Bedstead

“ To and fro swung the older Bobbsey twins.
"Isn't this better than Blueberry Island?" asked Nan.
"Well no, it isn't any better," said Bert; "but it's just as good. Look,
I'm going to let go and drop on the hay."
"Be careful and don't hurt yourself!" begged Nan, as she swung to and fro, her feet raised from the hay beneath her, while Bert, also, swayed slowly to and fro.
"Oh, I'll be careful!" Bert promised. "Anyhow, the hay is nice and soft to fall in. I'll make believe I'm a man in the circus, falling from the top of the tent." ”

“ Then he beat him grievously and locking the dungeon door upon him, gave the keys to his daughter. By and by, Bostan opened the door and went down to beat him, but finding him a comely youth and a sweet-faced with arched brows and eyes black with nature's Kohl, [179] she fell in love with him and asked him, "What is thy name?" "My name is As'ad," answered he; whereat she cried, "Mayst thou indeed be happy as thy name, [180] and happy be thy days! Thou deservest not torture and blows, and I see thou hast been injuriously entreated." ”

“ Presently, in came the bride, attended by an old woman, who stopped at the door of the chamber and said, “O father of symmetry, [3] arise and take what God sends thee.” Then the old woman went away, and the bride, whose name was the Lady of Beauty, entered, heart-broken and saying to herself, “By Allah, I will never yield myself to him, though he kill me!” When she came to the alcove, she saw Bedreddin sitting there and said, “O my friend, thou here at this hour! By Allah, I was wishing that thou wast my husband or that thou and the groom were partners in me!” ”

“ From the office window Bert watched the janitor hail the aged man, who paused for a minute, and then, tying his team, came on toward the school. Bert's heart was lighter now. He was sure the old gentleman would bear out what he had said, and Bert felt he would be glad to do him a good turn in part payment for what Bert and his chums had done in catching the runaways.
"Mr. Carford," began Mr. Tetlow, who knew the aged man slightly, "there has been trouble here, and Bert Bobbsey thinks perhaps you can help clear it up. ”

“ Nan pointed to an object on the piazza, half under the door mat. There lay a dead rat, and around its neck was a string to which was attached a card reading, "Nan and Bert Bobbsey's Ghost."
"This is certainly awful," said Bert.
The noise on the piazza had brought Mrs. Bobbsey to the door. At the sight of the dead [Pg 175] rat, which Freddie had picked up by the tail, she gave a slight scream.
"Oh, Freddie, leave it go!" she said.
"It won't hurt you, mamma," said the little boy. "The real is gone out of it."
"But—but—how did it get here?"
"Danny Rugg brought it," said Bert. "Look at the tag." ”

“ THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
CHAPTER I A CIRCUS TRAIN
"MAMMA, how much longer have we got to ride?" asked Nan Bobbsey, turning in her seat in the railroad car, to look at her parents, who sat behind her.
"Are you getting tired?" asked Nan's brother Bert. "If you are I'll sit next to the window, and watch the telegraph poles and trees go by. Maybe that's what tires you, Nan," he added, and his father smiled, for he saw that Bert had two thoughts for himself, and one for his sister. ”

“ The young girl, already a conundrum by reason of the manner in which she looked upon the things of her times, was, after that latest performance, nothing but an insane woman in her brother's eyes, and fit to be locked up for the good of his house—a step that he would at one time undoubtedly have taken, were it not for the involuntary compassion he experienced at the sight of Bertha almost dying of a languishing malady. ”

“ So Berthold has become a poacher. The profits of wood-cutting do not reach far in a house full of children. I have sent him what I can in the way of food. Whenever he wishes a nourishing broth for his sick wife and a bit of meat for the children, he shoots the deer that come in his way. And as misfortune often changes one's character, Berthold, who as shepherd was such a good and happy lad, has, through poverty, spite, and love for his family, grown to be a lawbreaker. ”

“ Bert said. “But I ought to go home now. I’ve been away a good while, and maybe Nan might want some of the groceries I have in the basket downstairs. Nan is home alone with [Pg 238] Flossie and Freddie. Mrs. Pry is sick in bed.”
“Then you’d better go home now,” agreed the deacon when Bert had further explained how it was the Bobbsey twins were keeping house by themselves. “This evening after supper I’ll call for you and we’ll take this ring back to Danny.”
“Do you want me to come along?” asked the sexton. “I’m going to be pretty busy, keeping up the fires, for it’s going to be a cold night.” ”

