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18 - Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank by Laura Lee Hope · Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank

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  Speaker 1: Please visit LibriVox dot org. The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank
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  Speaker 1: by Laura Lee Hope The Queer Cloud. We'll help you
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  Speaker 1: look for your glasses, missus Martin offered Nan, though she
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  Speaker 1: wished very much to finish her story. Won't we Burt,
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  Speaker 1: Sure we will, he answered boy fashion, and though he
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  Speaker 1: very much wanted to go fishing, he gave up his
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  Speaker 1: pleasure for the time being to help the old lady.
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  Speaker 1: Missus Martin was really quite distressed about losing her glasses,
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  Speaker 1: as most people are whose eyes are so poor that
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  Speaker 1: they cannot see well or read without the help of spectacles.
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  Speaker 1: Where did you have them? Last, asked Nan, as she
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  Speaker 1: had often heard her mother ask when one of the
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  Speaker 1: children lost to toy. I had them on my head,
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  Speaker 1: over my nose and in front of my eyes, Missus
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  Speaker 1: Martin answered. Then all of a sudden, I heard Missus
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  Speaker 1: Watson cry out about the cattle coming into the garden,
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  Speaker 1: and I grabbed off my glasses to get the broom.
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  Speaker 1: I was afraid I'd break them chasing after the cows.
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  Speaker 1: By this time, Missus Watson, who had been putting the
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  Speaker 1: baby to sleep, came out on the side porch yes,
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  Speaker 1: I saw your glasses on you, just before the cattle
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  Speaker 1: began running wild, said Jenny's mother. Then so much happened
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  Speaker 1: all at once that I don't know what you did
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  Speaker 1: with them. Maybe they're still on top of your head,
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  Speaker 1: suggested Bert. Once Charlie Mason's grandmother lost her glasses and
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  Speaker 1: we looked all over for them, and all the while
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  Speaker 1: she had them pushed up on top of her head.
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  Speaker 1: Well mine aren't there, Missus Martin replied, putting up her hand, however,
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  Speaker 1: to feel and make sure. I don't see what I
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  Speaker 1: did with them. Then the search began, with the other
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  Speaker 1: Bobsey twins and Missus Watson helping. The porch was searched carefully,
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  Speaker 1: and the children looked on the ground around it, stepping
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  Speaker 1: carefully so they would not tread on and break the
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  Speaker 1: glasses if they should have happened to fall. But the
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  Speaker 1: glasses could not be found. Then Missus Bobbsey came and helped,
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  Speaker 1: but she was no more successful than the others had been.
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  Speaker 1: Inside and outside the house. The search went on, but
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  Speaker 1: the spectacles could not be found. Maybe they'll turn up
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  Speaker 1: after a while, said mister Watson when he came in
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  Speaker 1: from the peach sorting to get washed for dinner. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I hope they will. His wife's cousin said, meanwhile, I
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  Speaker 1: can't read a word, and I can't see very well.
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  Speaker 1: I declare I can hardly tell one Bobsey twin from
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  Speaker 1: the other. She said, with a sigh. We can tell
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  Speaker 1: you our names. Freddy suggested he and Flossi had come
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  Speaker 1: back from sailing their toy boats and had taken part
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  Speaker 1: in the hunt for the glasses. Yes, my dear, that's
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  Speaker 1: kind of you, and I suppose you could do that,
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  Speaker 1: murmured the old lady. But I would like to see
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  Speaker 1: when a further search did not bring the missing glasses
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  Speaker 1: to light. Mister Watson said, can't you mail the prescription
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  Speaker 1: to the people who made them and have another set made? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I could do that if I had the prescription, agreed
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  Speaker 1: missus Martin. But I haven't got that paper. I lost it.
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  Speaker 1: If I only had it, things wouldn't be so bad,
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  Speaker 1: for it would mean only a few days before I
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  Speaker 1: could order new spectacles by mail. But I've lost the prescription.
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  Speaker 1: Your doctor has a copy, mister Watson said. My doctors
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  Speaker 1: always keep copies of the prescriptions they give their patients.
