OUT TO SEA
“That’s Mother calling!” announced Janet.
“Yes,” agreed Ted, looking up from where he was delving in the sand.
“Then you children had better run home,” said Mr. Keller. “Don’t keep
your mother waiting.” He and his wife were now eagerly searching on the
beach for the lost wedding ring and the bunch of keys.
“Tell your mother I will call and see her another time,” said Mrs.
Keller, scarcely raising her eyes from their eager look down at the
sand. “I must help my husband find his keys,” she added. She seemed to
have forgotten about her wedding ring—at least, for a time. “If he
doesn’t get those keys back, and Mr. Narr finds out about their loss,
there will be a sad time.”
Mrs. Martin called again:
“Ted! Janet! Where are you? Is Trouble all right?”
“Yes, Mother! Here we are!” answered Ted.
“And William is with us. But there’s a lot of trouble here,” added
Janet—she meant the trouble Mr. and Mrs. Keller were having about the
wedding ring and the keys lost in the sand of Sunset Beach.
Mrs. Martin came up over the sand dunes. These were low hills, covered
with coarse saw-toothed grass. There was a row of these sand hills
between the sandy beach and the road that ran along the ocean front.
Across the road, and back a little way from it, was the cottage Mr.
Martin had hired for the summer. On another road, a little farther up
from the beach, were the cottages of Mr. and Mrs. Keller and Mr. and
Mrs. Randall, together with the vacation homes of many other families.
“What is going on here?” asked Mrs. Martin, with a smile, as she saw her
Curlytops and William, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Keller. “Are you playing
a game?” she wanted to know. For it did look odd to see so many of them
delving in the sand.
“No, Mother, it isn’t a game,” said Janet.
“Mrs. Keller has lost her wedding ring and Mr. Keller has lost his bunch
of keys,” added Ted.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” exclaimed Mrs. Martin. “Let me help you look for
them. Shall I call Mr. Martin? He is on the porch and——”
“I don’t believe it would do any good—thank you, just the same,”
replied Mr. Keller. “We have been looking for some time, but I am afraid
both my keys and my wife’s ring are covered with sand. It is like
looking for a needle in the haystack.”
“Oh, but we mustn’t give up searching!” murmured Mrs. Keller.
“Oh, no,” agreed her husband.
The story of the lost things was quickly told to Mrs. Martin, and she
began casting her eyes about, hoping she might see either the ring or
the keys. But neither was found, even though the Curlytops, Trouble and
Mr. and Mrs. Keller also aided.
“I shall have to do as I said I would, and get some men with shovels and
sieves to look over all this sand around here,” said Mr. Keller,
pointing to the ring of stones and sticks made by Ted.
“It will be the only safe way,” agreed Mrs. Martin.
“Don’t you folks bother any more,” went on Mr. Keller. “I’ll go and see
if I can hire some men. You stay here, my dear,” he told his wife, “so
we will be sure no one comes along and picks up the things.”
“They would need to be very lucky to do that,” remarked Mrs. Keller,
with a sad smile.
“I know just how you feel,” said Mrs. Martin to Mrs. Keller. “Once I
lost my wedding ring, and I thought I would never find it again. But I
did. It had rolled down a little hole in the corner of my room. Trouble
poked it out with one of his drum sticks when he was playing. He didn’t
know what it was, but called me to come and see the shiny band he had
found. Oh, I was so happy to get it back!”
“And I would be happy to get back my wedding ring,” murmured Mrs.
Keller. “But I feel worse now over my husband’s lost keys. You don’t
know what it may mean! He may even be discharged by Mr. Narr if it is
found out.”
“You don’t mean it!” gasped Mrs. Martin.
“Yes,” was the answer. “You have no idea what a hard-hearted man Mr.
Narr is. If he once found out——”
The Curlytops could not hear all that Mrs. Keller said, but they had the
idea that Mr. Narr was very cruel.
“You had better go up and talk to my husband, Mr. Keller,” said Mrs.
Martin. “He is on the porch and he can tell you where best to hire the
men to sift the sand and find the lost things. He has been here at
Sunset Beach before, and knows many persons.”
“Thank you, I’ll do that,” said Mr. Keller.
Mr. Martin came down to the shore to help look for the ring and the
keys, but it was of no use. Then he and Mr. Keller went on to the
village to hire some men for the work.
A little later several Italians, with shovels and sieves, were turning
over the sand in the circle of sticks and stones made by Ted. Each
shovelful and each sieveful was carefully examined by the men.
The Curlytops and Trouble, though wishing they could help find the lost
things, did not stay on the beach much longer. There was nothing they
could do, so they went up to the cottage and were given something to eat
by Norah.
