Bobbsey Twins Liveblog 2009: So It Continues to Continue
Chapter Three: George Washington's House
We last saw two of our heroes, Bert and young Freddie, unflinchingly tackle a suspected burglar they caught snooping around the island in the dead of night. The nefarious character escaped, but the following morning, while searching for clues at the scene of the tussle, Nan uncovers a silver button. It belongs to none other than Slippery Jenks, Toony's thieving former employee!
"Slippery Jenks!" Bert exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"I'd know those silver buttons anywhere!" Toony insisted. "This one is his, all right!"
Toony then explains that Slippery Jenks had been to Mexico (where he was known as Jorge Mojado). He bought the buttons there and had since sewed them onto every jacket he ever owned. Yep, he loves the shit out of those silver buttons. He also presumably has a jar full of brand spanking new buttons that he removed from his jackets to make way for the silver ones. Those buttons must feel very sad. "Why did he reject us?" they whisper to one another in the dark.
No one has any idea what Slippery Jenks would have been doing on the island, so they decide to confront him about it under the pretense of returning his beloved button to him. Slippery Jenks lives in River Edge, a town not too far away, and Toony has some business to attend to in that general area, anyway, so he agrees to take the children to Jenks's house.
Slippery Jenks, however, is not at home. A neighbor informs them that he isn't home all that often, and that they'd be better off searching for him on the river, as he spends a lot of time in his boat. Despite the useful information the twins glean from this person, when Hope describes her as "talkative," it feels like an insult.
They make it back to the island without seeing any sign of Slippery Jenks. Upon their return, Aunt Alice informs them that she's invited a ten-year-old boy named Cliff Myers to the island; he's the son of a friend. Bert pronounces this "Swell!"
Cliff arrives early that afternoon, floating solo in his very own red rowboat. We quickly learn that this child is meant to be a foil for the twins, an anti-Bobbsey, if you will.
Bert ran down to meet the visitor. He was a stocky boy with curly black hair and a rather sullen look in his eyes.
"That's a neat boat you have!" Bert said admiringly as Cliff tied his craft to a post.
"She's the best in the Hudson River!" Cliff said boastfully.
Cliff, you little bitch. Someone else's open admiration is your cue to be humble! Has your father not been beating you?!
Cliff is introduced to the rest of the Bobbsey children, who are as charming and polite as he is boorish and rude. He scoffs at their determination to find their Aunt's valuables, adding, "You kids are kooky!" I give it two chapters before he gets his comeuppance.
Toony offers to take the children to see George Washington's house in Newburgh. That was where he had made his headquarters during the last year of the Revolutionary War, and the house had been converted into a museum. Cliff offers to take them all in his boat, because he's a dreadful show-off. Toony insists on taking them himself, as they wouldn't all fit in Cliff's rowboat. Cliff sulks, then spends the whole trip being a back-seat driver. Disrespecting our elders now, eh, Cliff? Karma is going to kick your ass. I'm giving it one chapter.
Toony wants to visit a friend who lives near the museum, so he drops the kids off at G.W.'s place and says he'll meet them later. The children head into the museum and proceed to be rather unnaturally fascinated by things like open hearth fireplaces. Cliff wanders off to cause trouble, no doubt; Bert and Nan are arrested by the fireplace, and Freddie and Flossie head outside and find an old well. This prompts the chapter's token action sequence:
"Oh boy, a well!" Freddie cried, running over to a round stone structure. Above it hung a wooden bucket suspended from the end of a long wooden pole.
Flossie peered over the stone wall. "It isn't a well at all!" she said. "There's just ground in here!"
"I'm going to dip the bucket in it anyway!" Freddie declared.
The pole which held the bucket passed through a notched tree trunk and was held to the ground by a large stone. Freddie straddled the pole--(those playing the USPDG, take a shot!)--and pushed the stone aside with his foot. Up went the pole with Freddie!
GEE WHIZ!
"Help!" he cried. "Help!"
But no one responds to his frightened cries, because no adults are keeping an eye on the two cherubic liabilities running around this historically significant property.
Flossie manages to get him down (whew!), and they wander off to explore a war memorial. They actually wind up climbing all over it, and it is unclear from the text whether they are supposed to be able to do this or whether they're being horribly disrespectful of the dead. I'm going to presume it was the latter, not least of all because Flossie winds up tripping and skinning her knee. Freddie bandages it with a handkerchief, and asks her whether she is capable of walking. I find this hilarious. Flossie can walk (whew!!), and they head back to the museum to look for the others.
And hey, they run into an adult!
"I'm Mr. Watts, the caretaker here. Your sister asked me to tell you that she and the others are in the basement."
"Thank you," Flossie said.
At that moment a piercing shriek rang out through the building!
