CHAPTER XI
THE BLUEBERRY BOY
"What's the matter, Freddie? What has happened? I hope you haven't hurtyourself," and Mrs. Bobbsey, who heard the small twin calling to Bertabout the tin bugs, hurried from the tent, where she was making thebeds, to see what the trouble was.
"No, Momsie, I'm not hurt," Freddie answered. "But look at my go-aroundbugs!" and he held out the empty and broken box.
"What's the matter with them?" asked Mr. Bobbsey who came up just thenfrom the shore of the lake where he had gone to make sure the camp boatswere securely tied.
"My bugs are all gone!" went on Freddie. "They broke out of the box inthe night! They bited themselves out!"
"No, they didn't bite the box," said Flossie, coming up to look at whather small brother held. "They just went around and around and around,and they knocked a hole with their heads in the box and so they got out.Did you look for them on the floor of the tent, Freddie?"
"No, I didn't."
"Come on, we'll have a look," Bert said. He dropped the shovel withwhich he had been digging for worms and ran over to his little brother.He took the box from Freddie.
"That must have been smashed in the moving," Bert said to his father.
"No, it wasn't smashed," Freddie said, hearing what Bert remarked to Mr.Bobbsey. "Flossie and I were playing with the bugs yesterday after wegot here, and the box wasn't broken then. It was all right, and so werethe go-around bugs. But now they're gone!"
"Maybe the box fell off a table or something," said Mr. Bobbsey, "andbroke that way. We'll look on the floor of the tent for your bugs, mylittle fat fireman."
But no bugs were to be found after a careful search had been made, andFreddie and Flossie were quite disappointed.
"We can't go fishing if we can't find any bugs for to bait the hooks,"said Freddie, tears in his blue eyes.
"Never mind," his father answered. "The tin bugs wouldn't have caughtmany fish, and if we don't find your toys I'll get you some more when Igo to town. You and Bert had better keep on digging the worms, I guess.They're better for fish."
"And I'll pick 'em up," offered Flossie. She was a queer little child insome ways, not afraid of bugs and "crawly things."
It did not take Freddie or Flossie long to forget what had made themunhappy, and though for a time they were sorry about the loss of thebugs, they soon became so interested in helping Bert dig for worms thatthey were quite jolly again.
"Here's an awful fat one, Flossie!" cried Freddie. "Pick that one upjust terribly careful-like. I'm going to save him for my hook, and maybeI'll get the biggest fish of all."
"How'll you know where to find this one when you want it, I'd like toknow, Freddie Bobbsey?" returned his sister.
"Tie a blue ribbon on it," suggested Bert.
"Yes, we might," said Flossie slowly. "Maybe Nan has a ribbon. I'llask."
Bert laughed and said:
"I was just fooling, little fat fairy. I don't believe you can do that."
"I don't see why," dissented Freddie. "We can try, anyway. Here, I havea red string in my pocket. That'll do better than a ribbon."
He pulled out the string, and the two smaller children tied it aroundthe middle of the earthworm, but, much to Flossie's dismay, they tied itso tightly that it almost cut the worm in two.
"Oh, Freddie Bobbsey! You fix that right away!" cried his twin sister,and he loosened the string.
Pretty soon Bert again dropped the spade he had taken up and said:
"There, Freddie, you dig awhile. I want to see about the lines andpoles. We have almost worms enough."
Freddie was glad to do this, and Flossie was eager to pick up thecrawling creatures. Bert went back to the tent to get out the poles,lines and hooks. There he found his father and mother looking at thebroken box that had held the tin bugs.
"How do you think it became smashed?" Mrs. Bobbsey asked.
"I don't know," answered her husband. "It looks as though some one hadstepped on it."
"But who could do that? Flossie and Freddie think so much of the bugsthat they take good care of them, and they wouldn't put them where theywould be stepped on. Do you suppose any of the men that have beenhelping set up the camp could have done it?"
"I hardly think so. If they did they wouldn't take the bugs away, andthat is what has happened. It seems to me as though the box had beenbroken so the bugs could be taken out. For the cover fits on tightly,and it often sticks. Freddie and Flossie often come to me to open it forthem. Probably whoever tried to open it could not do so at first, andthen stepped on it enough to crack it open without damaging the tin bugsinside."
"But who would do such a thing?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, and Bert foundhimself asking, in his mind, the same question.
