“did you see that, ted? did you see where trouble went?” cried janet.
“yes, i saw him fall, but i don’t know where he went,” ted answered. “i guess he’s down in a hole.”
“oh, maybe there’s water in it and he’ll drown!” went on janet.
“there isn’t any water here now,” said ted.
and it was a good thing the gully had gone dry, for trouble had fallen into a hole that was filled with deep water when the stream was rushing through the gully. but, as ted remarked, it was now dry.
for a moment after his tumble trouble uttered no sound. and then he yelled:
“come an’ get me! come an’ get me out, ted!”
“i’m coming!” answered the older boy. “don’t be afraid, trouble! i’m coming!”
by the time janet reached the edge of the leaf-filled hole into which trouble had fallen, teddy had pulled out his little brother. trouble was not much hurt, being only bruised, but he was covered with leaves and dirt.
“there, there, william, you’re all right,” soothed ted.
“don’t cry!” begged janet. “we’ll take you to the store and buy you a lollypop.”
trouble rubbed his tears away, but in doing so wiped a lot of dirt from his hands all over his face so that he was quite a sad looking sight. however, janet cleaned him up as best she could with her handkerchief.
“now you’re as good as ever,” laughed ted, as he picked off the dead leaves clinging to his small brother. “what were you doing down there, anyhow?”
“i wanted to get squirrel an’ have him show me where crow is,” explained trouble.
of course he didn’t get near the squirrel, and, even if he had given the big-tailed creature the nut, the squirrel would not have eaten it, as it was wormy and had no kernel in it.
[54]“but maybe to-morrow i find another nut an’ i give that to squirrel an’ he find jim crow,” said trouble, as he walked home with ted and janet.
“it’s too early for this year’s nuts,” said ted. “anyhow, we have to pack up our things to go to mount major.”
“oh, yes, i go to woods!” laughed trouble. “an’ i take my fire engine an’ squirt on fire.”
they reached home and told their mother about the little adventure. she warned trouble he mustn’t do such a thing again as wandering off by himself.
“no’m, i won’t!” trouble promised.
“but if he doesn’t do that he’ll do something else just as troublesome,” said janet, with a sigh. and trouble did.
these were busy days in the home of the curlytops. mr. martin had much to do to get matters straightened out about his smoke-harmed store, and he had also to get ready to go to the lumber camp in the woods to start the supply store there. mrs. martin must pack the things that were to be taken for a long vacation stay—she must see to the clothing for herself and the three children. the food supplies mr. martin would[55] look after, as he had to ship up several cars of groceries to stock the lumber supply store.
lucy, the colored cook, was to be taken along. once, though, after they had talked over the joys of camping in the woods, lucy came in where mr. and mrs. martin were sitting, after the children had gone to bed, and said:
“please, ma’am, mrs. martin, ah doan t’ink ah’d bettah go off to de woods wif yo’ all.”
“why not, lucy?” asked mrs. martin, in surprise. “i have been counting on you.”
“yais, ma’am,” went on lucy. “but, all de same, mrs. martin, ah’s kinder skairt ob dem jinkses.”
“jinkses! what do you mean?” asked mr. martin.
“why, teddy he done tole me dat de woods am filled an’ runnin’ ober wif jinkses. dey’s animiles wif curtain tassles on der ears. ah doan t’ink ah’d laik ’em much, mrs. martin, ma’am!”
“nonsense!” laughed mr. martin. “teddy must have been talking about the lynx, or bobcat. they do have tassels, or tufts, of[56] hair on their ears, but they won’t hurt you, lucy!”
“no? won’t dey, mistah martin?” she asked anxiously.
“no, indeed, lucy. ted shouldn’t have spoken of the bobcats in the woods. i don’t believe we’ll see one. but if you should, lucy, the lynx would run as soon as it saw you.”
“golly! he wouldn’t done run any faster dan ah would!” chuckled the cook. “all right. den ah guess ah goes!”
this much settled, there were other matters to be looked after before the trip to mount major could be started. as mr. martin had thought, the settlement of his fire loss by the insurance company would take some time. during that time his store would be in charge of a trusted man whose name was henderson, and he could thus well afford to go to the lumber camp.
the curlytops and trouble were so excited over the prospect of fun in the lumber camp that nothing they played around their home now, and no sports that they took part in with their playmates, seemed to satisfy them. they were always thinking of[57] what they would do at mount major, and planning picnics and excursions there.
