I wish I did not have to write about this part of it, but I have undertaken to tell you all about the Curlytops and Trouble, and I must put in the bad with the good.
Trouble was whipped, and he cried hard. But this was better than crying after being hurt by the saw, as might have happened. And the whipping was the best way in the world to make Trouble remember never again to go near the machinery alone.
“I’ll see that he never does such a thing again,” said Mrs. Martin.
“And I’ll never leave the mill alone again, with the power ready to be turned on,” said the engineer.
So it all ended more happily than it might have, if the machinery had not been stopped in time. And though the Curlytops felt sorry for their little brother, it was not as bad as it might have been, for which they were very thankful.
As a further punishment, and to make him remember not to do such a thing again, Trouble was not allowed to go with Teddy and Janet the next time they had a picnic in the woods.
They were always having picnics—sometimes two in one day. But they enjoyed the tramps in the forest and they had no end of fun eating the lunches they begged from their father in the camp store.
This time they went on a picnic the day after Trouble had had his “wide,” as he called it, on the saw carriage. That is Ted and Janet went, and William remained at home. He wanted to go, very much, but his mother was firm, and though the Curlytops felt sad to hear their little brother cry to come with them, they were old enough to know it was for his own good that he must stay at home.
“What’ll we do?” asked Ted, as he and his sister walked through the forest. Ted very often left it to Janet to suggest some form of fun.
“Let’s look for the tame crow,” proposed the little girl. “I’d like to find him and take him back to Mr. Jenk.”