NEW SUMMER PLANS
"Oh, Freddie!"
"Oh, Dinah!"
"Are you hurt?"
Thus came the cries, and as Snap, the dog, rushed in just then,
barking and leaping about, he made the confusion all the worse.
Mr. Bobbsey sprang from his chair, lifted Freddie out of the way, and
then helped Dinah to her feet. The fat, colored cook looked around in
a dazed manner, and Freddie, too, did not seem to know just what had
happened to him.
"Oh, don't tell me he is hurt--or Dinah, either!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey,
holding her hands over her eyes, as though she might see something
unpleasant.
"I--I'm not hurt," said Freddie, "but I--I'm all wet!"
"Bress yo' heart, honey lamb! I'se glad ob dat!" cried Dinah, as she
wiped her face on her apron, for the tea had splashed on her.
"Are you all right, Dinah?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, setting Freddie down,
for he had caught his little fat son up in his arms.
"Shuah, I'se all right, sah," the colored cook answered. "Jest shook
up a bit. I'se so fat it doesn't hurt me t' fall," she explained. "An'
I shuah am glad I didn't fall on Freddie. He done knocked mah feet
right out from under me!"
"Yes, you shouldn't have turned somersaults in the house," said Mrs.
Bobbsey. "That wasn't right, Freddie."
"I--I wasn't exactly turning somersaults," Freddie explained, as he
dried his face in his pocket handkerchief. "I was jest rollin' over
an' over, like I'm goin' to do down at Meadow Brook."
"Well, it was almost as bad as turning somersaults," said Nan. "My,
but I got _so_ excited."
"Pooh! It wasn't anything," spoke Bert. "It's a good thing, though,
that it was iced tea, instead of being hot."
"Indeed that was a blessing," said Mrs. Bobbsey, while Dinah began
picking up the pieces of the cup and saucer. "You must be more
careful, Freddie."
"I will, ma," he promised. "But tell us about Meadow Brook. When can
we go?"
"Not until you get a dry suit on, at least," said Mr. Bobbsey with a
smile. "You had better change, Freddie. You are all wet from my cup of
tea."
"I'll put dry things on him," offered Nan, leading the little fellow
from the room. "But don't talk over any plans until I come back," she
begged.
"We won't," promised her mother.
And while the house is settling into quietness, after the confusion of
the temporary home-coming, and the upsetting of Dinah and Freddie, I
will take just a few moments to tell my new readers something about
the Bobbsey Twins as they have been written about in the other books
of this series.
There were two sets of twins, and that may seem strange until I tell
you that Bert and Nan, aged about nine, formed one set, and Flossie
and Freddie, aged four years younger, made up the second set. Bert and
Nan were tall and slim, with dark hair and eyes, while Flossie and
Freddie were fat and short, with light hair and blue eyes, making a
very different appearance from the older twins.
Besides the two sets of Bobbsey twins, there was Mr. Richard Bobbsey,
and his wife Mary. They lived in an Eastern city called Lakeport, on
Lake Metoka, where Mr. Bobbsey had a large lumber business.
I might say that Dinah Johnson, and her husband Sam, also formed part
of the Bobbsey household, for without Dinah to cook, and without Sam
to do everything around the house, from watering the grass to putting
out the ashes, I do not know how Mrs. Bobbsey would have gotten
along. And then, of course, there was Snoop, the black cat, and Snap,
the nice dog, who had once been in a circus, and could do many tricks.
So much for the Bobbsey family. As for what they did, if you will read
the first book of the series, which volume is called "The Bobbsey
Twins," you will get a good idea of the many good times Flossie,
Freddie, Bert and Nan had.
Uncle Daniel Bobbsey, who was Mr. Bobbsey's brother, and his wife,
Aunt Sarah, lived in the country at Meadow Brook Farm. They had a ten
year old son, named Harry, and he and Bert were great chums whenever
they were together.
The Bobbsey twins often went to the country, and also to the seashore,
where their Uncle William and Aunt Emily, as well as their cousin
Dorothy, lived, at a place called Ocean Cliff.
You may read of the fun the twins had at these places in the country
and seashore books.
Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie also had fun at school, and when they
went to Snow Lodge they had what were, to them, a wonderful series of
adventures, and solved a strange mystery.
Their last trip had been on a houseboat. It was called the _Bluebird_,
and they had voyaged down Lake Metoka to Lemby Creek, and through that
to Lake Romano, where they had fine times. There was a mystery on the
_Bluebird_, but Bert, and his cousin Harry, who was with him, found
out what made the queer noises.
