oing out."

"Oh, no!" replied Uncle Toby. "I'm not a policeman. And though I
wouldn't want a burglar to get into my cabin, he wouldn't find very much
to take if he did get in. I guess, most likely, it's some tramp that has
broken into some of the cabins. We'll not worry about that, shall we,
Curlytops?" chuckled Uncle Toby. "If we find any burglars out there
we'll make Skyrocket bite 'em--sha'n't we, Trouble?" and he playfully
pinched William's cheek.

"We make elephant run after 'em!" laughed Trouble.

"That's right!" said Uncle Toby.

Once more they started off in the big comfortable car that so well kept
out the cold. Most of the snow from the recent storm was gone, though
Uncle Toby said there would probably be some left in the woods around
Crystal Lake, where it did not melt as fast as in Pocono.

"I'm glad that telegram wasn't bad news from home," said Ted. "It isn't
any good to get bad news just when you start to have fun."

"That's right," agreed Tom. "My father wasn't feeling very well when we
started, and I thought maybe the message was to say he was worse."

"Mary and I haven't any father to get messages from," said Harry, rather
sadly. "We hardly remember him, for we were little when he went away to
the war."

"And he never came back?" asked Jan softly.

"No, he never came back," repeated Mary, trying to keep the tears from
her eyes.

Uncle Toby saw that the children might be made sad by this sort of talk,
so, as they were passing a meat market on the edge of town, he stopped
the car and began to get out.

"What are you going to do?" asked Aunt Sallie. "I have everything we
need for getting supper out at the Lake, and we have our lunch with us."

"It isn't for us," said Uncle Toby. "It's for Skyrocket. I want to get
him a nice bone to gnaw. It will keep him quiet on the ride," he
explained. "I'm going to get a fine, juicy bone for Skyrocket."

This took the children's mind off what might have been a sad subject to
think about--the ill mother and missing father of Harry and Mary. And
when Uncle Toby made Skyrocket sit up in the automobile and "beg" for
the bone, the dog did it in such a funny way that the children all
laughed.

"Now they'll be all right," said Uncle Toby to himself, as he again sent
the big car forward.

Soon they were out in the country. The weather was pleasant after the
storm, though it was cold, and would soon be more frosty, for winter was
at hand, and the children had