CHAPTER VIII
OFF FOR THE WEST
Monday morning was the day set for the start of the Bobbsey twins forthe great West. They had said good-bye to their school friends theFriday before, and now, while the bells were ringing to call the otherboys and girls to their classes, Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie stoodon their front porch and watched their friends go past. "Oh, but youare lucky!" called Danny Rugg to Bert, as the Bobbseys waved theirhands to him.
"I wish I could be you!" added Charley Mason, as he swung his strap ofbooks over his head. "I'm going out West to be a cowboy when I growup."
"I'll tell you all about it when I come back," promised Bert.
Nan's girl friends, as they went past on their way to school, blewkisses to her from their hands, and wished her all sorts of good luck.
Flossie and Freddie were too busy running around and playinghide-and-go-seek among the trunks to pay much attention to theirlittle school friends who went past the house.
The trunks and valises had been stacked on the front porch, and in alittle while Mr. Hickson was to come with his lumber wagon to takethem to the station. Later the Bobbseys would go down in theautomobile, one of the men from Mr. Bobbsey's office bringing it back.Sam Johnson, though he used to drive the Bobbsey horse when they hadone, never could get used to an automobile, he said.
Snap, the jolly dog, seemed to know that something out of the ordinarywas going on. He did not run about and play as he nearly always did,but stayed close to Bert and Nan. He seemed to know they were goingaway from him.
"You'll have to watch Snap," said Mrs. Bobbsey to Sam. "He may try tosneak after us and get on the train, as he did once before. Mr.Bobbsey had to get off at the next station and bring him back."
"Yassum, I'll watch Snap," promised Sam. "But he suah does want to gowif yo' all pow'ful bad!"
"I wish we could take Snap and Snoop!" said Bert.
"Oh, dear boy, we couldn't think of it!" exclaimed his mother. "Wehave a long way to travel to get to the West, and we couldn't lookafter a cat and a dog. They'll be much better off here at home."
"Snoop maybe will," argued Bert, "'cause he doesn't like to have roughfun the way Snap does. But I guess my dog would like to see an Indianand some cowboys!"
However, the older Bobbsey twins knew it was out of the question totake their pets with them, so they made the best of it, Bert pettingSnap and talking kindly to him. Snoop had gone out to the barn wherehe knew he might catch a mouse.
In a little while Mr. Hickson drove up for the trunks which wereloaded on the lumber wagon.
"You're going to have a fine day to start for the West," said the oldman, who had entirely got over his hurt got in the railroad wreck. "Avery fine day!"
The June sun was shining, there was just enough wind to stir theleaves of the trees, and, as Mr. Hickson said, it was indeed a fineday for going out West, or anywhere else. Very happy were the Bobbseytwins.
With rattles and bangs, the trunks were piled on the lumber wagon,such valises as were not to be carried by Mr. or Mrs. Bobbsey, or Bertor Nan, were put in among the trunks. Flossie and Freddie were each tocarry a basket which contained some things their mother thought mightbe needed on the trip.
"All aboard!" called Mr. Hickson, as he took his seat and gathered upthe reins.
"That's what the conductor on the train says!" laughed Freddie, as heand Flossie had to stop playing hide-and-go-seek among the trunks.
"Well, I'm making believe this lumber wagon is a train," went on theold man. "I wish it was a train, and that I was going out West to findmy two boys, Charley and Bill." Then he drove off with his head bowed.
"When do we start?" asked Bert. It was about the tenth time he hadasked that same question that morning.
"We're going to leave soon now," his mother told him. "Don't go away,any of you. Nan, you look after Flossie and Freddie. It wouldn'tsurprise me in the least if Freddie were to get lost at the lastminute."
Just then Freddie and his little sister were running around in theyard, playing tag, and neither of the smaller Bobbsey twins showed anysigns of getting lost. But one never could tell what would happen tothem--never!
Finally everything seemed to be in readiness for the start. The lastwords about looking after the house while the Bobbseys were in theWest had been said to Sam and Dinah, and Mr. Bobbsey had telephonedhis final message to his office to say that he was about to start. Theautomobile had been brought around, and Harry Truesdell, who was todrive it back from the station, was waiting.
"Come, children, we'll start now!" called Mother Bobbsey. "Get thesatchels you are to carry, Nan and Bert. Where are Flossie andFreddie?" she asked. "I want them to take their baskets."
"They were here a minute ago," replied Nan, looking around the yardfor her smaller brother and Flossie.
"But they're not here now!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "See if you canfind them, Nan. Tell them we must leave now."
Nan set down the valise she had taken up and was about to go around tothe back yard when some excited cries were heard. Dinah's voicesounded above the others.
"Heah, now, you stop dat, Freddie Bobbsey!" called the colored cook."Whut are yo' doin'? Heah, Freddie, yo' let mah clothes line alone!"
There was a moment of silence, and then Dinah's voice went on.
"Oh, land o' massy! Oh, I 'clare to goodness, yo' suah has gone an'done it now! Oh, mah po' li'l honey lamb! Oh, Freddie, look what youhas gone an' done!"
At this moment the crying voice of Flossie was heard. The little girlseemed to be in trouble.
"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!" shouted Freddie.
