Mrs. Bobbsey and Aunt Sarah were worrying over this as the boys were making their way to the boat.
“Easy now!” called Bert. “Here we are,” and at that moment the first pair of swimmers climbed carefully into the boat, one from each side, so as not to tip it over. Jack and Harry were not long in following, and as the boys all sat in the pretty green rowboat with their white under-clothing answering for athletic suits, they looked just like a crew of real oarsmen.
“Hurrah, hurrah!” came shout after shout from the bank. Then as the girls heard the rumble of wheels through the grove they all hurried off to gather up the stuff quickly, and be ready to start as soon as the boys dressed again. The wet under-clothing, of course, was carried home in one of the empty baskets that Freddie ran back over the hill with to save the tired boys the extra walk.
“Here they are! Here they are!” called the girls as the two little fellows, Roy and Freddie, with the basket of wet clothes between them, marched first; then came the two pairs of athletes who proved they were good swimmers by pushing the heavy oars safely to the drifting boat.
“And all the things that happened!” exclaimed Flossie, as John handed her into the hay wagon.
“That made the picnic lively!” declared, John, “and all’s well that ends well, you know.” So the picnic was over, and all were happy and tired enough to go to bed early that night, as Nan said, seeing the little ones falling asleep in hay wagon on their way home.
CHAPTER IX
Fourth of July
The day following the picnic was July third, and as the Meadow Brook children were pretty well tired out from romping in the woods, they were glad of a day’s rest before entering upon the festivities of Independence Day.
“How much have you got?” Tom Mason asked the Bobbsey boys.
“Fifty cents together, twenty-five cents each,” Harry announced.
“Well, I’ve got thirty-five, and we had better get our stuff early, for Stimpson sold out before noon last year,” concluded Tom.
“I have to get torpedoes for Freddie and Flossie, and Chinese fire-crackers for Nan,” Bert remarked, as they started for the little country grocery store.
“I guess I’ll buy a few snakes, they look so funny coiling out,” Tom said.
“I’m going to have sky rockets and Roman candles. Everybody said they were the prettiest last year,” said Harry.
“If they have red fire I must get some of it for the girls,” thoughtful Bert remarked.
But at the store the boys had to take just what they could get, as Stimpson’s supply was very limited.
“Let’s make up a parade!” someone suggested, and this being agreed upon the boys started a canvass from house to house, to get all the boys along Meadow Brook road to take part in the procession.
“Can the little ones come too?” August Stout asked, because he always had to look out for his small brother when there was any danger like fireworks around.
“Yes, and we’re goin’ to let the girls march in a division by themselves,” Bert told him. “My sister Nan is going to be captain, and we’ll leave all the girls’ parts to her.”
“Be sure and bring your flag,” Harry cautioned Jack Hopkins.
“How would the goat wagons do?” Jack asked.
“Fine; we could let Roy and Freddie ride in them,” said Bert. “Tell any of the other fellows who have goat teams to bring them along too.”
“Eight o’clock sharp at our lane,” Harry told them for the place and time of meeting. Then they went along to finish the arrangements.
“Don’t tell the boys,” Nan whispered to Mildred, as they too made their way to Stimpson’s.
“Won’t they be surprised?” exclaimed Mabel.
“Yes, and I am going to carry a real Betsy Ross flag, one with thirteen stars, you know.”
“Oh, yes, Betsy Ross made the first flag, didn’t she?” remarked Mildred, trying to catch up on history.
“We’ll have ten big girls,” Nan counted. “Then with Flossie as Liberty we will want Bessie and Nettie for her assistants.”
“Attendants,” Mabel corrected, for she had seen a city parade like that once.
It was a busy day for everybody, and when Mr. Bobbsey came up on the train from Lakeport that evening he carried boxes and boxes of fireworks for the boys and girls, and even some for the grown folks too.
The girls could hardly sleep that night, they were so excited over their part, but the boys of course were used to that sort of thing, and only slept sounder with the fun in prospect.
