CHAPTER XVI
THE BAD DOG
Uncle Ben fastened the last knot of the rope by which he was tying therowboats to the launch. Then he glanced quickly up at Lola.
“What’s that you said?” he asked.
“I said a big, white bird is trying to take Trouble away,” answeredLola.
“Well, why don’t some of you older ones drive it away?” asked UncleBen, hardly thinking of what he was saying. “Are you afraid of abird?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s a terrible big bird!” exclaimed Lola, spreading out her armslike wings. “It’s awful big, Uncle Ben!”
“Is it an eagle?” asked the sailor. “No, it can’t be that, either. Inever heard of a white eagle,” he said.
“I don’t know what it is,” said Lola. “But please hurry, Uncle Ben.Tom and Ted aren’t there, and Jan is trying to make the big white birdlet go of Trouble, only it won’t let go.”
“It must be a big white owl!” exclaimed Uncle Ben, as he started torun, for he now heard the cries of Jan and the screams of BabyWilliam. “I’ve heard of big white owls hurting people, but I thoughtowls only flew around at night. They can’t see very well in daylight.”
“Oh, it isn’t an owl!” exclaimed Lola, who was running as fast as shecould to keep up with Uncle Ben. “I’ve seen owls, and they have bigeyes. This bird has big wings and a big, long neck, and it swims inthe lake.”
“Then it isn’t an owl! Owls don’t swim, I’m sure of that!” said UncleBen.
He hurried along, and soon he had crossed the top of the small hillover which Lola had come to summon his help. Down in a little hollowon the shore of the lake the sailor saw Trouble and Janet trying tobeat off a big, white bird that had hold of Trouble’s loose bloomerswith its yellow bill.
“Oh, Uncle Ben! Uncle Ben! Come quick!” cried Jan, as she saw thesailor over the top of the grassy hill. “He’s trying to pull Troubleinto the water!”
“Bless my hat!” cried Uncle Ben, as he saw what was going on. “It’s awild swan. I’ve heard folks tell about them coming to the lake, butthis is the first I’ve seen here. Don’t be afraid, Trouble!” hecalled. “It’s only a swan bird and it won’t hurt you!”
Quickly Uncle Ben ran down to the edge of the water and caught upTrouble in his arms. He had to pull the loose bloomers out of the big,yellow bill of the large white swan that had hold of the cloth. And asUncle Ben did this the swan spread out its wings and hissed, just asgeese hiss at you when they think you are going to hurt them.
“Go on away, Mr. or Mrs. Swan, whatever you are!” cried Uncle Ben, ashe held Trouble safely in his arms. “Go on away! Shoo! We won’t hurtyou and we don’t want you to bother us!”
Janet had run back from the shore as soon as she saw that her brotherwas safe, and a moment later, putting Trouble down so that Janet andLola could look after him, Uncle Ben caught up a branch of a tree andwaved it at the wild swan.
The big, white bird flapped its wings, stretched out its long neck,gave a hiss or two, and then began to flap its wings. A moment later,with a sort of “honking” sound, it began to half run, half fly alongthe top of the water. And then, suddenly, it seemed to jump up intothe air, and away it flew, its neck stretched out in front like ayardstick.
“There it goes!” cried Uncle Ben, with a laugh. “Now it won’t botheryou any more, Trouble!”
“What was that big bird that just flew away?” cried Tom and Ted,hurrying up from the fishing cove.
“It was a wild swan,” said Uncle Ben. “I never saw one by itselfbefore. Generally they fly in flocks, sometimes eight or ten of them.They go from lake to lake, often staying a long while on the same one.But what did this one do, Janet?”
“Oh, Lola and I were just dabbling our hands and arms while we waitedfor you to fasten the boats,” answered Ted’s sister, “and Trouble wasthrowing little stones into the water, when, all of a sudden, thisbig, white bird came flying down out of the sky. He made a terriblesplash in the water.
“Trouble went up to it, and held out his red rubber ball. The swan bitat it, and then it bit his bloomers and tried to pull Trouble into thelake.”
“And I ran to get you,” said Lola, “while Jan held on to Trouble.”
“Oh, I guess the swan didn’t really try to pull Trouble into thelake,” said Uncle Ben. “Perhaps the swan isn’t as wild as I thought.It may have lived once on a lake near people’s houses. They get quitetame, and children feed them. The swans will take bits of bread fromyour hand.
“Maybe this swan thought Trouble’s red ball was a new kind of bread,but when he nibbled it with its yellow bill he thought he had beenfooled. Then he may have pulled on Trouble’s bloomers to show that hewas angry, or maybe that was his way of asking for something to eat.”
“Well, he scared me, ’Cause I thought he wanted Trouble!” exclaimedJan.
“Bird scared Trouble,” added Trouble.
“And me, too,” said Lola. “I thought he’d fly away with Trouble.”
“No, he couldn’t do that,” explained Uncle Ben. “A swan is quite alarge and heavy bird. They have to run along the top of the water fora little distance, to get a start so they can fly, just as an airshiphas to run along on the ground before it can rise up. But a swancouldn’t carry off even a little baby, to say nothing of a boy as bigas Trouble.”
“Well, I’m glad it didn’t take him,” said Jan, as she held her smallbrother by the hand.
By this time the swan, flying over the lake, was almost out of sight,and as all the missing rowboats had been gathered together andfastened to the launch, Uncle Ben said it was best to start back forSunnyside.