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  Speaker 1: Probably doctor Bangert has a copy of mine. Missus Martin
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  Speaker 1: agreed with a sigh. But he has gone away on
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  Speaker 1: summer vacation, and I don't know where to reach him.
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  Speaker 1: When he gave me the prescription, he told me to
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  Speaker 1: take good care of it as he was going away
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  Speaker 1: and could not be reached until the fall. I think
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  Speaker 1: he has gone hunting in the wilds of Canada. Then
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  Speaker 1: it looks as if you would either have to go
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  Speaker 1: to another doctor around here and get them to fit
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  Speaker 1: you with glasses, said mister Watson, or else find those
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  Speaker 1: that are lost. I don't want to go to another doctor,
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  Speaker 1: said Missus Martin. I don't believe anybody but doctor Bangert
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  Speaker 1: could fit my eyes. Oh I must find those glasses.
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  Speaker 1: They can't be far away. Maybe they got caught on
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  Speaker 1: one of the horns of the cows and carried off,
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  Speaker 1: suggested Freddie. You think of the funniest things, laughed Missus Watson.
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  Speaker 1: But the cows didn't come near enough the porch to
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  Speaker 1: take my cousin's glasses. She must have dropped them in
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  Speaker 1: some out of the way corner. Though once again, they
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  Speaker 1: searched all over, even in places where Missus Watson said
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  Speaker 1: she had never been with her glasses. The spectacles could
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  Speaker 1: not be found, and she was quite in despair. Having
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  Speaker 1: done all he could to help the old lady, Bert
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  Speaker 1: decided that he would spend the afternoon fishing, for he
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  Speaker 1: was fond of this sport, and mister Watson said that
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  Speaker 1: in the creek across the meadow from the brook there
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  Speaker 1: were good fish to be had. He had brought his
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  Speaker 1: fishing outfit with him, so that all he needed now
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  Speaker 1: was some bait, and on the advice of Zeke, he
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  Speaker 1: took both worms and grasshoppers. The worms he and his
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  Speaker 1: brother and Nan dug in the garden, putting the crawling
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  Speaker 1: creatures in a baking powder box with some earth to
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  Speaker 1: give the worms air. Bert punched holes in the top
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  Speaker 1: and bottom of the tin box. Sometimes when the fish
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  Speaker 1: won't bite on worms, they will on grasshoppers, suggested the
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  Speaker 1: hired man. Just take another box with you and walk
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  Speaker 1: through the lower hay meadow. The grasshoppers are thick there.
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  Speaker 1: You can catch them in your hand as you walk
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  Speaker 1: along and pop them in the box. But you want
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  Speaker 1: to be careful how you do it. Why will grasshoppers bite,
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  Speaker 1: asked Bert, though he had never heard of them doing no,
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  Speaker 1: answered the hired man with a laugh. But after you
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  Speaker 1: catch one grasshopper and put it in the box, when
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  Speaker 1: you take off the cover to put in another, often
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  Speaker 1: the first one will jump out, and you can't catch
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  Speaker 1: many fish on one hopper. Oh, I see what you mean,
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  Speaker 1: laughed Bert. He found it just as Zeke had said.
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  Speaker 1: It was easy enough to grab a green grasshopper off
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  Speaker 1: the head of timothy grass in the hayfield. But when
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  Speaker 1: he caught his second one and opened the box covered
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  Speaker 1: to slip the creature in out jump the first one.
