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THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK LAURA LEE HOPE CONTENTS
I. A CROCKERY CRASH
II. NEW SUMMER PLANS
III. THE RUNAWAY BOY
IV. OFF FOR MEADOW BROOK
V. SNAP'S ESCAPE
VI. AT MEADOW BROOK
VII. THE PICNIC
VIII. LOST IN THE HAY
IX. THE FIVE-PIN SHOW
X. A SHAM BATTLE
XI. MOVING PICTURES
XII. THE BOBBSEYS ACT
XIII. THE CIRCUS
XIV. FREDDIE IS MISSING
XV. FOUND AGAIN
XVI. FRANK'S STORY
XVII. A WILD ANIMAL SCARE
XVIII. WHAT FREDDIE SAW
XIX. IN SWIMMING
XX. FRANK COMES BACK
XXI. BAD MONEY
XXII. HAPPY DAYS
CHAPTER I
A CROCKERY CRASH
"Well here we are back home again!" exclaimed Nan Bobbsey as she sat
down in a chair on the porch. "Oh but we have had _such_ a good
time!"
"The best ever!" exclaimed her brother Bert as he set down the valise
he had been carrying and walked back to the front gate to take a
small satchel from his mother.
"I'm going to carry mine! I want to carry mine all the way!" cried
little fat Freddie Bobbsey thinking perhaps his bigger brother might
want to take too his bundle.
"All right you can carry your own Freddie" said Bert pleasantly.
"But it's pretty heavy for you."
"It--it isn't very heavy" panted Freddie as he struggled on with his
bundle his short fat legs fairly "twinkling" to and fro as he came up
the walk. "It's got some cookies in too my bundle has; and Flossie
and I are going to eat 'em when we get on the porch."
"Oh so that's the reason you didn't want Bert to take your package
is it?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey with a smile as she patted the little fat
chap on the head.
"Oh well I'll give Bert a cookie if he wants one" said Freddie
generously "but I'm strong enough to carry my own bundle all the way;
aren't I Dinah?" and he appealed to a fat good-natured looking
colored woman who was waddling along carrying a number of packages.
"Dat's what yo' is honey lamb! Dat's what yo' is!" Dinah exclaimed.
"An' ef I could see dat man ob mine Sam Johnson I'd make him take
some ob dese yeah t'ings."
As Dinah spoke there came from around the corner of the house a tall
slim colored man who as soon as he saw the party of returning
travelers ran forward to help them carry their luggage.
"Well it's about time dat yo' come t' help us Sam Johnson!"
exclaimed his wife. "It's about time!"
"Didn't know yo' all was a-comin' Dinah! Didn't know yo' all would
get heah so soon 'deed I didn't!" Sam exclaimed with a laugh that
showed his white teeth in strange contrast to his black face.
"Freddie shall I take yo' package? Flossie let me reliebe yo'
little Missie!"
"No Sam thank you!" answered the little girl who was just about the
size and build of Freddie. "I have only Snoop our cat and I can
carry him easily enough. You help Dinah!"
"'Deed an' he had better help me!" exclaimed the colored cook.
Sam took all the packages he could carry and hurried with them to the
stoop. But he had not gone very far before something happened.
From behind him rushed a big dog barking and leaping about glad
probably to be home again from part of the summer vacation.
"Look out Sam!" called Bert Bobbsey who was carrying the valise his
mother had had. "Lookout!"
"What's de mattah? Am I droppin' suffin?" asked Sam trying to turn
about and look at all the bundles and packages he had in his arms and
hands.
"It's Snap!" cried Nan who was sitting comfortably on the shady
porch. "Look out for him Sam."
"Snap! Behave yourself!" ordered little fat Flossie as she set down a
wooden cage containing a black cat. "Be good Snap!"
"Here Snap! Snap! Come here!" called Freddie.
Snap the big dog was too excited just then to mind. With another
loud joyous bark he rushed up behind Sam and as the colored man of
all work about the Bobbsey place had very bow or curved legs Snap
ran right between them. That is he ran half way and then as he was
a pretty fat dog he stuck there.
