CHAPTER XII
THE WIRE FENCE
Mr. Bobbsey did not waste any time talking. With a run and a jump hewas on shore, and then he started across the meadow toward the placewhere the mean farmer was whipping Will, who was crying out loud. Forthe cruel whip hurt.
"Hold on a minute, Mr. Hardee!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey, when he wasnear enough to make himself heard. Back on the deck of the houseboatMrs. Bobbsey, the twins, their cousins and Dinah watched and waited tosee what would happen.
"You talkin' to me?" sharply demanded the mean farmer of Mr. Bobbsey.
"Yes, Mr. Hardee. I asked you to wait a minute before you keep onwhipping that boy. I happened to hear part of what he said, and Ithink he is in the right."
"In th' right? What do you mean?"
"I mean I think he tells the truth, when he says he fished only duringthe noon hour. We saw him as he came along, and he gave the fish hehad caught to my boy."
"Oh, he did, hey?" exclaimed Mr. Hardee. "I was wonderin' what becomeof 'em. Give 'em away, did he? Wa'al, he knowed better'n to bring 'emhere. I knowed he'd been wastin' his time. When I set a boy to hoein'corn, an' he comes home smellin' of fish, I know what he's been doin'jest th' same as when I see a boy's head wet on a hot day I know he'sbeen in swimmin'! You can't fool me. He's frittered away his time,when he ought t' be hoein' corn, an' now I'm goin' to take it out ofhim!"
Again he raised the whip, and struck the boy.
"Oh, please don't!" begged Will. "Honest I didn't fish except at noonhour, an' I ate my lunch in one hand, and fished with the other, so Iwouldn't waste any time. I only took half an hour, instead ofthree-quarters you said I could have at noon, and I went right to workhoein' corn again."
"Humph! That's easy enough to say," spoke Mr. Hardee, "but I don'tbelieve you. I told you I'd whip you if you went fishin' ag'in, an'I'm goin' to do it!"
Again the lash fell.
"Please don't!" begged Will, trying to break loose. But the angryfarmer held him in too firm a grip.
"Look here!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey with flashing eyes. "I believe thatboy is telling the truth!"
"Wa'al, I don't," snapped the mean farmer. "An' I'm goin' to give hima good lesson."
"Not that way, Mr. Hardee!" cried Mr. Bobbsey, taking a step forward.
"Huh! You seem to know my name," said the farmer, stopping in hisbeating of the boy, "but I don't know you."
"My name is Bobbsey," said the twins' lather, and the farmer started."I'm in the lumber business over at Lakeport. I guess you bought somelumber of me, didn't you, for your house."
"Wa'al, s'posin' I did?" asked Mr. Hardee. "I paid you for it, didn'tI?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Wa'al, then that don't give you no right to interfere with me! Thisis my hired boy, an' I can do as I please with him."
"Oh, no, you can't, Mr. Hardee!" said Mr. Bobbsey quickly.
"What's that? I can't? Wa'al, I'll show you! Stand back now, I'm goin'to give him a good threshin'!"
Again he raised the whip, but it did not fall on poor, timid,shrinking Will. For Mr. Bobbsey snatched it away from the angryfarmer's hand and flung it far to one side.
"Here! What'd you mean by that?" demanded Mr. Hardee, his face moreflushed than ever with anger.
"I mean you're not going to beat that boy!" replied the twins' father."He hasn't done anything to deserve it, and I'm not going to stand byand see him abused. Is he your hired boy?"
"I took him out of the poorhouse--nobody would hire him. He's boundout to me until he's of age, an' I can do as I please with him."
"Oh, no, you can't," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I happen to know something ofthe law. You have no right to beat this boy, and if you try to do itnow, or again, and I hear of it, I'll make a complaint against you.Don't you strike him again, especially when he hasn't done anything."
Mr. Hardee seemed so surprised that he did not know what to say. Hisgrip on Will's arm slipped off, and Will quickly stepped to one side.There were tears in his eyes, and on his face.
"I believe this boy was telling the truth," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Even ifhe did fish a little during the time you call yours, that would be noexcuse for using a horsewhip on him."
"I tell you he's bound out to me, and I can do as I please with him!"cried Mr. Hardee.
"No, you can't," said Mr. Bobbsey. "You have no right to be cruel,even if he is a poor boy, and is bound out to you. Haven't you anyfolks, Will?" he asked.
"No--no, sir," was the half-sobbed answer. "No near folks. I come fromth' poorhouse, just as he says. But I've got an uncle somewhere outwest. He's a miner. If he knew where I was, he'd look after me."
"Where is your uncle?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"I--I got his address, but I can't write very good, or I'd send him aletter."
"Let me have his address," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "And I'll see what Ican do."
