“There’s a leak in that inner tube,” he told his wife. “I might as well stop and mend it now and save our spare tire and tube. We might need to make a change in more of a hurry. I have plenty of time now, so I’ll stop and mend that leaky inner tube.”
This suited Ted, Janet and Trouble, who were having fun in the woods and along the bank of the river which ran near by. Mr. Martin jacked up the car, took off the rim and tire, and, taking the thin, rubber inner tube from the shoe, proceeded to fasten on a patch.
He finished this work, and then, to make sure the leak was mended, he took the foot pump and filled the red, inner tube with air as it lay on the ground.
The tube was well pumped up and Mr. Martin was waiting to see if any of the air leaked out when a cry from the children on the bank of the river attracted the attention of father and mother. They looked up and saw Trouble and the Curlytops standing there and pointing to a small raft of logs that was slowly floating down the stream.
At one end of the raft was a little cabin, made of slabs of wood with the bark side out, and from this cabin, or shanty, was coming a curl of smoke, showing that this was where the lumbermen slept and cooked.
There was a dog on the raft, and when he saw the children he barked joyfully and wagged his tail. Then, unexpectedly, as the rear of the raft swung in close to shore, the dog leaped off and a moment later was frolicking with the Curlytops.
The “lumber dog,” as Trouble called him, seemed to be wild with joy at being once again on land and near children. He ran up and down, barking in delight and wagging his tail until it seemed it would come off.
Then, all of a sudden, the dog ran toward the blown-up inner tube which lay on the ground while Mr. Martin waited to see if it leaked any more.
The dog gave one look at what, to him, must have been a strange object, and then he growled and barked at it.
“Look out! Don’t touch that!” cried Mr. Martin, with a laugh.