CURLYTOPS 
 ON STAK ISLAND 
 
 HOWARD R. GARIS :
 

 
 
 TED WADED OUT. AND BROUGHT HIS SISTER'S DOLL 
 
 TO SHORE. 
 The Curlytoft on Star Island Paae 134
 
 THE CURLYTOPS 
 
 ON 
 
 STAR ISLAND 
 
 OR 
 
 Camping out with Grandpa 
 
 BY 
 HOWARD R. GARIS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE CURLYTOPS SERIES," "BEDTIME 
 STORIES," "UNCLE WIGGILY SERIES," ETC. 
 
 Illustrations by 
 JULIA GREENE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
 
 THE CURLYTOPS SERIES 
 By HOWARD R. GARIS 
 
 I2mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 
 Price per volume, . cents, net. 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM 
 Or, Vacation Days in the Country 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND 
 
 Or, Camping Out With Grandpa 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN 
 
 Or, Grand Fun With Skates and Sleds 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S 
 RANCH 
 
 Or, Little Folks on Ponyback 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I THE BLUE LIGHT 1 
 
 II WHAT THE FARMER TOLD . . 14 
 
 III OFF TO STAR ISLAND . ... 32 
 
 IV OVERBOARD . 42 
 
 / 
 
 V THE BAG OF SALT .... 56 
 VI TED AND THE BEAR .... 67 
 VII JAN SEES SOMETHING ... 78 
 VIII TROUBLE FALLS IN .... 91 
 IX TED FINDS A CAVE .... 101 
 X THE GRAPEVINE SWING . . Ill 
 XI TROUBLE MAKES A CAKE . . 123 
 XII THE CURLYTOPS Go SWIM- 
 MING 139 
 
 XIII JAN'S QUEER RIDE .... 157 
 
 XIV DIGGING FOR GOLD 164 
 
 2088246
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XV THE BIG HOLE 175 
 
 XVI A GLAD SURPRISE 188 
 
 XVII TROUBLE'S PLAYHOUSE . . . 197 
 
 XVIII IN THE CAVE 211 
 
 XIX THE BLUE LIGHT AaAiN . . 224 
 
 XX THE HAPPY TRAMP . 236
 
 THE CURLYTOPS 
 
 ON 
 
 STAR ISLAND 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE BLUE LIGHT 
 
 " MOTHER, make Ted stop!" 
 
 "I'm not doing anything at all, Mother!" 
 
 "Yes he is, too ! Please call him in. He's 
 hurting my doll. ' ' 
 
 "Oh, Janet Martin, I am not!" 
 
 "You are so, Theodore Baradale Martin; 
 and you 'YC just got to stop!" 
 
 Janet, or Jan, as she was more often 
 called, stood in front of her brother with 
 flashing eyes and red cheeks. 
 
 ' * Chil dren ! Children ! What are you do- 
 ing now?" asked their mother, appearing in 
 the doorway of the big, white farmhouse, 
 holding in her arms a small boy. "Please 
 don't make so much noise. I've just gotten 
 Baby William to sleep, and if he wakes
 
 2 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "Yes, don't wake up Trouble, Jan," added 
 Theodore, or Ted, the shorter name being the 
 one by which he was most often called. "If 
 you do he'll want to come with us, and we 
 can't make Nicknack race." 
 
 "I wasn't waking him up, it was you!" 
 exclaimed Jan. i l He keeps pulling my doll 's 
 legs, Mother and ' 
 
 "I only pulled 'em a little bit, just to see if 
 they had any springs in 'em. Jan said her 
 doll was a circus lady and could jump on the 
 back of a horse. I wanted to see if she had 
 any springs in her legs." 
 
 "Well, I'm pretending she has, so there, 
 Ted Martin ! And if you don't stop 
 
 "There now, please stop, both of you, and 
 be nice," begged Mrs. Martin. "I thought, 
 since you had your goat and wagon, you 
 could play without having so ^ much fuss. 
 But, if you can't " 
 
 "Oh, we'll be good!" exclaimed Ted, run- 
 ning his hands through his tightly curling 
 hair, but not taking any of the kinks out that 
 way. "We'll be good. I won't tease Jan 
 anymore." 
 
 "You'd better not!" warned his sister, 
 and, though she was a year younger than 
 Ted, she did not seem at all afraid of him.
 
 The Blue Light 
 
 "If you do I'll take my half of the goat away 
 and you can't ride." 
 
 "Pooh ! Which is your half ?" asked Ted. 
 
 "The wagon. And if you don't have the 
 wagon to hitch Nicknack to, how 're you go- 
 ing to ride?" 
 
 "Huh! I could ride on his back. Take 
 your old wagon if you want to, but if you 
 do " 
 
 " The-o-dore ! " exclaimed his mother in a 
 slow, warning voice, and when he heard his 
 name spoken in that way, with each syllable 
 pronounced separately, Ted knew it was 
 time to haul down his quarreling colors and 
 behave. He did it this time. 
 
 "I I'm sorry," he faltered. "I didn't 
 mean that, Jan. I won 't pull your doll 's legs 
 any more. ' ' 
 
 "And I won't take the goat- wagon away. 
 We'll both go for a ride in it." 
 
 ' t That 's the way to have a good time, ' ' said 
 Mrs. Martin, with a smile. "Now don't 
 make any more noise, for William is fussy. 
 Run off and play now, but don't go too far. " 
 
 ' ' We '11 go for a ride, ' ' said Teddy. ' ' Come 
 on, Jan. You can let your doll make-believe 
 drive the goat if you want to." 
 
 "Thank you, Teddy. But I guess I'd bet-
 
 ter not. I '11 pretend she 's a Red Cross nurse 
 and I'm taking her to the hospital to work." 
 
 "Then we'll make-believe the goat- wagon 
 is an ambulance!" exclaimed Ted. "And 
 I'm the driver and I don't mind the big 
 guns. Come on, that '11 be fun ! ' ' 
 
 Filled with the new idea, the two children 
 hurried around the side of the farmhouse 
 out toward the barn where Nicknack, their 
 pet goat, was kept. Mrs. Martin smiled as 
 she saw them go. 
 
 "Well, there'll be quiet for a little while," 
 she said, "and William can have his sleep." 
 
 "What's the matter, Ruth?" asked an old 
 gentleman coming up the walk just then. 
 "Have the Curlytops been getting into mis- 
 chief again?" 
 
 "No. Teddy and Janet were just having 
 one of their little quarrels. It's all over 
 now. You look tired, Father." 
 
 Grandpa Martin was Mrs. Martin's hus- 
 band's father, but she loved him as though 
 he were her own. 
 
 "Yes, I am tired. I've been working 
 pretty hard on the farm," said Grandpa 
 Martin, "but I'm going to rest a bit now. 
 Want me to take Trouble?" he asked as he 
 saw the little boy in his mother's arms. Baby
 
 The Blue Light 
 
 William was called Trouble because he got 
 into so much of it. 
 
 "No, thank you. He's asleep," said 
 Mother Martin. "But I do wish you could 
 find some way to keep Ted and Jan from 
 disputing and quarreling so much." 
 
 "Oh, they don't act half as bad as lots of 
 children." 
 
 "No, indeed! They're very good, I 
 think," said Grandma Martin, coming to the 
 door with a patch of flour on the end of her 
 nose, for it was baking day, as you could 
 easily have told had you come anywhere near 
 the big kitchen of the white house on Cherry 
 Farm. 
 
 "They need to be kept busy all the while," 
 said Grandpa Martin. "It's been a little 
 slow for them here this vacation since we got 
 in the hay and gathered the cherries. I think 
 I'll have to find some new way for them to 
 have fun." 
 
 "I didn't know there was any new way," 
 said Mother Martin with a laugh, as she 
 carried Baby William into the bedroom and 
 came back to sit on the porch with Grandpa 
 and Grandma Martin. 
 
 "Oh, yes, there are lots of new ways. I 
 haven't begun to think of them yet," said
 
 6 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 Grandpa Martin. "I'm going to have a few 
 weeks now with not very much to do until 
 it 's time to gather the fall crops, and I think 
 I '11 try to find some way of giving your 
 Curlytops a good time. Yes, that's what I '11 
 do. I'll keep the Curlytops so busy they 
 won't have a chance to think of pulling dolls' 
 legs or taking Nicknack, the goat, away from 
 his wagon." 
 
 " What are you planning to do, Father V ' 
 asked Grandma Martin of her husband. 
 
 "Well, I promised to take them camping 
 on Star Island you know." 
 
 "What! Not those two little tots not 
 Ted and Jan?" cried Grandma Martin, 
 looking up in surprise. 
 
 "Yes, indeed, those same Curlytops!" 
 
 It was easy to understand why Grandpa 
 Martin, as well as nearly everyone else, 
 called the two Martin children Curlytops. It 
 was because their hair was so tightly curling 
 to their heads. Once Grandma Martin lost 
 her thimble in the hair of one of the children, 
 and their locks were curled so nearly alike 
 that she never could remember on whose 
 head she found the needle-pusher. 
 
 "Do you think it will be safe to take Ted 
 and Jan camping?" asked Mother Martin.
 
 The Blue Light 
 
 "Why, yes. There's no finer place in the 
 country than Star Island. And if you go 
 along " 
 
 "Am I to go?" asked Ted's mother. 
 
 "Of course. And Trouble, too. It'll do 
 you all good. I wish Dick could come, too," 
 went on Grandpa Martin, speaking of Ted's 
 father, who had gone from Cherry Farm for 
 a few days to attend to some matters at a 
 store he owned in the town of Cresco. "But 
 Dick says he'll be too busy. So I guess the 
 Curlytops will have to go camping with 
 grandpa," added the farmer, smiling. 
 
 "Well, I'm sure they couldn't have better 
 fun than to go with you," replied Mother 
 Martin. "But I'm not sure that Baby 
 William and I can go." 
 
 "Oh, yes you can," said her father-in-law. 
 "We'll talk about it again. But here come 
 Ted and Jan now in the goat-cart. They 
 seem to have something to ask you. We'll 
 talk about the camp later." 
 
 Teddy and Janet Martin, the two Curly- 
 tops, came riding up to the farmhouse in a 
 small wagon drawn by a fine, big goat, that 
 they had named Mcknack. 
 
 "Please, Mother," begged Ted, "may we 
 ride over to the Home and get Hal ?"
 
 8 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "We promised to take him for a ride," 
 added Jan. 
 
 " Yes, I suppose you may go," said Mother 
 Martin. "But you must be careful, and be 
 home in time for supper." 
 
 "We will," promised Ted. "We'll go by 
 the wood-road, and then we won't get run 
 over by any automobiles. They don't come 
 on that road." 
 
 "All right. Now remember don't stay 
 too late." 
 
 "No, we won't I" chorused the two chil- 
 dren, and down the garden path and along 
 the lane they went to a road that led through 
 Grandpa Martin's wood-lot and so on to the 
 Home for Crippled Children, which was 
 about a mile from Cherry Farm. 
 
 Among others at the Home was a lame 
 boy named Hal Chester. That is, he had 
 been lame when the Curlytops first met him 
 early in the summer, but he was almost cured 
 now, and walked with only a little limp. The 
 Home had been built to cure lame children, 
 and had helped many of them. 
 
 Half-way to the big red building, which 
 was like a hospital, the Curlytops met Hal. 
 the very boy whom they had started o^t 
 to see.
 
 The Blue Light 9 
 
 "Hello, Hal!" cried Ted. "Get in and 
 have a ride." 
 
 "Thanks, I will. I was just coming over 
 to see you, anyway. What are you two go- 
 ing to do?" 
 
 "Nothing much," Ted answered, while 
 Jan moved along the seat with her doll, to 
 make room for Hal. "What 're you going 
 to do?" 
 
 "Same as you." 
 
 The three children laughed at that. 
 
 "Let's ride along the river road," sug- 
 gested Janet. ' * It 11 be nice and shady there, 
 and if my Bed Cross doll is going to the war 
 she'll like to be cool once in a while." 
 
 "Is your doll a Red Cross nurse?" asked 
 Hal. * ' If she is, where 's her cap and the red 
 cross on her arm?" 
 
 "Oh, she just started to be a nurse a little 
 while ago, ' ' Jan explained. ' * I haven 't had 
 time to make the red cross yet. But I will. 
 Anyhow, let's go down by the river." 
 
 "All right, we will," agreed Ted. "We'll 
 see if we can get some sticks off the willow 
 trees and make whistles," he added to Hal. 
 
 "You can make better whistles in the 
 spring, when the bark is softer, than you 
 can now," said the lame boy, as the Curly-
 
 10 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 tops often called him, though Hal was nearly 
 cured. 
 
 "Well, maybe we can make some now," 
 suggested Ted, and a little later the two boys 
 were seated in the shade under the willow 
 trees that grew on the bank of a small river 
 which flowed into Clover Lake, not far from 
 Cherry Farm. Nicknack, tied to a tree, nib- 
 bled the sweet, green grass, and Jan made a 
 wreath of buttercups for her doll. 
 
 After they had made some whistles, which 
 did give out a little tooting sound, Ted and 
 Hal found something else to do, and Jan 
 saw, coming along the road, a girl named 
 Mary Seaton with whom she often played. 
 Jan called Mary to join her, and the two 
 little girls had a good time together while 
 Ted and Hal threw stones at some wooden 
 boats they made and floated down the 
 stream. 
 
 "Oh, Ted, we must go home!" suddenly 
 cried Jan. " It 's getting dark 1 ' ' 
 
 The sun was beginning to set, but it would 
 not really have been dark for some time, 
 except that the western sky was filled with 
 clouds that seemed to tell of a coming storm. 
 So, really, it did appear as though 
 were at hand.
 
 The Blue Light JU 
 
 "I guess we'd better go," Ted said, with 
 a look at the dark clouds. "Come on, Hal. 
 There's room for you, too, Mary, in the 
 wagon." 
 
 "Can Mcknack pull us all?" Mary asked. 
 
 "I guess so. It's mostly downhill. Come 
 on!" 
 
 The four children got into the goat- wagon, 
 and if Nicknack minded the bigger load he 
 did not show it, but trotted off rather fast. 
 Perhaps he knew he was going home to his 
 stable where he would have some sweet hay 
 and oats to eat, and that was what made him 
 so glad to hurry along. 
 
 The wagon was stopped near the Home 
 long enough to let Hal get out, and a little 
 later Mary was driven up to her gate. Then 
 Ted and Jan, with the doll between them, 
 drove on. 
 
 "Oh, Ted!" exclaimed his sister, "moth- 
 er '11 scold. We oughtn't to have stayed so 
 late. It's past supper time!" 
 
 "We didn't mean to. Anyhow, I guess 
 they'll give us something to eat. Grandma 
 baked cookies to-day and there'll be some 
 left." 
 
 "I hope so," replied Jan with a sigh. 
 "I'm hungry!"
 
 12 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 They drove on in silence a little farther, 
 and then, as they came to the top of a hill 
 and could look down toward Star Island in 
 the middle of Clover Lake, Ted suddenly 
 called : 
 
 "Look, Jan!" 
 
 "Where?" she asked. 
 
 "Over there," and her brother pointed to 
 the island. ' * Do you see that blue light ? ' ' 
 
 "On the island, do you mean? Yes, I 
 see it. Maybe somebody's there with a 
 lantern." 
 
 "Nobody lives on Star Island. Besides, 
 who'd have a blue lantern?" 
 
 Jan did not answer. 
 
 It was now quite dark, and down in the 
 lake, where there was a patch of black which 
 was Star Island, could be seen a nickering 
 blue glow, that seemed to stand still and then 
 move about. 
 
 "Maybe it's lightning bugs," suggested 
 Jan. 
 
 "Huh! Fireflies are sort of white," ex- 
 claimed Ted. "I never saw a light like that 
 before." 
 
 "Me, either, Ted! Hurry up home. Gid- 
 dap, Nicknack!" and Jan threw at the goat 
 a pine cone, one of several she had picked
 
 The Blue Light 13 
 
 up and put in the wagon when they were 
 taking a rest in the woods that afternoon. 
 
 Nicknack gave a funny little wiggle to his 
 tail, which the children could hardly see in 
 the darkness, and then he trotted on faster. 
 The Curlytops, looking back, had a last 
 glimpse of the flickering blue light as they 
 hurried toward Cherry Farm, and they were 
 a little frightened. 
 
 "What do you s'pose it is ?" asked Jan. 
 
 "I don't know/ 1 answered Ted. "Well 
 ask Grandpa. Go on, Nicknack!"
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 WHAT THE FARMER TOLD 
 
 "WELL, where in the world have you chil- 
 dren been?" 
 
 "Didn't you know we'd be worried about 
 you?" 
 
 "Did you get lost again?" 
 
 Mother Martin, Grandpa Martin and 
 Grandma Martin took turns asking these 
 three questions as Ted and Jan drove up to 
 the farmhouse in the darkness a little later. 
 
 "You said you wouldn't stay late," went 
 on Mother Martin, as the Curlytops got out 
 of the goat- wagon. 
 
 "We didn't mean to, Mother," said Ted. 
 
 1 1 Oh, but we 're so scared ! ' ' exclaimed Jan, 
 and as Grandma Martin put her arms about 
 the little girl she felt Jan's heart beating 
 faster than usual. 
 
 "Why, what is the matter ?" asked the old 
 lady. 
 
 14
 
 What the Farmer Told 15 
 
 "Me wants a wide wif Nicknack!" de- 
 manded Baby William, as he stood beside 
 his mother in the doorway. 
 
 "No, Trouble. Not now," answered Ted. 
 "Nicknack is tired and has to have his sup- 
 per. Is there any supper left for us?" he 
 asked eagerly. 
 
 "Well, I guess we can find a cold potato, 
 or something like it, for such tramps as 
 you," laughed Grandpa Martin. "But 
 where on earth have you been, and what kept 
 you?" 
 
 Then Ted put Nicknack in the barn. But 
 when he came back he and Jan between them 
 told of having stayed playing later than they 
 meant to. 
 
 "Well, you got home only just in time," 
 said Mother Martin as she took the children 
 to the dining-room for a late supper. "It's 
 starting to rain now." 
 
 And so it was, the big drops pelting down 
 and splashing on the windows. 
 
 "But what frightened you, Jan?" asked 
 Grandma Martin. 
 
 "It was a queer blue light on Star 
 Island." 
 
 "A light on Star Island!" exclaimed her 
 grandfather. "Nonsense! Nobody stays on
 
 16 
 
 the island after dark unless it's a fisherman 
 or two, and the fish aren't biting well enough 
 now to make anyone stay late to try to catch 
 them. You must have dreamed it or made- 
 believe." 
 
 1 1 No, we really saw it ! " declared Ted. ' ' It 
 was a fliskering blue light." 
 
 4 'Well, if there's any such thing there as 
 a ' fliskering ' blue light we'll soon find out 
 what it is," said Grandpa Martin. 
 
 "How?" asked Ted, his eyes wide open in 
 wonder. 
 
 1 'By going there to see what it is. I'm 
 going to take you two Curlytops to camp on 
 Star Island, and if there's anything queer 
 there we'll see what it is." 
 
 "Oh, are we really going to live on Star 
 Island?" gasped Janet. 
 
 "Camping out with grandpa! Oh, what 
 fun ! ' ' cried Ted. ' ' Do you mean it 1 " and he 
 looked anxiously at the farmer, fearing 
 there might be some joke about it. 
 
 "Oh, I really mean it," said Grandpa 
 Martin. "Though I hardly believe you saw 
 a real light on the island. It must have 
 been a firefly." 
 
 "Lightning bugs aren't that color," de- 
 clared Ted. "It was a blue light, almost like
 
 What the Farmer Told 17 
 
 .Fourth of July. But tell us about camping, 
 Grandpa!" 
 
 "Yes, please do," begged Jan. 
 
 And while the children are eating their 
 late supper, and Grandpa Martin is telling 
 them his plans, I will stop just a little while 
 to make my new readers better acquainted 
 with the Curlytops and their friends. 
 
 You have already met Theodore, or Teddy 
 or Ted, Martin, and his sister Janet, or Jan. 
 With their mother, they were spending the 
 long summer vacation on Cherry Farm, the 
 country home of Grandpa Martin outside 
 the town of Elmburg, near Clover Lake. Mr. 
 Richard Martin, or Dick, as Grandpa Mar- 
 tin called him, owned a store in Cresco, 
 where he lived with his family. Besides Ted 
 and Jan there was Baby William, aged 
 about three years. He was called Trouble, 
 for the reason I have told you, though 
 Mother Martin called him "Dear Trouble" 
 to make up for the fun Ted and Jan some- 
 times poked at him. 
 
 Then there was Nora Jones, the maid who 
 helped Mrs. Martin with the cooking and 
 housework. And I must not forget Sky- 
 rocket, a dog, nor Turnover, a cat. These 
 did not help with the housework though I
 
 18 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 suppose u might say they did, too, in a 
 way, for they ate the scraps from the table 
 and this helped to save work. 
 
 In the first book of this series, called "The 
 Curlytops at Cherry Farm/' I had the pleas- 
 ure of telling you how Jan and Ted, with 
 their father, mother and Nora went to 
 grandpa's place in the country to spend the 
 happy vacation days. On the farm, which 
 was named after the number of cherry trees 
 on it, the Curlytops found a stray goat 
 which they were allowed to keep, and they 
 got a wagon which Nicknack (the name they 
 gave their new pet) drew with them in it. 
 
 Having the goat made up for having to 
 leave the dog and the cat at home, and Nick- 
 nack made lots of good times for Ted and 
 Jan. In the book you may read of the worry 
 the children carried because Grandpa Mar- 
 tin had lost money on account of a flood at 
 his farm, and so could not help when there 
 was a fair and collection for the Crippled 
 Children's Home. 
 
 But, most unexpectedly, the cherries 
 helped when Mr. Sam Sander, the lollypop 
 man, bought them from Grandpa Martin, 
 and found a way of making them into 
 candy. And when Ted and Jan and Trouble
 
 What the Farmer Told 19 
 
 were lost in the woods once, the lollypop 
 man 
 
 But I think you would rather read the 
 story for yourself in the other book. I will 
 just say that the Curlytops were still at 
 Cherry Farm, though Father Martin had 
 gone away for a little while. And now, hav- 
 ing told you about the family, I'll go back 
 where I left off, and well see what is hap- 
 pening. 
 
 "Yes," said Grandpa Martin, "I think I 
 will take you Curlytops to camp on Star 
 Island. Camping will do you good. You'll 
 learn lots in the woods there. And won't it 
 be fun to live in a tent?" 
 
 "Oh, won't it though!" cried Ted, and the 
 shine in Jan's eyes and the glow on her red 
 cheeks showed how happy she was. 
 
 "But I'd like to know what that blue light 
 was," said the little girl. 
 
 "Oh, don't worry about that!" laughed 
 Grandpa Martin. "I'll get that blue light 
 and hang it in our tent for a lantern. " 
 
 I think I mentioned that Jan and Ted had 
 such wonderful curling hair that even stran- 
 gers, seeing them the first time, called them 
 the "Curlytops." And Ted, who was aged 
 seven years, with his sister just a year
 
 ?0 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 younger (their anniversaries coming on 
 exactly the same day) did not in the least 
 mind being called this. He and Jan rather 
 liked it. 
 
 "Let's don't go to bed yet," said Jan to 
 her brother, as they finished supper and 
 went from the dining-room into the sitting- 
 room, where they were allowed to play and 
 have good times if they did not get too 
 rough. And they did not often do this. 
 
 "All right. It is early," Ted agreed. 
 "But what can we do?" 
 
 "Let's pretend we have a camp here," 
 went on Jan. 
 
 "Where?" asked Ted. 
 
 "Right in the sitting-room," answered 
 Jan. "We can make-believe the couch is a 
 tent, and we can crawl under it and go to 
 sleep." 
 
 "I wants to go to sleeps there!" cried 
 Trouble. "I wants to go to sleeps right 
 now!" 
 
 "Shall we take him back to mother?" 
 asked Ted, looking at his sister. "If he's 
 sleepy now he won't want to play." 
 
 "I isn't too sleepy to play," objected 
 Baby William. "I can go to sleeps under 
 couch if you wants me to," he added.
 
 What the Farmer Told 21 
 
 "Oh, that'll be real cute!" cried Janet. 
 "Come on, Ted, let's do it! We can make- 
 believe Trouble is our little dog, or some- 
 thing like that, to watch over our tent, and 
 he can go to sleep " 
 
 "Huh! how's he going to watch if he goes 
 to sleep?" Ted demanded. 
 
 "Oh, well, he can make-believe go to sleep 
 or make-believe watch, either one," ex- 
 plained Janet. 
 
 "Yes, I s'pose he could do that," agreed 
 Teddy. 
 
 Baby William opened his mouth wide and 
 yawned. 
 
 "I guess he'll do some real sleeping," said 
 Janet with a laugh. "Come on, Trouble, 
 before you get your eyes so tight shut you 
 can't open 'em again. Come on, we'll play 
 camping!" and she led the way into the sit- 
 ting room and over toward the big couch at 
 one end. 
 
 Many a good time the children had had in 
 this room, and the old couch, pretty well bat- 
 tered and broken now, had been in turn a 
 fort, a steamboat, railroad car, and an auto- 
 mobile. That was according to the particu- 
 lar make-believe game the children were 
 pXying. Now the old couch was to be a tent,
 
 and Jan and Ted moved some chairs, which 
 would be part of the pretend-camp, up in 
 front of it. 
 
 "It'll be a lot of fun when we go camping 
 for real," said Teddy, as he helped his sister 
 spread one of Grandma Martin's old shawls 
 over the backs of some chairs. This was to 
 be a sort of second tent where they could 
 make-believe cook their meals. 
 
 "Yes, well have grand fun," agreed Jan. 
 "No, you mustn't go to sleep up there, 
 Trouble!" she called to the little fellow, for 
 he had crawled up on top of the couch and 
 had stretched himself out as though to take 
 a nap. 
 
 "Why? "he asked. 
 
 " 'Cause the tent part is under it," ex- 
 plained his sister. "That's the top of the 
 tent where you are. You can't go to sleep 
 on top of a tent. You might fall off ." 
 
 "I can fall off now!" announced Trouble, 
 as he suddenly thought of something. Then 
 he gave a wiggle and rolled off the seat, 
 bumping into Ted, who had stooped down to 
 put a rug under the couch-tent. 
 
 "Ouch!" cried Ted. "Look out what 
 you're doing, Trouble! You bumped my 
 head."
 
 What the Farmer Told 23 
 
 "I I bumped my head!" exclaimed the 
 little fellow, rubbing his tangled hair. 
 
 "He didn't mean to," said Janet. "You 
 mustn't roll off that way, Trouble. You 
 might be hurt. Come now, go to sleep under 
 the couch. That's inside the tent you 
 know." 
 
 She showed him where Ted had spread 
 the rug, as far back under the couch as he 
 could reach, and this looked to Trouble like 
 a nice place. 
 
 "I go to sleeps in there!" he said, and 
 under the couch he crawled, growling and 
 grunting. 
 
 "What are you doing that for?" asked 
 Ted, in some surprise. 
 
 "I's a bear!" exclaimed Baby William. 
 "I's a bad bear! Burr-r-r-r!" and he 
 growled again. 
 
 "Oh, you mustn't do that!" objected 
 Janet. "We don't want any bears in our 
 camp!" 
 
 "Course we can have 'em!" cried Ted. 
 "That'll be fun! We'll play Trouble is a 
 bear 'stead of a dog, and I can hunt him. 
 Only I ought to have something for a gun. 
 I know! I'll get grandpa's Sunday cane!" 
 and he started for the hall.
 
 24 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "Oh, no. I don't want to play bear and 
 hunting!" objected Janet. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " 'Cause it's too too scary at night. 
 Let's play something nice and quiet. Let 
 Trouble be our watch dog, and we can be in 
 camp and he can bark and scare some- 
 thing." 
 
 "What'll he scare?" asked Ted. 
 
 Meanwhile Baby William was crawling as 
 far back under the couch as he could, growl- 
 ing away, though whether he was pretend- 
 ing to be a bear, a lion or only a dog no one 
 knew but himself. 
 
 "What do you want him to scare?" asked 
 Ted of his sister. 
 
 "Oh oh well, chickens, maybe!" she an- 
 swered. 
 
 ' ' Pooh ! Chickens aren 't any fun ! ' ' cried 
 Ted. "If Trouble is going to be a dog let 
 him scare a wild bull, or something like that. 
 Anyhow chickens don't come to camp." 
 
 "Well, neither does wild bulls!" declared 
 Janet. 
 
 "Yes, they do!" cried Ted, and it seemed 
 as if there would be so much talk that the 
 children would never get to playing any- 
 thing. "Don't you 'member how daddy told
 
 What the Farmer Told 25 
 
 us about going camping, and in the night a 
 wild bull almost knocked down the tent/' 
 
 "Well, that was real, but this is only 
 make-believe/' said Janet. "Let Trouble 
 scare the chickens." 
 
 "All right," agreed Ted, who was nearly 
 always kind to his sister. "Go on and 
 growl, Trouble. You're a dog and you're 
 going to scare the chickens out of camp." 
 
 They waited a minute but Trouble did not 
 growl. 
 
 "Why don't you make a noise?" asked 
 Janet. 
 
 Trouble gave a grunt. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Ted. 
 
 "I I can't growl 'cause I'm all stuck 
 under here," answered the voice of the little 
 fellow, from far under the couch. "I can't 
 wiggle!" 
 
 "Oh, dear!" cried Janet. 
 
 Teddy stooped and looked beneath the 
 couch. 
 
 "He's caught on some of the springs that 
 stick down," he said. "I'll poke him out." 
 
 He caught hold of Trouble's clothes and 
 pulled the little fellow loose. But Trouble 
 cried perhaps because he was sleepy and 
 then his mother came and got him, leaving
 
 26 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 Teddy and Janet to play by themselves, 
 which they did until they, too, began to feel 
 sleepy. 
 
 " You '11 want to go to bed earlier than this 
 when you go camping, my Curlytops," said 
 Grandpa Martin, as the children came out 
 of the sitting-room. 
 
 "Are you really going to take them camp- 
 ing?" asked Mother Martin after Jan and 
 Ted had gone upstairs to bed. 
 
 "I really am. There are some tents in the 
 barn. I own part of Star Island and there's 
 no nicer place to camp. You'll come, too, 
 and so will Dick when he comes back from 
 Cresco. We'll take Nora along to do the 
 cooking. Will you come, Mother?" and the 
 Curlytops' grandfather looked at his gray- 
 haired wife. 
 
 "No, I'll stay on Cherry Farm and feed 
 the hired men," she answered with a smile. 
 
 "Why do they call it Star Island?" asked 
 Ted's mother. 
 
 "Well, once upon a time, a good many 
 years ago," said Grandpa Martin, "a shoot- 
 ing star, or meteor, fell blazing on the island, 
 and that's how it got its name." 
 
 "Maybe it was a part of the star shining 
 that the children saw to-night," said Grand-
 
 What the Farmer Told 27 
 
 ma Martin. " Though 1 don't see how it 
 could be, for it fell many years ago." 
 
 "Maybe," agreed her husband. 
 
 None of them knew what a queer part 
 that fallen star was to have in the lives of 
 those who were shortly to go camping on the 
 island. 
 
 Early the next morning after breakfast, 
 Ted and Jan went out to the barn to get 
 Mcknack to have a ride. 
 
 " Where is you? I wants to come, tool" 
 cried the voice of their little brother, as they 
 were putting the harness on their goat. 
 
 "Oh, there's Trouble," whispered Ted. 
 "Shall we take him with us, Jan |" 
 
 "Yes, this time. We're not going far. 
 Grandma wants us to go to the store for 
 some baking soda." 
 
 "All right, we'll drive down," returned 
 Ted. ' ' Come on, Trouble ! " he called. 
 
 "I's tummin'," answered Baby William. 
 "I's dot a tookie." 
 
 "He means cookie," said Jan, laughing. 
 
 "I know it," agreed Ted. "I wish he'd 
 bring me one." 
 
 "Me too!" exclaimed Janet. 
 
 "I's dot a 'ot of tookies," went on Trou- 
 ble, who did not always talk in such "baby
 
 28 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 fashion." When he tried to he could speak 
 very well, but he did not often try. 
 
 "Oh, he's got his whole apron full of 
 cookies!" cried Jan. "Where did you get 
 them?" she asked, as her little brother came 
 into the barn. 
 
 "Drandma given 'em to me, an' she said 
 you was to have some, ' ' announced the little 
 boy, as he let the cookies slide out of his 
 apron to a box that stood near the goat- 
 wagon. 
 
 Then Baby William began eating a cookie, 
 and Jan and Ted did also, for they, too, were 
 hungry, though it was not long after break- 
 fast. 
 
 "Goin' to wide?" asked Trouble, his 
 mouth full of cookie. 
 
 "Yes, we're going for a ride," answered 
 Jan. "Oh, Ted, get a blanket or something 
 to put over our laps. It's awful dusty on 
 the road to-day, even if it did rain last night. 
 It all dried up, I guess. " 
 
 "All right, I'll get a blanket from grand- 
 pa's carriage. And you'd better get a 
 cushion for Trouble." 
 
 "I will," said Janet, and her brother and 
 sister left Baby William alone with the goat 
 for a minute or two.
 
 What the Farmer Told 29 
 
 When Jan came back with the cushion she 
 went to get another cookie, but there were 
 none. 
 
 "Why Trouble Martin I " she cried, "did 
 you eat them all?" 
 
 "All what ?" 
 
 "All the cookies!" 
 
 "I did eat one and Nicknack he did eat 
 the west. He was hungry, he was, and he 
 did eat the west ob 'em. I feeded 'em to 
 him. Nicknack was a hungry goat," said 
 Trouble, smiling. 
 
