CHAPTER XXI
WHAT BERT SAW
The waterfall of Lake Romano was still some little distance off, and,as the wind was blowing toward it, only a faint roar of the fallingwater came to the ears of the Bobbsey twins, and the others on thehouseboat.
"Oh, papa!" exclaimed Nan. "May we go close up and see the cataract?"
"Yes," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I intended to give you a good view of thewaterfall. We shall spend a day or so here, as it is a greatcuriosity. There is one place where you can walk right behind thefalls."
"Behind it!" cried Harry. "I don't understand how that can be, uncle."
"You'll see to-morrow, when we visit them," said the twins' father."And there are some oddly-marked stones to be picked up, too, Bert.They will do for your collection."
"Fine!" Bert exclaimed. "Say, this has been a dandy trip all right!"
"It isn't ended yet, is it, Dorothy?" asked Nan.
"No, indeed," replied the seashore cousin, with a smile.
"And we haven't solved the mystery," said Bert in a low voice toHarry. "But we will to-night, all right."
"We sure will," agreed the boy from the country.
The Bobbsey twins stayed up rather later that night than usual. Mr.Bobbsey did not find a good anchorage for the boat for some time, ashe wanted to get in a safe place. It looked as though there might be astorm before morning, and he did not want to drift away again. Then,too, he wanted to get nearer to the waterfall, so they could reach itearly the next morning and look at it more closely.
So the motor was kept in action by Captain White until after supper,and finally the Bluebird came to rest not far from the waterfall. ThenBert and Nan, with Dorothy and Harry were so interested in listeningto Mr. Bobbsey tell stories about waterfalls, and what caused them,that the older twins and their cousins did not get to bed until nearlyten o'clock, whereas nine was the usual hour.
Of course Flossie and Freddie "turned in," as sailors say, about eighto'clock, for their little eyes would not stay open any longer.
"We'll wake up as soon as my father and mother are asleep," said Bertto Harry, as they went to their rooms, which were adjoining ones."Then we'll take turns watching that closet."
"Sure," agreed Harry. "Whoever wakes up first, will call the other."
To this Bert agreed, but the truth of it was that neither of themawakened until morning. Whether it was that they were too tired, orslept later than usual, they could not tell. But it was broaddaylight, when they sat up in their beds, or "bunks," as beds arecalled on ships.
"I thought you were going to call me," said Bert to his cousin.
"And I thought you were going to call ME," laughed the boy from thecountry.
Then they both laughed, for it was a good joke on each of them.
"Never mind," spoke Bert, as he got up and dressed. "We'll try itagain to-night."
"Try what?" asked Nan from the next room, for she could hear herbrother speak. "If you boys try to play any tricks on us girls---"
"Don't worry," broke in Harry. "The secret isn't about you."
"I think you're real mean not to tell us!" called Dorothy, from herroom. "Nan and I are going to have a marshmallow roast, when we go onshore near the waterfall, and we won't give you boys a single one,will we, Nan?"
"Not a one!" cried Bert's sister.
"Will you give me one--whatever it is?" asked Freddie from the roomwhere his mother was dressing him.
"And me, too?" added Flossie, for she always wanted to share in herlittle twin brother's fun.
"Yes, you may have some, but not Bert and Harry," went on Nan, thoughshe knew when the time came, that she would share her treat with herbrother and cousin.
"Well, I didn't hear any noises last night," said Mr. Bobbsey to hiswife at the breakfast table.
"Nor I," said she. But when Dinah came in with a platter of ham andeggs, there was such a funny look on the cook's face that Mrs. Bobbseyasked:
"Aren't you well, Dinah?"
"Oh, yes'm, I'se well enough," the fat cook answered. "But dey shuahis suffin strange gwine on abo'd dish yeah boat."
"What's the matter now?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"A whole loaf of bread was tooken last night," said Dinah. "It wastooken right out ob de bread box," she went on, "and I'se shuah itwasn't no rat, fo' he couldn't open my box."
"I don't know," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Rats are pretty smart sometimes."
"They are smart enough to keep out of my trap," said Papa Bobbsey. "Imust set some new ones, I think."
"Well, I don't think it was any rat," said Dinah, as she went onserving breakfast.
There was so much to do that day, and so much to see, that the Bobbseytwins, at least, and their cousins, paid little attention to the storyof the missing loaf of bread. Bert did say to Harry:
"It's too bad we didn't watch last night. We might have caught whoeverit was that took the bread."