"Good land ob massy!" exclaimed Sam as he looked down to see the dog
half way between his bow legs Snap's head sticking out one way and
his wagging tail the other. "Get out ob dat Snap!" cried Sam. "Get
out! Move on sah!"
"Bow wow!" barked Snap which might have meant almost anything.
"Look out!" shouted Sam. "Yo'll upset me! Dat's what you will!"
And indeed it did seem as though this might happen. For Sam was so
laden down with packages that he could not balance himself very well
and had almost toppled over.
"Here Snap!" called Bert who was laughing so hard that he could
hardly stand up for really it was a funny sight.
"Don't call him Bert" advised Mrs. Bobbsey. "If you do he'll run
out and then Sam surely will be knocked over. And there are some
fresh eggs in one of those packages he took from Dinah."
Snap himself did not seem to know what to do. There he was tightly
held fast his fat sides between Sam's bow legs. Snap could go neither
forward nor backward just then. He barked and wagged his tail for he
knew it was all in fun.
"Open your legs wider Sam man!" exclaimed his wife. "Den de dorg kin
git out!"
Sam holding tightly to the packages did manage to stoop down and so
spread his legs a little farther apart. This released Snap who with
a happy bark and a wild wagging of his tail bounded up on the stoop
where Nan sat.
A little later the whole Bobbsey family with the exception of Mr.
Bobbsey were sitting comfortably in the porch chairs while Sam was
opening the front shutters having already unlocked the front door for
the returning family.
"Home again!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey with a little sigh as she
looked around at the familiar scenes. "My but how dusty it is after
being on the lovely water."
"Yes'm dey shuah has been lots ob dust!" exclaimed Sam. "We need rain
mighty bad an' I've had de garden hose goin' ebery night too."
"I'll soon sweep off dish yeah porch" said Dinah. "Sam yo' git me a
broom."
"Oh don't bother now Dinah" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Make a cup of tea
first. The dust doesn't matter and we'll not be here long."
"Won't we?" exclaimed Nan. "Oh where are we going next?"
"We'll talk about it as soon as your father comes home" said Mrs.
Bobbsey for her husband had stopped on the way from the houseboat
dock where the family had lately landed to go to his lumber office
for a little while.
"Let Snoop out!" begged little Flossie. "Snoop's tired of being shut
up in that box." In order to carry him from the boat to the house
Snoop had been put in a small traveling crate.
"I'll let him out as soon as I get a screwdriver" promised Bert. "My
but it's hot here!"
"Indeed it is" agreed his mother who was fanning herself with her
pocket handkerchief as she sat in a rocking-chair. "It isn't much like
our nice houseboat is it?"
"No indeed" agreed Nan. "I wish we hadn't come home."
"And summer is only half over" went on Bert. "Here it is only
August."
"Oh well there are plenty of good times ahead of you children yet
before school begins" said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Now let's see. Have we
everything?" and she looked at the pile of bundles and valises on the
porch.
"I guess we didn't forget anything except papa" said Freddie. "And
he's coming" he added as the others laughed.
"Sam am de fire made?" demanded Dinah. "I wants t' make a cup ob
tea."
"Fire all made" reported the colored man. "I'll go git a fresh pail
ob water now. I didn't know jest prezackly when yo' was comin'" he
said to Mrs. Bobbsey "or I'd a' been down to de dock t' meet de
houseboat."
"Might a' come anyhow" muttered Dinah. "Yo' all didn't hab nuffin' t'
do heah!"
"Huh! I didn't eh?" cried Sam. "Nuffin t' do! Why I cut de grass
an' fed de chickens an' watered de lawn an'--an'--"
"Go 'long wif yo'" ordered his wife with a laugh. "Bring in some mo'
wood for de fire!"
"And get a screw-driver so I can let Snoop out" begged Flossie. "He's
tired of being shut up in the crate!"
"Right away Missie! Right away!" promised good-natured Sam.
A little later Snoop the black cat was stretching himself on the
porch while Snap the big dog rushed up and down the lawn barking
loudly to let all the neighbors' dogs know he was back home again--at
least for a time.
