"I will have to investigate this," said Mr. Bobbsey seriously. "It is queer that neither I nor your mamma has seen the ghost."
"I ain't seen it," said Flossie.
"Don't want to see it," piped in Freddie.
Dinah, in the kitchen, had heard Nan's story and she was almost scared to death.
"Dat am de strangest t'ing," she said to Sam, when he came for his dinner. "Wot yo' make of it, hey?"
"Dunno," said Sam. "Maybe sumbuddy's gwine to die."
The matter was talked over by the Bobbsey family several times that day.
"I'll sit up to-night and watch for that ghost," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If he shows up--well, he'll wish he hadn't, that's all."
"Oh, aren't you afraid?" asked Nan.
"Not a bit of it--nothing to be afraid of," answered her father.
True to his word, Mr. Bobbsey sat up all night waiting for the ghost. He had a stout cane by his side. But he did not have a chance to use it for the ghost did not appear.
"I thought it was a humbug," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"I will watch to-night," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Oh, mamma, be careful!" cried Nan, with a shiver.
"I am not afraid," declared her mother.
Mrs. Bobbsey sat up all night, reading and listening and did not fall asleep until the sun was coming up.
"I saw no ghost--nor did I hear one," she declared.
"Maybe the ghost saw you first and hid away," suggested Bert.
At this Mrs. Bobbsey laughed.
"Sam can try it to-night," she said "Maybe, being black, the ghost can't see him."
When Dinah heard that her husband was going to sit up and watch for the ghost she was very fearful and rolled her eyes in alarm.
"Yo' be careful, Sam," she said. "Doan yo' let no ghost spirit yo' away!"
"Ain't no ghost goin' to touch me!" declared Sam. "Dat is, not if I see him fust!"
"Would you kill him?" asked Bert.
"I suah would. Ghosts better not prowl 'round dis chile!"
"But you can't kill a ghost," insisted Nan. "Why, the fairy stories say you can shoot right through them!"
"That's the reason they are fairy stories," declared her father. "They are not true. There is no such thing as a real ghost. It's only some make-believe."
All night long Sam sat in the upper hall in a rocking chair. Several times he dozed off, but he declared that he heard everything nevertheless.
"An' there wasn't no ghost--not one speck o' him," declared the colored man.
At this Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey shook their heads in perplexity and both looked at their older daughter.
"Perhaps you were dreaming, Nan," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
"No, I wan't dreaming, mamma, and Bert says he wasn't dreaming either."
"It is strange. I cannot understand it at all."
"Do you believe in ghosts, mamma?"
"No, my dear."
"But I saw something."
"Perhaps it was only a reflection. Sometimes the street lamps throw strange shadows on the walls through the windows."
"It wasn't a shadow," said Nan; and there the talk ended, for Mrs. Bobbsey knew not what to say to comfort her daughter.
In some way the news that a ghost had been seen in the Bobbsey house spread throughout the neighborhood, and many came to ask about it. Even the boys and girls talked about it and asked Nan and Bert all manner of questions, the most of which the twins could not answer.
The "ghost talk," as it was called, gave Danny Rugg a good chance to annoy both Nan and Bert.
"Afraid of a ghost! Afraid of a ghost!" be would cry, whenever he saw them. "Oh, my, but ain't I afraid of a ghost!"
"I think it is perfectly dreadful," said Nan one day, on returning from school. Her eyes were red, showing that she had been crying.
"I'll `ghost' him, if he yells at us again," said Bert. "I'm not going to stand it, so there!"
"But what will you do, Bert?"
"I'll fight him, that's what I'll do."
"Oh, Bert, you mustn't fight."
"Then he has got to leave you alone--and leave me alone, too."
"If you fight at school, you'll be expelled."
"I don't care, I'm going to make him mind his own business," said Bert recklessly.
Danny Rugg was particularly sore because he had not been invited to Grace Lavine's party. Of all the boys in that neighborhood he was the only one left out, and he fancied it was Nan and Bert's fault.
