Howard Roger Garis

“ With a shrill chatter the monkey dropped Trouble's cap, which he was trying to make stick on his own head, and a moment later he jumped down from the chandelier and scampered into a box at the side of the room.
"That's where he belongs!" said Mrs. Watson. "He's always afraid of that feather-duster. Maybe he thinks it's a big eagle coming to bite his tail. Anyhow, show him the feather-duster whenever you want to quiet him."
"That's a good thing to know," said Mr. Martin, when it was a little quieter in the room, because Jack, the monkey, had stopped chattering. ”

“ I told Uncle Toby I'd stay until the Curlytops came to take charge of the pets, and, now that you are here, I'll be going."
"But I say! Look here! What are we going to do?" asked Mr. Martin.
"Why, you're to take charge of the collection," said the housekeeper. "That's what Uncle Toby said in his letter. You are to have the pets!"
"But I don't want them! That is, we can't keep so many!" protested Daddy Martin. "Two dogs, a cat, a monkey, a parrot, an alligator and some white rats and mice, to say nothing of the pigeons! And we have a dog and cat now, and we just got rid of a goat and a pony! ”

“ Nip, the parrot, tore his pieces of the buns apart to get at the currants. But Jack, Top and Skyrocket ate theirs down, currants and all, as if they liked every crumb.
The white rats and mice were not given any of the broken buns, as it was thought they had had enough in the bakery, and Teddy knew it was not wise to overfeed any pet animals.
Cats, dogs and other pets should not be fed too much, though of course they should not be allowed to go hungry very long. When animals can run around as they please, or when they live wild in the jungle or forest, they never eat too much. ”

“ The hearts of the Curlytops had beaten high with hope when they heard Professor Montelli speak of some poodles. But when they saw that the two dogs were black, instead of white, their hearts sank.
"They look just like Tip and Top, but of course they can't be," whispered Janet, as the showman began clearing the stage platform in readiness for the poodles to do some tricks.
"No," answered Ted, in disappointed tones, "Tip and Top were white—not black, except for little spots. These dogs are black all over. We might as well go home. Maybe Policeman Cassidy knows of another dog show." ”

“ Take the pigeons! Take any of the animals you want!" begged Mrs. Martin. "I don't see what in the world we are going to do with these animals!"
"Oh, keep Tip and Top—the dogs!" begged Teddy.
"And Snuff, the cat!" added Janet.
"I 'ike monkey if he don't pull my cap off," said Trouble. "'Et's keep him!"
"And the white mice and rats wouldn't be much bother," went on Teddy.
"We never had a parrot that I can remember," cried Janet. "I could feed him, Mother."
"The alligator doesn't make much noise," Ted said.
"Dear me! We'll end up by keeping them all, I see!" laughed the father of the Curlytops. ”

“ Just then shrill screams, barks, squeaks and squawks, all mixed together, seemed to float out of the opened windows of the old house—windows in which were strong wire screens.
"Two dogs and a cat!" exclaimed Mr. Martin. "My dear Mrs. Watson," he went on, as he sat down on the top step of the porch rather limply, "will you please tell us, as fast as you can, just how many and what pets Uncle Toby has left us? We may as well hear the worst at once," he said to his wife. "I never imagined Uncle Toby cared for animal pets." ”

“ I was trying to hide [Pg 7] it from you, 'cause I don't want you to be a pirate and upset my ship full of chocolate cakes."
"Oh, I must be a pirate! Here's the black flag and I must be a pirate!" shouted Teddy. "Whoop! I'm a pirate! I'm a pirate!"
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoop!" yelled Trouble, trying to make as much noise as his brother.
"You sound more like an Indian than you do a pirate," said Janet, as she began to pile more pebbles on the board that was her ship.
"Well, Indians and pirates are 'most the same," declared Teddy. "Wait till you see my ship, with swords and guns and powder! ”

“ But we may as well go in and look at the—the menagerie!" he said to his wife, with a smile.
"They'll need feeding—the animals will," said Mrs. Watson. "I'm glad you're here to help me. I was staying only until you came. Uncle Toby said you'd be over in a day or two. I'm leaving to-night, now you're here."
"What? And make us take care of all the pets?" cried Mrs. Martin.
"Oh, they're real kind and gentle—every one, even the little alligator," Uncle Toby's housekeeper made haste to say. "And as long as you have children the pets will be just the things for the Curlytops. ”

