The Bobbsey Twins in the Country

  CHAPTER XVIII

  THE FRESH-AIR CAMP

  Quiet had settled down once more upon the little village of MeadowBrook. The excitement of the flood had died away, and now when themonth of July was almost gone, and a good part of vacation had gonewith it, the children turned their attention to a matter of newinterest--the fresh-air camp.

  "Mildred Manners was over to the camp yesterday," Nan told her mother,"and she says a whole lot of little girls have come out from the city,and they have such poor clothes. There is no sickness there that anyonecould catch, she says (for her uncle is the doctor, you know), butMildred says her mother is going to show her how to make some apronsfor the little girls."

  "Why, that would be nice for all you little girls to do," said Mrs.Bobbsey. "Suppose you start a sewing school, and all see what you canmake!"

  "Oh, that would be lovely!" exclaimed Nan. "When can we start?"

  "As soon as we get the materials," the mother replied. "We will askAunt Sarah to drive over to the camp this afternoon; then we can seewhat the children need."

  "Can I go?" asked Flossie, much interested in the fresh-air work.

  "I guess so," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "If we take the depot wagon there willbe room for you and Freddie."

  So that was how it came about that our little friends became interestedin the fresh-air camp. Nan and Mildred, Flossie and Freddie, with AuntSarah and Mrs. Bobbsey, visited the camp in the afternoon.

  "What a queer place it is!" whispered Flossie, as they drove up to thetents on the mountain-side.

  "Hush," said Nan; "they might hear you."

  "Oh, these are war-camps!" exclaimed Freddie when he saw the whitetents. "They're just like the war-pictures in my story book!"

  The matron who had charge of the camp came up, and when Mrs. Bobbseyexplained her business, the matron was pleased and glad to show themthrough the place.

  "Oh, it was your boys who brought us all that money from the circus?"said the woman. "That's why we have all the extra children here--thecircus money has paid for them, and they are to have two weeks on thisbeautiful mountain."

  "I'm glad the boys were able to help," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "It reallywas quite a circus."

  "It must have been, when they made so much money," the other answered.

  "And we are going to help now," spoke up Nan. "We are starting a sewingschool."

  "Oh, I'm so glad somebody has thought of clothes," said the matron. "Weoften get gifts of food, but we need clothes so badly."

  "There is no sickness?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, as they started on a tourof the camp.

  "No; we cannot take sick children here now," said the matron. "We hadsome early in the season, but this is such a fine place for romping wedecided to keep this camp for the healthy children and have another forthose who are sick."

  By this time numbers of little girls and boys crowded around thevisitors. They were quite different from the children of Meadow Brookor Lakeport. Somehow they were smaller, but looked older. Poor childrenbegin to worry so young that they soon look much older than they reallyare.

  Nan and Mildred spoke kindly to the girls, while Freddie and Flossiesoon made friends with the little boys. One small boy, smaller thanFreddie, with sandy hair and beautiful blue eyes, was particularlyhappy with Freddie. He looked better than the others, was almost as fatas Freddie, and he had such lovely clear skin, as if somebody loved towash it.

  "Where do you lib?" he lisped to Freddie.

  "At Uncle Daniel's," Freddie answered. "Where do you live?"

  "With mamma," replied the little boy. Then he stopped a minute. "Oh,no; I don't live with mamma now," he corrected himself, "'cause she'sgone to heaven, so I live with Mrs. Manily."

  Mrs. Manily was the matron, and numbers of the children called hermamma.

  "Can I come over and play with you?" asked the boy. "What's your name?"

  "His name is Freddie and mine is Flossie," said the latter. "What isyour name?"

  "Mine is Edward Brooks," said the little stranger, "but everybody callsme Sandy. Do you like Sandy better than Edward?"

  "No," replied Flossie. "But I suppose that's a pet name because yourhair is that color."

  "Is it?" said the boy, tossing his sunny curls around. "Maybe that'swhy!"

  "Guess it is," said Freddie. "But will Mrs. Man let you come over toour house?"

  "Mrs. Manily, you mean," said Sandy. "I'll just go and ask her."

  "Isn't he cute!" exclaimed Flossie, and the pretty little boy ran insearch of Mrs. Manily.

  "I'm going to ask mamma if we can bring him home," declared Freddie."He could sleep in my bed."

  The others of the party were now walking through the big tents.

  "This is where we eat," the matron explained, as the dining room wasentered. The tent was filled with long narrow tables and had benches atthe sides. The tables were covered with oilcloth, and in the center ofeach was a beautiful bunch of fresh wild flowers--the small pretty kindthat grow in the woods.

  "You ought to see our poor children eat," remarked the matron. "We havejust as much as we can do to serve them, they have such good appetitesfrom the country air."

  "We must send you some fresh vegetables," said Aunt Sarah, "and somefruit for Sunday."

  "We would be very grateful," replied Mrs Manily, "for of course wecannot afford much of a variety."

  Next to the dining room was the dormitory or sleeping tent.

  "We have a little boys' brigade," said the matron, "and every pleasantevening they march around with drums and tin fifes. Then, when it isbedtime, we have a boy blow the 'taps' on a tin bugle, just like realsoldiers do."

  Freddie and Sandy had joined the sightseers now, and Freddie was muchinterested in the brigade.

  "Who is the captain?" he asked of Mrs. Manily.

  "Oh, we appoint a new captain each week from the very best boys wehave. We only let a very good boy be captain," the matron told him.

  In the dormitory were rows and rows of small white cots. They lookedvery clean and comfortable, and the door of this tent was closed with abig green mosquito netting.

  "How old are your babies?" asked Aunt Sarah.