"Who do you think it was?" asked Harry.
"Oh, some tramps," said Bert. "It couldn't be anybody else."
They went ashore after breakfast, close to the waterfall.
"Papa, you said you would show us where we could walk under the waterwithout getting wet," Nan reminded him.
"Oh, yes," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I have never been to these falls, but Ihave read about them." Then he showed the children a place, near theshore of the lake, where they could slip in right behind the thin veilof water that fell over the black rocks, high above their heads. Backof the falling water there was a space which the waves had worn in thestone. It was damp, but not enough to wet their feet. There theystood, behind the sheet of water, and looked out through it to thelake, into which it fell with a great splashing and foaming.
"Oh, isn't this wonderful!" cried Nan.
"It surely is," said Dorothy, with a sigh. "I never saw anything sopretty."
"And what queer stones!" cried Bert, as he picked up some that hadbeen worn into odd shapes by the action of the water.
The Bobbseys spent some little time at the waterfall, and then, asthere was a pretty little island near it, where picnic parties oftenwent for the day, they went there in the Bluebird, going ashore fortheir dinner.
"But I'm not going to play Robinson Crusoe again," said Freddie, as heremembered the time he had been caught in the cave.
At the end of a pleasant day on the island, the Bobbseys again went onboard the houseboat for supper.
"We'll watch sure to-night," said Bert to Harry, as they got ready forbed. "We won't go to sleep at all."
"All right," agreed the country cousin.
It was hard work, but they managed to stay awake. When the boat wasquiet, and every one else asleep, Harry and Bert stole softly out oftheir room and went to the passageway between the dining-room andkitchen.
"You watch from the kitchen, and I'll watch from the dining-room,"Bert told his cousin. "Then, no matter which way that rat goes, we'llsee him."
"Do you think it was a rat?" asked Harry.
"Well, I'm not sure," his cousin answered. "But maybe we'll find outto-night."
"We ought to have something to hit him with, if we see a rat,"suggested Harry.
"That's right," Bert agreed. "I'll take the stove poker, and you canhave the fire shovel. Now keep very still."
The two cousins took their places, Bert in the dining-room, and Harryin the kitchen. It was very still and quiet on the Bluebird. Up ondeck Snap, the dog, could be heard moving about now and then, for heslept up there.
Bert, who had sat down in a dining-room chair, began to feel sleepy.He tried to keep open his eyes, but it was hard work. Suddenly hedozed off, and he was just on the point of falling asleep, when heheard a noise. It was a squeaking sound, as though a door had beenopened.
"Or," thought Bert, "it might be the squeak of a mouse. I wonder ifHarry heard it?"
He wanted to call out, in a whisper, and ask his cousin in thedining-room, just beyond the passage. Bert could not see Harry. But Bertthought if he called, even in a whisper, he mi
ght scare the rat, orwhoever, or whatever, it was, that had caused the mystery.
So Bert kept quiet and watched. The squeaking noise of the looseboards in the floor went on, and then Bert heard a sound, as thoughsoft footsteps were coming toward him. He wanted to jump up and yell,but he kept still.
Then, suddenly, Bert saw something.
Standing in the dining-room door, looking at him, was a boy, about hisown age--a boy dressed in ragged clothes, and in bare feet, and in hishand this boy held a piece of bread, and a slice of cake.
"You--you!" began Bert, wondering where he had seen that boy before.And then, before Bert could say any more, the boy turned to run away,and Bert jumped up to catch him.
CHAPTER XXII
THE STOWAWAY
"Come back here!" cried Bert, as he rushed on.
There was the sound of a fall in the passageway, and some one groaned.
"What is it?" cried Harry, running from the kitchen. "What's thematter, Bert? Did you catch the rat?"
"No, but I caught something else," Bert answered. By this time he hadrun into the passageway, and there, in front of the locker, or closet,where the strange noises had been heard, lay the ragged boy. He hadfallen and hurt his head. The cake and bread had been knocked from hishands. The door of the locker or closet was open.
"Why--why---" began Harry, in surprise. "It's a--a boy."
"Yes, and now I know who he is," said Bert, as the stowaway sat up,not having been badly hurt by his fall. He had tripped in his barefeet.
"Who--who is it?" asked Harry.
"It's that boy who gave us the fish--Will Watson, who worked for theman that made the wire fence--Mr. Hardee."
