CURDTTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH : HOWARD R. GARIS "YOU'VE GOT TO GROAN AND PRETEND YOU'VE. BEEN SHOT." The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch Page 7 THE CURLYTOPS AT ONCLE FRANK'S RANCH OR Little Folks on Ponyback BY HOWARD R. GARIS AUTHOR OF "THE CURLYTOPS SERIES," "BEDTIME STORIES," "UNCLE WIGGILY SERIES," ETC. Illustrations by JULIA GREENE NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY THE CURLYTOPS SERIES By HOWARD R. PARIS I2mo. 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 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH Printed in U. S. A. CONTENTS CHAPTB I K TROUBLE'S TUMBLE . . . PAGE 1 II NICKNACK AND TROUBLE . . 13 III OFF FOR THE WEST . . . . 28 IV THE COLLISION . . . . . 40 V VI AT RING ROSY RANCH . . COWBOY FUN . 55 63 VII BAD NEWS 72 VIII A QUEER NOISE .... . 87 IX THE SICK PONY .... . 101 X A SURPRISED DOCTOR . . . 114 XI TROUBLE MAKES A LASSO . . 122 XII THE BUCKING BRONCO . . . 140 XIII MISSING CATTLE .... . 153 XIV LOOKING FOR INDIANS . . 167 2088247 Contents CHAPTER PAGE XV TROUBLE "HELPS" .... 175 XVI ON THE TRAIL 189 XVII THE CURLYTOPS ALONE . . . 196 XVIII LOST 209 XIX THE HIDDEN VALLEY ... 222 XX BACK TO RING ROSY. . . 237 THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH CHAPTER I TROUBLE'S TUMBLE "SAY, Jan, this isn't any fun!" "What do you want to play then, Ted?" Janet Martin looked at her brother, who was dressed in one of his father's coats and hats while across his nose was a pair of spectacles much too large for him. Janet, wearing one of her mother's skirts, was sit- ting in a chair holding a doll. "Well, I'm tired of playing doctor, Jan, and giving your make-believe sick doll bread pills. I want to do something else," and Teddy began taking off the coat, which was so long for him that it dragged on the ground. "Oh, I know what we can do that'll be lots of fun!" cried Janet, getting up from the chair so quickly that she forgot about 2 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch her doll, which fell to the floor with a crash that might have broken her head. "Oh, my dear I" cried Janet, as she had often heard her mother call when Baby Wil- liam tumbled and hurt himself. "Oh, are you hurt?" and Janet clasped the doll in her arms, and hugged it as though it were a real child. "Is she busted?" Ted demanded, but he did not ask as a real doctor might inquire. In fact, he had stopped playing doctor. "No, she isn't hurt, I guess," Jan an- swered, feeling of her dolPs head. "I for- got all about her being in my lap. Oh, ar en 't you going to play any more, Ted ? ' ' she asked as she saw her brother toss the big coat on a chair and take off the spectacles. "No. I want to do something else. This is no fun!" "Well, let's make-believe you're sick and I can be a Red Cross nurse, like some of those we saw in the drugstore window down the street, making bandages for the soldiers. You could be a soldier, Ted, and I could be the nurse, and I'd make some sugar pills for you, if you don't like the rolled-up bread ones you gave my doll." Teddy Martin thought this over for a few Trouble's Tumble 8 seconds. He seemed to like it. And then he shook his head. "No," he answered his sister, "I couldn't be a soldier." "Why not?" " 'Cause I haven't got a gun and there isn't any tent." "We could make a tent with a sheet off the bed like we do lots of times. Put it over a chair, you know." "But I haven't a gun," Teddy went on. He knew that he and Janet could make a tent, for they had often done it before. "Couldn't you take a broom for a gun?" Janet asked. " I '11 get it from the kitchen. ' ' "Pooh! What good is a broom for a gun? I want one that shoots! Anyhow I haven't a uniform, and a soldier can't go to war without a uniform or a sword or a gun. I'm not going to play that!" Janet did not know what to say for a few seconds. Truly a soldier would not be much of one without a gun or a uniform, even if he was in a tent. But the little girl had not given up yet. The day was a rainy one. There was no school, for it was Saturday, and staying in the house was no great fun. Janet wanted 4 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch her brother to stay and play with her and she knew she must do something to make him. For a while he had been content to play that he was Dr. Thompson, come to give medicine to Jan's sick doll. But Teddy had become tired of this after paying half a dozen visits and leaving pills made by rolling bread crumbs together. Teddy laid aside his father's old hat and scratched his head. That is he tried to, but his