 "I should think he was hungry, to eat up 
 all those cookies! I only had one!" cried 
 Jan. 
 
 "What! Did Nicknack get at the 
 cookies?" cried Ted, coming back with a 
 light lap robe. 
 
 "Trouble gave them to him," explained 
 Janet. "Oh dear! I was so hungry for 
 another!" 
 
 "I'll ask grandma for some," promised 
 Ted, and he soon came back with his hands 
 full of the round, brown molasses cookies. 
 
 "Hello, Curlytops, what can I do for you 
 to-day I" asked the storekeeper a little later, 
 when the three children had driven up to his 
 front door. "Do you want a barrel of sugar
 
 3* The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 put in your wagon or a keg of salt mack'rel ? 
 I have both." 
 
 "We want baking soda," answered Jan. 
 
 "And you shall have the best I've got. 
 Where are you going off to look for the end 
 of the rainbow and get the pot of gold at the 
 end?" he asked jokingly. 
 
 "No, we're not going far to-day," an- 
 swered Ted. 
 
 "Well, stop in when you're passing this 
 way again," called out the storekeeper as 
 Ted turned Nicknaek around for the home- 
 ward trip. "I'm always glad to see you." 
 
 "Maybe you won't see us now for quite a 
 while," answered Jan proudly. 
 
 "No? Why not? You're not going to 
 leave Cherry Farm I hope. ' ' 
 
 Ted stopped Nicknack that they might 
 better explain. 
 
 "We're going camping with grandpa on 
 Star Island." 
 
 "Where's that you're going?" asked a 
 farmer who had just come out of the store 
 after buying some groceries. 
 
 "Camping on Star Island in Clover 
 Lake," repeated Ted. 
 
 "Huh! I wouldn't go there if I were 
 you," said the farmer, shaking his head.
 
 31 
 
 ' ' Why not ? " asked Ted. ' ' Is it because of 
 the blue light?" and he looked at his sister 
 to see if she remembered. 
 
 "I don't know anything about a blue 
 light," the farmer answered. "But if I 
 were your grandfather I wouldn't take you 
 there camping," and the man again shook 
 his head. 
 
 "Why not?" asked Janet, her eyes open- 
 ing wide in surprise. 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you why," went on the 
 farmer. "I was over on Star Island fishing 
 the other day, and I saw a couple of tramps, 
 or maybe gypsies, there. I didn't like the 
 looks of the men, and that's why I wouldn't 
 go there camping if I were you or your 
 grandpa," and the farmer shook his head 
 again as he unhitched his team of horses.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 OFF TO STAB ISLAND 
 
 "On Ted I" exclaimed Janet, as she drove 
 home in the goat-wagon with her brother 
 and Baby William, "do you s'pose we can't 
 go camping with grandpa ?" 
 
 "Why can't we?" demanded Teddy. 
 
 " 'Cause of what that farmer said." 
 
 "Oh, well, I guess grandpa won't be 'fraid 
 of tramps on the island. It's part his, any- 
 how, and he can make 'em get off." 
 
 "Yes, he could do that," agreed Janet, 
 after thinking the matter over. "But if 
 they were gypsies'?" 
 
 "Well, gypsies and tramps are the same. 
 Grandpa can make the gypsies get off the 
 island too." 
 
 "They they might take Trouble," fal- 
 tered Jan in a low voice. 
 
 "Who?" asked Ted. 
 
 "The gypsies." 
 
 32
 
 Off to Star Island 33 
 
 "Who take me?" demanded Trouble him- 
 self. " Who take me, Jam !' ' 
 
 Sometimes he called his sister Jam instead 
 of Jan. 
 
 " Who take me ?" he asked, playfully pok- 
 ing his fingers in his sister's eyes. 
 
 "Oh nobody," she answered quickly, as 
 she took him off her lap and put him behind 
 her in the cart. She did not want to fright- 
 en her little brother. "Let's hurry home 
 and tell grandpa," Jan said to Ted, and he 
 nodded his curly head to show that he would 
 do that. 
 
 On trotted Nicknack, Trouble being now 
 seated in the back of the wagon on a cushion, 
 while Ted and Jan were in front. 
 
 "Maybe it was tramps making a campfire 
 that we saw last night," went on Jan after 
 a pause, ciuring which they came nearer to 
 Cherry Farm. 
 
 "A campfire blaze isn't blue," declared 
 Ted. 
 
 "Well, maybe this is a new kind." 
 
 Ted shook his head until his curls wag- 
 gled. 
 
 "I don't b'lieve so," he said. 
 
 1 ' Bang ! There, me shoot you ! ' ' suddenly 
 cried Trouble, and Ted and Jan heard some-
 
 34 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 thing fall with a thud on the ground behind 
 them. 
 
 "Whoa, there !" cried Ted to Nicknack. 
 "What are you shootin', Trouble baby?" he 
 asked, turning to look at his little brother. 
 
 "Me shoot a bunny rabbit," was the 
 answer. 
 
 "Oh, there is a little bunny!" cried Jan, 
 pointing to a small, brown one that ran 
 along under the bushes, and then came to a 
 stop in front of the goat- wagon, pausing to 
 look at the children. 
 
 "Me shoot him," said Trouble, laughing 
 gleefully. 
 
 "What with?" asked Ted, a sudden 
 thought coming into his mind. 
 
 "Trouble frow store thing at bunny," said 
 the little boy. "It bwoke an* all white stuff 
 corned out!" 
 
 "Oh, Trouble, did you throw grandma's 
 soda at the bunny?" cried Jan. 
 
 "Yes, I did," answered Baby William. 
 
 "And it's all busted!" exclaimed Ted, as 
 he saw the white powder scattered about on 
 the woodland path. "We've got to go back 
 to the store for some more. Oh, Trouble 
 Martin!" 
 
 "I's didn't hurt de bunny wabbit," said
 
 Off to Star Island 35 
 
 Trouble earnestly. "I's only make-be 'ieve 
 shoot him bang I ' ' 
 
 "I know you didn't hurt the bunny, " ob- 
 served Jan. "But you've hurt grandma's 
 'soda. Is there any left, Ted?" she asked, 
 as her brother got out of the wagon to pick 
 up the broken package. 
 
 "A little," he answered. "There's some 
 in the bottom. I guess we'll go back to the 
 store and get more. I want to ask that 
 farmer again about the tramps on Star 
 Island." 
 
 "No, don't," begged Jan. "Let's take 
 what soda we have to grandma. Maybe it'll 
 be enough. Anyhow, if we did go back for 
 more Trouble might throw that out, too, if 
 he saw a rabbit." 
 
 ' ' That 's so. I guess we 'd better leave him 
 when we go to the store next time. How'd 
 he get the soda, anyhow?" 
 
 "It must have jiggled out of my lap, 
 where I was holding it, and then it fell in 
 the bottom of the wagon and he got it. He 
 didn't know any better." 
 
 "No, I s'pose not. Well, maybe grandma 
 can use this." 
 
 Teddy carefully lifted up the broken pack- 
 age of baking soda, more than half of which
 
 36 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 had spilled when Trouble threw it at the lit- 
 tle brown rabbit. Baby William may have 
 thought the package of soda was a white 
 stone, for it was wrapped in a white paper. 
 
 "Well, I'm glad he didn't hit the little 
 bunny, anyhow, ' ' said Jan. ' * Where is it ? " 
 and she looked for the rabbit. 
 
 But the timid woodland creature had 
 hopped away, probably to go to its burrow 
 and tell a wonderful story, in rabbit lan- 
 guage, about having seen some giants in a 
 big wagon drawn by an elephant for to a 
 rabbit a goat must seem as large as a circus 
 animal. 
 
 "I guess Trouble can't hit much that he 
 throws at," observed Ted, as he started 
 Nicknack once more toward Cherry Farm. 
 
 "He threw a hair brush at me once and hit 
 me," declared Jan. 
 
 "Yes, I remember," said Teddy. "Here, 
 Trouble, if you want to throw things throw 
 these," and he stopped to pick up some old 
 acorns which he gave his little brother. 
 "You can't hurt anyone with them." 
 
 Trouble was delighted with his new play- 
 things, and kept quiet the rest of the way 
 home tossing the acorns out of the goat- 
 wagon at the trees he passed.
 
 Off to Star Island 37 
 
 Grandma Martin said it did not matter 
 about the broken box of soda, as there was 
 enough left for her need; so Ted and Jan 
 did not have to go back to the store. 
 
 "But I'd like to ask that farmer more 
 about the tramps on Star Island," said Ted 
 to his grandfather, when telling what the 
 man had said at the grocery. 
 
 "I'll see him and ask him," decided 
 Grandpa Martin. 
 
 It was two days after this two days 
 during which the Curlytops had much' fun 
 at Cherry Farm that Grandpa Martin 
 spoke at dinner one afternoon. 
 
 "I saw Mr. Crittendon," he said, "and he 
 told me that he had seen you Curlytops at 
 the store and mentioned the tramps on Star 
 Island." 
 
 "Are they really there!" asked Jan 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Well, they might have been. But we 
 won't let them bother us if we go camping. 
 I'll make them clear out. Most of that 
 island belongs to me, and the rest to friends 
 of mine. They'll do as I say, and we'll clear 
 out the tramps." 
 
 "I hope you will, Grandpa," said Janet. 
 
 "Did Mr. Crittendon say anything about
 
 38 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 the queer blue light Jan and Ted saw?" 
 asked Grandma Martin. 
 
 "No, he hadn't seen that." 
 
 ' ' Where did the tramps come from ? And 
 is he sure they weren't gypsies?" asked 
 Jan's mother. 
 
 "No, they weren't gypsies. We don't 
 often see them around here. Oh, I imagine 
 the tramps were the regular kind that go 
 about the country in summer, begging their 
 way. They might have found a boat and 
 gone to the island to sleep, where no con- 
 stable would trouble them. 
 
 "But we're not afraid of tramps, are we, 
 Curlytops?" he cried, as he caught Baby 
 William up in his arms and set him on his 
 broad shoulder. "We don't mind them, do 
 we, Trouble?" 
 
 "We frow water on 'em!" said Baby 
 William, laughing with delight as his grand- 
 father made-believe bite some "souse" off 
 his ears. 
 
 "That's what we will I No tramps for us 
 on Star Island!" 
 
 "When are we going?" asked Ted excit- 
 edly. 
 
 "Yes, when?" echoed Jan. 
 
 "In a few days now. I've got to get out
 
 Off to Star Island 39 
 
 the tents and other things. We '11 go the first 
 of the week I think." 
 
 Ted and Jan could hardly wait for the 
 time to come. They helped as much as they 
 could when Grandpa Martin got the tents 
 out of the barn, and they wanted to take so 
 many of their toys and playthings along that 
 there would have been no room in the boat 
 for anything else if they had had their way. 
 
 But Mother Martin thinned out their col- 
 lection of treasures, allowing them to take 
 only what she thought would give them the 
 most pleasure. Boxes of food were packed, 
 and a little stove made ready to take along, 
 for although a campfire looks nice it is hard 
 to cook over. 
 
 Trouble got into all sorts of mischief, 
 from almost falling out of the haymow once, 
 to losing the bucket down the well by letting 
 the chain unwind too fast. But a hired man 
 caught him as he toppled off the hay in the 
 barn, and Grandpa Martin got the bucket up 
 from the well by tying the rake to a long pole 
 and fishing deep down in the water. 
 
 At last the day came when the Curlytops 
 were to go camping on Star Island. The 
 boat was loaded with the tents and other 
 things, and two or three trips were to be
 
 40 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 made half-way across the lake, for the island 
 was about in the middle. Nicknack and his 
 wagon were to be taken over and a small 
 stable made for him under a tree not far 
 from the big tent. 
 
 "All aboard!" cried Ted, as he and Jan 
 took their places in the first boat. "All 
 aboard I" 
 
 "Isn't this fun!" laughed Janet, who was 
 taking care of Trouble. 
 
 "Dis fun," echoed the little chap. 
 
 "I'm sure we'll have a nice time," said 
 Mother Martin. "And your father will like 
 it when he, too, can camp out with us." 
 
 "I hope the tramps don't bother you," 
 said Mr. Crittendon, who had come to help 
 Grandpa Martin get his camping party 
 ready. 
 
 "Oh, we're not afraid of them!" cried 
 Ted. 
 
 "Well, be careful; that's all I've got to 
 say," went on the farmer. "I'll let you have 
 my gun, if you think you'll need it," he said 
 to Grandpa Martin. 
 
 "Nonsense! I won't need it, thank you. 
 I'm not afraid of a few tramps. Besides I 
 sent one of my men over to the island yes- 
 terday, and he couldn't find a si^n of a vag-
 
 41 
 
 rant. If any tramps were there they've 
 gone." 
 
 "Wa-all, maybe/' said the farmer, with a 
 shake of his head. "Good luck to you, any- 
 how!" 
 
 "Thanks!" laughed Grandpa Martin. 
 
 "All aboard!" called Ted once more. 
 
 Then Sam, the hired man, and Grandpa 
 Martin began to row the boat. 
 
 The Curlytops were off for Star Island, 
 to camp out with grandpa.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 OVERBOARD 
 
 "TROUBLE! sit still!" ordered Janet. 
 
 "Yes, Trouble, you sit still!" called 
 Mother Martin, as the Curly tops' grand- 
 father and his man pulled on the oars that 
 sent the boat out toward the middle of the 
 lake. ' ' Don 't move about. ' ' 
 
 "I wants to splash water." 
 
 "Oh, no, you mustn't do that! Splashing 
 water isn't nice," said Baby William's 
 mother. 
 
 " 'Ike drandpa does," Trouble went on, 
 pointing to the oars which the farmer was 
 moving to and fro. Now and then a little 
 wave hit the broad blades and splashed little 
 drops into the boat. 
 
 "Trouble want do that!" declared the 
 little fellow. 
 
 "No, Trouble mustn't do that," said his 
 mother. "Grandpa isn't splashing the 
 
 42
 
 Overboard 43 
 
 water. He's rowing. Sit still and watch 
 him." 
 
 Baby William did sit still for a little 
 while, but not for very long. His mother 
 held to the loose part of his blue and white 
 rompers so he would not get far away, but, 
 after a bit, she rather forgot about him, in 
 talking to Ted and Jan about what they 
 were to do and not to do in camp. 
 
 Suddenly grandpa, who had been rowing 
 slowly toward Star Island, dropped his oars 
 and cried : 
 
 "Look out there, Trouble!" 
 
 "Oh, what's the matter?" asked Mother 
 Martin, looking around quickly. 
 
 "Trouble nearly jumped out of the boat," 
 explained Grandpa Martin. "I just grabbed 
 him in time." 
 
 And so he had, catching Baby William by 
 the seat of his rompers and pulling him back 
 on the seat from which he had quickly 
 sprung up. 
 
 "What were you trying to do?" asked 
 Mrs. Martin. 
 
 "Trouble want to catch fish," was the 
 little fellow's answer. 
 
 "Yes! I guess a fish would catch you 
 first!" laughed Ted.
 
 44 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "I'll sit by him and hold him in," offered 
 Janet, and she remained close to her small 
 brother during the remainder of the trip 
 across the lake. He did not again try to 
 lean far over as he had done when his grand- 
 father saw him and grabbed him. 
 
 " Hurray !" cried Teddy, as he sprang 
 ashore. "Now for the camp! Can I help 
 put up the tents, Grandpa?" 
 
 "Yes, "when it's time. But first we must 
 bring the rest of the things over. Well fin- 
 ish that first and put up the tents afterward. 
 We have two more boatloads to bring." 
 
 "Then can't I help do that?" 
 
 "Yes, you may do that," said Grandpa 
 Martin with a smile. 
 
 * ' Can 't I come, too ? " asked Janet. " I 'm 
 almost as strong as Teddy." 
 
 "I think you'd better stay and help me 
 look after Trouble," said Mrs. Martin. 
 "Nora will be busy getting lunch ready for 
 us, which we will eat before the tents are 
 up." 
 
 "Oh, then I can help at that!" cried 
 Janet, who was eager to be busy. ' * Come on, 
 Nora ! Where are the things to eat, Mother ? 
 I 'm hungry already ! ' ' 
 
 "So'm I!" cried Ted. "Can't we eat be-
 
 Overboard 45 
 
 fore we go back for the other boatload, 
 Grandpa?" 
 
 "Yes, I guess so. You Curlytops can eat 
 while Sam and I unload the boat. I'll call 
 you Teddy, when I'm ready to go back." 
 
 ' 'All right, Grandpa." 
 
 The tents were to be put up and camp 
 made a little way up from the shore near the 
 spot at which they had landed. Grandpa 
 Martin took out of the boat the different 
 things he had brought over, and stacked 
 them up on shore. Parts of the tents were 
 there, and things to cook with as well as 
 food to eat. More things would be brought 
 on the next two trips, when another of the 
 hired men was to come over to help put up 
 the tents and make camp. 
 
 "Oh, I just know we'll have fun here, 
 camping with grandpa!" laughed Jan, as 
 she picked up her small brother who had 
 slipped and fallen down a little hill, covered 
 with brown pine needles. 
 
 "Let's go and look for something," pro- 
 nosed Ted, when he had run about a bit and 
 thrown stones in the lake, watching the 
 water splash up and hundreds of rings 
 each other toward shore. 
 
 "What '11 we look for?" asked Janet, as
 
 46 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 she took hold of Trouble's hand, so he would 
 not slip down again. 
 
 "Oh, anything we can find," went on Ted. 
 "We'll have some fun while we're waiting 
 for grandpa to get out the things to eat." 
 
 "I want something to eat!" cried Trouble. 
 
 "Fs hungry!" 
 
 "So'm I a little bit," admitted Jan. 
 
 "Maybe we could find a cookie or some- 
 thing before they get everything un- 
 packed," suggested Teddy, and this was just 
 what happened. Grandpa Martin had some 
 cookies in a paper bag in his pocket. 
 Grandma Martin had put them there, for 
 she felt sure the children would get hungry 
 before their regular lunch was ready on the 
 island. And she knew how hungry it makes 
 anyone, children especially, to start off on a 
 picnic in the woods or across a lake. 
 
 "There you are, Curlytops!" laughed 
 Grandpa Martin, as he passed out the mo- 
 lasses and sugar cookies. "Now don't drop 
 any of them on your toes!" 
 
 "Why not?" Ted wanted to know. 
 
 "Oh, because it might break them I 
 mean it might break your cookies," and 
 Grandpa Martin laughed again. 
 
 "Come now, we'll go and look for things,"
 
 Overboard 47 
 
 proposed Ted, as he took a bite of his cookie, 
 something which Jan and Trouble were also 
 doing. 
 
 " What '11 we look for?" Jan asked again. 
 
 "Oh, maybe we can find a cave or a den 
 where a where a fox lives," he said, rather 
 stumbling over his words. 
 
 At first Ted had been going to say that 
 perhaps they would look for a bear's den, 
 but then he happened to remember that even 
 talk of a bear, though of course there were 
 none on Star Island, might scare his little 
 brother and Jan. So he said "fox" in- 
 stead. 
 
 "Is there a fox here?" Jan asked. 
 
 "Maybe," said Ted. "Anyhow, let's go 
 off and look." 
 
 "Don't go too far!" called Grandpa Mar- 
 tin after them, as he started to unload the 
 boat and get the camp in order. "And don't 
 go too near the edge of the lake. I don't 
 want you to fall in and have your mother 
 blame me." 
 
 "No, we won't!" promised Ted. "Come 
 on," he called to his little brother and sister. 
 "Oh, there you go again!" he cried, as he 
 saw Trouble stumble and fall. "What's the 
 matter? "he asked.
 
 48 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 ' * It 's these pine needles. They 're awfully 
 slippery/' answered Janet. "I nearly 
 slipped down myself. Did you hurt your- 
 self, Trouble?" she asked the little fellow. 
 
 He did not answer directly, but first 
 looked at the place where he had fallen. He 
 could easily see it, because the pine needles 
 were brushed to one side. Then Baby Wil- 
 liam tried to turn around and look at the 
 back of his little bloomers. 
 
 "No, I isn't hurted," he said. 
 
 Janet and Ted laughed. 
 
 "I guess maybe he thought he might have 
 broken his leg or something," remarked 
 Teddy. "Now come on and don't fall any 
 more, Trouble." 
 
 But the little fellow was not quite ready 
 to go on. He stooped over and looked at the 
 ground where he had fallen. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Janet, who 
 was waiting to lead him on, holding his hand 
 so he would not fall. 
 
 "Maybe he lost something," said Teddy. 
 "Has he got any pockets in his bloomers, 
 Jan?" 
 
 "No, mother sewed 'em up so he wouldn't 
 put his hands in 'em all the while and his 
 hands were so dirty they made his bloomers
 
 Overboard 49 
 
 the same way. He hasn't any pockets." 
 
 "Then he couldn't lose anything/' decided 
 Ted. He was always losing things from his 
 pockets, so perhaps he ought to know about 
 what he was talking. "What is it, Trou- 
 ble?" he asked, for the little fellow was still 
 stooping over and looking carefully at the 
 ground near the spot where he had fallen. 
 
 "I I satted right down on him," said 
 Trouble at last, as he picked up something 
 from the earth. "I satted right down on 
 him, but I didn't bust him," and he held out 
 something on a little piece of wood. 
 
 "What's he got!" asked Ted. 
 
 "Oh, it's only an ant!" answered Janet. 
 "I guess he saw a little ant crawling along, 
 just before he fell, and he sat down on him. 
 Did you think you'd hurt the little ant, 
 Trouble!" 
 
 "I satted on him, but I didn't hurt him," 
 answered the little boy. "He can wiggle 
 along nice see!" and he showed the ant, 
 crawling about on the piece of wood. Per- 
 haps the little ant wondered how in the world 
 it was ever going to get back to the ground 
 again. 
 
 "Put him down and come on," said Ted. 
 "We want to find something before grandpa
 
 50 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 puts up the tent. Maybe we can find the 
 den where the fox lives." 
 
 Trouble carefully put the little ant back 
 on the ground. 
 
 "I satted on him, but I didn't hurted 
 him," again said the little fellow, grunting 
 as he stood up straight a grain. Janet took 
 his hand and they followed Teddy off 
 through the forest. 
 
 It was very pleasant in the woods on Star 
 Island. The sun was shining brightly and 
 the waters of the lake sparkled in the sun. 
 The children felt glad and happy that they 
 had come camping with their grandpa, and 
 they knew that the best fun was yet to 
 happen. 
 
 " Let's look around for holes now," said 
 Teddy, after they had gone a little way down 
 a woodland path. 
 
 "What sort of holes?" asked Janet. 
 
 " Holes where a fox lives," answered her 
 brother. "If we could find a fox maybe we 
 could tame it." 
 
 "Wouldn't it bite?" the little girl asked. 
 
 "Well, maybe a little bit at first, but not 
 after it got tame, ' ' said Teddy. ' * Come on ! " 
 
 They walked a little way farther, and then 
 Jan suddenly cried :
 
 Overboard 51 
 
 "Oh, I see a hole!" 
 
 She pointed to one beneath the roots of 
 a big tree. 
 
 "That's a fox den, I guess !" exclaimed 
 Teddy. "We'll watch and see what comes 
 out." 
 
 The children hid in the bushes where they 
 could look at the hole in the ground. For 
 some time they waited, and then they began 
 to get tired. The Curlytops were not used 
 to keeping still. 
 
 "I'm going to sneeze!" said Trouble sud- 
 denly, and sneeze he did. And just then a 
 little brown animal bounced out from under 
 a bush and ran into the hole. 
 
 "Oh, it's a bunny rabbit!" cried Janet. 
 "He lives in that hole! Come on, Ted, let's 
 walk. We've found out what it was. It 
 isn't a fox, it's a bunny! Let's go and find 
 something else on the island. Maybe we can 
 find a big cave." 
 
 "And maybe we'll find out what that blue 
 light was," cried Ted eagerly. 
 
 "I guess I don't want to look for that," 
 remarked Jan slowly. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " 'Cause don't you 'member what Hal 
 said about there bein* ghosts on this
 
 52 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 island?" and Janet looked over her shoul- 
 der, though it was broad daylight. 
 
 * ' Pooh ! ' ' laughed her brother. ' 1 1 thought 
 you didn't believe in ghosts." 
 
 "I don't but " 
 
 "I'm not afraid I" declared Teddy. "And 
 I'm going to look and see if I can't find the 
 lost star that fell on the island." 
 
 "Grandpa said it all burned up." 
 
 "Well, maybe a little piece of it was left. 
 Anyhow I'm going to look." 
 
 So they looked, but they found nothing 
 like the blue light, and then Ted said he was 
 hungry and wanted to eat. 
 
 Nora and Mrs. Martin had set out a little 
 lunch for the children on top of a packing 
 box, and the Curlytops and Trouble were 
 soon enjoying the sandwiches and cake, 
 while their grandfather and the hired man 
 finished unloading the boat. In a little while 
 Grandpa Martin called : 
 
 "All aboard, Teddy, if you're going back 
 with me!" 
 
 "I'm coming!" was the answer. "I'm 
 coming!" 
 
 It did not take Grandpa Martin long to 
 pull back to the mainland in the boat which 
 was empty save for himself and Ted. The
 
 Overboard 53 
 
 lake was smooth, a little wind making tiny 
 waves that gently lapped the side of the 
 boat. 
 
 "I think we'd better bring Nieknack over 
 this trip," said Grandpa Martin, when a 
 second farm hand met him on shore and be- 
 gan to help load the boat for the second trip. 
 "The sooner we get that goat over on the 
 island the better I'll feel." 
 
 "Why, you're not afraid of him, are 
 you?" asked the hired man whose name was 
 George. 
 
 "No. But I don't know how easy it's go- 
 ing to be to ferry him over. He may start 
 some of his tricks. So we won't put much 
 in the boat this time. We'll leave plenty of 
 room for the goat and the cart. ' ' 
 
 "Oh, Nicknack will be good," declared 
 Ted. "I know he will. Won't you, Nick- 
 nack?" and he put his arms around his pet. 
 The goat had been driven down near the 
 dock whence the boat started for Star 
 Island. 
 
 "Well, unharness him and we'll get him 
 on board, ' ' said the farmer. ' l Then we 11 see 
 what happens next. ' ' 
 
 Nicknack made no fuss at all about being 
 unharnessed. His wagon was first wheeled
 
 54 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 on the boat, which was a large one and broad. 
 Then Ted started Nicknack toward the craft. 
 
 " Giddap !" cried Teddy to Nicknack. 
 "We're going to camp on Star Island, and 
 you can have lots of fun! Giddap !" 
 
 Nicknack stood still on the dock for a few 
 seconds, and he seemed to be sniffing the boat 
 and the water in which it floated. Then with 
 a little wiggle of his funny, short tail, he 
 jumped down in near his wagon, and began 
 eating some grass which Ted had pulled and 
 placed there for him. 
 
 "It's a sort of bait, like a piece of cheese 
 in a mouse trap," remarked Ted, as he saw 
 the goat nibbling. "Isn't he good, Grand- 
 pa?" 
 
 "He's good now, Teddy; but whether he'll 
 be good all the way over is something I can't 
 say. I hope so." 
 
 George put in the boat as much as could 
 safely be carried, with the goat as a pas- 
 senger, and then he and Grandpa Martin 
 began rowing toward Star Island. At first 
 everything went very well. Nicknack 
 seemed a little frightened when the boat 
 tipped and rocked, but Ted patted him and 
 fed him more grass, which Nicknack liked 
 verv much.
 
 Overboard 55 
 
 "I knew he'd be good!" Teddy said, when 
 they were almost at the island, and could see 
 Jan waving to them. "I knew he'd like the 
 boat ride, Grandpa." 
 
 i i Yes, he seems to like it. Now if we ' ; 
 
 But just then something happened. 
 
 The wind suddenly blew rather hard, 
 roughening the water and causing the boat 
 to tip. Nicknack was jostled over against 
 the wagon, and some water splashed on him. 
 
 "Baa-a-a-a-a!" bleated the goat. 
 
 Then, before anyone could stop him, he 
 gave a leap over Teddy's head, and into the 
 water splashed Mcknack. 
 
 The goat had leaped overboard into the 
 deepest part of Clover Lake !
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE BAG OF SALT 
 
 lit 
 
 'On! Oh!" cried Teddy. "Oh, there 
 goes my nice goat! Catch him, Grandpa! 
 Stop him!" 
 
 Grandpa Martin stopped rowing and 
 looked in surprise at the goat. So did the 
 hired man. 
 
 "Well, just look!" exclaimed George. 
 
 "Oh, he'll be drowned! He'll be 
 drowned!" wailed Teddy, tears coming into 
 his eyes, for he loved Nicknack. "He'll be 
 drowned!" 
 
 Grandpa Martin rested his hands on the 
 oars and looked into the water. Then he 
 smiled. 
 
 "I guess you'd have hard work drowning 
 that goat," he said. "He's swimming like 
 a fish!" 
 
 "And right straight for Star Island!" 
 added the hired man. "That's a smart goat 
 
 56
 
 The Bag of Salt 57 
 
 all right ! He knows where he wants to go, 
 and the shortest way to get there!" 
 
 Surely enough Nicknack was swimming 
 toward the island. When he jumped out of 
 the boat he floundered a little in the water, 
 and splashed some on Teddy. Then he 
 struck out, paddling as a dog does with his 
 front feet. Nicknack turned himself about 
 until he was headed toward the island, and 
 then he swam straight toward it. 
 
 "Oh, won't he drown, Grandpa ?" asked 
 Teddy. 
 
 ' ' I don 't believe so, my boy ! I guess Nick- 
 nack knows more than we thought he did. 
 Maybe he didn't like the way we rowed, or 
 he may have wanted a bath. Anyhow 
 he jumped overboard, but he'll be all 
 right." 
 
 "See him go !" cried the hired man. 
 
 Nicknack was swimming quite fast. Of 
 course a goat is not as good a swimmer as is 
 a duck or a fish, but Ted's pet did very well. 
 On shore were Nora, Mrs. Martin, Janet, 
 Trouble, and the farm hand who had gone 
 over in the first boatload. They were watch- 
 ing the goat swimming toward them. 
 
 "Did you throw him into the water, 
 Teddy?" asked Janet, as soon as the boat
 
 58 
 
 was near enough so that talking could be 
 heard. 
 
 . "He jumped in," Ted answered. "Isn't 
 he a good swimmer?" 
 
 "I should say so! Here, Nicknack ! Come 
 here!" Janet called. 
 
 The goat, which had been headed toward 
 a spot a little way down the island from 
 where Janet and her mother stood, turned at 
 the sound of the little girl's voice and came 
 in her direction. 
 
 "Oh, he knows me!" she cried in delight. 
 "Now don't shake yourself the way Sky- 
 rocket does, and get me all wet !" she begged, 
 as Nicknack scrambled out on shore, water 
 dripping from his hairy coat. 
 
 But the goat did not act like a dog, who 
 gives himself a great shaking whenever he 
 comes on shore after having been in the 
 water. Nicknack just let it drip off him, and 
 began to nibble some of the grass that grew 
 on the island. He was making himself per- 
 fectly at home, it seemed. 
 
 The goat- wagon and the other things were 
 soon landed, and then Grandpa Martin and 
 one of the hired men went back for the last 
 load. When that came back and the things 
 were piled up near the tents, the work of set-
 
 The Bag of Salt 59 
 
 ting up the camp went on. There was much 
 yet to be done. 
 
 Ted and Jan helped all they could in put- 
 ting up the tents. So did Mother Martin 
 and Nora, who was large and strong. She 
 could pull on a rope about as well as a man, 
 and there were many ropes that needed 
 tightening and fastening around pegs driven 
 into the ground so the tents would not blow 
 over in the wind. 
 
 Mcknack had been tied to a tree, near 
 which, a little later, Ted and Jan were go- 
 ing to make him a little bower of leaves and 
 branches. That was to be his stable until a 
 better one could be built by Grandpa Martin 
 one that would keep Mcknack dry when it 
 rained. 
 
 At last the tents were up, one for sleep- 
 ing, another for cooking, and a third where 
 the Curlytops and the others would eat their 
 meals. It was a fine camp that Grandpa 
 Martin made, and he knew just how to do it 
 right, even to digging little trenches, or 
 ditches, around the tents so the water would 
 run off when it stormed. 
 
 "And now let's take a walk and see what 
 we can find," suggested Ted to Janet, when 
 Mother Martin said they might play about
 
 60 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 until supper was ready, for they had called 
 the lunch they had eaten their dinner. 
 
 " Don't go too far," cautioned Mother 
 Martin. 
 
 "Oh, we can't get lost on this island," said 
 Ted. "All we'd have to do, if we were, 
 would be to walk along the shore until we 
 came to this camp." 
 
 "I know that. But it wasn't so much 
 about your getting lost that I was thinking," 
 said Mrs. Martin. 
 
 "Oh, you mean the tramps?" half whis- 
 pered Janet. 
 
 "Well, I don't know whether there are 
 any here or not, ' ' went on her mother. ' ' But 
 it's best to be careful until grandpa has had 
 a chance to look about. Where is grandpa 
 now?" 
 
 "He's getting some water at the spring," 
 Ted answered. 
 
 There was a fine spring on Star Island, 
 not far from the place where the tents had 
 been set up, and Mr. Martin was now bring- 
 ing pails of water from that and pouring 
 them into a barrel which would hold so much 
 that even Trouble would have plenty to 
 drink no matter how thirsty he was. 
 
 "Well, don't go too far away until either
 
 The Bag of Salt 
 
 grandpa or I have a chance to go with you," 
 added Mrs. Martin. * 
 
 "Me come, too," called Trouble, as he saw 
 his brother and sister starting off. 
 
 1 'Oh, Mother!" exclaimed Teddy. 
 
 "No, you stay with mother," said Mrs. 
 Martin. "I'll give you a nice drink of 
 milk." 
 
