“All wite,” agreed Trouble, and out he went with the queer creature.
“What’s going on out there?” called Mrs. Martin from her room. “Trouble, where are you?” she asked, looking over to the crib where Baby William had been put to sleep the night before. Mrs. Martin saw that the crib was empty, and she guessed what had happened. Trouble had awakened early, and had slipped out without waiting to be dressed. “What are you doing?” his mother called.
“Oh, he’s all right,” answered Teddy, who was dressing himself now. “He went down to the lake, found a mud turtle and put it in my bed. He woke me up. The turtle crawled on my bare leg, and I thought at first it was a snake. Trouble wanted to put the turtle in Jan’s bed and then in Uncle Ben’s, but I wouldn’t let him.”
“That’s right!” said his father. “Trouble, put the turtle down and come in here!”
“Yes,” answered Trouble, and he did what he was told at once, as he nearly always did when his father spoke.
In a little while the two Curlytops were dressed, as was the rest of the family, and soon they were sitting down to the breakfast table.
“Where’s the turtle, Trouble?” asked Jan, as she got up from the table. “I want to see it, but I don’t want it in bed with me.”
Trouble looked around on the floor.
“Turkle gone!” he said, not seeing his new pet.
“Gone!” cried Ted. “Why, I told you to watch him, Trouble. We could ’a’ had a lot of fun with that turtle, and now you let him get away!”