"Crying? Why, I don't hear--yes, I do, too!" her husband added, as the sound of sobs came to his ears. He looked to make sure his own children were all right and then glanced about. As he did so there came from a little clump of trees, not far from the grove where the Bobbseys had eaten lunch, a ragged boy, who seemed in pain or distress, for he was crying very hard. "Oh, the poor lad!" said Mrs. Bobbsey in a kind voice. "Go see what the matter is, Dick! He is in trouble of some sort! I wonder who he is?" "Yes, without doubt, the lad's in trouble. We'll see what we can do," answered the father of the twins. The crying boy walked slowly toward the Bobbsey family, and now the twins, hearing his sobs, looked up in wonder from their flower-gathering. CHAPTER VIII ANGRY MR. BLIPPER "Why, it's Bob Guess!" cried Bert, dropping his bunch of flowers, so excited was he. "It's Bob Guess!" "So it is!" agreed Nan. "And he's crying." There was no doubt of that: It was Bob Guess, the lad the Bobbsey twins had seen working at the merry-go-round engine the day of the Sunday school picnic. Bob came slowly along, sobbing hard. "What's the matter, Bob?" asked Bert, who had taken a liking to the ragged chap. For the time being Mr. Bobbsey's missing coat and the lap robe were forgotten. "Why are you crying?" "Can we help you?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey. Bob Guess ceased sobbing and looked up. He seemed surprised to see the children and their parents. "Oh, I--I didn't know anybody was here," he stammered. "That's all right," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If there's anything we can do to help you---- Where's Mr. Blipper, by the way? There is something I should like to ask him. Or perhaps you can tell me." "Not now, Dick, not now," said Mrs. Bobbsey in a whisper, with a shake of her head at her husband. She knew what he wanted to ask--about his coat and the robe. "Not now; he is too miserable," she went on. "Has anything happened?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, changing his first line of questions. "Ye--yes," stammered Bob, not sobbing so hard now. "I--I've run away from Mr. Blipper!" "You've run away!" echoed Nan. Bob nodded his head vigorously to show that he meant "yes," and he went on: "He treated me mean! There was a lot of hard work setting up the merry-go-round at the Bolton Fair, and I had more than my share. He wouldn't give me any money--he hardly gave me enough to eat. And I ran away. I'm not done running yet, only I'm so hungry I can't go very fast any more." "You poor boy!" murmured Mrs. Bobbsey. "Is that why you cried--because you were hungry?" "Yes--yes'm," murmured Bob Guess. "Well, we have plenty to eat," said Mr. Bobbsey, with a kindly pat on the shoulder of the ragged boy. "Here, we'll give you a lunch, and then maybe you can tell me what I want to know. Where is Mr. Blipper?"