TOP ACTS STRANGELY
Mr. Martin, the father of the Curlytops, Mr. Capper, the baker, and the crowd of persons in the shop looked at Teddy and his friend, Jimmy Norton, as the two boys hurried into the place. Nearly everyone guessed what had happened, but Mr. Martin wanted to make sure, so he asked:
"Teddy, did you let your white mice and rats get loose among Mr. Capper's buns?"
"Well, I—I didn't exactly do it, Daddy," Teddy answered. "But I guess they did get loose, didn't they?" he asked, with half a smile.
"There is no doubt about it—they are loose, and they have done a lot of damage," and Mr. Martin spoke rather sternly.
"Damage! They have eaten up over two dollars' worth of buns—or they have as much spoiled!" said the excited baker.
"How did it happen?" asked Teddy's father.
"Well, it was an accident," the little Curlytop boy answered. "Jimmy and I were taking the cage down to the store to have some new wire put on. There's a place where the wire is broken, and it needed fixing so the rats couldn't get out. So Jimmy and I took the cage, and the rats and mice in it, down to the hardware store."
"Why didn't you take the mice out, and leave them in the barn?" asked Mr. Martin.
"'Cause there wasn't anything I could leave 'em in," Teddy replied. "I was afraid they'd get out, and maybe go over in Mrs. Johnson's baby carriage, just as Slider did. So I thought if we took the rats and mice right in the cage the man at the store could put some new wire netting over the old, and they couldn't get out."
"And did he do it?" Teddy's father went on, while the crowd listened to the talk.
"Yes, sir," Teddy replied. "The cage was fixed all right, and on the way back, Jimmy and I got tired of carrying it, so we stopped in here to get some cookies. We were hungry."
"It is as I told you!" broke in Mr. Capper. "Two boys did come in for cookies. These are the two—I remember now."
"Well, why didn't you boys take the cage of rats and mice with you when you went out?" asked Mr. Martin. "If you hadn't left them here they wouldn't have gotten loose and gone into Mr. Capper's show window to eat or spoil all his buns. Why did you leave the cage here?"
"We—we forgot it, I guess; didn't we, Jimmy?" asked Teddy of his chum.
"Yes," agreed Jimmy, "we did."
"But if the man at the hardware store put new wire on the cage, I don't see how the rats and mice got out," Mr. Martin went on.
Teddy looked at the empty cage which had been set down in a corner when he and his chum bought the cookies.
"The door came open!" Teddy exclaimed. "See, Daddy, the door sprang open and the white mice got out that way. It wasn't our fault at all!"
"But it was your fault for leaving the cage here," went on Mr. Martin. "I don't see why you did it."
"I guess it was on account of the fire engine," spoke up Jimmy Norton.
"The fire engine!" cried Teddy's father. "What has the fire engine to do with white mice eating buns?"
"Well, after we'd bought the cookies, and were going to take up the cage of mice and go out," Jimmy explained, "the fire engine came past, and Ted and I ran out to see it and we went to the fire, but it wasn't a big one, and we forgot about the mice; didn't we, Teddy?"
"Yes," said Teddy, "we did. And I didn't think about 'em until a little while ago, 'cause we started to play marbles, and—and——"
"Yes, and by your thoughtlessness you have made a lot of trouble," Mr. Martin remarked. "I am sorry for this, Teddy. If many more things happen I shall have to get rid of Uncle Toby's pets."
"Oh, don't do that!" begged the little Curlytop boy. "I'll put the rats and mice back in the cage and I'll fasten the door so they can't get out again. Don't send Uncle Toby's animals away, Daddy! We want to have a circus with them!"
"And I'll help pay for the buns the rats ate," added Jimmy. "It was partly my fault for making Ted forget."
"Oh, no, I can't allow that," said Mr. Martin, "though it is very good of you to offer, Jimmy. I will pay Mr. Capper for the buns the rats ate, and after this Teddy must be more careful."
"Can we take away the buns and cookies the mice didn't eat?" asked the little Curlytop chap, as he and his chum began picking up the pets and putting them back in the cage. The animals were tame and did not mind being handled.
