CHAPTER VI
FRISKY
Although they were tired from their journey, the children had no ideaof resting on that beautiful afternoon, so promptly after dinner thebaggage was opened, and vacation clothes were put on. Bert, of course,was ready first; and soon he and Harry were running down the road tomeet the other boys and perfect their plans for the picnic.
Nan began her pleasures by exploring the flower gardens with UncleDaniel.
"I pride myself on those zinnias," the uncle told Nan, "just see thoseyellows, and those pinks. Some are as big as dahlias, aren't they?"
"They are just beautiful, uncle," Nan replied, in real admiration. "Ihave always loved zinnias. And they last so long?"
"All summer. Then, what do you think of my sweet peas?"
So they went from one flower bed to another, and Nan thought she hadnever before seen so many pretty plants together.
Flossie and Freddie were out in the barnyard with Aunt Sarah.
"Oh, auntie, what queer little chickens!" Flossie exclaimed, pointingto a lot of pigeons that were eagerly eating corn with the chickens.
"Those are Harry's homer pigeons," the aunt explained. "Some day wemust go off to the woods and let the birds fly home with a letter toDinah and Martha."
"Oh, please do it now," Freddie urged, always in a hurry for things.
"We couldn't to-day, dear," Aunt Sarah told him. "Come, let me show youour new little calf."
"Let me ride her?" Freddie asked, as they reached the animal.
"Calfs aren't for riding, they're for milk," Flossie spoke up.
"Yes, this one drinks plenty of milk," Aunt Sarah said, while Frisky,the calf, rubbed her head kindly against Aunt Sarah's skirts.
"Then let me take her for a walk," Freddie pleaded, much in love withthe pretty creature.
"And they don't walk either," Flossie persisted. "They mostly run."
"I could just hold the rope, couldn't I, Aunt Sarah?"
"If you keep away from the barnyard gate, and hold her very tight," wasthe consent given finally, much to Freddie's delight.
"Nice Frisky," he told the calf, petting her fondly. "Pretty calf, willyou let Snoop play with you?" Frisky was sniffing suspiciously all thetime, and Aunt Sarah had taken Flossie in the barn to see the chickens'nests.
"Come, Frisky, take a walk," suggested Freddie, and quite obedientlythe little cow walked along. But suddenly Frisky spied the open gateand the lovely green grass outside.
Without a moment's warning the calf threw her hind legs up in the air,then bolted straight for the gate, dragging Freddie along after her.
"Whoa, Frisky! whoa!" yelled Freddie, but the calf ran right along.
"Hold tight, Freddie!" called Flossie, as she and Aunt Sarah appearedon the scene.
"Whoa, whoa!" yelled the little boy constantly, but he might as wellhave called "Get app," for Frisky was going so fast now that poorlittle Freddie's hands were all but bleeding from the rough rope.
"Look out, Freddie! Let go!" called Aunt Sarah as she saw Friskyheading for the apple tree.
The next minute Frisky made a dash around the tree, once, then again,winding the rope as she went, and throwing Freddie out with forceagainst the side of the terrace.
"Oh," Freddie moaned feebly.
"Are you dead?" cried Flossie, running up with tears in her eyes.
"Oh," moaned the boy again, turning over with much trouble as AuntSarah lifted him.
"Oh," he murmured once more, "oh--catch--Frisky!"
"Never mind her," Aunt Sarah said, anxiously. "Are you hurt, dear!"
"No--not--a bit. But look! There goes Frisky! Catch her!"
"Your poor little hands!" Flossie almost cried, kissing the redblisters. "See, they're cut!"
"Firemen have to slide on ropes!" Freddie spoke up, recovering himself,"and I'm going to be a fireman. I was one that time, because I tried tosave somebody and didn't care if I got hurted!"
"You are a brave little boy," Aunt Sarah assured him. "You just sithere with sister while I try to get that naughty Frisky before shespoils the garden."
By this time the calf was almost lost to them, as she plunged in andout of the pretty hedges. Fortunately Bert and Harry just turned in thegate.
"Runaway calf! Runaway calf!" called the boys. "Stop the runaway!" andinstantly a half-dozen other boys appeared, and all started in pursuit.
But Frisky knew how to run, besides she had the advantage of a goodstart, and now she just dashed along as if the affair was the biggestjoke of her life.
"The river! The river!" called the boys
"She'll jump in!" and indeed the pretty Meadow Brook, or river, thatran along some feet lower than the Bobbseys' house, on the other sideof the highway, was now dangerously near the runaway calf.
