THE BLUEBERRY BOY
"What's the matter, Freddie? What has happened? I hope you haven't hurt
yourself," and Mrs. Bobbsey, who heard the small twin calling to Bert
about the tin bugs, hurried from the tent, where she was making the
beds, to see what the trouble was.
"No, Momsie, I'm not hurt," Freddie answered. "But look at my go-around
bugs!" and he held out the empty and broken box.
"What's the matter with them?" asked Mr. Bobbsey who came up just then
from the shore of the lake where he had gone to make sure the camp boats
were securely tied.
"My bugs are all gone!" went on Freddie. "They broke out of the box in
the night! They bited themselves out!"
"No, they didn't bite the box," said Flossie, coming up to look at what
her small brother held. "They just went around and around and around,
and they knocked a hole with their heads in the box and so they got out.
Did you look for them on the floor of the tent, Freddie?"
"No, I didn't."
"Come on, we'll have a look," Bert said. He dropped the shovel with
which he had been digging for worms and ran over to his little brother.
He took the box from Freddie.
"That must have been smashed in the moving," Bert said to his father.
"No, it wasn't smashed," Freddie said, hearing what Bert remarked to Mr.
Bobbsey. "Flossie and I were playing with the bugs yesterday after we
got here, and the box wasn't broken then. It was all right, and so were
the go-around bugs. But now they're gone!"
"Maybe the box fell off a table or something," said Mr. Bobbsey, "and
broke that way. We'll look on the floor of the tent for your bugs, my
little fat fireman."
But no bugs were to be found after a careful search had been made, and
Freddie and Flossie were quite disappointed.
"We can't go fishing if we can't find any bugs for to bait the hooks,"
said Freddie, tears in his blue eyes.
"Never mind," his father answered. "The tin bugs wouldn't have caught
many fish, and if we don't find your toys I'll get you some more when I
go to town. You and Bert had better keep on digging the worms, I guess.
They're better for fish."
"And I'll pick 'em up," offered Flossie. She was a queer little child in
some ways, not afraid of bugs and "crawly things."
It did not take Freddie or Flossie long to forget what had made them
unhappy, and though for a time they were sorry about the loss of the
bugs, they soon became so interested in helping Bert dig for worms that
they were quite jolly again.
"Here's an awful fat one, Flossie!" cried Freddie. "Pick that one up
just terribly careful-like. I'm going to save him for my hook, and maybe
I'll get the biggest fish of all."
"How'll you know where to find this one when you want it, I'd like to
know, Freddie Bobbsey?" returned his sister.
"Tie a blue ribbon on it," suggested Bert.
"Yes, we might," said Flossie slowly. "Maybe Nan has a ribbon. I'll
ask."
Bert laughed and said:
"I was just fooling, little fat fairy. I don't believe you can do that."
"I don't see why," dissented Freddie. "We can try, anyway. Here, I have
a red string in my pocket. That'll do better than a ribbon."
He pulled out the string, and the two smaller children tied it around
the middle of the earthworm, but, much to Flossie's dismay, they tied it
so tightly that it almost cut the worm in two.
"Oh, Freddie Bobbsey! You fix that right away!" cried his twin sister,
and he loosened the string.
Pretty soon Bert again dropped the spade he had taken up and said:
"There, Freddie, you dig awhile. I want to see about the lines and
poles. We have almost worms enough."
Freddie was glad to do this, and Flossie was eager to pick up the
crawling creatures. Bert went back to the tent to get out the poles,
lines and hooks. There he found his father and mother looking at the
broken box that had held the tin bugs.
"How do you think it became smashed?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked.
"I don't know," answered her husband. "It looks as though some one had
stepped on it."
"But who could do that? Flossie and Freddie think so much of the bugs
that they take good care of them, and they wouldn't put them where they
would be stepped on. Do you suppose any of the men that have been
helping set up the camp could have done it?"
"I hardly think so. If they did they wouldn't take the bugs away, and
that is what has happened. It seems to me as though the box had been
broken so the bugs could be taken out. For the cover fits on tightly,
and it often sticks. Freddie and Flossie often come to me to open it for
them. Probably whoever tried to open it could not do so at first, and
then stepped on it enough to crack it open without damaging the tin bugs
inside."
"But who would do such a thing?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, and Bert found
himself asking, in his mind, the same question.
