Howard Roger Garis

“ She was about to push on Ted’s feet as they stuck from the log, but he stopped her with a cry.
“Don’t do it! Don’t do it!” he begged. “If you push me any farther I’ll be stuck worse!”
“What’ll I do then?” asked Janet.
“You go get somebody! Get somebody to help me out!” wailed Ted.
“I will!” cried his sister, and without trying any more she hurried away through the woods.
She expected to have to go all the way to the bungalow to tell her father or mother about the plight of poor Teddy. But half way there Janet met two of the lumbermen and to them she told of her brother’s plight. ”

“ Then when Ted turned the large wheel with his hand the flax wheel also went around, one on one side of the attic and one on the other side.
“We’ll play steamboat,” decided Ted. “I’ll be the engineer.”
“I’ll be the captain!” cried Janet.
“What I goin’ to be?” Trouble wanted to know.
“You can be a passenger,” said Ted. “You can ride.”
“Don’t want to wide! I wants to be a cap’n!” protested Trouble.
“Oh, it’s lots of fun to be a passenger,” soothed Janet. “Passengers can eat whenever they want to, but the captain and engineer have to wait until the whistle blows.” ”

“ Then Ted and Trouble noticed that it was not the crow that had the knife that was doing the cawing. It was some other crow farther off in the woods. For if the crow that had flown down and picked up Ted’s knife from the log had opened its mouth to caw, it would have had to drop the knife. A crow must open its beak to call, just as you have to open your mouth to sing, or as a dog opens its mouth to bark. ”

“ He knew this, because he had heard the branches rustling as the animal sent out its strange cry.
There was only one thing left that the beast could be.
“It’s a bobcat!” whispered Ted to himself.
And as he heard again the strange, wailing cry of the beast, he felt sure he had guessed right.
“They claw terrible, and bite!” thought Ted, with a shiver of fear, for he had heard the lumbermen talking about the bobcat, or lynx, which is another name for it. “But maybe it can’t find me,” thought the Curlytop boy hopefully. ”

“ Leading from the mill down into the lake was a sort of small railroad track, sloping like a little hill. And in the middle of the track, and extending up into the mill, was a big chain.
“What’s that for?” asked Ted.
“That chain pulls the logs up from the river, along this inclined runway, into the mill,” answered Mr. Martin. “Once the logs are in the mill they are put on a sort of platform, or on a traveling cradle, and then machinery pushes them close to the big buzz saw and they are cut up into boards.” ”

“ Martin was not in the store when they trudged back, but one of the clerks gave them what they wanted.
“Don’t eat too much cheese,” he warned them. “It isn’t good for Curlytops.”
“Oh we’re not going to eat it,” said Janet.
“It’s for the lame, tame crow,” added Ted.
“What in the world are those kiddies up to now, I wonder,” said one clerk to another. “Talking about a lame, tame crow, and taking him out some cheese!”
“Don’t ask me,” chuckled his companion. “They do more things in a day than I could think of in a week. And that small chap—the one they call Trouble—say, he’s a tyke!” ”

“ Neither of them stopped to think that it might be dangerous for a small boy to crawl into a hollow log after a fox. For though a fox is rather a cowardly creature, slinking around only at night to catch hens out of the coop, still a fox has sharp teeth, and, cornered in a hollow log, one would make a savage fight to get away.
“I’ll crawl in and get him,” said Ted, as he and his sister reached the hollow log. “You stand at the other end,” he directed Janet, “and if he comes out there, grab him!” ”

“ Fluttering down from the sky was a big, black bird. It flew to a low stump of a tree, not far from where the children sat, and there the crow perched, still cawing.
In wonder and hope the children watched the crow. The bird turned its head from side to side, and seemed to be looking about for any danger. He appeared to see the Curlytops, but did not mind them.
Then the crow began moving about on the edge of the stump, stirring up something down in the hollow of it.
[241] “Oh, Ted!” cried Janet. “I believe that crow has a nest in the stump!” ”

“ The Curlytops were a bit sad and disappointed for a while, but soon got over this feeling as there were so many things to do in the woods and so much fun to have in the lumber camp.
Ted had gotten all over his scare of being lost in the woods and of being followed by the bobcat. In fact he wanted to start out to try to hunt the lynx.
“We could easy catch him,” he said to his father.
“I hardly think so,” said Mr. Martin, with a smile. “A lynx is almost as shy as a fox unless he is trailing some animal he isn’t afraid of.” ”

