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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17492-h.zip b/17492-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a5a49a --- /dev/null +++ b/17492-h.zip diff --git a/17492-h/17492-h.htm b/17492-h/17492-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d16d73 --- /dev/null +++ b/17492-h/17492-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6796 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's, by Laura Lee Hope</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + .unindent {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} + .right {text-align: right;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 20%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; } + pre {font-size: 75%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's, by Laura +Lee Hope</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's</p> +<p>Author: Laura Lee Hope</p> +<p>Release Date: January 11, 2006 [eBook #17492]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net/)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS</h1> + +<h1>AT COUSIN TOM'S</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>LAURA LEE HOPE</h2> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Author of "Six Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," "Six<br />Little +Bunkers at Aunt Jo's," "The Bobbsey Twins<br />Series," "The Bunny Brown +Series," etc.</span></div> + +<div class="center"><br /><br /><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div class="center"><br /><br />NEW YORK<br /> + +<big>GROSSET & DUNLAP</big><br /> + +PUBLISHERS +</div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>BOOKS</h3> + +<h4>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<div class='center'><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 50 cents per volume.</i></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bunker books"> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bobbsey Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bunny Brown Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>THE OUTDOOR GIRL SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Outdoor Girls Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP</b>, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK</div> + +<div class="center">Copyright, 1918, by<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP</div> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<div class="center"><i>Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's</i> +</div> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 249px;"> +<img src="images/p001.png" width="249" height="400" alt="THEY STEAMED ON DOWN PAST THE STATUE OF LIBERTY." title="THEY STEAMED ON DOWN PAST THE STATUE OF LIBERTY." /> +<span class="caption">THEY STEAMED ON DOWN PAST THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.<br /> +<i>Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's.</i> <i>Frontispiece</i>—(<i>Page</i> <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>)</span> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Sammie's Story</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Treasure Hopes</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_13'>13</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">On the Boat</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_23'>23</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Mix-up</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_33'>33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Margy's Crawl</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_41'>41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">At Cousin Tom's</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_51'>51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Digging for Gold</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Rose's Locket</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Sand House</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_82'>82</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Pirate Bungalow</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_93'>93</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Going Crabbing</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_101'>101</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII. </td><td align='left'>"<span class="smcap">They're Loose</span>!"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_111'>111</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Boat</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_123'>123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Violet's Doll</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_132'>132</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Box on the Beach</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_143'>143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Caught by the Tide</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_153'>153</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Marooned</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_162'>162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Marshmallow Roast</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_170'>170</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Sallie Growler</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_181'>181</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Walking Fish</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_191'>191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Queer Box Again</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_200'>200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Upset Boat</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_208'>208</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Sand Fort</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_218'>218</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Mysterious Enemy</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_227'>227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Treasure</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_236'>236</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS</h2> + +<h2>AT COUSIN TOM'S</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>SAMMIE'S STORY</h3> + + +<p>They were playing on the lawn of Aunt Jo's house—the little Bunkers, +six of them. You could count them, if you wanted to, but it was rather +hard work, as they ran about so—like chickens, Mrs. Bunker was wont to +say—that it was hard to keep track of them. So you might take my word +for it, now, that there were six of them, and count them afterward, if +you care to.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" cried the eldest Bunker—Russ, who was eight years old. "Come +on, Rose, let's have some fun."</p> + +<p>"What'll we do?" asked Rose, Russ' sister, who was about a year younger. +"I'm not going to roll on the grass, 'cause I've got a clean dress on, +and mother said I wasn't to spoil it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Pooh! Clean grass like Aunt Jo's won't spoil any dress," said Russ. +"Anyhow, I'm not going to roll much more. Let's get the pipes and see +who can blow the biggest soap bubbles."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want to do that!" cried Vi, or Violet, who was, you might say, +the third little Bunker, being the third oldest, except Laddie, of +course. "What makes so many colors come in soap bubbles when you blow +them?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"The soap," answered Russ, getting up after a roll on the grass, and +brushing his clothes. "It's the soap that does it."</p> + +<p>"But soap isn't that color when we wash ourselves with it," went on Vi. +"And what makes bubbles burst when you blow 'em too big?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Russ. Like many an older person, he did not try +to answer all Vi's questions. She asked too many of them.</p> + +<p>"Let's blow the bubbles," suggested Rose. "Then maybe we can see what +makes 'em burst!"</p> + +<p>"Come on, Margy and Mun Bun!" called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> Vi to two other and smaller +Bunkers, a little boy and girl who were digging little holes in a sandy +place in the yard of Aunt Jo's home. "Come on; we're going to blow +bubbles!"</p> + +<p>These two little Bunkers left their play and hastened to join the +others. At the same time a boy with curly hair and gray eyes, who was +Violet's twin, dropped some pieces of wood, which he had been trying to +make into some sort of toy, and came running along the path.</p> + +<p>"I want to blow some bubbles, too!" he said.</p> + +<p>"We'll all blow them!" called Rose, who had a sort of "little mother" +air about her when the smaller children were with her. "We'll have a +soap-bubble party!"</p> + +<p>"Shall we have things to eat?" asked Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"'Course we will," cried Margy, the little girl who had been playing +with him in the sand. "We always has good things to eat at parties; +don't we, Rose?"</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe we can get some cookies from Aunt Jo," said Rose. "You can +run and ask her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p>Off started Margy, eager to get the good things to eat. It would not +seem like a party, even with soap bubbles, unless there were things to +eat! All the six little Bunkers felt this.</p> + +<p>While Margy was running along the walk that led to the kitchen, where +Aunt Jo's good-natured cook might be expected to hand out cookies and +cakes, another little Bunker, who was walking beside Violet, the one who +had been trying to make something out of pieces of wood, called out:</p> + +<p>"Nobody can guess what I have in my mouth!"</p> + +<p>"Is that a riddle, Laddie?" asked Russ. For Laddie was the name of the +gray-eyed and curly-haired boy, and he was very fond of asking +puzzle-questions. "Is it a riddle?" Russ repeated.</p> + +<p>"Sort of," admitted Laddie. "Who can guess what I have in my mouth?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's candy!" cried Violet, as she saw one of her brother's cheeks +puffed out. "It's candy! Give me some, Laddie!"</p> + +<p>"Nope. 'Tisn't candy!" he cried. "You must guess again!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nothing pleased Laddie more than to make his brothers and sisters guess +his riddles.</p> + +<p>"Is it a piece of cake?" asked Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Nope!"</p> + +<p>"Then 'tis so candy!" insisted Violet. And then, seeing her mother +coming down the side porch, she cried: "Mother, make Laddie give me some +of his candy! He's got a big piece in his mouth, and he won't give me +any!"</p> + +<p>"I haven't any candy!" declared Laddie. "I only asked her if she could +guess what I had."</p> + +<p>"'Tis so candy!" insisted Violet again.</p> + +<p>"No, 'tisn't!" disputed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Children! Children!" said Mrs. Bunker softly. "I don't like my six +little toadikins to talk this way. Where's Margy?" she asked as she +"counted noses," which she called looking about to see if all six of the +children were present.</p> + +<p>"Margy's gone to get some cakes, 'cause we're going to have a +soap-bubble party," explained Russ.</p> + +<p>"What makes so many pretty colors come in the bubbles, Mother?" asked +Violet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is the light shining through, just as the sun shines through the +water in the sky after the rain, making the rainbow."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Violet. She didn't understand very well about it, but her +question had been answered, anyhow. "And now what's Laddie got in his +mouth?" she went on. "Make him give me some, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"I can't, 'cause it's only my tongue, and I can't take it out!" laughed +Laddie, and he showed how he had thrust his tongue to one side, bulging +out his cheek, so it really did look as though he had a piece of candy +in his mouth.</p> + +<p>"That's the time I fooled you with a riddle!" he said to Violet. "It was +only my tongue!"</p> + +<p>"I don't care! When I get some real candy I won't give you any!" cried +Violet.</p> + +<p>"Here comes Margy with the cakes!" exclaimed Rose. "Now we'll have the +soap-bubble party."</p> + +<p>"But don't get any soap on your cake, or it won't taste nice," warned +Mother Bunker. "Now play nicely. Has the postman been past yet?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not yet, Mother," answered Russ. "Do you think he is going to bring you +a letter?"</p> + +<p>"He may, yes."</p> + +<p>"Will it be a letter asking us to come some other place to have a good +time for the rest of the summer?" Rose wanted to know. For the six +little Bunkers were paying a visit to Aunt Jo in Boston, and expected to +leave shortly.</p> + +<p>"I don't know just what kind of letter I shall get," said Mrs. Bunker +with a smile, "but I hope it will be a nice one. Now have your party, +and see who can blow the largest bubbles."</p> + +<p>"Let's eat our cake and cookies first," said Russ. "Then we can't get +any soap on 'em."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked Violet, who seemed especially fond of asking questions +this day.</p> + +<p>"'Cause they'll be inside us—I mean the cookies will," explained Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that would make a good riddle!" exclaimed Laddie. "I'm going to +make up one about that."</p> + +<p>The children went out to the garage, where there was a room in which +they often played. There they ate their cookies and cakes, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>then +Russ and Rose made some bowls of soapy water, and with clay pipes, which +the little Bunkers had bought for their play, they began to blow +bubbles. They made large and small ones, and nearly all of them had the +pretty colors that Violet had asked about.</p> + +<p>They took one of the robes from Aunt Jo's automobile, and, spreading +this out on the grass, they blew bubbles and let them fall on the cloth. +The bubbles bounced up, sometimes making several bounds before they +burst.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Laddie. "It's more fun than making +riddles."</p> + +<p>"I wondered why you hadn't asked one," said Russ with a laugh. "Oh!" he +suddenly exclaimed, for he had happened to laugh just as he was blowing +a big bubble, and it burst, scattering a little fine spray of soapy +water in his face.</p> + +<p>Margy giggled delightedly.</p> + +<p>"I like this!" said Mun Bun, as he put his pipe down into the bowl of +water and blew a big string of little bubbles.</p> + +<p>Just then a voice called:</p> + +<p>"Hey, Russ! Where are you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Back here! Come on!" answered Russ, laying aside his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"It's Sammie Brown, the boy we met the other day when we went to +Nantasket Beach," Russ explained. "He lives about two blocks from here, +and I told him to come over and see us. Here he is now!" and he pointed +to a boy, about his own age, who was coming up the walk.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Sammie!" greeted Russ. "Want to blow bubbles?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the answer, and a pipe was found for Sammie. He seemed to +know how to use it, for he blew bubbles bigger than any one else.</p> + +<p>"What's inside the bubbles?" asked Violet, who simply had to ask another +question. "Is it water?"</p> + +<p>"No, it's air," said Sammie. "If you could blow a bubble big enough to +get inside of you could breathe the air, just like outside. Only when it +was all breathed up you'd have to get more."</p> + +<p>"Would you, really?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Sure," Sammie answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How do you know?" Violet questioned.</p> + +<p>"'Cause my father's a sea captain, and he takes divers out on his boat +and they go down after things that sink. The divers have air pumped to +them, and they wear a big thing on their heads like a soap bubble, only +it's called a helmet. This is pumped full of air for the diver to +breathe."</p> + +<p>"Oh, tell us about it!" begged Laddie, laying aside his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Did your father ever go down like a diver?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, once or twice. But now he just helps the other men go down. He's +been a sea captain all his life, and once he was shipwrecked."</p> + +<p>"What's shipwrecked?" asked Margy.</p> + +<p>"It's when your ship hits a rock, or runs on a desert island and sinks," +said Sammie. "Then you have to get off if you don't want to be drowned. +And once my father was shipwrecked on a desert island that way, and they +found a lot of gold."</p> + +<p>"They did?" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"Sure! I've heard him tell about it lots of times."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, is it a story?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, it's real," said Sammie.</p> + +<p>"Tell us about it," demanded Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't 'member much about it," Sammie said. "But if you come +over to my house, my father'll tell you about it. Only he isn't home now +'cause he's got some divers down in the harbor and they're going to +raise up a ship that's sunk."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you tell us a little about it?" asked Russ. "Did your father +dig gold on the desert island?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he dug a lot of it," said Sammie. "He's got one piece at home now. +It's yellow, just like a five-dollar gold piece."</p> + +<p>"Where was the island?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we can go there," suggested Laddie. "That is, if it isn't too +far."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's terrible far," said Sammie. "It's half-way around the world."</p> + +<p>"That's too far," said Russ with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we could dig for gold here," suggested Rose. "There's nice sand +in one part of Aunt Jo's garden, and I guess she'd let us dig for gold. +We could give her some if we found any."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't guess there's any gold here," said Sammie, looking the place +over. "This isn't a desert island."</p> + +<p>"We could pretend it was," said Laddie. "Let's do that! I'll go for a +shovel."</p> + +<p>He ran to where the garden tools were kept, but, on the way, he heard +the postman's whistle and stopped to get the mail. This he carried to +his mother, and, when she saw one letter, she cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is from Cousin Tom! I hope it has good news in it!"</p> + +<p>Quickly she read it, while Laddie wondered what the good news was about. +Then Mrs. Bunker said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Laddie! We're going on another nice trip! Cousin Tom has invited us +all down to his seashore cottage! Won't that be fine? We must soon get +ready to leave Aunt Jo's and go to Cousin Tom's!