“Give them to Aunt Emily,” he said gallantly, while Dorothy took the bouquet and declared she could have caught Bert, anyhow, if she “only had a few more feet,” whatever that meant.
CHAPTER IX
Fun on the Sands
“How many shells did you get in your hunt?” Bert asked the girls, when the excitement over the pond lilies had died away.
“We never went,” replied Dorothy. “First, Freddie fell down and had to cry awhile, then he had to stop to see the gutter band, next he had a ride on the five-cent donkey, and by that time there were so many people out, mother said there would not be a pretty shell left, so we decided to go to-morrow morning.”
“Then Hal and I will go along,” said Bert. “I want to look for nets, to put in my den at home.”
“We are going for a swim now,” went on Dorothy; “we only came back for our suits.”
“There seems so much to do down here, it will take a week to have a try at everything,” said Bert. “I’ve only been in the water once, but I’m going for a good swim now. Come along, Hal.”
“Yes, we always go before lunch,” said Hal starting off for his suit.
Soon Dorothy, Nan, Nellie, and Flossie appeared with their suits done up in the neat little rubber bags that Aunt Emily had bought at a hospital fair. Then Freddie came with Mrs. Bobbsey, and Dorothy, with her bag on a stick over her shoulder, led the procession to the beach.
As Dorothy told Nan, they had a comfortable bathhouse rented for the season, with plenty of hooks to hang things on, besides a mirror, to see how one’s hair looked, after the waves had done it up mermaid fashion.
It did not take the girls long to get ready, and presently all appeared on the beach in pretty blue and white suits, with the large white sailor collars, that always make bathing suits look just right, because real sailors wear that shape of collar.
Flossie wore a white flannel suit, and with her pretty yellow curls, she “looked like a doll,” so Nellie said. Freddie’s suit was white too, as he always had things as near like his twin sister’s as a boy’s clothes could be. Altogether the party made a pretty summer picture, as they ran down to the waves, and promptly dipped in.
“Put your head under or you’ll take cold,” called Dorothy, as she emerged from a big wave that had completely covered her up.
Nellie and Nan “ducked” under, but Flossie was a little timid, and held her mother’s right hand even tighter than Freddie clung to her left.
“We must get hold of the ropes,” declared Mrs. Bobbsey, seeing a big wave coming.
They just reached the ropes when the wave caught them. Nellie and Nan were out farther, and the billow struck Nellie with such force it actually washed her up on shore.
“Ha! ha!” laughed Dorothy, “Nellie got the first tumble.” And then the waves kept dashing in so quickly that there was no more chance for conversation. Freddie ducked under as every wave came, but Flossie was not always quick enough, and it was very hard for her to keep hold of the ropes when a big splasher dashed against her. Dorothy had not permission to swim out as far as she wanted to go, for her mother did not allow her outside the lines, excepting when Mr. Minturn was swimming near her, so she had to be content with floating around near where the other girls bounced up and down, like the bubbles on the billows.
“Look out, Nan!” called Dorothy, suddenly, as Nan stood for a moment fixing her belt. But the warning came too late, for the next minute a wave picked Nan up and tossed her with such force against a pier, that everybody thought she must be hurt. Mrs. Bobbsey was quite frightened, and ran out on the beach, putting Freddie and Flossie at a safe distance from the water, while she made her way to where Nan had been tossed.
For a minute or so, it seemed, Nan disappeared, but presently she bobbed up, out of breath, but laughing, for Hal had her by the hand, and was helping her to shore. The boys had been swimming around by themselves near by, and Hal saw the wave making for Nan just in time to get there first.
“I had to swim that time,” laughed Nan, “whether I knew how or not.”
“You made a pretty good attempt,” Hal told her; “and the water is very deep around those piles. You had better not go out so far again, until you’ve learned a few strokes in the pools. Get Dorothy to teach you.”
“Oh, oh, oh, Nellie!” screamed Mrs. Bobbsey. “Where is she? She has gone under that wave!”
Sure enough, Nellie had disappeared. She had only let go the ropes one minute, but she had her back to the ocean watching Nan’s rescue, when a big billow struck her, knocked her down, and then where was she?