"That's something we'll have to find out," said Mr. Bobbsey, and neitherof them noticed Bert, who, by this time, was inside the tent where thefishing things were kept.
"Could it be the gypsies?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Well, I don't altogether believe all that talk about the gypsies," saidMr. Bobbsey slowly. "I think they may have taken Helen's talking doll,but that's all. However, if there are any gypsies here on the island,and if they saw those gay red, yellow and spotted bugs of Flossie's andFreddie's they might have taken them. They like those colors, and thecrawling bugs might amuse them."
"Oh, but if there are gypsies on this island I don't want to staycamping here! They might take away some of the children--Flossie orFreddie! Nan and Bert are too old."
"Nonsense!" laughed Mr. Bobbsey. "There are no gypsies here, and youneedn't worry."
"All the same I wish Snap were here with us," went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "I'dfeel safer if I knew the dog were with the children all the while, as hewas before."
"Well, if he doesn't come back, or if we don't find him soon, I'll getanother dog," promised Mr. Bobbsey. "Now don't worry about gypsies.Maybe this broken box was only an accident."
"But what about the shadow you saw last night. Maybe that was a----"
Just then Dinah came waddling from the cook tent toward the large onewhere Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey stood. Bert could see and hear all that wenton.
"Mrs. Bobbsey, did yo' take dat big piece ob bacon I cut a few slicesoff of last night?" asked the cook.
"Why, no, Dinah, I didn't," answered Mrs. Bobbsey. "Why do you ask?"
"'Cause as how dat bacon's gone. It's done gone complete! I hung itinside de tent, up high where none ob dem chatterin' squirrels orchipmunks could git it, an' now, when I want some fo' dinnah it's gone.Maybe de chilluns took some fo' dere fish hooks, 'cause I done heah Berttalk about bait."
"No, I didn't take it," answered Bert himself, stepping out of the smalltent where the poles, oars for the boats and other camp articles werekept. "We've got worms enough for bait."
"Bacon gone, eh?" said Mr. Bobbsey. Then, as he looked at his wife andglanced at Bert, he went on: "Well, maybe a stray dog jumped up and gotit. Some dogs can jump very high, Dinah. Snap could, I remember."
"Good land ob massy! Ef I t'ought dat 'er Snap had come back t' mahhoney lambs I'd be so glad I wouldn't mind de bacon," said the fat cook."But I don't reckon no dog took it, Mistah Bobbsey. I t'ink it war' atwo-legged robber dat----"
"Never mind that now, Dinah!" said Mrs. Bobbsey quickly. "Come here andfinish making the beds, I want to walk down to the lake with Mr.Bobbsey," and she nodded to her husband. "One piece of bacon won'tmatter," she went on. "We have plenty more."
"Yes, I knows _dat_," said Dinah, who was puzzled. "But if no 'countfolks is gwine t' come t' dish yeah camp an' walk off wif vittles datway----"
"It's time it was stopped, isn't it?" asked Bert, as he walked towardthe fat cook. "Say, Dinah," he went on as he saw his father and motherstroll down to the shore of the lake, "did you hear a queer noise in thenight?"
"Did I heah a queer noise around de camp las' night?" repeated Dinah."Well, I suah _did_, honey lamb! I done heard a owl hoot, an' dat's asuah sign ob bad luck."
"No, I don't mean tha
t kind of noise, Dinah. Did you hear anythingelse?"
"Yas. I done heah mah man Sam snore suffin' terrible! It were 'most likethunder. Did you all heah dat, honey lamb?"
"No, I didn't hear that, Dinah," answered Bert, with a laugh. "Butsomething or somebody brushed past our tent in the night, and woke upFreddie. Then my father went outside and saw some one sneaking away."
"Oh, mah good lan' ob massy!" cried Dinah. "Dat's where mah bacon wentto! Wait until I tells your fader, honey lamb, an'----"
"No! Hold on! Wait a minute!" cried Bert, catching Dinah by her apron asshe was hurrying away. "Dad knows it already, and so does mother. Iguess they don't want to scare us children, but I'm not afraid. I'lltell you what I think, Dinah."
"What's dat?"
"I think there are gypsies on this island, and that they're afterFlossie and Freddie!"
"Oh, mah goodness! Oh, mah goodness! Oh, mah goodness!" cried Dinahquickly. It seemed she could think of nothing else to say.
