lder brother. "Did you see another
bear--I mean a fox?"

"No. But I saw a tramp man," replied Janet. "Oh, but he was awful
ragged!"

"A tramp!" cried Ted. "Then we'd better get away from here. We'd better
go and tell grandpa!"

Janet thought the same thing, and, after telling Ted all that had
happened and what she and the man had said, the Curlytops hurried back
through the woods to the camp.

"A ragged man on the island; is that it?" asked Grandpa Martin, when Jan
told him what had happened. "It must be as Mr. Crittendon said, that
there are tramps here. Though what they are doing I don't know. There
isn't anything to eat here, except what we brought. And you haven't
missed anything, have you, Nora? Has anybody been taking your strawberry
shortcake or apple dumplings from the tent kitchen?"

"No, Mr. Martin, they haven't," Nora answered.

"Well, maybe it was a tramp and perhaps it wasn't," said Grandpa Martin.
"Still it will be a good thing to have a look about the island. I don't
want strange men roaming where they please, scaring the children."

"Oh, he didn't scare me, except at first," Janet hastened to say. "He
spoke real nice to me, but his clothes were old and awful ragged. He
wanted to know if you were a professor."

"Well, I guess I'm professor enough to drive away tramps that won't
work, and only want to eat what other people get," returned the farmer.
"I'll have a look around this island to-morrow, and drive away the
tramps."

"And until then, don't you Curlytops go far away. Stay where I can watch
you," went on Mrs. Martin, shaking her finger at them, half in fun, but
a great deal in earnest.

"We'll stay near the tent," promised Jan.

"I'm going to help grandpa hunt the tramps," declared Ted.

"No, Curlytop, you'd better stay with your sister and mother," said the
farmer. "I don't really believe there are any tramps here."

"But I saw him!" insisted Janet.

"I know you saw some one, Curly Girl," and grandpa smiled at her. "Of
course there may be a strange man--maybe two, for you say you heard one
call to the other. But they may have just stopped for a little while on
this island. I'll have to ask them to go away, though, for we want to be
by ourselves while camping. So, as there might be strangers around here
who would not be pleasant, you'd better stay here, too, Teddy."

"All right, I'll stay," Teddy promised, and he tried to be happy and
contented about it, though he did want to go wi