 "Don't want milk. I 'shad milk. Trouble 
 want Ted an' Jan." 
 
 "But you can't go with them, my dear. 
 Come on, we'll go and throw stones into the 
 lake and make-believe it's a great, big 
 ocean!" 
 
 Baby William pouted a little at first. He 
 liked to have his own way. But when he saw 
 what fun his mother was having tossing 
 stones into the lake and making the water 
 splash up, Trouble did the same, laughing 
 at ,the fun he was having. 
 
 "Dis a ocean, Momsey 1 ?" he asked as he 
 set a little stick afloat, making believe it was, 
 a boat. 
 
 "Well, we'll call it an ocean," Mrs. Mar- 
 tin answered. "But this water is fresh, and' 
 that in the ocean is very salty. Some day 
 I'll take you and my two little Curlytops to 
 the real ocean, and you can taste how salty
 
 62 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 the waves are. Now we'll throw some more 
 stones. " 
 
 Meanwhile Ted and Jan started for a little 
 walk down the path that went the whole 
 length of Star Island. 
 
 "Shall we take Nicknack?" asked Jan. 
 
 "No, let's wait until he dries off after his 
 bath," decided Teddy. "I don't like wet 
 goats." 
 
 "Why, Teddy Martin! Nicknack got 
 dried out hours ago !" 
 
 "Well, anyway, a goat isn't like a dog. 
 We don't want a goat along when we are 
 going out walking." 
 
 So Nicknack was left to nibble the grass, 
 while the Curlytops wandered on and on. 
 Grandpa and the hired men, having finished 
 putting up the tents, were getting the stove 
 ready so Nora could get supper. 
 
 "What are you looking for?" asked Jan 
 when she noticed that her brother walked 
 along as if searching for something. "Are 
 you trying to see if any tramps or gypsies 
 are here on the island?" 
 
 "No. I was thinking maybe I could find 
 that fallen star." 
 
 "But didn't grandpa say it all melted 
 upt"
 
 The Bag of Salt 63 
 
 "Maybe a piece of it's left," went on Ted. 
 This was the second time that he had spoken 
 of the star that day. "If I can't find a chunk 
 of it, maybe I can find the hole it made when 
 it hit," he added. "I'd like to find that. 
 Maybe it would be bigger than the one I dug 
 when I thought I could go all the way 
 through to China." 
 
 "Yes. The time Skyrocket fell in!" 
 laughed Jan. ' ' 'Member that, Teddy ? ' ' 
 
 "I guess I do! Daddy had to go out in 
 the night and bring him in. Come on, let's 
 look for the hole the shooting star made." 
 
 "All right." 
 
 The two Curlytops walked on over the 
 island, looking here and there for star-holes. 
 They found a number of deep places, but 
 after looking at them, and poking sticks 
 down into them, Ted decided that none of 
 them Had ever held a shooting star. 
 
 "Maybe bears made them," half whis- 
 pered Jan. 
 
 "There aren't any bears on this island!" 
 Teddy declared. 
 
 "I hope not," murmured his sister, as she 
 looked over her shoulder and then kept close 
 to her brother during the rest of the walk. 
 
 Pretty soon the children heard their
 
 64 
 
 mother's voice calling them. They could 
 hear very plainly, for the air was clear. 
 
 "I guess supper is ready," said Janet. 
 
 "I hope it is!" sighed Ted. "I'm awful 
 hungry!" 
 
 Supper was ready, smoking hot on the 
 table in the dining-tent, when Ted and Jan 
 reached the camp grandpa had made. 
 
 "Oh, how good it smells!" cried Ted. 
 
 "And how nice the white tents look under 
 the green trees," added his sister. "I just 
 love it here!" 
 
 "It is the nicest place we have yet been for 
 the summer vacation," said Mother Martin. 
 "This and Cherry Farm are two lovely 
 places." 
 
 They sat down under the tent and began 
 to eat. Nora had gotten up a fine supper, 
 for a regular cook stove had been brought 
 along, and it was almost like eating at 
 Grandma Martin's table, only this was out 
 of doors, for the sides of the tent were raised 
 to let in the air and the rays of the setting 
 sun. 
 
 "What's the matter, Father?" asked Mrs. 
 Martin, as she saw the children's grand- 
 father pause after tasting the potatoes. ' * Is 
 anything wrong ? ' '
 
 The Bag of Salt 65 
 
 "I think I'd like a little more salt on 
 these." 
 
 "Yes, they do need salting. Nora, bring 
 the salt please." 
 
 "There isn't any, except what I used when 
 I was cooking a little I had in a salt- 
 shaker." 
 
 "Oh, yes, there must be. I brought a 
 whole bagful. I saw it when I unpacked 
 some of the things. There was a sack of 
 salt." 
 
 "Well, it isn't here now," said Nora, as 
 she looked among her kitchen things. 
 
 "Has anyone seen the bag of salt?" asked 
 Mrs. Martin. 
 
 She looked at Ted and Jan, who shook 
 their heads. Then Trouble's mother looked 
 at him. He was busy with a piece of bread 
 and jam. One could have told Trouble had 
 been eating bread and jam just by looking at 
 his mouth and face. 
 
 "Did you see the salt. Trouble?" asked 
 his mother. 
 
 "Iss, I did," he answered, taking another 
 bite. 
 
 "Where is it?" 
 
 "In de water," he replied. "I puts it in 
 de water."
 
 66 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "You put the salt in the water? What 
 water? Tell mother, Trouble." 
 
 "I puts salt in de lake water to make him 
 'ike ocean. Trouble 'ike ocean. Come on, I 
 show!" and, getting down out of his chair, 
 he toddled toward a little cove near the 
 camp. The others, following him, saw some- 
 thing white on the ground near the edge of 
 the lake. Grandpa Martin touched it with 
 his finger and tasted. 
 
 "The little tyke did empty the whole bag 
 of salt in the lake!" cried the farmer. 
 "Fancy his trying to make it like the ocean ! 
 Ho! Ho!" 
 
 "Oh, Trouble !" cried Mrs. Martin. "You 
 wasted a whole bag of salt, and now grandpa 
 hasn't any for his potatoes !"
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 TED AND THE BEAR 
 
 BABY WILLIAM looked a little bit fright- 
 ened and ashamed as his mother spoke to 
 him in that way. He loved his grandfather, 
 and of course he would not have done any- 
 thing to make him feel bad if he had 
 thought. But Trouble was a very little 
 fellow, though his father often said he could 
 get into as many kinds of mischief as could 
 the larger Curlytops. 
 
 * l Oh dear ! This is too bad ! ' ' went on Mrs. 
 Martin. "Why did you do it, Trouble? 
 What made you empty the bag of salt into 
 the lake?" 
 
 ' ' Want to make ocean wif salt water, ' ' was 
 the answer. 
 
 "I suppose it's my fault, for telling him 
 so much about the big sea and its salt 
 water,'' said Trouble's mother. "He liked 
 to hear me talk about the ocean, and I guess 
 
 67
 
 08 The Curly to pa on Star Island 
 
 he must have been thinking about it more 
 than I had any idea of. 
 
 "He must have tasted the water of the 
 lake, and found it wasn't salty, and then he 
 thought that, to make an ocean and big 
 waves out of a lake, all he had to do was to 
 put in the salt. I'm sorry, Father." 
 
 "Oh, that's all right," laughed Grandpa 
 Martin. "I guess I can get along without 
 any more salt." 
 
 "Trouble sorry, too," said the little fel- 
 low, when he understood that he had done 
 something wrong. "Me get salt water for 
 you," and he started toward the place where 
 he had emptied the bag into the water, carry- 
 ing a spoon from the table. 
 
 "No, Trouble! Come back!" ordered his 
 mother. "I guess he wants to dip up some 
 salt water for you," she said laughingly to 
 the children's grandfather, "but he'd be 
 more likely to fall in himself." 
 
 She caught Trouble up in her arms and 
 kissed him, and then Nora managed to find 
 a little salt in the bottom of the shaker, so 
 Grandpa Martin had some on his potatoes 
 after all. But Trouble was told he must 
 never again do anything like that. 
 
 He promised, of course, but Jan said :
 
 Ted and the Bear 69 
 
 "He'll do something else, just as bad." 
 
 "I guess he will," laughed Teddy. 
 
 Supper over, Mr. Martin took his two men 
 over to the mainland. On his return they 
 all gathered about a little campfire grandpa 
 made in front of the sleeping tent. The cot 
 beds had been set up, and a mosquito netting 
 was hung at the "front door" of the white 
 canvas house, though really there was no 
 door, just two flaps of the tent that could be 
 tied together. But the netting kept out the 
 bugs. Fortunately there were no mosqui- 
 toes, though all sorts of moths, snapping 
 bugs and other flying things came around 
 whenever a lantern was lighted. 
 
 4 'Tell us a story, Grandpa!" begged 
 Janet, when they had finished talking about 
 the many things that had happened during 
 the first day in camp. 
 
 "Tell us about the shooting star that fell 
 on this island," begged Teddy. 
 
 "Tell us about de twamps!" exclaimed 
 Trouble, who ought to have been asleep, but 
 who had begged to stay up a little longer 
 than usual. 
 
 "I don't know anything about the 
 tramps," laughed grandpa, "and I don't be- 
 lieve there are any on the island, though it is
 
 70 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 a large one, and it will take two or three 
 days for us to walk all about it. 
 
 4 'As for the shooting star, which Teddy 
 thinks about so much, I really didn't see it 
 fall, and all J know is what the old men in 
 the village have told me. It was many years 
 ago." 
 
 "And did you ever see the blue light?" 
 asked Ted, thinking of what he and his sis- 
 ter had seen the night they were coming 
 home from the little visit to Hal Chester. 
 
 "No, I never did; though I'd like to, so 
 I might know what it was." 
 
 "Children, how is grandpa ever going to 
 tell you a story if you keep asking him so 
 many questions?" laughed Mrs. Martin. 
 
 "All right now we'll listen," promised 
 Teddy, and Grandpa Martin told a tale of 
 when he was a little boy, and lived further 
 to the north and on the edge of a big wood 
 where there were bears and other wild ani- 
 mals. His father was a good hunter, 
 Grandpa Martin said, and often used to kill 
 bears and wolves, for the country was wild, 
 with never so much as one automobile in it. 
 
 Grandpa finished his story of the olden 
 days by telling of once when he was a small 
 boy, coming home through the woods toward
 
 Ted and the Bear 71 
 
 dark one evening and being chased by a bear. 
 But he crawled into a hollow log where the 
 bear could not get him, and later his father 
 and some other hunters came, shot the bear 
 and got the little boy safely out. 
 
 "Whew!" whistled Teddy, when this was 
 finished. " I 'd like to have been there ! ' ' 
 
 "In the log, hiding away from the bear?" 
 asked his mother. 
 
 "No, I I guess not that," Ted answered. 
 "I'd just like to have seen it up in a tree, 
 where the bear couldn't get me. " 
 
 "Bears can climb trees," remarked Janet. 
 
 "Well, I'd go up in a little tree too small 
 for a bear," her brother answered. 
 
 "I guess you'd all better go to your little 
 beds!" laughed Mother Martin. "It's long 
 past your sleepy time." 
 
 And the Curlytops and Trouble were soon 
 sound asleep. 
 
 It must have been about the middle of the 
 night anyhow it was quite late when 
 Teddy, who was sleeping in his cot next to 
 one of the side walls of the tent, was sud- 
 denly awakened by a noise outside, and 
 something seemed to be trying to get 
 through. 
 
 ! Oh! Oh!" cried Teddy, quickly sitting 
 
 ..
 
 7*2 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 up in bed, and wide awake all at once. "Oh, 
 Mother ! Something's after me ! It's a bear ! 
 It's a bear!" 
 
 "Hush!" quickly exclaimed Mrs. Martin. 
 "You'll waken William, and frighten him !" 
 
 "But Mother! I'm sure it's a bear! He 
 growled!" 
 
 "What is it?" asked Jan, from her cot on 
 the other side of the tent. 
 
 "It's a bear!" cried Ted again. 
 
 There did seem to be something going on 
 outside the tent near Ted's side. There was 
 a crackling in the bushes, and once some- 
 thing came pushing hard against the side of 
 the white canvas house with force enough 
 to make a bulge in it. Teddy jumped up 
 from his cot and ran over to his mother, who 
 was sitting up on her bed. 
 
 "Oh, Mother! It's coming in!" cried 
 Teddy. 
 
 "Nonsense!" and Mrs. Martin laughed as 
 she put her arms around her small son. 
 
 "What is it?" asked Grandpa Martin 
 from the curtained-off part of the tent where 
 he slept. 
 
 "It's a bear!" cried Janet. 
 
 Just then, from outside came a loud : 
 
 "Baa-a-a-a-a!"
 
 Ted and the Bear 73 
 
 Teddy looked very much surprised. Then 
 he smiled. Then he laughed and cried : 
 
 "Why, it's our goat Nicknack!" 
 
 1 i I guess that 's what it is, ' ' added Grandpa 
 Martin. i l But he seems to be in trouble. I '11 
 go outside and look." 
 
 Taking a lantern with him, while Mrs. 
 Martin and the children waited a bit 
 anxiously, Grandpa Martin went to see what 
 had happened. The Curlytops heard him 
 laughing as they saw the flicker of his light 
 through the white tent. Then they heard 
 Nicknack bleating again. The goat seemed, 
 to those inside, to be kicking about with his 
 little black hoofs. 
 
 "Whoa there, Nicknack!" called Grandpa 
 Martin. "Ill soon get you loose!" 
 
 There was more noise, more tramping in 
 the bushes and then, after a while, Grandpa 
 Martin came back. 
 
 "What was it?" asked Ted and Jan in 
 whispers, for their mother had begged them 
 not to awaken Trouble, who was still sleep- 
 ing peacefully. 
 
 ' 1 It was your goat, ' ' was the answer. ' l He 
 had got loose, and his horns were caught Be- 
 tween two trees where he had tried to jump. 
 He was held fast bv his horns and he was
 
 74 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 kicking his heels up in the air, trying to get 
 loose/' 
 
 "Did you get him out?" asked Jan. 
 
 'Yes, I pried the trees apart and got his 
 head loose. Then he was all right. I tied 
 him good and tight in his stable, and I giu .* 
 he won't bother us again to-night." 
 
 "Then it wasn't a bear after all," re- 
 marked Jan, laughing at her brother. 
 
 "No, indeed! There aren't any bears on 
 this island," said her grandfather. "Go to 
 sleep." 
 
 Nothing else happened the rest of the 
 night, and they all slept rather late the next 
 morning, for they were tired from the work 
 of the day -before. The sun was shining 
 over Clover Lake when Nora rang the break- 
 fast bell, and Ted and Jan hurried with their 
 dressing, for they were eager to be at their 
 play. 
 
 "What '11 we do to-day?" asked Janet, as 
 she tried to get a comb through her thick, 
 curly hair. 
 
 "We'll go for a rid with Nicknack," de- 
 cided Ted, who was also having a hard time 
 with his locks. "Oh, I wish I was a bar- 
 ber!" he cried, as the comb stuck in a bunch 
 of curls.
 
 Ted and the Bear 75 
 
 "Why?" asked his mother, who was giv- 
 ing Trouble his breakfast. 
 
 " 'Cause then I'd cut my own hair short, 
 and I'd never have to comb it." 
 
 "Oh, I wouldn't want to see you without 
 your curls," Mother Martin said. "Here, 
 I'll help you as soon as I feed Trouble." 
 
 Trouble could feed himself when his plate 
 had been set in front of him, and while he 
 was eating Mrs. Martin made her two Curly- 
 tops look better by the use of their combs. 
 
 After breakfast the children ran to hitch 
 Nicknack to the wagon. Grandpa Martin 
 was going back in the rowboat to the main- 
 land to get a few things that had been for- 
 gotten, and also another bag of salt. 
 
 "And I'll hide it away from Trouble," 
 said Nora with a laugh. "We don't want 
 any more salty oceans around here." 
 
 "Let's drive away before Trouble sees 
 us," proposed Jan to her brother. "He'll 
 \vant to come for a ride and we can't go very 
 far if he comes along." 
 
 "All right. Stoop down and walk behind 
 the bushes. Then he can't see us." 
 
 Jan and Ted managed to get away unseen, 
 and were soon hitching their goat to the 
 wagon. Trouble finished his breakfast and
 
 76 The Curlyiops on Star Island 
 
 called to them, wanting to go with them 
 wherever they went. But his mother knew 
 the two Curlytops did not want Trouble with 
 them every time, so Baby William had to 
 play by himself about camp, while the two 
 older children drove off on a path that led 
 the long way of the island. 
 
 4 'Maybe we'll have an adventure," sug- 
 gested Jan, as she sat in the cart driving 
 the goat, for she and her brother took turns 
 at this fun. 
 
 "Maybe we'll see some of the tramps," he 
 added. 
 
 "I don't want to," said Jan. 
 
 "Well, maybe we'll see a bear." 
 
 "I don't want that, either. I wish you 
 wouldn't say such things, Teddy." 
 
 "Well, what do you want to see?" 
 
 "Oh, something nice flowers or birds or 
 maybe a fairy." 
 
 "Huh! I guess there's no fairies on this 
 island, either. Let's see if we can find an 
 apple tree. I'd like an apple." 
 
 "So would I. But we mustn't eat green 
 ones." 
 
 "Not if they're too green," agreed Teddy. 
 "But a little green won't hurt." 
 
 They drove on, Nicknack trotting along
 
 Ted and the Bear 77 
 
 the path through the woods, now and then 
 stopping to nibble at the leaves. At last the 
 children came to a beautiful shady spot, 
 where many ferns grew beneath the trees, 
 and it was so cool that they stopped their 
 goat, tied him to an old stump and sat down 
 to eat some cookies their mother had given 
 them. The Cuiiytops nearly always became 
 hungry when they were out on their little 
 trips. 
 
 "Wouldn't it be funny," remarked Ted, 
 after a bit, "if we should see a bear?" 
 
 "The-o-dore Martin!" gasped Janet. "I 
 wish you'd keep quiet ! It makes me scared 
 to hear you say that." 
 
 "Well, I was only foolin'," and Teddy 
 dropped a "g," a habit of which his mother 
 was trying to break him. And he did not 
 often forget. 
 
 "If I saw a bear," began Janet, "I'd just 
 scream and " 
 
 Suddenly she stopped because of a queer 
 look she saw on her brother's face. Teddy 
 dropped the cookie he had been about to bite, 
 and, pointing toward a hollow log that lay 
 not far off, said, in a hoarse whisper: 
 
 "Look, Jan! It is a bear!"
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 JAN SEES SOMETHING 
 
 FOR a moment after her brother had said 
 this Janet did not speak. She, too, dropped 
 the cookie she had just taken from the bag, 
 and turned slowly around to see at what 
 Teddy was pointing. 
 
 She was just in time to see something 
 furry and reddish-brown in color dart into 
 the hollow log, which was open at both ends. 
 Then Jan gave a scream. 
 
 "Oh I" exclaimed Ted, who was as much 
 frightened by Janet's shrill voice as he was 
 at what he had seen. "Oh, Jan! Don't!" 
 
 * * I I couldn 't help it, ' ' she answered. * ' I 
 told you I'd scream if I saw a bear, and I did 
 see one. It is a bear, isn't it, Teddy?" 
 
 " It is, " he answered. ' ' I saw it first. It 's 
 my bear!" 
 
 "You can have it every bit of it," said 
 Jan, quickly getting up from the mossy rock 
 
 78
 
 Jan Sees Something 79 
 
 on which she had been sitting. "I don't 
 want any of it, not even the stubby tail. I 
 like to own half of Nicknack with you, but I 
 don't want half a bear." 
 
 "Then I'll take all of it it's my bear," 
 went on Ted. ' ' Where 're you going, Jan 1 ' ' 
 he asked, as he saw his sister hurrying away. 
 
 "I'm going home. I don't like it here. 
 I'm going to make Nicknack run home with 
 
 me.' 
 
 Teddy got up, too. He did not stop to 
 pick up the cookie he had dropped. 
 
 "I I guess I'll go with you, Jan," he 
 said. "I guess my bear will stay in the log 
 until I come back." 
 
 "Are you coming back!" asked Janet, as 
 with trembling fingers she unfastened Nick- 
 nack 's strap from around the stump to 
 which he had been tied. 
 
 "I'm going to get grandpa to come back 
 with me and shoot the bear," replied Ted. 
 "I want his skin to make a rug. You know 
 like grandpa did with the bear his father 
 shot." 
 
 Jan did not say anything. She got into 
 the cart and turned the goat about, ready to 
 leave the place. She gave a look over her 
 shoulder at the hollow log into which she and
 
 Ted had seen the furry, brown animal 
 crawl. It did not seem to be coming out, and 
 Jan was glad of that. 
 
 "Giddap, Nicknack!" she called to the 
 goat, and as the animal started off Ted 
 jumped into the wagon from behind. 
 
 "I wish I had a gun," he said. 
 
 "You're too little," declared Jan. "Oh, 
 Ted! what if he should chase us? Was it 
 an awful big bear? I didn't dare look 
 much." 
 
 "It wasn't so very big." 
 
 "Was it as big as Nicknack?" 
 
 "Oh, bigger 'n him a lot." 
 
 "Oh!" and again Jan looked back over 
 her shoulder. ' 1 1 hope he doesn 't chase us, ' ' 
 she added. 
 
 "I'll fix him if he does!" threatened Ted. 
 "I'll fix him!" 
 
 * ' How ? You haven 't any gun, and maybe 
 you couldn't shoot it if you had, lessen maybe 
 it was your Christmas pop gun." 
 
 "Pooh! Pop guns wouldn't be any good 
 to shoot a bear! You've got to have real 
 bullets. But I can fix this bear if he chases 
 us," and Ted tried to look brave. 
 
 "How?" asked Jan again. She felt safer 
 now, for Nicknack was going fast, and the
 
 Jan Sees Something 81 
 
 hollow log, into which the furry animal had 
 crawled, was out of siglt. 
 
 "Ill make our goat buck the bear with his 
 horns if he chases us, that's what 111 do!" 
 declared Ted. 
 
 "Oh, that would be good!" exclaimed Jan 
 in delight. "Nicknack is brave and his 
 horns are sharp. 'Member how he stuck 'em 
 in the fence one day?" 
 
 "Yes," answered Ted, "I do. And 111 
 get him to stick 'em in the bear if he comes 
 too close. Giddap, Nicknack!" and Ted 
 flicked the goat with the ends of the reins. 
 I think he wanted the goat to go faster so 
 there would be no danger of the bear's chas- 
 ing after him and his sister. Perhaps Ted 
 thought Nicknack might be afraid of the 
 bear, even if the goat did have sharp horns. 
 
 The Curlytops were greatly excited when 
 they reached the camp. Trouble was play- 
 ing out in front and Grandpa Martin had 
 just landed in the boat. 
 
 "What's that?" he cried, when he heard 
 Ted 's story. ' ' A bear in a hollow log ? Non- 
 sense ! There are no bears on Star Island." 
 
 "But I saw it, and so did Janet. Didn't 
 you, Jan?" cried Ted. 
 
 saw something fuzzy with a big tail 
 
 *<
 
 82 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 going inside the log," answered Teddy's sis- 
 ter. 
 
 "Then it couldn't have been a bear," 
 laughed Grandpa Martin. "For a bear has 
 only a little short, stubby tail. I '11 go to see 
 what it is. I think I know, however." 
 
 "What?" asked Mother Martin. "Don't 
 go into any danger, Father." 
 
 "I won't," promised the farmer. "But 
 I won't tell you what I think the animal is 
 until I see it. I may be mistaken." 
 
 "Maybe it's a twamp," put in Trouble, 
 who seemed to be thinking about them as 
 much as Ted thought about the fallen star. 
 
 "Tramps aren't animals," laughed Jan. 
 
 "Furry animals, anyway," added Ted. 
 
 "Well, you stay here and I'll go see what 
 it was," went on grandpa, and he started off 
 toward the hollow log with a big club. He 
 was not gone very long, and when he came 
 back he was laughing, as he had the night 
 before when Nicknack gave them a scare. 
 
 "Just as I thought!" cried the children's 
 grandpa. "It was a big, red fox in the hol- 
 low log." 
 
 "And not a bear?" asked Ted. 
 
 "Not a bear, Curlytop! Only a fox that 
 was more frightened by you than you were
 
 Jan Sees Something 83 
 
 by him, I guess. I knew it couldn't be a 
 bear." 
 
 "How did you get it out of the log?" 
 asked Jan. 
 
 "Oh, I just tapped on the log with my 
 club, and Mr. Fox must have thought it was 
 somebody knocking at his front door. For 
 out he ran, looked at me with his bright eyes, 
 and then away he ran into the woods. So 
 you Curlytops needn't be afraid. The fox 
 won't hurt you." 
 
 " I 'm glad of that, ' ' said Jan. ' l Now let 's 
 go fishing, Ted." 
 
 "All right," he agreed. 
 
 * i Can 't you take Trouble with you ? ' ' asked 
 his mother. "I want to help Nora and 
 grandpa do a little work around the camp." 
 
 4 ' Yes, we '11 take him, ' ' agreed Jan. "But 
 you mustn't put any salt in the water, 
 Trouble, and scare the fish." 
 
 "I not do it. I tatch a fiss myself." 
 
 They gave him a pole and a line without 
 any hook on it so he could not scratch him- 
 self, and then Jan and Ted sat down under 
 a shady tree, not far from camp, to try to 
 catch some fish. 
 
 Thev knew how, for their father had 
 taught them, and soon Jan had landed a
 
 84 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 good-sized sunfish. A little later Ted caught 
 a perch which had stripes on its sides, "like 
 a zebra," as Jan said. After that Jan and 
 Ted each caught two fish, and they soon had 
 enough to cook. 
 
 "What do you Curlytops want me to do 
 with these ?" asked Nora, as the two chil- 
 dren came along, laughing and shouting, 
 with the fish dangling from strings each of 
 them carried. 
 
 "Cook 'em, of course!" cried Teddy. 
 "That's what we caught them for, Nora to 
 have you cook them." 
 
 "But won't they bite me?" asked the 
 cook, pretending to be afraid. 
 
 "Oh, no ! They can't !" explained Jan. 
 
 "They bit on our hooks, and now they 
 can't bite any more, but we can bite them," 
 said Teddy. 
 
 "Oh, would you bite the poor fish?" asked 
 Nora. 
 
 For a moment the Curlytops did not know 
 what to answer. Then Teddy replied: 
 
 "Oh, well, it can't hurt 'em to bite 'em 
 after they're cooked, can it?" 
 
 "No, I guess not," laughed Nora, "no 
 more than it can hurt a baked potato. Well, 
 run along and I'll get the fish ready for
 
 Jan Sees Something 85 
 
 dinner, or whatever you call the next meal. 
 I declare, I'm so mixed up with this camp- 
 ing business that I hardly know breakfast 
 from supper. But run along, and 111 fry 
 the fish for you, anyhow." 
 
 "Let's go and take a walk," proposed 
 Tan, when they had washed their hands in 
 the tin basin that Mother Martin had set on 
 a bench under a tree, with a towel and soap 
 near by, for fish did leave such a funny smell 
 on your hands, the little girl said. 
 
 "'Where 11 we walk to <?" asked Teddy. 
 
 "Oh, let's go and look. Maybe we can 
 find that cute little bunny we saw when we 
 were looking for the den where the fox lived 
 but didn't find him," proposed Jan. 
 
 "All right," answered Teddy, and they set 
 off. 
 
 They had not gone very far before Teddy 
 stopped near a bush and began to look about 
 him. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked his sister. 
 
 "Why, I saw a bird fly out of here," an- 
 swered her brother, "and it seemed just as if 
 it had a broken wing. It couldn't fly 
 hardly." 
 
 "Where is if?" asked Jan eagerly. 
 "Maybe if we take it to mother she can fix
 
 86 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 the wing. Once she mended a dog's broken 
 leg, and he could walk 'most as good as 
 ever when he got well, only he limped a 
 little." 
 
 "But a dog can't fly," said Teddy. 
 
 ' * I know it, ' ' agreed Jan. ' ' But if mother 
 can mend a broken leg, she can fix a broken 
 wing, can't she?" 
 
 "Maybe," admitted her brother. "Oh, 
 there's the bird again, Jan ! See how it flut- 
 ters along !" and the little boy pointed to one 
 that was dragging itself along over the 
 ground as though its wings or legs were 
 broken or hurt. 
 
 "Come on!" cried Teddy. "Maybe we 
 can catch the bird, Jan!" 
 
 Brother and sister started after the little 
 feathered songster, which was making a 
 queer, chirping noise. Then Jan suddenly 
 called : 
 
 "Oh, here's another!" 
 
 And, surely enough, there was a second 
 bird acting almost as was the first flutter- 
 ing along, half hopping and half flying 
 through the grass. 
 
 "We'll get 'em both!" yelled Teddy, and 
 he and Jan hurried along. But, somehow or 
 other, as soon as they came almost to the
 
 Jan Sees Something 87 
 
 place where they could reach out and touch 
 one of the birds, which acted as though it 
 could not go a bit farther, the little creature 
 would manage to flutter on just beyond the 
 eager hands of the children. 
 
 "That's funny!" exclaimed Teddy. "I 
 almost had one of 'em that time !" 
 
 ' ' So did I ! " added Janet. ' ' Now I 'm sure 
 I can get this one!" and she ran forward to 
 grasp the fluttering bird, but it managed to 
 hop along, just out of her reach. 
 
 The one Ted was after did the same thing, 
 and for some time the children hurried on 
 after the birds. At last the two songsters, 
 with little chirps and calls, suddenly flew 
 high in the air and circled back through the 
 woods. 
 
 "Well, would you look at that!" cried 
 Teddy, in surprise. 
 
 "They can fy, after all!" gasped Janet. 
 "What d'you s'pose made 'em pretend they 
 couldn't?" 
 
 "I I guess they wanted to fool us," said 
 her brother. 
 
 And that really was it. The little birds 
 had built a nest in a low bush, close to the 
 ground where the children could easily have 
 reached it if they had seen it. And they
 
 88 
 
 were very close to it, though their eyes had 
 not spied it. 
 
 But the birds had seen the Curlytops and, 
 fearing that Jan and Ted might take out the 
 eggs in the nest, the wise little birds had 
 pretended to be willing to let the boy and 
 girl catch them instead of robbing the nest. 
 
 Of course, Jan and Ted wouldn't have 4 
 done such a thing as that! But the birds 
 knew no differently. Not all birds act this 
 way pretending to be hurt, or that they 
 can't fly to get people to chase after them, 
 and so keep far away from the little nests. 
 But this particular kind of bird always does 
 that. 
 
 Some day, if you are in the woods or the 
 fields, and see one bird or two acting in 
 this queer way, as though it could not fly or 
 walk, and as though it wanted you to hurry 
 after it and try to catch it if you see a bird 
 acting that way you may be sure you are 
 near its nest and eggs and this is the way 
 the bird does to get you away. 
 
 "Let's look for their nest," suggested 
 Teddy, when the" two birds had flown far 
 away, back through the woods. 
 
 "Oh, no," answered Jan. "We don't 
 want to scare them. Maybe we can look at
 
 Jan Sees Something 89 
 
 the nest of a bird that won't mind if we 
 watch her feeding her little ones." 
 
 And, a little later, they came to a bush in 
 which was a robin's nest. In it were some 
 tiny birds, and, by standing on their tiptoes, 
 and bending the nest down a little way, the 
 Curlytops could look in. The baby birds, 
 which had only just begun to grow feathers, 
 opened their mouths as wide as they could, 
 thinking, I suppose, that Jan and Ted had 
 worms or bugs for them. 
 
 But the children did not have. 
 
 "Your mother will soon be along to feed 
 you," said Janet, and soon the mother bird 
 did come flying back from the field. She 
 seemed afraid at first, when she saw how 
 close Jan and Ted were to her nest, but the 
 children soon walked away, and then the 
 robin fed her young. 
 
 Ted and Jan had a nice walk through the 
 woods and then they went back to camp. 
 
 "We'll take Trouble for a walk, so mother 
 won't have to look after him so much," said 
 Janet. "Come, Trouble!" 
 
 "Show me where the fox was," begged 
 Baby William, and Ted and Jan turned 
 their steps that way. But there was no sign 
 of the big-tailed animal in the hollow log,
 
 90 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 though the children pounded on it as Grand- 
 pa Martin said he had done. 
 
 Then they wandered on a little farther in 
 the beautiful woods. Jan saw some flowers 
 she wanted to gather, and leaving the path 
 where Ted stood to take care of his little 
 brother, she began picking a handful. 
 
 Janet saw so many pretty blossoms that 
 she went a little farther than she meant to, 
 and, before she knew it, she had lost sight 
 of her two brothers, though she could hear 
 them talking. 
 
 'Suddenly, after crawling through some 
 bushes, Jan found herself on another path. 
 On the other side of it she saw some black- 
 eyed Susans. 
 
 "Oh, I must get some of them!" she cried. 
 
 She darted across the path, and, as she was 
 about to pick the flowers, she saw, standing 
 behind a big tree, a man who had on very 
 ragged clothes. He looked at Jan, who 
 dropped her bouquet and gasped: 
 
 "Oh! Oh, dear!" 
 
 The ragged man looked at Janet and 
 smiled. But Jan did not smile. One 
 thought only was in her mind. 
 
 "Here is one of the tramps!"
 
 "HERE IS ONE OF THE TRAMPS!' 
 
 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 Page 90
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 TROUBLE FALLS IN 
 
 JANET MARTIN thought it must have been 
 all of five minutes that she stood staring 
 at the ragged man and he at her, though, 
 very likely, it was only a few seconds. A 
 little while seems very long sometimes; for 
 instance, waiting for a train, or for the 
 day of the party to come. 
 
