Bobby of Cloverfield Farm   By: Helen Fuller Orton (1872-1955)

[Illustration: "'I can't stop to play now. I'm on important business'"]

BOBBY OF CLOVERFIELD FARM

BY

HELEN FULLER ORTON

Author of "Prince and Rover of Cloverfield Farm"

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND DECORATIONS BY R. EMMETT OWEN

[Illustration]

NEW YORK

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1922, by

HELEN FULLER ORTON

All Rights Reserved

First Printing, June 17, 1922 Second Printing, November 3, 1922 Third Printing, May 15, 1923 Fourth Printing, April 25, 1924 Fifth Printing, August 26, 1924 Sixth Printing, February 27, 1926 Seventh Printing, April 2, 1927 Eighth Printing, August 1, 1928 Ninth Printing, August 6, 1929 Tenth Printing, January 31, 1931 Eleventh Printing, August 10, 1933

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I WHAT ROBIN REDBREAST KNEW 1

II BOBBY'S KITE 10

III THE OLD BROWN HEN 21

IV THE SHEEP WASHING 29

V THE SHEEP SHEARING 38

VI RED TOP 46

VII HAYING TIME 54

VIII ON TOP OF THE WORLD 63

IX BOBBY FORGETS 69

X ROVER GOES TO THE STORE 76

XI THE DUCKS A SWIMMING GO 85

XII THE RESCUE 91

XIII BOBBY'S HORSEBACK RIDE 98

XIV THE BIG SOUTH WINDOW 105

XV ONE STORMY NIGHT 119

ILLUSTRATIONS

"'I can't stop to play now, I'm on important business'" Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

"'Hello, Robin Redbreast,' called Bobby, 'I'm glad you are back again'" 7

"Up, up, went the kite into the sky" 12

"When he saw it he cried, 'Somebody's been digging in my garden and here she is fast asleep'" 27

"Before they could run across the bridge, Old Bell Wether walked up out of the creek and started for home" 35

"'Stop, Father, stop!' he said" 58

"Bobby clung to Rover's collar until they reached shallow water" 94

"Bobby felt happy and grand. Prince felt happy and grand" 100

[Illustration: WHAT ROBIN REDBREAST KNEW]

I

One cold morning in March, Bobby Hill was wakened by a sound he had not heard since last Fall, "Chirp, chirp, cheer up."

"That sounds just like a robin," he thought.

He sat up in bed and looked out of the window. It was a cold, dark, stormy morning. Heavy clouds covered the sky. The North wind was blowing the snow hither and thither.

Bobby leaned nearer the window so he could see the ground. There was the snow like a blanket of white over the yard and the road and the fields. There were the snowdrifts like mountains and castles along the fences.

Bobby shivered as he looked at it and snuggled back under the covers.

"I must have been dreaming," he thought. "It isn't time for robins."

But he had no sooner settled down for another nap than he heard it again, "Chirp, chirp, cheer up."

He got up and dressed quickly and went downstairs.

"Mother," he said, "I heard something that sounded just like a robin. What could it have been?"

"It was a robin," said Mother. "Come here and see him."

Bobby ran to the Big South Window. There on a branch of the maple tree was Robin Redbreast singing merrily.

"I thought the robins always stayed down South until Spring," said Bobby. "Why did he come back in the dead of Winter?"

"Spring is almost here," said Mother.

"Oh, indeed it can't be," said Bobby, "it is so cold and snowy."

"Robin knows," said Mother.