"Take away all the buns in the window! They are of no more use to me!" exclaimed the baker. "But, Mr. Martin, I will not charge you full price for the things—only what it cost to make them. For, as you say, it was an advertisement. And I know the boys did not mean it."
"Indeed we didn't!" cried Teddy. "We can take the broken buns and feed them to Skyrocket and Top, and Mr. Nip and Jack will eat them, too," he said to his father. "It will be just as good as buying stale bread for the monkey and the parrot, Daddy. I guess they'll like buns better."
"I shouldn't be surprised if they did," laughed Mr. Martin. "Well, as you say, Teddy, it will save buying stale bread." Some of the pets were fed on this, and now the broken buns would take its place for a few meals.
By this time the crowd began leaving the bakery, as the excitement was over. Teddy and Jimmy picked up the last of the rats and mice, putting them back in the mended cage.
"And make sure the door of the cage is fastened," Mr. Martin said to Teddy, as the baker was paid for the buns. "We don't want the creatures getting loose again."
"It's good and tight," Teddy said. "They won't get out again except when we take them out to do circus tricks."
Carrying the cage of white mice and rats between them, Teddy and Jimmy walked down the street in front of Mr. Martin, and soon the pets were safely back in the barn.
"I'm a crack-crack-cracker!" cried the green, red and yellow parrot, as the boys entered. The talkative bird whistled, at which sound Skyrocket and Top, who were asleep in one corner of the barn, awakened and began to bark loudly.
"Your parrot whistles just like one of us fellows," said Jimmy to Teddy.
"Yes, he does," admitted the Curlytop chap. "I have been trying to think what tricks we could make him do in the circus. But the trouble is he doesn't always talk or whistle when you want him to. And when you don't want him to he nearly always does it."
"Well, anyway, he'll be nice to look at in the pet circus," said Jimmy. "And in the regular circus they have animals and birds to look at, as well as the kind that do tricks."
"Yes," agreed Teddy, "I guess so."
"I'm a crack-crack-cracker!" shrieked the parrot again, pulling himself up to the top of his cage by means of his big beak, his black tongue licking the bars as if he liked them.
"Well, if you're a crack-crack-cracker, here's a bun-bun-bunner for you," laughed Teddy, and out of the bag Mr. Martin had carried from the bakeshop Teddy took several of the broken pieces and fed them to the parrot.
Seeing this, Jack, the monkey, who was in his cage, set up a chattering such as he must have learned in the jungle where he came from.
"What's the matter with him?" Jimmy wanted to know.
"I guess he wants some of the broken buns, too," said Teddy. "Here, you give the monkey some, and I'll feed Skyrocket and Top. They want some, too."
Soon such of Uncle Toby's pets as liked this form of food were having all the buns they wanted. Mr. Nip, the parrot, tore his pieces of the buns apart to get at the currants. But Jack, Top and Skyrocket ate theirs down, currants and all, as if they liked every crumb.
The white rats and mice were not given any of the broken buns, as it was thought they had had enough in the bakery, and Teddy knew it was not wise to overfeed any pet animals.
Cats, dogs and other pets should not be fed too much, though of course they should not be allowed to go hungry very long. When animals can run around as they please, or when they live wild in the jungle or forest, they never eat too much. They know when to stop. But often persons, wishing to be kind, will give their dogs and cats too much meat, or other rich food. And as these pets do not run around and exercise very much, they cannot digest all they eat, so they often become ill. Teddy did not want this to happen to any of his pets.
Another thing he was careful about was always to see that they had plenty of fresh water. Nothing is more important than this. It is cruel to have any pet suffer for water to drink, especially in summer. So if you keep pets of any kind, don't feed them too much, but give them plenty of water. They never can take too much of this.
"When you going to have your circus?" asked Jimmy of Teddy, when the animals had quieted down, eating the pieces of buns.
"Oh, pretty soon, I guess. Janet and I are going to teach them a lot of new tricks."
