The Curlytops at Silver Lake; Or, On the Water with Uncle Ben Read online

  THE CURLYTOPS AT SILVER LAKE

  Or

  On the Water with Uncle Ben

  by

  HOWARD R. GARIS

  Author of “The Curlytops Series,” “Bedtime Stories,”“Uncle Wiggily Series,” etc.

  Illustrations by Julia Greene

  New YorkCupples & Leon Company

  * * * * * *

  THE CURLYTOPS SERIES

  By HOWARD R. GARIS

  12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.

  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

  THE CURLYTOPS AT SILVER LAKE Or, On the Water With Uncle Ben

  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York

  * * * * * *

  Copyright, 1920, by Cupples & Leon Company

  The Curlytops at Silver Lake

  Printed in U. S. A.

  CONTENTS

  I Skyrocket Is Gone II The Queer Man III Pushing and Pulling IV The Queer Box V Uncle Ben VI Off to Silver Lake VII Trouble in Trouble VIII The Wind Blew IX What Trouble Found X Janet’s Flowers XI Trouble in the Air XII Company in Camp XIII Catching Fish XIV The Growlery Hole XV A Big White Bird XVI The Bad Dog XVII A Joyous Find XVIII In the Lake XIX The Shipwreck XX The Queer Box Again

  CHAPTER I

  SKYROCKET IS GONE

  “Mother, make Trouble stop!”

  “What is he doing now, Janet?” asked Mrs. Martin, looking up from hersewing and across the table to where her three children were playing abutton game.

  “Oh, he’s doing _everything_!” said Teddy, shaking a finger at hisfunny little brother, who was smiling and holding something in histightly closed fist. “He’s got some of my buttons, and he——”

  “Yes, and he knocked a lot of my buttons down on the floor,” addedJanet. “And he——”

  “I must have all de wed buttons!” interrupted Trouble himself. “Wedbuttons all mine—I goin’ to put ’em on a stwing!” and the little boy,whose name was William, but who was more often called “Trouble,” madea grab for another red button which he saw in a pile in front of hissister Janet.

  “Don’t take that!” cried Janet. “Ma—I mean Mother—please make himstop!” and she tried to push Trouble’s hand away.

  “Wed buttons all mine!” cried Trouble, just a trace of tears cominginto his eyes.

  “No, Trouble,” said Ted, more gently. “Let sister have the redbuttons. We’re playing a game with them. I’ll let you take all thewhite buttons!”

  “I want wed buttons!” wailed Trouble, and as he still tried to get ahandful of them from Janet, and as Janet was doing her best to stopWilliam from doing this, there was a little scramble at the table.Trouble’s hand slipped, the buttons slid across the smooth oak boardsand fell with a clatter to the floor.

  “There! Now look what you did, Trouble Martin!” cried Janet, as sheleaned back in her chair. “All the nice buttons are on the floor!”

  Trouble seemed much surprised by what he had done. He opened his fatlittle fist, and out rolled more buttons, some of which rattled to thefloor.

  “Oh, Mother, he’s spoiling all our game!” said Janet. “Please make himstop!”

  “I’ll pick up the buttons,” said Teddy, with a sigh. “I guess this isabout fifty times I’ve done it to-night.”

  “Oh, hardly as many as that, I think,” said his mother, with a smile,as she thrust her needle into the cloth she was sewing. “You must notexaggerate, Teddy.”

  “What’s zaggerate, Mother?” asked Janet. “Is that a new game you canplay with buttons?”

  “No, dear,” answered Mrs. Martin, as she laid aside her sewing andlooked at the clock. “To exaggerate means to tell what isn’t exactlyso so as to make anything seem bigger than it is. Now I don’t reallybelieve you have picked the buttons off the floor more than five timesto-night, have you, Teddy?” she asked.

  “Well, maybe it was—maybe it was—_six_!” replied the curly-headedlittle lad.

  “And you said _fifty_!” laughed his mother. “That’sexaggeration—making a thing too big, Teddy, my boy!”

  “Mrs. Henderson that lives across the street is zaggerated, isn’t she,Mother?” asked Janet, as Teddy was busy picking up the buttons Troublehad knocked to the floor.

  “Mrs. Henderson exaggerated? Why, Jan, what do you mean?” asked Mrs.Martin.

