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

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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot Org. The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank by Laura
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  Speaker 1: Lee Hope missus Martin's Glasses. For a moment or two
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  Speaker 1: following Freddy's excited cries, those in the barn, including the
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  Speaker 1: others in the Bobbsey family, did not know whether the
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  Speaker 1: little fellow really saw what he said he did or not.
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  Speaker 1: What do you mean, Freddie, are there really runaway cows?
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  Speaker 1: Asked Nan? Sure they are, was the answer. Come and
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  Speaker 1: look they're running right this way too. And I can
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  Speaker 1: hear cows too, shrieked Flossie. I'll see what's going on,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed Zeke Trimmer from his place at the far end
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  Speaker 1: of the peach bins, where he was putting the fruit
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  Speaker 1: into baskets ready for the market. He ran to the door,
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  Speaker 1: followed by mister Watson mister Bobbsey. Freddie had turned to
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  Speaker 1: find what he thought would be a safe place. With Flossie,
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  Speaker 1: Nan decided she must help her mother lie at the
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  Speaker 1: small twins, but Bert on with his father and the
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  Speaker 1: other men. Lossie was right when she said she could
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  Speaker 1: hear the cows. For loud bellows and moose filled the air,
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  Speaker 1: mingling with the shouts of men Bert looked out in
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  Speaker 1: time to see a large herd of cattle rushing up
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  Speaker 1: the lane that led from the main road to the
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  Speaker 1: biggest of the Cloverbank barns. The animals seemed to have
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  Speaker 1: been frightened by something and were now running away or stampeding,
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  Speaker 1: as a Western cowboy would have called it. Where'd they
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  Speaker 1: come from, asked mister Bobbsey. Are they your cattle, mister Watson, No,
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  Speaker 1: they don't belong to me. I haven't as many as that.
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  Speaker 1: They must be a herd. Some drover was driving to
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  Speaker 1: market and they got wild for some reason or other. Well,
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  Speaker 1: if we don't shut these doors, they'll be in the
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  Speaker 1: barn in another minute, cried Zeke. And if they knock
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  Speaker 1: over the peach baskets and bins and trample the fruit,
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  Speaker 1: they'll be a big loss. Help me close the doors,
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  Speaker 1: he shouted. That's a good idea, exclaimed mister Bobbsey, And
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  Speaker 1: while some of the peach sorters ran out to help
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  Speaker 1: the drover and his men quiet at the runaway cattle,
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  Speaker 1: others began closing the big doors of the barn. By
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  Speaker 1: this time, the excited cattle were all about the building,
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  Speaker 1: running this way and that, kicking up their heels, shaking
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  Speaker 1: their horned heads and acting wildly. They'll break down my
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  Speaker 1: fences and let out my cattle if we don't drive
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  Speaker 1: them away, said mister Watson, when he with mister Bobbsey
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  Speaker 1: and the other men had gone outside after closing the
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  Speaker 1: doors to save the beaches. Help me get 'em back
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  Speaker 1: into the road and they'll be all right, shouted the
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  Speaker 1: man with a long whip. He evidently wasn't charge of
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  Speaker 1: the herd and had two other men to help drive
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  Speaker 1: 'em back into the road. He cried. What happened? Mister
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  Speaker 1: Watson wanted to know. Dogs and bees was the answer.
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  Speaker 1: A stray dog started one of the heffers off on
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  Speaker 1: her run. She got in with some bee hives down
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  Speaker 1: the road and kicked over some of the hives. The
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  Speaker 1: bees swarmed out and stung a lot of the cows,
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  Speaker 1: and they got wild and started to run. Then the
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  Speaker 1: whole bunch started off. We'll help you get em back
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  Speaker 1: into shape again, said mister Bobbsey. Can't I come, asked
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  Speaker 1: Bert was eager to do his part. Yes, come along,
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  Speaker 1: invited mister Watson. This is fun, exulted Bert, as he
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  Speaker 1: caught up a stick to wave at the cows and
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  Speaker 1: get them back on the main highway. It may have
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  Speaker 1: been fun for Bert Bobbsey, but it was worrisome work
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  Speaker 1: for the drover and his men. But finally the bunch
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  Speaker 1: of runaway cattle were rounded up and they were slowly
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  Speaker 1: driven out of the lane, away from the peach bark
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  Speaker 1: and toward the main road. Some of mister Watson's cattle
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  Speaker 1: in a nearby pasture, seeing the other bunch of animals,
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  Speaker 1: seemed to want to join them. They ran excitedly up
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  Speaker 1: and down the field as close to the fence as
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  Speaker 1: they could get. If they break out, you'll have hard
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  Speaker 1: work separating your cows from the others, said mister Bobbsey
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  Speaker 1: to the farmer. I guess they won't break out, was
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  Speaker 1: the reply. My fences are good and strong. It was
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  Speaker 1: well they were, for some of the cows tried to
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  Speaker 1: knock the rails down with their heads and horns, but
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  Speaker 1: the barriers held, and when the runaway cattle were driven
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  Speaker 1: back to the highway, the cloverban cows quieted down. Bert
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  Speaker 1: did good work running here and there after stray animals
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  Speaker 1: and preventing them from turning back up the lane again.