“This afternoon maybe Mr. Keller will find his keys,” said Janet, as she
got out her doll with the shoe-button eyes. “And maybe his wife will
find her ring. I hope so.”
“I hope so, too,” said Mrs. Martin.
“Why is Mr. Keller so worried about his keys?” asked Ted. “Would that
man he works for discharge him just for losing a bunch of keys?”
“I’m afraid so, my dear,” answered his mother. “Mrs. Keller told me
something about this Mr. Narr. He is very rich, it seems, and owns a
summer home on one of the islands in the bay. Being very rich, he
thinks, I suppose, that he can have nearly everything his own way. At
least he wants Mr. Keller, who works for him, to do everything just
right.”
“Mr. Keller wouldn’t do anything wrong, would he, Mother?” asked Janet.
“Oh, no! Of course not!” Mrs. Martin replied. “But Mr. Narr might think
it wrong of Mr. Keller to lose the keys. One of the keys, it seems,
opens Mr. Narr’s strong box in the bank. In the box, or safe deposit
vault, are valuable papers, stocks, bonds and so on. Mr. Narr may think
that because Mr. Keller has lost the keys some one may find them and
open the box, robbing him of his wealth.”
“Could they do that?” asked Ted.
“I think not, my dear. It takes two keys to open the safe deposit box in
the bank. One key is that of the man who rents the box, and the other
key is kept in the bank.”
“Then I don’t see why Mr. Narr would make such a fuss!” exclaimed Janet.
“It is just because he is such an odd man,” explained her mother. “He is
very fussy. He thinks that he must have everything his own way, and he
has trusted Mr. Keller with important keys. Now, if he finds out that
Mr. Keller has lost those keys—even though it was not Mr. Keller’s
fault—Mr. Narr might be so angry that he would discharge Mr. Keller.”
“Then he wouldn’t have a job, would he, Mother?” asked Ted.
“Well, I think he doesn’t exactly call this place a ‘job,’” and Mrs.
Martin smiled. “It is more of a position. It is like that of a private
secretary to Mr. Narr.”
“But if he lost that job—I mean position,” corrected Ted, “he could get
another, couldn’t he?”
“Perhaps that is not as easy as it seems,” Mrs. Martin answered. “Mr.
Keller is quite an elderly gentleman. It would be hard for him to look
for a new place—to learn new ways. Many persons will not hire an old
man. Mr. Keller is not rich—he needs the money Mr. Narr pays him—and
if Mr. Narr were to discharge him for losing the keys, then it would go
hard with Mr. Keller.”
“Then we must help him find the keys!” exclaimed Ted.
“And help Mrs. Keller find her wedding ring,” added Janet.
“Yes, my dears, it would be wonderful if you could find the things lost
in the sand,” remarked their mother.
“I wish I could find a nellifunt!” burst out Trouble, and they all
laughed at him.
“If the men don’t find the things after they sift the sand we’ll go
look, Jan,” proposed Ted.
“Yes,” agreed his sister, “we’ll do that.”
“Of course they may find them without you,” Mrs. Martin said. “But it is
very kind of you to offer to look. But now, Curlytops, don’t let this
worry you too much. You came down here for a restful and happy vacation
from school. And, while it is right and kind to think of the troubles of
others, you are too little to be made to worry.”
“Well, anyhow, we’ll look for the keys and the ring if the men don’t
find them,” said Teddy.
“Yes, you may do that,” agreed his mother.
“And now let’s go down to the beach and play,” proposed Janet. “Let’s go
over by the fishing boats. I want to see them go out in the big waves.”
“Oh, yes!” cried Teddy. “It’s just about time for them to go out now.
After we see them we can go back to the place where Mr. Keller lost his
keys and see if they found them.”
Sunset Beach was a fine place for fishing. All along the shore, in the
bay and out in the open ocean, were nets set out in the water, a mile or
often several miles from the shore. These nets are put down where the
water is about forty feet deep, the nets being fastened to poles stuck
in the sand.
The fish, swimming up and down the coast, get tangled in the nets, and
some of them swim into a circular part called a “purse,” from which they
cannot get out. Once a day, or perhaps not quite so often if there is a
storm, the fishermen go out to the nets in big motor boats, lift up the
“purse” and take out the fish which they bring to shore. The fish are
then put in barrels, with cracked ice to keep them fresh, and are sent
on trains to distant cities.
The Curlytops had been to the seashore once before, when they were quite
small, and they remembered to have seen the fish boats go out and come
in. Sometimes the waves were so rough that the boats would be upset and
the fishermen spilled out.
Now, having come to Sunset Beach when they were older and could
understand things better, Ted and Janet were eager, once more, to watch
the fishing boats depart for the distant nets, some of which could just
be seen from the beach.
“Come on, Trouble!” called Ted.
