CHAPTER II
THE QUEER MAN
“Mother, he’s gone!” cried Ted, as, followed by his sister Janet, hehurried into the house.
“Who is gone?” asked Mrs. Martin, who had begun to put away hersewing, for she had done enough that evening.
“Skyrocket is gone!” added Jan. “He isn’t in the woodshed, and thewindow is open.”
“Maybe he jumped out,” said Ted. “He could climb up on the woodpileand jump out the window. Do you think he’ll come back, Mother?”
Mrs. Martin looked at her two Curlytops.
“Are you sure your dog Skyrocket isn’t in the shed?” she asked.
“No, he isn’t there,” answered Ted.
“We looked all over, and I felt in his bed,” added Janet. “The softcarpet Ted put in for Skyrocket is there, but our dog is gone. Ohdear!” and she was almost crying.
“I’d better take a look to make sure,” said Mrs. Martin. “We’ll bringa lamp with us. He may be hiding in some dark corner,” she added asshe lighted a lamp.
“And, if he isn’t there, can we go out and look for him?” asked Ted.
“We’ll see,” answered his mother. “Maybe he’ll come back himself, ifhe really is gone.”
“Oh, he’s gone,” declared Ted, sadly enough.
Out to the woodshed the two Curlytops followed their mother, whocarried the lamp. And while they are looking for the lost Skyrocket itwill be a good chance for me to let my new readers know something ofthe Martin children, as told in the previous books of this series.
As I have told you, Theodore and Janet were called the “Curlytops” asoften as anything else, and the reason for this was because they hadsuch curly hair. Ted’s whole name was Theodore Baradale Martin, andJan’s was Janet, while “Trouble’s” right name was William AnthonyMartin.
Mr. Martin kept a store in Cresco, a town not a great way from NewYork, and he also owned property in other places. Cresco was a prettyvillage, and Ted and Jan thought it one of the nicest places in theworld. Other nice places were Grandpa Martin’s farm at Elmburg nearClover Lake, Aunt Jo’s summer cottage at Mt. Hope on Ruby Lake andUncle Frank’s ranch at Rockville, in the state of Montana.
The first book that tells about Janet, Ted, and their friends, isnamed “The Curlytops at Cherry Farm,” and in that I told you what funthey had at Grandpa Martin’s home, and how they helped sell cherriesto the Lollypop Man.
In the next book, “The Curlytops on Star Island,” you may read of thefun the children had when they went camping.
In the third book there is a story of “The Curlytops Snowed In.” Manythings happened to Jan, Ted and Trouble when the big snow storm came,and they thought they never had had so much fun in all their lives.
But that was before they went out West, and in the fourth book youhave the story of “The Curlytops at Uncle Frank’s Ranch.” There thelittle folks rode ponyback and had a grand time.
They came back to Cresco after many adventures, and now it was summeragain, and there was no school, for it was the long vacation. Ted andJanet wondered where they would spend it, for nearly always they wentwith their father and mother to some lake, or else up in themountains, or perhaps to the seashore during the hot weather of Julyand August.
I have told you, in this book, how the Curlytops were playing thebutton game, and how, just before they went to bed, they went out tothe woodshed to see if their dog Skyrocket was all right. Besides thedog, they had a cat named “Turnover,” who used to roll over in asideways somersault when told to. The Curlytops had once had a goatnamed Nicknack, but the goat had been sold a few weeks before, so thatnow they had only the cat and the dog.
“But we haven’t got any dog if we can’t find Skyrocket,” said Ted, ashe and Janet went out with their mother to the shed.
“Oh, we’ll find him all right,” said Mrs. Martin. “Perhaps he heardTurnover crying, and he jumped out of the window to see what thematter was with her. Skyrocket takes good care of Turnover, you know.”
“But Turnover is asleep in the sitting room,” said Ted. “She didn’tcry, so Skyrocket didn’t jump out to help her. And he never jumped outthe window before.”
“No, that’s so,” agreed Mrs. Martin. “But we’ll find him, I think,though it is strange he isn’t in the shed where he always sleeps atnight. But wait until I look.”
She held the light high and low, all around the shed, but there was nosign of the pet dog. She called, and so did Ted and Janet, butSkyrocket did not answer with a whine, a bark or by a thump of histail.
