CHAPTER VII
HAPPY DAYS
Mr. Bobbsey sat looking at Aunt Emeline's letter, reading parts of itover again. Mrs. Bobbsey watched her husband. The Bobbsey twins lookedat their father and mother. A great hope was beginning to come intothe hearts of Bert and Nan.
As for Flossie and Freddie, they were rather too small to know what itwas all about, but they realized that something had happened that didnot happen every day.
"What's the matter, Mommie?" asked Freddie, slipping down out of hischair and going over to her. He saw that she was worried. "Have yougot the toothache?" he wanted to know. Once Freddie's tooth had achedand he knew how it hurt.
"No, dear," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "I haven't the toothache. But Ihave a letter from Aunt Emeline and she can't come to stay with youchildren while daddy and I go out West."
"Aunt Emeline not come?" repeated Freddie.
"No, dear. She thinks she is too old to look after you four livelyyoungsters. And perhaps she is right. I wouldn't want to make too muchwork for her."
"Aunt Emeline not coming!" said Freddie again in a thoughtful voice."Ho! Then I go and get a cookie!"
Nan and Bert burst out laughing.
"What's the matter?" asked their father and mother, as Freddie slippeddown out of his mother's lap, into which he had climbed, and startedfor the kitchen to find Dinah. "What made you laugh, Bert?" asked hismother.
"Oh, I guess Freddie must have heard Nan and me talking about AuntEmeline not letting us have anything to eat except at meal time,"replied Bert. "And, now she isn't coming, he thinks he can have acookie whenever he wants it."
"Oh, I see!" and Mr. Bobbsey smiled. "Well, Aunt Emeline may bestrict, but she is a very good housekeeper. I am sorry she can notcome to stay while we are in the West. I really don't know what we aregoing to do."
"Nor I," sighed Mrs. Bobbsey. "We counted on Aunt Emeline all thewhile, and now I don't know whom else I can get on such short notice.Can't we wait a while about going West?" she asked her husband.
"I don't very well see how we can wait," answered Mr. Bobbsey. "Thetickets are bought, and all my plans are made. I have hired a man tocome to the lumber office while I am away. I have written the men atthe timber tract and at the cattle ranch that we are coming. Now, whatare we to do?"
"We can't leave the children here alone," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "That iscertain."
"No, we couldn't do that," agreed Mr. Bobbsey. "As good a cook asDinah is, and careful as Sam is, we couldn't leave the children withthem."
"Dinah gave me a cookie, an' she says she'll give you one, too, if youwant it, Flossie," announced Freddie, coming into the room then,munching a sweet cake.
"Course I want it!" exclaimed the little "fat fairy," as her fathercalled her, and she slipped out of her mother's lap, where she hadclimbed after Freddie got down, and, like her brother, hurried to thekitchen.
"Well, since we can't leave the children here at home by themselves,or only with Dinah and Sam," said Mr. Bobbsey, after a pause, "thereis only one thing to do."
"You mean we must stay at home?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, and the hearts ofBert and Nan felt very sad indeed.
"Stay at home? No, indeed!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey. "We must take thechildren with us!"
"Out West?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Yes, out West!" her husband said. "We'll take the children with ussince Aunt Emeline can't come to stay with them."
"Hurray!" cried Bert.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" echoed Nan.
"Yes, that will be the best way out of it," went on Mr. Bobbsey to hiswife, after Bert and Nan had stopped dancing around the room, handsjoined, with Flossie and Freddie in the ring they made, the twoyounger twins each eating one of Dinah's cookies. "We'll take theBobbsey twins out West."
"But what about school?" asked his wife, who just happened to thinkthat the summer term would not end for about three weeks.
"Oh we don't need to go to school!" said Bert.
"We can take our books with us and study on the train," suggested Nan.
"I fear there wouldn't be much studying done," laughed Mrs. Bobbsey."But do you really think we might take the children out of school?"she asked.
"That is something we will have to find out about," her husbandanswered. "Of course it will not be much loss to Flossie and Freddie,as they are not as far along in their studies as are Nan and Bert. ButI wouldn't like to have them lose much of their lessons."
"Teacher said I was at the head of my class, and I'd pass easy!"declared Bert.
"And my teacher said I was one of her best students," added Nan. Sheand Bert were in the same grade but in different classes.
"Well, since we really have to go out West to look after the lumberand cattle properties that are to be your mother's," said Mr. Bobbsey,"and since we must take you children with us, I'll see your teachers,Bert and Nan, and ask them if it will put you back much to lose thelast two weeks of the term."
"Oh, goodie! Goodie!" shrieked Nan, jumping up and down.
