Curlytops to come and spend some time with me. In fact I'll take
some of their playmates, if their folks will spare them. That's what I
came for--to invite you all out to my place to have jolly times through
the holidays."

"Oh, how lovely!" cried Janet, who heard what was being said.

"Could we have a toboggan slide there?" Ted wanted to know.

"Me tum?" lisped Trouble.

"Sure you'll come!" cried Uncle Toby, catching baby William up in his
arms and hugging and kissing him. "There wouldn't be any fun if we left
you behind. When can you get ready to come?" he asked Mrs. Martin.

"Why," answered the mother of the Curlytops slowly, "I don't see that
Dick and I can come at all. We must take this business trip or daddy
will lose a lot of money," she explained to the children. "But your
coming at this time is most fortunate, Uncle Toby. As long as you are
going to have a party out at your country cabin on Crystal Lake, it will
be just the thing for the children. They can go and stay with you while
Dick and I are away."

"Of course!" cried Uncle Toby. "Aunt Sallie--you remember her I guess?"
he went on--"she'll be there to cook for us and see that the children
don't get their feet wet."

"Aunt Sallie," remarked Mrs. Martin. "I don't seem to remember--"

"She's Mrs. Watson, the old lady who went away from my house the time I
started for South America, and left you my pets to look after," Uncle
Toby explained. "She's a distant relative of mine, and I call her Aunt
Sallie, though she isn't really my aunt. But she's come back to keep
house for me, and she'll go out to the camp with us. It will be just the
place for the older children, and they can go to school there. We've got
a good little country school not far from the lake. In fact they can
skate to school when the lake gets frozen over, and that will be soon if
this weather keeps up."

"Oh, what fun!" cried Ted.

"It will be just the thing for us," said Mrs. Martin. "It will take away
all our worries over what we were going to do about the children while
we were away."

"And did you say we could have some playmates out there?" asked Janet.

"Yes, bring along some boy or girl chum--one for each of you," replied
Uncle Toby.

"I'd like to have Tom!" exclaimed Ted.

"And I'll ask Lola," said Jan.

"All right," agreed Mr. Bardeen. "And they may find some other playmates
when they get out there," he added in a low voice.

"Do you mean new pets?" asked Ted, overh