 "Are you looking for anything ?" the man 
 asked of Janet after a while. 
 
 "He doesn't speak like a tramp, " thought 
 the little girl, who had occasionally heard 
 them asking Nora, at the back door at home, 
 for something to eat. "I guess I'll answer 
 him.' 1 
 
 So she replied : 
 
 "I'm looking for flowers." 
 
 "Well, there are some pretty ones here 
 in the woods, ' ' went on the ragged man. ' i I 
 saw some fine red ones a little while ago. If 
 
 91
 
 92 
 
 I had known I should meet you I would have 
 picked them for you." 
 
 "I wonder if he can be a tramp," thought 
 Janet. "Do tramps pick flowers, or want 
 to pick them?" 
 
 What she said was : 
 
 " Thank you, but I think I have enough 
 
 now. ' 
 
 "Yes, you have a nice bouquet," went on 
 the ragged man, still smiling. 
 
 He was dressed like a tramp, that was 
 certain. But, somehow or other, Janet did 
 not feel as afraid as she expected she would 
 be when she thought of meeting a tramp. 
 
 "Do you live around here?" the man con- 
 tinued. 
 
 "Yes, we're camping in a tent," Jan re- 
 plied. "My grandfather owns part of this 
 island and we 're with him my mother and 
 my brothers. We like it here. " 
 
 "Yes, it's fine," said the ragged man, who 
 Janet thought must be a tramp, even if he 
 did not talk like most of them. "So you 
 live in a tent ? Does the professor stay here 
 all the while?" 
 
 "The professor?" repeated Janet, and 
 she wondered what the long word meant. 
 She was sure she had heard it before.
 
 Trouble Falls In 93 
 
 Pretty soon she remembered. At school she 
 had heard some of the teachers speak of 
 the principal as " Professor." 
 
 "My grandpa isn't a professor," ex- 
 plained Janet with a smile. "He's a 
 farmer." 
 
 "Well, some farmers are scientists. 
 Maybe he is a scientist," went on the tramp. 
 "I was wondering if some one else was on 
 this island looking for the same thing I'm 
 looking for. Can you tell me, little 
 girl ?" 
 
 But just then, from somewhere back in 
 the woods, a voice called. The ragged man 
 listened a moment, and then he cried : 
 
 "All right! I'm coming!" 
 
 Janet saw him stoop and pick up off the 
 ground a canvas bag, through the opening of 
 which she saw stones, such as might be 
 picked up on the shore of the lake or almost 
 anywhere on the island. 
 
 "I hope I shall see you again, little girl," 
 went on the tramp, as Janet called him af- 
 terward when telling the story. * i And when 
 I do, I hope I'll have some red flowers for 
 you. Good-bye!" 
 
 Jianet was so surprised by the quick way 
 in which the man ran off through the woods
 
 with his bag of stones that she did not an- 
 swer or say good-bye. She just stood look- 
 ing at the quivering bushes which closed up 
 behind him and showed which way the man 
 had gone. Janet could not see him any 
 longer. 
 
 A moment later she heard the bushes be- 
 nind her crackling, and, turning quickly, 
 she saw Ted and Trouble coming toward 
 her. 
 
 1 'What's the matter?" called her older 
 brother. "Did you see another bear I 
 mean a fox?" 
 
 "No. But I saw a tramp man," replied 
 Janet. "Oh, but he was awful ragged I" 
 
 "A tramp !" cried Ted. "Then we'd bet- 
 ter get away from here. We 'd better go and 
 tell grandpa!" 
 
 Janet thought the same thing, and, after 
 telling Ted all that had happened and what 
 she and the man had said, the Curlytops hur- 
 ried back through the woods to the camp. 
 
 "A ragged man on the island ; is that it ?" 
 asked Grandpa Martin, when Jan told him 
 what had happened. "It must be as Mr. 
 Crittendon said, that there are tramps here. 
 Though what they are doing I don't know. 
 There isn't anything to eat here, except what
 
 Trouble Falls In 95 
 
 we brought. And you haven't missed any- 
 thing, have you, Nora? Has anybody been 
 taking your strawberry shortcake or apple 
 dumplings from the tent kitchen ?" 
 
 "No, Mr. Martin, they haven't," Nora an- 
 swered. 
 
 "Well, maybe it was a tramp and perhaps 
 it wasn't," said Grandpa Martin. "Still it 
 will be a good thing to have a look about the 
 island. I don't want strange men roaming 
 where they please, scaring the children." 
 
 "Oh, he didn't scare me, except at first," 
 Janet hastened to say. "He spoke real nice 
 to me, but his clothes were old and awful 
 ragged. He wanted to know if you were a 
 professor." 
 
 "Well, I guess I'm professor enough to 
 drive away tramps that won't work, and only 
 want to eat what other people get," returned 
 the farmer. "I'll have a look around this 
 island to-morrow, and drive away the 
 tramps." 
 
 "And until then, don't you Curlytops go 
 far away. Stay where I can watch you," 
 went on Mrs. Martin, shaking her finger at 
 them, half in fun, but a great deal in ear- 
 nest. 
 
 "We'll stay near the tent," promised Jan.
 
 96 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "I'm going to help grandpa hunt the 
 tramps/' declared Ted. 
 
 "No, Curlytop, you'd better stay with 
 your sister and mother," said the farmer. 
 "I don't really believe there are any tramps 
 here." 
 
 "But I saw him!" insisted Janet. 
 
 "I know you saw some one, Curly Girl," 
 and grandpa smiled at her. "Of course 
 there may be a strange man maybe two, for 
 you say you heard one call to the other. But 
 they may have just stopped for a little while 
 on this island. I'll have to ask them to go 
 away, though, for we want to be by our- 
 selves while camping. So, as there might be 
 strangers around here who would not be 
 pleasant, you'd better stay here, too, 
 Teddy." 
 
 "All right, I'll stay," Teddy promised, 
 and he tried to be happy and contented 
 about it, though he did want to go with his 
 grandfather on the "tramp-hunt" as he 
 called it. But, though Teddy was quite a 
 good-sized boy for his age, there were some 
 things that it was not wise for him to do. 
 This was one of them. 
 
 The next day Grandpa Martin, rowing 
 over to the mainland, brought back with him
 
 Trouble Falls In 97 
 
 one of his hired men. The two walked all 
 over the island, only stopping for their 
 lunch, and at night they had found no trace 
 of anyone. 
 
 "If tramps were here they have gone," 
 said Grandpa Martin. "I can't think why 
 that man who talked to Janet should speak 
 of a professor, though." 
 
 ' ' It is queer, ' ' said Mrs. Martin. ' ' Never 
 mind, I'm glad it is safe for the children to 
 run about now. It has been hard work to 
 keep them about the tents all this day." 
 
 "I guess it has been," laughed Grandpa 
 Martin. "Well, to-morrow they can run as 
 much as they like." 
 
 Ted and Janet had lots of fun, 'playing on 
 the shores of Clover Lake. They took off 
 their shoes and stockings, and went wading. 
 Trouble did the same, splashing about in his 
 bare feet until he saw a little crawfish, dart- 
 ing from one stone to another under water 
 to hide away. 
 
 "Trouble 'f raid of dem big water-bugs," 
 he said, as he ran out on the grassy bank. 
 "Don't want to wade any more," and Ted 
 and Jan could not get him to come in again 
 that day. 
 
 By this time the camp was well settled.
 
 98 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 They had stored away in the cooking tent 
 many good things to eat, and whenever they 
 wanted anything more Grandpa Martin 
 would row over to the store on the mainland 
 for it. 
 
 Daddy Martin wrote from Cresco, where 
 he was looking after his store, that he would 
 soon be back at Cherry Farm, and then he 
 would come out to the camp and spend a 
 week. 
 
 The Curlytops played all the games they 
 knew. They took long rides with Nicknack, 
 and often Trouble went with them. But it 
 was not all play. Mrs. Martin thought it 
 wise for Ted and Jan to have some work to 
 do ; so, each day, she gave them little tasks. 
 They had to bring a small pail of water from 
 the spring, gather wood for the evening 
 campfire, and also some for Nora to use when 
 she made the fire in the cook-stove. For 
 Nora was a good cook, and many a fine pie 
 or cake came out of the oven. Sometimes 
 Ted and Jan helped around the kitchen by 
 drying the dishes or helping set the table 
 or clear it off. 
 
 One afternoon, when it was almost time 
 to get supper, Mrs. Martin sent Ted to the 
 spring for a pail of water. She wanted one
 
 Trouble Falls In 99 
 
 so they could all have a fresh drink, as it 
 was rather warm that day. 
 
 "I'll go with you," offered Janet. 
 
 "Me come too," added Trouble. 
 
 "Yes, take him," said his mother to Janet. 
 "He hasn't been out much to-day." So 
 Trouble toddled off with his brother and sis- 
 ter. 
 
 Ted filled the pail at the bubbling spring, 
 which was a large one, out of sight of the 
 tents of the camp. Then he heard a strange 
 bird whistling in a tree overhead, and, set- 
 ting down the pail, he ran to see what it 
 was. 
 
 "Oh, Jan," called her brother a moment 
 later, "it's a big red and black bird. Awful 
 pretty! Come and see him!" 
 
 Jan ran to get a look at the scarlet tana- 
 ger, as grandpa said later it was, and, with- 
 out thinking, she left Trouble alone. 
 
 Well, you can well imagine what Trouble 
 did! 
 
 For a long while ever since he had been 
 in camp, in fact Baby William had wanted 
 to dip a pail of water out of the spring. But 
 of course he could not be allowed to do this, 
 for he might fall in. Now, however, he saw 
 his chance.
 
 100 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 " Trouble bring de water," he said, talking 
 to himself while Teddy and Janet were look- 
 ing at the pretty bird. 
 
 The little fellow carefully emptied the pail 
 his brother had filled. Then with it in his 
 hand he went slowly toward the spring. He 
 leaned over, but longer arms than his were 
 needed to reach the pail down into the bub- 
 bling water. 
 
 Trouble reached and stretched and 
 reached again, and then 
 
 "Splash!" 
 
 Baby William had fallen in!
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 TED FINDS A CAVE 
 
 JANET and Ted returned from looking at 
 the pretty scarlet bird just in time to see 
 what happened to Trouble. They saw him 
 fall into the spring. 
 
 "Oh!" cried Janet, clasping her hands. 
 "Oh, look!" 
 
 "He'll be drowned!" yelled Ted, and then 
 he ran as fast as he could toward the place 
 where he had last seen his little brother, for 
 Baby William was not in sight now. He 
 was down in the water. 
 
 Perhaps Trouble might not have come to 
 any harm, more than to get wet through by 
 the time Ted reached him. Perhaps the lit- 
 tle fellow might not have been drowned. At 
 any rate, no harm came to him, even though 
 Jan and her brother did not get there in 
 time to help. 
 
 The two Curlytops, their fuzzy hair flut- 
 101
 
 102 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 tering in the wind, were half way to the 
 spring when they saw coming from the 
 bushes a ragged man. 
 
 "There he is!" cried Janet. 
 
 "Who?" asked Ted. 
 
 "The man who talked to me while I 
 was picking flowers," and Jan's voice came 
 in gasps, for she was getting out of breath 
 from having run so hard. "There he is!" 
 and she pointed. 
 
 "That's the tramp!" cried Ted. "They 
 are on the island, only grandpa couldn 't find 
 'em!" 
 
 "Do you do you s'pose he's goin' to take 
 Trouble?" faltered Janet. 
 
 Before Ted could answer, the Curlytops 
 saw what the ragged man was going to do. 
 They saw him stoop over the spring, reach 
 down into it and lift something up. The 
 "something" was Baby William, screaming 
 and crying in fright, and dripping wet. 
 
 The ragged man set Trouble down on a 
 rock near the spring, and then, waving his 
 hand to Ted and Jan, he cried : 
 
 "He's all right swallowed hardly any 
 water. Take him home as soon as you can, 
 though. I haven't time to stop have to go 
 to see the professor!"
 
 Ted Finds a Cave 103 
 
 With that the man seemed to dive in be- 
 tween some high bushes, and the Curlytops 
 could not see him any more. But Trouble 
 was still sitting on the rock, the water from 
 his clothes making a little puddle all around 
 him, and he was crying hard, his tears run- 
 ning down his cheeks. 
 
 "Oh, Trouble!" gasped Jan, putting her 
 arms around him, all wet as he was. 
 
 "Are you hurt ?" asked Ted, looking care- 
 fully at his little brother. 
 
 "I I I fal failed in an' an' I's all 
 all wetted!" wailed Trouble, his breath com- 
 ing in gasps because of his crying, which he 
 had partly stopped on seeing his brother and 
 sister. "I failed in de spwing, I did!" 
 
 "What made you?" asked Ted, while Jan 
 tried to wring some of the water out of the 
 little fellow's waist and rompers. 
 
 "I wanted to get de pail full for mamma." 
 
 "But I filled the pail, Trouble. You 
 oughtn't to have touched it," said Teddy. 
 He went to the spring and looked down in 
 it. The pail was at the bottom of the little 
 pool. 
 
 "It's a good thing that tramp got him 
 out," remarked Janet. "He must be a nice 
 man, even if his clothes are ragged."
 
 104 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "I guess so, too," agreed Ted. "But he 
 said we must take Trouble home. I guess 
 we'd better." 
 
 "Yes," assented Jan. "But he isn't 
 hurt." 
 
 "He wasn't in very long," Ted said. 
 "The man got him out awful quick quicker 
 than we could. You lead him home, Jan, 
 and I'll get the pail out of the spring. It's 
 sunk like a ship." 
 
 "How 're you going to get it?" 
 
 "With a stick, I guess. You mustn't lean 
 over the spring any more, Trouble." 
 
 "No," promised Baby William. 
 
 But the Curlytops could not be sure he 
 would keep his promise. He might for a 
 time, while he remembered what had hap- 
 pened to him. 
 
 With a crooked stick Teddy managed to 
 fish up the pail after two or three trials. 
 Then, filling it with water from the spring, 
 he carried it back to camp, while Jan led 
 the wet and dripping Trouble. 
 
 "Oh, my goodness! What's happened 
 now?" asked Nora, as she saw the three chil- 
 dren coming into camp. "Did you go in 
 swimming with all your clothes on, Trou- 
 ble?"
 
 Ted Finds a Cave 105 
 
 "No. I failed into de spwing, I did!" 
 
 "And the tramp got him out!" added 
 Jan. 
 
 Then she and Teddy, taking turns, told 
 what had happened. Mrs. Martin scolded 
 Trouble a little, to make him more careful 
 the next time. Then Grandpa Martin said : 
 
 "Well, there must be strangers on this 
 island after all, though I could not find 
 them. They must be hiding somewhere, and 
 I'd like to know what for." 
 
 "Maybe they're living in gypsy wagons," 
 suggested Jan. 
 
 "Or in a cave," added Ted. "They look 
 as if they lived in a cave." 
 
 "There isn't any cave on the island, as 
 far as I know," his grandfather told Ted. 
 "But I don't like those strange men roam- 
 ing about our place here. They may not 
 do any harm, but I don't like it. I'll have 
 another look for them." 
 
 "So will I," added Teddy, but he did not 
 say this aloud. Teddy had made up his 
 mind to do something. He was going to 
 look for those men himself, either in a cave 
 or a gypsy wagon. Ted wanted to find the 
 ragged man find all of them if more than 
 one ; and there seemed to be at least two, for
 
 106 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 the one who had pulled Teddy out of the 
 spring had spoken of another a " profes- 
 sor." 
 
 "What's a professor?" asked Jan. 
 
 "Oh, it's a man or a woman who has stud- 
 ied his lessons and teaches them to others," 
 answered her mother. "One who knows a 
 great deal about something, such as about 
 the stars or about the world we live in. Pro- 
 fessors find out many things and then tell 
 others young people generally about 
 them." 
 
 "I'm going to be a professor," said Teddy. 
 
 "Are you?" inquired his mother with a 
 smile. "I hope you will get wise enough to 
 be one." 
 
 But Teddy did not speak all that was in 
 his mind. If a professor was one who found 
 out things, then the small boy decided he 
 would be one long enough to find out about 
 the tramps, and perhaps find the cave where 
 they lived, and then he could tell Jan. 
 
 When Trouble had been put into dry 
 clothes and sent to sleep by his mother's 
 singing, "Ding-dong bell, Pussy's in the 
 well," Jan and Ted sat by themselves, talk- 
 ing over what had happened that day. Ted 
 was making a small boat to sail on the lake,
 
 Ted Finds a Cave 107 
 
 and Jan was mending her doll's dress, where 
 a prickly briar bush had torn a little hole in 
 it. 
 
 Early the next morning Ted slipped away 
 from his place at the breakfast table, and 
 motioned to Jan to join him behind the 
 sleeping tent. Ted held his finger over his 
 lips to show his sister that he wanted her 
 to keep very quiet. 
 
 " What's the matter?" she whispered, 
 when they were safe by themselves. "Did 
 you see the tramp-man ?" 
 
 "No, but I'm going to find him!" 
 
 "You are?" cried Janet, and her eyes 
 opened wide with wonder and surprise. 
 
 "Don't tell anybody," went on Ted. "We 
 don't want Trouble to follow us. Come on 
 off this way," and he pointed to a path that 
 led through the bushes back of the tent. 
 
 Trouble was busy just then, playing in 
 the sand on the shore of Clover Lake, while 
 Mrs. Martin and Nora were clearing away 
 the breakfast things. Grandpa Martin was 
 raking up around the tents, so no one saw 
 the Curlytops slip away. 
 
 "Which way are you going?" asked Jan 
 of her brother. 
 
 "Over to the spring."
 
 108 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "What for? To get more water? 
 Where's your pail?" 
 
 "I don't have to get water yet," answered 
 Ted. "I'm going to the spring to look to 
 see if I can tell which way that tramp went. 
 Don't you know how Indians do look at 
 the leaves and grass in the woods, and they 
 can tell by the marks which way anybody 
 went? Mother read us a story once like 
 that.' 
 
 "I don't like Indians," remarked Jan 
 somewhat shortly, half turning back. 
 
 "Oh, there's no Indians!" exclaimed Ted 
 impatiently. "I was only sayin' what they 
 did. Come on!" 
 
 So Jan followed her brother, though she 
 was a little bit afraid. However, she saw 
 nothing to frighten her, and it was nice in 
 the woods. The wind was blowing through 
 the trees, the birds were singing and it was 
 cool and pleasant. The Curlytops soon came 
 to the spring where Trouble had fallen in. 
 
 "Now we must look all around," declared 
 Teddy. 
 
 "What for?" his sister demanded again. 
 
 "To tell which way the tramp-man went. 
 Then we can find his cave." 
 
 "Maybe he lives in a wagon or a tent."
 
 Ted Finds a Care 109 
 
 "Then we'll find them. Come on, help 
 look!" 
 
 "I don't know how," confessed Janet. 
 
 "Well, look for a place where the bushes 
 are broken down and where you see foot- 
 prints in the dirt. That's the way Indians 
 tell. Mother read it out of a book to us." 
 
 So Jan and Ted looked all around the 
 spring, and at last Ter 1 found a place where 
 it seemed as if some OIK had run through in 
 a hurry, for twigs we' broken off the 
 bushes, and, by looking do\ at the ground, 
 he saw the marks of shoes in the dirt. 
 
 Of course Ted could not tell who had 
 made them, but he thought surely it must 
 have been the tramp who had pulk 1 Trouble 
 from the spring. Ted was sure they were 
 not the footprints of himself and his sister, 
 for their own were much smaller. 
 
 "Come on, Jan!" cried Teddy. "We'll 
 find that tramp now or, anyway, the place 
 where he hides." 
 
 He pushed on through the bushes. There 
 seemed to be a sort of path leading away 
 from the spring, which was not the same 
 path that Ted and Grandpa Martin took 
 when they went from the camp to the water- 
 hole to fill the pail each day.
 
 110 The Curlytops on Star 
 
 On and on went Ted, with Jan following. 
 She was so excited now at the thought that 
 perhaps they might find something, that she 
 was not a bit frightened. 
 
 "Wait a minute! Wait for me, Teddy I" 
 she called, as her brother hurried on ahead 
 of her. 
 
 "Come on, Jan!" he called. " There 's a 
 good path here, and I guess I see something. 
 Oh, look here! Oh, Jan! Oh! Oh!" sud- 
 denly cried Teddy. Then his voice seemed 
 to fade away, as if he had all at once gone 
 down the cellar, and Jan could hear him call- 
 ing faintly. 
 
 "Oh, Teddy! What's the matter? 
 What's the matter?" she cried as she ran 
 on through the bushes. 
 
 "I Ve found the cave !" was his answer, so 
 faint and far away that Jan could hardly 
 hear. "I've found the cave. I fell right 
 into it! Come on!"
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE GRAPEVINE SWING 
 
 WONDERING what had happened to her 
 brother, Jan hurried on toward the place 
 from which his voice came. It sounded more 
 than ever as if he were down a cellar. 
 
 "But there can't be any cellars in these 
 woods/* thought the little girl. 
 
 "Where are you, Teddy ?" she called after 
 a bit. "I can't see you! " 
 
 "Here I am, right behind you!" was the 
 answer, and Jan, turning quickly, saw the 
 head of her brother sticking up out of a hole 
 in the ground. 
 
 "Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Ted's sister. 
 "Where's the rest of you? Where's your 
 legs and your feet?" 
 
 "Down in 'the hole," explained Teddy. 
 "I'm in the cave. I fell in. That's how I 
 found it." 
 
 "Is it a real cave?" asked Janet. 
 111
 
 112 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 "It is. It goes away back under the 
 ground, only I didn't go in 'cause it's so 
 dark. I 'm going to get a light and see what 's 
 there." 
 
 "I'm not!" said Jan, very decidedly. 
 
 "Well, then I'll get grandpa. Maybe this 
 is the cave where the tramps live. Come and 
 look where I am. You won't fall in." 
 
 "How did you find it?" asked Janet, as 
 she walked toward the hole, down in which 
 Teddy was standing. It was a little way 
 from the path the two Curlytops had walked 
 along through the woods the path leading 
 from the spring. 
 
 "I just fell in it, I told you," Ted an- 
 swered. "I was walking along, and, all at 
 once, I slipped down through the dried 
 leaves. First I thought I was going down 
 in a big hole, but it isn't over my head and a 
 lot of leaves went down with me, so I didn't 
 get jounced hardly at all." 
 
 Jan went to the edge and looked down in 
 the hole. It seemed to be a large one in be- 
 tween two big rocks, and Ted showed her 
 where the hole slanted downward and went 
 farther underground. It was dark there, 
 and Jan made up her mind she would never 
 go into it, even if Ted did.
 
 The Grapevine Swing 113 
 
 "You'd better come up," she said at last. 
 "Maybe mother wouldn't like it. Besides, 
 there might be snakes down in there." 
 
 "Oh! I didn't think about them!" ex- 
 claimed Ted, and he tried to scramble up, 
 but it was not so easy as he had hoped. He 
 was a little excited, too, since Janet Had 
 spoken of snakes. Teddy did not like them, 
 and they might be in among the leaves that 
 had fallen down into the hole with him. 
 
 "Can't you get up ?" Jan asked, when her 
 brother had slipped back two or three times. 
 
 "Maybe I could if you'd let me take hold 
 of your hand," suggested Teddy. 
 
 "Then you'd pull me in, and we'd both be 
 down there." 
 
 Ted saw that this was so. He tried again 
 to get out, but could not, for mixed with the 
 leaves were many dry, brown pine needles 
 from the trees growing overhead ; and if you 
 have ever been in the woods you know how 
 slippery pine needles are when the ground 
 is covered with them. Teddy slipped back 
 again and a^ain. 
 
 "Oh, Ted! can't you ever get up?" asked 
 Janet, almost ready to cry. 
 
 "Oh. Ill get out somehow," he said. 
 Then dangling down from a tree behind his
 
 114 The Curly to ps on Star Island 
 
 sister, he saw a long wild grapevine, which 
 was almost like a piece of rope. 
 
 "If I had hold of that I could pull myself 
 out," Teddy said. "See if you can reach it 
 to me, Jan." 
 
 After two or three trials his sister did tnis. 
 Then, holding to a loose end of the grape- 
 vine while the other end was twined fast 
 round a tree, Teddy pulled himself out of 
 the hole. Once on firm ground he made the 
 loose end of the grapevine fast to a stone 
 that lay near the edge of the hole. 
 
 "What made you do that?"" asked Janet. 
 
 "So the next time I get down there I can 
 pull myself out," Teddy answered. 
 
 "Are you going down there again?" Jan 
 queried. 
 
 1 ' Course I am ! " declared Ted. ' ' I didn 't 
 half look in the cave. It's a big place. I 
 could see in only a little way, 'cause it was 
 so dark. I'm goin' to toll grandpa and have 
 him bring a lantern." 
 
 Grandpa Martin was surprised when Ted 
 and Jan told him what they had found in 
 the woods. 
 
 "I didn't suppose there was a cave on the 
 island," said the farmer. "I must have a 
 look at it."
 
 The Grapevine Swing 115 
 
 "And may I come? And will you take a 
 lantern?" asked Teddy eagerly. 
 
 "Well, yes, I guess so," said grandpa 
 slowly. 
 
 "Oh, Father, do you think it is safe?" 
 asked Mrs. Martin. 
 
 "Yes, I think so. I won't go very far in 
 with the children. It may be only the den 
 of a fox or some small animal, and not a real 
 
 cave. ' 
 
 "I think it's a big cave," declared Ted. 
 "Come on, Grandpa." 
 
 "Me come !" cried Trouble, as the two Cur- 
 lytops set off with Grandpa Martin through 
 the woods, toward the place where Teddy 
 had fallen down with the pile of leaves. 
 "Me come!" 
 
 "No, you stay with me," laughed Mother 
 Martin, catching him up in her arms. 
 Trouble did not want to stay behind, not 
 having been with his brother and sister of 
 late as much as he wished. "We'll bake a 
 patty-cake!" Mrs. Martin added, and then 
 Trouble laughed, for he liked to help Nora 
 bake. That is, he thought he helped. And 
 at least he helped to eat what Nora took out 
 of the oven. 
 
 "Now show me where the cave is," said
 
 1 ] (J The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 Grandpa Martin to Ted, as they neared the 
 place. "But be careful not to fall into it 
 again." 
 
 "Oh, IVe got a grapevine rope so I can 
 pull myself out, ' ' said Jan 's brother. * ' Here 
 it is, over this way." 
 
 Teddy Martin was an observing little fel- 
 low. He could find his way around in the 
 woods very well, once he had been to a place, 
 and he did not go wrong this time. He led 
 his grandfather right to the entrance of the 
 cave. 
 
 And it proved to be a real cave. Grandpa 
 Martin found this out when he jumped down 
 into the place where Teddy had fallen, and 
 when the lantern had been lighted and 
 flashed into the dark hole. 
 
 "Yes, it's a cave all right," the children's 
 grandfather said. "And to think the many 
 times I've been on this island I never found 
 it ! Well, I '11 go in a little way. ' ' 
 
 "Can't I come?" asked Ted, as he saw his 
 grandfather start into the dark hole which 
 spread out from the open place into which 
 Ted had fallen. 
 
 "I'm not coming," declared Janet, "and 
 I don't want to stay here all alone." 
 
 "You stay there with your sister, Curly-
 
 The Grapevine Swing 117 
 
 top," directed Mr. Martin. "If I find out 
 it's all right and is safe, I'll come back and 
 take you both in a little way." 
 
 Grandpa Martin walked into the dark 
 hole, his lantern flickering like a firefly at 
 night. The Cuiiytops watched it until they 
 could no longer see the gleam. Then they 
 waited expectantly. 
 
 "Maybe some thin '11 grab grandpa," said 
 Jan, after a bit. 
 
 "What?" asked Ted. 
 
 ' ' A fox or somethin ' ! " 
 
 "Pooh, he isn't afraid of a fox I" 
 
 "Well, a bear, maybe!" 
 
 "There isn't any bears here, Janet Mar- 
 tin ! I 'm not afraid. ' ' 
 
 Perhaps Ted said this because, just then, 
 he saw his grandfather coming out of the 
 cave. The farmer had not been gone very 
 long. 
 
 "Is it a cave?" called Ted. 
 
 "A sure-enough one I" added his sister. 
 
 ' ' Yes, it 's a sure-enough cave. But there ? s 
 nothing in it. ' ' 
 
 "No wild animals'?" Jan demanded. 
 
 "Not even a mouse, as far as I could see," 
 laughed Mr, Martin. "But some one had 
 been in the cave eating his lunch."
 
 118 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 "Maybe there was a picnic, Grandpa, " 
 suggested Ted. 
 
 "No, I think only one or two persons were 
 in the big hole, ' ' said his grandfather. * * For 
 it is a big hole, larger than I thought it was. 
 I could stand up straight once I was inside. " 
 
 "Take us in!" begged Ted. 
 
 "Yes, I think it will be all right. Come 
 along, Jan. I'll hold your hand, and there 
 isn't anything of which to be afraid. Come 
 on!" 
 
 So Janet and Teddy went into the cave. 
 By the light of grandpa's lantern they could 
 see that it was a large place, a regular un- 
 derground house a cave just like those of 
 which they had read in fairy stories. 
 
 "And was there somebody here, really?" 
 asked TecT eagerly. 
 
 "Yes," answered his grandfather. "See. 
 Here are bits of bread scattered about, and 
 papers in which some one brought his lunch 
 here." 
 
 "Maybe it was the tramps," whispered 
 Janet. 
 
 "Maybe," agreed Mr. Martin. "I must 
 have another look over the island. ' ' 
 
 There was not much else in the cave that 
 they could see with the one lantern. Grand-
 
 The Grapevine Swing 119 
 
 pa Martin wanted to look about more, and 
 back in the far corners, but he did not like 
 to take the children along, and Jan held 
 tightly to his hand as if she feared she would 
 lose him. 
 
 "I'll come here alone some other time, and 
 see what I can find," thought Grandpa Mar- 
 tin to himself, as they came out. 
 
 "I don't like it in there," said Jan, once 
 they were again out in the sunshine. "I 
 don't like caves." 
 
 1 ' I do, " declared Ted. ' ' When Hal Ches- 
 ter comes to visit me, as he said he would, he 
 and I will look all through this cave." 
 
 "Is Hal coming 1 ?" asked Jan, remember- 
 ing the boy, once lame but now cured, who 
 had played with them and told them about 
 Princess Blue Eyes. 
 
 "Yes, mother asked him to come and 
 spend a week, and he said he would. We'll 
 have some fun in the cave." 
 
 "What do you suppose the big hole can 
 be?" asked Mrs. Martin, when Grandpa 
 Martin and the children reached camp after 
 their visit to the strange place. 
 
 ' i I don 't know, ' ' he answered. t i It doesn 't 
 seem to have been dug with picks and shov- 
 els. It's just a natural cave I guess, and
 
 120 The Gurlytop* on Star Island 
 
 some fishermen may have eaten their lunch 
 there one day when it rained. But there is 
 no one in it now." 
 
 Ted and Jan talked much about the cave 
 the rest of that day. They went for a ride 
 in the wagon drawn by Nicknack, taking 
 Trouble with them. On their way back Jan 
 said: 
 
 "Oh, I wish I had a swing." 
 
 * ' It would be fun, ' ' agreed Ted. * ' Maybe 
 I can make one." 
 
 " You'll have to get a rope, " said his sister. 
 "Grandpa is going to row over in the boat 
 to-morrow. Ask him to bring us one." 
 
 "No, he don't need to bring us a rope," 
 went on her brother. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " 'Cause I can get a rope in the woods." 
 
 "A rope in the woods? Oh, Teddy Mar- 
 tin, you can not! Ropes don't grow on 
 trees." 
 
 "The kind I mean does," answered Ted 
 with a laugh. ' * Wait and I '11 show you. ' ' 
 
 When Nicknack had been put in the new 
 stable which Grandpa Martin had built for 
 him, Teddy, followed by Jan and Trouble, 
 walked a little way into the woods. Ted car- 
 ried with him a piece of old carpet.
 
 The Grapevine Swing 121 
 
 "What's that for?" his sister asked. 
 
 "For a swing board," he answered. 
 
 "But where's the swing rope ?" 
 
 1 i Here ! ' ' cried Ted suddenly. He pointed 
 to a long wild grapevine, which hung dang- 
 ling between two trees, around which it wa;; 
 twined. The vine was a very long one, and 
 as thick around as the piece Teddy had used 
 to pull himself out of the hole near the cave. 
 It did seem like a regular swing. 
 
 "Well maybe," murmured Jan. 
 
 "Now we can have some fun!" cried Ted. 
 He folded the piece of carpet and laid it over 
 the grapevine. Then he sat down, gave a 
 push on the ground with his feet, and away 
 he swung as nicely as though he was in a 
 regular swing, made with a rope from the 
 store. 
 
 "Oh, how nice!" cried Janet. "Let me 
 try it, Teddy." 
 
 "Wait till I see if it's strong enough." 
 
 He swung back and forward several more 
 times and then let his sister try it. She, too, 
 swayed to and fro in the grapevine swing, 
 which was in a shady place in the woods. 
 Then Trouble, who had seen what was going 
 on, cried: 
 
 * ' I want to swing, too ! I want to swing ! ' '
 
 122 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 "111 take you on my lap," offered Janet, 
 and this she did. 
 
 "Ill push you," offered Teddy, and he 
 gave his sister and his baby brother a long 
 push in the grapevine swing. 
 
 But, just as they were going nicely and 
 Trouble was laughing in delight, there was 
 a sudden cracking sound and Janet cried: 
 
 "Oh, I'm falling I I'm falling! The 
 swing is coming down!" 
 