"That's something we'll have to find out," said Mr. Bobbsey, and neither
of them noticed Bert, who, by this time, was inside the tent where the
fishing things were kept.
"Could it be the gypsies?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Well, I don't altogether believe all that talk about the gypsies," said
Mr. Bobbsey slowly. "I think they may have taken Helen's talking doll,
but that's all. However, if there are any gypsies here on the island,
and if they saw those gay red, yellow and spotted bugs of Flossie's and
Freddie's they might have taken them. They like those colors, and the
crawling bugs might amuse them."
"Oh, but if there are gypsies on this island I don't want to stay
camping here! They might take away some of the children--Flossie or
Freddie! Nan and Bert are too old."
"Nonsense!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey. "There are no gypsies here, and you
needn't worry."
"All the same I wish Snap were here with us," went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'd
feel safer if I knew the dog were with the children all the while, as he
was before."
"Well, if he doesn't come back, or if we don't find him soon, I'll get
another dog," promised Mr. Bobbsey. "Now don't worry about gypsies.
Maybe this broken box was only an accident."
"But what about the shadow you saw last night. Maybe that was a----"
Just then Dinah came waddling from the cook tent toward the large one
where Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey stood. Bert could see and hear all that went
on.
"Mrs. Bobbsey, did yo' take dat big piece ob bacon I cut a few slices
off of last night?" asked the cook.
"Why, no, Dinah, I didn't," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "Why do you ask?"
"'Cause as how dat bacon's gone. It's done gone complete! I hung it
inside de tent, up high where none ob dem chatterin' squirrels or
chipmunks could git it, an' now, when I want some fo' dinnah it's gone.
Maybe de chilluns took some fo' dere fish hooks, 'cause I done heah Bert
talk about bait."
"No, I didn't take it," answered Bert himself, stepping out of the small
tent where the poles, oars for the boats and other camp articles were
kept. "We've got worms enough for bait."
"Bacon gone, eh?" said Mr. Bobbsey. Then, as he looked at his wife and
glanced at Bert, he went on: "Well, maybe a stray dog jumped up and got
it. Some dogs can jump very high, Dinah. Snap could, I remember."
"Good land ob massy! Ef I t'ought dat 'er Snap had come back t' mah
honey lambs I'd be so glad I wouldn't mind de bacon," said the fat cook.
"But I don't reckon no dog took it, Mistah Bobbsey. I t'ink it war' a
two-legged robber dat----"
"Never mind that now, Dinah!" said Mrs. Bobbsey quickly. "Come here and
finish making the beds, I want to walk down to the lake with Mr.
Bobbsey," and she nodded to her husband. "One piece of bacon won't
matter," she went on. "We have plenty more."
"Yes, I knows _dat_," said Dinah, who was puzzled. "But if no 'count
folks is gwine t' come t' dish yeah camp an' walk off wif vittles dat
way----"
"It's time it was stopped, isn't it?" asked Bert, as he walked toward
the fat cook. "Say, Dinah," he went on as he saw his father and mother
stroll down to the shore of the lake, "did you hear a queer noise in the
night?"
"Did I heah a queer noise around de camp las' night?" repeated Dinah.
"Well, I suah _did_, honey lamb! I done heard a owl hoot, an' dat's a
suah sign ob bad luck."
"No, I don't mean that kind of noise, Dinah. Did you hear anything
else?"
"Yas. I done heah mah man Sam snore suffin' terrible! It were 'most like
thunder. Did you all heah dat, honey lamb?"
"No, I didn't hear that, Dinah," answered Bert, with a laugh. "But
something or somebody brushed past our tent in the night, and woke up
Freddie. Then my father went outside and saw some one sneaking away."
"Oh, mah good lan' ob massy!" cried Dinah. "Dat's where mah bacon went
to! Wait until I tells your fader, honey lamb, an'----"
"No! Hold on! Wait a minute!" cried Bert, catching Dinah by her apron as
she was hurrying away. "Dad knows it already, and so does mother. I
guess they don't want to scare us children, but I'm not afraid. I'll
tell you what I think, Dinah."
"What's dat?"
"I think there are gypsies on this island, and that they're after
Flossie and Freddie!"
"Oh, mah goodness! Oh, mah goodness! Oh, mah goodness!" cried Dinah
quickly. It seemed she could think of nothing else to say.
