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The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat

L >> Laura Lee Hope >> The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat



Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.




THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT

BY

LAURA LEE HOPE

Author Of The "Bobbsey Twins," "The Outdoor Girls Of Deepdale," "The
Outdoor Girls In Florida," "The Moving Picture Girls," "The Moving
Picture Girls At Rocky Ranch," Etc.

ILLUSTRATED




BOOKS BY LAURA LEE HOPE

THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES
For Little Men and Women

THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK

THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SERIES


THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA

THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES

THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW




CONTENTS


CHAPTER

I. GOOD NEWS
II. SNAP SAVES FREDDIE
III. DINAH'S UPSET
IV. AT THE HOUSEBOAT
V. THE STRANGE BOY
VI. FREDDIE'S FIRE ENGINE
VII. THE TWO COUSINS
VIII. OFF IN THE "BLUEBIRD"
IX. SNOOP AND SNAP
X. DOWN THE CREEK
XI. THE MEAN MAN
XII. THE WIRE FENCE
XIII. THE RUNAWAY BOY
XIV. OFF AGAIN
XV. OVERBOARD
XVI. THE MISSING SANDWICHES
XVII. IN THE STORM
XVIII. STRANGE NOISES
XIX. SNAP'S QUEER ACTIONS
XX. AT THE WATERFALL
XXI. WHAT BERT SAW
XXII. THE STOWAWAY




CHAPTER I

GOOD NEWS


"What are you doing, Freddie?" asked Bert Bobbsey, leaning over to oil
the front wheel of his bicycle, while he glanced at his little
brother, who was tying strings about the neck of a large, handsome
dog.

"Making a harness," answered Freddie, not taking time to look up.

"A harness?" repeated Bert, with a little laugh. "How can you make a
harness out of bits of string?"

"I'm going to have straps, too," went on Freddie, keeping busily on
with his work. "Flossie has gone in after them. It's going to be a
fine, strong harness."

"Do you mean you are going to harness up Snap?" asked Bert, and he
stood his bicycle against the side of the house, and came over to
where Freddie sat near the big dog.

"Yes. Snap is going to be my horse," explained Freddie. "I'm going to
hitch him to my express wagon, and Flossie and I are going to have a
ride."

"Ha! Ha!" laughed Bert. "You won't get much of a ride with THAT
harness," and he looked at the thin cord which the small boy was
winding about the dog's neck.

"Why not?" asked Freddie, a little hurt at Bert's laughter. Freddie,
like all small boys, did not like to be laughed at.

"Why, Snap is so strong that he'll break that string in no time," said
Bert. "Besides--"

"Flossie's gone in for our booty straps, I tell you!" said Freddie.
"Then our harness will be strong enough. I'm only using string for
part of it. I wish she'd hurry up and come out!" and Freddie glanced
toward the house. But there was no sign of his little sister Flossie.

"Maybe she can't find them," suggested Bert. "You know what you and
Flossie do with your books and straps, when you come home from school
Friday afternoons--you toss them any old place until Monday morning."

"I didn't this time!" said sturdy little Freddie, looking up quickly.
"I--I put 'em--I put 'em--oh, well, I guess Flossie can find 'em!" he
ended, for trying to remember where he had left his books was more
than he could do this bright, beautiful, Saturday morning, when there
was no school.

"I thought so!" laughed Bert, as he turned to go back to his bicycle,
for he intended to go for a ride, and had just cleaned, and was now
oiling, his wheel.

"Well, Flossie can find 'em, so she can," went on Freddie, as he held
his head on one side and looked at a knotted string around the neck of
Snap, the big dog.

"I wonder how Snap is going to like it?" asked Bert. "Did you ever
hitch him to your express wagon before, Freddie?"

"Yes. But he couldn't pull us."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I only had him tied with strings, and they broke. But I'm
going to use our book straps now, and they'll hold."