“Oh,” cried Freddie. “She is surely drowned!”
Hal struck out toward where Nellie had been last seen, but he had only gone a few strokes when Bert appeared with Nellie under his arm. She had received just the same kind of toss Nan got, and fortunately Bert was just as near by to save her, as Hal had been to save Nan. Nellie, too, was laughing and out of breath when Bert towed her in.
“I felt like a rubber ball,” she said, as soon as she could speak, “and Bert caught me on the first bounce.”
“You girls should have ropes around your waists, and get someone to hold the other end,” teased Dorothy, coming out with the others on the sands.
“Well, I think we have all had enough of the water for this morning,” said Mrs. Bobbsey, too nervous to let the girls go in again.
Boys and girls were willing to take a sun bath on the beach, so, while Hal and Bert started in to build a sand house for Freddie, the four girls capered around, playing tag and enjoying themselves generally. Flossie thought it great fun to dig for the little soft crabs that hide in the deep damp sand. She found a pasteboard box and into this she put all her fish.
“I’ve got a whole dozen!” she called to Freddie, presently. But Freddie was so busy with his sand castle he didn’t have time to bother with baby crabs.
“Look at our fort,” called Bert to the girls. “We can shoot right through our battlements,” he declared, as he sank down in the sand and looked out through the holes in the sand fort.
“Shoot the Indian and you get a cigar,” called Dorothy, taking her place as “Indian” in front of the fort, and playing target for the boys.
First Hal tossed a pebble through a window in the fort, then Bert tried it, but neither stone went anywhere near Dorothy, the “Indian.”
“Now, my turn,” she claimed, squatting down back of the sand wall and taking aim at Hal, who stood out front.
And if she didn’t hit him—just on the foot with a little white pebble!
“Hurrah for our sharpshooter!” cried Bert.
Of course the hard part of the trick was to toss a pebble through the window without knocking down the wall, but Dorothy stood to one side, and swung her arm, so that the stone went straight through and reached Hal, who stood ten feet away.
“I’m next,” said Nellie, taking her place behind “the guns.”
Nellie swung her arm and down came the fort!
“Oh my!” called Freddie, “you’ve knocked down the whole gun wall. You’ll have to be—”
“Court-martialed,” said Hal, helping Freddie out with his war terms.
“She’s a prisoner of war,” announced Bert, getting hold of Nellie, who dropped her head and acted like someone in real distress. Just as if it were all true, Nan and Dorothy stood by, wringing their hands, in horror, while the boys brought the poor prisoner to the frontier, bound her hands with a piece of cord, and stood her up against an abandoned umbrella pole.
Hal acted as judge.
“Have you anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced upon you?” he asked in a severe voice.
“I have,” sighed Nellie. “I did not intend to betray my country. The enemy caused the—the—downfall of Quebec,” she stammered, just because the name of that place happened to come to her lips.
“Who is her counsel?” asked the Judge.
“Your honor,” spoke up Dorothy, “this soldier has done good
service. She has pegged stones at your honor with good effect, she has even captured a company of wild pond lilies in your very ranks, and now, your honor, I plead for mercy.”
The play of the children had, by this time, attracted quite a crowd, for the bathing hour was over, and idlers tarried about.
“Fair play!” called a strange boy in the crowd, taking up the spirit of fun. “That soldier has done good service. She took a sassy little crab out of my ear this very day!”
Freddie looked on as if it were all true. Flossie did not laugh a bit, but really seemed quite frightened.
“I move that sentence be pronounced,” called Bert, being on the side of the prosecution.
“The prisoner will look this way!” commanded Hal.
Nellie tossed back her wet brown curls and faced the crowd.
“The sentence of the court is that the prisoner be transported for life,” announced Hal, while four boys fell in around Nellie, and she silently marched in military fashion toward the bathing pavilion, with Dorothy and Nan at her heels.
Here the war game ended, and everyone was satisfied with that day’s fun on the sands.
