The Secret at the Seashore Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER I - A WHIRLYBIRD RIDE

  CHAPTER II - THE LIFEGUARD’S SURPRISE

  CHAPTER III - UNDERGROUND CITY

  CHAPTER IV - THE FAIRY CASTLE

  CHAPTER V - A FUNNY CLUE

  CHAPTER VI - AN UNUSUAL FISH

  CHAPTER VII - MESSAGE FROM THE SEA

  CHAPTER VIII - PONY AND BURRO RACE

  CHAPTER IX - THE RESCUE COW

  CHAPTER X - THE PANTHER’S BATH

  CHAPTER XI - A FLOATING TRICK

  CHAPTER XII - RUNAWAY SAILBOAT

  CHAPTER XIII - THE STRANGER’S CAP

  CHAPTER XIV - A CHIMNEY HUNT

  CHAPTER XV - ISLAND HIDE-OUT

  CHAPTER XVI - BOAT ADRIFT!

  CHAPTER XVII - GOOD NEWS !

  CHAPTER XVIII - HAPPY REUNION

  “He’s in trouble!” Bert shouted and started to run

  Copyright © 1962 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved,

  Published in 2004 by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young

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  eISBN : 978-1-101-07589-0

  3579108642

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  CHAPTER I

  A WHIRLYBIRD RIDE

  “WHAT’S in the box, Freddie?” Bert Bobbsey asked curiously, as the shopping trip ended.

  Six-year-old Freddie grinned and shook hit blond head. “I can’t tell. It’s a secret until we get to Ocean Cliff,” he replied, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

  At this moment the rest of the Bobbsey family came from a nearby shop. Tall, athletic Mr. Bobbsey and his pretty wife followed the two girls. Dark-haired, twelve-year-old Nan was Bert’s twin.

  Flossie, who was Freddie’s chubby, blond twin, ran ahead. “Mother bought the prettiest lemonade glasses to take to Aunt Emilyl” she cried.

  “I have a present for Cousin Dorothy,” Freddie announced, “but it’s a secret!”

  “I have a secret, too!” Mr. Bobbsey said with a chuckle.

  “Oh, how ‘citing!” Flossie clapped her hands and gave a little skip. “Two secrets! What’s yours, Daddy?”

  “You’ll know tomorrow, my little sweet fairy!” her father said teasingly. This was his special nickname for his small daughter. He called Freddie his little fireman because Freddie loved to play with toy fire engines.

  The Lakeport Bobbseys were visiting Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah Bobbsey at their farm on the outskirts of the town of Meadowbrook. They planned to leave in a few days for Ocean Cliff, where they would stay with Mrs. Bobbsey’s sister, Aunt Emily Minturn.

  The Minturns’ daughter Dorothy was the same age as Bert and Nan. She was lively and full of fun, and liked to play jokes.

  “I wish tomorrow was here now,” Flossie sighed. Then she turned to her twin. “Please, Freddie,” she urged, “tell me your secret.”

  But Freddie only smiled and clutched the small brown cardboard box more closely.

  “I’ll be sorry to leave Meadowbrook,” Nan remarked as they drove toward the farm, “but it will be fun to see Dorothy again.”

  “And to swim in the ocean,” Bert added. “I’m going to work on my crawl while we’re there.”

  “I’ll bet I can swim ‘most all the way across the ocean!” Freddie boasted.

  Flossie giggled. “It’s too far. You wouldn’t get back in time for supper!”

  “Well, maybe I won’t go all the way,” Freddie decided.

  After Mr. Bobbsey had parked the car near the farmhouse, Freddie jumped out and ran into the kitchen.

  “Will you help me with my surprise, Dinah?” he asked a jolly-looking woman who was lifting a pan of biscuits from the oven.

  Dinah Johnson had helped Mrs. Bobbsey with the housework as long as the children could remember. She often went with them when they visited their relatives. Dinah’s husband Sam drove a truck at Mr. Bobbsey’s lum beryard in Lakeport, and the couple lived in an apartment on the third floor of the Bobbsey home.