“Are you awake, Bert?” called Harry, so early the next morning that the sun was hardly up yet.
“Yep,” replied the cousin, jumping out of bed and hastily dressing for the firing of the first gun.
The boys crept through the house very quietly, then ran to the barn for their ammunition. Three big giant fire-crackers were placed in the road directly in front of the house.
“Be careful!” whispered Bert; “they’re full of powder.”
But Harry was always careful with fireworks, and when he touched the fuses to the “cannons” he made away quickly before they exploded.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Hurrah!” shouted Freddie, answering the call from his window, “I’ll be right down!”
All the others too were aroused by the first “guns,” so that in a very short time there were many boys in the road, firing so many kinds of fire-crackers that Meadow Brook resounded like a real war fort under fire.
“Ouch!” yelled Tom Mason, the first one to bum his fingers. “A sisser caught me right on the thumb.”
But such small accidents were not given much attention, and soon Tom was lighting the little red crackers as merrily as before.
“Go on back, girls!” called Bert. “You’ll get your dresses burnt if you don’t.”
The girls were coming too near the battlements then, and Bert did well to warn them off.
Freddie and Flossie were having a great time throwing their little torpedoes at Mr. Bobbsey and Uncle Daniel, who were seated on the piazza watching the sport. Snoop and Fluffy too came in for a scare, for Freddie tossed a couple of torpedoes on the kitchen hearth where the kittens were sleeping.
The boys were having such fun they could hardly be induced to come in for breakfast, but they finally did stop long enough to eat a spare meal.
“It’s time to get ready!” whispered Nan to Bert, for the parade had been kept secret from the grown folks.
At the girls’ place of meeting, the coach house, Nan found all her company waiting and anxious to dress.
“Just tie your scarfs loose under your left arm,” ordered Captain Nan, and the girls quickly obeyed like true cadets. The broad red-white-and-blue bunting was very pretty over the girls’ white dresses, and indeed the “cadets” looked as if they would outdo the “regulars” unless the boys too had surprises in store.
“Where’s Nettie?” suddenly asked Nan, missing a poor little girl who had been invited.
“She wouldn’t come because she had no white dress,” Mildred answered.
“Oh, what a shame; she’ll be so disappointed! Besides, we need her to make a full line,” Nan said. “Just wait a minute. Lock the door after me,” and before the others knew what she was going to do, Nan ran off to the house, got one of her own white dresses, rolled it up neatly, and was over the fields to Nettie’s house in a few minutes. When Nan came back she brought Nettie with her, and not one of her companions knew it was Nan’s dress that Nettie wore.
Soon all the scarfs were tied and the flags arranged. Then Flossie had to be dressed.
She wore a light blue dress with gold stars on it, and on her pretty yellow curls she had a real Liberty crown. Then she had the cleanest, brightest flag, and what a pretty picture she made!
“Oh, isn’t she sweet!” all the girls exclaimed in admiration, and indeed she was a little beauty in her Liberty costume.
“There go the drums!” Nan declared. “We must be care
ful to get down the lane without being seen.” This was easily managed, and now the girls and boys met at the end of the lane.
“Hurrah! hurrah!” shouted the boys, beating the drums and blowing their horns to welcome the girls.
“Oh, don’t you look fine!” exclaimed Harry, who was captain of the boys.
“And don’t you too!” Nan answered, for indeed the boys had such funny big hats on and so many flags and other red-white-and-blue things, that they too made a fine appearance.
“And Freddie!” exclaimed the girls. “Isn’t he a lovely Uncle Sam!”
Freddie was dressed in the striped suit Uncle Sam always wears, and had on his yellow curls a tall white hat. He was to ride in Jack Hopkins’ goat wagon.
“Fall in!” called Harry, and at the word all the companies fell in line.
“Cadets first,” ordered the captain.
