The Curlytops at Silver Lake; Or, On the Water with Uncle Ben

Ted and Janet, as well as Lola and Tom, heard what Uncle Ben and Mr. Martin said. And the same thought came to the Curlytops and their friends.

“Oh, take us with you!” begged Teddy.

“We couldn’t think of it, my boy,” answered his father. “There may be hard work in getting those men out of the water, and besides, in this storm I couldn’t dream of taking you little children out on the lake; could we, Uncle Ben?”

“No, indeed!” was the answer, and the sailor ran across the dock to loosen a large rowboat, in which he and Mr. Martin intended to go to the rescue.

“But we want to see you save the shipwreck!” exclaimed Ted. “Please Daddy, mayn’t we go?”

“Of course not!” answered his father. “But if you’ll promise not to fall off the pier you may stay here and watch us. You can see all that happens from here.”

Ted knew it would be of no use to ask again, so he made the best of it.

“Look!” suddenly said Tom. “The men are rowing away in a little boat.”

He pointed to the motor boat, which was now right side up again, but was very low in the water, as if the waves, washing over it, had half filled it. And as he pointed the others saw what he meant.

The two men in the wrecked motor boat, who had been waving a white handkerchief as a signal, must have been towing a rowboat behind their launch. And when they were tossed into the lake by the storm, they swam around and got in the smaller craft. In this they were now rowing away from the wreck as hard as they could row.

“Well, I guess we don’t have to go out to save them,” said Uncle Ben, who was loosening a rope that held the largest of Mr. Martin’s rowboats to the dock. “They are rescuing themselves.”

“It does look so,” replied Mr. Martin. “I wonder if they’ll come here.”

While Uncle Ben and Mr. Martin stood on the pier, hardly knowing what to do, Ted saw something else.

“Look!” he cried, pointing over the windy waves. “There’s another motor boat chasing the first one.”

“Yes, there is a big craft coming from near the Point,” said Uncle Ben. “And it looks as if they were going to the wreck.”

Daddy Martin took a telescope from the boathouse at the dock, and through this glass, which made things that were far off seem close by, he looked across the lake.

“The second boat is Mr. Blake’s,” said the father of the Curlytops. “He’s the storekeeper at the point. And Mr. Addison, the deputy sheriff, is in with him. They helped get Skyrocket back, you know.”

“Maybe they’re going to arrest the Gypsies that had Skyrocket,” said Ted, leaning over to pat his dog, that had come out in the storm with the children.

“No, they wouldn’t be out on the lake if they were after the Gypsies,” said Uncle Ben.

“Maybe the men in the wreck were Gypsies,” suggested Ted. “Look! They’re rowing away fast!”

This was true enough. The two men who had been spilled out of the motor boat, which now seemed to be sinking, were rowing away as fast as they could.

“And Mr. Blake’s boat is chasin’ ’em!” exclaimed Tom.

“No, Mr. Blake’s boat is going up to the wreck,” said Daddy Martin, as he looked through the telescope. “I think we’d better go out there, too,” he added to Uncle Ben.

“All right. Just as you say,” was the answer, and the sailor began to get out the oars.

“We’ll go in the big motor boat,” decided Daddy Martin. “At first when I thought we’d have to pick up the men, I thought the rowboat would be best. But now I think it will be better to go in the motor boat. We can get there more quickly, and if there is anybody left on the sinking boat we can take them off.”

“Oh, can’t we go if you go in the motor boat?” begged Ted.

Daddy Martin looked at Uncle Ben, and then, after a moment, the father of the Curlytops answered:

“Well, I think if we go in the big motor boat it will be all right. The wind isn’t blowing quite so hard now. Tumble in and come along. It will be all right.”

“And can we take Skyrocket, too?” asked Janet.

“Oh, yes, bring your dog,” said Uncle Ben.

Soon the Curlytops, with Tom and Lola, not forgetting Skyrocket, were aboard the Gull, as Daddy Martin’s motor boat was named, and out over the lake they went.

The men rowing from the wreck were now some distance away from their sinking boat. The other motor boat, belonging to Mr. Blake, the storekeeper, was coming nearer and soon two men in it began waving their hands to Daddy Martin and Uncle Ben.

When they were near enough to talk, Daddy Martin called and asked:

“What’s the matter?”

“A lot is the matter!” answered Mr. Blake, whom the children well remembered as having helped, with Mr. Addison, in getting Skyrocket away from the Gypsies. “A whole lot is the matter, Mr. Martin. There has been a robbery at the Point, and we are chasing after the robbers.”

“Robbers!” cried Uncle Ben, while the Curlytops and Tom and Lola listened to hear all that was said. “Robbers! What did they take, and where are they now?”