Cousin Dorothy was also a guest on the houseboat trip, and she and
Nan, who were about the same age, greatly enjoyed themselves. The
Bobbseys, and their country and seashore cousins, had come back from
the trip, Dorothy going to her home, and Harry to his, when there
happened the little accident to Freddie and Dinah, which I have
mentioned in the first chapter of this book.
Now the house was quiet once again. Freddie had on a clean dry suit,
Dinah had changed her damp apron for a fresh one, and Mr. Bobbsey was
sipping his cup of iced tea, which was not spilled this time.
"Now can you tell us what we are going to do the rest of this summer
vacation?" asked Bert.
"Yes," said Mr. Bobbsey, "I can. Your Uncle William, as I started to
tell you, before Freddie gave us that circus exhibition, has invited
us up to Meadow Brook. And, as I have a little time I can spare from
my business, I think I shall take you all down there. We can go to the
country and have a fine time."
"We had a good time on the houseboat," said Nan. "It was lovely
there."
"Indeed it was," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey.
"And when we found the ghost!" exclaimed Bert.
"Hush! You mustn't say ghost!" cautioned Mrs. Bobbsey, with a smile.
"It wasn't a ghost, you know."
"Well, we thought it was--at first," laughed Bert. "Anyhow we'll have
some fun at Meadow Brook."
"I'm going to fly a kite!" declared Freddie.
"All right, as long as you don't tie Snoop to the tail of it," said
his father.
"And I'm going to feed the chickens," exclaimed Flossie.
"But you mustn't chase the rooster," cautioned her mother.
"I won't," promised the little fat twin.
"Now when are we going?" asked Nan.
"What train do we take?" Bert wanted to know.
"I'll have to see to all that to-morrow," said Mr. Bobbsey. "We might
as well go right off to the country, for it is not very pleasant
staying in the hot city. We won't need to unpack much, for we'll stay
here only this one night. To-morrow morning we shall start for Meadow
Brook."
"And are we going to take the _Bluebird_ along?" inquired Flossie.
"No, the houseboat will stay at home this trip," her mother said.
"There isn't enough water at Meadow Brook to sail the _Bluebird_."
They talked over their new summer plans, and the children were
delighted at the prospect of going to see their cousin, their uncle
and their aunt.
"Dinah is going, isn't she?" asked Nan.
"Oh, yes, we couldn't get along without her," answered Mrs. Bobbsey
with a smile.
"And I'm going to take Snoop!" cried Freddie, hugging the big, black
cat, which did not seem to mind being loved so hard.
"Well if Snoop goes, then we ought to take Snap, the dog, too,"
declared Bert. "Snap would be lonesome if he were left behind,
wouldn't he?"
"Oh, may we take them both, mamma?" begged Nan.
"Well, I guess so," was the answer, as Mrs. Bobbsey looked at her
husband.
"That will be all right," he nodded. "The country is just the place
for dogs and cats--it's better for them than houseboats."
"Oh, what fun we'll have!" sang Flossie. "What lovely times!"
"And I'm going to take my fire engine, and squirt water in it from the
brook," declared Freddie.
"Well, be careful not to fall in," his father said. "And now I shall
have to go back to the office again, to do a little work so as to get
ready for going away again. So I'll leave my little fat fireman and
fat fairy for a while," and he smiled at Freddie and Flossie, as he
called them by their pet names.
As the Bobbseys were to leave town soon, they did not unpack very much
from the valises they had brought from the houseboat.
This boat was tied up at a dock in the lumber yard, which was on the
edge of the lake. The children spent the morning playing about in the
yard, some of their friends, who had not gone away for the summer,
coming to join in their games.
After lunch Mr. Bobbsey came up to the house in an automobile,
bringing his wife some things she had asked him to get from the store.
"Oh, may I have a ride?" begged Freddie, when he saw his father in the
machine, which Mr. Bobbsey and some of the other members of his lumber
firm used when they were in a hurry.
"Yes, jump in!" invited his father. "Want to come, Bert?" he asked of
the older Bobbsey boy.
"Yes, thank you," was the answer. "Where are you going?"
"I have to go up the lake shore, to a place called Tenbly, to see
another lumber dealer on some business," Mr. Bobbsey said. "Where are
Nan and Flossie?" he asked his wife, who had come out on the porch
just then. "I could take them along also. There is plenty of room."
"Flossie and Nan have gone over to Mrs. Black's house," Mrs. Bobbsey
said. "Run along without them. It's just as well. I'd rather they
wouldn't be out in the hot sun, as we have to take a long train
journey to-morrow."
"All right," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, as he started off in the automobile
with Freddie and Bert. "We'll soon be back."
Neither Mr. Bobbsey nor the boys knew what was to happen on that ride,
nor how it was to affect them afterward.