“They didn’t go ashore,” said Bert. “They couldn’t get there, because the gangplank was pulled in while Freddie was standing here by me, getting out his ball of string.”
“Then they’re all right,” Mr. Bobbsey said. “They are on board, and we’ll soon find them. I’ll ask some of the officers or the crew. The twins can’t be lost.”
“Oh, but if they have fallen overboard!” exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey.
“Don’t worry,” said her husband. “We’d have heard of it before this if anything like that had happened. They’re all right.”
And so it proved. A little later Flossie and Freddie came walking along the deck hand in hand. Flossie was carrying her rubber doll, and Freddie had his ball of string, all ready to begin fishing as soon as the ship should get out of New York Harbor.
“Where have you been?” cried Mrs. Bobbsey. “You children have given us such a fright! Where were you?”
“We went to look at a poodle dog,” explained Flossie.
“A lady had him in a basket,” added Freddie.
“What do you mean—a poodle dog in a basket?” asked Bert.
Then Freddie explained, while Mr. Bobbsey went to tell the steward, or one of the officers of the ship, that the lost children had come safely back.