The Bobbsey Twins on Blueberry Island

  CHAPTER X

  THE "GO-AROUND" BUGS

  Without waiting for his mother to tell him that he might, Freddieslipped off his cot and went scurrying over the board floor of the tenttoward Mrs. Bobbsey's bed.

  "I'm coming, too!" said Flossie, who generally went everywhere her smallbrother did.

  "Did something hit you, too?" asked Freddie, turning to his sister.

  "No, but it might. If you are afraid I'm afraid, too."

  "Oh, you children!" said Mrs. Bobbsey with sigh. "I believe you onlydreamed it, Freddie."

  "No, Momsie, I didn't! Really I didn't! Somethin' bumped me from outsidethe tent. It hit me in the back--not hard, but sort of soft like,an'--an' I woked up. I want to sleep with you!"

  "What's it all about?" asked Daddy Bobbsey. Then Freddie had to explainagain, and Flossie also talked until Nan and Bert were awakened.

  "It might have been Whisker," said Bert. "If he got loose and brushedagainst the tent and Freddie had rolled with his back close against theside it would be like that."

  Just then there sounded in the night the "Baa-a-a-a-a!" of the whitegoat.

  "There he is!" cried Bert.

  "But it sounds as though he were still safely tied up," said Mr.Bobbsey. "I'll have a look outside. Too bad we haven't Snap with us.He'd give the alarm in a minute if anything were wrong."

  The goat bleated again, but the sound did not seem near the tent, as itwould have done if Whisker has been loose. Putting on his bath robe andslippers, Mr. Bobbsey took a lantern and went outside. Bert wanted tocome with his father, but Mrs. Bobbsey would not hear of it.

  "We want a little man in here to look after us," she said, smiling.

  "Ain't I almost a man? I can make my fire engine go," Freddie said,forgetting his fright, now that the "big folks" were up, and the lightin the tent was turned higher.

  They could hear Mr. Bobbsey walking around outside, and they heard himspeaking to the goat who bleated again. Mr. Bobbsey was as fond ofanimals as were his children, and Whisker was almost like a dog, he wasso tame and gentle.

  "Was the goat loose, Daddy?" asked Nan, when her father came back intothe tent.

  "No, he was tied all right in his little stable. It wasn't Whisker whobrushed against Freddie, if, indeed, anything did."

  "Something _did_!" declared the small boy. "Didn't I wake up?"

  "Well, you might have dreamed it," said Nan. "You often talk in yoursleep, I know."

  "I did feel something bump me," declared Freddie, and nothing the otherscould say would make him change his idea.

  "Did you see anything?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey in a low voice of her husbandwhen the twins were in their beds again. Flossie's and Freddie's cotswere moved over nearer to those of their parents', and they had droppedoff to slumber again, after getting drinks of water.

  "Well, I rather think I did," answered Mr. Bobbsey in a low voice.

  "You did! What?"

  "I don't know whether it was a horse or a man, but it was something. Itwas so dark I couldn't see well, and the trees and bushes come up aroundthe tents."

  "How could it be a horse?"

  "It might have been the one that belongs to Mr. Dalton. If the horsewere walking around, cropping grass wherever he could find it, he mighthave brushed past the side of the tent and so have disturbed Freddie."

  "Yes, I suppose so," agreed Mrs. Bobbsey. "But couldn't you tell a horsefrom a man?"

  "No, it was too dark. I only just saw a shadow moving away from thetents as I stepped out."

  "And was Whisker all right?"

  "Yes, though I guess he was lonesome. He tried to follow me back herewhen I left him."

  "I suppose Whisker misses the children," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "But do youthink it could be a man who was wandering about our tents?"

  "It _could_ be--yes."

  "One of the gypsies?"

  "Oh, I wouldn't say as to that. In fact, I don't believe the gypsies areanywhere around here. The children have that notion in their heads, butI don't believe in it. Perhaps it was a blueberry picker who was lost."

