Читать книгу The Bobbsey Twins at Lighthouse Point - Lilian Garis - Страница 4

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Flossie tugged at her sister’s hand excitedly. “Oh, Nan, isn’t it thrilling?” cried the little girl. “Don’t you wish we were at Lighthouse Point right now?”

As Flossie danced toward the counter on which several sodas had been prepared for customers, Nan cried out nervously:

“Oh, do be careful! You’ll upset something!”

The warning came too late. In her excitement Flossie had come too close to a very large and very full glass of chocolate ice cream soda. The glass tipped and a stream of the cold, brown mixture ran down the little girl’s neck!

Nan ran to her young sister’s aid. She was called upon to do this often, for Flossie and her twin Freddie were lively children and things happened to them every little while. The older twins, just a few years their senior, sometimes got into trouble too, but usually they could get themselves out of it!

The children lived with their parents in Lakeport, where Daddy Bobbsey was in the lumber business. In their home were two old colored servants, Dinah and Sam, together with two dogs.

The Bobbsey Twins had traveled to many places, even in airplanes, and had seen all sorts of interesting things, like farms, ranches, camps, circuses, and lately a strange windmill. They were always eager for new adventures and now could hardly wait to get to Lighthouse Point.

But right this minute there was a job for Nan to do. She was trying to wipe chocolate soda from her little sister’s dress!

“I’m terribly sorry,” said Flossie, wriggling uncomfortably in her soaked frock. “I didn’t mean to knock over the glass. Do you s’pose we’ll have to pay for it, Nan?”

“Sh-h! We want to listen to the broadcast,” said one of the customers severely. Poor little Flossie put a hand over her mouth to prevent any other words from popping out.

“Fire boats are playing streams of water on the burning Larrison,” the announcer’s voice continued. “From latest reports the flames are being beaten back somewhat. Several seamen have been picked up by the rescue boats but the captain and other officers seem to be staying with the ship. It is doubtful if much of her cargo can be saved.”

“Golly, if I were there I’d save their old cargo for them,” said Freddie loudly. Several people turned around to smile at the sturdy little lad.

“Radio Audience,” the announcer went on, “I am sorry to report that I have bad news for you. Word has just come that Louis Bobbsey, the man at the head of the coast guard rescue work, has been injured.”

“Oh, how awful!” gasped Nan.

“That is all the news we can give you of this disaster at this time,” continued the voice on the radio. “However, we shall interrupt our program from time to time to bring you the latest reports.”

Before they left Mr. Carr’s shop the Bobbsey twins offered to pay for the glass of soda Flossie had spilled, but the proprietor was so busy taking care of the unusual press of customers that he would not listen to them.

“All kinds of accidents will happen,” he said. “Big ones and little ones. The news about the boat brought me extra customers, more than enough to pay for the little accident to the glass of soda,” he told them with a smile. “So run along and don’t worry.”

The children thought this was very kind of Mr. Carr. After spending their dime on five cents worth of hard candy and a chocolate bar, they thanked the kind man and started for home.

“Now we must buy the bread for Mother,” said Nan.

They stopped at a bakery, where the food looked so delicious the Bobbseys wanted to purchase nearly everything. Flossie insisted they must get bread with raisins in it, so this was done.

As the children came from the shop, the younger twins began to talk excitedly about Lighthouse Point. Suddenly Freddie bumped right into a man and his beautiful white dog. The little boy, talking busily, and as usual looking everywhere else but where he was going, stepped heavily on the poor animal’s paw.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” cried Freddie. “I’m afraid I didn’t look where I was going. I didn’t mean to hurt your nice dog, sir.”

The man smiled and bent over to pat his shaggy pet.

“I guess Pal won’t bear you any grudge,” he said. “He knows it was an accident.” The children stroked the beautiful animal and were about to pass on when the man added, “Didn’t I hear you say something about Lighthouse Point when you came from the store just now?”

“We were talking about the fire out there,” said Bert.

“A fire! What fire?” asked the stranger.

The question was enough to set Freddie and Flossie off at once on their favorite subject. They talked so fast that they tripped over their words and had to be straightened out again and again by Nan or Bert. In the end the stranger did manage to get the idea that there was a fire on the freighter Larrison. The coast guard at Lighthouse Point, headed by Louis Bobbsey, was active in the work of rescue.

“Bobbsey is our name too,” said Flossie proudly. “We’re the Bobbsey Twins.”

“Very glad to meet you, I’m sure,” said the man. “My name is John Todd. And this,” he added with a hand on his dog’s head, “is Pal, at your service.”

The dog put out his paw for each child to shake. When the Bobbseys turned to walk toward their home, Mr. Todd said he was going in that direction too and would like to accompany them to ask a little more about the fire.

