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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Curlytops and Their Playmates, by Howard R. Garis
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+
+Project Gutenberg's The Curlytops and Their Playmates, by Howard R. Garis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Curlytops and Their Playmates
+       or Jolly Times Through the Holidays
+
+Author: Howard R. Garis
+
+Illustrator: Julia Greene
+
+Release Date: April 23, 2008 [EBook #25143]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES ***
+
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+</pre>
+
+
+<h1><em>The</em> CURLYTOPS<br />
+<em>and</em> THEIR PLAYMATES</h1>
+
+
+<div class="cover" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="635" alt="by Howard R. Garis" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/front.jpg" width="400" height="537" alt="" title="" />
+<span class="caption">LOOKING IN THROUGH THE WINDOW SHE SAW THE FACE OF
+A MAN. <a href="#front">Page 160</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="center"><span class="title">THE CURLYTOPS</span><br />
+
+<span class="by">AND</span><br />
+
+<span class="title2">THEIR PLAYMATES</span><br />
+<br />
+<span class="by">OR</span><br />
+
+<em><b>Jolly Times Through the Holidays</b></em><br />
+<br /><br />
+<span class="by">BY</span><br />
+
+<span class="author">HOWARD R. GARIS</span><br />
+
+<span class="smcap">Author of "The Curlytops Series," "Uncle Wiggily<br />
+Bedtime Stories," "Uncle Wiggily<br />
+Animal Stories," Etc.</span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<span class="by"><em>Illustrations by</em></span><br />
+<span class="author"><em>JULIA GREENE</em></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<span class="pub">NEW YORK<br />
+CUPPLES &amp; LEON COMPANY</span>
+<br />
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1922, by<br />
+Cupples &amp; Leon Company</span><br />
+
+<span class="smcap">The Curlytops and Their Playmates</span></p>
+
+<hr class="hr3" />
+
+<p class="center">Printed in U. S. A.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2 class="con"><a name="con" id="con"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table summary="table of contents">
+<tr>
+<th class="tda">CHAPTER</th>
+<th class="tdc" colspan="2">PAGE</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">I</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Trouble in Trouble</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#i">1</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">II</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">The Postman's Whistle</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#ii">14</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">III</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">What Shall We Do?</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#iii">25</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">IV</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Uncle Toby Again</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#iv">36</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">V</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Off to the Country</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#v">48</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">VI</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A Flurry of Snow</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#vi">60</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">VII</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">In the Storm</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#vii">70</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">VIII</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A Stalled Train</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#viii">80</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">IX</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">New Playmates</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#ix">91</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">X</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">Among the Pets</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#x">104</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XI</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">Where Did Trouble Go?</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xi">115</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XII</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">Off to Crystal Lake</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xii">128</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XIII</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">The Lonely Cabin</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xiii">139</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XIV</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">At Crystal Lake</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xiv">149</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XV</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">On the Slippery Hill</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xv">161</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XVI</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">A Real Toboggan</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xvi">174</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XVII</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">The Snow House</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xvii">184</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XVIII</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">Thanksgiving</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xviii">197</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XIX</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">Skyrocket Is Gone</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xix">206</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XX</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">Trouble Is Missing</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xx">216</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XXI</td>
+<td class="tdb"> <span class="smcap">Trouble and Skyrocket</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xxi">229</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tda">XXII</td>
+<td class="tdb"><span class="smcap">A Happy Reunion</span></td>
+<td class="tdc"><a href="#xxii">238</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span>
+<a name="i" id="i"></a><big>THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES</big><br />
+<br />
+CHAPTER I<br />
+
+<small>TROUBLE IN TROUBLE</small></h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">"When</span> do you s'pose it'll come, Teddy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, pretty soon now, I guess. We're all ready for it when it does
+come," and Ted Martin glanced from where he sat over toward a slanting
+hill made of several long boards nailed to some tall packing boxes. The
+boxes were piled high at one end, and on top was a little platform,
+reached by some steps made of smaller boxes.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a good while coming though, isn't it, Ted?" asked his sister
+Janet, looking up toward the sky.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I wish it would hurry," said the boy, giving his cap a twist,
+thereby making more of a tangle than ever the curly, golden hair that
+had given him and Janet the nicknames of "Curlytops."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The two children walked around the wooden structure which they had
+built, with the help of Tom and Lola Taylor, their playmates, after much
+hard work in hammering, pounding, and the straightening of crooked
+nails. Now and then Ted and Janet turned their faces to the gray clouds
+which floated above them.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish it would hurry!" murmured Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I!" exclaimed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>There was a sudden chorus of shouts and laughter coming from around the
+corner of the house, and another boy and girl rushed up the path.</p>
+
+<p>"What you looking for, Ted?" asked Tom. "An airship?" for Ted's eyes
+were again turned toward the clouds.</p>
+
+<p>"Or maybe birds," added Lola, with a laugh. "Are you watching to see
+some of the birds fly south, because it's soon going to be winter? Are
+you, Ted?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nope!" as the answer. "I'm looking to see when it's going to snow.
+Mother said a snowstorm was coming, and I'm watching for the first
+flakes. What's the good of a toboggan slide when there isn't any snow?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," chimed in Tom Taylor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> "Now we have this toboggan slide
+made, we want some snow or else we can't ride down on it."</p>
+
+<p>That is what the wooden structure in the yard of the Curlytops was&mdash;a
+toboggan slide. Tom and Ted, with the help of some other boys and the
+aid of a few jolly girls, who brought up boards and boxes (though they
+couldn't drive the nails straight) had, after much hard work, built up a
+sort of toboggan slide.</p>
+
+<p>Now all that was needed was snow so they could ride down it on their
+sleds, for none of the children had toboggans&mdash;those queer, low, flat
+sleds, all of wood, with the round curved piece in front.</p>
+
+<p>A pile of big packing boxes fastened together made the high part of the
+slide. To get to the top of this pile one had to climb on a number of
+smaller boxes arranged in the form of steps&mdash;and crazy, tottering steps
+they were, but the children didn't mind it. It was all the more fun when
+they nearly fell down in climbing up.</p>
+
+<p>From the top of the high pile of big boxes there sloped down a hill of
+boards, nailed in some places and in others fastened together with ropes
+to make an incline, or hill. This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> was about twenty feet long, and ended
+in a little upturn so that a sled would shoot up with a jerk and come
+down with a bang. More fun!</p>
+
+<p>After several days of hard work the toboggan slide had been finished,
+and now, as Ted remarked, all they needed was some snow to fall, to
+cover the incline and make it slippery enough for the sleds to glide
+down.</p>
+
+<p>But where was the snow? The gray clouds floating high in the air seemed
+to promise a fall of the white flakes, but though the Curlytops and
+their playmates, the Taylor children, strained their eyes and made their
+necks ache looking up, not a feathery crystal did they see.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe if we whistled it would do some good," said Janet, as all four
+sat in rather gloomy silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Whistle for what?" asked Ted, throwing a stick for Skyrocket, his dog,
+to race after, a game that Skyrocket was very glad to play.</p>
+
+<p>"Whistle for snow," went on Janet. "Didn't mother read us a story about
+some sailors on a desert island whistling for snow?"</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Tom both laughed, much to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> surprise of Janet, who seemed a
+little hurt at their chuckles.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" she asked. "What's the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"You don't whistle for <em>snow</em>!" shouted Ted. "You whistle for <em>wind</em>!
+Ha! Ha!"</p>
+
+<p>"She's got it twisted!" laughed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care!" exclaimed Janet, getting up and walking toward the
+house. "What's the difference? Wind brings snow, and if you whistle for
+wind, and it comes and brings snow, it's just the same as whistling for
+snow."</p>
+
+<p>"I think so, too," agreed Lola. "Smarty!" she exclaimed, thrusting her
+tongue out at her brother and his chum.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a good one&mdash;whistling for <em>snow</em>!" laughed Ted, clapping his
+playmate on the back. "We'll tell the fellows!"</p>
+
+<p>"If you do I'll never speak to you again!" cried Janet. "And if you want
+to make any more of your old toboggan slides I won't help you. Will we,
+Lola?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nope, we won't at all! Let's go get our dolls!"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll want to coast down this slide when the snow does come!" taunted
+Ted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> "And then we won't let you; will we, Tom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nope! And maybe it's going to snow pretty soon," added Tom, with
+another squint at the sky. It was a very hopeful sort of look, but it
+did not seem to bring down any of the swirling, white flakes.</p>
+
+<p>The girls walked on toward the house. The boys were beginning to feel
+rather disappointed. They had worked so hard to get the toboggan slide
+finished, and now there was no snow so they could use it! Suddenly Tom
+Taylor gave a cry, causing the girls to turn around and making Ted look
+up from where he was playing with Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" asked Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got an idea!" her brother answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell us!" begged Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I know how we can have some toboggan rides without waiting for snow!"
+exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"How? Make believe?" asked Janet. She was very fond of this game of
+pretending.</p>
+
+<p>"No, not make believe!" answered Tom. "Listen! Have you got any candles
+in your house, Ted?"</p>
+
+<p>"Candles? I guess we have some. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> saw my mother rubbing one on a
+flatiron the other day when she was ironing a dress for Jan. I don't
+know why she rubbed the candle on the flatiron, but she did."</p>
+
+<p>"She did it so the iron wouldn't stick to the starched dress," explained
+Janet. "I should think anybody would know that! Wouldn't you, Lola?" she
+asked in a rather "snippy" manner and with an upward turn of her little
+nose.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" agreed Lola. "Candles makes irons slippery."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you've got some candles we can make our sled runners slippery
+the same way, and we can toboggan even if there isn't any snow," went on
+Tom. "I just happened to think I read a story once about some fellows
+who put candle grease on their sleds and rode down a wooden hill like
+this when there wasn't any snow. We can do like that! Get the candles,
+Ted, and I'll go get my sled!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, maybe we can have some fun!" cried Janet. "Come on, Lola, let's get
+our sleds."</p>
+
+<p>"You've got to grease your own runners," Ted warned the girls. "We
+aren't going to do it for you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess we can do it," answered Lola. "Boys aren't so smart!"</p>
+
+<p>Tom and Lola hastened back to their house to get their sleds, which they
+had not brought over to the newly built toboggan slide, as there seemed
+no use of doing this until snow came. Janet hastened after her sled, and
+Ted went in the house to beg some candle ends of his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do with them?" Mrs. Martin wanted to know. "You
+mustn't play with lighted candles."</p>
+
+<p>Teddy told about the new plan, and his mother said:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you must be careful. I believe the candles, rubbed on your sled
+runners, will make them slippery enough to coast down the wooden hill.
+But be careful. And don't make any noise, for I've just gotten William
+to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let Trouble come out when we're on the toboggan," begged Ted. "He
+might get hurt." Trouble was the pet name for William Anthony Martin,
+the youngest member of the Martin family. And he was called "Trouble"
+because he was in it so often&mdash;sometimes through his own fault, and
+often because of Ted and Janet.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>"Yes, I'll keep Trouble in," said Mrs. Martin, with a smile. "And here
+are your candle ends," she added, giving Ted a handful. "Be careful."</p>
+
+<p>Ted promised and ran out into the yard to meet his playmates. Tom had
+also found some candle ends, and the boys and girls were soon busy
+rubbing the paraffine on their sled runners. For the candles mostly sold
+nowadays are made of paraffine, instead of beeswax or tallow, as
+old-fashioned candles were made. Paraffine is made from crude oil, as is
+kerosene and gasolene.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we'll have some nifty fun!" cried Tom, as, having rubbed as much of
+the candle on his sled runners as the steel would hold, he turned his
+coaster over right side up.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have races!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"But we have to take turns going down," said Janet. "The toboggan slide
+isn't wide enough for two to go on at a time."</p>
+
+<p>"We can have sorter&mdash;now&mdash;sorter races to see who can go the farthest,"
+remarked Ted, stumbling over his words in his excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"That'll be fun," agreed Lola. She and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> Janet were also greasing their
+sled runners, all the little quarrels forgotten in the jolly good times
+they were hoping to have.</p>
+
+<p>"All ready now!" cried Tom, picking up his sled. "Who's going to have
+the first coast?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think Janet or Ted ought to have it, for they started the toboggan
+and it's in their yard," said Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" agreed her brother.</p>
+
+<p>"No, company ought to have the first ride!" decided Janet, who made up
+her mind she would be as polite as her playmate.</p>
+
+<p>"Jinks!" cried Tom, with a laugh. "Nobody'll ride if we keep on talking
+like this! Come on, Ted!" he added. "Let's you and me go down together!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't!" begged Janet. "'Tisn't wide enough, and you might get
+hurt."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll not!" insisted Tom. "And it'll be more fun that way. I guess
+it's wide enough, Ted. Let's try, anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>They found that there was just about room enough on the toboggan slide
+for their sleds side by side. They climbed up the rickety stairs, made
+of small boxes nailed one to the other, and soon the two boys stood on
+the little platform at the top of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> the wooden slope. They had carried up
+their sleds with them&mdash;the sleds with the candle-greased runners.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you ready?" asked Ted of his playmate.</p>
+
+<p>"All ready," answered Tom. "Let's start!"</p>
+
+<p>They put down their sleds and stretched themselves out on the coasters.</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't it be funny if they got stuck half way down?" giggled Lola,
+who, with Janet, was waiting on the ground below off at one side to see
+what luck the boys would have.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we won't get stuck!" laughed Tom. "Come on now, Ted! Push!"</p>
+
+<p>Together they pushed themselves from the level platform down the wooden
+hill. The sleds hung on the brink for a moment and then went coasting
+down as nicely as you please, and quite swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray!" cried Ted, as he felt himself gliding along, coasting almost
+as well as if there had been snow on the wooden toboggan hill. "This is
+nifty!"</p>
+
+<p>"Great!" added Tom.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were so surprised to find out how well they could coast without
+snow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> that they forgot about having a race. As it was, they both came to
+the end of the slope at the same time. The sleds shot up the little
+incline and landed on the grass beyond with a bump. Teddy fell off his,
+but only laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"How is it?" asked Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"Dandy!" cried her brother. "You girls take a ride now!"</p>
+
+<p>Rather timidly at first, Janet and Lola went down the incline one at a
+time, but they soon grew bolder and liked it as much as did the boys. It
+really was lots of fun, and as the boards became more slippery when
+partly covered with flakes of paraffine from the candles the coasting
+was swifter.</p>
+
+<p>"Now let's have a real race!" cried Ted, after they had been sliding for
+some time. "I mean let's see who can go farthest from the end of the
+slide."</p>
+
+<p>They took turns at this, one at a time coasting down the wooden hill and
+marking where the sleds landed on the grass. Tom and Ted seemed able to
+make their sleds jump farther than did the girls.</p>
+
+<p>"I beat!" cried Tom, pointing to the mark his sled had made on the
+grass, after jumping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> up and away from the little end bump of the slide.</p>
+
+<p>"You did not! My sled went farther!" shouted Ted. "Here, girls, I'll
+leave it to you!"</p>
+
+<p>The four were trying to decide who had won the race when Janet, glancing
+back toward the toboggan slide, gave a cry of alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at Trouble!" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>There, on top of the pile of big boxes, having climbed to the platform
+by means of the rickety steps, stood baby William.</p>
+
+<p>"I s'ide down!" he cried, jumping up and down in delight. "I s'ide!"</p>
+
+<p>"No! No! Don't! Stand still, Trouble! Don't move! I'll come and get
+you!" shouted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>He started on a run, but he was too late. A moment afterward Trouble was
+in trouble, for the little fellow toddled toward the back edge of the
+platform, which had no railing to guard it, and a second later he seemed
+to topple off backward.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+<a name="ii" id="ii"></a>CHAPTER II<br />
+
+<small>THE POSTMAN'S WHISTLE</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">"Oh</span>, Trouble has fallen! Trouble has fallen!" screamed Jan, as she ran
+around toward the back of the toboggan.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, Tom!" yelled Ted. "I guess my little brother's hurt!"</p>
+
+<p>Lola followed the others, and as the four children raced to the aid of
+baby William a shrill whistle was heard near the front of the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that a policeman?" cried Tom to his chum.</p>
+
+<p>"No, it's the postman," answered Ted. "He's taking a letter into our
+house. Hey, Mr. Brennan!" he called, as he saw the gray-uniformed mail
+carrier entering the yard. "My little brother's hurt!"</p>
+
+<p>Screams coming from the mouth of William seemed to tell that he was
+badly frightened, anyhow, and also hurt, very likely.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>"Trouble hurt? I'm coming!" cried the postman dropping his bag of mail
+and running around the side path.</p>
+
+<p>Another moment and the Curlytops and their playmates had reached the
+rear of the high pile of boxes from which the toboggan slide started.
+They looked on the ground, expecting to see Trouble huddled there in a
+crumpled heap.</p>
+
+<p>But he wasn't there. His voice, however, could be heard crying lustily,
+and it seemed to come from overhead. Yet the little boy was not on the
+high platform, from which he had been seen to topple backward.</p>
+
+<p>Where was Trouble?</p>
+
+<p>This was the question the Curlytops asked themselves. And it was what
+their playmates wanted to know, as did the postman.</p>
+
+<p>But before we settle that question I want to answer several inquiries
+that I feel sure some of my new readers are asking, and among these is
+this:</p>
+
+<p>"Who are the Curlytops?"</p>
+
+<p>Those who have read the previous books of this series do not need to go
+over this part I am writing now. They may skip it and get on with the
+story. Others may wish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> to know something about Ted, Janet and Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Curlytops" was not their right name. As you have noticed, it was
+Martin. Theodore Baradale Martin was called Ted, or Teddy, and Janet's
+name was more often shortened to Jan. William was called Trouble as I
+have mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>The name "Curlytops" was given the two older children because of their
+curly, golden heads of hair. They lived with their father and mother,
+Mr. and Mrs. Richard Martin in the city of Cresco, in one of our Eastern
+states. Mr. Martin kept a store.</p>
+
+<p>The Curlytops were introduced first in the book about Cherry Farm. After
+that they had fun and adventures on Star Island, they were snowed in, as
+the book of that name tells, and later they went to Uncle Frank's ranch
+in the West. At Silver Lake they had fun on the water with Uncle Ben.</p>
+
+<p>The book which was written just before this is called "The Curlytops and
+their Pets," and tells how the children cared for some dogs, a cat, a
+monkey, a parrot and an alligator that Uncle Toby left in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> charge
+when he thought he had to go to South America.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of going there Uncle Toby went to Canada. And it was from some
+of the stories he told of seeing toboggan slides there that the
+Curlytops had made one in their yard. Then came trouble with Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"But where is your little brother?" asked the postman of Ted and Janet,
+as he rushed around behind the high pile of boxes. "You say he fell off
+the platform, but where is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hear him crying!" exclaimed Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," added her brother. The two Taylor children were among the
+many playmates of the Curlytops.</p>
+
+<p>"He didn't fall to the ground, that's sure, or else he'd be here now,"
+declared the postman. "There isn't a sign of him. Maybe&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Brennan never finished what he started to say, for just then a
+little voice, above the heads of the postman and the children, cried
+out:</p>
+
+<p>"Here I is!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, look!" exclaimed Jan.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>They all glanced up and saw the head of Trouble thrust out of one of the
+big packing boxes which Ted and his friends had made into the highest
+part of the toboggan slide.</p>
+
+<p>The opening of this large packing box was toward the rear of the slide
+and Trouble was in the box. How he got there could only be guessed, but
+there he was, tears streaming down his little red face as he looked out.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I wants to tum down!" he sobbed.</p>
+
+<p>At times Trouble talked fairly well and plainly, but when he was
+excited, as he was now, he said wrong words. Nobody minded that,
+however.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't jump, Trouble! Don't jump!" shouted the postman. "I'll get you
+down all right. Is there a ladder anywhere around?" he asked the
+children.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a stepladder in the shed," answered Ted. "I'll get it."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll help," offered Tom.</p>
+
+<p>Away sped the boys, while Jan and Lola remained with Mr. Brennan looking
+up at Trouble, who seemed like some little animal in a circus cage.</p>
+
+<p>"How'd you get in there, William?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> asked Jan. Whenever the name
+"William" was used there was always more seriousness than when the
+youngest Martin child had been called by his pet title.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I falled in!" sobbed Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"We saw you tumble over backward," remarked Lola. "But how did you get
+inside the box? Why didn't you fall all the way to the ground?"</p>
+
+<p>"Suffin ketched me and I fell in here," was all Trouble could explain
+about it.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess part of his clothes caught on a nail, or a piece of wood that
+was sticking out," said the postman, "and he was swung inside the box. A
+good thing, too, for it saved him a bad fall. He didn't go far."</p>
+
+<p>This was true enough, for Trouble had swung into an open packing box not
+far from the top of the platform, so he had really only fallen a few
+feet&mdash;not enough to harm such a fat, chubby little fellow as he was.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll soon have you down," said Mr. Brennan cheerfully. "Don't
+cry any more, Trouble. Here come Ted and Tom with the ladder. I'll soon
+get you down!"</p>
+
+<p>As the boys were hastening up with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> ladder toward the high part of
+the toboggan slide, Mrs. Martin came running out of the back door of the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter? What has happened?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing much, Mrs. Martin," answered the postman, with a laugh.
+"Trouble is in trouble, and also in a packing box; that's all. I'll soon
+have him out."</p>
+
+<p>"In a packing box?" William's mother repeated.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you can see him," and Mr. Brennan pointed to the head of William
+thrust out from his "cage."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the little tyke!" cried Mrs. Martin. "After he awakened from his
+nap and went out to play, I told him to keep away from the toboggan
+slide."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he went up on it when we weren't looking," explained Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"And he fell off, only he didn't fall far and he swung into the box,"
+added Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"What a narrow escape!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "You children will either
+have to take that slide down or watch William more carefully," she
+added, as the postman put the ladder in place and began to climb up
+after Trouble.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>"Oh, we don't want to take the slide down!" cried Ted. "We haven't tried
+it in the snow, yet. It'll be a lot more fun when it snows."</p>
+
+<p>"We won't let Trouble get up on it again," added Janet.</p>
+
+<p>By this time Mr. Brennan had climbed down with the little fellow in his
+arms. William seemed to be over his fright, for he smiled and asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Can I have a wide?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better go in the house with mother," said Ted. "No rides for
+you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, give him one ride! He's so cute!" begged Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll take care of him," went on Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you all right, darling? Are you hurt?" asked Mrs. Martin, looking
+William over carefully. "It's a mercy you didn't have some bones
+broken."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess he would have had if he had fallen all the way," said Mr.
+Brennan. "But his clothes caught on something and saved him. He just
+swung into the open box like a piano being slung in a second story
+window by the moving men. Well, as long as you're all right, Curlytops,
+I'll be traveling on," he added, as he walked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> to where he had dropped
+his bag of mail.</p>
+
+<p>"We're ever so much obliged to you," said Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! Thank you!" called Ted and Janet. They had almost forgotten
+this in the excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"All right!" laughed the postman, waving his hand to them, as he went
+out of the gate.</p>
+
+<p>"Now if I leave William with you, will you watch him carefully?" asked
+Mrs. Martin, as she turned to go in the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, Mother!" promised Ted and Janet in the same breath.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll help!" offered Tom Taylor.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll let him ride down on my sled," said Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to wide all alone!" declared Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you can't do that!" his mother said.</p>
+
+<p>The postman turned and came into the yard again.</p>
+
+<p>"I forgot to give you this letter," he said, with a laugh. "So much
+excitement made me nearly forget the mail. There you are, Mrs. Martin,"
+and he handed her a letter.</p>
+
+<p>The children played on the wooden toboggan slide the remainder of the
+morning, having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> much fun, and the laughter and shouting of Trouble was
+as loud as that of the Curlytops and their playmates. Trouble was not
+exactly a curlytop, for his hair was not like the locks of Ted and
+Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope it snows to-morrow," said Tom, as he and his sister went home to
+dinner.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," added Ted. "It looks like it," he added, with a glance up at
+the gray clouds.</p>
+
+<p>"If we pack the slide with snow we'll coast lots better," declared Lola.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Janet, with Trouble, went in the house, having planned to do
+more "dry" coasting after their meal.</p>
+
+<p>Daddy Martin had come home to lunch from his store, and as the Curlytops
+entered the dining room they saw their father and mother with serious
+looks on their faces. Mr. Martin had just been reading a letter, the
+same letter the postman had left after rescuing Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," Mr. Martin was saying, "I think we'll both have to take that
+trip, Mother, and see about this. Yes, we'll both have to go."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, are you going somewhere?" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>"Take us!" begged Janet.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Martin shook her head slowly. There was a worried look on her face.</p>
+
+<p>"This isn't to be a pleasure trip," she said. "You children couldn't
+possibly go. It's about business. Just daddy and I will go, if we have
+to. But I don't want to go away with winter coming on."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you have to go?" Janet wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"Because, unless we do, daddy may lose a lot of money," said Mrs. Martin
+gravely. "We wouldn't want that to happen. If we go away we shall have
+to leave you children behind, and I don't like to do that, however&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the bark of a dog sounded outside, and there came a ring at the
+front door.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody's coming!" cried Ted, making a dash for the hall.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span><a name="iii" id="iii"></a>CHAPTER III<br />
+
+<small>WHAT SHALL WE DO?</small></h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">"Here</span>, Teddy! Wait a minute!" called Mr. Martin, but Ted did not wait.
+He was already at the front door. Trouble had started after his brother,
+but Janet remained with her mother.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder who it can be, just at lunch time," said Mrs. Martin. She
+glanced at the table to see if it were properly set, and began to think
+rapidly whether there would be enough pie for dessert.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you and daddy really have to go away, Mother?" asked Janet, as the
+murmur of voices came from the front hall, whither Mr. Martin and
+Trouble had followed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid so," was the answer. "Your father had a letter this morning
+telling of some trouble about business, and unless he wishes to lose a
+lot of money he and I will have to go and see about some property he
+owns in a distant state."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>"But I don't see why we couldn't go!" said Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Take you out of school, with the fall term just well started!"
+exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "No, indeed! You must stay and study; that is,
+all but William."</p>
+
+<p>"But we don't want to stay here if you and daddy go away!" cried Janet,
+almost on the verge of tears. "It won't be any fun here alone!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I suppose not," agreed Mrs. Martin. "And yet your father and I must
+go. We can't afford to lose this money. I must make some plans. I hardly
+know what to do. I wonder who came then?"</p>
+
+<p>More talk and laughter sounded in the hall. Teddy came tramping back
+into the dining room, carrying with him a little jacket belonging to his
+brother William.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, Mother!" cried Ted. "Skyrocket had dragged this over in Bob
+Newton's yard. He was playing with Trouble's jacket&mdash;I mean our dog
+was&mdash;and Bob saw him and took it away. Bob just brought it back. Look,
+it's got a hole in it!" and Ted held up the little garment, torn by the
+teeth of Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a bad dog!" cried Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>"He didn't mean to!" said Ted quickly. "Bob said he was just shaking it
+and playing with it."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I&mdash;guess he was makin' believe it was a cat," explained Bob, another
+of the playmates of the Curlytops. "I saw him come runnin' into my yard,
+shakin' somethin', and first I thought it was a cat. But when I saw what
+it was&mdash;Trouble's coat&mdash;I took it away from Skyrocket, and brought it
+over here."</p>
+
+<p>"We're much obliged to you, Bob," said Mrs. Martin. Mr. Martin, when he
+found the visitor was not for him, began reading the troublesome letter
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's Skyrocket?" asked Janet, not seeing the dog with which she and
+Ted had so much fun.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he ran off when I took the jacket away from him," answered Bob.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder how he got Trouble's jacket," mused Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I took it off when I climbed up on de boxes to slide," explained
+William.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" exclaimed Ted. "I saw it on the ground after Mr. Brennan
+lifted him down with the stepladder. You brought him out his sweater,
+Mother."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>"Yes, so I did. I thought he had come out with nothing over his waist.
+Well, I'll have to mend this jacket now. Trouble, why didn't you pick up
+your jacket after you dropped it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;jest&mdash;'cause!" murmured the little fellow, and they all laughed
+except Mr. Martin. He seemed too worried over the letter even to smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I must get back," said Bob, twisting his cap which he held in his
+hands. "I&mdash;now&mdash;I've got to get back."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you had your dinner, Bob?" asked Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"Part&mdash;part of it," Bob answered. "All but the fancy part."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you mean the dessert?" asked the mother of the Curlytops.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm, and there wasn't any to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you stay and have dessert with us," suggested Mrs. Martin, well
+knowing how children like to eat away from home.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm, I&mdash;I could do that," agreed Bob, his face brightening.</p>
+
+<p>"Couldn't he have all dinner with us, and not just dessert?" suggested
+Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," his mother replied.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>"Maybe Bob has eaten all he can," suggested Mr. Martin, folding the
+letter and putting it in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no! I can eat a lot more!" quickly cried Bob. "You ought to see me
+eat!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll give you a chance," said Mr. Martin, and they all sat down
+to the table.</p>
+
+<p>The Curlytop children told Bob about the toboggan slide, which he had
+not yet seen, as he lived several houses down the street and had had no
+hand in building up the big pile of empty boxes.</p>
+
+<p>"An' you ought to see me in the box!" cried Trouble, when he had a
+chance to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes!" exclaimed Jan. "Oh, how he frightened us!"</p>
+
+<p>While the children were thus talking Mr. and Mrs. Martin were conversing
+in low tones. And once Ted heard his mother ask:</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Something will have to be done," her husband answered. "We must find
+some one to look after the children while we are away, for we shall
+certainly have to go. I can't let this slip away from me."</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed!" agreed his wife, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> sigh. "And yet, with the
+Christmas holidays coming on, it will be too bad to be away from the
+children."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps we may get back by Christmas," remarked her husband.</p>
+
+<p>Ted did not listen to all this, but he heard words here and there, and
+Christmas was one of them.</p>
+
+<p>"How long to Christmas?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite a while," his mother replied. "It isn't Thanksgiving yet."</p>
+
+<p>"How long before it will snow?" Janet wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"That may happen any day now," replied her father, with a glance out of
+the window. "It was getting colder as I came in. If you children go out
+to play again you must wrap up warmly."</p>
+
+<p>"We will!" promised Ted. "We're going to play toboggan again," he added.
+"You can stay and play with us, Bob," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks! That'll be fun. Oh, you have pie!" he added quickly, as he saw
+Nora coming in with the dessert. "I like pie!" he frankly admitted.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," said Ted.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>"An' I want two pieces!" declared Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Hush, dear," cautioned his mother, in a low voice.</p>
+
+<p>The meal over, the Curlytops prepared to go out in the yard again, to
+have fun on their paraffine-greased sleds. Bob ran home after his,
+promising to bring some candle ends, as those Mrs. Martin had found for
+Ted had nearly all been used.</p>
+
+<p>Such fun as the Curlytops and their playmates had in the yard after
+dinner! Tom and Lola came back, with some other boys and girls, and they
+coasted down the toboggan slide one after the other. Trouble was put to
+bed for his afternoon nap, and so neither Ted nor Jan had to watch him,
+which gave them more time for fun.</p>
+
+<p>"Say, it's getting real cold!" exclaimed Bob, blowing on his red hands
+after a coast down the wooden hill. "I guess maybe it will freeze
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it will, Tom?" asked Ted of his best chum.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's pretty cold," was the answer. "But I don't believe it will
+freeze ice enough for skating."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>"If it only freezes a little ice that would be enough," Ted declared.</p>
+
+<p>"No, it wouldn't!" asserted Tom. "They won't let us skate on the pond
+lessen the ice is real thick."</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't thinking of the pond," said Ted. "I have an idea! Come on over
+here, Tom, and we'll talk about it. I'm sorter&mdash;now&mdash;tired of coasting
+on a wooden hill. I'd like some snow."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe it'll snow and freeze, too," said Tom, as he and Ted walked off
+by themselves to talk.</p>
+
+<p>That evening, after an afternoon of fun on the toboggan, the Curlytops
+sat in the living room reading on one side of the table, while Mr. and
+Mrs. Martin were talking in low voices on the other side. Trouble had
+been put to bed. It was Friday night. There had been no school that day
+on account of an educational meeting which all the teachers had to
+attend, and there was no home work for Ted and Janet to worry about. So
+they could sit up and read until bedtime.</p>
+
+<p>But, for some reason or other, Ted did not seem very intent on his book.
+Every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> now and then he would look up from it and appear to be listening.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" Janet asked him after one of these periods of
+listening.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing," her brother answered.</p>
+
+<p>Janet, too, was not as much interested in her story as she ordinarily
+was. What her mother had said that afternoon, about having to go away
+with daddy leaving the children at home, was worrying the little girl
+more than she liked to admit.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Martin was just saying something about getting ready to leave in
+about a week, and Janet was going to ask who would come to keep house
+and stay with them, when a shrill whistle sounded out in the street.</p>
+
+<p>"There's Tom!" cried Ted, dropping his book and fairly jumping from his
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>"You aren't going out now!" said Mr. Martin. "It's after eight o'clock,
+Ted."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm just going out in the back yard a minute," Ted answered. "I
+promised Tom I'd meet him there."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, but don't go away," his mother said, and Ted promised.
+Snatching his cap down off the nail, he hurried out, giving a shrill
+whistle while still in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> house in answer to another call from his
+chum.</p>
+
+<p>"Quiet, Ted! You'll awaken William!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "And don't
+slam the door!"</p>
+
+<p>But this warning came too late. The door was slammed, but Trouble seemed
+to sleep on. He was tired from his day of play. Janet could hear Tom and
+Ted talking on the side porch.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess maybe they're going to toboggan a little by moonlight," thought
+the girl. Then her mind went back to the letter of that afternoon, and
+she remembered what her father had said about having to go away or else
+lose a lot of money. Janet did not understand much about business&mdash;very
+little, in fact&mdash;but she knew what it meant to lose money. Once she had
+dropped five cents down a hole, and she never got it back. She always
+remembered this.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's going to stay with us, Mother?" Janet asked, after a pause.</p>
+
+<p>"Stay with you when, dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"When you and daddy go away."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we haven't decided that," her father answered. "In fact, it's
+that which bothers us. We don't know just what to do.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> If it wasn't that
+winter is coming we might take you along. But, as it is, we can't."</p>
+
+<p>"We want somebody nice to stay with us," insisted Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, of course, dear," agreed her mother. "We'll have to write to some
+of our relatives and see who can come. I don't know just who would be
+the best, or who could spare the time. And while I know you two
+Curlytops will be all right, I shall be worried over William."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll look after Trouble!" promised Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know you'll do your best, dear. And now&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Martin never finished that sentence. Suddenly, from the yard,
+came loud shouts, a banging, rattling noise, and Ted's voice could be
+heard yelling:</p>
+
+<p>"Look out! Look out!"</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span><a name="iv" id="iv"></a>CHAPTER IV<br />
+
+<small>UNCLE TOBY AGAIN</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Daddy</span> and Mother Martin fairly jumped from their chairs and hastened to
+the back door. Nora Jones, the jolly, good-natured cook, was before
+them. She had just finished the kitchen work, and was on her way to her
+room when she heard the shouts of Ted and Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mrs. Martin! Something must have happened!" cried Nora.</p>
+
+<p>"It sounds so," agreed Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I hope they're not hurt!" murmured Jan.</p>
+
+<p>Just then the shouts of the boys were mingled with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't sound very serious," said Mr. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>The back door was opened and the light from the kitchen shone on the
+toboggan slide. The light also showed Tom and Ted in a mixed-up mass at
+the bottom of the slide, each one holding a tin pail.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="400" height="538" alt="" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;WE BOTH WENT DOWN THE SLIDE TOGETHER WITH THE PAILS.&quot;
+<a href="#i001">Page 38</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+And as Mr. and Mrs. Martin and Janet and Nora hastened out they saw that
+both boys were dripping wet, and as they untangled their legs from each
+other and stood up, it could be seen that they were now shivering, for
+the night was cold.</p>
+
+<p>"What in the world has happened?" asked Mother Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"And what in the world have you been doing?" asked Daddy Martin, rather
+sternly.</p>
+
+<p>It was very plain to be seen that Ted and Tom had been doing something.</p>
+
+<p>"We&mdash;we&mdash;now&mdash;we were&mdash;" began Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't stand here to tell us! Get in the house and into dry clothes!"
+cried Ted's mother. "You'll catch your deaths of colds out here! Get in
+the house now and explain later! Are either of you hurt?" she asked, for
+she noticed that each boy was limping.</p>
+
+<p>"Not much," answered Tom, trying to smile. "We just tumbled down the
+toboggan slide, that's all, and the water&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind now; tell us later," said Mr. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>And when Tom and Ted had taken off their wet clothes, Tom being given an
+extra<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> suit of Ted's, the two boys, sitting by the fire, told what had
+happened.</p>
+
+<p>"We wanted some real ice on the toboggan slide," explained Ted. "Rubbing
+candles on your sled runners is all right, but we wanted some real ice.
+It didn't snow, so I said, 'let's pour water on our slide and let it
+freeze to-night, 'cause it's cold.'"</p>
+
+<p>"And did you?" asked his father, trying not to smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Daddy, we did. But I guess it isn't frozen yet," answered Ted. "We
+were spilling pails of water down on the slide. We stood on the top
+platform where Trouble fell off of, and then, all of a sudden, I
+slipped, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and he grabbed hold of me, and then I slipped!" broke in Tom, with
+a laugh. "And <a name="i001" id="i001"></a>we both went down the slide together with the pails. It
+was almost as slippery as if there was ice on it," he added.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it was slippery all right," chuckled Ted. "And if it freezes
+to-night we'll have packs of fun to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>The thought of the fun they might have seemed to make the boys forget
+their present troubles.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm glad it isn't any worse," said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> Mrs. Martin. "You boys should
+be careful on that slide. Just think! You might have been hurt!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you can't get hurt on that slide," declared Ted. "It's nice and
+smooth. And, anyhow, I didn't mean to slip; I couldn't help it." He
+laughed as he remembered it, and Jan laughed too. She wished she had
+been there to see Tom and Ted toppling down the slide together with the
+empty pails banging. It was this that had made the noise.</p>
+
+<p>"It was like Jack and Jill, falling down the hill," laughed Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," agreed Tom. "But I guess I'd better be going home," he
+added. "Do you s'pose my things are dry yet?" he asked Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, mercy, no!" exclaimed the mother of the Curlytops. "They won't be
+dry until to-morrow. I'll have Nora hang them in the kitchen by the
+range."</p>
+
+<p>"But I guess maybe&mdash;I'd like to, but&mdash;er&mdash;now&mdash;I don't guess my mother
+would like me to stay here all night," said Tom hesitatingly.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't have to stay here all night," Mrs. Martin said.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>"Well, but if my things aren't dry&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, wear those of Ted's that you have on," laughed Mrs. Martin. "I
+didn't know what you meant. That's all right&mdash;wear those things of
+Ted's. He has plenty more. Yours will be dry in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"And I hope there'll be ice on the toboggan slide in the morning!"
+exclaimed Ted. "I wish you could stay all night, Tom. Couldn't he,
+Mother?" he asked wistfully. "We'd be awful good and he could sleep with
+me and we wouldn't pillow fight or anything. And Tom's better'n I am
+about spilling things on the tablecloth at breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it wasn't that I was thinking of," said Mrs. Martin. "I was
+thinking his mother and father would want him home. It's getting late."</p>
+
+<p>"But we don't have to get up early to-morrow. It's Saturday and there's
+no school!" pleaded Ted, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"My mother wouldn't care if I didn't come home, as long as I was over
+here," said Tom, trying not to appear too eager, for that would have
+been almost like asking to remain.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose it would be best for you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> not to go out in the cold
+again, after having been wet," said Mrs. Martin. "We could telephone to
+your mother, Tom."</p>
+
+<p>"All right!" he cried joyfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray!" shouted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Be careful! Don't awaken Trouble!" cautioned Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon the boys quieted down, but they were still bubbling over with
+mirth, talking about the fun they would have sleeping together and the
+other fun they would have on the toboggan slide the next day.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Martin telephoned to the Taylor home, explaining about the little
+accident that had happened to Tom, and suggesting that, if it was all
+right, he should remain with the Curlytops that night. Mr. Taylor said
+it would be all right, and thanked Mr. Martin for his kindness.</p>
+
+<p>Janet remained up a little longer, listening to Tom and Ted telling over
+again just how they had carried pails of water to the top of the wooden
+slope, spilling down the sloping boards the liquid which swished its way
+like rapids in a river. And then came the tumble and fall of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys, as long as you are going to have good times to-morrow I suggest
+that you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> go to bed now," said Mrs. Martin, when it was past nine
+o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to get a glass of water first," said Ted, going toward the
+kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"You can get a drink up in the bathroom," his mother told him.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want this to drink," Ted explained. "I want to fill a glass
+full of water and set it out on the steps."</p>
+
+<p>"What for?" Janet wanted to know. "No birds will come to drink at
+night," she added, for she and her brother had made a bird-feeding
+station in their yard, and also a little shallow basin where the
+feathered songsters could bathe and drink.</p>
+
+<p>"This isn't for birds," Ted explained. "I just want to set a glass of
+water outside and wait to see if it freezes. If it does, then we'll know
+if there's going to be ice on our toboggan slide in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" laughed his mother. "I can't let you stay up until you find
+out if a glass of water will freeze. It would take too long."</p>
+
+<p>"Not to see if just the top froze over," insisted Ted. "I don't mean
+until the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> glass freezes solid. I know that would take a long
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" laughed his mother, giving him a friendly little push from the
+room. "Go to bed! I think it will be cold enough to make at least a skim
+of ice on your toboggan slide. But not much more. So don't be
+disappointed if you have to use candles on your sled runners to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>However, Ted, and Janet, and Tom went to bed filled with joyous hopes
+for the next day. The boys were almost as good as they promised to be,
+not having any pillow fight. But they did "cut up" a little, and had to
+be told, more than once, to get quiet and go to sleep. And finally they
+did.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the fact that the morning brought Saturday, with no school,
+when the children might have slept later had they wished, Tom and Ted
+were up earlier than usual. Hardly stopping to dress properly, the two
+boys ran out into the yard and to the toboggan slide.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray!" cried Tom. "She froze!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a nifty lot of ice!" exclaimed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>And the sloping boards of the toboggan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> slide were covered with a film
+that glistened and sparkled in the sun. The morning air was cold, too,
+and the boys felt sure the ice that had formed from the water they
+poured on would not soon melt.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, Janet!" cried Tom, after breakfast. "Now you can have a real
+toboggan ride!"</p>
+
+<p>"Me, too!" called Trouble, banging his oatmeal spoon on his plate.</p>
+
+<p>"After a while, dear. You aren't dressed yet," his mother told the
+little fellow.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed the toboggan was a real hill of ice now, though the frozen
+covering was thin. And the children had many fine coasts on it, for the
+sleds went faster than when greased with candles.</p>
+
+<p>Lola Taylor came over, and so did other playmates of the Curlytops, and
+you can be sure that after this the thin coating of ice on the boards
+did not last long. It began to wear off and wear thin, first in one
+place and then in another, the rising sun helping to melt it. And before
+noon there was no ice left.</p>
+
+<p>However, the boys and girls had had lots of jolly good fun, and Trouble
+also had his share. As the boards, once they were wet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> from the melting
+ice, were too sticky for the candle-greased sleds to coast on, the fun
+had to be given up just before noon.</p>
+
+<p>But after dinner Tom and Ted found something else that gave them an
+adventure. A little brook ran through a meadow, not far from the home of
+the Curlytops, and on a part of this that was in the shadow from a hill
+there was some ice that was quite thick, and it remained unmelted, as
+the sun did not shine on it.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, look!" cried Ted, as the two chums, wandering through the meadow in
+search of fun, saw the ice. "Look! We can have a slide!"</p>
+
+<p>"Will it hold?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure! Look at Skyrocket!" answered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>The dog had walked out on the thin ice which held him up. But the boys
+did not stop to think that Skyrocket was not as heavy as either of them.
+Also Skyrocket was on four feet, and his weight was more scattered,
+being distributed over a larger surface than theirs would be. But Tom
+and Ted never thought of this. Ice that would hold Skyrocket would hold
+them, they thought.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>In another instant they had walked out on it and were just going to run
+and take a little slide when there was a cracking sound, and, before
+they knew it, both lads had plunged into the brook at one of the deep
+parts.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried Tom and Ted together, for they were quite frightened.</p>
+
+<p>Skyrocket barked and capered about. He did not know whether this was a
+game the boys were playing, or whether their cries meant danger. To tell
+the truth there was not really much danger, as the brook was not up to
+the knees of the boys at this point.</p>
+
+<p>They remained upright, floundering about and struggling in the cold
+water amid chunks of thin ice. For the ice was really too thin to hold
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what are we going to do?" cried Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm nearer shore than you are!" panted Ted. "Grab hold of my hand and
+I'll help you out!"</p>
+
+<p>But as the boys were struggling together they heard a voice shouting at
+them from the far side of the meadow. They looked and saw a man running
+toward them. He reached them before they had gotten to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> the bank where
+Skyrocket was wildly barking, and, reaching his hands out to them, the
+man pulled Tom and Ted to safety.</p>
+
+<p>"What in the world are you lads up to?" the man asked.</p>
+
+<p>Something in the voice caused Ted to look up, and he cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Toby!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Uncle Toby!" admitted the man, with a laugh. "It's a good thing I
+happened to take the short cut across lots from the railroad. Now tell
+me why you chaps went in swimming on a day like this?" and he looked
+first at Ted and then at Tom.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span><a name="v" id="v"></a>CHAPTER V<br />
+
+<small>OFF TO THE COUNTRY</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Skyrocket</span> ran up to Uncle Toby, barking and sniffing around the legs of
+the jolly man who had pulled the two boys from the ice-cold brook.</p>
+
+<p>"So you remember me, don't you?" chuckled Uncle Toby, as he watched the
+wagging tail of the dog.</p>
+
+<p>"I do, too!" said Tom. "Have you got all your pets still?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most of 'em!" answered Uncle Toby. "But we mustn't stand here talking,
+with you boys wet through. Come on to the house. Run! That's the best
+way to keep from taking a cold! Run!"</p>
+
+<p>"We&mdash;we got&mdash;all wet&mdash;last night, too," Ted informed Uncle Toby, the
+words being jerked out of him because of the jolting effect of the run.</p>
+
+<p>"Were you in swimming last night?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>"We were making a toboggan slide like those you told about seeing in
+Canada," explained Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"And we weren't in swimming now. We were sliding and the ice broke,"
+explained Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, never mind about that now," said Uncle Toby. "Come on&mdash;run!" And
+he ran so fast, half holding up the boys who trotted along on either
+side of him, with Skyrocket leaping along behind, that by the time the
+house was reached Ted and Tom each felt quite warm in spite of their icy
+bath.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my goodness! What'll your ma say?" cried Nora, as Uncle Toby rushed
+the boys into the cozy kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"Get upstairs and bring them down some dry clothes. Let them undress and
+dress here by the fire. The water won't hurt the kitchen floor," said
+Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while Tom was again attired in his own suit, which was now
+dry, and Ted had on an extra one of his own, while the wet garments were
+taken down cellar to be hung near the furnace.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you boys had better stay in the house the rest of the day,"
+said Mrs. Martin,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> when she had greeted Uncle Toby and had heard what
+had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"I have to go home," said Tom. "Thank you for drying my clothes, and I'm
+sorry I got Ted's wet," he added.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, be careful," cautioned Mrs. Martin, as Ted's playmate left,
+promising to run all the way so he would not get a chill. But the day
+was quite warm now, all the ice having been melted from the toboggan
+slide, and even the water on it drying up.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what kindly fortune brings you here, Uncle Toby?" asked Mrs.
+Martin, as soon as she could sit down for a chat.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I came to ask a favor," went on the old gentleman, who had traveled
+in many parts of the world and who had collected quite a few strange
+pets, some of which he still kept at his home in Pocono. "But you look
+worried, Ruth," he went on. "Has anything happened? Don't worry about
+those boys. They won't take cold from a little dipping, even if the
+weather is getting a bit frosty."</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't worrying about them," said Mother Martin, with a smile. "But
+we have had some other troubles. Dick has had word that he is likely to
+lose a lot of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> money, and he and I will have to take a trip to see about
+some property. We'll have to go right away, or within a day or so, and
+what to do about the children I don't know. We can't very well take them
+with us. I was just thinking we might get some of our relations to come
+and stay here while we're gone. Then you drop in. Have you come to tell
+me that you are coming to pay a visit? I'd leave my Curlytops and
+William with you and know they were safe."</p>
+
+<p>"And I'd ask nothing better than to look after them," said Uncle Toby,
+with a smile. "But I didn't come to tell you I was coming here. Instead
+I came to invite you to my place in the country. I have a large cottage,
+or camp, as you know, at Crystal Lake, just outside Pocono. I'm going to
+have a sort of holiday party out there this winter, and I want you and
+the Curlytops to come and spend some time with me. In fact I'll take
+some of their playmates, if their folks will spare them. That's what I
+came for&mdash;to invite you all out to my place to have jolly times through
+the holidays."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how lovely!" cried Janet, who heard what was being said.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>"Could we have a toboggan slide there?" Ted wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"Me tum?" lisped Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure you'll come!" cried Uncle Toby, catching baby William up in his
+arms and hugging and kissing him. "There wouldn't be any fun if we left
+you behind. When can you get ready to come?" he asked Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"Why," answered the mother of the Curlytops slowly, "I don't see that
+Dick and I can come at all. We must take this business trip or daddy
+will lose a lot of money," she explained to the children. "But your
+coming at this time is most fortunate, Uncle Toby. As long as you are
+going to have a party out at your country cabin on Crystal Lake, it will
+be just the thing for the children. They can go and stay with you while
+Dick and I are away."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" cried Uncle Toby. "Aunt Sallie&mdash;you remember her I guess?"
+he went on&mdash;"she'll be there to cook for us and see that the children
+don't get their feet wet."</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Sallie," remarked Mrs. Martin. "I don't seem to remember&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"She's Mrs. Watson, the old lady who went away from my house the time I
+started<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> for South America, and left you my pets to look after," Uncle
+Toby explained. "She's a distant relative of mine, and I call her Aunt
+Sallie, though she isn't really my aunt. But she's come back to keep
+house for me, and she'll go out to the camp with us. It will be just the
+place for the older children, and they can go to school there. We've got
+a good little country school not far from the lake. In fact they can
+skate to school when the lake gets frozen over, and that will be soon if
+this weather keeps up."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what fun!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"It will be just the thing for us," said Mrs. Martin. "It will take away
+all our worries over what we were going to do about the children while
+we were away."</p>
+
+<p>"And did you say we could have some playmates out there?" asked Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, bring along some boy or girl chum&mdash;one for each of you," replied
+Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to have Tom!" exclaimed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"And I'll ask Lola," said Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"All right," agreed Mr. Bardeen. "And they may find some other playmates
+when they get out there," he added in a low voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean new pets?" asked Ted, overhearing what Uncle Toby
+remarked.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>"That's a secret," was the smiling answer, and he made a sign to Mrs.
+Martin that he would explain to her later. As for Ted and Jan they were
+so excited over the prospect of going to spend the holidays in the
+country cabin of Uncle Toby that they danced up and down and around the
+room, swinging Trouble with them.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going over to tell Tom!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"And I'll tell Lola," added his sister.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a while, Curlytops," advised Mrs. Martin. "Let's see what daddy
+says."</p>
+
+<p>The children felt that they never could wait until their father came
+home from the store that evening. But he did arrive at last. Ted and
+Janet were sure he was late, but, as a matter of fact, he was a little
+ahead of his usual time, Mother Martin having telephoned to him about
+the visit of Uncle Toby. The latter had come along suddenly, not even
+writing to say that he was on his way.</p>
+
+<p>"I just got the notion into my head that I wanted the Curlytops and some
+of their playmates out at my place on a holiday visit," he explained,
+"and so I packed up and come on. Didn't pack up much either," he said.
+"Just a bag. And I left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> that at the station and took the short cut
+across lots. Good thing I did," he concluded, winking at Teddy.</p>
+
+<p>"You must never again go sliding on the ice until you are sure it will
+hold you," said Mr. Martin to his son. "Just because it held up
+Skyrocket doesn't prove that it will hold you. If you don't promise to
+be careful I can't let you go to Crystal Lake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll be careful!" promised Ted and Janet in one breath.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess this means that you've made up your mind to let them come with
+me, is that so?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it will be the best thing that could happen," answered Daddy
+Martin. "Ruth and I must go to see about that property. It will take
+both of us to clear matters up and save my money. I know the children
+will be in good hands when they are with you and Aunt Sallie. So we'll
+let them go."</p>
+
+<p>"And can we take Skyrocket?" begged Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I guess so," replied Uncle Toby. "My two dogs, Tip and Top,
+have been sold. I haven't as many pets as I had, though Jack, the
+monkey, Mr. Nip, the parrot, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> Snuff, the cat, I have kept. I want
+them for company."</p>
+
+<p>"Then if we take our dog it will be just about right," decided Ted.
+"We'll leave Turnover, our cat, here with Nora."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, she'll need company," said Mrs. Martin. "And do you really mean it
+about taking some playmates for Ted and Janet, Uncle Toby?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I do! Let Tom and Lola come!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go tell them!" offered Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll come, too," added Jan.</p>
+
+<p>Trouble wanted to follow, but as it was dark now, being after supper,
+his mother decided the best place for him was in bed. And there he was
+taken, after he had fallen asleep in Uncle Toby's arms.</p>
+
+<p>"But what is this about some other children that are going to be at your
+cabin?" asked Mrs. Martin, while Ted and Janet were still over at the
+Taylor home.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to take charge of two little Fresh Air children," explained
+Uncle Toby. "You know I give money to some of the big societies in the
+city, and these societies send out children to the country in the
+summer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> It isn't usual to send them out in the winter, but this is a
+special case.</p>
+
+<p>"Their mother, whom I knew when she was a girl, has to go to the
+hospital for an operation, and she has no one with whom she can leave
+Harry and Mary. So I agreed to take charge of them this winter, as their
+mother may have to stay in the hospital a long time to get well and
+strong."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is their father&mdash;dead?" asked Mr. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid he is," answered Uncle Toby. "And yet it isn't known for
+sure."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" asked Mother Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"You see it's this way," Uncle Toby explained. "Their father, Frank
+Benton, went to the big war. He was heard of for a time and then all
+trace of him was lost. I suppose he was killed in some battle and never
+found until after the fighting was over. Anyhow his two children, who
+are about as old as Ted and Janet, were left with their mother. She took
+care of them as well as she could until she became ill.</p>
+
+<p>"One of the Fresh Air Society ladies heard about their sad case and she
+wrote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> to me. I said I'd keep the children all winter. And now when your
+Curlytops come out with their friends Tom and Lola they'll find other
+playmates, and I hope they'll all get along well together."</p>
+
+<p>"I think they will," said Mr. Martin. "It is very kind of you to do
+this."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I like it!" declared Uncle Toby. "I like children and animals. The
+more the merrier. And now let's plan how soon the children can come back
+with me."</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Jan returned a little later with word that Tom and Lola could
+make the trip, and the next few days were busily spent in getting ready.
+Mr. and Mrs. Martin made arrangements to go on their trip, to try to
+save the money that Daddy Martin was in danger of losing.</p>
+
+<p>Except for this there would have been no sadness when the time of
+parting came. But the Curlytops could not help seeing that their father
+and mother looked rather worried.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope Dad doesn't lose that money," said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," echoed his sister, with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>But they were not sad for long. The day came when the children were to
+depart for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> their holiday stay at Uncle Toby's cabin on the shore of
+Crystal Lake.</p>
+
+<p>"All aboard!" cried the jolly old gentleman, as the automobile drew up
+in front of the house to take along the Curlytops, Trouble, Tom, Lola,
+Uncle Toby himself, and Skyrocket. "All aboard!"</p>
+
+<p>"Good-bye! Good-bye!" cried the children, as they piled in. The dog
+barked his farewells.</p>
+
+<p>"Have a good time!" said Mother Martin, and there was just a tear or two
+in her eyes as she waved her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have you all back again after Christmas!" said Daddy Martin.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what fun we'll have at Christmas!" shouted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"All aboard!" called Uncle Toby again, and they were off on the first
+part of their trip to the country for the holidays.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span><a name="vi" id="vi"></a>CHAPTER VI<br />
+
+<small>A FLURRY OF SNOW</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Uncle Toby</span> drove the Martin automobile through the streets of Cresco.
+The car was a large, comfortable, roomy one, all inclosed, so that the
+cold weather would make no difference. There was even a small heating
+apparatus, a sort of radiator kept warm by the muffler under the car, so
+that the children would be cozy and warm even in a snow storm.</p>
+
+<p>"There's Tommie Wilson!" called Ted, as he saw a boy walking along the
+street. "He's got to go to school!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and there's Bob Newton," added Tom. "I guess they wish they were
+like us, and didn't have to go to school!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you'll have to go to school as soon as we get out to Crystal Lake,"
+declared Uncle Toby. "Don't imagine, because you are going to have
+holiday fun, that you won't have to go to school."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>"But it'll be more fun going to school out there than it will be here,"
+said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure it will!" agreed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Lola and Jan leaned over toward the side window of the auto to wave to
+Jennie Jackson, a girl they both knew, and Jennie waved back, wonder
+showing on her face at the appearance of the Curlytops and their
+playmates going off in an automobile. And when the other children of
+Cresco learned what had happened to Ted, Jan, Tom, and Lola there were
+some sighs of disappointment that such good luck had not happened to
+every boy and girl.</p>
+
+<p>Skyrocket seemed to be enjoying himself very much. He was a well-behaved
+dog and appeared to enjoy the ride in the automobile. He was perched on
+the front seat, between Ted and Tom, who sat beside Uncle Toby. In the
+back were the two girls and the baggage.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Ted, when they had ridden on some little distance and
+Uncle Toby had turned into the broad highway that led to Pocono, several
+miles away. "Oh, I forgot all about it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Forgot about what?" asked Uncle Toby,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> as he stopped his big automobile
+to let a little car shoot out of a side street.</p>
+
+<p>"I forgot to tell the fellows they could use our toboggan slide while
+we're gone," explained Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" agreed Tom. "Bob Newton and some of the other boys could
+have fun on it after the snow comes. We ought to have told 'em!"</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we have one out at Crystal Lake, Uncle Toby?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon we can rig up one," was the answer. "There is a man out there
+who has a real toboggan, too, one he brought from Canada."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that'll be great!" cried Tom.</p>
+
+<p>On went the big car with the Curlytops and their playmates, bearing them
+to the happy country where they hoped to have much fun over the
+Christmas holidays that would soon be at hand. The children looked out
+of the windows of the car. They had made an early start, soon after
+sunrise, but now the sun had gone under clouds.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it will snow?" Ted anxiously asked of Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder but what it might," was the answer. "Do you want it
+to?"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>"Sure we do!" cried all four children at once, and Trouble added:</p>
+
+<p>"I make a snow man, I will!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then I guess it will snow," chuckled Uncle Toby. "And I wouldn't
+be a bit surprised if we should have a storm before we get to my place,"
+he added.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean before we get to Crystal Lake?" asked Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"No, for we aren't going there direct," said Uncle Toby. "We are first
+going to my place in Pocono, where we'll stay a few days. I have to get
+some things there, and also take aboard two more children."</p>
+
+<p>"Two more children?" cried Ted and Janet. Then Ted added:</p>
+
+<p>"Who are they?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope they'll be playmates for you," answered Mr. Bardeen. "I'll tell
+you about them later. Anyhow, first we'll go to Pocono, and later, in a
+day or so, out to Crystal Lake. That will give you time to meet the pets
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to take them out to the Lake with you?" asked Tom, who
+knew about the different animals Uncle Toby was so fond of.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no, I hardly think so," was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> answer. "It will be pretty cold
+for my alligator, the monkey, and the parrot. Snuff, my cat, will be
+better off if she stays at my house in Pocono. But you can take
+Skyrocket out with you."</p>
+
+<p>"That'll be all right," decided Ted. "But it would be a lot of fun if we
+could have all the pets out at the Lake."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid you'll be so busy having good times out of doors, and going
+to school, at least a little, that you wouldn't have much chance to play
+with the pets," chuckled Uncle Toby. "And I wouldn't want any of them to
+take cold. A dog is all right, romping out in the snow, but frost wasn't
+meant for monkeys and parrots."</p>
+
+<p>"Where will you get these two new children that are going to be our
+playmates?" asked Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"They are coming on a train. I expect they'll arrive at Pocono about a
+week after we get there. I'll tell you about them later. They are poor
+children, and they haven't had as many good times as you Curlytops have
+had, so I hope you'll be kind to them."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we will!" chorused all four.</p>
+
+<p>"An' I tish 'em, dat's what I do!" declared Trouble.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>"Yes, and I'll 'tish' you!" laughed Lola, as she kissed the little chap.</p>
+
+<p>On and on rumbled the big auto, until it came to a small town, which, as
+soon as they reached the center of it, Ted and Janet remembered.</p>
+
+<p>"We stopped here for dinner when we were going out to your place this
+summer!" cried Janet to Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. And we're going to stop here for lunch again," said Uncle Toby.
