CHAPTER VIII
LOST IN THE HAY
"Oh, isn't it just lovely in the woods," sighed Nan, as she sat downon a green mossy seat beneath a great oak tree. "I could live hereforever!"
"So could I!" exclaimed Mabel Herold. "There is no place so lovely asthe woods."
"You--you wouldn't stay here all night, would you?" asked Freddie, ashe set down the basket of sandwiches he had been carrying, and lookedat a dark hole under some bushes.
"I wouldn't mind," sighed Nan again. "It is so lovely here."
"I used to think I liked the seashore best," said Mabel, "but now Ithink the country is prettiest."
"Well, I'm not going to stay here all night," decided Freddie."There--there's bugs--and--and--things!"
"I thought you weren't afraid of them," spoke Nan with a smile.
"I--I meant in daytime--I'm not afraid then," declared Freddie. "Butat night, why--why, I'd rather be home in bed."
"And I guess we all would," exclaimed Nan, hugging the little fatfellow.
"Oh, there goes a rabbit!" cried Bert to Harry. "Let's see if we cancatch him!"
"Come on!" agreed the country boy.
"I'm with you!" shouted Tom Mason.
"Oh, will they hurt the little bunny?" asked Flossie, with quiveringlips, for she dearly loved all animals.
"I guess there isn't much danger of them catching the rabbit," saidMr. Bobbsey, sitting down beside his wife in a shady green spot. "Abunny can hop very fast."
And so it proved. The three boys raced about through the woods untilthey were quite tired, and very much heated up. But the rabbit gotsafely away.
"Ah, well, we didn't want him anyhow," said Harry, fanning himselfwith his cap, after the chase.
"No," agreed Bert, "we just wanted to see if we could get him."
"My! It's warm!" exclaimed Tom, looking at the basket in which thelemonade was packed in bottles. "I'm very thirsty," he said.
"You must not drink when you are too warm," advised Mr. Bobbsey. "Waituntil you cool off a bit. If you take cold water, or icy lemonade,into your stomach after you are all heated up from running, you may bemade ill. Rest a while before you drink, is good advice."
So the boys waited, and a little later they were allowed to have someof the cool lemonade.
"Are we going to eat our lunch here?" asked Freddie.
"No, a little farther on in the woods," said his Aunt Sarah.
So they walked on, under the shady trees, with the green carpet ofmoss under foot, until they came to a little glade, where the treesgrew in a circle about a grassy space.
"It--it's just like a circus ring!" exclaimed Freddie. "Oh, couldn'twe have a circus, or a show, while we're here at the farm?" he asked.
"We'll see," half-promised his mother.
The table-cloth was spread out on the green grass, and the woodenplates set on it. Then the lunch baskets were opened and the goodthings passed around. There were sandwiches of several kinds, and cakeand cookies, as well as more lemonade.
"Isn't it nice to eat this way?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "When we havefinished, there are no dishes to wash; just the wooden plates to throwaway."
"Yes'm," declared Dinah, with a chuckle. "I spects dish yeah would bea good way to do back home--but it would be kinder cold, eatin' out inde woods in de winter time."
"I wouldn't want to live here in winter," said Freddie. "There isn'tany place to hang up your stocking Christmas, and no chimney for SantaClaus to come down!" he added.
"And that would never do!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey. "But we will enjoythese woods all we can."
When the woodland picnic lunch was finished, the party sat about onthe grass, in the shade of the trees, and Mr. Bobbsey told stories tothe two small children. Flossie and Freddie enjoyed this very much.
Nan and Mabel went for a little walk in the woods, and Bert and Harrysaid they were going to try for some fish, as they had brought hooksand lines along, and could cut poles in the woods. This time they hadvery good luck.
"I have one!" suddenly called Harry, pulling up his line. There was aflash, as of silver, in the air, and he hauled a fish up from thewater, landing it flapping on the grass behind him.
"Oh, what a big one!" cried Bert, running over to look. "I wish Icould get one now."
"Maybe you will," said Harry, trying to catch the flopping creature."Put on some fresh bait." But Harry caught another fish before Berthad even a good bite.
By this time Mr. Bobbsey had finished his story, and Flossie had takenout her doll to pretend to get it to sleep. Freddie wandered over towhere Bert and Harry were fishing.
"Oh, I have one! I have one!" Bert suddenly shouted, and he, too,landed a good-sized fish. It was taken off the hook, and strung on awillow twig, and then, fastened so it could not swim away, it was putback into the water to keep fresh until it was time to go home.
Freddie was very much interested in the captive fish. He went down tothe edge of the creek to watch them as they tried to swim away. Butthey could not, for the willow twigs held them.
Suddenly one of the fish gave a big jump in the shallow pool, whereBert had put them.
"Oh!" exclaimed Freddie, springing back. Then his foot slipped on awet, mossy stone, and the next moment the little fellow fell down intothe water.
"Bert!! Harry! Come and get me! I'm in!" he cried.
Bert and Harry dropped their poles and came up on the run, but therewas no danger, for the water was only a few inches deep, near shore,and Freddie was already on his feet when they reached him.
"Oh! Oh!" sobbed the little fellow. "I--I'm all wet."
