The Curlytops on Star Island; Or, Camping out with Grandpa

by Howard Roger Garis

  CHAPTER IV

  OVERBOARD

  "Trouble! sit still!" ordered Janet.

  "Yes, Trouble, you sit still!" called Mother Martin, as the Curlytops'grandfather and his man pulled on the oars that sent the boat out towardthe 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 BabyWilliam's mother.

  "'Ike drandpa does," Trouble went on, pointing to the oars which thefarmer was moving to and fro. Now and then a little wave hit the broadblades 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 splashingthe 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 hewould 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 incamp.

  Suddenly grandpa, who had been rowing slowly toward Star Island, droppedhis 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. "Ijust grabbed him in time."

  And so he had, catching Baby William by the seat of his rompers andpulling 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.

  "I'll sit by him and hold him in," offered Janet, and she remained closeto 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 hisgrandfather saw him and grabbed him.

  "Hurray!" cried Teddy, as he sprang ashore. "Now for the camp! Can Ihelp put up the tents, Grandpa?"

  "Yes, when it's time. But first we must bring the rest of the thingsover. We'll finish that first and put up the tents afterward. We havetwo 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 eatbefore 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 hungryalready!"

  "So'm I!" cried Ted. "Can't we eat before we go back for the otherboatload, 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 shorenear the spot at which they had landed. Grandpa Martin took out of theboat the different things he had brought over, and stacked them up onshore. Parts of the tents were there, and things to cook with as well asfood to eat. More things would be brought on the next two trips, whenanother of the hired men was to come over to help put up the tents andmake camp.

  "Oh, I just know we'll have fun here, camping with grandpa!" laughedJan, as she picked up her small brother who had slipped and fallen downa little hill, covered with brown pine needles.

  "Let's go and look for something," proposed Ted, when he had run about abit and thrown stones in the lake, watching the water splash up andhundreds of rings chase each other toward shore.

  "What'll we look for?" asked Janet, as 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 whilewe're waiting for grandpa to get out the things to eat."

  "I want something to eat!" cried Trouble. "I's hungry!"

  "So'm I--a little bit," admitted Jan.

  "Maybe we could find a cookie--or something--before they get everythingunpacked," suggested Teddy, and this was just what happened. GrandpaMartin had some cookies in a paper bag in his pocket. Grandma Martin hadput them there, for she felt sure the children would get hungry beforetheir regular lunch was ready on the island. And she knew how hungry itmakes anyone, children especially, to start off on a picnic in the woodsor across a lake.

  "There you are, Curlytops!" laughed Grandpa Martin, as he passed out themolasses 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," proposed Ted, as he took abite of his cookie, something which Jan and Trouble were also doing.

  "What'll we look for?" Jan asked again.

  "Oh, maybe we can find a cave or a den where a--where a fox lives," hesaid, rather stumbling over his words.

  At first Ted had been going to say that perhaps they would look for abear'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 littlebrother and Jan. So he said "fox" instead.

  "Is there a fox here?" Jan asked.

  "Maybe," said Ted. "Anyhow, let's go off and look."

  "Don't go too far!" called Grandpa Martin after them, as he started tounload the boat and get the camp in order. "And don't go too near theedge of the lake. I don't want you to fall in and have your mother blameme."

  "No, we won't!" promised Ted. "Come on," he called to his little brotherand sister. "Oh, there you go again!" he cried, as he saw Troublestumble and fall. "What's the matter?" he asked.

  "It's these pine needles. They're awfully slippery," answered Janet. "Inearly slipped down myself. Did you hurt yourself, Trouble?" she askedthe little fellow.

  He did not answer directly, but first looked at the place where he hadfallen. He could easily see it, because the pine needles were brushed toone side. Then Baby William tried to turn around and look at the back ofhis 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 andlooked 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 hisbloomers, Jan?"

  "No, mother sewed 'em up so he wouldn't put his hands in 'em all thewhile--and his hands were so dirty they made his bloomers the same way.He hasn't any pockets."

