"Did you write to the circus people to-day about our silver cup, and that trick dog?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey of her husband that night.

"I declare, I didn't!" he exclaimed. "The fire upset me so that it slipped my mind. I'll do it the first thing to-morrow. There is no special hurry. How is the dog, by the way?"

"Oh, he's just lovely!" cried Flossie.

"And I do hope we can keep him forever!" exclaimed Freddie.

"'Specially since Snoop is gone."

"Did you hear anything about our cat?" asked Nan, of her father.

"No. I sent a man to the railroad company, but no stray cat had been found. I am afraid Snoop is lost, children."

"Oh dear!" cried Flossie.

The next day, having learned from the railroad company where the circus had gone after the wreck, Mr. Bobbsey sent a letter to the manager, explaining about the lost silver cup, and the found circus dog. He asked that the fat lady be requested to write to him, to let him know if she had taken the cup by accident, and Mr. Bobbsey also wanted to know if the circus had lost a trick dog.

"There!" he exclaimed as he sent the letter to be mailed, "now we'll just have to wait for an answer."

Nan and Bert, and Flossie and Freddie were soon having almost as much fun as they had had at the seash.o.r.e and in the country. Their town playmates, who had come back from their vacations, called at the Bobbsey home, and made up games and all sorts of sports.

"For," said Grace Lavine, with whom Nan sometimes played, "school will soon begin, and we want to have all the fun we can until then."

"Let's jump rope," proposed Nan.

"All right," agreed Grace. "Here comes Nellie Parks, and we'll see who can jump the most."

"No, you mustn't do that," said Nan, "Don't you remember how you once tried to jump a hundred, and you fainted?"

"Indeed I do," said Grace. "I'm not going to be so silly as to try that again. We'll only jump a little."

Soon Nan and her chums were having a good time in the yard.

Charley Mason, with whom Bert sometimes played, came over, and the two boys went for a row on the lake, in Bert's boat. Some little friends of Flossie and Freddie came over, and they had fun watching Snap do tricks.

For the circus dog, as he had come to be called, seemed to be able to do some new trick each day. He could "play dead," and "say his prayers," besides turning a back somersault. The little twins, who seemed to claim more share in Snap than did Nan and Bert, did not really know how many tricks their pet could do.

"Maybe you'll have to give him back to the circus," said Willie Flood, one of Freddie's chums.

"Well, if we do, papa may buy him, or get another dog like him,"

spoke Flossie.

A few days after this, when Bert was out in the front yard, watering the gra.s.s with a hose, along came Danny Rugg. Now Danny went to the same school that Bert did, but few of the boys and none of the girls, liked Danny, because he was often rough, and would hit them or want to fight, or would play mean tricks on them. Still, sometimes Danny behaved himself, and then the boys were glad to have him on their baseball nine as he was a good hitter and thrower, and he could run fast.

"h.e.l.lo, Bert!" exclaimed Danny, leaning on the fence. "I hear you have a trick circus dog here."

"Who told you?" asked Bert, wondering what Danny would say next.

"Oh, Jack Parker. He says you found him."

"I didn't," spoke Bert, spraying a bed of geranium flowers. "He followed us the night of the circus wreck."

"Well, you took him all the same. I know who owns him, too; and I'm going to tell that you've got him."

"Oh, are you?" asked Bert. "Well, we think he belongs to the circus, and my father has written about it, so you needn't trouble yourself."

"He doesn't belong to any circus," went on Danny. "That dog belongs to Mr. Peterson, who lives over in Millville. He lost a trick dog, and he advertised for it. He's going to give a reward. I'm going to tell him, and get the money."

"You can't take our dog away!" cried Freddie, coming up just then.

"Don't you dare do it, Danny Rugg."

"Yes, I will!" exclaimed the mean boy, who often teased the smaller Bobbsey twins. "You won't have that dog after to-day."

"Don't mind him, Freddie," said Bert in a low voice. "He's trying to scare you."

"Oh, I am eh?" cried Danny. "I'll show you what I'm trying to do.

I'll tell on you for keeping a dog that don't belong to you, and you'll be arrested--all of you."

Freddie looked worried, and tears came into his eyes. Bert saw this, and was angry at Danny for being so mean.

"Don't be afraid, Freddie," said Bert. "Look, I'll let you squirt the hose, and you can pretend to be a fireman."

"Oh, fine!" cried Freddie, in delight, as he took the nozzle from his older brother.

Just how it happened neither of them could tell, but the stream of water shot right at Danny Rugg, and wet him all over in a second.

"Hi there!" he cried. "Stop that! I'll pay you back for that, Fred Bobbsey," and he jumped over the fence and ran toward the little fellow.

CHAPTER VII

AT SCHOOL

Freddie saw Danny coming, and did the most natural thing in the world. He dropped the hose and ran. And you know what a hose, with water bursting from the nozzle will sometimes do if you don't hold it just right. Well, this hose did that. It seemed to aim itself straight at Danny, and again the rough boy received a charge of water full in the face.

"Ha--ha--here! You quit that!" he gasped. "I'll fix you for that!"

The water got in his eyes and mouth, and for a moment he could not see. But with his handkerchief he soon had his eyes cleared, and then he came running toward Bert.

Danny Rugg was larger than Bert, and stronger, and, in addition, was a bullying sort of chap, almost always ready to fight someone smaller than himself.

But what Bert lacked in size and strength he made up in a bold spirit. He was not at all afraid of Danny, even when the bully came rushing at him. Bert stood his ground manfully. He had taken up the hose where Freddie had dropped it, and the water was spurting out in a solid stream. Freddie, having gotten a safe distance away, now turned and stood looking at Danny.

Danny, too, had halted and was fairly glaring at Bert, who looked at him a bit anxiously. More than once he and the bully had come to blows, and sometimes Bert had gotten the best of it. Still he did not like a fight.

"I'll get you yet, Freddie Bobbsey!" cried Danny, shaking his fist at the little fellow. Whereupon Freddie turned and ran toward the house. Danny saw that he could not catch him in time, and so he turned to Bert.