However, Ted was to get into no danger. For as he made a dash for the turtle the creature let go the hook and scrambled down the bank and into the water with a plopping splash.
“Oh, there he goes!” cried Janet, in disappointment.
“I guess he was only holding to the hook with his teeth,” said Ted, “and he could let go when he wanted to. But I almost had him.”
The children caught nothing more that day. They did not have so much as a nibble, and Ted was quite disappointed.
“Well, anyhow, we had fun,” he said, as, an hour or so later, they walked slowly toward the house. The sun and the warm wind had nearly dried him and Janet. But one could easily tell they had fallen in, and Mrs. Martin guessed it without being told, though of course the Curlytops related what had happened.
It was not the first time they had fallen into the brook.
“You must be more careful,” said Mrs. Martin. “We are soon going to the seashore, you know, and if you fall into the ocean it will not be so easy to get out as it is from the brook.”
“We’ll be careful,” promised the Curlytops, and they really meant to be. But of course accidents will happen.
A few evenings after this Mr. and Mrs. Martin called on Mr. and Mrs. Keller, where the old gentleman and his wife were visiting relatives in Cresco. The Curlytops and Trouble stayed at home.
“When are you going to Sunset Beach?” asked Mrs. Keller.