The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore | Page 5

car!" called Bert, as quite a party of youngsters alighted. "They must be going on a picnic; see their lunch boxes."
"I hope Snoop is all right," Freddie reflected, seeing all the lunch boxes that looked so much like Snoop's cage.
"Come on, little fellow," called the baggage man, "we only have a few minutes."
Then they took Freddie to the rear car and showed him a big cage of cows--it was a cage made of slates, with openings between, and through the openings could be seen the crowded cattle.
"Oh, I would never put Frisky in a place like that," declared Freddie; "he wouldn't have room to move."
"There is not much room, that's a fact," agreed the man. "But you see cows are not first-class passengers."
"But they are good, and know how to play, and they give milk," said Freddie, speaking up bravely for his country friends. "What are you going to do with all of these cows'"
"I don't know," replied the man, not just wanting to talk about beefsteak. "Maybe they're going out to the pasture."
One pretty little cow tried to put her head out through the bars, and Bert managed to give her a couple of crackers from his pocket. She nibbled them up and bobbed her head as if to say:
"Thank you, I was very hungry."
"They are awfully crowded," Nan ventured, "and it must be dreadful to be packed in so. How do they manage to get a drink?"
"They will be watered to-night," replied the man, and then the Bobbseys had to all hurry to get on the train again, for the locomotive whistle had blown and the bell was ringing.
They found Dinah with her face pressed close to the window pane, enjoying the sights on the platform.
"I specked you was clean gone and left me," she laughed. "S'pose you saw lots of circuses, Freddie?"
"A whole carful," he answered, "but, Dinah," he went on, looking scared, "where's Snoop?"
The box was gone!
"Right where you left him," she declared. "I nebber left dis yeah spot, and nobody doan come ter steal de Snoopy kitty cat."
Dinah was crawling around much excited, looking for the missing box. Bert, Nan, and Flossie, of course, all rummaged about, and even Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey joined in the search. But there was no box to be found.
"Oh, the boys have stoled my cat!" wailed Freddie. "I dust knowed they would!" and he cried outright, for Snoop was a dear companion of the little fellow, and why should he not cry at losing his pet?
"Now wait," commanded his father, "we must not give up so easily. Perhaps the boys hid him some place."
"But suah's you lib I nebber did leab dis yeah seat," insisted Dinah, which was very true. But how could she watch those boys and keep her face so close to the window? Besides, a train makes lots of noise to hide boys' pranks.
"Now, we will begin a systematic search," said Mr. Bobbsey, who had already found out from the conductor and brakeman that they knew nothing about the lost box. "We will look in and under every seat. Then we will go through all the baggage in the hangers" (meaning the overhead wire baskets), "and see if we cannot find Snoop."
The other passengers were very kind and all helped in the hunt. The old lady who had thrown her hand bag at Downy thought she had seen a boy come in the door at the far end of the car, and go out again quickly, but otherwise no one could give any information that would lead to the discovery of the person or parties who had stolen Snoop.
All kinds of traveling necessities were upset in the search. Some jelly got spilled, some fresh country eggs were cracked, but everybody was good-natured and no one complained.
Yet, after a thorough overhauling of the entire car there was no Snoop to be found!
"He's gone!" they all admitted, the children falling into tears, while the older people looked troubled.
"They could hardly have stolen him," Mr. Bobbsey reflected, "and the conductor is sure not one of those boys went in another car, for they all left the train at Ramsley's."
"I don't care!" cried Freddie, aloud, "I'll just have every one of them arrested when we get to Auntie's. I knowed they had Snoop in their boxes."
How Snoop could be "in boxes" and how the boys could be found at Auntie's were two much mixed points, but no one bothered Freddie about such trifles in his present grief.
"Why doan you call dat kitty cat?" suggested Dinah, for all this time no one had thought of that.
"I couldn't," answered Freddie, "'cause he ain't here to call." And he went on crying.
"Snoop! Snoop! Snoop Cat!" called Dinah, but there was no familiar "me-ow" to answer her.
"Now, Freddie boy," she insisted, "if dat cat