  “What do you have there?” Dinah asked suspiciously as she put the pan on a table.

  Freddie stood on tiptoes and whispered in her ear. A broad smile broke over Dinah’s kindly face.

  “You just leave it to me,” she said with a chuckle as she took the cardboard box. “I’ll take good care of this surprise until we go to Ocean Cliff.”

  “Thanks, Dinah,” the little boy said gratefully and ran out of the kitchen.

  Later, the twins’ cousin, Harry Bobbsey, remarked wistfully, “I wish I was going to Ocean Cliff with you. Something exciting always happens wherever you go!”

  “I wish you could come, too,” Bert agreed. “I’d like to have another boy to fool around with.”

  “But you’ll be busy taking care of Major, Harry,” Nan spoke up.

  Major was Harry’s prize bull. In the BOBBSEY TWINS’ ADVENTURE IN THE COUNTRY, Major had been stolen, and it was only after good detective work by the twins that he had been found again and the thieves caught.

  “When will we know your secret, Daddy?” Flossie asked, a moment later.

  “I expect a phone call tomorrow morning,” Mr. Bobbsey replied. “After that I should be able to tell you about it.”

  It seemed a long time before the telephone rang the next morning. When Mr. Bobbsey came back to the breakfast table after taking the call, four eager faces were turned in his direction.

  “Come on, Dad, tell us what it is,” Bert pleaded as his father seated himself and began to eat again.

  “Oh, that call?” Mr. Bobbsey said teasingly, putting down his fork. “Well, it’s this. How would you all like to go to Ocean Cliff in a whirlybird?”

  “Whirlybird? What kind of bird is that?” Flossie asked in bewilderment.

  Her father laughed. “A helicopter.”

  “Oh, I know,” said Flossie. “It’s like an airplane. Only it has whirling things on top so it can fly straight up and down.”

  “Say, Dad,” cried Bert, “that would be great!”

  “A whirlybird !” Freddie shouted. “We’re going in a whirlybird!”

  “Will there be room for us all?” Mrs. Bobbsey inquired.

  The twins’ father explained that the telephone call had been from a business friend of his, whose firm owned the helicopter. “Mr. Nixon suggested we might enjoy the trip. The copter has seats for fifteen, but he thinks we’d better not count on taking more than six passengers since the helicopter will have to carry extra fuel for such a distance.”

  Dinah had come in to clear the breakfast table. “That’s just fine,” she said with a big smile. “Old Dinah doesn’t like flying through the air. Snoop and I—we’ll go on the train!”

  “I don’t think Downy would like to fly so high either,” Freddie said anxiously.

  Snoop was the Bobbseys’ black cat, and Downy was a pet duck which Harry had given his little cousin.

  “That’s settled then,” Mr. Bobbsey remarked. “You twins and your mother and I will go in the copter and take the luggage. Dinah can tak
e the animals on the train. Mr. Nixon says his pilot will land on the front lawn here tomorrow morning at nine o‘clock.”

  “Daddy, you think of the most ‘citingest things!” Flossie exclaimed, jumping up and running over to hug her father.

  The children were busy the rest of the day gathering together their belongings for Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah to pack. Then with Harry they made a farewell tour of the farm, saying good-by to all the animals.

  “We’ve had such a wonderful time!” Nan said.

  “I hope you’ll all come again next summer,” Harry said. “Maybe there’ll be another mystery to solve.”

  The next morning Uncle Daniel took Dinah to town to catch the early train. She had Snoop and Downy, the duck, in two wicker carrying baskets.

  Promptly at nine o‘clock there was a loud whirring sound overhead. Both Bobbsey families dashed to the front lawn in time to see a banana-shaped craft settle down on the grass. It had two whirling rotors, one in front over the glass-enclosed pilot’s compartment, and another over the up-slanting tail.

  “Look!” Bert pointed. “It has pontoons so it can land on water!”

  A smiling young man with curly black hair came down the steps which were attached to the door, and lowered them when it was opened.