“You seem to know Lighthouse Point pretty well,” said Bert curiously. “Have you ever been there?”

“Many times,” the man answered. “I know the place and so does Pal. In fact, he came from there.”

“He did!” chorused Freddie and Flossie. The little girl added, “Please tell us about it!”

“Well, there really isn’t very much to relate. Pal was born at Lighthouse Point. The keeper of the light had three puppies. He told me I could take my pick.”

“And you chose Pal?” asked Flossie eagerly. “He’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, I did, little lady, and never regretted my choice either. A good friend and companion, Pal is. There could be none better. Earl Fenwick said I made a wise choice, and he was right.”

“Who is Earl Fenwick?” asked Freddie.

“The keeper of the light. It’s a lonely life the poor man leads there, too. I don’t know as he could stand it if it wasn’t for his dogs.”

“Has he a lot of them?” Nan asked politely. “All the same kind?”

“He breeds them, Miss. They’re a good breed. All like this one here, thoroughbred Spitz.”

“Golly, I wish we could get one of them when we go to Lighthouse Point,” said Freddie eagerly.

“Now Freddie, what would we do with another dog? Haven’t we our hands full with Snap and Waggo?” protested Nan.

“You’d better not let Sam or Dinah hear you say anything about another dog,” warned Bert. “They have enough animals to feed now.”

“Won’t you please tell us more about Lighthouse Point?” begged Flossie, looking up with a smile at Mr. Todd. “You see, we are going there for our vacation so we would like to learn all we can about it.”

“Have you ever seen the Larrison?” asked Bert.

“Or Louis Bobbsey?” added Nan.

“I have seen both of them,” said the man. “I’ve been aboard the Larrison, and Louis Bobbsey is an old friend of mine. Is he a relative of yours?”

“We don’t know,” replied Bert. “Please tell us about him.”

Louis Bobbsey, it seemed, was a fine fellow and a stout sailor.

“A man who is at home, on land or sea,” said Mr. Todd. “He is one of the bravest men I have ever known, the kind one would expect to find heading a dangerous task.”

The children listened with the greatest attention to their new friend’s description of the Larrison. The freighter, Mr. Todd told them, was a stout ship which had made many successful trips to and from foreign ports.

“She usually carries a lot of valuable things. If the entire cargo is destroyed in the fire it will be a great loss to the owner,” he said.

The Bobbseys were sorry when they reached their own house, for there still were many things they wanted to ask John Todd. They invited him to come in, but the man said he was already late for an appointment and must hurry on.

“I am staying with a friend who boards dogs,” he told them. “He lives only a few blocks from here, so if you like pets you might come down and look over his collection some time. He has really fine animals boarding there now.”

“We could leave Waggo and Snap with your friend while we are at Lighthouse Point,” Nan suggested. “Mother said we would not be able to take them along.”

“Fine. Here’s the man’s card, in case you decide to bring your dogs over. And if I don’t see you again,” said John Todd with a smile and a wave of his hand, “please remember me to Louis Bobbsey. And tell Earl Fenwick that Pal is fine. Come along, boy.”

Whistling to his dog, the man swung off down the street with a free, slightly rolling walk.

“I bet he’s a sailor too,” said Freddie. “He walks like one.”

“Well, maybe,” agreed Nan. “Now we’d better take this loaf of bread to Mother. It must be nearly dinner time.”

The twins found Mrs. Bobbsey sitting near the radio in the living room. She too had heard the broadcast of the fire and wanted to get the latest news. According to a report no lives had been lost, but the entire cargo of the Larrison had been destroyed.

“Oh, isn’t it interesting?” cried Flossie, climbing into her mother’s lap and putting both arms about her neck in a tight hug. “Maybe we can go to Lighthouse Point right away,” she coaxed, “and see the boat?”

“We’ll go as soon as we can get ready,” promised Mrs. Bobbsey. “By the way, I have some news for you children,” she added. “Mrs. Rugg was over to call on me this afternoon.”

“Danny Rugg’s mother!” cried Nan.

“What did she want?” asked Bert suspiciously.

“It seems she and Mr. Rugg and Danny are going to Lighthouse Point.”

Nan sat down hard and stared at her mother. “For the whole summer?” she demanded.

“That’s fierce!” said Bert disgustedly. “Why did they have to pick that place to go!”

“Oh, well, the Ruggs may not be staying anywhere near us, so I shouldn’t feel too bad about it if I were you,” said his mother. “Freddie Bobbsey, what have you there?” she added, as her little boy appeared in the doorway, his arms heaped high with oranges.

“I’m making believe this is some cargo from the Larrison and I’m just rescuing it out of the sea,” Freddie explained.

As he spoke he took a step forward, tripped over the doorstep and fell flat, the oranges in his arms bouncing into the four corners of the room!