Mystery at School

by Laura Lee Hope

  “I don’t know,” Mrs. Bobbsey replied. “We’ll ask the conductor when he comes through again.”

  When the question was put to the man a few minutes later, he shook his head. “I’m afraid it will take several hours to clear the track,” he replied. “I suggest that any passengers who wish to, walk across the field to the highway. It isn’t far, and the railroad company will send out buses to take you into Lakeport.”

  “Let’s do that, Mother,” Freddie urged. “I’m tired of sitting in this train!”

  “All right,” Mrs. Bobbsey agreed. “We’ll leave the large suitcases to be put off at Lakeport and carry the small ones.”

  Bert and Nan each picked up an overnight bag. Freddie flung the coats over his shoulder.

  “I’ll take Linda’s suitcase,” Flossie said. Linda was her favorite doll and had been with her both at the seashore and in the country.

  As the little girl stood up on the train seat and pulled the doll’s suitcase from the luggage rack, the clasp opened. Out onto the seat and floor of the aisle spilled the doll clothes, as well as some shells which Flossie had picked up on the beach. Several of the shells broke.

  “Oh dear!” Flossie cried.

  “Never mind,” said Nan. “We’ll write to Dorothy and ask her to send some more shells.”

  She and Flossie scrambled around the floor and in a minute had all the clothes and shells back in the suitcase again.

  By this time the other passengers had left the car. The Bobbseys were the last to come down the train steps. They said good-by to the friendly conductor, who promised to see that their luggage was put off at Lakeport.

  “Ooh, it’s dark!” Flossie exclaimed as she jumped to the ground and followed her mother. It was true. Dusk had fallen.

  “There’s a path here which must lead to the highway,” Mrs. Bobbsey pointed out. “I’ll go first. You and Freddie come after me. Bert and Nan will walk last.”

  The procession started off across the field. The path was hard to follow in the darkness, and the other people from the train were far ahead.

  Flossie stumbled over a stone and fell. Mrs. Bobbsey helped her up. “Perhaps you’d better hold Freddie’s hand, dear,” her mother suggested.

  “All right,” Flossie agreed.

  “Are you sure we’re going toward the highway?” Nan called. “I don’t see any lights”

  “I think there’s a patch of woods ahead. The road is on the other side of that,” Mrs. Bobbsey replied.

  They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Then Bert, who brought up the rear, whispered to Nan, “Do you hear something behind us?”

  “No. What do you mean?” his twin asked.

  “Something has been following us,” Bert said in a low tone. “It sounds more like an animal than a person—maybe one of the escaped circus animals.”

  “Don’t say anything about it,” Nan warned. “You’ll frighten Freddie and Flossie!”

  She hurried to catch up to the others, but Bert’s remark had made her more aware of strange sounds. “There is something back there!” she decided with a little shiver.

  By this time the sound had become louder. There was a steady pit-pat, pit-pat of footsteps on the hard ground.

  Mrs. Bobbsey stopped, and the twins gathered around her. “Is someone following us?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Bert replied. “I’ve been hearing the footsteps for some time, but I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “Maybe it’s a tiger I” Freddie cried.

  CHAPTER III

  A LOST DOG

  NAN laughed nervously. “I’m sure it’s not a tiger, Freddie,” she said. “Remember, the conductor said the car the wild animals were in hadn’t left the track!”

  “One might have ’scaped!” Freddie insisted.

  “Come on, children,” Mrs. Bobbsey said firmly. “I’m sure there’s nothing dangerous back of us, and we must hurry on to the highway before it gets any darker.”

  They walked as fast as they could. Mrs. Bobbsey led the way while Nan held Flossie’s hand and Bert took Freddie’s. Still the pit-pat behind them grew louder.

  Just then the moon broke through the clouds. At the same moment they heard a friendly bark.

  “It’s a dog!” Bert cried, beginning to laugh.

  The twins and their mother turned in the path. Bounding toward them was a large, white, shaggy dog. He wagged his tail in greeting.

  “Oh, isn’t he nice!” Nan exclaimed. “I wonder where he came from?”

