CHAPTER VIII
ANGRY MR. BLIPPER
"Why, it's Bob Guess!" cried Bert, dropping his bunch of flowers, soexcited was he. "It's Bob Guess!"
"So it is!" agreed Nan. "And he's crying."
There was no doubt of that: It was Bob Guess, the lad the Bobbsey twinshad seen working at the merry-go-round engine the day of the Sundayschool picnic. Bob came slowly along, sobbing hard.
"What's the matter, Bob?" asked Bert, who had taken a liking to theragged chap. For the time being Mr. Bobbsey's missing coat and the laprobe were forgotten. "Why are you crying?"
"Can we help you?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
Bob Guess ceased sobbing and looked up. He seemed surprised to see thechildren and their parents.
"Oh, I--I didn't know anybody was here," he stammered.
"That's all right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If there's anything we can do tohelp you---- Where's Mr. Blipper, by the way? There is something Ishould like to ask him. Or perhaps you can tell me."
"Not now, Dick, not now," said Mrs. Bobbsey in a whisper, with a shakeof her head at her husband. She knew what he wanted to ask--about hiscoat and the robe. "Not now; he is too miserable," she went on.
"Has anything happened?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, changing his first line ofquestions.
"Ye--yes," stammered Bob, not sobbing so hard now. "I--I've run awayfrom Mr. Blipper!"
"You've run away!" echoed Nan.
Bob nodded his head vigorously to show that he meant "yes," and he wenton:
"He treated me mean! There was a lot of hard work setting up themerry-go-round at the Bolton Fair, and I had more than my share. Hewouldn't give me any money--he hardly gave me enough to eat. And I ranaway. I'm not done running yet, only I'm so hungry I can't go very fastany more."
"You poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey. "Is that why you cried--becauseyou were hungry?"
"Yes--yes'm," murmured Bob Guess.
"Well, we have plenty to eat," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a kindly pat onthe shoulder of the ragged boy. "Here, we'll give you a lunch, and thenmaybe you can tell me what I want to know. Where is Mr. Blipper?"
"He's back there at the merry-go-round. We had some trouble with theengine. But I guess he has it fixed by now. He's back at the fairgrounds. It opens to-morrow. That is, he's there unless he has comechasing after me."
"Do you think he'd do that?" asked Bert. It was quite an excitingadventure, Bert thought, to run away and be chased by Mr. Blipper.
"Well, he said if I ever ran away he'd run after me and bring me back,"answered Bob. "Anyhow, I've run away, but it isn't as much fun as Ithought it'd be. Only I can't stand Mr. Blipper! He's too cross!"
"Poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey again. "Get him something to eat,Dick. He must be very hungry!"
And Bob was, to judge by the manner in which he ate some of theBobbsey's lunch. It was a good thing there was plenty. Having eaten allhe seemed to care for and drinking two glasses of milk, Bob leaned backagainst a tree stump and said:
"Now can't I do something to pay you for my meal?"
"Do something to pay for it?" repeated Mrs. Bobbsey, wonderingly.
"Yes, Mr. Blipper says I've always got to work for my board. Sometimeshe says I'm not worth my salt."
"Well, this time there is no need of doing anything for us," said Mr.Bobbsey. "You are welcome to what you have had to eat. But now what areyou going to do?"
"I'm going to run away farther if I can," Bob Guess answered.
"Hum! I'm not so sure that we ought to let you, now that we know aboutyou," went on the father of the Bobbsey twins. "Has this Mr. Blipper anyclaim on you?"
"He says he adopted me and can keep me until I'm twenty-one years old."
"He may be right. I don't know about that. It must be looked into.Anyhow, I don't feel like letting you run away, Bob," went on Mr.Bobbsey kindly. "I'd like to have a talk with Blipper on my own account,and I could ask him about you. Did you happen to see----"
But before Mr. Bobbsey could ask what he intended to--about his missingcoat and the lap robe--a man from the garage where the automobile hadbeen left to have the tire changed came across the field.
"It's a good thing you stopped when you did, Mr. Bobbsey," said thegarage man.
"Why so?"