+"That is, if you are hungry," he added with a sly twinkle in his eyes.
+"Of course if you'd rather not eat&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I want to eat all right!" shouted Tom and Ted and Janet and Lola,
+all at one time.</p>
+
+<p>"I wants pie!" burst out Trouble, and they all shouted with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>A little later the car drew up in front of a restaurant.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's the same one where we ate before!" exclaimed Jan, in
+wonderment.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, your father told me you stopped here," said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>As he was helping the children out of the car a ragged boy, with a
+pinched and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> hungry face, stepped up, and, touching his cap, asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Like to have me watch your machine, sir? There's been a lot of autos
+stolen around here lately. I'll watch it good for a quarter."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you?" asked Uncle Toby, with a kind smile. "And if a thief comes,
+what would you do? You aren't very big?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd holler for a cop&mdash;I mean a policeman," was the boy's quick answer.
+"I know the policeman on this beat."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, I guess you can watch the machine," said Mr. Bardeen.
+"Skyrocket will help you keep guard over it."</p>
+
+<p>"Who's Skyrocket?"</p>
+
+<p>"This dog," and Uncle Toby pointed. Skyrocket had been holding back, for
+he did not like strangers, especially ragged ones, and this boy was
+rather ragged. But when Uncle Toby made it plain that the boy was to be
+regarded as a friend, the dog wagged his tail in welcome and curled up
+on the front seat.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do with the quarter I'm to give you for watching
+the car?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to get something to eat with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> part of it," was the answer.
+"I'm hungry. The rest I'm going to turn in to my mother. She needs it."</p>
+
+<p>"Hum," said Uncle Toby, thoughtfully. "That's stretching a quarter
+rather too much, I think. Now you sit out here in the car, and I'll have
+the waiter bring you something to eat on a tray. Oh, don't worry!" Mr.
+Bardeen hastened to say, with a smile. "It won't come out of your
+quarter. I'll put it on my bill. And I'm going to have a bone sent out
+for Skyrocket. He'll keep you company."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. I like dogs," said the boy, with a smile. "I'm much obliged
+to you. I'll watch your car good."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I think you will. Well, children, run in and get started on your
+lunch. I don't want to get to Pocono after dark, and it looks as if we
+might get caught in a snow storm, but it may hold off."</p>
+
+<p>The Curlytops and their playmates were ushered to their seats by a
+waiter who smiled at them.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember us?" asked Ted, while Uncle Toby was giving orders to
+another waiter about sending something to eat out to the boy, and also a
+bone for Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>"Of course I remember you," the waiter answered, as he pushed the chairs
+under Janet and Lola. "And I haven't forgotten what that little chap
+did," and he pointed to William, who was staring about the room as if
+trying to remember where he had seen it before.</p>
+
+<p>"What did Trouble do?" asked Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"He turned the faucet of the water-cooler and let the ice water run all
+over the floor," explained Janet with a laugh. "Mother's feet were in
+the puddle of water before we knew what had happened."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Trouble!" chided Lola. "Did you do that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;well, I didn't do it on pur&mdash;now&mdash;on purspuss!" stammered
+Trouble, as they all laughed.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby came and sat down at the table with the children, and the
+waiter who remembered the Curlytop party from their other visit was soon
+busy serving them. A good meal on a tray was taken out to the boy in the
+automobile and a juicy bone was sent to Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p>"This is jolly good fun!" declared Tom, who had not traveled about as
+much as had the Curlytops.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>"Wait until we get out to Crystal Lake!" exclaimed Ted. "Then we'll have
+more fun. I hope school won't be very hard," he added in a whisper to
+his playmate.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, teachers aren't very strict around the holidays," answered Tom.</p>
+
+<p>The meal was almost over when Lola, glancing out of the window, uttered
+an exclamation and cried:</p>
+
+<p>"It's snowing!"</p>
+
+<p>Surely enough, a flurry of the white crystals was falling.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby looked a bit anxious.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to hurry you children," he said. "But as soon as you have
+finished we'd better be on our way. We don't want to be stuck in the
+snow."</p>
+
+<p>And as they went out to get in the automobile again the air was thick
+with the white flakes.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span><a name="vii" id="vii"></a>CHAPTER VII<br />
+
+<small>IN THE STORM</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Seeing</span> the Curlytops and their playmates coming from the restaurant with
+Uncle Toby, the boy who had been watching the automobile got out,
+followed by Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I see you didn't let any one take the car," said Uncle Toby with
+a smile, as he paid the boy, giving him more money than the lad had
+asked for.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no! They couldn't take this car while I was in it," was the reply.
+"Though I guess your dog would make a fuss, too, if anybody tried it.
+Two or three men just sort of stepped up to look at the car, and
+Firecracker growled."</p>
+
+<p>"Firecracker?" exclaimed Ted, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Isn't that the name you called your dog?" asked the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"No; it's Skyrocket," answered Jan.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>"Well, I knew it had something to do with fireworks," laughed the ragged
+lad.</p>
+
+<p>"But this is too much money," he said to Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, I guess you've earned it," was the reply. "Sitting in
+a car doing nothing isn't much fun."</p>
+
+<p>The snow flakes kept on sifting down, swirling faster and faster as the
+automobile started off, the children calling their good-byes to the boy
+who had watched the car. They had left him much better off than when
+they first met him, for he had had a good meal and earned some money.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit tight now, everybody!" ordered Uncle Toby, as they left the busier
+part of the village where they had stopped for a meal, and drew near the
+open country. "Sit tight, for I'm going to drive faster, and I don't
+want you falling off the seats."</p>
+
+<p>"What you goin' to drive fast for?" Trouble wanted to know. "Is you
+goin' to have a race, Uncle Toby?"</p>
+
+<p>"A sort of race, yes, Trouble," was the answer. "I'm going to race and
+see if we can get home ahead of the big storm that I'm afraid is coming
+down on us."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it will be a very big<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> storm?" asked Ted, and he looked
+with laughing eyes at Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder," was the answer. "And, though we have a strong car
+here, we don't want to get stuck in a snow drift and have to stay all
+night."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think that would be lots of fun," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"What? With nothing to eat except a few chocolate cakes Jan and Lola
+have in a bag?" exclaimed Uncle Toby. "That is if they have any of the
+cakes left."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, we have them," Jan hastened to say, for she and her girl chum
+had bought some just before reaching the restaurant, and had not eaten
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's all we'd have in the way of 'rations,' as the soldiers
+call them, if we got stuck in the storm," declared Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we don't want to get stuck," decided Ted, and Tom agreed with him.
+The boys were fond of eating. Most boys are, I believe.</p>
+
+<p>What Uncle Toby said and feared about the storm seemed to be coming
+true. Of course the automobile was very far from being caught in any
+drift, for the snow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> had not yet begun to pile up very much. But the
+flakes were coming down thicker and faster, and the wind was beginning
+to blow. It did not blow inside the cozy car, which was warm and
+comfortable, so that the boys and girls could unbutton their wraps. But
+they could hear the wind swishing around outside, and they could see the
+flakes of snow dashed against the glass windows.</p>
+
+<p>After riding about an hour, the party was out in a country district
+where the houses were few and far apart. It was rather lonesome, for
+they went many miles without meeting another automobile. The snow was
+deeper here, and, more than once, the wheels of the Martin car ran
+through little piles of white crystals.</p>
+
+<p>"They've had a storm here before this one that's blowing now," said
+Uncle Toby, as he looked at what were really quite high drifts on some
+parts of the road. "It may be worse farther on."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we get stuck?" Ted wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no telling," answered Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>Ted and Tom did not want to say they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> were glad of it, but they were
+real boys and they felt that they would not a bit mind being caught in a
+big drift so they would have to dig their way out. They forgot, for the
+time, about having nothing to eat.</p>
+
+<p>Passing through a small village, which was now thickly covered with snow
+from the storm that was getting worse and worse all the while, Uncle
+Toby drove the car once more out in the country. Suddenly he leaned
+forward and shifted the gear lever.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going into second speed," was the answer, and the boys knew what
+this meant. "There's quite a hill ahead of us," Uncle Toby went on.
+"Though I could take it on high if it wasn't for the snow, I can't do it
+now. We'll try it on second, and if that won't bring us up we'll have to
+go back into first speed."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we get to your house to-night?" asked Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," answered Uncle Toby. "Don't worry!"</p>
+
+<p>But Jan could not help feeling a bit anxious. She was more worried over
+what might happen to Trouble than herself, her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> other brother or her
+playmates, for they were all older. But Trouble was used to his mother
+at night.</p>
+
+<p>How he would behave now, away from home for the first time, remained to
+be seen. Jan wondered what her father and mother were doing now, and she
+hoped Daddy Martin would not lose that money. She wondered if they would
+be poor. That wouldn't be at all pleasant, she thought.</p>
+
+<p>However, her ideas and those of the others were suddenly switched into
+new places, for the big car gave a lurch to one side and came to a stop
+with a jolt, awakening Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"What's matter?" he asked sleepily.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid we are stuck," said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a big drift right in front of us," announced Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," agreed Mr. Bardeen. "I thought I could go through it but it's
+deeper than I had any idea of. No you don't!" he quickly cried as the
+automobile seemed about to slip backward. He put on both brakes and
+brought the car to a stop.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, is anything going to happen?" asked Lola.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>"No! No!" laughed Uncle Toby. "Don't be afraid. I didn't change into
+first speed quickly enough and stalled, or stopped my engine. I'll start
+up again in a minute. But I guess I'd better put some stones under the
+wheels, to block them so they won't slide downhill as I start up again
+with the brakes off."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll get some stones!" cried Ted. "I know how to do that! I often do
+it for dad on a hill. Come on, Tom!"</p>
+
+<p>The two boys scrambled from the car out into the storm. As the door was
+opened in came a swirl of white flakes, and Trouble tried to catch them
+by sticking out his red tongue.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you'll have hard work to find any stones," said Uncle Toby,
+looking at Tom and Ted floundering around in the snow. "But it won't be
+safe to take the brakes off until we get something to block the wheels."</p>
+
+<p>The reason for that was this. The car was now held from sliding backward
+downhill because Uncle Toby had put on the brakes. But to start up
+again, even in first or lowest speed, he would have to take off the
+brakes, and the car might begin to slide<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> down before the engine could
+begin pulling it up. With stones blocked behind the rear wheels, this
+would not happen.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll find some stones!" cried Tom, kicking about in the snow,
+moving his feet from side to side. Soon he felt something big and hard.
+Reaching down with his hands, he began clearing away the snow and
+discovered a stone. But it was frozen fast to the ground, and Tom could
+not move it.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll help you!" offered Ted, running over to his chum. Ted had not yet
+found any stone.</p>
+
+<p>As the boys kicked away at the stone, hoping to loosen it, Trouble
+called out through the crack of the door:</p>
+
+<p>"Is you playin' feetball?"</p>
+
+<p>"It does look like it, doesn't it?" laughed Ted, and then, with a last
+hard kick, he loosened the stone that Tom had found.</p>
+
+<p>"Good boys!" cried Uncle Toby. "Put it back of the wheels and look for
+another." He had to stay in the car lest the brakes might slip and let
+it back down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>Tom and Ted put this one stone behind the left wheel, and then began
+kicking about in the snow to find another. This time Ted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> had the luck,
+finding a larger stone than the one uncovered by his chum.</p>
+
+<p>With hard kicks the two small chaps worked away at the frozen stone.
+More than once they missed their aim, and they kicked up clouds of snow,
+making Lola and Janet laugh, Trouble joining in. But at last the second
+stone was loosened and placed behind the other wheel.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I can take off the brakes and start up the hill," said Uncle Toby.
+"Hop in, boys!"</p>
+
+<p>Standing on the running board Ted and Tom knocked the snow from their
+shoes and took their places inside the warm car. They were breathing
+hard from their labors, and their cheeks were red with the cold, while
+their coats and caps were covered with snow-flakes.</p>
+
+<p>The engine had not stopped running, though it was out of gear. But now
+Uncle Toby took off the brakes and began to go into first speed, and
+slowly the car moved up the hill. The snow was very slippery and more
+than once the hind wheels spun around uselessly.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll put chains on when we get to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> top of the hill," said Uncle
+Toby. "I ought to have done it before."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the car went up through the storm, the children almost holding
+their breaths, as if that would help. But finally the summit of the hill
+was reached and the danger was over for the present.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we can speed up, after I put on the chains," said Uncle Toby,
+bringing the car to a stop beneath some overhanging evergreen trees that
+grew on one side of the road. "Ch'is'mus twees," Trouble called them.</p>
+
+<p>But as Mr. Bardeen was getting out Ted uttered a cry of alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's Skyrocket?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Then, for the first time, every one noticed that the dog was not in the
+car.</p>
+
+<p>Where was Skyrocket?</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span><a name="viii" id="viii"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br />
+
+<small>A STALLED TRAIN</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">For</span> a few moments the children could scarcely believe that Skyrocket was
+not in the automobile with them. Janet and Lola had been so busy
+watching the boys kick loose the stones, and Ted and Tom had been so
+occupied in this work, that none of them had paid much attention to the
+dog. Uncle Toby had also watched the boys, and as for Trouble, catching
+an occasional snow-flake on his tongue gave him so much to do that he
+did not look after Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p>"But where is our dog?" asked Ted, when it became certain that the pet
+was not in the car.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he's under the seat asleep," suggested Lola.</p>
+
+<p>They looked, but Skyrocket was not there.</p>
+
+<p>"He must have jumped out when the door was open," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>"I'll go back and look for him," offered Ted. He made a move to leave
+the car, but Uncle Toby stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>"If any one goes back after that dog, I'm going!" said the old sailor,
+for that is what Uncle Toby had once been. "The snow is too deep for
+your legs," he added, looking at Ted's short ones. "And you two lads
+have already done work enough in getting the stones to block the wheels.
+You know how fond I am of pets, so I'll go back and get Skyrocket. I
+suppose he's looking for us all this while."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be sure to get him, won't you, Uncle Toby?" asked Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I will; unless he's gone full speed ahead back home, and I
+don't believe he has. Now you children stay here in this car until I
+come back. And don't go outside. It's snowing harder and it is getting
+colder. So stay inside."</p>
+
+<p>The Curlytops and their playmates promised to do this, and then Uncle
+Toby stepped out into the storm. He turned up his coat collar and
+tramped off through the drifts, which were, each moment, getting deeper
+and deeper. So fast was the snow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> coming down now that he could hardly
+see the marks left by the wheels where he had driven up the hill.</p>
+
+<p>The children looked out through the back window in the automobile and
+watched Uncle Toby. He was soon out of sight below the top of the hill,
+and all that Ted and the others could see was the cloud of swirling
+flakes of white.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I hope he finds Skyrocket," faltered Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so, too," added Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"He sure is a good dog!" declared Tom.</p>
+
+<p>Then all the Curlytops could do was to wait for Uncle Toby to come back.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the old sailor was trudging back through the storm, going down
+the hill up which he had lately driven the big car.</p>
+
+<p>"It's easy now," thought Uncle Toby to himself, "but it won't be so easy
+going back. I'll have the wind in my face and I'll have to go uphill.
+But never mind! We'll have jolly good times&mdash;the children and I&mdash;when we
+get to my cabin out at the Lake."</p>
+
+<p>As he walked along through the storm Uncle Toby looked on each side of
+the road<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> for a sight of Skyrocket. But he did not see the dog. Nor was
+there any answering bark in reply to the shrill whistles uttered by
+Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Sky! Here, Skyrocket!" the old sailor would call every now and
+then, but no dog appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"He must have jumped out away back where I stalled the car," thought
+Uncle Toby. "Poor dog! He'll freeze if he has to stay out all night. And
+I don't know what I'll do with those children if I don't find their pet
+for them. Skyrocket, where are you?"</p>
+
+<p>On and on went Uncle Toby, through the whirling snow. He was almost back
+to where the car had stopped when suddenly he heard a series of barks
+off to one side of the road, in a clump of trees.</p>
+
+<p>"That sounds like him!" exclaimed the sailor. "Hello there, Skyrocket!"
+he cried.</p>
+
+<p>The barking became louder. Uncle Toby floundered through the drifts, off
+the road and over toward the clump of evergreen trees. As he neared them
+a dog came dashing out, capering about in the fluffy drifts.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Skyrocket! I've found you all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> right!" said Uncle Toby. "But
+what in the world are you doing back here? What made you jump out of the
+car?"</p>
+
+<p>All the answer Skyrocket made was to bark. He leaped about Uncle Toby
+and seemed very glad to see him. But when the man started back toward
+the road, thinking the dog would follow, Skyrocket only barked more
+loudly and raced back toward the clump of trees.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter? Is there some other dog back there you'd rather play
+with than come to the Curlytops?" asked the old sailor. "What's the
+idea?"</p>
+
+<p>Skyrocket acted in such a queer way that Uncle Toby turned back to see
+what the matter was. And this was just what the wise dog seemed to want,
+for he wagged his tail joyfully and raced back ahead of Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>When the old sailor reached the clump of trees, under the heavy branches
+of which the snow was not so thick, he heard a faint mewing sound.</p>
+
+<p>"Bless my heart! A kitten!" cried Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>And a kitten it was! A dear, cute, little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> kitten, half way up one of
+the trees, cuddled down in the thick, green branches.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, no wonder you didn't want to come back and leave this poor little
+kitten here in the cold and storm," said kind Uncle Toby. "You're a good
+dog, Skyrocket!"</p>
+
+<p>At this Skyrocket wagged his tail harder than ever, so it seemed a
+wonder that it did not fly off, and his throat must have ached with all
+the barking he did.</p>
+
+<p>The kitten mewed and stood up when it saw Uncle Toby. It did not appear
+to be afraid of Skyrocket, who was capering around on the ground under
+the tree.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get you down and take you back with me," said the old sailor.
+"Come on, pussy! I don't know where I am going to get any milk to give
+you until we get to my place in Pocono. But I guess you'll stand it
+until then. I wonder how you got out here in the woods all alone?"</p>
+
+<p>There was no way of finding this out, and there was no house near from
+which the little kitten might have wandered. Uncle Toby had an idea it
+might have been lost out of some car in which some children, like the
+Curlytops, had been riding. Then the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> little animal wandered into the
+clump of evergreens for shelter, and Skyrocket had trailed it there. The
+dog had probably discovered the pussy as he was racing around after he
+had slipped out of the car, unseen by the children or Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"But you'll be all right now," said the kind old sailor. "Come to me,
+pussy!"</p>
+
+<p>The kitten arched its back, seeming glad of a chance to stretch after
+being cramped on the limb. Reaching up, Uncle Toby lifted it down and
+put it snugly in the pocket of his big overcoat.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I wonder if you'll come back with me now?" asked Uncle Toby of
+Skyrocket, when the kitten had been rescued.</p>
+
+<p>Skyrocket seemed very willing, for he no longer hung back, but followed
+with joyful barks and waggings of his tail as Uncle Toby strode through
+the storm with the kitten he had rescued.</p>
+
+<p>It was hard work tramping back up the hill through the storm and drifts
+of snow with the wind blowing in his face, but the old sailor managed
+it, and soon the Curlytops and their friends, who had been anxiously
+watching through the back window, saw him looming into view.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>"Here comes Uncle Toby!" cried Jan, who was the first to spy him.</p>
+
+<p>"Has he got Skyrocket?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I see him!" said Tom. "He's got your dog all right."</p>
+
+<p>A little later Uncle Toby was knocking the snow off his shoes on the
+running board of the car, and soon he was safely inside with the dog.</p>
+
+<p>"Where was he?" Ted wanted to know. "What were you doing back there,
+Skyrocket?" he asked his pet.</p>
+
+<p>"He was guarding this," said Uncle Toby, and out of his pocket came the
+little kitten.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Oh!" murmured Lola. "Isn't it a darling!"</p>
+
+<p>"How cute! Oh, what a dear!" exclaimed Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"My kitten! Mine!" cried Trouble, always ready to claim any new pet he
+saw.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you really find it?" asked Tom, as Jan took the kitten into her lap
+while she and Lola rubbed it, Trouble getting an occasional finger or
+two on the soft fur.</p>
+
+<p>"Skyrocket found it, and I got it down out of the tree," explained the
+old sailor, with a laugh. "Now I guess we can move along again. I wish
+we had some milk for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> you," he went on, looking at the little cat. "But
+we'll be home before dark&mdash;if we have good luck," he added, as he
+glanced out into the storm.</p>
+
+<p>Once again the automobile started, with a new passenger on board.
+Skyrocket was used to cats, and after he had taken part in the rescue of
+the kitten he paid no more attention to it but curled up and went to
+sleep. As for the kitten, it did not seem to mind the dog in the least.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess it isn't very hungry, Uncle Toby," said Jan in a low voice,
+after they had ridden several miles. "See, it's going to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>And the little kitten, with eyes closed, was curled contentedly in her
+lap.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby's main thought now was to drive as fast as he could with
+safety, so he would get the children to his home in Pocono before the
+storm grew any worse and before night came.</p>
+
+<p>Once in his house at Pocono they could remain until the weather cleared
+before going out to the cabin at Crystal Lake to spend the holidays.</p>
+
+<p>They passed through a small town, and Jan suggested they might stop and
+get some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> milk for the kitten, which had awakened, and was mewing a
+little.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we'd better not stop now," said Mr. Bardeen. "It is better for
+the pussy to be a little hungry for a time than for us to get stuck in
+the snow with night coming on. We'd all be hungry then. We'll soon be
+home."</p>
+
+<p>They came to a railroad track, almost hidden under the snow, and Uncle
+Toby stopped the automobile, and, opening the door a little way, seemed
+to be listening.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I wanted to hear if the train was coming," was the answer. "One is due
+here about now, and I didn't want to cross the tracks if it was too
+near. But I guess it's late on account of the storm. It will be safe to
+cross."</p>
+
+<p>He drove over the tracks and was just speeding up again when they all
+heard a distant whistle.</p>
+
+<p>"There's the train!" exclaimed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>Then came several more whistles, long toots and short toots in such a
+queer combination that they all knew something must be the matter.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>"Maybe there's been an accident," said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe," agreed Uncle Toby. "But I think that the train is stuck in a
+deep cut not far from here. The cut may be filled with snow so the train
+can't get through. It's probably stalled there."</p>
+
+<p>"Will anybody be hurt?" asked Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"No, only delayed for a while. Men will come with shovels to dig out the
+train. We can soon see what has happened, for the auto road passes near
+the railroad cut."</p>
+
+<p>A little later they saw that what Uncle Toby had guessed at had come to
+pass. The children saw a passenger train with the front part of the
+engine buried deep in a pile of snow that filled a cut between two rocky
+hills on either side of the track.</p>
+
+<p>As the automobile came in sight of the train the engineer blew several
+more shrill whistles, waking up Skyrocket, who began to bark loudly.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span><a name="ix" id="ix"></a>CHAPTER IX<br />
+
+<small>NEW PLAYMATES</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">"Just</span> hear him toot!" cried Jan, putting her hands over her ears, for
+the automobile was now quite close to the train stuck in the big snow
+drift. The drift was much deeper here than at any other point along the
+railroad, because the narrow cut between the high rocks held the white
+flakes tightly packed.</p>
+
+<p>"Sounds as if it was calling us," said Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe it is!" exclaimed Ted, as the toots of the whistle kept up.
+"Do you s'pose he could want us to help him, Uncle Toby?"</p>
+
+<p>"How could an auto pull a stalled train out of a snowdrift?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Course we couldn't <em>pull</em> the train," admitted Ted. "But we could sort
+of&mdash;now&mdash;do <em>something</em>, couldn't we, Uncle Toby?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe we could, and I think that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> what the engineer is trying to
+signal us for," was the answer. "I know this railroad cut. It is a bad
+place in a storm. Often trains have been stuck here for days. The engine
+would ram its pilot, or cowcatcher, into a drift, then snow would pile
+up behind the last car and the train couldn't go ahead or back up."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe that's happened now!" exclaimed Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't be a bit surprised," said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"But what do the passengers do when the train is stuck, like this one is
+now?" Tom wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sometimes they get out and walk, as it isn't very far to the
+station. Or if they have something to eat, and can keep warm in the
+cars, they stay there until men come with shovels to dig out the train.
+I guess that's what this engineer wants me for&mdash;to go on to the station
+and have a gang of men sent to dig out his train. We'll soon find out,"
+Uncle Toby remarked.</p>
+
+<p>The automobile road ran close to the tracks and near the deep cut which
+was filled with snow. The storm was getting worse,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> but on the level
+there was not yet enough snow to have stopped a train. It was only in
+the cut that the drift was deep enough for this.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby stopped the automobile as near the stalled train as he could
+go, and waited. Soon the engineer and a man with gold braid on his cap
+came floundering through the deep snow at the side of the train until
+they were within calling distance of Uncle Toby, who opened the car door
+to listen.</p>
+
+<p>"Could you oblige us by going to the next station and having the
+telegraph operator send word to headquarters that we're stalled?" asked
+the man with the gold braid on his cap. He was the conductor of the
+train.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I'll do that for you," said Uncle Toby. "I thought you were
+whistling for help," he added to the engineer.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I was," came the answer. "I saw you just in time. 'Tisn't
+often that an auto has to come to the help of a steam engine, but it
+happened this time," he added, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Is there anything else I can do for you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> asked Uncle Toby, as he
+prepared to start off again. The station was a little out of his way,
+but he didn't mind that.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't know," replied the conductor slowly. "We haven't many
+passengers on board, and all except a little boy and girl who are on
+their way to Pocono will be all right. The way it is now we'll hardly
+get there to-night, or anyhow, not until late, and they are traveling
+alone. They expect to be met at Pocono by&mdash;let me see&mdash;I have his name
+here somewhere," and he began searching among the papers in his pocket.
+"The children are in my charge," he went on. "Their mother had to go to
+a hospital and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"She did?" cried Uncle Toby so suddenly that the engineer and conductor
+looked at him in surprise. "Is the name of the man who was to meet these
+children Mr. Toby Bardeen?" went on the old sailor.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, that's his name. I have it here on a piece of paper," said
+the conductor. "But how did you&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Are those children Harry and Mary Benton?" went on Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Those are their names, certainly," the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> conductor admitted. "But how in
+the world&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm Mr. Toby Bardeen," interrupted the old sailor. "Uncle Toby is what
+the Curlytops call me. I was expecting these children, but I had no idea
+they'd arrive so soon. It's only by chance that I'm passing this way. I
+didn't expect Mary and Harry for nearly a week."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the society that gave them in my charge, to see that they got
+safely to Pocono and to Mr. Bardeen, told me their mother had to go to
+the hospital sooner than she expected," reported the conductor. "I was
+going to telegraph you when I got to the next station to make sure you'd
+be on hand. They said&mdash;that is, the lady of the Fresh Air Society said
+she'd written you to expect the children earlier."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I didn't get the letter, because I left home to go to visit the
+Curlytops," said Uncle Toby. "However, it's all right now. I'll take the
+children right into the auto with me and soon have them home. It's lucky
+I met you."</p>
+
+<p>"Very lucky, indeed!" agreed the conductor. "I'll go back and get the
+children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> ready for you. Poor little things, they're quite sad and
+forlorn. Their father was killed in the war, I understand."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," agreed Uncle Toby. "At least he's missing, and I guess he must be
+killed or they'd have heard something from him by this time. However,
+I'll take charge of the children. I used to know their mother many years
+ago, but I haven't seen her for some time."</p>
+
+<p>"If you'll drive along the road, around the cut, to the rear of the
+train, the snow won't be so deep for the children," said the engineer.
+"I'll help you carry them out," he added to the conductor.</p>
+
+<p>The rocky cut, in which the train was stuck in the snow drift, was about
+twice as long as the engine and cars, and in front of the cut, as well
+as behind it, the snow was not very deep, though it was getting deeper
+all the while as the white flakes came sifting down faster.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby started the automobile again, going to the rear of the train,
+as near to it as he could get. A little later the conductor and engineer
+came tramping through the drifts, each man carrying a child, the
+conductor with the girl and the engineer with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> the boy. The children
+were so wrapped up in shawls that it could scarcely be told which was
+the boy and which was the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"There you are, my dear!" said the conductor, as he set his passenger
+down inside the automobile.</p>
+
+<p>"And one more!" added the kind-faced but grimy engineer, putting the
+little boy in next to his sister.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this Pocono?" the boy asked freeing himself from the shawl that
+wrapped him. "The lady said we weren't to get out except at Pocono."</p>
+
+<p>"And we want Uncle Toby," added the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"Bless your hearts, I'm Uncle Toby!" cried Mr. Bardeen. "This isn't
+exactly Pocono, but you'd never get there to-night if you stayed on that
+train. I'm going to take you off and drive you to my home in Pocono in
+this auto. See, here are the Curlytops and some other playmates for
+you," for now the two strangers could see the Curlytops and their
+friends, Tom and Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"Curlytops!" exclaimed Harry Benton, wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>"It's on account of our hair," explained Ted, taking off his cap.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>"Oh, I see!" laughed Mary. "It's lovely hair! I wish mine curled."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad mine doesn't," her brother exclaimed. "It's too hard to comb."</p>
+
+<p>"It is hard," admitted Jan, while Trouble stared open-mouthed at the new
+playmates.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he a Curlytop, too?" asked Mary, looking at Baby William.</p>
+
+<p>"He belongs to the family, but his hair doesn't curl," said Uncle Toby,
+with a laugh. "But now that I have you children safe in here I'd better
+be going," he added. "I'll tell the telegraph operator to send you help
+as soon as he can," he added to the engineer and the conductor, who
+started back to the stalled train.</p>
+
+<p>"Please do," begged the conductor. "We'd like to get dug out of here
+before night."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it lovely in here, Harry?" asked Mary Benton, looking around
+inside the comfortable automobile.</p>
+
+<p>"I should say so!" he exclaimed. "I never was in a car like this
+before."</p>
+
+<p>The two children were poor&mdash;one need but look at their clothes to see
+this. But they were clean and neat.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>"And, oh, look! A dog!" cried Harry.</p>
+
+<p>"That's Skyrocket! He likes you," said Ted, for the dog, after sniffing
+at the two new playmates, wagged his tail in friendly fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"I like him!" said Harry.</p>
+
+<p>"And, oh, look at the kitten!" cried Mary, reaching her hand down to pat
+the little bunch of fur that was purring on the seat between Lola and
+Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Toby just found it in the woods," Jan explained.</p>
+
+<p>"What's its name?" asked Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"We haven't named it yet," Ted answered. "Skyrocket saw it up a tree and
+barked."</p>
+
+<p>"I think Fluff would be a nice name for the pussy," said Mary. "He's
+such a fluffy ball of fur."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that would be a lovely name!" cried Lola. "Why don't you call it
+that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we will. You may name the kitten Fluff, Mary, and it'll be part
+your cat."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how nice!" murmured the poor little girl. "I never had even part of
+a cat before."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Toby has a cat and his name is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> Snuff!" said Trouble. "An' he's
+got a monkey and a parrot!"</p>
+
+<p>Mary and Harry looked as though they did not know whether or not to
+believe this. Seeing the doubt on their faces Ted exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"That's right! Uncle Toby has a lot of pets out at his place, and we're
+going to take them to Crystal Lake with us, aren't we, Uncle Toby?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess if we take your dog that will be enough," chuckled the old
+sailor. "The others will be better off in Pocono. But you'll have a
+chance to see them," he added to the new children, noticing how
+disappointed they looked. Then Harry and Mary smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I must be getting on if I'm going to send help to the people on
+the stalled train," remarked Uncle Toby, as he turned the automobile
+around. "And then we'll go on to Pocono. Aunt Sallie will be getting
+anxious about us."</p>
+
+<p>"Is Aunt Sallie a monkey or a parrot?" Harry asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Neither one!" answered Uncle Toby, with a laugh, in which the Curlytops
+joined.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> "She's my housekeeper; and she'll go with us to Crystal Lake
+for the holidays."</p>
+
+<p>"What will you do with your pets?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get some one to look after them. I haven't as many as when you
+Curlytops played circus with them. But there's enough. Too many, so Aunt
+Sallie thinks."</p>
+
+<p>It was not a very long ride to the station from where word could be sent
+that help was needed by the stalled train. The agent promised to
+telegraph for snow shovelers at once.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby was about to drive on again when Janet stopped him by saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe the station agent could give us a little milk for the pussy."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he could," agreed the old sailor. "I'll ask him."</p>
+
+<p>As it happened, the agent kept a cat in the station on account of the
+mice, and that day he had brought a little milk for his pet&mdash;more milk
+than Choo-Choo, as he called his cat, wanted.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll give you some for your pussy," said the agent, after he had
+telegraphed for the snow shovelers.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>I wish you could have seen Fluff lap up the milk, which was warmed for
+him and put in a saucer on the floor of the automobile. He was
+hungry&mdash;was the little stray kitten that had come down out of the
+evergreen tree&mdash;and his little sides seemed to swell out like balloons
+as he lapped up every drop of milk.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope your cat Choo-Choo won't get hungry," said Jan, as the last of
+the milk disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"I can get him some more," said the agent. "Anyhow, he isn't as hungry
+as your pussy was."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-bye!" called Uncle Toby, as he started off once more. "I hope the
+stalled passengers will soon be shoveled out."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess they will be," the agent said.</p>
+
+<p>It was almost dark when the big automobile reached the village of Pocono
+where Uncle Toby lived.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we'll soon be snug and warm," he told the children. "I have more of
+a load than when I started, but I'm glad I found you two," he said to
+Mary and Harry. "You're going to have a good time with my Curlytops."</p>
+
+<p>Harry and Mary, who had never had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> much of a good time in all their
+lives, were beginning to be happy. They had been very small when their
+father went off to war&mdash;they hardly remembered him, in fact. Mr. Benton
+need not have gone, had he wished to stay at home, for he could have
+been excused, or have done some other war work than fighting. But he was
+a brave man and wanted to do his best for his country. So he had gone to
+France. After awhile he was missing, and though his wife was helped by
+her friends and by the government, still she had hard work to get along
+and there was not much money with which to give Mary and Harry good
+times. But happier days were ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>"There's Uncle Toby's house!" cried Ted, as the automobile turned into
+the driveway.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but something has happened!" exclaimed Jan. "Look! There's a crowd
+out in front!"</p>
+
+<p>And surely enough, a throng of people could be seen standing in the dusk
+and storm in front of Uncle Toby's home.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span><a name="x" id="x"></a>CHAPTER X<br />
+
+<small>AMONG THE PETS</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">As</span> the automobile driven by Uncle Toby and containing the Curlytops and
+their playmates came to a stop near the side entrance to Mr. Bardeen's
+house, the door opened, letting out a stream of light on the white snow.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that the police?" asked a voice which Ted remembered as that of Mrs.
+Watson, or "Aunt Sallie," as Uncle Toby called her.</p>
+
+<p>"No, this isn't the police," Uncle Toby answered, through the
+half-opened door of the car that Ted had unlatched, ready to leap out.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sallie did not seem to know Uncle Toby's voice, for she asked
+another question.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it the firemen then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Good gracious!" cried Uncle Toby, opening the automobile door wider, so
+that a swirl of snow drifted in. "What in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> world is the matter? Why
+do you want the firemen and policemen, Aunt Sallie?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, thank goodness! It's you, is it, Uncle Toby?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes! Yes!" was the quick answer. "You stay in the car a moment,
+children," said Mr. Bardeen, as he got out on the side of the steering
+wheel. "Something must have happened. I'll see what it is."</p>
+
+<p>Just then the crowd, which stood partly in the street and partly in the
+yard of Uncle Toby's house, but up at the farther end, away from the
+driveway, gave a shout.</p>
+
+<p>"There he goes!" cried several voices.</p>
+
+<p>"What can have happened?" exclaimed Janet, greatly excited.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a fire, I guess," said Ted. "Aunt Sallie was asking for the
+firemen."</p>
+
+<p>"And she asked for the policemen, too," said Tom. "Maybe it's a burglar
+up on the roof."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" chimed in Harry, the new boy. "And maybe he's trying to
+go down the chimney."</p>
+
+<p>"Like Santa Claus," added his sister Mary, whom Jan and Lola had begun
+to like very much.</p>
+
+<p>"I want to see Santa C'aus!" cried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> Trouble, and he made a wiggle to get
+out of the open door by which Uncle Toby had left.</p>
+
+<p>"No! No!" cried Ted, catching hold of his little brother.</p>
+
+<p>"Something has happened, anyhow," decided Tom. "This crowd wouldn't be
+here for nothing. But I don't believe it's a fire, for there isn't any
+smoke. I guess the reason Aunt Sallie wanted the firemen was because
+they have ladders to get somebody down off the roof."</p>
+
+<p>"Who could be up on the roof?" Jan wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>No one answered, but as both front doors of the closed automobile were
+now open the children could hear what Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie were
+saying.</p>
+
+<p>"What in the world has happened?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Jack, your monkey," was the answer. "He got loose a little while
+ago and scrambled up on the roof. He's perched there now, near the
+chimney. First I knew of it was when I saw a lot of boys in front of the
+house, looking up. I thought the chimney was on fire."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>"Was that why you wanted the firemen?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Partly," answered Aunt Sallie. "I telephoned for the fire department,
+and when I heard your automobile in the side yard I thought it was the
+firemen."</p>
+
+<p>"But why did you send for the firemen when you found out the chimney
+wasn't burning?" Uncle Toby asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought they could get the monkey down with ladders," was the
+housekeeper's reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Then why did you send for the police?" went on Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"To keep the crowd in order," sighed Aunt Sallie. "Oh, I've had such a
+time! Some of the boys cut up so, and threw snowballs at Jack."</p>
+
+<p>"My goodness! That's so, it is snowing!" cried Uncle Toby, as if, for
+the time, he had forgotten all about it. "Poor Jack will catch his death
+of cold up there on the roof in the storm. How did he get out? Never
+mind; don't tell me now! I must get him down before he gets pneumonia.
+Monkeys are very likely to get that if they get a chill."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>"I don't believe he'll get cold," said Aunt Sallie. "He has a coat on."</p>
+
+<p>"A coat on? Whose coat?"</p>
+
+<p>"One of your old ones," answered Aunt Sallie. "He grabbed it up off the
+rack as he scrambled out of the window and climbed the rain-water pipe
+to the roof. If any one can get him down, you can, Uncle Toby."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I guess I can. Jack always minds me. But it's hard to see him in
+the dark."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the electric light in front shines right on the roof," replied Aunt
+Sallie. "And as the roof is white with snow, Jack shows quite plain. Do
+get him down so the crowd will go away."</p>
+
+<p>"Are the rest of the pets all right?" asked Mr. Bardeen.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Aunt Sallie, and the listening children were glad to hear
+this.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on in, Curlytops!" called Uncle Toby from the side porch. "There
+isn't anything serious the matter. Jack has just gotten up on the roof,
+that's all. It isn't the first time, for he often does it in summer, but
+I never knew him to go out in the cold before. I guess he wants to show
+that he'd be all right for taking out to Crystal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> Lake, but I'm not
+going to humor him. Come on in Curlytops and the rest of you children!"</p>
+
+<p>Out of the car scrambled the children, eager to see and hear all that
+was going on. They had hardly more than reached the porch than out in
+front of Uncle Toby's house sounded a rapidly clanging bell.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, here comes firemans! Here comes firemans!" shouted Trouble, jumping
+up and down in delight.</p>
+
+<p>And, surely enough, in the electrically lighted street could be seen the
+glittering fire engine and the hook and ladder truck, with prancing
+horses which seemed to delight being out in the storm.</p>
+
+<p>There was a roaring murmur from the crowd, and Uncle Toby looked at Aunt
+Sallie and shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"You surely have caused some excitement around here," he said, but he
+could not help laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"I go see fire engines!" cried Trouble. "I go!"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll stay right here with me!" declared Jan, taking a firm hold of
+her little brother's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"No! Don't want to!" shouted Trouble.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> "Wants go see fire engines! I
+'ikes fire engines!"</p>
+
+<p>He squirmed and struggled so that it seemed as if he would break away
+from Janet. Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie had gone around to the front of
+the house to meet some of the firemen who were asking where the blaze
+was as they did not see any smoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Be good, Trouble!" begged Lola, trying to help Janet manage the little
+fellow, who was tired and cross from the long day's ride.</p>
+
+<p>"Want to see fire engines!" he insisted, for the engine and truck were
+now out of view from the side porch, having drawn up farther along the
+street.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, maybe the police wagon will come and you can see it from here,"
+added Mary, trying to do her best to aid in soothing William.</p>
+
+<p>This seemed to quiet him at once. He was just a little afraid of a
+policeman.</p>
+
+<p>And, surely enough, just then the police patrol wagon, with its clanging
+bell, not quite as loud as the fire engine, though, came up and a number
+of officers jumped out. There was another roar from the crowd as this
+added excitement was provided.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> Never had there been such an evening in
+Pocono, with the big storm getting worse all the while.</p>
+
+<p>But Uncle Toby took charge of matters. He explained to the police and
+the firemen what had happened&mdash;that Aunt Sallie had become so excited
+she had summoned more help than she had really needed.</p>
+
+<p>"But is there really a monkey up on the roof?" asked a policeman.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my monkey Jack is up there near the chimney," said Mr. Bardeen.
+"You can see him. He's got on one of my coats."</p>
+
+<p>Without a doubt there was Jack, sitting on the ridge of the roof, one
+hairy paw thrust through an arm of the coat, clinging to the bricks of
+the chimney.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to get him down," said Uncle Toby, "for he is a valuable
+animal, and he may take cold and get pneumonia even if he has on a
+coat."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we're the boys to get him down," laughed one of the firemen. "But
+will he bite?" he asked anxiously. "I don't know much about monkeys, but
+I guess they can bite."</p>
+
+<p>"Jack won't; that is, not after I speak to him," said Uncle Toby. "I'll
+call him to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> come down, and you can go up on a ladder and get him if you
+will."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll do it all right," said the fireman. He and the police
+officers knew and liked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly afterward a ladder was raised to the roof, and a fireman went
+up. He had to be careful on the sloping roof, on account of the slippery
+snow that covered it. But another ladder, laid on the shingles, gave him
+a firm footing.</p>
+
+<p>Nearer and nearer he crawled to the crouching monkey. The crowd, which
+had been laughing and joking, kept quiet now so Uncle Toby could talk to
+Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on down, old fellow! Let the fireman bring you down. And don't
+bite him!" called Uncle Toby to his pet.</p>
+
+<p>Jack seemed to understand. He chattered a little, and then, when the
+fireman was near enough, the monkey put his arms around the man's neck
+and clung tightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Now you're all right, old chap!" said the fireman, who was fond of
+animals. "I've got you!"</p>
+
+<p>A little later man and monkey were safe on the ground, while the crowd
+cheered. Uncle Toby took Jack from the fireman,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> and the monkey nestled
+in his master's arms, seemingly very glad to be down off the roof and
+out of the storm.</p>
+
+<p>"I must get him some hot milk to drink," said Uncle Toby, as the firemen
+and police started back to their quarters. The crowd, seeing that there
+was to be no more excitement, melted away out of the storm.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Curlytops, get in the house! All of you get in the house out of
+the storm!" cried Uncle Toby, for the children had gone around to the
+front to watch the rescue of Jack.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes! Come in!" cried Aunt Sallie. "You'll all get your deaths of
+sneezes! Talk about hot milk for a monkey! I guess these children need
+it more than Jack does!"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll all have some hot milk!" declared Uncle Toby. "Here, Aunt Sallie,
+you look after the Curlytops and their friends while I put the car away,
+and then I'll come back and we'll have a cozy supper," went on Mr.
+Bardeen. "I'll put Jack by the fire to thaw him out."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm hungry!" announced Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Bless your heart! you shall have something to eat as soon as I can get
+it on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> table," said Aunt Sallie. "That bad old Jack made a lot of
+work!"</p>
+
+<p>She shook a finger at the monkey, who whimpered a little.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't scold him!" begged Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"Will he do tricks?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"He's done enough tricks for one night," replied Aunt Sallie, as she
+bustled about to get supper, while Uncle Toby put the car out of the
+storm.</p>
+
+<p>"Take off your hat, Mary," suggested Jan to the new girl, who stood
+about a bit shyly.</p>
+
+<p>Before the little girl could do this her hat was suddenly snatched from
+her head, and a harsh voice cried:</p>
+
+<p>"Eat 'em up! Eat 'em up! Eat 'em all up!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Oh!" screamed Mary. "What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid!" laughed Ted. "You're just among Uncle Toby's pets!"</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span><a name="xi" id="xi"></a>CHAPTER XI<br />
+
+<small>WHERE DID TROUBLE GO?</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mary Benton</span>, the little girl whose father had gone to the Big War and
+had never been heard of since, was really frightened by the screeching
+voice and by feeling her hat snatched off in that strange way. Even what
+Ted said about being among Uncle Toby's pets did not seem to make her
+feel any better.</p>
+
+<p>She turned quickly around, <a name="i002" id="i002"></a>and saw her hat that had been snatched off in
+the black beak of a big red and green bird which was perched on the back
+of a chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Dat's Mr. Nip!" announced Trouble. He knew the parrot from the previous
+summer.</p>
+
+<p>"Eat 'em up! Eat 'em up! Eat 'em all up!" croaked Mr. Nip in his harsh
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, please don't eat Mary's hat up!" laughed Jan. "She'll want it to
+wear when we go to Crystal Lake."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>"Is that parrot going to the Lake with us?" asked Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"If he does I'll have to be careful of my hat," added Mary, who was
+getting over her fright. "It's a new one," she went on, and the other
+girls rightly guessed that, being very poor, Mary did not have many
+hats. Then and there Lola and Jan made up their minds to be kind to
+Mary, whose mother was in the hospital and whose father&mdash;well, no one
+knew what had happened to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Here are some more pets!" cried jolly Uncle Toby, as he came in out of
+the storm, having put the car in his barn. He was followed by Skyrocket,
+who barked and leaped about, shaking snow-flakes all about. In his arms
+Uncle Toby carried Fluff, the little kitten that had been rescued from a
+"Ch'is'mus tree," as Trouble called the evergreen.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we forgot all about him!" exclaimed Jan, as she took the little
+stranger from Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't be wonderful if you forgot even your names," laughed Uncle
+Toby, "considering all the excitement that was going on when we got
+here. But we're all right now, I guess."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="400" height="537" alt="" title="" />
+<span class="caption">SHE TURNED AND SAW HER HAT IN THE BEAK OF A BIG RED AND
+GREEN BIRD. <a href="#i002">Page 115</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>Skyrocket went over to sniff around Jack, the monkey, with which pet the
+Curlytops' dog was well acquainted, so the two soon became friendly.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess he misses Tip and Top," observed Ted, speaking of the two
+valuable trick poodles, which had been sold since the children found
+them in the show, after they had been stolen.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there are plenty of other animals," said Aunt Sallie, as she
+finished setting the table and called to the children to take their
+places.</p>
+
+<p>Such a jolly time as followed! The Curlytops and their playmates, the
+new as well as the old ones, were all hungry from their ride through the
+cold. Even Trouble forgot about being sleepy while he ate, and if Mary
+and Harry remembered about their mother in the hospital that thought did
+not chase away the smiles from their faces.</p>
+
+<p>At times, on the trip, Ted and Jan had given some thought to matters at
+home, and had wondered if Daddy Martin would lose so much money as to
+make the family poor. But now Ted and his sister were having a good time
+with the others.</p>
+
+<p>Jack, the monkey, seemed to have gotten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> over the slight shivering
+caused by foolishly going up on the roof in the storm, and he and
+Skyrocket ate their meal behind the warm stove on one side, while Snuff,
+Uncle Toby's big cat, and Fluff, the new kitten, lapped warm milk from
+the same saucer on the other side of the stove.</p>
+
+<p>As for Mr. Nip, the parrot, he seemed satisfied after he had pulled off
+Mary's hat, and he was now asleep with his head under his wing, perched
+on his stand in one corner.</p>
+
+<p>"How did Jack get out, Aunt Sallie?" asked Uncle Toby, as knives and
+forks began to slow up a little in the supper race, the children
+becoming less hungry the more they ate.</p>
+
+<p>"I had left a window open, and he seemed to know it," was the answer. "I
+never knew it to fail that if I left a window open so much as a crack
+but what he'd find it. He's the smartest monkey I ever saw! But he's a
+rascal just the same!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you'll have a little rest from all the pets, except maybe
+Skyrocket," said Uncle Toby. "We'll take him with us out to Crystal
+Lake, but the other pets we'll leave here."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby's house was a large one and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> had plenty of beds in it for the
+children. It was warm and cozy, and Aunt Sallie had seen to it that
+everything should be comfortable for the Curlytops and their playmates.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you two were coming by train," she said to Mary and Harry,
+when supper was over and the plans for the night began to be talked
+about.</p>
+
+<p>"They were on the train. But I took them off when it became stuck in the
+snow," explained Uncle Toby. "I hope they have dug the engine out by
+this time. If they haven't it may have to stay there a long time, for
+this storm is getting worse."</p>
+
+<p>The children thought so too, as they listened to the wind howling around
+the corners of the house and down the chimney, while the hard flakes of
+snow beat against the windows.</p>
+
+<p>But they were snug and warm in Uncle Toby's house, and Jan and her
+brother, with Lola and Tom, were so jolly, suggesting so many games to
+play and talking about the good times to come at Crystal Lake, that
+though Mary and Harry had begun to feel homesick this soon wore off, and
+the strange playmates laughed with their new friends.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>Trouble was to sleep in a big bed with Jan in a room next to Aunt
+Sallie. And in the same room with Jan and her little brother, Mary and
+Lola would sleep, but in separate beds.</p>
+
+<p>The three older boys had a room to themselves, each with a single bed,
+so they would not disturb one another.</p>
+
+<p>"And mind!" cried Uncle Toby, when the time came to "turn in," as a
+soldier or a sailor might say. "Mind! No pillow fights!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no!" cried Tom and Ted, winking at each other.</p>
+
+<p>And I think Uncle Toby must have known that they would have a little fun
+in this way. For he did not come up to stop them when they began tossing
+about at each other the soft, fluffy pillows. At this game there was a
+jolly good time for half an hour.</p>
+
+<p>But even boys can get tired sometimes, and these boys had had a long
+automobile ride that day. So they finally gave up tossing the pillows
+about and settled down snugly in their beds. The girls and Trouble had
+gone to sleep long before this.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you certainly have quite a houseful, Uncle Toby," said Aunt
+Sallie that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> night, when locking-up time came, "with seven children, to
+say nothing of the animals."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I like 'em all!" exclaimed the old sailor, with a laugh. "And I
+just had to take the Curlytops. There was no place for them to go when
+their father and mother had to start off on that trip. As for Tom and
+Lola, I wanted the Curlytops to have some playmates over the holidays.
+And about Mary and Harry&mdash;well, I couldn't leave them in the big city
+all alone, with their mother in the hospital."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I suppose not. Poor children! Poor Mother! I hope she gets better!"</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so, too," said Uncle Toby. "And I hope the Curlytops' father
+doesn't lose his money."</p>
+
+<p>Janet was awakened early the next morning by feeling something cold on
+her face. She was dreaming that Jack, the monkey, was still up on the
+roof, but that he had a long tail which reached all the way to the
+ground. And she dreamed that Jack was dipping his tail in ice water and
+tickling her on the cheek.</p>
+
+<p>Something almost like this was happening as Janet opened her eyes, for
+she saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> Trouble bending over her with a lump of snow in his fist,
+rubbing the cold stuff on her nose.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Trouble! Stop it!" cried Janet, rolling over in bed and giving her
+brother a little push. He dropped some of the cold snow down her neck.
+"Oh!" screamed Jan. "You're freezing me!"</p>
+
+<p>"You shouldn't have jiggled me!" complained Trouble, whose grasp on the
+snowball had been loosened as his sister moved. "I wanted you open your
+eyes," he added.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you made her open them all right," laughed Lola from her bed,
+next to Janet's.</p>
+
+<p>The talking aroused Mary, who sat up, rubbing her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, where am I?" she exclaimed. "I&mdash;Oh, I remember!" she said. "I was
+dreaming I was back home!"</p>
+
+<p>"And I was dreaming Jack was slapping me with his tail wet in ice
+water," laughed Janet. "Then I wake up and find Trouble with a snowball.
+Where did you get it?" she asked, tossing the half-melted lump into the
+water basin near by.</p>
+
+<p>"It blowed in the window," Trouble explained, pointing to more of the
+white flakes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> on the sill. They had drifted in around a crack.</p>
+
+<p>"You mustn't get out of bed and run around in your bare feet," said
+Janet. "I wonder what sort of a day it is?" She slipped on her little
+robe and slippers and went to the window, meanwhile covering Trouble
+warmly in bed. "It's stopped snowing," she said, "and the sun is out. We
+can make snowmen, big snowballs, and everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what fun it will be!" cried Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"Snow in the country is much nicer than in the city where I live," said
+Mary. "It seems to stay clean longer out here."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Ted, Tom, and Harry had also discovered that there was a
+chance for plenty of fun out of doors. They were soon up and getting
+dressed, and when Aunt Sallie had seen that Trouble was washed and
+dressed all the children went down to breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are all the pets?" asked Mary, seeing only Mr. Nip perched on his
+stand, cracking seeds in his strong beak.</p>
+
+<p>"They're having their breakfasts out in their room," said Aunt Sallie,
+for a special room had been provided for the animals.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>A little later the Curlytops and their playmates were having fun in the
+snow outside, Skyrocket romping around with them. There were sleds at
+Uncle Toby's house, and not far from it a little hill, and on this the
+children were soon coasting.</p>
+
+<p>"It's more fun than our toboggan," cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it is. But the snow isn't going to last long," observed Tom. "It's
+too warm."</p>
+
+<p>"It's melting now," added Harry.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed the warm sun would soon make short work of this first snow, which
+had come much earlier than usual. The children made up their minds to
+have as much fun as they could while it lasted.</p>
+
+<p>So they coasted, they made snowmen, rolled big snowballs and the boys
+even started to build a snow fort, for the white flakes were wet enough
+to pack well and stay in place once they were piled up.</p>
+
+<p>Trouble played with the others, sometimes getting in the way and
+toppling down, to pick himself up again and fall down once more.</p>
+
+<p>"I havin' 'ots of fun!" he laughed.</p>
+
+<p>In fact all the children were&mdash;so much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> so that they hardly wanted to
+come in to lunch. But playing out in the air made them hungry, and soon
+they were eagerly eating.</p>
+
+<p>"How soon are we going to Crystal Lake?" asked Ted of Uncle Toby, as the
+Curlytops and the others prepared to rush out in the snow once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll go in a few days," was the answer. "Might as well wait for
+this snow to melt, as it's bound to if this weather keeps up. It will be
+easier going for the auto then, as the roads to the Lake are rather
+rough."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we're having fun here," chuckled Ted, as he ran out to join his
+playmates.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's make a big fort!" proposed Tom, for they had made a little one,
+and trampled it down in having a "battle."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," agreed the other boys.</p>
+
+<p>"I he'p!" offered Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"No you'll only be in the way," Ted replied. "You go over and help
+sister make a snowman," he added, for this is what Jan and the other two
+girls were trying to do.</p>
+
+<p>This was a bit selfish on Ted's part, for he must have known that
+Trouble would annoy his sister as much as the little fellow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> would be in
+the way of himself and his chums. But brothers are this way sometimes, I
+suppose.</p>
+
+<p>Anyhow, Trouble toddled off to see if he could not play with Jan, Lola,
+and Mary. He saw them shaping the snowman.</p>
+
+<p>"I he'p!" he offered, trying to put a little ball on the snowman's coat
+to serve as a "button."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Trouble! Don't!" begged Jan. "Go over and play with the boys!
