The Curlytops at Sunset Beach; Or, What Was Found in the Sand

by Howard Roger Garis

  CHAPTER XIV

  A SAND TUNNEL

  Life guards at the sea beaches are trained to act quickly in times ofdanger. Perched on their high bench, and ready with life lines, they arealways on the alert to pull from the waves those who are likely todrown.

  So it was that one of the guards saw Janet knocked down by a wave andsaw her tumbling about in the surf. He knew there was a strong undertow,or sea puss, running. That is why the bathers had been ordered from thewater. The tide had turned, and the sea puss became very strong afterTed and Janet left the water to play with the little dog.

  "One side! I'll get her out!" shouted the life guard, a jolly,red-haired, strong swimmer, Jerry Condon by name. "One side!" he yelled,as he leaped from his perch on the high bench and dashed down the sandand into the water.

  So rapidly did the guard rush down that he had to push aside Ted, whowas about to go into the water to splash about with Janet. Teddy wasknocked down on the sand, and to one side. He was not hurt, though hewas much surprised. The little Curlytop boy did not know about the seapuss until his sister called to him.

  So quickly did Jerry Condon act that, almost before Janet had a chanceto swallow any water and choke, the guard had her in his arms and wasrunning up the beach with her.

  An excited crowd gathered around, as always happens when a swimmer orbather is pulled from the surf, and Teddy joined them, not knowing justhow it had all happened, so quickly did it take place.

  "Janet! Janet! Are you all right?" he called.

  "Yes, she's all right," answered another of the life guards. So quicklyhad the guard acted that Janet was little the worse from the accident,except that she was much frightened.

  She had felt the strange and terrible grip of the undertow, or sea puss,on her legs and feet almost as soon as she entered the surf. She did notintend to go very far out, and she grasped the rope, as her mother hadtold her to do. But no sooner were her hands on it than it was torn fromher grasp by the power of the under-sweeping current, running down thesloping hill of the sandy beach. Then Janet had screamed and the guardhad come to her rescue.

  "Are you all right now, my dear?" asked a lady in the crowd. She washolding Janet in her arms.

  "Yes, ma'am, I'm all right, I guess," Janet answered in a choking voice,for the salt water seemed to stick in her throat. "Is Teddy all right?"she wanted to know.

  "Yes, Jan, I'm here," he answered, and the crowd, hearing his voice,opened that he might pass the circle of curious ones and get to hissister.

  "I'm glad you didn't get in the sea puss," said Janet, as she struggledto her feet. "It was terrible!"

  "I was coming in right after you," Teddy said, "but----"

  "I guess I knocked you out of the way in my hurry," said Jerry Condon."Hope I didn't hurt you," he added.

  "Oh, no, I'm all right," Teddy answered.

  As the surf and the undertow was getting too rough for even skillfulswimmers to be out in it, the bathers came from the water, and, after atime, Teddy and Janet went back to their cottage. Their mother at onceguessed from their faces that something had happened, and she was quitealarmed when the story was told.

  "I think I won't let you go down to the beach alone any more," shedecided.

  "Oh, Mother! we'll be real careful," pleaded Janet. "Every time before Igo in I'll ask the life guard if it's all right. And if he says there'sa bad sea puss I won't go in."

  "I won't, either," promised Teddy.

  "Well, we shall see about it," remarked Mrs. Martin. "At any rate, don'tgo in again to-day," and the Curlytops didn't.

  There were enough other ways of having fun at Sunset Beach without goingin the water to swim or bathe, and Janet and Teddy did not lack foramusements. Left to themselves, since Trouble was not well enough tocome out and play, the brother and sister, after lunch, wandered aboutplanning different things.

  "I know what we can do," said Teddy, after a while, during which time hehad been tossing a ball about and Janet had put a new dress on one ofher dolls.

  "What can we do?" she asked.

  "Go fishing," Teddy answered.

  "You mean out in the fish boat like you did and get a shark?" asked thelittle girl. "I don't like sharks."

  "I don't, either," agreed the Curlytop boy. "But I didn't mean gofishing that way. I meant stay on shore."

  "How can you fish on shore?" laughed his sister.

  "You know what I mean!" retorted Teddy. "We'll stay on shore and throwour hooks into the water. There's a good place down by the inlet, and Isaw a fellow catch some big eels there the other day."

  "I wouldn't like to catch an eel," objected Janet. "They wiggle toomuch!"

  "That's what makes it fun!" laughed Ted. "Come on! I'll get the polesand dig some worms."

  "You needn't dig me any worms," declared Janet. "You know I don't like'em."

  "What you going to bait your hook with, then?"

  "I'll get a piece of meat from Norah, like I did before."

  "Pooh! Fish won't bite on meat from the butcher shop."

  "Crabs bite on meat," said Janet.

  "Well, fish aren't crabs," was what Ted answered, as he went off to digsome worms. "But you aren't afraid of clams, are you?" he called back tohis sister.

  "Course not! Who's afraid of a clam?" she demanded.

  "Well, then I'll get you a clam and you can put him on your hook andyou'll catch a fish," said Teddy.

  Teddy dug some worms for himself back of the cottage, and then, havingarranged the lines, poles and hooks, he and Janet went down to theinlet. This was a sort of shallow river where the sea came in and upthrough a low place in the sand dunes, and at certain times of the tidethe fishing was good there.

  Sea clams, which are different from hard clams or soft clams, could bedug in the sand, and Teddy soon had two or three for his sister. Hecracked the shells on a stone and took out the firm meat of the clamfrom inside. This he put on Janet's hook for her.

