"That's where I hung my coat," said Mr. Bobbsey. "And this coat isn't
mine. Mine was a good, new one. This is an old, ragged one. Dear me! I
hope my coat hasn't been stolen! It had some money in one pocket, and
also some papers I need at the lumber office! Where is my coat?"
CHAPTER V
SAM IS WORRIED
While fathers, mothers, and other relatives were gathering up their own
children, or children of whom they had charge, to see that they were
safely loaded into the two big trucks to go home from the picnic, the
Bobbsey twins--at least Bert and Nan--were searching for their father's
coat. Flossie and Freddie were too small to pay much attention to
anything of this sort. The smaller twins were talking about the
merry-go-round and starting over again the dispute as to who should ride
on the wooden lion.
"Are you sure you left your coat hanging on the tree limb?" asked Mrs.
Bobbsey.
"I'm certain of it," her husband answered. "And this old coat never was
mine--I wouldn't own it!"
He dropped to the ground the ragged garment that had been found lying
beneath the tree.
"I thought maybe you had hung your coat over by the ice cream shed,"
went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "You may have done that and have forgotten about
it."
"No, I didn't do that," said the father of the Bobbsey twins. "I
remember hanging my coat on the tree, for I recall noticing what a
regular hook, like one on our rack at home, a broken piece of the branch
made. My coat was here. But it's gone now, and this old one is left in
place of it."
There was no question about that. Search as Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and the
children did, over the picnic grounds, the lumberman's coat, with money
in one pocket and papers in another, was gone.
"Who do you s'pose could have taken it?" asked Nan, as her father looked
about him with a puzzled air.
"I don't know," he answered, "unless----"
"Maybe it was tramps!" interrupted Bert.
"There weren't any tramps here on our picnic grounds," said Mrs.
Bobbsey. "Some of the drivers of the merry-go-round trucks looked like
tramps, but they didn't get off their seats, did they?"
"Not that I noticed," her husband answered. "Well, there's no use
looking farther. My coat is gone--stolen I'm afraid. This old one is
left in its place. I haven't any use for this," and he kicked it to one
side. "Never mind. It isn't cold. I can ride home without a coat."
"There's a lap robe in the auto," Mrs. Bobbsey said. "You can wrap that
about you if you get chilly on the way home."
"Yes," agreed Mr. Bobbsey, "I can do that. Trot along, Bobbsey twins.
Get into your picnic truck, and we'll see who gets home first."
"Like Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf," laughed Flossie.
While Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey walked over to where Mr. Bobbsey had left the
runabout auto in which he and his wife had come to the picnic grounds,
Bert, Nan, and the other children took their places in the big truck.
"Merrily we roll along--roll along--roll along!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account