Flossie put her lips to Dinah’s ear. “We want —” she whispered.
Dinah shook with laughter. “That sounds mighty queer for a pet show,” she said, “but I’ll put it all in a bag for you to take to school tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Dinah,” Freddie said solemnly. “This is very important!”
“Just you see that I get everything back!” she said as the small twins ran from the room.
In a few minutes Bert returned with a worried look on his face. “It isn’t there,” he reported. “And I think I did leave it on that shelf!”
“Come on, Bert!” Nan called. “Maybe it’s upstairs some place. I’ll help you look.”
They searched thoroughly, but the notebook was not found. “Officer Murphy won’t think I’m such a good detective now!” Bert observed glumly.
“Don’t worry about it, Bert,” Nan consoled her twin. “I’m sure it’ll turn up!”
Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were interested to hear about the clue of the wig when Nan told them about it at supper. “I think you children are doing a very good job!” their mother said proudly.
At that moment Snap pushed open the door from the kitchen and walked into the dining room.
“What’s that he has in his mouth?” Mr. Bobbsey asked curiously.
“Here, boy!” Bert snapped his fingers. Snap trotted over and laid something on the boy’s knee.
It was the missing notebook!
CHAPTER X
PET PRIZES
“SNAP found your notebook for you!” Flossie cried gleefully.
“Good for you!” Bert exclaimed, picking up the little brown book and leaning down to pat the dog. “I wonder where he got it?”
“Snap sleeps in the garage,” Nan pointed out. “Maybe he took it off the shelf where you left it!”
“Ask him!” Freddie urged.
Bert grinned. “Snap’s smart but he’s not that smart!”
After supper Bert hurried to the telephone and called police headquarters. Officer Murphy had gone off duty, but the boy left the license number of the truck with the policeman in charge.
“Thanks very much,” the officer said. “We’ll get busy on this at once.”
The pet show which the younger children were putting on was to be the next day. They brought their animals to school with them after lunch.
What a growling, yapping, barking, meowing, and hissing there was as the pupils took their pets to the basement room which had been set aside for the show!
At one end of the room was a small platform with four chairs on it The children placed the cages and boxes on the tables which lined the sides of the room. Each one was marked with the name of the pet and his owner. Mr. Carter had volunteered to look after the animals until the show began at the close of school.
“I don’t think Snap wants to stay inside all afternoon!” Flossie said worriedly. The shaggy dog had been washed the night before, and his coat was white and gleaming.
“Snap won’t run away,” Freddie assured his twin. “Let him play outside. He’ll be good.”
The small twins could hardly keep their minds on their studies that afternoon. They kept thinking of the pets. It had been decided that they would put on their act with Susie and Teddy at the beginning of the show.
When school was dismissed at three o’clock, the four children dashed down to the basement. Flossie brought out a large paper bag which Dinah had given her as they started to school.
With a giggle she passed Teddy two pie pans. “These are the cymbals,” she said. “Just bang them together and make lots of noise !”
Freddie reached into the bag and pulled out a series of four bells hung on a braided-silk cord. He struck them with a tiny padded hammer. “Our dinner chimes!” he explained.
Flossie gave Susie a cheese grater and a spoon and took out a glass bottle for herself. “Now, all make a noise together!” she cried.
Teddy banged the pie pans, Freddie struck the bells, Susie ran the spoon over the grater, and Flossie blew across the top of the bottle. What a racket they made!
“That’s bee-yoo-ti-ful!” Flossie praised Freddie and the others. “It sounds just like a real band !”
Freddie ran outdoors and brought in Snap. Then as soon as the audience had gathered, the four-piece band took chairs. Snap sat on the front of the platform, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging.
Two boys collected the ten-cent admission fee from everyone. Then Freddie stepped forward and bowed. “I want to introduce Snap, the singing and dancing dog!” he announced proudly.
The little boy sat down, and the children began to play their “instruments.” Snap threw back his head and howled. His voice quivered as it ran up and down the scale. The audience clapped loudly.