"Hurray!" cried Bert. "Now I'm going to be a cowboy. Whoop!"
"Mercy me!" exclaimed their mother, covering her ears with her handsas Bert and Nan shouted loudly.
"Come on, Flossie!" called Freddie to his small sister. "Let's go andask Dinah for more cookies."
That was Freddie's way of celebrating the good news.
Then came happy days.
Mr. Bobbsey, once he had made up his mind that the children were to goout West with him and his wife, went to the school and saw theteachers who had charge of Bert and Nan. He found that the olderBobbsey twins were so well along in their studies that it would nothold them back in the fall to stop now. So they were given permissionto leave school before the regular time.
There was no trouble at all about Flossie and Freddie. They had simplelessons, and they could easily be taught at home to make up for thetime they would lose.
It was arranged that Dinah and Sam should stay at home in the Bobbseyhouse to look after it during the summer, while Mr. and Mrs. Bobbseyand the twins went out West.
"And be sure to feed Snap!" said Bert to Sam, as the colored man wascutting the grass on the lawn one day, while the dog frisked aboutchasing sticks that Bert and Freddie tossed here and there for him.
"Oh, I won't forget Snap!" promised Sam.
"And you must give Snoop a saucer of milk every day, Dinah!" said Nan,as she rubbed the black cat which was purring around her legs.
"Oh, indeedy Snoop and I am mighty good friends!" declared Dinah. "Isuah won't forget to feed Snoop!"
Mr. Bobbsey bought other tickets, so he could take the children on theWestern trip. He made all the arrangements, trunks were packed, andfinally, one day, Bert and Nan and Flossie and Freddie said good-byeto their school chums.
"I'm going out West to learn to be a cowboy!" said Bert.
"I wish I was going!" exclaimed Danny Rugg.
"So do I," said Charley Mason.
"I'll see some Indians, too," Bert went on.
"And will you see those darling little papooses they carry on theirbacks?" asked Nellie Parks.
"I guess I'll see them," Nan said. "I don't like Indian men and women,but the babies must be cute."
"Wouldn't it be great if you could get an Indian doll?" asked Grace.
"Indians don't have dolls!" declared Danny.
"Indian girls do!" exclaimed Nellie. "I saw a picture in one of mybooks of an Indian girl, and she had a doll made of corn silk and acorncob and some tree bark."
"What a funny doll!" exclaimed Grace. "Do try and bring one home,Nan!"
"I will," she promised.
Bert and Nan were so excited at the prospect of going West that iftheir father and mother had expected the children to pack the trunksand valises it never would have been done. But Mrs. Bobbsey knewbetter than to expect this. She and Dinah looked after the packing.
Flossie and Freddie, of course, were too small to do any of this,though one day Mrs. Bobbsey saw the little boy stuffing something intoan ol
d stocking.
"Freddie Bobbsey, what are you doing?" asked his mother.
"Dinah gave me some cookies," was the answer, "and I'm goin' to take'em out West with me. Maybe I'll get hungry, an' maybe I'll get lost,or carried off by the Indians, an' then I'll have cookies to eat!"
"Oh, dear me! you can't take a lot of cookies in a stocking," laughedMrs. Bobbsey.
"There'll be plenty to eat out West. As for getting lost, I supposeyou will do that; you always have, but we manage to find you. However,I hope you won't get lost too often. And I don't think you'll becarried off by the Indians. Or, if so, they'd return you quickly."
The happy days seemed to grow happier as the time came nearer to takethe train for the great West. One afternoon, the day before theBobbsey twins were to start, Bert and Nan went down to their father'slumberyard office with a message sent by their mother.
"What's all this I hear about you?" asked Mr. Hickson, the old man whohad been in the railroad wreck. He was out loading a wagon withboards. "What are you children going to do out West?" he asked them.
"I'm going to learn to be a cowboy," declared Bert.
"And I'm going to get an Indian doll!" said Nan.
"My goodness!" exclaimed the old man, smiling at the Bobbsey twins,for he liked them very much. "I hope you have a good time. That's whatmakes children happy--to have a good time. I wish I could find mychildren. I haven't seen my boys, Charley and Bill, for a long while.They must be grown-up men now. Yes, I certainly wish I could findCharley and Bill. It was all a mistake when they ran away from home. Iwish I had them back," and slowly and sadly shaking his head he wenton loading the lumber wagon.
Bert and Nan felt sorry for Mr. Hickson, and they wished they mighthelp him find his "boys," as he called Bill and Charley, though, as hesaid, they must be grown men now. But Bert and Nan had too many thingsto think about in getting ready to go out West to feel sorry verylong. They took the message to their father and then hurried home.