  “Here, boy!” Bert snapped his fingers.

  Instantly the dog stood up on his hind legs and began to march around in a circle.

  “What a funny doggie!” Flossie cried, clapping her hands.

  At the sound the dog dropped to all fours again and ran over to the little girl. He stood in front of her, fluffy tail waving and his tongue hanging out.

  “He’s smiling at me!” Flossie exclaimed in delight. She leaned over and patted him.

  At that the dog sat down and held out one paw. “Shake hands with him, Flossie!” Freddie urged.

  When the children had each shaken the dog’s paw, Mrs. Bobbsey spoke up. “He’s certainly a well-trained dog, but don’t play with him any more. We don’t want him to follow us. His owner wouldn’t like it.”

  “I wish he was ours!” Freddie said wistfully.

  “Remember, you have Snoop,” his mother replied. “You wouldn’t want both a dog and a cat!”

  “Sure I would!” Freddie persisted.

  At Mrs. Bobbsey’s urging the twins resumed their walk to the highway. The dog sat down and looked after them. Flossie turned and waved to him.

  They had gone only a little way when Nan called out, “The dog is still following us!”

  Mrs. Bobbsey glanced back. The big white dog was padding after them, wagging his tail.

  “Go back! Go home!” Mrs. Bobbsey called sternly.

  The dog stopped. He lay down in the path, his head between his forepaws, his eyes looking up at them mournfully.

  “He wants to come with us,” Flossie said. “Maybe he doesn’t belong to anyone!”

  “A trained dog like that must have a master,” her mother observed. “Come on, we’re almost at the highway.”

  “Perhaps the dog is the one we saw doing tricks on the platform at Ocean Cliff,” Nan suggested after a few minutes. “He may belong to the circus.”

  “That dog wasn’t so big as this one,” Flossie stated positively.

  The Bobbseys walked on, and in a short while came to the highway. Parked at the side of the road was a station wagon and a truck.

  “There’s Daddy!” Flossie shrieked, running up to a tall handsome man who had just stepped from the station wagon.

  “How’s my little sweet fairy?” he teased as he picked Flossie up and swung her into the air. This was Mr. Bobbsey’s favorite nickname for his younger daughter. He called Freddie his fireman because the little boy loved to play with toy fire engines and said he was going to be a fireman when he grew up.

  “Dick!” Mrs. Bobbsey exclaimed. “How do you happen to be here?”

  “Sam and I went to the Lakeport station to meet you. When we heard that the track was blocked, we decided to try picking you up here.”

  He explained that Sam had put some benches in the truck so that he could take passengers into town if they wished to go. Although the railroad had sent several buses, there was not room for all the people from the train and the lumberyard truck was already full of passengers. At a signal from Mr. Bobbsey, Sam drove off.

  “We’ve had a very ’citing time!” Flossie explained. “We saw the monkeys ride on the ponies.”

  “And one monkey made a face at me!” Freddie chuckled.

  “Where did that dog come from?” Mr. Bobbsey asked, pointing behind the twins.

  The children whirled. The white dog had caught up to them and now stood wagging his tail so hard it seemed as if it would shake right off!

  Bert explained about hearing the
animal following them and said they had thought perhaps it was a wild animal escaped from the circus train. “And it turned out to be this dog!” he ended with a grin.

  “May we take him home with us, please, Daddy?” Flossie pleaded.

  “But doesn’t he belong to somebody?” Mr. Bobbsey asked in surprise.

  “We don’t know,” Bert admitted. “But he might be run over if we leave him here on the highway.”

  Mr. Bobbsey walked over and examined the dog’s neck. “He doesn’t have a collar or a license,” he observed. “We might take him along until we can find out where he belongs.”

  “Goody! Goody!” Flossie cried. She and Freddie climbed into the third seat of the station wagon. The dog jumped up and settled down between them.

  For the first part of the ride to Lakeport the twins were busy telling their father about the past few days at Ocean Cliff and about Hurricane Betsy.

  But after a little while there was silence in the back seat. Bert turned around, then motioned the others to look. Freddie and Flossie were sound asleep, their heads on the shaggy back of the big white dog!