“More ! More!” the children cried when the four stopped playing.
Next Mr. Carter started a small record player which he set on the edge of the platform. At a signal from Freddie, Snap stood on his hind legs. Freddie gave him a rag doll which the dog clasped in his front paws. Then he began to hop around, dancing with the doll!
The children shrieked with laughter. Excited by the noise, Snap hopped faster. When the record ended the dog dropped to all fours again and began to bark as if asking for more music ! There were several puppies in the room, and they added their barking and yapping to the chorus.
At a pat from Flossie, Snap stopped barking. The other dogs became quiet too. But suddenly everyone heard one tiny bark. The children looked around.
“That’s Archie, my barking frog!” little Ken Morse piped up. “My grandfather sent him to me from Texas.”
Everybody rushed over to look at the frog. He was in a box with a piece of wire netting over the top. The frog was dark brown and about three inches long. His little beady eyes blinked from the top of his wide, flat head.
“Let me see him!” Danny Rugg said, rudely pushing his way in front of the other children. As he did he bumped into the box. The wire lid slid off, and Archie jumped out.
“Oh, catch him!” Ken pleaded.
“I have him!” Bert cried, reaching out for the frog.
But Archie was too quick for him! He leaped from under Bert’s fingers and landed on the floor halfway across the room. With another flying leap he reached a window sill. Fortunately the window was closed.
Charlie Mason crept over to the window, his hand cupped. But just as he was about to put his hand over the frog, he jumped again. This time Archie landed in a corner on the floor.
Snap had been watching the commotion, his ears forward and his head cocked to one side. Now he walked slowly over to the corner where the frog lay panting. He put one paw gently on the frog’s back.
“He’ll hurt Archie!” Ken cried. “Please stop him!”
“Snap won’t hurt him,” Freddie assured his friend. “He’s just holding him for us.” With that Freddie picked up the frog and dropped him into his box again. Then he gave Snap an affectionate pat.
“Oh, thank you!” Ken breathed a sigh of relief as he replaced the wire covering. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to Archie!”
Teddy banged the pie pans together, and Freddie stepped up onto the platform. “You may all walk around and look at the animals now. Then the judges will give out the prizes,” he announced
Mr. Tetlow, Miss Earle, and Miss Vandermeer had been asked to be judges. They walked slowly around the room, followed eagerly by the pets’ owners. As the judges looked at the animals, they made notes on pads of paper they carried.
“I hope they saw Pokey, my turtle,” Teddy remarked anxiously. “He likes to hide under the leaves in his box.”
“Fluffy is all dressed up,” Susie pointed out. “I put a new blue ribbon around her neck.” The perky little white kitten sat up in her wire basket looking very content.
Finally Mr. Tetlow and the other judges came back to the platform. Freddie sounded his dinner chimes, and the room grew quiet
“The judges have agreed on the following awards
,” the principal said slowly. “The prize for the pinkest nose goes to Peter, Sally Smith’s rabbit,” he said, holding up a big carrot.
The audience laughed and applauded. Peter twitched his nose.
“And a box of turtle food to Pokey, Teddy Blake’s pet,” he continued, “for being the shyest animal in the show!”
Miss Earle stepped up and went on with the prize giving. “Susie Larker’s kitten, Fluffy, wins a catnip mouse for being the best behaved,” she announced.
Next she awarded dog biscuits to two puppies, one for having the longest ears and the other for the curliest tail.
“Do you s’pose Snap isn’t going to get any prize?” Flossie whispered worriedly to Freddie.
“Ssh!” he cautioned. “Mr. Tetlow’s going to say something.”
The principal raised his hand for silence. “The first prize for talent goes to the Bobbsey twins’ dog Snap!” Then while Snap tried to lick the principal’s hand, Mr. Tetlow fastened a bright red leather collar around the dog’s neck.
“Goody! Goody!” Flossie cried. “Our Snap won first prize!”
“He’s the best dog in the whole world!” cried Freddie.
