But from then on there was no further trouble from the dark-skinned Gypsies, and the yellow dog no longer chased sheep and chickens. Either he was sent away or kept chained up in the woods.
It was two or three days after Skyrocket had been found that something else happened which caused excitement at Sunnyside. Daddy Martin had been back in Cresco, looking after some business about his store, and he came to Silver Lake in the automobile one evening, to stay about a week, he said.
“How is everything back in Cresco?” asked Uncle Ben, as he helped Mr. Martin take some groceries out of the automobile.
“Oh, all right,” answered the father of the Curlytops. “There has been another robbery, though.”
“Was it at our house?” asked Tom Taylor, who, with his sister and the Curlytops, was listening to what Mr. Martin was saying. “Did burglars get into our house as they did into Miss Ransom’s store?”
“No, it wasn’t at your house,” answered Ted’s father. “It was at Mr. Henderson’s hardware store. Thieves got in there last night and took a lot of knives, forks, and things like that.”
“Did they take any funny box, with a secret drawer in, like Miss Ransom’s?” Ted asked.
“I didn’t hear anything about a queer box,” answered his father. “But I brought a newspaper. There it is, Uncle Ben. It says a big storm is on the way, and may reach here by morning. I guess we’d better tie the boats up so they won’t blow about and be wrecked. There’s a big wind storm on the way here from the west.”
“Out west, where Uncle Frank’s ranch is?” asked Janet.
“Well, perhaps not quite as far as that,” answered her father. “But we’ll have to get ready for the storm.”