"Maybe they will--if you can find 'em--or if Flossie can," Bert went
on with a laugh.

Freddie said nothing. He was too busy tying more strings about Snap's
neck. These strings were to serve as reins for the dog-horse. Since
Snap would not keep them in his mouth, as a horse does a bit, they had
to go around his neck, as oxen wear their yokes.

Snap stretched out comfortably on the grass, his big red tongue
hanging out of his mouth. He was panting, and breathing hard, for he
and Freddie had had a romping play in the grass, before quieting down
for the horse-game.

"There, Snap!" Freddie exclaimed, after a bit. "Now you're almost
hitched up. I wish Flossie would hurry up with those straps."

Freddie Bobbsey stood up to look once more toward the house, which his
little twin sister had entered a few minutes before, having offered to
go in and look for the book straps. She had not come back, and Freddie
was getting Impatient.

At last the little girl appeared on the side porch. Her yellow hair
blew in the gentle June breeze, making sort of a golden light about
her head.

"Freddie! Freddie!" she cried. "I can't find 'em! I can't find the
book straps anywhere!"

"Why, I put 'em--I put 'em--" said Freddie helplessly, trying to
remember where he had put them, when he came in from school the day
before.

"You've got to come and help me hunt for 'em!" Flossie went on. "Mamma
says she can't find the straps."

"All right. I'll come," spoke Freddie. "Snap, you stay here!" he
ordered, but the big dog only blinked, and stuck out his tongue
farther than ever. Perhaps he had already made up his mind what he
would do when Freddie let him alone.

Off toward the house went the little fat Freddie. He was pretty plump
--so much so that his father often called him a little "fat fireman."
Freddie was very fond of playing fireman, ever since the time he had
owned a toy fire engine. But to-day he had other ideas.

"I'll find those straps," he said, as he toddled off. "Then we'll
hitch Snap to my express wagon, and Flossie and I'll have a fine ride.
Don't you run away, Snap."

Snap did not say whether he would or not. Flossie, standing on the
side porch, waited for her little brother. She was just his age, and
only a little smaller in height. She was just about as fat and plump
as was Freddie, and both had light curly hair. They made a pretty
picture together, and if Freddie was a "fat fireman" Flossie was a
"fat fairy," which pet name her father often called her.

"Did you look under the sofa for the straps?" asked Freddie when he
had joined his sister.

"Yes. I looked there, and--and--everywhere," she answered. "I can't
find 'em."

"Maybe Snap hid 'em," suggested Freddie.

"Maybe," agreed Flossie. "He would, if he knew you were going to hitch
him up with 'em."

"Pooh. He couldn't know that," said Freddie. "I didn't know it myself
until a little while ago, and I didn't tell anybody but you."

"Well, maybe Snap heard us talking about it," went on Flossie. "He's
awful smart, you know, Freddie, from having been in a circus."

"But he isn't smart enough for that, even if he can do lots of
tricks," Freddie went on. "There's Snoop!" he exclaimed, as a big,
black cat ran across the lawn. "Maybe SHE took our book straps."

"She couldn't," said Flossie. "Our books were in 'em, and they'd be
too heavy for Snoop to drag."

"That's so," admitted Freddie. "Well, come on, we'll find 'em!"

The twins went into the house and began searching for the straps. High
and low they looked, in all the usual, and unusual, places, where they
sometimes tossed their books when they came in from school Friday
afternoons, with the joyous cry of:

"No more lessons until Monday! Hurray!"

But this time they seemed to have tossed their books and straps into
some very much out-of-the-way place, indeed.

"We can't find 'em," said Flossie. "Can't you take some strong string,
to tie Snap to the wagon, instead of the straps, Freddie?"

"I don't think so," he answered. "I know what to do. Let's ask Dinah.
Maybe she's seen 'em."

"Oh, yes, let's!" agreed Flossie, and together they hurried to the
kitchen where Dinah, the big, good-natured, colored cook, was rattling
the pots and pans.