"Something has happened!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "I knew it would,just at the last minute!"
"It does seem so," said Mr. Bobbsey, coming out on the porch. "I'll goand see what it is!" he added, as he ran around the side path.
"I'll come, too," said Mrs. Bobbsey. And Nan and Bert thought they hadbetter follow.
They could hear Flossie crying, while Dinah was saying:
"Oh, mah po' li'l honey lamb! Freddie Bobbsey, look whut you gone an'done!"
And Freddie kept saying:
"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to! I didn't know it was going tocome down!"
"I wonder what it was that came down," thought Mrs. Bobbsey, as shehurried after her husband, with Bert and Nan bringing up the rear andSnap barking as hard as he could bark.
When Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey got around to the back yard they saw at aglance what had happened. One of the clothes lines, on which Dinah hadhung the sheets she had just washed, had come down. And two or threesheets had fallen right over Flossie.
Of course the little girl was not hurt, for the sheets were not heavy.But they were damp from the tub, and Flossie was all tangled up inthem and in the line. In fact, Flossie could not be seen, for she wasbetween the two sides of a sheet, and only that Dinah was there,trying to get her out, told Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey what had happened totheir little girl. Oh, yes! I forgot! Flossie was crying, and that wasa sign she was there, even though she could not be seen.
Freddie was standing near a clothes post with the kitchen bread knifein his hand.
"What happened, Dinah?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, as she helped the fat,colored cook get Flossie out from under the sheets. "What is it allabout?"
"Oh, dat Freddie boy he done cut mah clothes line an' let mah cleanwash down on da ground!" exclaimed Dinah. "I didn't minded DAT somuch!" she said, as she wiped away the tears from the face of thefrightened Flossie. "I kin wash de sheets ober ag'in. But I'm sos'prised dat Freddie done scared his li'l sister, dat's whut I am.Freddie done scared honey lamb mos' to pieces!"
"I--I didn't mean to," repeated Freddie.
"But did you really cut down Dinah's wash line?" his mother asked him,when it had been found that Flossie was only frightened and not hurt.
"I--I cut off a little piece," said Freddie, showing a dangling end inhis hand. "I didn't think it would fall down. I didn't mean to makeit."
"But wha
t made you cut any of it?" asked his father, tying the cutends together while Dinah took up the sheets which had fallen to theground and had some black spots on them. "Why did you cut the clothesline, Freddie?"
Mr. Bobbsey did not call his little boy "fireman" now. That was a petname, and used only when Freddie had been good, and he had been alittle bad now, though perhaps he did not mean to.
"I--I cut the line to get a piece of rope," said Freddie.
"What did you want a piece of rope for?" asked his father.
"I wanted to make a lasso to lasso Indians as Bert's going to do,"Freddie answered. "I wanted a piece of clothes line for a lasso. But Ididn't mean to make the clothes come down."
"No, I don't guess you did," said Dinah, as she came out of thelaundry with the sheets which she had rinsed clean. "Ole Dinah donegwine to forgib her honey lamb 'cause he's gwine away far off fromher. An' Dinah's other honey lamb didn't get hurted any. It was onlytwo sheets an' Dinah's done washed 'em clean again. But don't you golassoin' any Injuns, Freddie! Dey mightn't like it."
"No, I won't!" promised the little fellow.
"And don't cut any more clothes lines," added his father.
"No, sir, I won't!"
Freddie was ready to promise anything, now that he found nothingserious had happened. At first, after he had cut the rope and let thesheets down on Flossie's head as she was running through the yard,Freddie had been very much frightened.
"Well, I'm glad it was no worse," said Mrs. Bobbsey, as shestraightened Flossie's hat, which had been knocked to one side. "Nowwe must hurry, or we'll be late for the train."
"Yes, come along!" called Mr. Bobbsey.
Freddie gave up the bread knife to Dinah, the last good-byes weresaid, and the children started for the automobile. Snap leaped aroundBert, barking and whining.
"Better tie up the dog, Sam, or he'll follow us," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"Yes, sah. I'll do dat."
Poor Snap was led away whining. He did not want to be left behind, butit had to be.
"Good-bye!" called Bert to his pet. "Good-bye, Snap!"
Flossie took up her basket, and Freddie had his. Each one hadsomething to carry. Into the automobile they hurried and soon theywere on the way to the station to take the train for the West.
They did not have many minutes to wait. Harry Truesdell sat in theautomobile, until Mr. Bobbsey and the family should be aboard thetrain before he went back to the garage.
The Bobbsey twins were standing on the station platform. Mr. Bobbseywas talking to a man he knew, and Mrs. Bobbsey was speaking to twofriends. Bert and Nan were putting pennies in a weighing machine tosee how heavy they had grown, and Freddie was looking at the pictureson the magazine covers at the news stand.
Suddenly Flossie, who had set her basket down on one of the outsideseats, gave a cry.
"What's the matter?" asked her mother, turning quickly. "What is it,Flossie?"
"Oh, my basket! My basket!" cried the little girl. "There's somethingin it! Something alive! Look, it's wriggling!"
And, surely enough, the basket she had carried, was "wriggling." Itwas swaying from side to side on the station seat.