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  Speaker 1: But Bert made a prisoner of the second one, and
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  Speaker 1: when he had his third he was more careful in
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  Speaker 1: opening the box. He raised the lid only a little way,
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  Speaker 1: and through the crack he shoved the green insect. Soon
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  Speaker 1: he had enough, he thought, with the worms he had brought,
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  Speaker 1: and he made his way to the edge of the creek,
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  Speaker 1: picking out a spot where the water foamed and bubbled
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  Speaker 1: over the stony bottom. As worms were easier to put
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  Speaker 1: on the hook than the grasshoppers, which were very lively,
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  Speaker 1: Bert baited with one of the crawling creatures and cast
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  Speaker 1: in a hook. The Bobbsey boy was about as patient
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  Speaker 1: as most lads. But when he had pulled out several
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  Speaker 1: times thinking he had bites, and found nothing on his hook,
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  Speaker 1: Bert began to think perhaps it would be well to
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  Speaker 1: change the bait. He opened his other tin box to
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  Speaker 1: get one of the grasshoppers, but no sooner was the
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  Speaker 1: lid raised than with one accord, every grasshopper and the
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  Speaker 1: container leaped out and sailed away. Well, say that wasn't
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  Speaker 1: very polite, laughed Bert. Still I can't blame you, he
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  Speaker 1: went on. I guess it isn't much fun to be
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  Speaker 1: stuck on a hook and swallowed by a fish. I'll
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  Speaker 1: catch my grasshoppers right here, one at a time, as
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  Speaker 1: I need them. He said. He had noticed that in
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  Speaker 1: the field just back of the place he had picked
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  Speaker 1: out for fishing, many grasshoppers were jumping from weed to wheat.
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  Speaker 1: Bert laid aside his pole, having noted that the worm
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  Speaker 1: had been nearly nibbled off the hook, now by small
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  Speaker 1: fish too little to land, and going back he caught
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  Speaker 1: a grasshopper in his hand. Now for a big fish,
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  Speaker 1: said the lad. But after waiting some time and getting
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  Speaker 1: no bites, Bert was inclined to think that he had
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  Speaker 1: chosen a wrong spot or else that his bait or
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  Speaker 1: the day was wrong. His first guess was borne out
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  Speaker 1: a little later when a voice hailed him, saying, you'll
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  Speaker 1: never get any fish there. Bert Bopsey turned and saw
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  Speaker 1: a country lad of about his own age, standing on
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  Speaker 1: the edge of the weed grown field. The boy was barefooted,
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  Speaker 1: his clothes were ragged, and he had a torn straw
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  Speaker 1: hat on his head. Over his shoulder was a crooked
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  Speaker 1: stick cut from a tree and fastened to it was
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  Speaker 1: a line with many knots in it, as if it
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  Speaker 1: had been broken and tied a number of times. Why
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  Speaker 1: won't I get any fish here, asked Bert, because there
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  Speaker 1: ain't any there. It's too shallow. If you want to
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  Speaker 1: get big ones, you'll have to go up above to
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  Speaker 1: the eddy where the water's deep. Well, I must say
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  Speaker 1: I haven't had much luck here, admitted Bert. I've tried
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  Speaker 1: worms and grasshoppers, and the only bites are little nibbles.
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  Speaker 1: Those are just baby fish. They suck off the bait
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  Speaker 1: without getting caught on the hook, said the country lad.
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  Speaker 1: Come on with me if you want to, and I'll
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  Speaker 1: show you a good place. Thanks, answered Burt. Do you
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  Speaker 1: live around here, yes, just over that hill. My name's porter.
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  Speaker 1: What's yours, Bert Bobbsey was the answer. You live around here,
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  Speaker 1: asked Sam. I never saw you before that I know of. No,
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  Speaker 1: I don't live here. Bert said, I'm visiting at Cloverbank.
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  Speaker 1: Oh yes, I know, mister Watson, exclaimed Sam. My father
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  Speaker 1: works for him. He's picking peaches now. Sam proved to
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  Speaker 1: be a nice lad, and he and Bert soon became
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  Speaker 1: good friends, talking about fishing and other outdoor sports. Sam
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  Speaker 1: led the way up the bank of the creek to
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  Speaker 1: a quiet, shady spot beneath some overhanging willow trees. There's
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  Speaker 1: the eddie, he said, pointing to where the water ran
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  Speaker 1: deep and quiet. The stream had washed out a place
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  Speaker 1: in the earth bank, making a deep pool where the
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  Speaker 1: water swirled around in a circle, or eddie, as the
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  Speaker 1: country lad called it. On the other side of the creek,
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  Speaker 1: opposite this point, the stream was shallow and ran rapidly
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  Speaker 1: over the stones. But the big fish come to this pool,
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  Speaker 1: Sam said, you'll soon have a big one. He was right.