“Was this window closed when you put Skyrocket in here after supper?”asked Mrs. Martin of Teddy.
“Yes, I closed it,” answered the curly-headed boy. “I always shut it’ceptin’ on hot nights, and it wasn’t so very hot to-night.”
“Well, if the window was closed, Skyrocket didn’t open it, that’ssure,” said Mrs. Martin. “He’s a smart dog, and he can do many tricks,but he can’t open the shed window.”
“Do you think he got out that way, Mother?” asked Jan.
“It looks so,” was the answer.
“Did somebody open the window and take Skyrocket out?” Ted wanted toknow.
“They might have taken him out, or whistled for him to jump out tothem,” said Mrs. Martin. “I’m sure I don’t see how else it could havehappened. Skyrocket could jump up on the pile of wood, and from therejump out of the window, as long as it was open. Are you sure it wasclosed, Teddy boy?”
“Sure,” was the answer. “I ’member thinking was it hot enough to leaveit open, and then I said it wasn’t. And I made the new piece of carpetall smooth, and Skyrocket curled up on it, and I told him goodnight.And then, when Janet and I came out to look and see if he was allright—why—he wasn’t here!” and Teddy, seven-year-old boy though hewas, acted as if he might be going to cry.
“Well, perhaps he just jumped out of the window to have a little funafter dark, though he never did it before,” said Mrs. Martin. “We’lltake a look around the house and call him.”
As they came out of the shed they heard a voice calling them. Thevoice said:
“Hello! Where’s everybody?”
“It’s daddy!” exclaimed Ted.
“Oh, Skyrocket is lost!” added Jan, as she ran to meet her father, whostood in the back kitchen door.
“Skyrocket lost? No!” exclaimed Mr. Martin, in surprise. “Did he runaway?”
“It looks so,” said Mrs. Martin. “Come out here and we’ll tell you allabout it.”
This Janet and Teddy did, taking turns, with Mrs. Martin putting in aword now and then.
“You say you shut Skyrocket up in the shed, and left the windowclosed?” said Mr. Martin, to Ted.
“Yes, Daddy. And when Jan and I came out he was gone.”
“And he isn’t here now,” added Mrs. Martin. “We were just going tolook around outside, and whistle and call, when we heard your voice.You’re late, Daddy Martin!”
“Yes, I stayed to write some letters at the store,” answered themerchant. “I have been arranging about the place where we shall go tospend the summer vacation. I think it’s going to be at——”
“Hark!” suddenly exclaimed Mrs. Martin, raising her hand to stop herhusband from speaking.
“What is it?” asked Ted, while Janet looked eagerly at her father. Shewanted to hear him say where it was they were going that summer.
“I thought I heard a noise back by the little barn where we used tokeep Nicknack, the goat,” said Mrs. Martin. “Perhaps it wasSkyrocket!”
“Oh! Oh!” exclaimed Teddy and Jan, and, without waiting anothermoment, they hurried out, running down the path toward the little goatstable.
It was quite dark outside by this time, and Ted and Janet, hurryingfrom the woodshed where Mrs. Martin had a light, could not see verywell. You know how it is when you go into a dark moving picture placefrom the bright outdoors—you can’t see very well, at first.
Well, this happened to Ted and Jan, and the first
Mr. and Mrs. Martinheard, after the Curlytops ran out, was a cry from one of them.
“Did you find Skyrocket?” asked Mr. Martin, hurrying out of the shed.
“No, but Teddy fell down,” said Jan.
“Did you hurt yourself, Teddy boy?” asked his father.
“N—no—I—I guess not,” answered Teddy slowly. “I stumbled over thatpile of grass Patrick cut to-day. I fell on that—it was nice andsoft.”
“Well, it’s a good thing to pick out something soft to fall on whenyou stumble,” said Mr. Martin. “Now be careful, both of you. Betterwait for us. Mother, come and bring the lamp. Maybe Skyrocket is shutup in the goat stable and can’t get out.”
But the little stable, empty since Nicknack had been sold, held nolittle dog, either. Skyrocket was not there. And now they began asearch all around the house, whistling and calling for the pet of theCurlytops.