“ Martin said he wished he had taken the other way instead of the one the farmer had told about as being the “least mite shorter.”
“Sometimes the longest way is the best,” said Mr. Martin. “But I think we’re all right now.”
And they were, for in about half an hour longer they were within sight of Mount Major, as it was called, the place where Mr. Martin was to set up the store for the lumbermen.
“Oh, what a lovely place!” cried Janet, as they caught a glimpse of it from a hill just before reaching it.
“Good place to fish,” observed Ted. “I see a lake and a river.” ”

“ The children finally became tired of this game and started another. Then it was “time to eat,” as Trouble said, so they found a flat stump for a table and spread out on it the lunch their father had given them from the store.
“Doesn’t it taste good?” asked Ted of his sister.
“Awful good,” she agreed.
“Better’n it does at home,” added Ted.
“I ’ike it, too,” declared Trouble.
As I suppose you have all noticed, a picnic lunch, even if it is only crackers or bread and butter, tastes better than the finest meal served on plates with silver knives and forks and a spotless tablecloth. ”

“ Toot!” suddenly called Ted.
“Dis for me to get off?” asked William.
“No, that’s the whistle for me and Janet to eat our cookies,” Teddy answered. “Don’t you s’pose we get hungry same as you?”
“All right,” calmly agreed Trouble. “I eat again, too,” and he pulled a second cookie from his pocket. “I eat when whistle blows,” he announced.
“Don’t bother him—let him eat when he wants to,” whispered Janet to Ted. ”

“ The driver of each one was hurt and Policeman Kelly had to call the ambulance to take them both to the hospital.
“How did it happen?” asked Ted of Harry Kent, one of his chums.
“I didn’t see it,” Harry answered; “but I heard a man say one car tried to turn the corner and the man in it didn’t put his hand out.”
“You ought always to put your hand out [18] when you’re going to turn a corner,” said Ted.
“Sure you ought,” agreed Harry. “I guess he’ll do it after this.”
“Here comes the ambulance!” cried Janet, as a loudly clanging bell was heard down the street. ”

“ When the second supper had been cleared away—though, truth to tell Ted did not leave much in the way of food on the table—the two boys “fussed” over the radio instrument, “picking up” distant stations.
It was not long after Mrs. Martin had received the joyful news of Ted’s safety over the telephone that her husband and the other searchers came back to Mount Major. The first thing Mr. Martin asked was:
“Any news?”
“The very best!” cried his wife, happily. “Teddy’s in the woods cabin of Mr. Brixton.”
“I know where his place is!” said Tod Everett. “My, but I’m glad that boy’s found!” ”

“ The front of the shoe is fastened by a chain to the body of the wagon, and thus one wheel is dragged along the ground, acting as a brake. It is just the same as when you may be coasting along on one roller skate, you drag the other foot to act as a brake.
Nearer and nearer the automobile of the Curlytops came to the wagon load of poles. And just when it seemed as if they must “bunk,” as Janet called it, though perhaps the “bunk” would not be very hard—just then the driver, who was walking beside his horse, with the reins in his hand, came to a wider place in the road. ”

“ Ted asked.
“No,” his father replied. “A steam engine winds the chain up on what is called a drum, just as a rope is wound up on a derrick. In fact, this runway is like a derrick, only it is stretched out on the ground instead of being up in the air.”
The boys were much interested in looking over the machinery of the lumber mill, and they wished for the day to come when it would start—when the engine would puff and clouds of smoke and steam would pour from the big stack in the roof.
“I think I hear your mother calling,” said Mr. Martin, after a while. “We’d better have something to eat.” ”

“ In this way [179] an owl can fly close to the creature it wishes to catch without being heard.
Ted laughed again as the owl hooted and vanished in the night. The boy felt better now, and he was beginning to wonder if he would have to spend the night alone in the forest when, suddenly, that same strange cry sounded again. This time so near at hand—in a tree directly over Teddy’s head—that the boy jumped.
“It wasn’t the owl after all!” he thought. “It must be the bobcat still after me!” ”

“ Jenk’s tame crow,” answered [8] Mrs. Martin. “He really is so funny! He ought to be in a show. Look at him!”
She pointed to the open window of Mrs. Jenk’s house, where, on the sill, was perched a black crow. This crow had been caught by Mr. Jenk in the woods some years before. He had tamed the bird, which was lame from having been injured in a trap, and now it could do quite a number of tricks, besides saying a few words, or what sounded like words. The lame, tame crow could also whistle, often fooling Skyrocket, the Curlytops’ dog. ”