  "But if he was lost, and saw our tents, he'd stop and ask to be set onthe right road," went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "Besides, blueberries won't beripe for another week or so, and nobody picks them green."

  "No, I suppose not," agreed her husband. "Well, I'm sure I don't knowwho or what it was, but I saw a dark shadow moving away."

  "Shadows can't do any harm."

  "No, but it takes some one or something to make a shadow, and I'd liketo know what it was. I'll take a look around in the morning," said Mr.Bobbsey. "We don't want Twin Camp spoiled by midnight scares."

  "Maybe we'd better get another dog, if Snap doesn't come back,"suggested his wife.

  "I'll think about that. We can't very well train Whisker to keep watch.Besides, he can't bark," and Mr. Bobbsey laughed as he got back intobed.

  There was no more disturbance that night and the twins did not againawaken. Mr. Bobbsey remained awake for a while, but he heard nothing,and he believed that if it was a man or an animal that had brushedagainst the tent where Freddie was sleeping, whoever, or whatever, itwas had gone far away.

  Dinah had a fine breakfast ready for the twins and the others the nextmorning. There were flap-jacks with maple syrup to pour over them, andthat, with the crisp smell of bacon, made every one so hungry that therewas no need to call even Nan twice, and sometimes she liked to lie inbed longer than did the others.

  "Did you find what it was that bumped me, Daddy?" asked Freddie, as he,as last, pushed back his plate, unable to eat any more.

  "No. And we don't need to worry about it. Now we must finish gettingTwin Camp in order to-day," went on Mr. Bobbsey, "and then we willbegin to have fun and enjoy ourselves."

  "Are we going to catch any fish?" asked Bert. "Always, when you read ofcamps, they catch fish and fry them."

  "Yes, we can go fishing after we get the work done," said his father."Work first and play afterward is a rule we'll follow here, though therewon't be much work to do. However, if we're to go fishing we'll have todig some bait."

  "I can dig worms!" cried Freddie. "Worms are good for bait, aren't they,Daddy?"

  "For some kinds of fish, yes. We'll fish part of the time with worms andsee what luck we have. Bert, you and Freddie can dig the bait."

  "I want to help," said Flossie. "I helped Nan get out my dolls and toys,and now I want to dig worms."

  "All right, little fat fairy!" laughed Bert. "Come along."

  "Mercy, Flossie, digging bait is such dirty work! What do you want to dothat for?" asked Nan.

  "I don't care if it is dirty, it's fun."

  "You might have known, Nan," laughed Mrs. Bobbsey, "that Flossie wouldnot object to dirt."

  With a shovel for turning up the dirt, and a tin can to hold the worms,Bert and the two smaller twins were soon busy. But they did not have asgood luck as they expected. Earthworms were not plentiful on the island.Perhaps they could not swim over the lake from the main shore, Freddiesuggested.

  "Aren't bugs good for bait?" asked Freddie, when he had looked in thetin can and found only a few worms wiggling about after more than halfan hour's digging on the part of himself and Bert.

  "Some kinds of bugs are good for fishing; yes," Bert answered, and,hearing that, Freddie started back for the tent where the trunks werestored.

  "What are you going to do?" Bert called after his little brother.

  "I'm going to get the go-around bugs. We can use them for bait. Waterwon't hurt 'em--the store man told me so. We can use the go-aroundbugs."

  "Oh, they're no good--they're _tin_!" laughed Bert.

  But Freddie was not listening. He had slipped into the tent and wassearching for the toys he had bought in New York. Bert kept on diggingfor worms, now and then finding one, which Flossie picked up for him,until he heard another call from Freddie. The little fellow came runningfrom the tent with an empty and broken box in his hand.

  "Look! Look!" cried Freddie. "My go-around bugs come
d alive in the nightand they broke out of the box. Oh, dear! Now I can't have 'em to catchfish with! The go-around bugs broke out of the box and they've goneaway!"