“ Snakes can not be tamed, or made to do tricks like other animals, and the stories of "snake charmers" are mostly untrue. Some snakes may rise and sway when music is played, and the snakes that circus performers handle are just as harmless as the garden snakes you see. Some of the larger ones, however, are very powerful, and can twist themselves around a person or an animal strongly enough to kill. But the performers know how to handle snakes, using slow and gentle movements, so the reptiles do not mind it.
Thus it was that Janet had no fear of Slider, the pet alligator. ”

“ As the children were racing down the street, with Top running in front of them, looking back every now and then to make sure the Curlytops and Jimmy were following, a man stopped the children and said:
"Why are you chasing that poor dog? Don't you know it is wrong to tease and annoy animals?"
"We're not teasing him," Teddy answered. "He's our dog, anyhow."
"That is no matter," the fussy man said. "I think it is wrong to chase dogs or to tie tin cans on their tails." [Pg 143]
"As if we'd tie a tin can to the tail of our nice Top!" exclaimed Janet. "We never tie cans to dogs' tails!" ”

“ The dogs barked—and Ted could now hear the tones of two different animals—the cat mewed, the monkey screeched and chattered, and the parrot cried:
"Give Polly a cracker! Polly wants a crack-crack-cracker!"
"I guess the alligator is the only one that [Pg 49] isn't saying anything," remarked Mr. Martin to his wife as they entered. "And I never heard that alligators make a noise."
"Yes they do!" said Janet, eagerly. "I read it in my natural history book. They make a noise like a grunt. At least it's either alligators or crocodiles, I've forgotten which. But one kind bellows like a bull." ”

“ Into the tent were moved the cages of the white mice and the white rats, the tank containing Slider, the pet alligator, the cage of Mr. Nip, the parrot, and the box of Jack, the monkey. Snuff, Skyrocket and Turnover were on hand. Tip and Top were all ready to perform their tricks.
"Do you think we'll have a big crowd?" asked Janet of Ted, when everything was arranged and it was almost time for the show to begin.
"Sure we will!" he answered. "Everybody I met is coming—all the fellows and girls and a lot of men and women. We'll make a lot of money for the orphans." ”

“ Martin agreed that no better use could be made of the money.
"You must take good care of your pets from now until the time of the show," he said. "Don't let them get away or become ill, or you will not be able to give a good circus."
"Let's go out to the barn now, and see if they are all right," proposed Janet.
"All right," agreed Teddy.
It was early evening, and light enough to see in the barn. Top and Skyrocket barked a welcome, Snuff and Turnover mewed their delight at seeing the children, and while Mr. Nip shrieked away about being a "crack-crack-cracker" Jack chattered. ”

“ In her earlier days Janet had a large rag doll, which had been named Miss Muffin, just why no one knew. But as she grew older and had other dolls, and finally had come to play more with her brother and the pets than with such toys, Janet had forgotten all about Miss Muffin. So the rag doll had been tossed here and there, sometimes in one corner and sometimes in another, getting more ragged, torn and dirty as the weeks went by. ”

“ I hope you Curlytops aren't running away to see a circus," he added doubtfully.
"Oh, no, sir!" exclaimed Janet. "We're looking for our lost dog, and we thought maybe it was with this show. Two dogs we had, Tip and Top," she went on. "They were white poodles and they belonged to Uncle Toby and they could do tricks. But one was stolen when we were bringing them home, and the other night Top was taken from our barn. It's our dogs we're looking for, not a circus."
"Besides, we're going to have a circus of our own," added Teddy. "That is, we are if we get Tip and Top back." ”

“ Maybe we'll buy more pets."
"Oh, I hope not!" laughed his mother. "You have enough now."
As the days passed the Curlytops and their friends worked with Uncle Toby's animals, teaching them several new tricks. More than once Teddy and Janet wished they had Tip, the missing dog, as he had performed so well with Top. But no word had come about him, and it was felt he was gone forever.
"Skyrocket is good," Teddy told his boy chums, "but he isn't as good a trick dog as Tip and Top were when they did their tricks together."
"Maybe we can teach Jack, the monkey, some new tricks," suggested Harry Kent. ”

“ Nip's cage and scratched the head of the red and green parrot.
"I guess they do," Teddy answered. "If they don't we'll teach our Slider to do a trick. I'm going to take him out of his tank."
The cage of the little pet alligator was a sort of tank, in the bottom of which was some water, and in this were little pebbles, like those in some goldfish bowls. The tank stood near a window in the barn where the sun shone in, for Mr. Martin had told the Curlytops that their pets who lived in warm, or tropical, countries must be kept where it was warm and sunny. ”

