Freddy and the Perilous Adventure by Walter R. Brooks Read Free Book Online Page A

no,” said the man. “You wait till we get it down and see what’s in it.”
    â€œThere ain’t anything in it.”
    â€œOh, yes there is,” said the man. “The pig’s in it. I can see the tips of his ears.”
    â€œIs that the pig that talks, pa?”
    The man laughed coarsely. “He won’t talk much when we put an apple in his mouth and pop him in the oven.” He turned suddenly and cuffed the boy. “ Go get that rope !”
    â€œDidn’t I hear Breckenridge say something to you about South Pharisee?” Emma asked Freddy.
    â€œMy goodness, I don’t know. What difference does it make? Did you hear what the man said?”
    â€œYou needn’t be so cross,” said Emma. “They’ll eat us too.”
    Freddy shuddered. “Don’t talk like that! Don’t you realize that to escape from here I’ve got to have all my wits about me, and how can I when you keep talking about we’re going to be eaten up? It—it unnerves me.”
    â€œHush, sister,” said Alice calmly. “Let Freddy think.”
    So Emma hushed and Freddy thought. And he really did think of something. He took hold of the grapnel rope and unfastened it from the cleat. At first he was going to let the grapnel and the rope both go, but the other end of the rope was tied to the basket in a knot that it would take some time to untie, and besides, he didn’t want to lose the grapnel if he could help it. So he waited until the breeze slackened a little, and then he loosened the rope and gave it a quick shake. And the grapnel came free and the balloon started slowly away from the house.
    At this the man with the black moustache, who had been watching with a superior grin on his face, gave a loud yell and ran into the house. The balloon, which was moving very slowly, was only halfway across the next field when he came out again with a gun and began to run after it.
    â€œHe’s going to shoot us,” said Alice. “Oh, Freddy, I wish we could get out and push.”
    â€œAll he’s got to do is hit the balloon,” said Freddy, “and the gas will come out and down we’ll come.”
    The man had caught up and was nearly under them now, but as he pulled up the gun to shoot, Freddy snatched two cans of beans out of the box of canned goods and threw them quickly down at him, one after the other. The first one hit the gun, which went off with a bang, and the charge of shot whizzed harmlessly by the balloon. And as the man opened his mouth to yell, the second can hit a rock and burst, showering him with baked beans and tomato sauce, some of which went right into his mouth.
    â€¦ the second can hit a rock and burst.
    â€œHelp! I’m being bombed!” he shouted, and threw himself flat on his face in the hay. Then he licked his moustache. “Beans!” he exclaimed thoughtfully, and was starting to get to his feet again when he saw the tomato sauce all over his shirt, and then he gave a very loud yell and fell down even flatter than before.
    Freddy hadn’t realized it, but the weight of two cans of beans makes quite a difference in a balloon, and when he threw them out, the balloon went up quite a lot higher in the air. They still weren’t out of gunshot, but the man with the black moustache was so sure that he was mortally wounded that he lay still until the dirty-faced boy came out and helped him to his feet. And when he found out that he wasn’t wounded after all, he cuffed the dirty-faced boy good. He did this for three reasons: first, because the balloon had got away; and second, because he would now probably have to take a bath to get the tomato sauce off him; and third, because it seemed like a pretty good thing to do anyway. And I don’t say they were good reasons, but that is what they were.
    In the meantime the balloon had sailed off across two meadows and a hill, and Alice and Emma were praising Freddy.