+You'll spoil our snowman!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ted telled me come here!" announced William.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Trouble! No one seemed to want him!</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, let him stay," begged Mary, "I'll watch him."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," sighed Jan. She was trying to make the snowman's face, and
+it was not easy work.</p>
+
+<p>Just how it happened no one seemed to know but the boys forgot all about
+Trouble in the excitement of making their fort. And though Mary had
+promised to keep watch over the little fellow she forgot when she went
+to the shed to get two pieces of coal to make eyes for the snowman.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>It was not until after the snowman was finished and Ted had shouted what
+fun it would be if they could put him in the fort that Trouble was
+missed.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is he?" asked Janet, looking around the yard.</p>
+
+<p>"He was here a little while ago," said Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"I saw him too," added Tom.</p>
+
+<p>But now Trouble was not in sight.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he went into the house to get something to eat," suggested Mary.</p>
+
+<p>Jan ran to the door and asked Aunt Sallie.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, no," she answered. "Trouble didn't come in here!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, where can Trouble be?" half sobbed Janet.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span><a name="xii" id="xii"></a>CHAPTER XII<br />
+
+<small>OFF TO CRYSTAL LAKE</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">This</span> was not the first time Trouble Martin had been lost or missing. It
+happened more or less often at home in Cresco, and once when the
+Curlytops had come to Uncle Toby's. But he had never before been lost
+after a big snow storm&mdash;that is, as far as Janet or Teddy could
+remember. What Janet was afraid of was that her little brother might
+wander off and fall into some drift. For the snow was deep in places not
+very far from Uncle Toby's house.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll find him!" declared Ted. "He can't be far off. We didn't want
+him playing around our fort for fear he'd spoil it."</p>
+
+<p>"And I sent him away from our snowman on the same account," sighed
+Janet. "I wish I had kept him by me."</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sallie came out of the house, her apron thrown over her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you find Trouble?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>"No'm," chorused the children.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed the old lady. "You must call Uncle Toby and tell
+him. He's out in the barn working over the auto, getting ready for the
+trip to Crystal Lake. Go tell him Trouble is missing."</p>
+
+<p>Janet and the others thought this would be the best thing to do, and
+Uncle Toby soon heard the latest happening regarding the Curlytops.</p>
+
+<p>"If Trouble isn't in the house nor around where you are playing, he must
+have wandered off down the street," said Uncle Toby. "The walks have
+been pretty well cleaned off by this time. The snowplow has been along."
+For in Pocono the street cleaning department sent out a big snowplow,
+drawn by horses, after every big storm, and thus the sidewalks were made
+easy to walk on without waiting for each householder to clean his own
+space.</p>
+
+<p>"But where would he go?" asked Janet, hardly able to keep back her
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what we must find out," said Uncle Toby. "Don't worry. We'll
+find him. I'll ask the police if they've seen him. A little chap like
+Trouble would be sure to be noticed."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>"Unless maybe he fell in a snowdrift," suggested Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"If he fell in he'd shout and cry until some of us came to help him
+out," said Uncle Toby. "Now we'll start a searching party. I'll go with
+you girls up the street, and the three boys can go down the street. Ask
+every one you meet if they have seen Trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Only," suggested Jan, "we'd better give him his right name of William."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so!" laughed Uncle Toby. "If we go along asking every one we
+meet if they have seen Trouble, they'll think we are trying to make fun
+of them. Yes, we must ask for news of a little boy named William."</p>
+
+<p>So they started out, Ted, Tom and Harry going one way, and Uncle Toby
+and the three girls the other way. Aunt Sallie remained behind in the
+house, but she was very anxious, and she said she would call up police
+headquarters, asking that each officer be told to be on the lookout.</p>
+
+<p>At first the question asked by the searchers had no effect. No one
+seemed to have noticed Trouble toddling along the streets, which, as
+Uncle Toby had said, were now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> quite free from snow, which was piled
+high on either side.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he wandered off toward the woods," suggested Lola, for there was
+a clump of trees, called "woods" not far from Uncle Toby's house.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe so," was Mr. Bardeen's answer. "I think he wouldn't go
+there alone. But here comes Policeman McCarthy. I'll ask him."</p>
+
+<p>And, to the delight of the girls, Policeman McCarthy said he had seen a
+little boy going along the street a few minutes before.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what his name was," the officer said. "But he was dressed
+just as you say. He seemed to know where he was going, so I didn't stop
+him, though he was pretty little to be out alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did he go?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Right down that way," answered the policeman, pointing. "He was
+standing in front of that barber shop the last I saw him."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, now I know where he's gone!" suddenly cried Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Where?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"In the barber shop," answered the little girl. "Trouble was in the
+bathroom this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> morning, Uncle Toby, getting washed," Janet explained.
+"He found some of your shaving soap, and he liked the smell of it. He
+was rubbing it on his face when I stopped him. He asked me where you got
+your soap and I told him in a barber shop, I thought. Then he wanted to
+know what a barber shop was like, and I told him it was a place that had
+a red, white, and blue pole in front of it. So that's where he's
+gone&mdash;to the barber shop to get some of that nice smelling soap."</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't wonder," agreed Uncle Toby. "I hope the barber kept him
+there, if he went in."</p>
+
+<p>They hurried to the shop in front of which was a gay red, white, and
+blue pole, and there they found Trouble. But they found him more than
+just inquiring for scented soap, for he was up in the chair, kept
+specially for children.</p>
+
+<p>In front of Trouble, draped around his neck, was a white apron, and the
+barber, with comb and scissors, was just about to cut the little
+fellow's long hair.</p>
+
+<p>"Trouble! What are you doing?" cried Uncle Toby, his voice causing the
+barber to turn around in surprise.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>"I goin' get hair cut!" announced the little fellow.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no! You mustn't!" exclaimed Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"I wants hair cut an' nice smelly stuff on my face," announced the
+little fellow, holding tightly to the arms of the barber's chair, lest
+he be made to come out.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" said Janet. "Not now, Trouble!"</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't some of you send him to have his hair trimmed?" asked the
+barber, in some surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed!" laughed Uncle Toby, who knew the barber quite well. "He
+ran off by himself. I'm glad we reached here in time to stop you. He's a
+little tyke; that's what he is!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he came in here as bold as you please," said Mr. Miller, the
+barber. "He climbed up in the chair himself, and though he didn't tell
+me so exactly, I thought he wanted a hair cut, as it's pretty long. He
+did say he wanted some nice perfume on him, but all the children say
+that when they come in here. And I've often had them as young as he is
+come in here alone. But of course their fathers or mothers sent 'em. And
+you didn't send this little chap?" he asked, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> he helped Trouble down
+out of the chair, much to William's disgust.</p>
+
+<p>"No, we didn't send him," chuckled Uncle Toby. "He just took the notion
+himself. Tried some of my shaving soap this morning, so his sister says.
+Well, I am glad he's found. We'd better take him back so the boys will
+know we've come to the end of the search. You mustn't do anything like
+this again, Trouble," said Uncle Toby, a bit sternly, shaking his finger
+at William.</p>
+
+<p>"Nope!" he readily promised. "Maybe I have some nice smelly stuff take
+home?" he added hopefully.</p>
+
+<p>"Here you are!" laughed the barber, and he gave Trouble a little cake of
+scented soap.</p>
+
+<p>"You gave us a big scare," said Janet, when they were on their way back
+to Uncle Toby's house.</p>
+
+<p>"You make big snowman?" asked Trouble, and that's about all he seemed to
+care. Janet wanted to laugh, but she did not think it wise.</p>
+
+<p>They met the boys coming back, Ted and the other two being anxious, as
+of course they had heard no word about the missing wanderer. But they
+saw William in Uncle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> Toby's arms, and knew everything was now all
+right.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll keep my eye on you after this," said Janet when the children were
+once more playing in the snow around Uncle Toby's house.</p>
+
+<p>But it was one thing to say she would keep watch over a little chap like
+Trouble, and another thing actually to do it. And William made more
+trouble before the day was over.</p>
+
+<p>Evening came, when it was time to stop playing out of doors and come
+into the house. And it was after supper when the children were sitting
+in the living room, listening to Uncle Toby tell a story, that Aunt
+Sallie came running in from the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Uncle Toby!" she cried. "There's a leak in one of the pipes.
+There's a big puddle of water in the middle of the kitchen floor. It was
+dry when I went up to see if the beds were ready, and when I came down,
+just now, I found a lot of water there."</p>
+
+<p>"A broken pipe? That's too bad!" exclaimed Uncle Toby. "I may be able to
+fix it myself; but if I can't, we'll have hard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> work getting a plumber
+this time of night. I can shut off the water in the cellar, though, I
+suppose. However, I'll take a look."</p>
+
+<p>The children followed Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie out to the kitchen.
+Surely enough there was a large puddle of water in the middle of the
+oilcloth. Uncle Toby looked up and around, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"I can't see what pipe has burst. If it was one in the kitchen the water
+would be spurting out now. It seems to come from under the sink."</p>
+
+<p>By this time Trouble was toddling across the room toward the sink, under
+which was a sort of cupboard with two swinging doors. The little fellow
+was trying to open one of these doors.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Trouble! Let Uncle Toby look!" said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I wants get my snowball," announced William.</p>
+
+<p>"Your snowball!" cried Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Yep! I put big snowball there when I comed in. Wants to get it now,"
+and William tugged at the sink door.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! Maybe that's where the water came from!" cried Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>And it was. As the sink cupboard was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> opened more water was seen, and in
+the midst of the puddle there floated what was left of a large ball of
+snow. Trouble had brought it in, put it under the sink when no one was
+looking, and there the warmth of the kitchen stove had slowly melted it,
+causing the water to run out under the doors.</p>
+
+<p>"What in the world made you put a snowball in there, Trouble?" asked
+Ted, as Aunt Sallie mopped up the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I wants make snowman in night," was Trouble's answer.</p>
+
+<p>That may have been his reason&mdash;no one could tell. At any rate, no great
+harm was done, as the snow water was clean and the oilcloth was soon
+wiped dry.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you'd better go to bed before you get into any more mischief,"
+said Janet.</p>
+
+<p>And soon the Curlytops and their playmates were all sound asleep.</p>
+
+<p>The next day it rained, and as the weather turned warm the snow was soon
+nearly all melted or washed away.</p>
+
+<p>"So much the better for making the trip to Crystal Lake," said Uncle
+Toby. "I don't care what it does after we get there,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> but I like good
+going though the woods."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what fun we'll have at Crystal Lake!" cried the Curlytops and their
+playmates.</p>
+
+<p>They started three days later, in the big automobile. Uncle Toby, Aunt
+Sallie, the children, and Skyrocket. Uncle Toby hired a colored man and
+his wife to come and live in his house and look after the pets,
+including the new kitten, Fluff, while he was at camp for the holidays.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray! Here we go!" cried Ted and the others, as Uncle Toby started
+the automobile.</p>
+
+<p>As they were turning out of the drive a boy came riding up the street on
+a bicycle, waving a yellow envelope in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" he shouted. "Here's a telegram!"</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span><a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br />
+
+<small>THE LONELY CABIN</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Uncle Toby</span> brought the automobile to a stop and looked at the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"A telegram?" repeated Uncle Toby. "For whom is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"You," answered the boy, and Ted and Jan wondered if it could be about
+their father and mother. Suppose one of them were ill, or suppose Daddy
+Martin had lost all his money, and Ted and Jan had to go back home? It
+doesn't take much to worry children, just as it doesn't take much to
+make them happy.</p>
+
+<p>Tom and Lola, too, knew that telegrams often bring bad news, and as
+Uncle Toby was opening the yellow envelope which the boy handed him,
+these two playmates of the Curlytops thought perhaps something had
+happened at their home.</p>
+
+<p>And, in turn, Harry and Mary began to fear that the message might be bad
+news<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> about their mother in the hospital. A few tears began to form in
+Mary's eyes, but they soon dried away when Uncle Toby, after reading the
+message, gave a hearty laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! Ha! Ha!" chuckled Uncle Toby. "This is funny! The idea of sending
+me a message like this!"</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" asked Ted, while the messenger boy waited to see if Uncle
+Toby wanted to send an answer to the telegram.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's from an old friend of mine, Hezekiah Armstrong. He says he has
+a chance to buy an elephant cheap, and he telegraphs to ask me if I
+don't want it."</p>
+
+<p>"Want an elephant!" repeated Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for a pet, I suppose. It may be one of his jokes, or he may mean
+it, but I certainly don't want an elephant, in winter time especially."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you want one in summer?" asked Tom, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, an elephant is easier to take care of in summer than in winter,"
+answered Mr. Bardeen. "In warm weather I could turn the elephant out in
+the meadow and let him eat grass. But in winter I'd have to keep him in
+a barn and let him eat hay, and they eat a big lot of hay&mdash;enough to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+keep me poor, I guess. So I'll just telegraph back to Hezekiah that I
+don't want an elephant. We couldn't take it to Crystal Lake, anyhow.
+Here you are, son!" he called pleasantly to the boy. "You take back this
+message for me."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby wrote it on a blank of which the boy had a number in his
+pocket. As Mr. Bardeen paid the lad and was about to start the
+automobile again, the boy asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Where you going?" He was acquainted with Mr. Bardeen.</p>
+
+<p>"Out to Crystal Lake," answered Uncle Toby, and the children in the
+automobile wondered if the messenger lad did not wish he were going.</p>
+
+<p>"Crystal Lake!" exclaimed the boy. "Are you going out there to catch the
+burglar?"</p>
+
+<p>"Catch the burglar? What burglar?" asked Uncle Toby. "This is the first
+I've heard a burglar was out there. What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was in the paper this morning," the boy went on. "It said some of
+the cabins and camps out at the Lake had been broken into and robbed.
+They haven't any police out there, so it said the police from Pocono<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+had been asked to see if they could catch the burglar. I thought maybe
+that's why you were going out."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no!" replied Uncle Toby. "I'm not a policeman. And though I
+wouldn't want a burglar to get into my cabin, he wouldn't find very much
+to take if he did get in. I guess, most likely, it's some tramp that has
+broken into some of the cabins. We'll not worry about that, shall we,
+Curlytops?" chuckled Uncle Toby. "If we find any burglars out there
+we'll make Skyrocket bite 'em&mdash;sha'n't we, Trouble?" and he playfully
+pinched William's cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"We make elephant run after 'em!" laughed Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>Once more they started off in the big comfortable car that so well kept
+out the cold. Most of the snow from the recent storm was gone, though
+Uncle Toby said there would probably be some left in the woods around
+Crystal Lake, where it did not melt as fast as in Pocono.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad that telegram wasn't bad news from home," said Ted. "It isn't
+any good to get bad news just when you start to have fun."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>"That's right," agreed Tom. "My father wasn't feeling very well when we
+started, and I thought maybe the message was to say he was worse."</p>
+
+<p>"Mary and I haven't any father to get messages from," said Harry, rather
+sadly. "We hardly remember him, for we were little when he went away to
+the war."</p>
+
+<p>"And he never came back?" asked Jan softly.</p>
+
+<p>"No, he never came back," repeated Mary, trying to keep the tears from
+her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby saw that the children might be made sad by this sort of talk,
+so, as they were passing a meat market on the edge of town, he stopped
+the car and began to get out.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Aunt Sallie. "I have everything we
+need for getting supper out at the Lake, and we have our lunch with us."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't for us," said Uncle Toby. "It's for Skyrocket. I want to get
+him a nice bone to gnaw. It will keep him quiet on the ride," he
+explained. "I'm going to get a fine, juicy bone for Skyrocket."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>This took the children's mind off what might have been a sad subject to
+think about&mdash;the ill mother and missing father of Harry and Mary. And
+when Uncle Toby made Skyrocket sit up in the automobile and "beg" for
+the bone, the dog did it in such a funny way that the children all
+laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Now they'll be all right," said Uncle Toby to himself, as he again sent
+the big car forward.</p>
+
+<p>Soon they were out in the country. The weather was pleasant after the
+storm, though it was cold, and would soon be more frosty, for winter was
+at hand, and the children had already begun to think of Christmas.</p>
+
+<p>As Aunt Sallie had said, there had been placed in the automobile a
+number of boxes of lunch to be eaten on the way, as it would be night,
+or very near it, before the cabin in the woods could be reached. Uncle
+Toby had written to a lumberman to build a fire in it so the place would
+be warm for the children. It was a large roomy cabin, with many comforts
+and conveniences. Having the lunch in the automobile, the next thing to
+think about was the time to eat it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>Possibly the boys thought more about this than the girls; at any rate
+that must have been the reason why Tom and Ted so often asked Uncle Toby
+what time it was, for the clock on the instrument board of the
+automobile was not going.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it will soon be eating time, if that's what you want to know,"
+answered Uncle Toby, with a laugh, after this same question had been
+asked many times. He seemed to be always laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"In fact we may as well get the lunch out now, I guess, Aunt Sallie," he
+went on. "We had an early breakfast and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He suddenly stopped talking, for there was a loud hissing sound from
+beneath the automobile, as if a big snake had had its tail run over.</p>
+
+<p>"Puncture!" cried Tom and Ted, for they knew enough about cars to tell
+this.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm glad it isn't a blow-out!" Uncle Toby exclaimed. Had there
+been a blow-out the noise would have been much louder, like the bang of
+a gun. "As long as it's only a puncture we can easily mend it, and I'll
+do that while the rest of you eat."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, let me help!" begged Ted. "I often help daddy when he has tire
+trouble."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>"I want to help, too," cried Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," added Harry. "We never had an auto," he went on, "so I don't
+know anything about them. But I'll do what I can."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you boys can hand me the tools," said Uncle Toby, "and I'll do
+the hard work. This is a heavy car and I don't want you getting into any
+danger around it. You can be getting out the lunch, Aunt Sallie. We'll
+be ready to eat after we finish putting in a new rubber tube."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll help," offered Jan and the other two girls, while Trouble cried:</p>
+
+<p>"I want to see punchure! Want to see punchure!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, you stay in here," said his sister, for she knew he would only get
+in the way if allowed to run about. "I'll let you open some of the
+boxes."</p>
+
+<p>This satisfied Trouble, who was now content to stay in the big car.
+Skyrocket, though, went out with the boys and nosed about in the woods
+near which the stop had been made.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take Uncle Toby long to jack up the car, take off the tire,
+put in a new tube, and be ready to start again. But before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> doing that
+they halted a bit longer to eat lunch. Hot chocolate had been brought
+along in thermos bottles, and Uncle Toby thought the chocolate would
+spill on the children if they tried to drink it while the automobile was
+moving.</p>
+
+<p>"There! I feel better!" exclaimed Ted, after the lunch.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I!" cried Tom and Harry.</p>
+
+<p>Once more they were on their way, journeying now along some country
+road, and again through some lonely stretch of wood. They were almost at
+Crystal Lake, and in another quarter of an hour would be at Uncle Toby's
+cabin, when Mr. Bardeen began sniffing the air.</p>
+
+<p>"The engine's getting too hot," he said, and then, as he noticed some
+steam coming out of the radiator cap he added: "Water's getting low.
+I'll have to stop and get some."</p>
+
+<p>"Where can you get any water around here?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try at that cabin," answered Uncle Toby, pointing to a lonely one
+a short distance ahead on the road. "I guess it will be safe to run the
+car that much farther."</p>
+
+<p>"Who lives there?" asked Ted, as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> automobile went along more slowly,
+for Uncle Toby did not want to overheat it.</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody lives there now," was the reply. "It's deserted. But there's a
+well near it, and it's such a deep one I don't believe it will be
+frozen. I can get some water from the well."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby stopped the car in front of the lonely cabin. He got out a
+folding canvas pail from the tool-box, and was going toward the cabin
+when Ted exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you said nobody lived here, Uncle Toby!"</p>
+
+<p>"So I did," was the answer. "No one has lived here for several years."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, look at him!" cried the boy, and he pointed to a man running away
+over the field from the back door of the lonely cottage.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span><a name="xiv" id="xiv"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br />
+
+<small>AT CRYSTAL LAKE</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Uncle Toby</span> was much surprised at what Ted called to his attention.
+Turning around, as he was going toward the well, Uncle Toby looked to
+where the Curlytop boy pointed. He saw the form of a man vanishing from
+sight over the top of a little hill just behind the lonely cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello there!" cried Uncle Toby, in such loud tones that Skyrocket began
+to bark fiercely. "Hello there! Who are you? What are you doing?"</p>
+
+<p>The man did not stop, turn around, nor answer. Instead he ran into a
+little clump of trees and was soon lost to sight. With another loud bark
+Skyrocket took after him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't let our dog go!" cried Jan. "Make him come back, Uncle Toby.
+That man might hurt him."</p>
+
+<p>"Just what I think," said Uncle Toby.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> "Here, Sky!" he called, for
+sometimes the Curlytops' dog was given that short name. "Here, Sky! Come
+back. Come back!"</p>
+
+<p>Skyrocket didn't want to. He dearly loved a chase, and this man seemed
+willing to run. That the man was out of sight made no difference to the
+dog. Skyrocket loved a game of hide and go seek, and perhaps he thought
+that was what the stranger was playing.</p>
+
+<p>"Come back here, Sky!" called Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Skyrocket! Here!" shouted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Janet added her voice to that of her brother and Trouble chimed in.
+Perhaps all these had an effect on the dog, or he might have thought
+that Uncle Toby would punish him if he did not mind. At any rate, after
+a few more barks and some growls, looking meanwhile toward the clump of
+trees into which the man had disappeared, the dog came back, wagging his
+tail and seeming a bit disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"Who was that man, Uncle Toby?" asked Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," was the answer. "No one has lived in that cabin for
+years. I guess he is some tramp who didn't have any other place to
+stay."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>"He didn't look like a tramp," observed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"No, his clothes weren't ragged," added Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," agreed Uncle Toby. "From the little look I had of him he
+wasn't very ragged. But then maybe he hasn't been a tramp very long, and
+it takes quite a while to make one's clothes ragged."</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't take Trouble long!" laughed Jan. "He can go out with a good
+new suit on and come back in half an hour with it all full of cuts and
+holes."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, Trouble is different," said Uncle Toby, with a chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby stood for a few moments looking toward the woods into which
+the strange man had run, and then, going to the well, filled the pail
+with water and put some in the radiator of the automobile. After that
+Uncle Toby went around to the back of the old cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to see if anybody else is there?" asked Jan, while Lola
+and Mary waited with curiosity for an answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me come and help look!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"So will I!" added Tom.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>"If you fellows are going I might as well go, too," said Harry.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you children stay where you are," called Uncle Toby. "I'm just
+going to take a look around, and then we'll go on to Crystal Lake. Stay
+where you are!"</p>
+
+<p>Ted, Janet, and the others remained in the automobile, waiting for Uncle
+Toby to come back. Aunt Sallie was almost ready to doze off in a little
+sleep when Mr. Bardeen was seen coming around the corner of the cabin.
+No one was with him, and there was no further sight of the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Was anybody else in there?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"No one," replied Uncle Toby. "The cabin was empty as far as I could
+see. I guess the man just stopped in there for shelter, and when he saw
+us he thought we owned the place and ran out."</p>
+
+<p>"Who does own it?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"It belongs to a lumberman named Newt Baker," answered Uncle Toby. "He
+used to stay here in the summer, and sometimes part of the winter. But
+he went away and since then no one has lived here&mdash;except that tramp,"
+he added with a laugh. "Poor man," he went on, "I hope he finds some
+place to stay this winter. It looks as if it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> might be a hard one from
+the early snow we had."</p>
+
+<p>Once more they started off; and a little later, nothing more having
+happened, they arrived safely at Crystal Lake.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a fine place!" cried Tom Taylor, as he saw the big body of
+water, on the shore of which was perched Uncle Toby's cottage. The lake
+was not frozen, except with a "skim" of ice here and there in little
+coves.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be lovely in summer for picnics," said Lola. Neither she nor
+her brother had been to Crystal Lake before, but the Curlytops had
+visited it once or twice with Uncle Toby, though they had almost
+forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, here we are, children!" called Uncle Toby, as he stopped the
+automobile near his "shack" as he often called it. "Now if you'll see
+that they get safely inside, Aunt Sallie, I'll soon be with you and
+we'll look after supper and get the beds ready."</p>
+
+<p>"I not goin' to bed now!" cried Trouble. "I not goin' to bed now! I
+goin' to stay up an' see&mdash;an' see&mdash;Santa C'aus!" he burst out, after a
+moment of thought.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>"Oh, you little tyke!" laughed Lola, catching him up in her arms. "Santa
+Claus won't be here for over a month."</p>
+
+<p>"And you don't have to go to bed right away," added Janet.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the auto piled the boys and girls, Skyrocket scrambling ahead of
+them to smell around and find out what sort of place this was that he
+had been brought to.</p>
+
+<p>As Aunt Sallie, the Curlytops and their playmates went toward the front
+door of the cabin, the door was opened and a smiling man looked out.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, folks!" he called. "I've got it good and warm for you, though it
+isn't as cold as it was." He was the man Uncle Toby had engaged to start
+the fires and to have everything in readiness for the coming of the
+Curlytops.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we're glad to get here, Jim Nelson," said Aunt Sallie, for she
+knew the man.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby put the car in the barn and came in with some of the boxes
+and bundles that had been piled in the automobile&mdash;bundles of clothes
+and things for the children.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you got here all right, I see," remarked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> Jim Nelson. "Have any
+trouble on the way?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not to amount to anything," answered Uncle Toby. "Funny thing, though,
+down at Newt Baker's cabin. I stopped there to get some water from his
+deep well. And as I got near the cabin a man ran out and down the hill."</p>
+
+<p>"A man!" exclaimed Mr. Nelson, while the children listened to the talk.
+"I didn't know anybody was living there."</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't&mdash;that is, not living there regularly," said Uncle Toby.
+"But a man ran out. I took him for a tramp at first, only he wasn't
+ragged. But after he ran away I went and looked in."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you see?" asked Mr. Nelson, and this the Curlytops and others
+wished to hear about.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it looked as if he'd been living there and doing his cooking for
+some time," went on Uncle Toby. "There were a lot of tin cans and odds
+and ends of loaves of bread, cracker crumbs, and the like on the table
+in the kitchen. Looked to me as if this man had been camping out in Newt
+Baker's shack."</p>
+
+<p>"Very likely," said Mr. Nelson. "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> don't like such characters hanging
+around Crystal Lake. We'll have to keep watch for him. If there are
+tramps around they may take things. As a matter of fact, food and little
+comforts of small value have been taken from some of the cottages and
+camps. Fred Tuller's son Tom wrote to the Pocono paper and made a whale
+of a story out of it. But from what you say the matter may be of more
+importance than we thought. At any rate, we'd better look into it."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll keep a lookout, then," said Uncle Toby. "And I'll take another
+run down to the cabin some day, after I get the Curlytops settled here
+having fun," and he laughed at the boys and girls so they would not be
+afraid of the talk of tramps and men who might take things.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Nelson left a little after this, promising to come over the next day
+to see how they were.</p>
+
+<p>Then came busy times in Uncle Toby's cabin at Crystal Lake. Aunt Sallie
+and the three girls got ready the supper, while the boys opened boxes
+and bundles. Skyrocket ran about here and there, poking his nose into
+everything, and Trouble was almost as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> bad, for he, too, wanted to see
+everything that was going on.</p>
+
+<p>At last, however, things began to get "straightened out," as the
+Curlytops' mother would have said, and they sat down to a fine supper.
+Every one had a good appetite, even Skyrocket, who had gnawed clean the
+bone Uncle Toby got him at the butcher shop.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's play hide and go seek before we go to bed," proposed Jan, as they
+sat about the open fireplace in the big living room after supper.</p>
+
+<p>"Will it be all right?" asked Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Will what be all right?" Jan wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean won't your uncle be mad if we play in his house?" went on Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear no!" laughed Jan. "That's what he brought us up here for;
+didn't you, Uncle Toby?"</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't I what, Jan?" he asked, for he had been talking to Aunt Sallie
+about the beds.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you bring us up here so we could have a good time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I did!" exclaimed Mr. Bardeen. "What do you want to do now?"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>"Play hide and go seek. May we?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, go ahead. Run about as much as you please, but don't get hurt.
+There isn't any fancy furniture here to break."</p>
+
+<p>This was true, for everything in the cabin at Crystal Lake was heavy and
+strongly made to stand rough handling. So the children could do no harm
+racing about the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>Soon a merry game was in progress, even Trouble taking part, though he
+could hardly be said to play it right. His idea was to hide and keep on
+yelling for some one to come and find him, his voice easily telling
+where he was. The only thing to be done in his case was to pretend not
+to know where he was, even if one saw him. This always made Trouble
+scream with delight, and he would say, over and over again:</p>
+
+<p>"You couldn't find me, could you?"</p>
+
+<p>And of course they always said they couldn't, though they could if they
+had wished.</p>
+
+<p>So the game went on, Trouble taking his part in it. Finally came the
+turn of Mary to "blind," and as she covered her face and began to count
+slowly, the others tiptoed into the different rooms to hide. The cabin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+was built on the bungalow style, with a number of rooms on the first
+floor, and there were many fine hiding places.</p>
+
+<p>Janet went into a room at the far end of the cabin, a room that no one,
+so far during the evening, had entered. It was where Uncle Toby was
+going to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>"No one will find me here," thought Janet, as she crouched down behind a
+chair near one of the windows. She looked through the glass, and dimly
+saw the dark forest all around the cabin. "No one will think of coming
+here," said Janet to herself.</p>
+
+<p>She cuddled herself into as small a nook as possible down behind the
+chair, in a place where she could look out through the other rooms and
+could see the lamplight and firelight in the big living apartment.</p>
+
+<p>It was in this living apartment that Mary was counting with her eyes
+shut and soon she would call: "Ready or not I'm coming!" Then she would
+walk around and try to find the hiding ones.</p>
+
+<p>"But she won't find me," thought Janet, "and I can get in home free."</p>
+
+<p>From the distance Janet heard Mary say she was coming, and then suddenly
+the little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> girl was startled by a tapping on the window just back of
+the chair behind which she was hiding.</p>
+
+<p>At first Janet thought it was the brushing of some tree branch against
+the glass that had made the tapping sound. But when it came again,
+several times, and very regular, the little girl knew some hand must be
+doing it.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe Tom or Ted has gone outside and is trying to scare me," thought
+Janet. "I'll take a peep and see."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly she raised herself up from her crouching position behind the
+chair. And then the tapping sound on the glass came again. Janet looked
+out and gave a scream as, <a name="front" id="front"></a>looking in through the window, she saw the
+face of a man on which the moon faintly shone.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span><a name="xv" id="xv"></a>CHAPTER XV<br />
+
+<small>ON THE SLIPPERY HILL</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Janet Martin</span> had only a glimpse of the face of the man looking in
+through the window at her after he had tapped on the glass. As soon as
+he saw some one peering out at him, and as soon as he heard Janet
+scream&mdash;as he must have heard&mdash;the man sprang away.</p>
+
+<p>He was soon lost to sight in the woods around the cabin. The moon shone
+faintly&mdash;had it not been for this Jan would never have seen the man's
+face&mdash;but it was not bright enough in the forest to see him after he
+leaped away from the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" screamed Janet. Her voice rang out in the empty room and
+was heard by Uncle Toby, Aunt Sallie and the children playing hide and
+go seek.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter? What's the matter?" asked Uncle Toby, who was
+putting wood in the fireplace.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>"Oh, it's a man! A man!" cried Janet, running out from Uncle Toby's
+bedroom into the living apartment where they were now all gathered. "A
+man looked in the window at me and he tapped on the glass!"</p>
+
+<p>"Who was he?" asked Uncle Toby, grasping a heavy stick of wood. Tom, Ted
+and Harry at once began to think they had better take some sticks, too,
+in case there might be a fight. "Was it Jim Nelson?" went on Uncle Toby.
+"Sometimes he taps on my window when he comes around by the side path."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I couldn't see who it was&mdash;except that he was a man," stammered
+Janet. "As soon as he saw me looking at him he ran away."</p>
+
+<p>"Jim Nelson wouldn't do that unless he was playing a trick," decided
+Uncle Toby. "And Jim isn't that kind of a man. He wouldn't scare
+children. I must see who this is!"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he's the tramp we saw over at the place where you got the pail of
+water this afternoon," said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe," agreed Uncle Toby. "Well, if he's a poor man and in trouble I'm
+sorry for him. But he hasn't any right to come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> sneaking around my
+cabin, tapping on the window. I'll see about this!"</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby went outside, and the boys followed. Trouble wanted to go
+with Ted, but Janet held back her little brother.</p>
+
+<p>In the moonlight, which was brighter now, as the clouds had blown away,
+Uncle Toby made a trip around the cabin, taking Skyrocket with him,
+while the boys, each with a chunk of wood as a weapon, followed Mr.
+Bardeen.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby called loudly to know who was in the woods, and the dog
+barked, but no man answered.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't find any one," Uncle Toby announced, coming back into the cabin
+with the boys. "It's too dark to see if there are any strange footprints
+in the snow, and I don't believe we could tell by them anyhow, as Jim
+Nelson and some of his friends have been tramping around here the last
+few days, bringing in wood and things. Are you sure you saw a man at the
+window, Janet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure, Uncle Toby. And I heard him tapping on the glass, too."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't believe he meant any harm. Maybe he was the tramp we saw
+at the lonely cabin, or it may have been another. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> may have wanted
+shelter for the night, and something to eat. But when he heard you
+scream it must have frightened him off, as he may have had an idea he'd
+be scolded for frightening a little girl. Anyhow, no harm is done, and
+there will be no danger. Go on with your game."</p>
+
+<p>However, the children were too excited over what had happened to do
+this. Janet was trembling, and the others wanted her to tell over again
+just what had happened. And as Janet told and retold it she became less
+frightened, until finally she was laughing as though it had been a joke.</p>
+
+<p>"But if I'd 'a' got that man I'd 'a' hit him with a stick of wood!"
+threatened Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"So would I!" declared Tom and Harry.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it's just as well you didn't find him then," said Uncle Toby,
+with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>After the children had gone to bed&mdash;and Uncle Toby said the look of them
+all tucked in made him think of a boarding school&mdash;he and Aunt Sallie
+sat up a bit longer.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really think Janet saw a man?" asked Aunt Sallie. "And if so,
+who was he?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's more than I can tell," Uncle Toby answered. "Janet isn't the
+kind of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> girl to imagine things. I believe it was a man. Probably the
+same fellow we saw running away from the lonely cabin. To-morrow I'll
+take Jim Nelson and some of the men and we'll have a look around. I
+don't want rough and strange men roaming these woods when I have a lot
+of children out here for the holidays."</p>
+
+<p>"I should say not!" exclaimed Aunt Sallie. "I wouldn't like it myself!
+And maybe he's the man who's been taking things."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe," agreed Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>However, there were no more alarms nor any trouble that night, and after
+a few minutes of lying awake Janet went to sleep as soundly as the other
+children. They slept rather late the next morning, for they were tired
+with the travel of the day before, and when Jan and Lola came down to
+the kitchen they found Aunt Sallie getting breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we said we'd get up and help!" exclaimed Jan. For she had promised
+her mother, on leaving home to visit Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie, that
+she would help with the housework.</p>
+
+<p>"And I used to get breakfast all alone,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> said Mary. "That is after
+mother was sick," and she could not keep back a few tears, though she
+turned her head away so the other girls would not see them.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, my dear," said Aunt Sallie, with a laugh. "I didn't want
+you to get up early. Uncle Toby told me to let you girls and the boys
+sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, aren't the boys up yet?" asked Jan, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't tell me we've beaten!" added Lola, with a giggle.</p>
+
+<p>"They said they were going to get up and see the sun rise," remarked
+Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess they forgot it, or else they thought they could see the sun
+some other morning," laughed Aunt Sallie. "For they aren't down yet,
+though it's almost time to call them, for I'm going to start to bake the
+pancakes soon."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, are you going to have pancakes?" cried Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and with maple syrup," Aunt Sallie answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I love them!" exclaimed Lola. "Don't you, Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I don't know," was the hesitating answer. "I&mdash;I guess I never had
+any."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>"Oh my, just&mdash;" but Lola stopped. She was going to say "just fancy a
+girl never having eaten pancakes with maple syrup!" But she thought it
+would not be polite to say that, so she changed it to:</p>
+
+<p>"Just you wait until you try them! You'll love them!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know Ted does, so I'm going to call him!" exclaimed Janet. "He
+wouldn't want to keep on sleeping and miss the cakes."</p>
+
+<p>"Tom wouldn't, either," declared Lola.</p>
+
+<p>So they called the boys, who soon rushed downstairs, as hungry as ever
+any boys were. And the girls were quite as hungry. As for Trouble, he
+always thought he was hungry whether he was or not.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby came in, having been out to do the chores, he said. He had
+also been over to Jim Nelson's cabin to talk about the man who had
+tapped on the window, scaring Janet. But Uncle Toby said nothing about
+this. Instead he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Getting colder, boys and girls. Hope you brought your skates."</p>
+
+<p>"Why," asked Ted, "is there skating?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; but there will be. Shouldn't wonder but what part of the lake would
+freeze over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> by to-morrow. But don't any of you go on until I try the
+ice to see if it's safe."</p>
+
+<p>"Guess there isn't any danger of me going on," remarked Harry Benton.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" asked Ted. "Don't you like to skate?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure I do!" Harry answered. "But I haven't any skates."</p>
+
+<p>"I brought some extra pairs along," remarked Uncle Toby. "I think I have
+some that will fit you and Mary."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, goodie!" cried Mary, for she felt she could now have fun like the
+other girls.</p>
+
+<p>"But it hasn't frozen yet, though it soon will be," said Uncle Toby.
+"Well, I'm going to leave you youngsters to amuse yourselves for a
+while, as I have some things to look after."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby paused for a moment and then went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Now about school."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Ted, in a low voice. "I s'pose we'll have to go," he added,
+with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"No!" exclaimed Uncle Toby. "That's the queer part of it. You can't go.
+I told your folks you could, but you can't."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" asked Jan, and neither she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> nor any of the others seemed
+disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>"The teacher they had here was taken sick, I've just heard, and they
+can't get another until after the holidays. So it doesn't look as though
+you could go to school. I'm sorry&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, ho!" cried the Curlytops and their playmates. "No school! Hurray!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now we'll go out and have some fun!" shouted Ted, as Uncle Toby left
+the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Me come!" cried Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we'll take you," answered Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"Take good care of Trouble!" called Aunt Sallie to the boys and girls as
+they started from the cabin. They were warmly dressed, as it was getting
+colder, just as Uncle Toby had declared.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll watch him!" called back Jan.</p>
+
+<p>Off through the trees, under which, here and there, were patches of
+snow, wandered the Curlytops and their playmates. They laughed and
+shouted, running here and there until they were nearly as warm as on a
+summer's day. It was sheltered under the trees, but out in the open was
+getting colder, and in places thin ice was forming on Crystal Lake.</p>
+
+<p>They walked along, sometimes all together<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> and again with the boys
+running ahead of the girls, until they came to a little hill, covered
+with pine trees. The wind had swept the ground bare of snow here, or
+else it had melted, and in places were patches of the long, smooth and
+slippery pine needles.</p>
+
+<p>Tom, Ted, and Harry had run off to one side, for Skyrocket had scared up
+a rabbit and the boys wanted to see the bunny, though they would not
+have let the dog harm it. Trouble started to follow his brother and the
+other two lads, but as he reached the top of the pine-needle-covered
+hill Janet called him back.</p>
+
+<p>"Trouble, come here!" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"No!" he answered. "I go see bunny rabbit!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, you must stay with me," said Janet, starting after him. Trouble
+gathered himself to spring away on a run, but suddenly there was a queer
+screeching call in a tree over his head, and a moment later the little
+fellow went sliding and slipping down the hill and out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Janet</p>
+
+<p>"Was it an eagle that screamed?" asked Lola, who did not know much about
+birds.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>"Maybe the eagle carried him off," suggested Mary, who knew even less
+about the creatures of the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"There aren't any eagles around here, I hope," said Janet. "But
+something happened to Trouble! I hope he isn't hurt!"</p>
+
+<p>Again came that shrill, harsh call. It sounded like:</p>
+
+<p>"Hay! Hay! Hay!"</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody is laughing because Trouble fell downhill," said Lola. "I
+wonder if it's that horrid old man?"</p>
+
+<p>A moment later there was a rustling in the bushes, and a large bird with
+bright blue feathers marked with patches of white flew up into a tree
+harshly crying:</p>
+
+<p>"Hay! Hay! Hay!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's a blue jay!" exclaimed Janet, as she ran to the top of the
+hill to see what had happened to William. It was nothing serious. He had
+merely slid down on the smooth brown pine needles which covered the
+ground and made it almost as slippery as a coasting hill. Perhaps the
+sudden cry of the blue jay had made Trouble give a nervous jump and this
+had thrown him off his balance, causing him to fall.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>"Was that bird chase me?" he asked, as he heard the blue one cry and saw
+it flitting about.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no," answered Lola. "You chased yourself, I guess. Are you hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I'm all&mdash;bumped," explained Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>And this, really, was all that had happened to him. The pine hill was so
+smooth that no one could have been hurt on it. The girls found it so
+slippery that they could hardly stand up on it while helping Trouble up.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's try&mdash;" began Mary. She was about to say "try a slide," when her
+feet suddenly went from under her and she did as Trouble had done. She
+burst out laughing, as did William and the other two girls, and the
+woods echoed to the merry sound, bringing the boys over on the run. They
+had not seen the rabbit after the first fleeting glimpse.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"We've found a slippery place," answered his sister.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, let's try it!" suggested Tom.</p>
+
+<p>They all did, making efforts to go down the slippery pine-needle hill
+standing up. But every one toppled before reaching the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> bottom of the
+hill. However, this was part of the fun, and Trouble enjoyed it with the
+others.</p>
+
+<p>Now and then the blue jay would flit to and fro, alighting on the trees
+or bushes, and shrilly cry:</p>
+
+<p>"Hay! Hay! Hay!"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he wants to play, too," suggested Mary, who liked to look at one
+of our most brilliantly colored winter birds.</p>
+
+<p>"He's making enough fuss about it, anyhow," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>The children had lots of fun in the woods that day and the next. No more
+tappings on the window were heard, and the Curlytops and their playmates
+forgot all about the little scare. The weather grew colder and colder.
+One morning Uncle Toby came in from the barn. He rubbed his red hands
+before the fire and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Lake's frozen over! Now you can go skating!"</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span><a name="xvi" id="xvi"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br />
+
+<small>A REAL TOBOGGAN</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">"Let's</span> have a race!" cried Ted, as soon as his skates were fastened on
+his shoes, for as soon as breakfast was over the children had gone out
+on the ice with their skates.</p>
+
+<p>"All right!" shouted Tom, who was quite ready for this sort of fun. "I
+can beat you, Ted Martin!"</p>
+
+<p>"And I can beat you, Tom Taylor!" exclaimed Lola, his sister, who was a
+very good skater.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, wouldn't it be fun if we two could beat them?" suggested Jan to
+Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll try," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, though Mary and Harry had put on their skates, they took no
+part in this talk and stood about on the ice as if they hardly knew what
+to do.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you join in the race?" asked Lola of Mary. "We three girls against
+the boys."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>"I don't believe I can skate well enough to race," Mary answered, and
+her brother joined in with:</p>
+
+<p>"You see we never had much chance to skate, and about all we can do is
+to move along in a straight line." He laughed good-naturedly over his
+own lack of skill.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that's all right!" cried Ted, in jolly fashion. "We won't have any
+race then&mdash;that is, until after you two get more used to your skates."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't let us stop you from having fun!" exclaimed Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"We can have just as much fun not racing. I don't care much for it,
+anyhow, do you, Jan?" said Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed!" answered the Curlytop girl. Thus did they try to make Mary
+and Harry feel happier, and they succeeded.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what we can do," suggested Tom Taylor. "Ted and I can show
+you a few easy tricks on skates, Harry, and Jan and Lola can do the same
+with Mary."</p>
+
+<p>"That will be fine!" exclaimed Harry. "Then, when we know more about it,
+we can have a race."</p>
+
+<p>So it was decided, and then and there began lessons for the two poor
+children whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> Uncle Toby had brought to Crystal Lake so they might have
+a good time over the holidays. Harry and Mary were quick to learn, and
+though it would be some time before they could beat any of the other
+four children in a race, they did very well for beginners.</p>
+
+<p>"See if you can do this!" cried Ted, after having shown Harry how to
+"grind the bar" backward, a trick Harry soon learned.</p>
+
+<p>"Watch me!" cried Ted, as he began doing what he called a grapevine
+twist. To do it he darted farther out from shore than any of them had
+yet gone, and just as he was dong some fancy skating there was a loud
+booming, cracking sound that sent a shiver all through the ice on which
+the others were standing.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, come! Come back!" cried Jan to her brother. "The ice is going to
+break! We'll fall in!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" yelled Tom. "Come on back, Ted!"</p>
+
+<p>Ted needed no urging, but skated as fast as he could toward shore,
+whither the others were fleeing as fast as they could strike out on
+their skates. They reached land safely, and, to their surprise, no big
+cracks or holes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> appeared in the ice. It seemed as solid as ever.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what made that?" asked Janet, whose heart was beating fast.</p>
+
+<p>"The ice broke somewhere," declared Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better not go on it any more," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Well go up and ask Uncle Toby about it," suggested Ted. "I don't want
+to stop skating."</p>
+
+<p>As the children were about to take off their skates to go back to the
+cabin, Aunt Sallie was seen coming down, dragging Trouble on a sled.
+There were patches of snow here and there so it was not hard to pull the
+sled along. And Trouble was not very heavy.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Sallie, you ought to hear the ice crack!" called the children
+in a chorus.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it dangerous?" asked Mary.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby came out of the bungalow and heard what was asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That rumbling, cracking sound isn't anything dangerous," he said. "The
+ice often does that, and often big cracks come in it out in the middle
+of the lake. But it is thick enough, and it won't break<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> through with
+you or I shouldn't have let you go skating. But, even with all I have
+said, don't go too far out."</p>
+
+<p>The children felt safer, now that Uncle Toby had told them this, and Ted
+again started to show Harry how to do a grapevine twist. Aunt Sallie
+gave the sled and Trouble over in charge of the girls, and they skated
+up and down pulling William to and fro, to his great delight.</p>
+
+<p>The boys, now that Harry felt more at home on his skates, began to try
+to outdo each other in tricks, and when Harry said he would be the
+judge, Tom and Ted had a race, Ted winning.</p>
+
+<p>Once Jan and Lola skated so fast, pretending they were a team of horses
+pulling Trouble on his sled, that Jan stumbled and fell down, also
+tripping Lola. The girls were not hurt, and they slid along over the ice
+laughing. But the sled was upset, Trouble fell off, and though he was so
+bundled up that he didn't get hurt, he began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we'd better take him in," suggested Jan. "He may be cold.
+Anyhow, I've had enough skating."</p>
+
+<p>"So have I," said Mary and Lola.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>They went up to the cabin, taking Trouble with them. But the boys
+remained on the ice a while longer, and Harry was rapidly becoming a
+good skater.</p>
+
+<p>The three lads did not take off their skates until it was time for
+dinner, and after the meal they went back on the frozen lake again,
+though the girls stayed in to play with their dolls.</p>
+
+<p>"Make the most of your skating," said Uncle Toby, as he watched the
+three lads circling around on the ice.</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Because I think we are going to have another storm," was the answer.
+"It is going to snow, and then all the ice will be covered. Of course
+you can scrape clean a small place, but it will be hard work. So get all
+the skating you can while it's good."</p>
+
+<p>This the boys did, that day and the next. But the following morning,
+when they awakened and looked from the windows, they saw the ground
+white with snow, and more flakes coming down.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray!" cried Tom. "Now we can have fun coasting!"</p>
+
+<p>"And maybe we can make a toboggan slide!" added Ted.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>"I've seen them," remarked Harry, "but I was never on one."</p>
+
+<p>"We had a wooden one in our yard, but we had to put candle grease on our
+sled runners first," Ted explained. "It would be great if we could make
+a regular toboggan slide."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's ask Uncle Toby," suggested Janet.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby laughed in jolly fashion as the Curlytops and their playmates
+swarmed around him in the cozy cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"A toboggan slide, eh?" he cried. "Well, I don't see why you can't have
+one, and you don't need to build it of wood, either, for there's a good
+hill not far away. But how would you like to coast on a regular toboggan
+instead of your sleds?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, could we?" shouted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess so," was the answer. "There's a French Canadian who lives not
+far away, and he has a big toboggan. We'll go over in the auto and see
+if he'll let us take it. I used to have one out here, but I find that
+it's broken."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what fun we'll have!" sang Janet, and the others joined in the
+chorus of joy.</p>
+
+<p>It kept on snowing, but they could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> journey out in the big, closed
+automobile even with the storm all about, and this they soon did.</p>
+
+<p>"But if we get the toboggan how can we get it in here? There isn't much
+room," remarked Ted, for the children and Uncle Toby almost filled the
+big machine.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll tie it on behind and pull it over," said Uncle Toby. "A
+toboggan can go faster than any auto."</p>
+
+<p>"I ride on it!" said Trouble, and the others laughed, for of course he
+didn't know what he was talking about.</p>
+
+<p>The road to the cabin of the French Canadian lumberman who owned the big
+toboggan ran past the lonely shack where Uncle Toby had once stopped for
+water and from which the strange man had run away. As they neared this
+cabin again Ted asked:</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if that man is in there now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Uncle Toby. "But I think I'll take a look. Jim
+Nelson and I meant to do it before this, but we haven't had a chance. We
+don't want any tramps living in our woods."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped the machine near the cabin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> and got out. The boys wanted to
+follow him, but he told them to remain with the girls.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm just going to look in the window," said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>He did this, first at the front windows, and evidently saw nothing, for
+he soon went around to the rear. And suddenly the children in the
+automobile heard shouting, and the shouts came from inside the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody's there!" cried Ted, starting to get out.</p>
+
+<p>"You stay here!" cried Janet, catching her brother by the coat. "Uncle
+Toby told you to stay here!"</p>
+
+<p>As Ted sank back in his seat they could all hear Uncle Toby saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you? What are you doing in there?"</p>
+
+<p>The man in the lonely cabin answered, but what he said the Curlytops and
+their playmates could not tell. There was more shouting to and fro
+between Uncle Toby and the unknown man, and then Mr. Bardeen came around
+to the front of the cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he there? Who is he? What does he want?" The children quickly asked
+these questions.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>"Oh, he's just a tramp I guess," answered Uncle Toby. "I couldn't make
+much out of him. But I'll tell Jim Nelson and some of the lumbermen, and
+we'll see what he's doing there. He can't do much harm, for there isn't
+anything of value in the old shack. But it's just as well not to have a
+tramp in there."</p>
+
+<p>Once again Uncle Toby started the machine, and soon they were at the
+cabin of the French Canadian.</p>
+
+<p>"Could we borrow your toboggan, Jules?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, of a sure yes!" was the answer, Jules doing his best to speak what
+to him was a new language. "I bring she out to you!"</p>
+
+<p>He ran around to the back of his shack, and soon came into view again
+with a real toboggan, at the sight of which the children set up a joyous
+shout.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span><a name="xvii" id="xvii"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br />
+
+<small>THE SNOW HOUSE</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Frenchman's toboggan was a large one. It would hold all of the
+Curlytops and their playmates, with room to spare. I suppose most of you
+have seen toboggans, or pictures of them, and know what they are.
+Instead of being made like a sled, with steel runners, a toboggan is
+like a thin, flat board, with the front end curled up like the old
+fashioned Dutch skates. Only instead of being made of one flat piece of
+wood, a large toboggan is made of several strips fastened together so it
+will not so easily break.</p>
+
+<p>On the side of Jules's toboggan were hand rails, to which the riders
+could hold. There was also a cushion on which to sit, and altogether it
+was a very fine way of coasting downhill.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what fun we'll have on this!" cried Jan.</p>
+
+<p>"Will it go fast?" asked Lola.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>"It'll go like an express train!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"And we fellows will take turns sitting on the back and sticking our
+feet out to steer," added Tom, for that is how a toboggan is guided, you
+know.</p>
+
+<p>"If it's going as fast as an express train I don't believe I want to
+ride," said Mary, who was rather more timid than the other children.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let those boys scare you," advised Janet. "They're only talking
+to hear themselves talk. Tom and Ted are always that way&mdash;aren't they,
+Lola?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered Tom's sister, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were now clustered around the big toboggan, and Trouble had
+taken his seat in the middle of the cushion.</p>
+
+<p>"You give me wide!" he demanded of his brother.</p>
+
+<p>"Not now&mdash;a little later," promised Ted. He wanted to listen to what the
+Canadian was saying, telling Uncle Toby how the big toboggan was best
+managed on a hill.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go down with the children the first few times," said Uncle Toby,
+"to make sure it's all right. Our hill isn't so very steep,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> and I don't
+believe there's much danger."</p>
+
+<p>"On little hill not&mdash;no!" exclaimed Jules, with a smile that showed all
+his white teeth. "But on big hill, steep so like roof of house, toboggan
+her go like what you say&mdash;fifty-nine?"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you mean like sixty," laughed Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Mebby so. Her go very fast. I like for childrens to have good time, but
+not too fast!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll see that they are careful," promised Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>After much teasing the three boys were allowed to sit on the toboggan
+after it was tied to the rear of the automobile for the trip home.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't go very fast," said Uncle Toby. "But if I should have to stop
+you boys will need to stick your feet down in the snow suddenly to put
+on the brakes, you know, or you'll bump into my rear wheels."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll do that," promised Tom, Ted, and Harry.</p>
+
+<p>Trouble wanted to ride with the boys on the toboggan as it was drawn
+along over the snow behind the auto, but he was not allowed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> to do this,
+as it was thought his brother and the other two lads would be so full of
+fun that they would forget to watch him, and he might fall off and be
+left behind.</p>
+
+<p>The toboggan was made fast with a long rope, the boys took their places,
+and with many thanks to Jules for his kindness, the trip home was begun.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurray!" cried Ted. "Here we go!"</p>
+
+<p>"Talk about fun!" shouted Tom. "We're having it all right!"</p>
+
+<p>"I never had such a good time in my life," said Harry, his eyes shining
+with pleasure. He wished his mother might have shared in some of his and
+his sister's enjoyment, and how he wished that he had a father, such as
+the other boys had, only he himself knew. But he said nothing of this.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on tightly now, boys!" called Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"We will!" they answered, and away they went.</p>
+
+<p>At first everything was all right. The road was slightly uphill and the
+toboggan kept well back from the wheels of the automobile, so there was
+no danger of bumping into them. But when the automobile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> started down
+grade toward Uncle Toby's cabin, the wooden sled slid faster than the
+automobile was pulling it.</p>
+
+<p>"Put on brakes! Put on brakes!" shouted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Stick your feet in the snow!" echoed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>The three boys thrust their feet out on either side of the toboggan,
+digging their heels into the snow, and in this way they made themselves
+slow up, so they did not hit the wheels. Even if they had done so no
+harm would have resulted, because the wheels had large rubber tires on
+them, and the front of the toboggan came up in a big curve.</p>
+
+<p>Soon they were going uphill again, and the boys did not have to "put on
+brakes." But as Uncle Toby made the automobile go a bit faster, when
+they were near his cabin, he and the girls suddenly heard laughing
+shouts from the boys behind them.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, something has happened!" exclaimed Jan, looking out of the rear
+window of the closed car.</p>
+
+<p>"They've fallen off!" added Mary. "I hope they aren't hurt!"</p>
+
+<p>"Can't be much hurt, falling off in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> snow," laughed Uncle Toby, as
+he brought the car to a stop, got out, and went back, followed by the
+girls. The toboggan had turned upside down, but was not damaged. The
+boys, laughing so joyously that they could hardly walk, were coming
+along, covered with snow.</p>
+
+<p>"What happened?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the toboggan struck a big lump of snow in the middle of the road
+and turned right over. It spilled us off!" explained Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"But it was fun!" added Harry. And so it was.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we're almost there. Better walk the rest of the way," advised
+Uncle Toby. "Take the toboggan off and pull it."</p>
+
+<p>This was done, two of the boys taking turns pulling the third over the
+short distance remaining.</p>
+
+<p>"And now for some real tobogganing!" cried Ted, as the cabin was
+reached.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby, however, would not let the children go down alone for the
+first few times. He wanted to be sure the boys knew how to manage the
+big sled, which, though large, was very light, as all toboggans are,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+and thus are much safer than a sled with steel runners.</p>
+
+<p>There was a long, but not too steep, hill near the cabin, and the
+Curlytops and their playmates were soon at the top of this, with Uncle
+Toby and the toboggan.</p>
+
+<p>"All aboard!" called Mr. Bardeen, and they took their places on the
+cushion, holding to the hand rails. Trouble was not allowed to go down
+the first time, but Aunt Sallie had all she could do to keep him with
+her as she stood at the top of the slope watching the coasting party.</p>
+
+<p>"You shall soon have a ride, Trouble," Aunt Sallie promised. "As soon as
+the hill is made a little smooth."</p>
+
+<p>"All ready?" cried Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby gave a push with his foot, which he had thrust out behind to
+steer with, and down the snow-covered hill went the toboggan with its
+happy load. They did not go very fast on this first trip, as the snow
+needed to be packed down smooth and hard. But after the second or third
+voyage the toboggan moved more swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you like it Mary?" asked Janet.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>"Oh, I just love it!" cried the other, with shining eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby, finding that everything was safe, allowed the boys, one
+after another, to try steering the light, wooden sled. Finding that they
+could manage all right, he let them have charge of the toboggan, and at
+last Trouble was allowed to coast down, sitting between Lola and Janet.</p>
+
+<p>Of course Trouble wanted to take his turn at steering with the other
+boys, but that was out of the question, even though he teased very much.
+It would not have been safe, of course.</p>
+
+<p>And such fun as the Curlytops and their playmates had! The toboggan was
+much better than a sled, and safer, even though it went faster. It was
+almost like flying with the snowbirds, Lola said.</p>
+
+<p>Of course there were little accidents and upsets. Once, when Harry was
+steering, the toboggan turned completely around when half way down the
+hill and began sliding backward. And as the back end was blunt, having
+no curve to slip easily over the snow, there was a turnover, and the
+children were spilled all the way down the hill.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>But they never minded that, only rolling over and over to the bottom, or
+nearly there, laughing and shouting meanwhile. It was fun for Skyrocket,
+too, the dog leaping here and there, barking and chasing snowballs which
+the girls threw for him to race after.</p>
+
+<p>Once they took Skyrocket down on the toboggan with them, or, rather,
+they took him half way, for midway on the hill Skyrocket decided he
+didn't like that way of traveling, and with a howl he leaped off. It was
+too swift for him, I suppose.</p>
+
+<p>But the children had great delight in it, and would have kept on with
+the toboggan fun all day if Uncle Toby had let them. He did not want
+them to get too tired, however, nor did Aunt Sallie want Trouble to stay
+out in the cold too long, though he was a sturdy little chap.</p>
+
+<p>After lunch, when Trouble was having his usual nap, Lola and Jan said
+they would like to try steering the toboggan, and Uncle Toby said they
+might.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we fellows won't ride if you girls steer," declared Ted. "You'd
+upset us first shot."</p>
+
+<p>"Pooh! You don't need to ride!" laughed Janet. "We can do better without
+you."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>The girls learned to steer, after a lesson or two from Uncle Toby. Even
+timid Mary managed to do quite well, though Janet and Lola, being more
+used to outdoor life in the country, did better than Mary. The girls had
+their little accidents, too, upsetting more than once, but they did not
+mind this.</p>
+
+<p>For several days, while the snow lasted, the Curlytops and their friends
+had fun in the snow. The weather was bright and sunny, and not too cold.