“They took a lot of money and stamps from the post-office,” went on Mr. Blake. “They broke into it last night, in the storm, and blew open the safe. The wind and the rain made so much noise that no one heard them.

“This morning, when the postmaster came down to open his office, he saw what had happened. Then we heard about two strange men down at one of the docks in a motor boat, and we thought they might be the burglars; so Mr. Addison and I came after them. We’ve been chasing this boat for some time now, and a little while ago something happened to it. Maybe the motor blew up. It’s sinking, isn’t it?”

“That’s what it is!” chimed in Mr. Addison. “Now we can catch the two men who were in it and find out whether or not they took the stamps and money from the post-office.”

“I’m glad we’re here,” whispered Ted.

“The men aren’t in the sinking boat,” said Uncle Ben. “We saw them jump out or fall out, after they waved a white rag for help. There they go, now!” and he pointed to the rowboat, in which were the two men pulling hard toward shore.

“Oh, ho! So that’s how they are getting away, are they?” cried Mr. Blake. “We saw they had a rowboat tied on behind their motor craft. Then there came a dash of rain and we couldn’t see anything more until we saw the sinking boat. So we hurried toward it, and then we saw you.”

“Shall we try to catch those two men?” asked Mr. Addison. “We can easily do it in our motor boat.”

“Let’s first look and see if they left behind any of the money and stamps,” said Mr. Blake. “If we get back what they took out of the safe I don’t care so much about getting the men themselves. We can arrest them later, maybe. Let’s look in the motor boat.”

So the Gull, in which were the Curlytops with their father and Uncle Ben, and the other motor boat, in which rode Mr. Blake and Mr. Addison, steered toward the sinking craft. And no sooner had Ted looked over the side of the boat which was half sunk, than he cried:

“I see a satchel!”

“And I see a box!” added Janet.

“Maybe that’s the post-office stuff!” cried Mr. Blake.

Going close to the boat, half full of water, from which the two men had jumped, or been tipped out, Mr. Blake lifted out the satchel. It was opened, and inside were stamps and some money.

“This is the stuff the burglars took from the post-office!” cried Mr. Addison.

“Good!” exclaimed his friend. “They didn’t have time to take it with them in the rowboat.”

“Maybe they were afraid to get the stamps wet,” suggested Teddy. “Stamps get sticky in the water.”

“So they do,” replied Uncle Ben. “Well, anyhow, the robbers left behind them the stuff they took. Now do you want to chase after them?” he asked Mr. Blake.

“It’s too late!” said Mr. Addison, pointing across the lake. “They are going to land on the shore now, a mile away. We’ll have to get them later, if we can.”

“Then let’s try now!” shouted Mr. Blake. “Might as well! Here, I’ll take the satchel of money and stamps in my boat,” he said to Daddy Martin. “We’ll keep on after the burglars, and if you think it won’t sink all the way down, you might tow this motor boat over to your dock,” and he nodded to the craft in which the burglars had been riding before the accident happened.

“All right,” answered the father of the Curly tops. “I’ll tow this motor boat back to my dock. But there’s a queer box in it. Do you want to take that with you? Maybe that has some money and stamps in it.”

“No, it seems to be empty,” said Mr. Blake, leaning over and lifting up the queer box, which was made of wood. “I guess this wasn’t taken from the post-office,” he said. “The burglars may have stolen it somewhere else. We’ll leave that in their boat. Maybe they stole the boat, too. Tow it to shore, Mr. Martin—that and the box and we’ll keep on after the burglars.”

So while Mr. Blake and Mr. Addison, in their motor boat, puffed on toward the place where the two men had landed in their rowboat, Daddy Martin and Uncle Ben fastened a rope from the half sunken craft to their Gull. Then they began slowly towing it back across Silver Lake. But not before Daddy Martin had lifted out the queer, wooden box.

So much had happened, and there was so much to talk about, that no one paid much attention to this box. It was not until the Curlytops and the others had landed at the Sunnyside dock that any one thought of the box. The motor boat from which the burglars had jumped was made fast to the pier, in shallow water, so that if it sunk completely it could easily be got up again. But it seemed to want to sink only half way.

“My, you’ve had a lot of adventures!” exclaimed Mother Martin, when she heard all that had happened. “I wonder if they got the robbers?”

“No, they got away,” answered Uncle Ben, who had gone out to a telephone to inquire. “The robbers got away, but we got back the money and stamps they took.”

“And the queer box, too,” added Ted.

“What queer box is that?” asked Mrs. Martin.

“Why, one we found in the wrecked motor boat,” her husband answered. “Here it is. I haven’t had time to look at it.”

As he spoke he handed the box to his wife. It was square, and made of some light and finely polished wood.