"Yes, I'm that boy," said the other, slowly. "Oh, I hope your folkswon't be very mad at me. I--I didn't know what to do, so when I ranaway, I hid on your boat."
"And have you been here ever since?" asked Bert.
"Yes," answered Will. "I've been hiding here ever since."
"And was it you who took the things?" Harry wanted to know.
"Yes, I took them. I was half starved. But I'll pay you back as soonas I get out west, where my uncle lives. He's a gold miner, and Iguess he's got lots of money. Oh, I hope your father and mother willforgive me."
"Of course they will," said Bert, seeing tears in the eyes of theragged boy.
"What's the matter there?" called Mr. Bobbsey. "Has anything happened,Bert?"
"Yes," answered Bert. "We've solved the mystery--Harry and I."
"Solved the mystery!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll be right there."
"Oh, what can it be?" his wife asked.
Meanwhile, Captain White, Dinah and the little Bobbsey twins had beenawakened by the loud voices. Up on deck Snap, the dog, feeling thatsomething was wrong, was barking loudly.
"I--I hope the dog doesn't get me!" said Will, looking about.
"I won't let him hurt you," promised Bert. "So it was you, hiding inthe closet that made Snap act so funny?" he asked. "He knew you werethere."
"Yes, only I wasn't in the closet all the while. There was a looseboard at the back. I could slip out of the closet through that hole. Ihid down in the lower part of the boat. I'll show you."
"You poor boy!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey when, with her husband, she hadcome to see the "mystery," as Bert laughingly called him.
"Indeed we'll forgive you. You must have had a terrible time, hidingaway as you did. Now tell us all about it. But first I want you todrink this warm milk Dinah has made for you," for Mrs. Bobbsey hadtold the cook to heat some. "You look half starved," she said to theboy.
"I am," answered Will. "I--I didn't take any more of your food than Icould help, though."
"Yo' am welcome to all yo' want, honey lamb!" exclaimed Dinah. "Mahland, but I shuah am glad yo' ain't no ghostest! I shuah am!" and shesighed in relief, as she saw that Will was a real, flesh-and-bloodboy. He was, however, very thin and starved-looking.
"Now tell us all about it," said Mr. Bobbsey. "How did you come on ourboat?"
Will told them. After Mr. Bobbsey had stopped the cruel farmer frombeating him, Will crawled up to his room to sob himself to sleep. Thenhe began to think that after the houseboat had gone, Mr. Hardee wouldprobably treat him all the more meanly, on account of having beeninterfered with.
"So I just ran away," said Will. "I packed up what few things I had,and when I saw your boat near shore, I crept aboard and hid myselfaway. I easily found a place down--down cellar," he said with a smile.
"I suppose you mean in the hold, or the place below the lower deck,"spoke Mr. Bobbsey. "Cellars on a boat are called 'holds.' Well, whathappened?"
"I--I just stayed there. I found some old bags, and made a bed onthem," Will said. "Then when my food gave out, I used to crawl outduring the nights and take some from your kitchen.
"I had some bread when I ran away," Will went on. "I took it from Mrs.Hardee's kitchen, but they owed me money for working, and I didn'ttake more bread than I ought."
"I'm sure you didn't," said Mrs. Bobbsey, kindly.
"I didn't want you to know I was on board the boat," Will resumed,"for I was afraid you'd send me off, and I didn't want Mr. Hardee tofind me again. I was afraid he'd whip me."
"But what did you intend to do?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"Well, I heard you say you were going to Lake Romano," said the boy,"and I thought I would ride as far as you went. Then I wouldn't haveso far to walk to get to my uncle out west. I'm going to him. He'lllook after me, I know. I can't stand Mr. Hardee any more."
"You poor boy. We'll help you find your uncle," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
"And you've been on board ever since?" asked Mr. Bobbsey.
"Yes, sir. I hid down in the 'hold,' as you call it. Then when I gothungry, I found a loose board, so I could get into the closet. Then atnight I would come out and get things to eat and a little water ormilk to drink. I didn't mean any harm."
"No, I'm sure you did not," the twins' father said. "Well, I'm gladBert found you," he went on, as Bert and Harry told how they had keptwatch. "So it was you who took the things, and who made the noisesthat frightened Dinah?"
"Yes, but I didn't mean, to scare her," Will said. "That day I got myhand caught in the loose board, and it hurt so, and I felt so bad thatI--I cried. That was what she heard, I guess."