+One day Janet, going out to the kitchen where Aunt Sallie was busy,
+found the table covered with packages and bundles that Uncle Toby had
+brought from the village store.</p>
+
+<p>"What's going on?" asked Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Thanksgiving will soon be going on," answered Aunt Sallie. "I must get
+my mincemeat made, and do a lot of planning for the big family I expect
+to have at dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I didn't know Thanksgiving was so near!" exclaimed Janet. At first
+she was joyous, and then a little feeling of sadness came to her. This
+would be the first Thanksgiving she remembered when daddy and mother
+were not present. The other children, too, when they were told about
+the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> coming feast at Uncle Toby's cabin, looked a little serious when
+they realized that none of their grown-ups would be with them. Of course
+Mary and Harry did not expect this, for they knew their mother could not
+come from the hospital for a long time, and as for their father&mdash;they
+had given him up as dead, long ago.</p>
+
+<p>"But maybe daddy and mother will be here for Christmas!" said Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe!" agreed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to write and ask our father and mother to come here for
+Christmas. May I, Uncle Toby?" asked Lola, for in common with the
+Curlytops she called Mr. Bardeen by this name.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" Uncle Toby answered. "The more the merrier! And if your
+mother is able to come from the hospital, we'll have her here for
+Christmas," and he nodded at Mary and Harry. This made that boy and girl
+very happy, for it is often happiness just to think of something
+pleasant that may happen.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, several days after the first of the toboggan riding, the
+boys, who had gotten up ahead of the girls for once, began shouting
+outside the cabin.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>"What's going on, I wonder?" asked Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess they're just yelling for the fun of it," answered Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"They're saying something about a house," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>Janet raised the window and listened. Just then Ted shouted:</p>
+
+<p>"Come on out, girls, and help us build a snow house. We're going to make
+the biggest snow house you ever saw!"</p>
+
+<p>"And when it's finished you can have a tea party in it," added Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what lovely fun that will be!" cried Mary.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the boys and girls, with Skyrocket frolicking around them, began
+making the snow house. The sun had so warmed the snow that it packed
+well.</p>
+
+<p>First a number of big snowballs were rolled and placed one after the
+other in the form of a square on the ground. This was to be the
+foundation of the house.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i003" id="i003"></a>Other snowballs were lifted on top of the first large ones, and snow
+packed in the cracks until, when afternoon came, there were four walls
+of snow, much higher than the heads of the children.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>"It looks more like a fort than a snow house," said Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to put the roof on," Tom answered. "How we going to do that,
+Ted?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," was the reply. "I never made such a big snow house. If
+we make the roof only of snow it will fall in on us."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better ask Uncle Toby," suggested Janet, and this they did.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll show you how to make a good roof," Uncle Toby told the children.
+"Just get me a lot of poles from that pile over there. I used them to
+raise beans this summer. Bring me a lot of those long poles."</p>
+
+<p>The children ran to carry them to him, wondering how Uncle Toby could
+make a roof on a snow house out of poles.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="400" height="538" alt="95" title="" />
+<span class="caption">OTHER SNOWBALLS WERE LIFTED ON TOP OF THE FIRST LARGE
+ONES. <a href="#i003">Page 195</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span><a name="xviii" id="xviii"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br />
+
+<small>THANKSGIVING</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Perhaps</span> if the Curlytops and their playmates had thought about it a
+little harder they might have guessed how Uncle Toby intended to make
+the roof of their snow house with the bean poles. It was very simple.</p>
+
+<p>When the boys and girls had brought a number of the long, thin poles to
+him, Uncle Toby took the poles, one at a time, and laid them carefully
+across the tops of the white walls. Each end of the pole rested on the
+wall, and when all were in place, laid close together, there was the
+beginning of the roof.</p>
+
+<p>"But it's full of holes," objected Ted, as he went in through the
+doorway that had been left, and, looking up, could see the sky in
+between the spaces of the poles.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, of course it's full of holes," laughed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> Uncle Toby. "All you have
+to do is to plaster some snow in the cracks, and then cover the poles
+with more snow and you'll have a roof to your house that won't fall in
+on you."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, how easy!" cried Tom. "It's a wonder we didn't think of that
+ourselves."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll know how next time," replied Uncle Toby. "Bring a few more
+poles."</p>
+
+<p>This the children did, even Trouble dragging over some of the smallest
+ones from the pile. Then the roof was ready for its coating of snow, and
+the children began tossing it on with their hands and from shovels.</p>
+
+<p>At first the snow dropped through some of the larger cracks between the
+poles, but these were soon filled, and then a solid mass of white was
+spread over the roof of the snow house.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to see if I can't plaster some snow over the poles from
+inside, so they won't show," decided Ted, when the outside top of the
+roof was finished. "Then it will look like a solid snow roof."</p>
+
+<p>The other boys helped with this, but it was not as easy as they had
+thought it would be. For often after they had stuck a handful of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> snow
+on the ceiling inside, it would fall down, once or twice right in their
+faces.</p>
+
+<p>But at last they had the inside poles pretty well plastered over with
+snow, and the house was finished. There was a doorway, and two windows,
+and over the door a blanket was hung. Uncle Toby put some sheets of ice
+in the windows, and they looked just like glass.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, this is the nicest snow house I ever saw!" cried Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"It's like a fairy one!" exclaimed Mary. "I never dreamed of one so nice
+as this."</p>
+
+<p>"It's the best one we ever made," said Ted, and the other boys agreed
+with him.</p>
+
+<p>But the fun was only beginning. The girls had been promised, if they
+helped with the making of the snow house, that they could have a play
+party in it for themselves and, if they chose, their dolls.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll ask Aunt Sallie for something to eat and have the play party
+now," decided Janet, when some boxes had been put in the snow house to
+serve as tables and chairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Will the dolls eat everything?" asked Tom, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean&mdash;eat everything?" his sister wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>"I mean will there be anything left for us?" and Tom winked at the other
+boys.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I guess Aunt Sallie will give enough for everybody," said Janet,
+and Aunt Sallie did.</p>
+
+<p>As she was getting ready for Thanksgiving, there was plenty to eat in
+Uncle Toby's bungalow, and soon sandwiches and cake, and a tin pail full
+of hot chocolate were carried out to the snow house.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a regular picnic in the snow!" cried Mary, in delight. "I never
+knew anything as nice as this."</p>
+
+<p>The girls took their dolls out to the snow house, Mary having brought
+hers from home with her, and though it was not as well dressed or as
+costly as the dolls of Janet or Lola, still Mary loved her "child" just
+as much.</p>
+
+<p>Janet wanted to make Trouble a rag doll to play with, but he insisted
+that he was an "Indian," for that is what the other boys were pretending
+to be.</p>
+
+<p>"An' Injuns don't have dolls!" declared Trouble, as he sat on a box in
+the snow house and sipped his warm chocolate.</p>
+
+<p>For two or three days the children played<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> in the snow house, the
+weather being mild, so that it was quite comfortable in the white
+"igloo," as Uncle Toby called it. The children wanted to know where that
+name came from, and he told them it was what the Eskimos of the Polar
+regions called their egg-shape huts of ice and snow.</p>
+
+<p>The pole roof was a great success, for it did not fall in on the heads
+of the boys and girls. And there is nothing worse, when you are having
+fun in a snow house, than to have the roof cave in on you.</p>
+
+<p>Of course there were little accidents, caused by the snow which the boys
+had plastered to the inside of the poles. More than once little chunks
+of snow fell, but they were so light they did no harm, even when they
+hit Janet or Lola on the head.</p>
+
+<p>Once, however, just as Ted was lifting a cup of chocolate to his mouth,
+a chunk of snow fell right into the cup, splashing the chocolate all
+over the lad. Luckily it was not hot, though after the splashing was
+over Ted looked as if he had colored himself to take part in a minstrel
+show.</p>
+
+<p>The other children laughed, and so did Ted, after his first surprise.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>"To-morrow will be Thanksgiving!" exclaimed Lola one night, as they
+hurried in from a long day of fun.</p>
+
+<p>"And you ought to see the big pile of good things there are to eat!"
+exclaimed Tom. "Oh, boys!"</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Sallie sure has cooked a lot!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"The most I ever saw," added Harry. "And such a turkey!"</p>
+
+<p>"And such cranberry sauce!" sighed his sister.</p>
+
+<p>"An' there's candy an' nuts an'&mdash;an' lots of things!" added Trouble.
+"It's mos' like Ch'is'mus!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it surely is," agreed Janet. "Only I hope by Christmas we'll have
+daddy and mother here." A letter had come from Mr. and Mrs. Martin from
+the distant city where they had gone to see about the money. In the
+letter the parents of the Curlytops said they hoped to be with them at
+Christmas.</p>
+
+<p>The father and mother of Tom and Lola had also written, wishing the
+children the joys of a happy Thanksgiving, and saying they would come up
+at Christmas with Mr. and Mrs. Martin.</p>
+
+<p>There was also a letter from Mrs. Benton,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> in which the poor woman said
+that she had been operated on, and was much better, but added that she
+would have to be under the doctor's care and in the hospital some time
+yet.</p>
+
+<p>"Anyhow, it's something to be thankful for," said Mary. Her brother
+agreed with her. And if in their hearts there was a little sadness
+because they had no father to share the joys of the holidays with them,
+they kept it to themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"We all have lots to be thankful for," said Aunt Sallie, when the feast
+day came. "Yes, and you shall have something, too," she added to
+Skyrocket, who was sniffing hungrily at the kitchen door.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast Uncle Toby took them all to the village church in the
+automobile, though of course Skyrocket was left at the cabin. He did not
+like it very much, either, and howled dismally after the Curlytops.</p>
+
+<p>Home they drove, through the crisp air of the woods, to take part in the
+bountiful feast that was ready all but the "finishing touches," as Aunt
+Sallie called them.</p>
+
+<p>And such a feast as it was! Never was there such a browned turkey! Never
+such jolly red mounds of cranberry sauce, almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> like jelly! Never such
+crisp celery! And the gravy that covered the heaping plates that the
+children had passed to them! Surely never was such gravy made!</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't believe I can ever eat another thing!" exclaimed Mary, when
+Uncle Toby asked her to have another slice of turkey.</p>
+
+<p>"Hasn't you got any room left?" asked Trouble, patting his own little
+stomach. "I got some room. I saved it for the <em>ice-cream</em>!" he added,
+hoarsely whispering the last word.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, is there ice-cream?" asked Janet. "I didn't know you'd made any,
+Aunt Sallie."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't exactly ice-cream," answered Uncle Toby's housekeeper. "It's a
+sort of snow-cream I made, but maybe you children will like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure we will!" cried the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you have it now, or the plum pudding?" Aunt Sallie wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, is there plum pudding, too?" Janet asked, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," nodded Aunt Sallie. "Nice, hot plum pudding!"</p>
+
+<p>"Let's have the pudding last," suggested Lola. "The snow-cream will make
+us cold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> and the plum pudding will make us warm again."</p>
+
+<p>"A good idea," said Uncle Toby, with a laugh. "I hope none of the
+children gets ill," he thought to himself. "Their folks will say I gave
+them too much Thanksgiving. But they look all right now," he added, as
+he scanned the happy faces.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sallie served the snow-cream. It was rather like a frozen pudding,
+being made of clean snow beaten up with milk, eggs, sugar, and flavoring
+extract.</p>
+
+<p>The children made away with this, and then Aunt Sallie went to the
+kitchen to get the hot plum pudding. She was gone a few minutes when she
+came hurrying back into the dining room, a strange look on her face.</p>
+
+<p>"It's gone!" she cried to Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"What?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"The plum pudding! Some one has taken it!"</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span><a name="xix" id="xix"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br />
+
+<small>SKYROCKET IS GONE</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Uncle Toby</span> first looked around the table at the double row of faces of
+the children. All showed as much surprise as had Aunt Sallie when she
+had come in with the news about the pudding being gone. At first Uncle
+Toby had an idea that one of the boys had taken the dessert for a joke,
+hiding it away in some nook. But one look at the faces of Tom, Ted, and
+Harry showed Uncle Toby that this had not happened.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you put the pudding, Aunt Sallie?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.</p>
+
+<p>"Right inside the kitchen pantry, on the back shelf near the window."</p>
+
+<p>"Was the window open, Aunt Sallie?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just a little crack, yes, Uncle Toby. I opened it when I set the
+pudding near it so it would cool a little before the children ate it."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>"That accounts for it then!" exclaimed Mr. Bardeen. "Skyrocket reached
+in through the open window and took the pudding!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a gasp of surprise from the children at this, and Ted
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it couldn't have been our dog, Uncle Toby! He's been right here in
+the room all the while."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that's so," added Aunt Sallie. "And, anyhow, the window wasn't
+open wide enough for Skyrocket to get his head in. He couldn't take the
+pudding out in his paw as your monkey could do."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe not," agreed Uncle Toby. "Anyhow, I'm glad to know it wasn't
+Skyrocket, for I like that dog. But some one must have taken the
+pudding, Aunt Sallie. Unless it slipped out of the window itself, and
+went off on the toboggan!"</p>
+
+<p>The children laughed at this idea, but Aunt Sallie took it seriously,
+for she said:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it couldn't do that, Uncle Toby. I mean it couldn't slip out of the
+window," she added, as the Curlytops laughed again. "I had it covered
+with a tin pan, and that's on the shelf, but the pudding is gone from
+under it."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>"This is getting mysterious," said Uncle Toby. "We must take a look and
+see about it."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm so sorry, for I wanted the children to have some of my plum
+pudding," went on Aunt Sallie.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't worry about it," said Lola. "We had plenty to eat."</p>
+
+<p>"Too much, I'm afraid," chuckled Uncle Toby. "Maybe it's just as well
+the pudding is missing. The children will sleep better without it, Aunt
+Sallie."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, 'tisn't so much the <em>pudding</em> that I am worried about," went on the
+kindly housekeeper, in a whisper. "It is that some one may be sneaking
+around here taking things."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think that happened?" asked Uncle Toby. The children had run
+into the kitchen to look at the window through which the pudding had so
+mysteriously disappeared, and Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie could speak
+freely.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Uncle Toby, I think that is what happened," said the old lady.
+"Some tramp, or somebody, must have been sneaking around your cabin.
+They looked in the window, saw my pudding, and took it while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> we were
+all in the dining room. 'Tisn't so much that I mind the pudding; that
+is, if it was taken by some one really hungry. For this is Thanksgiving,
+and I wouldn't want any one to go hungry. But if they had knocked at the
+door and asked for something to eat I'd have given it to them, and then
+the pudding would be safe. What are we going to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," answered Uncle Toby, as he and Aunt Sallie followed the
+children. "We never had any tramps in these woods. Maybe it's that queer
+man we saw over in Newt Baker's old shack. He may be a hungry tramp."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, something ought to be done about it," declared Aunt Sallie. "I
+won't feel safe with such people roaming the woods."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe when I look in the snow under the window I'll see the paw marks
+of a bear," suggested Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"What would that mean?" asked Aunt Sallie, rather startled.</p>
+
+<p>"It would mean that a bear came up, put his paws in through the window,
+knocked the pan cover off and took the pudding," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm not so much afraid of bears as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> I am of tramps," said Aunt
+Sallie, with a smile. "I almost wish it was a bear!"</p>
+
+<p>But it was not. In the light covering of newly fallen snow under the
+pantry window, through which the pudding had been taken, were the marks
+of a man's feet. Big feet they were, with heavy shoes, for the prints of
+the hob nails could be seen in the snow.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby looked at the marks for several minutes. He and Aunt Sallie
+and the children could see where the man, whoever he was, had come out
+of the woods, walked up to the open window, and, after standing about
+and tramping to and fro, had marched back to the woods again.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks as if he came here, looked in, saw the pudding, and started
+away without taking it," said Uncle Toby, as he looked closely at the
+big footprints in the snow. "Then he turned back, because he was so
+hungry he just couldn't leave that pudding there in plain sight, I
+suppose. He took it and went back to the woods with it to eat it."</p>
+
+<p>"Who was he?" asked Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"That I don't know," Uncle Toby replied. "He must be a stranger around
+here, for anybody else would ask for something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> to eat if he were
+hungry. And most of the folks around here are well enough off to get
+their own Thanksgiving dinner. They don't have to take other folks'
+pudding."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," said Aunt Sallie. "I wish it hadn't happened, even though I
+don't mind a poor hungry man having my nice pudding."</p>
+
+<p>"Is your dog a bloodhound?" asked Harry of Ted, as the boys remained
+looking at the footprints in the snow, after the girls had gone back
+into the house with Aunt Sallie.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, Skyrocket isn't a bloodhound," answered Ted. "Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I thought maybe if he was he could smell at these marks in the
+snow and then track the man to where he was and we could get back the
+pudding," Harry went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Guess there wouldn't be much of the pudding left," said Tom, with a
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"No," agreed Ted. "Anyhow, Skyrocket isn't a bloodhound, and I don't
+believe he'd know how to track a man down."</p>
+
+<p>And evidently Skyrocket didn't take much interest in the strange
+footprints in the snow, for, after sniffing them once or twice, he raced
+away to chase a snowbird which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> flew down to get the crumbs Aunt Sallie
+scattered from the dinner table. Of course Skyrocket couldn't catch or
+harm the snowbird, and he knew it, but he loved to race about and bark.</p>
+
+<p>"No use trying to get him to follow a trail," said Tom. "He's too crazy!
+A good dog, but too crazy!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" assented Ted.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby, having listened to the talk of the boys, went back into the
+cabin, and soon came out with his heavy overcoat and cap on.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you going?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, just down to the village. You boys stay here and look after things
+until I get back," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>The boys watched Uncle Toby strike into the path and then Tom exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"I know where he's going!"</p>
+
+<p>"Where?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"He's either going to trail that man by his footprints&mdash;the man who took
+the pudding," declared Tom, "or else he's going to get a constable, or
+somebody like a policeman."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe he's gone to get a bloodhound if your dog isn't any good for
+smelling out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> people," suggested Harry. All the boys were gleefully
+excited over what might happen.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he'd let us go with him," sighed Ted. But he did not think it
+wise to ask, and Uncle Toby went off by himself.</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of Thanksgiving was passed by the Curlytops and their
+playmates having holiday fun. They played out in the snow, spent some
+time in the snow house, and coasted on the toboggan.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby came back before dusk, but where he had been and what he had
+done or found out, he did not disclose to Aunt Sallie or the children.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you lock up well to-night, Uncle Toby?" asked Aunt Sallie, when
+the bedtime hour approached. She asked this out of the hearing of the
+children.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I'll lock up well. I do every night," Uncle Toby replied,
+with a laugh. "Are you afraid that bear who took the pudding will try to
+get in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe," answered Aunt Sallie. "Anyhow, please lock all the doors and
+windows."</p>
+
+<p>"I will," said Uncle Toby. "But I guess Skyrocket will be a good
+watchdog during the night. We don't need to worry."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>The children did not worry, at all events. They did not seem to miss the
+plum pudding, and after a light supper, on account of the heavy dinner
+they had eaten, and having played some games in the cabin, they went to
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby locked up well, and left Skyrocket in the kitchen for the
+night.</p>
+
+<p>"If any bears come in or any tramps try to take any more of Aunt
+Sallie's good things, you grab 'em and hold 'em, Sky!" commanded Uncle
+Toby.</p>
+
+<p>The dog barked once, as if to say he would.</p>
+
+<p>The night appeared to pass quietly, though once Uncle Toby thought he
+heard Skyrocket barking in the kitchen. Getting out of his bed, Uncle
+Toby called:</p>
+
+<p>"Who's in the kitchen? Is everything all right?"</p>
+
+<p>There was no answer, not even a bark from the dog, and Uncle Toby
+thought he had been mistaken about hearing a noise.</p>
+
+<p>"And I guess Skyrocket is asleep," he added.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning Tom and Ted came down earlier than any of the others, for
+they had an idea that they could build a little house of pieces of
+carpet on the toboggan and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> coast while inside it. They wanted to try
+out this idea before Uncle Toby should say it was too risky.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Sky! Sky!" called Ted, as he walked toward the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>There was no joyous, answering bark, and when the door was pushed open
+no dog ran to greet his young master.</p>
+
+<p>Skyrocket was gone!</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span><a name="xx" id="xx"></a>CHAPTER XX<br />
+
+<small>TROUBLE IS MISSING</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Harry</span> came into the kitchen to join his chums, and when he heard that
+Skyrocket was gone he and the other two boys made such a noise calling
+and whistling for the missing dog that Uncle Toby asked:</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter out there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Skyrocket's gone!" explained Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's all right," said Uncle Toby. "I suppose he went out early
+to get up an appetite for breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>"But how could he get out, Uncle Toby?" asked Ted, as Mr. Bardeen came
+into the kitchen where the dog had been put for the night. "How could he
+get out? There isn't a door or window open, and he hasn't jumped through
+any of the window glass, as he did once to get to me when he was shut up
+by mistake."</p>
+
+<p>"Hum!" murmured Uncle Toby, thoughtfully. "Are you sure he's gone, Ted?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he isn't around and he doesn't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> come when I call him," the boy
+answered. "He must be gone."</p>
+
+<p>Jan and the other girls now came into the kitchen, and soon Aunt Sallie
+had Trouble dressed, so the whole family was up. That is all but
+Skyrocket, and he surely was one of the family.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" asked Jan, for she knew that there was something
+wrong. And when Ted told her about Skyrocket being gone, tears came into
+Jan's eyes. Seeing this, Uncle Toby knew what he had to do to keep the
+children contented and happy while on their holiday stay with him at
+Crystal Lake.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, boys and girls," he said, "Skyrocket isn't lost. He has just
+run out somewhere. He'll be back soon. Don't feel too bad about him. It
+isn't the first time he has run away, is it, Ted?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Uncle Toby. But how did he get out to run away? That's what I want
+to know. There isn't a door or window open. The cabin was shut tight
+last night after Skyrocket was in."</p>
+
+<p>"That's what we think," said Uncle Toby. "But some door or window may
+have been left open by mistake, and Skyrocket may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> have got out that way
+and be roaming in the woods, having a good time. Don't you often find,
+Aunt Sallie," asked Uncle Toby, "that you forget to shut a door or
+window, and later in the night get up to close it?"</p>
+
+<p>As Mr. Bardeen asked this question of his housekeeper he winked one eye
+at her&mdash;an eye the children could not see. Uncle Toby wanted Aunt Sallie
+to say "yes" to his question, and she, knowing the little trick he was
+trying to play, did as he wanted her to.</p>
+
+<p>"There, you are!" exclaimed Uncle Toby to the children. "Aunt Sallie or
+I may have left a door or window open, after you young folks went to
+bed, and Sky may have gotten out that way. Then we might have closed it,
+locking him out."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, do you think it could have happened that way?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it could!" replied Uncle Toby, but he did not really say that
+it had happened like that. In fact Uncle Toby knew it had not happened
+this way. He felt pretty sure that some one had come in the night and
+stolen Skyrocket away, but he did not want to tell the Curlytops this
+for fear of making them afraid.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>"Well, if Skyrocket has just run away he'll run back again," said Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he will, for he's done it before," added Janet.</p>
+
+<p>Then the children felt better, and sat down to breakfast. But when Uncle
+Toby had a chance to speak quietly to Aunt Sallie he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say anything to the children, but I think some tramp&mdash;maybe the
+same one who took your plum pudding&mdash;came in the night and stole
+Skyrocket."</p>
+
+<p>"But why would a tramp want Skyrocket?" asked Aunt Sallie.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he thought we would pay money to get the dog back&mdash;as I will do
+if he doesn't come back himself," said Uncle Toby. "You can't tell what
+a tramp would do. Anyhow, I know we didn't leave any doors or windows
+open. I just said that to quiet the children. I feel sure Skyrocket has
+been stolen by a tramp."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do about it, Uncle Toby?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to get Jim Nelson and some of the lumbermen around here and
+have a look around. For one place, we'll go to that old cabin of Newt
+Baker's, which we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> saw the man running away from that day. Maybe he's
+the tramp who took Skyrocket and also your plum pudding."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed Aunt Sallie, with a frightened look over her
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid!" laughed Uncle Toby. "Nothing will happen. But I don't
+want the children's fun spoiled. So let them think Skyrocket just
+wandered away and will come back again."</p>
+
+<p>But Skyrocket did not come back that day nor the next nor the next. Back
+home in Cresco he had often stayed away a week at a time, Jan said, so
+after she and her brother had gotten used to the idea that the dog was
+off on one of his wandering trips, they no longer worried.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby got some of the lumbermen and went to the cabin, but though
+they found the footprints of men and dogs in the snow, no one was now in
+the old shack, and there was no way of telling whether the dog's
+footprints were those of Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I guess that tramp cleared out," said Uncle Toby to Aunt Sallie.
+"And he may have taken Skyrocket with him. But don't say anything to the
+Curlytops. Christmas is coming, and we want them to have a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> good time.
+And Skyrocket may come back."</p>
+
+<p>But the dog did not. Two weeks went by and he had not returned. By this
+time Ted and Janet had rather gotten accustomed to missing him, and
+though they felt very sorry, they were having so much fun that they
+thought of little else. For surely there were good times at Uncle
+Toby's!</p>
+
+<p>The plan of the boys to put up a little carpet house on the big toboggan
+coaster did not work. They tried it, without telling Uncle Toby anything
+about it, and this is what happened.</p>
+
+<p>First Tom, Ted, and Harry fastened some beanpoles upright on the
+toboggan. They tied them tightly with cords so they were fairly solid.
+In the barn they found some pieces of carpet and a few old feed bags,
+left from the time that Uncle Toby kept a horse out at Crystal Lake, and
+by tying these bags together, after ripping them open, they made a large
+piece of cloth, big enough for a tent. This they fastened on the
+beanpoles that were tied to the toboggan, also using some carpet strips.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we've got a regular little house on it, and we can sit inside and
+coast downhill<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> and be nice and warm!" exclaimed Ted.</p>
+
+<p>That was his idea and that of the other boys. Three of them could get
+inside the toboggan-tent at a time, and the rear lad could stick his
+foot out through a hole in the bag covering a steer.</p>
+
+<p>Without telling Uncle Toby anything about it, and saying nothing to the
+girls, the boys drew this new invention of theirs out on the coasting
+hill one morning. Tom and Harry took their places toward the front of
+the toboggan, inside the tent. There was a hole in the bagging so they
+could look out. Ted sat behind to steer.</p>
+
+<p>"All ready?" he asked his chums.</p>
+
+<p>"Let her go!" cried Tom.</p>
+
+<p>Ted pushed off, and for a little way the toboggan went down the hill all
+right. The boys were laughing and shouting, for it was fun to coast
+inside a tent that kept off the cold wind.</p>
+
+<p>"It's like riding in a closed auto!" yelled Tom.</p>
+
+<p>But just then something happened. The toboggan struck a lump of ice on
+the hill, slued around, though Ted did his best to steer it, and began
+going sideways.</p>
+
+<p>Just then the three girls, with Trouble,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> came out to see what the boys
+were doing, and seeing the strange tent-covered toboggan going downhill
+sideways Janet, Lola, and Mary, all three, screamed, while Trouble
+yelled in delight, as he always did at anything new or strange.</p>
+
+<p>Ted declared afterward that the girls' screams made him steer crooked,
+but in the girls' opinion the toboggan would have upset anyhow. And
+that's what it did.</p>
+
+<p>Over it turned, when half way down the hill. The bean poles snapped and
+broke, and a moment later the boys were tangled up in the pieces of
+carpet and bagging, rolling off the toboggan which coasted the rest of
+the way downhill by itself, and probably it was very glad to be rid of
+the tent-house.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, are you hurt?" cried Jan, as she saw the tangled mass of boys.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll call Uncle Toby!" exclaimed Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a dreadful accident!" wailed Mary.</p>
+
+<p>But an instant later the boys jumped up, laughing, not in the least
+hurt, though they were disappointed because their invention did not
+work.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't try any more tricks like that," said Uncle Toby, when he heard
+what had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> happened. "The next time some of you may be hurt."</p>
+
+<p>The boys promised to obey, and they didn't do any thing just like that
+again, but they did other things almost as risky. However, no one was
+hurt, and they certainly had lots of fun at Uncle Toby's.</p>
+
+<p>There was so much to do that they almost forgot about the lost
+Skyrocket, though every now and then Ted and his chums would go off in
+the woods, whistling and calling. But the dog did not come back.</p>
+
+<p>As the snow did not melt away, Uncle Toby, with the help of some of his
+men friends at the camp, cleared a place on the frozen lake where the
+children could skate. And with this fun, with coasting, making snowmen,
+another snow house, having snowball battles, the children passed many
+days most happily.</p>
+
+<p>Christmas was coming. The Curlytops and their playmates now began
+counting the days until this grand holiday should arrive. Trouble, with
+the help of Janet, had written his letter to Santa Claus, and the other
+children had told each other (so Aunt Sallie and Uncle Toby could hear)
+the things they wished St. Nicholas to bring them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>One morning Uncle Toby brought the big automobile around to the door of
+the cabin. It was two days before Christmas, and everything had been
+prepared for a jolly good time at the cabin. A big green tree had been
+cut in the woods, and set up in one of the rooms. There it was to be
+trimmed and made ready for the presents to be put under it.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, children, we're going to the village to get the mail and some
+other things," called Uncle Toby to the Curlytops and their friends.
+"Pile in, and we'll all go to the village. I wouldn't be surprised but
+what there would be some letters for all of you," he said, with a
+twinkle in his eyes, as if he knew what was going to happen.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, maybe daddy and mother will be here for Christmas!" cried Ted and
+Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"And maybe my father and mother will come," added Lola, though she did
+not have much hope of this.</p>
+
+<p>"If I could get a letter that my mother was all well again, that would
+be the best Christmas present I could have," sighed Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you will get such a letter," said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>Perhaps he knew what was going to happen.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Sallie said she would not make the trip to the village in the
+automobile, as she had work to do at the bungalow. So Uncle Toby, the
+Curlytops and their playmates&mdash;alas, not with Skyrocket this
+time&mdash;started off. The snow seemed to be coming down thicker and faster,
+but this only made the children more joyful, for they loved snow at
+Christmas, as what youngster does not?</p>
+
+<p>The post-office was reached, and Uncle Toby went in for the mail. He
+came out with both hands full. There was a letter for Mary and Harry,
+one for Ted and Janet and one for Tom and Lola, and then there were
+separate letters for each boy and girl from some of the friends they had
+left behind. There was even a postal for Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, such good news!" cried Ted, when he and Janet had read their
+letter. "Daddy and Mother are coming here to spend Christmas with us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Did your father say anything about the money he was afraid of losing?"
+asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered Ted. "But I hope he doesn't lose it."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>"We have good news, like yours!" Lola said to Janet. "Our daddy and
+mother are coming here also for Christmas. You invited them, didn't you,
+Uncle Toby?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, I believe I did," chuckled the jolly old gentleman. "But have
+you good news, too?" he asked Harry and Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," they answered with happy tears in their eyes. "Our mother is well
+again, and she is coming up here for Christmas. Oh, how happy we are!"</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody's happy!" sang Trouble. "Everybody's happy, an' Santa C'aus
+is comin'!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" laughed Janet, hugging him.</p>
+
+<p>They little knew how close unhappiness was following happiness.</p>
+
+<p>After the letters had been read again Uncle Toby drove the automobile
+down the village street to the store to get some things Aunt Sallie
+wanted for the Christmas dinner. As the children each had some spending
+money they were allowed to get out and wander through a general store
+next to the grocery. There was a "five and ten cent" department in the
+variety "Emporium" as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> it was called, and the children had fun there,
+picking out inexpensive presents as surprises one for the other.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until, bubbling over with joy and happiness, they had again
+gotten back in the automobile that Trouble was missed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, where is your little brother?" exclaimed Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I thought you had him!" said Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"And I thought you did. We must have left him back in the store. Let's
+look!"</p>
+
+<p>But Trouble was not there! He was missing!</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span><a name="xxi" id="xxi"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br />
+
+<small>TROUBLE AND SKYROCKET</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">You</span> can imagine there was much excitement and some very frightened
+feelings in the hearts of all the children when the clerks in the store
+where the five and ten cent Christmas presents had been bought said
+Trouble was not there.</p>
+
+<p>"But where can he be?" asked Janet, hardly able to keep back the tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he went out and walked back to the store where Uncle Toby is
+buying his things," suggested Lola. "Let's look there."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess that's where he is all right," said Teddy.</p>
+
+<p>But Trouble was not in the grocery store, and Uncle Toby, who had
+finished his shopping, was as much surprised and alarmed as were the
+children when told what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess the little tyke may have walked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> out by himself and gotten into
+the auto," said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>But Trouble was not in the big closed automobile. And then a frantic
+search began. People in the stores where Uncle Toby and the children had
+been lent their aid, and when after fifteen minutes it was sure that the
+little boy was not in the neighborhood, the constable was called on and
+the search made up and down the street.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll find him, of course," said Uncle Toby, speaking more
+hopefully than he really felt. "What happened, I suppose, is that he
+wandered out of the store, to find me, maybe, and he got in the wrong
+place. We'll look in every building along Main Street."</p>
+
+<p>This was done, and the houses on side streets were visited, too, but
+without effect. Trouble seemed to have vanished completely and
+mysteriously.</p>
+
+<p>By this time Janet was crying, as were the other girls, and the boys
+tried not to let the tears in their eyes be seen.</p>
+
+<p>"Where can he be?" asked the Curlytops over and over again, when each
+store had been searched twice.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what I think happened,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> said Uncle Toby. "Trouble
+wandered away from you, while you were buying your Christmas presents.
+He wandered out into the street and got confused. Maybe he started
+crying in the street, and some farmer and his wife, in their sled, may
+have taken him in to comfort him."</p>
+
+<p>"But what would they do with him?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Some farmer and his wife picked Trouble up off the street and took him
+home with them," repeated Mr. Bardeen, as if he knew this was so. And he
+really believed it.</p>
+
+<p>"Why would they do that?" asked Jan, with trembling lips.</p>
+
+<p>"They may have thought Trouble was the child of some neighbor whom they
+knew, and they planned to take him home. Depend on it&mdash;that's what
+happened!"</p>
+
+<p>"But how will we get Trouble back?" asked Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, the farmer, whoever he is, will find out his mistake, and he'll
+bring the little fellow back to town again," was the answer. "That's
+what will happen. But I'll get as many men as I can, and with the
+constable we'll inquire of all the farmers around here.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> In that way
+we'll get Trouble back quicker."</p>
+
+<p>There were willing searchers, and soon the country around Crystal Lake
+was being searched by men and women in automobiles and sleds who
+inquired at each farmhouse for a little boy taken away by mistake.</p>
+
+<p>But as night came and no Trouble had been found, the Curlytops and their
+playmates began to feel very sad indeed.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Toby decided to take the children home and leave them with Aunt
+Sallie in the cabin, while he kept on with the search.</p>
+
+<p>"Trouble missing and Skyrocket gone!" thought Uncle Toby to himself, as
+he drove back in the automobile. "This will be a sad Christmas, when I
+meant it to be such a happy one."</p>
+
+<p>But it would not be Christmas for two days, and much might happen in
+that time.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly dusk when the big automobile drew near the old deserted
+cabin of Newt Baker, from which the strange man had once been seen
+running away. Looking from the window on his side, Ted peered at the old
+shack, and as he did so he uttered a cry of surprise and wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" asked Uncle Toby, quickly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> bringing the machine to a stop,
+for he thought some one had opened a door and fallen out.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Trouble! I saw him at the window just now! In there!" and Ted
+pointed to the old cabin.</p>
+
+<p>"Trouble in there? It can't be!" said Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>But just then Janet set up a cry.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he is, Uncle Toby! I saw him!"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bardeen lost little time in jumping from the automobile. Followed by
+the children, he ran to the door of the cabin, and as he opened it he
+heard the barking of a dog mingled with the crying voice of Trouble. An
+instant later Skyrocket rushed out to greet his friends, and then
+Trouble came from an inner room, toddling into the arms of Janet.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, William! how did you ever get here?" cried Lola.</p>
+
+<p>"And Skyrocket, too! Look! Here's our dog!" shouted Ted.</p>
+
+<p>With the high voices of the children, the barking of Skyrocket, and the
+crying of Trouble, there was so much noise that no one heard footsteps
+coming from the room<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> out of which the missing boy had rushed until
+suddenly a strange man stood on the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"Look!" cried Tom, glancing up at this man. "There's the tramp!"</p>
+
+<p>And they all saw the same stranger who had rushed away from the cottage
+the time Uncle Toby went to the well to get water for the automobile
+radiator.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing here?" asked Uncle Toby in a stern voice. "And did
+you try to kidnap him?" Mr. Bardeen pointed to little William, who was
+sobbing in Janet's arms. And as he saw this and thought what a lot of
+trouble seemed to have been caused by this man, Uncle Toby started
+toward him as if in anger.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't hit me!" pleaded the man. "I'm in trouble! I've had a lot of
+trouble. I was in the war&mdash;and&mdash;but that was long ago&mdash;and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>His voice was very faint, and as Uncle Toby walked toward him the man
+tried to run back into the room. But his foot slipped and he fell,
+striking his head heavily on the floor. Then he rolled over and lay very
+quiet.</p>
+
+<p>"He's fainted, I guess," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>"Looks so," agreed Uncle Toby. "Well, we've found Trouble, anyhow.
+That's the big thing. I don't know how this man got him or what he
+intended to do with him. But I'm going to tell the police. I guess he'd
+better have a doctor, too," he added. "He's cut his head in his fall.
+Ted, you and Tom go to the next house," he went on. "There's a telephone
+there. Tell Mr. Hick to call up the police, let them know we have found
+the missing boy and have them send out a doctor. It's a long walk to Mr.
+Hick's place, but I guess you won't be afraid. Then come back here. I
+don't want to leave this man alone, as I'd have to do if we all went
+away in the auto."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll go to the telephone," said Tom and Ted, and Harry went with them.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the boys started tramping through the gathering dusk to Mr.
+Hick's house, Janet quieted Trouble and got Skyrocket to stop barking.
+This last was hard because the dog was so overjoyed at being with his
+friends again. There was a broken rope around his neck, showing that he
+had been kept tied up since he had been taken away. But he seemed to
+have been well treated and fed.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>"Can Trouble tell us what happened and how this man got him?" asked
+Uncle Toby of Janet, who was holding her little brother. The "tramp," as
+he was called, still lay where he had fallen in a faint.</p>
+
+<p>Janet understood Trouble's baby talk better than any one else, and she
+soon had his story out of him. He had wandered out of the store, it
+seemed, and on the sidewalk in front had been spoken to by the man who
+had brought him to the lonely cabin. The tramp and Trouble rode out to
+the cabin in a farmer's sled, so the little boy said.</p>
+
+<p>"I can understand how that might happen," said Uncle Toby. "Some farmer
+would be glad to give the man and Trouble a ride out into the country.
+And it might have been some farmer from a distance, who didn't know that
+no one lived here. Such a farmer wouldn't be surprised at Trouble and
+the man getting out here at the lonely cabin. Well, things are coming
+out all right, and maybe this tramp didn't intend to do anything mean.
+We'll have to wait until he gets better so he can tell us what
+happened."</p>
+
+<p>The stranger was still lying very quiet on the floor of the lonely
+cabin. It was a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> time before the three boys came back, but soon
+after them the constable and the doctor arrived. The doctor said the man
+was not badly hurt, but should have good care. And as it was thought he
+might have tried to kidnap Trouble he was put under arrest.</p>
+
+<p>Of course the man himself did not know this, for he was still in a
+faint. The doctor said the blow on his head caused this. But he was
+taken away by the constable and the doctor to the doctor's own home,
+where he could be well cared for until he was well enough to be put in
+jail, for he was under arrest for having carried off Trouble.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Curlytops and their playmates went on to Uncle Toby's cabin, a
+happy jolly crowd, now that all worry was removed. They had William with
+them, and also Skyrocket.</p>
+
+<p>"But I wonder how that tramp got my dog?" mused Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"He might have found him wandering in the woods," said Uncle Toby. But
+he did not really believe this. There was something queer about that
+tramp.</p>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span><a name="xxii" id="xxii"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br />
+
+<small>A HAPPY REUNION</small></h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Such</span> joyous times as there were next day! It was the day before
+Christmas, and, as every one knows, it is the jolliest time in the year,
+with one exception. That exception is Christmas itself.</p>
+
+<p>"When are we going to the station to meet the folks?" asked the
+Curlytops and their playmates, over and over again. For Mr. and Mrs.
+Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, and the mother of Harry and Mary, now out
+of the hospital, were to come on the same train, to spend the Christmas
+holidays at Uncle Toby's.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll go soon now," said Mr. Bardeen, and the children could hardly
+wait. Uncle Toby had arranged for an extra automobile to bring the grown
+folks from the station to his cabin, as the Bardeen car would be well
+filled.</p>
+
+<p>After what seemed many hours, though it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> was really not more than a wait
+of thirty minutes at the station, the toot of a whistle was heard around
+a curve in the track.</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes the train!" cried Ted.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a lovely Christmas this is going to be!" sighed Janet.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the car came the mother and father of the Curlytops, then the
+mother and father of Tom and Lola, and then, more slowly, Mrs. Benton.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we're so glad to see you!" cried the Curlytops and their playmates,
+each to the proper parents. There was hugging and kissing, and in
+excited tones the story of the missing boy and dog was quickly told.</p>
+
+<p>"It is very good of you, Mr. Bardeen, to ask me out here," said Mrs.
+Benton. "I feel sure I shall grow well and strong now, and I can look
+after my two children."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, Susan!" was the hearty answer. "I'm glad to have you
+and the children. We're going to have a jolly Christmas."</p>
+
+<p>And indeed it seemed so, for Mr. and Mrs. Martin found a chance to tell
+Ted and Janet that it was all right about the money&mdash;that Mr. Martin was
+not going to lose it after all. His trip had saved it for him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>As the automobiles were about to start off, the constable came up to
+Uncle Toby and said:</p>
+
+<p>"That strange man&mdash;the one who fell and hurt himself at the cabin when
+you found the kidnapped boy&mdash;wants to see you, Mr. Bardeen."</p>
+
+<p>"Wants to see me?" asked Uncle Toby, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. It seems he is much better now, and is in his right mind."</p>
+
+<p>"Was he out of his mind before?" asked Uncle Toby, while the others
+listened eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he was most of the time, though not always. He's a soldier, it
+seems, or was. He fought in the big war and was hurt or gassed, or
+something, and lost his mind. He really doesn't know what happened to
+him, except that he ran away from different hospitals, got to this
+country somehow, and has been wandering around ever since, living as
+best he could. But he's all right now. The doctor said that fall he had
+did something to his head and gave him back his right senses, so he's
+all right now, and he's asking for you."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>"What's his name, and why does he want to see me?" asked Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"He says he wants to explain that he didn't try to kidnap the little
+boy," the constable went on. "And he didn't steal the dog, either. The
+dog came to the cabin, made friends with him, and the man kept him.
+Though maybe the dog would have gone to you if he hadn't been tied up.
+But the man's very anxious to see you and explain all this. I said I'd
+go get you. I went out to your cabin, and a lady there said you'd come
+here to the station, so I hurried back, and here I am. Could you come
+and see that man for a few minutes?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I suppose I could, yes," answered Uncle Toby. "But who is he,
+anyhow? You say he was a soldier in the big war?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. And he says his name is Frank Benton. He&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>But there was an excited cry from the mother of Mary and Harry.</p>
+
+<p>"Frank Benton!" she exclaimed. "Why, that was my husband's name! My
+husband fought in the war! We thought he was killed, but we never could
+be sure of it, as no record was found. Oh, if this should be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> your
+missing father, children!" and with tears in her eyes she looked at her
+boy and girl.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll soon find out!" cried Uncle Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"To the doctor's! First house around that corner," directed the
+constable.</p>
+
+<p>Trembling with eagerness and hope, Mrs. Benton, with Harry and Mary,
+went into the room where the injured man lay in a white bed. He was much
+better now, and the constable did not go along, since he was not to be
+arrested, as what he had done had been when he was out of his head
+through a war injury.</p>
+
+<p>"Frank!" cried Mrs. Benton, as soon as she caught sight of the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Susan!" he murmured, holding out his arms. And then such a happy
+reunion as there was. "My, how big the children have become!" exclaimed
+Mr. Benton, through his glad tears. "To think I saw them in the room
+with the Curlytops and didn't know them."</p>
+
+<p>"And they didn't know you," said his wife. "But now we have each other!
+Oh, how happy I am. This will be the best Christmas in all the world!"</p>
+
+<p>And it was&mdash;for every one at Uncle Toby's cabin.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>There is not much more to tell. The mystery was all cleared up. Mr.
+Benton had been wounded in the war, an injury to his brain making him
+out of his head, though not dangerously so. He wandered away, escaping
+from one hospital after another under the mistaken notion that the
+doctors and nurses were trying to harm him.</p>
+
+<p>In his wanderings he finally reached the neighborhood of Crystal Lake.
+He found the old deserted cabin and made his home there, living on what
+he could pick up or take from the farmhouses. Thus the rumor of tramps
+and burglars was talked of at the lake. Poor Mr. Benton was so timid
+that he ran away when Uncle Toby came to draw water.</p>
+
+<p>It was Mr. Benton who took Aunt Sallie's plum pudding from the pantry,
+though he did not know he was stealing. And it was he who looked in the
+window, thus frightening Janet. And, as he said, he had found Skyrocket
+wandering in the woods. There was a loose board on one side of the
+cabin, a board Uncle Toby had forgotten about, and Skyrocket got out
+through that hole the night he disappeared. After getting him to the
+lonely cabin Mr. Benton became so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> fond of the dog that he tied him up.
+Though Skyrocket might have remained of his own accord, for he had made
+friends with the wounded soldier.</p>
+
+<p>It was while strolling about the streets of the village that the father
+of Mary and Harry saw Trouble wandering out of the five and ten cent
+store. Always fond of children, Mr. Benton made friends with William,
+and Trouble took a liking to the strange man.</p>
+
+<p>Then, somehow or other, the idea of taking Trouble to the lonely cabin
+came into the head of the man, and he got a ride out in the sled of a
+strange farmer. But once in the deserted shack Trouble became frightened
+and began to cry. Mr. Benton did not know what to do, his head was
+troubling him, and he realized dimly that he might get into difficulties
+with the police. He left Trouble in a room, trying to think what was
+best to do to get the little boy back to his friends, and then Uncle
+Toby came along.</p>
+
+<p>After that things happened quickly. Mr. Benton slipped and fell, and
+the blow on his head did what the doctors and nurses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> could not seem to
+do for him. It brought him back to his right mind.</p>
+
+<p>"And we'll soon have you out at my cabin, spending Christmas with the
+Curlytops!" said Uncle Toby, when everything had been explained.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a happy time it will be!" said Mr. Benton.</p>
+
+<p>That night he was taken out to the cabin, and there was reunited with
+his little family. And such a gladsome, happy, and thankful Christmas
+eve was never known before!</p>
+
+<p>It seemed that the children never would go to bed, but at last they
+quieted down and then&mdash;well, what always happens on Christmas eve took
+place after that.</p>
+
+<p>The Christmas tree was wondrously trimmed, empty stockings began to
+swell out and there was even one for Skyrocket which was laden to
+overflowing with dog biscuit.</p>
+
+<p>The sun shone bright on the snow around Crystal Lake.</p>
+
+<p>"Merry Christmas!" cried the Curlytops, as they rushed to see what Santa
+Claus had left for them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>"Merry Christmas!" echoed their playmates.</p>
+
+<p>"The happiest Christmas in all the world!" said Harry and Mary. For they
+had found their father, long lost to them.</p>
+
+<p>"I 'ikes Ch'is'mus," murmured Trouble, his mouth full of candy. "I 'ikes
+Ch'is'mus an' Unk Toby an' everybody! I 'ike 'oo!" he said to Mr.
+Benton.</p>
+
+<p>"And I like you," said the father of Mary and Harry. "Only for you and
+Uncle Toby I might not be here, happy with my family. Merry Christmas to
+everybody!"</p>
+
+<p>And so, with the gladsome echoes of "Merry Christmas" filling the air,
+we will say good-bye to the Curlytops.</p>
+
+<h3>THE END</h3>
+
+<p class="back"><a href="#con">Back to contents</a></p>
+
+<div class="block">
+<hr />
+
+<h2>THE CURLYTOPS SERIES</h2>
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> HOWARD R. GARIS</p>
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center">Author of the famous "Bedtime Animal Stories"</p>
+
+<p class="center"><em>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors</em></p>
+
+<p class="center"><em><b>Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid</b></em></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/iad01.jpg" width="150" height="205" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><em>Stories for children by the best author of books for little people.</em></p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>1. THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Vacation Days in the Country</em></p>
+
+
+<p>A tale of happy vacation days on a farm.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>2. THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Camping out with Grandpa</em></p>
+
+
+<p>The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to camp on Star
+Island.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>3. THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds</em></p>
+
+
+<p>Winter was a jolly time for the Curlytops, with their skates and sleds,
+on the lakes and hills.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>4. THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Little Folks on Pony Back</em></p>
+
+
+<p>Out West on their uncle's ranch they have a wonderful time among the
+cowboys and on pony back.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>5. THE CURLYTOPS AT SILVER LAKE</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or On the Water with Uncle Ben</em></p>
+
+
+<p>The Curlytops camp out on the shores of a beautiful lake.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>6. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PETS</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Uncle Toby's Strange Collection</em></p>
+
+
+<p>When an old uncle leaves them to care for his collection of pets, they
+get up a circus for charity.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>7. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Jolly Times Through the Holidays</em></p>
+
+
+<p>The children have great times with their uncle's collection of animals.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>8. THE CURLYTOPS IN THE WOODS</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Fun at the Lumber Camp</em></p>
+
+
+<p>Exciting times in the forest for Curlytops.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>THE RUBY AND RUTHY SERIES</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> MINNIE E. PAULL</p>
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center"><em><b>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid</b></em></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/iad02.jpg" width="150" height="217" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><em>Four bright and entertaining stories told in Mrs. Paull's happiest
+manner are among the best stories ever written for young girls, and
+cannot fail to interest any between the ages of eight and fifteen
+years.</em></p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><b>RUBY AND RUTHY</b></p>
+
+<p>Ruby and Ruthy were not old enough to go to school, but they certainly
+were lively enough to have many exciting adventures, that taught many
+useful lessons needed to be learned by little girls.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>RUBY'S UPS AND DOWNS</b></p>
+
+<p>There were troubles enough for a dozen grown-ups, but Ruby got ahead of
+them all, and, in spite of them, became a favorite in the lively times
+at school.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>RUBY AT SCHOOL</b></p>
+
+<p>Ruby had many surprises when she went to the impossible place she heard
+called a boarding school, but every experience helped to make her a
+stronger-minded girl.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>RUBY'S VACATION</b></p>
+
+<p>This volume shows how a little girl improves by having varieties of
+experience both happy and unhappy, provided she thinks, and is able to
+use her good sense. Ruby lives and learns.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>THE LINGER-NOT SERIES</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> AGNES MILLER</p>
+<hr class="hr3" />
+
+<p class="center"><em>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors</em></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b><em>Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid</em></b></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/iad03.jpg" width="150" height="203" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><em>This new series of girls' books is in a new style of story writing. The
+interest is in knowing the girls and seeing them solve the problems that
+develop their character. Incidentally, a great deal of historical
+information is imparted, and a fine atmosphere of responsibility is made
+pleasing and useful to the reader.</em></p>
+
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>1. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE MYSTERY HOUSE</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Story of Nine Adventurous Girls</em>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>How the Linger-Not girls met and formed their club seems commonplace,
+but this writer makes it fascinating, and how they made their club serve
+a great purpose continues the interest to the end, and introduces a new
+type of girlhood.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>2. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE VALLEY FEUD</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Great West Point Chain</em>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Linger-Not girls had no thought of becoming mixed up with feuds or
+mysteries, but their habit of being useful soon entangled them in some
+surprising adventures that turned out happily for all, and made the
+valley better because of their visit.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>3. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THEIR GOLDEN QUEST</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Log of the Ocean Monarch</em>
+</p>
+
+<p>For a club of girls to become involved in a mystery leading back into
+the times of the California gold-rush, seems unnatural until the reader
+sees how it happened, and how the girls helped one of their friends to
+come into her rightful name and inheritance, forms a fine story.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>THE RADIO GIRLS SERIES</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center">By MARGARET PENROSE</p>
+<hr class="hr3" />
+
+<p class="center"><em>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors</em></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b><em>Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid</em></b></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/iad04.jpg" width="150" height="211" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><em>A new and up-to-date series, taking in the activities of several bright
+girls who become interested in radio. The stories tell of thrilling
+exploits, outdoor life and the great part the Radio plays in the
+adventures of the girls and in solving their mysteries. Fascinating
+books that girls of all ages will want to read.</em></p>
+
+
+<p>
+<b class="noi nb">1. THE RADIO GIRLS OF ROSELAWN</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or A Strange Message from the Air</em>
+</p>
+
+<p>Showing how Jessie Norwood and her chums became interested in
+radiophoning, how they gave a concert for a worthy local charity, and
+how they received a sudden and unexpected call for help out of the air.
+A girl who was wanted as a witness in a celebrated law case had
+disappeared, and how the radio girls went to the rescue is told in an
+absorbing manner.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>2. THE RADIO GIRLS ON THE PROGRAM</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Singing and Reciting at the Sending Station</em>
+</p>
+
+<p>When listening in on a thrilling recitation or a superb concert number
+who of us has not longed to "look behind the scenes" to see how it was
+done? The girls had made the acquaintance of a sending station manager
+and in this volume are permitted to get on the program, much to their
+delight. A tale full of action and not a little fun.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>3. THE RADIO GIRLS ON STATION ISLAND</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Wireless from the Steam Yacht</em>
+</p>
+
+<p>In this volume the girls travel to the seashore and put in a vacation on
+an island where is located a big radio sending station. The big brother
+of one of the girls owns a steam yacht and while out with a pleasure
+party those on the island receive word by radio that the yacht is on
+fire. A tale thrilling to the last page.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>THE BETTY GORDON SERIES</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center">By ALICE B. EMERSON</p>
+<hr class="hr3" />
+
+<p class="center"><em>Author of the Famous "Ruth Fielding" Series</em></p>
+
+<p class="center"><em>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors</em></p>
+
+<p class="center"><b><em>Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid</em></b></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/iad05.jpg" width="150" height="199" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><em>A series of stories by Alice B. Emerson which are bound to make this
+writer more popular than ever with her host of girl readers.</em></p>
+
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>1. BETTY GORDON AT BRAMBLE FARM</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Mystery of a Nobody</em></p>
+
+
+<p>At the age of twelve Betty is left an orphan. Her uncle sends her to
+live on a farm.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>2. BETTY GORDON IN WASHINGTON</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Strange Adventures in a Great City</em></p>
+
+
+<p>In this volume Betty goes to the National Capitol to find her uncle and
+has several unusual adventures.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>3. BETTY GORDON IN THE LAND OF OIL</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Farm That Was Worth a Fortune</em></p>
+
+
+<p>From Washington the scene is shifted to the great oil fields of our
+country. A splendid picture of the oil field operations of to-day.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>4. BETTY GORDON AT BOARDING SCHOOL</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Treasure of Indian Chasm</em></p>
+
+
+<p>Seeking the treasure of Indian Chasm makes an exceedingly interesting
+incident.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>5. BETTY GORDON AT MOUNTAIN CAMP</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or The Mystery of Ida Bellethorne</em></p>
+
+<p>At Mountain Camp Betty found herself in the midst of a mystery involving
+a girl whom she had previously met in Washington.</p>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>6. BETTY GORDON AT OCEAN PARK</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Gay Days on the Boardwalk</em></p>
+
+<p>Adventure in high society let loose on the seashore.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr3" />
+<p class="center">By ALICE B. EMERSON</p>
+<hr class="hr3" />
+
+<p class="center"><b><em>12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid</em></b></p>
+
+<p class="center"><em>Ruth Fielding will live in juvenile Fiction.</em></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/iad06.jpg" width="150" height="195" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Jasper Parloe's Secret</em></p>
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOOD HALL</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Solving the Campus Mystery</em></p>
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>or Lost in the Backwoods</em></p>
+<p class="noi nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE</b></p>
+<p class="i2 nt"><em>POINT or Nita, the Girl Castaway</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or Schoolgirls Among the Cowboys</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or The Old Hunter's Treasure Box</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or What Became of the Raby Orphans</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or The Missing Pearl Necklace</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or Helping the Dormitory Fund</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or Great Days in the Land of Cotton</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or The Missing Examination Papers</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or College Girls in the Land of Gold</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or Doing Her Bit for Uncle Sam</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or The Hunt for a Lost Soldier</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING HOMEWARD BOUND</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or A Red Cross Worker's Ocean Perils</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING DOWN EAST</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or The Hermit of Beach Plum Point</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or The Indian Girl Star of the Movies</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or The Queer Old Man of the Thousand Islands</em></p>
+<p class="i4 nb">
+<b>RUTH FIELDING TREASURE HUNTING</b></p>
+<p class="i6 nt"><em>or A Moving Picture that Became Real</em></p>
+
+<hr class="hr4" />
+<p class="center"><b><em>Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue</em></b></p>
+<p class="center"><b>CUPPLES &amp; LEON COMPANY, Publishers &emsp; &emsp; New York</b></p>
+<hr class="hr5" />
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Curlytops and Their Playmates, by 
+Howard R. Garis
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES ***
+
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,6727 @@
+Project Gutenberg's The Curlytops and Their Playmates, by Howard R. Garis
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Curlytops and Their Playmates
+       or Jolly Times Through the Holidays
+
+Author: Howard R. Garis
+
+Illustrator: Julia Greene
+
+Release Date: April 23, 2008 [EBook #25143]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Jacqueline Jeremy and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    _The_ CURLYTOPS
+    _and_ THEIR PLAYMATES
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+    HOWARD R. GARIS
+
+
+
+
+    [Illustration: LOOKING IN THROUGH THE WINDOW SHE SAW THE FACE OF
+    A MAN. Page 160]
+
+
+    THE CURLYTOPS
+    AND
+    THEIR PLAYMATES
+
+    OR
+
+    _Jolly Times Through the Holidays_
+
+    BY
+
+    HOWARD R. GARIS
+
+    AUTHOR OF "THE CURLYTOPS SERIES," "UNCLE WIGGILY
+    BEDTIME STORIES," "UNCLE WIGGILY
+    ANIMAL STORIES," ETC.
