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Mrs. Martin's Glasses · The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank

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  Chapter seventeen of The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  please visit LibriVox dot org. The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank by Laura Lee
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  Hope missus Martin's Glasses. For a moment or two following Freddy's excited cries,
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  those in the barn, including the others in the Bobbsey family, did not
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  know whether the little fellow really saw what he said he did or not.
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  What do you mean, Freddy, are there really runaway cows? Asked Nan.
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  Sure they are, was the answer. Come and look they're running right
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  this way too, And I can hear cows too, shrieked Flossie. I'll
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  see what's going on, exclaimed Zeke Trimmer from his place at the far end
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  of the peach bins, where he was putting the fruit into baskets ready for
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  the market. He ran to the door, followed by mister Watson and mister
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  Bobbsey. Freddie had turned to find what he thought would be a safe place
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  With Flossie, Nan decided she must help her mother. Why at the small
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  twins, but Bert ran on with his father and the other men. Lassie
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  was right when she said she could hear the cows for loud bellows and moose
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  filled the air, mingling with the shouts of men. Bert looked out in
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  time to see a large herd of cattle rushing up the lane that led from
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  the main road to the biggest of the Cloverbank barns. The animals seemed to
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  have been frightened by something and were now running away, or stampeding, as
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  a Western cowboy would have called it. Where'd they come from, asked mister
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  Bobbsey. Are they your cattle, mister Watson, No, they don't belong
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  to me. I haven't as many as that. They must be a herd.
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  Some drover was driving to market and they got wild for some reason or
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  other. Well, if we don't shut these doors, they'll be in the
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  barn in another minute, cried Zeke. And if they knock over the peach
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  basket, gets in bins and trample the fruit, they'll be a big loss.
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  Help me close the doors, he shouted. That's a good idea,
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  exclaimed mister Bobbsey. And while some of the peach sorters ran out to help
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  the drover and his men quiet the runaway cattle. Others began closing the big
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  doors of the barn. By this time, the excited cattle were all about
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  the building, running this way and that, kicking up their heels, shaking
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  their horned heads, and acting wildly. They'll break down my fences and let
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  out my cattle if we don't drive them away, said mister Watson, when
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  he with mister Bobsey and the other men had gone outside after closing the doors
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  to save the beaches. Help me get'em back into the road and they'll
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  be all right, shouted the man with a long whip. He evidently was
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  in charge of the herd and had two other men to help drive'em back
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  into the road. He cried. What happened? Mister Watson wanted to know.
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  Dogs and bees was the answer. A stray dog started one of the
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  heffers off on her run. She got in with some bee hives down the
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  road and kicked over some of the highs. The bees swarmed out and stung
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  a lot of the cows, and they got wild and started to run.
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  Then the whole bunch started off. We'll help you get em back into shape
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  again, said mister Bobbsey. Can't I come, asked Bert, who was
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  eager to do his part. Yes, come along, invited mister Watson.
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  This is fun, exulted Bert, as he caught up a stick to wave
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  at the cows and get them back on the main highway. It may have
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  been fun for Bert Bobbsey, but it was worrisome work for the drover and
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  his men. But finally the bunch of runaway cattle were rounded up and they
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  were slowly driven out of the lane, away from the peach bark and toward
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  the main road. Some of mister Watson's cattle in a nearby pasture, seeing
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  the other bunch of animals, seemed to want to join them. They ran
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  excitedly up and down the field as close to the fence as they could get.
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  If they break out, you'll have hard work separating your cows from the
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  others, said mister Bobbsey to the farmer. I guess they won't break out,
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  was the reply. My fences are good and strong. It was well
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  they were, for some of the cows tried to knock the rails down with
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  their heads and horns, but the barriers held, and when the runaway cattle
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  were driven back to the highway. The clovervan cows quieted down. Bert did
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  good work running here and there after stray animals and preventing them from turning back
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  up the lane again. The cows did not seem to know what to do
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  nor where to go. Bees and a barking dog are a bad combination in
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  a herd of cattle, remarked mister Watson, when the drover was thanking him
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  for having helped to get the animals started on their way again. It's a
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  good thing your animals didn't overrun my farm. Yes, I'm glad they didn't
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  do any damage, said the other, though I would have been willing to
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  pay for it if they had. I mean, I'm glad they didn't get
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  among my bee hives, went on mister Watson. A second stinging would have
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  made them wilder than ever. I guess it would, agreed the drover.