“We’ll take good care of him, Mother,” promised Janet, in answer to her
mother’s look.
“Where you goin’?” William wanted to know. “Are you goin’ to see a
nellifunt?”
“We are going to see some fish,” answered Ted. For sometimes a boat
laden with fish from the nets would come ashore as an empty boat went
out, so both operations could be seen at the same time.
“I don’t want to see fish—I want to see nellifunt!” objected Trouble,
hanging back.
“Oh, come on!” urged Ted, with a laugh. “Maybe you’ll see a shark,
Trouble, or a horse mackerel. That’s almost as good as an elephant.”
“Do they have sharks in the nets?” asked Janet, eagerly.
“Oh, yes,” her mother told her. “I read the other day that a large one
got in the nets of some fishermen and tore the nets all to pieces. The
fishermen caught the shark, however, and brought him to shore.”
“I wish they’d catch one now!” exclaimed Ted.
“What’s a horse mackerel?” Janet wanted to know.
“It’s a very large mackerel-shaped fish,” her mother answered. “It is
not quite as large as a horse, but it is very big.”
“As big as a shark?” asked the little girl.
“As big as some sharks,” said Mrs. Martin.
“’Nen I guess I go see a shark an’ a horsie mackel,” announced William.
“Maybe he’ll be ’most as good as a nellifunt!”
“Oh, you and your elephants!” laughed Janet.
So the children went down to the beach—that part of the beach whence
the fishing boats departed. There was a crowd about the craft, waiting
to see them motor off through the surf, which was rather high. In the
distance the Curlytops could see where Mr. and Mrs. Keller, with the
gang of Italian men, were sifting the sand, trying to find the lost ring
and the keys.
“I hope they get them back,” said Janet.
“So do I,” agreed her brother.
The fishermen were getting ready to put the boat into the water. It was
sent down the sloping beach, a few feet at a time, on wooden rollers.
When it was almost at the edge of the surf, the boat was held back from
sliding in by a rope fastened to it. The other end of the rope was made
fast to a big pole set in the sand, well up the beach.
Ted, Janet and Trouble wandered about in the crowd, looking at the boat
which was ready to be launched. Another boat had come in a few minutes
before, and the men were busy taking out the fish. There were many
kinds—some good to eat and some not. Those that were of no use were
tossed away. The others were put into bushel baskets and loaded on a
long two-horse truck to be taken up to the fish house. There they would
be put into iced barrels.
“Oh, there’s a lobster!” cried Ted, as a big one was tossed on top of a
basket filled with fish.
“I want to see a shark!” announced Trouble in his shrill little voice,
and the crowd laughed.
“I’ll hold you up so you can see the lobster,” said Janet, taking her
little brother in her arms.
“No, I want to see shark!” he declared. “You didn’t let me see
nellifunt, an’ I want to see shark.”
Janet was kept so busy trying to amuse Trouble that she lost sight of
Ted for a moment. She heard a shout as voices cried:
“They’re going to launch the other boat! Come on!”
“Oh, Trouble, we want to see the other boat go into the waves!”
exclaimed Janet. “You’ve seen enough of the lobster, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Trouble admitted slowly. “But I didn’t see him pinch any shark.
An’ I like to see a nellifunt!”
Janet didn’t stop to argue. She lifted Trouble down, and with him
hurried over to the place where the second fishing boat was held in
place, ready to be launched.
“All ready! Let her go!” shouted the captain of the fishing boat.
A man on shore loosed the rope that held the craft to the mooring post.
Several fishermen, taking hold of the gunwhale, or side of the boat,
pushed it along the wooden rollers down toward the surf. As the bow of
the boat entered the water, the waves splashing high up and over it, the
men leaped in.
In an instant the gasoline engine was started and the boat began to move
out into deeper water.
“Oh, wasn’t that great!” cried Janet, with excitement shining in her
eyes. “Did you see that, Ted?” she called, thinking her brother must be
close at hand.
But Ted did not answer—at least from shore. However, as the crowd grew
silent, Janet heard Ted’s voice.
But it came from the fishing boat putting out to sea. And Ted shouted:
“Here I am, Janet! Here I am!”
Janet looked. Her ears caught the sound of her brother’s voice. She saw
a small figure standing up in the departing fishing boat, waving a
handkerchief to her.
It was Curlytop Ted.
“Oh! Oh!” cried Janet. “Oh, Teddy!”
Well might she exclaim, for Teddy was being taken out to sea. True, it
was only out as far as the fish nets. But there he was—a little boy
with all those fishermen in the boat that was tossing about on the
heaving billows. The sea was quite rough, and the boat might upset
coming back with its load of fish! Perhaps there might be a shark in the
nets!
“Oh! Oh, dear!” sighed Janet. Then she began to cry.