 And that is just what happened.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 TROUBLE MAKES A CAKE 
 
 WITH a crackle and a snap the grapevine 
 swing sagged down on one side. Janet tried 
 to hold Trouble in her arms, but he slipped 
 from her lap, just as she slipped off the 
 piece of carpet which Ted had folded for the 
 seat of the swing. Then Janet toppled down 
 as the vine broke, and she and her little 
 brother came together in a heap on the 
 ground. 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Ted. "Are you hurt?" 
 
 Neither Jan nor Trouble answered him for 
 a moment. Then Baby William began to 
 cry. Jan lay still on the ground for a second 
 or two, and then she jumped up with a laugh. 
 
 "I'm not hurt a bit!" she said. "I fell 
 right in a pile of leaves, and it was like 
 jouncing up and down in the hay." 
 
 "What's the matter with Trouble f " asked 
 Ted. 
 
 1*3
 
 124 The Curly to ps on Star Island 
 
 Baby William kept on crying. 
 
 " Never mind!" put in Jan. " Sister ? 11 
 kiss it and make it all better ! Where is you 
 hurt, Trouble dear?" 
 
 The little fellow stopped crying and 
 looked up at Jan, his eyes filled with tears 
 
 "My posy-tree is hurted," he said, holding 
 a broken flower out to his sister. "Swing 
 broked my posy-tree I" 
 
 Trouble called any weed, flower or bunch 
 of grass he happened to pick a "posy-tree." 
 
 "Oh, I guess he isn't hurt," remarked 
 Teddy. "If it's only a broken posy-tree I'll 
 get you another," he said kindly. "Are you 
 all right, Trouble ? Can you stand up i ' ' 
 for he feared, after all, lest Baby William's 
 legs might have been hurt, since they \v< 
 doubled up under him. 
 
 Trouble showed he was all right by getting 
 up and walking about. He had stopped cry- 
 ing, and Ted and Jan could see that he, too. 
 had fallen on a pile of soft leaves near the 
 swing, so he was only "jiggled up," as Jan 
 called it. 
 
 One side of the grapevine swing had torn 
 loose from the tree, and thus it had come 
 down with Jan and Trouble. 
 
 "I guess it wasn't strong enough for two,
 
 Trouble Makes a Cake 125 
 
 said Ted. ' ' Maybe I can find another grape- 
 
 vine.' 
 
 "I'd like a rope swing better," Janet said. 
 "Then it wouldn't tumble down." 
 
 "I guess that's so," agreed her brother. 
 "We'll ask grandpa to get one." 
 
 Grandpa Martin laughed when he heard 
 what had happened to the grapevine swing, 
 and promised to make a real one of rope for 
 the Curlytops. This he did a day or so af- 
 terward, so that Ted and Jan had a fine 
 swing in their camp on Star Island, as well 
 as one at Cherry Farm. They were two very 
 fortunate children, I think, to have such a 
 grandfather. 
 
 "Where are you going now. Grandpa?" 
 called Jan one day, as she saw the farmer 
 getting the boat ready for use. 
 
 "I'm going over to the mainland to get 
 some things for our camp," answered Mr. 
 Martin. "They came from a big store in 
 some boxes and crates, and they're at the 
 railroad station. I'm going over to get 
 them. Do you Curlytops want to come 
 along?" ; 
 
 "Well, I just guess we do !" cried Ted. 
 
 "Me want to come!" begged Trouble. 
 
 "Not this time, Dear," said his mother.
 
 126 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 "You stay with me, and we will have some 
 fun. Let Jan and Ted go." 
 
 Trouble was going to cry, but when Nora 
 gave him a cookie he changed his mind and 
 ate the little cake instead, though I think 
 one or two tears splotched down on it and 
 made it a bit salty. But Trouble did not 
 seem to mind. 
 
 Ted and Jan had lots of fun riding back 
 in the boat to the main shore with their 
 grandfather. When the boat was almost at 
 the dock Mr. Martin let the two children 
 take hold of one of the oars and help him 
 row. Of course the Curlytops could not 
 pull very much, but they did pretty well, 
 and it helped them to know how a boat is 
 made to go through the water, when it has 
 no steam engine or gasolene motor to make 
 it glide along, or sails on which the wind 
 can blow to push it. 
 
 "You can't know too much about boats 
 and the water, especially when you are 
 camping on an island in the middle of a 
 lake," said Grandpa Martin. "When you 
 get bigger, Ted and Jan, you 11 be able to 
 row a boat all by yourselves." 
 
 "Maybe day after to-morrow," suggested 
 Jan. 
 
 "I wish I could now," said Ted.
 
 Trouble Makes a Cake 127 
 
 "Oh, but you're too small!" his grand- 
 father said. 
 
 The boat was tied to the wharf, and then, 
 getting an expressman to go to the depot for 
 the boxes and crates, Mr. Martin took the 
 children with him on the wagon. 
 
 "We're having lots of fun!" cried Jan, 
 as the horse trotted along. "We're camp- 
 ing and we had a ride in a boat and now 
 we're having a ride in a wagon." 
 
 "Lots of fun!" agreed Ted. "I'm glad 
 we 've got grandpa ! ' ' 
 
 "And grandpa is glad he has you two 
 Curlytops to go camping with him !" laughed 
 the farmer, as the expressman made his 
 horse go faster. 
 
 At the depot, while the children were wait- 
 ing to have the boxes and crates of things 
 for the camp loaded into the wagon, Ted 
 saw Arthur Weldon, a boy with whom he 
 sometimes played. 
 
 "Hello, Art! "called Ted. 
 
 ' ' Hello ! ' ' answered Arthur. ' ' I thought 
 you were camping on Star Island." 
 
 "We are," answered Teddy. 
 
 "It doesn't look so!" laughed Arthur, or 
 "Art," as most of his boy friends called 
 him.
 
 128 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "Well, we just came over to get some 
 things. There's grandpa and the express- 
 man with them now," went on Ted, as the 
 two men came from the freight house with 
 a number of bundles. 
 
 "I wish I was camping," went on the 
 other boy. "It isn't any fun around here." 
 
 "You can come over to see us sometimes," 
 invited Jan. "I'll ask my mother to let you, 
 and you can play with us." 
 
 "He don't want to play girls' games!" 
 cried Ted. 
 
 "Well, I guess I can play boys' games as 
 well as girls' games!" exclaimed Janet, with 
 some indignation. 
 
 "Oh, yes, course you can," agreed her 
 brother. 
 
 "And maybe Art can bring his sister to 
 the island to see us, and then we could play 
 boys' games and girls', too," went on Jan. 
 
 "I'll ask my mother," promised Arthur. 
 
 Grandpa and the expressman soon had the 
 wagon loaded, and Arthur rode back in it 
 with the Curlytops to the wharf where the 
 boat was tied. 
 
 "All aboard for Star Island!" cried Mr, 
 Martin, when the things were in the boat, 
 nearly filling it, ' ' All aboard ! ' '
 
 Trouble Makes a Cake 129 
 
 "I wish I could come now!" sighed Ar- 
 thur. 
 
 "Well, we'd like to take you," said Grand- 
 pa Martin, "but it wouldn't be a good thing 
 to take you unless your mother knew you 
 were coming with us, and we haven't time to 
 go up to ask her now. The next time maybe 
 we'll take you back with us." 
 
 There was a wistful look on Arthur's face 
 as he watched the boat being rowed away 
 from the main shore and toward the island. 
 Ted and Janet waved their hands to him, 
 and said they would ask their mother to in- 
 vite him for a visit, which they did a few 
 weeks later. 
 
 Once back on the island the things were 
 taken out of the boat and then began the 
 work of taking them out of the boxes and 
 crates. There was a new oil stove, to warm 
 the tent on cool or rainy days, and other 
 things for the camp, and when all had been 
 unpacked there was quite a pile of boards 
 and sticks left. 
 
 "I know what we can do with them," said 
 Teddy to Janet, when they had been piled 
 in a heap not far from the shore of the 
 lake, and a little distance away from the 
 tents. 
 
 "What?" asked the little girl.
 
 130 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 44 We can make a raft like Robinson Cru- 
 soe did," answered Teddy, for his mother 
 had read him a little about the shipwrecked 
 sailor who, as told in the story book, lived so 
 long alone on an island. 
 
 ''What's a raft?" asked Janet. 
 
 "Oh, it's something like a boat, but it 
 hasn't got any sides to it only a bottom," 
 answered her brother. "You make it out of 
 flat boards and you have to push it along 
 with a pole. We can make a raft out of all 
 the boards and pieces of wood grandpa took 
 the things out of. It 11 be a lot of fun!" 
 
 "Will mother let us?" asked Jan. 
 
 "Oh, I guess so," answered Teddy. 
 
 But he did not go to ask to find out. He 
 found a hammer where grandpa had been 
 using it to knock apart the crates and boxes, 
 and, with the help of Jan, Teddy was soon 
 making his raft. There were plenty of nails 
 which had come out of the boxes and crates. 
 Some of them were rather crooked, but 
 when Ted tried to hammer them straight he 
 pounded his fingers. 
 
 "That hurts," he said. "I guess crooked 
 nails are as good as straight ones. Anyhow 
 this raft is going to be crooked." 
 
 And it was very crooked and "wobboly,"
 
 Trouble Makes a Cake 131 
 
 as Janet called it, when Teddy had shoved 
 it into the water and, taking off his shoes and 
 stockings, got on it. 
 
 "Come on, Jan!" he cried, "I'm going to 
 have a ride." 
 
 "No, it's too tippy," Janet answered. 
 
 "Oh, it can't tip over," said Teddy. 
 "That's what a raft is for not to tip over. 
 Maybe you can slide off, but it can't tip 
 over. Come on!" 
 
 So Janet took off her shoes and stockings. 
 
 Now of course she ought not to have done 
 that, nor ought Teddy to have got on the 
 raft without asking his mother or his grand- 
 father. But then the Curlytops were no dif- 
 ferent from other children. 
 
 So on the raft got Teddy and Janet, and 
 for a time they had lots of fun pushing it 
 around a shallow little cove, not far from 
 the shore of Star Island. A clump of trees 
 hid them from the sight of Mother Martin 
 and grandpa at camp. 
 
 "Let's go farther out," suggested Teddy, 
 after a bit. 
 
 "I'm afraid," replied Janet. 
 
 "Aw, it'll be all right!" cried Ted. "I 
 won't let it tip over!" 
 
 So Janet let him pole out a little farther,
 
 132 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 until she saw that the shore was far away, 
 and then she cried : 
 
 "I want to go back!" 
 
 "All right," answered Ted. "I don't 
 want anybody on my raft who's a skeered. 
 I'll go alone!" 
 
 He poled back to shore and Janet got off 
 the raft. Then Teddy shoved the wabbly 
 mass of boards and sticks, fastened together 
 with crooked nails, out into the lake again. 
 He had not gone very far before something 
 happened. One end of the raft tipped up 
 and the other end dipped down, and off 
 slid Teddy into the water. 
 
 "Oh! Oh! "screamed Janet. "You'll be 
 drowned! I'm going to tell grandpa." 
 
 She ran to the camp with the news, and 
 Mr. and Mrs. Martin came hurrying back. 
 By this time Teddy had managed to get up 
 and was standing in the water, which was 
 not deep. 
 
 ' ' I 1 'm all right, ' ' he stammered. ' ' Only 
 I I'm wet!" 
 
 "I should say you were!" exclaimed his 
 mother. "You mustn't go on any more 
 rafts." 
 
 Teddy promised that he would not, and 
 then, when he had put on dry clothes, he and
 
 Trouble Makes a Cake 133 
 
 Janet played other games that were not so 
 dangerous. They had lots of fun in the 
 camp on Star Island. 
 
 "Come on, Jan!" called her brother one 
 morning after breakfast. "Come on down 
 to the lake." 
 
 "What 're you goin' to do?" she asked. 
 
 "I think he had better look for the *g' you 
 dropped," said Mrs. Martin with a laugh. 
 
 " What 'g?'" asked Jan. 
 
 "The one off ' going,' ' was the answer. 
 "You must be more careful of your words, 
 Janet dear. Learn to talk nicely, and don't 
 drop your *g* letters." 
 
 She had been trying to teach this to the 
 Curlytops for a long while, and they were 
 almost cured of leaving off the final "g" of 
 their words. But, once in a while, just as 
 Jan did that time, they forgot. 
 
 "What are you going to do ?" asked Janet, 
 slowly and carefully this time. 
 
 ' ' Sail my boat, ' ' answered Ted. " I '11 give 
 \ T )ur doll a ride if you want me to. " 
 
 "Not this one," replied his sister, looking 
 at the one she carried. It had on a fine red 
 4ress. 
 
 "Why not that doll f " Ted inquired. 
 
 " 'Cause your boat might tip over and
 
 134 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 spill my doll in the lake. Then she'd be 
 spoiled and so would her dress. Wait. I'll 
 get my rubber doll. Water won 't hurt her. ' ' 
 
 "My boat won't tip over," Ted declared. 
 " It's a good one." 
 
 But even Jan's rubber doll must have been 
 too heavy for Ted's small boat, for, half way 
 across a little shallow cove in the lake, where 
 the Curlytops waded and Ted sailed his 
 ships, the boat tipped to one side, and the 
 doll was thrown into the water. 
 
 " There! I told you so!" cried Janet. 
 
 "Well, she's rubber, and you can pretend 
 she has on a bathing suit an* has gone in 
 swimming!" declared Ted. 
 
 "But maybe a fish '11 bite a hole in her and 
 then she can't whistle through the hole in 
 her back!" wailed Jan, ready to cry. 
 
 "There's no fish here, only baby ones ; and 
 they can't bite," Ted answered. "But I'll 
 get her for you, Jan." 
 
 He waded out, set his ship upright again, 
 and brought his sister's doll to shore. 
 Nancy which was the doll's name did not 
 seem to have been hurt by falling into the 
 lake. Her painted smile was the same as 
 ever. 
 
 "I guess I'll dress her now so she won't
 
 Trouble Makes a Cake 135 
 
 get cold after her bath, " said Jan, who some- 
 times acted as though her dolls were really 
 alive. She liked her playthings very much 
 indeed. 
 
 While his sister went back to the tent with 
 her doll Ted sailed his boat. Then Trouble 
 came down to the edge of the little cove, and 
 began to take off his shoes and stockings to 
 go wading as Ted was doing. Ted was not 
 sure whether or not his mother wanted Baby 
 William to do this, so he decided to run up 
 to the camp to ask. 
 
 " Don't go in the water until I come back, 
 Trouble," Ted ordered his little brother. 
 
 But the sight of the cool, sparkling water 
 was too much for Baby William. 
 
 Off came his shoes and stockings without 
 waiting for Ted to come back to say whether 
 or not Mother Martin would let him go 
 splashing in the water. Into the lake Baby 
 William went. And he was not careful about 
 getting wet, either, so that when Ted came 
 back with his mother, who wanted to make 
 sure that her baby boy was all right, they 
 saw him out in the middle of the cove with 
 Ted's boat. And the water was half way up 
 to Trouble's waist, the lower part of his 
 bloomers being soaked.
 
 136 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "Oh, you dear bunch of Trouble!" cried 
 his mother. "You mustn't do that!" 
 
 "Havin' fun!" was all Trouble said. 
 
 "Come here!" cried Mrs. Martin. 
 
 "Wait till I sail boat," and he pushed 
 Ted's toy about in the cove, splashing more 
 water on himself. 
 
 "I guess you'll have to get him," said 
 Mrs. Martin to Teddy, who half dragged, 
 half led his little brother to shore. Trouble 
 got wetter than ever during this, and his 
 mother had to take him back to the tent to 
 put dry things on him. 
 
 "Trouble," she said, "you are a bad little 
 boy. I'll have to keep you in camp the rest 
 of the day now. After this you must not go 
 in wading until I say you may. If you had 
 had your bathing suit on it would hdve been 
 all right. Now you must be punished." 
 
 Trouble cried and struggled, but it was of 
 no use. When Mother Martin said a thing 
 must be done it was done, and Trouble could 
 not play in the water again that day. 
 
 Toward the middle of the afternoon, how- 
 ever, as he had been pretty good playing 
 around the tent, he was allowed to roam far- 
 ther off, though told he must not go near the 
 water.
 
 Trouble Makes a Cake 137 
 
 "You stay with me, Baby/' called Nora. 
 "I'm going to bake a cake and I'll give 
 you some." 
 
 "Trouble bake a cake, too?" he asked. 
 
 "No, Trouble isn't big enough to bake a 
 cake, but you can watch me. I'll get out the 
 flour and sugar and other things, and I'll 
 make a little cake just for you." 
 
 On a table in the cooking tent Nora set out 
 the things she was to use for her baking. 
 There was the bag of flour, some water in a 
 dish and other things. Just as she was about 
 to mix the cake Mrs. Martin called Nora 
 away for a moment. 
 
 "Now, Trouble, don't touch anything un- 
 til I come back!" warned the girl, as she 
 hurried out of the tent. "I won't be gone 
 a minute." 
 
 But she was gone longer than that. Left 
 alone in the tent, with many things on the 
 table in front of him, Trouble looked at 
 them. He knew he could have lots of fun 
 with some of the pans, cups, the egg beater, 
 the flour, the water and the eggs. A little 
 smile spread over his tanned, chubby face. 
 
 "Trouble bake a cake," he said to himself. 
 "Nora bake a cake Trouble bake a cake. 
 Yes!"
 
 138 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 First Baby William pulled toward him 
 the bag of flour. He managed to do it with- 
 out upsetting it, for the bag was a small one. 
 Near it was a bowl of water with a spoon in 
 it. Trouble had seen his mother and Nora 
 bake cakes, and he must have remember rd 
 that they mixed the flour and water together. 
 Anyhow that was the way to make mud pies 
 by mixing sand and water. 
 
 Trouble looked for something to mix his 
 cake in. The tins and dishes were so far 
 back on the table that he could not get them 
 easily. He must take something else. 
 
 Off his head Trouble pulled his white hat 
 a new one that grandpa had brought only 
 that day from the village store. 
 
 "Make cake in dis," murmured Baby Wil- 
 liam to himself. 
 
 He pushed a chair up to the table and 
 climbed upon it. From the chair he got on 
 the table and sat down. Then he began to 
 make his cake in his hat.
 
 THEN TROUBLE BEGAN TO MAKE A CAKE IN HIS HAT. 
 The Curlytops on Star Island Page 138
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE CTJRLTTOPS GO SWIMMING 
 
 "TROUBLE make a cake Trouble make a 
 nice cake for Jan an* Ted," murmured Baby 
 William to himself. Certainly he thought 
 he was going to do that make a nice cake 
 but it did not turn out just that way. 
 
 Trouble's hat, being of felt, held water 
 just as a dish or a basin would have done, 
 but the little fellow had to hold it very care- 
 fully in his lap between his knees as he sat 
 on the table, or he would have squeezed his 
 hat and the water would have spilled out. 
 But when Trouble really wanted to do any- 
 thing he could be very careful. And he 
 wanted, very much this time, to make that 
 cake. 
 
 So, when he had the water in his hat he 
 began to dip up some flour from the bag with 
 a large spoon. 
 
 When the little fellow thought lie had 
 
 139
 
 140 The Curly tops tm btar Island 
 
 enough flour sifted into the water in his hat 
 he began to stir it, juut as he had seen Nora 
 stir her cake batter. ,Xround and around he 
 stirred it, and then he found that his cake 
 was much too wet. lie had not enough flour 
 in it, just as, someti*nes, when he and Jan 
 made mud pies, the^ did not have enough 
 sand or dirt in the \vater to make the stuff 
 for the pies as thick a* they wanted it. 
 
 So Trouble stirred in more flour. And 
 then, just as you can t*asily guess, he made 
 it too thick, and had tv put in more water. 
 
 By this time Troubles small hat was al- 
 most full of flour and water, and some dough 
 began to run over the edges, down on his lit- 
 tle bare legs, and also on his rompers and 
 on the table and even to the floor of the 
 kitchen tent. 
 
 Trouble did not like that. He wanted to 
 get his cake mixed before Nora came back, 
 so she could bake it in the oven for him. For 
 he knew cakes must be baked to make them 
 good to eat, and he really hoped, knowing 
 no better, that his cake would be good 
 enough to eat. 
 
 " Trouble make a big cake," he said, as 
 he slowly put a little more water into his 
 hat, and stirred the dough some more. He
 
 The Curly tops Go Swimming 141 
 
 splashed some of the flour and water on the 
 end of his stubby nose, and wiped it off on 
 the back of his hand. Then, as he kept on 
 stirring, some more of the dough splashed 
 on his cheeks, and he had to wipe that off. 
 So that, by this time, Baby William had on 
 his hands and face at least as much dough 
 as there was in the spoon. 
 
 But finally the little mischief-maker got 
 the dough in his hat just about thick enough 
 not too much flour and not too much water 
 in it. When this point was reached he knew 
 that it was time to get ready for the baking 
 part putting the dough in' the pans so it 
 would go into the oven. 
 
 Trouble wanted to do as much toward 
 making his own cake as he could without 
 asking Nora to help. So now he thought he 
 could put the dough in the baking pans him- 
 self. But they were on the table beyond his 
 reach. He must get up to reach them. 
 
 So Trouble got up. and then 
 
 Well, you can just imagine what hap- 
 pened. He forgot that he was holding in 
 his lap the hat full of dough and as soon as 
 he stood up of course that slipped from his 
 lap and the table and went splashing all 
 over the floor.
 
 142 The Curlytops on Star Inland 
 
 "Squee-squish-squash!" the hat full of 
 dough dropped. 
 
 " Oh ! " exclaimed Trouble. " Oh ! " 
 
 His feet were covered with the white flour 
 and water. Some splashed on Nora-'s chair 
 near the table, some splashed on the table 
 legs and more spread over the tent floor and 
 ran in little streams toward the far edges. 
 And, in the midst of it, like a little island 
 in the middle of a lake of dough, was Trou- 
 ble 's new hat. Only now you could hardly 
 tell which was the hat and which was the 
 dough. 
 
 "Trouble's cake all gone!" said the little 
 fellow sadly, and just as he said that back 
 came Nora. She gave one look inside her 
 nice, clean tent-kitchen at least it had been 
 clean when she left it and then she cried : 
 
 "Oh, Trouble Martin! What have you 
 gone and done?" 
 
 "Trouble make a cake but it spill," he 
 said slowly, climbing down from the table. 
 
 "Spill! I should say it did spill!" cried 
 Nora. "Oh, what a sight you are! And 
 what will your mother say!" 
 
 "What is it now, Nora ?" asked Mrs. Mar- 
 tin, who heard the noise in the kitchen. 
 
 "Oh, it's Trouble, as you might guess.
 
 The Curlytops Go Swimming 143 
 
 He's tried to make a cake. But such a 
 mess!" 
 
 Mrs. Martin looked in. She wanted to 
 laugh and cry at the same time, but, as that 
 is rather hard to do, she did neither. She 
 just stood and looked at Trouble. He had 
 picked up his hat, which still had a little of 
 the paste in it, and this was now dripping 
 down the front of his rompers. 
 
 "Well, it's clean dirt, not like the time 
 he was stuck in the mud of the brook at 
 home, that's one consolation," said Nora 
 at last. Nora had a good habit of trying to 
 make the best of everything. 
 
 "Yes, it's clean dirt and it will wash off," 
 agreed Mother Martin. "But, oh, Trouble! 
 You are such a sight! And so is Nora's 
 kitchen." 
 
 "Oh, well, I don't mind cleaning up," 
 said the good-natured maid. "Come on, 
 Trouble, I'll let your mother wash you and 
 then I'll finish the cake." 
 
 "Make a cake for Trouble?" asked Baby 
 William. 
 
 "Yes, I guess I'll have to, since you 
 couldn't make one for yourself," laughed 
 Nora. "Never mind, you'll be a man when 
 you grow up and you won't have to mess
 
 144 The Curlytops an Star Island 
 
 around a kitchen. Here you are!" and she 
 caught him up, all doughy as he was, and 
 carried him to the big tent where his mother 
 soon had him washed and in clean clothes. 
 
 Then Nora cleaned up the kitchen and 
 made some real cakes and cookies which Ted 
 and Jan, as well as Trouble, ate a little later. 
 The Curlytops laughed when told of Trou- 
 ble's attempt to make a cake, and for a long 
 time after that whenever they were telling 
 any of their friends about the queer things 
 their baby brother did, they always told 
 first about the cake he made in his hat 
 one day. 
 
 "Oh, Ted, I know what let's do!" cried 
 Janet one day, about a week after Trouble 
 had played with the flour and water. 
 
 "What?" asked her brother. "Go fish- 
 ing?" 
 
 "No, I don't like fishing. Anyhow we 
 went fishing once, and I don't like to see the 
 worms wiggle. Let's make a little play tent 
 for ourselves in the woods." 
 
 "We haven't any cloth." 
 
 "We can make one of leaves and branches, 
 just like the bower we made for Nicknack 
 before grandpa put up the little board barn 
 for him."
 
 The Curly tops Go Swimming 14.5 
 
 "Yes, we can do that," agreed Ted. "It'll 
 be fun. Come on." 
 
 A little later the two Curlytops were cut- 
 ting down branches from low trees, sticking 
 the ends into the soft ground, and tying the 
 leafy tops together with string. This made 
 a sort of tent, and though there were holes 
 in it, where the leaves did not quite come to- 
 gether, it made a shady place. 
 
 Jan brought in her dolls, and Ted his sail- 
 boat and other toys, and there the two chil- 
 dren played for some little time. Trouble 
 was not with them. 
 
 "But he'll be along pretty soon," re- 
 marked Janet, "and he'll want part of the 
 tent for his. Is it big enough for three, 
 Teddy?" 
 
 "Well, we can make Trouble a little 
 bower for himself right next door. He'll 
 want to bring in a lot of old stones and mud 
 pies anyhow, and we don't want them. 
 We'll make a little bower for him when he 
 comes along." 
 
 So, waiting for their little brother to hunt 
 them out, which he always did sooner or 
 later if they went off to play without him, 
 Ted and Jan had fun in the little leafy house 
 they had made for themselves.
 
 146 
 
 They were having a good time, and were 
 wondering if Grandpa Martin would ever 
 find the queer ragged man or if they would 
 see the strange blue light again, when Jan 
 suddenly gave a scream. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Ted. 
 
 "Something tickled the back of my neck," 
 explained his sister. "Maybe it's a big 
 worm, or a caterpillar! Look, Ted, will 
 you?" 
 
 Teddy turned to look, but, as he did so, he 
 gave a ry of surprise. 
 
 "It's a goat! It's our goat! It's Nick- 
 nack ! ' ' yelled Teddy. ' ' He 's stuck his head 
 right through the bower and, oh, Jan! he's 
 eating it!" 
 
 And so Nicknack was. His head was half- 
 way through the side of the tree-tent nearest 
 Jan and the goat was chewing some of the 
 green leaves. It was Nicknack 's whiskers 
 that had tickled Jan on the back of her 
 neck. 
 
 "Whoa there, Nicknack!" called Ted, as 
 the goat from the outside pushed his way 
 farther into the tent. "Whoa, there! 
 You 11 upset this place in a minute !" 
 
 And so it seemed Nicknack would do, for 
 he was hungrily eating the leaves of the
 
 The Curly tops Go Swimming 147 
 
 branches from which Jan and Ted had made 
 their playhouse. 
 
 "How'd he get loose ?" asked Jan. 
 
 "I don't know," Ted answered. "I tied 
 him good and tight by his rope. I wonder 
 if " 
 
 Just then a voice called : 
 
 1 ' Wait for me, Mcknack ! Wait for me ! " 
 
 "It's Trouble!" cried Jan and Ted to- 
 gether. 
 
 Ted looked out through the hole the goat 
 had eaten in the side of the bower, and saw 
 Baby William toddling toward him. 
 
 "Did you let Nicknack loose?" demanded 
 Ted. 
 
 "Ess, I did," answered Trouble. "I 
 cutted his wope with a knife, I did. I wants 
 a wide. Wait for me, Mcknack!" 
 
 The goat was in no hurry to get away, for 
 he liked to eat the green leaves, and Ted, 
 coming out of the bower, which was almost 
 ready to fall down now that the goat was 
 half-way inside it, saw where the rope, fast 
 around his pet's horns, had been cut. 
 
 "You mustn't do that, Trouble," Ted said 
 to his little brother. "You mustn't cut Nick- 
 nack 's rope. He might run away into the 
 lake."
 
 148 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "Trouble wants a wide." 
 
 "Well, we'll give you a ride," added Jan. 
 "But did mother or Nora give you the knife 
 to cut the rope?" 
 
 "No. Trouble got knife off en table." 
 
 "Oh, you must never do that!" cried Jan. 
 "You might fall on the sharp knife and cut 
 yourself. Trouble was bad ! ' ' 
 
 The little fellow had really taken a knife 
 from the table, and had sawed away with it 
 on Nicknack's rope until he had cut it 
 through. Then Nicknack had wandered over 
 to the green bower to get something to eat, 
 and Trouble, dropping the knife, had fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 Mrs. Martin, to punish Baby William so 
 he would remember not to take knives again, 
 would not let him have a goat ride, and he 
 cried very hard when Ted and Jan went off 
 without him. But even little boys must learn 
 not to do what is wrong, and Trouble was no 
 different from any others. 
 
 One afternoon, when the Curlytops had 
 been wandering around the woods of the 
 island, looking to see if any berries were yet 
 ripe, they came back to camp rather tired 
 and warm. 
 
 * * I know what would be nice for you, ' ' said
 
 The Curly tops Go Swimming 149 
 
 Nora, who came to the flap doorway of the 
 kitchen tent. "Yes, I know two things that 
 would be nice for you." 
 
 " What 1" asked Jan, fanning herself with 
 her sunbonnet. 
 
 "I hope it's something good to eat," sighed 
 Teddy, as he sat down in the shade. 
 
 "Part of it," answered Nora. "How 
 would you like some cool lemonade that is, 
 when you are not so warm," she added 
 quickly, for Teddy had jumped up on hear- 
 ing this, and was about to make a rush for 
 the kind cook. "You must always rest a bit, 
 when you are so warm from running, walk- 
 ing or playing, before you take a cold drink 
 of anything." 
 
 "But have you any lemonade?" asked 
 Janet, for she, too, was tired and thirsty. 
 
 "I'll make some, and you may have it 
 when you are not so heated," went on the 
 cook. "And I'll get some sweet crackers for 
 
 ou." 
 
 ' * That 's nice, ' ' said Janet. ' ' Are they the 
 two things you were going to tell us to do, 
 Nora?" 
 
 "No, I'll count the lemonade and crack- 
 ers as one," went on the cook with a smile. 
 "The other thing I was going to tell you to
 
 150 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 do is to take Nicknack and have a ride. That 
 will cool you off if you go in the shade/' 
 
 4 'Oh, so it will!" cried Ted. "Well do 
 it! And can we take the lemonade in a 
 bottle, and the crackers in a bag, and put 
 them in the goat- wagon?" 
 
 "Do you mean to give the crackers and 
 lemonade a ride, too?" asked Mother Mar- 
 tin, who came out of her tent just then. 
 
 "No, but we can take them with us. and 
 have a little picnic in the woods," explained 
 Teddy. "We didn't find any berries, and 
 so we didn't have any picnic." 
 
 "All right, Nora, give them the lemonade 
 and crackers to take with them," said Mrs. 
 Martin, smiling at the Curlytops. 
 
 "I'll go and make the cool drink now," 
 said the cook. 
 
 "And I'll get the crackers," said the chil- 
 dren's mother. 
 
 "And we'll go and get Nicknack and har- 
 ness him to the cart," added Ted. 
 
 He and Janet were soon on their way to 
 the little leafy bower where the goat was 
 kept, for it was so warm on Star Island that 
 the goat did not stay more than half the 
 time in the stable Grandpa Martin had made 
 for him.
 
 The Curly tops Go Swimming 151 
 
 "Here, Mcknack! where are you?" called 
 Teddy, as he neared the bower. 
 
 "Here, Mcknack!" called Janet. 
 
 But the goat did not answer. Nearly al- 
 ways, when he was called to in that way, he 
 did, giving a loud "Baa-a-a-a-a!" that could 
 be heard a long way. 
 
 "Oh, Mcknack isn't here!" cried Jan, 
 when she saw the empty place. ' ' Maybe he 's 
 run away, Ted." 
 
 "He must be on the island somewhere," 
 said the little boy. "He can't row a boat 
 and get off, and he doesn't like to swim, I 
 guess, though he did fall into the water 
 once." 
 
 "But where is he?" asked Janet. 
 
 "We '11 look, "Teddy said. 
 
 So the children peered about in the bushes, 
 but not a sign of Mcknack could they see. 
 They called and called, but the goat did not 
 bleat back to them. 
 
 "Oh, where can. he be?" asked Janet, and 
 her eyes filled with tears, for she loved the 
 pet animal very much. 
 
 "We'll look," said Teddy. "And if we 
 can't find him we'll ask grandpa to help us 
 look." 
 
 They wandered about, but not going too
 
 152 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 far from the leafy bower, and, all at once, 
 Ted cried : 
 
 "Hark! I hear him I" 
 
 "So do I!" added Janet. "Oh, where is 
 he?" 
 
 "Listen!" returned her brother. 
 
 They both listened, hardly breathing, so 
 as to make as little noise as possible. Once 
 more they heard the cry of the goat : 
 
 "Baa-a-a-a-a-a!" went Nicknack. "Baa- 
 a-a-a!" 
 
 "He's over this way!" cried Teddy, and 
 he started to run to the left. 
 
 "No, I think he's here," and Janet pointed 
 to the right. 
 
 "What's the matter, Curlytops?" asked 
 Mrs. Martin, who came out just then to see 
 what was keeping the children. 
 
 "We can hear Nicknack, but we can't see 
 him," answered Ted. 
 
