CHAPTER XI
DOWNY ON THE OCEAN
"Harry is coming to-day," Bert told Freddie, on the morning followingthe shell hunt, "and maybe Aunt Sarah will come with him. I'm goingto get the cart now to drive over to the station. You may come along,Freddie, mother said so. Get your cap and hurry up," and Bert rushedoff to the donkey barn to put Doodle and Dandy in harness.
Freddie was with Bert as quickly as he could grab his cap off therack, and the two brothers promptly started for the station.
"I hope they bring peaches," Freddie said, thinking of the beautifulpeaches in the Meadow Brook orchard that had not been quite ripe whenthe Bobbseys left the country for the seaside.
Numbers of people were crowded around the station when the boys gotthere, as the summer season was fast waning, so that Bert and Freddiehad hard work to get a place near the platform for their cart.
"That's the train!" cried Bert. "Now watch out so that we don't missthem in the crowd," and the older brother jumped out of the cart towatch the faces as they passed along.
"There he is," cried Freddie, clapping his hands. "Harry! Harry! AuntSarah!" he called, until everybody around the station was looking athim.
"Here we are!" exclaimed Aunt Sarah the next minute, having heardFreddie's voice, and followed it to the cart.
"I'm so glad you came," declared Bert to Harry.
"And I'm awfully glad you came," Freddie told Aunt Sarah, when shestopped kissing him.
"But we cannot ride in that little cart," Aunt Sarah said, as Bertoffered to help her in.
"Oh, yes, you can," Bert assured her. "These donkeys are very strong,and so is the cart. Put your satchel right in here," and he shovedthe valise up in front, under the seat.
"But we have a basket of peaches somewhere," said Aunt Sarah. "Theycame in the baggage car."
"Oh goody! goody!" cried Freddie, clapping his little brown hands."Let's get them."
"No, we had better have them sent over," Bert insisted, knowing thatthe basket would take up too much room, also that Freddie might wantto sample the peaches first, and so make trouble in the small cart.Much against his will the little fellow left the peaches, and startedoff for the cliffs.
The girls, Dorothy, Nellie, and Nan, were waiting at the driveway, andall shouted a welcome to the people from Meadow Brook.
"You just came in time," declared Dorothy. "We are going to have aboat carnival tomorrow, and they expect it will be lovely this year."
Aunt Emily and Mrs. Bobbsey met the others now, and extended such ahearty welcome, there could be no mistaking how pleased they all wereto see Harry and Aunt Sarah. As soon as Harry had a chance to lay histraveling things aside Bert and Freddie began showing him around.
"Come on down to the lake, first," Bert insisted. "Hal Bingham mayhave his canoe out. He's a fine fellow, and we have splendid timestogether."
"And you'll see my duck, Downy," said Freddie. "Oh, he's growed sobig--he's just like a turkey."
Harry thought Downy must be a queer duck if he looked that way, but,of course, he did not question Freddie's description.
"Here, Downy, Downy!" called Freddie, as they came to the littlestream where the duck always swam around. But there was no duck to beseen.
"Where is he?" Freddie asked, anxiously.
"Maybe back of some stones," ventured Harry. Then he and Bert joinedin the search, but no duck was to be found.
"That's strange," Bert reflected. "He's always around here."
"Where does the lake run to?" Harry inquired.
"Into the ocean," answered Bert; "but Downy never goes far. There'sHal now. We'll get in his boat and see if we can find the duck."
Hal, seeing his friends, rowed in to the shore with his father's newrowboat that he was just trying.
"We have lost Freddie's duck," said Bert. "Have you seen himanywhere?"
"No, I just came out," replied Hal. "But get in and we'll go look forhim."
"This is my Cousin Harry I told you about," said Bert, introducingHarry, and the two boys greeted each other, cordially.
All four got into the boat, and Harry took care of Freddie while theother boys rowed.
"Oh. I'm afraid someone has stoled Downy," cried Freddie, "and maybethey'll make--make--pudding out of him."
