“No, I s’pose not,” assented Ted. “Well, if nobody will give us something to eat for nothing, we’ll trade ’em the crabs. But we’ll leave ’em here in the boat until we find out.”
“Yes,” remarked Janet, “’cause, now, maybe if we carried the basket of crabs through the woods they’d get lost. And, besides, they might reach out and pinch us, the crabs might.”
“They might,” admitted Teddy. “We’ll leave ’em in the boat. Now come on and we’ll see if anybody lives here.”
Hand in hand the Curlytops started to follow a path that led through the trees and shrubbery. As they went along it became certain that some one lived, or had lived, on the island. For they could see where trees had recently been cut down and brush trimmed away.
Then, a little farther along, they saw a place where a little hut had been built. It was rather tumble-down now, the window glass was broken, and the door hung crookedly on one hinge.
“I guess that’s maybe where fishermen stay, sometimes,” suggested Teddy.
“I wish there was a fisherman here now, with something to eat,” murmured Janet. “I’m hungry!”
“So’m I,” admitted Ted. “But maybe we’ll soon come to a house.”
They walked on a little farther. The path was broader now, and the woods showed that they were under care, for the underbrush had been cleared away.
“Teddy!” called Janet, coming to a stop as they were about to go down into a little dell, or glade—a place where tall ferns grew and where it seemed dismal and dark. “Teddy!”