He hurried out on the car platform and met his wife’s anxious look.
“He isn’t in here,” said the father.
“Oh!” she gasped. “I wonder——”
“There he is! There he is!” suddenly cried Ted and Janet, and a moment later they all saw Trouble over on the station platform. The little fellow was standing up on his tiptoes, trying to put a penny in the slot of a chocolate and gum machine hanging on the wall of the station near the ticket office.
“Oh, the little tyke!” exclaimed his mother. “He must have slipped away to spend his penny the moment I set him on the ground off the car steps.”
“Sorry to have made you all this trouble,” remarked Mr. Martin to the train conductor. “Very sorry, indeed!”
“Oh, that’s all right!” was the good-natured answer. “We’re used to lost children on these shore trains in the summer. It’s part of our job to help hunt for them.”
“I hope you won’t be late on your trip,” went on the father of the Curlytops.
“Oh, no, we’re about on time. A few minutes more or less won’t make much difference.”
Once more he pulled the signal cord. There came two small, shrill whistles in the locomotive cab, the engineer pulled open the throttle, and once more the cars rolled on their way, taking other vacationists to other beaches. The passengers pulled their wondering heads in from the windows and all was as it should be—except for Trouble.