CLIFFHANGER!!!!
So ends chapter three!
We last saw two of our heroes, Bert and young Freddie, unflinchingly tackle a suspected burglar they caught snooping around the island in the dead of night. The nefarious character escaped, but the following morning, while searching for clues at the scene of the tussle, Nan uncovers a silver button. It belongs to none other than Slippery Jenks, Toony's thieving former employee!
"Slippery Jenks!" Bert exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"I'd know those silver buttons anywhere!" Toony insisted. "This one is his, all right!"
Toony then explains that Slippery Jenks had been to Mexico (where he was known as Jorge Mojado). He bought the buttons there and had since sewed them onto every jacket he ever owned. Yep, he loves the shit out of those silver buttons. He also presumably has a jar full of brand spanking new buttons that he removed from his jackets to make way for the silver ones. Those buttons must feel very sad. "Why did he reject us?" they whisper to one another in the dark.
No one has any idea what Slippery Jenks would have been doing on the island, so they decide to confront him about it under the pretense of returning his beloved button to him. Slippery Jenks lives in River Edge, a town not too far away, and Toony has some business to attend to in that general area, anyway, so he agrees to take the children to Jenks's house.
Slippery Jenks, however, is not at home. A neighbor informs them that he isn't home all that often, and that they'd be better off searching for him on the river, as he spends a lot of time in his boat. Despite the useful information the twins glean from this person, when Hope describes her as "talkative," it feels like an insult.
They make it back to the island without seeing any sign of Slippery Jenks. Upon their return, Aunt Alice informs them that she's invited a ten-year-old boy named Cliff Myers to the island; he's the son of a friend. Bert pronounces this "Swell!"
Cliff arrives early that afternoon, floating solo in his very own red rowboat. We quickly learn that this child is meant to be a foil for the twins, an anti-Bobbsey, if you will.
Bert ran down to meet the visitor. He was a stocky boy with curly black hair and a rather sullen look in his eyes.
"That's a neat boat you have!" Bert said admiringly as Cliff tied his craft to a post.
"She's the best in the Hudson River!" Cliff said boastfully.
Cliff, you little bitch. Someone else's open admiration is your cue to be humble! Has your father not been beating you?!
Cliff is introduced to the rest of the Bobbsey children, who are as charming and polite as he is boorish and rude. He scoffs at their determination to find their Aunt's valuables, adding, "You kids are kooky!" I give it two chapters before he gets his comeuppance.
Toony offers to take the children to see George Washington's house in Newburgh. That was where he had made his headquarters during the last year of the Revolutionary War, and the house had been converted into a museum. Cliff offers to take them all in his boat, because he's a dreadful show-off. Toony insists on taking them himself, as they wouldn't all fit in Cliff's rowboat. Cliff sulks, then spends the whole trip being a back-seat driver. Disrespecting our elders now, eh, Cliff? Karma is going to kick your ass. I'm giving it one chapter.
Toony wants to visit a friend who lives near the museum, so he drops the kids off at G.W.'s place and says he'll meet them later. The children head into the museum and proceed to be rather unnaturally fascinated by things like open hearth fireplaces. Cliff wanders off to cause trouble, no doubt; Bert and Nan are arrested by the fireplace, and Freddie and Flossie head outside and find an old well. This prompts the chapter's token action sequence:
"Oh boy, a well!" Freddie cried, running over to a round stone structure. Above it hung a wooden bucket suspended from the end of a long wooden pole.
Flossie peered over the stone wall. "It isn't a well at all!" she said. "There's just ground in here!"
"I'm going to dip the bucket in it anyway!" Freddie declared.
The pole which held the bucket passed through a notched tree trunk and was held to the ground by a large stone. Freddie straddled the pole--(those playing the USPDG, take a shot!)--and pushed the stone aside with his foot. Up went the pole with Freddie!
GEE WHIZ!
"Help!" he cried. "Help!"
But no one responds to his frightened cries, because no adults are keeping an eye on the two cherubic liabilities running around this historically significant property.
Flossie manages to get him down (whew!), and they wander off to explore a war memorial. They actually wind up climbing all over it, and it is unclear from the text whether they are supposed to be able to do this or whether they're being horribly disrespectful of the dead. I'm going to presume it was the latter, not least of all because Flossie winds up tripping and skinning her knee. Freddie bandages it with a handkerchief, and asks her whether she is capable of walking. I find this hilarious. Flossie can walk (whew!!), and they head back to the museum to look for the others.
And hey, they run into an adult!
"I'm Mr. Watts, the caretaker here. Your sister asked me to tell you that she and the others are in the basement."
"Thank you," Flossie said.
At that moment a piercing shriek rang out through the building!
CLIFFHANGER!!!!
So ends chapter three!