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>TREASURE HOPES</h3> + + +<p>Laddie Bunker looked up at his mother as she finished reading the +letter. Then he shook his head and said:</p> + +<p>"We can't go to Cousin Tom's!"</p> + +<p>"Can't go to Cousin Tom's!" repeated his mother. "Why not, Laddie, my +boy?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause we're going to dig for gold here. Sammie Brown's father is a sea +captain, and he has divers. He knows a lot about digging gold on desert +islands, Sammie's father does, and we're going to make believe Aunt Jo's +back yard is a desert island, and we're going to dig for gold there."</p> + +<p>"But there isn't any," replied Mrs. Bunker, wanting to laugh, but not +doing it, as she did not want to hurt Laddie's feelings.</p> + +<p>"Well, we're going to dig, just the same," insisted Laddie. "We can go +to Cousin Tom's after we find the gold."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, I see," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "Well, don't you think it +would be nice to go to the seashore? There is plenty of sand there, and +perhaps there may be a desert island, or something like that, near +Cousin Tom's. Couldn't you dig for gold and treasure at the seashore?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe we could!" cried Laddie. "I guess that would be nice, Mother. +I'll go and tell the others. We're going to Cousin Tom's! We're going to +Cousin Tom's!" he sang joyously, as he raced back to where he had left +Sammie Brown telling his story, and the other little Bunkers who wanted +to dig for gold.</p> + +<p>"I think it will be just lovely for the children at Cousin Tom's," said +Mrs. Bunker to her husband, who came out to see if there were any +letters for him. "They can play in the sand and never get a bit dirty."</p> + +<p>"Yes, they can do that," said Mr. Bunker. "So Cousin Tom wrote, did he? +Well, I suppose that means we will soon be leaving Aunt Jo's."</p> + +<p>"I shall be sorry to see you go," said Aunt Jo herself—Miss Josephine +Bunker, to give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>her complete name and title. She was Daddy Bunker's +sister, and had never married, but she had a fine home in the Back Bay +section of Boston, and the six little Bunkers, with their father and +mother, had been spending some weeks there.</p> + +<p>While Mr. and Mrs. Bunker are talking about the coming trip to the +seashore, and while Laddie is hurrying back to tell his brothers and +sisters the good news, there will be a chance for me to let my new +readers hear something about the children who are to have the largest +part in this story.</p> + +<p>This book is complete in itself, but it forms one of a series about the +six children, and the first volume is called "Six Little Bunkers at +Grandma Bell's." In that I introduced the boys and girls.</p> + +<p>First there was Russ, aged eight years. He had dark hair and eyes, and +was very fond of whistling and making things to play with, such as an +automobile out of a soap box or a steamboat out of a broken chair. Rose, +who was next in size, was seven years old. She often helped her mother +about the house and looked after the younger children. And <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>that she was +happy when she worked you could tell because she nearly always sang. +Rose had light hair and blue eyes.</p> + +<p>Vi, or Violet, was six years old. As you have noticed, she was very fond +of asking questions, and she looked at you with her gray eyes until you +answered. Laddie, her twin brother, was as persistent in making up queer +little riddles as Vi was with her questions, and between the two they +kept their father and mother busy.</p> + +<p>Margy, or Margaret, was five years old, and almost as dark as a little +Gypsy girl. Margy and Mun Bun usually played together, and they had a +great deal of fun. Lest you might think "Mun Bun" was some kind of +candy, I will say that it was the pet name of Munroe Ford Bunker, and it +was shortened to Mun Bun as the other was too long to say. Mun Bun was +rather small, even for his age of four years. He had blue eyes and +golden hair and looked almost as I have an idea fairies look, if there +are any real ones.</p> + +<p>So there you have the six little Bunkers. When they were at home, they +lived in the town of Pineville, on the Rainbow River.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> Mr. Bunker was a +real estate dealer, whose office was about a mile from his home.</p> + +<p>In the first book of the series I told you of a trip the Bunkers took to +Grandma Bell's at Lake Sagatook, in Maine. Grandma Bell was Mrs. +Bunker's mother, and in the Maine woods the children had so many good +times that it was years before they forgot them. They had quite an +adventure, too, with a tramp lumberman, who had a ragged coat, but I +will not spoil that story by telling it to you here.</p> + +<p>Before the Bunkers left Grandma Bell's they received an invitation to +visit Aunt Jo in Boston, and they were at her Back Bay home when the +present story opens.</p> + +<p>There had been adventures in Boston, too, and the pocketbook which Rose +found, with sixty-five dollars in it, was quite a mystery for a time. +But, finally, the real owner was discovered, and very glad she was to +get the money back.</p> + +<p>"Well, we have had good times here at Aunt Jo's," said Mrs. Bunker to +her husband, when they had read all the letters that had come in the +mail. "And now it is time for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>us to go. I think we shall enjoy our stay +at Cousin Tom's."</p> + +<p>"It will be fine for the children," said their father.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they are already counting on digging gold out of the sand," said +Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Sammie Brown has been telling them some story +about buried treasure his father found."</p> + +<p>"Well, I believe that is a true story," said Mr. Bunker. "I heard my +sister say something about Mr. Brown having been shipwrecked on an +island once, and coming back with gold. But if we go to Cousin Tom's we +shall have to begin packing soon, shall we not?" he went on.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed his wife. "We are to leave about the middle of next week."</p> + +<p>"We have been doing a great deal of traveling so far this summer," went +on Mr. Bunker. "Here it is about the middle of August, and we have been +at Grandma Bell's, at Aunt Jo's and we are now going to Cousin Tom's. I +had a letter from Grandpa Ford, saying that he wished we'd come there."</p> + +<p>"And my brother Fred is anxious to have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>us come out to his western +ranch," said Mrs. Bunker. "If we accept all the invitations we shall be +very busy."</p> + +<p>So Mr. and Mrs. Bunker talked over the time of leaving, what they would +need to take, and the best way of going. Meanwhile Laddie had run back +to tell his brothers and sisters the good news.</p> + +<p>"We're going to the real seashore!" he exclaimed. "It's down to Seaview +where Cousin Tom lives, and we can dig for treasure there!"</p> + +<p>"Can we really?" asked Violet. "What's treasure, Russ? Is any of it good +to eat? And look at that robin! What makes him waggle his tail that way? +And look at the cat! What's she lashing her tail so for?"</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, Vi!" cried Russ with a laugh. "You mustn't ask so many +questions all to once."</p> + +<p>"Treasure isn't good to eat!" said Laddie. "But if you find a lot of +gold you can buy ice-cream sodas with it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe the robin is flitting its tail to scare the cat," suggested Rose, +who remembered Violet's second question.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, I know why the cat is lashing her tail," said Russ. "Cats always +do that when they think they're going to catch a bird. This cat thinks +she's going to catch the robin. But she won't!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"'Cause I'm going to throw a stone at it—at the cat, I mean," explained +Russ. He tossed a pebble at the cat, not hitting it, and the furry +creature slunk away. The robin flew off, also, so it was not caught, at +least not just then.</p> + +<p>"I know a riddle about a robin!" said Laddie. "Only I can't think of it +now," he added. "Maybe I shall after a while. Then I'll tell it to you. +Go on, Sammie. Tell us more about how your father got the gold on the +desert island."</p> + +<p>"He dug for it," Sammie answered. "He and the other sailors just dug in +the sand for it."</p> + +<p>"With shovels?"</p> + +<p>"No, they used big shells. It's easy to dig in the sand."</p> + +<p>"Is sand the best place to dig for gold?" Rose wanted to know.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I guess so," answered Sammie. "Anyhow there's always sand on a desert +island, like that one where my father was."</p> + +<p>"There's sand down at Cousin Tom's," put in Laddie. "I heard my mother +say so. I'm going to dig for gold, and if I get a lot, Sammie, I'll send +you some."</p> + +<p>"I hope you find a big lot!" exclaimed the visiting boy with a laugh.</p> + +<p>They talked over their hopes of finding treasure in the seashore sand, +forgetting all about the soap bubbles they had been blowing.</p> + +<p>"I'll be lonesome when you go away," said Sammie to Russ. "I like you +Bunkers."</p> + +<p>"And we like you," said Russ. "Maybe if we dig for gold down at Cousin +Tom's, and can't find any, you'll come down and help us."</p> + +<p>"Sure I will!" exclaimed Sammie, as if that would be the easiest thing +in the world. "I'll ask my father the best way, and then I'll come +down."</p> + +<p>"Could you bring a diving suit?" asked Laddie. "Maybe the gold would be +down on the bottom of the ocean, and we'd have to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>dive for it. Would +your father let you take a diving suit?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't guess he would," said Sammie, shaking his head. "They are +only for big men, and you have to have air pumped down to you all the +while. It makes bubbles come up, and as long as the bubbles come up the +diver is all right."</p> + +<p>"Did a shark ever bite your father?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess not," Sammie answered. "Anyhow he never told me about it. +But I must go now, 'cause it's time for my lunch. I'll come over after +lunch and we can have some more fun."</p> + +<p>Sammie said good-bye to the six little Bunkers and started down the side +path toward the front gate of Aunt Jo's home. Hardly had he reached the +sidewalk when Russ and the others heard him yelling:</p> + +<p>"Oh, come here! Come here quick, and look! Hurry!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>ON THE BOAT</h3> + + +<p>"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Rose, as she hurried after her +brother, who started to run toward Sammie Brown.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Russ answered. "But something has happened!"</p> + +<p>"Maybe Sammie found the treasure," suggested Laddie. "Oh, wouldn't that +be great? Then we wouldn't have to dig for it down in the sand at Cousin +Tom's!"</p> + +<p>"Pooh! there couldn't be no treasure out in front of Aunt Jo's house," +exclaimed Violet, not being quite so careful of her words as she should +have been.</p> + +<p>By this time Russ and Rose were in the front yard, but they could not +see Sammie, because between the yard and the street were some high +bushes, and the shrubbery hid Sammie from sight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" Russ wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"A policeman has arrested a big bear!" cried Sammie. "Come on and see +it! The policeman has the bear, an' there's a man with gold rings in his +ears, and he's got a red handkerchief on his neck, or maybe that's where +the bear scratched him, and there's a big crowd and—and—everything!"</p> + +<p>Words failed Sammie. He had to stop then.</p> + +<p>"Oh—a—a bear!" gasped Rose.</p> + +<p>She and Russ, followed by the rest of the six little Bunkers, hurried +out to Aunt Jo's front gate. There they saw just what Sammie had said +they would—a policeman had hold of a long cord which was fastened about +the neck of a bear. And there was an excited man with a red handkerchief +tied about his throat, and he had gold rings in his ears. He was talking +to the policeman, and there was a crowd of men and children and a few +women about the bear, the policeman, and the other man, who seemed to be +the bear's owner.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" asked Russ of a boy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>whom he knew, and who lived a few +doors from Aunt Jo's house.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," was the answer. "I guess the bear bit somebody though, +and the policeman arrested it."</p> + +<p>"No, that wasn't it," said another boy. "The bear broke into a bake shop +and ate a lot of pies. That's why the policeman is going to take it to +the station house."</p> + +<p>"Here comes the patrol wagon!" some one else cried, and up the street +dashed the automobile from the precinct station house, its bell clanging +loudly.</p> + +<p>"Get in!" the six little Bunkers heard the policeman say to the man with +the red handkerchief around his neck. "Get in, you and the bear! I'll +teach you to come around here!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe the bear bit the policeman," half whispered Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, my dears," said Aunt Jo, who, with Mother Bunker, had come out to +see what the excitement was about and why the six little Bunkers had run +so fast around the side of the house. "Nothing much at all happened, my +dears," said Aunt Jo. "But in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>this part of Boston, at least, they don't +allow performing bears in the streets. That is why the policeman is +taking this one away. The man, who is an Italian, led his tame bear +along the street and started to have the animal do tricks. But we don't +allow that in this Back Bay section."</p> + +<p>"Will he shoot the bear?" asked Mun Bun breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said Aunt Jo with a laugh. "The poor bear has done nothing, +and his master did not know any better than to bring him here. They will +just make them go to another part of the city, where, perhaps, +performing bears are not objected to. Whether they allow them anywhere +in Boston or not, I can't say. But he will be taken away from here."</p> + +<p>The automobile patrol, with the bear and man in charge of the policeman, +rumbled away. The crowd waited a little while, and then, as nothing more +seemed likely to happen, it began to scatter.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad we saw it," said Russ, as he turned back into the yard.</p> + +<p>"So'm I," added Laddie. "It's 'most as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>much fun as digging for gold. +Say, Russ, I hope we find some, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"I sure do! I wish we were at Cousin Tom's right now. I want to start +digging for that treasure."</p> + +<p>"Don't be too sure of finding any," said Mother Bunker, who heard what +her two little boys were saying. "Many persons dig for gold but never +get any."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll get some," declared Russ, and if you read this book through +you will find out that what Russ said came true.</p> + +<p>After supper that evening, when they had finished talking about the bear +that had been arrested, Laddie and Vi wanted to go out into the yard and +start digging.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said their mother. "You have been washed and dressed, and +digging will get you dirty again. Better wait until to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I thought we were going to start to pack to-morrow to go to Cousin +Tom's," remarked Rose.</p> + +<p>"So we are, but I guess you'll have time to dig for a little gold," +returned Mother Bunker with a laugh. "Though that doesn't <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>mean you will +find any," she went on with another laugh.</p> + +<p>The next day Laddie and Vi did start to dig in a place where Aunt Jo +said it would do no harm to turn over the ground.</p> + +<p>"Though if there is a golden treasure in my yard I never knew it," she +said. "But dig as much as you like."</p> + +<p>"I—I just thought of a riddle," said Laddie, as he and Vi started out.</p> + +<p>"Let me hear it," suggested Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"What is it that's so big you can't put it in anything?" he asked. +"That's the riddle. What is it that's so big you can't put it in +anything in this world?"</p> + +<p>"The ocean," answered Rose, who came along just then.</p> + +<p>"Nope!" and Laddie shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Well, the ocean is terrible big," Violet stated.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," agreed Laddie. "But that isn't the answer to my riddle."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean the sky?" asked Russ. "That's big, too."</p> + +<p>"That isn't the answer," said Laddie. "I'll tell you, 'cause you never +could guess it. It's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>a hole that you dig. You can dig one so big that +you couldn't put it in anything. Not even the biggest box that ever was. +Isn't that a good riddle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's pretty good," agreed Russ; and he commenced to whistle a +merry tune. "But you could fill a small box with some dirt, and dig a +little hole in that, and you'd have a hole in a box," he added, after a +moment.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but the answer to my riddle is a <i>big</i> hole," said Laddie. "Now +come on out and dig!"</p> + +<p>"How big a hole are you going to dig?" Vi wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Oh, not the kind in my riddle," replied her brother. "We'll just dig a +little one and make believe we're after treasure."</p> + +<p>Of course I need not tell you that Laddie and Violet did not find any. +Treasure doesn't usually grow in Boston back yards. But the children had +fun, and that was best of all.</p> + +<p>During the next few days there was much packing of trunks and valises to +do, for the six little Bunkers were getting ready to go to Cousin Tom's +at Seaview. This was a place on the New Jersey coast, and none of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +Bunkers had ever been there. For Cousin Tom had been only recently +married to a very pretty girl, named Ruth Robinson. Cousin Tom and his +bride had stopped to pay a visit to Daddy and Mother Bunker when the +young couple were on their honeymoon trip, and then Cousin Tom and his +wife had said that as soon as they were settled in their new seashore +home the Bunkers must come to see them.