CHAPTER XIII
THE SEA PUSS
Mrs. Dent looked up as Janet again entered the living room of thelighthouse apartment, where the keeper and his wife had dwelt for manyyears.
"What is it, my dear?" asked Mrs. Dent. "Did you forget something? Or doyou want a little more lemonade?"
"No, thank you," Janet answered. "But I came back to get my littlebrother."
"Your little brother--the one who has such a funny name, Trouble? Do youmean him?"
"Yes'm. Is he here?" asked Janet, looking around the room. "I thoughtmaybe he might have come back to listen to that big sea shell. He likesto hear it roar."
On the floor, near the mantle in Mrs. Dent's room, was a big shell,pearly pink inside. By holding this to the ear a faint roaring soundcould be heard. Some people imagine this is the distant roar of the sea,which remains inside the shell, no matter how far it may be taken fromthe ocean. But the same roaring sound may be heard if you hold a kitchenbowl over your ear, so, really, the shell has nothing to do with it. Theroar is caused by other sounds--sounds that may be all around you, andthe ocean has nothing to do with it.
However, Trouble had an idea that the shell roared like the waves onSunset Beach, and he had spent most of his time while in the lighthouseholding the shell to his ear. When Ted and Janet missed him theyimagined he had slipped back to play again with the shell.
"No, Trouble isn't here. He didn't come back," Mrs. Dent said. "Atleast, I didn't see him. Of course he may have slipped in, and have goneinto the tower where my husband is. I'll ask him."
But Mr. Dent had not seen the little fellow, and a hasty search made itcertain that he had not come back to his new friends. Janet began tolook worried. She went to the door and saw Ted waiting for her. WhileTed waited he was making a hole in the sand. But he could not have beenlooking for the lost keys and ring, for they had been dropped at adifferent spot on the beach--a place not far from the Martin cottage.
"Trouble isn't here, Ted!" called Janet.
"He isn't?" There was a note of alarm in Ted's voice.
"Did you see him after I came in here?" Janet went on.
"No, he isn't out here."
Ted stopped his play in the sand and walked toward his sister. Mrs. Dentand her husband came out to join them.
"This is rather strange," remarked the lighthouse keeper's wife. "Doesyour little brother often run away like this?"
"Yes, lots of times," answered Ted. "He's always doing something!"
"I hope nothing has happened," murmured Mrs. Dent. And, almost withoutknowing what she was doing, her eyes wandered toward the sea. The oceanwas not very rough, but it would not need a very great wave to wash awaya little boy like Trouble.
"We'll soon find him!" called Mr. Dent, in a cheerful voice. "When didyou Curlytops last see him?"
"He was with me just a little while ago," Janet answered. "I was lookingat some shells on the beach, and when I picked them up and was callingto Trouble to come along, he wasn't there."
"He just wandered away--that's all," said the lighthouse keeper. "We'llfind him. He may be behind some of the sand dunes. Let's look!"
All along the beach were rows of little hills or hummocks of sand, onwhich grew weeds and coarse sedge grass. It would have been easy for alittle fellow to have wandered away amid these hills, with their greengrowth, and be lost for a time.
Ted, Janet, and Mr. and Mrs. Dent scurried about, searching behind onesand dune after another, but no little Trouble boy could they find. ThenMr. Dent began to look anxious.
"He couldn't have gotten very far away," he said. "There wasn't timeenough after Janet missed him. He must be around here somewhere. Do youthink he is hiding on purpose to scare you?" he asked the Curlytops.
"No, I don't believe he'd do that," Ted answered.
Janet was walking toward a pile of dried seaweed on the beach. It hadbeen raked into a pile by the lighthouse keeper, who intended to burn itlater.
Suddenly Janet began to run toward the pile of weed. The next moment shewas rapidly pulling it apart, scattering it all over the beach, and shecried:
"I've found him! Here he is!"
The next moment she was hurrying toward Ted and the others, leading thelittle fellow by the hand. William was sleepily rubbing his eyes withhis chubby fists.
"He was asleep under the seaweed," Janet explained. "Oh, Trouble, whydid you hide there and scare us all so?" she asked.
"I--I was--now I was tired, an' I made believe I was a nellifunt an' Iwent to sleep on my pile of hay," explained Trouble.
And that was what he had done. Wandering away from Janet, the littlefellow had seen the pile of seaweed. It was soft and clean, and had thegood smell of the salty ocean. Trouble just burrowed into it as a littledog might have done, and pulled the weed over him so that he was almostcompletely hidden.
"I thought maybe he had gone off home by himself," remarked Ted.
"And I thought maybe a big wave had carried him off," said Mrs. Dent. "Ithought he had been caught by the sea puss."
"What's the sea puss?" asked Janet.
