A STRANGE MEETING
“I guess Ponto must have been asleep when he was walking along here,
and dreamed he saw those toads,” commented Ned, after the party had
covered a considerable part of the sandy stretch without getting a
glimpse of the ugly reptiles.
“That’s too bad!” exclaimed the professor. “I had hopes of finding one
here.”
“Oh!” suddenly screamed Rose. “There’s one!”
“Where?” asked the scientist eagerly.
“Right there, by that stone. I saw it jump. Oh, girls, I’m going to
run!”
“And she said she wasn’t afraid of them!” cried Nellie.
The professor cautiously approached with his net outstretched. With a
long stick he turned the boulder over, and made a quick movement with
his net, imprisoning something beneath it.
“I’ve got it!” he cried. “I have the horned toad!”
Holding his captive down beneath the net, he leaned forward on his
knees, to get a better view. Over his face came a look of
disappointment.
“It’s only a harmless lizard,” he said, “and not one of the web-footed
variety, either. That’s too bad. I thought I had my toad.”
“I’m glad, Professor,” said Rose. “Oh, no,” she added quickly, “I’m
sorry for you, but I’m glad it wasn’t a horned toad so close to me.”
The professor raised the net and the lizard scurried away, probably
very much frightened, and wondering what all the excitement was about.
“Let’s go over this way,” suggested Ned.
“That looks as if it might be a good place for toads,” and he pointed
to where there was a clump of trees.
“Can you tell where horned toads like to stay?” asked Olivia.
“No,” replied Ned, in a low voice, “but it’s shady over there, and this
sun, beating down on the sand, is very hot. I wanted to get where it’s
cool, and, anyhow, there’s just as liable to be horned toads there as
anywhere. If he doesn’t find a toad he’ll find something else that will
make him nearly as happy, so it’s all the same.”
“Isn’t he a queer man,” said Olivia, as they followed along behind Mr.
Snodgrass, who was walking ahead, closely scanning the ground.
“He is, but he’s a good friend of ours,” replied Ned. “He is very much
in earnest over his collection of insects and reptiles, and, though he
acts queerly at times, he is one of the best men in the world.”
“I’m sure he must be,” agreed Olivia. “I like him very much. I hope he
stays a long time, and I hope you boys do also. It’s quite lonesome
here, with nothing but Mexicans and Chinese for the main part of the
population.”
“We’ll stay as long as you let us,” said Ned.
“We can have fine times,” went on the girl. “We can go boating on the
little bay, and take trips off into the country. We, ourselves, haven’t
seen much of it yet, as papa was not feeling well when we first came,
and we had to stay home and care for him. But he is better now, and we
can go on little excursions.
Ned’s harmless trick to get the party to a shady spot was successful.
The professor headed for the little clump of trees looking, the while,
for a horned toad, but he saw none of the queer creatures.
“My, but it’s hot!” exclaimed Bob, as he sat down on the ground.
“Oh, it will be worse than this, some days,” said Rose. “We are getting
used to it. But suppose we go down to the seashore? It’s not far, and
there is a very pretty view.”
“Perhaps I can get a horned toad there,” put in the professor
hopefully.
After a short rest in the shade the little party headed for the beach.
As they came in sight of it from a small hill, the boys uttered
exclamations of delight, for a beautiful expanse of water was stretched
out before them,—the Pacific ocean sparkling blue in the sun.
“Oh, for our motor boat!” exclaimed Jerry. “Oh, for the _Dartaway! _
Couldn’t we have fine sport in her, out on that bay!”
“Don’t speak of it!” said Ned with a groan.
“What, is the _Dartaway_ lost?” asked Rose.
“Gone! Busted! Smashed!” exclaimed Bob, and the boys all tried to talk
at once, telling of the disaster that had befallen their craft.
“It’s too bad,” declared Olivia. “But never mind. We have a couple of
rowboats, and maybe you can hire a little sailing skiff.”
“It wouldn’t be the _Dartaway_,” answered Bob, with a sigh. “That boat
had the nicest little kitchen in it—”
“So, that’s all you cared about her for—the kitchen—where you could
cook something to eat!” exclaimed Jerry. “Chunky, I’m ashamed of you;
that’s what I am!”
“Well, I—er—I—” began Bob. “Oh, come on,” he continued, and led the way
down to the beach, where there were some bathing pavilions and several
houses. The professor was walking along behind, in the vain hope of yet
discovering a horned toad, perhaps on its way to get a dip in the surf
or drink some salt water.
“I think you’ll like some chocolate,” said Nellie, as the boys were in
front of a little refreshment booth. “It is made by a Mexican—”
She stopped, for she saw that the boys were not listening to her. Their
attention was drawn to a man who was just coming from the place they
were going in. The boys could not help staring at him, for he was the
man who had acted so strangely in the freight depot at Cresville.