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  But I don't see any hives around here, he added. This was the
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  first Bert knew honey was produced on the farm. Yes, I have quite
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  a few swarms of beer ease, replied mister Watson. They're over in that
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  valley, and he pointed to a distant one. The children had not yet
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  visited. There's lots of clover around here, and clover blossoms make the best
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  honey, he said, though some folks like the strong black honey made from
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  buckwheat blossoms, and some say basswood honey is good, but clover suits me.
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  Was anybody hurt, called missus Watson to her husband. She stood on
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  the side porch of the house holding baby Jenny, and with her was Missus
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  Martin. Nobody hurt, her husband answered. Did any of the cattle get
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  up around the house? He asked, for he had been so busy driving
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  away those near the barn that he had noticed little else. There were a
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  few up here, Missus Martin said. They acted just like they wanted to
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  come into the house. Maybe they wanted to give some milk to the baby,
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  suggested Freddy. Well they didn't get a chance, cried the old lady.
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  I caught up the broom and drove them away. Then they headed for
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  the garden, and I had to go after em again. You must have
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  had quite a time up here, said mister Bobbsey. We did, Missus
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  Watson said. For a little while, I thought surely some of the cows
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  would come into the house. What happened? She was told about the bees
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  and the dog. What might have been a serious matter passed away safely,
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  though the runaway cattle were a cause of something happening a little later to missus
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  Martin. The stampede had interrupted the peach sorting, but no damage had been
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  done, and mister Watson said Freddy had been a brave little scout to warn
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  so quickly about the danger of the on rushing cattle. If they'd once got
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  into the barn here among my fruit, they would have done a lot of
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  damage. The farmer said, you are quite a cowboy, Freddy. No,
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  I'm going to be a fireman when I grow up, was the answer.
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  Once. I was going to be a cowboy, but my sister Flossie
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  doesn't like cows, so I'm going to be a fireman so she can come
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  and see me put out fires. I didn't know you kept bees, mister
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  Watson said, nan when quiet was once more restored in the barn. Oh
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  yes, he said, I bought some from a man who didn't make much
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  of a say excess producing honey for the market. I left the bees over
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  where he had them. That's the reason you've never seen the hives around here?
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  Will there be some honey soon, asked Freddie. I shouldn't wonder,
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  but what there would? Was the answer. Anyhow, there will be plenty
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  in the fall, and I'll see that you get some to eat on your
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  pancakes this winter. I'll send you some. I like pancakes, murmured Freddy.
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  Knowing that too much work would not please the children, mister Bobbsey suggested
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  that they had been in the barn long enough sorting peaches, and told them
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  to run out and play this. Flossy and Freddy did, going to their
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  favorite place down by the shallow part of the brook where they sailed tiny boats.
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  Bert and Nan, after having really helped quite a bit in sorting the
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  fruit, wandered off to the woods. Nan taking a story book. Bert
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  decided he would go fishing. Wanna come, Nan, he invited, for
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  he liked to have his sister with him. Thank you, I guess I
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  don't, she answered, I'll take my book back to the house and read
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  in the hammock. Bert went back to the house with her to get his
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  pole in line. When they saw missus Martin excitedly walking about the porch looking
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  on window sills under chairs, and in many places. What's the matter,
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  asked Nan, is the baby lost? Bert wanted to know. Not the
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  baby, but my glasses, answered the old lady. Oh, dear,
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  I had them just before the runaway cattle appeared, and I must have taken
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  them off and laid them someplace. Now I can't find them, and I've
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  gotten so used to them. I don't know what to do without them.
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  Oh, where are my glasses? And she seemed much distressed over the loss.
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  End of chapter seventeen.