"They don't like me and they are setting everybody against me," he thought. "I shan't stand it, not me!"
Two days later he followed Bert into the schoolyard, in which a large number of boys were playing.
"Hullo! how's the ghost?" he cried. "Is it still living at your house?"
"You be still about that ghost, Danny Rugg!" cried Bert, with flashing eyes.
"Oh, but wouldn't I like to have a house with a ghost," went on Danny tantalizingly "And a sister who was afraid of it!"
"Will you be still, or not?"
"Why should I be still? You've got the ghost, haven't you? And Nan is scared to death of it, isn't she?"
"No, she isn't."
"Yes she is, and so are you and all the rest of the family." And then Danny set up his old shout: "Afraid of a ghost! Afraid of a ghost!"
Some of the other boys followed suit and soon a dozen or more were crying, "Afraid of a ghost!" as loudly as they could.
Bert grew very pale and his breath came thickly. He watched Danny and when he came closer caught him by the arm.
"Let go!" cried the big boy roughly.
"I want you to stop calling like that."
"I shan't stop."
"I say you will!"
Bert had hardly spoken when Danny struck at him and hit him in the arm. Then Bert struck out in return and hit Danny in the chin. A dozen or more blows followed in quick succession. One struck Bert in the eye and blackened that organ, and another reached Danny's nose and made it bleed. Then the two boys clinched and rolled over on the schoolyard pavement.
"A fight! A fight!" came from those looking on, and this was taken up on all sides, while many crowded forward to see what was going on.
The school principal, Mr. Tetlow, was just entering the school at the time. Hearing the cry he ran around into the yard.
"Boys! boys! what does this mean?" he demanded, and forced his way through the crowd to where Bert and Danny lay, still pummeling each other. "Stand up at once and behave yourselves," and reaching down, he caught each by the collar and dragged him to his feet.
CHAPTER XIX
NAN'S PLEA
BERT'S heart sank when he saw that it was the school principal who held him by the collar. He remembered what Nan had said about fighting and being expelled.
"It was Bert Bobbsey's fault," blustered Danny, wiping his bleeding nose on his sleeve.
"No, it wasn't," answered Bert quickly. "It was his fault."
"I say it was your fault!" shouted Danny. "He started the fight, Mr. Tetlow."
"He struck first," went on Bert undauntedly.
"He caught me by the arm and wouldn't let me go," came from Danny.
"I told him to keep still," explained Bert. "He was calling, `Afraid of a ghost!' at me and I don't like it. And he said my sister Nan was afraid of it, too."
"Both of you march up to my office," said Mr. Tetlow sternly. "And remain there until I come."
"My nose is bleeding," whined Danny.
"You may go and wash your nose first," said the principal.
With a heart that was exceedingly heavy Bert entered the school and made his way to the principal's office. No one was there, and he sank on a chair in a corner. He heard the bells ring and heard the pupils enter the school and go to their various classrooms.
"If I am sent home, what will mamma and papa say?" he thought dismally. He had never yet been sent home for misconduct, and the very idea filled him with nameless dread.
His eye hurt him not a little, but to this h
e just then paid no attention. He was wondering what Mr. Tetlow would have to say when he came.
Presently the door opened and Danny shuffled in, a wet and bloody handkerchief held to his nose. He sat down on the opposite side of the office, and for several minutes nothing was said by either of the boys.
"I suppose you are going to try to get me into trouble," said Danny at length.
"You're trying to get me into trouble," returned Bert. "I didn't start the quarrel, and you know it."
"I don't know nothing of the kind, Bert Bobbsey! If you say I started the fight--I'll--I'll--tell something more about you."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"What can you tell?"
"You know well enough. Mr. Ringley hasn't forgotten about his broken window."
"Well, you broke that, I didn't."
"Humph! maybe I can prove that you broke it."
"Danny Rugg, what do you mean?" exclaimed Bert. "You know I had nothing to do with that broken window."
The big boy was about to say something more in reply when Mr. Tetlow entered the office.