 Mrs. Martin listened to the goat's call. 
 
 "I think he's down this path," she said, 
 and she took one midway between those Ted 
 and Janet would have taken. "Come 
 along!" she called back to the two children. 
 "We'll soon find Nicknack." 
 
 "Here, Nicknack I Here, Nicknack!" 
 called Ted.
 
 The Curlytops Go Swimming 153 
 
 "Come on, we want you to give us a ride I" 
 added Janet. 
 
 But though the goat answered, as he 
 nearly always did, his voice sounded afar 
 off, and he did not come running to see his 
 little friends. 
 
 "Oh, I wonder if anything is the matter 
 with him? "asked Ted. 
 
 "We'll soon see," said Mrs. Martin. 
 
 Just then the barking of a dog was heard. 
 
 "Oh, I wonder if that's Skyrocket ?" 
 asked Janet. 
 
 "No, we left our dog home," said Mrs. 
 Martin. "That sounds like a strange dog, 
 and he seems to be barking at Nicknack. 
 Come on, children. We'll see what the mat- 
 ter is!" 
 
 They hurried on, and, in a little while, 
 they saw what had happened. Nicknack was 
 caught in a thick bush by the rope around 
 his horns. He had pulled the rope loose 
 from his leafy bower, and it had dragged 
 along after him as he wandered away. Then 
 the end of the rope had become tangled in a 
 thick bush and the goat could not pull it 
 loose. He was held as tightly as if tied. 
 
 In front of him, but far enough away so 
 the goat could not butt him with his horns,
 
 154 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 which Nicknack tried to do, was a big, and 
 not very nice-looking, dog. This dog was 
 barking fiercely at Nicknack, and the goat 
 could not make him go away. 
 
 "Oh, Mother! don't let the dog hurt our 
 goat!" begged Janet. 
 
 "I'll drive him away," cried Ted. catch- 
 ing up a stone. 
 
 "No, you had better let me do it," said 
 Mrs. Martin. She picked up a stick and 
 walked toward the dog, but he did not wait 
 for her to get very close. With a last howl 
 and a bark at Nicknack, the dog ran away, 
 jumped into the lake and swam off toward 
 shore. Then the rope was loosed and Nick- 
 nack, who was badly frightened, was led 
 back by Ted and Jan and hitched to the 
 wagon. He then gave them a fine ride. The 
 dog was a stray one, which had swum over 
 from the mainland, Grandpa Martin said. 
 
 Ted and Janet took the lemonade and 
 crackers with them in the goat-wagon and 
 had a nice little picnic in the woods. 
 
 "What can we do to-day?" asked Janet, 
 as she and Teddy finished breakfast in the 
 tent one morning, and, after playing about 
 on the beach of the lake, wanted some other 
 fun.
 
 The Curly tops Go Swimming 155 
 
 "Let's go swimming!" cried Teddy. 
 
 "And take Trouble with us," added his 
 sister. 
 
 In their bathing suits and with Nora on 
 the bank to watch them, the children were 
 soon splashing in the cool water. Ted could 
 swim a little bit, and Jan was just learning. 
 
 "Come on out where it's a little deeper," 
 Ted urged his sister. "It isn't up to your 
 knees here, and you can't swim in such shal- 
 low water." 
 
 "I'm afraid to go out," she said. 
 
 " Afraid of what <?" 
 
 "Big fish or a crab." 
 
 "Pooh! those little crabs won't bite you, 
 and when we splash around we scare away 
 all the fish. They wouldn't bite you any- 
 how." 
 
 "Maybe a water snake would." 
 
 ' * No, it wouldn 't, ' ' declared Ted. ' ' Come 
 on and see me swim." 
 
 So Jan waded out a little way with him. 
 Ted was just taking a few strokes, really 
 swimming quite well for so small a boy, 
 when, all at once, he heard a cry from his 
 sister. 
 
 "Oh, Ted! Ted!" she called. "Come on 
 in, quick. A big fish is goin' to bite you I"
 
 156 The Curb/tops on Star Island 
 
 Ted gave one look over his shoulder and 
 saw something with a pointed nose, long 
 whiskers and two bright eyes swimming 
 toward him. 
 
 "Oh!" yelled Ted, and he began running 
 for shore as fast as he could splash through 
 the water.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 JAN^S QUEER BIDE 
 
 "WHAT'S the matter? What is it? " cried 
 Nora from the bank where she was tossing 
 bits of wood into the lake for Trouble to 
 pretend they were little boats. "Have you 
 got a cramp, Teddy boy ?" 
 
 "It's a a big fish or something" he 
 panted, as he kept on running and splashing 
 the water all about, which, after all, did not 
 matter as he was in his bathing suit. 
 
 "It's a shark after him!" cried Jan, who, 
 by this time, was safe on shore, stopping on 
 her way to grasp Trouble by the hand and 
 lead him also to safety. "It's a shark!" 
 
 She had heard her mother read of bathers 
 in the ocean being sometimes frightened by 
 sharks, or by big fish that looked like sharks. 
 
 "Oh, a shark! Good land! We mustn't 
 bathe here any more!" cried Nora. 
 
 By this time Ted was in such shallow 
 
 157
 
 158 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 water that it was not much above his ankles. 
 He could see the bottom, and he hoped no 
 very big fish could swim in so little water. 
 So he thought it would be safe to stop and 
 look back. 
 
 "Oh, it's coming some more!" cried Jan, 
 from where she stood on the bank with Nora 
 and Trouble. "Look, Ted! It 'scorning." 
 
 The animal, fish, or whatever it was, in- 
 deed seemed to be coming straight for the 
 shore near the place where the Curlytops 
 were playing. Ted, Jan and Nora could see 
 the sharp nose and the bright eyes more 
 plainly now. As for Trouble, he did not 
 know what it was all about, and he wanted 
 to go back in the water to wade, which was 
 as near swimming as he ever came. 
 
 Then the strange creature turned and sud- 
 denly made for a small rock, which stood out 
 of the water a little way from the sandy 
 beach. It climbed out on the rock, while the 
 children and Nora watched eagerly, and then 
 Ted gave a laugh. 
 
 "Why!" he exclaimed, "it's nothing but a 
 bigmuskrat!" 
 
 "A muskrat?" echoed Jan. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And see, he has a mussel, or fresh- water
 
 Jan's Queer Ride 159 
 
 clam," said Nora. "Look at him crack the 
 shell." 
 
 And this is what the muskrat was really 
 doing. It had been swimming in the lake 
 for muskrats are good swimmers when it 
 had found a fresh- water mussel, which is like 
 a clam except that it has a longer shell that 
 is black instead of white. Muskrats like 
 mussels, but they cannot eat them in water. 
 
 They have to bring them up on shore, or 
 to a flat rock or stump that sticks up out of 
 water, where they can crack the shell and 
 eat the mussel inside. 
 
 "If I'd a known what it was I wouldn't 
 'a' been scared," said Ted, who felt a little 
 ashamed of himself for hurrying toward 
 shore. "You frightened me yelling so, 
 Jan." 
 
 "Well, I didn't want to see you get bit by 
 a shark, Teddy. First I thought it was a 
 shark." 
 
 "Well, sharks live in the ocean, where the 
 water is salty," declared Ted. 
 
 "Anyhow maybe a muskrat bites," went 
 on Janet. 
 
 1 ' Well, maybe, ' ' agreed Ted. * ' I guess it 's 
 a good thing I didn't stay there when he 
 came swimming in," for the big rat passed
 
 160 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 right over the place where Ted had been 
 about to swim. "I'm glad you yelled, 
 Janet. " 
 
 "So'm I. I'm not going in swimming 
 here anymore." 
 
 "Oh, he won't come back," Ted said. 
 "Come on!" 
 
 But Janet would not go, and as it was no 
 fun for Ted to splash in the water all alone 
 he stayed near shore and went wading with 
 Trouble and his sister. 
 
 This was fun, and the Curlytops had a 
 good time, while Nora, now that she knew 
 there was no danger from sharks, sat in the 
 shade and mended holes in the children's 
 stockings. 
 
 "I wish we had a boat," said Ted after a 
 while. 
 
 "Why, we have," answered Jan. 
 
 1 ' Yes, I know, the big rowboat. But that 's 
 too heavy for me and you I mean you and 
 me," and Ted quickly corrected himself, for 
 he knew it was polite always to name oneself 
 last. "But I want a little boat that we can 
 paddle around in." 
 
 Jan thought for a moment and then cried : 
 
 "Oh, I know the very thing!" 
 
 "What?" asked Ted eagerly.
 
 Jan's Queer Ride 161 
 
 "One of the boxes grandpa brought the 
 things in from the store. They're long, and 
 we can make box-boats of them. There 's two 
 of 'em!" 
 
 "That's what we can!" cried Teddy, as he 
 thought of the boxes his sister meant. 
 Groceries from the store had been sent to the 
 camp in them. The boxes were strong, and 
 long ; big enough for Jan or Ted to sit down 
 in them and reach over the sides to paddle, 
 not being too high. 
 
 Mother Martin said they might take the 
 boxes and make of them the play-boats they 
 wanted, and, in great delight, Ted and his 
 sister ran to get their new playthings. 
 
 Grandpa Martin pulled out all the nails 
 that might scratch the children, and he also 
 fastened strips of wood over the largest 
 cracks in the boxes. 
 
 "That will keep out some of the water, but 
 not all," he said. "Your box-boats won't 
 float very long. They'll sink as soon as 
 enough water runs in through the other 
 cracks." 
 
 "Oh. well, we'll paddle in them in shallow 
 water, ' ' promised Ted. ' ' And sinking won 't 
 hurt, 'cause we've got on our bathing suits. 
 Come on, Jan I"
 
 162 
 
 Trouble wanted to sail in the new boats, 
 also, but they were not large enough for 
 two. Besides Mrs. Martin did not want the 
 baby to be in the water too much. So she 
 carried him away, Trouble crying and 
 screaming to be allowed to stay, while Jan 
 and Ted got ready for their first trip. They 
 pretended the boats were ocean steamers and 
 that the cove in the lake, near grandpa's 
 camp, was the big ocean. 
 
 They had pieces of wood which their 
 grandfather had whittled out for them to 
 use as paddles, and, as Ted said, they could 
 sit down in the bottoms of the box-boats and 
 never mind how much water came in, for 
 they still had on their bathing suits. 
 
 " All aboard I" called Teddy, as he got into 
 his boat. 
 
 "I'm coming/ 7 answered Janet, pushing 
 off from shore. 
 
 "Oh, I can really paddle!" cried Ted in 
 delight, as he found that his box floated with 
 him in it and he could send it along by using 
 the board for a paddle, as one does in a 
 canoe. * * Isn 't this great, Janet ? ' * 
 
 "Oh, it's lots of fun!" 
 
 "I'm glad you thought of it. I never 
 would, " went on Ted. He was a good broth-
 
 Jan's Queer Ride 163 
 
 er, for, whenever his sister did anything un- 
 usual like this he always gave her credit 
 for it. 
 
 Around and around in the little cove pad- 
 dled the Curlytops, having fun in their box- 
 boats. 
 
 "I'm going to let the wind blow me/' said 
 Jan, after a bit. " I 'm tired of paddling. ' ' 
 
 " There isn't any wind," Ted remarked. 
 
 "Well, what makes me go along, then?" 
 asked his sister. "Look, I'm moving and 
 I'm not paddling at all!" 
 
 She surely was. In her boat she was sail- 
 ing right across the little cove, and, as Ted 
 had said, there was not enough wind to blow 
 a feather, to say nothing of a heavy box with 
 a little girl in it. 
 
 "Isn't it queer!" exclaimed Janet. 
 "What makes me go this way, Ted? You 
 aren't sailing." 
 
 Ted's boat was not moving now, for he had 
 stopped paddling. 
 
 Still Jan's craft moved on slowly bu f 
 surely through the water. Then Ted saw f> 
 funny thing and gave a cry of surprise.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DIGGING FOR GOLD 
 
 "WHAT'S the matter?" called Jan. Her 
 boat was now quite a little distance away 
 from her brother's. "Do you see anything, 
 Teddy?" 
 
 "I see you are being towed, Janet." 
 
 "Being what !" 
 
 "Towed pulled along, you know, just 
 like the mules pull the canal boats." 
 
 Once the Curlytops had visited a cousin 
 who lived in the country near a canal, and 
 they had seen the mules and horses walk- 
 ing along the canal towpath pulling the big 
 boats by a long rope. 
 
 "Who's towing me, Ted?" asked Jan, try- 
 ing to look over the side of her box. But, as 
 she did so it tipped to one side and she was 
 afraid it would upset, so she quickly sat 
 down again. 
 
 "I don't know what it is," her brother 
 
 164
 
 Digging for Gold 165 
 
 answered. "But something has hold of the 
 rope that's fast to the front part of your 
 box, and it's as tight as anything the rope 
 is. Something in the water is pulling you 
 along." 
 
 On each of the box-boats the Curl^tops 
 had fastened a piece of clothesline their 
 mother had given them. This line was to tie 
 fast their boats to an overhanging tree 
 branch, near the shore of the cove, when they 
 were done playing. 
 
 And, as Ted had said, the rope fast to the 
 end of Jan's box was stretched out tightly 
 in front, the end being down under water. 
 
 "Oh, maybe it's the big muskrat that has 
 hold of my rope and is giving me a ride," 
 cried Janet. "It's fun!" 
 
 "No, I don't guess it's a rat," answered 
 Teddy. "A muskrat wouldn't do that. Oh, 
 I see what it is!" he cried suddenly. "I 
 see it!" 
 
 "What? "asked Janet. 
 
 Again she got up and tried to look over 
 the side of the box, but once more it tipped 
 as though going to turn over and she sat 
 down. 
 
 By this time both her box and Ted's was 
 half full of water, and so went only very
 
 166 
 
 slowly along the little cove. The weight of 
 the water that had leaked in through the 
 cracks and the weight of the Curlytops them- 
 selves made the boxes float low in the 
 lake. 
 
 "Can you see what's pulling me ?" asked 
 Janet. 
 
 "Yes," answered Teddy, "I can. It's a 
 great big mud turtle!" 
 
 "A mud turtle!" cried Janet. 
 
 "I guess he's scared, too," said her 
 brother, "for he's swimmin' all around as 
 fast as anything !" 
 
 "Where is he?" asked Janet. 
 
 "Right in front of your boat. I guess 
 your rope got caught around one of his legs, 
 or on his shell, and he can't get it loose. He 
 must have been swimming along and run 
 into the rope. Or maybe he's got it in his 
 mouth." 
 
 "If he had he could let go," answered 
 Janet. * * Oh, I see him ! ' ' she cried. She had 
 stood up in her box and was looking over the 
 front. The box had now sunk so low in the 
 water that it was on the bottom of the little 
 cove and no longer was the turtle towing it 
 along. 
 
 The turtle, finding that it could no longer
 
 Digging for Gold 167 
 
 swim, had come to the top of the water and 
 was splashing about, trying to get loose. 
 Jan could see it plainly now, as Ted had seen 
 it before from his boat, which was still float- 
 ing along, as not so much water had leaked 
 in as had seeped into his sister 's. 
 
 "Oh, isn't it a big one !" cried Jan. "It's 
 a big turtle." 
 
 "It surely is!" assented Ted. "He could 
 bite hard if he got hold of you." 
 
 "Is he biting my rope?" Janet asked. 
 
 "No, it's round one of his front legs," re- 
 plied Ted. "There! he's got it loose!" 
 
 "There he goes!" shrieked Jan. 
 
 By this time the mud turtle, which was a 
 very large one, had struggled and squirmed 
 about so hard in the water that he had 
 shaken loose the knot in the end of Jan's 
 rope. The knot had been caught under its 
 left front leg and when the turtle swam or 
 crawled along on the bottom, the rope had 
 been held tightly in place, and so the box was 
 pulled along. 
 
 But when Jan's boat sank and went 
 aground, the turtle could not pull it any 
 farther, and had to back up, just as Nick- 
 nack the goat sometimes backed up his cart. 
 This made the rope slack, or loose, and then
 
 168 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 the creature could shake the knot of the rope 
 out from under its leg. 
 
 "There it goes!" cried Ted, as the turtle 
 swam away. "Oh, what a whopper 1 It's 
 bigger than the big muskratl" 
 
 "Your muskrat didn't give you a ride Ted, 
 and my turtle gave me a fine one," said Jan. 
 "But I can't sail my boat any more." 
 
 "Well, we'll have to empty out some of 
 the water. Then it will float again and you 
 can get in it." 
 
 "I'm not going to let the rope drag in 
 the water any more," decided Janet, after 
 Ted had helped her tip her box over so the 
 water would run out. "I don't really want 
 any more rides like that. The next turtle 
 might go out into the lake. I want to 
 paddle." 
 
 "I wish a big whale would come along and 
 tow me, ' ' laughed Ted. * 1 1 wouldn 't let him 
 go loose." 
 
 "He might pull you all across the lake," 
 Janet said. 
 
 "I'd like that. Come on, we'll have a 
 
 race/ 
 
 "All right, Ted." 
 
 The Curlytops began paddling their box- 
 boats about the cove once more. Ted won
 
 Digging for Gold 169 
 
 the race, being older and stronger than 
 Janet, but she did very well. 
 
 Then after some more fun sailing about in 
 their floating boxes the children were called 
 by their mother, who said they had been in 
 the water long enough. Besides dinner was 
 ready, and they were hungry for the good 
 things Nora had made. 
 
 "And didn't you find any of them, 
 Father?" asked Mrs. Martin as the farmer 
 pushed back his chair, when the meal was 
 
 over. 
 
 "XT 
 
 No, I didn't see a sign of them, and I 
 looked all over the cave, too, Some persons 
 have been sleeping in there, for I found a 
 pile of old bags they had used for a bed, 
 but I didn't find anyone." 
 
 "Find who?" Ted inquired. 
 
 "The tramps, or the ragged man you and 
 Jan saw," answered his grandfather. "I 
 have been looking about the island, but I 
 could not find any of the ragged men, for I 
 think there was more than one. So I guess 
 they've gone, and we needn't think anything 
 more about them." 
 
 "Did you see the blue light?" asked Ted. 
 
 "No, I didn't see that, either. I guess it 
 wouldn't show in the daytime. But don't
 
 170 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 worry. Just have all the fun you can in 
 camp. We can't stay here very much 
 longer. " 
 
 "Oh, do we have to go home?" cried the 
 Curlytops, sorrowfully. 
 
 "Well, we can't stay here much longer," 
 said Mother Martin. * ' In another month the 
 weather will be too cold for living in a tent. 
 Besides daddy will want us back, and 
 grandpa has to gather in his farm crops for 
 the winter. So have fun while you can." 
 
 "Isn't daddy coming here ?" asked Jan. 
 
 "Yes, he'll be here next week to stay sev- 
 eral days with us. Then he has to go back 
 to the store." 
 
 The Curlytops had great fun when Daddy 
 Martin came. They showed him all over the 
 island the cave, the place where Nicknack 
 nearly ate up the bower-tent, the place where 
 Ted saw the muskrat, and they even wanted 
 him to go riding in the box-boats. 
 
 "Oh, I'm afraid I'm too big!" laughed 
 Daddy Martin. "Besides, I'd be afraid if a 
 mud turtle pulled me along." 
 
 "Oh, Daddy Martin! you would not!" 
 laughed Janet. 
 
 And so the happy days went by, until Mr. 
 Martin had to leave Star Island to go back
 
 Digging for Gold 171 
 
 to his business. He promised to pay another 
 visit, though, before the camp was ended. 
 
 Several times, before and after Daddy 
 Martin's visit, Ted and Jan talked about the 
 queer ragged man they had seen, and about 
 the blue light and the cave. 
 
 "I wonder if we'll ever find out what it 
 all means," said Jan. "It's like a story- 
 book, isn't it, Ted?" 
 
 ' ' A little, yes. But grandpa says not to be 
 scared so I'm not." 
 
 "I'm not, either. But what do you s'pose 
 that ragged man is looking for, and who is 
 the professor?" 
 
 Teddy did not know, and said so. Then, 
 when he and Jan got back to the tent, having 
 been out with Trouble for a ride in the goat- 
 cart, they found good news awaiting them. 
 
 "Here is a letter from Hal Chester, the 
 little boy who used to be lame," said Mrs. 
 Martin, for grandpa had come in, bringing 
 the mail from the mainland post-office. 
 
 "Oh, can he come to pay us a visit?" 
 asked Ted. His mother had allowed him to 
 invite Hal. 
 
 "Yes, that's what he is going to do," went 
 on Mrs. Martin. "His doctor says he is 
 much better, and can walk with hardly a
 
 172 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 limp now, and the trip here will do him good. 
 So to-morrow Grandpa Martin is going to 
 bring him to Star Island." 
 
 "Oh, goody !" cried Ted and Jan, jumping 
 up and down and clapping their hands. 
 Trouble did the same thing, though he did 
 not know exactly what for. 
 
 "We'll have fun with Hal!" cried Ted. 
 "Maybe he'll help us find the tramp-man. 
 Hal's smart he can make kites and lots of 
 things." 
 
 The next day Hal Chester came to visit 
 the camp on Star Island. 
 
 "Say, this is a dandy place!" he ex- 
 claimed as he looked about at the tents and 
 at the boat floating in the little cove. "I'll 
 just love it here!" 
 
 "It's awful nice," agreed Jan. 
 
 "And there's a mystery here, too," added 
 Ted, 
 
 "What do you mean?" Hal demanded. 
 "What's a mystery?" 
 
 "Oh, it's something queer," went on Ted. 
 "Something you can't tell what it is. This 
 mystery is a tramp." 
 
 "A tramp?" 
 
 "Yes. Jan saw him when she was picking 
 flowers, and he pulled Trouble out of the
 
 Digging for Gold 173 
 
 spring afterward. And there's a cave here 
 where maybe he sleeps, 'cause there's some 
 bags for beds in it. He's looking for some- 
 thing on this island, that tramp-man is," de- 
 clared Ted. 
 
 "Looking for something?" repeated Hal, 
 quite puzzled. 
 
 "Yes. He goes all around, and we saw 
 him picking up some stones. Didn't we, 
 Jan?" 
 
 "Yes, we did." 
 
 "Picking up stones," repeated Hal 
 slowly. Then he sprang up from where he 
 was sitting under a tree with the Curlytop 
 cmidren. 
 
 "I know what he's looking .or!" Hal 
 cried. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Gold!" and Hal's voice changed to a 
 whisper. "That tramp knows there's gold 
 on this island, and he's trying to dig it up 
 ou you won't know it. He's after gold 
 that 's what he is f " 
 
 "Oh!" gasped Jan, her eyes shining 
 brightly. 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Ted. "Can't we stop 
 him? This is grandpa's island. He mustn't 
 take grandpa's gold."
 
 174 The Curlytops at Star Island 
 
 "There's only one way to stop him," said 
 Hal quickly. 
 
 "How?" demanded Ted and Janet in the 
 same breath. 
 
 "We'll have to dig for the gold ourselves 1 
 Come on, let's get some shovels and we'll 
 start right away. It must be up near the 
 cave. Come on! We'll dig for the gold our- 
 selves!"
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE BIG HOLE 
 
 HAL CHESTER was very much in earnest. 
 His eyes shone and he could not keep still. 
 He fairly danced around Janet and Ted. 
 
 "Do you really think that tramp-man was 
 looking for gold?" asked Ted. 
 
 " 'Deed I do," declared Hal. "What else 
 was he after?" 
 
 Neither Ted nor Janet could answer that. 
 
 "But how will we know where it is?" 
 asked Janet. "We don't know where there's 
 any gold, and mother won't want us to go 
 near that tramp-man." 
 
 "And I don't want to, either," answered 
 Hal. "But we can dig down till we find the 
 gold, can't we?" 
 
 "If we knowed I mean if we knew 
 where to dig," agreed Ted, after thinking 
 about it. "But digging for gold isn't like 
 digging for angle- worms to go fishing. You 
 
 175
 
 can dig them anywhere. But you've got to 
 have a gold mine to dig for gold." 
 
 "Well, we'll start a mine," decided Hal. 
 "That's what the miners do out West. I 
 read about it in a book at the Home when I 
 was crippled and couldn't walk much. The 
 miners just start to dig, and if they don't 
 find gold in one place they dig in another. 
 That's what we'll do. We*'ll dig till we find 
 the gold, then well have a gold mine." 
 
 "Oh, yes, let's do it!" cried Jan. "I'd 
 love to have some gold to make a pair of 
 bracelets for my doll." 
 
 "Pooh!" scoffed Ted, "if we get gold we 
 aren't going to waste it on doll's bracelets 1 
 Are we, Hal?" 
 
 "Well, if Jan helps us dig she can have 
 her share of the gold. That's what miners 
 always do. They divide up the gold and 
 each one takes his share. Of course Jan can 
 do what she likes with hers." 
 
 "There, see, Mr. Smarty!" cried Jan to 
 her brother. "I'll make my gold into doll's 
 bracelets." 
 
 "Maybe you won't get any," objected 
 Ted. 
 
 "Well, I'll help you dig, anyhow. I 
 helped grandpa dig trenches around the
 
 The Big Hole 177 
 
 tents so the rain water would run off, and I 
 can help dig a gold mine. I know where the 
 shovels are." 
 
 "Good!" cried Hal. 
 
 "We don't want any girls in this gold 
 mine!" objected Ted, as his sister hurried 
 off to where Grandpa Martin kept the shov- 
 els, hoes and other garden tools he used 
 about the camp. 
 
 Usually Ted did not mind what game his 
 sister played with him, but since Hal had 
 spoken of gold the little Curlytop boy had 
 acted differently. 
 
 "We don't want girls in the gold mine," 
 repeated Ted. 
 
 ' 1 Course we do ! " laughed Hal. " Jan 's a 
 strong digger, and I can't do very much, as 
 my foot that used to be lame isn't all w T ell 
 yet. It used to be almost as strong as the 
 other, but now it isn't. So you and Jan will 
 have to do most of the digging, though I 
 can shovel away the dirt. Anyhow they al- 
 ways have girls or women in gold camps, you 
 know." 
 
 "They do? "cried Ted. 
 
 "Of course! They do the cooking where 
 there aren't any Chinamen. Mostly China- 
 men do the cooking in gold camps, but we
 
 178 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 haven't any, so we'll have to have a girl. She 
 can be Jan." 
 
 "There's a Chinaman who washes shirts 
 and collars in our town," remarked Ted. 
 "Maybe we could get him to cook for us." 
 
 "No! What's the use when we've got 
 Jan? Anyhow it'll be only make-believe 
 cooking, and I don't guess that shirt-China- 
 man would want to come here just for that. 
 Anyhow we'd have to pay him and we 
 haven't any money." 
 
 "We'll get some out of the gold mine," 
 Ted answered. 
 
 "Well, maybe we won't find any gold for 
 a week or so." 
 
 "Does it take as long as that?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. Sometimes longer. And that 
 Chinaman weuld want to be paid for his 
 cooking every week, or every night maybe. 
 We won't hare to pay Jan." 
 
 "That's so. Well, then I guess she can 
 come. But we can get my mother or Nora to 
 make us sandwiches and we won't have to 
 cook much of anything." 
 
 "That's what I thought, Teddy. But we 
 can let Jan set the table and things like that 
 when she isn 't digging. She '11 help a lot. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, she's almost as strong as I am,"
 
 The Big Hole 179 
 
 agreed Ted. " Hurry up, Jan!" he called. 
 "Got those shovels yet?" 
 
 "Yes, but I can't carry 'em all. You must 
 help. Come on!" 
 
 Jan was walking back toward the boys, 
 dragging two heavy shovels. Seeing this, 
 Hal hurried to help her and Ted followed. 
 They got another shovel and a hoe and with 
 these they started off toward the cave, about 
 which Ted had told Hal. 
 
 "That'll be the place where the gold is," 
 decided the visitor. ' * The tramps must have 
 been looking for it there. We'll start our 
 gold mine right near the cave." 
 
 "What about something to eat?" asked 
 Ted, pausing as they started up the path 
 that led to the hole out of which the cave 
 opened. 
 
 "That's so. We ought to have something. 
 I'm getting hungry now," remarked Jan, 
 though it was not long since they had had a 
 meal. 
 
 "So'm I," announced Ted. 
 
 "Better not stop to go back for anything 
 to eat now, ' ' decided Hal. t ' Your mother or 
 grandma might make us stay in camp. Did 
 you tell them we were going to dig for gold, 
 Jan ?"
 
 180 
 
 "No. I didn't see any of them when I got 
 the shovels." 
 
 "Well then, well go on up to the cave. 
 One of us can come back later and get some- 
 thing to eat. They call it 'grub' in the 
 books." 
 
 "Call what grub?" Ted asked. 
 
 "Stuff the miners eat. Well send Jan 
 back for the grub after we start the gold 
 mine. You're going to be the cook, " Hal in- 
 formed Ted's sister. 
 
 "I am not!" she cried, dropping her 
 shovel. "I'm going to be a gold miner just 
 like you two. If I can 't be that I won 't play, 
 and I'll take my shovel right back! So 
 there now!" 
 
 "Oh, you can be a gold miner too," Hal 
 made haste to say. "But we've got to have 
 a cook they always do in a gold camp." 
 
 "Well, I'll be a cook when I'm not dig- 
 ging gold, ' ' agreed Jan. ' ' But I want to get 
 enough for my doll's bracelets." 
 
 ' ' That 's all right, ' ' agreed Hal. It would 
 not do to have Jan leave them right at the 
 start. 
 
 If Mrs. Martin or grandpa saw the chil- 
 dren starting out with hoe and shovels they 
 probably thought the Curlytops were only
 
 The Big Hole 181 
 
 going to dig fish worms, as they often did. 
 Grandpa Martin was very fond of fishing, 
 but he did not like to dig the bait. But 
 Trouble was fretful that day, and his mother 
 had to take care of him, so she did not pay 
 much attention to Jan or Ted, feeling sure 
 they would come to no harm. 
 
 So on the three children hurried toward 
 the hole into which Ted had fallen just be- 
 fore they found the queer cave. 
 
 "This is just the place for a gold mine!" 
 cried Hal when he looked at the ground 
 around the big hole. "I guess some one 
 must have started a mine here once before." 
 
 "It does look so," agreed Ted. 
 
 "Let's go into the cave," proposed the 
 visitor. 
 
 "No, grandpa told us we must never go in 
 without him," objected Jan. "It's all right 
 to stay outside here and dig, but we mustn't 
 go inside. The tramps might be in there. ' ' 
 
 "That's right," chimed in Ted. "Well 
 stay outside." 
 
 Hal was not very anxious, himself, to go 
 into the dark hole, so they looked at the place 
 wher-e Ted had fallen through the loose 
 leaves and talked about whether it would be 
 better to start to make that hole larger or
 
 182 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 begin a new one. The children decided the 
 last would be the best thing to do. 
 
 "We'll start a new mine of our own," said 
 Hal. "I guess maybe somebody dug there 
 and couldn't find any gold. So we'll start a 
 
 new mine.' 
 
 This suited the Curlytops and they soon 
 began making the dirt fly with shovels and 
 hoe, digging a hole that was large enough for 
 all three of them to stand in. Hal said they 
 didn't want to start by making too small a 
 mine. 
 
 "If we've got to divide it into three parts 
 we want each one's part big enough to see," 
 he said, and Ted and Jan agreed to this. 
 
 The ground was of sand and very easy to 
 dig. There were no big rocks, only a few 
 small stones, and of course this was just 
 what the children liked. So that in about 
 half an hour they had really dug quite a 
 deep hole. It was almost as easy digging as 
 it is in the sand at the seashore, and if any 
 of you have been there you know how soon, 
 even if you use only a big clam shell for a 
 shovel, you can make a hole deep enough for 
 you and your playmates to stand up in. 
 
 "Do you see any gold yet?" asked Jan of 
 the two boys, when they had dug down so
 
 The Big Hole 183 
 
 that only the top parts of their bodies were 
 out of the big hole. 
 
 "No, not yet. But well come to it pretty 
 soon/ ' Hal said. 
 
 "Say, how 're we going to get up when the 
 hole gets too deep ? ' ' asked Ted. ' * We ought 
 to have a ladder or something." 
 
 "There's a ladder in camp," answered 
 Jan. "Grandpa had it when he put up our 
 real rope swing. Don't you remember, 
 Ted?" 
 
 "Yes, that's right. We'd better get it if 
 we're going any deeper, Hal," he added. 
 
 "Course we're going deeper. Gold mines 
 are real deep. I guess the ladder would 
 be a good thing." 
 
 "Then we'll go for it. Jan, you can come 
 and get us something to eat, too. I'm awful 
 hungry." 
 
 "So 'ml, "said Hal. 
 
 While Jan was in the tent-kitchen begging 
 Nora for some cookies and sandwiches, Ted 
 and Hal carried the small ladder, which was 
 not very heavy, up to the big hole they had 
 started. By putting one end of the ladder 
 down inside, allowing it to slant up to the 
 top of the hole, the children could easily get 
 down in and climb up.
 
 184 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 After they had eaten the things Jan got 
 from Nora, they began digging again. The 
 hole was soon so deep that the dirt which 
 was shoveled and hoed away from the bot- 
 tom and sides could no longer be tossed out 
 by Ted and Jan. 
 
 " We've got to get a pail and hoist up the 
 dirt," decided Hal. "That's what they do 
 in gold mines. One of us must stay at the 
 bottom and dig the dirt and fill the pail, and 
 the other pull it up by a rope." 
 
 "We'll take turns," said Teddy. 
 
 "And I want to help, too!" cried Jan, so 
 the boys agreed to let her, especially as they 
 had seen that she could dig and toss dirt al- 
 most as well as they could. They found an 
 old pail and part of a clothes-line for the 
 rope, and the work at the "gold mine," as 
 they called it, went on more merrily than 
 before. 
 