“Why!” exclaimed Mrs. Martin, as she looked at the queer box, “do you know what I think this is?”

“What?” asked her husband.

“I think it’s the same queer box that was stolen from Mrs. Ransom,” was the answer. “I remember what she told me about it. I never saw it, that I remember, though I may have. But I’m sure this is the same one she told about as being taken from her store the time it was robbed.”

“It does look like it,” agreed Mr. Martin, as he took the box again for a second examination. “Yes, I believe it is,” he added. “Then the same burglars that broke into Mrs. Ransom’s store must have robbed the post-office.”

“We had better send word to Mrs. Ransom that we have a box like the one taken from her,” went on Mrs. Martin. “We could send it to her, or ask her to come here and look at it. Maybe the deputy sheriff, Mr. Addison, would rather we kept the box here until he sees if he can catch the robbers.”

“Maybe,” agreed Mr. Martin. “We could ask Mrs. Ransom to come and visit us for a few days, and show her the box then.”

“We’ll do that!” decided his wife.

So it happened that, about two days later, Mrs. Ransom came to Silver Lake to spend a few days at Sunnyside. The post-office burglars were not caught, but all the money and stamps they had taken were found in the boat which they left after it seemed to be sinking. But it did not sink, and later on it was mended and made almost as good as new. It had been stolen from a boatman near the Point, and he was glad to get it back.

In one of the lockers of the boat were found some of the knives stolen from Mr. Henderson’s store in Cresco. The burglars had gone about, breaking into many places, it was believed. The Curlytops remembered about the man who had hoisted the sail for Ted, the time he was blown out into the lake, and it was thought perhaps he might have been one of the bad men, but this was never found out for certain.

Mr. Henderson was glad to get back his stolen knives.

“And I imagine you’re glad to get the queer box that your brother, the sailor, gave you, back, aren’t you, Mrs. Ransom?” asked Mrs. Martin, when the storekeeper had come to Silver Lake.

“Yes, indeed, I am glad to get it back,” said Mrs. Ransom. “And I’d be more glad if I could find my brother who gave it to me—my brother who has been gone so many years. But I don’t suppose I ever shall. Did they find any of my other things that the burglars took when they robbed my store?”

“No, the queer box was the only thing they left behind in the boat, besides the knives, the post-office money and the stamps,” replied Mr. Martin.

“Well, well! I guess I’m lucky to get my brother’s box back—it has his picture in it, and some trinkets,” went on Mrs. Ransom. “And I hear you Curlytops got back your dog from the Gypsies,” she added.

“Yes, we got Skyrocket back,” answered Ted. “And we’re sorry we couldn’t get the burglars that robbed your store.”

“Oh, well, we can’t have everything we want,” said Mrs. Ransom. “I’m glad it was no worse.”

Mrs. Ransom turned over and over in her hands the queer box which she feared she would never see again. She was very glad to get it back.

“I declare I’ve forgotten how to open it!” she said with a laugh, as she looked at it on all sides. “There’s a secret drawer in it, and I was just trying to find it. I was wondering whether the burglars took out my brother’s picture and the trinkets I kept so many years. I wonder if the box is empty.”

“Let me see,” said Uncle Ben, reaching out his hand for the box. He shook it as he held it close to his ear.

“There’s something inside,” he said.

“But you can’t get it out unless you know how to open the secret top and drawer,” said Mrs. Ransom. “My brother showed me how a good many years ago, but, I declare! I seem to have forgotten.”

And then a funny thing happened. All at once, as Uncle Ben held the queer box, there was a click, and it opened. A small drawer shot out, and in it was a picture of a man, and also some little curiosities, pink shells, red sea beans and bits of coral.

“There you are, Mrs. Ransom!” said Uncle Ben. “I’ve opened the queer box for you.”

“Why, why, how did you do it?” cried the storekeeper. “I thought nobody but my brother and I and the Japanese man that made the box knew how to open it. How did you know?” and she looked in a strange way at Uncle Ben. “How did you know?” she asked again.

“Why, I—I don’t exactly know,” was his answer in a strange voice. “It seemed to come to me all at once. I just pressed on a secret spring, under this queer, carved flower, and the box opened. As soon as I had it in my hands I remembered that I had heard of this box once before.”

“Are you—no, it isn’t possible that you can be my lost brother!” said Mrs. Ransom. “You don’t look a bit as he used to look, though I suppose he has changed after all these years. But how did you know the secret of his box?”

“What was your brother’s name?” asked Uncle Ben.

“John Dowd,” was the woman’s answer. “Dowd was my name before I married. Yes, John Dowd was my brother. But I’m afraid I’ll never see him again. I’m glad to get back the box he gave me, but I suppose he has been dead many years.”