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  Speaker 1: The cows did not seem to know what to do
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  Speaker 1: nor where to go. Bees and a barking dog are
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  Speaker 1: a bad combination in a herd of cattle, remarked mister Watson,
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  Speaker 1: when the drover was thanking him for having helped to
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  Speaker 1: get the animals started on their way. Again, it's a
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  Speaker 1: good thing your animals didn't overrun my farm. Yes, I'm
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  Speaker 1: glad they didn't do any damage, said the other, though
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  Speaker 1: I would have been willing to pay for it if
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  Speaker 1: they had. I mean, I'm glad they didn't get among
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  Speaker 1: my bee hives, went on mister Watson. A second stinging
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  Speaker 1: would have made them wilder than ever. I guess it would,
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  Speaker 1: agreed the drover. But I don't see any hives around here,
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  Speaker 1: he added, this was the first bert New honey was
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  Speaker 1: produced on the farm. Yes, I have quite a few
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  Speaker 1: swarms of bees, replied mister Watson. They're over in that valley,
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  Speaker 1: and he pointed to a distant one the children had
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  Speaker 1: not yet visited. There's lots of clover around here, and
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  Speaker 1: clover blossoms make the best honey, he said, though some
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  Speaker 1: folks like the strong black honey made from buckwheat blossoms,
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  Speaker 1: and some say, basswood honey is good, but clover suits me.
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  Speaker 1: Was anybody hurt? Called missus Watson to her husband. She
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  Speaker 1: stood on the side porch of the house holding baby Jenny,
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  Speaker 1: and with her was missus Martin. Nobody hurt? Her husband answered,
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  Speaker 1: Did any of the cattle get up around the house?
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  Speaker 1: He asked, for he had been so busy driving away
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  Speaker 1: those near the barn that he had noticed little else.
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  Speaker 1: There were a few up here, Missus Martin said. They
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  Speaker 1: acted just like they wanted to come into the house.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe they wanted to give some milk to the baby,
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  Speaker 1: suggested Freddy. Well they didn't get a chance, cried the
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  Speaker 1: old lady. I caught up the broom and drove them away.
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  Speaker 1: Then they headed for the garden, and I had to
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  Speaker 1: go after em again. You must have had quite a
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  Speaker 1: time up here, said mister Bobbsey. We did, Missus Watson said,
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  Speaker 1: for a little while, I thought surely some of the
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  Speaker 1: cows would come into the house. What happened? She was
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  Speaker 1: told about the bees and the dog. What might have
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  Speaker 1: been a serious matter passed away safely, though the runaway
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  Speaker 1: cattle were a cause of something happening a little later.
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  Speaker 1: To missus Martin, the stampede had interrupted the peach sorting,
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  Speaker 1: but no damage had been done, and mister Watson said
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  Speaker 1: Freddy had been a brave little scout to warn so
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  Speaker 1: quickly about the danger of the on rushing cattle. If
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  Speaker 1: they'd once got into the barn here among my fruit,
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  Speaker 1: they would have done a lot of damage. The farmer said,
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  Speaker 1: you are quite a cowboy, Freddy. No, I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: be a fireman when I grow up, was the answer. Once.
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  Speaker 1: I was going to be a cowboy, but my sister
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  Speaker 1: FLOSSI doesn't like cows, so I'm going to be a
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  Speaker 1: fireman so she can come and see me put out fires.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't know you kept bees, mister Watson said, nan
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  Speaker 1: when quiet was once more restored in the barn. Oh, yes,
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  Speaker 1: he said. I bought some from a man who didn't
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  Speaker 1: make much of a success producing honey for the market.
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  Speaker 1: I left the bees over where he had them. That's
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  Speaker 1: the reason you've never seen the hives around here. Will
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  Speaker 1: there be some honey soon, asked Freddy. I shouldn't wonder,
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  Speaker 1: but what there would was the answer. Anyhow, there will
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  Speaker 1: be plenty in the fall, and I'll see that you
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  Speaker 1: get some to eat on your pancakes this winter. I'll
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  Speaker 1: send you some. I like pancakes, murmured Freddy. Knowing that
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  Speaker 1: too much work would not please the children. Mister Bobbsey
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  Speaker 1: suggested that they had been in the barn long enough
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  Speaker 1: sorting peaches and told them to run out and play this.
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  Speaker 1: Flossy and Freddy did, going to their favorite place down
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  Speaker 1: by the shallow part of the brook, where they sailed
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  Speaker 1: tiny boats. Bert and Nan, after having really helped quite
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  Speaker 1: a bit in sorting the fruit, wandered off to the woods.
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  Speaker 1: Nan taking a story book, Bert decided he would go fishing.
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  Speaker 1: Wanta come, Nan, he invited, for he liked to have
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  Speaker 1: his sister with him. Thank you, I guess I don't,
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  Speaker 1: she answered, I'll take my book back to the house
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  Speaker 1: and read in the hammock. Bert went back to the
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  Speaker 1: house with her to get his pole in line. When
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  Speaker 1: they arrived, they saw missus Martin excitedly walking about the porch,
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  Speaker 1: looking on window sills, under chairs, and in many places.
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  Speaker 1: What's the matter? Asked Nan? Is the baby lost? Bert
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  Speaker 1: wanted to know. Not the baby, but my glasses, answered
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  Speaker 1: the old lady. Oh dear, I had them. Just before
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  Speaker 1: the runaway cattle appeared and I must have taken them
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  Speaker 1: off and laid them someplace. Now I can't find them,
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  Speaker 1: and I've gotten so used to them, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: what to do without them. Oh, where are my glasses?
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  Speaker 1: And she seemed much distressed over the loss. End of
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  Speaker 1: chapter seventeen.