"No danger," said Hal, laughing. "No one around here would touch yourduck. But he might have gotten curious to see the ocean. Hecertainly doesn't seem to be around here."
The boys had reached the line where the little lake went in a tunnelunder a road, and then opened out into the ocean.
"We'll have to leave the boat here," said Hal, "and go and ask peopleif Downy came down this way."
Tying up the boat to a stake, the boys crossed the bridge, and madetheir way through the crowd of bathers down to the waves.
"Oh, oh!" screamed Freddie. "I see him! There he is!" and sureenough, there was Downy, like a tiny speck, rolling up and down on thewaves, evidently having a fine swim, and not being in the leastalarmed at the mountains of water that came rolling in.
"Oh, how can we get him?" cried Freddie, nearly running into the waterin his excitement.
"I don't know," Hal admitted. "He's pretty far out."
Just then a life-saver came along. Freddie always insisted thelife-guards were not white people, because they were so awfullybrowned from the sun, and really, this one looked like some foreigner,for he was almost black.
"What's the trouble?" he asked, seeing Freddie's distress.
"Oh, Downy is gone!" cried the little fellow in tears now.
"Gone!" exclaimed the guard, thinking Downy was some boy who had swamout too far.
"Yes, see him out there," sobbed Freddie, and before the other boyshad a chance to tell the guard that Downy was only a duck, thelife-saver was in his boat, and pulling out toward the spot whereFreddie said Downy was "downing"!
"There's someone drowning!" went up the cry all around. Then numbersof men and boys, who had been bathing, plunged into the waves, andfollowed the life-saver out to the deeper water.
It was useless for Harry, Hal, or Bert to try to explain to anyoneabout the duck, for the action of the life-saver told a differentstory. Another guard had come down to the beach now, and was gettinghis ropes ready, besides opening up the emergency case, that waslocked in the boat on the shore.
"Wait till they find out," whispered Hal to Bert, watching the guardin the boat nearing the white speck on the waves. It was a long waysout, but the boys could see the guard stop rowing.
"He's got him," shouted the crowd, also seeing the guard picksomething out of the water. "I guess he had to lay him in the bottomof the boat."
"Maybe he's dead!" the people said, still believing the life-saver hadbeen after some unfortunate swimmer.
"Oh, he's got him! He's got him!" cried Freddie, joyfully, stillkeeping up the mistake for the sightseers.
As the guard in the boat had his back to shore, and pulled in thatway, even his companion on land had not yet discovered his mistake,and he waited to help revive whoever lay in the bottom of the boat.
The crowd pressed around so closely now that Freddie's toes werepainfully trampled upon.
"He's mine," cried the little fellow. "Let me have him."
"It's his brother," whispered a sympathetic boy, almost in tears."Let him get over by the boat," and so the crowd made room forFreddie, as the life-saver pulled up on the beach.
The people held their breath.
"He's dead!" insisted a number, when there was no move in the bottomof the boat. Then the guard stooped down and brought up--Downy!
"Only a duck!" screamed all the boys in the crowd, while the otherlife-saver laughed heartily over his preparations to restore a duck toconsciousness.
"He's mine! He's mine!" insisted Freddie, as the life-saver fondledthe pretty white duck, and the crowd cheered.
"Yes, he does belong to my little brother," Bert said, "and he didn'tmean to fool you at all. It was just a mistake," t
he older brotherapologized.
"Oh, I know that," laughed the guard. "But when we think there is anydanger we don't wait for particulars. He's a very pretty duck all thesame, and a fine swimmer, and I'm glad I got him for the littlefellow, for likely he would have kept on straight out to smooth water.Then he would never have tried to get back."
The guard now handed Downy over to his young owner, and withoutfurther remarks than "Thank you," Freddie started off through thecrowd, while everybody wanted to see the wonderful duck. The jokecaused no end of fun, and it took Harry, Hal, and Bert to save Freddieand Downy from being too roughly treated, by the boys who wereover-curious to see both the wonderful duck and the happy owner.