"Dinah! Dinah!" cried Flossie and Freddie in a twins' chorus.

"Yep-um, honey-lambs! What yo' all want?" asked Dinah, opening the
oven door, to let out a little whiff of a most delicious smell, and
then quickly closing it again. "Ef yo' wants a piece ob cake, it ain't
done yit!"

"Oh, Dinah! We don't want any cake!" said Freddie.

"What's dat? Yo' don't want cake?" and Dinah quickly straightened up,
put her fat hands on her fat hips, and looked at the two children in
surprise. "Yo--don't--want--no cake!" gasped Dinah. "What's de mattah?
Yo' all ain't sick, is yo'?"

For that was the only reason she could think of why Flossie and
Freddie should not want cake--as they generally did Saturday morning.

"No, we're not sick," said Flossie, "and we'd like a piece of cake a
little later, please Dinah. But just now we want our book straps. Have
you seen 'em?"

"Book straps! Book straps!" exclaimed Dinah in great surprise. "Go
'long wif yo' now! I ain't got no time to be bodderin' wif book
straps, when dey's pies an' puddin's an' cakes t' bake. Trot along
now, an' let ole Dinah be! Book straps! Huh!"

Flossie and Freddie knew there was little use in "bodderin'" Dinah any
more, especially when she was in the midst of her baking.

"Come on, Flossie," spoke Freddie. "We'll have another look for those
straps. Next time I'll put our books where we can find 'em."

Once more the children started through the different rooms. They
looked everywhere. But no straps could they find.

"You see what a lot of trouble it makes, not only for you, but for
others as well, when you don't take care of your books," said Mrs.
Bobbsey gently. She knew it would be a good lesson for the twins to
search for their things. Next time they might remember.

Suddenly, from out in the yard, came a shout.

"Freddie! Freddie! Come out here, quick!"

"That's Bert!" exclaimed Freddie.

"Oh, maybe he's found the straps, so we can harness up Snap," cried
Flossie.

But Bert's next words soon told the younger twins that it was no such
good luck as that, for he cried:

"Snap's running away, Freddie! He's running away. If you're going to
harness him up you'll have to catch him!"

"Oh dear!" cried Flossie.

"Come on, help me catch him!" called Freddie.

Together they ran into the yard. As Bert had said, Snap, getting tired
of being tied to a post with a thin string, had broken the cord, and
now was racing over the fields after another dog with whom he often
played.

"Come back, Snap! Come back!" cried Freddie.

Snap paid no heed.

Just then, through the front gate, came a girl. She looked so much
like Bert, with his dark hair and eyes, with his slimness and his
tallness, that you could tell at once she was his sister. As soon as
Flossie saw her, she cried:

"Oh, Nan! We were going to hitch Snap to the express wagon, but
Freddie and I can't find our straps, and Snap ran away, and--and--"

"Never mind, Flossie dear," said Nan. "Wait until you hear the good
news I have for you!"

"Good news?" exclaimed Bert, coming away from his bicycle, toward his
twin sister.

"Yes, the very best!" Nan went on. "It's about a houseboat! Now,
Flossie and Freddie, sit down on the grass and I'll tell you all about
the good news!"




CHAPTER II

SNAP SAVES FREDDIE


Down on the soft green grass of the lawn, sat the two sets of Bobbsey
twins. Yes, there were two "sets" of them, and I shall tell you how
that was, in a little while.

"Begin at the beginning," suggested Bert to his sister. He always
liked to hear all of anything, so Nan prepared to skip nothing.

"Well," said Nan, as she leaned over to re-tie the bow of Flossie's
hair ribbon. It had become loose in the hurried search for the book
straps. "Well, you know I went down to papa's lumber office this
morning, to bring him the letter that came here to the house by
mistake. It was a letter from--"

"You can skip that part of it," suggested Bert. "I don't want to wait
so long about hearing the news."

