The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat Page 9

  CHAPTER IX

  SNOOP AND SNAP

  Nan and Dorothy, after waving good-bye to the girl friends on thedock, went down to the living room of the houseboat. There they foundMrs. Bobbsey and Dinah putting away some of the things that had beenbrought on board at the last moment.

  "I 'clar t' goodness!" exclaimed the colored cook, "dish yeahhouseboatin' am wuss dan movin'!"

  "Oh, not quite as bad as that," said Mrs. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "Butwhat are you going to do, Nan, dear? Do you like it, Dorothy?"

  "Oh! indeed I do," answered the "seashore cousin," as Nan called herto distinguish her from Harry, who lived in the country.

  "We are just going to our rooms for a minute, mother," Nan answered."I want to show Dorothy my new sailor suit."

  Every body on the houseboat was busy, even down to Flossie andFreddie, and the two little twins were busy having fun.

  Mrs. Bobbsey and Dinah were engaged in putting to rights the differentrooms, for there were a number on the Bluebird, which was built for alarge family. Bert and Harry were up on deck fishing, as the boatmoved slowly through the blue waters of Metoka Lake. Flossie andFreddie, as I have said, were playing, the little girl with her doll,and Freddie with a new toy his father had bought him.

  As for Mr. Bobbsey, he was down in the engine room with "CaptainWhite." Mr. White was one of Mr. Bobbsey's men who had once been incharge of a tugboat, but one day there was an accident aboard, and Mr.White was made lame for life.

  But Mr. Bobbsey liked his faithful employee, and kept him at work, andsince Mr. White could not do heavy tasks, he was allowed to do easyones.

  Mr. White was called "Captain" by every one, though he was not reallya captain. Still, he knew a great deal about boats, the weather cloudsand storms, and all things such as sea captains are supposed to know.

  When Mr. Bobbsey bought Mr. Marvin's houseboat, he at once began tothink of some one who could sail it for him, and take care of thegasoline engine. Naturally, he thought of Captain White. So theBluebird was put in charge of Captain White, who, you may be sure, wasvery glad to be on the water again, even if it was only in aslow-moving houseboat, and not in a swift steam tug.

  Mr. Bobbsey and Captain White were down in the motor, or engine roomtogether. Mr. Bobbsey was learning how to run the gasoline engine.

  I have told you how the Bluebird was driven along through the water bya small engine. It was not a steam engine, such as are found in manyboats, but a gasoline one, such as those in most automobiles.

  Mr. Bobbsey did not intend to sail very fast in the houseboat. Infact, for many days, he expected to just drift along, or push the boatwith a long pole through some shallow creek, or in parts of the lakewhere it was not deep. When he wanted to move more quickly from placeto place, there was the gasoline engine all ready to use. And CaptainWhite knew how to use it.

  Mr. Bobbsey came up out of the little motor room after a while, andwatched his wife and Dinah putting things away. The boat was movingdown the lake.

  "Oh, look at your face!" suddenly cried Mrs. Bobbsey.

  "What's the matter with it?" asked her husband, putting his hand up tohis nose, as almost any person will do when you speak of his face.

  "It's all black!" went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "So are your hands. Oh,Richard! What have you been doing?"

  "Learning to run the gasoline engine," he said. "I want to know how itworks so that if we need to start any time when Captain White is onshore, or asleep, I can do it."

  "I hope you won't start off any time when Captain White is on shore,"said Mrs. Bobbsey. "You don't know enough about a boat to run itwithout him."

  "Very well, then. I promise I'll run the gasoline engine only whenCaptain White is asleep," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a laugh. "And then,if anything happens, I'll only have to awaken him, and ask him what iswrong."

  "That's the best plan," said Mrs. Bobbsey, also laughing. "And now youhad better go wash your face. Some one might see you--looking likethat."

  There was a nice little bathroom aboard the Bluebird, and Mr. Bobbseywas soon splashing away with the water and soap. Meanwhile Mrs.Bobbsey and Dinah finished their work, and went up on deck.

  It was a very pleasant day, and with the sun shining down from a bluesky overhead, just warm enough, and not too hot, with a gentle breezethat hardly ruffled the surface of the lake, but which made itdelightfully cool as the boat moved slowly along. In short, it wasjust perfect weather, as the Bobbsey twins started off on theirhouseboat.