CHAPTER X
The Shell Hunt
“Now, all ready for the hunting expedition,” called Uncle William, very early the next morning, he having taken a day away from his office in the city, to enjoy himself with the Bobbseys at the seashore.
It was to be a long journey, so Aunt Emily thought it wise to take the donkey cart, so that the weary travelers, as they fell by the wayside, might be put in the cart until refreshed. Besides, the shells and things could be brought home in the cart. Freddie expected to capture a real sea serpent, and Dorothy declared she would bring back a whale. Nellie had an idea she would find something valuable, maybe a diamond, that some fish had swallowed in mistake for a lump of sugar at the bottom of the sea. So, with pleasant expectations, the party started off, Bert and Hal acting as guides, and leading the way.
“If you feel like climbing down the rocks here we can walk all along the edge,” said Hal. “But be careful!” he cautioned, “the rocks are awfully slippery. Dorothy will have to go on ahead down the road with the donkeys, and we can meet her at the Point.”
Freddie and Flossie went along with Dorothy, as the descent was considered too dangerous for the little ones. Dorothy let Freddie drive to make up for the fun the others had sliding down the rocks.
Uncle Daniel started down the cliffs first, and close behind him came Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Emily. Nan and Nellie took another path, if a small strip of jagged rock could be called a path, while Hal and Bert scaled down over the very roughest part, it seemed to the girls.
“Oh, mercy!” called Nan, as a rock slipped from under her foot and she promptly slipped after it. “Nellie, give me your hand or I’ll slide into the ocean!”
Nellie tried to cross over to Nan, but in doing so she lost her footing and fell, then turned over twice, and only stopped as she came in contact with Uncle William’s heels.
“Are you hurt?” everybody asked at once, but Nellie promptly jumped up, showing the toss had not injured her in the least.
“I thought I was going to get an unexpected bath that time,” she said, laughing, “only for Mr. Minturn interfering. I saw a star in each heel of his shoe,” she declared’ “and I was never before glad to bump my nose.”
Without further accident the party reached the sands, and saw Dorothy and the little ones a short distance away. Freddie had already filled his cap with little shells, and Flossie was busy selecting some of the finest from a collection she had made.
“Let’s dig,” said Hal to Bert. “There are all sorts of mussels, crabs, clams, and oysters around here. The fisheries are just above that point.”
So the boys began searching in the wet sand, now and then bringing up a “fairy crab” or a baby clam.
“Here’s an oyster,” called Nellie, coming up with the shellfish in her hand. It was a large oyster and had been washed quite clean by the noisy waves.
“Let’s open it,” said Hal. “Shall I, Nellie?”
“Yes, if you want to,” replied the girl, indifferently, for she did not care about the little morsel. Hal opened it easily with his knife, and then he asked who was hungry.
“Oh, see here!” he called, suddenly. “What this? It looks like a pearl.”
“Let me see,” said Mr. Minturn, taking the little shell in his hand, and turning out the oyster. “Yes, that surely is a pearl. Now, Nellie, you have a prize. Sometimes these little pearls are quite valuable. At any rate, you can have it set in a ring,” declared Mr. Minturn.
“Oh, let me see,” pleaded Dorothy. “I’ve always looked for pearls, and never could find one. How lucky you are, Nellie. It’s worth some money.”
“Maybe it isn’t a pearl at all,” objected Nellie, hardly believing that anything of value could be picked up so easily.
“Yes, it is,” declared Mr. Minturn. “I’ve seen that kind before. I’ll take care of it for you, and find out what it is worth,” and he very carefully sealed the tiny speck in an envelope which he put in his pocketbook.
After that everybody wanted to dig for oysters, but it seemed the one that Nellie found had been washed in somehow, for the oyster beds were out in deeper water. Yet, every time Freddie found a clam or a mussel, he wanted it opened to look for pearls.
“Let us get a box of very small shells and we can string them for necklaces,” suggested Nan. “We can keep them for Christmas gifts too, if we string them well.”
“Oh, I’ve got enough for beads and bracelets,” declared Flossie, for, indeed, she had lost no time in filling her box with the prettiest shells to be found on the sands.
