The Curlytops and Their Playmates Part 34

"Looks so," agreed Uncle Toby. "Well, we've found Trouble, anyhow.

That's the big thing. I don't know how this man got him or what he intended to do with him. But I'm going to tell the police. I guess he'd better have a doctor, too," he added. "He's cut his head in his fall.

Ted, you and Tom go to the next house," he went on. "There's a telephone there. Tell Mr. Hick to call up the police, let them know we have found the missing boy and have them send out a doctor. It's a long walk to Mr.

Hick's place, but I guess you won't be afraid. Then come back here. I don't want to leave this man alone, as I'd have to do if we all went away in the auto."

"We'll go to the telephone," said Tom and Ted, and Harry went with them.

As soon as the boys started tramping through the gathering dusk to Mr.

Hick's house, Janet quieted Trouble and got Skyrocket to stop barking.

This last was hard because the dog was so overjoyed at being with his friends again. There was a broken rope around his neck, showing that he had been kept tied up since he had been taken away. But he seemed to have been well treated and fed.

"Can Trouble tell us what happened and how this man got him?" asked Uncle Toby of Janet, who was holding her little brother. The "tramp," as he was called, still lay where he had fallen in a faint.

Janet understood Trouble's baby talk better than any one else, and she soon had his story out of him. He had wandered out of the store, it seemed, and on the sidewalk in front had been spoken to by the man who had brought him to the lonely cabin. The tramp and Trouble rode out to the cabin in a farmer's sled, so the little boy said.

"I can understand how that might happen," said Uncle Toby. "Some farmer would be glad to give the man and Trouble a ride out into the country.

And it might have been some farmer from a distance, who didn't know that no one lived here. Such a farmer wouldn't be surprised at Trouble and the man getting out here at the lonely cabin. Well, things are coming out all right, and maybe this tramp didn't intend to do anything mean.

We'll have to wait until he gets better so he can tell us what happened."

The stranger was still lying very quiet on the floor of the lonely cabin. It was a long time before the three boys came back, but soon after them the constable and the doctor arrived. The doctor said the man was not badly hurt, but should have good care. And as it was thought he might have tried to kidnap Trouble he was put under arrest.

Of course the man himself did not know this, for he was still in a faint. The doctor said the blow on his head caused this. But he was taken away by the constable and the doctor to the doctor's own home, where he could be well cared for until he was well enough to be put in jail, for he was under arrest for having carried off Trouble.

Then the Curlytops and their playmates went on to Uncle Toby's cabin, a happy jolly crowd, now that all worry was removed. They had William with them, and also Skyrocket.

"But I wonder how that tramp got my dog?" mused Ted.

"He might have found him wandering in the woods," said Uncle Toby. But he did not really believe this. There was something queer about that tramp.

CHAPTER XXII

A HAPPY REUNION

Such joyous times as there were next day! It was the day before Christmas, and, as every one knows, it is the jolliest time in the year, with one exception. That exception is Christmas itself.

"When are we going to the station to meet the folks?" asked the Curlytops and their playmates, over and over again. For Mr. and Mrs.

Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, and the mother of Harry and Mary, now out of the hospital, were to come on the same train, to spend the Christmas holidays at Uncle Toby's.

"Oh, we'll go soon now," said Mr. Bardeen, and the children could hardly wait. Uncle Toby had arranged for an extra automobile to bring the grown folks from the station to his cabin, as the Bardeen car would be well filled.

After what seemed many hours, though it was really not more than a wait of thirty minutes at the station, the toot of a whistle was heard around a curve in the track.

"Here comes the train!" cried Ted.

"Oh, what a lovely Christmas this is going to be!" sighed Janet.

Out of the car came the mother and father of the Curlytops, then the mother and father of Tom and Lola, and then, more slowly, Mrs. Benton.

"Oh, we're so glad to see you!" cried the Curlytops and their playmates, each to the proper parents. There was hugging and kissing, and in excited tones the story of the missing boy and dog was quickly told.

"It is very good of you, Mr. Bardeen, to ask me out here," said Mrs.

Benton. "I feel sure I shall grow well and strong now, and I can look after my two children."

"That's all right, Susan!" was the hearty answer. "I'm glad to have you and the children. We're going to have a jolly Christmas."

And indeed it seemed so, for Mr. and Mrs. Martin found a chance to tell Ted and Janet that it was all right about the money--that Mr. Martin was not going to lose it after all. His trip had saved it for him.

As the automobiles were about to start off, the constable came up to Uncle Toby and said:

"That strange man--the one who fell and hurt himself at the cabin when you found the kidnapped boy--wants to see you, Mr. Bardeen."

"Wants to see me?" asked Uncle Toby, in surprise.

"Yes. It seems he is much better now, and is in his right mind."

"Was he out of his mind before?" asked Uncle Toby, while the others listened eagerly.

"Yes, he was most of the time, though not always. He's a soldier, it seems, or was. He fought in the big war and was hurt or ga.s.sed, or something, and lost his mind. He really doesn't know what happened to him, except that he ran away from different hospitals, got to this country somehow, and has been wandering around ever since, living as best he could. But he's all right now. The doctor said that fall he had did something to his head and gave him back his right senses, so he's all right now, and he's asking for you."

"What's his name, and why does he want to see me?" asked Uncle Toby.

"He says he wants to explain that he didn't try to kidnap the little boy," the constable went on. "And he didn't steal the dog, either. The dog came to the cabin, made friends with him, and the man kept him.

Though maybe the dog would have gone to you if he hadn't been tied up.

But the man's very anxious to see you and explain all this. I said I'd go get you. I went out to your cabin, and a lady there said you'd come here to the station, so I hurried back, and here I am. Could you come and see that man for a few minutes?"

"Why, I suppose I could, yes," answered Uncle Toby. "But who is he, anyhow? You say he was a soldier in the big war?"

"Yes. And he says his name is Frank Benton. He--"

But there was an excited cry from the mother of Mary and Harry.

"Frank Benton!" she exclaimed. "Why, that was my husband's name! My husband fought in the war! We thought he was killed, but we never could be sure of it, as no record was found. Oh, if this should be your missing father, children!" and with tears in her eyes she looked at her boy and girl.

"We'll soon find out!" cried Uncle Toby.

"To the doctor's! First house around that corner," directed the constable.

Trembling with eagerness and hope, Mrs. Benton, with Harry and Mary, went into the room where the injured man lay in a white bed. He was much better now, and the constable did not go along, since he was not to be arrested, as what he had done had been when he was out of his head through a war injury.

"Frank!" cried Mrs. Benton, as soon as she caught sight of the man.

"Susan!" he murmured, holding out his arms. And then such a happy reunion as there was. "My, how big the children have become!" exclaimed Mr. Benton, through his glad tears. "To think I saw them in the room with the Curlytops and didn't know them."

"And they didn't know you," said his wife. "But now we have each other!

Oh, how happy I am. This will be the best Christmas in all the world!"