The Curlytops and Their Playmates or Jolly Times Through the Holidays   By: Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962)

[Illustration]

HOWARD R. GARIS

[Illustration: LOOKING IN THROUGH THE WINDOW SHE SAW THE FACE OF A MAN. Page 160]

THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES

OR

Jolly Times Through the Holidays

BY

HOWARD R. GARIS

AUTHOR OF "THE CURLYTOPS SERIES," "UNCLE WIGGILY BEDTIME STORIES," "UNCLE WIGGILY ANIMAL STORIES," ETC.

Illustrations by JULIA GREENE

NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES

Printed in U. S. A.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I TROUBLE IN TROUBLE 1

II THE POSTMAN'S WHISTLE 14

III WHAT SHALL WE DO? 25

IV UNCLE TOBY AGAIN 36

V OFF TO THE COUNTRY 48

VI A FLURRY OF SNOW 60

VII IN THE STORM 70

VIII A STALLED TRAIN 80

IX NEW PLAYMATES 91

X AMONG THE PETS 104

XI WHERE DID TROUBLE GO? 115

XII OFF TO CRYSTAL LAKE 128

XIII THE LONELY CABIN 139

XIV AT CRYSTAL LAKE 149

XV ON THE SLIPPERY HILL 161

XVI A REAL TOBOGGAN 174

XVII THE SNOW HOUSE 184

XVIII THANKSGIVING 197

XIX SKYROCKET IS GONE 206

XX TROUBLE IS MISSING 216

XXI TROUBLE AND SKYROCKET 229

XXII A HAPPY REUNION 238

THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES

CHAPTER I

TROUBLE IN TROUBLE

"When do you s'pose it'll come, Teddy?"

"Oh, pretty soon now, I guess. We're all ready for it when it does come," and Ted Martin glanced from where he sat over toward a slanting hill made of several long boards nailed to some tall packing boxes. The boxes were piled high at one end, and on top was a little platform, reached by some steps made of smaller boxes.

"It's a good while coming though, isn't it, Ted?" asked his sister Janet, looking up toward the sky.

"Yes, I wish it would hurry," said the boy, giving his cap a twist, thereby making more of a tangle than ever the curly, golden hair that had given him and Janet the nicknames of "Curlytops."

The two children walked around the wooden structure which they had built, with the help of Tom and Lola Taylor, their playmates, after much hard work in hammering, pounding, and the straightening of crooked nails. Now and then Ted and Janet turned their faces to the gray clouds which floated above them.

"I wish it would hurry!" murmured Janet.

"So do I!" exclaimed Ted.

There was a sudden chorus of shouts and laughter coming from around the corner of the house, and another boy and girl rushed up the path.

"What you looking for, Ted?" asked Tom. "An airship?" for Ted's eyes were again turned toward the clouds.

"Or maybe birds," added Lola, with a laugh. "Are you watching to see some of the birds fly south, because it's soon going to be winter? Are you, Ted?"

"Nope!" as the answer. "I'm looking to see when it's going to snow. Mother said a snowstorm was coming, and I'm watching for the first flakes. What's the good of a toboggan slide when there isn't any snow?"

"That's right," chimed in Tom Taylor. "Now we have this toboggan slide made, we want some snow or else we can't ride down on it."

That is what the wooden structure in the yard of the Curlytops was a toboggan slide. Tom and Ted, with the help of some other boys and the aid of a few jolly girls, who brought up boards and boxes (though they couldn't drive the nails straight) had, after much hard work, built up a sort of toboggan slide.