CHAPTER XVIIIIN THE LAKE
Just as soon as Ted called out that he had found Skyrocket, in fact before that, and while the Curlytops and their friends were walking through the woods toward the camp, there was a great deal of excitement among the Gypsies. The dark-skinned people, who lived in tents and in funny red wagons with looking-glasses on the outside, seemed to think that the coming of the strangers meant that something was going to happen. And it was.
“That was Skyrocket! I know it was!” cried Ted, pointing toward the tent into which the Gypsy man, with rings in his ears, had taken the black dog.
“I know it was, too!” added Janet. “Oh, Uncle Ben, please get our dog back!” she begged. “That was Skyrocket, wasn’t it?” she asked Lola.
“It looked like him,” declared Tom’s sister, while Tom Taylor said:
“Course it was! That was Skyrocket, and that’s the same Gypsy man that I saw have him before—the time I told you about.”
“Easy now, children! Easy!” said Uncle Ben, in a low voice. “We want to be sure we’re right before we go ahead. If we make a mistake and claim some dog that isn’t ours, there may be trouble.”
“I think there is going to be trouble anyhow,” said Mr. Addison, speaking to Uncle Ben and Mr. Blake. “These Gypsies don’t look very pleasant.”
“Well, they’d better behave themselves or they’ll get into trouble,” said Mr. Blake. “Now then, Mr. Wilson,” he went on, speaking to Uncle Ben, “we’ll let you do the talking. If that is the Curlytops’ dog, we want to get it, and you know most about it.”
“All right then,” agreed Uncle Ben. “We’ll see what happens.”
Uncle Ben walked on ahead, followed by Ted and Jan and Tom and Lola.
The children were interested and curious when they saw a number of not very friendly looking Gypsy men and women around the tents and wagons. There were Gypsy boys and girls, too, but they did not smile at the newcomers. Instead, the Gypsy children seemed to be hiding in among the tents and wagons. And there were some little Gypsy babies, also, which their mothers carried about wrapped in shawls. The shawls were bright green, red, or yellow. Gypsies like bright colors and things that shine—that’s why they put looking-glasses on the outside of their wagons as well as inside.
As Uncle Ben, the children, Mr. Blake, and Mr. Addison walked along the woodland path, through the Gypsy camp, they were met by the same big, dark-skinned Gypsy man who had taken the black dog into the tent.
“Good morning,” said Uncle Ben, in a pleasant voice, as he stood still. The Curlytops and Tom and Lola came to a halt behind Uncle Ben.
“Mornin’,” answered the Gypsy man, and he did not seem to be very pleasant.
“We called to ask about a dog,” went on Uncle Ben. “I see you have a number of dogs here.”
“Yes, we have dogs,” answered the Gypsy. That was true enough, for there were many dogs and horses scattered here and there about the camp, some behind the tents and red wagons. “We have dogs and horses. Want to buy some?”
“No, we don’t exactly want tobuya dog,” answered Uncle Ben.
“Well, we don’t give dogs away,” said the Gypsy, who spoke the same language as did Uncle Ben, though perhaps the dark-skinned man could talk in his own special language, too. “We sell dogs. What kind do you want to buy?”
Eagerly Ted and Jan listened for what Uncle Ben would answer, and he replied:
“We’d like to get that little black dog you took into the tent just as we came along. That’s the dog we want.”
“That dog is not to be sold!” cried the Gypsy, and this was more than Ted could stand.
“That’s our dog!” exclaimed the little boy. “That’s our dog Skyrocket, and we want him back! He got lost from our house. He climbed out the woodshed window, and we want him.”
“Yes, we want Skyrocket!” added Janet. “He didn’t ever sleep on his new piece of carpet that Teddy put in his box. Please, Mr. Gypsy man, give us back our dog!”
The Gypsy with the gold rings in his ears scowled as he answered:
“I have not your dog! That black dog is mine!”
And at this Mr. Addison broke in with:
“Yes, and I suppose that big yellow dog is yours, too!” and he pointed to a large yellow animal that was sneaking around behind a red wagon. The yellow dog was not what you would call a friendly dog. He was more like a wolf or a fox. “Is that your dog?” asked Mr. Addison, pointing to the animal.
“Yes, that’s my dog, too,” answered the Gypsy.
“Then you’re just the man I’m looking for!” exclaimed the farmer. “That’s the yellow dog that’s been chasing my sheep and taking my chickens. And he took Mr. Blake’s sheep and chickens, too! Now then, I’m a deputy sheriff of this county. As you know, that’s just as good as a policeman in the city. And either you’ve got to get rid of that yellow dog and pay me for the loss of my lambs and chickens, and Mr. Blake for his, or I’ll arrest you, and drive you away from this camp. Now, what’s it going to be, Mr. Gypsy? I guess you’ll find you have one dog too many!”