head was so covered with tightly twisted curls that the little boy's fingers were fairly entangled in them. "Say!" he exclaimed, "I wish my hair didn't curl so much ! It's too long. I'm go- ing to ask mother if I can't have it cut." "I wish I could have mine cut," sighed Janet. " Mine's worse to comb than yours is, Ted." "Yes, I know. And it always curls more on a rainy day." Both children had the same curly hair. It was really beautiful, but they did not quite appreciate it, even though many of their friends, and some persons who saw them for the first time, called them ' ' Curlytops. ' ' In- deed the tops of their heads were very curly. "Oh, I know how we can do it 1" suddenly Trouble's Tumble cried Janet, just happening to think of something. "Do what?" asked her brother. "Play the soldier game. You can pretend you were caught by the enemy and your gun and uniform were taken away. Then you can be hurt and I'll be the Red Cross nurse and take care of you in the tent. I'll get some real sugar for pills, too! Nora '11 give me some. She's in the kitchen now making a cake." "Maybe she'd give you a piece of cake, too," suggested Teddy. "Maybe," agreed Janet. "I'll go and ask her." "Ask her for some chocolate," added Ted. "I guess, if I've got to be sick, I'd like choco- late pills 'stead of sugar." "All right," said Janet, as she hurried downstairs from the playroom to the kitchen. In a little while she came back with a plate on which were two slices of chocolate cake, while on one edge of it were some crumbs of chocolate icing. "I'll make pills of that after we eat the cake," Janet said. "You can pretend the cake made you sick if you want to, Ted." "Pooh! who ever heard of a soldier get- 6 ting sick on cake ? Anyhow they don't have cake in the army lessen they capture it from the enemy." "Well, you can pretend you did that/' said Janet. "Now I'll put my doll away," she went on, as she finished her piece of cake, "and we'll play the soldier game. I'll get some red cloth to make the cross." Janet looked "sweet," as her mother said afterward, when she had wound a white cloth around her head, a red cross, rather ragged and crooked, being pinned on in front. The tent was made by draping a sheet from the bed across two chairs, and under this shelter Teddy crawled. He stretched out on a blanket which Janet had spread on the floor to be the hospital cot. "Now you must groan, Ted," she said, as she looked in a glass to see if her headpiece and cross were on straight. "Groan? What for?" " 'Cause you've been hurt in the war, or else you're sick from the cake." "Pooh! a little bit of cake like that wouldn't make me sick. You've got to give me a lot more if you want me to be real sick." Trouble's Tumble "Oh, Teddy Martin! I'm not going to play if you make fun like that all the while. You've got to groan and pretend you've been shot. Never mind about the cake." ' ' All right. I '11 be shot then. But you Ve got to give me a lot of chocolate pills to make me get better." "I'm not going to give 'em to you all at once, Ted Martin!" "Well, maybe in two doses then. How many are there?" 1 1 Oh, there 's a lot. I 'm going to take some myself." "You are not!" and Teddy sat up so quickly that he hit the top of the sheet-tent with his head and made it slide from the chair. "There! Look what you did!" cried Janet. "Now you've gone and spoiled every- thing!" "Oh, well, I'll fix it," said Ted, rather sorry for what he had done. "But you can 't eat my chocolate pills." "I can so!" "You cannot! Who ever heard of a nurse taking the medicine from a sick sol- dier?" "Well, anyhow well, wouldn't you give 8 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch me some chocolate candy if you had some, and I hadn't?" asked Janet. "Course I would, Jan. I'm not stingy!" "Well, these pills are just like chocolate candy, and if I give 'em all to you " "Oh, well, then I'll let you eat some," agreed Ted. "But you wanted me to play this game of bein' a sick soldier, and if I'm sick I've got to have the medicine." "Yes, I'll give you the most," Janet agreed. "Now you lie down and groan and I'll hear you out on the battlefield and come and save your life. " So, after Janet had fixed the sheet over him again, Teddy lay back on the blanket and groaned his very best. "Oh, it sounds as real as anything!" ex- claimed the little girl in delight. "Do it some more, Ted!" Thereupon her brother groaned more loudly until Janet stopped him by dropping two or three chocolate pills into his opened mouth. "Oh! Gurr-r-r-r! Ugh! Say, you 'most choked me!" spluttered Ted, as he sat up and chewed