 By this time the hole was really quite deep 
 so deep that Hal Chester could not see 
 over the rim when he stood up straight on 
 the bottom, and only by using the ladder 
 could the children get down and up. 
 
 "We ought to find gold pretty soon now," 
 said Hal, as he climbed up to let Ted take a 
 turn at going down in the hole and digging.
 
 The Big Hole 185 
 
 Just then from the camp they heard the 
 sound of the supper bell. 
 
 "Come on!" called Ted, not waiting to go 
 down into the big hole. "We can dig some 
 more after supper and to-morrow. I'm 
 hungry!" 
 
 "So 'ml, "agreed Hal. 
 
 Leaving their shovels and the hoe on the 
 pile of dirt, the children hastened down to 
 the tent where Nora had supper waiting for 
 them, and it had a most delicious smell. 
 
 "Where have you children been?" asked 
 Mrs. Martin. 
 
 "Oh, havin' fun," answered Ted. 
 
 "Don't forget your <g,' Curlytop," 
 warned his mother with a laugh. "Are you 
 hungry, Hal?" 
 
 * * Indeed I am I This island is a good place 
 for getting hungry." 
 
 "And this is a good place to be stopped 
 from getting hungry," laughed Grandpa 
 Martin, as he pulled his chair up to the well- 
 filled table near which Nora stood ready to 
 serve the meal. 
 
 The Curly tops and Hal had just a little 
 idea that the grown folks would not like 
 their plan of digging a gold mine, so nothing 
 was said about it. Hal, Ted and Jan looked
 
 186 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 at one another when their plates were emp- 
 tied, and then all three of them started once 
 more back toward the big hole. 
 
 "Where are you going f" asked Mother 
 Martin. 
 
 "We ' began Jan, then stopped. 
 
 "Oh, we we're playing a game," an- 
 swered Ted. It was a sort of game. 
 
 "Can't you take Trouble with you ? You 
 haven't looked after him to-day," went on 
 Mrs. Martin, "and I want to help Nora. 
 Take Trouble with you." 
 
 "All right," agreed Ted, though he 
 thought perhaps Baby William might be in 
 the way at the gold mine. 
 
 "Where is he?" asked Jan. 
 
 They looked around for the little fellow. 
 He was not in sight. 
 
 "He got down from the table and was 
 playing over there on the path a while ago," 
 said Grandpa Martin, and he pointed toward 
 the path that led to the gold mine. But 
 Trouble was not in sight now. 
 
 "He must have wandered off into the 
 woods," said his mother. "I've kept him 
 close by me all day, and he didn't like it. 
 Trouble! William!" she called aloud. 
 "Where are you?"
 
 The Big Hole 187 
 
 Ted and Jan looked at one another. Hal 
 seemed startled. The same thought came to 
 all three of them : 
 
 " Suppose Trouble had fallen down the big 
 hole at the gold mine?"
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A GLAD SURPRISE 
 
 JANET, Ted and Hal started to run. 
 
 " Where are you going?" called Mrs. 
 Martin after them. "Wait for Trouble ! ' ' 
 
 "We're going to find him," answered 
 Janet. 
 
 "Maybe he fell down the big hole we dug 
 for a gold mine," added Ted. 
 
 "What do you nean?" gasped Mrs. 
 Martin. 
 
 "What have you Curlytops been up to 
 now?" asked Grandpa Martin. 
 
 "We dug a big hole to find the gold the 
 tramps are looking for on this island," ex- 
 plained Hal, who walked on slowly, follow- 
 ing Mrs. Martin, who had run after Ted and 
 Janet. * ' Maybe the little boy fell into it. ' ' 
 
 "Where did you dig the big hole?" asked 
 grandpa, and he, too, began to be afraid that 
 something had happened. 
 
 188
 
 A Glad Surprise 189 
 
 "Up near what Ted calls the cave. It's 
 got a ladder in it, our gold mine hole has, and 
 maybe Trouble could climb out on that/' 
 
 " If it's a hole deep enough for a ladder, 
 I'm afraid he couldn't/' said Grandpa Mar- 
 tin. "You children must have dug a pretty 
 big hole." 
 
 "We wanted to find the gold," explained 
 Hal. 
 
 "What gold?" 
 
 "The gold the tramps are looking for here 
 on Star Island. Ted told me about them, 
 and I suppose they were after gold. We 
 want to find it first." 
 
 "There isn't any gold here, and you 
 mustn't dig holes so deep that Trouble 
 or anyone else would wander off and 
 fall into them," said Mr. Martin. "How- 
 ever, I presume it will be all right. But we 
 must hurry there and find out what has hap- 
 pened." 
 
 He and Hal hastened on, following Mrs. 
 Martin and the Curlytops, who were now 
 out of sight around a turn in the path that 
 led to the big hole. Hal was rather fright- 
 ened, for he knew it was his idea, more than 
 the plans of Jan and Ted, that had caused 
 the "gold mine" to be dug.
 
 190 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 On and on, along the path and up the hill 
 hurried grandpa and Mrs. Martin and the 
 children. They called aloud for Trouble, but 
 he did not answer. At least they could not 
 hear him if he did. He must have gone 
 quietly away from the table when no one 
 noticed him. He had had his supper before 
 the Curlytops and Hal came from their dig- 
 ging. 
 
 "There's the pile of dirt," called back 
 Ted, who was running on ahead. He pointed 
 to the mound of yellow sand that he, Hal and 
 Jan had dug out of the hole. 
 
 "And some one is there, digging!" cried 
 Jan. * ' Oh, maybe it 's Trouble ! ' ' 
 
 "I only hope he hasn't fallen in and hurt 
 himself!" murmured Mrs. Martin. 
 
 By this time Grandpa Martin and Hal 
 had caught up to the others. They could all 
 see some one making the dirt fly on top of 
 the yellow mound of sand at one side of the 
 big hole. 
 
 As Ted came nearer he saw a man on top 
 of the dirt, using a shovel. The man was 
 digging quickly, and at first Teddy thought 
 it was one of the tramps. But a second look 
 showed him he was wrong. And then came a 
 glad surprise, for the man called :
 
 A Glad Surprise 191 
 
 "I'll have him out in a minute. He isn't 
 under very deep!" 
 
 "Why it's the lollypop man!" cried Jan. 
 
 And so it was, Mr. Sander, the jolly, fat 
 man who sold waffles and lollypops. 
 
 ' * Is Trouble in the hole f Are you digging 
 him out?" gasped Mrs. Martin, and she felt 
 as though she were going to faint, she said 
 afterward. 
 
 " No ! Trouble isn 't here I mean he isn 't 
 in the hole!" cried Mr. Sander. "It's your 
 goat, Nicknack, who's buried under the sand. 
 But his nose is sticking out so he won't 
 smother, and I'll soon have him all the way 
 out." 
 
 "But where is Trouble?" cried Baby 
 William's mother. 
 
 "There he is, safe and sound, tied to a tree 
 so he can't get in the way of the dirt I'm 
 shoveling out. I didn't want to throw sand 
 in his eyes ! ' ' cried the lollypop man. ' ' Trou- 
 ble is all right!" 
 
 And so the little fellow was, though he had 
 been crying, perhaps from fright, and his 
 face was tear-streaked and dirty. But he 
 was safe. 
 
 With a glad cry his mother loosed the rope 
 by which Mr. Sander had carefully tied
 
 192 
 
 Trouble to a near-by tree and gathered him 
 up in her arms. 
 
 Meanwhile Grandpa Martin caught up 
 one of the shovels and began to help the lolly- 
 pop man dig in the sand. The Curlytops 
 and Hal saw what had happened. A lot of 
 the dirt they had shoveled out had slid back 
 into the big hole, almost filling it. And 
 caught under this dirt was Nicknack, their 
 goat. Only the black tip of his nose stuck 
 out, and it is a good thing this much of him 
 was uncovered, or he might have smothered 
 under the sand. 
 
 "How did it happen I" asked Ted. 
 
 "There must have been a cave-in at our 
 gold mine," said Hal. 
 
 "But how did Nicknack get here?" Ted 
 went on. 
 
 "I guess Trouble must have untied him 
 and brought him here." suggested Janet. 
 
 Then they all watched while Grandpa 
 Martin and the lollypop man dug out the 
 goat. 
 
 "Baa-a-a-a-a!" bleated Nicknack as he 
 scrambled out after most of the sand had 
 been shoveled off his back. i l Baa-a-a-a ! ' ' 
 
 * * My I I guess he 's glad to get out I ' ' cried 
 Ted.
 
 A Glad Surprise 193 
 
 "I guess so!" agreed the lollypop man. 
 "I got here just as the dirt caved in on him, 
 and I began to dig as soon as I tied Trouble 
 out of the way so he'd be safe." 
 
 "But how did you come to be here I" asked 
 Grandpa Martin. 
 
 "And how did our goat get here?" asked 
 Janet. 
 
 "I saw Trouble leading him along by the 
 strap on his horns," explained Mr. Sander. 
 "I guess he must have taken him out of his 
 stable when you folks weren't looking. 
 Trouble led the goat up on top of the pile of 
 sand near the hole. I called to him to be 
 careful. 
 
 "Just as I did so the sand slid down and 
 I saw the goat go down into the hole. Baby 
 William fell down, but he didn't slide in 
 with the dirt. Then I ran and picked him 
 up, and I tied him to the tree with a piece of 
 rope I found fast to a pail. I thought that 
 was the best way to keep him out of danger 
 while I dug out the goat." 
 
 "I guess it was," said Grandpa Martin. 
 
 "Poor Trouble cried when I tied him fast, 
 but I knew crying wouldn't hurt him, and 
 falling under a lot of sand might. I dug as 
 fast as I could, for I knew how ycu Curly-
 
 194 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 tops loved your goat. He's all right, I 
 guess." 
 
 And Nicknack was none the worse for 
 having been buried under the sliding sand. 
 As they learned afterward Trouble had 
 slipped off to have some fun by himself with 
 the pet animal. Baby William had, some- 
 how, found his way to the "gold mine," and 
 pretending the pile of sand was a mountain 
 had led Nicknack up it. Then had come the 
 slide down into the big hole which Hal and 
 the Curlytops had dug. If it had not been 
 for Mr. Sander appearing when he did, poor 
 Nicknack might have died. 
 
 "But, Trouble. You must never, never, 
 never go away again alone with Nicknack!" 
 warned Mother Martin. "Never! Do you 
 hear?" 
 
 "Me won't!" promised the little fellow. 
 
 "And you children mustn't dig any more 
 deep holes, ' ' said Grandpa Martin. * * There 
 isn't any gold on this island, so don't look 
 for it." 
 
 "But what are the tramps looking for?" 
 Ted asked. 
 
 "I can't tell you. But, no matter about 
 that, don't dig any more deep holes. They're 
 dangerous!"
 
 A Glad Surprise 195 
 
 "We won't!" promised the Curlytops and 
 Hal. 
 
 "How did you oome to pay a visit to Star 
 Island, Mr. Sander?" asked the children's 
 mother. 
 
 "Well, I'm stopping for the night on the 
 main shore just across from here," was the 
 answer, "so, having had my supper and hav- 
 ing made my bed in my red wagon, I thought 
 I'd come over and pay you a visit. I heard 
 you were camping here, so I borrowed a boat 
 and rowed over. I walked along this path, 
 and I happened to see Trouble and the goat. 
 Then I knew I had found the right place, 
 but I did not imagine I'd have to come to 
 the rescue of my friend Nicknack, " and with 
 a laugh he patted the shaggy coat of the ani- 
 mal, that rubbed up against the kind lolly- 
 pop man. 
 
 "Well, come back to the tent and visit a 
 while," was Grandpa Martin's invitation. 
 "We're ever so much obliged to you." 
 
 "What does all this mean about tramps 
 and a gold mine?" asked Mr. Sander. "If 
 there's gold to be had in an easier way than 
 by selling hot waffles from a red wagon with 
 a white horse to pull it, I'd like to know 
 about it," he added with a jolly laugh.
 
 196 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 "Oh, ho! Oh, ho! "he cried. "Hot waf- 
 fles do I sell. Hot waffles I love well ! ' ' 
 
 "Did you bring any with you ?" asked Ted 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Indeed I did, my little Curlytop. They 
 may not be hot now, but maybe your mother 
 can warm them on the stove,'' and picking 
 up a package he had laid down near the 
 tree to which he had tied Trouble, the lolly- 
 pop man gave it to Mrs. Martin with a low 
 bow. 
 
 "Waffles for the Curlytops," he said 
 laughing.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 TROUBLE'S PLAYHOUSE 
 
 SAFE once more in their camp, the chil- 
 dren ate the waffles which Nora made nice 
 and crisp again over the fire. Trouble was 
 comforted and made happy by two of the 
 sugar-covered cakes, and then everyone told 
 told his or her share in what had just hap- 
 pened. 
 
 "So you think there are gold-hunting 
 tramps here?" asked the lollypop man, just 
 before he got ready to go back to the main- 
 land where he had left his red wagon and 
 white horse. 
 
 "Well, there are ragged men here 
 tramps I suppose you could call them," an- 
 swered Grandpa Martin. "But I don't 
 know anything about gold. That's one of 
 Hal's ideas." 
 
 "I couldn't think of anything else they'd 
 be looking for," explained Ted's friend. 
 
 197
 
 198 
 
 "Don't you think it might be gold, Mr. 
 Martin?" 
 
 "Hardly on this island. Anyhow we 
 haven't seen the ragged men lately, so they 
 may have gone. Perhaps they were only 
 stray fishermen. We would like to thank 
 one for having pulled Trouble out of the 
 spring, only we haven't had the chance." 
 
 "No. He ran away without stopping for 
 thanks, ' ' said Baby William 's mother. ' * He 
 must be a kind man, even if he is a tramp. ' ' 
 
 After a little more talk while they were 
 seated about the campfire Grandpa Martin 
 built in front of the tents, during which time 
 the lollypop man told of his travels since he 
 had helped sell the cherries for the chewing 
 candy, Mr. Sander rowed back to the main 
 shore to sleep in his red wagon, which was 
 like a little house on wheels. 
 
 "Come again!" invited Mrs. Martin. 
 
 "I will when any more goats fall into gold 
 mines," he promised with a laugh. 
 
 The next day Grandpa Martin filled up 
 the hole Ted, Jan and Hal had dug, thus 
 making sure that neither Trouble nor any- 
 one else, not even Nicknack the goat, would 
 again fall down into it. For when the sand 
 slid into the "gold mine," carrying the goat
 
 Trouble's Playhouse 199 
 
 with it, the hole was not altogether filled. 
 Then Grandpa Martin brought away the hoe 
 and shovels, and told the children they must 
 play at some other game. 
 
 "Where are you going now?" called Mrs. 
 Martin to the two Curlytops, as they started 
 away from camp one morning. Hal stayed 
 in the tent, as he was tired. 
 
 "Oh, we're just going for a walk," an- 
 swered Teddy. 
 
 "We want to have some fun," added his 
 sister. 
 
 "Well, don't go digging any more gold 
 mines," warned Grandpa Martin, with a 
 laugh. "All the fun of camping will be 
 spoiled if you get into that sort of trouble 
 again." 
 
 "We won't," promised Janet, and Teddy 
 nodded his head to show that he, too, would 
 at least try to be good. 
 
 It was not that the Curlytops were bad 
 that is, any worse than perhaps you children 
 are sometimes, or, perhaps, some boys or 
 girls you know of. They were just playful 
 and full of life, and wanted to be doing 
 something all the while. 
 
 "Do you want to take Trouble with you ?" 
 asked Mrs. Martin, as Ted and Janet started
 
 200 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 away from camp, and down a woodland 
 path. 
 
 1 ' Yes, we '11 take him, ' ' said Janet. ' ' Come 
 on, little brother, ' ' she went on. ' * Come with 
 sister and have some fun." 
 
 "Only I can't play in de dirt 'cause I got 
 on a clean apron," said Baby William. 
 
 "No, we won't let you play in the dirt," 
 Teddy remarked. "But don't fall down, 
 either. That's where he gets so dirty," 
 Teddy told his mother. "He's always fall- 
 ing down, Trouble is." 
 
 "It it's so s'ippery in de woods!" said 
 the little fellow. 
 
 "So it is on the pine needles," laughed 
 Grandpa Martin, who was going to the main- 
 land in the boat. But this time he did not 
 want to take the children with him. "It is 
 slippery in the woods, Trouble, my boy. But 
 keep tight hold of Jan's hand, and maybe 
 you won't fall down." 
 
 "Me will," said Trouble, but he did not 
 mean that he would fall down. He meant 
 he would keep tight hold of Jan's hand. 
 Then he started off by her side, with Ted 
 walking on ahead, ready for anything he 
 might see that would make fun for him and 
 his sister.
 
 Trouble's Playhouse 201 
 
 Through the woods they wandered, now 
 and then stopping to gather some pretty 
 flowers, on graceful, green ferns, and again 
 waiting to listen to the song of some wild 
 bird, which flitted about from branch to 
 branch, but which seemed always to keep 
 out of sight amid the leaves of the forest 
 trees. 
 
 "Oh, isn't it just lovely here !" said Janet, 
 as they came to a little grassy dell, around 
 which the trees grew in a sort of circle, or 
 magic, fairy ring. "It's just like in a pic- 
 ture book, Teddy!" 
 
 "Yes, it is," agreed her brother. 
 
 "I don't see any pisshures," complained 
 Trouble. 
 
 "No, there aren't real pictures here," ex- 
 plained Janet; "only make-believe ones. 
 But you can sit down on the grass and roll, 
 Trouble. The grass is so clean I guess it 
 won't make your apron dirty. Roll on the 
 grass." 
 
 Trouble liked nothing better than this, and 
 he was soon sitting on the soft, green grass, 
 pulling bits and tossing them in the air like 
 a shower. The grass was soft and thick, and 
 did not soil his clean clothes at all. 
 
 "Exceptin' maybe a little stain," ex-
 
 202 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 plained Janet to Teddy; "and Nora can get 
 that out in the wash." 
 
 After they had sat in the shade for a 
 while, in the green, grassy place, Ted and 
 Janet wandered off among the trees, leaving 
 Trouble by himself. But they were not go- 
 ing far. 
 
 "He'll be all right for a little while," said 
 Teddy, "and maybe we can find some sassa- 
 fras or wintcrgreen. " 
 
 "But we mustn't eat anything we find in 
 the woods, lessen we show it to grandpa or 
 mother," returned Janet. 
 
 1 1 No, that 's so, ' ' agreed her brother. They 
 had been told, as all children should be who 
 live near the woods or fields, never to eat 
 any strange berries or plants unless some 
 older person tells them it is all right to do 
 so. 
 
 But Teddy and Janet could easily tell sas- 
 safras and wintergreen by the pleasant smell 
 of the leaves. They did not find any, how- 
 ever. They found a bird's empty nest, 
 though, with broken egg shells in it, showing 
 that the little birds had been hatched out and 
 had flown away. 
 
 All at once, as the Curlytops were won- 
 dering what else they could do, they heard
 
 Trouble's Playhouse 203 
 
 Trouble calling, and his voice sounded very 
 strange. 
 
 "Oh, what has happened to him now?" 
 cried Janet. 
 
 1 1 We'd better go to see!" exclaimed 
 Teddy. 
 
 They ran back to where they had left their 
 little brother. All they could see of him was 
 his back and legs. He did not seem to have 
 any head. 
 
 "Oh! Oh!" gasped Janet. "Where is 
 Trouble's head?" 
 
 Ted did not know, and said so, and then 
 the little fellow cried : 
 
 "Turn an* det me out! Turn an' det me 
 out!" 
 
 Then Janet saw what had happened. 
 Trouble had thrust his head between the 
 crotch, or the Y-shaped part, of a tree, and 
 had become so tightly wedged that he could 
 not get out. 
 
 "Oh, what shall we do I" cried Janet. 
 
 " I '11 show you, ' ' answered Teddy. * ' You 
 can help me." Then he pushed on the little 
 boy's head, and Janet pulled, and he was 
 soon free again, a little scratched about the 
 neck, and frightened, but not hurt. 
 
 "You must never do such a thing again,"
 
 204 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 said Mrs. Martin, when the children reached 
 camp and told her what had happened. 
 
 "No, we won't do it any more," promised 
 Trouble, feeling of his neck, where he had 
 thrust it between the parts of the tree. 
 
 "And you mustn't go off again, and leave 
 him by himself," said their mother to the 
 Curlytops. "There is no telling what he'll 
 do." 
 
 "That's right," said Grandpa Martin 
 with a laugh. "You may go away, leaving 
 Trouble standing on his feet, but when you 
 come back he's standing on his head. Oh, 
 you're a great bunch of trouble!" and he 
 caught the little fellow up in his arms and 
 kissed him. 
 
 For several days Teddy and Janet and 
 Hal had many good times on Star Island. 
 Then they wanted something new for amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 "Let's make a trap and catch something," 
 said Ted, after he and Jan had spoken of 
 several ways of having fun. 
 
 "How can you make a trap?" Hal asked. 
 
 "I'll show you," offered Ted. "You just 
 take a box, turn it upside down, and raise 
 one end by putting a stick under it. Then 
 you tie a string to the stick, and when you
 
 Trouble's Playhouse 205 
 
 pull the string the stick is yanked out and 
 the box falls down and you catch some- 
 thing. " 
 
 "What do you catch?" Hal asked. 
 
 "Oh, birds, or an animal maybe a fox or 
 a muskrat whatever goes under the box 
 when it's raised up." 
 
 "But what makes them go under?" Hal 
 inquired. 
 
 "To get something to eat. You see you 
 put some bait under the box some crumbs 
 for birds or pieces of meat for a fox or a 
 muskrat. Then you hide in the bushes, with 
 the end of the string in your hand and when 
 you see anything right under the box you 
 pull it and catch 'em I" 
 
 "Oh, but doesn't it hurt them?" asked 
 Hal, who had a very kind heart. 
 
 "Maybe it might, Ted," put in Jan. 
 
 1 ' No. It doesn 't hurt 'em a bit, ' ' declared 
 Ted. "They just stay under the box, you 
 know, like in a cage." 
 
 "I wouldn't like to catch a bird, " said Hal 
 softly. "You see the birds are friends of 
 Princess Blue Eyes. She wouldn't like to 
 have them caught." 
 
 "Oh, well, we could let them go again," 
 Ted decided, after a little thought.
 
 206 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 i ' Does Princess Blue Eyes like foxes and 
 muskrats too?" Jan asked softly. 
 
 "I guess she likes everything birds, ani- 
 mals and flowers. Anyway I make-believe 
 she does," and Hal smiled. "Of course 
 she's only a pretend-person, but I like to 
 think she's real. I like to dream of her." 
 
 "I would, too," said Janet softly. "We 
 mustn't catch any birds, Ted, nor animals, 
 either." 
 
 "Not if we let them go right off quick?" 
 Ted asked. 
 
 "No," and Janet shook her head. "It 
 might scare 'em you know. And the box 
 might fall on their legs, or their wings, if it's 
 a bird, and hurt them." 
 
 "Well, then, we won't do it !" decided Ted. 
 "I wouldn't want to hurt anything, and I 
 wouldn't want to make your friend, Princess 
 Blue Eyes, feel bad," he added to Hal. He 
 remembered the story Hal had told about the 
 make-believe Princess, when they sat in the 
 green meadow studded with yellow butter- 
 cups and white daisies. 
 
 "Let's play store!" suggested Jan. 
 "There's lots of pretty stones and shells on 
 the shore, and we can use them for money." 
 
 "What '11 we sell?" asked Hal.
 
 Trouble's Playhouse 287 
 
 "Oh, we can sell other stones big ones 
 for bread, and sand for sugar and leaves for 
 cookies and things like that/' Janet pro- 
 posed. 
 
 "I wish we had something real to eat, and 
 then we could sell that and it would be some 
 good," remarked Ted. "I'm going to ask 
 Nora." 
 
 1 ' Oh, that '11 be fun I " cried Jan. ' < Come 
 on, Hal. We'll get the store ready and Ted 
 can go in and ask Nora for some real cookies 
 and maybe a piece of cake." 
 
 Nora, good-natured as she always was, 
 gave Ted a nice lot of broken cookies, some 
 crackers and some lumps of sugar so the 
 children could play store and really eat the 
 things they sold. Hal gathered some mussel 
 shells and colored stones on the shore of the 
 lake, and these were money. 
 
 The store counter was made by putting a 
 board across two boxes and they took turns 
 being the storekeeper. Trouble wanted to 
 play, too. But he only wanted to buy bits of 
 molasses cookies, and he ate the pieces as 
 fast as he got them, without pretending to 
 go out of the store to take them home. 
 
 "Me buy more tookie!" he would say, 
 swallowing the last crumb and hurrying up
 
 208 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 to the board counter with another "penny," 
 which was a shell or a stone. 
 
 "You mustn't eat them up so fast, 
 Trouble," said Janet. "Else we won't have 
 any left to play store with." 
 
 "Oh, well, we can get more from Nora," 
 said Ted. "And the cookies taste awful 
 good." 
 
 They played store until there were no 
 more good things left to eat and Nora would 
 not hand out any others from her boxes and 
 pans in the kitchen tent. Then the Curly- 
 tops and Hal got in the rowboat and pad- 
 dled about in the shallow cove. 
 
 Trouble did not go with them, his mother 
 saying he must have a little sleep so he would 
 not be so cross in the afternoon. And when 
 Jan, her brother and Hal came up from the 
 lake they found the little fellow making 
 what he called a "playhouse." 
 
 "Oh, what funny stones Trouble has!" 
 cried Ted as he saw them. "They're blue." 
 
 "They're pretty," decided Janet. 
 " Where 'd you get them, Trouble?" 
 
 "Over dere," and he pointed to a spot 
 some distance from the camp. 
 
 "He found them himself and brought 
 them here in his apron," said Mrs. Martin.
 
 Trouble's Playhouse 209 
 
 "He's been piling them up into what I called 
 a castle, but he says it's a playhouse. He's 
 been very good playing with the blue 
 stones." 
 
 " Let's get some too, and see who can build 
 the biggest castle!" cried Janet. "Show us 
 where you got them, Trouble." 
 
 But when Baby William toddled to the 
 place where he had picked up the blue stones 
 there were no more. He had gathered them 
 all, it seemed, and now would not let his 
 brother or sister take any from his pile. 
 
 However they found other stones which 
 did as well, though they were not blue in 
 color, and soon the Curlytops and Hal, as 
 well as Trouble, were making a little house 
 of stones. 
 
 "This is more fun than playing store!" 
 cried Janet, as she made a little round tower 
 as part of her castle. 
 
 "Are you making a palace for Princess 
 Blue Eyes, Hal?" asked Ted. 
 
 "Yes," he answered, for his stone castle 
 was rather a 1 arge one. ' l But I can 't be sure 
 she '11 like it. She doesn 't want to stay in one 
 place very long. She's like a firefly always 
 dancing about." 
 
 And so they pretended and played, having
 
 210 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 a very good time, while Mother Martin 
 watched them and smiled. The children 
 were having great fun camping with 
 grandpa. 
 
 The castles finished Trouble's being the 
 prettiest because of the blue stones, though 
 not as large or fancy as the others the 
 Curlytops, Hal and Baby William went on a 
 little picnic in the woods that afternoon, tak- 
 ing Nicknack with them. Or rather, the 
 goat took them, for he pulled them in the 
 cart along the forest path. 
 
 When Jan, Hal and Ted were eating 
 breakfast the next morning they heard a 
 cry from Trouble, who had toddled out of 
 the tent as soon as he had finished his meal. 
 
 "Oh, what has happened to him now?" 
 exclaimed Mother Martin. "Run and see, 
 Jan, dear, that's a good girl!" 
 
 Janet found her little brother at the place 
 where they had made the castles the night 
 before. Trouble's eyes were filled with 
 tears. 
 
 "My p'ayhouse all gone!" he cried. 
 "Trouble's house all goned away!" 
 
 It was true. Not a trace of his playhouse 
 was left! In the night someone or some- 
 thing had taken the blue stones away.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 IN THE CAVE 
 
 TROUBLE felt very bad about his play- 
 house of blue stones which had been taken 
 away. He was only a little fellow, and when 
 he had gone to so much work, building up 
 what looked like a fairy castle, he surely 
 thought he would find it where he left it at 
 night to have it to play with the next morn- 
 ing. But it was gone. 
 
 "All goned," sobbed Trouble. 
 
 "Isn't it funny, though?" said Teddy. 
 "Mine is all right, and so is yours, Jan, and 
 Hal 's, too. They just spoiled Trouble 's. ' ' 
 
 "Maybe it was Nicknack," suggested Jan. 
 "He might have got loose in the night and 
 knocked it down. But he didn't mean to I 
 guess, for he's a good goat." 
 
 "It couldn't have been Nicknack," de- 
 clared Hal. 
 
 "Why not?" asked Ted. "Didn't he fall 
 
 211
 
 212 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 down into the big hole when Trouble led him 
 to it?" 
 
 "Yes, but Nicknack is there in his stable. 
 He isn't loose at all, and he'd have to be loose 
 to come here and knock over Trouble's play- 
 house. The goat is tied fast just where he 
 was last night. " 
 
 So Nicknack was; and Grandpa Martin, 
 who was the first one up in the camp that 
 morning, said the goat was lying quietly 
 down in his stable when he went to give him 
 a drink of water. So it couldn't have been 
 Nicknack. 
 
 "Anyhow, Trouble's blue-stone castle 
 wasn't just knocked down," went on Hal, 
 "it's gone every stone is gone. Somebody 
 took 'em!" 
 
 Jan and Ted noticed this for the first time. 
 When Trouble had called out that his play- 
 house was gone they had thought he meant 
 it was just knocked over. But, instead, it 
 was gone completely. Not a blue stone was 
 left. 
 
 And, strangely enough, none of the other 
 three castles was touched. Hal had built 
 quite a large one, but not a stone had been 
 taken from it. 
 
 "Where my p'ayhouse?" asked Trouble,
 
 In the Cave 213 
 
 looking all about. ' * I want my p 'ayhouse. ' ' 
 
 "We'll find it for you/' promised Jan, 
 though she did not know how she was going 
 to do it. Perhaps Hal could think of a way. 
 Hal was older than Jan and Ted. 
 
 "What's the matter, Curlytops?" asked 
 Mother Martin as she came out of the tent. 
 ' ' Has anything happened ? Why is Trouble 
 crying ? Did he get hurt f ' ' 
 
 "No, but someone took away his nice blue 
 stone castle," explained Jan, and she and 
 the others took turns telling what had hap- 
 pened. 
 
 "It is queer," said Grandpa Martin, 
 when he came up and heard what had taken 
 place. "I wonder if any of those 
 
 Then he stopped talking and looked at the 
 children's mother in a queer way. She 
 nodded her head, glanced down at the Curly- 
 tops and Hal, and put her finger across her 
 lips as your teacher does in school when she 
 wants someone to stop whispering. 
 
 Hal saw what Mrs. Martin did, but 
 neither Jan nor Ted noticed, for they were 
 running around looking for any of the blue 
 stones that might have been scattered from 
 Trouble's playhouse. 
 
 * ' Never mind, ' ' said Mother Martin. " I '11
 
 214 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 find you something else to play with, Trou- 
 ble. You shall have a nice ride with Nick- 
 nack. You'll take him, won't you, Jan and 
 Ted?" 
 
 ' ' Yes, ' ' they answered. 
 
 "I want my p'ayhouse!" sobbed Baby 
 William, and for a time he made a fuss about 
 his missing blue stones. 
 
 "I guess I know what happened to them," 
 said Hal in a whisper to Jan and Ted when 
 their mother had taken Trouble into the tent 
 to find something with which to amuse him. 
 
 "What?" asked Ted in a whisper. 
 
 "The tramps!" exclaimed Hal, looking 
 over his shoulder to make sure no one but 
 his two little friends heard him. "That's 
 what your grandfather was going to say the 
 time he stopped so quick. Your mother 
 didn't want him to speak of them. But I'm 
 sure the tramps took the blue stones from 
 Trouble's castle." 
 
 "What would they do with 'em?" T*d de- 
 manded. 
 
 "There's gold in 'em!" whispered Hal, 
 more excited than ever now. "There's gold 
 in those blue stones, and the tramps know it. 
 That's what they've been looking for. and 
 when Trouble had 'em all in a nice pi?
 
 In the Cave 215 
 
 made into a playhouse, the tramps came 
 along in the night and took 'em away." 
 
 "Oh, do you s'pose it could happen that 
 way, really?" asked Jan, her eyes big with 
 wonder. 
 
 "Course it could!" said Hal, growing 
 more excited all the while. "I remember 
 now, gold doesn't always look yellow when 
 you find it, the way it does in a watch or a 
 ring. Sometimes gold is inside stones and 
 they have to melt 'em in the fire to get the 
 gold out. My nurse at the Crippled Home 
 read me about it. And there was gold in the 
 blue stones. That's why the tramps came 
 and got 'em I mean them/' and he cor- 
 rected himself. "They told me not to ay 
 'em,' " he added with a smile. 
 
 "Do you really think the blue stones had 
 gold in 'em them?" asked Ted. 
 
 "Yes, I do! Else why would the tramps 
 want them ? They came last night and took 
 Trouble's castle every stone, and now 
 they've hid the gold away." 
 
 "Where?" asked Jan, as excited as the 
 boys. 
 
 "I think it must be up in the cave," went 
 on Hal. " If we could only go there and look 
 we could find it te. Let's go."
 
 216 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "Maybe mother wouldn't let us." sug- 
 gested Ted. 
 
 "We don't have to tell her," said Jan. 
 
 "I don't mean to do anything bad, nor 
 have you," went on Hal. "But wouldn't it 
 be great if we could go up to the cave, with- 
 out anybody knowing it, and get the gold? 
 Then your mother would be glad, and your 
 grandpa, too." 
 
