the automobile, waiting for Uncle
Toby to come back. Aunt Sallie was almost ready to doze off in a little
sleep when Mr. Bardeen was seen coming around the corner of the cabin.
No one was with him, and there was no further sight of the man.

"Was anybody else in there?" asked Ted.

"No one," replied Uncle Toby. "The cabin was empty as far as I could
see. I guess the man just stopped in there for shelter, and when he saw
us he thought we owned the place and ran out."

"Who does own it?" asked Tom.

"It belongs to a lumberman named Newt Baker," answered Uncle Toby. "He
used to stay here in the summer, and sometimes part of the winter. But
he went away and since then no one has lived here--except that tramp,"
he added with a laugh. "Poor man," he went on, "I hope he finds some
place to stay this winter. It looks as if it might be a hard one from
the early snow we had."

Once more they started off; and a little later, nothing more having
happened, they arrived safely at Crystal Lake.

"Oh, what a fine place!" cried Tom Taylor, as he saw the big body of
water, on the shore of which was perched Uncle Toby's cottage. The lake
was not frozen, except with a "skim" of ice here and there in little
coves.

"It would be lovely in summer for picnics," said Lola. Neither she nor
her brother had been to Crystal Lake before, but the Curlytops had
visited it once or twice with Uncle Toby, though they had almost
forgotten.

"Well, here we are, children!" called Uncle Toby, as he stopped the
automobile near his "shack" as he often called it. "Now if you'll see
that they get safely inside, Aunt Sallie, I'll soon be with you and
we'll look after supper and get the beds ready."

"I not goin' to bed now!" cried Trouble. "I not goin' to bed now! I
goin' to stay up an' see--an' see--Santa C'aus!" he burst out, after a
moment of thought.

"Oh, you little tyke!" laughed Lola, catching him up in her arms. "Santa
Claus won't be here for over a month."

"And you don't have to go to bed right away," added Janet.

Out of the auto piled the boys and girls, Skyrocket scrambling ahead of
them to smell around and find out what sort of place this was that he
had been brought to.

As Aunt Sallie, the Curlytops and their playmates went toward the front
door of the cabin, the door was opened and a smiling man looked out.

"Hello, folks!" he called. "I've got it good and warm for you, though it
isn't as cold as it was." He was the man Uncle To