"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 extrasuit 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. "Andwe 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," saidMrs. 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 younot 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 yougo 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 wholeglass 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 tobogganslide 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 wetfrom 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 tothe 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.
Back to contents
Skyrocketran 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 ofmoney, 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 startedfor 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 leftthat 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, andSnuff, 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 wroteto 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 fortheir 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.
Back to contents
Uncle Tobydrove 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 theanswer. "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 andhungry 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 withpart 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.
Back to contents
Seeingthe 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 bigstorm?" 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 snowhad 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 theywere 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, herother 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 slidedown 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 Tedhad 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 thetop 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?
Back to contents
Fora 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 snowcoming 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 roadfor 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 allright!" 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, littlekitten, 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 thelittle 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 foryou," 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 somemilk 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.
Back to contents