  Nan and Dorothy, having finished looking at each other's dresses,which always seems to delight girls, had come up on deck so that nowthe whole Bobbsey family, and their country, and seashore cousinvisitors also, were there.

  "Have you caught any fish yet?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, walking over towhere Bert and Harry were dangling their lines in the water.

  "Not yet, but we've had two or three bites," said Bert, hopefully.

  "I think you'll have better luck when we reach some quiet place, andanchor," Mr. Bobbsey went on. "At any rate, you need not worry, if youdon't catch any fish. Dinah will be able to give us something else fordinner, I think."

  "I think so, too," said Harry with a laugh. "I can smell somethingcooking now."

  This was so. For, though the Bobbseys had started early that morning,there was so much to do that it was now nearly noon. To them it seemedonly an hour or so since they had started. Dinah was a good cook. Shekept one eye on the clock and the other on the things she was cooking.And she made up her mind that the meals would be on time, even if theywere served on a houseboat. So it was the cooking of dinner that Harrysmelled.

  "Oh, Dorothy!" exclaimed Nan, after a little while, during which thetwo girls looked across the lake to the distant shores they had left."I must show you a new trick Snap has learned."

  "What! Another trick?" cried Dorothy. "My! He knows a lot of them now.He certainly is a clever dog!"

  Snap, as I have told you, used to belong to a circus before theBobbseys bought him, so perhaps learning tricks came easier to himthan to most dogs.

  "Yes, I taught him this trick myself," went on Nan. "He will walkaround on his hind legs, and carry a doll in his front paws, just likea nurse girl. When I dress him up in one of my old skirts and ajacket, he is too funny for anything! I'll make him do the trick now,only I won't dress him up, for I can't find the clothes he wears. Idon't believe we brought them. But I'll make him carry the doll foryou. Here, Snap!" called Nan.

  The dog, who had been sleeping in a sunny Spot on deck, near Snoop,the black cat, sprang up, when he heard his name called.

  "Where are you going to get a doll for him to carry?" asked Dorothy.

  "I'll take Flossie's. You'll let sister take your doll to make Snap doa trick, won't you, dear?" she asked.

  "Yes, Nan," answered flaxen-haired Flossie. "I just love to see Snapdo that trick! He carries the doll so cute!"

  Flossie brought her doll to Nan, and Snap stood near, wagging histail, for he seemed to know what was coming.

  "Now, Snap," said Nan, pointing her finger at the dog, "I want you toshow Dorothy how you play nurse-girl, and carry a doll."

  "Bow wow!" barked Snap. That was what he always said when any onespoke to him. I suppose HE knew what he meant, but no one else did. Atany rate, he seemed to understand what was said to him.

  "Up, Snap! Up!" called Nan suddenly, and Snap rose on his hind legs,holding his fore paws out in front of him, so Nan could place the dollon them.

  This the little girl did, putting Flossie's "sawdust baby" carefullyacross Snap's paws.

  "Now take the doll for a walk!" ordered Nan, and, with another bark,off Snap started, parading across the deck.

  "Oh, isn't he too cute!" cried Dorothy, laughing and clapping herhands. "Oh, what a smart dog he is!"

  "Isn't he!" agreed Nan. "Bert said I never could teach him to do atrick, but I did."

  "Indeed you did!" agreed Dorothy.

  "Now come back here, Snap!" ordered Nan. But just then somethinghappened.
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br />   How it was no one knew exactly, but Bert suddenly caught a fish. Hewas so surprised at getting a hard bite on his line, that he jerked itup quickly. Something flashed in the sunlight, and, the next moment, alittle sunfish landed flapping on the deck, right in front of thesleeping black cat Snoop.

  "Flop!" went the fish, and Snoop awakened with a jump. Up to her feetshe leaped like a flash, and then she saw the fish. Snoop was veryfond of fish, and made a spring for the one Bert had caught. But thefish was wet and slippery, and no sooner had Snoop pounced on it withher claws than the fish slid across the deck of the houseboat. Snoopslid after it, just as she often slid across the kitchen oilcloth,when she sprang for a piece of string that Flossie or Freddie wouldpull along to make the cat play.

  Right across the deck, after the slippery fish slid Snoop, and, thenext instant, the poor cat had slid right off the deck, and falleninto the lake with a splash!