  “Good morning!” he called cheerfully. “I’m Don Wheaton. All set for Ocean Cliff?”

  Mr. Bobbsey shook hands, then introduced the pilot to the others.

  “We’ll put your luggage in here,” the young man said, opening a door in the tail of the helicopter.

  “I’ll take my box inside with me,” Freddie explained. “It’s a surprise for my cousin Dorothy.”

  After many good-bys the Lakeport Bobbseys climbed into the aircraft. Double seats ranged along one side with a narrow aisle between them and the windows on the other side.

  “Lots of room, folks,” Don Wheaton pointed out. “Sit anywhere you like.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey chose seats toward the front while Bert and Nan settled themselves near the middle.

  “Let’s sit in back, Freddie,” Flossie proposed, sliding into the rear pair of seats.

  When all the passengers were settled, the pilot locked the door and went forward to his compartment. In another moment the roar of the rotors filled the cabin, the craft gave a shiver, then began to rise slowly from the lawn.

  The children waved from the windows as the mechanical bird rose vertically from the farm. Finally the helicopter began to move forward and the twins leaned back in their seats.

  “It’s noisy, isn’t it?” Bert shouted to Nan.

  She nodded, intent on picking out familiar landmarks as they passed beneath the aircraft.

  In the rear seats Flossie leaned toward her twin. “Please show me your surprise for Dorothy,” she pleaded. “I won’t tell anyone else.”

  With a grin Freddie opened one end of the cardboard box, which had holes punched in the top. Flossie peered in.

  “Ooh, how cute!” she cried. “What is it?”

  “He’s a hamster and his name is Twinkle,” Freddie explained. “He’s sort of like a tiny rabbit or squirrel.”

  “I want to hold him.” Flossie put her hand into the box and drew out the little reddish-brown animal. She held the soft, furry pet up to her cheek.

  Just at that moment the helicopter hit an air pocket and dropped slightly. Without thinking, Flossie opened her hand. The hamster fell to the floor. The next instant it went scurrying up the aisle.

  “Get him!” Freddie yelled over the noise of the helicopter. “Catch Twinkle!”

  Bert and Nan saw the tiny animal scampering past and jumped to their feet. The hamster disappeared through the open doorway into the pilot’s compartment. Bert and Nan were in close pursuit.

  Bert caught sight of Freddie’s pet cowering in a corner. Dropping to his knees, the boy crept forward, then gently closed his hand over the trembling little creature.

  “If this is your surprise for Dorothy,” Bert said with a grin as he handed the hamster to Freddie. “you’d better hanø, on to it.”

  “Thanks, Bert,” said Freddie. “I’d better put Twinkle back in his box.”

  Nan was excited by the view from the pilot’s compartment. The nose of the helicopter was like a large glass bubble which gave a complete picture in all directions.

  Seeing her interest, the pilot motioned to the empty seat beside him. “Stay up here for a while if you like,” he suggested. “I’m glad to have company.”

  Nan sat down. Don Wheaton pointed out various sights below them. Then suddenly the whir of the propellers became louder and the whirlybird lurched to one side.

  “Oh, oh,” Don muttered, “we’re in for a little blow.” A faraway look came into his eyes. “Wind storms always make me feel sad,” he said. “A pilot friend of mine, Pete Weller, was lost in one. Nobody has heard from him in months.”

  “How dreadful!” said Nan.

  The wind grew stronger as they neared Ocean Cliff. Finally Don Wheaton said to Nan, “You’d better get back to your regular place now, and tell everyone to fasten his seat belt.”

  By the time Nan reached Bert’s side the copter was bouncing and twisting in the gusts of wind. One minute it seemed to stand still, then with a shudder it would go on. From the windows the Bobbseys could see that they were flying along the coast.

  “We must be almost to Ocean Cliff. We won’t have much more of this,” Mr. Bobbsey said reassuringly.

  “But, Dad,” Nan said worriedly, “will we be able to land in this wind?”

  CHAPTER II

  THE LIFEGUARD’S SURPRISE

  NAN waited tensely for her father’s reply. He shook his head uncertainly.