“Oh, I see a net,” called Bert, running toward a lot of driftwood in which an old net was tangled. Bert soon disentangled it and it proved to be a large piece of seine, the kind that is often used to decorate walls in libraries.
“Just what I wanted!” he declared. “And smell the salt. I will always have the ocean in my room now, for I can close my eyes and smell the salt water.”
“It is a good piece,” declared Hal. “You were lucky to find it. Those sell for a couple of dollars to art dealers.”
“Well, I won’t sell mine at any price,” Bert said. “I’ve been wishing for a net to put back of my swords and Indian arrows. They make a fine decoration.”
The grown folks had come up now, and all agreed the seine was a very pretty one.
“Well, I declare!” said Uncle William, “I have often looked for a piece of net and never could get that kind. You and Nellie were the lucky ones today.”
“Oh, oh, oh!” screamed Freddie. “What’s that?” and before he had a chance to think, he ran down to the edge of the water to meet a big barrel that had been washed in.
“Look out!” screamed Bert, but Freddie was looking in, and at that moment the water washed in right over Freddie’s shoes, stockings, and all.
“Oh!” screamed everybody in chorus, for the next instant a stronger wave came in and knocked Freddie down. Quick as a flash Dorothy, who was nearest the edge, jumped in after Freddie, for as the wave receded the little boy fell in again, and might have been washed out into real danger if he had not been promptly rescued.
But as it was he was dripping wet, even his curls had been washed, and his linen suit looked just like one of Dinah’s dish towels. Dorothy, too, was wet to the knees, but she did not mind that. The day was warming up and she could get along without shoes or stockings until she reached home.
“Freddie’s always fallin’ in,” gasped Flossie, who was always getting frightened at her twin brother’s accidents.
“Well, I get out, don’t I?” pouted Freddie, not feeling very happy in his wet clothing.
“Now we must hurry home,” insisted Mrs. Bobbsey, as she put Freddie in the donkey cart, while Dorothy, after pulling off her wet shoes and stockings, put a robe over her feet, whipped up the donkeys, Doodle and Dandy, and with Freddie and Flossie i
n the seat of the cart, the shells and net in the bottom, started off towards the cliffs, there to fix Freddie up in dry clothing. Of course he was not “wet to the skin,” as he said, but his shoes and stockings were soaked, and his waist was wet, and that was enough. Five minutes later Dorothy pulled up the donkeys at the kitchen door, where Dinah took Freddie in her arms, and soon after fixed him up.
“You is de greatest boy for fallin’ in,” she declared. “Nebber saw sech a faller. But all de same you’se Dinah’s baby boy,” and kind-hearted Dinah rubbed Freddie’s feet well, so he would not take cold; then, with fresh clothing, she made him just as comfortable and happy as he had been when he had started out shell hunting.
CHAPTER XI
Downy on the Ocean
“Harry is coming today,” Bert told Freddie, on the morning following the shell hunt, “and maybe Aunt Sarah will come with him. I’m going to get the cart now to drive over to the station. You may come along, Freddie, mother said so. Get your cap and hurry up,” and Bert rushed off to the donkey barn to put Doodle and Dandy in harness.
Freddie was with Bert as quickly as he could grab his cap off the rack, and the two brothers promptly started for the station.
“I hope they bring peaches,” Freddie said, thinking of the beautiful peaches in the Meadow Brook orchard that had not been quite ripe when the Bobbseys left the country for the seaside.
Numbers of people were crowded around the station when the boys got there, as the summer season was fast waning, so that Bert and Freddie had hard work to get a place near the platform for their cart.
“That’s the train!” cried Bert. “Now watch out so that we don’t miss them in the crowd,” and the older brother jumped out of the cart to watch the faces as they passed along.
“There he is,” cried Freddie, clapping his hands. “Harry! Harry! Aunt Sarah!” he called, until everybody around the station was looking at him.
“Here we are!” exclaimed Aunt Sarah the next minute, having heard Freddie’s voice, and followed it to the cart.
“I’m so glad you came,” declared Bert to Harry.
The Bobbsey Twins Megapack Page 29