After the show Charlie and Nellie stopped at the Bobbseys’ house to congratulate the small twins. “Your band was great!” Charlie said. “Was that your secret?”
Flossie giggled and said, “Yes.”
“The whole show was wonderful!” Nan said, hugging her little sister and brother.
“Of course, Danny had to make trouble!” Charlie said in disgust.
“And we haven’t thought of any way to pay him back for sending you that note about Snap !” Nellie added.
“Why don’t we mail him a frog?” Freddie suggested. “Then when he opened the box, it would jump out at him!”
They all laughed at the picture of Danny’s surprise.
But Bert shook his head. “A frog might be too hard to get,” he objected. “Let’s think of something else.”
Nan spoke up. “Danny’s always making fun of our solving mysteries. I wish we could trap him that way!”
“I know!” Bert cried. “Let’s make him think he can find the missing statue!”
“But how?” Nellie asked. “Even we don’t know.”
Bert thought hard. “Why not write Danny a note telling him he can find the statue at some deserted place?”
Everyone agreed on Bert’s plan, and Nellie printed a note which said:
“If you want to show you’re a better detective than the Bobbseys, you can find the missing snake goddess at Jimmy’s Drive-In on Route 16.” She signed it, “A Friend.”
Nan laughed. “That’s perfect! I can just see Danny’s face when he gets it!”
Charlie and Nellie agreed to mail the note on their way home. “Danny will have it when he goes home to lunch tomorrow!” Charlie said with a chuckle.
That evening Bert had just settled down to study his homework when the telephone rang. Chief Mahoney was calling.
“We’ve checked that license number, Bert,” he reported.
“Whose was it?” Bert asked eagerly.
The chief said that the license had been issued to a car rental agency. Upon checking with the company he learned that the truck had been rented to a man named Ernie Perry.
“Who is he?”
“Well, that’s the funny thing about it,” the chief said. “Ernie Perry works at the home of Mr. Nelson, the man who owns the statuette!”
CHAPTER XI
A BULLY IS TRICKED
“WORKS for Mr. Nelson I” Bert repeated in amazement. “Then he couldn’t be the thief!”
“It does seem strange,” Chief Mahoney admitted. “I’ll send a detective out to Nelson’s house to talk to this Perry. I’ll let you know what we find out.”
Bert thanked the chief, then went to tell Nan and the small twins the news. They all agreed that it was a very odd situation.
“But if Mr. Perry works for Mr. Nelson, why is he selling ice cream?” Nan asked, perplexed.
Bert shrugged. “Maybe he just wanted to earn a little extra money while Mr. Nelson is away.”
The next day at recess Bert asked to see Mr. Tetlow. The secretary spoke to the principal on the telephone, then motioned Bert to go into the private office.
Mr. Tetlow looked up with a smile. “Good morning, Bert!” he said cordially. “How is the detective work coming along?”
Bert related what the police had learned about the man on the ice-cream truck. Mr. Tetlow looked startled.
“Can you tell me what Perry looks like, sir?” Bert asked. “Perhaps the ice-cream man really isn’t Mr. Nelson’s employee.”
Mr. Tetlow shook his head regretfully. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there, Bert,” he said. “I’ve never seen Ernie Perry.”
He explained that his friend Mr. Nelson had often spoken of Perry, who had been a great help to him in looking after his art collection.
“Chief Mahoney is going to talk to him,” Bert said. “Maybe that will solve the mystery.”
At that moment the bell rang, and Bert hurried back to his classroom. When he went home to lunch he received a telephone call from the police chief.
“Our men couldn’t find Perry this morning,” the chief explained. “There was no one at the Nelson house. But we’ll keep trying,” he added before he said good-by.
“I don’t think Perry is much of a clue,” Bert told Nan. “The disappearance of that statue is as much of a mystery as ever!”
“Don’t forget Danny is going to find it for you!” Nan said with a laugh.
“I wonder if he got the letter,” Bert replied. “Charlie and I are all ready to follow him on our bicycles if he takes off after school!”