“ I suppose we are about as happy as the most of folks, but as I was sayin’, a few days ago to Betsy Bobbet a neighborin’ female of ours—“Every Station house in life has its various skeletons. But we ort to try to be contented with that spear of life we are called on to handle.” Betsey haint married and she don’t seem to be contented. She is awful opposed to wimmen’s rights, she thinks it is wimmen’s only spear to marry, but as yet she can’t find any man willin’ to lay holt of that spear with her. ”

“ I said I’d go to de do’!”
“I wonder who it is and why they didn’t ring the front door bell?” asked Nan of Bert in a low voice. “Do you suppose it could be a tramp?”
“Supposing it is?” asked Bert. “I’m not afraid. Tramps won’t hurt anybody.”
“No. But he’d be awfully cold and want to come in,” returned Nan.
But it was no tramp. The next-door neighbor, Mr. Flander, having seen Sam leave that day with a valise, guessed that the colored man had been called out of town. And knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey had left, Mr. Flander called to see if the Bobbsey twins needed anything. ”

“ And while Bert made his way back to the wagon, the others bumped up and down through the fields that led to the vacant barn.
There was no house within sight. The barn belonged to a house up the road that the owners had not moved into that season.
"I got one!" called Bert, running up from the road. "This lantern has oil in, I can hear it rattle. Have you a match, pa?"
Mr. Bobbsey had, and when the lantern had been lighted, Bert marched on ahead of the party, swinging it in real signal fashion. ”

“ CHAPTER XVIII AUNT SALLIE IS WORSE
While Nan Bobbsey was putting breakfast on the table for Flossie and Freddie, and also for herself and Bert, the smaller twins were amusing themselves by running to and fro in the house. They ran into the front room, up to the windows, out of which they looked at the storm, and then they ran back into the dining room.
“Don’t make so much noise!” begged Nan, while she wondered how Bert was getting along with cutting off the tree branch.
“We’re playing horse,” explained Freddie. “Horses have to make noise.” ”

“ A baby! A darling baby!” gasped Mrs. Bobbsey.
“Whose is it?” asked Mr. Bobbsey. “Some one must have lost it!”
“They don’t lose babies!” declared his wife. “It was left here!”
“Left here! On purpose, do you mean?” cried her husband.
Mrs. Bobbsey nodded her head solemnly. Nan had stooped over and was lifting the tiny creature from its nest in the basket.
“Oh, Mother! may we keep it?” begged Flossie.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” demanded Freddie. “If it’s a boy, keep it!”
“Bring it in, Nan,” said Mrs. Bobbsey. “The poor little dear! It must be almost perished with the cold—and hungry, too! ”

“ Bobbsey, as the animal, after sniffing at the automobile once or twice, continued on his wandering way, crashing through the masses of underbrush in the darkness.
“Well, I’m not,” declared Nan. “He frightened me.”
“Why are you glad about the horse, Daddy?” asked Bert.
“Because it shows there must be a farm near here, and we’ll find our way out in the morning,” was the answer.
“I hope so,” murmured Nan.
“Better go to sleep again,” suggested her father. “And don’t be frightened by any more noises. Noise can’t harm you, and there are no bears or other wild beasts in these woods.” ”

“ Not one will escape death.... Do you hear, my handsome prisoner?"
"All drowned!" murmured Berthoald, still under the dominion of a dull stupor; "all my companions drowned——"
"Oh, does not yet that new piece of confidential news wake you up?... Let us pass to another thing," and the abbess proceeded with a voice of ringing triumph: "Among the female slaves, taken from Languedoc, that your band brought in its train, there was a woman ... who will drown with the rest, and that woman," said Meroflede, emphasizing each word in the hope of each being a dagger in Berthoald's heart, "is—your—mother!" ”

“ When Bert got home he was all out of breath, and his legs trembled so he could scarcely stand. Nan had just arrived and the family were preparing to sit down to lunch.
"Why, Bert, why do you run so hard?" protested his mother. "You must not do it. If you breathe in so much cold air, you may take cold."
"Oh, I—I'm all right," he panted, and started to drop into his seat, but Mrs. Bobbsey made him go up to the bathroom and wash up and comb his hair. ”