  "I'll bait it the first time," he told his sister. "But after thatyou've got to do it yourself."

  "All right," she agreed. "But maybe if I catch one fish that will beenough and I won't have to bait my hook again."

  "Maybe," said Teddy, but he did not believe it. Often he had to bait hishook a number of times before he caught even one small fish.

  The Curlytops sat on the edge of the bank at the inlet and beganfishing. Teddy had baited his hook with a worm, and Janet was fishingwith clam. This, in itself, was a good thing to do, for on some daysfish will take one kind of bait, and the next day they will wantsomething else. So when you go fishing, or rather, when two of you go,it is well to take different kinds of bait, for you never can tell whata fish will like.

  The tide was coming in slowly, and Teddy said this was a good sign, asthe fish came in from the sea with the tide to feed in the inlet.

  "Captain Oleson told me so," declared Teddy.

  For some time the Curlytops did not appear to be going to have any luck.Again and again Teddy drew his hook, with its wiggling worm, up from thewater, to see if it had been nibbled at. But there was no sign of a fishhaving been near it.

  "Why don't you pull up your hook and see if you've had a nibble," Tedurged his sister, after a time.

  "Oh, I don't want to," she answered. "I could tell if I had a bite'cause my pole would jiggle."

  And just then, to her own great surprise and that of her brother,Janet's pole gave a big "jiggle."

  "Oh, you've got a bite! Pull up! Pull up!" shouted Ted. "I'll help you!"

  He sprang to his feet, letting go his own pole, and started to run towhere Janet sat.

  "I can pull up my own fish!" she told him.

  She gave her pole a hard yank, and something long and twisting waspulled from the water of the inlet. Over Janet's head it sailed,flapping on the grass behind her.

  "Oh, you've caught an eel! You've caught a big eel!" yelled Teddy.

  "I don't want an eel! I don't like 'em! Take him
off!" and Janet coveredher eyes with her hands, for she really felt a little afraid ofeels--they were so much like snakes, she said.

  "He's a good, big eel, and lots of folks like 'em to eat!" declared Ted,as he scrambled up the bank toward the place where Janet's eel hadfallen when she whipped it up in the air over her head.

  But that particular eel was not destined to be fried. As Teddy reachedthe creature and made a dive to get hold of it, the eel squirmed off thehook.

  "Look out! He's going to get away!" shouted Teddy.

  And the eel did get away. Over the grass it squirmed and wiggled until,reaching the edge of the bank, it flopped over, splashed down into thewater and swam away. It had only been lightly hooked, and Janet hadthrown it loose from the sharp point. So there was one happy eel, at anyrate.

  "Aw, he got off!" said Teddy, in disappointed tones. "Just like theturtle!"

  "I'm glad he did," Janet declared.

  "You should have let me pull him in," went on her brother. "I'd 'a' gothim, sure."

  "Well, I'm glad you didn't," went on Janet. "I want to catch a realfish. Is my bait gone?"

  "Yes, the eel nibbled all the clam off," Teddy answered. "But I'll putanother piece on for you," and this he did, very kindly.

  When Teddy went back to where he had thrown down his pole to run to tryand catch the eel, the Curlytop boy found, to his delight, that he, too,had a bite.

  "Oh, I've got one! I've got one!" he shouted.

  And when he pulled up he did, really, have a fish. It was the kindcalled a lafayette, or sometimes, the spot, the latter name being giventhe fish because it has a small, round black spot on either side, justback of the head.

  "Oh, I wish I could catch one of those," Janet exclaimed, and a littlelater she had that luck.

  From then on the Curlytops caught several lafayettes, and they hadenough for a "mess," as Norah called their catch. She cleaned and cookedthe fish for supper, and very good they were.

  "What you going to do now, Teddy?" asked Janet the next day, when shesaw him starting off toward the beach with the wooden sand mill he hadmade.

  "I'm going to have some fun," was the answer. "I'm going to dig a tunneland then I'm going to make a hill of sand and let the grains run off thehill down on my sand-mill paddles and turn it."

  "I'll come and help you," offered Janet.

  "Well, don't let Trouble come," urged Ted. "He'll only cave in thetunnel after I make it."

  "Trouble is too sick to come," Janet said. "Mother has sent for thedoctor."

  "Oh, is he as sick as that?" Teddy asked.

  "Oh, Mother said she don't guess he is very sick," Janet replied. "Butshe wants to see if it's measles or anything like that. I guess he'll beall right."

  The Curlytops, with their sand pails and shovels, went down on the beachto play. They saw Mr. and Mrs. Keller just ahead of them.

  "We're going to have another look for the keys and the ring," explainedMr. Keller to the children.

  "We hope you find them," said Teddy, politely.

  "Thank you," responded Mrs. Keller, but there was no look of hope on herface.

  Teddy decided to dig a long, deep tunnel before he made the hill for hissand mill, and he at once set at this play. Janet decided she would diga well in the sand, making it so deep that water would appear in thebottom, as she had often done before.

  The Curlytops were digging a little way apart, and Janet had seen thefirst little trickle of water in her well when she heard Ted call:

  "Look at me! Look at me!"

  Janet looked. All she could see of her brother was his head. He hadcrawled down into the sand tunnel he had dug, and it was a large tunnelslanting down into the sand.

  As Janet looked, something happened. The sand began to slip and slide,and a moment later it had covered Ted from sight.

  The sand tunnel had caved in on him!