The Curlytops on Star Island/Chapter 19

his light about, Hal walked boldly into the dark cave. Ted followed, just a little bit afraid, though he did not want to say so.

"Don't go too far," begged Janet's brother. "Jan'll be afraid if we leave her alone."

"I won't go far," promised Hal. "I just want to see if there're any tramps in here."

"Listen an' maybe you can hear them talking," suggested Ted.

Hal, though larger and older than Ted, was not quite brave enough to go very far into the dark cave, even if he did have his light with him. So, after taking a few steps, he stopped and listened. So did Ted.

They could hear nothing but the voice of Janet calling to them from outside.

"Ted! Hal!" cried the little girl. "Where are you? I'm going back to camp!"

"We're coming!" answered Ted. "Come on back and get her," he added to his chum. "Then we'll look for the blue rocks."

"I guess we can't find them unless they're right around here," returned Hal, as he moved his light about in a circle.

"Why not?" asked Ted.

"Because this cave is so dark, and my flashlamp doesn't give much light. We could hardly see the stones if they were here."

"Then how are we going to get 'em?" Ted demanded.

"I guess we'll have to bring a big lantern. Maybe we ought to bring your grandfather along."

"I guess we had better," agreed Ted. "But we can look a little bit when we're here. Let's go for Janet. She's crying."

Janet was crying by this time, not liking to be left alone outside while the boys were in the cave. They ran back to her and her tears were soon dried.

"Will you come in a little way with us?" asked her brother. "There isn't anything to be afraid of. Is there, Hal?"

"No, not a thing. We won't go in very far, Jan. And maybe you can see the blue stones. We couldn't, but sometimes girls' eyes are better than boys. Come on!"

So with Hal holding a hand on one side, and Ted on the other, Janet went slowly into the cave with her brother and his chum. Hal flashed his light, and by its gleam the Curlytops could see that the cave was large, larger even than it had seemed when they were in it with their grandfather.

"Look on the floor for the rocks," suggested Hal. "That's where the tramp-man would put 'em if he brought 'em here."

But they did not see the blue rocks, nor any others. The floor of the cave seemed to be of stone or hard clay, and there was nothing on it. They did not go in far enough to see the sacks which Grandpa Martin said someone had used for a bed, nor did the children see the bread and other bits of food which might have meant that someone had had a picnic in the cave.

"I guess the rocks aren't here," said Hal, in disappointed tones as Janet said she wanted to turn back, for she did not like it in the cave. "Or else maybe they're away at the far end."

"I'm not going there!" exclaimed Ted.

"No, I guess we won't go," agreed Hal. "We'll go and tell your grandfather and have him come with a big lantern."

"Hark! What's that?" suddenly called Jan, taking a tighter hold of her brother's hand.

From the back part of the cave came a noise. It was as though a rock had fallen—probably it had—from the roof of the cavern.

"Someone's throwing stones at us!" cried Ted.

"Who? Who? Who?" a voice seemed to ask.

"Oh, dear! We don't know who it was!" cried Janet. "Come on out of here! I'm afraid!"

"That was only an owl," said Hal with a laugh. "Owls live in dark caves in the daytime and when it's dark they hoot and call 'who!' I've heard 'em lots of times around the Home."

"There isn't any cave at the Home," objected Ted, who was as frightened as Janet was.

"No, but there were owls in the trees. I heard 'em lots of times. But we'll go out. I guess maybe that was a loose stone that fell down and made the first noise. But we don't want any to fall on our heads. Come on!" called Hal.

Together he and Ted led Janet back to the mouth of the cave, where they could see the sunshine. And even Hal, who was not so frightened as the Curlytops had been, was glad to get out.

"It's too bad we couldn't find the blue gold-stones," he said. "But maybe the tramps didn't hide them there, anyhow. We'll look around some more."

"Let's eat," suggested Ted. "I'm hungry, and I've got a lot of cookies in my pockets."

So they sat down on a stone in a shady place not far from the cave and ate the things Nora had given Ted. They then got a drink from a bubbling spring not far away, and pretended they were on a picnic.

Ted's muddy stocking had dried by this time, and he and Jan, using sticks, scraped most of the dirt off.

"Now we'd better be going home," Jan suggested after a bit. "There isn't any fun here."

"Yes, we might as well go," agreed Hal. "And I'll tell you what let's do!"

"What?" demanded Ted.

"Let's look in the place where Trouble found those blue stones and see if we can find any more."

"Oh, yes, let's!" cried Janet. She was happy again, now that she was out in the bright sunshine.

The children remembered where Baby William had found the pretty rocks from which he had made his castle, but when they reached the place not a one was to be had, though they searched all about.

"I guess Trouble took them all," said Janet. "I remember now, I helped him look for more and we couldn't find any."

"Well, maybe there'll be some more somewhere else," suggested Hal hopefully. "Let's look."

So they looked, wandering about in the woods not far from camp, until they heard Nora ringing the bell for dinner.

"Well, where have you children been?" asked Mrs. Martin as they came trooping up to the tent, tired, hungry and dirty.