"I wish I could help," said Jimmy.
"You can," Teddy promised. "Jan and I will need someone to help us with the circus. I'm going to ask Jack Turton and Harry Kent, too. Jack is so funny and fat he'll make a good clown."
"I'd rather be one of the animal trainers," said Jimmy.
"That's what you and I'll be—animal trainers," decided Teddy. "My sister Jan's good with animals, too. She isn't afraid of even a snake."
"That's good," decided Jimmy. "Maybe we could get some snakes to have in the circus—little ones, you know."
"It would be fine!" exclaimed Teddy. "But where can we get any?"
"Oh, in the woods, I guess. I'll see if I can find any. But I've got to go home now."
"All right. Come over to-morrow and we'll start training the animals," replied Teddy.
And the next day Teddy, Janet and Jimmy began to teach the pets some new tricks. I will tell you about them when the time comes. It was not easy work, and more than once the Curlytops and their friend were discouraged. For just when they thought they had Top and Skyrocket so they would do a trick together, one or the other of the dogs would run away, wagging his tail, however, in friendly fashion, to show there were no hard feelings.
The cats were the hardest to teach. Snuff did very well with his ball rolling trick and one or two others, and Turnover would turn in a sort of side-somersault whenever told to do so by Janet. But to teach the two cats to do tricks together was much harder.
It was this—the tricks they could do together—that made Tip and Top such a valuable team of dogs.
"Do you think you'll ever get Tip back?" asked Jimmy, as he, with the Curlytops, was resting one day after putting the pets through some of their tricks.
"We keep hoping so," said Janet.
"But it doesn't look so now," added her brother. "He's been gone so long, and not even the police can find him. They can't find Shorty, either. I guess Shorty and Tip ran a way together."
"And maybe Shorty has Tip in a circus, making him do tricks," added Janet.
"Maybe," agreed Teddy. "But now we've got to think where we're going to get a tent for our show. If we give a pet animal circus we've got to have a tent."
"Sure!" agreed Jimmy. "It wouldn't be a circus without a tent. But maybe my father can get us one. He used to be in the army."
"Oh, let's go ask him!" cried Janet. "We can leave our pets here in the barn now, for they've been fed and watered."
Off the children hurried to Jimmy's house. His father was not at home, but Mrs. Norton said she thought her husband could get a tent that would do for the circus.
"And since you have been feeding the animals, wouldn't you like to feed yourselves now?" asked Jimmy's mother, with a smile at the Curlytops and her own son.
"Feed ourselves—how?" asked Teddy. At the same time he noticed a most delicious smell coming from Mrs. Norton's kitchen.
"I have just baked some molasses cookies," went on Jimmy's mother, "and I have some lovely, cool milk. Would you like some glasses of milk and molasses cookies?"
"Sure!" exclaimed Teddy.
"Fine!" cried Jimmy.
"We'd like it very much, if you please," said Janet, and she was extra polite, to make up for the rather boisterous manner in which Teddy spoke. But the boys meant to be polite and, after all, that is what counts.
Soon the Curlytops and their friend were out on the side porch, drinking the cool, rich milk and eating the fresh molasses cookies. It was while they were thus sitting, talking about the circus they were going to give, that into the yard came running Top, Uncle Toby's trick dog.
"Hello, Top!" called Teddy. "Were you looking for us?"
Top barked and wagged his tail. Then he acted in a strange manner. He ran up to Teddy, and caught hold of the boy's coat.
"Oh, he's trying to bite you!" exclaimed Janet.
"He is not! Top would never bite me!" declared Teddy. But he wondered what the dog was trying to do.
Then Top let go his hold of the coat, and ran a little way toward the gate. There he stopped and looked back toward the children.
"What makes him act that funny way?" asked Jimmy.
"I don't know," answered Teddy.
With another bark, and wagging his tail, Top again ran up to Teddy and pulled on his coat.
"I know what it is!" exclaimed the Curlytop boy. "Something has happened, and Top has come to tell us and get us to go with him! Come on, Jimmy! Come on, Jan!"