"Look here!" cried the farmer. "I won't have you interferin' in mybusiness! You ain't got a right to!"
"Every one has a right to stop a poor boy from being unjustly beaten,"said the twins' father. "Will, you get me that address. I'll be here aday or so, in my houseboat, and you can bring it down to me. Do youthink you can find it, and let me know where your uncle lives?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then do it."
"Now you look-a-here!" began Mr. Hardee, "I won't have you, noranybody else, interferin' with my hired help. I---"
"I'm not interfering except to stop you from horsewhipping a boy,"said Mr. Bobbsey. "Any one has a right to do that."
"Humph!" was all the farmer said, as he over and picked up thehorsewhip Mr. Bobbsey had taken from him. The twins' father thoughtperhaps the farmer was going to use it again, but he did not. Mr.Hardee turned to Will and said:
"Get along up to the house, and eat your supper! There's lots o' workto be done afore dark. An' if I catch you fishin' any more, I'll makeyou---"
"But I wasn't fishin' except at the noon hour," the boy interrupted.
"That's enough of your talk!" the farmer cried as he walked toward thebarn. "Go on!"
Mr. Bobbsey went back to the houseboat.
"It's all right," he said cheerfully to his wife and children. "I madehim stop hurting Will."
"Did he--did he hit him very hard?" asked Freddie, for punishment ofthat sort was totally unknown in the Bobbsey home. Of course thechildren did not always do right, but they were punished by havingsome pleasure taken away from them, and never whipped.
"No, Will wasn't much hurt," said Mr. Bobbsey, for he did not want hischildren, or their cousins, to worry too much over what they had seen.Yet Mr. Bobbsey could not help but think that the cruel lash must havehurt Will more than the boy himself showed.
"He--he won't whip him any more, will he?" asked little Flossie.
"No, not any more," said Mr. Bobbsey, for he had made up his mind hewould, if necessary, take the boy away from the mean farmer before anymore whipping could be done.
"Suppah am ready!" called Dinah from the kitchen. "An' I done wantsyo' all t' come right away fo' it gits cold!"
"We're coming!" cried Mrs. Bobbsey. "And after supper we'll sit ondeck and sing songs."
She wanted to do something to take out of the minds of the childrenthe memory of the unpleasant scene they had just observed.
"I wish it would hurry up and come morning," said Bert.
"Why?" asked his father.
"So Harry and I can go fishing. I'm sure we'll catch some with thegrasshoppers for bait."
"Well, I hope you have good luck," laughed Mr. Bobbsey.
The supper was much enjoyed. The fish, which Will had given theBobbseys, made a fine meal, with the corn muffins and other thingsDinah cooked. After supper they all sat out on the deck of thehouseboat, enjoying the beautiful June evening. From the farm of Mr.Hardee came the sounds of mooing cows, and whinnying horses, with anoccasional grunt of the pigs, or the barking of dogs.
Nothing was seen of the farmer himself, or of poor Will.
"Can you d
o anything for him?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey of her husband,after the children had gone to bed that night.
"I hope so, yes. If, as he says, he has an uncle somewhere in theWest, and I can get his address, I'll write to him, and ask him tolook after Will. The boy needs a good home."
"Indeed he does. Oh, I'm so glad you didn't let him get thatwhipping!"
"I'll help him all I can," promised Mr. Bobbsey.
The twins' father rather hoped that the hired boy might slip down tothe houseboat that evening, with his uncle's address, but nothing wasseen of him.
In the morning a strange thing happened.
Mr. Bobbsey and Captain White decided that it would be better to takethe boat a little farther down Lemby Creek, and tie it fast to thebank in a more shady spot than the one opposite the farm buildings.
"It will be better fishing in the shade, too," Mr. Bobbsey said to theboys.
So the gasoline engine was started, and the boat started off. It hadnot gone very far, though, before Mr. Bobbsey, who was steering,called to Captain White to shut off the engine.
"What's the matter?" asked Captain White. "You're going farther thanthis; aren't you?"
"I wanted to, yes. But we can't go any farther."
"Why not?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. "Nothing has happened to the boat, hasthere, Richard?"
"No, not to the boat. But look there!" and Mr. Bobbsey pointed ahead.Stretched across a narrow part of Lemby Creek was a strong wire fence,fastened to posts driven into the bottom of the stream. The Bluebirdcould go no farther on her voyage. The fence stopped her.
As Mr. Bobbsey, the twins and the cousins looked at the strong wirefence, they saw Mr. Hardee come along the shore. He looked at thehouseboat, and shook his fist, grinning in no pleasant fashion.
"I guess you won't go no farther!" he cried. "I've put a stop to yourfancy trip all right! Huh!"