</p> + +<p>"And now we are going," said Mother Bunker, on the morning of the day +they were to leave Aunt Jo's. The last trunk had been locked and sent +away, and the family of travelers was soon to take the train from Boston +to Fall River. There they would get on a boat that would take them to +New York, and from New York they could go on another boat to Atlantic +Highlands, in New Jersey. Then they would take a train down the coast to +Seaview.</p> + +<p>"Well, I certainly shall miss you!" said Aunt Jo, as she kissed the big +and little Bunkers good-bye. "And I hope, children, that you find lots +of treasure in the sand."</p> + +<p>"We'll dig deep for it," said Laddie. "Did <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>you hear my riddle, Aunt Jo, +about what's so big you can't put it in anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, I heard it."</p> + +<p>"The answer is a <i>big</i> hole," went on Laddie, lest his aunt might have +forgotten.</p> + +<p>"I remember," she said with a laugh.</p> + +<p>The trip to Fall River was not a very long one, and the six little +Bunkers, who looked out of the windows at the sights they saw, hardly +realized it when they were told it was time to get off the train.</p> + +<p>"Where do we go now?" asked Rose, as she helped her mother by carrying a +package in one hand and holding to Margy with the other. Rose was a real +"mother's helper" that day.</p> + +<p>"We go on the boat now," said Daddy Bunker. "And I want you children to +be very careful. We are going to ride on the boat all night, and we +shall be in New York in the morning."</p> + +<p>"Shall we sleep on the boat?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll have cute little beds to sleep in," said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>A half hour later they were on one of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>big Fall River boats that +make nightly trips between New York and the Massachusetts city. The +Bunkers were shown to their state-rooms. They had three large +apartments, with several bunks, or beds, in each one, so there would be +plenty of room.</p> + +<p>They had their supper on the boat, and then they went out on deck in the +evening. There were many sights new and strange to the children, and +they looked eagerly at each one. Then it grew dark, and it was decided +that the time had come for little folks to "turn in," and go to sleep.</p> + +<p>Laddie, who with Russ and his father shared a room together, was looking +from the window of the stateroom, out into the dark night, when he +suddenly cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's going to be a big thunder storm! I just saw the flash of +lightning!"</p> + +<p>"Are you sure it was lightning?" asked Mr. Bunker with a smile. "I +didn't hear any thunder."</p> + +<p>"There it is again!" cried Laddie, and this time a ray of bright, white +light shone in the window, full in Laddie's face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>A MIX-UP</h3> + + +<p>"That isn't lightning," said Russ, who had come to the window of the +stateroom to stand beside his brother and look out.</p> + +<p>"'Tis, too!" insisted Laddie, as another flash came. "It's lightning, +and maybe it'll set our boat on fire, and then we can't go to Cousin +Tom's an' dig for gold! So there!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker, who was opening a valise in one corner of the room, getting +out the boys' pajamas for the night, had not seen the light shining in +the window, but had seen the glare of it on the wall.</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't lightning at all!" declared Russ again.</p> + +<p>"How do you know it isn't?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"'Cause lightning flashes are a different color," said Russ. "And, +besides, they don't <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>stay still so long. Look, Daddy, this one is +peeping right in our window like a light from Aunt Jo's automobile!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker turned in time to see the bright flash of light come in +through the window, and then it seemed to stay in the room, making it +much brighter than the light from the electric lamps on the wall.</p> + +<p>"Of course that isn't lightning!" said Mr. Bunker. "That's a +search-light from some ship. Come on out on deck, boys, and we'll see +it."</p> + +<p>The bright glare was still in the room, but it did not flare up as +lightning would have done, and there were no loud claps of thunder.</p> + +<p>"Well, if it isn't a storm I'll come out on deck and look," Laddie said. +"But if it rains I'm coming in!"</p> + +<p>"It won't," said Daddy Bunker with a laugh. "We'll go out for a few +minutes, and then we'll come in and go to bed. To-morrow we'll be at +Cousin Tom's."</p> + +<p>Out on the deck of the big Fall River boat they went, and, surely +enough, the light did come from the search-lantern of a big ship not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>far away. It was a United States warship, the boys' father told them, +and it was probably kept near Newport, where there is a station at which +young sailors are trained. The warship flashed the light all about the +water, lighting up other boats.</p> + +<p>"I thought it was lightning," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"It is a kind of lightning," said Daddy Bunker. "For the light is made +by electricity, and lightning and electricity are the same thing, though +no one has yet been able to use lightning to read by."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker, who had left Rose in charge of Margy and Mun Bun, came out +on deck with Violet, and met her husband and the two boys. She was told +about Laddie's thinking the light was from a storm, and laughed with him +over it.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to make up a riddle about the search-light to-morrow," said +the little fellow eagerly.</p> + +<p>They stayed out on deck a while longer, while the boat steamed ahead, +watching the various lights on shore and on other vessels, and +occasionally seeing the glare of the search-beam from the warship. Then, +as it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>was getting late and the children were tired, Mother Bunker said +they had better go to their beds.</p> + +<p>This they did, and they slept soundly all night.</p> + +<p>The morning was bright and fair, and the day promised to be a fine one +for the rest of the trip to Cousin Tom's. As I have mentioned, they were +to take a boat from New York City to Atlantic Highlands, and from there +a train would take them down the New Jersey coast to Seaview, and to Mr. +Thomas Bunker's house on the beach.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to have breakfast on the boat?" asked Russ, as he helped +his father gather up the baggage, whistling meanwhile a merry tune.</p> + +<p>"No, I think we will go to a restaurant on shore," said Mr. Bunker. "I +want to telegraph to Cousin Tom, and let him know we are coming, and I +think we shall all enjoy a meal on shore more than on the boat after it +has tied up at the dock."</p> + +<p>So on shore they all went, and Daddy Bunker, after leaving the hand +baggage at the dock where they were to take the Atlantic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> Highlands boat +later in the day, took them to a restaurant.</p> + +<p>"Shall we have good things to eat?" asked Violet, as she walked along by +her mother's side.</p> + +<p>"Of course, my dear," was the answer. "That is what restaurants are +for."</p> + +<p>"Will they have as good things as we had at Aunt Jo's?"</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I think so."</p> + +<p>"Will they have strawberry shortcake?"</p> + +<p>"You don't want that for breakfast!" laughed Daddy Bunker, turning +around, for he was walking ahead with Russ.</p> + +<p>"I like strawberry shortcake," went on Violet. "It's good and mother +said they had good things in a rest'ant. I want strawberry shortcake."</p> + +<p>"Well, you shall have some if we can get it," promised Mother Bunker, +for Violet was talking quite loudly, and several persons on the street, +hearing her, looked down at the little girl and smiled.</p> + +<p>"All right," said Vi. "I'm glad I'm going to get strawberry shortcake in +the rest'ant. What makes 'em call it a rest'ant, Daddy?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> Does an ant +rest there? And why doesn't Aunt Jo come to one an' rest?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you about it when we get there," said her father.</p> + +<p>The restaurant was not far from where they were to take the boat for +Atlantic Highlands, and, though it was rather early in the morning, +quite a number of persons were at breakfast.</p> + +<p>There was a smell of many things being cooked, and the rattle of dishes, +and of knives, forks and spoons made such a clatter that it sounded as +though every one was in a great hurry.</p> + +<p>"Are all these people going down to the seashore like us?" asked Violet, +who seemed to have many questions to ask that day.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," answered her father. "They are just hungry, and they want +their breakfast. Perhaps some of them have been traveling all night, as +we were. But come, we must find a table large enough for all of us. I +don't believe they often have a whole family, the size of ours, at +breakfast here."</p> + +<p>A waiter, who had seen the Bunkers come in, motioned them to follow him, +and he led <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>them to a quiet corner where there was a table with just +eight chairs about it.</p> + +<p>"Ho! I guess this was made specially for us," said Russ with a laugh, as +he slid into his seat.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it just seems to fit," agreed Mr. Bunker. "Now, Mother," and he +looked over at his wife, "you order for some of the children, and I'll +order for the others. In that way we'll be through sooner."</p> + +<p>"Have they got any strawberry shortcake?" asked Vi. "I want some."</p> + +<p>"I don't see it down on the bill of fare for breakfast," replied her +father, "but I'll ask the waiter."</p> + +<p>One of the men, of whom there were many hurrying to and fro with big +trays heaped high with dishes of food, came over to the Bunkers' table.</p> + +<p>"No, the strawberry shortcake isn't ready until lunch," he said. "But +you can have hot waffles and maple syrup."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I like them!" and Violet clapped her hands. "I like them better +than strawberry shortcake."</p> + +<p>"Then you may bring some," said Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> Bunker. It took a little time to +get just what each child wanted, and sometimes, after the order was +given, one or the other of the youngsters would change. But finally the +waiter had gone back to the kitchen, to get the different things for the +six little Bunkers and their father and mother.</p> + +<p>"And now we can sit back and draw our breaths," said Mrs. Bunker. "My, I +never saw such a hungry lot of children! Now sit still, all of you, +until I 'count noses.' I want to see if you're really all here."</p> + +<p>She began at Russ, and went to Rose, to Violet, to Laddie, and to Margy, +and then Mrs. Bunker suddenly cried:</p> + +<p>"Why, you're not Mun Bun! Where is Mun Bun? You are not my little boy!"</p> + +<p>And, surely enough, there was a mix-up. For in the seat where Mun Bun +had been sitting was a strange little boy. He was about as big as Mun +Bun, but he was not one of the six little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>Where was Mun Bun?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>MARGY'S CRAWL</h3> + + +<p>Mother Bunker looked at the strange little boy. And the strange little +boy looked at Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Where did you come from?" asked Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Over there, and I'm hungry!" said the little fellow. "I'm terrible +hungry, 'cause I didn't have no breakfast yet. Has you got any +breakfast?" and he looked at each plate in turn, for the waiter had put +plates in front of each of the Bunkers. "No, you hasn't anything to eat, +either. I guess I'll go back," and he started to slip down from his +chair. He was sitting between Violet and Margy.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, my little man," said Daddy Bunker with a smile. "Don't +run away so fast. You might get lost. Who are you and where do you +live?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I live away far off," answered the strange boy. "My name is Tommie, and +I come in a ship and I'm going out West, and I'm hungry!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe he's lost!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure Mun Bun is!" said Mrs. Bunker. "Oh, where can he be? He was in +his chair a minute ago, and then I looked to see what else I wanted to +order to eat, but when I looked up there was this strange boy, and Mun +Bun was gone. Oh, I hope he hasn't gone into the street!" and she looked +toward the door of the restaurant.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun was not in sight, and Mr. Bunker got up from his chair to make a +search. The strange boy who had said his name was Tommie, looked about +hungrily.</p> + +<p>Just as Mrs. Bunker was going to call a waiter, and ask about Mun Bun, +there came a cry from another table at the far end of the restaurant. It +was the voice of a woman, and she said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, that isn't Tommie! Where is he? Where is Tommie?"</p> + +<p>"I guess that explains the mystery," said Mr. Bunker with a smile. "The +two boys <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>are mixed up. We have Tommie—whatever his other name is—at +our table, and Mun Bun must have gone down there," and he pointed to the +table where the woman had called for Tommie. There were five children at +this table, waiting for breakfast as the six little Bunkers were +waiting, and one of them was Mun Bun, as his mother could see. She ran +down the long room.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mun Bun!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "What made you go away? Why did you +come over here?" And she hurried to his chair and took him in her arms.</p> + +<p>At the same time the boy who had called himself Tommie, slipped out of +his chair and hurried with Mrs. Bunker back to the table where the woman +who had called him sat.</p> + +<p>"Now I guess the mix-up is straightened out," said Daddy Bunker with a +laugh. "Mun Bun slipped away, when we were not looking, and went to the +wrong table. At the same time a little boy from that table came to ours. +They just traded places."</p> + +<p>"Like puss-in-the-corner," said Rose, who had followed her mother and +father to the other end of the room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's it," agreed Daddy Bunker. "I'm sorry you were frightened about +your little boy," he went on to Tommie's mother. "We didn't know we had +him."</p> + +<p>"And I didn't know I had yours," she said with a smile. "I have five +children, all girls but this one, and when I didn't see Tommie in his +place, but saw, instead, this strange little chap, I didn't know what +had happened."</p> + +<p>"That's just the way I felt," said Mrs. Bunker. "I have six, and when we +travel it keeps me and their father busy looking after them."</p> + +<p>"My husband isn't with me now," said the woman, who gave her name as +Mrs. Wilson. "But I expect to meet him at the station. We are going to +Asbury Park for the rest of the summer."</p> + +<p>"We are going to Seaview," said Mrs. Bunker. "Perhaps we may meet you at +the shore."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said Mrs. Wilson, as Tommie slipped into the seat out of +which Mun Bun slid. "Now here comes your breakfast, children."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, and the waiter is bringing ours," said Mr. Bunker with a look over +toward his own table. "Come, Mother, and Mun Bun. You, too, Rose."</p> + +<p>They said good-bye to Mrs. Wilson, and soon the six little Bunkers at +one table were eating waffles and maple syrup, and at the other table +the five little Wilsons were enjoying their meal.</p> + +<p>"What made you go away, Mun Bun?" asked his mother, as she buttered +another waffle for him.</p> + +<p>"I wanted to see if they had any shortcake down there," he explained. "I +wanted some like Vi did, and I went to another table to see. But there +wasn't have any," he added, getting rather mixed up in his talk. "And +when I wanted to come back I didn't know the way and I sat down and you +weren't there, Mother, and I was afraid and——"</p> + +<p>"But you're all right now," said Mrs. Bunker, as she saw Mun Bun's chin +begin to quiver as it always did just before he cried. "You're all right +now, and not lost any more. Finish your waffle, and we'll soon be ready +to go on the boat to Cousin Tom's."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>The children were eating heartily, for they were hungry after their +night trip from Fall River. Laddie, who had had several helpings of +waffles, at last seemed satisfied. He leaned back in his chair and said:</p> + +<p>"I know another riddle. When is Mun Bun not Mun Bun?"</p> + +<p>"He's always Mun Bun, 'ceptin' when Mother calls him Munroe Ford Bunker, +when he's got himself all dirt," said Vi. "I don't call that a riddle."</p> + +<p>"It is a riddle," insisted Laddie. "When is Mun Bun not Mun Bun?"</p> + +<p>"Is it when he's asleep?" asked Russ, taking a guess just to please his +small brother.</p> + +<p>"Nope! That isn't it," went on the small boy. "It's awful hard, and +you'd never guess it, so I'll tell you. Mun Bun isn't Mun Bun when he's +Tommie Wilson. Isn't that a good riddle?" he asked. "Mun Bun isn't Mun +Bun when he's Tommie Wilson."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is pretty good," said Mr. Bunker. "But now we had better +hurry, or we may be late for the Atlantic Highlands boat. Are you all +through?"</p> + +<p>They were; all but Mun Bun, who saw a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>little pool of maple syrup on his +plate, and wanted to get that up with a spoon before he left the table. +Then once more the six little Bunkers were on their way.</p> + +<p>The Atlantic Highlands boat left from a pier near one of the New Jersey +Central Railroad ferry slips on West street in New York City, and it was +quite a long walk from the shore end of the pier to the end that was out +in the Hudson River. It was at the river end that the boat stopped, +coming down from a pier farther up the stream.</p> + +<p>"Now are we all here?" asked Mother Bunker, as she and her husband +started down West street. "I don't want Mun Bun to change into some one +else after we get started on the boat, for then it will be too late to +change him back. Are we all here?"