"But I'm not afraid," went on Bert. "We'll just have to keep a good
watch, and not let those two little twins out of our sight. Don't tell
my mother or father that you know this. You and I and Nan will keep
watch."
"Dat's what we will!" exclaimed the fat cook. "An' if dem gypsies lays
so much as a fingernail on mah honey lambs I'll pull de gold rings offen
dere ears an' frow dish water on 'em--dat's what I'll do to dem
gypsies!"
"I wish we had Snap back, or that Whisker were a dog instead of a goat,"
said Bert. "But maybe if I let Whisker roam around the camp at night
he'll be as good as a watch dog."
"He can butt wif his horns," said Dinah.
"Yes, and he can make a bleating noise. That's what I'll do," said Bert.
"I'll use Whisker as a watch dog. Now don't say anything to father or
mother about our knowing there're gypsies here," went on Bert.
"I won't--I won't say a word," promised Dinah. "But I'll keep mah ole
eyes skinned fo' Flossie an' Freddie, an' so will Sam. It's got 't be
mighty smart gypsies dat'll take away mah honey lambs!"
Bert was really much excited by what he had seen and heard. The smashing
of the box, what his father and mother thought about it, the taking of
the bacon and the scare the night before--all this was quite a surprise.
"Are you sure it's gypsies?" asked Nan when her older brother told her
what had happened.
"I'm _sure_ of it," said Bert. "Now what you and I've got to do is to
keep a good watch over Flossie and Freddie. Course we're too big for the
gypsies to take, but they could easy walk away with those little twins."
"What d'you s'pose they'd do with 'em, Bert, if they did take Flossie
and Freddie?"
"Oh, they wouldn't hurt 'em, of course. They'd just black up Flossie's
and Freddie's faces with walnut juice to make 'em look dark, like real
gypsies, and they'd keep 'em until dad paid a lot of money to get the
twins back."
"How much money?"
"Oh, maybe a thousand dollars--maybe more."
"Oh!" exclaimed Nan. "Then we must be sure never to let Flossie or
Freddie out of our sight. We've got to watch them every minute."
"Of course," agreed Bert. "We'll fool those gypsies yet."
Carrying out their plan to be very careful of their little brother and
sister, Bert and Nan took the small twins in the boat with them when
they went fishing an hour later. Bert would not go out far from the
shore of Blueberry Island--indeed, his mother had told him he must not,
for the lake was deep in places--and the older twins did about as much
watching the bushes along the bank for signs of gypsies as they did
fishing.
Flossie and Freddie, however, not worrying about any trouble, had lots
of fun tossing their baited hooks into the water, and Freddie yelled in
delight when he caught the first fish. Flossie also caught one, but it
was very small, and Bert made her put it back in the lake.
The children caught enough fish for a meal, though when they started out
neither their father nor mother thought they would. But the worms proved
to be good bait.
"We'd have caught bigger fish if we'd had my tin bugs for bait," said
Freddie.
"I don't want my bugs put on a hook," said Flossie. "When will you find
them, Freddie, and make them go around and around?"
"I don't know," he answered.
The tents were put in good order and for two or three days the children
had great sport playing, going fishing and taking walks in the woods
with their father and mother, or going for trips on the lake. There were
no more night scares.
"Maybe it wasn't gypsies after all," said Nan to her brother one day.
"Yes, it was," he said. "They were here, but they went away when they
found out we knew about them. But they'll come back, and then they may
try to take Flossie or Freddie. We've got to keep a good watch."
It was about a week after they had come to Blueberry Island that the
Bobbsey twins--all four of them--went for a ride in the goat wagon.
There was a good road which ran the whole length of the island, and
Whisker could easily pull the wagon along it.
The twins had taken their lunch and were to have a sort of picnic in the
woods. They rode under the green trees, stopped to gather flowers, and
Nan made a wreath of ferns which she put over Whisker's horns, making
him look very funny, indeed. Then the twins found a nice grassy spot
near a spring of water, and sat down to eat the good things Dinah had
put up for their lunch.
Freddie had taken one bite of a chicken sandwich when, all of a sudden,
there was a noise in the bushes near him, and a queer face peered out.
Freddie gave one look at it, and, dropping his piece of bread and
chicken, cried:
"Oh, it's a blueberry boy! It's a blueberry boy! Oh, look!"