"But I'm not afraid," went on Bert. "We'll just have to keep a goodwatch, and not let those two little twins out of our sight. Don't tellmy mother or father that you know this. You and I and Nan will keepwatch."
"Dat's what we will!" exclaimed the fat cook. "An' if dem gypsies laysso much as a fingernail on mah honey lambs I'll pull de gold rings offendere ears an' frow dish water on 'em--dat's what I'll do to demgypsies!"
"I wish we had Snap back, or that Whisker were a dog instead of a goat,"said Bert. "But maybe if I let Whisker roam around the camp at nighthe'll be as good as a watch dog."
"He can butt wif his horns," said Dinah.
"Yes, and he can make a bleating noise. That's what I'll do," said Bert."I'll use Whisker as a watch dog. Now don't say anything to father ormother about our knowing there're gypsies here," went on Bert.
"I won't--I won't say a word," promised Dinah. "But I'll keep mah oleeyes skinned fo' Flossie an' Freddie, an' so will Sam. It's got 't bemighty smart gypsies dat'll take away mah honey lambs!"
Bert was really much excited by what he had seen and heard. The smashingof the box, what his father and mother thought about it, the taking ofthe bacon and the scare the night before--all this was quite a surprise.
"Are you sure it's gypsies?" asked Nan when her older brother told herwhat had happened.
"I'm _sure_ of it," said Bert. "Now what you and I've got to do is tokeep a good watch over Flossie and Freddie. Course we're too big for thegypsies to take, but they could easy walk away with those little twins."
"What d'you s'pose they'd do with 'em, Bert, if they did take Flossieand Freddie?"
"Oh, they wouldn't hurt 'em, of course. They'd just black up Flossie'sand Freddie's faces with walnut juice to make 'em look dark, like realgypsies, and they'd keep 'em until dad paid a lot of money to get thetwins back."
"How much money?"
"Oh, maybe a thousand dollars--maybe more."
"Oh!" exclaimed Nan. "Then we must be sure never to let Flossie orFreddie out of our sight. We've got to watch them every minute."
"Of course," agreed Bert. "We'll fool those gypsies yet."
Carrying out their plan to be very careful of their little brother andsister, Bert and Nan took the small twins in the boat with them whenthey went fishing an hour later. Bert would not go out far from theshore of Blueberry Island--indeed, his mother had told him he must not,for the lake was deep in places--and the older twins did about as muchwatching the bushes along the bank for signs of gypsies as they didfishing.
Flossie and Freddie, however, not worrying about any trouble, had lotsof fun tossing their baited hooks into the water, and Freddie yelled indelight when he caught the first fish. Flossie also caught one, but itwas very small, and Bert made her put it back in the lake.
The children caught enough fish for a meal, though when they started outneither their father nor mother thought they would. But the worms provedto be good bait.
"We'd have caught bigger fish if we'd had my tin bugs for bait," saidFreddie.
"I don't want my bugs put on a hook," said Flossie. "When will you findthem, Freddie, and make them go around and around?"
"I don't know," he answered.
The tents were put in good order and for two or three days the childrenhad great sport playing, going fishing and taking walks in the woodswith their father and mother, or going for trips on the lake. There wereno more night scares.
"Maybe it wasn't gypsies after all," said Nan to her brother one day.
"Yes, it was," he said. "They were here, but they went away when theyfound out we knew about them. But they'll come back, and then they maytry to take Flossie or Freddie. We've got to keep a good watch."
It was about a week after they had come to Blueberry Island that theBobbsey twins--all four of them--went for a ride in the goat wagon.There was a good road which ran the whole length of the island, andWhisker could easily pull the wagon along it.
The twins had taken their lunch and were to have a sort of picnic in thewoods. They rode under the green trees, stopped to gather flowers, andNan made a wreath of ferns which she put over Whisker's horns, makinghim look very funny, indeed. Then the twins found a nice grassy spotnear a spring of water, and sat down to eat the good things Dinah hadput up for their lunch.
Freddie had taken one bite of a chicken sandwich when, all of a sudden,there was a noise in the bushes near him, and a queer face peered out.Freddie gave one look at it, and, dropping his piece of bread andchicken, cried:
"Oh, it's a blueberry boy! It's a blueberry boy! Oh, look!"