"I'm going to ride on a wooden lion, I am--on the merry-go-round. I'm going to ride on the lion." "So'm I," declared Freddie. "There are two lions, an' I'm going to ride on one an' Flossie on the other one." "Where's your merry-go-round?" asked Nan. "At the fair--the Bolton County Fair," said Freddie. "I heard that funny red-faced man say so." "But the Bolton Fair is a long way off," went on Nan. "Daddy will take us; won't you?" asked Flossie. "Can't we go to the fair and ride on the merry-go-round?" she teased. "Well, I don't know," answered Mr. Bobbsey slowly. "I suppose it would be a good thing to visit a big county fair, and this is one of the largest." "But we'd have to go and stay for some time," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "Bolton is a long way off. We couldn't go and come the same day." "One ought to spend more than a day at a big fair if he wants to see everything," went on Mr. Bobbsey. "I never could stay as long as I wanted to when I was a boy. Now, I was thinking perhaps we could all go to Meadow Brook Farm for a little visit. From Meadow Brook it isn't far to the Bolton County Fair." "Oh, let's go!" cried Bert and Nan. "What about school?" asked their mother. "School doesn't open until later this fall than usual," explained Mr. Bobbsey. "They are repairing the school house and the work will not be finished in time for the regular fall opening. I know, for the school board buys lumber of me. "So, as long as the children don't have to be back until the middle of October, we could all go to Meadow Brook, and from there visit the fair. Would you like that?" he asked his wife. "I think it would be lovely!" "So do I!" echoed the Bobbsey twins. "Well, then, we'll think about it," promised their father. "You will have some happy days to think about until it is time to go. And now I think it is time for my little Fairy and my brave Fireman to go to bed." Daddy Bobbsey sometimes called the small twins by these pet names. "Come on! Up to bed!" he called. "We'll talk more about the Bolton County Fair another day!" As he was carrying the smaller children up to bed, a style of travel the little twins loved, there came a ring at the front door bell. Dinah, who answered, came back to say: "Dere's a p'liceman outside whut wants to see yo', Mr. Bobbsey." "A policeman?" "Yas, sah!" "A policeman for me?" "Yas, sah!" "Dear me!" Mr. Bobbsey murmured. "What can be the matter now!" "Oh, Daddy!" squealed Flossie, at once filled with excitement. "What do you suppose----" began Bert, and then stopped in the midst of his speech. "Maybe he has found your lost coat," suggested Nan, as her father put Flossie and Freddie down in an easy chair. CHAPTER VII THE CRYING BOY