</p> + +<p>They were, it seemed, and down West street they hurried. The way was +lined with out-door stands, where it seemed that nearly everything from +bananas and oranges to pocketbooks and shoes, were sold. West street is +along the river front, where many boats land, and there are sailors, and +other persons, who have no time to go shopping <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>for things up town, or +farther inland in the city of New York. So the stands on West street are +very useful. You can buy things to eat, as well as things to wear, +without going into a store. A big shed over the top keeps off the rain.</p> + +<p>As the Bunker family hastened on, Margy, who had been walking with Rose, +let go of her sister's hand and cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at the little kittie! I want to rub the little kittie!"</p> + +<p>A small cat had crawled out from under one stand and was walking along +the street. Margy saw it, and, being very fond of animals, she wanted to +pet it.</p> + +<p>But the cat, young as it was, seemed to be afraid. As Margy ran from +Rose's side and trotted after the furry animal, it gave a sudden scamper +under another stand.</p> + +<p>But Margy had chased kittens before, and she knew that once they got +under something they generally stayed near the front edge, hoping they +would not be seen. By stooping down, and reaching, she had often pulled +her own kitten out from under her mother's dresser.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can get you! I can get you!" laughed the little girl.</p> + +<p>Paying no attention to her clean, white stockings, which her mother had +put on her only that morning, Margy knelt down on the sidewalk, and +stretched her arms under the fruit stand, beneath which the +half-frightened kitten had crawled.</p> + +<p>If the little cat had known that Margy only wanted to stroke it softly +and pet it I am sure it would not have run away. But that is what it +did, and that is what caused all the trouble. For there was trouble. +I'll tell you about it.</p> + +<p>"Come on out, kittie!" called Margy. "Come on out! I won't hurt you! I +like kitties, I do! Come on out and let me rub you!"</p> + +<p>She stooped lower down to see under the edge of the fruit stand. By this +time Mrs. Bunker had seen what had happened, and she called:</p> + +<p>"Margaret Bunker, get right up off your knees this instant. You'll spoil +your clean white stockings! Get up! We'll miss the boat!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Margy paid no heed. She could see the kitten now, back in a dark +corner under the stand, and she wanted to get it out.</p> + +<p>"Come on, kittie!" called the little girl. "Come on out, and I'll take +you to Cousin Tom's with us and you can play in the sand! Come on, I'll +rub you nice and soft!"</p> + +<p>"Mew! Mew!" said the kitten, but it did not come out.</p> + +<p>And then Margy did a very queer thing.</p> + +<p>With a sudden wiggle and a twist she crawled all the way under the fruit +stand, her little legs, in the white stockings, being the last to +disappear.</p> + +<p>"Oh, catch her! Quick! Catch her!" cried Mrs. Bunker. But it was too +late. Margy was out of sight under the fruit stand after the little +kitten.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>AT COUSIN TOM'S</h3> + + +<p>When Mr. Bunker heard his wife calling as she did, he stopped and looked +back, for he was walking on ahead with Russ and Laddie. Then all the +other Bunkers stopped, too, and gathered around the fruit stand. All +except Mr. Bunker and the two boys knew what had happened, for they had +seen Margy crawl under.</p> + +<p>The man who owned the stand, who had gone away from it a moment to talk +to the man who kept a socks-and-suspender stand next to him, had not +seen the kitten crawl under his pile of fruit, nor had he seen Margy go +after it. But when he saw the seven Bunkers gathered in a group he at +once thought they wanted to buy some apples, pears, or oranges.</p> + +<p>"Nice fruit! Nice fruit!" said the man, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>who was an Italian. "Very nice +good fruit and cheap."</p> + +<p>"No, we don't want any fruit now," said Mrs. Bunker. "I want my little +girl."</p> + +<p>"Lil' girl? Lil' girl!" exclaimed the Italian.</p> + +<p>"No got lil' girls. Only got fruit, banan', orange, apple! You want to +buy? Good nice fruit cheap!"</p> + +<p>"No, I want Margy!" cried Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Where is she?" asked Mr. Bunker, who, as I have told you, had not seen +where Margy went.</p> + +<p>"She's under the stand," explained his wife.</p> + +<p>"She went to get a kitten," added Rose.</p> + +<p>"No got kittens nor cats needer," said the Italian. "Only got fruit. +Nice fruit, cheap!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker stooped down to look under the stand.</p> + +<p>"No fruit there!" the owner said. "All fruit on top. Nice fruit, cheap!"</p> + +<p>"I am looking for my little girl," explained Mr. Bunker. "She crawled +under there—under your stand—after a kitten."</p> + +<p>And just then could be heard a loud:</p> + +<p>"Mew! Mew! Mew!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, she's caught it! Margy's caught the kittie," cried Mun Bun. "I can +hear him holler."</p> + +<p>Certainly something seemed to have happened to the kitten, for it was +mewing very loudly. Mr. Bunker reached in under the fruit stand, and +made a grab for something. He gave a pull and out came—Margy!</p> + +<p>And as Margy came into view, being pulled by one leg by her father, who +found that was the only way he could reach her, it was seen that the +little girl held, clasped in her arms, the kitten after which she had +crawled.</p> + +<p>"I got it! I got it!" cried Margy, as she sat down on the sidewalk in +front of the fruit stand.</p> + +<p>The kitten was a soft, furry one, but it was rather mussed and +bedraggled now, from the way Margy had mauled it. And the little Bunker +girl was rather tousled herself, for there was not much room underneath +the stand where she had crawled.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear Margy!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "You are such a sight!"</p> + +<p>"But I got my kittie!" said the little girl.</p> + +<p>By this time quite a crowd had gathered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>around the six little Bunkers +and their father and mother. Margy still sat on the sidewalk, with the +kitten in her lap, petting and rubbing it.</p> + +<p>"Come! We must hurry!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "We may miss the boat. Get +up, Margy. Rose, you help your mother dust Margy off, and then we must +hurry."</p> + +<p>"Can't I take the kittie?" asked the little girl.</p> + +<p>"No, dear," answered her mother. "It isn't yours. And besides, we never +could take it to Cousin Tom's with us. Put it down, Margy, my dear!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh, I don't want to!" cried the little girl, and real tears came +into her eyes. "I got this kittie out of a dark corner, and it loves me +and I love it! I want it."</p> + +<p>"But you can't take it," said Daddy Bunker. "The kittie must stay here. +It belongs to the fruit stand. It's your cat, isn't it?" he asked the +Italian.</p> + +<p>"My keeten? No. I have no keeten. I sell banan', orange, apple! You buy +some I give you keetie. Me no want!"</p> + +<p>"No, and we don't want it, either," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> Mrs. Bunker. "I was hoping it +was yours so you could say you had to keep it here to drive the mice +away. If Margy thought it was yours she wouldn't want to take it away."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I see!" exclaimed the Italian with a smile. "All right, I keep the +keeten," and he said the name in a funny way.</p> + +<p>"There, Margy!" exclaimed her father. "You see you'll have to leave the +kitten here to keep the mice away from the oranges."</p> + +<p>"Can't I take it to Cousin Tom's with me?"</p> + +<p>"No. And you must put it down quickly, and hurry, or we shall miss the +boat."</p> + +<p>Margy started to cry, but the Italian, who seemed to understand +children, quickly offered her a big, yellow orange. Then Margy let go of +the kitten, and the fruit man quickly picked it up and put it down in a +little box out of sight.</p> + +<p>"She no see—she no want," he whispered to Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"I want an orange!" exclaimed Mun Bun, seeing Margy beginning to eat +hers. "I likes oranges!"</p> + +<p>"All right, we'll all have some," said Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> Bunker. It seemed like +disappointing the stand-owner to go away without buying some, after all +that had gone on at his place of business.</p> + +<p>So Mr. Bunker bought a large bag of oranges, telling his wife they could +eat them on the boat. Margy forgot about the kitten, and, being dusted, +for she was dirty from her crawl under the stand, the six little Bunkers +once more started off. This time their father and mother watched each +one of the boys and girls to see that none of them did anything to cause +further delays. Russ and Rose and Laddie and Violet were not so +venturesome this way as were Margy and Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Now here we are at the dock, and all we have to do is to walk straight +out to the end of the pier and get on the boat when it comes," said Mr. +Bunker. "It is nearly time for it. I don't believe anything more can +happen."</p> + +<p>And nothing did. There was a long walk, or platform, elevated at one +side of the covered pier, and along this the children hurried with their +father and mother. A whistle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>sounded out on the Hudson River, which +flowed past the far end of the dock.</p> + +<p>"Is that our boat?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"I hope not," his father answered. "If it is, we may miss it yet. But I +do not think it is. There are many boats on the river, and they all have +whistles."</p> + +<p>A little later they were in the waiting-room at the end of the dock, +where there were a number of other passengers, and soon a big white +boat, with the name "<i>Asbury Park</i>" painted on one side, was seen +steering toward the dock.</p> + +<p>"Here she is!" cried Mr. Bunker, and, a little later, they were all on +board and steaming down New York Bay.</p> + +<p>They steamed on down past the Statue of Liberty, that gift from the +French, past the forts at the Narrows, and so on down the bay. Off to +the left, Daddy Bunker told the children, was Coney Island, where so +many persons from New York go on hot days and nights to get cooled off +near the ocean.</p> + +<p>"Is Seaview like Coney Island?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Well, it may be a little like it," her father answered; "though there +will not be so many <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>merry-go-rounds there or other things to make fun +for you. But I think you will have a good time all the same."</p> + +<p>"We're going to dig for gold, like Sammie Brown's father," declared +Laddie. "If we find a lot of it we can buy a ticket for Coney Island."</p> + +<p>"What makes them call it Coney Island?" asked Vi. "Did they find some +coneys there?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," her father replied.</p> + +<p>"What's a coney, anyhow?" went on the little girl.</p> + +<p>"I don't know the answer to that question, either," said Mr. Bunker. +"You'll have to ask me something else, Vi."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's an ice-cream cone they meant," said Russ, "and they changed +it to coney."</p> + +<p>"Did they, Daddy?" Vi wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Well, you have a questioning streak on to-day," laughed her father. +"I'm sorry I can't tell you how Coney Island got its name."</p> + +<p>So the children looked, first on one side of the boat and then on the +other as they steamed along. Now and then Vi asked questions. Russ +whistled and thought of many <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>things he would make when he reached +Cousin Tom's. Laddie tried to think up a riddle about why the smoke from +the steamer did not stack up in a pile, instead of blowing away, but he +couldn't seem to think of a good answer. And, as he said:</p> + +<p>"A riddle without an answer isn't any fun, 'cause you don't know when +people guess it wrong or right."</p> + +<p>Finally the boat turned toward land and, a little later, Daddy Bunker +said they were near Atlantic Highlands. Then the steamer slowly swung up +to a big pier, the gangplank was run out, and the six little Bunkers, +with their father and mother and the other passengers, got off, their +tickets being taken up as they left the boat.</p> + +<p>A train was waiting at the pier, and soon, with the Bunkers in one of +the coaches, it was puffing down the track, along the edge of the water. +Above the train towered the high hills which gave Atlantic Highlands its +name.</p> + +<p>On the heights, at a station called "Highlands," are two big +lighthouses.</p> + +<p>The Highland light is as bright as ninety-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>five million candles, and on +a clear night can be seen flashing for many miles.</p> + +<p>"Could we come down and see the light some night?" asked Russ, as his +father told him about it.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so," was the answer. "But get ready now. We shall soon be +at Cousin Tom's place."</p> + +<p>The train rumbled over a bridge across the Shrewsbury river, which flows +into Sandy Hook Bay, and then, after passing a few more stations, the +brakeman cried:</p> + +<p>"Seaview! Seaview! All out for Seaview!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, now we're at Cousin Tom's!" cried Rose. "Won't we have fun?"</p> + +<p>"Lots!" agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>"And don't forget about digging for gold!" added Laddie.</p> + +<p>They got off the train, and Cousin Tom, who was waiting for them, +hurried up, all smiles. Behind him came his pretty wife.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" said Cousin Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Are all the six little Bunkers here?" Cousin Tom wanted to know, with a +grin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Every one!" answered Mother Bunker. "But we nearly lost Margy. She +crawled under a fruit stand after a kitten. Where is she now? Margy, +come back!" she called, for she saw the little girl running toward the +train. "Don't get on the cars!" cried Mrs. Bunker. The train was +beginning to move. "Come back, Margy! Oh, get her, some one!"</p> + +<p>But Margy was not going near the train. Suddenly she stooped over and +caught up in her arms a little, white, woolly poodle dog.</p> + +<p>"Look what I found!" she cried. "If I can't have a kittie cat, I can +have a dog. He is a nice dog and he jumped off the train 'cause he likes +me!"</p> + +<p>And, just as Margy picked up the dog in her arms, a woman thrust her +head out of one of the windows of the moving train and screamed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>DIGGING FOR GOLD</h3> + + +<p>The dog began to bark, the engine of the train whistled, the woman with +her head out of the car window kept on screaming, and the conductor, +standing out on the platform, shouted something, though no one could +tell what it was.</p> + +<p>"It sounded," said Daddy Bunker, afterward, "like that Mother Goose +story, where the fire begins to burn the stick, the stick begins to beat +the dog, the dog begins to chase the pig and the old lady got home +before midnight."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" asked Cousin Tom, who had stopped greeting the six +little Bunkers to look at Margy and the dog, and listen to the screaming +of the woman on the train.</p> + +<p>No one seemed to know, but, suddenly, the engine whistled loudly once, +and then the train came to a stop. Out of the car rushed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>the woman, +down the steps and toward Margy.</p> + +<p>"My dog!" she cried. "Oh, my pet dog! I thought he was killed!"</p> + +<p>"No'm, I picked him up," explained Margy, as the woman took her pet +animal. "I saw him, and he came to me, 'cause he liked me. I almost got +a little kitten, but it went under a stand and when I pulled it out +Mother wouldn't let me keep it. Now I can't have the doggie, either," +and Margy acted as if she were going to cry.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, little girl," said the woman, "but I couldn't give up my pet +Carlo. He is all I have!" and she cuddled the dog in her arms as she +would a baby.</p> + +<p>"Did you stop my train, lady?" asked the conductor, and he seemed rather +angry.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the answer. "My Carlo ran off, just as it started, and I saw +the little girl pick him up. Then I pulled the whistle-cord, and stopped +the train. I just had to jump off and get my Carlo!"</p> + +<p>"Well, now that you have him, please get back on again," said the +conductor. "We are late now, and must hurry."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I can't leave Carlo with you, for I'm sure you would love +him," said the woman to Margy. "But I could not get along without him."</p> + +<p>Margy did not have time to answer, as the woman had to hurry back to the +train. The conductor was waiting, watch in hand, for the train had +stopped after it had started away from the station, and would be a few +minutes late. And on a railroad a few minutes mean a great deal.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Margy. "I had a little kittie and then I didn't have +it. Then I had a little dog and now I haven't that, either! Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Cousin Tom, as he patted the little girl on the head. +"You can come down to the bungalow and play in the sand, and maybe you +can find a starfish or something like that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, are there fish down in your ocean?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Lots of 'em, if you can catch 'em," said Cousin Tom, laughing.</p> + +<p>"And is there any gold?" Laddie asked.</p> + +<p>"I never found any, if there is," was the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>answer. "But then I never had +much time to dig for it. You may, if you like. But now are you all +ready?"</p> + +<p>"All ready, I think," said Mother Bunker. "Don't pick up any more stray +dogs or cats, Margy, my dear."</p> + +<p>"This one came to me," said the little girl. "I loved him, I did, but +now he is gone."</p> + +<p>However there was so much new to see and talk about down at the seashore +that Margy soon forgot about her little troubles. There were some +carriages and automobiles at the station, and, dividing themselves +between two of these, the Bunkers and Cousin Tom and his wife were soon +driving down toward the ocean, for Cousin Tom lived on a street not far +from the beach. He was the son of Mr. Ralph Bunker, who had been dead +some years, and Mr. Ralph Bunker was Daddy Bunker's brother. So the +children's father was Cousin Tom's uncle, you see.