  A few minutes later, they awoke when Mr. Bobbsey pulled into the driveway of the Bobbseys’ rambling white house. The door flew open, and Dinah hurried out.

  “I’m right glad to see you!” the cook called as she began to help take the bags out of the station wagon. “And I’ve got a nice supper all ready for you!”

  “That sounds good, Dinah,” Bert said as he helped his mother from the car.

  “My lands!” Dinah threw up her hands in surprise. “What’s that you all have in there?”

  “A dog!” Freddie explained. “And he does tricks!”

  “He followed us and he wants to live here,” Flossie added. The white dog jumped from the car and trotted up the walk.

  Dinah shook her head dubiously. “I don’t know how Mr. Snoop’s going to like that!” she said. “You know he’s powerful jealous!”

  As she spoke the black cat appeared in the doorway of the house. At the sight of the dog, Snoop’s back arched, his fur rose, and he stood rigid, barring the way.

  “Come on, Snoop!” Bert urged. “The dog’s not going to hurt you!”

  For reply the cat’s back arched even higher.

  Bert snapped his fingers. The dog stood on his hind legs and pranced around. The cat’s eyes followed every move. Then the white dog lay down and rolled over in front of Snoop, ending on his back with his paws held helplessly in the air!

  Snoop’s fur flattened out and he began to purr. The next minute he walked over to the dog and rubbed against his shoulder.

  “They’re going to be friends!” Freddie cried, running up and throwing his arms around both pets.

  Mr. Bobbsey laughed. “It looks as if your new friend has persuaded Snoop that he’s harmless!”

  The children ran upstairs to get ready for supper while Dinah took the dog out to the kitchen. Soon the two animals were eating side by side.

  When Sam came in a little later after delivering his passengers to the railroad station, Mr. Bobbsey said, “Fix the dog a bed in the garage, will you, Sam? We’ll keep him here tonight anyway.”

  At the supper table Flossie spoke up. “What shall we call the doggie? He should have a name so he’ll know who he is !”

  “Let’s call him Bongo!” Freddie suggested.

  “Or Shaggy ’cause his fur is!” Flossie said.

  “You could call him Wrinkle Nose or Waggle Tail,” Mr. Bobbsey said teasingly.

  The twins laughed. Then Nan said, “Why not call him Snap because he does tricks when Bert snaps his fingers.”

  “Yes, and his eyes are snappy,” Flossie agreed.

  Several other names were suggested but they finally decided that Snap was the best.

  “But remember,” Mr. Bobbsey cautioned, “the dog isn’t yours, and he probably already has a name.”

  “But Daddy, we can keep him, can’t we?” Freddie said in distress. “Snap wants to live with us!”

  Mr. Bobbsey shook his head. “That wouldn’t be fair, son. The dog seems to be a valuable animal. We’ll have to try to find his owner!”

  CHAPTER IV

  THE NEWSPAPER AD

  WHEN Mr. Bobbsey said they should try to find the dog’s owner, the twins looked disappointed.

  Nan said thoughtfully, “Whoever had Snap must have been very fond of him to teach him so many tricks.”

  “That’s right,” Bert agreed. “And he probably feels bad about losing his dog.”

  Flossie sighed. “I’ll feel terrible to lose him, too!”

  Mrs. Bobbsey suggested that they wait until morning to do anything about Snap. The children were tired after their exciting day and soon dropped off to sleep.

  The next day was bright and sunny. Freddie and Flossie ran out to the garage before breakfast to see Snap. When the small twins opened the door the dog bounded up to them, barking happily. Then he stood on his hind legs and marched a few steps.

  “I think he likes it here!” Freddie observed.

  Later at the breakfast table the Bobbseys discussed how to find Snap’s owner. Remembering Nan’s suggestion that the dog might have strayed from the circus train, Bert said, “Maybe we should find out where the circus was going. Then we could write the manager and ask if they have lost a dog.”

  “But what was the name of the circus and how can we find them?” Nan asked.

  “I’ll call the railroad station,” Bert volunteered. “The stationmaster may know.”