Meanwhile Bert as the "little man of the house" had brought in the
packages and satchels from the porch. Nan was helping her mother get
out a cool kimona while Dinah was down in the kitchen getting ready a
cup of tea for Mrs. Bobbsey.
Flossie and Freddie as the youngest Bobbsey twins had nothing in
particular to do so they ran about here there everywhere renewing
acquaintance with the familiar objects about the yard--things they had
forgotten during the two months they had been away on a houseboat for
part of their summer vacation.
"Oh look! My flower-bed is full of weeds!" cried Flossie as she came
to a corner of the yard where she had set out some pansy plants just
before going away.
"And I can't even see the lettuce I planted" said Freddie. "I guess
Sam didn't weed our gardens."
"Never mind we can make new ones" Flossie said. "Oh Freddie look!
There's a strange cat!" Both children ran to where Snoop was making
the acquaintance of a pussy friend. The cats seemed to like one
another and the strange one let the little twins pet it as it lapped
some milk from Snoop's saucer.
A little later Dinah called Flossie and Freddie into the house to have
a glass of milk and some bread and jam for it was past lunch time.
The small twins came willingly enough.
"What are we going to do the rest of the summer?" asked Nan as she
sat next to her mother at the table. "Are we going away again?"
"I hope so!" exclaimed Bert. "The houseboat suited me but if we can
have a trip to the seashore or go to the country so much the
better."
"We shall see" half-promised Mrs. Bobbsey. "As soon as papa comes
home from the office he will know how much more time he can spare
from business to go with us. Then I can tell you--"
"There he comes now mamma!" exclaimed Nan. "Oh excuse me for
interrupting you" she went on for Mrs. Bobbsey insisted upon the
children being just as polite at home and to one another as they
would be among strangers.
"That's all right Nan" said her mother kindly. "When papa comes in
and has had a cup of tea we'll talk over matters and decide what to
do."
"Well are you all settled?" asked Mr. Bobbsey as he came in
catching little Freddie up in his strong arms. "Haven't put out any
fires since you got here have you?" he asked for Freddie had a great
love for playing fireman and he often put out "make-believe" blazes
with a toy fire engine he had which squirted real water.
"No alarms to-day" laughed Freddie for his father was tickling him
in his "fat ribs" as Freddie called them.
"How's my little fat fairy?" went on Mr. Bobbsey catching Flossie up
as he had Freddie.
"All right." she answered. "Oh papa your whiskers prick!" she cried
as Mr. Bobbsey kissed her.
"Sit down and have a cup of tea" invited Mrs. Bobbsey. "Then we can
talk about what we are to do. The children are anxious to get away
again and if we _are_ to go there is no need of unpacking more than
we have to."
"Would you like to go to Meadow Brook?" asked Mr. Bobbsey looking at
his happy family.
"You know I would" answered his wife with a smile.
"Meadow Brook! Oh are we going there?" cried Nan.
"Well Uncle Daniel has sent us an invitation" said Mr. Bobbsey "and
your mother and I are thinking of it."
"Can you leave your lumber business long enough to go with us?" asked
Mrs. Bobbsey.
"I think so" replied her husband. "I just stopped at the office and
everything there is going along nicely. So I think we'll go to Meadow
Brook in the country for the rest of the summer."
"Hurray! Hurrah! Oh how nice!" cried the children.
"Dinah I think I'll have another cup of tea" went on Mr. Bobbsey as
the colored cook waddled in. "Make it cold this time--with ice in it.
I am very warm."
"Yais-sah" said Dinah taking his cup.
Then followed a confusion of talk the two sets of twins doing the
most. They were joyfully excited at the idea of going to Meadow Brook
farm.
"I'm going to turn somersaults in the grass--just like this" cried
Freddie rolling over and over on the floor. He rolled toward the door
that led from the dining-room to the kitchen and just as he reached
it Dinah came in with Mr. Bobbsey's cup of iced tea.
Before Freddie could stop himself and before fat Dinah could get out
of the way the little Bobbsey chap had rolled right into the cook
and down she went in a heap on the floor the cup and saucer crashing
into dozens of pieces and the tea spilling all over.
CHAPTER II
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.
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