“No, he hasn’t, either!” suddenly cried Uncle Ben, springing to his feet. “It all comes back to me now! It all comes back! I know how I remembered the secret of the box, too.”

“But you aren’t my brother!” cried Mrs. Ransom.

“No. But I have seen your brother, and not less than a few months ago, in New York when I was sick there. He was sick in the same hospital; but he got better before I did, and he left to go on a ship. But before that he got to talking of different things, and he told me about a queer box he once owned. It was this same box, I’m sure, and he told me how to open it by pressing below the carved flower. He made a little picture of the box. It looked just like this.

“That’s how I happened to remember, and how I knew how to open your box,” he went on. “As soon as I had it in my hands it seemed to me as if I had seen it before. But it was because your brother told me about it, and told me just how to open it.”

The Curlytops were listening to all this, and so were Tom and Lola and all the others.

“Oh, can you tell me where my brother is now?” eagerly asked Mrs. Ransom.

“Well, I can tell you where I saw him last—in the New York Hospital,” answered Uncle Ben. “It was there he told me about the queer box he said he had given to his sister. But he said he had not heard from her for a good many years, and he thought she was dead.”

“And I thought he was dead!” cried the storekeeper. “And instead we’re both alive—at least, I hope John is,” she murmured softly.

“Well, he was getting well and strong when he left the hospital,” said Uncle Ben. “Perhaps if you write there, they can tell you on what ship he sailed. I’m sure it’s the same John Dowd who was your brother, for surely there wouldn’t be two of the same name who had given their sisters queer boxes with secret drawers.”

“Did he look anything like that?” asked Mrs. Ransom, as she held out the photograph which had been in the secret drawer of the queer box.

“He didn’t look like that when I saw him in the hospital,” answered Uncle Ben. “But of course that picture was taken a good many years ago.”

“Yes, it was,” said Mrs. Ransom. “It’s been a good while since John gave me the queer box and sailed away. I supposed he was shipwrecked between that time and the present.”

“Yes, he was shipwrecked, he told me,” replied Uncle Ben. “He said he wished he could find his sister, but as he did not tell me your name, of course I did not know you were she.”

“Well, maybe it will turn out all right after all,” said Daddy Martin. “We must write to the hospital and find out.”

And this was done. About a week later the answer came back, giving the name of the ship on which John Dowd had sailed. And, later, when Mrs. Ransom sent a letter to the place where the ship had voyaged to, back an answer came from her brother.

“Oh, I’ve found him! I’ve found him!” Mrs. Ransom wrote to Mrs. Martin when the joyful news came in the letter, for, of course, she had gone back to Cresco by that time. “I’ve found my brother! He is in England, but he will soon be coming back here. Oh, how glad I am.”

“And if the burglars hadn’t taken the queer box, and if Uncle Ben hadn’t known how to open it, maybe she never would have seen her brother,” said Teddy.

“That’s right—maybe I wouldn’t,” agreed Mrs. Ransom when Teddy repeated that to her later. “But now I have found him, I’m almost glad the burglars robbed me. They can keep the other things they took as long as I have my brother back.”

In less than a month John Dowd came sailing back. He was glad to see his sister again, of that you may be sure, and he was very glad to meet, once again, Uncle Ben, and to see the queer box.

“And now everything is found!” said Janet when the long-missing sailor and his sister had come out to Silver Lake to spend a day or two. “We even got our dog back!”

“But we didn’t find the robbers,” said Uncle Ben. “They got away.”

“Tom and I are going to hunt ’em after we get back home,” declared Ted. “Aren’t we, Tom?”

“Sure!” was the answer. “And maybe we’ll find another place they robbed, and get back the stuff they took.”

“You’d better go and find Uncle Ben and ask him to take you all fishing!” laughed Mother Martin.

“Take me, too!” begged Trouble. “Me want fiss!”

“Yes, take Trouble with you, but don’t lose him,” said his mother.

“Come on!” cried Ted. “We’ll go fishing with Uncle Ben!”

They went out in the motor boat, the Curlytops, Tom, Lola and Trouble. On the porch of the bungalow sat Mr. and Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Ransom and her brother, John Dowd.

“How strange everything came about,” said Mrs. Martin. “There was the robbery of your store, Mrs. Ransom, the finding of Uncle Ben on our lawn, Skyrocket being taken by the Gypsies, and the finding of your brother’s queer box in the wrecked boat.”

“Yes, and then I found my brother!” said Mrs. Ransom softly, as she looked at him. “That was best of all!”

The Curlytops stayed at Silver Lake quite a while longer, until it was time to go back to school, and they had many good times on the water with Uncle Ben.

And now, as this story is finished, we will say good-bye for a time, though I hope you will meet the Curlytops again, and hear more of their adventures.