the chocolate. "Oh, I didn't mean to," said Janet as she ate a pill or two herself. ' ' Now you lie down Trouble's Tumble 9 and go to sleep, 'cause I've got a lot more sick soldiers to go to see." " Don't give 'em any of my chocolate pills," cautioned Ted. "I need 'em all to make me get better." "I'll only make-believe give them some," promised Janet. She and her brother played this game for a while, and Teddy liked it as long as the chocolate pills were given him. But when Janet had only a few left and Teddy was about to say he was tired of lying down, someone came into the playroom and a voice asked : "What you doin"?" "Playing soldier," answered Janet. "You mustn't drop your 'g' letters, Trouble. Mother doesn't like it." "I want some chocolate," announced the little boy, whose real name was William Martin, but who was more often called Trou- ble because he got in so much of it, you know. "There's only one pill left. Can I give it to him, Ted?" asked Janet. "Yes, Janet. I've had enough. Anyhow, I know something else to play now. It's lots of fun!" 10 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch "What?" asked Janet eagerly. It was still raining hard and she wanted her brother to stay in the house with her. "We'll play horse," went on Ted. "I'll be a bucking bronco like those Uncle Frank told us about on his ranch. We'll make a place with chairs where they keep the cow ponies and the broncos. I forget what Uncle Frank called it." "I know," said Janet. "It's cor cor- ral." "Corral!" exclaimed Ted. "That's it! We'll make a corral of some chairs and I'll be a bucking bronco. That's a horse that won't let anybody ride on its back," the little boy explained. "I wants a wide!" said Baby William. "Well, maybe I'll give you a ride after I get tired of bucking," said Teddy, thinking about it They made a ring of chairs on the play- room floor, and in this corral Teddy crept around on his hands and knees, pretending to be a wild Western pony. Janet tried to catch him and the children had much fun, Trouble screaming and laughing in delight. At last Teddy allowed himself to be caught, for it was hard work crawling Trouble's Tumble 11 around as he did, and rearing up in the air every now and then. "Give me a wide!" pleaded Trouble. "Yes, I'll ride him on my back/* offered Teddy, and his baby brother was put up there by Janet. "Now don't go too fast with him, pony," she said. "Yes, I wants to wide fast, like we does with Mcknack," declared Baby William. Mcknack was the Curlytops' pet goat. "All right, I'll give you a fast ride," promised Teddy. He began crawling about the room with Trouble on his back. The baby pretended to drive his "horse" by a string which Ted held in his mouth like reins. "Go out in de hall I wants a big wide," directed Trouble. "All right," assented Teddy. Out into the hall he went and then forgetting, per- haps, that he had his baby brother on his back, Teddy began to buck that is flop up and down. "Oh oh! 'top!" begged Trouble. "I can't! I'm a Wild-West pony," ex- plained Ted, bucking harder than ever. He hunched himself forward on his hands 12 The Curly tops at Uncle Frank's Ranch and knees, and before he knew it he was at the head of the stairs. Then, just how no one could say, Trouble gave a yell, toppled off Teddy's back and the next instant went rolling down the flight, bump, bump, bump- ing at every step. CHAPTER II AND TROUBLE "OH, Teddy!" screamed Janet. "Oh, frcrob 1 *!" Teddy did not answer at once. Indeed he had hard work not to tumble down the stairs himself after his little brother. Ted ^lung to the banister, though, and managed to save himself. "Oh, he'll be hurt terrible!" cried Janet, and she tried to get past her older brother to run downstairs after Trouble. But Mrs. Martin, who was in the dining- room talking to Nora Jones, the maid, heard the noise and ran out into the hall. "Oh, children!" she cried. "Teddy- Janet what's all that noise?" "It's Trouble, Mother!" announced Teddy. "I was playing bucking bronco and - " 13 14 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch "Trouble fell downstairs!" screamed Janet. While everyone was thus calling out at once, Baby William came flopping head over heels, and partly sidewise, down the padded steps, landing right at his mother's feet, sit- ting up as straight as though in his high- chair. "Oh, darling!" cried Mrs. Martin, catch- ing the little fellow up in her arms, "are you hurt?" Trouble was too much frightened to scream or cry. He had his mouth open but no sound came from it. He was just like the picture of a sobbing baby. "Oh, Nora!" cried