“I like him,” said Freddie, as the four twins sat together under an awning out of the sun, and listened to the conversation of the older folk, who were talking about the news given them by Captain Harrison. “I like Cousin Jasper!”
“So do I. And he likes my rubber doll,” said Flossie.
“What makes you think he likes your doll?” asked Nan, with a laugh at her little sister.
“’Cause when I dropped her on the floor in the cabin he picked her up for me and asked if she was hurt.”
“You can’t hurt a rubber doll!” exclaimed Freddie.
“I know you can’t,” said Flossie, “‘ceptin’ maybe when you pretend, and I wasn’t doing that then. But Cousin Jasper brushed the dust off my doll, and he liked her.”
“That was nice of him,” said Bert. “I like Captain Crane, too. He’s going to let me steer the boat, maybe, when we get out where there aren’t any other ships for me to knock into.”
“And he’s going to let me run the engine—maybe,” added Freddie.
“Well, you’d better be careful how you run it,” laughed Bert. “It’s a good deal bigger than your fire engine.”
So the Bobbsey twins talked about Cousin Jasper and Captain Crane, and they were sure they would like both men. As for Cousin Jasper, he really loved the little folk, and had a warm place in his heart for them, though he had not seen any of them since they were small babies.