“ It struck Bert in the back of the head and sent him staggering.
"Hi! how do you like that?" roared Danny, in high glee. "Have another?" And as Bert stood up and looked around he let drive again, this time hitting Bert directly in the ear. The snowball was so hard it made Bert cry out in pain.
"For shame, Danny Rugg, to hit Bert so hard as that!" cried Nan.
"Oh, you keep still, Nan Bobbsey!" retorted Danny. "This is our sport, not yours."
"But you shouldn't have come so close before you threw the snowball."
"I know what I'm doing," growled the big boy, running off. ”

“ It was when the Bobbsey twins were almost at school that John Marsh, a boy of about Bert’s age, came running around the corner of the street. John seemed rather out of breath and excited.
“What’s the matter?” asked Bert.
“Oh, that Danny Rugg and Sam Todd are pegging snowballs at me,” said John. “I wouldn’t mind soft ones, but they’re using hard balls. And they’re two to one—Sam and Danny both pegged at me.”
“That isn’t fair!” cried Bert. “They [Pg 19] ought to fight square—even on both sides—and with soft balls. Come on, I’ll help you!” ”

“ Thy spirit to my will in bondage is;
Thou hast no wherewithal to make ado—
No weapon at thy service—art a slave,—
And shall I give to thee a master's place?
Yet, thou hast wakened in me a new thought.
What is this love of which you mortals tell?—
Which puts such tender sweetness in your tones
Such brightness in your looks, and makes you turn
Upon each other such delighted eyes?
Your words have stirred strange pleasure in my heart:
I, too, would know what love is. I command
That thou shalt teach me, Bertho. Let the girl
Return, uninjured, to her southern bowers ”

“ Stistick, and she had gone. She was told to receive Mr. Bertram, and she was quite ready to do so. Angels from heaven, or spirits from below, could Sir Henry have summoned such to his table, would have been received by her with equal equanimity. This was dutiful on her part, and naturally satisfactory to a husband inclined to be somewhat exigeant. But even duty may pall on an exigeant husband, and a man may be brought to wish that his wife would cross him. ”

“ In a minute more the Bobbsey twins were at the barn where the sugar and molasses cookies Dinah had given them were put in a safe place.
"There are the ropes!" exclaimed Bert, as he pointed to some dangling from a beam near the haymow.
"They're too high to climb!" Nan said, for some of the ropes were fast to the rafters of the barn.
"Oh, we won't climb 'em!" Bert quickly returned, for he knew his mother would never allow this. "We'll just swing on 'em, low down near this pile of hay, so if we fall we can't hurt ourselves." ”

“ Then the bird-boy waved good-bye to his two little ragged foster-brothers, who were howling as if their hearts would break, and rode away with the King. In a few hours the company came to a splendid castle of shining white stone, standing in beautiful green gardens running down to the sea. Once at home, the Queen commanded that the little winged boy be washed and tidied, and his charcoal-burner's rags replaced with a pretty black velvet suit. You may be sure that, when the bird-boy was washed and dressed, there was no handsomer, more winning little boy in all the world. ”

“ His enemy was no other than the wicked chamberlain Malefico, who had succeeded to the kingdom of the bird-boy's father, when that Prince had died some years before. So the good King, who had been a real father to the bird-boy, put on his shining armor, kissed his dear wife and child good-bye, and rode off to the battlefield. The bird-boy begged and pleaded to be taken with him as his squire, but the King would not hear of it, and insisted that he remain in the castle to take care of the Queen and Rosabella. ”

“ Do you feel sick?" asked the father.
"No, I'm not sick," he answered.
"You play altogether too hard. Take it easy. The snow will last a long time," went on Mr. Bobbsey.
After lunch Bert did not dare to go back to school. But he could think of no excuse for staying home and at last set off in company with Nan. He looked around for Danny, but the big lad did not show himself.
"What's the matter with you, Bert?" questioned his twin sister, as they trudged along.
"Nothing is the matter, Nan."
"But there is. You act so strange." ”

“ Just then the telephone rang.
“It’s your father,” announced Mrs. Bobbsey, after listening a moment. “He says,” she went on, “that he has to go to Menton on some business in the auto, and he wants to know if you two would like to ride with him,” and she looked at Bert and Nan. Flossie and Freddie were out in the yard playing.
“Oh, would we!” cried Nan, clasping her hands in joyful anticipation. “When is he coming?”
“I’d rather ride with dad than play ball,” declared Bert. ”