Mrs. Martin, as she hurried into the dining-room with her little boy in her arms. * ' Trouble fell downstairs ! Get ready to telephone for his father and the doctor in case he's badly hurt," and then she and the maid began looking over Baby William to find out just what was the matter with him, while Ted and Janet, much fright- ened and very quiet, stood around waiting. And while Mrs. Martin is looking over Trouble it will be a good chance for me to tell those of you who meet the Curlytops for the first time in this book something about Nicknack and Trouble 15 them, and what has happened to them in the other volumes of this series. The first book is named "The Curlytops at Cherry Farm," and in that I had the pleasure of telling you about Ted and Janet and Trouble Martin and their father and mother, when they went to Grandpa Mar- tin's place, called Cherry Farm, which was near the village of Elmburg, not far from Clover Lake. There the children found a goat, which they named Nicknack, and they kept him as a pet. When hitched to a wagon he gave them many nice rides. There were many cherry trees on Grandpa Martin's farm, and when some of the other crops failed the cherries were a great help, especially when the Lollypop Man turned them into "Chew- ing Cherry Candy." After a good time on the farm the chil- dren had more fun when, as told in the sec- ond book, named "The Curlytops on Star Island," they went camping with grandpa. On Star Island in Clover Lake they saw a strange blue light which greatly puzzled them, and it was some time before they knew what caused it. The summer and fall passed and Ted and 16 The Curly tops at Uncle Frank's Ranch Janet went home to Cresco, where they lived, to spend the winter. "What happened then is told in the third volume, called "The Curlytops Snowed In." The big storm was so severe that no one could get out and even Nicknack was lost wandering about in the big drifts. The Curlytops had a good time, even if they were snowed in. Now spring had come again, and the children were ready for some- thing else. But I must tell you a little bit about the family, as well as about what hap- pened. You have already met Ted, Jan and Trou- ble. Ted's real name was Theodore, but his mother seldom called him that unless she was quite serious about something he had done that was wrong. So he was more often spoken to as Ted or Teddy, and his sister Janet was called Jan. Though oftener still they were called the "Curlytops," or, if one was speaking to one or the other he would say "Curlytop." That was because both Teddy and Janet had such very, very curly hair. Ted's and Jan's birthdays came OK the same day, but they had been born a year apart, Teddy being about seven years Nicknack and Trouble 17 and his sister a year younger. Trouble was aged about three years. I have spoken of the curly hair of Teddy and Janet. Unless you had seen it you would never have believed hair could be so curly ! It was no wonder that even strangers called the children "Curlytops." Sometimes, when Mother Martin was combing the hair of the children, the comb would get tangled and she would have to pull a little to get it loose. That is one reason Ted never liked to have his hair combed. Janet ? s was a little longer than his, but just as curly. Trouble's real name, as I have mentioned, was William. His father sometimes called him "A bunch of trouble," and his mother spoke of him as "Dear Trouble, " while Jan. and Ted called him just "Trouble." Mr. Martin, whose name was Richard, shortened to Dick by his wife (whose name was Ruth) owned a store in Cresco, which is in one of our Eastern states. Nora Jones, a cheerful, helpful maid-of- all-work had been in the Martin family a long while, and dearly loved the children, who were very fond of her. The Martins had many relatives besides the children's 18 The Curly tops at Uncle Frank's Ranch grandfather and grandmother, but I will only mention two now. They were Aunt Josephine Miller, called Aunt Jo, who lived at Clayton and who had a summer bungalow at Mt. Hope, near Ruby Lake. She was a sister of Mrs. Martin's. Uncle Frank Barton owned a large ranch near Rockville, Montana. He was Mr. Martin's uncle, but Ted and Janet also called him their uncle. Now that you have met the chief members of the family, and know a little of what has happened to them in the past you may be interested to go back to see what the matter is with Trouble. His mother turned him over and over in her arms, feeling of him here and there. Trouble had closed his mouth by this time, having changed his mind about crying. In- stead he was very still and quiet. "Trouble, does it hurt you anywhere!" his mother asked him anxiously. "No," he said. "Not hurt any place. I wants to wide on Teddy's back some more." "The little tyke!