Then Flossie walked the very first one. After her came Nan and her company. (No one noticed that Nettie’s eyes were a little red from crying. She had been so disappointed at first when she thought she couldn’t go in the parade.) After the girls came Freddie as Uncle Sam, in the goat wagon led by Bert (for fear the goat might run away), then fifteen boys, all with drums or fifes or some other things with which to make a noise. Roy was in the second division with his wagon, and last of all came the funniest thing.
A boy dressed up like a bear with a big sign on him:
Teddy!
He had a gun under his arm and looked too comical for anything.
It was quite warm to wear a big fur robe and false face, but under this was Jack Hopkins, the bear Teddy, and he didn’t mind being warm when he made everybody laugh so.
“Right foot, left foot, right foot, forward march!” called Nan, and the procession started up the path straight for the Bobbsey house.
“Goodness gracious, sakes alive! Do come see de childrens! Ha, ha! Dat sure am a parade!” called Dinah, running through the house to the front door to view the procession.
“Oh, isn’t it just beautiful!” Martha echoed close at Dinah’s heels.
“My!” exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey; “how did they ever get made up so pretty!”
“And look at Flossie!” exclaimed Aunt Sarah.
“And see Freddie!” put in Uncle Daniel.
“Oh, we must get the camera!” Mr. Bobbsey declared, while the whole household, all excited, stood out on the porch when the parade advanced.
Such drumming and such tooting of fifes and horns!
Freddie’s chariot was now in line with the front stoop, and he raised his tall hat to the ladies like a real Uncle Sam.
“Oh, the bear! the bear!” called everybody, as they saw “Teddy” coming up.
“That’s great,” continued Uncle Daniel.
By this time Mr. Bobbsey had returned with the camera.
“Halt!” called Harry, and the procession stood still.
“Look this way. There now, all ready,” said Mr. Bobbsey, and snap went the camera on as pretty a picture as ever covered a plate.
“Right wheel! forward march!” called Nan again, and amid drumming and tooting the procession started off to parade through the center of Meadow Brook.
CHAPTER X
A Great Day
Never before had such a parade been seen in the little country place, and all along the road cheer after cheer greeted our young friends, for even the few old soldiers who lived in Meadow Brook enjoyed the children’s Fourth of July fun.
By lunch time the procession had covered all the ground planned, so from the postoffice the cadets and regulars started back over the shady country road.
And at home they found a surprise awaiting them!
Ice cream on the lawn for everybody in the parade.
Aunt Sarah and Uncle Daniel had set out all the garden benches, and with the two kinds of ice cream made by Dinah and Martha, besides the cookies and jumbles Aunt Sarah supplied, with ice-cold lemonade that John passed around, surely the tired little soldiers and cadets had splendid refreshment!
“My goat almost runned away!” lisped Freddie. “But I held on tight like a real fireman.”
“And mine wanted to stop and eat grass in the middle of the big parade,” Roy told them.
“Now eat up your ice cream. Nettie, have some more? Jack, you surely need two plates after carrying that bear skin,” said Uncle Daniel.
The youngsters did not have to be urged to eat some more of the good things, and so it took quite a while to “finish up the rations,” as Uncle Daniel said.
“They’re goin’ to shoot the old cannon off, father,” Harry told Uncle Daniel, “and we’re all going over on the pond bank to see them, at three o’clock.”
“They’re foolish to put powder in that old cracked gun,” remarked Uncle Daniel. “Take care, if you go over, that you all keep at a safe distance.”
It was not long until three o’clock, and then when all the red-white-and-blue things had been stored away for another year, the boys hurried off to see Peter Burns fire the old cannon.
Quite a crowd of people had gathered about the pond bank, which was a high green wall like that which surrounds a reservoir.
Peter was busy stuffing the powder in the old gun, and all the others looked on anxiously.
“Let’s go up in that big limb of the willow tree,” suggested Bert. “We can see it all then, and be out of range of the fire.”
So the boys climbed up in the low willow, that leaned over the pond bank.
“They’re almost ready,” Harry said, seeing the crowd scatter.