</p> + +<p>"Did you have a nice trip?" asked Cousin Ruth, of Mrs. Bunker, as she +rode beside her in the automobile.</p> + +<p>"Yes, very. Laddie thought a search-light <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>was a thunderstorm, when we +were coming down on the Fall River boat, Margy crawled under a fruit +stand in New York to get a stray kitten, and Mun Bun got mixed up with +another little boy. But we are used to such things happening, and we +don't mind. I hope you will not be driven wild by the children."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I love them!" said Cousin Ruth with a smile, as she looked over +at the six little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>"That's good," said their mother with a smile. "Of course they get into +mischief once in a while, but they are usually pretty good and don't +give much trouble. They play very nicely together."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure they must. I shall love them all—every one! I wonder if they +are hungry."</p> + +<p>"They generally are ready to eat," said Mrs. Bunker. "But don't fuss too +much over them. They can wait until meal time."</p> + +<p>But the six little Bunkers did not have to do this, for when they +reached the bungalow, not far from the beach, where Cousin Tom and his +wife lived, there was plenty of bread and jam for the hungry +children—and hun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>gry they were, you would have believed, if you could +have seen them eat. Cousin Ruth seemed to think it was fun.</p> + +<p>"Welcome to Seaview!" cried Cousin Tom, when the children were eating +and Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had laid aside their things and the baggage had +been carried to the different rooms. "Now I want you all to have a good +time while you're here. Make yourselves right at home."</p> + +<p>"They seem to be doing that," said Daddy Bunker, for the children just +then finished their bread and butter and jam, and began to run all +around the house.</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom's bungalow was about a block from the ocean, and on a new +street in Seaview, so there were no other houses very near it. Not far +away was what is called an "inlet." That is, the waters of the ocean +came into the land for quite a distance, making a place where boats +could get in and out without going through the surf, or heavy waves. +This inlet was called Clam River, for toward the upper end, a mile or so +from the sea, it was shallow and sandy, and many clams were found +there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>Clam River was a harbor for fishing and lobster boats, and they could +run into it and be safe from storms at sea.</p> + +<p>"I'm going out and dig in the sand!" cried Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"I'll come, too," said Margy.</p> + +<p>"Well, don't pick up any stray dogs or cats," warned her mother. +"Perhaps you had better go with them, Rose," she said to the oldest +girl.</p> + +<p>"All right, Mother. I'll look after them," was the answer, and Rose +became her mother's little helper again.</p> + +<p>Vi and Laddie seemed to be looking for something. They wandered about +the big porch of the bungalow, and out in front, up and down.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" asked Cousin Ruth, who saw them.</p> + +<p>"Something we can use to dig for gold," answered Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Dig for gold!" exclaimed Cousin Ruth. "Is that a riddle?" for she had +heard that Laddie was very fond of asking riddles.</p> + +<p>"No, this is real," answered the little fellow. "'Tisn't a riddle at +all. Sammie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Brown's father dug for gold, and we're going to. There is +always gold in sand."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm glad to know that," answered Cousin Ruth. "We have so much sand +around us that if it all has gold in it I'm sure we shall soon be rich. +But I wouldn't be too sure about it, Laddie. Some sand may not have any +gold in it. But you may dig all you like. You'll find some shovels and +pails on the side porch. I put them there on purpose for you children."</p> + +<p>Vi and Laddie found what they wanted, and hurried down to the beach to +dig. Margy and Mun Bun went also, with Rose, while Russ, having found +some bits of driftwood, began to whittle out a boat which he said he was +going to sail on Clam River, where the water was smooth.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bunker sat in the bungalow talking to Cousin Tom and his +wife, telling them about their trip and the visit to Aunt Jo's, from +whose house they had just come.</p> + +<p>"I hope you can stay the rest of the summer with us," said Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>"It is a lovely place," said Mrs. Bunker, "And we shall stay as long as +you like to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>have us, for I think the children will like it here. And we +are more than glad to be with you and Cousin Tom. But we have half +promised to visit Grandpa Ford."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and he surely expects us," added her husband. "Is it all right for +the children to play on the beach?" he asked his nephew.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, surely. Did you think anything could hurt them?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't know. It's so near the water——"</p> + +<p>"The beach is a very safe one, and the water is shallow, even at high +tide," said Cousin Tom. "At low tide you can wade quite a distance out. +The children will be all right. But do they really expect to find gold +by digging?"</p> + +<p>"I believe they do. It's a story they heard," said Mr. Bunker with a +laugh. "Near Aunt Jo's lived a boy whose father was a sea captain, and +who, I believe, did once find gold on an island. It set Laddie and Vi to +thinking they might do the same. But, of course, there isn't any gold +here."</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>So Mr. and Mrs. Bunker talked with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> Cousin Tom and his wife, while the +children played outside. The sun was going down, and it would soon be +time for supper, when Mrs. Bunker, who had gone upstairs to change her +dress, heard Rose calling:</p> + +<p>"Come back, Laddie! Come back! You mustn't get into that boat!"</p> + +<p>"Into a boat? Oh, I should say not!" cried Mrs. Bunker, who could not +see from her window what was going on. "What are you doing, Laddie?" she +called, as she hurried down.</p> + +<p>She heard her little boy's voice in answer:</p> + +<p>"I'm going off in the boat and dig for gold. No, I won't come back, +Rose. I'm going to dig for gold. Come on, Vi!"</p> + +<p>Fearing that something was going to happen, Mrs. Bunker ran out on the +porch, from where she could see the beach.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>ROSE'S LOCKET</h3> + + +<p>Mrs. Bunker gave a quick glance about to see what was happening. She +noticed Margy and Mun Bun, well up on the beach, digging holes and +making little piles of sand. But down near the inlet, where a boat was +tied, Rose was having trouble with Laddie.</p> + +<p>The little boy who was so fond of asking riddles, and his sister Violet, +who liked to ask questions, had left the place where they first had +begun to "dig for gold," as they called it, and Laddie was about to get +into the boat, calling to his sister Vi to follow.</p> + +<p>"No, you mustn't go!" declared Rose. "You mustn't get into the boat. +Mother told me to stay and watch you, and you've got to keep here on the +beach and dig for gold!"</p> + +<p>"There isn't any gold here!" declared Laddie. "I've dug all over, and we +can't find any; can we, Vi?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nope, not a bit," and Vi shook her curly hair.</p> + +<p>"So we're going out in the boat, like real sailors. That's what Sammie +Brown's father did," went on Laddie. "Then we'll find gold."</p> + +<p>"But you mustn't get into the boat, Laddie, unless Daddy or Cousin Tom +is with you!" said Mother Bunker. "Do as Rose tells you, and come away."</p> + +<p>Laddie did not want to, but he always minded his mother, except when he +was very bad, and this was not one of those times. So he went slowly +away from the boat, which was tied to a little pier.</p> + +<p>"I was going after gold," he said. "We can't find any here," and he +pointed to the holes he and his little sister had dug.</p> + +<p>"But if you went out in the boat alone, or with Vi, you might fall into +the water," said his mother. "Never get into the boat unless some big +person is with you, Laddie. And I mean you, too, Vi."</p> + +<p>"All right," said the two children. "We won't."</p> + +<p>"Come on!" called Rose to them, now that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>the dispute was over. "We will +go farther down the shore and dig. And if we don't find any gold maybe +we'll find some pretty shells, or a starfish."</p> + +<p>"Does a starfish twinkle, Mother?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't believe it does, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Then what makes 'em call it a starfish?" the little girl wanted to +know.</p> + +<p>"Because it has five arms, or perhaps they are legs, and as a star, such +as you see in our flag, has five points, they call the fish that name. +It is shaped like a star, you see. It doesn't twinkle, and it eats +oysters, so I have read."</p> + +<p>"How does it crack the oyster shells?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now you are asking too many questions for a little girl, and some +that I can't answer," said Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Run along and play +in the sand with Rose. But don't go too far, for it will be time for +supper soon. And don't forget about the boat!"</p> + +<p>"I hope we find a starfish," said Laddie, glad he had something new to +think about.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Could I make up a riddle about one, Mother?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so, if you tried hard."</p> + +<p>"I know a riddle about the sand," went on the little chap. "Why is the +sand like a boy?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't," said Rose. "Sand isn't at all like a boy."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," went on Laddie. "A boy runs and so does sand."</p> + +<p>"Sand doesn't run," declared Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it does," insisted her little brother. "I heard you say that some +sand ran down into your shoe. So sand runs and a boy runs and that's a +riddle."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess it is," laughed Mother Bunker. "Well, you run along and +play."</p> + +<p>And Rose and Laddie and Violet did. They went to where Margy and Mun Bun +were digging holes in the sand.</p> + +<p>"Did you find any gold?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun shook his head until his hair was in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"We found a lot of funny little white bugs that jump," he said.</p> + +<p>"They were awful nice little bugs, and they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>wiggled and wiggled in the +sand," added Margy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want to see some!" cried Vi, and then Margy and Mun Bun dug until +they found some "sand hoppers," for the other children. They are a sort +of shore shrimp, I think, and very lively, jumping about, digging +themselves holes in the sand in which they hide.</p> + +<p>Margy and Mun Bun and Laddie and Vi became so interested in looking for +the sand hoppers that they forgot about digging for gold, and it was +almost time for supper when Russ came whistling down the beach calling:</p> + +<p>"Who wants to come and see me sail my boat?"</p> + +<p>"I do! I do!" cried Mun Bun and Laddie, and the girls, Rose also, said +they would go.</p> + +<p>"I haven't got all the sails on yet," explained Russ, "but I guess it +will sail a little this way, and I can put some more sails on +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>From an old shingle and some sticks Russ had made a nice little boat, +fastening to the mast a bit of cloth, which looked like a sail. Followed +by his smaller brothers and sisters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> Russ took his boat to a place in +the inlet where the water was not deep, and there he let the wind blow +it about, to the delight of all.</p> + +<p>Then came a call from the bungalow.</p> + +<p>"Supper, children! Come on in and get washed!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so hungry!" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"So'm I," agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>Margy and Mun Bun didn't say anything, but they looked as if they could +eat.</p> + +<p>"I thought of another riddle," said Laddie, as he went along with Russ. +"It's about why does the sand run."</p> + +<p>"No! That isn't it!" laughed Rose. "You've started it backward, Laddie, +and spoiled it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, now I know. Why is sand like a boy?"</p> + +<p>"Because they both run," answered Russ. It was easy to guess the riddle +after Laddie had partly told it to him.</p> + +<p>"Cousin Tom said lobsters run backwards," put in Violet, having heard +Rose say that Laddie started his riddle backwards. "What makes lobsters +go that way, Russ?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know. I s'pose 'cause they like it."</p> + +<p>"Do fish go backwards?" the little girl went on.</p> + +<p>"I never saw any," Russ answered.</p> + +<p>"And can they stand on their heads?" went on the little girl.</p> + +<p>But no one could answer this question, and there was no time to do so, +anyhow, as they were now at Cousin Tom's bungalow, and from it came the +smell of many good things that had been cooked for supper.</p> + +<p>"My! you have a houseful with all of us Bunkers," said the children's +mother, as they gathered about the table.</p> + +<p>"Yes. There wouldn't be room for many more," said Cousin Tom's pretty +wife. "But I like company."</p> + +<p>"Even if they eat so much it will keep you busy buying more?" asked +Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess they won't do that," replied Cousin Tom, laughing.</p> + +<p>"We're going to dig gold in the sand, and then we can buy our own things +to eat," declared Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Well, until you do that I'll see that you get enough to eat," said his +cousin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>After supper they went for a ride on the inlet in Cousin Tom's big +rowboat.</p> + +<p>"I think we had better go back," said Mother Bunker, after they had +ridden about a bit. "It is getting late, and I see two of my little tots +are getting sleepy."</p> + +<p>This was true, for Margy and Mun Bun were nidding and nodding, hardly +able to keep their eyes open, though it was hardly dark yet. But they +had been up early and they had traveled far that day.</p> + +<p>Back to the bungalow they went, and soon the four smaller children were +in bed.</p> + +<p>"And it will be time for you, Russ and Rose, in a little while," said +Mrs. Bunker. They were allowed to stay up a half hour longer than the +others.</p> + +<p>While Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom and the two Mrs. Bunkers were talking +on the side porch, and watching the moon rise, as though it came right +from the ocean, Russ and Rose sat down on the beach. They were within +call from the bungalow, though about a block away from it, Cousin Tom's +place being the first one up from the water.</p> + +<p>Russ picked up a shell, and started to dig.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What are you looking for?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"I was just wondering if there was any gold here," said her brother. +"Sammie Brown said there was gold in sand, and there's lots of sand +here; isn't there, Rose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but Laddie and Violet dug in a lot of places to-day, and so did +Margy and Mun Bun, and they didn't find any gold."</p> + +<p>"They didn't know how to look for it," declared Russ. "You have to dig +deep for gold."</p> + +<p>"I'll help," offered Rose. "I like to dig in the sand."</p> + +<p>She found a clam shell, as large as the one Russ had, and with those for +shovels, the children began digging on the beach in the moonlight. They +could look back and see the bungalow, and Mr. and Mrs. Bunker could see +the children from where they sat.</p> + +<p>The ocean surf made a loud noise.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't it sound nice and scary-like?" asked Rose, as she reached her +arm down into the hole she was digging, and scooped up some damp sand.</p> + +<p>"Yes. It's like the desert island Sammie told about," agreed Russ, +listening to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>boom and hiss of the waves as they broke on the beach. +"Have you found any gold yet, Rose?"</p> + +<p>"No. Have you?"</p> + +<p>Russ shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I guess we've got to go deeper," he said.</p> + +<p>It grew later. The moon rose higher, and it became a little more +"scary-like." Presently Mrs. Bunker called:</p> + +<p>"Come, Rose! Russ! Time to go to bed!"</p> + +<p>"All right!" they answered. They were tired enough to want to go to +sleep.</p> + +<p>They dropped their clam shells near the holes they had dug, and started +up the beach. Suddenly Rose gave a cry.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"My locket! My gold locket that Grandma gave me! It's gone! Oh, I have +lost my lovely gold locket!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE SAND HOUSE</h3> + + +<p>"What's the matter?" called Mr. Bunker from the bungalow porch. He had +heard the sobbing voice of Rose. "Has anything happened?" he went on. +"Tell Daddy what it is."</p> + +<p>"I have lost my lovely gold locket!" sobbed Rose. "The one Grandma gave +me! I dropped it in the sand, I guess, when I was digging the holes for +gold. I wish I hadn't dug!"</p> + +<p>"Stand right where you are!" called Daddy Bunker. "I'll bring my +electric flashlight and look around for your locket. It may have dropped +on the sand right where you are. So don't move until I get there and can +see the place. I'll find your gold locket, Rose."</p> + +<p>The moon was bright, and, shining on the ocean and on the white sand, +made the beach <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>very light. But still, as Rose looked about her and over +to where Russ stood, she could not see her gold locket. And she wanted +very much to get it back, as it was a present from Grandma Bell, and +Rose liked it more than any of her other gifts. She did not often wear +it, but on this occasion, coming on the trip from Aunt Jo's, Rose had +begged to be allowed to hang the ornament on its gold chain about her +neck, and her mother had allowed her to do so.