"Oh, we've been looking for gold," explained Ted, but he did not say they had visited the cave, where they had been told not to go.

"You didn't dig any more deep holes, did you?" asked his grandfather.

"No, sir," answered Ted.

After dinner Ted asked Hal why he didn't speak of having Grandpa Martin go to the cave with the big lantern.

"I thought you were going to do that," he said to Hal.

"Well, I was. But maybe we can find some more of the blue stones for ourselves. We'll look around before we ask your grandpa to help."

Janet wanted to stay around camp and play with her dolls that afternoon, and she took care of Trouble.

"Then we'll go for a goat ride," said Ted. "Come on, Hal."

The two boys hitched Nicknack to the wagon, and set off down the island.

"We'll look for some more blue rocks," suggested Hal, and Ted was willing.

On and on the two boys rode, now stopping to look at some pretty flower, again waiting to hear the finish of some bird's song. They looked on both sides of the woodland path for some of the blue rocks, but, though they saw some of other colors, there were none like those they wanted.

"Whoa there, where are you going now?" Ted suddenly called to Nicknack, and the little boy pulled on the reins by which he guided the goat—or "steered" it, as he sometimes called it.

"What's the matter?" asked Hal.

"Nicknack wants to go over that way and I want him to go straight ahead," answered Ted.

"Maybe he sees some of those blue rocks the way he wants to go," suggested Hal.

"Oh, I don't guess so," replied his chum. "I guess he just wants to get some new kind of grass to eat. Whoa, Nicknack, I tell you!" and Teddy pulled as hard as he could on the reins, without hurting his goat, for he never wanted to do that.

But the goat would not go straight down the island path. He kept pulling off to one side, and at last Ted cried:

"Here, Hal, you take hold of the lines and pull with me. Maybe we can steer him around then."

"Can we pull real hard—I mean will the lines break?" asked Hal.

"Oh, no, they're good and strong," answered Ted.

So he and his chum both pulled on the one rein—the one to get Nicknack's head pointed straight down the path instead of off to one side, but it did no good. The goat knew what he wanted to do, and he was going to do it.

"Look out!" suddenly cried Teddy. "We're going to tip over!"

The next minute the front wheels of the wagon ran up on a little pile of dirt at one side of the path, and the cart gently tilted to one side and then went over with a rattle and a bang.

"There!" laughed Hal, as he rolled out on some soft grass. "We are over, Ted."

"I knew we were going," said Teddy as he, too, laughed and got up. "Whoa there, Nicknack!" he shouted, for the goat was still going on, dragging the overturned wagon after him.

But Nicknack did not stop until he reached a little bush, on which were some green leaves that he seemed to like very much, for he began to chew them.

"That's what he wanted all the while," said Teddy.

"Well, let him eat all he wants, and then he won't be hungry any more and he'll pull us where we want to go," advised Hal.

They did this, after setting the cart up on its wheels. When Nicknack turned away from the bush, and looked at the two waiting boys, Ted said:

"Well, I guess we can go on now."

"Yes," added Hal, "and I hope we'll find those blue rocks. But I don't believe we're ever going to."

At last, however, when it was getting rather late in the afternoon and Ted had said it was time to go back, Hal, who was driving the goat through a part of the woods they never before had visited, pointed to a big stone buried in the side of a hill and cried:

"Look! Isn't that rock blue, Ted?"

"It does look kind of blue, yes."

"Then it's just what we're looking for. See, there's lots of little blue rocks, too. Let's take some back to camp. Maybe they're the same kind Trouble had, and there may be gold in 'em! Come on."

They piled the rocks, which were certainly somewhat blue in color, into the wagon, and started back with them.

"We found 'em! We found 'em!" they called as they came within sight of the tents. "We got the blue rocks!"

"Well, they're pretty, certainly," said Grandpa Martin, as he picked up one from the wagon, "but they're no better than any other rocks around here, as far as I can see."

"They've got gold in 'em, Hal says," Ted stated.

"Gold? Oh, no, Curlytop!" laughed his grandfather. "I've told you there is no gold on this island."

"There's something in the blue rocks," declared Hal. "Feel how heavy they are—lots heavier than any other stones around here."

"Yes, they are," agreed Grandpa Martin, as he weighed one of the stones in his hand. "There might be some iron in them, but not gold. Look out!" he suddenly called as the stone slipped from his hand. "Look out for your toes!"

Laughing, the Curlytops and Hal jumped back. The blue stone which Grandpa Martin dropped, struck on the edge of the shovel which was out in front of the tent. As the rock hit the steel tool with a clang, something queer happened.

At once the rock began to burn with a curious blue flame, and a yellowish smoke curled up.

"Oh, the rock's on fire!" cried Janet. "The rock's on fire!"

"Yes, and look!" added Ted. "It's burning blue, just like the light we saw on the island one night."

"And how queer it smells!" exclaimed Hal.

"Sulphur!" ejaculated Grandpa Martin.

He and the children looked at the queer blue fire that seemed to come from inside the rock. What could it mean?