"Because if you had gone on a little farther one of the wheels of yourcar would have come off, and if you had been going fast, or down-hill,you might have had a bad accident. I found the break when I was puttingon the tire, and I came over to ask if you wanted me to fix it."
"Yes, I suppose so. I'll come and have a look. We don't want to go on ifthere is any danger."
"There is danger. And it will take half a day to mend the break."
"Half a day!" said Mr. Bobbsey, as he followed the man, forgetting forthe time all about Bob and Mr. Blipper. "That means we'll not get toMeadow Brook to-night. Is there a good hotel in town?"
"Yes, a very good one not far from my garage."
"Well then, in case we have to remain, we can stay at the hotel. Butwait until I take a look at the broken wheel."
Mr. Bobbsey found that the garage man was right. The automobile was inneed of repairs, and had the party gone on, without noticing the break,a bad accident might have happened.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Bobbsey, when told of the news, "must we stayhere all night?"
"Unless I hire another auto, or you and the children go on by train,"said her husband. "I shall have to stay here to bring our car on."
"Oh, I don't want that! No, we'll stay at the hotel. But what abouthim?" she asked in a low voice, pointing to Bob Guess, who was talkingto the twins.
"That's so. We can't turn him adrift," Mr. Bobbsey agreed. "Well, I'llget a room for him at the hotel. In the morning I can decide what to do.I don't like to send him back to Blipper. But if the man has adopted himhe has a claim on the boy. We'll see what happens by morning."
Mrs. Bobbsey may have disliked to break the journey and stay at astrange hotel, but the Bobbsey twins thought it great fun. The hotel wasa small country one, clean and neat, and the Bobbseys and Bob Guess wereabout the only guests there.
"I'm not fit to stop at a hotel," said the ragged boy.
"Oh, you're all right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Perhaps I can get you someclothes here. If there isn't a store that sells them I may be able toget you a second-hand suit from the hotel keeper."
As it happened, there was no clothing store in the village of Montville,where the stop was made. But the hotel proprietor had some clothes ofone of his sons who had gone to the city to work. Bob was given a partlyworn but very good coat and trousers.
"He's a nice looking boy when he's dressed well," said Mrs. Bobbsey, asthe lad discarded his old clothes.
"Yes," agreed her husband. "He has a good, honest face. And yet, when Ithink of my coat and the lap robe---- But I'll wait until I seeBlipper."
"Do you think you will see him?"
"Yes, I imagine he'll follow this boy. He's a hard worker, Bob is, andBlipper won't want to lose him. I shouldn't wonder but what he came onafter Bob."
"How will he know where to find him?" asked Bert, who heard what hisfather and mother said.
"Oh, he can make inquiries along the way. But I'll do what I can forBob."
Bert and Nan, with Flossie and Freddie, had good times at the countryhotel. Their rooms were on a long corridor, and the twins raced up anddown this, playing tag and other games. No one seemed to mind.
At supper Bob ate a good meal, but did not talk much. And every time thedining room door opened he looked around quickly, as if fearing to seeMr. Blipper come in.
In the evening Mr. Bobbsey went down to the garage to see how the menwere progressing with the repairs to his car, for they had promised towork all night. Bert went with his father.
"I guess you'll be able to go on in the morning, Mr. Bobbsey," thegarage man said.
"I hope so. My youngsters are anxious to get to Meadow Brook, and fromthere go to the Bolton County Fair."
"That's qui
te a fair. Lots of attractions I hear. A merry-go-round, aballoon, airships, and auto races. I'd go myself if I had time."
As Bert and his father reached the hotel a little later they heard loudtalking coming from the sitting room where they had left Mrs. Bobbseyand the children. The voice of an angry man was saying:
"Well, I tell you I'm going to have that boy back! He ran away from me!I'm his legally appointed guardian, and I want him back! You come alongwith me, Bob Guess!"
Then Mrs. Bobbsey said firmly:
"Mr. Blipper, you shall not take this boy away until my husband comesback. Mr. Bobbsey wants to see you. You can't take Bob away like this. Iwon't let you. If necessary I'll call a policeman. You must wait untilmy husband comes back!"
"I'm not going to wait! I'm going to take that boy now!" cried the angryman, as Bert and his father hurried in.