“ Martin.
"Uncle Toby surely did!" declared the housekeeper. "It seemed he couldn't say 'no' where animals were concerned. By this time the house began to be rather overrun with pets, so he built this room out of the dining room, with special cages—cubby-holes I call 'em—for the pets. I did think Snuff would be the last one, but after that came the white mice and rats."
"It's usually the other way about," said Mrs. Martin, with a smile. "When the cat comes the mice go. But this time the mice came after the cat arrived." ”

“ Nip. If they take him away he can't be in our circus. Course he can't do tricks like Skyrocket and Top, but he's nice to look at. The burglars shan't get Mr. Nip!"
Teddy slipped out of bed and went, as softly as he could, to the room where his father and mother slept. They were sound in slumber, which is the reason neither of them heard the parrot talking and screeching. Besides, the rooms of Teddy and Janet were nearer the kitchen.
"Daddy! Mother! Wake up!" whispered Teddy. ”

“ They give me the shivers, though Uncle Toby said some snakes do a lot of good in this world, by [Pg 45] catching rats and mice. But he didn't bring in any snakes!"
"Do you mean to say he has a parrot?" asked Mr. Martin.
"Don't you hear him?" questioned Mrs. Watson. "Listen!"
As she finished speaking the Curlytops heard a shrill:
"Cracker! Cracker! Give Polly a crack-crack-cracker!"
"Oh, it is a parrot!" cried Janet in delight.
"And is there a monkey, too?" demanded Ted.
"An' a han' ordan! Is dere a han' ordan?" asked Trouble.
"No hand organ, child, no," answered Mrs. Watson. ”

“ And from the other house again came the appeal:
"Patrick! Mary Ann! Mr. Martin! Somebody! Come and get the fuzzy burglar!"
By this time Mr. Martin, who had gotten up, had been told by his wife that something was wrong in Mrs. Blake's house. He put on some clothes and hurried downstairs, carrying a flashlight in one hand and his revolver in the other.
"Oh!" exclaimed Janet, who, with Teddy, watched her father go, "Daddy's going to shoot the funny burglar." ”

“ If he never comes back—and I don't believe he ever will—the pets are yours to keep. I'd keep them if I were you—all except the pigeons. There's [Pg 63] a boy down the street who will take them and be glad to get 'em. The pets are valuable—especially Tip and Top, the dogs. They do tricks separately, but they do more tricks together—a sort of team, you know. Those dogs are very valuable for a show."
"Then I know what we can do," said Mr. Martin. "We can sell the pets Uncle Toby left and give the money to a home for children, or something like that. I'll do it—we'll sell the pets!" ”

“ It's in a little tent—a regular side show. I'll put you off near it. But do you think it will be safe for you to go there alone and ask for your lost dogs?"
"Oh, we won't go right in and ask for them," explained Teddy. He and his sister had talked it over, and they had made up their minds what they would do. "We'll just go into the show—'cause we have money to pay for our tickets," the Curlytop boy explained. "Then if we see Tip and Top there we'll take 'em right away."
"That's what we will!" declared Janet. "And if that show man won't give our dogs to us we'll call a policeman." ”

“ It is cruel to have any pet suffer for water to drink, especially in summer. So if you keep pets of any kind, don't feed them too much, but give them plenty of water. They never can take too much of this.
"When you going to have your circus?" asked Jimmy of Teddy, when the animals had quieted down, eating the pieces of buns.
"Oh, pretty soon, I guess. Janet and I are going to teach them a lot of new tricks."
"I wish I could help," said Jimmy.
"You can," Teddy promised. "Jan and I will need someone to help us with the circus. I'm going to ask Jack Turton and Harry Kent, too. ”

“ What is it?" asked Trouble, coming up just then.
"Oh, you're going to help all right!" laughed Janet. "You're going to drive Turnover and Skyrocket with my old rag doll, Miss Muffin, in the express wagon, and I'm sure you'll be so darling and funny that everyone will laugh."
"And I hope Jack does his jumping trick," said Teddy. "It would be great if we had Tip and Top to perform together. We could charge twenty-five cents for big people to come in if we had the two trick dogs."
"Well, one is better than none," said Janet. "It's a good thing we have Top." ”

“ This, however, did not worry the Curlytops. They liked it, and, a little later, they were on their way back toward Cresco. The Curlytops liked their new pets, and they also loved those they had had for a longer time—Skyrocket and Turnover.
"We'll try to get home early," said Mr. Martin to his wife, as he steered the automobile through the streets of Pocono. "We'll have to fix up a place for these pets."
"Yes," agreed his wife. "They are going to be quite a care. But the children will love them." ”