They went back to bed and were not disturbed again that night. In the morning the Curlytops looked for a sign of the turtle, and even tossed bits of meat into the river, hoping to tempt him to rise, but he did not, probably being asleep in the mud.
They traveled on all that day, having a good time aboard the Pine Tree and late that afternoon they reached the place where the river flowed out of Crystal Lake.
“To-morrow we’ll cruise across the lake and reach Bentville,” said Mr. Martin. “Then I’ll deliver the albums and after we spend some time here, motoring about, we’ll cruise back to the lumber camp and get our auto, which ought to have a new wheel on by then.”
“This is a big lake,” said Mrs. Martin, looking across it as evening settled down. “I hope no storms come when we are in the middle.”
CHAPTER XXIII
THE WRONG BOX
Mr. Martin decided to anchor the Pine Tree for the night, rather than to try to cruise across the large body of water in the darkness. He had never been on the lake before, though he had directions for reaching Bentville.
“But this is a good place to stay,” he told his wife, when they had reached the point where the river flowed out of the lake. “We’ll camp here.”
“Do you mean go ashore and camp?” asked Teddy.
“Oh, no; we’ll stay on the boat,” his father answered. “It will be better, I think.”
“Maybe a big turtle will give us a ride again,” suggested Trouble. He had been told how the queer creature of the mud had towed the motor boat, and his great regret was that he had not been awakened to see it.