</p> + +<p>Rose had promised to be careful, and she had been. She had noticed the +locket after supper and when she came out in the evening to dig in the +sand with Russ. But now it was gone, and just where she had dropped it +Rose did not know.</p> + +<p>"And now my lovely locket is gone!" she sobbed.</p> + +<p>"Never mind! I'll get it for you," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>Russ and Rose stood still as he had told them to do, and now they saw +their father coming toward them waving his pocket electric light. He +usually carried it with him to peer into dark corners. It would be just +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>thing with which to look for the lost locket.</p> + +<p>"Did you remember where you had it on you last?" asked Daddy Bunker, as +he came close to Rose.</p> + +<p>"Just before Russ and I started to dig with the clam shells to find the +gold," she answered.</p> + +<p>"Where was that?" her father asked.</p> + +<p>Russ and his sister pointed to where two little piles of sand near some +holes could be seen in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"That is where we dug for gold," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"But we didn't find any," added Russ.</p> + +<p>"You may now, if you dig—or to-morrow," said their father.</p> + +<p>"Really?" inquired Russ.</p> + +<p>"You may dig up Rose's gold locket," went on Mr. Bunker. "I don't +believe there is any other gold in these sands, even if Sammie Brown's +father did find some on a desert island. But if Rose dropped her locket +here, there is surely gold, for the locket was made of that. Now don't +walk about, or you may step on the locket and bend it. I will flash my +light as I go along, and look."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker did this, while Rose, standing near her brother, looked on +anxiously.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> Would her father find the piece of jewelry she liked so +much? It was hard to find things, once they were buried in the sand, +Rose knew, for that afternoon Cousin Ruth had told about once dropping a +piece of money on the beach, and never finding it again.</p> + +<p>"And maybe my locket slipped off my neck when I was digging the deep +hole," thought Rose; "and then I piled up the sand and covered it all +over."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker must have thought the same thing, for he flashed his light +about the sand piles made by Russ and his sister. He did not dig in +them, however.</p> + +<p>"We won't do any digging until morning," he said. "We can see better, +then, what we are doing. I thought perhaps the locket might lie on top +of the sand, and that I could pick it up. But it doesn't seem to. You +had better come in to bed, Russ and Rose."</p> + +<p>"But I want my locket," sighed the little girl.</p> + +<p>"And I thought I could find it for you," said Mr. Bunker. "I think I +can, in the morning, when the sun shines. Just now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>there are so many +shadows that it is hard to see such a little thing as a locket."</p> + +<p>"Will it be all right out here all alone in the night?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I think so," her father said. "As it is gold it will not +tarnish. And as no one knows where it is it will probably not be picked +up, for no one will be able to see it any more than I. And I don't +believe many persons come down here after dark. It is rather a lonely +part of the shore. I think your locket will be all right until we can +take a look for it in the morning."</p> + +<p>"Maybe a starfish might get it," said the little girl.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "Starfish like oysters, but they do not +care for gold lockets. I'll find yours for you in the morning, Rose."</p> + +<p>This made Rose feel better, and she went inside the bungalow with Russ +and her father. Mrs. Bunker, as well as Cousin Tom and his wife, felt +sorry on hearing of Rose's loss, but they, too, felt sure that the +ornament would be found on the sand in the morning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>I do not know whether or not Rose dreamed about her lost locket. +Certainly she thought about it the last thing before she fell asleep. +But she slumbered very soundly, and, if she dreamed at all, she did not +remember what her visions of the night were.</p> + +<p>But she thought of her locket as soon as she awoke, however, and, +dressing quickly, she ran down on the sand. Her father was ahead of her, +though, and, with a rake in his hand, he was going over the beach near +the place where Russ and Rose had dug the holes.</p> + +<p>"Is this the only place you children hunted for gold?" asked Mr. Bunker, +as he saw Rose coming along.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Daddy," she answered. "And we were right there when I didn't have +my locket any more. Can't you find it?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't yet," he answered. "I've raked over the sand as carefully as +I could, but I didn't see the locket."</p> + +<p>"Did you look down into the holes we dug, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and all around them. It's queer, but the locket seems to have +disappeared."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Maybe a starfish came up and took it down into the ocean with him."</p> + +<p>"No, Rose. If the locket was dropped on the beach it is here yet. But it +is rather a large place, and perhaps I am not looking just where I ought +to. However I will not give up."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker looked for some little time longer, pulling the sand about +with the rake, but no locket showed. Then others looked, including the +children, Cousin Tom, his wife and Mother Bunker. But they had no better +luck.</p> + +<p>"Well, we know one thing," said Daddy Bunker. "There is gold in this +sand now if there was not before. Rose's gold locket is here."</p> + +<p>"And I don't guess I'll ever find it," said the little girl with a sigh. +"Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>"Maybe it slipped off your neck in the house," suggested Cousin Ruth. +"I'll look carefully, and you may help me."</p> + +<p>But this did no good either, and though the search was a careful one, +and though the sand was gone over again, the lost locket was not picked +up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm going to dig every day until I find it!" said Rose.</p> + +<p>"And I'll help!" added Russ.</p> + +<p>"So will I!" said Laddie; and the other children, when they knew what a +loss had come to Rose, said they, also, would help.</p> + +<p>If it had not been for this accident the visit of the six little Bunkers +to Seaview would have been without a flaw. Even as it was, it turned out +to be most delightful. Seaview was a fine place to spend the end of the +summer, and Cousin Tom and his wife made the children feel so at home, +and did so much for them, that Russ and the others said they never had +been in a nicer place.</p> + +<p>"If I only had my locket!" sighed Rose, as the days passed.</p> + +<p>But it seemed it would never be found, and after a time, the thought of +it passed, in a measure, from the little girl's mind. She did not speak +of it often, though sometimes when she went down on the beach, near the +holes she and Russ had dug in the moonlight, Rose looked about and +scraped the sand to and fro with a shell or a bit of driftwood.</p> + +<p>But as the beach looks pretty much alike <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>in many places, it is hard to +know whether, after the first few times, Rose dug in the right place.</p> + +<p>Cousin Ruth looked again all through the bungalow for the gold locket, +and, whenever any one thought of it, he or she poked about in the sand. +But the locket seemed gone forever.</p> + +<p>There was plenty to do at Seaview to have fun. The children could go in +wading and swimming, they could play in the sand, they could sail toy +boats in the inlet and they could go out in a real boat with their +father or Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>More than once they were taken out on the quiet waters, and they sat in +the boat while their father or his nephew fished. Once Russ held the +pole and he caught a funny, flat fish, that seemed as if it had been put +through the wringer which squeezed the water out of the clothes on wash +day.</p> + +<p>"What kind of fish is that?" asked Violet, when she saw it flapping +about in the bottom of the boat.</p> + +<p>"It's a flounder," answered Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>"Is it good to eat?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, very good."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it swallowed Rose's locket. Do you think so, Daddy?" asked the +little girl.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Vi. Now don't ask so many questions, please."</p> + +<p>"Could I ask a riddle?" Laddie wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I suppose so," laughed his father. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't made it up yet," went on Laddie. "It's going to be about a +flounder and a wringer, but I got to think. When I get it ready I'll +tell you."</p> + +<p>"Don't forget!" laughed Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>It was about a week after Rose had lost her locket and it had not been +found, that one day Russ called to Rose:</p> + +<p>"Come on down to the beach. I know how we can have some fun."</p> + +<p>"What can we do?" asked his sister.</p> + +<p>"We'll build a house and have a play party," answered Russ.</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"On the beach. We can build a house in the sand."</p> + +<p>So the children started off, with their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>shovels and sand pails. Their +mother watched them, thinking how nice it was that they could be at the +shore in hot weather.</p> + +<p>It was about an hour after Rose and Russ had started down the beach +together to make a sand house that Mrs. Bunker, who was just thinking of +taking a walk and having another look for the lost locket, heard cries.</p> + +<p>"Mother! Mother! Come quick!" she heard Russ calling.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" cried Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come quick!" went on Russ. "Rose is in the sand house! Rose is in +the sand house!"</p> + +<p>Not knowing what had happened, Mrs. Bunker set off on a run down the +beach.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE PIRATE BUNGALOW</h3> + + +<p>The mother of the six little Bunkers was used to having things happen to +them. She did not have half a dozen children without knowing that, +nearly every day, some one of them would fall down and bump a nose, cut +a finger, get caught in a fence, or have something like that happen to +make trouble. So, in a way, Mrs. Bunker was used to calls for help.</p> + +<p>"But this seems different," she said to herself, as she ran along. "I'm +afraid something has happened to Rose."</p> + +<p>And something had. As Mrs. Bunker came within sight of Russ and his +sister, where they had gone to dig their sand house, their mother saw +her oldest boy dancing about on the beach.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where is Rose?" called Mrs. Bunker. "What have you done with Rose?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't do anything to her, Mother!" answered Russ. "But she's in the +sand house and she can't get out!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker kept on running toward the children; at least toward Russ. +Rose she could not see.</p> + +<p>"She can't get out of the sand house 'cause it fell down on her," +explained Russ. "I tried to pull her out, but I couldn't, so I hollered +for you, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"Something dreadful must have happened! I wish I had stopped for Daddy!" +thought Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>By this time she was close beside Russ, who was capering about like an +Indian doing a war dance. But Russ was not doing it for fun. He was just +excited, and couldn't keep still.</p> + +<p>"Where is your sister?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"There!" answered Russ, pointing.</p> + +<p>Then Mrs. Bunker understood why she had not seen Rose before. It was +because the little girl was hidden behind a pile of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>sand. But there was +more than this the matter. For Rose was down in a hole, and the sand had +caved in on her feet and legs, covering her up almost to her waist. Rose +was held fast in a heap of sand, and, wiggle and twist though she did, +she could not get out.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sobbed the little girl, tears streaming down her +cheeks. "I'm all fast and I can't get out!"</p> + +<p>"I'll get you out! There! Don't cry any more," said Mrs. Bunker. "I'll +soon have you out. Get a shovel, and help me dig Rose loose," she called +to Russ.</p> + +<p>"All right," answered the little boy. He had stopped jumping about now.</p> + +<p>"Where are your shovels, Russ?" asked his mother, looking about for +something with which to dig.</p> + +<p>"We didn't have any. We used big clam shells," he answered. "Here's one, +and I'll get another."</p> + +<p>The large clam shells were pretty good to use as shovels, though Mrs. +Bunker felt that she could have worked faster with a regular one. +However, she had to do the best she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>could, and really the shell scooped +the sand out very well. Russ helped, and they both set to work to dig +Rose out of the hole in which she was partly buried.</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing the sand didn't slide in on you and cover your head," +said Mrs. Bunker. "How did it happen, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"Well, we were digging a sand house—it was just a hole in the sand, you +know," the little boy explained. "We were going to put some sticks +across the top, when we got it deep enough to stand up in, and put some +seaweed over the sticks for a roof. I saw some boys on the beach make a +sand house like that yesterday.</p> + +<p>"But after we dug down a way," he went on, "Rose got down in the hole so +she could dig better. She scooped the sand up to me and I put it in a +heap on the beach. And then, all of a sudden, a lot of the sand slid in +on Rose and she was held fast and—and——"</p> + +<p>"And I couldn't get out, but I tried like anything!" added Rose, as her +brother stopped for breath. "And then Russ screamed for you +and—and—Oh, I'm so glad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>you came!" and Rose leaned her head against +her mother, who was busy digging out the sand with the clam shell.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad I came, too, my dear," said Mrs. Bunker. "After this don't dig +such deep sand holes, or, if you do, don't get into them. Sand, you +know, is not like other dirt. It doesn't stay in one place, but slips +and slides about."</p> + +<p>"But we want to have something to play in!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, we want you to have fun while you are here at Cousin Tom's, but +we don't want you to get hurt," said Mrs. Bunker. "Can't you make a +little playhouse of the driftwood on the beach? That would be nicer to +play in than a damp hole."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, we could do that!" cried Rose. "Let's make a wooden house on +the beach, Russ! There's lots of wood!"</p> + +<p>"And then we can play pirates!" added the little boy.</p> + +<p>A little later Rose had been dug out of the sand, and though her dress +was a little damp, for the sand, as one dug down into it, was rather +wet, she was not hurt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>All along the sands at Seaview, after high tide, were bits of planks and +boards and chips, and after Rose had been dug out of the sand house she +and Russ began gathering all the wood they could pick up to make what +Russ said would be a "pirate bungalow."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker, after telling the children once more not to dig deep holes, +left them on the beach to play, herself going back to Cousin Tom's +bungalow.</p> + +<p>Margy and Mun Bun, who had been gathering shells and stones down on the +sand, had come up to play in front of the house, on a bit of green lawn. +Laddie and Vi, who had walked up and down the beach, looking for some +starfish, which they did not find, came to where Russ and Rose were +getting ready to play.</p> + +<p>"What are you making?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"A pirate bungalow," answered Russ. "Want to help?"</p> + +<p>"Yep," answered Laddie.</p> + +<p>"And I will, too," said Vi. "What are you going to put in it? Will it be +big enough for all of us, and what makes so much wood here, Russ?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now if you're going to ask a lot of questions you can't play!" said +Rose. "You just help pick up the wood, Vi."</p> + +<p>"Can't I ask just one more question?"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Russ, smiling.</p> + +<p>"What makes the ocean so salty?" Vi asked this time. "I got some water +on my hands and then I put my finger in my mouth and it tasted just like +I'd put too much salt on my potatoes. What makes the ocean so salty?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Russ. "We'll ask Daddy when we go up. But come on, +and let's build the bungalow. I'll be a pirate, and we'll play shipwreck +and everything."</p> + +<p>"I'll be a pirate, too," added Laddie. "I know a good riddle about a +pirate, but I can't think of it now. Maybe I will after I've been a +pirate for a while."</p> + +<p>"We'll be pirates, too," said Vi.</p> + +<p>"No, girls can't be," said Russ. "You can be our prisoners. Pirates +always have prisoners."</p> + +<p>"Prisoners? What's them?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"They're what pirates have," explained Laddie. "I know, 'cause I saw +some pic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>tures of 'em in a book. Pirates always keep their prisoners +shut up in a cave."</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to be in a cave," said Rose. "I was in the sand house +when it caved in, and I don't like it."</p> + +<p>"But you get good things to eat," explained Russ. "Pirates always have +to feed their prisoners good things to eat."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll be one, 'cause I'm hungry," said Vi.</p> + +<p>"So'll I," added Laddie. "I'll be a prisoner. I guess I'd rather be a +prisoner than a pirate, Russ. You can be the pirate and get us all good +things to eat."