"Why, no, he isn't here," said Mrs. Newton slowly. "You didn't see anything of Trouble and the goat, did you?" she asked her son.
"No. I've been here making the kite all morning, and I'd have seen Nicknack all right, and Trouble, too, if they had come here."
"Well, that's funny!" exclaimed Mr. Martin. "I wonder where he can have gone?"
"Maybe Nicknack ran away with him," suggested Bob.
"Oh, don't say such things!" exclaimed his mother.
"I don't think that can have happened," returned Mr. Martin, "Nicknack is a very gentle goat, and Trouble is used to playing with him all alone. He never yet has been hurt. Of course we are not sure that the two went away together. Trouble disappeared from the house, and he was last seen going toward the stable.
"When Ted and Jan went out to get Nicknack he was gone, too, and so was the wagon and harness. So we just thought Trouble might have driven his pet over here."
"Yes, I think it likely that the two went away together," said Mrs. Newton; "but they're not here. Bob, put away that kite of yours and help Mr. Martin and the Curlytops look for Trouble. He may have gone to Mrs. Simpson's," she went on. "He's often there you know."
"Yes, but we looked in their yard coming over," put in Ted. "Trouble wasn't there."
"That's strange," murmured Bob's mother. "Well, he can't be far, that's sure, and he can't get lost. Everybody in town knows him and the goat, and he's sure to be seen sooner or later."