"Never mind, you have your old clothes on," said his brother. "AndI'll tell mother it was an accident."
It was a warm summer day and a little wetting would not harm Freddie.He was taken back to a sunny place by Bert, and told to sit in thewarm spot until he had dried out. Then the two larger boys went backto fish, but Freddie's accident must have scared all the fish away,for Bert and Harry caught no more.
"My, but you are a sight, Freddie!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey, when shesaw the wet and muddy little twin. "But I suppose you could not helpit."
"No, mamma," he answered. "The fish made me fall in."
It was almost time for the picnic party to start back home now. Dinahwas packing up the knives, forks, and glasses, and throwing away thewooden plates.
As she knelt over to fold up the table-cloth, she felt something touchher back, and the next moment something cold and wet touched hercheek.
"Go 'long wif yo' now, Bert!" she exclaimed, not turning around."Don't yo' put any ob dem wet slimy fish on me. Don't you do it!"
Then something almost pushed Dinah over, and again she felt the wetobject on the back of her neck.
"Stop it! Stop it!" cried the colored cook. "Don't yo' put any toaddown mah back, Bert!"
"I'm not doing anything," Bert answered, and at the sound of his voiceDinah looked up and saw him some distance off. At the same time,though, Bert and Harry burst into a laugh.
"Oh, look what Dinah thought was me!" cried Bert.
Dinah turned around, just as a loud "Moo!" sounded in her ear, makingher jump.
"Good land ob massy!" she cried. "It's a cow!"
And, surely enough, so it was. The cow had wandered out of the woods,and, coming up behind Dinah, had licked her neck with a big redtongue. Perhaps the cow thought Dinah was a lump of black salt!
"Go 'way! Go 'long outer heah! Leef me be!" screamed Dinah, andcatching up a handful of wooden plates she threw them at the cow. Theyrattled on the animal's horns, and then, with another "Moo!" thecreature turned and crashed back through the bushes.
"And Dinah thought that was I, tickling her with a fish tail," saidBert, laughing.
"Dat's what I did, honey!" the colored cook said, with a laugh. "Is'pected yo' was up to some ob yo' all tricks!"
They all laughed at this, and amid much fun and jollity the picnicthings were packed up and the homeward walk begun.
"Oh, we have had _su
ch_ a good time!" sighed Nan. "I am sorry it isover."
"Oh, we'll have more good times," said Bert, as he and Harry walkedalong with the fish they had caught. Their chum, Tom Mason, had twosmaller ones.
There were days of work and play on the farm, and Harry had his shareof tasks to perform. Bert helped him all he could. One day, when theboys and girls had counted on going out rowing on a little lake notfar from Meadow Brook, it rained. When they arose in the morning,ready for their fun, the big drops were splashing down.
"Oh, we can't go!" sighed Freddie. "I don't like rain!"
"I thought all firemen liked water," his father said, with a laugh.
"This is too much water!" went on the little chap. "We can't have anyfun."
"Oh, yes, we can," said Harry. "We can go out in the barn and play inthe hay. The big barn is full of new hay now, and we can slide downthe mow and play hide and go seek in it."
"That will be great!" exclaimed Bert. "Come on."
Snap, the dog, must have thought he was also invited, for he ran outbarking, with the children. Umbrellas kept the rain off them untilthey reached the barn, and then began a good time.
They went to the top of the big pile of fragrant hay in the mow, andslid down it to the barn floor, where a carpet of more hay made a softplace on which to fall. Snap slid with the rest, barking and wagginghis tail every minute.
"Now let's play hide and go seek!" suggested Harry after a bit. "I'll'blind' and when I say 'ready or not, I'm coming,' I'm going to startto find you."
The game began. Harry closed his eyes, so he would not see where theothers hid, and Nan, Bert and the rest of them picked out spots in thehay, and about the barn where they thought Harry could not see them.But Harry knew the old barn well, and he easily found Bert. Then hespied Nan and Flossie, hiding together. A little later he discoveredwhere Tom Mason and Mabel Herold were.
"Now I've only to find Freddie," said the country cousin. But Freddiewas not so easy to find. Harry looked all over but could not locatehim.
"There are so many holes in the barn," the country boy said, "andFreddie is so small, that I guess I'd better give him up. I'll let himcome in free. Givey-up! Givey-up!" he called. "Come on in free,Freddie."
But Freddie did not answer. They all kept quiet, but all they couldhear was the patter of rain drops on the barn roof.
"Freddie! Freddie! Freddie! Where are you?" cried Nan.
"Come on in free!" added Harry.
"Come on, little fat fireman," went on Bert. "Harry won't tag you, andyou can hide again."
But Freddie's childish voice did not reply. The boys and girls lookedanxiously at one another.
"Where's Freddie?" asked Flossie, and her lips began to tremble asthey did just before she started to cry.
"Oh, we'll find him," said Bert, easily.
"Yes, he's probably hiding so far off he can't hear us," went onHarry.
"Maybe he's lost under the hay," suggested Tom. "I read of a boygetting caught under a pile of hay once, and they didn't get him outfor a long time."
"Oh, Freddie's lost! Freddie's lost!" cried Flossie, bursting intotears.