“i’m going to set a trap and see if i can’t catch a lynx,” declared ted.
“well, don’t scare lucy any more, no matter what you do,” begged his mother. “first i know, she’ll leave and then we’ll have no cook.”
“i’ll be careful,” promised ted.
janet had packed her dolls, teddy his toys, and trouble had filled a box with odds and ends of things he wanted to take to the woods. but afterward mrs. martin went over all the children’s boxes and took out a great many things without telling them about it.
“they’ll never miss them,” she said to her husband. “but if i let them take all they wanted there would be no room for anything else.”
“yes, they have queer ideas,” he agreed. “i don’t suppose you found your diamond locket?” he asked.
“no,” his wife replied, with a sigh. “i have given it up. i don’t say much about it, for i don’t want janet to feel too bad about losing it. as i should never have let her take it, it is as much my fault as hers.”
[58]the trip to mount major was to be made, as i have told you, in mr. martin’s large automobile. in this would also be carried the baggage and some food and supplies that would last the party until the things sent by express had arrived from cresco.
it was a long day’s travel by automobile from cresco to mount major, and so mr. martin planned to get an early morning start on the day that was set for the trip.
“we will have an early breakfast here,” said mr. martin. “we will lunch on the road. and if we have luck we’ll have supper in our bungalow in the woods.”
“oh, i just know we’ll have the loveliest fun!” cried janet.
“that’s right!” agreed ted.
“an’ maybe i find jim crow,” said trouble.
so far no trace had been found of the missing lame bird pet of mr. jenk. jim seemed to have disappeared. once or twice he had flown away, to be gone perhaps a day or so, but he had never remained away as long as this before, his owner declared.
the curlytops and other children of the neighborhood had searched through the near-by woods and fields for jim, but had[59] not heard his harsh cawing cry nor had they heard him “pull corks.” and of course no one had seen him stand on one leg, with the other stuck stiffly out and his head, with his sharp, beady eyes, thrust to one side.
jim was not to be found, and mr. jenk felt sorry to lose the crow. he even published a notice in the cresco paper about jim, offering now a reward of ten dollars for the return of his pet.
“if i find the crow i’ll give you half the reward,” promised ted to his sister.
“and if i find him i’ll give you half,” she added. “if i get the five dollars i’ll buy me a new doll carriage.”
“and i’ll get roller skates, a steam engine, a foot ball, some ice skates and a baseball bat,” decided ted.
“my!” laughed his father, “you must think the five dollars are going to be rubber ones that will stretch out enough to buy a whole store full of toys.”
“well, i can get something, anyhow!” declared ted.
“first find the crow,” his father told him.
teddy and janet made up their minds they would spend all the remainder of the time before leaving for mount major looking[60] for jim. this they did, but without result. jim remained lost.
then came the glad day on which they were to start. as much as possible had been packed into the automobile which was roomy. and then in piled mr. and mrs. martin, taking trouble on the front seat with them, while ted, janet and lucy rode on the rear seat.
“i’ll take care of you, lucy, if any bobcats come after you,” promised teddy.
“har! har!” laughed fat lucy. “ah ain’t skairt ob no bobcats no mo’. yo’ papa done told me ’bout ’em! ah ain’t skairt! har! har!”
off they started, the curlytops and trouble waving their hands to their playmates who gathered to bid them good-bye and wish them a happy summer in the woods.
mr. martin drove around past his store, for he wanted to leave a last word with mr. henderson, who was in charge, and the children could see where carpenters were at work repairing the burned shed, for there had been some slight damage there, it was later discovered.
on through the town, out into the beautiful[61] country, rolled the automobile, with ted and janet now and then breaking out into short snatches of song to show how happy they were.
they stopped for lunch along a beautiful road that led through the woods, and after eating they walked around to “stretch their legs,” as mr. martin called it.
“but we must not delay too long,” said daddy, after a while. “we have a long way yet to go, and i don’t want to arrive after dark. better pile in, curlytops!”
once more the automobile was filled. mr. martin started the motor and let in the clutch. but something was wrong. the car moved a little way and then came to a stop with a jerk. the engine stalled.
“what’s wrong?” asked mrs. martin.
“i don’t know,” her husband answered. “maybe i didn’t give her enough gas.”
once more he started off, but this time there was a sudden stop, followed by a crashing, splintering sound.
“oh, we’re pulling a tree down behind us!” cried janet. “stop, daddy!”