"Well, I thought I'd tell you everything," said Nan. "Anyhow, when I
was in papa's office he bought it."

"What did he buy?" asked Freddie, getting to the point more quickly
than Bert would have done. "What'd he buy, Nan?"

"A houseboat," went on the older girl twin. Mr. Marvin was there, and
he sold papa the Marvin houseboat. Oh! and such fun as we're--"

"What's a houseboat?" interrupted Flossie.

"It's a boat with a house on it, of course," spoke Bert, eagerly. "I
know. I've seen lots of them. You can live in them just like in a
house, only it's on water. There's more room in a houseboat than in a
regular boat. Go on, Nan."

"Are we going to live in it?" asked Freddie.

"I think so--at least part of the time," said Nan. "Now I'll tell you
all I know about it. I couldn't stay to ask all I wanted to, as papa
was busy. Besides, it was sort of a secret, and I found it out by
accident before he meant me to. So you mustn't tell mamma yet--it's to
be a surprise to her," and Nan looked at the two smaller twins, and
raised a cautioning finger.

"I won't tell," promised Flossie.

"Neither will I," promised Freddie. "Is that all you're going to tell
us, Nan?"

"Well, isn't that enough?" demanded Nan. "I think it's just fine, that
we're going to have a houseboat! I've always wanted one."

"So have I," spoke Bert. "Go on, Nan! Tell me more about it. How big
is it? Is there an engine in it? Where is it? Can we go on board? When
is papa going to get it? Is there a room for me in it? I wonder if I
can run the engine and steer? How much did it cost?"

"Gracious!" cried Nan, pretending to cover her ears with her hands.
"It will take me all morning, Bert, to answer those questions. Please
start over again."

"First tell me where I can see the boat," suggested Bert. "I want to
go look at it."

"It's down in the lake," said Nan.

"Come on, Flossie," spoke Freddie. "There's Snap coming back now, and
maybe we can catch him. Then we'll harness him up. Dinah ought to be
done with her baking now, and maybe she can find those straps for us.
Here, Snap!"

Flossie and Freddie, being some years younger than Bert and Nan, did
not care to bear much more about the houseboat just then. That they
were going to have one was enough for them. They were much pleased and
delighted, but they had the idea of hitching Snap to the express
wagon, and they could not get that out of their minds.

"You go in and ask Dinah to help you look for the straps," directed
Freddie to his little sister, "and I'll catch Snap. Here, Snap! Snap!"
he called to the dog who had come back into the yard after a romp and
frolic with his animal friend.

Snap was glad enough to stretch out on the grass and rest. He was
tired from his run. Freddie put his arms around the dog's neck, and
laid his head down on the shaggy coat.

"Now you can't run away again," said Freddie, as he pretended to go to
sleep, while Flossie toddled into the house once more, to have another
look for the missing book straps.

At a little distance from Freddie sat Nan and Bert, talking about the
houseboat, and the good times they would have on board. Freddie roused
up, and looked toward the house. Flossie had not yet come out.

"It takes her a long time," said the little boy. "We won't have any
ride at all, if she doesn't hurry up."

Then Freddie saw something else that attracted his attention. This was
Bert's bicycle, leaning now against the side of a shed. Bert was too
much interested in the houseboat to want to ride just then.

A new idea came into Freddie's head.

"I'm going to have a ride on Bert's wheel, while I'm waiting for
Flossie to come out with the straps," said the little twin chap. "Bert
won't care."

Freddie did not take any chances on asking Bert. His elder brother was
still busy talking to Nan about the new houseboat. Freddie scrambled
to his feet.

"Now you stay there, Snap!" he commanded the big dog, for Snap, ready
again for some fun, was anxious to follow his little master. "Lie
down, Snap!" ordered Freddie, and Snap again stretched out.