+
+    _Illustrations by
+    JULIA GREENE_
+
+    NEW YORK
+    CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
+
+
+    COPYRIGHT, 1922,
+    BY CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
+
+    THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES
+
+    Printed in U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    CHAPTER                         PAGE
+
+        I TROUBLE IN TROUBLE           1
+
+       II THE POSTMAN'S WHISTLE       14
+
+      III WHAT SHALL WE DO?           25
+
+       IV UNCLE TOBY AGAIN            36
+
+        V OFF TO THE COUNTRY          48
+
+       VI A FLURRY OF SNOW            60
+
+      VII IN THE STORM                70
+
+     VIII A STALLED TRAIN             80
+
+       IX NEW PLAYMATES               91
+
+        X AMONG THE PETS             104
+
+       XI WHERE DID TROUBLE GO?      115
+
+      XII OFF TO CRYSTAL LAKE        128
+
+     XIII THE LONELY CABIN           139
+
+      XIV AT CRYSTAL LAKE            149
+
+       XV ON THE SLIPPERY HILL       161
+
+      XVI A REAL TOBOGGAN            174
+
+     XVII THE SNOW HOUSE             184
+
+    XVIII THANKSGIVING               197
+
+      XIX SKYROCKET IS GONE          206
+
+       XX TROUBLE IS MISSING         216
+
+      XXI TROUBLE AND SKYROCKET      229
+
+     XXII A HAPPY REUNION            238
+
+
+
+
+THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+TROUBLE IN TROUBLE
+
+
+"When do you s'pose it'll come, Teddy?"
+
+"Oh, pretty soon now, I guess. We're all ready for it when it does
+come," and Ted Martin glanced from where he sat over toward a slanting
+hill made of several long boards nailed to some tall packing boxes. The
+boxes were piled high at one end, and on top was a little platform,
+reached by some steps made of smaller boxes.
+
+"It's a good while coming though, isn't it, Ted?" asked his sister
+Janet, looking up toward the sky.
+
+"Yes, I wish it would hurry," said the boy, giving his cap a twist,
+thereby making more of a tangle than ever the curly, golden hair that
+had given him and Janet the nicknames of "Curlytops."
+
+The two children walked around the wooden structure which they had
+built, with the help of Tom and Lola Taylor, their playmates, after much
+hard work in hammering, pounding, and the straightening of crooked
+nails. Now and then Ted and Janet turned their faces to the gray clouds
+which floated above them.
+
+"I wish it would hurry!" murmured Janet.
+
+"So do I!" exclaimed Ted.
+
+There was a sudden chorus of shouts and laughter coming from around the
+corner of the house, and another boy and girl rushed up the path.
+
+"What you looking for, Ted?" asked Tom. "An airship?" for Ted's eyes
+were again turned toward the clouds.
+
+"Or maybe birds," added Lola, with a laugh. "Are you watching to see
+some of the birds fly south, because it's soon going to be winter? Are
+you, Ted?"
+
+"Nope!" as the answer. "I'm looking to see when it's going to snow.
+Mother said a snowstorm was coming, and I'm watching for the first
+flakes. What's the good of a toboggan slide when there isn't any snow?"
+
+"That's right," chimed in Tom Taylor. "Now we have this toboggan slide
+made, we want some snow or else we can't ride down on it."
+
+That is what the wooden structure in the yard of the Curlytops was--a
+toboggan slide. Tom and Ted, with the help of some other boys and the
+aid of a few jolly girls, who brought up boards and boxes (though they
+couldn't drive the nails straight) had, after much hard work, built up a
+sort of toboggan slide.
+
+Now all that was needed was snow so they could ride down it on their
+sleds, for none of the children had toboggans--those queer, low, flat
+sleds, all of wood, with the round curved piece in front.
+
+A pile of big packing boxes fastened together made the high part of the
+slide. To get to the top of this pile one had to climb on a number of
+smaller boxes arranged in the form of steps--and crazy, tottering steps
+they were, but the children didn't mind it. It was all the more fun when
+they nearly fell down in climbing up.
+
+From the top of the high pile of big boxes there sloped down a hill of
+boards, nailed in some places and in others fastened together with ropes
+to make an incline, or hill. This was about twenty feet long, and ended
+in a little upturn so that a sled would shoot up with a jerk and come
+down with a bang. More fun!
+
+After several days of hard work the toboggan slide had been finished,
+and now, as Ted remarked, all they needed was some snow to fall, to
+cover the incline and make it slippery enough for the sleds to glide
+down.
+
+But where was the snow? The gray clouds floating high in the air seemed
+to promise a fall of the white flakes, but though the Curlytops and
+their playmates, the Taylor children, strained their eyes and made their
+necks ache looking up, not a feathery crystal did they see.
+
+"Maybe if we whistled it would do some good," said Janet, as all four
+sat in rather gloomy silence.
+
+"Whistle for what?" asked Ted, throwing a stick for Skyrocket, his dog,
+to race after, a game that Skyrocket was very glad to play.
+
+"Whistle for snow," went on Janet. "Didn't mother read us a story about
+some sailors on a desert island whistling for snow?"
+
+Ted and Tom both laughed, much to the surprise of Janet, who seemed a
+little hurt at their chuckles.
+
+"Well?" she asked. "What's the matter?"
+
+"You don't whistle for _snow_!" shouted Ted. "You whistle for _wind_!
+Ha! Ha!"
+
+"She's got it twisted!" laughed Tom.
+
+"I don't care!" exclaimed Janet, getting up and walking toward the
+house. "What's the difference? Wind brings snow, and if you whistle for
+wind, and it comes and brings snow, it's just the same as whistling for
+snow."
+
+"I think so, too," agreed Lola. "Smarty!" she exclaimed, thrusting her
+tongue out at her brother and his chum.
+
+"That's a good one--whistling for _snow_!" laughed Ted, clapping his
+playmate on the back. "We'll tell the fellows!"
+
+"If you do I'll never speak to you again!" cried Janet. "And if you want
+to make any more of your old toboggan slides I won't help you. Will we,
+Lola?"
+
+"Nope, we won't at all! Let's go get our dolls!"
+
+"You'll want to coast down this slide when the snow does come!" taunted
+Ted. "And then we won't let you; will we, Tom?"
+
+"Nope! And maybe it's going to snow pretty soon," added Tom, with
+another squint at the sky. It was a very hopeful sort of look, but it
+did not seem to bring down any of the swirling, white flakes.
+
+The girls walked on toward the house. The boys were beginning to feel
+rather disappointed. They had worked so hard to get the toboggan slide
+finished, and now there was no snow so they could use it! Suddenly Tom
+Taylor gave a cry, causing the girls to turn around and making Ted look
+up from where he was playing with Skyrocket.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Lola.
+
+"I've got an idea!" her brother answered.
+
+"Tell us!" begged Ted.
+
+"I know how we can have some toboggan rides without waiting for snow!"
+exclaimed Tom.
+
+"How? Make believe?" asked Janet. She was very fond of this game of
+pretending.
+
+"No, not make believe!" answered Tom. "Listen! Have you got any candles
+in your house, Ted?"
+
+"Candles? I guess we have some. I saw my mother rubbing one on a
+flatiron the other day when she was ironing a dress for Jan. I don't
+know why she rubbed the candle on the flatiron, but she did."
+
+"She did it so the iron wouldn't stick to the starched dress," explained
+Janet. "I should think anybody would know that! Wouldn't you, Lola?" she
+asked in a rather "snippy" manner and with an upward turn of her little
+nose.
+
+"Of course!" agreed Lola. "Candles makes irons slippery."
+
+"Well, if you've got some candles we can make our sled runners slippery
+the same way, and we can toboggan even if there isn't any snow," went on
+Tom. "I just happened to think I read a story once about some fellows
+who put candle grease on their sleds and rode down a wooden hill like
+this when there wasn't any snow. We can do like that! Get the candles,
+Ted, and I'll go get my sled!"
+
+"Oh, maybe we can have some fun!" cried Janet. "Come on, Lola, let's get
+our sleds."
+
+"You've got to grease your own runners," Ted warned the girls. "We
+aren't going to do it for you."
+
+"Oh, I guess we can do it," answered Lola. "Boys aren't so smart!"
+
+Tom and Lola hastened back to their house to get their sleds, which they
+had not brought over to the newly built toboggan slide, as there seemed
+no use of doing this until snow came. Janet hastened after her sled, and
+Ted went in the house to beg some candle ends of his mother.
+
+"What are you going to do with them?" Mrs. Martin wanted to know. "You
+mustn't play with lighted candles."
+
+Teddy told about the new plan, and his mother said:
+
+"Well, you must be careful. I believe the candles, rubbed on your sled
+runners, will make them slippery enough to coast down the wooden hill.
+But be careful. And don't make any noise, for I've just gotten William
+to sleep."
+
+"Don't let Trouble come out when we're on the toboggan," begged Ted. "He
+might get hurt." Trouble was the pet name for William Anthony Martin,
+the youngest member of the Martin family. And he was called "Trouble"
+because he was in it so often--sometimes through his own fault, and
+often because of Ted and Janet.
+
+"Yes, I'll keep Trouble in," said Mrs. Martin, with a smile. "And here
+are your candle ends," she added, giving Ted a handful. "Be careful."
+
+Ted promised and ran out into the yard to meet his playmates. Tom had
+also found some candle ends, and the boys and girls were soon busy
+rubbing the paraffine on their sled runners. For the candles mostly sold
+nowadays are made of paraffine, instead of beeswax or tallow, as
+old-fashioned candles were made. Paraffine is made from crude oil, as is
+kerosene and gasolene.
+
+"Now we'll have some nifty fun!" cried Tom, as, having rubbed as much of
+the candle on his sled runners as the steel would hold, he turned his
+coaster over right side up.
+
+"We'll have races!" cried Ted.
+
+"But we have to take turns going down," said Janet. "The toboggan slide
+isn't wide enough for two to go on at a time."
+
+"We can have sorter--now--sorter races to see who can go the farthest,"
+remarked Ted, stumbling over his words in his excitement.
+
+"That'll be fun," agreed Lola. She and Janet were also greasing their
+sled runners, all the little quarrels forgotten in the jolly good times
+they were hoping to have.
+
+"All ready now!" cried Tom, picking up his sled. "Who's going to have
+the first coast?"
+
+"I think Janet or Ted ought to have it, for they started the toboggan
+and it's in their yard," said Lola.
+
+"That's right!" agreed her brother.
+
+"No, company ought to have the first ride!" decided Janet, who made up
+her mind she would be as polite as her playmate.
+
+"Jinks!" cried Tom, with a laugh. "Nobody'll ride if we keep on talking
+like this! Come on, Ted!" he added. "Let's you and me go down together!"
+
+"Oh, don't!" begged Janet. "'Tisn't wide enough, and you might get
+hurt."
+
+"Oh, we'll not!" insisted Tom. "And it'll be more fun that way. I guess
+it's wide enough, Ted. Let's try, anyhow."
+
+They found that there was just about room enough on the toboggan slide
+for their sleds side by side. They climbed up the rickety stairs, made
+of small boxes nailed one to the other, and soon the two boys stood on
+the little platform at the top of the wooden slope. They had carried up
+their sleds with them--the sleds with the candle-greased runners.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked Ted of his playmate.
+
+"All ready," answered Tom. "Let's start!"
+
+They put down their sleds and stretched themselves out on the coasters.
+
+"Wouldn't it be funny if they got stuck half way down?" giggled Lola,
+who, with Janet, was waiting on the ground below off at one side to see
+what luck the boys would have.
+
+"Oh, we won't get stuck!" laughed Tom. "Come on now, Ted! Push!"
+
+Together they pushed themselves from the level platform down the wooden
+hill. The sleds hung on the brink for a moment and then went coasting
+down as nicely as you please, and quite swiftly.
+
+"Hurray!" cried Ted, as he felt himself gliding along, coasting almost
+as well as if there had been snow on the wooden toboggan hill. "This is
+nifty!"
+
+"Great!" added Tom.
+
+The boys were so surprised to find out how well they could coast without
+snow that they forgot about having a race. As it was, they both came to
+the end of the slope at the same time. The sleds shot up the little
+incline and landed on the grass beyond with a bump. Teddy fell off his,
+but only laughed.
+
+"How is it?" asked Lola.
+
+"Dandy!" cried her brother. "You girls take a ride now!"
+
+Rather timidly at first, Janet and Lola went down the incline one at a
+time, but they soon grew bolder and liked it as much as did the boys. It
+really was lots of fun, and as the boards became more slippery when
+partly covered with flakes of paraffine from the candles the coasting
+was swifter.
+
+"Now let's have a real race!" cried Ted, after they had been sliding for
+some time. "I mean let's see who can go farthest from the end of the
+slide."
+
+They took turns at this, one at a time coasting down the wooden hill and
+marking where the sleds landed on the grass. Tom and Ted seemed able to
+make their sleds jump farther than did the girls.
+
+"I beat!" cried Tom, pointing to the mark his sled had made on the
+grass, after jumping up and away from the little end bump of the slide.
+
+"You did not! My sled went farther!" shouted Ted. "Here, girls, I'll
+leave it to you!"
+
+The four were trying to decide who had won the race when Janet, glancing
+back toward the toboggan slide, gave a cry of alarm.
+
+"Look at Trouble!" she exclaimed.
+
+There, on top of the pile of big boxes, having climbed to the platform
+by means of the rickety steps, stood baby William.
+
+"I s'ide down!" he cried, jumping up and down in delight. "I s'ide!"
+
+"No! No! Don't! Stand still, Trouble! Don't move! I'll come and get
+you!" shouted Ted.
+
+He started on a run, but he was too late. A moment afterward Trouble was
+in trouble, for the little fellow toddled toward the back edge of the
+platform, which had no railing to guard it, and a second later he seemed
+to topple off backward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE POSTMAN'S WHISTLE
+
+
+"Oh, Trouble has fallen! Trouble has fallen!" screamed Jan, as she ran
+around toward the back of the toboggan.
+
+"Come on, Tom!" yelled Ted. "I guess my little brother's hurt!"
+
+Lola followed the others, and as the four children raced to the aid of
+baby William a shrill whistle was heard near the front of the house.
+
+"Is that a policeman?" cried Tom to his chum.
+
+"No, it's the postman," answered Ted. "He's taking a letter into our
+house. Hey, Mr. Brennan!" he called, as he saw the gray-uniformed mail
+carrier entering the yard. "My little brother's hurt!"
+
+Screams coming from the mouth of William seemed to tell that he was
+badly frightened, anyhow, and also hurt, very likely.
+
+"Trouble hurt? I'm coming!" cried the postman dropping his bag of mail
+and running around the side path.
+
+Another moment and the Curlytops and their playmates had reached the
+rear of the high pile of boxes from which the toboggan slide started.
+They looked on the ground, expecting to see Trouble huddled there in a
+crumpled heap.
+
+But he wasn't there. His voice, however, could be heard crying lustily,
+and it seemed to come from overhead. Yet the little boy was not on the
+high platform, from which he had been seen to topple backward.
+
+Where was Trouble?
+
+This was the question the Curlytops asked themselves. And it was what
+their playmates wanted to know, as did the postman.
+
+But before we settle that question I want to answer several inquiries
+that I feel sure some of my new readers are asking, and among these is
+this:
+
+"Who are the Curlytops?"
+
+Those who have read the previous books of this series do not need to go
+over this part I am writing now. They may skip it and get on with the
+story. Others may wish to know something about Ted, Janet and Trouble.
+
+"Curlytops" was not their right name. As you have noticed, it was
+Martin. Theodore Baradale Martin was called Ted, or Teddy, and Janet's
+name was more often shortened to Jan. William was called Trouble as I
+have mentioned.
+
+The name "Curlytops" was given the two older children because of their
+curly, golden heads of hair. They lived with their father and mother,
+Mr. and Mrs. Richard Martin in the city of Cresco, in one of our Eastern
+states. Mr. Martin kept a store.
+
+The Curlytops were introduced first in the book about Cherry Farm. After
+that they had fun and adventures on Star Island, they were snowed in, as
+the book of that name tells, and later they went to Uncle Frank's ranch
+in the West. At Silver Lake they had fun on the water with Uncle Ben.
+
+The book which was written just before this is called "The Curlytops and
+their Pets," and tells how the children cared for some dogs, a cat, a
+monkey, a parrot and an alligator that Uncle Toby left in their charge
+when he thought he had to go to South America.
+
+Instead of going there Uncle Toby went to Canada. And it was from some
+of the stories he told of seeing toboggan slides there that the
+Curlytops had made one in their yard. Then came trouble with Trouble.
+
+"But where is your little brother?" asked the postman of Ted and Janet,
+as he rushed around behind the high pile of boxes. "You say he fell off
+the platform, but where is he?"
+
+"I hear him crying!" exclaimed Lola.
+
+"So do I," added her brother. The two Taylor children were among the
+many playmates of the Curlytops.
+
+"He didn't fall to the ground, that's sure, or else he'd be here now,"
+declared the postman. "There isn't a sign of him. Maybe--"
+
+But Mr. Brennan never finished what he started to say, for just then a
+little voice, above the heads of the postman and the children, cried
+out:
+
+"Here I is!"
+
+"Oh, look!" exclaimed Jan.
+
+They all glanced up and saw the head of Trouble thrust out of one of the
+big packing boxes which Ted and his friends had made into the highest
+part of the toboggan slide.
+
+The opening of this large packing box was toward the rear of the slide
+and Trouble was in the box. How he got there could only be guessed, but
+there he was, tears streaming down his little red face as he looked out.
+
+"I--I wants to tum down!" he sobbed.
+
+At times Trouble talked fairly well and plainly, but when he was
+excited, as he was now, he said wrong words. Nobody minded that,
+however.
+
+"Don't jump, Trouble! Don't jump!" shouted the postman. "I'll get you
+down all right. Is there a ladder anywhere around?" he asked the
+children.
+
+"There's a stepladder in the shed," answered Ted. "I'll get it."
+
+"I'll help," offered Tom.
+
+Away sped the boys, while Jan and Lola remained with Mr. Brennan looking
+up at Trouble, who seemed like some little animal in a circus cage.
+
+"How'd you get in there, William?" asked Jan. Whenever the name
+"William" was used there was always more seriousness than when the
+youngest Martin child had been called by his pet title.
+
+"I--I falled in!" sobbed Trouble.
+
+"We saw you tumble over backward," remarked Lola. "But how did you get
+inside the box? Why didn't you fall all the way to the ground?"
+
+"Suffin ketched me and I fell in here," was all Trouble could explain
+about it.
+
+"I guess part of his clothes caught on a nail, or a piece of wood that
+was sticking out," said the postman, "and he was swung inside the box. A
+good thing, too, for it saved him a bad fall. He didn't go far."
+
+This was true enough, for Trouble had swung into an open packing box not
+far from the top of the platform, so he had really only fallen a few
+feet--not enough to harm such a fat, chubby little fellow as he was.
+
+"Well, we'll soon have you down," said Mr. Brennan cheerfully. "Don't
+cry any more, Trouble. Here come Ted and Tom with the ladder. I'll soon
+get you down!"
+
+As the boys were hastening up with the ladder toward the high part of
+the toboggan slide, Mrs. Martin came running out of the back door of the
+house.
+
+"What's the matter? What has happened?" she asked.
+
+"Nothing much, Mrs. Martin," answered the postman, with a laugh.
+"Trouble is in trouble, and also in a packing box; that's all. I'll soon
+have him out."
+
+"In a packing box?" William's mother repeated.
+
+"Yes, you can see him," and Mr. Brennan pointed to the head of William
+thrust out from his "cage."
+
+"Oh, the little tyke!" cried Mrs. Martin. "After he awakened from his
+nap and went out to play, I told him to keep away from the toboggan
+slide."
+
+"Well, he went up on it when we weren't looking," explained Janet.
+
+"And he fell off, only he didn't fall far and he swung into the box,"
+added Ted.
+
+"What a narrow escape!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "You children will either
+have to take that slide down or watch William more carefully," she
+added, as the postman put the ladder in place and began to climb up
+after Trouble.
+
+"Oh, we don't want to take the slide down!" cried Ted. "We haven't tried
+it in the snow, yet. It'll be a lot more fun when it snows."
+
+"We won't let Trouble get up on it again," added Janet.
+
+By this time Mr. Brennan had climbed down with the little fellow in his
+arms. William seemed to be over his fright, for he smiled and asked:
+
+"Can I have a wide?"
+
+"You'd better go in the house with mother," said Ted. "No rides for
+you!"
+
+"Oh, give him one ride! He's so cute!" begged Lola.
+
+"We'll take care of him," went on Jan.
+
+"Are you all right, darling? Are you hurt?" asked Mrs. Martin, looking
+William over carefully. "It's a mercy you didn't have some bones
+broken."
+
+"I guess he would have had if he had fallen all the way," said Mr.
+Brennan. "But his clothes caught on something and saved him. He just
+swung into the open box like a piano being slung in a second story
+window by the moving men. Well, as long as you're all right, Curlytops,
+I'll be traveling on," he added, as he walked to where he had dropped
+his bag of mail.
+
+"We're ever so much obliged to you," said Mrs. Martin.
+
+"Oh, yes! Thank you!" called Ted and Janet. They had almost forgotten
+this in the excitement.
+
+"All right!" laughed the postman, waving his hand to them, as he went
+out of the gate.
+
+"Now if I leave William with you, will you watch him carefully?" asked
+Mrs. Martin, as she turned to go in the house.
+
+"Oh, yes, Mother!" promised Ted and Janet in the same breath.
+
+"We'll help!" offered Tom Taylor.
+
+"I'll let him ride down on my sled," said Lola.
+
+"I want to wide all alone!" declared Trouble.
+
+"No, you can't do that!" his mother said.
+
+The postman turned and came into the yard again.
+
+"I forgot to give you this letter," he said, with a laugh. "So much
+excitement made me nearly forget the mail. There you are, Mrs. Martin,"
+and he handed her a letter.
+
+The children played on the wooden toboggan slide the remainder of the
+morning, having much fun, and the laughter and shouting of Trouble was
+as loud as that of the Curlytops and their playmates. Trouble was not
+exactly a curlytop, for his hair was not like the locks of Ted and
+Janet.
+
+"I hope it snows to-morrow," said Tom, as he and his sister went home to
+dinner.
+
+"So do I," added Ted. "It looks like it," he added, with a glance up at
+the gray clouds.
+
+"If we pack the slide with snow we'll coast lots better," declared Lola.
+
+Ted and Janet, with Trouble, went in the house, having planned to do
+more "dry" coasting after their meal.
+
+Daddy Martin had come home to lunch from his store, and as the Curlytops
+entered the dining room they saw their father and mother with serious
+looks on their faces. Mr. Martin had just been reading a letter, the
+same letter the postman had left after rescuing Trouble.
+
+"Well," Mr. Martin was saying, "I think we'll both have to take that
+trip, Mother, and see about this. Yes, we'll both have to go."
+
+"Oh, are you going somewhere?" cried Ted.
+
+"Take us!" begged Janet.
+
+Mrs. Martin shook her head slowly. There was a worried look on her face.
+
+"This isn't to be a pleasure trip," she said. "You children couldn't
+possibly go. It's about business. Just daddy and I will go, if we have
+to. But I don't want to go away with winter coming on."
+
+"Why do you have to go?" Janet wanted to know.
+
+"Because, unless we do, daddy may lose a lot of money," said Mrs. Martin
+gravely. "We wouldn't want that to happen. If we go away we shall have
+to leave you children behind, and I don't like to do that, however--"
+
+Suddenly the bark of a dog sounded outside, and there came a ring at the
+front door.
+
+"Somebody's coming!" cried Ted, making a dash for the hall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+WHAT SHALL WE DO?
+
+
+"Here, Teddy! Wait a minute!" called Mr. Martin, but Ted did not wait.
+He was already at the front door. Trouble had started after his brother,
+but Janet remained with her mother.
+
+"I wonder who it can be, just at lunch time," said Mrs. Martin. She
+glanced at the table to see if it were properly set, and began to think
+rapidly whether there would be enough pie for dessert.
+
+"Will you and daddy really have to go away, Mother?" asked Janet, as the
+murmur of voices came from the front hall, whither Mr. Martin and
+Trouble had followed Ted.
+
+"I'm afraid so," was the answer. "Your father had a letter this morning
+telling of some trouble about business, and unless he wishes to lose a
+lot of money he and I will have to go and see about some property he
+owns in a distant state."
+
+"But I don't see why we couldn't go!" said Janet.
+
+"Take you out of school, with the fall term just well started!"
+exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "No, indeed! You must stay and study; that is,
+all but William."
+
+"But we don't want to stay here if you and daddy go away!" cried Janet,
+almost on the verge of tears. "It won't be any fun here alone!"
+
+"No, I suppose not," agreed Mrs. Martin. "And yet your father and I must
+go. We can't afford to lose this money. I must make some plans. I hardly
+know what to do. I wonder who came then?"
+
+More talk and laughter sounded in the hall. Teddy came tramping back
+into the dining room, carrying with him a little jacket belonging to his
+brother William.
+
+"Look, Mother!" cried Ted. "Skyrocket had dragged this over in Bob
+Newton's yard. He was playing with Trouble's jacket--I mean our dog
+was--and Bob saw him and took it away. Bob just brought it back. Look,
+it's got a hole in it!" and Ted held up the little garment, torn by the
+teeth of Skyrocket.
+
+"Oh, what a bad dog!" cried Mrs. Martin.
+
+"He didn't mean to!" said Ted quickly. "Bob said he was just shaking it
+and playing with it."
+
+"I--I--guess he was makin' believe it was a cat," explained Bob, another
+of the playmates of the Curlytops. "I saw him come runnin' into my yard,
+shakin' somethin', and first I thought it was a cat. But when I saw what
+it was--Trouble's coat--I took it away from Skyrocket, and brought it
+over here."
+
+"We're much obliged to you, Bob," said Mrs. Martin. Mr. Martin, when he
+found the visitor was not for him, began reading the troublesome letter
+again.
+
+"Where's Skyrocket?" asked Janet, not seeing the dog with which she and
+Ted had so much fun.
+
+"Oh, he ran off when I took the jacket away from him," answered Bob.
+
+"I wonder how he got Trouble's jacket," mused Jan.
+
+"I--I took it off when I climbed up on de boxes to slide," explained
+William.
+
+"That's right!" exclaimed Ted. "I saw it on the ground after Mr. Brennan
+lifted him down with the stepladder. You brought him out his sweater,
+Mother."
+
+"Yes, so I did. I thought he had come out with nothing over his waist.
+Well, I'll have to mend this jacket now. Trouble, why didn't you pick up
+your jacket after you dropped it?"
+
+"Oh--jest--'cause!" murmured the little fellow, and they all laughed
+except Mr. Martin. He seemed too worried over the letter even to smile.
+
+"Well, I must get back," said Bob, twisting his cap which he held in his
+hands. "I--now--I've got to get back."
+
+"Have you had your dinner, Bob?" asked Mrs. Martin.
+
+"Part--part of it," Bob answered. "All but the fancy part."
+
+"Oh, you mean the dessert?" asked the mother of the Curlytops.
+
+"Yes'm, and there wasn't any to-day."
+
+"Suppose you stay and have dessert with us," suggested Mrs. Martin, well
+knowing how children like to eat away from home.
+
+"Yes'm, I--I could do that," agreed Bob, his face brightening.
+
+"Couldn't he have all dinner with us, and not just dessert?" suggested
+Ted.
+
+"Of course," his mother replied.
+
+"Maybe Bob has eaten all he can," suggested Mr. Martin, folding the
+letter and putting it in his pocket.
+
+"Oh, no! I can eat a lot more!" quickly cried Bob. "You ought to see me
+eat!"
+
+"Well, we'll give you a chance," said Mr. Martin, and they all sat down
+to the table.
+
+The Curlytop children told Bob about the toboggan slide, which he had
+not yet seen, as he lived several houses down the street and had had no
+hand in building up the big pile of empty boxes.
+
+"An' you ought to see me in the box!" cried Trouble, when he had a
+chance to speak.
+
+"Yes!" exclaimed Jan. "Oh, how he frightened us!"
+
+While the children were thus talking Mr. and Mrs. Martin were conversing
+in low tones. And once Ted heard his mother ask:
+
+"What shall we do?"
+
+"Something will have to be done," her husband answered. "We must find
+some one to look after the children while we are away, for we shall
+certainly have to go. I can't let this slip away from me."
+
+"No, indeed!" agreed his wife, with a sigh. "And yet, with the
+Christmas holidays coming on, it will be too bad to be away from the
+children."
+
+"Perhaps we may get back by Christmas," remarked her husband.
+
+Ted did not listen to all this, but he heard words here and there, and
+Christmas was one of them.
+
+"How long to Christmas?" he asked.
+
+"Quite a while," his mother replied. "It isn't Thanksgiving yet."
+
+"How long before it will snow?" Janet wanted to know.
+
+"That may happen any day now," replied her father, with a glance out of
+the window. "It was getting colder as I came in. If you children go out
+to play again you must wrap up warmly."
+
+"We will!" promised Ted. "We're going to play toboggan again," he added.
+"You can stay and play with us, Bob," he said.
+
+"Thanks! That'll be fun. Oh, you have pie!" he added quickly, as he saw
+Nora coming in with the dessert. "I like pie!" he frankly admitted.
+
+"So do I," said Ted.
+
+"An' I want two pieces!" declared Trouble.
+
+"Hush, dear," cautioned his mother, in a low voice.
+
+The meal over, the Curlytops prepared to go out in the yard again, to
+have fun on their paraffine-greased sleds. Bob ran home after his,
+promising to bring some candle ends, as those Mrs. Martin had found for
+Ted had nearly all been used.
+
+Such fun as the Curlytops and their playmates had in the yard after
+dinner! Tom and Lola came back, with some other boys and girls, and they
+coasted down the toboggan slide one after the other. Trouble was put to
+bed for his afternoon nap, and so neither Ted nor Jan had to watch him,
+which gave them more time for fun.
+
+"Say, it's getting real cold!" exclaimed Bob, blowing on his red hands
+after a coast down the wooden hill. "I guess maybe it will freeze
+to-night."
+
+"Do you think it will, Tom?" asked Ted of his best chum.
+
+"Well, it's pretty cold," was the answer. "But I don't believe it will
+freeze ice enough for skating."
+
+"If it only freezes a little ice that would be enough," Ted declared.
+
+"No, it wouldn't!" asserted Tom. "They won't let us skate on the pond
+lessen the ice is real thick."
+
+"I wasn't thinking of the pond," said Ted. "I have an idea! Come on over
+here, Tom, and we'll talk about it. I'm sorter--now--tired of coasting
+on a wooden hill. I'd like some snow."
+
+"Maybe it'll snow and freeze, too," said Tom, as he and Ted walked off
+by themselves to talk.
+
+That evening, after an afternoon of fun on the toboggan, the Curlytops
+sat in the living room reading on one side of the table, while Mr. and
+Mrs. Martin were talking in low voices on the other side. Trouble had
+been put to bed. It was Friday night. There had been no school that day
+on account of an educational meeting which all the teachers had to
+attend, and there was no home work for Ted and Janet to worry about. So
+they could sit up and read until bedtime.
+
+But, for some reason or other, Ted did not seem very intent on his book.
+Every now and then he would look up from it and appear to be listening.
+
+"What's the matter?" Janet asked him after one of these periods of
+listening.
+
+"Oh, nothing," her brother answered.
+
+Janet, too, was not as much interested in her story as she ordinarily
+was. What her mother had said that afternoon, about having to go away
+with daddy leaving the children at home, was worrying the little girl
+more than she liked to admit.
+
+Mr. Martin was just saying something about getting ready to leave in
+about a week, and Janet was going to ask who would come to keep house
+and stay with them, when a shrill whistle sounded out in the street.
+
+"There's Tom!" cried Ted, dropping his book and fairly jumping from his
+chair.
+
+"You aren't going out now!" said Mr. Martin. "It's after eight o'clock,
+Ted."
+
+"I'm just going out in the back yard a minute," Ted answered. "I
+promised Tom I'd meet him there."
+
+"All right, but don't go away," his mother said, and Ted promised.
+Snatching his cap down off the nail, he hurried out, giving a shrill
+whistle while still in the house in answer to another call from his
+chum.
+
+"Quiet, Ted! You'll awaken William!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "And don't
+slam the door!"
+
+But this warning came too late. The door was slammed, but Trouble seemed
+to sleep on. He was tired from his day of play. Janet could hear Tom and
+Ted talking on the side porch.
+
+"I guess maybe they're going to toboggan a little by moonlight," thought
+the girl. Then her mind went back to the letter of that afternoon, and
+she remembered what her father had said about having to go away or else
+lose a lot of money. Janet did not understand much about business--very
+little, in fact--but she knew what it meant to lose money. Once she had
+dropped five cents down a hole, and she never got it back. She always
+remembered this.
+
+"Who's going to stay with us, Mother?" Janet asked, after a pause.
+
+"Stay with you when, dear?"
+
+"When you and daddy go away."
+
+"Well, we haven't decided that," her father answered. "In fact, it's
+that which bothers us. We don't know just what to do. If it wasn't that
+winter is coming we might take you along. But, as it is, we can't."
+
+"We want somebody nice to stay with us," insisted Janet.
+
+"Yes, of course, dear," agreed her mother. "We'll have to write to some
+of our relatives and see who can come. I don't know just who would be
+the best, or who could spare the time. And while I know you two
+Curlytops will be all right, I shall be worried over William."
+
+"Oh, I'll look after Trouble!" promised Jan.
+
+"Yes, I know you'll do your best, dear. And now--"
+
+But Mrs. Martin never finished that sentence. Suddenly, from the yard,
+came loud shouts, a banging, rattling noise, and Ted's voice could be
+heard yelling:
+
+"Look out! Look out!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+UNCLE TOBY AGAIN
+
+
+Daddy and Mother Martin fairly jumped from their chairs and hastened to
+the back door. Nora Jones, the jolly, good-natured cook, was before
+them. She had just finished the kitchen work, and was on her way to her
+room when she heard the shouts of Ted and Tom.
+
+"Oh, Mrs. Martin! Something must have happened!" cried Nora.
+
+"It sounds so," agreed Mrs. Martin.
+
+"Oh, I hope they're not hurt!" murmured Jan.
+
+Just then the shouts of the boys were mingled with laughter.
+
+"It doesn't sound very serious," said Mr. Martin.
+
+The back door was opened and the light from the kitchen shone on the
+toboggan slide. The light also showed Tom and Ted in a mixed-up mass at
+the bottom of the slide, each one holding a tin pail.
+
+[Illustration: "WE BOTH WENT DOWN THE SLIDE TOGETHER WITH THE PAILS."
+Page 38]
+
+And as Mr. and Mrs. Martin and Janet and Nora hastened out they saw that
+both boys were dripping wet, and as they untangled their legs from each
+other and stood up, it could be seen that they were now shivering, for
+the night was cold.
+
+"What in the world has happened?" asked Mother Martin.
+
+"And what in the world have you been doing?" asked Daddy Martin, rather
+sternly.
+
+It was very plain to be seen that Ted and Tom had been doing something.
+
+"We--we--now--we were--" began Ted.
+
+"Don't stand here to tell us! Get in the house and into dry clothes!"
+cried Ted's mother. "You'll catch your deaths of colds out here! Get in
+the house now and explain later! Are either of you hurt?" she asked, for
+she noticed that each boy was limping.
+
+"Not much," answered Tom, trying to smile. "We just tumbled down the
+toboggan slide, that's all, and the water--"
+
+"Never mind now; tell us later," said Mr. Martin.
+
+And when Tom and Ted had taken off their wet clothes, Tom being given an
+extra suit of Ted's, the two boys, sitting by the fire, told what had
+happened.
+
+"We wanted some real ice on the toboggan slide," explained Ted. "Rubbing
+candles on your sled runners is all right, but we wanted some real ice.
+It didn't snow, so I said, 'let's pour water on our slide and let it
+freeze to-night, 'cause it's cold.'"
+
+"And did you?" asked his father, trying not to smile.
+
+"Yes, Daddy, we did. But I guess it isn't frozen yet," answered Ted. "We
+were spilling pails of water down on the slide. We stood on the top
+platform where Trouble fell off of, and then, all of a sudden, I
+slipped, and--"
+
+"Yes, and he grabbed hold of me, and then I slipped!" broke in Tom, with
+a laugh. "And we both went down the slide together with the pails. It
+was almost as slippery as if there was ice on it," he added.
+
+"Yes, it was slippery all right," chuckled Ted. "And if it freezes
+to-night we'll have packs of fun to-morrow."
+
+The thought of the fun they might have seemed to make the boys forget
+their present troubles.
+
+"Well, I'm glad it isn't any worse," said Mrs. Martin. "You boys should
+be careful on that slide. Just think! You might have been hurt!"
+
+"Oh, you can't get hurt on that slide," declared Ted. "It's nice and
+smooth. And, anyhow, I didn't mean to slip; I couldn't help it." He
+laughed as he remembered it, and Jan laughed too. She wished she had
+been there to see Tom and Ted toppling down the slide together with the
+empty pails banging. It was this that had made the noise.
+
+"It was like Jack and Jill, falling down the hill," laughed Janet.
+
+"That's right," agreed Tom. "But I guess I'd better be going home," he
+added. "Do you s'pose my things are dry yet?" he asked Mrs. Martin.
+
+"Oh, mercy, no!" exclaimed the mother of the Curlytops. "They won't be
+dry until to-morrow. I'll have Nora hang them in the kitchen by the
+range."
+
+"But I guess maybe--I'd like to, but--er--now--I don't guess my mother
+would like me to stay here all night," said Tom hesitatingly.
+
+"You don't have to stay here all night," Mrs. Martin said.
+
+"Well, but if my things aren't dry--"
+
+"Oh, wear those of Ted's that you have on," laughed Mrs. Martin. "I
+didn't know what you meant. That's all right--wear those things of
+Ted's. He has plenty more. Yours will be dry in the morning."
+
+"And I hope there'll be ice on the toboggan slide in the morning!"
+exclaimed Ted. "I wish you could stay all night, Tom. Couldn't he,
+Mother?" he asked wistfully. "We'd be awful good and he could sleep with
+me and we wouldn't pillow fight or anything. And Tom's better'n I am
+about spilling things on the tablecloth at breakfast."
+
+"Oh, it wasn't that I was thinking of," said Mrs. Martin. "I was
+thinking his mother and father would want him home. It's getting late."
+
+"But we don't have to get up early to-morrow. It's Saturday and there's
+no school!" pleaded Ted, eagerly.
+
+"My mother wouldn't care if I didn't come home, as long as I was over
+here," said Tom, trying not to appear too eager, for that would have
+been almost like asking to remain.
+
+"Well, I suppose it would be best for you not to go out in the cold
+again, after having been wet," said Mrs. Martin. "We could telephone to
+your mother, Tom."
+
+"All right!" he cried joyfully.
+
+"Hurray!" shouted Ted.
+
+"Be careful! Don't awaken Trouble!" cautioned Mrs. Martin.
+
+Thereupon the boys quieted down, but they were still bubbling over with
+mirth, talking about the fun they would have sleeping together and the
+other fun they would have on the toboggan slide the next day.
+
+Mr. Martin telephoned to the Taylor home, explaining about the little
+accident that had happened to Tom, and suggesting that, if it was all
+right, he should remain with the Curlytops that night. Mr. Taylor said
+it would be all right, and thanked Mr. Martin for his kindness.
+
+Janet remained up a little longer, listening to Tom and Ted telling over
+again just how they had carried pails of water to the top of the wooden
+slope, spilling down the sloping boards the liquid which swished its way
+like rapids in a river. And then came the tumble and fall of the boys.
+
+"Boys, as long as you are going to have good times to-morrow I suggest
+that you go to bed now," said Mrs. Martin, when it was past nine
+o'clock.
+
+"I want to get a glass of water first," said Ted, going toward the
+kitchen.
+
+"You can get a drink up in the bathroom," his mother told him.
+
+"I don't want this to drink," Ted explained. "I want to fill a glass
+full of water and set it out on the steps."
+
+"What for?" Janet wanted to know. "No birds will come to drink at
+night," she added, for she and her brother had made a bird-feeding
+station in their yard, and also a little shallow basin where the
+feathered songsters could bathe and drink.
+
+"This isn't for birds," Ted explained. "I just want to set a glass of
+water outside and wait to see if it freezes. If it does, then we'll know
+if there's going to be ice on our toboggan slide in the morning."
+
+"Nonsense!" laughed his mother. "I can't let you stay up until you find
+out if a glass of water will freeze. It would take too long."
+
+"Not to see if just the top froze over," insisted Ted. "I don't mean
+until the whole glass freezes solid. I know that would take a long
+time."
+
+"No, no!" laughed his mother, giving him a friendly little push from the
+room. "Go to bed! I think it will be cold enough to make at least a skim
+of ice on your toboggan slide. But not much more. So don't be
+disappointed if you have to use candles on your sled runners to-morrow."
+
+However, Ted, and Janet, and Tom went to bed filled with joyous hopes
+for the next day. The boys were almost as good as they promised to be,
+not having any pillow fight. But they did "cut up" a little, and had to
+be told, more than once, to get quiet and go to sleep. And finally they
+did.
+
+In spite of the fact that the morning brought Saturday, with no school,
+when the children might have slept later had they wished, Tom and Ted
+were up earlier than usual. Hardly stopping to dress properly, the two
+boys ran out into the yard and to the toboggan slide.
+
+"Hurray!" cried Tom. "She froze!"
+
+"Oh, what a nifty lot of ice!" exclaimed Ted.
+
+And the sloping boards of the toboggan slide were covered with a film
+that glistened and sparkled in the sun. The morning air was cold, too,
+and the boys felt sure the ice that had formed from the water they
+poured on would not soon melt.
+
+"Come on, Janet!" cried Tom, after breakfast. "Now you can have a real
+toboggan ride!"
+
+"Me, too!" called Trouble, banging his oatmeal spoon on his plate.
+
+"After a while, dear. You aren't dressed yet," his mother told the
+little fellow.
+
+Indeed the toboggan was a real hill of ice now, though the frozen
+covering was thin. And the children had many fine coasts on it, for the
+sleds went faster than when greased with candles.
+
+Lola Taylor came over, and so did other playmates of the Curlytops, and
+you can be sure that after this the thin coating of ice on the boards
+did not last long. It began to wear off and wear thin, first in one
+place and then in another, the rising sun helping to melt it. And before
+noon there was no ice left.
+
+However, the boys and girls had had lots of jolly good fun, and Trouble
+also had his share. As the boards, once they were wet from the melting
+ice, were too sticky for the candle-greased sleds to coast on, the fun
+had to be given up just before noon.
+
+But after dinner Tom and Ted found something else that gave them an
+adventure. A little brook ran through a meadow, not far from the home of
+the Curlytops, and on a part of this that was in the shadow from a hill
+there was some ice that was quite thick, and it remained unmelted, as
+the sun did not shine on it.
+
+"Oh, look!" cried Ted, as the two chums, wandering through the meadow in
+search of fun, saw the ice. "Look! We can have a slide!"
+
+"Will it hold?" asked Tom.
+
+"Sure! Look at Skyrocket!" answered Ted.
+
+The dog had walked out on the thin ice which held him up. But the boys
+did not stop to think that Skyrocket was not as heavy as either of them.
+Also Skyrocket was on four feet, and his weight was more scattered,
+being distributed over a larger surface than theirs would be. But Tom
+and Ted never thought of this. Ice that would hold Skyrocket would hold
+them, they thought.
+
+In another instant they had walked out on it and were just going to run
+and take a little slide when there was a cracking sound, and, before
+they knew it, both lads had plunged into the brook at one of the deep
+parts.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" cried Tom and Ted together, for they were quite frightened.
+
+Skyrocket barked and capered about. He did not know whether this was a
+game the boys were playing, or whether their cries meant danger. To tell
+the truth there was not really much danger, as the brook was not up to
+the knees of the boys at this point.
+
+They remained upright, floundering about and struggling in the cold
+water amid chunks of thin ice. For the ice was really too thin to hold
+them.
+
+"Oh, what are we going to do?" cried Tom.
+
+"I'm nearer shore than you are!" panted Ted. "Grab hold of my hand and
+I'll help you out!"
+
+But as the boys were struggling together they heard a voice shouting at
+them from the far side of the meadow. They looked and saw a man running
+toward them. He reached them before they had gotten to the bank where
+Skyrocket was wildly barking, and, reaching his hands out to them, the
+man pulled Tom and Ted to safety.
+
+"What in the world are you lads up to?" the man asked.
+
+Something in the voice caused Ted to look up, and he cried.
+
+"Uncle Toby!"
+
+"Yes, Uncle Toby!" admitted the man, with a laugh. "It's a good thing I
+happened to take the short cut across lots from the railroad. Now tell
+me why you chaps went in swimming on a day like this?" and he looked
+first at Ted and then at Tom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OFF TO THE COUNTRY
+
+
+Skyrocket ran up to Uncle Toby, barking and sniffing around the legs of
+the jolly man who had pulled the two boys from the ice-cold brook.
+
+"So you remember me, don't you?" chuckled Uncle Toby, as he watched the
+wagging tail of the dog.
+
+"I do, too!" said Tom. "Have you got all your pets still?"
+
+"Most of 'em!" answered Uncle Toby. "But we mustn't stand here talking,
+with you boys wet through. Come on to the house. Run! That's the best
+way to keep from taking a cold! Run!"
+
+"We--we got--all wet--last night, too," Ted informed Uncle Toby, the
+words being jerked out of him because of the jolting effect of the run.
+
+"Were you in swimming last night?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.
+
+"We were making a toboggan slide like those you told about seeing in
+Canada," explained Ted.
+
+"And we weren't in swimming now. We were sliding and the ice broke,"
+explained Tom.
+
+"Well, never mind about that now," said Uncle Toby. "Come on--run!" And
+he ran so fast, half holding up the boys who trotted along on either
+side of him, with Skyrocket leaping along behind, that by the time the
+house was reached Ted and Tom each felt quite warm in spite of their icy
+bath.
+
+"Oh, my goodness! What'll your ma say?" cried Nora, as Uncle Toby rushed
+the boys into the cozy kitchen.
+
+"Get upstairs and bring them down some dry clothes. Let them undress and
+dress here by the fire. The water won't hurt the kitchen floor," said
+Uncle Toby.
+
+In a little while Tom was again attired in his own suit, which was now
+dry, and Ted had on an extra one of his own, while the wet garments were
+taken down cellar to be hung near the furnace.
+
+"I guess you boys had better stay in the house the rest of the day,"
+said Mrs. Martin, when she had greeted Uncle Toby and had heard what
+had happened.
+
+"I have to go home," said Tom. "Thank you for drying my clothes, and I'm
+sorry I got Ted's wet," he added.
+
+"Well, be careful," cautioned Mrs. Martin, as Ted's playmate left,
+promising to run all the way so he would not get a chill. But the day
+was quite warm now, all the ice having been melted from the toboggan
+slide, and even the water on it drying up.
+
+"Well, what kindly fortune brings you here, Uncle Toby?" asked Mrs.
+Martin, as soon as she could sit down for a chat.
+
+"Oh, I came to ask a favor," went on the old gentleman, who had traveled
+in many parts of the world and who had collected quite a few strange
+pets, some of which he still kept at his home in Pocono. "But you look
+worried, Ruth," he went on. "Has anything happened? Don't worry about
+those boys. They won't take cold from a little dipping, even if the
+weather is getting a bit frosty."
+
+"I wasn't worrying about them," said Mother Martin, with a smile. "But
+we have had some other troubles. Dick has had word that he is likely to
+lose a lot of money, and he and I will have to take a trip to see about
+some property. We'll have to go right away, or within a day or so, and
+what to do about the children I don't know. We can't very well take them
+with us. I was just thinking we might get some of our relations to come
+and stay here while we're gone. Then you drop in. Have you come to tell
+me that you are coming to pay a visit? I'd leave my Curlytops and
+William with you and know they were safe."
+
+"And I'd ask nothing better than to look after them," said Uncle Toby,
+with a smile. "But I didn't come to tell you I was coming here. Instead
+I came to invite you to my place in the country. I have a large cottage,
+or camp, as you know, at Crystal Lake, just outside Pocono. I'm going to
+have a sort of holiday party out there this winter, and I want you and
+the Curlytops to come and spend some time with me. In fact I'll take
+some of their playmates, if their folks will spare them. That's what I
+came for--to invite you all out to my place to have jolly times through
+the holidays."
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" cried Janet, who heard what was being said.
+
+"Could we have a toboggan slide there?" Ted wanted to know.
+
+"Me tum?" lisped Trouble.
+
+"Sure you'll come!" cried Uncle Toby, catching baby William up in his
+arms and hugging and kissing him. "There wouldn't be any fun if we left
+you behind. When can you get ready to come?" he asked Mrs. Martin.
+
+"Why," answered the mother of the Curlytops slowly, "I don't see that
+Dick and I can come at all. We must take this business trip or daddy
+will lose a lot of money," she explained to the children. "But your
+coming at this time is most fortunate, Uncle Toby. As long as you are
+going to have a party out at your country cabin on Crystal Lake, it will
+be just the thing for the children. They can go and stay with you while
+Dick and I are away."
+
+"Of course!" cried Uncle Toby. "Aunt Sallie--you remember her I guess?"
+he went on--"she'll be there to cook for us and see that the children
+don't get their feet wet."
+
+"Aunt Sallie," remarked Mrs. Martin. "I don't seem to remember--"
+
+"She's Mrs. Watson, the old lady who went away from my house the time I
+started for South America, and left you my pets to look after," Uncle
+Toby explained. "She's a distant relative of mine, and I call her Aunt
+Sallie, though she isn't really my aunt. But she's come back to keep
+house for me, and she'll go out to the camp with us. It will be just the
+place for the older children, and they can go to school there. We've got
+a good little country school not far from the lake. In fact they can
+skate to school when the lake gets frozen over, and that will be soon if
+this weather keeps up."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Ted.
+
+"It will be just the thing for us," said Mrs. Martin. "It will take away
+all our worries over what we were going to do about the children while
+we were away."
+
+"And did you say we could have some playmates out there?" asked Janet.
+
+"Yes, bring along some boy or girl chum--one for each of you," replied
+Uncle Toby.
+
+"I'd like to have Tom!" exclaimed Ted.
+
+"And I'll ask Lola," said Jan.
+
+"All right," agreed Mr. Bardeen. "And they may find some other playmates
+when they get out there," he added in a low voice.
+
+"Do you mean new pets?" asked Ted, overhearing what Uncle Toby
+remarked.
+
+"That's a secret," was the smiling answer, and he made a sign to Mrs.
+Martin that he would explain to her later. As for Ted and Jan they were
+so excited over the prospect of going to spend the holidays in the
+country cabin of Uncle Toby that they danced up and down and around the
+room, swinging Trouble with them.
+
+"I'm going over to tell Tom!" cried Ted.
+
+"And I'll tell Lola," added his sister.
+
+"Wait a while, Curlytops," advised Mrs. Martin. "Let's see what daddy
+says."
+
+The children felt that they never could wait until their father came
+home from the store that evening. But he did arrive at last. Ted and
+Janet were sure he was late, but, as a matter of fact, he was a little
+ahead of his usual time, Mother Martin having telephoned to him about
+the visit of Uncle Toby. The latter had come along suddenly, not even
+writing to say that he was on his way.
+
+"I just got the notion into my head that I wanted the Curlytops and some
+of their playmates out at my place on a holiday visit," he explained,
+"and so I packed up and come on. Didn't pack up much either," he said.
+"Just a bag. And I left that at the station and took the short cut
+across lots. Good thing I did," he concluded, winking at Teddy.
+
+"You must never again go sliding on the ice until you are sure it will
+hold you," said Mr. Martin to his son. "Just because it held up
+Skyrocket doesn't prove that it will hold you. If you don't promise to
+be careful I can't let you go to Crystal Lake!"
+
+"Oh, we'll be careful!" promised Ted and Janet in one breath.
+
+"I guess this means that you've made up your mind to let them come with
+me, is that so?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"I think it will be the best thing that could happen," answered Daddy
+Martin. "Ruth and I must go to see about that property. It will take
+both of us to clear matters up and save my money. I know the children
+will be in good hands when they are with you and Aunt Sallie. So we'll
+let them go."
+
+"And can we take Skyrocket?" begged Jan.
+
+"Oh, yes, I guess so," replied Uncle Toby. "My two dogs, Tip and Top,
+have been sold. I haven't as many pets as I had, though Jack, the
+monkey, Mr. Nip, the parrot, and Snuff, the cat, I have kept. I want
+them for company."
+
+"Then if we take our dog it will be just about right," decided Ted.
+"We'll leave Turnover, our cat, here with Nora."
+
+"Yes, she'll need company," said Mrs. Martin. "And do you really mean it
+about taking some playmates for Ted and Janet, Uncle Toby?"
+
+"Of course I do! Let Tom and Lola come!"
+
+"I'll go tell them!" offered Ted.
+
+"I'll come, too," added Jan.
+
+Trouble wanted to follow, but as it was dark now, being after supper,
+his mother decided the best place for him was in bed. And there he was
+taken, after he had fallen asleep in Uncle Toby's arms.
+
+"But what is this about some other children that are going to be at your
+cabin?" asked Mrs. Martin, while Ted and Janet were still over at the
+Taylor home.
+
+"I'm going to take charge of two little Fresh Air children," explained
+Uncle Toby. "You know I give money to some of the big societies in the
+city, and these societies send out children to the country in the
+summer. It isn't usual to send them out in the winter, but this is a
+special case.
+
+"Their mother, whom I knew when she was a girl, has to go to the
+hospital for an operation, and she has no one with whom she can leave
+Harry and Mary. So I agreed to take charge of them this winter, as their
+mother may have to stay in the hospital a long time to get well and
+strong."
+
+"Where is their father--dead?" asked Mr. Martin.
+
+"I'm afraid he is," answered Uncle Toby. "And yet it isn't known for
+sure."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Mother Martin.
+
+"You see it's this way," Uncle Toby explained. "Their father, Frank
+Benton, went to the big war. He was heard of for a time and then all
+trace of him was lost. I suppose he was killed in some battle and never
+found until after the fighting was over. Anyhow his two children, who
+are about as old as Ted and Janet, were left with their mother. She took
+care of them as well as she could until she became ill.
+
+"One of the Fresh Air Society ladies heard about their sad case and she
+wrote to me. I said I'd keep the children all winter. And now when your
+Curlytops come out with their friends Tom and Lola they'll find other
+playmates, and I hope they'll all get along well together."
+
+"I think they will," said Mr. Martin. "It is very kind of you to do
+this."
+
+"Oh, I like it!" declared Uncle Toby. "I like children and animals. The
+more the merrier. And now let's plan how soon the children can come back
+with me."
+
+Ted and Jan returned a little later with word that Tom and Lola could
+make the trip, and the next few days were busily spent in getting ready.
+Mr. and Mrs. Martin made arrangements to go on their trip, to try to
+save the money that Daddy Martin was in danger of losing.
+
+Except for this there would have been no sadness when the time of
+parting came. But the Curlytops could not help seeing that their father
+and mother looked rather worried.
+
+"I hope Dad doesn't lose that money," said Ted.
+
+"So do I," echoed his sister, with a sigh.
+
+But they were not sad for long. The day came when the children were to
+depart for their holiday stay at Uncle Toby's cabin on the shore of
+Crystal Lake.
+
+"All aboard!" cried the jolly old gentleman, as the automobile drew up
+in front of the house to take along the Curlytops, Trouble, Tom, Lola,
+Uncle Toby himself, and Skyrocket. "All aboard!"
+
+"Good-bye! Good-bye!" cried the children, as they piled in. The dog
+barked his farewells.
+
+"Have a good time!" said Mother Martin, and there was just a tear or two
+in her eyes as she waved her hands.
+
+"We'll have you all back again after Christmas!" said Daddy Martin.
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have at Christmas!" shouted Ted.
+
+"All aboard!" called Uncle Toby again, and they were off on the first
+part of their trip to the country for the holidays.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A FLURRY OF SNOW
+
+
+Uncle Toby drove the Martin automobile through the streets of Cresco.
+The car was a large, comfortable, roomy one, all inclosed, so that the
+cold weather would make no difference. There was even a small heating
+apparatus, a sort of radiator kept warm by the muffler under the car, so
+that the children would be cozy and warm even in a snow storm.
+
+"There's Tommie Wilson!" called Ted, as he saw a boy walking along the
+street. "He's got to go to school!"
+
+"Yes, and there's Bob Newton," added Tom. "I guess they wish they were
+like us, and didn't have to go to school!"
+
+"Oh, you'll have to go to school as soon as we get out to Crystal Lake,"
+declared Uncle Toby. "Don't imagine, because you are going to have
+holiday fun, that you won't have to go to school."
+
+"But it'll be more fun going to school out there than it will be here,"
+said Tom.
+
+"Sure it will!" agreed Ted.
+
+Lola and Jan leaned over toward the side window of the auto to wave to
+Jennie Jackson, a girl they both knew, and Jennie waved back, wonder
+showing on her face at the appearance of the Curlytops and their
+playmates going off in an automobile. And when the other children of
+Cresco learned what had happened to Ted, Jan, Tom, and Lola there were
+some sighs of disappointment that such good luck had not happened to
+every boy and girl.
+
+Skyrocket seemed to be enjoying himself very much. He was a well-behaved
+dog and appeared to enjoy the ride in the automobile. He was perched on
+the front seat, between Ted and Tom, who sat beside Uncle Toby. In the
+back were the two girls and the baggage.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Ted, when they had ridden on some little distance and
+Uncle Toby had turned into the broad highway that led to Pocono, several
+miles away. "Oh, I forgot all about it!"
+
+"Forgot about what?" asked Uncle Toby, as he stopped his big automobile
+to let a little car shoot out of a side street.
+
+"I forgot to tell the fellows they could use our toboggan slide while
+we're gone," explained Ted.
+
+"That's right!" agreed Tom. "Bob Newton and some of the other boys could
+have fun on it after the snow comes. We ought to have told 'em!"
+
+"Shall we have one out at Crystal Lake, Uncle Toby?" asked Ted.
+
+"I reckon we can rig up one," was the answer. "There is a man out there
+who has a real toboggan, too, one he brought from Canada."
+
+"Oh, that'll be great!" cried Tom.
+
+On went the big car with the Curlytops and their playmates, bearing them
+to the happy country where they hoped to have much fun over the
+Christmas holidays that would soon be at hand. The children looked out
+of the windows of the car. They had made an early start, soon after
+sunrise, but now the sun had gone under clouds.
+
+"Do you think it will snow?" Ted anxiously asked of Uncle Toby.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder but what it might," was the answer. "Do you want it
+to?"
+
+"Sure we do!" cried all four children at once, and Trouble added:
+
+"I make a snow man, I will!"
+
+"Well, then I guess it will snow," chuckled Uncle Toby. "And I wouldn't
+be a bit surprised if we should have a storm before we get to my place,"
+he added.
+
+"Do you mean before we get to Crystal Lake?" asked Janet.
+
+"No, for we aren't going there direct," said Uncle Toby. "We are first
+going to my place in Pocono, where we'll stay a few days. I have to get
+some things there, and also take aboard two more children."
+
+"Two more children?" cried Ted and Janet. Then Ted added:
+
+"Who are they?"
+
+"I hope they'll be playmates for you," answered Mr. Bardeen. "I'll tell
+you about them later. Anyhow, first we'll go to Pocono, and later, in a
+day or so, out to Crystal Lake. That will give you time to meet the pets
+again."