</p> + +<p>"All right, I will. Now come on, we've got to get a lot more wood to +make this pirate bungalow. Get all the wood you can."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you get some?" asked Laddie, as he saw his brother sitting +down on a pile of drift pieces that had already been gathered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>GOING CRABBING</h3> + + +<p>Russ Bunker looked up at his brother Laddie and smiled. Still he made no +move toward helping gather the driftwood for the bungalow they were +going to make.</p> + +<p>"Well, why don't you help get wood?" asked Laddie again. "Think we're +going to do all the work and have you sit there?"</p> + +<p>"Say, I'm a pirate, ain't I?" asked Russ, not getting his words just +right, though his brother and sisters understood what he meant. "Didn't +you say I was to be the pirate?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, 'cause we don't want to be," retorted Rose.</p> + +<p>"Well, all right then, I'm going to be the pirate," went on Russ.</p> + +<p>"But you've got to get us good things to eat," said Vi. "We're the +prisoners, an' you said they had good things to eat."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll get good things to eat if Cousin Ruth'll give 'em to me," promised +Russ. "But I'm the pirate, and pirates don't ever work. They just boss +the prisoners. Now come on, prisoners, and build me the bungalow!" and +Russ leaned back on a pile of sea weed and looked very lazy and +comfortable.</p> + +<p>"Don't pirates <i>ever</i> work?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Nope! Not the kind I ever heard Mother read about in books," went on +Russ. "They just tell the prisoners what to do, 'ceptin', of course, +when there's any fighting. Pirates are 'most always fighting, but we +won't play that part, 'cause Mother doesn't like that. I'll be a good +pirate, and I'll let you prisoners build the bungalow."</p> + +<p>"But you've got to get us something to eat," said Vi again.</p> + +<p>"I'll do that," promised Russ. "I'll go up now and ask Cousin Ruth for +some, and you prisoners can be getting a lot of wood."</p> + +<p>The plans Russ made came out all right. Cousin Tom's pretty young wife +was very glad to give the children some crackers and cookies to take +down on the beach to eat, and when Russ got back with the bag of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>good +things he found that Rose, Laddie and Violet had collected a large pile +of driftwood.</p> + +<p>"Now we'll make the bungalow," decided Russ. "I'll help work at that, +'cause the pirates want it made just so. But you prisoners have got to +help."</p> + +<p>"Can't we eat first, 'fore we make the bungalow?" asked Violet. "I'm as +hungry as anything!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess we could eat first. I'm hungry, too," returned the +"pirate."</p> + +<p>Then the "pirate" and his "prisoners" sat down on the sand together, as +nicely as you please, leaning against bits of driftwood covered with +seaweed, and ate the lunch Cousin Ruth had given them. It did not take +very long. Probably you know what a very short time cookies last among +four hungry children.</p> + +<p>"Well, now we'll start to build," said Russ, when the last cookie and +cracker had been eaten. "First we'll stick up four posts in the sand, +one for each corner of the bungalow."</p> + +<p>The children had made playhouses before, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>not only at their home in +Pineville, but while they were at Grandma Bell's house, near Lake +Sagatook, Maine; so they knew something of what they wanted to do.</p> + +<p>Of course the bungalow was rather rough. It could not be otherwise with +only rough driftwood with which to make it. But then it was just what +the children wanted.</p> + +<p>When the four posts were set deep in the sand, in holes dug with clam +shells, the children placed boards from one to the other, sometimes +making them fast, by driving in, with stones for hammers, the rusty +nails which were found in some pieces of the wood. Other boards or +planks they tied together with bits of string. Over the top they placed +sticks, and on top of the sticks they spread seaweed.</p> + +<p>"We don't want the roof very heavy," said Russ, "'cause then if it falls +in on us, as our snow house roof did once, it won't hurt us. All we want +is something to keep off the sun."</p> + +<p>"Won't it keep the rain out, too?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't guess it will," answered Russ, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>as he looked up and saw +several holes in the roof. "Anyhow we won't play out here when it rains. +Mother wouldn't let us."</p> + +<p>The pirate bungalow was soon finished; that is, finished as much as the +children wanted it, and then they began playing in it. Russ pretended +that he was the pirate, and that the others were his prisoners. He made +them dig little holes in the sand, and bring in shells and stones as +well as seaweed. This last he made believe was hay for a make-believe +elephant.</p> + +<p>"Do pirates have elephants?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes maybe they do," her brother said. "Anyhow I can make believe +that just for fun."</p> + +<p>"Are we going to eat any more?" asked Laddie. "Or is that only +make-believe, too?"</p> + +<p>"I'll see if I can get some more from Cousin Ruth," promised Russ. Once +more he made a trip up to the real bungalow, and Cousin Ruth, with +laughter, filled another bag with cookies. This time Margy and Mun Bun, +tired of playing with the shells and pebbles, went down on the beach to +the driftwood pirate bungalow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was rather a tight squeeze to get all six of the little Bunkers +inside, and not have the place burst and fall apart. But they managed +it, and then they sat under the seaweed roof and ate the cookies, having +a fine time.</p> + +<p>"My, this is cozy!" cried Cousin Tom, as, with Daddy Bunker, he came +down to see what the children were doing. "And you've had something to +eat, too!" he went on, as he saw some crumbs scattered about.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we had some," said Russ, "but it's all gone now. But if you are +hungry I can get some more," and he started from the bungalow.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" laughed Daddy Bunker, who had been told by his wife of Russ' +two visits to Cousin Ruth's kitchen. "I guess we don't feel hungry now. +Anyhow dinner will soon be ready."</p> + +<p>The children played in the pirate bungalow all the remainder of the day, +stopping only for dinner and supper. The seaweed roof kept off the hot +August sun, and, as it did not rain, the holes in the covering did not +matter.</p> + +<p>Rose and Violet took their dolls down and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>played with them there. Russ, +after a while, gave up being a pirate, and said his "prisoners" could +all go, but they seemed to like staying around the driftwood house.</p> + +<p>"If we had a door on it we could stay in it all night," said Vi. "Why +didn't you make a door, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"Too hard work," he answered. "Anyhow we don't want to stay down here +all night."</p> + +<p>"The waves might come up and wash us away," said Rose.</p> + +<p>Laddie, who had been smoothing the sand in one corner of the pirate +bungalow, now stopped and seemed to be thinking hard.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"I have a new riddle," was the answer. "It's about a door."</p> + +<p>"Is it why does a door swing?" asked Violet. "'Cause if it is, I can +answer that one. I've heard it before. A door swings because it isn't a +hammock."</p> + +<p>"Nope! 'Tisn't that," said Laddie. "This is my new riddle. What goes +through a door, but never comes into the room?"</p> + +<p>"Say it again," begged Russ, who had not been listening carefully.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What goes through the door, but never comes into the room?" asked +Laddie again. "It's a good riddle, and I made it up all myself."</p> + +<p>"Does it go out of the room if it doesn't come in?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Nope," answered Laddie, shaking his head. "It doesn't do anything. It +just goes through the door, but it doesn't come in or go out."</p> + +<p>"Nothing can do that," declared Russ. "If a thing goes through the door +it's got to come in or go out, else it doesn't go through."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, it does," said Laddie. "Do you give up?"</p> + +<p>"Is it a cat?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Nope."</p> + +<p>"A dog?"</p> + +<p>"Nope."</p> + +<p>"A turtle?" guessed Mun Bun, who didn't quite know what it was all +about, but who wanted to guess something.</p> + +<p>"Nope!" said Laddie, laughing. "I'll tell you. It's the keyhole!"</p> + +<p>"The keyhole?" cried Russ. "No!"</p> + +<p>"To be sure!" answered his small brother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> "Doesn't a keyhole go all the +way through the door? If it didn't you couldn't get the key in. The +keyhole goes through the door, but it doesn't come into the room nor go +out. It just stays in the door. Isn't that a good riddle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," answered Rose. "I'd never have guessed it."</p> + +<p>"I thought it up all myself while you were talking about a door to this +bungalow," said Laddie. "What goes through the door but doesn't come in +the room? A keyhole," and he laughed at his own riddle.</p> + +<p>The next day Cousin Tom went down to the beach, where once more Russ, +Rose and the others were playing in the driftwood bungalow, and called:</p> + +<p>"How many of you would like to go crabbing?"</p> + +<p>"I would!" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"So would I," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"What is it like?" asked Vi, who, you might know, would ask a question +the first thing.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's like fishing, only it isn't quite so hard for little folk," +said Cousin Tom. "Come <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>along, if you're through playing, and I'll show +you how to go crabbing."</p> + +<p>"Are Daddy and Mother going?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll all go. Come along."</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers followed Cousin Tom up the beach to the inlet. +There, tied to a pier not far from Cousin Tom's bungalow, was a large +boat. Near it stood Mother and Father Bunker and Cousin Ruth. Cousin +Ruth had some peach baskets, two long-handled nets and some strings to +the ends of which were tied chunks of meat.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to feed a dog?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, that is bait for the crabs," said Cousin Tom. "Come, now, get into +the boat, and we'll go for a new kind of fishing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>"THEY'RE LOOSE!"</h3> + + +<p>"All aboard!" cried Russ as he stood on the edge of the little wharf in +the inlet, at which the boat was tied. "All aboard."</p> + +<p>"Does he mean we must all get a piece of board?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"No," answered her mother with a smile. "Russ is saying what the sailors +say when they want every one to get on the ship, take their places, and +be ready for the start."</p> + +<p>The rowboat was a large one, and would hold the six little Bunkers, as +well as their daddy and mother and Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>Cousin Ruth had intended to go, but, at the last minute, the woman +living in the next bungalow asked her to help with some sewing; so +Cousin Ruth stayed at home.</p> + +<p>"I'll get all ready to cook the crabs if you catch any," she said with a +smile, as Cousin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> Tom and Daddy Bunker rowed the boat out into the +inlet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll get some!" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"Crabs bite, don't they?" asked Violet, who seemed started on her +questioning tricks.</p> + +<p>"Well, they don't exactly bite; it's more of a pinch," said Cousin Tom. +"But it hurts, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm not going to catch any," declared Violet. "I'll just watch +you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, a crab won't pinch you if you catch him in a net; and that's what +I'll do," said her cousin. "We'll soon be at the place where there are +lots of them, I hope."</p> + +<p>As Cousin Tom rowed along, he told the six little Bunkers that the crabs +swam up the inlet from the sea to get things to eat, and also for the +mother crab to lay eggs, so little crabs would hatch out.</p> + +<p>"And when the big crabs swim up, which they do whenever the tide runs +into the inlet, twice a day," said Cousin Tom, "we go out and catch +them. Of course you can catch them at other times, but the crabbing is +best when the tide is coming in."</p> + +<p>"But I don't see any hooks on the lines,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> remarked Laddie, who was +looking at the strings in the bottom of the boat. On one end of each +string was a short piece of wood, and on the other end a piece of meat, +while on a few were some fish heads.</p> + +<p>"You don't need hooks to catch crabs," explained Cousin Tom. "All you +need to do is to tie a piece of meat on the string."</p> + +<p>"And does the crab bite that?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, but he takes it in his strong claws, to hold it so he can tear off +little pieces with his smaller claws and put them into his mouth," said +Cousin Tom. "A crab's mouth is small, and he has to tear his food into +little bits before he can swallow it. He uses his big front claws for +grabbing hold of what he wants to eat and holding on to it, and he likes +old meat or fish heads best of all.</p> + +<p>"So, when we get to the place where I think some crabs are, we'll let +down the pieces of meat. The crabs, swimming along, or crawling sideways +on the bottom of the inlet, as they more often do, will smell the chunk +of meat. They will take hold of it in their claws, and then one of us +can reach <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>down the net and scoop it under Mr. Crab. That's how we catch +them."</p> + +<p>"But how do you know when one has hold of the piece of meat on the +string?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"You can feel him giving it little jerks and tugs," said Cousin Tom. +"Or, if the water is clear, you can see him as he takes hold of the +chunk of meat. Then you want to pull up on your string, very, very +gently, so as not to scare the crab and make him let go. If you know how +to do it you can lift your string up with one hand, and scoop the net +under the crab with the other. But when you children have a bite, your +Daddy or I will use the net for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's going to be lots of fun," cried Violet. "I like this kind of +fishing."</p> + +<p>"And there aren't any sharp hooks to hurt the crab," added Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, it doesn't hurt a crab to catch him this way," said Daddy Bunker. +"And crabs are very good to eat after they are cooked. I like them +better than fish."</p> + +<p>"Is a crab a fish?" asked Laddie, who was holding a little stick down in +the water, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>watching the ripples it made as the boat was rowed along.</p> + +<p>"A crab is a sort of fish," said Cousin Tom. "Why did you ask?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am trying to make up a riddle about a crab and a fish," said +Laddie. "But I don't guess I can if they are pretty near the same. I +guess I'll make up a riddle about a boat. I have one 'most thought up. +It goes like this: When a boat goes in the water why doesn't the water +go in the boat?"</p> + +<p>"It does, sometimes, if the boat leaks," replied Cousin Tom with a +laugh. "I hope your riddle doesn't come true this trip, Laddie!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, I haven't got the riddle all made up yet," was the answer. "I +can't think of a good answer. Maybe I can after I catch some crabs."</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't our boat sink?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"'Cause it's wood, and that floats," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, once you made a little wooden boat, and it sunk when we put a lot +of stones on it," said Vi. "And my doll—a little one—was on the boat, +and she got all wet."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, if a boat is made of wood, an' it's big enough, it won't sink, +will it, Daddy?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't believe it will, if it doesn't get a hole through it so the +water can get in. But sit still now, children. I think we are at the +place where Cousin Tom is going to let us catch crabs. Aren't we, Tom?" +asked Mr. Bunker of his nephew.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Cousin Tom, "this is a good place. There is plenty of +seaweed on the bottom of the inlet here, and the crabs like to hide in +that—especially the soft-shelled crabs."</p> + +<p>"Are there two kinds?" Russ inquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes, hard and soft," was his cousin's answer.</p> + +<p>"Like eggs," said Russ with a laugh. "There are hard and soft boiled +eggs. Isn't that so, Cousin Tom?</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Cousin Tom with a smile. "But the funny part of it is that +sometimes the same crab is soft-shelled, and again it is hard-shelled. +An egg can't be that way. Once it is boiled hard it never can be boiled +soft again."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What makes soft crabs?" Rose wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"A soft-shelled crab is a hard-shelled crab with its old, hard shell +off, and it is only soft while it is waiting for its new shell to harden +in the salty sea water," explained Cousin Tom. "You see a crab grows, +but its shell, or its house that it lives in, doesn't grow. So it has to +shed that, or wiggle out of it, to let a larger one grow in its place. +When it does that it is a soft-shelled crab for a time, and very good to +eat. But you can't catch soft-shelled crabs on a string and a chunk of +meat. You have to go along and scoop them out of the seaweed with a net. +But now we will fish for hard-shelled crabs."</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom and Daddy Bunker had rowed the boat about a mile up the +inlet, and now the anchor was tossed over the side, to keep the craft +from drifting with the tide.