"Huh! He's a fraid-cat!" muttered Danny again, as he shuffled off, muttering to himself. Several times he had made trouble for the Bobbsey twins, and Bert was not any too friendly with him. Danny was a bully in the school.
Bert wished, very much indeed, that he could have taken some of his boy friends down to the houseboat, but his father had a good reason for not wanting any boys aboard, unless he could be with them. Workmen were making certain changes in the craft, and doing some painting inside and outside.
A few days after this, when the Bobbsey twins reached home from school, Mrs. Bobbsey met them at the door, saying:
"I have good news for you, children!"
"What is it?" cried Bert.
"Don't we have to go to school any more?" Freddie.
"Are we going on the houseboat sooner than we expected?" Nan wanted to know.
"It's about your two cousins—Harry and Dorothy," went on Mrs. Bobbsey. "They have both accepted our invitations, and they will come with us on the trip! Won't that be nice?"
"Lovely!" exclaimed Nan, her eyes shining with delight. "Dorothy and
I'll have such nice times together!"
"And Harry and I'll catch a lot of fish," declared Bert.