landing right at his mother's feet, sitting up as straight as though
in his high-chair.

"Oh, darling!" cried Mrs. Martin, catching the little fellow up in
her arms, "are you hurt?"

Trouble was too much frightened to scream or cry. He had his mouth
open but no sound came from it. He was just like the picture of a
sobbing baby.

"Oh, Nora!" cried Mrs. Martin, as she hurried into the dining-room
with her little boy in her arms. "Trouble fell downstairs! Get ready
to telephone for his father and the doctor in case he's badly hurt,"
and then she and the maid began looking over Baby William to find out
just what was the matter with him, while Ted and Janet, much
frightened and very quiet, stood around waiting.

And while Mrs. Martin is looking over Trouble it will be a good
chance for me to tell those of you who meet the Curlytops for the
first time in this book something about them, and what has happened
to them in the other volumes of this series.

The first book is named "The Curlytops at Cherry Farm," and in that
I had the pleasure of telling you about Ted and Janet and Trouble
Martin and their father and mother, when they went to Grandpa
Martin's place, called Cherry Farm, which was near the village of
Elmburg, not far from Clover Lake.

There the children found a goat, which they named Nicknack, and they
kept him as a pet. When hitched to a wagon he gave them many nice