"Boys," said he abruptly, "this is a disgraceful affair. I thought both of you knew better than to fight. It is setting a very bad example to the rest of the scholars. I shall have to punish you both severely."
Mr. Tetlow paused and Bert's heart leaped into his throat. What if he should be expelled? The very thought of it made him shiver.
"I have made a number of inquiries of the other pupils, and I find that you, Danny, started the quarrel. You raised the cry of `Afraid of a ghost!' when you had no right to do so, and when Bert caught you by the arm and told you to stop you struck him. Is this true?"
"I--I--he hit me in the chin. I told him to let me go."
"He struck me first, Mr. Tetlow," put in Bert. "I am sure all of the boys will say the same."
"Hem! Bert, you can go to your classroom. I will talk to you after school this afternoon."
Somewhat relieved Bert left the office and walked to the classroom, where the other pupils eyed him curiously. It was hard work to put his mind on his lessons, but he did his best, for he did not wish to miss in any of them and thus make matters worse.
"What did the principal do?" whispered the boy who sat next to him.
"Hasn't done anything yet," whispered Bert in return.
"It was Danny's fault," went on the boy, "We'll stick by you."
At noontime Bert walked home with Nan, feeling very much downcast.
"Oh, Bert, what made you fight?" said his twin sister. "I told you not to."
"I couldn't help it, Nan. He told everybody that you were afraid of the ghost."
"And what is Mr. Tetlow going to do?"
"I don't know. He told me to stay in after school this afternoon, as he wanted to talk with me."
"If he expels you, mamma will never get over it."
"I know that, Nan. But--but--I couldn't stand it to have him yelling out, `Afraid of a ghost!' "
After that Nan said but little. But her thoughts were busy, and by the time they were returning to the school her mind was fully made up.
To all of the school children the principal's office was a place that usually filled them with awe. Rarely did anybody go there excepting when sent by a teacher because of some infringements of the rules.
Nan went to school early that afternoon, and as soon as she had left Bert and the two younger twins, she marched bravely to Mr. Tetlow's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in," said the principal, who was at his desk looking over some school reports.
"If you please, Mr. Tetlow, I came to see you about my brother, Bert Bobbsey," began Nan.
Mr. Tetlow looked at her kindly, for he half expected what was coming.
"What is it, Nan?" he asked.
"I--I--oh, Mr. Tetlow, won't you please let Bert off this time? He only did it because Danny said such things about me; said I was afraid of the ghost, and made all the boys call out that we had ghosts at our house. I--I--think, somehow, that I ought to be punished if he is."
There, it was out, and Nan felt the better for it. Her deep brown eyes looked squarely into the eyes of the principal.
In spite of himself Mr. Tetlow was compelled to smile. He knew something of how the Bobbsey twins were devoted to each other.
"So you think you ought to be punished," he said slowly.
"Yes, if Bert is, for you see, he did it mostly for me."
"You are a brave sister to come in his behalf, Nan. I shall not punish him very severely."
"Oh, thank you for saying that, Mr. Tetlow."
"It was very wrong for him to fight--"
"Yes, I told him that."
"But Danny Rugg did wrong to provoke him. I sincerely trust that both boys forgive each other for what was done. Now you can go."
With a lighter heart Nan left the office. She felt that Bert would not be expelled. And he was not. Instead, Mr. Tetlow made him stay in an hour after school each day that week and write on his slate the sentence, "Fighting is wrong," a hundred times. Danny was also kept in and was made to write the sentence just twice as many times. Then Mr. Tetlow made the two boys shake hands and promise to do better in the future.
The punishment was nothing to what Bert had expected, and he stayed in after school willingly. But Danny was very sulky and plotted all manner of evil things against the Bobbseys.
"He is a very bad boy," said Nan. "If I were you, Bert, I'd have nothing more to do with him."
"I don't intend to have anything to do with him," answered her twin brother. "But, Nan, what do you think he meant when he said he'd make trouble about Mr. Ringley's broken window? Do you imagine he'll tell Mr. Ringley I broke it?"
