UNCLE TOBY'S PETS
"Listen to that noise!" called Teddy, pausing with his hand on the gate
that led into Uncle Toby's yard. "It's two boys having fun. I guess Uncle
Toby left two fellows that you can take home and I can have fun with,"
Teddy added laughingly to his father.
"Two boys! Oh, my goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin.
Just then a shrill scream sounded from within the queer, old house.
"It's girls!" said Janet. "Girls cry just like that when they're having
fun! Oh, I'll be glad to have a sister to play with!"
Mr. and Mrs. Martin looked at each other in surprise and wonderment. What
could it mean? The queer, little old lady--Mrs. Watson, the
housekeeper--murmured again:
"Listen to 'em! I can't do a thing with 'em since Uncle Toby went away.
I'm so glad you came to take charge of 'em as he asked you to. You did
come for that, didn't you?" she asked eagerly. "You got Uncle Toby's
letter, asking you to come and take charge of the collection he left,
didn't you?"
"Oh, yes," answered the father of the Curlytops. "We got Uncle Toby's
letter all right, and we came to take charge. But----"
"We'd like to know _what_ we are going to take!" interrupted Mrs. Martin.
She felt she must say something, with all those queer noises going on in
the house.
"Maybe it's babies!" suggested Trouble, as he listened to what seemed to
be a crying sound from the old mansion.
"They're worse than babies!" declared Mrs. Watson. "I don't mind children
and babies. But these things make so much noise I can't hear myself
think. That's why I came out on the steps to sit down and be quiet! Oh,
I'm so glad you've come to take charge of 'em!"
"But what are they? You haven't told us what they are," said Mr. Martin,
as the screeching, yelling noises kept on sounding from within the
house. "Do they always screech like that?"
"Only when they're hungry," said the queer old lady. "And I expect
they're hungry now. I just hate to go in to feed them, they make such a
fuss, and I'm afraid some of 'em will bite me. Not on purpose you know,"
she quickly added, "but just because they're so playful and full of fun."
"My dear Mrs. Watson," said Mr. Martin in slow tones, "will you _please_
tell us what it is my Uncle Toby has left for me to take charge of! Is it
an insane asylum?"
"Yes, for goodness' sake, please tell us!" begged the mother of the
Curlytops.
"Why, I thought you knew!" replied Mrs. Watson, in some surprise. "Didn't
Uncle Toby speak of them in his letter?"
"No, he did not say what they were," answered Mr. Martin. "He only
mentioned a collection. Please tell us. What is making all that racket?"
"Uncle Toby's pets," was the answer. "Uncle Toby said he was going to
leave them to you when he went away on a long trip. He may be gone for
several years, and he said he might live the rest of his life in South
America, where he is going. So he told me to give you his pets to take
charge of. You are to take them, and do as you please with them, though I
guess Uncle Toby would like to have you keep them and be kind to them."
"Uncle Toby's _pets_!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin.
"Is there a dog?" asked Teddy, his eyes shining in delight. "Won't
Skyrocket be glad? Do you hear that, old fellow?" went on Teddy, leaning
down to pet the dog that had jumped from the automobile and was looking
as if in wonder at the house whence came such strange noises. "You're
going to have another dog to play with. Uncle Toby did leave a dog,
didn't he?" Teddy asked of Mrs. Watson. "I hear a dog barking in the
house."
"A dog!" exclaimed the queer little old housekeeper. "He left _two_ dogs,
Uncle Toby did!"
"Two dogs!" murmured Mrs. Martin, with a hopeless look at her husband.
"Did he leave a cat?" asked Janet. "I thought I heard one mewing. And
Turnover would like another cat to play with."
"Yes, Uncle Toby left you a cat, also," said Mrs. Watson.
Just then shrill screams, barks, squeaks and squawks, all mixed together,
seemed to float out of the opened windows of the old house--windows in
which were strong wire screens.
"Two dogs and a cat!" exclaimed Mr. Martin. "My dear Mrs. Watson," he
went on, as he sat down on the top step of the porch rather limply, "will
you please tell us, as fast as you can, just how many and what pets Uncle
Toby has left us? We may as well hear the worst at once," he said to his
wife. "I never imagined Uncle Toby cared for animal pets."
"Oh, indeed he did," replied Mrs. Watson. "Of late years he grew very
fond of animals. All his pets are animals, and he'd have gotten more only
I said I wouldn't stay and keep house for him if he brought in what he
spoke of last."
"What was that?" Mrs. Martin wanted to know.
"_Snakes_!" declared the little old lady. "I don't mind monkeys and
parrots so much, but I can't bear _snakes_! They give me the shivers,
though Uncle Toby said some snakes do a lot of good in this world, by
catching rats and mice. But he didn't bring in any snakes!"
"Do you mean to say he has a parrot?" asked Mr. Martin.
"Don't you hear him?" questioned Mrs. Watson. "Listen!"
As she finished speaking the Curlytops heard a shrill:
"Cracker! Cracker! Give Polly a crack-crack-cracker!"
"Oh, it _is_ a parrot!" cried Janet in delight.
"And is there a monkey, too?" demanded Ted.
"An' a han' ordan! Is dere a han' ordan?" asked Trouble.
"No hand organ, child, no," answered Mrs. Watson. "But there is a monkey,
a parrot, two dogs, and a cat, a----"
"Stop! Wait a moment!" begged Mrs. Martin. She took a seat beside her
husband on the top step. "I just wanted to sit down before I fainted when
I heard the worst," she went on. "Now go ahead, Mrs. Watson. Tell me the
rest. I'll have something to lean against in case she tells me there's an
elephant."
"An elephant!" cried Janet.