  “I mean she’s awful big—fat, you know,” explained the little girl.“She’s zaggerated all right, isn’t she?”

  “Oh, it doesn’t mean _that_ at all!” said Mrs. Martin, trying not tolaugh. “And you mustn’t say ‘awful’ when you mean only ‘very much,’Janet. That’s exaggeration, too. But, Trouble, I think it’s time foryou to go to bed. I’ll take him upstairs,” she said to the two olderchildren, “and then you can play your game a little longer without anyone to bother you. Come, Trouble, dear!”

  “Ho! Don’t want to go to bed! I want wed buttons!” and the little boytried to reach over the table to where Ted had placed a pile ofbuttons of different colors.

  “Ho, William! Come with mother,” said Mrs. Martin quietly. When sheused any of the children’s real names—such as William, Theodore orJanet, instead of Trouble, Ted or Jan, the little folks knew Mrs.Martin was in earnest and that it was useless to beg further. Troubleheard his right name spoken and he gave a long sigh. Bedtime had comeafter a long, happy day.

  “Could I have one more wed button?” he asked wistfully.

  “No more,” answered his mother.

  “All wite. Den I go to bed!”

  He slipped down from his chair, as Ted began putting the buttons fromhis mother’s mending bag into two piles, so that he and Janet might goon with the game.

  “Give sister a kiss!” begged Janet of Trouble.

  He held back a moment, as if he had not quite forgiven her for notletting him have all the fun he wanted, and then he held up his chubbyface.

  “That’s a good boy!” said Janet as she kissed him. “I’ll let you havea lot of red buttons in the morning.”

  “Night-night!” called Trouble to Ted, as the older boy began countingout the buttons.

  “Night-night,” echoed Ted, as he wiggled his fingers in a funnyfashion at Trouble.

  As Mrs. Martin took William up to bed, Ted and Janet started theirgame over again. It was a simple little game. They spread out on thetable all the buttons from mother’s bag. Then they divided them intotwo piles, each taking one.

  Janet would then take a button from her pile and hold it in her handwith her fingers closed over it so Teddy could not see it.

  “Guess what color it is!” Jan would say to Ted.

  “Black,” he might answer, or perhaps he would say red, blue, orwhite—whatever he thought it might be. If he guessed the right colorJanet had to give Ted five buttons of the color he had guessed. If hesaid the wrong color he had to give Janet seven buttons of any colorshe wanted.

  If Ted guessed right, then it was his turn to take a button and makeJanet guess the color of it. But if he guessed wrong it was hissister’s turn again. And so they played the game, taking turns thisway, until they were tired, or until one of them had all the buttonson the table.

  It was this game they had been playing when Trouble, or Baby William,made the trouble by wanting all the “wed” buttons.

&
nbsp; They played the little game for some time, having lots of fun, and Tedhad just taken a number of buttons from Jan when their mother camesoftly down the stairs.

  “Is Trouble asleep?” asked Janet.

  “Yes. And it will soon be time for you two Curlytops to go upstairstoo,” said Mrs. Martin, as she took up her sewing again. “Even if itis vacation time, I can’t have my Curlytops staying up too late.”

  One needed to take only one look at Ted and Janet Martin to know whythey were called “Curlytops.” It was because their heads were coveredwith pretty tight little curls of a golden color.

  “We’ll play three more times,” said Ted. “I’ll have all Jan’s buttonsby then.”

  “It’s my turn to win, now!” laughed his sister.

  They traded more buttons, first one and then the other guessing right,and finally, with another look at the clock, Mrs. Martin said:

  “Come now, Curlytops! Off to bed with you!”

  “Can’t we stay up until daddy comes home?” asked Ted.

  Mrs. Martin shook her head without looking up.

  “Please!” begged Jan. “You know he said he might tell us where we weregoing to stay this summer. He said so when we were eating supper.”

  “Yes, I know he did,” said Mrs. Martin. “But daddy is late to-night.He may not be home for an hour yet, and I can’t have you staying upuntil then. You can find out in the morning, if he knows then, wherewe shall spend the summer vacation.”

  Ted and Jan looked at one another. They were about to make one lastappeal to be allowed to stay up, but a glance at their mother showedthem that she would not give in to them.

  “Do you think we’ll go to a nice place this vacation?” asked Janet.

  “Oh, yes, I think so,” answered Mrs. Martin.