“Look out!” yelled Peter, getting hold of the long string that would fire the gun.
Peter gave it a tug, then another.
Everybody held their breath, expecting to hear an awful bang, but the gun didn’t go off.
Very cautiously Peter stepped nearer the cannon to see what might be the matter, when the next instant with a terrific report the whole cannon flew up in the air!
Peter fell back! His hat seemed to go up with the gun!
“Oh, he’s killed!” yelled the people.
“Poor Peter!” gasped Harry.
“He ought to know better!” said Mr. Mason.
“Father said that cannon was dangerous,” Harry added.
By this time the crowd had surrounded Peter, who lay so still and looked so white. The Bobbsey boys climbed down from the tree and joined the others. “He’s only unconscious from the shock,” spoke up Mr. Mason, who was leaning down very close to Peter. “Stand back, and give him air.”
The crowd fell back now, and some of the boys looked around to find the pieces of cannon.
“Don’t touch it,” said Tom Mason, as a little fellow attempted to pick up a piece of the old gun. “There might be powder in it half lighted.”
Mrs. Burns had run over from her home at the report of the accident, and she was now bathing Peter’s face with water from the pond.
“He’s subject to fainting spells,” she told the frightened people, “and I think he’ll be all right when he comes to.”
Peter looked around, then he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
“Did it go off?” he smiled, remembering the big report.
“Guess it did, and you went off with it,” Mr. Mason said. “How do you feel?”
“Oh, I’ll be all right when my head clears a bit. I guess I fainted.”
“So you did,” said Mrs. Burns, “and there’s no use scolding you for firing that old gun. Come home now and go to bed; you have had all the fireworks you want for one day.”
Quite a crowd followed Peter over to his home, for they could not believe he was not in any way hurt.
“Let us go home,” Harry said to his cousin. “We have to get all our fireworks ready before evening.”
The boys found all at home enjoying themselves. Freddie’s torpedoes still held out, and Flossie had a few more “snakes” left. Nan had company on the lawn, and it indeed was an ideal Fourth of July.
“Look at the ball
oon!” called John from the carriage house. “It’s going to land in the orchard.” This announcement caused all the children to hurry up to the orchard, for everybody likes to “catch” a balloon.
“There’s a man in it,” John exclaimed as the big ball tossed around in the air.
“Yes, that’s the balloon that went up from the farmers’ picnic,” said Harry.
The next minute a parachute shot out from the balloon; and hanging to it the form of a man could be seen.
“Oh, he’ll fall!” cried Freddie, all excited. “Let’s catch him—in something!”
“He’s all right,” John assured the little boy. “That umbrella keeps him from coming down too quickly.”
“How does it?” Freddie asked.
“Why, you see, sonny, the air gets under the umbrella and holds it up. The man’s weight then brings it down gently.”
“Oh, maybe he will let us fly up in it,” Freddie remarked, much interested.
“Here he comes! here he comes!” the boys called, and sure enough the big parachute, with the man dangling on it, was now coming right down—down—in the harvest-apple tree!
“Hello there!” called the man from above, losing the colored umbrella and quickly dropping himself from the low tree.
“Hello yourself!” answered John. “Did you have a nice ride?”
“First class,” replied the man with the stars on his shirt. “But I’ve got a long walk back to the grove. Could I hire a bicycle around here?”
Harry spoke to his father, and then quickly decided to let the balloon man ride his bicycle down to the picnic grounds.
“You can leave it at the ice-cream stand,” Harry told the stranger. “I know the man there, and he will take care of it for me until I call for it.”
The children were delighted to talk to a real live man that had been up in a balloon, and the balloonist was indeed very pleasant with the little ones. He took Freddie up in his arms and told him all about how it felt to be up in the sky.
“You’re a truly fireman!” Freddie said, after listening to all the dangers there are so far above ground. “I’m a real fireman too!”
Just then the balloon that had been tossing about in the air came down in the other end of the orchard.
The Bobbsey Twins Megapack Page 15