  "Then he couldn't lose anything," decided Ted. He was always losingthings from his pockets, so perhaps he ought to know about what he wastalking. "What is it, Trouble?" he asked, for the little fellow wasstill stooping over and looking carefully at the ground near the spotwhere he had fallen.

  "I--I satted right down on him," said Trouble at last, as he picked upsomething from the earth. "I satted right down on him, but I didn't busthim," 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 antcrawling along, just before he fell, and he sat down on him. Did youthink you'd hurt the little ant, Trouble?"

  "I satted on him, but I didn't hurt him," answered the little boy. "Hecan wiggle along nice--see!" and he showed the ant, crawling about onthe piece of wood. Perhaps the little ant wondered how in the world itwas ever going to get back to the ground again.

  "Put him down and come on," said Ted. "We want to find something beforegrandpa puts up the tent. Maybe we can find the den where t
he foxlives."

  Trouble carefully put the little ant back on the ground.

  "I satted on him, but I didn't hurted him," again said the littlefellow, grunting as he stood up straight again. Janet took his hand andthey followed Teddy off through the forest.

  It was very pleasant in the woods on Star Island. The sun was shiningbrightly and the waters of the lake sparkled in the sun. The childrenfelt glad and happy that they had come camping with their grandpa, andthey knew that the best fun was yet to happen.

  "Let's look around for holes now," said Teddy, after they had gone alittle way down a woodland path.

  "What sort of holes?" asked Janet.

  "Holes where a fox lives," answered her brother. "If we could find a foxmaybe 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," saidTeddy. "Come on!"

  They walked a little way farther, and then Jan suddenly cried:

  "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 whatcomes out."

  The children hid in the bushes where they could look at the hole in theground. For some time they waited, and then they began to get tired. TheCurlytops were not used to keeping still.

  "I'm going to sneeze!" said Trouble suddenly, and sneeze he did. Andjust then a little brown animal bounced out from under a bush and raninto 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 abunny! Let's go and find something else on the island. Maybe we can finda 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 onthis island?" and Janet looked over her shoulder, though it was broaddaylight.

  "Pooh!" laughed her brother. "I thought you didn't believe in ghosts."

  "I don't--but----"

  "I'm not afraid!" declared Teddy. "And I'm going to look and see if Ican'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 Tedsaid he was hungry and wanted to eat.

  Nora and Mrs. Martin had set out a little lunch for the children on topof a packing box, and the Curlytops and Trouble were soon enjoying thesandwiches and cake, while their grandfather and the hired man finishedunloading 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 theboat which was empty save for himself and Ted. The lake was smooth, alittle wind making tiny waves that gently lapped the side of the boat.

  "I think we'd better bring Nicknack over this trip," said GrandpaMartin, when a second farm hand met him on shore and began to help loadthe boat for the second trip. "The sooner we get that goat over on theisland the better I'll feel."

  "Why, you're not afraid of him, are you?" asked the hired man whose namewas George.

  "No. But I don't know how easy it's going to be to ferry him over. Hemay start some of his tricks. So we won't put much in the boat thistime. 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,Nicknack?" and he put his arms around his pet. The goat had been drivendown near the dock whence the boat started for Star Island.

  "Well, unharness him and we'll get him on board," said the farmer. "Thenwe'll see what happens next."

  Nicknack made no fuss at all about being unharnessed. His wagon wasfirst wheeled on the boat, which was a large one and broad. Then Tedstarted 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 besniffing the boat and the water in which it floated. Then with a littlewiggle of his funny, short tail, he jumped down in near his wagon, andbegan 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," remarkedTed, as he saw the goat nibbling. "Isn't he good, Grandpa?"

  "He's good now, Teddy; but whether he'll be good all the way over issomething I can't say. I hope so."

  George put in the boat as much as could safely be carried, with the goatas a passenger, and then he and Grandpa Martin began rowing toward StarIsland. At first everything went very well. Nicknack seemed a littlefrightened when the boat tipped and rocked, but Ted patted him and fedhim more grass, which Nicknack liked very much.

  "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."

  "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 theboat to tip. Nicknack was jostled over against the wagon, and some watersplashed 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 Nicknack.

  The goat had leaped overboard into the deepest part of Clover Lake!