Freddie walked slowly over toward the bicycle. Of course he was too
small to ride it in the regular way, with his feet on the pedals, for
his little legs were not long enough to reach them. But he could sit
on the seat, and Bert had taught him how to steer a little, so that
though a bicycle has only two wheels, and will tip over if it is not
properly guided, Freddie could manage to ride a little way on it
without toppling over, especially if some one put him on and gave him
a push, or if he was given a start down a little hill.

"I'm going to have a ride," thought Freddie. "I'll have a little ride,
while I'm waiting for Flossie."

Freddie had a velocipede of his own, but that had three wheels instead
of two. Freddie thought two wheels were much more fun than three.

"If I can get up on that bicycle, I'll have a nice ride," murmured
Freddie. He looked toward the house. Flossie was not in sight. She had
not yet found the straps.

Then Freddie looked toward Bert and Nan. They were still busy talking
about the houseboat. They paid no attention to Freddie.

The little twin chap looked around until he had found a small box. By
stepping on this he could get up on the seat of the bicycle, which was
leaning against the shed. Then Freddie could give himself a little
push, and away he would go. There was a little hill leading from where
the bicycle stood down to the gate, and into the road. The gate was
open.

"Maybe I can even ride down the road a little way," thought Freddie to
himself. "That would be great."

It was rather hard work for Freddie to get up on the bicycle from the
box, but he managed it. Then he sat on the leather saddle, and took
hold of the handle bars. As I have told you, he knew how to steer,
even though he could not reach the pedals.

"Here I go!" cried Freddie softly, as he gave himself a little push.
Down the hill he went, along the path, straight for the yard gate.

"Oh! I'm going out in the road!" exclaimed Freddie, this time out
loud, for he was far enough away from Nan and Bert now.

And into the road he did go, on Bert's bicycle. The wheel was going
faster and faster, for Bert had just oiled it and it rode very
smoothly.

"This is great!" Freddie cried. "Maybe I can ride all the way to the
bridge."

He looked down the road to where a little white bridge spanned a small
brook. And then, as Freddie looked, he saw something which made his
heart beat very fast indeed. For, coming right toward him, was a team
of horses, hitched to a big lumber wagon--it was one of Freddie's
papa's own lumber teams, as the little boy could see for himself.

On came the trotting team, pulling the heavily laden lumber wagon,
and, worst of all, there was no driver on the seat to guide the
horses. They were trotting away all by themselves, and Freddie was out
in the road, on the bicycle that was far too big for him,

"Oh dear!" cried Freddie.

Just then he heard Flossie scream. She had come out on the side porch,
and she saw the team coming toward her little brother.

"Nan! Bert!" screamed Flossie. "Look at Freddie!"

Nan and Bert jumped up and raced down the path.

"Freddie's in trouble again!" thought Bert.

It was not the first time Freddie had gotten into mischief. Though
usually he was a pretty good boy, he sometimes made trouble without
intending to.

I have told you there were two sets of Bobbsey twins, and those of you
who have read the first book of this series know what I mean by that.
The first book is called "The Bobbsey Twins," and in that I told you
how the Bobbsey family lived in an eastern city called Lakeport, at
the head of Lake Metoka. Mr. Bobbsey was a lumber merchant, and owned
a large sawmill, and a yard, near the lake, in which yard were piled
many stacks of lumber.

Nan and Bert were the older Bobbsey twins, being past nine, while
Flossie and Freddie were about "half-past-five." So you see that is
how there were two sets of twins. Nan was a tall, slender girl, with a
dark face and red cheeks. Her eyes were brown, and so were her curls.
Bert, too, was quite dark, like Nan.

Flossie and Freddie were very light, with blue eyes. They were short
and fat, instead of tall and thin. So you see the two sets of twins
were very different.

Oh! such good times as the Bobbsey twins had! I could not tell you all
of them, if I wrote a dozen books. But some of the good times I have
related in the first book. In the second, called "The Bobbsey Twins in
the Country," there are more happenings mentioned.

