"And I hope Harry can go," said Bert. "Better hurry along, Freddie," he called to his little brother. "There goes your bell, and yours, too, Flossie."
The two little tots turned into the gate of the school that led to the yard where the smallest pupils formed in line.
"Well, even if Harry and Dorothy can't go, I'll take my fire engine," said Freddie.
"And we'll take Snoop and Snap, so we won't be lonesome," suggested
Flossie. "Oh, won't it be fun, Freddie!"
"Yes, I wish it was time to go now. I'm tired of school," said the little fellow.
But school must go on, whether there are houseboat parties or not, so the Bobbsey twins had to study their lessons. I think that day, however, Bert must have been thinking of other things than his books, for when the teacher asked him what an island was, Bert gave a queer answer. Instead of saying it was a body of land, surrounded by water, Bert said:
"An island is a fire engine in the kitchen."
"Why, Bert Bobbsey! What ARE you thinking of?" asked the teacher.
"Oh, I—I was thinking of something that happened at our house last night," Bert went on, while all the children in the room laughed.
"Then you'd better tell us about it," suggested Miss Teeter, the instructor, for she was very kind. So Bert told of Freddie's mishap, and how it was he happened to be thinking of that instead of the right answer to the question about the island.