"If they have only landed there they may be all right," Mrs. Bobbsey
said. "Oh, hurry and get there, Dick!"
"We'll hurry all we can," her husband told her, as they got into the
boat to continue the search. "But this is a bad storm. We must be
careful."