"Oh, I don't mean I want to lean on the elephant," said her mother. "I
just want to lean against the piazza post. This is the worst I ever heard
of--Uncle Toby leaving us a menagerie!"
"'Tisn't quite as bad as that, though 'tis, almost," said Mrs. Watson.
"There isn't an elephant, but there is an alligator."
"An alligator! Oh, that's great!" cried Ted. "Where is it?"
"This is terrible!" declared his mother.
"It's only a little alligator," explained the housekeeper. "He's real
friendly, though his tail scratches when he rubs it against your hand as
you feed him."
"Anything else?" asked Mr. Martin. "Please go on. We may as well hear the
worst. It sounds like a circus that Uncle Toby kept in his house. What
else, Mrs. Watson?"
"Well? that's about all, except some white rats and mice and the pigeons.
Uncle Toby didn't get the snake he wanted."
"Let us be thankful for that," murmured Mrs. Martin, "though it is bad
enough as it is."
"Bad?" cried Teddy. "I think it's jolly! Can't we go in and see Uncle
Toby's pets?" he asked.
"They're going to be our pets, aren't they, Daddy?" asked Jan. "Didn't
Uncle Toby say you could have them?"
"That's what he said," replied the father of the Curlytops. "But I don't
know whether to take him at his word or not. But we may as well go in and
look at the--the menagerie!" he said to his wife, with a smile.
"They'll need feeding--the animals will," said Mrs. Watson. "I'm glad
you're here to help me. I was staying only until you came. Uncle Toby
said you'd be over in a day or two. I'm leaving to-night, now you're
here."
"What? And make us take care of all the pets?" cried Mrs. Martin.
"Oh, they're real kind and gentle--every one, even the little alligator,"
Uncle Toby's housekeeper made haste to say. "And as long as you have
children the pets will be just the things for the Curlytops. Only I can't
stay much longer. I was just waiting for you. I went outside as it was
quieter," she concluded, as, once again, the pet animals set up a
screeching, barking and mewing.
"Well, let's get it over with," suggested Mr. Martin. "Maybe they'll be
quieter if we feed them. Is there anything in the house for the menagerie
to eat?" he asked the little old housekeeper.
"Oh, yes, Uncle Toby always fed them well," she answered. "Oh, I'm so
glad you came to take charge of the pets!"
"I don't know whether we are or not," remarked Mrs. Martin. "I suppose,
though," she said to her husband in a low voice, as they prepared to
enter the house, "we can sell them. We don't have to keep them."
"Yes, I guess that would be best--to sell them," agreed Mr. Martin, but
he did not let the Curlytops hear him say this.
Led by Mrs. Watson, the Curlytop party entered the house. As the door was
opened the different noises sounded more loudly than before.
The dogs barked--and Ted could now hear the tones of two different
animals--the cat mewed, the monkey screeched and chattered, and the
parrot cried:
"Give Polly a cracker! Polly wants a crack-crack-cracker!"
"I guess the alligator is the only one that isn't saying anything,"
remarked Mr. Martin to his wife as they entered. "And I never heard that
alligators make a noise."
"Yes they do!" said Janet, eagerly. "I read it in my natural history
book. They make a noise like a grunt. At least it's either alligators or
crocodiles, I've forgotten which. But one kind bellows like a bull."
"Goodness! Let us hope this one doesn't!" sighed Mrs. Martin. "Who would
ever think that Uncle Toby would keep a menagerie!" she murmured.
"I never did," agreed her husband.
"They're all in one big room--a sort of addition to the house. It opens
off the dining room," explained Mrs. Watson. "Uncle Toby liked to eat
when his pets did, that's why he had 'em so near him in the dining room.
I'll show 'em to you."
"Are the pigeons out there, too?" asked Mrs. Martin.
"No, Uncle Toby kept them in the barn," the housekeeper replied. "If you
don't want the pigeons, Uncle Toby told me to tell you there's a boy in
this same street who will take them. But Uncle Toby said he wished you'd
take charge of all the other pets."
"Oh, yes, Mother--Daddy! Let's keep 'em _all_!" pleaded Janet.
By this time Mrs. Watson had opened the door leading into the extra room
that Uncle Toby had built to house his pets. No sooner was the door
opened than the noise sounded louder than ever, and several things
happened.
"Oh, look at the lovely cat!" cried Janet, as one with very fluffy fur
walked forward as though to meet the Curlytops. "It's a Persian, I guess.
Oh, I just love a Persian! Turnover is very nice, but I love this one a
lot," and she reached down to stroke the beautiful cat that seemed very
friendly.
"Oh, look!" suddenly cried Ted. "See! The dogs do tricks!"
As he spoke one white poodle came walking along on his hind legs, with
his front paws held in a funny fashion before him.
"Bow wow!" barked the poodle. And then, as if this might be a signal,
there suddenly came from the end of the room another white poodle, so
nearly like the first that it was difficult to tell them apart.
"Oh, see! More tricks!" cried Ted.
The second dog began turning somersaults. One after another he turned,
making his way, in this fashion, to where Ted was patting the head of
the poodle that was standing on its hind legs.
"Say! I can have a regular circus with these trick dogs!" cried Ted in
delight.
"And my Persian cat can be in it," added Janet.
Just then a cry, as if of fear, came from Trouble. Turning around the
Curlytops and others saw a strange sight.
A brown monkey was hanging by its tail from an electric chandelier in the
middle of the room, and, thus reaching down, was trying to pull Trouble's
cap from the little fellow's head.
"'Top! 'Top it!" shouted William. "Make han'-ordan monkey let my cap
alone!" he wailed. And then, with a flutter and a screech, a green and
red parrot flew from its perch and landed on Mrs. Martin's shoulder. The
pets of the Curlytops were having a lively time!