  “Dad,” said Bert, nodding toward the front of the helicopter where the pilot had turned in his seat. “I think Don wants to speak to you.”

  Mr. Bobbsey unfastened his seat belt and struggled forward. At the doorway of the pilot’s compartment he held a brief conversation with the pilot.

  When he came back he motioned Freddie, Flossie, Bert, and Nan to come to the front of the whirlybird and take seats.

  “Don thinks he may have to land on the water,” Mr. Bobbsey explained. “In that case he wants us to put on life vests. They’re under the seats.”

  Quickly the twins pulled the vests from their containers. The helicopter was pitching so violently that they could not stand, so they turned in their seats and helped one another adjust the jackets.

  “Won’t Dorothy be surprised to see us swimming ashore?” Nan said, trying to sound cheerful.

  The small twins giggled. Then all the Bobbseys became quiet as they listened to the roar of the rotors fighting to keep the craft aloft.

  Suddenly Bert shouted, “We’re coming down on the beach! Look! There are Aunt Emily and Uncle William and Dorothy!”

  The helicopter settled down on the wide strip of smooth sand. The next moment the rotors stopped and Don came back to the cabin with a relieved smile on his ruddy face.

  “Well, we made it, folks !” he said. “And no-one got his feet wet!”

  “It was a swell ride,” Bert exclaimed.

  The door was opened, and the Bobbseys hurried down the steps into the welcoming arms of the Minturns. When all the greetings were over, Mr. Bobbsey, Mr. Minturn, Bert, and Don began to take the luggage from the tail of the helicopter.

  Freddie held out the brown cardboard box to slender, dark-eyed Dorothy. “I brought you a surprise present,” he said. “His name is Twinkle.”

  Dorothy opened the end of the box and peered in. “Oh, Freddie !” she exclaimed. “It’s a hamster! I’ve always wanted one. Thanks a million I”

  “When we get to the house, I’ll tell you how to take care of him,” Freddie told her.

  Don Wheaton said he must get back to his company’s airfield. After many thanks from the Bobbseys, the curly-haired pilot climbed into the helicopter. The rotors spun, and in another few minutes the sausage-like craft was whirring off into the distance.
r />   “Nan, you and Flossie are going to stay in my room with me,” Dorothy chattered as the group made their way up to the Minturns’ house on the cliff. “There’s loads of space, and I thought it would be more fun that way.”

  “That’s great!” Nan replied with a laugh. “We can talk all night!”

  When the children reached the house, Dorothy said, “I have a surprise for you. Follow me.”

  She led them around the house to the old barn and flung open the door. “There they are!” Inside were two small gray burros!

  “Oh, aren’t they darling!” Nan exclaimed. Flossie ran up to pat the little animals.

  “Their names are Doodle and Dandy,” Dorothy told her cousins. “I have a cart, too. We’ll take a ride some day soon.”

  “Oh, yes,” Flossie cried. “Maybe Freddie and I can drive.”

  As they neared the house again, Uncle William was just about to leave for the station to meet Dinah. Freddie asked to go along. “I can’t wait to see Snoop and Downy,” he explained.

  After the train pulled in and Dinah got off, she reported that both the cat and the duck seemed to have enjoyed their trip.

  “Why don’t you put Downy on the little pond at the side of the house, Freddie?” Uncle William suggested when they reached his house again.

  Freddie carefully carried Downy to the pond and set him on the quiet water. The duck paddled off happily. Dorothy brought a cage from the attic for the hamster, and he settled down contentedly. The children ate lunch, then went outside.

  “Let’s see how Downy likes the pond,” Flossie proposed. The others ran with her to the pond.

  Suddenly Freddie stopped at the edge of the water. “Why, where is he?” the little boy asked in bewilderment. “Downy’s gone!”

  “Here comes somebody who may know where he is—Hal Bingham,” said Dorothy.

  She introduced the twins to a tall boy who seemed to be slightly older than Bert. He had a merry twinkle in his dark eyes.