Free The Clockwork Twin by Walter R. Brooks

without someone to drive it. We’ve got to have somebody to run him.”
    â€œAnimals too big,” said Uncle Ben.
    â€œYes, even Georgie would be too big,” said Freddy. “We’d have to build a place for him to sit inside, and—”
    â€œHow about Ronald,” said Georgie. “He’s small enough.”
    â€œHa!” exclaimed Uncle Ben. “Rooster!” He drew a sheaf of plans out of his pocket, spread them out on the bank, and began studying them. After a few minutes he nodded his head, folded up the plans, and went up to the barn for a wheelbarrow. When he got back he dragged the clockwork boy out of the pond with the help of the animals, loaded him, still kicking, into the wheelbarrow, and took him up to the barn.
    Freddy and the two dogs went over to the henhouse to talk to Ronald. The rooster was delighted with the idea of being engineer for the clockwork boy. “It’ll be just like having an automobile,” he said. “I can drive him to Centerboro—go anywhere I want to—”
    â€œThe idea is to have a playmate for Adoniram, remember,” said Freddy. “Not just for you to have a lot of fun by yourself, and taking people for rides, and so on.”
    â€œOh, quite,” said Ronald. “You leave it to me. When do I get my first lesson?”
    â€œYou’d better go talk to Uncle Ben,” said Jock.
    It was several days before Uncle Ben completed the alterations which were necessary. But it was a nice job when it was done. There was a little door in the clockwork boy’s back for Ronald to get in by, and a window just at one side of his necktie to look out through, and inside there was a perch for Ronald facing all the little levers that controlled the arms and hands and head and legs. And there was also a microphone rigged up so that Ronald could talk for him.
    It took Ronald some time to learn how to work all the levers properly, for the boy was much more complicated to run than an automobile. Nothing had been said to Adoniram about all this, although most of the animals knew about it. So the first time Ronald took the boy out they waited until Adoniram had gone to bed.
    It was a bright moonlight night. The clockwork boy stood in the doorway of the big red barn, surrounded by a ring of excited animals, while Uncle Ben wound him up good and tight. Then Ronald fluttered up into the little door and closed it behind him. He pulled a couple of levers and the boy put his hand over his heart and bowed to the animals.
    â€œQuiet! Quiet!” said Freddy, as the animals started to raise a cheer. “Are you all right, Ronald?”
    â€œO. K. Here we go!” boomed a great voice, that echoed back from the surrounding hills.
    â€œGreat Scott!” exclaimed Jinx. “We can’t have a voice like that in him! Sounds more like a lion than a boy.”
    But Uncle Ben stepped forward, opened the little door, and, reaching in over Ronald’s head, made a few adjustments in the microphone. “Now try.”
    â€œO.K. Here we go!” came a rather hollow, but much smaller voice.
    â€œWell, it might be a boy’s voice,” said Freddy, “if the boy had a bad cold and was talking with his head in a barrel. But I guess it’s all right.”
    â€œWhat’s his name?” came the hollow voice again.
    â€œThat’s right,” said Freddy. “He’s got to have a name. Well, Uncle Ben, he’s your boy if he’s anybody’s. You name him.”
    â€œBertram,” said Uncle Ben without hesitation.
    So then the animals stood back and Bertram walked slowly around the barnyard once, and then he ran around, and then he hippety-hopped around. By this time Ronald was pretty sure of himself, and he put Bertram through his paces. He closed the barn doors, and threw stones, and chased Jinx and caught him and pulled his tail, and did a lot of other stunts, and then he came up and shook