 "Maybe they would if there was gold in 
 the blue stones," agreed Ted. 
 
 "We could pretend there was," said 
 Janet. "Wouldn't that be fun? But I don't 
 want to go into that dark cave 'cept maybe 
 grandpa goes, too, with a light." 
 
 "You wouldn't be afraid with us, would 
 you?" asked Hal. 
 
 "Hal and I would be with you," added 
 Ted. 
 
 "Well, maybe I wouldn't be afraid if you 
 took hold of my hands. But it's dark there 
 awful dark." 
 
 "IVe got one of those little electric 
 lights," Hal said. "My father sent it to me 
 for my birthday when I was in the Home, 
 and I didn't use it hardly at all, 'cause I 
 wasn't up nights. It flashes bright. I 
 brought it with me when I came to visit you,
 
 In the Cave 217 
 
 and I can get it and take it to the cave with 
 
 us.' 
 
 'That'll be fun!" cried Ted. "Let's go, 
 Jan!" he pleaded. 
 
 "Well, maybe I will. But hadn't we bet- 
 ter ask mother ?" 
 
 "Maj r be she'd say we couldn't," suggested 
 her brother, speaking very slowly. "We'll 
 tell her when we come back." 
 
 Of course this was not just the right thing 
 to do, especially after Ted and his sister had 
 been told not to go to the cave alone. But 
 they forgot all about that when Hal spoke 
 about gold being in the blue stones. Ted and 
 Jan thought it would be wonderful if they 
 could get some gold for their mother and 
 grandfather, who was not as rich as he had 
 been, even if he did sell a lot of cherries. 
 
 "We can't take Trouble along," said Jan, 
 as she saw her little brother coming out of 
 the tent. "We've got to leave him here." 
 
 "Yes," agreed Hal. "But we don't need 
 to go right away. We can play with him 
 awhile. You and Ted take care of Trouble 
 and I'll go to get my flashlight. I put it 
 under my pillow last night." 
 
 "And I'll get something to eat from 
 Nora," added Ted. "We'll make-believe
 
 218 
 
 we're going on a little picnic in the woods." 
 
 "Oh, that'll be funl" cried Jan. She was 
 not afraid to think of the dark cave now. 
 
 "Trouble want p'ayhouse!" cried Baby 
 William, as he toddled up to his sister. 
 "Want b'ue stones." 
 
 "I can't get you the blue stones not 
 now," said Janet. "But I guess Teddy will 
 let you knock down his playhouse and build 
 up another one. And you can knock down 
 my playhouse, too. Come on, Trouble ! ' ' 
 
 Knocking over the playhouses of stone 
 which his brother and sister had built the 
 night before seemed such great fun to the 
 little boy, and he had such a good time doing 
 this and, with Jan's help, making another 
 and larger house of his own, that he forgot 
 all about his blue stones. 
 
 Ted and Hal did not forget them, though, 
 and the more they thought of the queer way 
 they had been taken away in the night, the 
 more they felt suj*e that the stones must have 
 gold in them, or, at least, something that the 
 tramps wanted badly enough to come and 
 take it. 
 
 And that it was the tramps, or some man, 
 or men, who had taken the blue stones, Hal 
 and Ted felt certain.
 
 In the Cave 219 
 
 "For no dog or other animal could carry 
 away every stone," said Hal. "Anyhow a 
 dog wouldn't want them, nor a fox either. 
 It was the tramps all right." 
 
 "Maybe they wouldn't like us to go to the 
 cave and get the stones back," suggested 
 Ted. 
 
 "Well, the tramps can't have the blue 
 stones," said Hal, shaking his head. "We 
 found 'em, -and they're Trouble's. But he's 
 so little he don't want any gold, so we'll give 
 it to your grandfather and grandmother." 
 
 "Don't you want any?" asked Ted. 
 
 "No. My father's got lots of money. I 
 just want to find some gold for you. I got 
 my light from under my pillow," and Hal 
 showed it to Ted. They were out behind the 
 sleeping tent talking, and Ted had his pock- 
 ets full of cookies and little cakes he had 
 begged from Nora. 
 
 "Though what in the world the child is 
 going to do with them all, is more than I can 
 guess, ' ' laughed the maid. * ' But I s 'pose the 
 children are always hungry." 
 
 Ted and Hal were now ready to go to the 
 cave. They looked around the corner of the 
 tent and saw Janet still playing with Trou- 
 ble. He had gotten over crying for his blue
 
 220 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 stones, and was now busy making a play- 
 house of the rocks and pebbles his brother 
 and sister had used. 
 
 "Come on, Janet! We're going I" called 
 Ted in a loud whisper, as his sister looked 
 at him. He also made motions with his 
 hands to show that he and Hal were ready 
 to start for the cave. 
 
 Janet saw that her little brother was too 
 busy playing to need her to stay with him 
 at least for a time. Still she could not leave 
 him alone without calling her mother or 
 Nora to watch what he did. 
 
 Very quietly, while Baby William was 
 trying to make one stone stay on top of an- 
 other in one side of the castle he was making, 
 Janet stepped up to the flap of the tent, in- 
 side which her mother was sitting sewing. 
 
 "I'm going with Ted and Hal into the 
 woods," said the little girl. "Will you 
 watch Trouble, Mother?" 
 
 "Yes, Janet. But be careful, and don't 
 go too far." 
 
 Janet did not answer but hurried away. 
 Of course she did not do just right, for she 
 knew her mother would not want her to go 
 to the cave, nor would Mrs. Martin have let 
 Ted and Hal go had she known it. But the
 
 In the Cave 221 
 
 Curlytops and Hal were very desirous of 
 finding the blue stones and of seeing if there 
 was any gold in them, and they did not stop 
 to think of what was right and what was 
 wrong. 
 
 "Hurry up now I" exclaimed Hal as he 
 went on ahead up the path that led from be- 
 hind the tents to the queer cave. ' ' We want 
 to get there before anybody knows it." 
 
 "What '11 we do if the tramps are there?" 
 asked Ted. 
 
 "They won't be there," said Hal, though 
 how he could tell that he did not say. 
 
 "I've got a little hatchet and we can cut 
 down some clubs," said Ted. He had 
 brought with him a little Boy Scout hatchet, 
 with a covering over the sharp blade. His 
 grandfather had given it to Ted, but had 
 told him never to take it out alone. But Ted 
 did, and this was another wrong thing. 
 
 I'm afraid if I speak of all the wrong 
 things the Curlytops did that day I'd never 
 finish with this story. But it wasn't often 
 they did so many acts they ought not to have 
 done. 
 
 On they hurried through the woods, the 
 boys hurrying ahead of Janet. She did her 
 best to keep up with them, but her legs were
 
 222 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 shorter than Ted's or Hal's and it was hard 
 work for the little girl. 
 
 * i Oh, wait for me ! " she called at last. ' ' I 'm 
 awful tired." 
 
 "Hurry up!" begged Ted. "We want to 
 get the blue stones before the tramps take 
 'em away!" 
 
 "Are they going to?" asked Janet, sit- 
 ting down on a stone to rest, after she had 
 caught up to the boys. 
 
 "Well, they might," answered Hal. 
 "We've got to hurry." 
 
 They went on again, walking a little more 
 slowly this time, and when they came to i\ 
 muddy puddle in the middle of the wood- 
 land path, Ted tried to jump over it. But 
 he slipped on the edge and one leg, from his 
 foot to above his knee, got very wet and 
 muddy. 
 
 "Oh, wow!" he cried. "Now I've got to 
 stop and clean this off." 
 
 He began to wipe off the worst of the mud 
 on bunches of grass, while Janet sat down on 
 a log near by. 
 
 "I'm sorry you fell in the mud, Teddy," 
 she said, "but I'm glad I can rest, for I'm 
 awful tired. You go so fast!" 
 
 "Come on, hurry up!" called Hal, as Ted
 
 HAL WALKED BOLDLY INTO THE DARK CAVE. 
 
 The Curlytops on Star Island Page 224
 
 In the Cave 223 
 
 still brushed away with the bunch of grass. 
 "Let it dry and it will come off easier. " 
 
 "I guess it will/ 7 agreed Ted, looking at 
 his muddy stocking. * ' It won 't come off this 
 way." 
 
 However, the accident had given his sister 
 a little chance to rest, and now Janet was 
 able to keep up with the boys. Pretty soon 
 they were near the hole into which Ted had 
 fallen, and out of which the cave opened. 
 
 "Now be careful!" whispered Hal, as he 
 got out his flashlight. "Maybe the tramps 
 are there!" 
 
 "I've got my hatchet!" exclaimed Ted. 
 
 "I'm not going in if the tramps are 
 there," declared Janet. 
 
 "We'll look first, and see," offered Hal. 
 
 "But I don't want to stay here alone!" 
 objected Janet, as her brother and Hal slid 
 down into the hole and looked into the black 
 opening of the cave. 
 
 "We won't go very far," promised Ted. 
 "We'll be back in a minute. Don't be 
 afraid." 
 
 Then he and Hal went into the cave, while 
 Jan, half wanting to cry, waited outside.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE BLUE LIGHT AGAIN 
 
 FLASHING his light about, Hal walked 
 boldly into the dark cave. Ted followed, 
 just a little bit afraid, though he did not 
 want to say so. 
 
 "Don't go too far," begged Janet's 
 brother. " Jan '11 be afraid if we leave her 
 alone." 
 
 * * I won 't go far, ' ' promised Hal. * ' I j ust 
 want to see if there 're any tramps in here." 
 
 " Listen an' maybe you can hear them talk- 
 ing," suggested Ted. 
 
 Hal, though larger and older than Ted, 
 was not quite brave enough to go very far 
 into the dark cave, even if he did have his 
 light with him. So, after taking a few steps, 
 he stopped and listened. So did Ted. 
 
 They could hear nothing but the voice of 
 Janet calling to them from outside. 
 
 "Ted! Hal!" cried the little girl. 
 
 224
 
 V. 
 
 The Blue Light Again 225 
 
 ' * Where are you ? I 'm going back to camp I ' ' 
 
 ' ' We 're coming ! ' ' answered Ted. * i Come 
 on back and get her," he added to his chum. 
 "Then we'll look for the blue rocks." 
 
 "I guess we can't find them unless they're 
 right around here," returned Hal, as he 
 moved his light about in a circle. 
 'Why not?" asked Ted. 
 'Because this cave is so dark, and my 
 flashlamp doesn't give much light. We 
 could hardly see the stones if they were 
 here.' 
 
 "Then how are we going to get 'em?" 
 Ted demanded. 
 
 "I guess we'll have to bring a big lantern. 
 Maybe we ought to bring your grandfather 
 along." 
 
 "I guess we had better," agreed Ted. 
 "But we can look a little bit when we're here. 
 Let's go for Janet. She's crying." 
 
 Janet was crying by this time, not liking 
 to be left alone outside while the boys were 
 in the cave. They ran back to her and her 
 tears were soon dried. 
 
 "Will you come in a little way with us?" 
 asked her brother. "There isn't anything 
 to be afraid of . Is there, Hal?" 
 
 "No, not a thing. We won't go in very
 
 226 
 
 far, Jan. And maybe you can see the blue 
 stones. We couldn't, but sometimes girls* 
 eyes are better than boys. Come on 1" 
 
 So with Hal holding a hand on one side, 
 and Ted on the other, Janet went slowly 
 into the cave with her brother and his chum. 
 Hal flashed his light, and by its gleam the 
 Curlytops could see that the cave was large, 
 larger even than it had seemed when they 
 were in it with their grandfather. 
 
 "Look on the floor for the rocks," sug- 
 gested Hal. "That's where the tramp-man 
 would put 'em if he brought 'em here." 
 
 But they did not see the blue rocks, nor 
 any others. The floor of the cave seemed to 
 be of stone or hard clay, and there was noth- 
 ing on it. They did not go in far enough 
 to see the sacks which Grandpa Martin said 
 someone had used for a bed, nor did the 
 children see the bread and other bits of food 
 which might have meant that someone had 
 had a picnic in the cave. 
 
 "I guess the rocks aren't here," said Hal, 
 in disappointed tones as Janet said she 
 wanted to turn back, for she did not like it 
 in the cave. "Or else maybe they're away 
 at the far end." 
 
 "I'm not going there!" exclaimed Ted.
 
 The Blue Light Again 227 
 
 "No, I guess we won't go," agreed Hal. 
 "We'll go and tell your grandfather and 
 have him come with a big lantern." 
 
 "Hark! What's that?" suddenly called 
 Jan, taking a tighter hold of her brother's 
 hand. 
 
 From the back part of the cave came a 
 noise. It was as though a rock had fallen 
 probably it had from the roof of the cav- 
 ern. 
 
 "Someone's throwing stones at us!" cried 
 Ted. 
 
 "Who? Who? Who?" a voice seemed 
 to ask. 
 
 ' l Oh, dear ! We don 't know who it was ! ' ' 
 cried Janet. "Come on out of here! I'm 
 afraid!" 
 
 "That was only an owl," said Hal with a 
 laugh. "Owls live in dark caves in the day- 
 time and when it's dark they hoot and call 
 'who!' I've heard 'em lots of times around 
 the Home." 
 
 "There isn't any cave at the Home," ob- 
 jected Ted, who was as frightened as Janet 
 was. 
 
 "No, but there were owls in the trees. I 
 heard 'em lots of times. But well go out. 
 I guess maybe that was a loose stone that fell
 
 228 The Curlytops on Star Inland 
 
 down and made the first noise. But we don 't 
 want any to fall on our heads. Come on I" 
 called Hal. 
 
 Together he and Ted led Janet back to the 
 mouth of the cave, where they could see the 
 sunshine. And even Hal, who was not so 
 frightened as the Curlytops had been, was 
 glad to get out. 
 
 "It's too bad we couldn't find the blue 
 gold-stones," he said. "But maybe the 
 tramps didn't hide them there, anyhow. 
 We'll look around some more." 
 
 "Let's eat," suggested Ted. "I'm hun- 
 gry, and I've got a lot of cookies in my pock- 
 ets." 
 
 So they sat down on a stone in a shady 
 place not far from the cave and ate the 
 things Nora had given Ted. They then got 
 a drink from a bubbling spring not far 
 away, and pretended the} 7 " were on a picnic. 
 
 Ted's muddy stocking had dried by this 
 time, and he and Jan, using sticks, scraped 
 most of the dirt off. 
 
 "Now we'd better be going home," Jan 
 suggested after a bit. "There isn't any fun 
 here." 
 
 "Yes, we might as well go," agreed Hal. 
 "And I'll tell you what let's do!"
 
 The Blue Light Again 229 
 
 "What?" demanded Ted. 
 
 "Let's look in the place where Trouble 
 found those blue stones and see if we can 
 find any more." 
 
 "Oh, yes, let's!" cried Janet. She was 
 happy again, now that she was out in the 
 bright sunshine. 
 
 The children remembered where Baby 
 William had found the pretty rocks from 
 which he had made his castle, but when they 
 reached the place not a one was to be had, 
 though they searched all about. 
 
 "I guess Trouble took them all," said 
 Janet. ' * I remember now, I helped him look 
 for more and we couldn't find any." 
 
 "Well, maybe there'll be some more some- 
 where else," suggested Hal hopefully. 
 "Let's look." 
 
 So they looked, wandering about in the 
 woods not far from camp, until they heard 
 Nora ringing the bell for dinner. 
 
 '''Well, where have you children been?" 
 asked Mrs. Martin as they came trooping 
 up to the tent, tired, hungry and dirty. 
 
 "Oh, we've been looking for gold," ex- 
 plained Ted, but he did not say they had vis- 
 ited the cave, where they had been told not 
 to go.
 
 230 
 
 "You didn't dig any more deep holes, did 
 you?" asked his grandfather. 
 
 "No, sir," answered Ted. 
 
 After dinner Ted asked Hal why he 
 didn't speak of having Grandpa Martin go 
 to the cave with the big lantern. 
 
 "I thought you were going to do that," 
 he said to Hal. 
 
 "Well, I was. But maybe we can find 
 some more of the blue stones for ourselves. 
 We'll look around before we ask your 
 grandpa to help." 
 
 Janet wanted to stay around camp and 
 play with her dolls that afternoon, and she 
 took care of Trouble. 
 
 "Then we'll go for a goat ride," said Ted. 
 "Come on, Hal." 
 
 The two boys hitched Nicknack to the 
 wagon, and set off down the island. 
 
 "We'll look for some more blue rocks," 
 suggested Hal, and Ted was willing. 
 
 On and on the two boys rode, now stop- 
 ping to look at some pretty flower, again 
 waiting to hear the finish of some bird's 
 song. They looked on both sides of the 
 woodland path for some of the blue rocks, 
 but, though they saw some of other colors, 
 there were none like those they wanted.
 
 The Blue Light Again 231 
 
 "Whoa there, where are you going now?" 
 Ted suddenly called to Nicknack, and the lit- 
 tle boy pulled on the reins by which he 
 guided the goat or " steered" it, as he some- 
 times called it. 
 
 " What's the matter?" asked Hal. 
 
 "Nicknack wants to go over that way and 
 I want him to go straight ahead," answered 
 Ted. 
 
 "Maybe he sees some of those blue rocks 
 the way he wants to go," suggested Hal. 
 
 "Oh, I don't guess so," replied his chum. 
 "I guess he just wants to get some new kind 
 of grass to eat. Whoa, Nicknack, I tell 
 you !" and Teddy pulled as hard as he could 
 on the reins, without hurting his goat, for 
 he never wanted to do that. 
 
 But the goat would not go straight down 
 the island path. He kept pulling off to one 
 side, and at last Ted cried : 
 
 "Here, Hal, you take hold of the lines and 
 pull with me. Maybe we can steer him 
 around then." 
 
 "Can we pull real hard I mean will the 
 lines break?" asked Hal. 
 
 "Oh, no, they're good and strong," an- 
 1 wered Ted. 
 
 So he and his chum both pulled on the one
 
 J32 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 rein the one to get Nicknack ? s head pointed 
 straight down the path instead of off to one 
 side, but it did no good. The goat knew what 
 he wanted to do, and he was going to do it. 
 
 "Look out!" suddenly cried Teddy. 
 "We're going to tip over!" 
 
 The next minute the front wheels of the 
 wagon ran up on a little pile of dirt at one 
 side of the path, and the cart gently tilted to 
 one side and then went over with a rattle and 
 a bang. 
 
 "There!" laughed Hal, as he rolled out 
 on some soft grass. "We are over, Ted. " 
 
 "I knew we were going," said Teddy as 
 he, too, laughed and got up. "Whoa there, 
 Nicknack !" he shouted, for the goat was still 
 going on, dragging the overturned wagon 
 after him. 
 
 But Nicknack did not stop until he 
 reached a little bush, on which were some 
 green leaves that he seemed to like very 
 much, for he began to chew them. 
 
 "That's what he wanted all the while," 
 said Teddy. 
 
 "Well, let him eat all he wants, and then 
 he won't be hungry any more and he'll pull 
 us where we want to go," advised Hal. 
 
 They did this, after setting the cart up on
 
 The Blue Light Again 233 
 
 its wheels. When Mcknack turned away 
 from the bush, and looked at the two wait- 
 ing boys, Ted said : 
 "Well, I guess we can go on now." 
 "Yes," added Hal, "and I hope we'll find 
 those blue rocks. But I don't believe we're 
 ever going to." 
 
 At last, however, when it was getting 
 rather late in the afternoon and Ted had said 
 it was time to go back, Hal, who was driv- 
 ing the goat through a part of the woods 
 they never before had visited, pointed to a 
 big stone buried in the side of a hill and 
 cried : 
 
 "Look! Isn't that rock blue, Ted?" 
 "It does look kind of blue, yes." 
 "Then it's just what we're looking for. 
 See, there's lots of little blue rocks, too. 
 Let's take some back to camp. Maybe 
 they're the same kind Trouble had, and there 
 may be gold in 'em! Come on." 
 
 They piled the rocks, which were certainly 
 somewhat blue in color, into the wagon, and 
 started back with them. 
 
 "We found 'em! We found 'em!" they 
 called as they came within sight of the tents. 
 "We got the blue rocks!" 
 "Well, they're pretty, certainly," said
 
 234 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 Grandpa Martin, as he picked up one from 
 the wagon, "but they're no better than any 
 other rocks around here, as far as I can 
 
 see/ 
 
 "They Ve got gold in 'em, Hal says," Ted 
 stated. 
 
 "Gold? Oh, no, Curly top!" laughed his 
 grandfather. " I Ve told you there is no gol d 
 on this island." 
 
 "There's something in the blue rocks," 
 declared Hal. "Feel how heavy they are- 
 lots heavier than any other stones around 
 here." 
 
 "Yes, they are," agreed Grandpa Martin, 
 as he weighed one of the stones in his hand. 
 "There might be some iron in them, but not 
 gold. Look out!" he suddenly called as the 
 stone slipped from his hand. "Look out for 
 your toes!" 
 
 Laughing, the Curlytops and Hal jumped 
 back. The blue stone which Grandpa Mar- 
 tin dropped, struck on the edge of the shovel 
 which was out in front of the tent. As the 
 rock hit the steel tool with a clang, some- 
 thing queer happened. 
 
 At once the rock began to burn with a 
 curious blue flame, and a yellowish smoke 
 curled up.
 
 The Blue Light Again 235 
 
 "Oh, the rock's on fire!" cried Janet. 
 "The rock's on fire!" 
 
 "Yes, and look !" added Ted. "It's burn- 
 ing blue, just like the light we saw on the 
 island one night." 
 
 "And how queer it smells!" exclaimed 
 Hal. 
 
 "Sulphur!" ejaculated Grandpa Martin. 
 
 He and the children looked at tHe queer 
 blue fire that seemed to come from inside 
 the rock. What could it mean?
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE HAPPY TRAMP 
 
 GRANDPA MARTIN stood looking down at 
 the queer, burning rock. The blue fire was 
 flaming up brighter now, and it made a 
 strange light on the faces of the Curlytops 
 and Hal as they gathered about. The sky 
 was cloudy and it was getting dark. 
 
 1 ' Oh, what is it ? What is it T ' asked Ted 
 and Jan. 
 
 "It smells just like old-fashioned sulphur 
 matches that my grandmother used to light, " 
 said Nora, who had come out, having seen 
 the queer light from the cook-tent. 
 
 "And it is sulphur that is burning, " said 
 Grandpa Martin. "That rock has sulphur 
 in it, not gold, Hal. And it is the sulphur 
 that is burning with the blue fire." 
 
 "But what makes it ?" asked the children. 
 
 Grandpa Martin did not answer for a few 
 seconds. He stood again looking down at 
 
 M
 
 The Happy Tramp 237 
 
 the flaming blue rock. Mrs. Martin, who had 
 started to put Trouble to bed early, came out 
 and looked. 
 
 "It's like something I once saw in the 
 theater, " said the maid. "I don't like it 
 that blue light. It reminds me of the time 
 our house was struck by lightning that sul- 
 phur smell." 
 
 "It is the same smell," said Mr. Martin. 
 "Curlytops, I think you have found some- 
 thing very queer in this blue rock. I don't 
 know just what it is, but we'll find out. See, 
 the stone is burning lL:e a lump of coal now, 
 but with a blue flame instead of red." 
 
 "Jus* like the night we saw the blue fire 
 on the island before we came camping here," 
 said Ted. " Is it the same thing, Grandpa ? ' ' 
 
 * ' I don 't know. Perhaps it is. Where did 
 you get Lhe blue rocks?" 
 
 "Over in the woods," answered Hal. 
 "There's a great big one there. As big as 
 this tent." 
 
 "Is there?" some one suddenly asked. 
 "Then please sliow me where it is ! Oh, can 
 it be that at last I have found what I have 
 been looking for so long?" 
 
 The Curlytops and the others turned at 
 the sound of this new and strange voice. A
 
 238 The Curly tops on Star Island 
 
 man seemed to spring out of the bushes back 
 of the tent. By the light of the blue fire Ted 
 and Jan saw that his clothes were ragged 
 and torn in many places. 
 
 "Oh! Oh!" gasped Jan. "That's the 
 tramp!" 
 
 "Well, I guess maybe I do look like a 
 tramp, all ragged and dirty as I am," 
 laughed the man, and his voice sounded 
 pleasant. "But I am not a regular tramp. 
 I am Mr. Weston Alfred Weston," he went 
 on, speaking to Grandpa Martin. "I 
 haven't a card with me, but when I get 
 washed and dressed and shaved I'll look 
 more like what I am. Excuse me for intrud- 
 ing this way, but I could not keep from 
 speaking when I heard what you were talk- 
 ing about." 
 
 "Then aren't you a tramp *?" asked Ted. 
 
 "No, though I have been tramping all 
 over this island looking for the very blue 
 rock you children seem to have found. I 
 wear my oldest clothes, just as my friend 
 Professor Anderson does, for we have been 
 going through briar bushes, into caves and 
 mud holes and our clothes are a sad sight. 
 But we are not tramps." 
 
 "Is there someone with you?" asked
 
 The Happy Tramp 239 
 
 Grandpa Martin, looking over the man's 
 head toward the bushes, out of which he had 
 come. 
 
 "There was another. Anderson is his 
 name. But he has gone to the village, and 
 I was on my way to row across the lake to 
 join him when I happened to pass by your 
 tent, saw the blue light, and heard what your 
 children said. Do you really know where 
 there is a big blue rock like this little one 
 that is on fire?" he asked as he pointed to 
 the flaming blue light. 
 
 "Yes, we found a big one," said Hal. 
 
 "If you will show me where it is you will 
 get a lot of money," said Mr. Weston. 
 "That is, if you will sell me the meteor," he 
 went on to Grandpa Martin. ' 1 1 understand 
 you own part of this island," he added. 
 
 "About half of it, yes. But are you look- 
 ing for a meteor?" 
 
 "Yes, for a meteor, or fallen star, and the 
 blue rock your children found is part of it. 
 We have been looking for it a long time, my 
 friend and myself, and we had about given 
 up. Now we may get it. Will you sell me 
 the fallen star?" he asked. 
 
 "I'll see about it," promised Mr. Martin 
 with a smile. "Perhaps you will come into
 
 240 The Curlytops on Star Inland 
 
 our tent and tell us about it. Are you well, 
 I was going to say the tramp but are you 
 the man we saw before, wandering about our 
 camp?'' 
 
 "I presume I am. I don't mind being 
 called a tramp, for I certainly look like one. 
 However, now that the fallen star is found I 
 don't need to be so ragged." 
 
 "Are you the ragged man that pulled 
 Trouble out of the spring?" asked Ted, as 
 they watched the blue light die away. 
 
 "I did pull a little boy out of the spring," 
 answered Mr. Weston, "though I didn't 
 know his name was Trouble." 
 
 "That's only his pet name," laughed 
 Grandpa Martin. "But come and sit down 
 and tell us your story. The children have 
 been wondering a long while what the blue 
 .light meant, and who the ragged man was. 
 And, to-day, they've been trying to find what 
 became of the blue rocks that Trouble made 
 into a playhouse." 
 
 "I took those rocks, I'm sorry to say," an- 
 swered the ragged man. " I 'm sorry to have 
 spoiled Trouble 's playhouse. I wanted those 
 pieces of rock, for I thought perhaps they 
 were all I would ever be able to get of the 
 fallen star."
 
 The Happy Tramp 241 
 
 "Was the blue rock really once a star?" 
 asked Hal. 
 
 "Well, yes, a part of one, or at least part 
 of a meteor, or shooting star, as they are 
 called. Now I'll tell you all that happened, 
 and I 'm sorry if I have frightened you. My 
 friend and I didn't mean to. 
 
 "Some time ago," went on Mr. Weston, 
 "we heard about Star Island this place 
 that was so named because it was said a big 
 meteor had landed here many years back. 
 Professor Anderson and I decided to come 
 here and see if we could find it for the mu- 
 seum which is connected with the college in 
 which Anderson teaches. 
 
 "For we knew that, though most meteors 
 are burned up as they shoot through the air 
 before they strike the earth, yet some come 
 down in big chunks, and we wanted such a 
 one if we could get it. So we hunted for it 
 all over this island. We saw you, but you 
 were never very near. Sometimes we stayed 
 in the cave at night, but usually went back to 
 the mainland. All the while we were hunt- 
 ing for the blue rocks, for that is the color 
 of this particular meteor. 
 
 "A few nights before you folks came here 
 to camp, when we were digging in the
 
 242 
 
 ground hoping to find what we wanted, our 
 shovel must have struck a piece of the me- 
 teor, for there was a flash of blue fire that 
 burned for quite a while. " 
 
 "We saw it," cried Ted, "and we didn't 
 know what it was!" 
 
 "Teddy and me we saw it!" added Jan. 
 
 "Well, that was all of the meteor we could 
 find for some time," went on Mr. Weston. 
 "And as that burned up was consumed 
 we didn't have any. Then, the other night 
 through the bushes we happened to come 
 upon some blue stones, and I took them 
 away. 
 
 "Then my friend and I hunted again to 
 find the big piece of the fallen star, but we 
 could not come across it. I was about to 
 give up, but now we are all right. I am so 
 glad! Can you take me to the big blue 
 rock?" 
 
 "We will to-morrow," answered Hal. 
 "It's too dark to find it now." 
 
 "You had better stay in our camp until 
 morning," was Grandpa Martin's kindly in- 
 vitation, and Mr. Weston did so. 
 
 "This meteor is a good bit like a sulphur 
 match, ' ' said Mr. Weston. ' ' When anything 
 hard, like iron or steel, strikes it, blue fire
 
 The Happy Tramp 243 
 
 starts and burns up the rock. The big piece 
 will be very valuable. 
 
 "But we'll have to be careful not to set it 
 ablaze. We picked up a lot of different rocks 
 on the island, hoping some of them might be 
 pieces of the meteor. But none was. Once 
 I saw your little girl picking flowers, as I 
 was gathering rocks. I guess she thought I 
 was a tramp. Did I scare you?' 1 he asked 
 Janet. 
 
 "A little," she answered with a smile. 
 
 "Sometimes we stayed in a cave we found 
 on the island," went on Mr. Weston. "I 
 thought once the meteor might be there, but 
 it was not." 
 
 The next day Ted, Janet and Hal, fol- 
 lowed by all the others in camp, even down 
 to Trouble, whose mother carried him, went 
 to the place where the big blue rock was 
 buried in the side of the hill. As soon as he 
 had looked at it Mr. Weston said it was the 
 very meteor for which he and Professor An- 
 derson had been looking so long. They 
 seemed to have missed coming to the hill. 
 
 The museunj directors bought the fallen 
 star from Grandpa Martin, on whose part 
 of the island it had fallen many years be- 
 fore, and so the owner of Cherry Farm had
 
 244 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 as much money as before the flood spoiled so 
 many of his crops. 
 
 Thus the story of the fallen star, after 
 which the island was named, was true, you 
 see, though it had happened so many years 
 ago that most folk had forgotten about it. 
 
 A few days after Mr. Weston had been led 
 to the queer blue rock, he and Professor An- 
 derson, no longer dressed like tramps, 
 brought some men to the island and the big 
 rock was carefully dug out with wooden 
 shovels, as the wood was soft and could not 
 strike sparks and make blue fire. 
 
 "For a time/' said Mr. Weston to Grand- 
 pa Martin, after the meteor had been taken 
 to the mainland in a big boat, "I thought you 
 were a scientist. " 
 
 "Me a scientist !" laughed the children's 
 grandfather. 
 
 "Yes. I thought maybe you had heard 
 about the fallen star and had come here and 
 were trying to find it, too." 
 
 "No, I haven't any use for fallen stars," 
 said Mr. Martin. "I had heard the story 
 about one being on this island, but I never 
 quite believed it. I just came here to give 
 the children a good time camping." 
 
 "Well, I think they had it every one of
 
 The Happy Tramp 245 
 
 them," laughed Mr. Weston, as he looked at 
 the brown Curlytops, who were tanned like 
 Indians. 
 
 "Oh, weVe had the loveliest time in the 
 world!" cried Jan, as she held her grand- 
 father's hand. "We're going to stay here 
 a long while yet. Aren't we, Grandpa?" 
 
 "Well, I'm afraid not much longer," said 
 Grandpa Martin. "The days are getting 
 shorter and the nights longer. It will soon 
 be too cold to live in a tent on Star Island." 
 
 * l Oh, Grandpa ! ' ' And Jan looked sad. 
 
 "But we want to have fun!" cried Ted. 
 
 "Oh, I guess you'll have fun," said his 
 mother. "You always do every winter." 
 
 And the children did. In the next volume 
 of this series, to be called "The Curlytops 
 Snowed In ; or, Grand Fun with Skates and 
 Sleds," you may read about the good times 
 they had when they went back home. 
 
 "Come on, Jan, we'll have a last ride with 
 Nicknack!" called Ted to his sister about a 
 week after the meteor had been dug up. In 
 a few days the Curlytops were to leave their 
 camp on Star Island. Hal Chester had gone 
 back to his home, promising to visit his 
 friends again some day. 
 
 "I'm coming!" cried Jan.
 
 246 The Curlytops on Star Island 
 
 "Me, too!" added Trouble. "I wants a 
 wide!" 
 
 Into the goat cart they piled and off 
 started Nicknack, waggling his funny, 
 stubby tail, for he enjoyed the children as 
 much as they did him. 
 
 "Hurray I" yelled Ted. "Isn't this fun f " 
 and he cracked the whip in the air. 
 
 "Hurray!" yelled Jan and Trouble. 
 
 "Baa-a-a-a!" bleated Nicknack. That 
 was his way of cheering. 
 
 And so we will leave the Curlytops and say 
 good-bye. 
 
 THE END
 
 THE CURLYTOPS SERIES 
 
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