“My dog never kills sheep or chickens!” said the Gypsy, but he was not as bold as he had been at first.
“Well, plenty of farmers near me have seen this yellow dog of yours, and they know what he has done,” said Mr. Addison. “Now, either you’ll get rid of that yellow dog, or you’ll get out of here,” and he spoke sharply.
“Well, if my yellow dog hurt your sheep or chickens I didn’t know it,” said the Gypsy, and his voice was quite different now.
“I’m telling you about it,” said Mr. Addison. “And, what’s more, you’ve got to pay us for the animals and fowls your dog killed. And now what about this other dog—the black one that belongs to these children? Where’s the dog Skyrocket?”
“I don’t know,” answered the Gypsy. “I haven’t got their dog.”
“Oh, you have so!” cried Jan.
“I saw you take a black dog into the tent. That was Skyrocket!” added Ted.
“No! No!” cried the Gypsy, getting angry again.
All the other Gypsies, men and women, boys and girls, were now gathered in the middle of the camp, around Uncle Ben, the children, the farmer and storekeeper.
“Look here,” put in Uncle Ben. “It’s easy to settle this matter. Let us have a look at that black dog, and then we can tell for sure if he belongs to the Curlytops. Bring out the little black dog.”
“He is mine I tell you!” exclaimed the Gypsy. “I’ve had him a long time.”
“Well, Skyrocket has been gone a long time,” said Janet.
“Bring out the dog,” ordered Mr. Addison, and he showed the shiny, nickel badge he wore on his vest, to prove that he was a deputy sheriff; a man who can arrest people.
“I show you that not your dog!” said the Gypsy. “I show you!”
Quickly he went into the tent, and in a moment he came out with a little black dog in his arms. It was a dog much smaller than Skyrocket, and of a different breed.
“That your dog?” cried the Gypsy, holding out the small black poodle.
“No, that isn’t Skyrocket,” said Teddy, in a sad voice.
“What I tell you?” demanded the dark-skinned man.
Janet looked disappointed. Mr. Blake, who had not spoken since entering the Gypsy camp, now stepped forward and called out:
“I saw you take a black dog into that tent, and this isn’t the same dog. You have another black one there. Here, I’ll take a look!”
Before any of the Gypsies could stop him Mr. Blake pressed forward, passed the man with the gold rings in his ears, and a moment later the storekeeper was inside the tent. Some one else inside it gave a frightened cry, and then there sounded the excited barking of a dog.
“I thought so!” cried Mr. Blake, and in another instant out of the tent he stepped, and in his arms was a wildly struggling black dog.
“Oh, that’s Skyrocket! That’s Skyrocket!” cried Teddy, springing forward.
“That’s our dog!” echoed Janet, and she and her brother both tried at once to take the wiggling animal from the arms of Mr. Blake.
The Gypsy man, with a scowl on his face, started forward, but he was caught by Uncle Ben.
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed the sailor. “Take it easy now. Whose dog is that?” and he pointed to the larger black one which was now trying to jump into the arms of both Ted and Janet at the same time, meanwhile wagging his tail as if he would wag it off, and barking and whining, so glad was he to see the Curlytops again.
“That’s my dog!” answered the Gypsy. “I have had him a long while.”
“Your dog, is it?” asked Uncle Ben. “Well, we’ll see about this. Put him on the ground, Jan, and we’ll see who he goes to. Put the dog down, Teddy!”
It was hard work to do this, for the black animal was frisking around the Curlytops, crazy with joy. But at last the dog was made to stand still for a second or two, though he kept on wagging his tail and looking from Ted to Janet and from Janet to Ted as if he feared to lose sight of them for a moment.
“Now then, Mr. Gypsy, you call this dog, and see if he’ll come to you,” ordered Uncle Ben. “Call him to you.”
“Here, Jack! Jack! Come here!” commanded the Gypsy, and he whistled and snapped his fingers. “Come here!”
The dog gave one look at the Gypsy, and then the animal’s tail dropped, between his legs and he crouched down.
“That dog certainly doesn’t like you! He is afraid of you!” said Uncle Ben.
“He is a bad dog!” the Gypsy declared.
“Skyrocket is not a bad dog!” exclaimed Teddy.
And then a curious thing happened.
No sooner had Teddy mentioned the name “Skyrocket” than the dog, which had been slowly and tremblingly creeping toward the Gypsy, turned, and, with a joyful bark, sprang toward the Curlytop boy and girl. In another instant he was being hugged in their arms.
“I guess that shows whose dog he is!” said Mr. Blake.
“I should say so!” cried the farmer. “How then, Mr. Gypsy, what have you to say for yourself? Where did you get that dog which belongs to these children?”
“That’s my dog!” said the Gypsy again.
