"We haven"t seen him," answered their mother. "But daddy and Uncle Frank are going to dig for him after breakfast."
When the meal had been finished it was found that the snow had stopped, at least for a time, and that the weather was a little warmer. Janet and Ted were allowed to play out in a cleared place in the yard.
"Part of the tunnel caved in during the night," said their father, "and we"ll have to dig it out before we can get to Nicknack"s stable. But we"ll call you as soon as we find him."
It took some time to dig through the snow, and while their father and Uncle Frank were doing this Ted and Janet made a little hill in the yard and slid down that on their sleds.
Then they saw Uncle Frank coming toward them.
"Did you find Nicknack?" called the Curlytops.
"No. We dug through the hole he made in the snow, but it came to an end at your bungalow, and there"s no sign of the goat."
"Maybe he"s in our play bungalow," said Teddy.
"The door is closed," went on his uncle. "I"m afraid your goat is snowed under farther off. We"re going to dig some more after dinner. But we"ll find him."
Janet and Teddy were worried about Nicknack.
"Please dig hard for him!" begged Janet, as the two men started out with their shovels after dinner.
"We will," they promised.
Just as they were going out to the kitchen, to get their shovels which they had left in the back entry, there came a pounding in that very place as though some one were stamping snow off his boots.
"What"s that?" asked Uncle Frank.
"Someone coming to see us--one of the neighbors perhaps," remarked Mr.
Martin. "This is the first any of them have broken out after having been snowed in."
Once more the pounding noise sounded.
"Come in!" cried Uncle Frank, as he started toward the door.
"Baa-a-a-a!" came the answer.
"Nicknack!" cried Teddy and Janet joyously.
Uncle Frank threw open the door. There stood the goat, covered with snow, and stamping to get off as much as he could. Into the kitchen he walked as though he felt at home there, and Teddy and Janet began to hug him.
"Hold on there! Wait a minute!" called their father.
"What is it?" asked Mrs. Martin. "What"s the matter, d.i.c.k?"
"There"s something on that goat"s neck!"
"Something on his neck?"
"Yes, a note or something. Nicknack has brought in something out of the storm. We must see what it is!"
CHAPTER XX
IN THE BUNGALOW
The Curlytops were very much excited when they heard their father say Nicknack had something on his neck. They had been so anxious to hug their pet that they had not thought of anything else, and had not noticed anything.
"We thought you were lost in the snow," murmured Janet.
"So he was," declared Teddy. "But he came in out of the snow," he added.
"Didn"t you, Nicknack?"
"Yes, and he brought something with him," went on Mr. Martin. "You must stop hugging Nicknack, Curlytops, until I see what it is."
He led the goat gently away from the children. Nicknack bleated again.
"I guess he"s hungry," said Teddy.
"I"ll get him a cookie!" offered Janet.
"You"d better give him a real meal," put in Nora. "He"ll be hungry and want more than cookies, I"m thinkin"."
"Get him anything you like," said Mr. Martin, "as long as I get this off his neck. It is a note!" he cried. "It"s tied on with a piece of string.
It"s a note--a letter!"
"Who in the world would send a note by Nicknack in that queer way, I wonder," remarked Mrs. Martin.
"I"ve read of persons lost in the mountains sending a note for help tied around the neck of a St. Bernard dog," said Uncle Frank. "Maybe somebody used Nicknack as a dog."
Meanwhile Teddy and Jan had to run to the pantry to get Nicknack something to eat. Trouble was now petting the goat and asking:
"Where you been, Nicknack? Where you been all dis while?"
"It is a note from some one in trouble!" cried Daddy Martin as he pulled the bit of paper from Nicknack"s neck.
"What does it say?" asked Uncle Frank.
"And who is it from?" Mrs. Martin inquired.
"It"s signed "The Lame Boy,"" answered her husband. "And he must be in the snow bungalow the children built!"
"In the snow bungalow!" cried Aunt Jo in surprise.
"That"s what it says. I"ll read it to you," went on Mr. Martin. Then, while Teddy and Janet fed cabbage leaves and pieces of cookie to their goat, their father read aloud the short note.
"I am out in a little playhouse in your yard," the note read. "I hurt my foot so I can"t walk and I am snowed in. This goat came in to see me and I tied this note on his neck. I thought maybe he would take it to somebody who would help me. I have only a little piece of bread left to eat. Please help me, whoever finds this."