+
+"Are you going to take them out to the Lake with you?" asked Tom, who
+knew about the different animals Uncle Toby was so fond of.
+
+"Well, no, I hardly think so," was the answer. "It will be pretty cold
+for my alligator, the monkey, and the parrot. Snuff, my cat, will be
+better off if she stays at my house in Pocono. But you can take
+Skyrocket out with you."
+
+"That'll be all right," decided Ted. "But it would be a lot of fun if we
+could have all the pets out at the Lake."
+
+"I'm afraid you'll be so busy having good times out of doors, and going
+to school, at least a little, that you wouldn't have much chance to play
+with the pets," chuckled Uncle Toby. "And I wouldn't want any of them to
+take cold. A dog is all right, romping out in the snow, but frost wasn't
+meant for monkeys and parrots."
+
+"Where will you get these two new children that are going to be our
+playmates?" asked Jan.
+
+"They are coming on a train. I expect they'll arrive at Pocono about a
+week after we get there. I'll tell you about them later. They are poor
+children, and they haven't had as many good times as you Curlytops have
+had, so I hope you'll be kind to them."
+
+"Oh, we will!" chorused all four.
+
+"An' I tish 'em, dat's what I do!" declared Trouble.
+
+"Yes, and I'll 'tish' you!" laughed Lola, as she kissed the little chap.
+
+On and on rumbled the big auto, until it came to a small town, which, as
+soon as they reached the center of it, Ted and Janet remembered.
+
+"We stopped here for dinner when we were going out to your place this
+summer!" cried Janet to Uncle Toby.
+
+"Yes. And we're going to stop here for lunch again," said Uncle Toby.
+"That is, if you are hungry," he added with a sly twinkle in his eyes.
+"Of course if you'd rather not eat--"
+
+"Oh, I want to eat all right!" shouted Tom and Ted and Janet and Lola,
+all at one time.
+
+"I wants pie!" burst out Trouble, and they all shouted with laughter.
+
+A little later the car drew up in front of a restaurant.
+
+"Why, it's the same one where we ate before!" exclaimed Jan, in
+wonderment.
+
+"Yes, your father told me you stopped here," said Uncle Toby.
+
+As he was helping the children out of the car a ragged boy, with a
+pinched and hungry face, stepped up, and, touching his cap, asked:
+
+"Like to have me watch your machine, sir? There's been a lot of autos
+stolen around here lately. I'll watch it good for a quarter."
+
+"Will you?" asked Uncle Toby, with a kind smile. "And if a thief comes,
+what would you do? You aren't very big?"
+
+"I'd holler for a cop--I mean a policeman," was the boy's quick answer.
+"I know the policeman on this beat."
+
+"All right, I guess you can watch the machine," said Mr. Bardeen.
+"Skyrocket will help you keep guard over it."
+
+"Who's Skyrocket?"
+
+"This dog," and Uncle Toby pointed. Skyrocket had been holding back, for
+he did not like strangers, especially ragged ones, and this boy was
+rather ragged. But when Uncle Toby made it plain that the boy was to be
+regarded as a friend, the dog wagged his tail in welcome and curled up
+on the front seat.
+
+"What are you going to do with the quarter I'm to give you for watching
+the car?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"I'm going to get something to eat with part of it," was the answer.
+"I'm hungry. The rest I'm going to turn in to my mother. She needs it."
+
+"Hum," said Uncle Toby, thoughtfully. "That's stretching a quarter
+rather too much, I think. Now you sit out here in the car, and I'll have
+the waiter bring you something to eat on a tray. Oh, don't worry!" Mr.
+Bardeen hastened to say, with a smile. "It won't come out of your
+quarter. I'll put it on my bill. And I'm going to have a bone sent out
+for Skyrocket. He'll keep you company."
+
+"Yes, sir. I like dogs," said the boy, with a smile. "I'm much obliged
+to you. I'll watch your car good."
+
+"Yes. I think you will. Well, children, run in and get started on your
+lunch. I don't want to get to Pocono after dark, and it looks as if we
+might get caught in a snow storm, but it may hold off."
+
+The Curlytops and their playmates were ushered to their seats by a
+waiter who smiled at them.
+
+"Do you remember us?" asked Ted, while Uncle Toby was giving orders to
+another waiter about sending something to eat out to the boy, and also a
+bone for Skyrocket.
+
+"Of course I remember you," the waiter answered, as he pushed the chairs
+under Janet and Lola. "And I haven't forgotten what that little chap
+did," and he pointed to William, who was staring about the room as if
+trying to remember where he had seen it before.
+
+"What did Trouble do?" asked Lola.
+
+"He turned the faucet of the water-cooler and let the ice water run all
+over the floor," explained Janet with a laugh. "Mother's feet were in
+the puddle of water before we knew what had happened."
+
+"Oh, Trouble!" chided Lola. "Did you do that?"
+
+"Well--well, I didn't do it on pur--now--on purspuss!" stammered
+Trouble, as they all laughed.
+
+Uncle Toby came and sat down at the table with the children, and the
+waiter who remembered the Curlytop party from their other visit was soon
+busy serving them. A good meal on a tray was taken out to the boy in the
+automobile and a juicy bone was sent to Skyrocket.
+
+"This is jolly good fun!" declared Tom, who had not traveled about as
+much as had the Curlytops.
+
+"Wait until we get out to Crystal Lake!" exclaimed Ted. "Then we'll have
+more fun. I hope school won't be very hard," he added in a whisper to
+his playmate.
+
+"Oh, teachers aren't very strict around the holidays," answered Tom.
+
+The meal was almost over when Lola, glancing out of the window, uttered
+an exclamation and cried:
+
+"It's snowing!"
+
+Surely enough, a flurry of the white crystals was falling.
+
+Uncle Toby looked a bit anxious.
+
+"I don't want to hurry you children," he said. "But as soon as you have
+finished we'd better be on our way. We don't want to be stuck in the
+snow."
+
+And as they went out to get in the automobile again the air was thick
+with the white flakes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+IN THE STORM
+
+
+Seeing the Curlytops and their playmates coming from the restaurant with
+Uncle Toby, the boy who had been watching the automobile got out,
+followed by Skyrocket.
+
+"Well, I see you didn't let any one take the car," said Uncle Toby with
+a smile, as he paid the boy, giving him more money than the lad had
+asked for.
+
+"Oh, no! They couldn't take this car while I was in it," was the reply.
+"Though I guess your dog would make a fuss, too, if anybody tried it.
+Two or three men just sort of stepped up to look at the car, and
+Firecracker growled."
+
+"Firecracker?" exclaimed Ted, with a laugh.
+
+"Yes. Isn't that the name you called your dog?" asked the boy.
+
+"No; it's Skyrocket," answered Jan.
+
+"Well, I knew it had something to do with fireworks," laughed the ragged
+lad.
+
+"But this is too much money," he said to Uncle Toby.
+
+"That's all right, I guess you've earned it," was the reply. "Sitting in
+a car doing nothing isn't much fun."
+
+The snow flakes kept on sifting down, swirling faster and faster as the
+automobile started off, the children calling their good-byes to the boy
+who had watched the car. They had left him much better off than when
+they first met him, for he had had a good meal and earned some money.
+
+"Sit tight now, everybody!" ordered Uncle Toby, as they left the busier
+part of the village where they had stopped for a meal, and drew near the
+open country. "Sit tight, for I'm going to drive faster, and I don't
+want you falling off the seats."
+
+"What you goin' to drive fast for?" Trouble wanted to know. "Is you
+goin' to have a race, Uncle Toby?"
+
+"A sort of race, yes, Trouble," was the answer. "I'm going to race and
+see if we can get home ahead of the big storm that I'm afraid is coming
+down on us."
+
+"Do you think it will be a very big storm?" asked Ted, and he looked
+with laughing eyes at Tom.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder," was the answer. "And, though we have a strong car
+here, we don't want to get stuck in a snow drift and have to stay all
+night."
+
+"I should think that would be lots of fun," said Tom.
+
+"What? With nothing to eat except a few chocolate cakes Jan and Lola
+have in a bag?" exclaimed Uncle Toby. "That is if they have any of the
+cakes left."
+
+"Oh, yes, we have them," Jan hastened to say, for she and her girl chum
+had bought some just before reaching the restaurant, and had not eaten
+them.
+
+"Well, that's all we'd have in the way of 'rations,' as the soldiers
+call them, if we got stuck in the storm," declared Uncle Toby.
+
+"Then we don't want to get stuck," decided Ted, and Tom agreed with him.
+The boys were fond of eating. Most boys are, I believe.
+
+What Uncle Toby said and feared about the storm seemed to be coming
+true. Of course the automobile was very far from being caught in any
+drift, for the snow had not yet begun to pile up very much. But the
+flakes were coming down thicker and faster, and the wind was beginning
+to blow. It did not blow inside the cozy car, which was warm and
+comfortable, so that the boys and girls could unbutton their wraps. But
+they could hear the wind swishing around outside, and they could see the
+flakes of snow dashed against the glass windows.
+
+After riding about an hour, the party was out in a country district
+where the houses were few and far apart. It was rather lonesome, for
+they went many miles without meeting another automobile. The snow was
+deeper here, and, more than once, the wheels of the Martin car ran
+through little piles of white crystals.
+
+"They've had a storm here before this one that's blowing now," said
+Uncle Toby, as he looked at what were really quite high drifts on some
+parts of the road. "It may be worse farther on."
+
+"Shall we get stuck?" Ted wanted to know.
+
+"There's no telling," answered Uncle Toby.
+
+Ted and Tom did not want to say they were glad of it, but they were
+real boys and they felt that they would not a bit mind being caught in a
+big drift so they would have to dig their way out. They forgot, for the
+time, about having nothing to eat.
+
+Passing through a small village, which was now thickly covered with snow
+from the storm that was getting worse and worse all the while, Uncle
+Toby drove the car once more out in the country. Suddenly he leaned
+forward and shifted the gear lever.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ted.
+
+"I'm going into second speed," was the answer, and the boys knew what
+this meant. "There's quite a hill ahead of us," Uncle Toby went on.
+"Though I could take it on high if it wasn't for the snow, I can't do it
+now. We'll try it on second, and if that won't bring us up we'll have to
+go back into first speed."
+
+"Shall we get to your house to-night?" asked Jan.
+
+"Oh, yes," answered Uncle Toby. "Don't worry!"
+
+But Jan could not help feeling a bit anxious. She was more worried over
+what might happen to Trouble than herself, her other brother or her
+playmates, for they were all older. But Trouble was used to his mother
+at night.
+
+How he would behave now, away from home for the first time, remained to
+be seen. Jan wondered what her father and mother were doing now, and she
+hoped Daddy Martin would not lose that money. She wondered if they would
+be poor. That wouldn't be at all pleasant, she thought.
+
+However, her ideas and those of the others were suddenly switched into
+new places, for the big car gave a lurch to one side and came to a stop
+with a jolt, awakening Trouble.
+
+"What's matter?" he asked sleepily.
+
+"I am afraid we are stuck," said Uncle Toby.
+
+"There's a big drift right in front of us," announced Ted.
+
+"Yes," agreed Mr. Bardeen. "I thought I could go through it but it's
+deeper than I had any idea of. No you don't!" he quickly cried as the
+automobile seemed about to slip backward. He put on both brakes and
+brought the car to a stop.
+
+"Oh, is anything going to happen?" asked Lola.
+
+"No! No!" laughed Uncle Toby. "Don't be afraid. I didn't change into
+first speed quickly enough and stalled, or stopped my engine. I'll start
+up again in a minute. But I guess I'd better put some stones under the
+wheels, to block them so they won't slide downhill as I start up again
+with the brakes off."
+
+"We'll get some stones!" cried Ted. "I know how to do that! I often do
+it for dad on a hill. Come on, Tom!"
+
+The two boys scrambled from the car out into the storm. As the door was
+opened in came a swirl of white flakes, and Trouble tried to catch them
+by sticking out his red tongue.
+
+"I guess you'll have hard work to find any stones," said Uncle Toby,
+looking at Tom and Ted floundering around in the snow. "But it won't be
+safe to take the brakes off until we get something to block the wheels."
+
+The reason for that was this. The car was now held from sliding backward
+downhill because Uncle Toby had put on the brakes. But to start up
+again, even in first or lowest speed, he would have to take off the
+brakes, and the car might begin to slide down before the engine could
+begin pulling it up. With stones blocked behind the rear wheels, this
+would not happen.
+
+"Oh, we'll find some stones!" cried Tom, kicking about in the snow,
+moving his feet from side to side. Soon he felt something big and hard.
+Reaching down with his hands, he began clearing away the snow and
+discovered a stone. But it was frozen fast to the ground, and Tom could
+not move it.
+
+"I'll help you!" offered Ted, running over to his chum. Ted had not yet
+found any stone.
+
+As the boys kicked away at the stone, hoping to loosen it, Trouble
+called out through the crack of the door:
+
+"Is you playin' feetball?"
+
+"It does look like it, doesn't it?" laughed Ted, and then, with a last
+hard kick, he loosened the stone that Tom had found.
+
+"Good boys!" cried Uncle Toby. "Put it back of the wheels and look for
+another." He had to stay in the car lest the brakes might slip and let
+it back down the hill.
+
+Tom and Ted put this one stone behind the left wheel, and then began
+kicking about in the snow to find another. This time Ted had the luck,
+finding a larger stone than the one uncovered by his chum.
+
+With hard kicks the two small chaps worked away at the frozen stone.
+More than once they missed their aim, and they kicked up clouds of snow,
+making Lola and Janet laugh, Trouble joining in. But at last the second
+stone was loosened and placed behind the other wheel.
+
+"Now I can take off the brakes and start up the hill," said Uncle Toby.
+"Hop in, boys!"
+
+Standing on the running board Ted and Tom knocked the snow from their
+shoes and took their places inside the warm car. They were breathing
+hard from their labors, and their cheeks were red with the cold, while
+their coats and caps were covered with snow-flakes.
+
+The engine had not stopped running, though it was out of gear. But now
+Uncle Toby took off the brakes and began to go into first speed, and
+slowly the car moved up the hill. The snow was very slippery and more
+than once the hind wheels spun around uselessly.
+
+"I'll put chains on when we get to the top of the hill," said Uncle
+Toby. "I ought to have done it before."
+
+Slowly the car went up through the storm, the children almost holding
+their breaths, as if that would help. But finally the summit of the hill
+was reached and the danger was over for the present.
+
+"Now we can speed up, after I put on the chains," said Uncle Toby,
+bringing the car to a stop beneath some overhanging evergreen trees that
+grew on one side of the road. "Ch'is'mus twees," Trouble called them.
+
+But as Mr. Bardeen was getting out Ted uttered a cry of alarm.
+
+"Where's Skyrocket?" he asked.
+
+Then, for the first time, every one noticed that the dog was not in the
+car.
+
+Where was Skyrocket?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A STALLED TRAIN
+
+
+For a few moments the children could scarcely believe that Skyrocket was
+not in the automobile with them. Janet and Lola had been so busy
+watching the boys kick loose the stones, and Ted and Tom had been so
+occupied in this work, that none of them had paid much attention to the
+dog. Uncle Toby had also watched the boys, and as for Trouble, catching
+an occasional snow-flake on his tongue gave him so much to do that he
+did not look after Skyrocket.
+
+"But where is our dog?" asked Ted, when it became certain that the pet
+was not in the car.
+
+"Maybe he's under the seat asleep," suggested Lola.
+
+They looked, but Skyrocket was not there.
+
+"He must have jumped out when the door was open," said Tom.
+
+"I'll go back and look for him," offered Ted. He made a move to leave
+the car, but Uncle Toby stopped him.
+
+"If any one goes back after that dog, I'm going!" said the old sailor,
+for that is what Uncle Toby had once been. "The snow is too deep for
+your legs," he added, looking at Ted's short ones. "And you two lads
+have already done work enough in getting the stones to block the wheels.
+You know how fond I am of pets, so I'll go back and get Skyrocket. I
+suppose he's looking for us all this while."
+
+"You'll be sure to get him, won't you, Uncle Toby?" asked Jan.
+
+"Of course I will; unless he's gone full speed ahead back home, and I
+don't believe he has. Now you children stay here in this car until I
+come back. And don't go outside. It's snowing harder and it is getting
+colder. So stay inside."
+
+The Curlytops and their playmates promised to do this, and then Uncle
+Toby stepped out into the storm. He turned up his coat collar and
+tramped off through the drifts, which were, each moment, getting deeper
+and deeper. So fast was the snow coming down now that he could hardly
+see the marks left by the wheels where he had driven up the hill.
+
+The children looked out through the back window in the automobile and
+watched Uncle Toby. He was soon out of sight below the top of the hill,
+and all that Ted and the others could see was the cloud of swirling
+flakes of white.
+
+"I--I hope he finds Skyrocket," faltered Janet.
+
+"I hope so, too," added Ted.
+
+"He sure is a good dog!" declared Tom.
+
+Then all the Curlytops could do was to wait for Uncle Toby to come back.
+
+Meanwhile the old sailor was trudging back through the storm, going down
+the hill up which he had lately driven the big car.
+
+"It's easy now," thought Uncle Toby to himself, "but it won't be so easy
+going back. I'll have the wind in my face and I'll have to go uphill.
+But never mind! We'll have jolly good times--the children and I--when we
+get to my cabin out at the Lake."
+
+As he walked along through the storm Uncle Toby looked on each side of
+the road for a sight of Skyrocket. But he did not see the dog. Nor was
+there any answering bark in reply to the shrill whistles uttered by
+Uncle Toby.
+
+"Here, Sky! Here, Skyrocket!" the old sailor would call every now and
+then, but no dog appeared.
+
+"He must have jumped out away back where I stalled the car," thought
+Uncle Toby. "Poor dog! He'll freeze if he has to stay out all night. And
+I don't know what I'll do with those children if I don't find their pet
+for them. Skyrocket, where are you?"
+
+On and on went Uncle Toby, through the whirling snow. He was almost back
+to where the car had stopped when suddenly he heard a series of barks
+off to one side of the road, in a clump of trees.
+
+"That sounds like him!" exclaimed the sailor. "Hello there, Skyrocket!"
+he cried.
+
+The barking became louder. Uncle Toby floundered through the drifts, off
+the road and over toward the clump of evergreen trees. As he neared them
+a dog came dashing out, capering about in the fluffy drifts.
+
+"Hello, Skyrocket! I've found you all right!" said Uncle Toby. "But
+what in the world are you doing back here? What made you jump out of the
+car?"
+
+All the answer Skyrocket made was to bark. He leaped about Uncle Toby
+and seemed very glad to see him. But when the man started back toward
+the road, thinking the dog would follow, Skyrocket only barked more
+loudly and raced back toward the clump of trees.
+
+"What's the matter? Is there some other dog back there you'd rather play
+with than come to the Curlytops?" asked the old sailor. "What's the
+idea?"
+
+Skyrocket acted in such a queer way that Uncle Toby turned back to see
+what the matter was. And this was just what the wise dog seemed to want,
+for he wagged his tail joyfully and raced back ahead of Uncle Toby.
+
+When the old sailor reached the clump of trees, under the heavy branches
+of which the snow was not so thick, he heard a faint mewing sound.
+
+"Bless my heart! A kitten!" cried Uncle Toby.
+
+And a kitten it was! A dear, cute, little kitten, half way up one of
+the trees, cuddled down in the thick, green branches.
+
+"Well, no wonder you didn't want to come back and leave this poor little
+kitten here in the cold and storm," said kind Uncle Toby. "You're a good
+dog, Skyrocket!"
+
+At this Skyrocket wagged his tail harder than ever, so it seemed a
+wonder that it did not fly off, and his throat must have ached with all
+the barking he did.
+
+The kitten mewed and stood up when it saw Uncle Toby. It did not appear
+to be afraid of Skyrocket, who was capering around on the ground under
+the tree.
+
+"I'll get you down and take you back with me," said the old sailor.
+"Come on, pussy! I don't know where I am going to get any milk to give
+you until we get to my place in Pocono. But I guess you'll stand it
+until then. I wonder how you got out here in the woods all alone?"
+
+There was no way of finding this out, and there was no house near from
+which the little kitten might have wandered. Uncle Toby had an idea it
+might have been lost out of some car in which some children, like the
+Curlytops, had been riding. Then the little animal wandered into the
+clump of evergreens for shelter, and Skyrocket had trailed it there. The
+dog had probably discovered the pussy as he was racing around after he
+had slipped out of the car, unseen by the children or Uncle Toby.
+
+"But you'll be all right now," said the kind old sailor. "Come to me,
+pussy!"
+
+The kitten arched its back, seeming glad of a chance to stretch after
+being cramped on the limb. Reaching up, Uncle Toby lifted it down and
+put it snugly in the pocket of his big overcoat.
+
+"Well, I wonder if you'll come back with me now?" asked Uncle Toby of
+Skyrocket, when the kitten had been rescued.
+
+Skyrocket seemed very willing, for he no longer hung back, but followed
+with joyful barks and waggings of his tail as Uncle Toby strode through
+the storm with the kitten he had rescued.
+
+It was hard work tramping back up the hill through the storm and drifts
+of snow with the wind blowing in his face, but the old sailor managed
+it, and soon the Curlytops and their friends, who had been anxiously
+watching through the back window, saw him looming into view.
+
+"Here comes Uncle Toby!" cried Jan, who was the first to spy him.
+
+"Has he got Skyrocket?" asked Ted.
+
+"Yes, I see him!" said Tom. "He's got your dog all right."
+
+A little later Uncle Toby was knocking the snow off his shoes on the
+running board of the car, and soon he was safely inside with the dog.
+
+"Where was he?" Ted wanted to know. "What were you doing back there,
+Skyrocket?" he asked his pet.
+
+"He was guarding this," said Uncle Toby, and out of his pocket came the
+little kitten.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" murmured Lola. "Isn't it a darling!"
+
+"How cute! Oh, what a dear!" exclaimed Jan.
+
+"My kitten! Mine!" cried Trouble, always ready to claim any new pet he
+saw.
+
+"Did you really find it?" asked Tom, as Jan took the kitten into her lap
+while she and Lola rubbed it, Trouble getting an occasional finger or
+two on the soft fur.
+
+"Skyrocket found it, and I got it down out of the tree," explained the
+old sailor, with a laugh. "Now I guess we can move along again. I wish
+we had some milk for you," he went on, looking at the little cat. "But
+we'll be home before dark--if we have good luck," he added, as he
+glanced out into the storm.
+
+Once again the automobile started, with a new passenger on board.
+Skyrocket was used to cats, and after he had taken part in the rescue of
+the kitten he paid no more attention to it but curled up and went to
+sleep. As for the kitten, it did not seem to mind the dog in the least.
+
+"I guess it isn't very hungry, Uncle Toby," said Jan in a low voice,
+after they had ridden several miles. "See, it's going to sleep."
+
+And the little kitten, with eyes closed, was curled contentedly in her
+lap.
+
+Uncle Toby's main thought now was to drive as fast as he could with
+safety, so he would get the children to his home in Pocono before the
+storm grew any worse and before night came.
+
+Once in his house at Pocono they could remain until the weather cleared
+before going out to the cabin at Crystal Lake to spend the holidays.
+
+They passed through a small town, and Jan suggested they might stop and
+get some milk for the kitten, which had awakened, and was mewing a
+little.
+
+"I think we'd better not stop now," said Mr. Bardeen. "It is better for
+the pussy to be a little hungry for a time than for us to get stuck in
+the snow with night coming on. We'd all be hungry then. We'll soon be
+home."
+
+They came to a railroad track, almost hidden under the snow, and Uncle
+Toby stopped the automobile, and, opening the door a little way, seemed
+to be listening.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ted.
+
+"I wanted to hear if the train was coming," was the answer. "One is due
+here about now, and I didn't want to cross the tracks if it was too
+near. But I guess it's late on account of the storm. It will be safe to
+cross."
+
+He drove over the tracks and was just speeding up again when they all
+heard a distant whistle.
+
+"There's the train!" exclaimed Tom.
+
+Then came several more whistles, long toots and short toots in such a
+queer combination that they all knew something must be the matter.
+
+"Maybe there's been an accident," said Ted.
+
+"Maybe," agreed Uncle Toby. "But I think that the train is stuck in a
+deep cut not far from here. The cut may be filled with snow so the train
+can't get through. It's probably stalled there."
+
+"Will anybody be hurt?" asked Janet.
+
+"No, only delayed for a while. Men will come with shovels to dig out the
+train. We can soon see what has happened, for the auto road passes near
+the railroad cut."
+
+A little later they saw that what Uncle Toby had guessed at had come to
+pass. The children saw a passenger train with the front part of the
+engine buried deep in a pile of snow that filled a cut between two rocky
+hills on either side of the track.
+
+As the automobile came in sight of the train the engineer blew several
+more shrill whistles, waking up Skyrocket, who began to bark loudly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+NEW PLAYMATES
+
+
+"Just hear him toot!" cried Jan, putting her hands over her ears, for
+the automobile was now quite close to the train stuck in the big snow
+drift. The drift was much deeper here than at any other point along the
+railroad, because the narrow cut between the high rocks held the white
+flakes tightly packed.
+
+"Sounds as if it was calling us," said Lola.
+
+"I believe it is!" exclaimed Ted, as the toots of the whistle kept up.
+"Do you s'pose he could want us to help him, Uncle Toby?"
+
+"How could an auto pull a stalled train out of a snowdrift?" asked Tom.
+
+"Course we couldn't _pull_ the train," admitted Ted. "But we could sort
+of--now--do _something_, couldn't we, Uncle Toby?" he asked.
+
+"I believe we could, and I think that is what the engineer is trying to
+signal us for," was the answer. "I know this railroad cut. It is a bad
+place in a storm. Often trains have been stuck here for days. The engine
+would ram its pilot, or cowcatcher, into a drift, then snow would pile
+up behind the last car and the train couldn't go ahead or back up."
+
+"Maybe that's happened now!" exclaimed Lola.
+
+"I shouldn't be a bit surprised," said Uncle Toby.
+
+"But what do the passengers do when the train is stuck, like this one is
+now?" Tom wanted to know.
+
+"Oh, sometimes they get out and walk, as it isn't very far to the
+station. Or if they have something to eat, and can keep warm in the
+cars, they stay there until men come with shovels to dig out the train.
+I guess that's what this engineer wants me for--to go on to the station
+and have a gang of men sent to dig out his train. We'll soon find out,"
+Uncle Toby remarked.
+
+The automobile road ran close to the tracks and near the deep cut which
+was filled with snow. The storm was getting worse, but on the level
+there was not yet enough snow to have stopped a train. It was only in
+the cut that the drift was deep enough for this.
+
+Uncle Toby stopped the automobile as near the stalled train as he could
+go, and waited. Soon the engineer and a man with gold braid on his cap
+came floundering through the deep snow at the side of the train until
+they were within calling distance of Uncle Toby, who opened the car door
+to listen.
+
+"Could you oblige us by going to the next station and having the
+telegraph operator send word to headquarters that we're stalled?" asked
+the man with the gold braid on his cap. He was the conductor of the
+train.
+
+"Yes, I'll do that for you," said Uncle Toby. "I thought you were
+whistling for help," he added to the engineer.
+
+"That's what I was," came the answer. "I saw you just in time. 'Tisn't
+often that an auto has to come to the help of a steam engine, but it
+happened this time," he added, with a smile.
+
+"Is there anything else I can do for you?" asked Uncle Toby, as he
+prepared to start off again. The station was a little out of his way,
+but he didn't mind that.
+
+"Well, I don't know," replied the conductor slowly. "We haven't many
+passengers on board, and all except a little boy and girl who are on
+their way to Pocono will be all right. The way it is now we'll hardly
+get there to-night, or anyhow, not until late, and they are traveling
+alone. They expect to be met at Pocono by--let me see--I have his name
+here somewhere," and he began searching among the papers in his pocket.
+"The children are in my charge," he went on. "Their mother had to go to
+a hospital and--"
+
+"She did?" cried Uncle Toby so suddenly that the engineer and conductor
+looked at him in surprise. "Is the name of the man who was to meet these
+children Mr. Toby Bardeen?" went on the old sailor.
+
+"Why, yes, that's his name. I have it here on a piece of paper," said
+the conductor. "But how did you--"
+
+"Are those children Harry and Mary Benton?" went on Uncle Toby.
+
+"Those are their names, certainly," the conductor admitted. "But how in
+the world--"
+
+"I'm Mr. Toby Bardeen," interrupted the old sailor. "Uncle Toby is what
+the Curlytops call me. I was expecting these children, but I had no idea
+they'd arrive so soon. It's only by chance that I'm passing this way. I
+didn't expect Mary and Harry for nearly a week."
+
+"Well, the society that gave them in my charge, to see that they got
+safely to Pocono and to Mr. Bardeen, told me their mother had to go to
+the hospital sooner than she expected," reported the conductor. "I was
+going to telegraph you when I got to the next station to make sure you'd
+be on hand. They said--that is, the lady of the Fresh Air Society said
+she'd written you to expect the children earlier."
+
+"Well, I didn't get the letter, because I left home to go to visit the
+Curlytops," said Uncle Toby. "However, it's all right now. I'll take the
+children right into the auto with me and soon have them home. It's lucky
+I met you."
+
+"Very lucky, indeed!" agreed the conductor. "I'll go back and get the
+children ready for you. Poor little things, they're quite sad and
+forlorn. Their father was killed in the war, I understand."
+
+"Yes," agreed Uncle Toby. "At least he's missing, and I guess he must be
+killed or they'd have heard something from him by this time. However,
+I'll take charge of the children. I used to know their mother many years
+ago, but I haven't seen her for some time."
+
+"If you'll drive along the road, around the cut, to the rear of the
+train, the snow won't be so deep for the children," said the engineer.
+"I'll help you carry them out," he added to the conductor.
+
+The rocky cut, in which the train was stuck in the snow drift, was about
+twice as long as the engine and cars, and in front of the cut, as well
+as behind it, the snow was not very deep, though it was getting deeper
+all the while as the white flakes came sifting down faster.
+
+Uncle Toby started the automobile again, going to the rear of the train,
+as near to it as he could get. A little later the conductor and engineer
+came tramping through the drifts, each man carrying a child, the
+conductor with the girl and the engineer with the boy. The children
+were so wrapped up in shawls that it could scarcely be told which was
+the boy and which was the girl.
+
+"There you are, my dear!" said the conductor, as he set his passenger
+down inside the automobile.
+
+"And one more!" added the kind-faced but grimy engineer, putting the
+little boy in next to his sister.
+
+"Is this Pocono?" the boy asked freeing himself from the shawl that
+wrapped him. "The lady said we weren't to get out except at Pocono."
+
+"And we want Uncle Toby," added the girl.
+
+"Bless your hearts, I'm Uncle Toby!" cried Mr. Bardeen. "This isn't
+exactly Pocono, but you'd never get there to-night if you stayed on that
+train. I'm going to take you off and drive you to my home in Pocono in
+this auto. See, here are the Curlytops and some other playmates for
+you," for now the two strangers could see the Curlytops and their
+friends, Tom and Lola.
+
+"Curlytops!" exclaimed Harry Benton, wonderingly.
+
+"It's on account of our hair," explained Ted, taking off his cap.
+
+"Oh, I see!" laughed Mary. "It's lovely hair! I wish mine curled."
+
+"I'm glad mine doesn't," her brother exclaimed. "It's too hard to comb."
+
+"It is hard," admitted Jan, while Trouble stared open-mouthed at the new
+playmates.
+
+"Is he a Curlytop, too?" asked Mary, looking at Baby William.
+
+"He belongs to the family, but his hair doesn't curl," said Uncle Toby,
+with a laugh. "But now that I have you children safe in here I'd better
+be going," he added. "I'll tell the telegraph operator to send you help
+as soon as he can," he added to the engineer and the conductor, who
+started back to the stalled train.
+
+"Please do," begged the conductor. "We'd like to get dug out of here
+before night."
+
+"Isn't it lovely in here, Harry?" asked Mary Benton, looking around
+inside the comfortable automobile.
+
+"I should say so!" he exclaimed. "I never was in a car like this
+before."
+
+The two children were poor--one need but look at their clothes to see
+this. But they were clean and neat.
+
+"And, oh, look! A dog!" cried Harry.
+
+"That's Skyrocket! He likes you," said Ted, for the dog, after sniffing
+at the two new playmates, wagged his tail in friendly fashion.
+
+"I like him!" said Harry.
+
+"And, oh, look at the kitten!" cried Mary, reaching her hand down to pat
+the little bunch of fur that was purring on the seat between Lola and
+Jan.
+
+"Uncle Toby just found it in the woods," Jan explained.
+
+"What's its name?" asked Mary.
+
+"We haven't named it yet," Ted answered. "Skyrocket saw it up a tree and
+barked."
+
+"I think Fluff would be a nice name for the pussy," said Mary. "He's
+such a fluffy ball of fur."
+
+"Oh, that would be a lovely name!" cried Lola. "Why don't you call it
+that?"
+
+"I guess we will. You may name the kitten Fluff, Mary, and it'll be part
+your cat."
+
+"Oh, how nice!" murmured the poor little girl. "I never had even part of
+a cat before."
+
+"Uncle Toby has a cat and his name is Snuff!" said Trouble. "An' he's
+got a monkey and a parrot!"
+
+Mary and Harry looked as though they did not know whether or not to
+believe this. Seeing the doubt on their faces Ted exclaimed:
+
+"That's right! Uncle Toby has a lot of pets out at his place, and we're
+going to take them to Crystal Lake with us, aren't we, Uncle Toby?"
+
+"Oh, I guess if we take your dog that will be enough," chuckled the old
+sailor. "The others will be better off in Pocono. But you'll have a
+chance to see them," he added to the new children, noticing how
+disappointed they looked. Then Harry and Mary smiled.
+
+"Well, I must be getting on if I'm going to send help to the people on
+the stalled train," remarked Uncle Toby, as he turned the automobile
+around. "And then we'll go on to Pocono. Aunt Sallie will be getting
+anxious about us."
+
+"Is Aunt Sallie a monkey or a parrot?" Harry asked.
+
+"Neither one!" answered Uncle Toby, with a laugh, in which the Curlytops
+joined. "She's my housekeeper; and she'll go with us to Crystal Lake
+for the holidays."
+
+"What will you do with your pets?" asked Ted.
+
+"I'll get some one to look after them. I haven't as many as when you
+Curlytops played circus with them. But there's enough. Too many, so Aunt
+Sallie thinks."
+
+It was not a very long ride to the station from where word could be sent
+that help was needed by the stalled train. The agent promised to
+telegraph for snow shovelers at once.
+
+Uncle Toby was about to drive on again when Janet stopped him by saying:
+
+"Maybe the station agent could give us a little milk for the pussy."
+
+"Maybe he could," agreed the old sailor. "I'll ask him."
+
+As it happened, the agent kept a cat in the station on account of the
+mice, and that day he had brought a little milk for his pet--more milk
+than Choo-Choo, as he called his cat, wanted.
+
+"I'll give you some for your pussy," said the agent, after he had
+telegraphed for the snow shovelers.
+
+I wish you could have seen Fluff lap up the milk, which was warmed for
+him and put in a saucer on the floor of the automobile. He was
+hungry--was the little stray kitten that had come down out of the
+evergreen tree--and his little sides seemed to swell out like balloons
+as he lapped up every drop of milk.
+
+"I hope your cat Choo-Choo won't get hungry," said Jan, as the last of
+the milk disappeared.
+
+"I can get him some more," said the agent. "Anyhow, he isn't as hungry
+as your pussy was."
+
+"Good-bye!" called Uncle Toby, as he started off once more. "I hope the
+stalled passengers will soon be shoveled out."
+
+"I guess they will be," the agent said.
+
+It was almost dark when the big automobile reached the village of Pocono
+where Uncle Toby lived.
+
+"Now we'll soon be snug and warm," he told the children. "I have more of
+a load than when I started, but I'm glad I found you two," he said to
+Mary and Harry. "You're going to have a good time with my Curlytops."
+
+Harry and Mary, who had never had much of a good time in all their
+lives, were beginning to be happy. They had been very small when their
+father went off to war--they hardly remembered him, in fact. Mr. Benton
+need not have gone, had he wished to stay at home, for he could have
+been excused, or have done some other war work than fighting. But he was
+a brave man and wanted to do his best for his country. So he had gone to
+France. After awhile he was missing, and though his wife was helped by
+her friends and by the government, still she had hard work to get along
+and there was not much money with which to give Mary and Harry good
+times. But happier days were ahead of them.
+
+"There's Uncle Toby's house!" cried Ted, as the automobile turned into
+the driveway.
+
+"Oh, but something has happened!" exclaimed Jan. "Look! There's a crowd
+out in front!"
+
+And surely enough, a throng of people could be seen standing in the dusk
+and storm in front of Uncle Toby's home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+AMONG THE PETS
+
+
+As the automobile driven by Uncle Toby and containing the Curlytops and
+their playmates came to a stop near the side entrance to Mr. Bardeen's
+house, the door opened, letting out a stream of light on the white snow.
+
+"Is that the police?" asked a voice which Ted remembered as that of Mrs.
+Watson, or "Aunt Sallie," as Uncle Toby called her.
+
+"No, this isn't the police," Uncle Toby answered, through the
+half-opened door of the car that Ted had unlatched, ready to leap out.
+
+Aunt Sallie did not seem to know Uncle Toby's voice, for she asked
+another question.
+
+"Is it the firemen then?"
+
+"Good gracious!" cried Uncle Toby, opening the automobile door wider, so
+that a swirl of snow drifted in. "What in the world is the matter? Why
+do you want the firemen and policemen, Aunt Sallie?"
+
+"Oh, thank goodness! It's you, is it, Uncle Toby?"
+
+"Yes! Yes!" was the quick answer. "You stay in the car a moment,
+children," said Mr. Bardeen, as he got out on the side of the steering
+wheel. "Something must have happened. I'll see what it is."
+
+Just then the crowd, which stood partly in the street and partly in the
+yard of Uncle Toby's house, but up at the farther end, away from the
+driveway, gave a shout.
+
+"There he goes!" cried several voices.
+
+"What can have happened?" exclaimed Janet, greatly excited.
+
+"It's a fire, I guess," said Ted. "Aunt Sallie was asking for the
+firemen."
+
+"And she asked for the policemen, too," said Tom. "Maybe it's a burglar
+up on the roof."
+
+"That's right!" chimed in Harry, the new boy. "And maybe he's trying to
+go down the chimney."
+
+"Like Santa Claus," added his sister Mary, whom Jan and Lola had begun
+to like very much.
+
+"I want to see Santa C'aus!" cried Trouble, and he made a wiggle to get
+out of the open door by which Uncle Toby had left.
+
+"No! No!" cried Ted, catching hold of his little brother.
+
+"Something has happened, anyhow," decided Tom. "This crowd wouldn't be
+here for nothing. But I don't believe it's a fire, for there isn't any
+smoke. I guess the reason Aunt Sallie wanted the firemen was because
+they have ladders to get somebody down off the roof."
+
+"Who could be up on the roof?" Jan wanted to know.
+
+No one answered, but as both front doors of the closed automobile were
+now open the children could hear what Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie were
+saying.
+
+"What in the world has happened?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"It's Jack, your monkey," was the answer. "He got loose a little while
+ago and scrambled up on the roof. He's perched there now, near the
+chimney. First I knew of it was when I saw a lot of boys in front of the
+house, looking up. I thought the chimney was on fire."
+
+"Was that why you wanted the firemen?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"Partly," answered Aunt Sallie. "I telephoned for the fire department,
+and when I heard your automobile in the side yard I thought it was the
+firemen."
+
+"But why did you send for the firemen when you found out the chimney
+wasn't burning?" Uncle Toby asked.
+
+"I thought they could get the monkey down with ladders," was the
+housekeeper's reply.
+
+"Then why did you send for the police?" went on Uncle Toby.
+
+"To keep the crowd in order," sighed Aunt Sallie. "Oh, I've had such a
+time! Some of the boys cut up so, and threw snowballs at Jack."
+
+"My goodness! That's so, it is snowing!" cried Uncle Toby, as if, for
+the time, he had forgotten all about it. "Poor Jack will catch his death
+of cold up there on the roof in the storm. How did he get out? Never
+mind; don't tell me now! I must get him down before he gets pneumonia.
+Monkeys are very likely to get that if they get a chill."
+
+"I don't believe he'll get cold," said Aunt Sallie. "He has a coat on."
+
+"A coat on? Whose coat?"
+
+"One of your old ones," answered Aunt Sallie. "He grabbed it up off the
+rack as he scrambled out of the window and climbed the rain-water pipe
+to the roof. If any one can get him down, you can, Uncle Toby."
+
+"Yes, I guess I can. Jack always minds me. But it's hard to see him in
+the dark."
+
+"Oh, the electric light in front shines right on the roof," replied Aunt
+Sallie. "And as the roof is white with snow, Jack shows quite plain. Do
+get him down so the crowd will go away."
+
+"Are the rest of the pets all right?" asked Mr. Bardeen.
+
+"Yes," said Aunt Sallie, and the listening children were glad to hear
+this.
+
+"Come on in, Curlytops!" called Uncle Toby from the side porch. "There
+isn't anything serious the matter. Jack has just gotten up on the roof,
+that's all. It isn't the first time, for he often does it in summer, but
+I never knew him to go out in the cold before. I guess he wants to show
+that he'd be all right for taking out to Crystal Lake, but I'm not
+going to humor him. Come on in Curlytops and the rest of you children!"
+
+Out of the car scrambled the children, eager to see and hear all that
+was going on. They had hardly more than reached the porch than out in
+front of Uncle Toby's house sounded a rapidly clanging bell.
+
+"Oh, here comes firemans! Here comes firemans!" shouted Trouble, jumping
+up and down in delight.
+
+And, surely enough, in the electrically lighted street could be seen the
+glittering fire engine and the hook and ladder truck, with prancing
+horses which seemed to delight being out in the storm.
+
+There was a roaring murmur from the crowd, and Uncle Toby looked at Aunt
+Sallie and shook his head.
+
+"You surely have caused some excitement around here," he said, but he
+could not help laughing.
+
+"I go see fire engines!" cried Trouble. "I go!"
+
+"You'll stay right here with me!" declared Jan, taking a firm hold of
+her little brother's arm.
+
+"No! Don't want to!" shouted Trouble. "Wants go see fire engines! I
+'ikes fire engines!"
+
+He squirmed and struggled so that it seemed as if he would break away
+from Janet. Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie had gone around to the front of
+the house to meet some of the firemen who were asking where the blaze
+was as they did not see any smoke.
+
+"Be good, Trouble!" begged Lola, trying to help Janet manage the little
+fellow, who was tired and cross from the long day's ride.
+
+"Want to see fire engines!" he insisted, for the engine and truck were
+now out of view from the side porch, having drawn up farther along the
+street.
+
+"Oh, maybe the police wagon will come and you can see it from here,"
+added Mary, trying to do her best to aid in soothing William.
+
+This seemed to quiet him at once. He was just a little afraid of a
+policeman.
+
+And, surely enough, just then the police patrol wagon, with its clanging
+bell, not quite as loud as the fire engine, though, came up and a number
+of officers jumped out. There was another roar from the crowd as this
+added excitement was provided. Never had there been such an evening in
+Pocono, with the big storm getting worse all the while.
+
+But Uncle Toby took charge of matters. He explained to the police and
+the firemen what had happened--that Aunt Sallie had become so excited
+she had summoned more help than she had really needed.
+
+"But is there really a monkey up on the roof?" asked a policeman.
+
+"Yes, my monkey Jack is up there near the chimney," said Mr. Bardeen.
+"You can see him. He's got on one of my coats."
+
+Without a doubt there was Jack, sitting on the ridge of the roof, one
+hairy paw thrust through an arm of the coat, clinging to the bricks of
+the chimney.
+
+"I'd like to get him down," said Uncle Toby, "for he is a valuable
+animal, and he may take cold and get pneumonia even if he has on a
+coat."
+
+"Well, we're the boys to get him down," laughed one of the firemen. "But
+will he bite?" he asked anxiously. "I don't know much about monkeys, but
+I guess they can bite."
+
+"Jack won't; that is, not after I speak to him," said Uncle Toby. "I'll
+call him to come down, and you can go up on a ladder and get him if you
+will."
+
+"Oh, we'll do it all right," said the fireman. He and the police
+officers knew and liked Uncle Toby.
+
+Shortly afterward a ladder was raised to the roof, and a fireman went
+up. He had to be careful on the sloping roof, on account of the slippery
+snow that covered it. But another ladder, laid on the shingles, gave him
+a firm footing.
+
+Nearer and nearer he crawled to the crouching monkey. The crowd, which
+had been laughing and joking, kept quiet now so Uncle Toby could talk to
+Jack.
+
+"Come on down, old fellow! Let the fireman bring you down. And don't
+bite him!" called Uncle Toby to his pet.
+
+Jack seemed to understand. He chattered a little, and then, when the
+fireman was near enough, the monkey put his arms around the man's neck
+and clung tightly.
+
+"Now you're all right, old chap!" said the fireman, who was fond of
+animals. "I've got you!"
+
+A little later man and monkey were safe on the ground, while the crowd
+cheered. Uncle Toby took Jack from the fireman, and the monkey nestled
+in his master's arms, seemingly very glad to be down off the roof and
+out of the storm.
+
+"I must get him some hot milk to drink," said Uncle Toby, as the firemen
+and police started back to their quarters. The crowd, seeing that there
+was to be no more excitement, melted away out of the storm.
+
+"Come, Curlytops, get in the house! All of you get in the house out of
+the storm!" cried Uncle Toby, for the children had gone around to the
+front to watch the rescue of Jack.
+
+"Yes, yes! Come in!" cried Aunt Sallie. "You'll all get your deaths of
+sneezes! Talk about hot milk for a monkey! I guess these children need
+it more than Jack does!"
+
+"We'll all have some hot milk!" declared Uncle Toby. "Here, Aunt Sallie,
+you look after the Curlytops and their friends while I put the car away,
+and then I'll come back and we'll have a cozy supper," went on Mr.
+Bardeen. "I'll put Jack by the fire to thaw him out."
+
+"I'm hungry!" announced Trouble.
+
+"Bless your heart! you shall have something to eat as soon as I can get
+it on the table," said Aunt Sallie. "That bad old Jack made a lot of
+work!"
+
+She shook a finger at the monkey, who whimpered a little.
+
+"Oh, don't scold him!" begged Lola.
+
+"Will he do tricks?" asked Tom.
+
+"He's done enough tricks for one night," replied Aunt Sallie, as she
+bustled about to get supper, while Uncle Toby put the car out of the
+storm.
+
+"Take off your hat, Mary," suggested Jan to the new girl, who stood
+about a bit shyly.
+
+Before the little girl could do this her hat was suddenly snatched from
+her head, and a harsh voice cried:
+
+"Eat 'em up! Eat 'em up! Eat 'em all up!"
+
+"Oh! Oh!" screamed Mary. "What is it?"
+
+"Don't be afraid!" laughed Ted. "You're just among Uncle Toby's pets!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+WHERE DID TROUBLE GO?
+
+
+Mary Benton, the little girl whose father had gone to the Big War and
+had never been heard of since, was really frightened by the screeching
+voice and by feeling her hat snatched off in that strange way. Even what
+Ted said about being among Uncle Toby's pets did not seem to make her
+feel any better.
+
+She turned quickly around, and saw her hat that had been snatched off in
+the black beak of a big red and green bird which was perched on the back
+of a chair.
+
+"Dat's Mr. Nip!" announced Trouble. He knew the parrot from the previous
+summer.
+
+"Eat 'em up! Eat 'em up! Eat 'em all up!" croaked Mr. Nip in his harsh
+voice.
+
+"Well, please don't eat Mary's hat up!" laughed Jan. "She'll want it to
+wear when we go to Crystal Lake."
+
+"Is that parrot going to the Lake with us?" asked Lola.
+
+"If he does I'll have to be careful of my hat," added Mary, who was
+getting over her fright. "It's a new one," she went on, and the other
+girls rightly guessed that, being very poor, Mary did not have many
+hats. Then and there Lola and Jan made up their minds to be kind to
+Mary, whose mother was in the hospital and whose father--well, no one
+knew what had happened to him.
+
+"Here are some more pets!" cried jolly Uncle Toby, as he came in out of
+the storm, having put the car in his barn. He was followed by Skyrocket,
+who barked and leaped about, shaking snow-flakes all about. In his arms
+Uncle Toby carried Fluff, the little kitten that had been rescued from a
+"Ch'is'mus tree," as Trouble called the evergreen.
+
+"Oh, we forgot all about him!" exclaimed Jan, as she took the little
+stranger from Uncle Toby.
+
+"It wouldn't be wonderful if you forgot even your names," laughed Uncle
+Toby, "considering all the excitement that was going on when we got
+here. But we're all right now, I guess."
+
+[Illustration: SHE TURNED AND SAW HER HAT IN THE BEAK OF A BIG RED AND
+GREEN BIRD. Page 115]
+
+Skyrocket went over to sniff around Jack, the monkey, with which pet the
+Curlytops' dog was well acquainted, so the two soon became friendly.
+
+"I guess he misses Tip and Top," observed Ted, speaking of the two
+valuable trick poodles, which had been sold since the children found
+them in the show, after they had been stolen.
+
+"Well, there are plenty of other animals," said Aunt Sallie, as she
+finished setting the table and called to the children to take their
+places.
+
+Such a jolly time as followed! The Curlytops and their playmates, the
+new as well as the old ones, were all hungry from their ride through the
+cold. Even Trouble forgot about being sleepy while he ate, and if Mary
+and Harry remembered about their mother in the hospital that thought did
+not chase away the smiles from their faces.
+
+At times, on the trip, Ted and Jan had given some thought to matters at
+home, and had wondered if Daddy Martin would lose so much money as to
+make the family poor. But now Ted and his sister were having a good time
+with the others.
+
+Jack, the monkey, seemed to have gotten over the slight shivering
+caused by foolishly going up on the roof in the storm, and he and
+Skyrocket ate their meal behind the warm stove on one side, while Snuff,
+Uncle Toby's big cat, and Fluff, the new kitten, lapped warm milk from
+the same saucer on the other side of the stove.
+
+As for Mr. Nip, the parrot, he seemed satisfied after he had pulled off
+Mary's hat, and he was now asleep with his head under his wing, perched
+on his stand in one corner.
+
+"How did Jack get out, Aunt Sallie?" asked Uncle Toby, as knives and
+forks began to slow up a little in the supper race, the children
+becoming less hungry the more they ate.
+
+"I had left a window open, and he seemed to know it," was the answer. "I
+never knew it to fail that if I left a window open so much as a crack
+but what he'd find it. He's the smartest monkey I ever saw! But he's a
+rascal just the same!"
+
+"Well, you'll have a little rest from all the pets, except maybe
+Skyrocket," said Uncle Toby. "We'll take him with us out to Crystal
+Lake, but the other pets we'll leave here."
+
+Uncle Toby's house was a large one and had plenty of beds in it for the
+children. It was warm and cozy, and Aunt Sallie had seen to it that
+everything should be comfortable for the Curlytops and their playmates.
+
+"I thought you two were coming by train," she said to Mary and Harry,
+when supper was over and the plans for the night began to be talked
+about.
+
+"They were on the train. But I took them off when it became stuck in the
+snow," explained Uncle Toby. "I hope they have dug the engine out by
+this time. If they haven't it may have to stay there a long time, for
+this storm is getting worse."
+
+The children thought so too, as they listened to the wind howling around
+the corners of the house and down the chimney, while the hard flakes of
+snow beat against the windows.
+
+But they were snug and warm in Uncle Toby's house, and Jan and her
+brother, with Lola and Tom, were so jolly, suggesting so many games to
+play and talking about the good times to come at Crystal Lake, that
+though Mary and Harry had begun to feel homesick this soon wore off, and
+the strange playmates laughed with their new friends.
+
+Trouble was to sleep in a big bed with Jan in a room next to Aunt
+Sallie. And in the same room with Jan and her little brother, Mary and
+Lola would sleep, but in separate beds.
+
+The three older boys had a room to themselves, each with a single bed,
+so they would not disturb one another.
+
+"And mind!" cried Uncle Toby, when the time came to "turn in," as a
+soldier or a sailor might say. "Mind! No pillow fights!"
+
+"Oh, no!" cried Tom and Ted, winking at each other.
+
+And I think Uncle Toby must have known that they would have a little fun
+in this way. For he did not come up to stop them when they began tossing
+about at each other the soft, fluffy pillows. At this game there was a
+jolly good time for half an hour.
+
+But even boys can get tired sometimes, and these boys had had a long
+automobile ride that day. So they finally gave up tossing the pillows
+about and settled down snugly in their beds. The girls and Trouble had
+gone to sleep long before this.
+
+"Well, you certainly have quite a houseful, Uncle Toby," said Aunt
+Sallie that night, when locking-up time came, "with seven children, to
+say nothing of the animals."
+
+"Oh, I like 'em all!" exclaimed the old sailor, with a laugh. "And I
+just had to take the Curlytops. There was no place for them to go when
+their father and mother had to start off on that trip. As for Tom and
+Lola, I wanted the Curlytops to have some playmates over the holidays.
+And about Mary and Harry--well, I couldn't leave them in the big city
+all alone, with their mother in the hospital."
+
+"No, I suppose not. Poor children! Poor Mother! I hope she gets better!"
+
+"I hope so, too," said Uncle Toby. "And I hope the Curlytops' father
+doesn't lose his money."
+
+Janet was awakened early the next morning by feeling something cold on
+her face. She was dreaming that Jack, the monkey, was still up on the
+roof, but that he had a long tail which reached all the way to the
+ground. And she dreamed that Jack was dipping his tail in ice water and
+tickling her on the cheek.
+
+Something almost like this was happening as Janet opened her eyes, for
+she saw Trouble bending over her with a lump of snow in his fist,
+rubbing the cold stuff on her nose.
+
+"Oh, Trouble! Stop it!" cried Janet, rolling over in bed and giving her
+brother a little push. He dropped some of the cold snow down her neck.
+"Oh!" screamed Jan. "You're freezing me!"
+
+"You shouldn't have jiggled me!" complained Trouble, whose grasp on the
+snowball had been loosened as his sister moved. "I wanted you open your
+eyes," he added.
+
+"I guess you made her open them all right," laughed Lola from her bed,
+next to Janet's.
+
+The talking aroused Mary, who sat up, rubbing her eyes.
+
+"Oh, where am I?" she exclaimed. "I--Oh, I remember!" she said. "I was
+dreaming I was back home!"
+
+"And I was dreaming Jack was slapping me with his tail wet in ice
+water," laughed Janet. "Then I wake up and find Trouble with a snowball.
+Where did you get it?" she asked, tossing the half-melted lump into the
+water basin near by.
+
+"It blowed in the window," Trouble explained, pointing to more of the
+white flakes on the sill. They had drifted in around a crack.
+
+"You mustn't get out of bed and run around in your bare feet," said
+Janet. "I wonder what sort of a day it is?" She slipped on her little
+robe and slippers and went to the window, meanwhile covering Trouble
+warmly in bed. "It's stopped snowing," she said, "and the sun is out. We
+can make snowmen, big snowballs, and everything."
+
+"Oh, what fun it will be!" cried Lola.
+
+"Snow in the country is much nicer than in the city where I live," said
+Mary. "It seems to stay clean longer out here."
+
+Meanwhile Ted, Tom, and Harry had also discovered that there was a
+chance for plenty of fun out of doors. They were soon up and getting
+dressed, and when Aunt Sallie had seen that Trouble was washed and
+dressed all the children went down to breakfast.
+
+"Where are all the pets?" asked Mary, seeing only Mr. Nip perched on his
+stand, cracking seeds in his strong beak.
+
+"They're having their breakfasts out in their room," said Aunt Sallie,
+for a special room had been provided for the animals.
+
+A little later the Curlytops and their playmates were having fun in the
+snow outside, Skyrocket romping around with them. There were sleds at
+Uncle Toby's house, and not far from it a little hill, and on this the
+children were soon coasting.
+
+"It's more fun than our toboggan," cried Ted.
+
+"Yes, it is. But the snow isn't going to last long," observed Tom. "It's
+too warm."
+
+"It's melting now," added Harry.
+
+Indeed the warm sun would soon make short work of this first snow, which
+had come much earlier than usual. The children made up their minds to
+have as much fun as they could while it lasted.
+
+So they coasted, they made snowmen, rolled big snowballs and the boys
+even started to build a snow fort, for the white flakes were wet enough
+to pack well and stay in place once they were piled up.
+
+Trouble played with the others, sometimes getting in the way and
+toppling down, to pick himself up again and fall down once more.
+
+"I havin' 'ots of fun!" he laughed.
+
+In fact all the children were--so much so that they hardly wanted to
+come in to lunch. But playing out in the air made them hungry, and soon
+they were eagerly eating.
+
+"How soon are we going to Crystal Lake?" asked Ted of Uncle Toby, as the
+Curlytops and the others prepared to rush out in the snow once more.
+
+"Oh, we'll go in a few days," was the answer. "Might as well wait for
+this snow to melt, as it's bound to if this weather keeps up. It will be
+easier going for the auto then, as the roads to the Lake are rather
+rough."
+
+"Well, we're having fun here," chuckled Ted, as he ran out to join his
+playmates.
+
+"Let's make a big fort!" proposed Tom, for they had made a little one,
+and trampled it down in having a "battle."
+
+"All right," agreed the other boys.
+
+"I he'p!" offered Trouble.
+
+"No you'll only be in the way," Ted replied. "You go over and help
+sister make a snowman," he added, for this is what Jan and the other two
+girls were trying to do.
+
+This was a bit selfish on Ted's part, for he must have known that
+Trouble would annoy his sister as much as the little fellow would be in
+the way of himself and his chums. But brothers are this way sometimes, I
+suppose.
+
+Anyhow, Trouble toddled off to see if he could not play with Jan, Lola,
+and Mary. He saw them shaping the snowman.
+
+"I he'p!" he offered, trying to put a little ball on the snowman's coat
+to serve as a "button."
+
+"Oh, Trouble! Don't!" begged Jan. "Go over and play with the boys!
+You'll spoil our snowman!"
+
+"Ted telled me come here!" announced William.
+
+Poor Trouble! No one seemed to want him!
+
+"Oh, let him stay," begged Mary, "I'll watch him."
+
+"All right," sighed Jan. She was trying to make the snowman's face, and
+it was not easy work.
+
+Just how it happened no one seemed to know but the boys forgot all about
+Trouble in the excitement of making their fort. And though Mary had
+promised to keep watch over the little fellow she forgot when she went
+to the shed to get two pieces of coal to make eyes for the snowman.
+
+It was not until after the snowman was finished and Ted had shouted what
+fun it would be if they could put him in the fort that Trouble was
+missed.
+
+"Where is he?" asked Janet, looking around the yard.
+
+"He was here a little while ago," said Lola.
+
+"I saw him too," added Tom.
