"Well, I guess there's nothing for us to do but to go back," said Mr. Bobbsey. He felt very sorry, when he saw the looks of disappointment on the faces of the twins and their cousins.
"Papa," said Freddie again, "if I had one of those wire-cutter things,
I could snip that wire like the telephone men did."
"Yes, but we haven't one, little fat fireman, and we would have no right to use it if we had," said Mr. Bobbsey. "No, I must think of some other way."
"It's too bad," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I wonder what has become of that poor runaway boy?" she asked.
"I don't know," answered Mr. Bobbsey. But, had he only known it, Will
Watson was nearer than any one suspected.
CHAPTER XIV
OFF AGAIN
"What are we going to do?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, as she stood at the side of her husband on the deck of the houseboat. Mr. Bobbsey was looking at the wire fence, as though trying to find a way to get past it—either under it, or over it, or to one side or the other of it. Of course he did not think it wise to try little Freddie's plan of breaking the wire with a "cutter thing" such as the telephone men carried.
"Well," said Mr. Bobbsey, after a bit, "I guess the only thing for us to do is to go back, until we are anchored in some part of Lemby Creek that doesn't belong to Mr. Hardee."
"Does he really own this water?" asked Bert.