  "Sandy is our baby!" replied the matrons patting the little boy fondly,"and he is four years old. We cannot take them any younger withouttheir mothers."

  "Freddie is four also," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "What a dear sweet childSandy is!"

  "Yes," said Mrs. Manily, "he has just lost a good mother and his fathercannot care for him--that is, he cannot afford to pay his board or hirea housekeeper, so he brought him to the Aid Society. He is the pet ofthe camp, and you can see he has been well trained."

  "No mother and no home!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "Dear little fellow!Think of our Freddie being alone in the world like that!"

  Mrs. Bobbsey could hardly keep her tears back. She stooped over andkissed Sandy.

  "Do you know my mamma?" he asked, looking straight into the lady's kindface.

  "Mrs. Manily is your mamma, isn't she?" said Mrs. Bobbsey.

  "Yes, she's my number two mamma, but I mean number one that used tosleep with me."

  "Come now, Sandy," laughed Mrs. Manily. "Didn't you tell me last nightI was the best mamma in the whole world?" and she hugged the littlefellow to make him happy again.

  "So you are," he laughed, forgetting all his loneliness now. "When Iget to be a big man I'm goin' to take you out carriage riding."

  "Can't Sandy cone home with us?" asked Freddie. "He can sleep in mybed."

  "You are very good," said the matron. "But we cannot let any of ourchildren go visiting without special permission from the Society."

  "Well," said Aunt Sarah, "if you get the permission we will be veryglad to have Sandy pay us a visit. We have a large place, and wouldreally like to have some good poor child enjoy it. We have company now,but they will leave us soon, and then perhaps we could have a littlefresh-air camp of our own."

  "The managers have asked us to look for a few private homes that couldaccommodate some s
pecial cases," replied Mrs. Manily, "and I am sure Ican arrange it to have Sandy go."

  "Oh, let him come now," pleaded Freddie, as Sandy held tight to hishand. "See, we have room in the wagon."

  "Well, he might have a ride," consented the matron, and before anyonehad a chance to speak again Freddie and Sandy had climbed into thewagon.

  Nan and Mildred had been talking to some of the older girls, who werevery nice and polite for girls who had no one to teach them at home,and Nan declared that she was coming over to the camp to play with themsome whole day.

  "We can bring our lunch," said Mildred, "and you can show us all thepleasant play-places you have fixed up in stones over themountain-side."

  One girl, Nellie by name, seemed very smart and bright, and she broughtto Mrs. Bobbsey a bunch of ferns and wild flowers she had just gatheredwhile showing Nan and Mildred around.

  "You certainly have a lovely place here," said Mrs. Bobbsey, as theygot ready to leave, "and you little girls will be quite strong andready for school again when you go back to the city."

  "I don't go to school," said Nellie rather bashfully.

  "Why?" asked Aunt Sarah.

  "Oh, I go to night school," said the little girl. "But in the daytime Ihave to work."

  "Why, how old are you?" asked Aunt Sarah.

  "Twelve," said Nellie shyly.

  "Working at twelve years of age!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey in surprise."What do you do?"

  "I'm a cash-girl in a big store," said Nellie with some pride, for manylittle girls are not smart enough to hold such a position.

  "I thought all children had to go to school," Aunt Sarah said to Mrs.Manily.

  "So they do," replied the matron, "but in special cases they getpermission from the factory inspector. Then they can work during theday and go to school at night."

  "I think it's a shame!" said the mother. "That child is not much largerthan Nan, and to think of her working in a big store all day, thenhaving to work at night school too!"

  "It does not seem right!" admitted the matron; "but, you see, sometimesthere is no choice. Either a child must work or go to an institution,and we strain every point to keep them in their homes."

  "We will drive back with Sandy," said Aunt Sarah as they got into thewagon.

  "Can't Nellie come too?" asked Nan. "There is plenty of room."

  The matron said yes, and so the little party started off for a ridealong the pretty road.

  "I was never in a carriage before in all my life," said Nelliesuddenly. "Isn't it grand!"

  "Never!" exclaimed the other girls in surprise.

  "No," said Nellie. "I've had lots of rides in trolley cars, and we hada ride in a farm wagon the other day, but this is the first time I haveever been in a carriage."

  Aunt Sarah was letting Sandy drive, and he, of course, was delighted.Freddie enjoyed it almost as well as Sandy did, and kept telling himwhich rein to pull on and all that. Old Bill, the horse, knew the roadso well he really didn't need any driver, but he went along very nicelywith the two little boys talking to him.

  "We will stop and have some soda at the postoffice," said Mrs. Bobbsey.For the postoffice was also a general store.

  This was good news to everybody, and when the man came out for theorder Aunt Sarah told him to bring cakes too.

  Everybody liked the ice cream soda, but it was plain Nellie and Sandyhad not had such a treat in a long time.

  "This is the best fun I've had!" declared the little cash-girl,allowing how grateful she was. "And I hope you'll come and see usagain," she added politely to Mildred and Nan.

  "Oh, we intend to," said Mildred. "You know, we are going to have asewing school to make aprons for the little ones at the camp."

  Old Bill had turned back to the fresh-air quarters again, and soon, toosoon, Sandy was handed back to Mrs. Manily, while Nellie jumped downand said what a lovely time she had had.

  "Now be sure to come, Sandy," called Freddie, "'cause I'll expect you!"

  "I will," said Sandy rather sadly, for he would rather have gone alongright then.

  "And I'll let you play with Snoop and my playthings," Freddie calledagain. "Good-bye."

  "Good-bye," answered the little fresh children.

  Then old Bill took the others home.