+
+But now Trouble was not in sight.
+
+"Maybe he went into the house to get something to eat," suggested Mary.
+
+Jan ran to the door and asked Aunt Sallie.
+
+"Why, no," she answered. "Trouble didn't come in here!"
+
+"Oh, where can Trouble be?" half sobbed Janet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+OFF TO CRYSTAL LAKE
+
+
+This was not the first time Trouble Martin had been lost or missing. It
+happened more or less often at home in Cresco, and once when the
+Curlytops had come to Uncle Toby's. But he had never before been lost
+after a big snow storm--that is, as far as Janet or Teddy could
+remember. What Janet was afraid of was that her little brother might
+wander off and fall into some drift. For the snow was deep in places not
+very far from Uncle Toby's house.
+
+"Oh, we'll find him!" declared Ted. "He can't be far off. We didn't want
+him playing around our fort for fear he'd spoil it."
+
+"And I sent him away from our snowman on the same account," sighed
+Janet. "I wish I had kept him by me."
+
+Aunt Sallie came out of the house, her apron thrown over her head.
+
+"Did you find Trouble?" she asked.
+
+"No'm," chorused the children.
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed the old lady. "You must call Uncle Toby and tell
+him. He's out in the barn working over the auto, getting ready for the
+trip to Crystal Lake. Go tell him Trouble is missing."
+
+Janet and the others thought this would be the best thing to do, and
+Uncle Toby soon heard the latest happening regarding the Curlytops.
+
+"If Trouble isn't in the house nor around where you are playing, he must
+have wandered off down the street," said Uncle Toby. "The walks have
+been pretty well cleaned off by this time. The snowplow has been along."
+For in Pocono the street cleaning department sent out a big snowplow,
+drawn by horses, after every big storm, and thus the sidewalks were made
+easy to walk on without waiting for each householder to clean his own
+space.
+
+"But where would he go?" asked Janet, hardly able to keep back her
+tears.
+
+"That's what we must find out," said Uncle Toby. "Don't worry. We'll
+find him. I'll ask the police if they've seen him. A little chap like
+Trouble would be sure to be noticed."
+
+"Unless maybe he fell in a snowdrift," suggested Janet.
+
+"If he fell in he'd shout and cry until some of us came to help him
+out," said Uncle Toby. "Now we'll start a searching party. I'll go with
+you girls up the street, and the three boys can go down the street. Ask
+every one you meet if they have seen Trouble."
+
+"Only," suggested Jan, "we'd better give him his right name of William."
+
+"That's so!" laughed Uncle Toby. "If we go along asking every one we
+meet if they have seen Trouble, they'll think we are trying to make fun
+of them. Yes, we must ask for news of a little boy named William."
+
+So they started out, Ted, Tom and Harry going one way, and Uncle Toby
+and the three girls the other way. Aunt Sallie remained behind in the
+house, but she was very anxious, and she said she would call up police
+headquarters, asking that each officer be told to be on the lookout.
+
+At first the question asked by the searchers had no effect. No one
+seemed to have noticed Trouble toddling along the streets, which, as
+Uncle Toby had said, were now quite free from snow, which was piled
+high on either side.
+
+"Maybe he wandered off toward the woods," suggested Lola, for there was
+a clump of trees, called "woods" not far from Uncle Toby's house.
+
+"I don't believe so," was Mr. Bardeen's answer. "I think he wouldn't go
+there alone. But here comes Policeman McCarthy. I'll ask him."
+
+And, to the delight of the girls, Policeman McCarthy said he had seen a
+little boy going along the street a few minutes before.
+
+"I don't know what his name was," the officer said. "But he was dressed
+just as you say. He seemed to know where he was going, so I didn't stop
+him, though he was pretty little to be out alone."
+
+"Where did he go?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"Right down that way," answered the policeman, pointing. "He was
+standing in front of that barber shop the last I saw him."
+
+"Oh, now I know where he's gone!" suddenly cried Janet.
+
+"Where?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"In the barber shop," answered the little girl. "Trouble was in the
+bathroom this morning, Uncle Toby, getting washed," Janet explained.
+"He found some of your shaving soap, and he liked the smell of it. He
+was rubbing it on his face when I stopped him. He asked me where you got
+your soap and I told him in a barber shop, I thought. Then he wanted to
+know what a barber shop was like, and I told him it was a place that had
+a red, white, and blue pole in front of it. So that's where he's
+gone--to the barber shop to get some of that nice smelling soap."
+
+"I shouldn't wonder," agreed Uncle Toby. "I hope the barber kept him
+there, if he went in."
+
+They hurried to the shop in front of which was a gay red, white, and
+blue pole, and there they found Trouble. But they found him more than
+just inquiring for scented soap, for he was up in the chair, kept
+specially for children.
+
+In front of Trouble, draped around his neck, was a white apron, and the
+barber, with comb and scissors, was just about to cut the little
+fellow's long hair.
+
+"Trouble! What are you doing?" cried Uncle Toby, his voice causing the
+barber to turn around in surprise.
+
+"I goin' get hair cut!" announced the little fellow.
+
+"Oh, no! You mustn't!" exclaimed Jan.
+
+"I wants hair cut an' nice smelly stuff on my face," announced the
+little fellow, holding tightly to the arms of the barber's chair, lest
+he be made to come out.
+
+"No, no!" said Janet. "Not now, Trouble!"
+
+"Didn't some of you send him to have his hair trimmed?" asked the
+barber, in some surprise.
+
+"No, indeed!" laughed Uncle Toby, who knew the barber quite well. "He
+ran off by himself. I'm glad we reached here in time to stop you. He's a
+little tyke; that's what he is!"
+
+"Well, he came in here as bold as you please," said Mr. Miller, the
+barber. "He climbed up in the chair himself, and though he didn't tell
+me so exactly, I thought he wanted a hair cut, as it's pretty long. He
+did say he wanted some nice perfume on him, but all the children say
+that when they come in here. And I've often had them as young as he is
+come in here alone. But of course their fathers or mothers sent 'em. And
+you didn't send this little chap?" he asked, as he helped Trouble down
+out of the chair, much to William's disgust.
+
+"No, we didn't send him," chuckled Uncle Toby. "He just took the notion
+himself. Tried some of my shaving soap this morning, so his sister says.
+Well, I am glad he's found. We'd better take him back so the boys will
+know we've come to the end of the search. You mustn't do anything like
+this again, Trouble," said Uncle Toby, a bit sternly, shaking his finger
+at William.
+
+"Nope!" he readily promised. "Maybe I have some nice smelly stuff take
+home?" he added hopefully.
+
+"Here you are!" laughed the barber, and he gave Trouble a little cake of
+scented soap.
+
+"You gave us a big scare," said Janet, when they were on their way back
+to Uncle Toby's house.
+
+"You make big snowman?" asked Trouble, and that's about all he seemed to
+care. Janet wanted to laugh, but she did not think it wise.
+
+They met the boys coming back, Ted and the other two being anxious, as
+of course they had heard no word about the missing wanderer. But they
+saw William in Uncle Toby's arms, and knew everything was now all
+right.
+
+"I'll keep my eye on you after this," said Janet when the children were
+once more playing in the snow around Uncle Toby's house.
+
+But it was one thing to say she would keep watch over a little chap like
+Trouble, and another thing actually to do it. And William made more
+trouble before the day was over.
+
+Evening came, when it was time to stop playing out of doors and come
+into the house. And it was after supper when the children were sitting
+in the living room, listening to Uncle Toby tell a story, that Aunt
+Sallie came running in from the kitchen.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Toby!" she cried. "There's a leak in one of the pipes.
+There's a big puddle of water in the middle of the kitchen floor. It was
+dry when I went up to see if the beds were ready, and when I came down,
+just now, I found a lot of water there."
+
+"A broken pipe? That's too bad!" exclaimed Uncle Toby. "I may be able to
+fix it myself; but if I can't, we'll have hard work getting a plumber
+this time of night. I can shut off the water in the cellar, though, I
+suppose. However, I'll take a look."
+
+The children followed Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie out to the kitchen.
+Surely enough there was a large puddle of water in the middle of the
+oilcloth. Uncle Toby looked up and around, and said:
+
+"I can't see what pipe has burst. If it was one in the kitchen the water
+would be spurting out now. It seems to come from under the sink."
+
+By this time Trouble was toddling across the room toward the sink, under
+which was a sort of cupboard with two swinging doors. The little fellow
+was trying to open one of these doors.
+
+"Here, Trouble! Let Uncle Toby look!" said Ted.
+
+"I wants get my snowball," announced William.
+
+"Your snowball!" cried Jan.
+
+"Yep! I put big snowball there when I comed in. Wants to get it now,"
+and William tugged at the sink door.
+
+"Ha! Maybe that's where the water came from!" cried Uncle Toby.
+
+And it was. As the sink cupboard was opened more water was seen, and in
+the midst of the puddle there floated what was left of a large ball of
+snow. Trouble had brought it in, put it under the sink when no one was
+looking, and there the warmth of the kitchen stove had slowly melted it,
+causing the water to run out under the doors.
+
+"What in the world made you put a snowball in there, Trouble?" asked
+Ted, as Aunt Sallie mopped up the water.
+
+"Maybe I wants make snowman in night," was Trouble's answer.
+
+That may have been his reason--no one could tell. At any rate, no great
+harm was done, as the snow water was clean and the oilcloth was soon
+wiped dry.
+
+"I guess you'd better go to bed before you get into any more mischief,"
+said Janet.
+
+And soon the Curlytops and their playmates were all sound asleep.
+
+The next day it rained, and as the weather turned warm the snow was soon
+nearly all melted or washed away.
+
+"So much the better for making the trip to Crystal Lake," said Uncle
+Toby. "I don't care what it does after we get there, but I like good
+going though the woods."
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have at Crystal Lake!" cried the Curlytops and their
+playmates.
+
+They started three days later, in the big automobile. Uncle Toby, Aunt
+Sallie, the children, and Skyrocket. Uncle Toby hired a colored man and
+his wife to come and live in his house and look after the pets,
+including the new kitten, Fluff, while he was at camp for the holidays.
+
+"Hurray! Here we go!" cried Ted and the others, as Uncle Toby started
+the automobile.
+
+As they were turning out of the drive a boy came riding up the street on
+a bicycle, waving a yellow envelope in his hand.
+
+"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" he shouted. "Here's a telegram!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE LONELY CABIN
+
+
+Uncle Toby brought the automobile to a stop and looked at the boy.
+
+"A telegram?" repeated Uncle Toby. "For whom is it?"
+
+"You," answered the boy, and Ted and Jan wondered if it could be about
+their father and mother. Suppose one of them were ill, or suppose Daddy
+Martin had lost all his money, and Ted and Jan had to go back home? It
+doesn't take much to worry children, just as it doesn't take much to
+make them happy.
+
+Tom and Lola, too, knew that telegrams often bring bad news, and as
+Uncle Toby was opening the yellow envelope which the boy handed him,
+these two playmates of the Curlytops thought perhaps something had
+happened at their home.
+
+And, in turn, Harry and Mary began to fear that the message might be bad
+news about their mother in the hospital. A few tears began to form in
+Mary's eyes, but they soon dried away when Uncle Toby, after reading the
+message, gave a hearty laugh.
+
+"Ha! Ha! Ha!" chuckled Uncle Toby. "This is funny! The idea of sending
+me a message like this!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Ted, while the messenger boy waited to see if Uncle
+Toby wanted to send an answer to the telegram.
+
+"Oh, it's from an old friend of mine, Hezekiah Armstrong. He says he has
+a chance to buy an elephant cheap, and he telegraphs to ask me if I
+don't want it."
+
+"Want an elephant!" repeated Jan.
+
+"Yes, for a pet, I suppose. It may be one of his jokes, or he may mean
+it, but I certainly don't want an elephant, in winter time especially."
+
+"Would you want one in summer?" asked Tom, with a laugh.
+
+"Well, an elephant is easier to take care of in summer than in winter,"
+answered Mr. Bardeen. "In warm weather I could turn the elephant out in
+the meadow and let him eat grass. But in winter I'd have to keep him in
+a barn and let him eat hay, and they eat a big lot of hay--enough to
+keep me poor, I guess. So I'll just telegraph back to Hezekiah that I
+don't want an elephant. We couldn't take it to Crystal Lake, anyhow.
+Here you are, son!" he called pleasantly to the boy. "You take back this
+message for me."
+
+Uncle Toby wrote it on a blank of which the boy had a number in his
+pocket. As Mr. Bardeen paid the lad and was about to start the
+automobile again, the boy asked:
+
+"Where you going?" He was acquainted with Mr. Bardeen.
+
+"Out to Crystal Lake," answered Uncle Toby, and the children in the
+automobile wondered if the messenger lad did not wish he were going.
+
+"Crystal Lake!" exclaimed the boy. "Are you going out there to catch the
+burglar?"
+
+"Catch the burglar? What burglar?" asked Uncle Toby. "This is the first
+I've heard a burglar was out there. What do you mean?"
+
+"It was in the paper this morning," the boy went on. "It said some of
+the cabins and camps out at the Lake had been broken into and robbed.
+They haven't any police out there, so it said the police from Pocono
+had been asked to see if they could catch the burglar. I thought maybe
+that's why you were going out."
+
+"Oh, no!" replied Uncle Toby. "I'm not a policeman. And though I
+wouldn't want a burglar to get into my cabin, he wouldn't find very much
+to take if he did get in. I guess, most likely, it's some tramp that has
+broken into some of the cabins. We'll not worry about that, shall we,
+Curlytops?" chuckled Uncle Toby. "If we find any burglars out there
+we'll make Skyrocket bite 'em--sha'n't we, Trouble?" and he playfully
+pinched William's cheek.
+
+"We make elephant run after 'em!" laughed Trouble.
+
+"That's right!" said Uncle Toby.
+
+Once more they started off in the big comfortable car that so well kept
+out the cold. Most of the snow from the recent storm was gone, though
+Uncle Toby said there would probably be some left in the woods around
+Crystal Lake, where it did not melt as fast as in Pocono.
+
+"I'm glad that telegram wasn't bad news from home," said Ted. "It isn't
+any good to get bad news just when you start to have fun."
+
+"That's right," agreed Tom. "My father wasn't feeling very well when we
+started, and I thought maybe the message was to say he was worse."
+
+"Mary and I haven't any father to get messages from," said Harry, rather
+sadly. "We hardly remember him, for we were little when he went away to
+the war."
+
+"And he never came back?" asked Jan softly.
+
+"No, he never came back," repeated Mary, trying to keep the tears from
+her eyes.
+
+Uncle Toby saw that the children might be made sad by this sort of talk,
+so, as they were passing a meat market on the edge of town, he stopped
+the car and began to get out.
+
+"What are you going to do?" asked Aunt Sallie. "I have everything we
+need for getting supper out at the Lake, and we have our lunch with us."
+
+"It isn't for us," said Uncle Toby. "It's for Skyrocket. I want to get
+him a nice bone to gnaw. It will keep him quiet on the ride," he
+explained. "I'm going to get a fine, juicy bone for Skyrocket."
+
+This took the children's mind off what might have been a sad subject to
+think about--the ill mother and missing father of Harry and Mary. And
+when Uncle Toby made Skyrocket sit up in the automobile and "beg" for
+the bone, the dog did it in such a funny way that the children all
+laughed.
+
+"Now they'll be all right," said Uncle Toby to himself, as he again sent
+the big car forward.
+
+Soon they were out in the country. The weather was pleasant after the
+storm, though it was cold, and would soon be more frosty, for winter was
+at hand, and the children had already begun to think of Christmas.
+
+As Aunt Sallie had said, there had been placed in the automobile a
+number of boxes of lunch to be eaten on the way, as it would be night,
+or very near it, before the cabin in the woods could be reached. Uncle
+Toby had written to a lumberman to build a fire in it so the place would
+be warm for the children. It was a large roomy cabin, with many comforts
+and conveniences. Having the lunch in the automobile, the next thing to
+think about was the time to eat it.
+
+Possibly the boys thought more about this than the girls; at any rate
+that must have been the reason why Tom and Ted so often asked Uncle Toby
+what time it was, for the clock on the instrument board of the
+automobile was not going.
+
+"Well, it will soon be eating time, if that's what you want to know,"
+answered Uncle Toby, with a laugh, after this same question had been
+asked many times. He seemed to be always laughing.
+
+"In fact we may as well get the lunch out now, I guess, Aunt Sallie," he
+went on. "We had an early breakfast and--"
+
+He suddenly stopped talking, for there was a loud hissing sound from
+beneath the automobile, as if a big snake had had its tail run over.
+
+"Puncture!" cried Tom and Ted, for they knew enough about cars to tell
+this.
+
+"Well, I'm glad it isn't a blow-out!" Uncle Toby exclaimed. Had there
+been a blow-out the noise would have been much louder, like the bang of
+a gun. "As long as it's only a puncture we can easily mend it, and I'll
+do that while the rest of you eat."
+
+"Oh, let me help!" begged Ted. "I often help daddy when he has tire
+trouble."
+
+"I want to help, too," cried Tom.
+
+"So do I," added Harry. "We never had an auto," he went on, "so I don't
+know anything about them. But I'll do what I can."
+
+"Well, you boys can hand me the tools," said Uncle Toby, "and I'll do
+the hard work. This is a heavy car and I don't want you getting into any
+danger around it. You can be getting out the lunch, Aunt Sallie. We'll
+be ready to eat after we finish putting in a new rubber tube."
+
+"We'll help," offered Jan and the other two girls, while Trouble cried:
+
+"I want to see punchure! Want to see punchure!"
+
+"No, you stay in here," said his sister, for she knew he would only get
+in the way if allowed to run about. "I'll let you open some of the
+boxes."
+
+This satisfied Trouble, who was now content to stay in the big car.
+Skyrocket, though, went out with the boys and nosed about in the woods
+near which the stop had been made.
+
+It did not take Uncle Toby long to jack up the car, take off the tire,
+put in a new tube, and be ready to start again. But before doing that
+they halted a bit longer to eat lunch. Hot chocolate had been brought
+along in thermos bottles, and Uncle Toby thought the chocolate would
+spill on the children if they tried to drink it while the automobile was
+moving.
+
+"There! I feel better!" exclaimed Ted, after the lunch.
+
+"So do I!" cried Tom and Harry.
+
+Once more they were on their way, journeying now along some country
+road, and again through some lonely stretch of wood. They were almost at
+Crystal Lake, and in another quarter of an hour would be at Uncle Toby's
+cabin, when Mr. Bardeen began sniffing the air.
+
+"The engine's getting too hot," he said, and then, as he noticed some
+steam coming out of the radiator cap he added: "Water's getting low.
+I'll have to stop and get some."
+
+"Where can you get any water around here?" asked Ted.
+
+"I'll try at that cabin," answered Uncle Toby, pointing to a lonely one
+a short distance ahead on the road. "I guess it will be safe to run the
+car that much farther."
+
+"Who lives there?" asked Ted, as the automobile went along more slowly,
+for Uncle Toby did not want to overheat it.
+
+"Nobody lives there now," was the reply. "It's deserted. But there's a
+well near it, and it's such a deep one I don't believe it will be
+frozen. I can get some water from the well."
+
+Uncle Toby stopped the car in front of the lonely cabin. He got out a
+folding canvas pail from the tool-box, and was going toward the cabin
+when Ted exclaimed:
+
+"I thought you said nobody lived here, Uncle Toby!"
+
+"So I did," was the answer. "No one has lived here for several years."
+
+"Well, look at him!" cried the boy, and he pointed to a man running away
+over the field from the back door of the lonely cottage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+AT CRYSTAL LAKE
+
+
+Uncle Toby was much surprised at what Ted called to his attention.
+Turning around, as he was going toward the well, Uncle Toby looked to
+where the Curlytop boy pointed. He saw the form of a man vanishing from
+sight over the top of a little hill just behind the lonely cabin.
+
+"Hello there!" cried Uncle Toby, in such loud tones that Skyrocket began
+to bark fiercely. "Hello there! Who are you? What are you doing?"
+
+The man did not stop, turn around, nor answer. Instead he ran into a
+little clump of trees and was soon lost to sight. With another loud bark
+Skyrocket took after him.
+
+"Oh, don't let our dog go!" cried Jan. "Make him come back, Uncle Toby.
+That man might hurt him."
+
+"Just what I think," said Uncle Toby. "Here, Sky!" he called, for
+sometimes the Curlytops' dog was given that short name. "Here, Sky! Come
+back. Come back!"
+
+Skyrocket didn't want to. He dearly loved a chase, and this man seemed
+willing to run. That the man was out of sight made no difference to the
+dog. Skyrocket loved a game of hide and go seek, and perhaps he thought
+that was what the stranger was playing.
+
+"Come back here, Sky!" called Uncle Toby.
+
+"Here, Skyrocket! Here!" shouted Ted.
+
+Janet added her voice to that of her brother and Trouble chimed in.
+Perhaps all these had an effect on the dog, or he might have thought
+that Uncle Toby would punish him if he did not mind. At any rate, after
+a few more barks and some growls, looking meanwhile toward the clump of
+trees into which the man had disappeared, the dog came back, wagging his
+tail and seeming a bit disappointed.
+
+"Who was that man, Uncle Toby?" asked Janet.
+
+"I don't know," was the answer. "No one has lived in that cabin for
+years. I guess he is some tramp who didn't have any other place to
+stay."
+
+"He didn't look like a tramp," observed Tom.
+
+"No, his clothes weren't ragged," added Ted.
+
+"That's so," agreed Uncle Toby. "From the little look I had of him he
+wasn't very ragged. But then maybe he hasn't been a tramp very long, and
+it takes quite a while to make one's clothes ragged."
+
+"It doesn't take Trouble long!" laughed Jan. "He can go out with a good
+new suit on and come back in half an hour with it all full of cuts and
+holes."
+
+"Oh, well, Trouble is different," said Uncle Toby, with a chuckle.
+
+Uncle Toby stood for a few moments looking toward the woods into which
+the strange man had run, and then, going to the well, filled the pail
+with water and put some in the radiator of the automobile. After that
+Uncle Toby went around to the back of the old cabin.
+
+"Are you going to see if anybody else is there?" asked Jan, while Lola
+and Mary waited with curiosity for an answer.
+
+"Let me come and help look!" cried Ted.
+
+"So will I!" added Tom.
+
+"If you fellows are going I might as well go, too," said Harry.
+
+"No, you children stay where you are," called Uncle Toby. "I'm just
+going to take a look around, and then we'll go on to Crystal Lake. Stay
+where you are!"
+
+Ted, Janet, and the others remained in the automobile, waiting for Uncle
+Toby to come back. Aunt Sallie was almost ready to doze off in a little
+sleep when Mr. Bardeen was seen coming around the corner of the cabin.
+No one was with him, and there was no further sight of the man.
+
+"Was anybody else in there?" asked Ted.
+
+"No one," replied Uncle Toby. "The cabin was empty as far as I could
+see. I guess the man just stopped in there for shelter, and when he saw
+us he thought we owned the place and ran out."
+
+"Who does own it?" asked Tom.
+
+"It belongs to a lumberman named Newt Baker," answered Uncle Toby. "He
+used to stay here in the summer, and sometimes part of the winter. But
+he went away and since then no one has lived here--except that tramp,"
+he added with a laugh. "Poor man," he went on, "I hope he finds some
+place to stay this winter. It looks as if it might be a hard one from
+the early snow we had."
+
+Once more they started off; and a little later, nothing more having
+happened, they arrived safely at Crystal Lake.
+
+"Oh, what a fine place!" cried Tom Taylor, as he saw the big body of
+water, on the shore of which was perched Uncle Toby's cottage. The lake
+was not frozen, except with a "skim" of ice here and there in little
+coves.
+
+"It would be lovely in summer for picnics," said Lola. Neither she nor
+her brother had been to Crystal Lake before, but the Curlytops had
+visited it once or twice with Uncle Toby, though they had almost
+forgotten.
+
+"Well, here we are, children!" called Uncle Toby, as he stopped the
+automobile near his "shack" as he often called it. "Now if you'll see
+that they get safely inside, Aunt Sallie, I'll soon be with you and
+we'll look after supper and get the beds ready."
+
+"I not goin' to bed now!" cried Trouble. "I not goin' to bed now! I
+goin' to stay up an' see--an' see--Santa C'aus!" he burst out, after a
+moment of thought.
+
+"Oh, you little tyke!" laughed Lola, catching him up in her arms. "Santa
+Claus won't be here for over a month."
+
+"And you don't have to go to bed right away," added Janet.
+
+Out of the auto piled the boys and girls, Skyrocket scrambling ahead of
+them to smell around and find out what sort of place this was that he
+had been brought to.
+
+As Aunt Sallie, the Curlytops and their playmates went toward the front
+door of the cabin, the door was opened and a smiling man looked out.
+
+"Hello, folks!" he called. "I've got it good and warm for you, though it
+isn't as cold as it was." He was the man Uncle Toby had engaged to start
+the fires and to have everything in readiness for the coming of the
+Curlytops.
+
+"Well, we're glad to get here, Jim Nelson," said Aunt Sallie, for she
+knew the man.
+
+Uncle Toby put the car in the barn and came in with some of the boxes
+and bundles that had been piled in the automobile--bundles of clothes
+and things for the children.
+
+"Well, you got here all right, I see," remarked Jim Nelson. "Have any
+trouble on the way?"
+
+"Not to amount to anything," answered Uncle Toby. "Funny thing, though,
+down at Newt Baker's cabin. I stopped there to get some water from his
+deep well. And as I got near the cabin a man ran out and down the hill."
+
+"A man!" exclaimed Mr. Nelson, while the children listened to the talk.
+"I didn't know anybody was living there."
+
+"There isn't--that is, not living there regularly," said Uncle Toby.
+"But a man ran out. I took him for a tramp at first, only he wasn't
+ragged. But after he ran away I went and looked in."
+
+"What did you see?" asked Mr. Nelson, and this the Curlytops and others
+wished to hear about.
+
+"Well, it looked as if he'd been living there and doing his cooking for
+some time," went on Uncle Toby. "There were a lot of tin cans and odds
+and ends of loaves of bread, cracker crumbs, and the like on the table
+in the kitchen. Looked to me as if this man had been camping out in Newt
+Baker's shack."
+
+"Very likely," said Mr. Nelson. "I don't like such characters hanging
+around Crystal Lake. We'll have to keep watch for him. If there are
+tramps around they may take things. As a matter of fact, food and little
+comforts of small value have been taken from some of the cottages and
+camps. Fred Tuller's son Tom wrote to the Pocono paper and made a whale
+of a story out of it. But from what you say the matter may be of more
+importance than we thought. At any rate, we'd better look into it."
+
+"We'll keep a lookout, then," said Uncle Toby. "And I'll take another
+run down to the cabin some day, after I get the Curlytops settled here
+having fun," and he laughed at the boys and girls so they would not be
+afraid of the talk of tramps and men who might take things.
+
+Mr. Nelson left a little after this, promising to come over the next day
+to see how they were.
+
+Then came busy times in Uncle Toby's cabin at Crystal Lake. Aunt Sallie
+and the three girls got ready the supper, while the boys opened boxes
+and bundles. Skyrocket ran about here and there, poking his nose into
+everything, and Trouble was almost as bad, for he, too, wanted to see
+everything that was going on.
+
+At last, however, things began to get "straightened out," as the
+Curlytops' mother would have said, and they sat down to a fine supper.
+Every one had a good appetite, even Skyrocket, who had gnawed clean the
+bone Uncle Toby got him at the butcher shop.
+
+"Let's play hide and go seek before we go to bed," proposed Jan, as they
+sat about the open fireplace in the big living room after supper.
+
+"Will it be all right?" asked Mary.
+
+"Will what be all right?" Jan wanted to know.
+
+"I mean won't your uncle be mad if we play in his house?" went on Mary.
+
+"Oh, dear no!" laughed Jan. "That's what he brought us up here for;
+didn't you, Uncle Toby?"
+
+"Didn't I what, Jan?" he asked, for he had been talking to Aunt Sallie
+about the beds.
+
+"Didn't you bring us up here so we could have a good time?"
+
+"Of course I did!" exclaimed Mr. Bardeen. "What do you want to do now?"
+
+"Play hide and go seek. May we?"
+
+"Yes, go ahead. Run about as much as you please, but don't get hurt.
+There isn't any fancy furniture here to break."
+
+This was true, for everything in the cabin at Crystal Lake was heavy and
+strongly made to stand rough handling. So the children could do no harm
+racing about the cabin.
+
+Soon a merry game was in progress, even Trouble taking part, though he
+could hardly be said to play it right. His idea was to hide and keep on
+yelling for some one to come and find him, his voice easily telling
+where he was. The only thing to be done in his case was to pretend not
+to know where he was, even if one saw him. This always made Trouble
+scream with delight, and he would say, over and over again:
+
+"You couldn't find me, could you?"
+
+And of course they always said they couldn't, though they could if they
+had wished.
+
+So the game went on, Trouble taking his part in it. Finally came the
+turn of Mary to "blind," and as she covered her face and began to count
+slowly, the others tiptoed into the different rooms to hide. The cabin
+was built on the bungalow style, with a number of rooms on the first
+floor, and there were many fine hiding places.
+
+Janet went into a room at the far end of the cabin, a room that no one,
+so far during the evening, had entered. It was where Uncle Toby was
+going to sleep.
+
+"No one will find me here," thought Janet, as she crouched down behind a
+chair near one of the windows. She looked through the glass, and dimly
+saw the dark forest all around the cabin. "No one will think of coming
+here," said Janet to herself.
+
+She cuddled herself into as small a nook as possible down behind the
+chair, in a place where she could look out through the other rooms and
+could see the lamplight and firelight in the big living apartment.
+
+It was in this living apartment that Mary was counting with her eyes
+shut and soon she would call: "Ready or not I'm coming!" Then she would
+walk around and try to find the hiding ones.
+
+"But she won't find me," thought Janet, "and I can get in home free."
+
+From the distance Janet heard Mary say she was coming, and then suddenly
+the little girl was startled by a tapping on the window just back of
+the chair behind which she was hiding.
+
+At first Janet thought it was the brushing of some tree branch against
+the glass that had made the tapping sound. But when it came again,
+several times, and very regular, the little girl knew some hand must be
+doing it.
+
+"Maybe Tom or Ted has gone outside and is trying to scare me," thought
+Janet. "I'll take a peep and see."
+
+Slowly she raised herself up from her crouching position behind the
+chair. And then the tapping sound on the glass came again. Janet looked
+out and gave a scream as, looking in through the window, she saw the
+face of a man on which the moon faintly shone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+ON THE SLIPPERY HILL
+
+
+Janet Martin had only a glimpse of the face of the man looking in
+through the window at her after he had tapped on the glass. As soon as
+he saw some one peering out at him, and as soon as he heard Janet
+scream--as he must have heard--the man sprang away.
+
+He was soon lost to sight in the woods around the cabin. The moon shone
+faintly--had it not been for this Jan would never have seen the man's
+face--but it was not bright enough in the forest to see him after he
+leaped away from the cabin.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh!" screamed Janet. Her voice rang out in the empty room and
+was heard by Uncle Toby, Aunt Sallie and the children playing hide and
+go seek.
+
+"What's the matter? What's the matter?" asked Uncle Toby, who was
+putting wood in the fireplace.
+
+"Oh, it's a man! A man!" cried Janet, running out from Uncle Toby's
+bedroom into the living apartment where they were now all gathered. "A
+man looked in the window at me and he tapped on the glass!"
+
+"Who was he?" asked Uncle Toby, grasping a heavy stick of wood. Tom, Ted
+and Harry at once began to think they had better take some sticks, too,
+in case there might be a fight. "Was it Jim Nelson?" went on Uncle Toby.
+"Sometimes he taps on my window when he comes around by the side path."
+
+"I--I couldn't see who it was--except that he was a man," stammered
+Janet. "As soon as he saw me looking at him he ran away."
+
+"Jim Nelson wouldn't do that unless he was playing a trick," decided
+Uncle Toby. "And Jim isn't that kind of a man. He wouldn't scare
+children. I must see who this is!"
+
+"Maybe he's the tramp we saw over at the place where you got the pail of
+water this afternoon," said Ted.
+
+"Maybe," agreed Uncle Toby. "Well, if he's a poor man and in trouble I'm
+sorry for him. But he hasn't any right to come sneaking around my
+cabin, tapping on the window. I'll see about this!"
+
+Uncle Toby went outside, and the boys followed. Trouble wanted to go
+with Ted, but Janet held back her little brother.
+
+In the moonlight, which was brighter now, as the clouds had blown away,
+Uncle Toby made a trip around the cabin, taking Skyrocket with him,
+while the boys, each with a chunk of wood as a weapon, followed Mr.
+Bardeen.
+
+Uncle Toby called loudly to know who was in the woods, and the dog
+barked, but no man answered.
+
+"I can't find any one," Uncle Toby announced, coming back into the cabin
+with the boys. "It's too dark to see if there are any strange footprints
+in the snow, and I don't believe we could tell by them anyhow, as Jim
+Nelson and some of his friends have been tramping around here the last
+few days, bringing in wood and things. Are you sure you saw a man at the
+window, Janet?"
+
+"Sure, Uncle Toby. And I heard him tapping on the glass, too."
+
+"Well, I don't believe he meant any harm. Maybe he was the tramp we saw
+at the lonely cabin, or it may have been another. He may have wanted
+shelter for the night, and something to eat. But when he heard you
+scream it must have frightened him off, as he may have had an idea he'd
+be scolded for frightening a little girl. Anyhow, no harm is done, and
+there will be no danger. Go on with your game."
+
+However, the children were too excited over what had happened to do
+this. Janet was trembling, and the others wanted her to tell over again
+just what had happened. And as Janet told and retold it she became less
+frightened, until finally she was laughing as though it had been a joke.
+
+"But if I'd 'a' got that man I'd 'a' hit him with a stick of wood!"
+threatened Ted.
+
+"So would I!" declared Tom and Harry.
+
+"Perhaps it's just as well you didn't find him then," said Uncle Toby,
+with a laugh.
+
+After the children had gone to bed--and Uncle Toby said the look of them
+all tucked in made him think of a boarding school--he and Aunt Sallie
+sat up a bit longer.
+
+"Do you really think Janet saw a man?" asked Aunt Sallie. "And if so,
+who was he?"
+
+"That's more than I can tell," Uncle Toby answered. "Janet isn't the
+kind of girl to imagine things. I believe it was a man. Probably the
+same fellow we saw running away from the lonely cabin. To-morrow I'll
+take Jim Nelson and some of the men and we'll have a look around. I
+don't want rough and strange men roaming these woods when I have a lot
+of children out here for the holidays."
+
+"I should say not!" exclaimed Aunt Sallie. "I wouldn't like it myself!
+And maybe he's the man who's been taking things."
+
+"Maybe," agreed Uncle Toby.
+
+However, there were no more alarms nor any trouble that night, and after
+a few minutes of lying awake Janet went to sleep as soundly as the other
+children. They slept rather late the next morning, for they were tired
+with the travel of the day before, and when Jan and Lola came down to
+the kitchen they found Aunt Sallie getting breakfast.
+
+"Oh, we said we'd get up and help!" exclaimed Jan. For she had promised
+her mother, on leaving home to visit Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie, that
+she would help with the housework.
+
+"And I used to get breakfast all alone," said Mary. "That is after
+mother was sick," and she could not keep back a few tears, though she
+turned her head away so the other girls would not see them.
+
+"Never mind, my dear," said Aunt Sallie, with a laugh. "I didn't want
+you to get up early. Uncle Toby told me to let you girls and the boys
+sleep."
+
+"Oh, aren't the boys up yet?" asked Jan, with a laugh.
+
+"Don't tell me we've beaten!" added Lola, with a giggle.
+
+"They said they were going to get up and see the sun rise," remarked
+Mary.
+
+"I guess they forgot it, or else they thought they could see the sun
+some other morning," laughed Aunt Sallie. "For they aren't down yet,
+though it's almost time to call them, for I'm going to start to bake the
+pancakes soon."
+
+"Oh, are you going to have pancakes?" cried Jan.
+
+"Yes, and with maple syrup," Aunt Sallie answered.
+
+"Oh, I love them!" exclaimed Lola. "Don't you, Mary?"
+
+"I--I don't know," was the hesitating answer. "I--I guess I never had
+any."
+
+"Oh my, just--" but Lola stopped. She was going to say "just fancy a
+girl never having eaten pancakes with maple syrup!" But she thought it
+would not be polite to say that, so she changed it to:
+
+"Just you wait until you try them! You'll love them!"
+
+"I know Ted does, so I'm going to call him!" exclaimed Janet. "He
+wouldn't want to keep on sleeping and miss the cakes."
+
+"Tom wouldn't, either," declared Lola.
+
+So they called the boys, who soon rushed downstairs, as hungry as ever
+any boys were. And the girls were quite as hungry. As for Trouble, he
+always thought he was hungry whether he was or not.
+
+Uncle Toby came in, having been out to do the chores, he said. He had
+also been over to Jim Nelson's cabin to talk about the man who had
+tapped on the window, scaring Janet. But Uncle Toby said nothing about
+this. Instead he said:
+
+"Getting colder, boys and girls. Hope you brought your skates."
+
+"Why," asked Ted, "is there skating?"
+
+"No; but there will be. Shouldn't wonder but what part of the lake would
+freeze over by to-morrow. But don't any of you go on until I try the
+ice to see if it's safe."
+
+"Guess there isn't any danger of me going on," remarked Harry Benton.
+
+"Why not?" asked Ted. "Don't you like to skate?"
+
+"Sure I do!" Harry answered. "But I haven't any skates."
+
+"I brought some extra pairs along," remarked Uncle Toby. "I think I have
+some that will fit you and Mary."
+
+"Oh, goodie!" cried Mary, for she felt she could now have fun like the
+other girls.
+
+"But it hasn't frozen yet, though it soon will be," said Uncle Toby.
+"Well, I'm going to leave you youngsters to amuse yourselves for a
+while, as I have some things to look after."
+
+Uncle Toby paused for a moment and then went on.
+
+"Now about school."
+
+"Yes," said Ted, in a low voice. "I s'pose we'll have to go," he added,
+with a sigh.
+
+"No!" exclaimed Uncle Toby. "That's the queer part of it. You can't go.
+I told your folks you could, but you can't."
+
+"Why not?" asked Jan, and neither she nor any of the others seemed
+disappointed.
+
+"The teacher they had here was taken sick, I've just heard, and they
+can't get another until after the holidays. So it doesn't look as though
+you could go to school. I'm sorry--"
+
+"Oh, ho!" cried the Curlytops and their playmates. "No school! Hurray!"
+
+"Now we'll go out and have some fun!" shouted Ted, as Uncle Toby left
+the cabin.
+
+"Me come!" cried Trouble.
+
+"Yes, we'll take you," answered Lola.
+
+"Take good care of Trouble!" called Aunt Sallie to the boys and girls as
+they started from the cabin. They were warmly dressed, as it was getting
+colder, just as Uncle Toby had declared.
+
+"We'll watch him!" called back Jan.
+
+Off through the trees, under which, here and there, were patches of
+snow, wandered the Curlytops and their playmates. They laughed and
+shouted, running here and there until they were nearly as warm as on a
+summer's day. It was sheltered under the trees, but out in the open was
+getting colder, and in places thin ice was forming on Crystal Lake.
+
+They walked along, sometimes all together and again with the boys
+running ahead of the girls, until they came to a little hill, covered
+with pine trees. The wind had swept the ground bare of snow here, or
+else it had melted, and in places were patches of the long, smooth and
+slippery pine needles.
+
+Tom, Ted, and Harry had run off to one side, for Skyrocket had scared up
+a rabbit and the boys wanted to see the bunny, though they would not
+have let the dog harm it. Trouble started to follow his brother and the
+other two lads, but as he reached the top of the pine-needle-covered
+hill Janet called him back.
+
+"Trouble, come here!" she exclaimed.
+
+"No!" he answered. "I go see bunny rabbit!"
+
+"No, you must stay with me," said Janet, starting after him. Trouble
+gathered himself to spring away on a run, but suddenly there was a queer
+screeching call in a tree over his head, and a moment later the little
+fellow went sliding and slipping down the hill and out of sight.
+
+"Oh, dear!" cried Janet
+
+"Was it an eagle that screamed?" asked Lola, who did not know much about
+birds.
+
+"Maybe the eagle carried him off," suggested Mary, who knew even less
+about the creatures of the woods.
+
+"There aren't any eagles around here, I hope," said Janet. "But
+something happened to Trouble! I hope he isn't hurt!"
+
+Again came that shrill, harsh call. It sounded like:
+
+"Hay! Hay! Hay!"
+
+"Somebody is laughing because Trouble fell downhill," said Lola. "I
+wonder if it's that horrid old man?"
+
+A moment later there was a rustling in the bushes, and a large bird with
+bright blue feathers marked with patches of white flew up into a tree
+harshly crying:
+
+"Hay! Hay! Hay!"
+
+"Oh, it's a blue jay!" exclaimed Janet, as she ran to the top of the
+hill to see what had happened to William. It was nothing serious. He had
+merely slid down on the smooth brown pine needles which covered the
+ground and made it almost as slippery as a coasting hill. Perhaps the
+sudden cry of the blue jay had made Trouble give a nervous jump and this
+had thrown him off his balance, causing him to fall.
+
+"Was that bird chase me?" he asked, as he heard the blue one cry and saw
+it flitting about.
+
+"Oh, no," answered Lola. "You chased yourself, I guess. Are you hurt?"
+
+"I--I'm all--bumped," explained Trouble.
+
+And this, really, was all that had happened to him. The pine hill was so
+smooth that no one could have been hurt on it. The girls found it so
+slippery that they could hardly stand up on it while helping Trouble up.
+
+"Let's try--" began Mary. She was about to say "try a slide," when her
+feet suddenly went from under her and she did as Trouble had done. She
+burst out laughing, as did William and the other two girls, and the
+woods echoed to the merry sound, bringing the boys over on the run. They
+had not seen the rabbit after the first fleeting glimpse.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ted.
+
+"We've found a slippery place," answered his sister.
+
+"Come on, let's try it!" suggested Tom.
+
+They all did, making efforts to go down the slippery pine-needle hill
+standing up. But every one toppled before reaching the bottom of the
+hill. However, this was part of the fun, and Trouble enjoyed it with the
+others.
+
+Now and then the blue jay would flit to and fro, alighting on the trees
+or bushes, and shrilly cry:
+
+"Hay! Hay! Hay!"
+
+"Maybe he wants to play, too," suggested Mary, who liked to look at one
+of our most brilliantly colored winter birds.
+
+"He's making enough fuss about it, anyhow," said Tom.
+
+The children had lots of fun in the woods that day and the next. No more
+tappings on the window were heard, and the Curlytops and their playmates
+forgot all about the little scare. The weather grew colder and colder.
+One morning Uncle Toby came in from the barn. He rubbed his red hands
+before the fire and said:
+
+"Lake's frozen over! Now you can go skating!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A REAL TOBOGGAN
+
+
+"Let's have a race!" cried Ted, as soon as his skates were fastened on
+his shoes, for as soon as breakfast was over the children had gone out
+on the ice with their skates.
+
+"All right!" shouted Tom, who was quite ready for this sort of fun. "I
+can beat you, Ted Martin!"
+
+"And I can beat you, Tom Taylor!" exclaimed Lola, his sister, who was a
+very good skater.
+
+"Oh, wouldn't it be fun if we two could beat them?" suggested Jan to
+Lola.
+
+"We'll try," was the answer.
+
+Meanwhile, though Mary and Harry had put on their skates, they took no
+part in this talk and stood about on the ice as if they hardly knew what
+to do.
+
+"Will you join in the race?" asked Lola of Mary. "We three girls against
+the boys."
+
+"I don't believe I can skate well enough to race," Mary answered, and
+her brother joined in with:
+
+"You see we never had much chance to skate, and about all we can do is
+to move along in a straight line." He laughed good-naturedly over his
+own lack of skill.
+
+"Oh, that's all right!" cried Ted, in jolly fashion. "We won't have any
+race then--that is, until after you two get more used to your skates."
+
+"Oh, don't let us stop you from having fun!" exclaimed Mary.
+
+"We can have just as much fun not racing. I don't care much for it,
+anyhow, do you, Jan?" said Lola.
+
+"No, indeed!" answered the Curlytop girl. Thus did they try to make Mary
+and Harry feel happier, and they succeeded.
+
+"I tell you what we can do," suggested Tom Taylor. "Ted and I can show
+you a few easy tricks on skates, Harry, and Jan and Lola can do the same
+with Mary."
+
+"That will be fine!" exclaimed Harry. "Then, when we know more about it,
+we can have a race."
+
+So it was decided, and then and there began lessons for the two poor
+children whom Uncle Toby had brought to Crystal Lake so they might have
+a good time over the holidays. Harry and Mary were quick to learn, and
+though it would be some time before they could beat any of the other
+four children in a race, they did very well for beginners.
+
+"See if you can do this!" cried Ted, after having shown Harry how to
+"grind the bar" backward, a trick Harry soon learned.
+
+"Watch me!" cried Ted, as he began doing what he called a grapevine
+twist. To do it he darted farther out from shore than any of them had
+yet gone, and just as he was dong some fancy skating there was a loud
+booming, cracking sound that sent a shiver all through the ice on which
+the others were standing.
+
+"Oh, come! Come back!" cried Jan to her brother. "The ice is going to
+break! We'll fall in!"
+
+"That's right!" yelled Tom. "Come on back, Ted!"
+
+Ted needed no urging, but skated as fast as he could toward shore,
+whither the others were fleeing as fast as they could strike out on
+their skates. They reached land safely, and, to their surprise, no big
+cracks or holes appeared in the ice. It seemed as solid as ever.
+
+"I wonder what made that?" asked Janet, whose heart was beating fast.
+
+"The ice broke somewhere," declared Lola.
+
+"We'd better not go on it any more," said Mary.
+
+"Well go up and ask Uncle Toby about it," suggested Ted. "I don't want
+to stop skating."
+
+As the children were about to take off their skates to go back to the
+cabin, Aunt Sallie was seen coming down, dragging Trouble on a sled.
+There were patches of snow here and there so it was not hard to pull the
+sled along. And Trouble was not very heavy.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Sallie, you ought to hear the ice crack!" called the children
+in a chorus.
+
+"Is it dangerous?" asked Mary.
+
+Uncle Toby came out of the bungalow and heard what was asked.
+
+"That rumbling, cracking sound isn't anything dangerous," he said. "The
+ice often does that, and often big cracks come in it out in the middle
+of the lake. But it is thick enough, and it won't break through with
+you or I shouldn't have let you go skating. But, even with all I have
+said, don't go too far out."
+
+The children felt safer, now that Uncle Toby had told them this, and Ted
+again started to show Harry how to do a grapevine twist. Aunt Sallie
+gave the sled and Trouble over in charge of the girls, and they skated
+up and down pulling William to and fro, to his great delight.
+
+The boys, now that Harry felt more at home on his skates, began to try
+to outdo each other in tricks, and when Harry said he would be the
+judge, Tom and Ted had a race, Ted winning.
+
+Once Jan and Lola skated so fast, pretending they were a team of horses
+pulling Trouble on his sled, that Jan stumbled and fell down, also
+tripping Lola. The girls were not hurt, and they slid along over the ice
+laughing. But the sled was upset, Trouble fell off, and though he was so
+bundled up that he didn't get hurt, he began to cry.
+
+"I guess we'd better take him in," suggested Jan. "He may be cold.
+Anyhow, I've had enough skating."
+
+"So have I," said Mary and Lola.
+
+They went up to the cabin, taking Trouble with them. But the boys
+remained on the ice a while longer, and Harry was rapidly becoming a
+good skater.
+
+The three lads did not take off their skates until it was time for
+dinner, and after the meal they went back on the frozen lake again,
+though the girls stayed in to play with their dolls.
+
+"Make the most of your skating," said Uncle Toby, as he watched the
+three lads circling around on the ice.
+
+"Why?" asked Tom.
+
+"Because I think we are going to have another storm," was the answer.
+"It is going to snow, and then all the ice will be covered. Of course
+you can scrape clean a small place, but it will be hard work. So get all
+the skating you can while it's good."
+
+This the boys did, that day and the next. But the following morning,
+when they awakened and looked from the windows, they saw the ground
+white with snow, and more flakes coming down.
+
+"Hurray!" cried Tom. "Now we can have fun coasting!"
+
+"And maybe we can make a toboggan slide!" added Ted.
+
+"I've seen them," remarked Harry, "but I was never on one."
+
+"We had a wooden one in our yard, but we had to put candle grease on our
+sled runners first," Ted explained. "It would be great if we could make
+a regular toboggan slide."
+
+"Let's ask Uncle Toby," suggested Janet.
+
+Uncle Toby laughed in jolly fashion as the Curlytops and their playmates
+swarmed around him in the cozy cabin.
+
+"A toboggan slide, eh?" he cried. "Well, I don't see why you can't have
+one, and you don't need to build it of wood, either, for there's a good
+hill not far away. But how would you like to coast on a regular toboggan
+instead of your sleds?"
+
+"Oh, could we?" shouted Ted.
+
+"I guess so," was the answer. "There's a French Canadian who lives not
+far away, and he has a big toboggan. We'll go over in the auto and see
+if he'll let us take it. I used to have one out here, but I find that
+it's broken."
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have!" sang Janet, and the others joined in the
+chorus of joy.
+
+It kept on snowing, but they could journey out in the big, closed
+automobile even with the storm all about, and this they soon did.
+
+"But if we get the toboggan how can we get it in here? There isn't much
+room," remarked Ted, for the children and Uncle Toby almost filled the
+big machine.
+
+"Oh, we'll tie it on behind and pull it over," said Uncle Toby. "A
+toboggan can go faster than any auto."
+
+"I ride on it!" said Trouble, and the others laughed, for of course he
+didn't know what he was talking about.
+
+The road to the cabin of the French Canadian lumberman who owned the big
+toboggan ran past the lonely shack where Uncle Toby had once stopped for
+water and from which the strange man had run away. As they neared this
+cabin again Ted asked:
+
+"I wonder if that man is in there now?"
+
+"I don't know," said Uncle Toby. "But I think I'll take a look. Jim
+Nelson and I meant to do it before this, but we haven't had a chance. We
+don't want any tramps living in our woods."
+
+He stopped the machine near the cabin and got out. The boys wanted to
+follow him, but he told them to remain with the girls.
+
+"I'm just going to look in the window," said Uncle Toby.
+
+He did this, first at the front windows, and evidently saw nothing, for
+he soon went around to the rear. And suddenly the children in the
+automobile heard shouting, and the shouts came from inside the cabin.
+
+"Somebody's there!" cried Ted, starting to get out.
+
+"You stay here!" cried Janet, catching her brother by the coat. "Uncle
+Toby told you to stay here!"
+
+As Ted sank back in his seat they could all hear Uncle Toby saying:
+
+"Who are you? What are you doing in there?"
+
+The man in the lonely cabin answered, but what he said the Curlytops and
+their playmates could not tell. There was more shouting to and fro
+between Uncle Toby and the unknown man, and then Mr. Bardeen came around
+to the front of the cabin.
+
+"Is he there? Who is he? What does he want?" The children quickly asked
+these questions.
+
+"Oh, he's just a tramp I guess," answered Uncle Toby. "I couldn't make
+much out of him. But I'll tell Jim Nelson and some of the lumbermen, and
+we'll see what he's doing there. He can't do much harm, for there isn't
+anything of value in the old shack. But it's just as well not to have a
+tramp in there."
+
+Once again Uncle Toby started the machine, and soon they were at the
+cabin of the French Canadian.
+
+"Could we borrow your toboggan, Jules?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"Oh, of a sure yes!" was the answer, Jules doing his best to speak what
+to him was a new language. "I bring she out to you!"
+
+He ran around to the back of his shack, and soon came into view again
+with a real toboggan, at the sight of which the children set up a joyous
+shout.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE SNOW HOUSE
+
+
+The Frenchman's toboggan was a large one. It would hold all of the
+Curlytops and their playmates, with room to spare. I suppose most of you
+have seen toboggans, or pictures of them, and know what they are.
+Instead of being made like a sled, with steel runners, a toboggan is
+like a thin, flat board, with the front end curled up like the old
+fashioned Dutch skates. Only instead of being made of one flat piece of
+wood, a large toboggan is made of several strips fastened together so it
+will not so easily break.
+
+On the side of Jules's toboggan were hand rails, to which the riders
+could hold. There was also a cushion on which to sit, and altogether it
+was a very fine way of coasting downhill.
+
+"Oh, what fun we'll have on this!" cried Jan.
+
+"Will it go fast?" asked Lola.
+
+"It'll go like an express train!" cried Ted.
+
+"And we fellows will take turns sitting on the back and sticking our
+feet out to steer," added Tom, for that is how a toboggan is guided, you
+know.
+
+"If it's going as fast as an express train I don't believe I want to
+ride," said Mary, who was rather more timid than the other children.
+
+"Don't let those boys scare you," advised Janet. "They're only talking
+to hear themselves talk. Tom and Ted are always that way--aren't they,
+Lola?"
+
+"Yes," answered Tom's sister, with a laugh.
+
+The boys were now clustered around the big toboggan, and Trouble had
+taken his seat in the middle of the cushion.
+
+"You give me wide!" he demanded of his brother.
+
+"Not now--a little later," promised Ted. He wanted to listen to what the
+Canadian was saying, telling Uncle Toby how the big toboggan was best
+managed on a hill.
+
+"I'll go down with the children the first few times," said Uncle Toby,
+"to make sure it's all right. Our hill isn't so very steep, and I don't
+believe there's much danger."
+
+"On little hill not--no!" exclaimed Jules, with a smile that showed all
+his white teeth. "But on big hill, steep so like roof of house, toboggan
+her go like what you say--fifty-nine?"
+
+"I guess you mean like sixty," laughed Uncle Toby.
+
+"Mebby so. Her go very fast. I like for childrens to have good time, but
+not too fast!"
+
+"I'll see that they are careful," promised Uncle Toby.
+
+After much teasing the three boys were allowed to sit on the toboggan
+after it was tied to the rear of the automobile for the trip home.
+
+"I won't go very fast," said Uncle Toby. "But if I should have to stop
+you boys will need to stick your feet down in the snow suddenly to put
+on the brakes, you know, or you'll bump into my rear wheels."
+
+"We'll do that," promised Tom, Ted, and Harry.
+
+Trouble wanted to ride with the boys on the toboggan as it was drawn
+along over the snow behind the auto, but he was not allowed to do this,
+as it was thought his brother and the other two lads would be so full of
+fun that they would forget to watch him, and he might fall off and be
+left behind.
+
+The toboggan was made fast with a long rope, the boys took their places,
+and with many thanks to Jules for his kindness, the trip home was begun.
+
+"Hurray!" cried Ted. "Here we go!"
+
+"Talk about fun!" shouted Tom. "We're having it all right!"
+
+"I never had such a good time in my life," said Harry, his eyes shining
+with pleasure. He wished his mother might have shared in some of his and
+his sister's enjoyment, and how he wished that he had a father, such as
+the other boys had, only he himself knew. But he said nothing of this.
+
+"Hold on tightly now, boys!" called Uncle Toby.
+
+"We will!" they answered, and away they went.
+
+At first everything was all right. The road was slightly uphill and the
+toboggan kept well back from the wheels of the automobile, so there was
+no danger of bumping into them. But when the automobile started down
+grade toward Uncle Toby's cabin, the wooden sled slid faster than the
+automobile was pulling it.
+
+"Put on brakes! Put on brakes!" shouted Ted.
+
+"Stick your feet in the snow!" echoed Tom.
+
+The three boys thrust their feet out on either side of the toboggan,
+digging their heels into the snow, and in this way they made themselves
+slow up, so they did not hit the wheels. Even if they had done so no
+harm would have resulted, because the wheels had large rubber tires on
+them, and the front of the toboggan came up in a big curve.
+
+Soon they were going uphill again, and the boys did not have to "put on
+brakes." But as Uncle Toby made the automobile go a bit faster, when
+they were near his cabin, he and the girls suddenly heard laughing
+shouts from the boys behind them.
+
+"Oh, something has happened!" exclaimed Jan, looking out of the rear
+window of the closed car.
+
+"They've fallen off!" added Mary. "I hope they aren't hurt!"
+
+"Can't be much hurt, falling off in the snow," laughed Uncle Toby, as
+he brought the car to a stop, got out, and went back, followed by the
+girls. The toboggan had turned upside down, but was not damaged. The
+boys, laughing so joyously that they could hardly walk, were coming
+along, covered with snow.
+
+"What happened?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.
+
+"Oh, the toboggan struck a big lump of snow in the middle of the road
+and turned right over. It spilled us off!" explained Ted.
+
+"But it was fun!" added Harry. And so it was.
+
+"Well, we're almost there. Better walk the rest of the way," advised
+Uncle Toby. "Take the toboggan off and pull it."
+
+This was done, two of the boys taking turns pulling the third over the
+short distance remaining.
+
+"And now for some real tobogganing!" cried Ted, as the cabin was
+reached.
+
+Uncle Toby, however, would not let the children go down alone for the
+first few times. He wanted to be sure the boys knew how to manage the
+big sled, which, though large, was very light, as all toboggans are,
+and thus are much safer than a sled with steel runners.
+
+There was a long, but not too steep, hill near the cabin, and the
+Curlytops and their playmates were soon at the top of this, with Uncle
+Toby and the toboggan.
+
+"All aboard!" called Mr. Bardeen, and they took their places on the
+cushion, holding to the hand rails. Trouble was not allowed to go down
+the first time, but Aunt Sallie had all she could do to keep him with
+her as she stood at the top of the slope watching the coasting party.
+
+"You shall soon have a ride, Trouble," Aunt Sallie promised. "As soon as
+the hill is made a little smooth."
+
+"All ready?" cried Uncle Toby.
+
+"Let's go!" cried Ted.
+
+Uncle Toby gave a push with his foot, which he had thrust out behind to
+steer with, and down the snow-covered hill went the toboggan with its
+happy load. They did not go very fast on this first trip, as the snow
+needed to be packed down smooth and hard. But after the second or third
+voyage the toboggan moved more swiftly.
+
+"Do you like it Mary?" asked Janet.
+
+"Oh, I just love it!" cried the other, with shining eyes.
+
+Uncle Toby, finding that everything was safe, allowed the boys, one
+after another, to try steering the light, wooden sled. Finding that they
+could manage all right, he let them have charge of the toboggan, and at
+last Trouble was allowed to coast down, sitting between Lola and Janet.
+
+Of course Trouble wanted to take his turn at steering with the other
+boys, but that was out of the question, even though he teased very much.
+It would not have been safe, of course.
+
+And such fun as the Curlytops and their playmates had! The toboggan was
+much better than a sled, and safer, even though it went faster. It was
+almost like flying with the snowbirds, Lola said.
