boat with their white
under-clothing answering for athletic suits, they looked just like a
crew of real oarsmen.

"Hurrah, hurrah!" came shout after shout from the bank. Then as the
girls heard the rumble of wheels through the grove they all hurried off
to gather up the stuff quickly, and be ready to start as soon as the
boys dressed again. The wet under-clothing, of course, was carried home
in one of the empty baskets that Freddie ran back over the hill with to
save the tired boys the extra walk.

"Here they are! Here they are!" called the girls as the two little
fellows, Roy and Freddie, with the basket of wet clothes between them,
marched first; then came the two pairs of athletes who proved they were
good swimmers by pushing the heavy oars safely to the drifting boat.

"And all the things that happened!" exclaimed Flossie, as John handed
her into the hay wagon.

"That made the picnic lively!" declared, John, "and all's well that
ends well, you know." So the picnic was over, and all were happy and
tired enough to go to bed early that night, as Nan said, seeing the
little ones falling asleep in hay wagon on their way home.

CHAPTER IX

FOURTH OF JULY

The day following the picnic was July third, and as the Meadow Brook
children were pretty well tired out from romping in the woods, they
were glad of a day's rest before entering upon the festivities of
Independence Day.

"How much have you got?" Tom Mason asked the Bobbsey boys.

"Fifty cents together, twenty-five cents each," Harry announced.

"Well, I've got thirty-five, and we had better get our stuff early, for
Stimpson sold out before noon last year," concluded Tom.

"I have to get torpedoes for Freddie and Flossie, and Chinese
fire-crackers for Nan," Bert remarked, as they started for the little
country grocery store.

"I guess I'll buy a few snakes, they look so funny coiling out," Tom
said.

"I'm going to have sky rockets and Roman candles. Everybody said they
were the prettiest last year," said Harry.

"If they have red fire I must get some of it for the girls," thoughtful
Bert remarked.

But at the store the boys had to take just what they could get, as
Stimpson's supply was very limited.

"Let's make up a parade!" someone suggested, and this being agreed upon
the boys started a canvass from house to house, to get all the boys
along Meadow Brook road to take part in the procession.

"Can the little ones come too?" August Stout asked