There was a heavy thicket a few feet further up, and as the boyssqueezed in and out of the bushes Frisky plunged into this piece ofwood.
"Oh, she's gone now, sure!" called Harry "Listen!"
Sure enough there was a splash!
Frisky must be in the river!
It took some time to reach the spot where the fall might have soundedfrom, and the boys made their way heavy-hearted, for all loved thepretty little Frisky.
"There's footprints!" Bert discovered emerging from the thick bush.
"And they end here!" Harry finished, indicating the very brink of theriver.
"She's gone!"
"But how could she drown so quickly?" Bert asked.
"Guess that's the channel," Tom Mason, one of the neighbors' boys,answered.
"Listen! Thought I heard something in the bushes!" Bert whispered.
But no welcome sound came to tell that poor Frisky was hiding in thebrushwood. With heavy hearts the boys turned away. They didn't evenfeel like talking, somehow. They had counted on bringing the calf backin triumph.
When Flossie and Freddie saw them coming back without Frisky they justhad to cry and no one could stop them.
"I tried to be a fireman!" blubbered Freddie. "I didn't care if therope hurted my hands either!"
"If only I didn't go in to see the chickens nests," Flossie whimpered,"I could have helped Freddie!"
"Never you mind, little 'uns," Dinah told them. "Dinah go and fetch datFrisky back to-morrer. See if she don't. You jest don't cry no more,but eat you supper and take a good sleep, 'cause we're goin' to have apicnic to-morrer you knows, doesn't youse?"
The others tried to comfort the little ones too, and Uncle Daniel saidhe knew where he could buy another calf just like Frisky, so after alittle while Freddie felt better and even laughed when Martha made thewhite cat Fluffy and Snoop play ball in the big long kitchen.
"I'm goin' to pray Frisky will come back," Nan told her little brotherwhen she kissed him good-night, "and maybe the dear Lord will find herfor you."
"Oh, yes, Nannie, do ask Him," pleaded Freddie, "and tell Him--tell Himif He'll do it this time, I'll be so good I won't never need to botherHim any more."
Freddie meant very well, but it sounded strange, and made Aunt Sarahsay, "The Lord bless the little darling!" Then night came and aneventful day closed in on our dear little Bobbseys.
"Seems as if something else ought to happen to-night," Bert remarked toHarry as they prepared to retire. "This was such a full day, wasn't it?"
"It's early yet," Harry answered, "and it's never late here until it'stime to get early again."
"Sounds so strange to hear--those--those--"
"Crickets," Harry told him, "and tree toads and katydids. Oh, there'slots to listen to if you shouldn't feel sleepy."
The house was now all quiet, and even the boys had ceased whispering.Suddenly there was a noise in the driveway!
The next minute someone called out in the night!
"Hello there! All asleep! Wake up, somebody!"
Even Freddie did wake up and ran into his mother's room.
"Come down here, Mr. Bobbsey," the voice continued.
"Oh, is that you, Peter? I'll be down dire
ctly," called back UncleDaniel, who very soon after appeared on the front porch.
"Well, I declare!" Uncle Daniel exclaimed, loud enough for all thelisteners at the windows to hear. "So you've got her? Well, I'm veryglad indeed. Especially on the boys' account."
"Yes," spoke out Peter Burns, "I went in the barn a while ago with thelantern, and there wasn't your calf asleep with mine as cozy as couldbe. I brought her over to-night for fear you might miss her and get tolookin', otherwise I wouldn't have disturbed you."
By this time the man from the barn was up and out too, and he tookFrisky back to her own bed; but not until the little calf had beentaken far out on the front lawn so that Freddie could see her from thewindow "to make sure."
"The Lord did bring her back," Freddie told his mamma as she kissed himgood-night again and put him in his bed, happier this time than before."And I promised to be awful good to pay Him for His trouble," thesleepy boy murmured.
Flossie had been asleep about two hours when she suddenly called to hermother.
"What is it, my dear?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Somebody is playing the piano," answered the little girl. "Who is it?"
"Nobody is playing. You must be dreaming," answered the mother, andsmiled to herself.
"No, I am sure I heard the piano," insisted Flossie.
Mother and daughter listened, but could hear nothing.
"You were surely dreaming," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Come, I will tuck youin again," and she did so.
But was Flossie dreaming? Let us wait and see.