“Your dog! He’s only your dog because you found him, or took him away from his home!” cried Uncle Ben. “You’ve beaten him and made him afraid of you while you’ve had him, but you sha’n’t have him any more. Curlytops, that’s Skyrocket sure enough. He knows his name when you speak it only once, and he came to you without calling, while he was afraid of this Gypsy. Now you have your dog back!”
“And we’ll never let him go again!” said Janet.
“Now look here, you Gypsies!” said Mr. Addison in a stern voice. “You’ll be allowed to camp here just as long as you behave yourselves, and no longer. Get rid of that yellow dog that kills sheep and chickens, and don’t take any more pet dogs and you’ll be better off. Remember what I say—don’t take any more pet dogs that belong to children!” and he shook his finger warningly at the dark-skinned man.
“I didn’t know it was their dog!” growled the Gypsy. “He came to me on the road and I kept him.”
“Well, maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t,” went on the deputy sheriff. “Anyhow we’ve found what we came after and you heard what I said. We’ll be on the watch now. And you get rid of that bad yellow dog!”
The Gypsy muttered something that no one could hear, and there were growls and grumbles from the other men and boys, while the women, each one of whom wore a bright shawl or dress, talked among themselves in the Gypsy tongue.
“Come on now, children, we’ll be getting back to camp,” said Uncle Ben. “Is Skyrocket all right, Ted?”
“Yes. But I guess he didn’t get much to eat while the Gypsies had him,” the Curlytop boy answered. “He’s awful thin.”
“And I guess they beat him,” added Janet. “Skyrocket was never afraid of anybody before.”
“Yes, I guess the Gypsies didn’t treat him very kindly,” said Uncle Ben. “But you can make it up to him from now on. Take good care of him.”
“We will!” said Janet and Ted.
You can imagine how glad Mrs. Martin was, and Trouble and Mr. Martin and Nora, also, to welcome Skyrocket to Sunnyside Bungalow. It was a new place for Skyrocket, but he soon made himself at home, and a little bed was got ready for him on the porch.
“And if any Gypsies come to take you away again, I’ll—I’ll scratch ’em!” declared Janet.
“And I’ll help!” added Lola.
“Well, I guess those Gypsies won’t make any more trouble,” said Uncle Ben. “If they don’t behave themselves Mr. Addison will arrest every one of ’em.”
But from then on there was no further trouble from the dark-skinned Gypsies, and the yellow dog no longer chased sheep and chickens. Either he was sent away or kept chained up in the woods.
It was two or three days after Skyrocket had been found that something else happened which caused excitement at Sunnyside. Daddy Martin had been back in Cresco, looking after some business about his store, and he came to Silver Lake in the automobile one evening, to stay about a week, he said.
“How is everything back in Cresco?” asked Uncle Ben, as he helped Mr. Martin take some groceries out of the automobile.
“Oh, all right,” answered the father of the Curlytops. “There has been another robbery, though.”
“Was it at our house?” asked Tom Taylor, who, with his sister and the Curlytops, was listening to what Mr. Martin was saying. “Did burglars get into our house as they did into Miss Ransom’s store?”
“No, it wasn’t at your house,” answered Ted’s father. “It was at Mr. Henderson’s hardware store. Thieves got in there last night and took a lot of knives, forks, and things like that.”
“Did they take any funny box, with a secret drawer in, like Miss Ransom’s?” Ted asked.
“I didn’t hear anything about a queer box,” answered his father. “But I brought a newspaper. There it is, Uncle Ben. It says a big storm is on the way, and may reach here by morning. I guess we’d better tie the boats up so they won’t blow about and be wrecked. There’s a big wind storm on the way here from the west.”
“Out west, where Uncle Frank’s ranch is?” asked Janet.
“Well, perhaps not quite as far as that,” answered her father. “But we’ll have to get ready for the storm.”
“And after supper will you tell us more about the burglars at Mr. Henderson’s store?” asked Ted.
“I guess so,” replied his father.
But after supper was a busy time for Daddy Martin and Uncle Ben. There were many boats to be tied fast, or put in safe places. Trouble stayed with his mother on the bungalow porch, but Ted and Tom did what they could to help. Lola and Jan went down to the dock to help, too. Just how much help they were I am not going to try to say.
It was getting dusk, and the wind was beginning to blow pretty hard.
“I think the storm is coming now,” said Mrs. Martin to Nora. “We had better see to shutting some of the windows.”
At that moment Lola and Janet came running up the path that led from the bungalow down to the dock and shore of Silver Lake. The two little girls seemed much excited.
“Oh, Mother!” cried Janet. “He’s in! They’re both in!”
“Both in where? And who’s in?” asked Mrs. Martin.
“Ted’s in, and so’s Tom,” answered Janet. “They both fell into the lake off the pier!”