Uncle Daniel Bobbsey, his wife Sarah, and their son Harry lived in the
country, at a place called Meadow Brook, and there the twins often
went on their vacation.

Uncle William Minturn, and his wife Emily, with their nine-year-old
daughter Dorothy, lived at Ocean Cliff. As you might guess, this was
on the coast, and in the third book, "The Bobbsey Twins at the
Seashore," I have told you of the good times the children had there,
how they saw a wreck, and what came of it.

In "The Bobbsey Twins at School" you will find out how they came to
get the dog Snap, as a pet. They already had a black cat, named Snoop,
but one day, when the twins, with their father and mother, were on a
railroad train, something happened, and Snoop was lost.

They found Snap, instead. He was a circus dog, and--but there, if you
want to read of Snap, you must do so in the book about him. I shall
tell you this much, though. Snap was a very fine dog, and could do
many tricks, and in the end the Bobbseys kept him for a pet, as well
as getting back their lost cat Snoop.

When school was over for the winter holidays one year, the Bobbseys
went to "Snow Lodge," and in the book of that name I have told you
about a queer mystery the twins helped solve while out amid the snow
and ice.

Now the Bobbseys were back in their fine house in Lakeport, where
Dinah, the fat cook, gave them such good things to eat, and where Sam
Johnson, her husband, kept the lawns so nice and green for the
children to play on.

Just now Freddie Bobbsey would have been very glad, indeed, to be
playing on that same lawn instead of being on his brother's bicycle,
rolling toward the team of lumber horses, who were coming straight for
him.

"Oh, look at Freddie! Look at Freddie!" screamed Flossie, dropping the
two book straps which she had at last found. "Save him, Nan! Bert! Oh,
Freddie!"

"I 'clar t' goodness!" exclaimed fat Dinah in the kitchen. "Dem
chillens am up t' some mo' trouble!"

"Freddie, steer to one side! Steer out of the way!" shouted Bert, as
he ran for the gate. He could not hope to reach his little brother in
time, though.

Freddie was too frightened and excited to steer. The bicycle was going
fast--faster than he had ever ridden on it before. All he could do was
to sit tight, and hold fast to the handle bars.

"Oh, he'll be run over!" cried Nan, as she, too, raced after Bert.

The team, with no driver to guide it, ran faster and faster. Freddie
began to cry. And then, all at once, the front wheel of the bicycle
ran over a stone, and turned to one side. The handle bars were jerked
from Freddie's grasp, and over he went, wheel and all!

Luckily for him, he fell to one side of the road, on the soft grass,
or he might have been injured, but, as it was, the fall did not hurt
him at all. One of his little fat legs, though, became tangled up in
the wire spokes of the front wheel, and Freddie lay there, with the
wheel on top of him, unable to get up.

"Oh, Bert! Bert!" screamed Nan.

"Grab him--quick!" shouted Dinah, waddling down the walk. But she was
too fat to go fast enough to do any good.

"Roll out of the way, Freddie!" cried Bert.

Freddie was too much entangled in the wheel to be able to move. And,
all the while, the lumber team was coming nearer and nearer to him.
Would the horses, with no driver at the reins, know enough to turn to
one side, or would the wheels roll over poor Freddie and the bicycle?

Nan covered her face with her hands. She did not want to look at what
was going to happen.

"I must get there in time to pull him out of the way!" thought Bert,
as he ran as fast as he could. But the team was almost on Freddie now.

Suddenly the dog Snap, who had jumped up when he heard the shouts, saw
what the danger was. Snap knew about horses, and he was smart enough
to know that Freddie was in danger.

Without waiting for anyone to tell him what to do, Snap ran straight
for the lumber team. Leaping up in front of them, and barking as
loudly as he could, Snap turned the trotting horses to one side. And
just in time, too, for, a little more, and one of the front wheels of
the heavily loaded lumber wagon would have run over the bicycle in
which Freddie was still entangled.

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