+
+Of course there were little accidents and upsets. Once, when Harry was
+steering, the toboggan turned completely around when half way down the
+hill and began sliding backward. And as the back end was blunt, having
+no curve to slip easily over the snow, there was a turnover, and the
+children were spilled all the way down the hill.
+
+But they never minded that, only rolling over and over to the bottom, or
+nearly there, laughing and shouting meanwhile. It was fun for Skyrocket,
+too, the dog leaping here and there, barking and chasing snowballs which
+the girls threw for him to race after.
+
+Once they took Skyrocket down on the toboggan with them, or, rather,
+they took him half way, for midway on the hill Skyrocket decided he
+didn't like that way of traveling, and with a howl he leaped off. It was
+too swift for him, I suppose.
+
+But the children had great delight in it, and would have kept on with
+the toboggan fun all day if Uncle Toby had let them. He did not want
+them to get too tired, however, nor did Aunt Sallie want Trouble to stay
+out in the cold too long, though he was a sturdy little chap.
+
+After lunch, when Trouble was having his usual nap, Lola and Jan said
+they would like to try steering the toboggan, and Uncle Toby said they
+might.
+
+"Well, we fellows won't ride if you girls steer," declared Ted. "You'd
+upset us first shot."
+
+"Pooh! You don't need to ride!" laughed Janet. "We can do better without
+you."
+
+The girls learned to steer, after a lesson or two from Uncle Toby. Even
+timid Mary managed to do quite well, though Janet and Lola, being more
+used to outdoor life in the country, did better than Mary. The girls had
+their little accidents, too, upsetting more than once, but they did not
+mind this.
+
+For several days, while the snow lasted, the Curlytops and their friends
+had fun in the snow. The weather was bright and sunny, and not too cold.
+One day Janet, going out to the kitchen where Aunt Sallie was busy,
+found the table covered with packages and bundles that Uncle Toby had
+brought from the village store.
+
+"What's going on?" asked Janet.
+
+"Thanksgiving will soon be going on," answered Aunt Sallie. "I must get
+my mincemeat made, and do a lot of planning for the big family I expect
+to have at dinner."
+
+"Oh, I didn't know Thanksgiving was so near!" exclaimed Janet. At first
+she was joyous, and then a little feeling of sadness came to her. This
+would be the first Thanksgiving she remembered when daddy and mother
+were not present. The other children, too, when they were told about
+the coming feast at Uncle Toby's cabin, looked a little serious when
+they realized that none of their grown-ups would be with them. Of course
+Mary and Harry did not expect this, for they knew their mother could not
+come from the hospital for a long time, and as for their father--they
+had given him up as dead, long ago.
+
+"But maybe daddy and mother will be here for Christmas!" said Janet.
+
+"Maybe!" agreed Ted.
+
+"I'm going to write and ask our father and mother to come here for
+Christmas. May I, Uncle Toby?" asked Lola, for in common with the
+Curlytops she called Mr. Bardeen by this name.
+
+"Of course!" Uncle Toby answered. "The more the merrier! And if your
+mother is able to come from the hospital, we'll have her here for
+Christmas," and he nodded at Mary and Harry. This made that boy and girl
+very happy, for it is often happiness just to think of something
+pleasant that may happen.
+
+One morning, several days after the first of the toboggan riding, the
+boys, who had gotten up ahead of the girls for once, began shouting
+outside the cabin.
+
+"What's going on, I wonder?" asked Janet.
+
+"Oh, I guess they're just yelling for the fun of it," answered Lola.
+
+"They're saying something about a house," said Mary.
+
+Janet raised the window and listened. Just then Ted shouted:
+
+"Come on out, girls, and help us build a snow house. We're going to make
+the biggest snow house you ever saw!"
+
+"And when it's finished you can have a tea party in it," added Tom.
+
+"Oh, what lovely fun that will be!" cried Mary.
+
+Soon the boys and girls, with Skyrocket frolicking around them, began
+making the snow house. The sun had so warmed the snow that it packed
+well.
+
+First a number of big snowballs were rolled and placed one after the
+other in the form of a square on the ground. This was to be the
+foundation of the house.
+
+Other snowballs were lifted on top of the first large ones, and snow
+packed in the cracks until, when afternoon came, there were four walls
+of snow, much higher than the heads of the children.
+
+"It looks more like a fort than a snow house," said Lola.
+
+"We've got to put the roof on," Tom answered. "How we going to do that,
+Ted?"
+
+"I don't know," was the reply. "I never made such a big snow house. If
+we make the roof only of snow it will fall in on us."
+
+"You'd better ask Uncle Toby," suggested Janet, and this they did.
+
+"I'll show you how to make a good roof," Uncle Toby told the children.
+"Just get me a lot of poles from that pile over there. I used them to
+raise beans this summer. Bring me a lot of those long poles."
+
+The children ran to carry them to him, wondering how Uncle Toby could
+make a roof on a snow house out of poles.
+
+[Illustration: OTHER SNOWBALLS WERE LIFTED ON TOP OF THE FIRST LARGE
+ONES. Page 195]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THANKSGIVING
+
+
+Perhaps if the Curlytops and their playmates had thought about it a
+little harder they might have guessed how Uncle Toby intended to make
+the roof of their snow house with the bean poles. It was very simple.
+
+When the boys and girls had brought a number of the long, thin poles to
+him, Uncle Toby took the poles, one at a time, and laid them carefully
+across the tops of the white walls. Each end of the pole rested on the
+wall, and when all were in place, laid close together, there was the
+beginning of the roof.
+
+"But it's full of holes," objected Ted, as he went in through the
+doorway that had been left, and, looking up, could see the sky in
+between the spaces of the poles.
+
+"Yes, of course it's full of holes," laughed Uncle Toby. "All you have
+to do is to plaster some snow in the cracks, and then cover the poles
+with more snow and you'll have a roof to your house that won't fall in
+on you."
+
+"Why, how easy!" cried Tom. "It's a wonder we didn't think of that
+ourselves."
+
+"You'll know how next time," replied Uncle Toby. "Bring a few more
+poles."
+
+This the children did, even Trouble dragging over some of the smallest
+ones from the pile. Then the roof was ready for its coating of snow, and
+the children began tossing it on with their hands and from shovels.
+
+At first the snow dropped through some of the larger cracks between the
+poles, but these were soon filled, and then a solid mass of white was
+spread over the roof of the snow house.
+
+"I'm going to see if I can't plaster some snow over the poles from
+inside, so they won't show," decided Ted, when the outside top of the
+roof was finished. "Then it will look like a solid snow roof."
+
+The other boys helped with this, but it was not as easy as they had
+thought it would be. For often after they had stuck a handful of snow
+on the ceiling inside, it would fall down, once or twice right in their
+faces.
+
+But at last they had the inside poles pretty well plastered over with
+snow, and the house was finished. There was a doorway, and two windows,
+and over the door a blanket was hung. Uncle Toby put some sheets of ice
+in the windows, and they looked just like glass.
+
+"Oh, this is the nicest snow house I ever saw!" cried Janet.
+
+"It's like a fairy one!" exclaimed Mary. "I never dreamed of one so nice
+as this."
+
+"It's the best one we ever made," said Ted, and the other boys agreed
+with him.
+
+But the fun was only beginning. The girls had been promised, if they
+helped with the making of the snow house, that they could have a play
+party in it for themselves and, if they chose, their dolls.
+
+"We'll ask Aunt Sallie for something to eat and have the play party
+now," decided Janet, when some boxes had been put in the snow house to
+serve as tables and chairs.
+
+"Will the dolls eat everything?" asked Tom, with a smile.
+
+"What do you mean--eat everything?" his sister wanted to know.
+
+"I mean will there be anything left for us?" and Tom winked at the other
+boys.
+
+"Oh, I guess Aunt Sallie will give enough for everybody," said Janet,
+and Aunt Sallie did.
+
+As she was getting ready for Thanksgiving, there was plenty to eat in
+Uncle Toby's bungalow, and soon sandwiches and cake, and a tin pail full
+of hot chocolate were carried out to the snow house.
+
+"It's a regular picnic in the snow!" cried Mary, in delight. "I never
+knew anything as nice as this."
+
+The girls took their dolls out to the snow house, Mary having brought
+hers from home with her, and though it was not as well dressed or as
+costly as the dolls of Janet or Lola, still Mary loved her "child" just
+as much.
+
+Janet wanted to make Trouble a rag doll to play with, but he insisted
+that he was an "Indian," for that is what the other boys were pretending
+to be.
+
+"An' Injuns don't have dolls!" declared Trouble, as he sat on a box in
+the snow house and sipped his warm chocolate.
+
+For two or three days the children played in the snow house, the
+weather being mild, so that it was quite comfortable in the white
+"igloo," as Uncle Toby called it. The children wanted to know where that
+name came from, and he told them it was what the Eskimos of the Polar
+regions called their egg-shape huts of ice and snow.
+
+The pole roof was a great success, for it did not fall in on the heads
+of the boys and girls. And there is nothing worse, when you are having
+fun in a snow house, than to have the roof cave in on you.
+
+Of course there were little accidents, caused by the snow which the boys
+had plastered to the inside of the poles. More than once little chunks
+of snow fell, but they were so light they did no harm, even when they
+hit Janet or Lola on the head.
+
+Once, however, just as Ted was lifting a cup of chocolate to his mouth,
+a chunk of snow fell right into the cup, splashing the chocolate all
+over the lad. Luckily it was not hot, though after the splashing was
+over Ted looked as if he had colored himself to take part in a minstrel
+show.
+
+The other children laughed, and so did Ted, after his first surprise.
+
+"To-morrow will be Thanksgiving!" exclaimed Lola one night, as they
+hurried in from a long day of fun.
+
+"And you ought to see the big pile of good things there are to eat!"
+exclaimed Tom. "Oh, boys!"
+
+"Aunt Sallie sure has cooked a lot!" cried Ted.
+
+"The most I ever saw," added Harry. "And such a turkey!"
+
+"And such cranberry sauce!" sighed his sister.
+
+"An' there's candy an' nuts an'--an' lots of things!" added Trouble.
+"It's mos' like Ch'is'mus!"
+
+"Yes, it surely is," agreed Janet. "Only I hope by Christmas we'll have
+daddy and mother here." A letter had come from Mr. and Mrs. Martin from
+the distant city where they had gone to see about the money. In the
+letter the parents of the Curlytops said they hoped to be with them at
+Christmas.
+
+The father and mother of Tom and Lola had also written, wishing the
+children the joys of a happy Thanksgiving, and saying they would come up
+at Christmas with Mr. and Mrs. Martin.
+
+There was also a letter from Mrs. Benton, in which the poor woman said
+that she had been operated on, and was much better, but added that she
+would have to be under the doctor's care and in the hospital some time
+yet.
+
+"Anyhow, it's something to be thankful for," said Mary. Her brother
+agreed with her. And if in their hearts there was a little sadness
+because they had no father to share the joys of the holidays with them,
+they kept it to themselves.
+
+"We all have lots to be thankful for," said Aunt Sallie, when the feast
+day came. "Yes, and you shall have something, too," she added to
+Skyrocket, who was sniffing hungrily at the kitchen door.
+
+After breakfast Uncle Toby took them all to the village church in the
+automobile, though of course Skyrocket was left at the cabin. He did not
+like it very much, either, and howled dismally after the Curlytops.
+
+Home they drove, through the crisp air of the woods, to take part in the
+bountiful feast that was ready all but the "finishing touches," as Aunt
+Sallie called them.
+
+And such a feast as it was! Never was there such a browned turkey! Never
+such jolly red mounds of cranberry sauce, almost like jelly! Never such
+crisp celery! And the gravy that covered the heaping plates that the
+children had passed to them! Surely never was such gravy made!
+
+"Oh, I don't believe I can ever eat another thing!" exclaimed Mary, when
+Uncle Toby asked her to have another slice of turkey.
+
+"Hasn't you got any room left?" asked Trouble, patting his own little
+stomach. "I got some room. I saved it for the _ice-cream_!" he added,
+hoarsely whispering the last word.
+
+"Oh, is there ice-cream?" asked Janet. "I didn't know you'd made any,
+Aunt Sallie."
+
+"It isn't exactly ice-cream," answered Uncle Toby's housekeeper. "It's a
+sort of snow-cream I made, but maybe you children will like it."
+
+"Sure we will!" cried the boys.
+
+"Will you have it now, or the plum pudding?" Aunt Sallie wanted to know.
+
+"Oh, is there plum pudding, too?" Janet asked, in surprise.
+
+"Yes," nodded Aunt Sallie. "Nice, hot plum pudding!"
+
+"Let's have the pudding last," suggested Lola. "The snow-cream will make
+us cold and the plum pudding will make us warm again."
+
+"A good idea," said Uncle Toby, with a laugh. "I hope none of the
+children gets ill," he thought to himself. "Their folks will say I gave
+them too much Thanksgiving. But they look all right now," he added, as
+he scanned the happy faces.
+
+Aunt Sallie served the snow-cream. It was rather like a frozen pudding,
+being made of clean snow beaten up with milk, eggs, sugar, and flavoring
+extract.
+
+The children made away with this, and then Aunt Sallie went to the
+kitchen to get the hot plum pudding. She was gone a few minutes when she
+came hurrying back into the dining room, a strange look on her face.
+
+"It's gone!" she cried to Uncle Toby.
+
+"What?" he asked.
+
+"The plum pudding! Some one has taken it!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+SKYROCKET IS GONE
+
+
+Uncle Toby first looked around the table at the double row of faces of
+the children. All showed as much surprise as had Aunt Sallie when she
+had come in with the news about the pudding being gone. At first Uncle
+Toby had an idea that one of the boys had taken the dessert for a joke,
+hiding it away in some nook. But one look at the faces of Tom, Ted, and
+Harry showed Uncle Toby that this had not happened.
+
+"Where did you put the pudding, Aunt Sallie?" Uncle Toby wanted to know.
+
+"Right inside the kitchen pantry, on the back shelf near the window."
+
+"Was the window open, Aunt Sallie?"
+
+"Just a little crack, yes, Uncle Toby. I opened it when I set the
+pudding near it so it would cool a little before the children ate it."
+
+"That accounts for it then!" exclaimed Mr. Bardeen. "Skyrocket reached
+in through the open window and took the pudding!"
+
+There was a gasp of surprise from the children at this, and Ted
+exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, it couldn't have been our dog, Uncle Toby! He's been right here in
+the room all the while."
+
+"Yes, that's so," added Aunt Sallie. "And, anyhow, the window wasn't
+open wide enough for Skyrocket to get his head in. He couldn't take the
+pudding out in his paw as your monkey could do."
+
+"Maybe not," agreed Uncle Toby. "Anyhow, I'm glad to know it wasn't
+Skyrocket, for I like that dog. But some one must have taken the
+pudding, Aunt Sallie. Unless it slipped out of the window itself, and
+went off on the toboggan!"
+
+The children laughed at this idea, but Aunt Sallie took it seriously,
+for she said:
+
+"Oh, it couldn't do that, Uncle Toby. I mean it couldn't slip out of the
+window," she added, as the Curlytops laughed again. "I had it covered
+with a tin pan, and that's on the shelf, but the pudding is gone from
+under it."
+
+"This is getting mysterious," said Uncle Toby. "We must take a look and
+see about it."
+
+"I'm so sorry, for I wanted the children to have some of my plum
+pudding," went on Aunt Sallie.
+
+"Oh, don't worry about it," said Lola. "We had plenty to eat."
+
+"Too much, I'm afraid," chuckled Uncle Toby. "Maybe it's just as well
+the pudding is missing. The children will sleep better without it, Aunt
+Sallie."
+
+"Oh, 'tisn't so much the _pudding_ that I am worried about," went on the
+kindly housekeeper, in a whisper. "It is that some one may be sneaking
+around here taking things."
+
+"Do you think that happened?" asked Uncle Toby. The children had run
+into the kitchen to look at the window through which the pudding had so
+mysteriously disappeared, and Uncle Toby and Aunt Sallie could speak
+freely.
+
+"Yes, Uncle Toby, I think that is what happened," said the old lady.
+"Some tramp, or somebody, must have been sneaking around your cabin.
+They looked in the window, saw my pudding, and took it while we were
+all in the dining room. 'Tisn't so much that I mind the pudding; that
+is, if it was taken by some one really hungry. For this is Thanksgiving,
+and I wouldn't want any one to go hungry. But if they had knocked at the
+door and asked for something to eat I'd have given it to them, and then
+the pudding would be safe. What are we going to do?"
+
+"I don't know," answered Uncle Toby, as he and Aunt Sallie followed the
+children. "We never had any tramps in these woods. Maybe it's that queer
+man we saw over in Newt Baker's old shack. He may be a hungry tramp."
+
+"Well, something ought to be done about it," declared Aunt Sallie. "I
+won't feel safe with such people roaming the woods."
+
+"Maybe when I look in the snow under the window I'll see the paw marks
+of a bear," suggested Uncle Toby.
+
+"What would that mean?" asked Aunt Sallie, rather startled.
+
+"It would mean that a bear came up, put his paws in through the window,
+knocked the pan cover off and took the pudding," was the answer.
+
+"Well, I'm not so much afraid of bears as I am of tramps," said Aunt
+Sallie, with a smile. "I almost wish it was a bear!"
+
+But it was not. In the light covering of newly fallen snow under the
+pantry window, through which the pudding had been taken, were the marks
+of a man's feet. Big feet they were, with heavy shoes, for the prints of
+the hob nails could be seen in the snow.
+
+Uncle Toby looked at the marks for several minutes. He and Aunt Sallie
+and the children could see where the man, whoever he was, had come out
+of the woods, walked up to the open window, and, after standing about
+and tramping to and fro, had marched back to the woods again.
+
+"It looks as if he came here, looked in, saw the pudding, and started
+away without taking it," said Uncle Toby, as he looked closely at the
+big footprints in the snow. "Then he turned back, because he was so
+hungry he just couldn't leave that pudding there in plain sight, I
+suppose. He took it and went back to the woods with it to eat it."
+
+"Who was he?" asked Tom.
+
+"That I don't know," Uncle Toby replied. "He must be a stranger around
+here, for anybody else would ask for something to eat if he were
+hungry. And most of the folks around here are well enough off to get
+their own Thanksgiving dinner. They don't have to take other folks'
+pudding."
+
+"That's so," said Aunt Sallie. "I wish it hadn't happened, even though I
+don't mind a poor hungry man having my nice pudding."
+
+"Is your dog a bloodhound?" asked Harry of Ted, as the boys remained
+looking at the footprints in the snow, after the girls had gone back
+into the house with Aunt Sallie.
+
+"Oh, no, Skyrocket isn't a bloodhound," answered Ted. "Why?"
+
+"Well, I thought maybe if he was he could smell at these marks in the
+snow and then track the man to where he was and we could get back the
+pudding," Harry went on.
+
+"Guess there wouldn't be much of the pudding left," said Tom, with a
+laugh.
+
+"No," agreed Ted. "Anyhow, Skyrocket isn't a bloodhound, and I don't
+believe he'd know how to track a man down."
+
+And evidently Skyrocket didn't take much interest in the strange
+footprints in the snow, for, after sniffing them once or twice, he raced
+away to chase a snowbird which flew down to get the crumbs Aunt Sallie
+scattered from the dinner table. Of course Skyrocket couldn't catch or
+harm the snowbird, and he knew it, but he loved to race about and bark.
+
+"No use trying to get him to follow a trail," said Tom. "He's too crazy!
+A good dog, but too crazy!"
+
+"That's right!" assented Ted.
+
+Uncle Toby, having listened to the talk of the boys, went back into the
+cabin, and soon came out with his heavy overcoat and cap on.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked Ted.
+
+"Oh, just down to the village. You boys stay here and look after things
+until I get back," was the answer.
+
+The boys watched Uncle Toby strike into the path and then Tom exclaimed:
+
+"I know where he's going!"
+
+"Where?" asked Ted.
+
+"He's either going to trail that man by his footprints--the man who took
+the pudding," declared Tom, "or else he's going to get a constable, or
+somebody like a policeman."
+
+"Maybe he's gone to get a bloodhound if your dog isn't any good for
+smelling out people," suggested Harry. All the boys were gleefully
+excited over what might happen.
+
+"I wish he'd let us go with him," sighed Ted. But he did not think it
+wise to ask, and Uncle Toby went off by himself.
+
+The remainder of Thanksgiving was passed by the Curlytops and their
+playmates having holiday fun. They played out in the snow, spent some
+time in the snow house, and coasted on the toboggan.
+
+Uncle Toby came back before dusk, but where he had been and what he had
+done or found out, he did not disclose to Aunt Sallie or the children.
+
+"Will you lock up well to-night, Uncle Toby?" asked Aunt Sallie, when
+the bedtime hour approached. She asked this out of the hearing of the
+children.
+
+"Of course I'll lock up well. I do every night," Uncle Toby replied,
+with a laugh. "Are you afraid that bear who took the pudding will try to
+get in?"
+
+"Maybe," answered Aunt Sallie. "Anyhow, please lock all the doors and
+windows."
+
+"I will," said Uncle Toby. "But I guess Skyrocket will be a good
+watchdog during the night. We don't need to worry."
+
+The children did not worry, at all events. They did not seem to miss the
+plum pudding, and after a light supper, on account of the heavy dinner
+they had eaten, and having played some games in the cabin, they went to
+sleep.
+
+Uncle Toby locked up well, and left Skyrocket in the kitchen for the
+night.
+
+"If any bears come in or any tramps try to take any more of Aunt
+Sallie's good things, you grab 'em and hold 'em, Sky!" commanded Uncle
+Toby.
+
+The dog barked once, as if to say he would.
+
+The night appeared to pass quietly, though once Uncle Toby thought he
+heard Skyrocket barking in the kitchen. Getting out of his bed, Uncle
+Toby called:
+
+"Who's in the kitchen? Is everything all right?"
+
+There was no answer, not even a bark from the dog, and Uncle Toby
+thought he had been mistaken about hearing a noise.
+
+"And I guess Skyrocket is asleep," he added.
+
+In the morning Tom and Ted came down earlier than any of the others, for
+they had an idea that they could build a little house of pieces of
+carpet on the toboggan and coast while inside it. They wanted to try
+out this idea before Uncle Toby should say it was too risky.
+
+"Here, Sky! Sky!" called Ted, as he walked toward the kitchen.
+
+There was no joyous, answering bark, and when the door was pushed open
+no dog ran to greet his young master.
+
+Skyrocket was gone!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+TROUBLE IS MISSING
+
+
+Harry came into the kitchen to join his chums, and when he heard that
+Skyrocket was gone he and the other two boys made such a noise calling
+and whistling for the missing dog that Uncle Toby asked:
+
+"What's the matter out there?"
+
+"Skyrocket's gone!" explained Ted.
+
+"Well, that's all right," said Uncle Toby. "I suppose he went out early
+to get up an appetite for breakfast."
+
+"But how could he get out, Uncle Toby?" asked Ted, as Mr. Bardeen came
+into the kitchen where the dog had been put for the night. "How could he
+get out? There isn't a door or window open, and he hasn't jumped through
+any of the window glass, as he did once to get to me when he was shut up
+by mistake."
+
+"Hum!" murmured Uncle Toby, thoughtfully. "Are you sure he's gone, Ted?"
+
+"Well, he isn't around and he doesn't come when I call him," the boy
+answered. "He must be gone."
+
+Jan and the other girls now came into the kitchen, and soon Aunt Sallie
+had Trouble dressed, so the whole family was up. That is all but
+Skyrocket, and he surely was one of the family.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Jan, for she knew that there was something
+wrong. And when Ted told her about Skyrocket being gone, tears came into
+Jan's eyes. Seeing this, Uncle Toby knew what he had to do to keep the
+children contented and happy while on their holiday stay with him at
+Crystal Lake.
+
+"Look here, boys and girls," he said, "Skyrocket isn't lost. He has just
+run out somewhere. He'll be back soon. Don't feel too bad about him. It
+isn't the first time he has run away, is it, Ted?"
+
+"No, Uncle Toby. But how did he get out to run away? That's what I want
+to know. There isn't a door or window open. The cabin was shut tight
+last night after Skyrocket was in."
+
+"That's what we think," said Uncle Toby. "But some door or window may
+have been left open by mistake, and Skyrocket may have got out that way
+and be roaming in the woods, having a good time. Don't you often find,
+Aunt Sallie," asked Uncle Toby, "that you forget to shut a door or
+window, and later in the night get up to close it?"
+
+As Mr. Bardeen asked this question of his housekeeper he winked one eye
+at her--an eye the children could not see. Uncle Toby wanted Aunt Sallie
+to say "yes" to his question, and she, knowing the little trick he was
+trying to play, did as he wanted her to.
+
+"There, you are!" exclaimed Uncle Toby to the children. "Aunt Sallie or
+I may have left a door or window open, after you young folks went to
+bed, and Sky may have gotten out that way. Then we might have closed it,
+locking him out."
+
+"Oh, do you think it could have happened that way?" asked Ted.
+
+"Of course it could!" replied Uncle Toby, but he did not really say that
+it had happened like that. In fact Uncle Toby knew it had not happened
+this way. He felt pretty sure that some one had come in the night and
+stolen Skyrocket away, but he did not want to tell the Curlytops this
+for fear of making them afraid.
+
+"Well, if Skyrocket has just run away he'll run back again," said Ted.
+
+"Yes, he will, for he's done it before," added Janet.
+
+Then the children felt better, and sat down to breakfast. But when Uncle
+Toby had a chance to speak quietly to Aunt Sallie he said:
+
+"Don't say anything to the children, but I think some tramp--maybe the
+same one who took your plum pudding--came in the night and stole
+Skyrocket."
+
+"But why would a tramp want Skyrocket?" asked Aunt Sallie.
+
+"Perhaps he thought we would pay money to get the dog back--as I will do
+if he doesn't come back himself," said Uncle Toby. "You can't tell what
+a tramp would do. Anyhow, I know we didn't leave any doors or windows
+open. I just said that to quiet the children. I feel sure Skyrocket has
+been stolen by a tramp."
+
+"What are you going to do about it, Uncle Toby?"
+
+"I'm going to get Jim Nelson and some of the lumbermen around here and
+have a look around. For one place, we'll go to that old cabin of Newt
+Baker's, which we saw the man running away from that day. Maybe he's
+the tramp who took Skyrocket and also your plum pudding."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Aunt Sallie, with a frightened look over her
+shoulder.
+
+"Don't be afraid!" laughed Uncle Toby. "Nothing will happen. But I don't
+want the children's fun spoiled. So let them think Skyrocket just
+wandered away and will come back again."
+
+But Skyrocket did not come back that day nor the next nor the next. Back
+home in Cresco he had often stayed away a week at a time, Jan said, so
+after she and her brother had gotten used to the idea that the dog was
+off on one of his wandering trips, they no longer worried.
+
+Uncle Toby got some of the lumbermen and went to the cabin, but though
+they found the footprints of men and dogs in the snow, no one was now in
+the old shack, and there was no way of telling whether the dog's
+footprints were those of Skyrocket.
+
+"Well, I guess that tramp cleared out," said Uncle Toby to Aunt Sallie.
+"And he may have taken Skyrocket with him. But don't say anything to the
+Curlytops. Christmas is coming, and we want them to have a good time.
+And Skyrocket may come back."
+
+But the dog did not. Two weeks went by and he had not returned. By this
+time Ted and Janet had rather gotten accustomed to missing him, and
+though they felt very sorry, they were having so much fun that they
+thought of little else. For surely there were good times at Uncle
+Toby's!
+
+The plan of the boys to put up a little carpet house on the big toboggan
+coaster did not work. They tried it, without telling Uncle Toby anything
+about it, and this is what happened.
+
+First Tom, Ted, and Harry fastened some beanpoles upright on the
+toboggan. They tied them tightly with cords so they were fairly solid.
+In the barn they found some pieces of carpet and a few old feed bags,
+left from the time that Uncle Toby kept a horse out at Crystal Lake, and
+by tying these bags together, after ripping them open, they made a large
+piece of cloth, big enough for a tent. This they fastened on the
+beanpoles that were tied to the toboggan, also using some carpet strips.
+
+"Now we've got a regular little house on it, and we can sit inside and
+coast downhill and be nice and warm!" exclaimed Ted.
+
+That was his idea and that of the other boys. Three of them could get
+inside the toboggan-tent at a time, and the rear lad could stick his
+foot out through a hole in the bag covering a steer.
+
+Without telling Uncle Toby anything about it, and saying nothing to the
+girls, the boys drew this new invention of theirs out on the coasting
+hill one morning. Tom and Harry took their places toward the front of
+the toboggan, inside the tent. There was a hole in the bagging so they
+could look out. Ted sat behind to steer.
+
+"All ready?" he asked his chums.
+
+"Let her go!" cried Tom.
+
+Ted pushed off, and for a little way the toboggan went down the hill all
+right. The boys were laughing and shouting, for it was fun to coast
+inside a tent that kept off the cold wind.
+
+"It's like riding in a closed auto!" yelled Tom.
+
+But just then something happened. The toboggan struck a lump of ice on
+the hill, slued around, though Ted did his best to steer it, and began
+going sideways.
+
+Just then the three girls, with Trouble, came out to see what the boys
+were doing, and seeing the strange tent-covered toboggan going downhill
+sideways Janet, Lola, and Mary, all three, screamed, while Trouble
+yelled in delight, as he always did at anything new or strange.
+
+Ted declared afterward that the girls' screams made him steer crooked,
+but in the girls' opinion the toboggan would have upset anyhow. And
+that's what it did.
+
+Over it turned, when half way down the hill. The bean poles snapped and
+broke, and a moment later the boys were tangled up in the pieces of
+carpet and bagging, rolling off the toboggan which coasted the rest of
+the way downhill by itself, and probably it was very glad to be rid of
+the tent-house.
+
+"Oh, are you hurt?" cried Jan, as she saw the tangled mass of boys.
+
+"I'll call Uncle Toby!" exclaimed Lola.
+
+"Oh, what a dreadful accident!" wailed Mary.
+
+But an instant later the boys jumped up, laughing, not in the least
+hurt, though they were disappointed because their invention did not
+work.
+
+"Don't try any more tricks like that," said Uncle Toby, when he heard
+what had happened. "The next time some of you may be hurt."
+
+The boys promised to obey, and they didn't do any thing just like that
+again, but they did other things almost as risky. However, no one was
+hurt, and they certainly had lots of fun at Uncle Toby's.
+
+There was so much to do that they almost forgot about the lost
+Skyrocket, though every now and then Ted and his chums would go off in
+the woods, whistling and calling. But the dog did not come back.
+
+As the snow did not melt away, Uncle Toby, with the help of some of his
+men friends at the camp, cleared a place on the frozen lake where the
+children could skate. And with this fun, with coasting, making snowmen,
+another snow house, having snowball battles, the children passed many
+days most happily.
+
+Christmas was coming. The Curlytops and their playmates now began
+counting the days until this grand holiday should arrive. Trouble, with
+the help of Janet, had written his letter to Santa Claus, and the other
+children had told each other (so Aunt Sallie and Uncle Toby could hear)
+the things they wished St. Nicholas to bring them.
+
+One morning Uncle Toby brought the big automobile around to the door of
+the cabin. It was two days before Christmas, and everything had been
+prepared for a jolly good time at the cabin. A big green tree had been
+cut in the woods, and set up in one of the rooms. There it was to be
+trimmed and made ready for the presents to be put under it.
+
+"Come, children, we're going to the village to get the mail and some
+other things," called Uncle Toby to the Curlytops and their friends.
+"Pile in, and we'll all go to the village. I wouldn't be surprised but
+what there would be some letters for all of you," he said, with a
+twinkle in his eyes, as if he knew what was going to happen.
+
+"Oh, maybe daddy and mother will be here for Christmas!" cried Ted and
+Janet.
+
+"And maybe my father and mother will come," added Lola, though she did
+not have much hope of this.
+
+"If I could get a letter that my mother was all well again, that would
+be the best Christmas present I could have," sighed Mary.
+
+"Maybe you will get such a letter," said Uncle Toby.
+
+Perhaps he knew what was going to happen.
+
+Aunt Sallie said she would not make the trip to the village in the
+automobile, as she had work to do at the bungalow. So Uncle Toby,
+the Curlytops and their playmates--alas, not with Skyrocket this
+time--started off. The snow seemed to be coming down thicker and
+faster, but this only made the children more joyful, for they loved
+snow at Christmas, as what youngster does not?
+
+The post-office was reached, and Uncle Toby went in for the mail. He
+came out with both hands full. There was a letter for Mary and Harry,
+one for Ted and Janet and one for Tom and Lola, and then there were
+separate letters for each boy and girl from some of the friends they
+had left behind. There was even a postal for Trouble.
+
+"Oh, such good news!" cried Ted, when he and Janet had read their
+letter. "Daddy and Mother are coming here to spend Christmas with us!"
+
+"Did your father say anything about the money he was afraid of losing?"
+asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"No," answered Ted. "But I hope he doesn't lose it."
+
+"We have good news, like yours!" Lola said to Janet. "Our daddy and
+mother are coming here also for Christmas. You invited them, didn't you,
+Uncle Toby?" she asked.
+
+"Why, yes, I believe I did," chuckled the jolly old gentleman. "But have
+you good news, too?" he asked Harry and Mary.
+
+"Yes," they answered with happy tears in their eyes. "Our mother is well
+again, and she is coming up here for Christmas. Oh, how happy we are!"
+
+"Everybody's happy!" sang Trouble. "Everybody's happy, an' Santa C'aus
+is comin'!"
+
+"That's right!" laughed Janet, hugging him.
+
+They little knew how close unhappiness was following happiness.
+
+After the letters had been read again Uncle Toby drove the automobile
+down the village street to the store to get some things Aunt Sallie
+wanted for the Christmas dinner. As the children each had some spending
+money they were allowed to get out and wander through a general store
+next to the grocery. There was a "five and ten cent" department in the
+variety "Emporium" as it was called, and the children had fun there,
+picking out inexpensive presents as surprises one for the other.
+
+It was not until, bubbling over with joy and happiness, they had again
+gotten back in the automobile that Trouble was missed.
+
+"Oh, where is your little brother?" exclaimed Lola.
+
+"Why, I thought you had him!" said Janet.
+
+"And I thought you did. We must have left him back in the store. Let's
+look!"
+
+But Trouble was not there! He was missing!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+TROUBLE AND SKYROCKET
+
+
+You can imagine there was much excitement and some very frightened
+feelings in the hearts of all the children when the clerks in the store
+where the five and ten cent Christmas presents had been bought said
+Trouble was not there.
+
+"But where can he be?" asked Janet, hardly able to keep back the tears.
+
+"Perhaps he went out and walked back to the store where Uncle Toby is
+buying his things," suggested Lola. "Let's look there."
+
+"I guess that's where he is all right," said Teddy.
+
+But Trouble was not in the grocery store, and Uncle Toby, who had
+finished his shopping, was as much surprised and alarmed as were the
+children when told what had happened.
+
+"I guess the little tyke may have walked out by himself and gotten into
+the auto," said Uncle Toby.
+
+But Trouble was not in the big closed automobile. And then a frantic
+search began. People in the stores where Uncle Toby and the children had
+been lent their aid, and when after fifteen minutes it was sure that the
+little boy was not in the neighborhood, the constable was called on and
+the search made up and down the street.
+
+"Well, we'll find him, of course," said Uncle Toby, speaking more
+hopefully than he really felt. "What happened, I suppose, is that he
+wandered out of the store, to find me, maybe, and he got in the wrong
+place. We'll look in every building along Main Street."
+
+This was done, and the houses on side streets were visited, too, but
+without effect. Trouble seemed to have vanished completely and
+mysteriously.
+
+By this time Janet was crying, as were the other girls, and the boys
+tried not to let the tears in their eyes be seen.
+
+"Where can he be?" asked the Curlytops over and over again, when each
+store had been searched twice.
+
+"I'll tell you what I think happened," said Uncle Toby. "Trouble
+wandered away from you, while you were buying your Christmas presents.
+He wandered out into the street and got confused. Maybe he started
+crying in the street, and some farmer and his wife, in their sled, may
+have taken him in to comfort him."
+
+"But what would they do with him?" asked Ted.
+
+"Some farmer and his wife picked Trouble up off the street and took him
+home with them," repeated Mr. Bardeen, as if he knew this was so. And he
+really believed it.
+
+"Why would they do that?" asked Jan, with trembling lips.
+
+"They may have thought Trouble was the child of some neighbor whom they
+knew, and they planned to take him home. Depend on it--that's what
+happened!"
+
+"But how will we get Trouble back?" asked Ted.
+
+"Why, the farmer, whoever he is, will find out his mistake, and he'll
+bring the little fellow back to town again," was the answer. "That's
+what will happen. But I'll get as many men as I can, and with the
+constable we'll inquire of all the farmers around here. In that way
+we'll get Trouble back quicker."
+
+There were willing searchers, and soon the country around Crystal Lake
+was being searched by men and women in automobiles and sleds who
+inquired at each farmhouse for a little boy taken away by mistake.
+
+But as night came and no Trouble had been found, the Curlytops and their
+playmates began to feel very sad indeed.
+
+Uncle Toby decided to take the children home and leave them with Aunt
+Sallie in the cabin, while he kept on with the search.
+
+"Trouble missing and Skyrocket gone!" thought Uncle Toby to himself, as
+he drove back in the automobile. "This will be a sad Christmas, when I
+meant it to be such a happy one."
+
+But it would not be Christmas for two days, and much might happen in
+that time.
+
+It was nearly dusk when the big automobile drew near the old deserted
+cabin of Newt Baker, from which the strange man had once been seen
+running away. Looking from the window on his side, Ted peered at the old
+shack, and as he did so he uttered a cry of surprise and wonder.
+
+"What is it?" asked Uncle Toby, quickly bringing the machine to a stop,
+for he thought some one had opened a door and fallen out.
+
+"It's Trouble! I saw him at the window just now! In there!" and Ted
+pointed to the old cabin.
+
+"Trouble in there? It can't be!" said Uncle Toby.
+
+But just then Janet set up a cry.
+
+"Yes, he is, Uncle Toby! I saw him!"
+
+Mr. Bardeen lost little time in jumping from the automobile. Followed by
+the children, he ran to the door of the cabin, and as he opened it he
+heard the barking of a dog mingled with the crying voice of Trouble. An
+instant later Skyrocket rushed out to greet his friends, and then
+Trouble came from an inner room, toddling into the arms of Janet.
+
+"Oh, William! how did you ever get here?" cried Lola.
+
+"And Skyrocket, too! Look! Here's our dog!" shouted Ted.
+
+With the high voices of the children, the barking of Skyrocket, and the
+crying of Trouble, there was so much noise that no one heard footsteps
+coming from the room out of which the missing boy had rushed until
+suddenly a strange man stood on the threshold.
+
+"Look!" cried Tom, glancing up at this man. "There's the tramp!"
+
+And they all saw the same stranger who had rushed away from the cottage
+the time Uncle Toby went to the well to get water for the automobile
+radiator.
+
+"What are you doing here?" asked Uncle Toby in a stern voice. "And did
+you try to kidnap him?" Mr. Bardeen pointed to little William, who was
+sobbing in Janet's arms. And as he saw this and thought what a lot of
+trouble seemed to have been caused by this man, Uncle Toby started
+toward him as if in anger.
+
+"Don't hit me!" pleaded the man. "I'm in trouble! I've had a lot of
+trouble. I was in the war--and--but that was long ago--and--"
+
+His voice was very faint, and as Uncle Toby walked toward him the man
+tried to run back into the room. But his foot slipped and he fell,
+striking his head heavily on the floor. Then he rolled over and lay very
+quiet.
+
+"He's fainted, I guess," said Tom.
+
+"Looks so," agreed Uncle Toby. "Well, we've found Trouble, anyhow.
+That's the big thing. I don't know how this man got him or what he
+intended to do with him. But I'm going to tell the police. I guess he'd
+better have a doctor, too," he added. "He's cut his head in his fall.
+Ted, you and Tom go to the next house," he went on. "There's a telephone
+there. Tell Mr. Hick to call up the police, let them know we have found
+the missing boy and have them send out a doctor. It's a long walk to Mr.
+Hick's place, but I guess you won't be afraid. Then come back here. I
+don't want to leave this man alone, as I'd have to do if we all went
+away in the auto."
+
+"We'll go to the telephone," said Tom and Ted, and Harry went with them.
+
+As soon as the boys started tramping through the gathering dusk to Mr.
+Hick's house, Janet quieted Trouble and got Skyrocket to stop barking.
+This last was hard because the dog was so overjoyed at being with his
+friends again. There was a broken rope around his neck, showing that he
+had been kept tied up since he had been taken away. But he seemed to
+have been well treated and fed.
+
+"Can Trouble tell us what happened and how this man got him?" asked
+Uncle Toby of Janet, who was holding her little brother. The "tramp," as
+he was called, still lay where he had fallen in a faint.
+
+Janet understood Trouble's baby talk better than any one else, and she
+soon had his story out of him. He had wandered out of the store, it
+seemed, and on the sidewalk in front had been spoken to by the man who
+had brought him to the lonely cabin. The tramp and Trouble rode out to
+the cabin in a farmer's sled, so the little boy said.
+
+"I can understand how that might happen," said Uncle Toby. "Some farmer
+would be glad to give the man and Trouble a ride out into the country.
+And it might have been some farmer from a distance, who didn't know that
+no one lived here. Such a farmer wouldn't be surprised at Trouble and
+the man getting out here at the lonely cabin. Well, things are coming
+out all right, and maybe this tramp didn't intend to do anything mean.
+We'll have to wait until he gets better so he can tell us what
+happened."
+
+The stranger was still lying very quiet on the floor of the lonely
+cabin. It was a long time before the three boys came back, but soon
+after them the constable and the doctor arrived. The doctor said the man
+was not badly hurt, but should have good care. And as it was thought he
+might have tried to kidnap Trouble he was put under arrest.
+
+Of course the man himself did not know this, for he was still in a
+faint. The doctor said the blow on his head caused this. But he was
+taken away by the constable and the doctor to the doctor's own home,
+where he could be well cared for until he was well enough to be put in
+jail, for he was under arrest for having carried off Trouble.
+
+Then the Curlytops and their playmates went on to Uncle Toby's cabin, a
+happy jolly crowd, now that all worry was removed. They had William with
+them, and also Skyrocket.
+
+"But I wonder how that tramp got my dog?" mused Ted.
+
+"He might have found him wandering in the woods," said Uncle Toby. But
+he did not really believe this. There was something queer about that
+tramp.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A HAPPY REUNION
+
+
+Such joyous times as there were next day! It was the day before
+Christmas, and, as every one knows, it is the jolliest time in the year,
+with one exception. That exception is Christmas itself.
+
+"When are we going to the station to meet the folks?" asked the
+Curlytops and their playmates, over and over again. For Mr. and Mrs.
+Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, and the mother of Harry and Mary, now out
+of the hospital, were to come on the same train, to spend the Christmas
+holidays at Uncle Toby's.
+
+"Oh, we'll go soon now," said Mr. Bardeen, and the children could hardly
+wait. Uncle Toby had arranged for an extra automobile to bring the grown
+folks from the station to his cabin, as the Bardeen car would be well
+filled.
+
+After what seemed many hours, though it was really not more than a wait
+of thirty minutes at the station, the toot of a whistle was heard around
+a curve in the track.
+
+"Here comes the train!" cried Ted.
+
+"Oh, what a lovely Christmas this is going to be!" sighed Janet.
+
+Out of the car came the mother and father of the Curlytops, then the
+mother and father of Tom and Lola, and then, more slowly, Mrs. Benton.
+
+"Oh, we're so glad to see you!" cried the Curlytops and their playmates,
+each to the proper parents. There was hugging and kissing, and in
+excited tones the story of the missing boy and dog was quickly told.
+
+"It is very good of you, Mr. Bardeen, to ask me out here," said Mrs.
+Benton. "I feel sure I shall grow well and strong now, and I can look
+after my two children."
+
+"That's all right, Susan!" was the hearty answer. "I'm glad to have you
+and the children. We're going to have a jolly Christmas."
+
+And indeed it seemed so, for Mr. and Mrs. Martin found a chance to tell
+Ted and Janet that it was all right about the money--that Mr. Martin was
+not going to lose it after all. His trip had saved it for him.
+
+As the automobiles were about to start off, the constable came up to
+Uncle Toby and said:
+
+"That strange man--the one who fell and hurt himself at the cabin when
+you found the kidnapped boy--wants to see you, Mr. Bardeen."
+
+"Wants to see me?" asked Uncle Toby, in surprise.
+
+"Yes. It seems he is much better now, and is in his right mind."
+
+"Was he out of his mind before?" asked Uncle Toby, while the others
+listened eagerly.
+
+"Yes, he was most of the time, though not always. He's a soldier, it
+seems, or was. He fought in the big war and was hurt or gassed, or
+something, and lost his mind. He really doesn't know what happened to
+him, except that he ran away from different hospitals, got to this
+country somehow, and has been wandering around ever since, living as
+best he could. But he's all right now. The doctor said that fall he had
+did something to his head and gave him back his right senses, so he's
+all right now, and he's asking for you."
+
+"What's his name, and why does he want to see me?" asked Uncle Toby.
+
+"He says he wants to explain that he didn't try to kidnap the little
+boy," the constable went on. "And he didn't steal the dog, either. The
+dog came to the cabin, made friends with him, and the man kept him.
+Though maybe the dog would have gone to you if he hadn't been tied up.
+But the man's very anxious to see you and explain all this. I said I'd
+go get you. I went out to your cabin, and a lady there said you'd come
+here to the station, so I hurried back, and here I am. Could you come
+and see that man for a few minutes?"
+
+"Why, I suppose I could, yes," answered Uncle Toby. "But who is he,
+anyhow? You say he was a soldier in the big war?"
+
+"Yes. And he says his name is Frank Benton. He--"
+
+But there was an excited cry from the mother of Mary and Harry.
+
+"Frank Benton!" she exclaimed. "Why, that was my husband's name! My
+husband fought in the war! We thought he was killed, but we never could
+be sure of it, as no record was found. Oh, if this should be your
+missing father, children!" and with tears in her eyes she looked at her
+boy and girl.
+
+"We'll soon find out!" cried Uncle Toby.
+
+"To the doctor's! First house around that corner," directed the
+constable.
+
+Trembling with eagerness and hope, Mrs. Benton, with Harry and Mary,
+went into the room where the injured man lay in a white bed. He was much
+better now, and the constable did not go along, since he was not to be
+arrested, as what he had done had been when he was out of his head
+through a war injury.
+
+"Frank!" cried Mrs. Benton, as soon as she caught sight of the man.
+
+"Susan!" he murmured, holding out his arms. And then such a happy
+reunion as there was. "My, how big the children have become!" exclaimed
+Mr. Benton, through his glad tears. "To think I saw them in the room
+with the Curlytops and didn't know them."
+
+"And they didn't know you," said his wife. "But now we have each other!
+Oh, how happy I am. This will be the best Christmas in all the world!"
+
+And it was--for every one at Uncle Toby's cabin.
+
+There is not much more to tell. The mystery was all cleared up. Mr.
+Benton had been wounded in the war, an injury to his brain making him
+out of his head, though not dangerously so. He wandered away, escaping
+from one hospital after another under the mistaken notion that the
+doctors and nurses were trying to harm him.
+
+In his wanderings he finally reached the neighborhood of Crystal Lake.
+He found the old deserted cabin and made his home there, living on what
+he could pick up or take from the farmhouses. Thus the rumor of tramps
+and burglars was talked of at the lake. Poor Mr. Benton was so timid
+that he ran away when Uncle Toby came to draw water.
+
+It was Mr. Benton who took Aunt Sallie's plum pudding from the pantry,
+though he did not know he was stealing. And it was he who looked in the
+window, thus frightening Janet. And, as he said, he had found Skyrocket
+wandering in the woods. There was a loose board on one side of the
+cabin, a board Uncle Toby had forgotten about, and Skyrocket got out
+through that hole the night he disappeared. After getting him to the
+lonely cabin Mr. Benton became so fond of the dog that he tied him up.
+Though Skyrocket might have remained of his own accord, for he had made
+friends with the wounded soldier.
+
+It was while strolling about the streets of the village that the father
+of Mary and Harry saw Trouble wandering out of the five and ten cent
+store. Always fond of children, Mr. Benton made friends with William,
+and Trouble took a liking to the strange man.
+
+Then, somehow or other, the idea of taking Trouble to the lonely cabin
+came into the head of the man, and he got a ride out in the sled of a
+strange farmer. But once in the deserted shack Trouble became frightened
+and began to cry. Mr. Benton did not know what to do, his head was
+troubling him, and he realized dimly that he might get into difficulties
+with the police. He left Trouble in a room, trying to think what was
+best to do to get the little boy back to his friends, and then Uncle
+Toby came along.
+
+After that things happened quickly. Mr. Benton slipped and fell, and
+the blow on his head did what the doctors and nurses could not seem
+to do for him. It brought him back to his right mind.
+
+"And we'll soon have you out at my cabin, spending Christmas with the
+Curlytops!" said Uncle Toby, when everything had been explained.
+
+"Oh, what a happy time it will be!" said Mr. Benton.
+
+That night he was taken out to the cabin, and there was reunited with
+his little family. And such a gladsome, happy, and thankful Christmas
+eve was never known before!
+
+It seemed that the children never would go to bed, but at last they
+quieted down and then--well, what always happens on Christmas eve took
+place after that.
+
+The Christmas tree was wondrously trimmed, empty stockings began to
+swell out and there was even one for Skyrocket which was laden to
+overflowing with dog biscuit.
+
+The sun shone bright on the snow around Crystal Lake.
+
+"Merry Christmas!" cried the Curlytops, as they rushed to see what Santa
+Claus had left for them.
+
+"Merry Christmas!" echoed their playmates.
+
+"The happiest Christmas in all the world!" said Harry and Mary. For they
+had found their father, long lost to them.
+
+"I 'ikes Ch'is'mus," murmured Trouble, his mouth full of candy. "I 'ikes
+Ch'is'mus an' Unk Toby an' everybody! I 'ike 'oo!" he said to Mr.
+Benton.
+
+"And I like you," said the father of Mary and Harry. "Only for you and
+Uncle Toby I might not be here, happy with my family. Merry Christmas to
+everybody!"
+
+And so, with the gladsome echoes of "Merry Christmas" filling the air,
+we will say good-bye to the Curlytops.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+    THE CURLYTOPS SERIES
+
+    By HOWARD R. GARIS
+
+    Author of the famous "Bedtime Animal Stories"
+
+    _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
+
+    ~Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid~
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+    _Stories for children by the best author of books for little people._
+
+
+    1. THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM
+    _or Vacation Days in the Country_
+
+    A tale of happy vacation days on a farm.
+
+
+    2. THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND
+    _or Camping out with Grandpa_
+
+    The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to
+    camp on Star Island.
+
+
+    3. THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN
+    _or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds_
+
+    Winter was a jolly time for the Curlytops, with their skates
+    and sleds, on the lakes and hills.
+
+
+    4. THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH
+    _or Little Folks on Pony Back_
+
+    Out West on their uncle's ranch they have a wonderful time among
+    the cowboys and on pony back.
+
+
+    5. THE CURLYTOPS AT SILVER LAKE
+    _or On the Water with Uncle Ben_
+
+    The Curlytops camp out on the shores of a beautiful lake.
+
+
+    6. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PETS
+    _or Uncle Toby's Strange Collection_
+
+    When an old uncle leaves them to care for his collection of pets,
+    they get up a circus for charity.
+
+
+    7. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES
+    _or Jolly Times Through the Holidays_
+
+    The children have great times with their uncle's collection
+    of animals.
+
+
+    8. THE CURLYTOPS IN THE WOODS
+    _or Fun at the Lumber Camp_
+
+    Exciting times in the forest for Curlytops.
+
+
+
+
+    THE RUBY AND RUTHY SERIES
+
+    By MINNIE E. PAULL
+
+    _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid._
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+    _Four bright and entertaining stories told in Mrs. Paull's happiest
+    manner are among the best stories ever written for young girls, and
+    cannot fail to interest any between the ages of eight and fifteen
+    years._
+
+
+    RUBY AND RUTHY
+
+    Ruby and Ruthy were not old enough to go to school, but they
+    certainly were lively enough to have many exciting adventures,
+    that taught many useful lessons needed to be learned by little
+    girls.
+
+
+    RUBY'S UPS AND DOWNS
+
+    There were troubles enough for a dozen grown-ups, but Ruby got
+    ahead of them all, and, in spite of them, became a favorite in
+    the lively times at school.
+
+
+    RUBY AT SCHOOL
+
+    Ruby had many surprises when she went to the impossible place
+    she heard called a boarding school, but every experience helped
+    to make her a stronger-minded girl.
+
+
+    RUBY'S VACATION
+
+    This volume shows how a little girl improves by having varieties
+    of experience both happy and unhappy, provided she thinks, and is
+    able to use her good sense. Ruby lives and learns.
+
+
+
+
+    THE LINGER-NOT SERIES
+
+    By AGNES MILLER
+
+    _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
+
+    _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+    _This new series of girls' books is in a new style of story
+    writing. The interest is in knowing the girls and seeing them
+    solve the problems that develop their character. Incidentally, a
+    great deal of historical information is imparted, and a fine
+    atmosphere of responsibility is made pleasing and useful to the
+    reader._
+
+
+    1. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE MYSTERY HOUSE
+    _or The Story of Nine Adventurous Girls_
+
+    How the Linger-Not girls met and formed their club seems
+    commonplace, but this writer makes it fascinating, and how they
+    made their club serve a great purpose continues the interest to
+    the end, and introduces a new type of girlhood.
+
+
+    2. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE VALLEY FEUD
+    _or The Great West Point Chain_
+
+    The Linger-Not girls had no thought of becoming mixed up with
+    feuds or mysteries, but their habit of being useful soon
+    entangled them in some surprising adventures that turned out
+    happily for all, and made the valley better because of their
+    visit.
+
+
+    3. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THEIR GOLDEN QUEST
+    _or The Log of the Ocean Monarch_
+
+    For a club of girls to become involved in a mystery leading back
+    into the times of the California gold-rush, seems unnatural
+    until the reader sees how it happened, and how the girls helped
+    one of their friends to come into her rightful name and
+    inheritance, forms a fine story.
+
+
+
+
+    THE RADIO GIRLS SERIES
+
+    By MARGARET PENROSE
+
+    _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
+
+    _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+    _A new and up-to-date series, taking in the activities of
+    several bright girls who become interested in radio. The stories
+    tell of thrilling exploits, outdoor life and the great part the
+    Radio plays in the adventures of the girls and in solving their
+    mysteries. Fascinating books that girls of all ages will want to
+    read._
+
+
+    1. THE RADIO GIRLS OF ROSELAWN
+    _or A Strange Message from the Air_
+
+    Showing how Jessie Norwood and her chums became interested in
+    radiophoning, how they gave a concert for a worthy local
+    charity, and how they received a sudden and unexpected call for
+    help out of the air. A girl who was wanted as a witness in a
+    celebrated law case had disappeared, and how the radio girls
+    went to the rescue is told in an absorbing manner.
+
+
+    2. THE RADIO GIRLS ON THE PROGRAM
+    _or Singing and Reciting at the Sending Station_
+
+    When listening in on a thrilling recitation or a superb concert
+    number who of us has not longed to "look behind the scenes" to
+    see how it was done? The girls had made the acquaintance of a
+    sending station manager and in this volume are permitted to get
+    on the program, much to their delight. A tale full of action and
+    not a little fun.
+
+
+    3. THE RADIO GIRLS ON STATION ISLAND
+    _or The Wireless from the Steam Yacht_
+
+    In this volume the girls travel to the seashore and put in a
+    vacation on an island where is located a big radio sending
+    station. The big brother of one of the girls owns a steam yacht
+    and while out with a pleasure party those on the island receive
+    word by radio that the yacht is on fire. A tale thrilling to the
+    last page.
+
+
+
+
+    THE BETTY GORDON SERIES
+
+    By ALICE B. EMERSON
+
+    _Author of the Famous "Ruth Fielding" Series_
+
+    _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
+
+    _Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+    _A series of stories by Alice B. Emerson which are bound to make
+    this writer more popular than ever with her host of girl
+    readers._
+
+
+    1. BETTY GORDON AT BRAMBLE FARM
+    _or The Mystery of a Nobody_
+
+    At the age of twelve Betty is left an orphan. Her uncle sends
+    her to live on a farm.
+
+
+    2. BETTY GORDON IN WASHINGTON
+    _or Strange Adventures in a Great City_
+
+    In this volume Betty goes to the National Capitol to find her
+    uncle and has several unusual adventures.
+
+
+    3. BETTY GORDON IN THE LAND OF OIL
+    _or The Farm That Was Worth a Fortune_
+
+    From Washington the scene is shifted to the great oil fields of
+    our country. A splendid picture of the oil field operations of
+    to-day.
+
+
+    4. BETTY GORDON AT BOARDING SCHOOL
+    _or The Treasure of Indian Chasm_
+
+    Seeking the treasure of Indian Chasm makes an exceedingly
+    interesting incident.
+
+
+    5. BETTY GORDON AT MOUNTAIN CAMP
+    _or The Mystery of Ida Bellethorne_
+
+    At Mountain Camp Betty found herself in the midst of a mystery
+    involving a girl whom she had previously met in Washington.
+
+
+    6. BETTY GORDON AT OCEAN PARK
+    _or Gay Days on the Boardwalk_
+
+    Adventure in high society let loose on the seashore.
+
+
+
+
+    THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES
+
+    By ALICE B. EMERSON
+
+    _12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_
+
+    _Ruth Fielding will live in juvenile Fiction._
+
+    [Illustration]
+
+    RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL
+    _or Jasper Parloe's Secret_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOOD HALL
+    _or Solving the Campus Mystery_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP
+    _or Lost in the Backwoods_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE
+    _POINT or Nita, the Girl Castaway_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH
+    _or Schoolgirls Among the Cowboys_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND
+    _or The Old Hunter's Treasure Box_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM
+    _or What Became of the Raby Orphans_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES
+    _or The Missing Pearl Necklace_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES
+    _or Helping the Dormitory Fund_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE
+    _or Great Days in the Land of Cotton_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE
+    _or The Missing Examination Papers_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE
+    _or College Girls in the Land of Gold_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS
+    _or Doing Her Bit for Uncle Sam_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT
+    _or The Hunt for a Lost Soldier_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING HOMEWARD BOUND
+    _or A Red Cross Worker's Ocean Perils_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING DOWN EAST
+    _or The Hermit of Beach Plum Point_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST
+    _or The Indian Girl Star of the Movies_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE
+    _or The Queer Old Man of the Thousand Islands_
+
+    RUTH FIELDING TREASURE HUNTING
+    _or A Moving Picture that Became Real_
+
+
+    ~Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue~
+    CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Curlytops and Their Playmates, by 
+Howard R. Garis
+
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