“Tom and I didn’t catch a fish,” said Ted. “We had some bites andnibbles, though.”
“We won’t wait here to fish,” decided Uncle Ben. “We can come out in aboat to-morrow. We’d better get back home now. It looks like a storm.”
And it did storm that night. There was a heavy rain and the wind blewvery strongly. But the bungalow was snug and comfortable, and thewaves from the lake could not reach it.
The Curlytops sat about the table after supper, when the lights wereglowing, and told Daddy Martin about the wild swan that had caughthold of Trouble’s bloomers with his yellow bill.
For two days it rained, and the children had to stay either in thebungalow or close to it. No picnics or excursions came to Silver Lake,and if it had not been that Mr. and Mrs. Martin and Uncle Ben foundmany ways of making fun for the children they would have passed a dulltime.
But the sailor knew what to do to make it lively in the house when itrained outside. He made up little games, as did Daddy Martin, and theCurlytops and their visitors played them.
Trouble, too, had fun with his red rubber ball, playing that it was ababy fox and chasing it as it rolled about the floor under the chairs.
Then Mrs. Martin, too, did her share to make sure that the childrenhad a good time. She let them make candy, and, as you know, that’slots of fun. The only thing that happened that was not exactly fun,was when Trouble sat down in a pan of candy that had been put on achair near the back door to cool.
Luckily for Trouble the candy was not hot, and all that happened wasthat some of the sticks, which Tom and Ted and Lola and Jan had pulledout so carefully from the sweet, sticky lump Mrs. Martin gave them,were spoiled. A pair of bloomers that Trouble wore were all stuck up,of course, but his mother said she could soak the candy out of them inthe wash.
On the third day the rain stopped, the sun came out, and with joyousshouts the Curlytops ran from Sunnyside Bungalow and down to the shoreof Silver Lake, followed by Tom and Lola, with Trouble stumbling afterthem.
“Now we can go fishing again!” cried Tom.
“And sailing!” added Ted.
“And we can go in the woods!” said Lola.
“And wading!” shouted Jan.
It was very beautiful at Silver Lake after the storm. The rain hadwashed all the dust from the leaves of the trees, and when the sunshone on the leaves t
hey were such a bright green that it was mostpleasant to look at. The showers, too, made more blossoms come out inthe woods, and Jan gathered a fine bouquet for her mother, who likedblossoms in the bungalow. But Jan took good care not to slip into anymore bog holes as she picked the posies.
One day Uncle Ben had to go up to the far end of the lake, to a smalltown named Cardiff, to get some things Mrs. Martin wanted. Uncle Benwent in the motor boat, and he took Jan and Ted and Tom and Lola withhim. Trouble was left at the bungalow with his mother.
“I wonder if anything will happen to-day?” said Ted, as he sat nearTom in the motor boat.
“What do you want to happen?” asked Uncle Ben.
“Oh, something queer—like a wild swan or a big fish,” answered Ted.
“Well, maybe something will,” said Uncle Ben. “We haven’t got toCardiff yet.”
On chugged the motor boat, and in about an hour it was at the villagewhere Uncle Ben was to buy the things for Mrs. Martin. The store wasnot far from the lake, and the children got out to go in with thesailor.
“Oh, they keep peanuts here!” exclaimed Ted, as he saw some in a glasscase.
“Yes, they’re nice and freshly roasted,” said the storekeeper.
“Oh!” exclaimed Tom, and then he and the others looked at Uncle Ben.“Oh!” sighed Tom again.
“Well, I guess a few peanuts wouldn’t hurt the youngsters,” said thesailor good-naturedly. “Their mother didn’t say not to let them haveany, so you may give them a bag each.”
“Oh, thank you!” said the Curlytops and their friends in chorus, asthe bags of peanuts, still warm from the roaster, were handed to them.
“Where are you folks stopping?” asked the storekeeper, as he finisheddoing up the grocery packages for Uncle Ben.
“At Sunnyside Bungalow,” answered Ted.
“Got any dogs at your place?” the man, whose name was Mr. Blake, wenton.
“No, we had a dog, but he went away,” answered Janet.
“Oh, he did!” exclaimed Mr. Blake. “Was your dog a bad dog?”
“Oh, no! He was good!” exclaimed Teddy.
“And his name was Skyrocket!” added Janet.
“Well, if your dog was a good dog I’m not looking for him,” went onthe storekeeper. “I’m looking for a bad dog that has been taking mychickens and chasing my sheep. He’s taken other folks’ chickens, too!”
“Oh, no!” exclaimed Uncle Ben. “So there are bad dogs around here, arethere? Are you sure, Mr. Blake, that it isn’t a fox? I found a fox denover in the woods the other day.”
“No, this is a big yellow dog,” answered Mr. Blake. “I saw himcarrying off one of my chickens, and one of my men saw him chasing mysheep early the other morning. A farmer saw him do the same thing athis place. I’d like to find out who owns that dog. I’d make them takehim away, or keep him shut up. I don’t like to lose chickens andsheep. I ask every one who comes into my store if he has a dog. Someday I’m going to find out who has that bad, yellow one.”
Just then a farmer entered the store, and, as he heard what Mr. Blakewas saying, he exclaimed:
“I think I can tell you where to find that dog you’re talking about.He’s at a Gypsy camp about five miles from here.”