“That’s Mother calling!” announced Janet.
“Yes,” agreed Ted, looking up from where he was delving in the sand.
“Then you children had better run home,” said Mr. Keller. “Don’t keep your mother waiting.” He and his wife were now eagerly searching on the beach for the lost wedding ring and the bunch of keys.
“Tell your mother I will call and see her another time,” said Mrs. Keller, scarcely raising her eyes from their eager look down at the sand. “I must help my husband find his keys,” she added. She seemed to have forgotten about her wedding ring—at least, for a time. “If he doesn’t get those keys back, and Mr. Narr finds out about their loss, there will be a sad time.”
Mrs. Martin called again:
“Ted! Janet! Where are you? Is Trouble all right?”
“Yes, Mother! Here we are!” answered Ted.
“And William is with us. But there’s a lot of trouble here,” added Janet—she meant the trouble Mr. and Mrs. Keller were having about the wedding ring and the keys lost in the sand of Sunset Beach.
Mrs. Martin came up over the sand dunes. These were low hills, covered with coarse saw-toothed grass. There was a row of these sand hills between the sandy beach and the road that ran along the ocean front. Across the road, and back a little way from it, was the cottage Mr. Martin had hired for the summer. On another road, a little farther up from the beach, were the cottages of Mr. and Mrs. Keller and Mr. and Mrs. Randall, together with the vacation homes of many other families.
“What is going on here?” asked Mrs. Martin, with a smile, as she saw her Curlytops and William, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Keller. “Are you playing a game?” she wanted to know. For it did look odd to see so many of them delving in the sand.