"You poor boy!" said Mrs. Bobbsey again.
"And--and did you see any rats in the cellar?" asked Freddie, who wasmoving about in his little night dress.
"No," answered Will, "I didn't see any rats. It was bad enough in thedark place, without any rats."
"Well, I guess your troubles are over, for a time," said Mr. Bobbsey."We'll fix you up a bed, and then I'll have a talk with you about thisminer uncle of yours."
Will finished his warm milk, and ate some bread and cake--the same hehad taken from Dinah's kitchen. He had gone in there and taken it, butHarry had not heard him, for Harry had fallen asleep.
"And so it was a stowaway boy, and not rats or ghosts or anything elsethat was the mystery," said Mrs. Bobbsey, when everything once morequiet on the Bluebird.
"That's what it was," her husband said "Bert was real smart to sit upand watch."
"And he never told us a thing about it."
"Oh, he wanted to surprise us," laughed Mr. Bobbsey.
"And didn't I see you, the time I fell overboard?" asked Flossie,looking at Will.
"I think you did," he laughed. "I happened to put my head out of aventilating hole just as you looked. I pulled it in again, soonenough, though. I hope I didn't scare you."
"Not very much," Flossie said. "I was sure I saw you, but nobody elsewould believe me."
Snap soon made friends with the new boy. It was Will, hiding behindthe closet wall, that had made the dog act as though a rat were there.
I must bring my story to a close, now that the mystery is explained.And, really, there is little else to tell. Will had, in the littlebundle of things he had brought away from Mr. Hardee's with him, theaddress of a man he thought knew wh
ere the miner uncle was. Mr.Bobbsey wrote several letters, and, in due time, word came back thatWill's uncle was well off now, and would look after him. His name wasMr. Jackson. He had lost track of Will for some years and had justbegun a search for him, when Mr. Bobbsey's letter came. Enough moneywas sent on to enable Will to make the trip out west, where he wouldbe well cared for. He could not thank the Bobbsey family enough forwhat they had done for him.
Mr. Hardee heard where his runaway boy had been found, and tried toget him back, but Mr. Bobbsey would not permit this. So Will's lifebegan to be a pleasant one. The time he had spent on the houseboat,after coming from his hiding place, was the happiest he had everknown.
"Well, what shall we do now?" asked Bert one day, after Will had gone."It seems queer not to have to be on the lookout for a mystery orsomething like that."
"Doesn't it," agreed Harry.
"And so that was your secret?" asked Nan.
"Yes, that was it," her brother answered. "But I wish we had somethingto do now."
"Whatever you do, you want to do in the next two weeks," said Mr.Bobbsey, coming up on deck.
"Why?" asked Bert.
"Because our houseboat trip will come to an end then."
"Oh!" cried the Bobbsey twins in a chorus. "That's too bad!"
"But I have other pleasures for you," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "The summervacation is not yet over."
And those of you who wish to read of what further pleasures thechildren had, may do so in the following volume, which will be called"The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook."
"Let's have one more picnic on an island!" proposed Nan, a few daysbefore the trip on Lake Romano was to end.
"And a marshmallow roast!" added Dorothy.
"Fine!" cried Bert. "I'll eat all the candies you toast!"
"And I'll help!" added Harry.
"You boys will have to make the fire," Nan said.
"I'll gather wood!" offered Freddie. "And I'll have my little fireengine all ready to put out the blaze, if it gets too big."
"A pail of water will be better," laughed Bert. "Your engine might getgoing so fast, like it did once, we couldn't stop it."
"I'll sharpen the sticks to put the marshmallows on," offered Harry.
"I wish Will Watson was here to help us eat these," said Nan a littlelater that afternoon, when the children were having their marshmallowroast on a little island in the lake. "He was a nice boy."
"Yes, and he will be well looked after now," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Yourfather had a letter from the miner uncle to-day, saying he was goingto make a miner of Will. He gave up the idea of going to sea."
"And will he dig gold?" asked Flossie.
"I suppose so, dear!"
"Oh, I'm going to dig gold when I grow to be a man," said Freddie."May I have another marshmallow, Nan?" "Yes, little fat fireman," shelaughed.
A few days later, after making a trip around the lower end of thelake, the Bobbsey twins started for home, reaching there safely, andhaving no more trouble with Mr. Hardee and his wire fence.
And so, as they are now safe at home, we shall say good-bye to theBobbsey twins and their friends.
THE END
The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat Page 21