Produced by Avinash Kothare Tom Allen Charles Franksand the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamTHE CURLYTOPS ATUNCLE FRANKS RANCHOR_Little Folks on Ponyback_BYHOWARD R GARISCONTENTSCHAPTERI     TROUBLES TUMBLEII    NICKNACK AND TROUBLEIII   OFF FOR THE WESTIV    THE COLLISIONV     AT RING ROSY RANCHVI    COWBOY FUNVII   BAD NEWSVIII  A QUEER NOISEIX    THE SICK PONYX     A SURPRISED DOCTORXI    TROUBLE MAKES A LASSOXII   THE BUCKING BRONCOXIII  MISSING CATTLEXIV   LOOKING FOR INDIANSXV    TROUBLE HELPSXVI   ON THE TRAILXVII  THE CURLYTOPS ALONEXVIII LOSTXIX   THE HIDDEN VALLEYXX    BACK TO RING ROSYTHE CURLYTOPSAT UNCLE FRANKS RANCHCHAPTER ITROUBLES TUMBLESay Jan this isnt any funWhat do you want to play then TedJanet Martin looked at her brother who was dressed in one of hisfathers coats and hats while across his nose was a pair ofspectacles much too large for him Janet wearing one of her mothersskirts was sitting in a chair holding a dollWell Im tired of playing doctor Jan and giving your makebelievesick doll bread pills I want to do something else and Teddybegan taking off the coat which was so long for him that itdragged on the groundOh I know what we can do thatll be lots of fun cried Janetgetting up from the chair so quickly that she forgot about her dollwhich fell to the floor with a crash that might have broken her headOh my _dear_ cried Janet as she had often heard her mothercall when Baby William tumbled and hurt himself Oh are you hurtand Janet clasped the doll in her arms and hugged it as though itwere a real childIs she busted Ted demanded but he did not ask as a real doctormight inquire In fact he had stopped playing doctorNo she isnt hurt I guess Jan answered feeling of her dollshead I forgot all about her being in my lap Oh arent you goingto play any more Ted she asked as she saw her brother toss the bigcoat on a chair and take off the spectaclesNo I want to do something else This is no funWell lets makebelieve youre sick and I can be a Red Crossnurse like some of those we saw in the drugstore window down thestreet making bandages for the soldiers You could be a soldierTed and I could be the nurse and Id make some sugar pills for youif you dont like the rolledup bread ones you gave my dollTeddy Martin thought this over for a few seconds He seemed to likeit And then he shook his headNo he answered his sister I couldnt be a soldierWhy notCause I havent got a gun and there isnt any tentWe could make a tent with a sheet off the bed like we do lots oftimes Put it over a chair you knowBut I havent a gun Teddy went on He knew that he and Janetcould make a tent for they had often done it beforeCouldnt you take a broom for a gun Janet asked Ill get itfrom the kitchenPooh What good is a broom for a gun I want one that shootsAnyhow I havent a uniform and a soldier cant go to war without auniform or a sword or a gun Im not going to play thatJanet did not know what to say for a few seconds Truly a soldierwould not be much of one without a gun or a uniform even if he wasin a tent But the little girl had not given up yetThe day was a rainy one There was no school for it was Saturdayand staying in the house was no great fun Janet wanted her brotherto stay and play with her and she knew she must do something to makehim For a while he had been content to play that he was DrThompson come to give medicine to Jans sick doll But Teddy hadbecome tired of this after paying half a dozen visits and leavingpills made by rolling bread crumbs togetherTeddy laid aside his fathers old hat and scratched his head Thatis he tried to but his head was so covered with tightly twistedcurls that the little boys fingers were fairly entangled in themSay he exclaimed I wish my hair didnt curl so much Its toolong Im going to ask mother if I cant have it cutI wish I could have mine cut sighed Janet Mines worse to combthan yours is TedYes I know And it always curls more on a rainy dayBoth children had the same curly hair It was really beautiful butthey did not quite appreciate it even though many of their friendsand some persons who saw them for the first time called themCurlytops Indeed the tops of their heads were very curlyOh I know how we can do it suddenly cried Janet just happeningto think of somethingDo what asked her brotherPlay the soldier game You can pretend you were caught by the enemyand your gun and uniform were taken away Then you can be hurt andIll be the Red Cross nurse and take care of you in the tent Ill getsome real sugar for pills too Norall give me some Shes in thekitchen now making a cakeMaybe shed give you a piece of cake too suggested TeddyMaybe agreed Janet Ill go and ask herAsk her for some chocolate added Ted I guess if Ive got to besick Id like chocolate pills stead of sugarAll right said Janet as she hurried downstairs from the playroomto the kitchen In a little while she came back with a plate on whichwere two slices of chocolate cake while on one edge of it were somecrumbs of chocolate icingIll make pills of that after we eat the cake Janet said Youcan pretend the cake made you sick if you want to TedPooh who ever heard of a soldier getting sick on cake Anyhow theydont have cake