“Oh, yes, there are plenty of sharks, some large and some small,” his father answered. “But they can’t hurt us, and the ship will steam right on past them in the ocean,” he added, seeing that Flossie and Freddie looked a bit frightened when Bert spoke of the sharks.
“I wonder what Cousin Jasper really wants of you,” said Mrs. Bobbsey to her husband, when the children had gone out to play.
“I don’t know,” he answered, “but we shall hear in a few days. We’ll start for Florida next week.”
And then the Bobbsey twins and their parents got ready for the trip. They were to have many strange adventures before they saw their home again.
[CHAPTER V—OFF FOR FLORIDA]
There were many matters to be attended to at the Bobbsey home before the start could be made for Florida. Mr. Bobbsey had to leave some one in charge of his lumber business, and Mrs. Bobbsey had to plan for shutting up the house while the family were away. Sam and Dinah would go on a vacation while the others were in Florida, they said, and the pet animals, Snap and Snoop, would be taken care of by kind neighbors.
“What are you doing, Freddie?” his mother asked him one day, when she heard him and Flossie hurrying about in the playroom, while Mrs. Bobbsey was sorting over clothes to take on the trip.
“Oh, we’re getting out some things we want to take,” the little boy answered. “Our playthings, you know.”
“Can I take two of my dolls?” Flossie asked.
“I think one will be enough,” her mother said. “We can’t carry much baggage, and if we go out on the deep blue sea in a motor boat we shall have very little room for any toys. Take only one doll, Flossie, and let that be a small one.”