  He left the table. When he returned a few minutes later, he reported that it had been the Hayden Circus. “When they finally got to Lakeport last night, they loaded the animals in trucks and the performers in buses. The railroad man doesn’t know where they went.”

  “Then I guess we can keep Snap,” Freddie said happily.

  “Just a minute, my little fireman,” Mr. Bobbsey said with a smile. “You’ll have to try harder than that to find the dog’s owner!”

  “We could put an ad in the paper,” Bert suggested half-heartedly.

  Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey agreed that this was a good way to handle it. Nan ran to get paper and pencil, and the twins composed a notice for the “found” column of the newspaper. It read:FOUND: trick dog. Owner please phone the Bobbsey twins.

  After Nan had called the ad in to the paper the twins felt they had done all they could to find out where the shaggy white dog had come from.

  School was to open in two days so everyone was very busy. There were clothes to be made ready and summer reports to be finished.

  “I’m really glad to go back to school,” Bert observed. “It will be fun working for the new museum.”

  “Yes,” said Nan. “And it will be nice to see Nellie and Charlie again.”

  Nellie Parks, blond and blue-eyed, was Nan’s special friend, while dark-haired Charlie Mason was Bert’s chum.

  On opening day the twins started off early. When they reached the corner near the school they heard a friendly hail. It was from Nellie.

  “Hi, Bobbseys!” she called. “Wait for me!”

  Nellie had no sooner joined the twins than Charlie came running up. As soon as they had caught up on the summer’s news and heard about the trick dog, Nellie said, “I hear you’re head of the museum committee, Bert. I’m one of your members!”

  “And I’m the other!” Charlie announced with a grin.

  “Say, that’s great!” Bert declared. “I wonder what we’re supposed to do?”

  “We’ll find out in assembly,” Charlie said. “Mr. Tetlow’s going to make an announcement about it.”

  Inside the school Flossie and Freddie ran down the hall to their room while the four older children went to theirs. As they entered, a boy about Bert’s age brushed by them. He was Danny Rugg.

  Danny was taller and heavier than Bert, and he seemed to enjoy playing mean tricks on the Bobbseys. Now he scowled when Bert spoke to him.

  “I suppose you and your sister have been solving myste
ries all summer!” he said with a scornful laugh.

  Bert kept his temper. “As a matter of fact, we have,” he said coolly and walked over to his desk.

  Later when the pupils gathered in the auditorium, Mr. Tetlow told them about the new museum and announced the committee. “I hope that many of you will bring in articles for display,” he said. “We have some exhibits now, and I shall be glad to show them to you this afternoon.”

  There was excited conversation about the museum project as the children made their way back to their classrooms.

  “I think it’s a silly idea,” Danny Rugg remarked to his pal Jack Westley. “And Bert Bobbsey’s teacher’s pet. He’s always made head of everything!”

  Jack snickered, and Bert, who had overheard the remark, flushed angrily. But he had resolved that he would not let Danny annoy him this year, and so he said nothing.

  Nan, however, was worried. “I’m sure Danny will be up to something soon,” she thought.

  Shortly before the afternoon session began, a white truck stopped in front of the school building. A bell jangled, and a black-haired young man in a sparkling white suit jumped down.

  “It’s Tony!” Nellie cried. “I was wondering if he’d be back this year!”

  Tony was the driver of the ice-cream truck which stopped at the school each noon when the children were returning after lunch at home. He was a great favorite with all of them because he always remembered their names and the ice cream flavors they liked.

  “Hi, Tony!” Freddie called, running down to the truck. “I’d like vanilla fudge!”

  Soon all the children were gathered around the white truck shouting their orders.

  “Just a minute ! One at a time!” Tony protested as he opened the back of the truck and reached in for the frozen packages.

  “I’d like chocolate mint,” Nan decided. “Then Monday I’ll have strawberry.”

  Tony laughed. “That’s a good idea. But you’ll have to tell the new man on Monday!”

  “Oh, Tony, aren’t you coming back?” Nellie asked in dismay.

  “You can’t leave us, Tony!” the other children cried in chorus.