"It's what folks around here call the undertow," explained Mr. Dent."Did you ever stand in the edge of the surf, and feel the top of thewaves running up the beach, and then some water, lower down, runningback into the sea?"
"Yes," answered Ted. "It makes a funny pull on your legs."
"Well, that funny pull is the undertow, or sea puss," explained thelighthouse keeper. "It is a current of water running beneath the top ofthe waves to get back into the ocean. Sometimes it is very strong, andcarries even powerful swimmers out to sea. Often there is a strong seapuss when there are only small waves. You Curlytops want to be careful.And if you find there is a strong sea puss, or undertow, don't stay inbathing."
"We won't," promised Janet. "I'm glad Trouble wasn't caught in the seapuss."
"I rather be caught by a nellifunt," murmured William.
Mr. and Mrs. Dent laughed, and then, telling Ted and Janet to keepcareful watch over their little brother, the lighthouse keeper and hiswife went back to the beacon while the Curlytops started down the beachfor the cottage.
They told of their adventures, and Mrs. Martin warned Trouble not to goaway again and hide as he had done.
One happy day after another followed at Sunset Beach. There was onegrand succession of good times for Teddy, Janet and William. One daythey would go in bathing, and after their dip in the waves, or theirseveral dips, if the day was hot, they would play about on the beach orin the shade of a big umbrella. They often saw Mr. and Mrs. Randall onthe sands, and also Mr. and Mrs. Keller.
"Have you found your ring yet?" Janet asked the dear old lady more thanonce.
"No, my dear," would be the sad reply. "I'm afraid I never shall."
"I've been looking for your keys, but I haven't found them," Ted wouldadd to Mr. Keller.
Some afternoons, when the morning had been spent by the children inbathing or on the beach, their mother would take them to Oceanside City,where there were many amusements, such as merry-go-rounds, shoot thechutes, and other forms of fun. Trouble and the Curlytops liked this.
More than once Ted and Janet spent a half hour or so looking over anddigging in the sand where the keys and ring had been lost, but they didnot find them.
One day Ted and Janet went down to the beach alone to bathe. Trouble wasnot feeling well, and his mother remained at home with him. But she knewit would be safe for the Curlytops to go to the bathing beach, as manyother persons were there, and life guards were on duty to see that noone would be drowned.
Ted and Janet went in for a "dip," as they called it, and then came outto sit on the sand in the sun and get warm. They intended to go in againbefore going back to the cottage.
They happened to sit down near a very fancifully dressed lady who had abook, a dog and a big sun umbrella. She was sitting under the sunumbrella, reading the book, and the dog must have been rather lonesome.
His proud mistress paid little attention to him.
"Look at the nice dog," remarked Ted, in a low voice, to his sister.
"Yes, he's lovely," Janet said. "I wish we had him."
The dog must have heard the friendly voices of the children, for hewagged his tail. Then he looked at the lady. She had her eyes on thebook and did not notice him. The dog thought it was a good chance to runaway and have fun with somebody who loved dogs.
So over he ran to Ted and Janet and soon he was having a grand time withthem, running after and bringing back sticks they threw for him,scrambling about, climbing all over them and covering them with sand.
At last the lady became aware that her dog had strayed away. She lookedup and cried in a severe voice:
"Toto, come here this instant!"
The little dog dropped his tail between his legs, looked very muchashamed, and crept back to his proud and haughty mistress.
"Come on! Let's go back in the water and get washed off!" called Ted tohis sister, for the dog had spattered them all over with sand.
"All right," Janet answered. "I'll be in first!" she shouted, as sheraced for the edge of the surf.
"You will not! I'll beat!" cried Ted.
He leaped to his feet, but one foot slipped on a round stick--one of thesticks he had been tossing for Toto to race after. Down fell the littleCurlytop boy in a heap on the sand, almost as soon as he had risen.
"Oh, ho! You will not beat! You will not beat!" laughed Janet, as sheraced off ahead of him.
She had seen that Teddy was not hurt, or she would not have laughed. Tedhimself had to chuckle, but a moment later he got up and was off at topspeed for the line of breakers.
However, Janet had gotten too much of a start for Teddy to overtake her,and she was first in the water.
The children were so eager about the little race that they did not seethe life guards ordering swimmers from the water. And the guard whofloated about in the boat, some distance from the breakers, was bringingin several young men who had ventured out too far.
As Ted and Janet splashed in the waves there was a cry of alarm, and oneof the guards shouted:
"Come back! Come back! Don't go out now! It's dangerous!"
Janet, however, was pretty well out. She had hold of the life ropes, andTed was about to follow her when, suddenly, Janet's hands were torn fromthe cable and she went down beneath the white, foaming crests. Butbefore her head went under she screamed:
"Oh, the sea puss has me! The sea puss has me!"