Danny seemed to be in a very good humor that afternoon. He even volunteered to help Miss Vandermeer when she had difficulty opening a window. And every once in a while he would give Bert a triumphant look.
At the end of the school day Danny strolled up to Bert and Nan as they stood on the steps of the building. “I thought you Bobbseys were such good detectives!” he jeered. “You can’t even find an old statue that was stolen right under your noses!”
“That’s right, Danny!” Bert said cheerfully. Then he winked at Nan. “Maybe you can do better!”
“I just might do that!” Danny returned with a sneer. Then he sauntered off.
Bert caught Charlie’s eye, and they watched as Danny went over to the bicycle rack. He pulled his bike out, hopped on, and rode down the driveway. As he turned the corner Bert and Charlie ran to get their bicycles.
“Good luck!” Nan called as they pedaled after the other boy.
“He’s headed toward Route 16 all right!” Charlie observed with a chuckle as the boys spotted Danny ahead of them.
“I wish we could be there when he rides up!” Bert said with a grin.
“I think we can!” Charlie observed. “We can take a short cut to Jimmy’s Drive-In by going up Elm Street!”
“Okay!” Bert began to pedal faster.
The two boys rode in silence until they were out of town. Then, as they turned onto a road which brought them into Route 16, Bert remarked, “I’m sure we’ve beaten him!”
Charlie looked back along the highway. There was no sign of the bully. “I hope Danny is coming here. The joke would be on us if he doesn’t show up!”
“I think he’s coming!” Bert assured Charlie. “When he talked to Nan and me, he sounded as if he was sure of finding the snake goddess!”
Jimmy’s Drive-In was a circular building with counters all around the outside. The center kitchen section had wooden blinds drawn down over it. Fastened to the building was a large sign reading:CLOSED FOR THE WINTER
OPEN MAY 15
Bert and Charlie rode up to the deserted restaurant. “Let’s hide behind one of these front counters,” Bert suggested. “Then we can see Danny when he comes.”
“He’ll see our bikes!” Charlie pointed out.
“Quick!” Bert
exclaimed. “We’ll put them back of that little building over there!” He pointed to a dilapidated shack which stood nearby.
The two boys slipped from the seats and stood the bicycles against the far wall of the shack. They could not be seen from the drive-in.
“Hurry! I see someone riding up the highway!” Charlie cried. “It must be Danny!”
The excited chums had just climbed over the front counter and hidden themselves when Danny rode up on his bicycle. He dismounted and peered around uneasily. Then, trying to look unconcerned, he leaned against the counter and stared out at the road.
It was all Bert and Charlie could do to keep from laughing out loud! After a few minutes Danny began to pace up and down. Then he walked around the outside of the building.
Just as he returned to the front, an old car drove up. A rough-looking man got out and walked toward the drive-in restaurant. Danny looked uncertain, but he spoke to the man.
“Do you know where the snake goddess is?” he asked in a shaking voice.
The stranger stopped abruptly and looked at Danny suspiciously. “What you talkin’ about, bud?” he asked hoarsely. “I don’t know nothin’ about no snakes! I just stopped to get a hamburger.”
“S-sorry!” Danny stammered. “The r-restaurant’s closed!”
With a disgusted look at Danny, the man got back in the car and drove away without a word.
This was too much for Bert and Charlie. They whooped with laughter! Danny jumped as if he had been stung and looked around at the counter. The two boys stood up.
“Are you James Smith by any chance?” Bert asked innocently when he was able to speak.
“You—you!” Danny sputtered. “You wrote that letter!”
“Just answering your note, Danny-boy!” Bert said with a grin.
Danny’s face turned beet-red. He ran over to his bicycle, jumped on it, and raced down the road!
“Boy! Did that trick ever work!” Charlie chortled as Danny disappeared in the distance.
Nan, Nellie, and the small twins were waiting eagerly at the Bobbseys’ house for the two boys. They had a good laugh when Bert and Charlie took turns telling about Danny’s visit to the drive-in.
Mystery at School Page 6
