Dey'll choke de flowers in about an
hour. I'se got t' 'tend t' 'em immejeet, sah. I ain't got no time t'
go huntin' horned toads. I hopes you'll 'scuse me, sah," and with that
Ponto was gone, walking faster than he had at any time since the
travelers arrived.
"He's afraid," said Rose, with a laugh. "I'm not. Come on, Professor,
I'll show you where Ponto means, and maybe we can find some horned
toads."
"Let's all go," proposed Jerry.
"I will, if you'll promise not to let the horrible things come near
me," said Nellie, and Jerry promised.
Mr. Seabury declared he would rather rest on the veranda than hunt
horned toads, so the three boys and the trio of girls, with the
professor, who armed himself with specimen boxes and a small net, set
off after the curious reptiles.
A short distance from the bungalow there was a sort of sandy stretch,
where little grew in the way of vegetation, and there, Rose explained,
was probably where Ponto had seen the toads. They headed toward it,
the scientist eagerly looking on the ground, for a first sight of the
specimens he had come so far to seek.
CHAPTER XII
A STRANGE MEETING
"I GUESS Ponto must have been asleep when he was walking along here,
and dreamed he saw those toads," commented Ned, after the party had
covered a considerable part of the sandy stretch without getting a
glimpse of the ugly reptiles.
"That's too bad!" exclaimed the professor. "I had hopes of finding one
here."
"Oh!" suddenly screamed Rose.
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