  “A place where there’s water, and where we can go in swimming, andhave a boat and go camping and—and all that?” asked Ted eagerly.

  “Oh, dear me!” laughed Mrs. Martin, “I might just as well let you stayup playing the button game, as to let you ask me so many questions.

  “Now run along to bed, both of you! As soon as daddy has made up hismind where we’ll go for the summer vacation we’ll tell you. Maybeyou’ll hear in the morning. But go to bed now, like good children!”

  There was no staying up after that. But Teddy suddenly thought ofsomething.

  “Oh, Mother!” he cried, “may Jan and I just go and look to see ifSkyrocket is all right? I put a new piece of carpet in his box to-dayfor him to sleep on, and I want to see if he likes it!”

  “Oh, yes, please! I want to see, too!” begged Janet eagerly.

  “Well, you may take just one look at Skyrocket,” agreed Mrs. Martin,“and then come straight in and go to bed!”

  “Yes’m; we will!” promised Ted. “Come on, Jan!”

  Skyrocket was their dog; a dear, curly, black fellow, and all threechildren loved him. While Skyrocket, I am sure, felt that nowhere inthe world were there such delightful children as the Curlytops andlittle Trouble. Skyrocket slept in a box in the woodshed, just outsidethe kitchen door.

  Out to the shed hurried Ted and Jan. It was a little after eighto’clock, and just getting dark.

  “Do you think Skyrocket will like his new carpet?” asked Jan, as Tedopened the door.

  “I guess so. I knocked all the dust out so he wouldn’t sneeze. Carpetdust makes you sneeze, you know. It made me sneeze when I was knockingit out of Skyrocket’s carpet.”

  Together the Curlytops opened the woodshed door. At first they couldsee nothing, because it was rather dark inside. There was only onewindow, and when the children had stood still for a moment or two theycould see this window, and also the pile of wood and other things inthe shed.

  “Are you all right, Skyrocket?” asked Ted.

  “Don’t you like your new carpet bed?” asked Janet.

  There was no answer. Of course the Curlytops did not expect their dogto answer in words, but whenever they spoke to him he always eitherbarked softly, whined or thumped his tail on the floor. That was allthe answer they expected.

  But this time there was neither bark, whine nor thump of tail. All wasquiet within the woodshed.

  “Hi, Skyrocket! Are you all right?” asked Teddy, speaking louder.

  “Maybe he’s asleep,” suggested Jan.

  “If he is he’d wake up when I called him,” returned Ted. “Dogs don’tmind being woke up. Sometimes they sleep with one eye open anyhow.I’ll call him again. Hi, Skyrocket!” he exclaimed. “Skyrocket, are youall right?”

  There was no bark, no whine, no thumping of tail.

  “Maybe he likes his new bed so much he doesn’t want to wake up,” saidJanet.

  Teddy paused a moment to think this over.

  “Maybe,” he said. “But I wish he’d come out and see us. I’m going into see if he’s all right,” he added.

  Together the Curlytops stepped within the woodshed. They could seequite well now, from the faint light that came in through the window,and they looked over to where Skyrocket’s sleeping box was, in acorner.

  Stooping down over the box, Ted put in his hand. He expected to feelthe soft, fluffy back of Skyrocket. But, instead, his hand only metthe carpet which the little boy had folded and put in the box thatafternoon to make a soft bed for his pet.

  “Is he all right?” asked Janet.

  “He—he isn’t here at all!” exclaimed Ted.

  “He isn’t _here_! You mean _Skyrocket_ isn’t here?” cried Jan.

  “Not in his box,” added her brother. “You can come and feel foryourself.”

  Janet did so. She faced Teddy in the half-darkness of the woodshed.

  “He—he isn’t in his bed,” she whispered. “But maybe he’s hiding fromus under the wood. He does, sometimes.”

  “If Skyrocket was here he’d be jumping all over us now,” said Teddy ina strangely quiet voice, and Janet knew her brother was right.

  They could not go near their pet without having him leap all aboutthem, and sometimes climb half over them, in his joy at seeing them.Now there was no Skyrocket in the woodshed.

  “He—he’s gone!” said Teddy, and his voice trembled. “Skyrocket isgone, Janet.”

  “Oh! Oh!” exclaimed the little girl. “Let’s go and tell mother!”