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin with a sigh of relief. "I don't believe he is hurt a bit." "The stairs are real soft since we put the new carpet on them," remarked Nora. Nicknack and Trouble 19 "They are well padded," agreed Mrs. Martin. "I guess that's what kept him from getting hurt. It was like rolling down a feather bed. But he might have got his arm or leg twisted under him and have broken a bone. How did he happen to fall. ' ' "We were playing Red Cross nurse," be- gan Janet, "and Ted was a soldier in a tent and " "But how could William fall downstairs if you were playing that sort of game?" asked her mother. "Oh, we weren't playing it then," put in Ted. "We'd changed to another game. I was a wild Western bronco, like those on Uncle Frank's ranch, and I was giving Trouble a ride on my back. I gave a jump when I was near the stairs, and I guess he must have slipped off." "There isn't any guessing about it he did slip off," said Mrs. Martin with a smile, as she put Trouble in a chair, having made sure he was not hurt, and that there was no need of telephoning for his father or the doctor. "You must be more careful, Teddy. You might have hurt your little brother." "Yes'm," Teddy answered. "I won't do it again." 20 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch "But we want to play something," put in Janet. "It's no fun being in the house all "I know it isn't. But I think the rain is going to stop pretty soon. If you get your rain-coats and rubbers you may go out for a little while." "Me go too?" begged Trouble. "Yes, you may go too," agreed his mother. "You'll all sleep better if you get some fresh air; and it's warm, even if it has been raining." "Maybe we can take Nieknack and have a ride !" exclaimed Teddy. "If it stops raining," said his mother. Ted, Jan and Trouble ran up and down in front of the house while the rain fell softly and the big drops dripped from the trees. Then the clouds broke away, the sun came out, the rain stopped and with shouts and laughter the children ran to the barn next to which, in a little stable of his own, Nicknack, the goat, was kept. "Come on out, Nicknack!" cried Janet. "You're going to give us a ride!" And Nicknack did, being hitched to the goat-cart in which there was room and to spare for Janet, Ted and Trouble. Up and NicknacJc and Trouble 21 down the street in front of their home the Martin children drove their pet goat. "Whee, this is fun!" cried Ted, as he made Mcknack run downhill with the wagon. "Oh, Teddy Martin, don't go so fast!" begged Janet. "I like to go fast I" answered her brother. "I'm going to play Wild West. This is the stage coach and pretty soon the Indians will shoot at us!" "Teddy Martin ! if you're going to do that I'm not going to play!" stormed Janet. "You'll make Trouble fall out and get hurt. Come on, Trouble! Let us get out!" she cried. Nicknack was going quite fast down the hill. "Wait till we get to the bottom," shouted Ted. "G'lang there, pony!" he cried to the goat. "Let me out !" screamed Janet. "I want to get out." At the foot of the hill Teddy stopped the goat and Janet, taking Trouble with her, got out and walked back to the house. "What's the matter now?" asked Mrs. Martin from the porch where she had come out to get a little fresh air. 22 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch " Ted's playing Wild West in the goat- wagon," explained Janet. "Oh, Ted! Don't be so rough !" begged his mother of her little son, who drove up just then. "Oh, I'm only playing Indians and stage coach," he said. "You've got to go fast when the Indians are after you!" and away he rode. "He's awful mean!" declared Janet. "I don't know what's come over Ted of late," said Mrs. Martin to her husband, who came up the side street just then from his store. "What's he been doing?" asked Mr. Martin. "Oh, he's been pretending he was a buck- ing bronco, like those Uncle Frank has on his ranch, and he tossed Trouble downstairs. But the baby didn't get hurt, fortunately. Now Ted's playing Wild West stagecoach with Nicknack and Janet got frightened and wouldn't ride." "Hum, I see," said Ted's father slowly. "Our boy is getting older, I guess. He needs rougher play. Well, I think I've just the very thing to suit him, and perhaps Janet and all of us." Nicknack and Trouble 23 "What is it?" asked Mrs. Martin, as her husband drew a letter from his pocket. " This