"How would he dare, when he broke it himself?" burst out Nan.
"I'm sure I don't know. But if he did, what do you suppose Mr. Ringley would do."
"I'm sure I don't know," came helplessly from Nan. "You can't prove that Danny did it, can you?"
"No."
"It's too bad. I wish the window hadn't been broken."
"So do I," said Bert; and there the talk came to an end, for there seemed nothing more to say.
CHAPTER XX
ST. VALENTINE'S DAY
ST. Valentine's Day was now close at hand, and all of the children of the neighborhood were saving their money with which to buy valentines.
"I know just the ones I am going to get," said Nan.
"I want some big red hearts," put in Freddie. "Just love hearts, I do!"
"I want the kind you can look into," came from Flossie. "Don't you know, the kind that fold up."
Two days before St. Valentine's Day the children gathered around the sitting-room table and began to make valentines. They had paper of various colors and pictures cut from old magazines. They worked very hard, and some of the valentines thus manufactured were as good as many that could be bought.
"Oh, I saw just the valentine for Freddie," whispered Nan to Bert. "It had a fireman running to a fire on it."
There were a great many mysterious little packages brought into the house on the afternoon before St. Valentine's Day, and Mr. Bobbsey had to supply quite a few postage stamps.
"My, my, but the postman will have a lot to do to-morrow," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If this keeps on he'll want his wages increased, I am afraid."
The fun began early in the morning. On coming down to breakfast each of the children found a valentine under his or her plate. They were all very pretty.
"Where in the world did they come from?" cried Nan. "Oh, mamma, did you put them there?"
"No, Nan," said Mrs. Bobbsey.
"Then it must have been Dinah!" said Nan, and rushed into the kitchen. "Oh, Dinah, how good of you!"
"'Spect da is from St. Valentine," said the cook, smiling broadly.
"Oh, I know you!" said Nan.
"It's just lubby!" cried Freddie, breaking out into his baby talk. "Just lubby, Dinah! Such a big red heart, too!"
The postman
came just before it was time to start for school. He brought six valentines, three for Flossie, two for Freddie and one for Bert.
"Oh, Nan, where is yours?" cried Bert.
"I--I guess he forgot me," said Nan rather soberly.
"Oh, he has made some mistake," said Bert and ran after the letter man. But it was of no use--all the mail for the Bobbseys had been delivered.
"Never mind, he'll come again this afternoon," said Mrs. Bobbsey, who saw how keenly Nan was disappointed.
On her desk in school Nan found two valentines from her schoolmates. One was very pretty, but the other was home-made and represented a girl running away from a figure labeled GHOST. Nan put this out of sight as soon as she beheld it.
All that day valentines were being delivered in various ways. Freddie found one in his cap, and Bert one between the leaves of his geography. Flossie found one pinned to her cloak, and Nan received another in a pasteboard box labeled Breakfast Food. This last was made of paper roses and was very pretty.
The letter man came that afternoon just as they arrived home from school. This time he had three valentines for Nan and several for the others. Some were comical, but the most of them were beautiful and contained very tender verses. There was much guessing as to who had sent each.
"I have received just as many as I sent out," said Nan, counting them over.
"I sent out two more than I received," said Bert.
"Never mind, Bert; boys don't expect so many as girls," answered Nan.
"I'd like to know who sent that mean thing that was marked GHOST," went on her twin brother.
"It must have come from Danny Rugg," said Nan, and she was right. It had come from Danny, but Nan never let him know that she had received it, so his hoped-for fun over it was spoilt.
In the evening there was more fun than ever. All of the children went out and dropped valentines on the front piazzas of their friends' houses. As soon as a valentine was dropped the door bell would be given a sharp ring, and then everybody would run and hide and watch to see who came to the door.
When the Bobbsey children went home they saw somebody on their own front piazza. It was a boy and he was on his knees, placing something under the door mat.
"I really believe it is Danny Rugg!" cried Nan.
The Bobbsey Twins; or, Merry Days Indoors and Out / by Laura Lee Hope Page 9
