The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook | Page 6

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.
CHAPTER III
THE RUNAWAY BOY
It was a pleasant trip for Freddie and Bert to ride with their father in the
automobile along the shady shores of the lake. The little twin, and the
bigger one, sat back on the cushions, now and then bouncing up and
down as the machine went over a rough place in the road.
Freddie, being lighter than Bert, bounced up and down oftener, but then
he was so fat, almost "like a lump of butter," as his mother used to say,
that he did not much mind it.
"I wish we could take this machine to Meadow Brook Farm with us,"
said Bert, as they neared the lumber yard of Mr. Mason, with whom Mr.
Bobbsey had business that day.
"We can ride in one of Uncle Daniel's carriages," said Freddie. "Or
maybe I can ride horse-back. That would be fun!" he cried, his bright
eyes sparkling.
"It's fun--if you don't fall off," Bert said.
As the automobile passed around a curve in the road, where the lake
could be seen stretching out its sparkling waters in the bright sun, Bert
suddenly uttered a cry, and pointed ahead.

"Look!" he exclaimed. "There are two little girls drifting out in that
boat, and they don't seem to know how to row to shore."
Mr. Bobbsey steered the machine down to the edge of the lake, over the
grass at one side of the road. As he did so he and the two boys heard
voices faintly calling:
"Help!! Help! Oh, somebody please come and get us!"
"I'll get them--I can row, and there's another boat on shore," said Bert,
pointing to a craft drawn up on the sand.
"I guess I'd better go out--you stay with Freddie," directed the lumber
merchant, as he brought the automobile to a stop, and jumped out.
"I'm coming!" he called to the two little girls in the drifting boat. "Don't
be afraid, and sit still! Don't stand up!"
He needed to caution them thus, for one of the girls, seeing that help
was on the way, grew so excited that she stood up, and this is always
dangerous to do in a rowboat on the water. Rowboats tip over very
easily, and sometimes even good swimmers may be caught under them.
"I wish I could help get them," sighed fat Freddie, as he saw his father
run down to the shore of the lake, and shove the other boat into the
water.
"It's best to let papa do it," said Bert, though he himself would have
liked to have gone to the rescue.
"They'll mind papa, and sit down and keep still, but they wouldn't mind
us," went on Bert, explaining matters to his little brother.
"That's right," agreed Freddie. "Girls are awful 'fraid in a boat, anyhow.
I'm not afraid."
"Well, not all girls are afraid, either," said Bert with a smile. "Nan isn't
afraid."

"Of course not--she's our sister, and so is Flossie!" exclaimed Freddie,
as if that made a difference!
Mr. Bobbsey was now rowing out to the two small girls in the drifting
boat. They did not seem to have any oars, and Bert and Freddie heard
their father call to them again to sit down, so they would not tip over.
Then the lumber man reached the drifting craft, and carefully fastened
it by a rope to the boat he was in.
"Now sit quietly and I'll pull you to shore," he said to the girls. "You
must not come out in a boat all alone. Where is your home?"
"Up there," replied the older girl, pointing to a house back of the lake
shore road. "We didn't mean to come out," she went on. "We just sat in
the boat when it was tied fast to the dock, but the knot must have come
loose, and we drifted out. We're ever so much obliged to you for
coming out to us."
"Well, don't get in boats again, unless some older person is with you,"
cautioned Mr. Bobbsey. By this time he had towed the boat, with the
girls in it, to shore. As he did so a woman came