But Skyrocket did not answer; he did not whine, he did not bark, andthere was no joyful thump of his tail.
“Where can he be?” asked Teddy.
“Where can he be?” echoed Janet.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin looked at each other in the light of the lamp.Then Mr. Martin spoke.
“I think Skyrocket will be back by morning,” he said. “Sometimes dogsrun away, just for the fun of it, but they usually come back.”
“Skyrocket never ran away very far before,” said Teddy. “And he alwayscame back when I whistled.”
“Perhaps he has gone so far he can’t hear you this time,” said hismother. “Come, we’ll go into the house. It’s getting late, and youchildren must go to bed.”
“But we want Skyrocket!” cried Janet.
“I know, my dear. But we can’t find him, and there is no use huntingin the dark. We’ll leave the shed door open, and if he comes back, asI’m sure he will, he can go in to his new carpet bed. In the morningwhen you wake up, he’ll be ready to play with you.”
There was nothing else to do, and so Teddy and Janet went into thehouse, after one last, lingering look at the shed where Skyrocketslept at night.
“Oh, dear!” sighed Janet. “Nothing will ever be any fun if Skyrocketis gone!”
“Oh, but he isn’t gone, I’m sure!” said Mr. Martin, in as jolly avoice as he could speak. “I think he’ll be here in the morning, thoughit certainly is queer about the window being open. But now trot off tobed, Curlytops! It’s long past your time!”
“Don’t feel so bad,” said Mrs. Martin. “I don’t believe Skyrocket islost. Haven’t you something pleasant to tell them, Daddy? What wasthat you started to say about our summer vacation?”
“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Mr. Martin. “I have picked out a place for us togo. It’s a new place. I have bought some property there, and I expectto spend part of the summer there looking after it.”
“Oh, where is it?” asked Ted, and already he and Janet were feelingnot quite so sad over the lost dog—they had something new to wonderover.
“The place where we shall spend the summer vacation is at SilverLake,” said Mr. Martin. “It isn’t very far from here. We can go bytrain or in an auto.”
“And live in a tent?” asked Ted.
“No, I think we’ll have a bungalow,” answered his father. “But there!I’m not going to tell you any more about it until morning. Off to bedwith you, and dream about Silver Lake!”
He kissed the Curlytops goodnight, as did Mrs. Martin, and then Janand Ted went upstairs. They were smiling now, and, for the time, hadforgotten about Skyrocket, though, of course, they wanted him to comeback.
“Do you think their dog is really gone?” asked Mrs. Martin of herhusband, as they sat down to talk about spending the summer at SilverLake.
“I’m afraid so,” answered Mr. Martin. “He never ran away before, andthe window being open makes it look as though some one had taken him.Skyrocket is a valuable dog, and could be taught to do tricks for ashow or circus.”
“Dear me!” said Mrs. Martin. “Ted and Janet will feel very bad atlosing him.”
Early the next morning the Curlytops ran down to the woodshed. Theypeered in through the door, which was still open, and looked in thebox where Ted had so carefully put the new piece of soft carpet tomake a bed.
“He—he isn’t there,” whispered the boy softly.
“Skyrocket didn’t come back!” said Janet, and there were tears in hereyes.
Slowly and sadly the Curlytops walked out of the shed, and just asthey turned to go into the house they saw Mrs. Ransom hurrying towardthem. Mrs. Ransom was a woman who kept a small store not far from theMartin house, where she sold drygoods, toys and candies.
“Oh, Ted! Jan!” exclaimed Mrs. Ransom, when she saw the two children,“where’s your father?”
“He’s in the house eating breakfast,” answered Jan, for she and Tedhad seen him at the table when they hurried downstairs to look to seeif Skyrocket had come back.
“Well, tell him to come out here, please,” said Mrs. Ransom.
“Did you find Skyrocket?” asked Ted eagerly.
“Skyrocket? No. I hadn’t heard that he was lost,” answered Mrs.Ransom. “But there’s a man acting very oddly in your front yard, and Ithought your father ought to know about it. I saw the queer man frommy store window, and I hurried over to tell you about him. Go in andhave your father come out. He ought to do something about the funnyman!”
The Curlytops at Silver Lake; Or, On the Water with Uncle Ben Page 2