“No, I guess it’s stuck fast,” Bert said, as he pushed on the mass of boards without being able to send them adrift. “I’ll have to shove good and hard, and maybe you’ll have to get in here and help me, Freddie.”
“Oh, yes, I can do that!” the little fellow said. “I’ll come and help you now, Bert.”
“No, you mustn’t,” ordered Nan, who felt that she had to be a little mother to the smaller twins. “Don’t go!”
“Why not?” Freddie wanted to know.
“Because it’s too deep for you,” answered Nan. “The water is only up to Bert’s knees, but it will be over yours, and you’ll get your clothes all wet. You stay here!”
“But I want to help Bert push the steamboat loose!”
“I guess I can do it alone,” Bert said. “Wait until I get around to the front end. I’ll push it off backward.”
He waded around the raft, which it really was, though the Bobbsey twins pretended it was a steamboat, and then, reaching the front, or what would be the bow if the raft had really been a boat, Bert got ready to push.
“Push, Bert!” yelled Freddie.
But a strange thing happened.