The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook | Page 5

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?"