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  Speaker 1: Bert had only thrown his worm baited hook in the
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  Speaker 1: water and waited a few minutes before the bobber on
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  Speaker 1: his line dipped suddenly under water. You've got him a
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  Speaker 1: big one, whispered Sam. Pull up. Neither Sam nor Bert
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  Speaker 1: were doing fishing in a scientific way with a reel,
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  Speaker 1: and the only way to land a fish once he
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  Speaker 1: was hooked was to pull up the pole quickly. This
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  Speaker 1: Bert Bopsey did. He felt a weight on his bamboo rod,
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  Speaker 1: and as it went in a sweeping circle over his head,
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  Speaker 1: he had a glimpse of something flashing like silver in
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  Speaker 1: the sun. You got 'em a beauty, yelled Sam, a
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  Speaker 1: big one. When Bert ran to look in the grass
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  Speaker 1: where he had landed his catch, it was delighted to
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  Speaker 1: find that he had caught a good sized chub, as
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  Speaker 1: Sam named the fish. Say you've brought me to a
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  Speaker 1: good place, all right, cried Bert in delight to his companion.
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  Speaker 1: There's fish here, all right. I hope you get one. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I'll get one, all right, said Sam. I hardly ever
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  Speaker 1: come here without getting as many as we can use
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  Speaker 1: at home. My mother likes fish, and about twice a
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  Speaker 1: week I come here to get a mess. He had
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  Speaker 1: retained his seat on the bank, his line dangling in
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  Speaker 1: the water, while Bert landed his catch, and he watched
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  Speaker 1: the Bobbsey boy as he took the chub off the hook,
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  Speaker 1: which was not easy to do, since the fish had
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  Speaker 1: swallowed the hook in its eagerness to get the bait.
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  Speaker 1: When Bert had his prize loose, he strung a string
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  Speaker 1: through the gills, and then, fastening on a cross stick
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  Speaker 1: so the fish would not slip off, he put it
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  Speaker 1: back in a little pool, tying the shore end of
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  Speaker 1: the string to a tree. The chub feebly flapped its
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  Speaker 1: tail and tried to swim away, but he was held
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  Speaker 1: a prisoner in the water. He would be kept fresh
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  Speaker 1: until Bert was ready to go home with any others
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  Speaker 1: he might land. Sam caught the next one, tossing back
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  Speaker 1: on the grass of fish, not quite as big as Bert's,
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  Speaker 1: but fair in size. Now my luck's beginning, exclaimed Sam,
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  Speaker 1: as he fastened his fish to another string and let
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  Speaker 1: it swim about in a pool. His fish had only
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  Speaker 1: been hooked through the lip and was hardly hurt at all.
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  Speaker 1: The two lads then took turns, so to speak, in
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  Speaker 1: landing fish. It was a fine day and a good place,
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  Speaker 1: and first Bert would land one, and then Sam would follow. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I guess I have enough, Bert said, after a while,
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  Speaker 1: and I have two, agreed Sam. We might as well
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  Speaker 1: clean 'em and wash em here, and then there won't
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  Speaker 1: be such a mess around the house. The boys prepared
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  Speaker 1: the fish for cooking, and then put them with wet
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  Speaker 1: grass and baskets they had brought for that purpose. If
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  Speaker 1: you come with me across the field, I'll show you
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  Speaker 1: a short cut back to Cloverbank, suggested Sam. When they
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  Speaker 1: were ready to go all right, The two boys were
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  Speaker 1: going across a green meadow in a little valley between
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  Speaker 1: two low hills, when Bert suddenly heard a low, humming
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  Speaker 1: sound in the air. At first he thought it was
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  Speaker 1: a distant airplane, but on looking around, he saw what
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  Speaker 1: seemed to be a small black cloud coming toward him
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  Speaker 1: and Sam. Look cried Bert, pointing, golly, you better duck,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed Sam. He dropped his pole in basket of fish
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  Speaker 1: and began running toward a low clump of bushes, calling
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  Speaker 1: to Bert as he ran, come on, come on in here.
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  Speaker 1: Until he gets past end of chapter eighteen,