TOP ACTS STRANGELY
Mr. Martin, the father of the Curlytops, Mr. Capper, the baker, and the crowd of persons in the shop looked at Teddy and his friend, Jimmy Norton, as the two boys hurried into the place. Nearly everyone guessed what had happened, but Mr. Martin wanted to make sure, so he asked:
"Teddy, did you let your white mice and rats get loose among Mr. Capper's buns?"
"Well, I—I didn't exactly do it, Daddy," Teddy answered. "But I guess they did get loose, didn't they?" he asked, with half a smile.
"There is no doubt about it—they are loose, and they have done a lot of damage," and Mr. Martin spoke rather sternly.
"Damage! They have eaten up over two dollars' worth of buns—or they have as much spoiled!" said the excited baker.
"How did it happen?" asked Teddy's father.
"Well, it was an accident," the little Curlytop boy answered. "Jimmy and I were taking the cage down to the store to have some new wire put on. There's a place where the wire is broken, and it needed fixing so the rats couldn't get out. So Jimmy and I took the cage, and the rats and mice in it, down to the hardware store."
"Why didn't you take the mice out, and leave them in the barn?" asked Mr. Martin.
"'Cause there wasn't anything I could leave 'em in," Teddy replied. "I was afraid they'd get out, and maybe go over in Mrs. Johnson's baby carriage, just as Slider did. So I thought if we took the rats and mice right in the cage the man at the store could put some new wire netting over the old, and they couldn't get out."