Page:Four Little Blossoms at Brookside Farm.djvu/156

142 some of the hired men around here wash their clothes in the brook. Let's go and see."

"Here, here! Where are you going?" called Jud, as they began to scramble down.

"We saw something on the other side of the brook," explained Bobby. "We're going over to see what it is."

"Well, you just wait," ordered Jud. "That's the widest part of the brook down there, and all that side is swampy land. You can't land on it. You'll sink in. Wait till I take my shoes off, and I'll come and help you."

Jud took off his shoes and socks and rolled his trousers up to his knees. He wasn't afraid that the four little Blossoms would drown, for the brook was not very deep in any part. But it was wide at the point where Bobby wanted to cross, and there was no bank, only a piece of swamp, on the other side.

"Now I'll take Dot and Twaddles, and you and Meg hold hands," said Jud, as he stepped into the water. "Come on, Pirates, let's board yonder frigate."

The children giggled and stepped gingerly