"
"Yes, I suppose we could do that," Mr. Bobbsey said, slowly.
By this time Mr. Hardee had come closer to the houseboat, which had
drifted near to the shore.
"Will you take that fence down, and let us go past?" asked Mr.
Bobbsey, as politely as he could.
"No, I won't!" snapped Mr. Hardee in reply. "No!"
"But we want to go on down the creek," explained the twins' father,
"and we can't get past the fence."
"I know you can't!" said Mr. Hardee with a chuckle. "That's what I put
it up there for. I strung it last night--me and my hired men. I didn't
think you'd hear, and you didn't. Give you a sort of surprise, didn't
it?"
"It certainly did," and Mr. Bobbsey's voice was stern. "And I want to
say that you had no right to stretch that fence across the creek to
stop my boat. You had no right!"
"Oh, yes, I had!" said Mr. Hardee with a sneer.
"This is a public creek," went on Mr. Bobbsey.
"Maybe it is, in certain places," said the mean farmer, "but here the
creek runs through my land. I own on both sides of it, and I own the
creek itself. If I don't want to let anybody go through in a boat, I
don't have to."
"Oh, so you own the creek here, do you?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, rather
surprised.
"Yes, I do."
"And you aren't going to let us pass?"
"Nope! That's why I strung that fence last night.
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