CHAPTER XVIII
KIDNAPPED
For a moment Bert hardly knew whether or not to believe what Freddie said. Of course he knew that his little brother would not tell an untruth, but Freddie might be mistaken. So Bert made up his mind to ask him again what he had said. The fish which had been nibbling at Bert’s bait seemed not to like it, and swam away.
“What did you say you saw, Freddie?” asked the older boy.
“I saw—now—I saw that green umbrella!” whispered Freddie, getting up from his seat on the bank and walking over to Bert. “The green umbrella went past in the road—the same kind of a green umbrella the little old woman had when afterward we found the baby on our steps.”
Freddie seemed very sure about this. He was not fooling—Bert could tell that. And the little boy seemed somewhat frightened. Otherwise he would not have whispered and have come over so close to his older brother.
“Maybe you saw a tree waving in the wind—a tree with green leaves on it, Freddie,” suggested Bert, to try him. “Or it might have been a bush that you saw.”
“No, sir!” insisted Freddie stoutly. “It was a green umbrella.”
“Did you see the little old woman, Freddie?”
“No, I didn’t see her. But I saw her umbrella—a green one.”
“Well, we’ll take a look down the road,” decided Bert. “I guess we have enough fish, anyhow, and we might as well go home. We can look and see if the old woman is there.”