The Curlytops and Their Pets | Page 7

the father of the Curlytops, smiling. "Uncle Toby is a dear old man, but very queer. So he wants me to come and take charge of his 'collection,' does he? It's strange that he doesn't say what his collection is."
"Maybe it's postage stamps," suggested Ted. Once he had started to make a collection like that but he had given it up.
"And maybe it's a collection of--money!" said Janet.
"That would be very fine!" laughed her father. "But though Uncle Toby is well off, I hardly think he has a collection of money lying around his old mansion. However, I suppose I must go and see what it is the queer fellow wants me to take charge of for him."
"May we go?" chorused Ted and Janet again.
"Oh, I suppose so," agreed their father, and this was better than the "I'll see," of their mother.
"Me tum too!" declared Trouble. He never wanted to be left behind.
"We'll all take an auto trip over to Pocono to-morrow and see what Uncle Toby has," decided Mr. Martin.
Accordingly, the next day, Mr. Martin left his manager in charge of the store, and, in the comfortable family automobile, the Curlytops and their father, mother and Trouble--not forgetting Skyrocket, the dog--started off.
It was just as fine a day as the previous one, when Trouble had sailed down the brook. The grass was green, the birds sang, and the wind blew gently in the trees.
"Oh, it's summer, and there's no school and well have lots of fun!" sang Janet.
"Maybe we'll have fun with what we find at Uncle Toby's house," suggested Ted.
And neither of the Curlytops realized how much fun nor what strange adventures were in store for them.
The automobile started down a rather steep hill, and Mrs. Martin, who was on the front seat with her husband, looked back to see that the three children were safe.
"Hold on to Trouble!" she told Janet. "He might bounce out. The road is very rough!"
"Yes, it isn't very safe, either," murmured Mr. Martin. "I hope nothing happens."
Hardly had he spoken than there was a loud bang close behind him. He jammed on the brakes and cried:
"Tire's burst! Hold tight--everybody!"
Then the automobile slid over to one side of the road and Janet cried:
"Oh, Trouble! Trouble!"
CHAPTER III
THE QUEER OLD LADY
For a little while it seemed as though something serious had happened in the automobile which was taking the Curlytops to Uncle Toby's house. Mr. Martin had all he could do to slow up the machine, bringing it to a stop beside the road, and under a tree. If a tire had burst or been punctured Daddy Martin wanted to be in the shade to fix it.
Mother Martin, holding tightly to the side of the seat when the banging noise sounded, turned to look behind her to see if the three children were all right. She saw Trouble sitting between Ted and Janet, and William was looking at something in his chubby hand.
"What happened?" asked Mrs. Martin. "Were any of you hurt when the tire burst?"
"The tire didn't burst, Mother," answered Teddy.
"Why, I heard it," said Mr. Martin, as he prepared to get out of the machine, which had now come to a stop. "I must have run over a sharp stone or a broken bottle."
"No, it wasn't the tire," said Janet, and she laughed. "It was Trouble's toy balloon. He blew it up too big and it burst."
"That's what it was! And a piece of the rubber hit me in the eye!" laughed Ted.
"My 'loon all gone!" wailed William.
"So that's what it was--a burst toy balloon," said Daddy Martin. "Well, I'm glad it wasn't one of my tires."
"So am I," said Mother Martin. "It is too hot to have to change a tire to-day. Besides, I'm in a hurry to get to Uncle Toby's and see what it is he wants us to take charge of while he is away. I hope he doesn't go until we get there."
"You never can tell what Uncle Toby is going to do," said Mr. Martin, smiling, now that he knew he had no tire to change. "And so you burst your toy balloon, did you, Trouble? Well, I'll have to get you another, but not while we're on this auto ride. I don't want to be frightened again, and I might be if you blew up another balloon and it burst."
"I didn't know he had one with him," remarked Mrs. Martin, as Trouble looked sadly at what was left of his toy.
"I didn't either," Janet said. "All of a sudden he took it out of his pocket and began to blow it up."
"I was makin' be'eve it were a wed soap bubbles," explained Trouble.
"Well, soap bubbles or not, it burst," said Teddy. "It sure did make a noise! But now we can go on. I want to