is an invitation from Uncle Frank for all of us to come out to his ranch in Montana for the summer," was the answer. "We have been talking of going, you know, and now is a good chance. I can leave the store for a while, and I think it would do us all good the children especially to go West. So if you'd like it, well pack up and go." "Go where?" asked Ted, driving around near the veranda in time to hear his father's last words. "Out to Uncle Frank's ranch," said Mr. Martin. "How would you like that?" added his mother. "Could we have ponies to ride?" asked Ted. "Yes, I think so." "Oh, what fun!" cried Janet. "I love a pony!" "You'd be afraid of them!" exclaimed Ted. "I would not! If they didn't jump up and down the way you did with Trouble on your back, I wouldn't be afraid." 24 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch "Pooh! that's the way bucking broncos always do, don't they, Daddy? I'm going to have a bronco!" "Well, well see when we get there," said Daddy Martin. "But since you all seem to like it, we'll go out West." "Can we take Mcknack?" asked Teddy. "You won't need him if you have a pony," his father suggested. 1 i No, that 's so. Hurray ! What fun we '11 have!" "Are there any Indians out there V asked Janet. "Well, a few, I guess," her father an- swered. "But they're docile Indians not wild. They won 't hurt you. Now let 's go in and talk about it." The Curlytops asked all sorts of questions of their father about Uncle Frank's ranch, but though he could tell them, in a general way, what it looked like, Mr. Martin did not really know much about the place, as he had never been there. "But you'll find lots of horses, ponies and cattle there," he said. "And can we take Nicknack with us, to ride around the ranch?" asked Jan, in her turn. Nicknack and Trouble 25 "Oh, you won't want to do that," her fa- ther said. " You '11 have ponies to ride, I think." "What'll we do with Nicknack then?" asked Ted. "We'll have to leave him with some neighbor until we come back," answered his father. "I was thinking of asking Mr. Newton to take care of him. Bob Newton is a kind boy and he wouldn't harm your goat." "Yes, Bob is a good boy," agreed Teddy. "I'd like him to have Nicknack." "Then, if it is all right with Mr. Newton, we'll take the goat over a few days before we leave for the West," said Mr. Martin. "Bob will have a chance to get used to Nick- nack, and Nicknack to him, before we go away." "Nicknack not come wif us?" asked Trouble, not quite understanding what the talk was about. "No, we'll leave Nicknack here," said his father, as he cuddled the little fellow up in his lap. Trouble said nothing more just then but, afterward, Ted remembered that Baby William seemed to be thinking pretty hard about something. 26 The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch A few days later, when some of the trunks had been partly packed, ready for the trip West, Mr. Martin came home early from the store and said to Jan and Ted : "I think you'd better get your goat ready now and take him over to Bob's house. I spoke to Mr. Newton about it, and he said there was plenty of room in his stable for a goat. Bob is delighted to have him." "But he'll give him back to us when we come home, won't he?" asked Janet. "Oh, yes, of course I You won't lose your goat," said her father with a laugh. But when they went out to the stable to harness Nicknack to the wagon, Ted and Janet rubbed their eyes and looked again. "Why, Nicknack is gone!" exclaimed Ted. "He is," agreed his sister. "Maybe Bob came and got him." "No, he wouldn't do that without telling us," went on Ted. "I wonder where that goat is?" He looked around the stable yard and in the barn. No Nicknack was in sight. When the Curlytops were searching they heard their mother calling to them from the house, where their father was waiting for Nicknack and Trouble 27 them to come up with Nicknack. He was going over to Mr. Newton's with them. "Ho, Ted! Janet! Where are you?" called Mrs. Martin. "Out here, Mother!" Teddy answered. "Is Trouble there with you?" "Trouble? No, he isn't here!" "He isn't!" exclaimed his mother. "Where in the world can he be ? Nora says she saw him going out to the barn a little while ago. Please find him!" "Huh!" exclaimed Ted. "Trouble is gone and so is Nicknack! I s'pose they've gone together!" "Well have to look," said Janet. CHAPTER III OFF FOR THE WEST THE Curlytops hurried toward the house, leaving open the empty little stable in which Nicknack was usually kept. They found their father and their mother looking around in the yard. Mrs. Martin had a wor- rie