“ After a while Trouble became tired of sitting in a chair, even if he could eat cookies whenever he wished, and he decided he did not want to play steamboat any more. Teddy wouldn’t let him spin either of the wheels for fear he might break them.
But the Curlytops played together, and finally Janet got Ted to let her be “engineer.”
[95] “For,” she said, “if women can vote, and I’m going to when I grow up, they can be engineers on a steamboat.”
“Not real they can’t!” declared Ted. ”

“ Martin had thought, the settlement of his fire loss by the insurance company would take some time. During that time his store would be in charge of a trusted man whose name was Henderson, and he could thus well afford to go to the lumber camp.
The Curlytops and Trouble were so excited over the prospect of fun in the lumber camp that nothing they played around their home now, and no sports that they took part in with their playmates, seemed to satisfy them. They were always thinking of [57] what they would do at Mount Major, and planning picnics and excursions there. ”

“ Martin to the children. “Chips are fine for putting on the fire to make the tea-kettle boil quickly.”
“I wish I could chop a tree,” sighed Trouble.
“Oh, you mustn’t ever touch one of the men’s axes!” warned Mrs. Martin, for she could read Trouble’s mind at times. “They are so sharp they would cut you badly.”
“They’re shiny, too,” said Trouble. “I guess maybe a crow would like to carry one off like they took your knife, wouldn’t they, Ted?” he asked.
“Ho! Ho! A crow would have a fine time trying to fly away with an axe!” laughed Ted. ”

“ Martin,” said Mr. Jenk, “especially after your fire trouble.”
“You’re not disturbing us,” said Mr. Martin pleasantly. “As for the fire, it didn’t amount to as much as we feared. It was really only some fireworks.”
“What I came over for,” said Mr. Jenk, as he took his seat in a chair, “is to ask you if you have seen Jim this morning.”
“Your tame crow?” asked Mr. Martin.
“Yes, Jim,” went on Mr. Jenk. “My crow is missing, and I wouldn’t lose him for a good deal. He’s worth more than a hundred dollars and he gets cuter and smarter every day.”
“Oh, is Jim gone?” exclaimed Ted. “How did it happen?” ”

“ The sawdust pile continued to be a place of much fun for the Curlytops. Sometimes they would start at the top and slide to the bottom of the big heap, getting their curly hair full of the dust, to the despair of their mother and Lucy. ”

“ For sometimes when there is not enough water in the radiator [80] of an automobile, what little there is boils and turns to steam, and this heat makes the red column of alcohol on the tube go nearly to the top. It was almost there now.
“I have plenty of water and oil,” said Mr. Martin. “It must be something else.”
He stopped the car and got out to raise the hood. Ted also got out, for he knew a little about cars and once or twice he had seen things that needed fixing almost as soon as had his father. ”

“ It only goes to show that you never can tell what will happen in the woods.
At first Ted had an idea that it would be easy to catch a crow. He had made a sort of trap from a box that could be turned upside down and held raised at one end with a stick. To the stick was fastened a string. Ted thought it was a fine trap.
“I’ll raise the box,” he explained to Janet, “and I’ll put some corn under it. Crows like corn. I’ll be hiding off in the bushes with the end of the string in my hand. Then when a crow goes under the box to get the corn, I’ll pull the string and down will come the box.” ”

“ Martin to Trouble. “He means a spark arrester would stop the sparks from flying from the stacks. Arrest means to stop, you know.”
“How do they stop the sparks,” asked Ted.
“Generally they put a piece of wire netting over the top of the chimney or smokestack,” his mother answered. “The smoke can go through the netting, but the sparks can’t. It is the big, red hot sparks, flying from the stack, that do the damage. In most locomotives there are these spark arresters of iron or wire netting.”
“I never saw any,” Janet said. ”

“ Ted had placed two chairs in the middle of the attic floor between the two old-fashioned spinning wheels. One of the chairs was a “cabin” for Passenger Trouble. The other was the pilot house where Janet stood to steer the boat.
“All aboard!” cried Engineer Teddy, as [93] he stood with one hand on the spokes of the big wheel, ready to turn it. Ted soon found that if he turned the big wheel, the small flax wheel would spin much faster than the one he turned. This was because of the difference in size. If Ted had turned the flax wheel by hand the larger wheel would have moved more slowly. ”

“ However the bobcat—and by a glimpse he had of the beast Ted was sure it was a lynx—did not accept the invitation to come down and be clubbed. The animal snarled again and moved out on the limb over Ted’s [180] head so the boy had a good view of it. Then he saw more clearly what it was—an animal like a cat, only three times as large, and with curious tufts of fur on its ears. The lynx is about the only animal that has ear tassels. ”