</p> + +<p>"Now each one of you take a string, and toss the meat-end of it over the +side," said Cousin Tom. "Keep hold of the stick-end, or tie that end to +the boat. If you lose that you can't pull in your crab. Each one of you +keep watch of his or her string. When you see it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>beginning to be +pulled, or when you feel a little tug or jerk on it, as if a fish were +nibbling, then pull up very slowly and carefully. And look as you pull. +Don't pull it all the way to the top, or the crab, if there is one on +it, will see you, let go, and swim away."</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers did as they were told. Of course Margy and Mun +Bun were too little to know how to catch crabs, but they each had a +line, and Mother Bunker said she would catch them for the small tots.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think I have one!" suddenly exclaimed Russ in a whisper. "Look at +my line move!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you may have a crab on there," returned Cousin Tom. "Pull up very +gently."</p> + +<p>Russ did so, while his cousin reached forward with the long-handled net +ready to scoop it under the crab, if it should happen to be one.</p> + +<p>Up and up Russ pulled his line. Every one was eagerly watching, for they +wanted to see the first crab caught. And then, as the chunk of meat on +Russ's string came near <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>the top of the water, Rose, from the other end +of the boat, cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's only a piece of seaweed!"</p> + +<p>And so it was! How disappointed Russ was! The bit of green seaweed, +catching on his line, had wiggled and tugged, as the tide swayed it, +just as a crab would have done.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have one! I have one!" suddenly called Laddie, from his end of +the boat. "He's a big one! He's pulling like anything!"</p> + +<p>"Well, don't get excited and fall overboard," said Daddy Bunker. "Keep +still, pull up slowly, and I'll get him in the net for you."</p> + +<p>Slowly Laddie pulled up. Every one was watching. Would his "bite," too, +prove to be only seaweed?</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have one!" said Mother Bunker in a low voice, so as not to +frighten the crab. I don't really know whether loud noises frighten +crabs or not, but generally every one keeps quiet when fishing.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Laddie has a crab," said Daddy Bunker. "Wait, now, I'll get it in +the net!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 256px;"> +<img src="images/p122.png" width="256" height="400" alt="THE CRAB HAD HOLD OF LADDIE'S BAIT IN BOTH CLAWS." title="THE CRAB HAD HOLD OF LADDIE'S BAIT IN BOTH CLAWS." /> +<span class="caption">THE CRAB HAD HOLD OF LADDIE'S BAIT IN BOTH CLAWS.<br /> +<i>Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's.</i>—<i>Page</i> <a href='#Page_120'>120</a></span> +</div> + + +<p>Laddie's father dipped the net down into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>the water, shoved it under the +crab, chunk of meat and all, and lifted it suddenly out of the water. +The crab had hold of Laddie's bait in both claws, and before the +creature could let go it had been caught.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at him wriggle!" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"Now I'll dump him into the basket," said Daddy Bunker. He turned the +net upside down over the peach basket. Out dropped Mr. Crab, letting go +of the chunk of meat, which Laddie pulled out by the string. The crab +crawled about sideways on the bottom of the basket, raising its claws +into the air and clashing them together, at the same time opening and +shutting the pinching part.</p> + +<p>"That's the way a crab fights," said Cousin Tom. "And sometimes two big +crabs will fight so hard that one pulls a claw off the other. You have +caught a fine, big one, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"A dandy," agreed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"And I've got one, too!" cried Vi. "Oh, he's pulling like anything!"</p> + +<p>She really had a crab on her line. Cousin Tom netted it for her, and it +turned out to be larger than Laddie's.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I think the crab fishing will be good to-day," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>And so it turned out. From then on each one began to catch the pinching +creatures, the older folks using the net when the children had bites. +Once Russ tried to use the net himself, but he was not quick enough with +it, and the crab let go of the chunk of meat and swam quickly away.</p> + +<p>"He was a dandy big one, too!" said Russ regretfully.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy each one caught a crab, with the help of their mother, +and Rose, Violet and Laddie had good luck, also. Cousin Tom and Daddy +Bunker, of course, caught the most. Mother Bunker helped the children +land theirs in the net. And, after about an hour of fishing, the peach +basket was full of the big-clawed crabs.</p> + +<p>"I think we have enough," said Cousin Tom. "We will take them home and +cook them. Then we can eat them cold-boiled with lemon juice on them, or +they can be made into a salad."</p> + +<p>"Catching crabs is lots of fun," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Eating them is good, too," said his father.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>They rowed back home, and found Cousin Ruth waiting for them at the +bungalow.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you did have good luck," said Cousin Tom's wife. "A whole +basketful! Well, I'll soon have the water boiling and we'll cook them."</p> + +<p>The basket full of live crabs was set in the kitchen, and the six little +Bunkers and the others went out on the porch to rest and wait for the +water to boil. Russ, a little later, wanted a drink, and, going into the +kitchen, he turned to go to the sink. He was barefooted, and suddenly he +felt a sharp pain on one toe.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm bit! I'm bit!" he cried. "Something pinched me!"</p> + +<p>And then, as he looked at the kitchen floor, he cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, come quick! Come quick! They're loose! They're all loose!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>IN THE BOAT</h3> + + +<p>Every one out on the porch of the bungalow jumped up on hearing Russ's +cries.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" Daddy Bunker wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they're all loose, and one of 'em bit me," wailed Russ, and now +came sounds which seemed to indicate that he was hopping about on one +foot, and holding the other in his hands. And he really was doing this, +as they found out afterward.</p> + +<p>"Loose? They're all loose? What does he mean?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"It's the crabs!" exclaimed Cousin Tom, as he made a run for the +kitchen. "I guess some of them got out of the basket. They will do that +once in a while."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<p>Daddy and Mother Bunker, with Cousin Ruth, followed Cousin Tom to the +kitchen, where Russ was still hopping about and yelling:</p> + +<p>"Oh, they're all loose! They're all loose, and one of 'em pinched me! +Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>"Don't cry, silly little boy!" called his mother. "A pinch by a crab +can't hurt as much as that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but it hurts like anything!" yelled Russ. "He 'most bit off my big +toe!"</p> + +<p>By this time they were all in the kitchen. The rest of the six little +Bunkers had followed their father and mother. They saw a queer sight.</p> + +<p>Crabs were crawling all over the floor. They had managed to wiggle out +of the peach basket in which they had been put as they were caught from +the boat. Cousin Tom had spread wet seaweed over the top of the basket, +but this had not been enough to keep the crabs in.</p> + +<p>"Look, they're chasing us!" cried Rose, as a crab came sliding sideways +over the oil-cloth, clashing its big claws.</p> + +<p>"They are only trying to get into the dark <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>corners to hide," said +Cousin Tom. "I'll pick them up."</p> + +<p>"Will they pinch you?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, not if I pick them up by one of their back flippers," said his +cousin. "There is a certain way to pick up a crab so he can't reach you +with his claws."</p> + +<p>Just then a crab came toward Cousin Tom. He put out his foot, and held +it tightly on the hard shell of the crab's back. Then, reaching behind +the crab, and taking hold of one of the broad, flat swimming flippers, +he lifted the crab up that way. The crab wiggled and tried to reach +Cousin Tom with the pinching claws, but could not.</p> + +<p>"That's the way to do it," called out Cousin Tom, as he tossed the crab +into the basket.</p> + +<p>"I can do it!" said Laddie, who liked to try new things.</p> + +<p>"You'd better not," advised his mother. "Look how the crab pinched +Russ."</p> + +<p>"My toe's bleeding," said the little fellow, and so it was. A big crab +can easily pinch hard enough to draw blood.</p> + +<p>"I'll tie it up for you," said his mother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> "Perhaps you children had +better not try to pick up Crabs the way Cousin Tom did," she went on. +"You might make a mistake and get badly pinched."</p> + +<p>"Yes, let the children keep out of the way," agreed Daddy Bunker. +"Cousin Tom and I will catch the crabs."</p> + +<p>Russ was led away, hopping on one foot, though if he had tried, he could +easily have stepped on his sore foot. He was more frightened than hurt, +I think. And then the other children followed him, though the twins +would rather have staid.</p> + +<p>It was not easy to catch the crabs, for there were so many of them, and +they scurried around so fast. But Cousin Tom picked them up in his +fingers, and Daddy Bunker soon learned the trick of this. As for Cousin +Ruth, she took the crab tongs, which were two pieces of wood fastened +together on one end, like a pair of fire tongs. In these the crabs could +be picked up either front or back, or even by one claw, and they could +only pinch the wood, which they often did.</p> + +<p>"There, I think we have them all," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> Cousin Tom at last. "And now, +as the water is boiling, we can cook them."</p> + +<p>So the crabs were cooked, and set aside to cool until morning, when the +white meat would be picked out of the red shells, and made into salad.</p> + +<p>"What makes the crabs red?" asked Violet the next morning as she saw the +pile of cold, boiled creatures. "They were a sort of brown and green +color when we caught them yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her father, "crabs, lobsters and shrimps, when they are +boiled, turn red. Just why this is I don't know. I suppose there is +something in their shells that the hot water changes."</p> + +<p>"Can they pinch my toe now?" asked Mun Bun, as he stood near his mother, +looking at the basket full of cooked crabs.</p> + +<p>"Nope! They can't hurt you now; they're cooked," Laddie replied. "I'm +not 'fraid!" and he picked up a big crab, holding it by one of the +claws.</p> + +<p>Vi then did the same thing.</p> + +<p>"Go ahead and take one, Mun Bun," urged Laddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No! I don't guess I want to," said the little fellow.</p> + +<p>"I know a riddle you could make up about a crab," said Rose, who had +come to the kitchen to watch Cousin Ruth clean the shellfish.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" Laddie demanded instantly.</p> + +<p>"What color is a crab when it can't pinch?" sing-songed Rose. "And the +answer is it's red when it can't pinch."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is a pretty good riddle," said Laddie, as, with his head on +one side, he thought it over. "But I know how to make it better," he +went on.</p> + +<p>"How?" asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"Let me think a minute," he begged. "Oh, I have it! Why is a crab like a +newspaper?"</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't!" exclaimed Russ who came along just then. He was limping a +bit, for his toe was sore where the crab had pinched him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, 'tis!" declared Laddie. "That's the riddle. It's something like +the one Rose told. Why is a crab like a newspaper?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause it folds its claws when it doesn't want to bite you?" asked +Violet.</p> + +<p>"Nope!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tell us," suggested Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, a crab is like a newspaper, 'cause when it's red it can't bite or +pinch," Laddie said. "See?"</p> + +<p>"Huh! Yes, I see," murmured Russ. "A crab is like a newspaper because +when it's red. Oh, I know! You mean when a newspaper is r-e-a-d. That's +a different red from reading. But it's a good riddle all right, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"I didn't think of it all," said the little boy. "Rose helped."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, you made a riddle out of it," his sister told him. "Here +comes Cousin Ruth. I'm going to watch her clean the crabs."</p> + +<p>It was quite a lot of work to take the sweet, white meat out of the +crab-shells, but Cousin Ruth knew the best way to do it.</p> + +<p>In about an hour she had a large bowl full of the picked-out meat, and +the children—all except Mun Bun and Margy, who were too little to be +allowed to eat any—said the crabs were better than fish. Daddy and +Mother Bunker liked them, too.</p> + +<p>"Some of the crabs have awful big claws,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> remarked Russ after dinner, +as he looked at a pile of the legs and claws. "I guess they could dig in +the sand with 'em, the crabs could. They could dig deep holes."</p> + +<p>"I wish one would dig down and find my lost locket," said Rose with a +sorrowful sigh.</p> + +<p>For, though they had all searched the sand near the bungalow beach over +and over, there was no sign of the missing gold locket.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll never find it," Rose went on with another sigh. "Not even +if a crab could dig down deep."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll dig some more," promised Laddie. "Vi and I are going to make +some holes in the sand to play a new game, and maybe we'll find your +locket that way."</p> + +<p>But they did not, and Rose, though she herself searched and dug in many +places, could not find the ornament.</p> + +<p>There were many happy August days for the six little Bunkers at Cousin +Tom's. They played in the sand, went crabbing and fishing, wading and +swimming.</p> + +<p>One hot afternoon, when it was too warm to do more than sit in the +shade, Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> Bunker, who had been lying on the porch in a hammock +reading, laid aside her book and looked up.</p> + +<p>"Where has Mun Bun gone?" she asked Rose, who was playing jackstones +near by. "And did Margy go with him?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Mother," Rose answered. "They were here a minute ago. +I'll go and look for them."</p> + +<p>Just as Rose got up and as Mrs. Bunker arose from the hammock, a voice +down near the shore of the inlet called:</p> + +<p>"Come back. Get out of that boat! Mother, Margy and Mun Bun are in the +boat, and it's loose, and they're riding down the inlet and the tide's +going out! Oh, Mother, hurry!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>VIOLET'S DOLL</h3> + + +<p>You can easily believe that Mrs. Bunker did hurry on hearing what Russ +was calling about Mun Bun and Margy. She almost fell out of the hammock, +did Mrs. Bunker, she was in such haste.</p> + +<p>"Daddy! Daddy! Come quick!" she called to her husband, who was in the +bungalow, talking to Cousin Tom. "Margy and Mun Bun are in a boat on the +inlet and are being carried out to sea. Hurry!"</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker also hurried.</p> + +<p>Mother Bunker was the first to get down to the shore, where she could +see what had happened.</p> + +<p>At first all she noticed was Russ jumping up and down in his excitement, +and, at the same time, pointing to something on the water. Mrs. Bunker +looked at what Russ <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>was pointing to and saw that it was Cousin Tom's +smaller rowboat, and, also, that in it were her two little children, Mun +Bun and Margy!</p> + +<p>And the boat was being carried by the tide down the inlet toward the +sea. The inlet, when the tide was flowing in or out, was like a powerful +river, more powerful in its current than Rainbow River at home in +Pineville, where the six little Bunkers lived.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Margy! Mun Bun!" cried Mrs. Bunker, holding out her hands to the +children.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what will happen to them?" went on Mother Bunker, as she reached +Russ standing near the edge of the inlet. She could see the boat, with +Margy and Mun Bun in it, drifting farther and farther away. "Oh, I must +get them!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker was just about to rush into the water, all dressed as she +was. She had an idea she might wade out and get hold of the boat to +bring it back. But the inlet was too deep for that.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute! Don't go into the water, Mother! We'll get the children +back all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>right!" cried Daddy Bunker, as he ran up beside his wife and +caught her by the arm.</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Mrs. Bunker, clinging to her husband.</p> + +<p>"We'll go after them in another boat," said Mr. Bunker. "Here comes +Cousin Tom. He and I will go after the children in the other boat. You +sit down and wait for us. We'll soon have them back!"</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom had two boats tied at the pier in the inlet. One was the +large one in which they had gone crabbing a few days before, and the +other was the small one in which Margy and Mun Bun had gone drifting +away.</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker, left his wife sitting on the sand and ran to loosen the +large boat. But Cousin Tom cried:</p> + +<p>"Don't take that. It will be too slow and too heavy to row."</p> + +<p>"What shall we take?" asked the children's father.</p> + +<p>"Here comes a motor-boat. I'll hail the man in that and ask him to go +after the drifting boat for us," Cousin Tom answered.</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Mr. Bunker, as he looked up and saw coming down the +inlet, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> Clam River, a speedy motor-boat, in which sat a man. This +would be much faster than a rowboat.</p> + +<p>Just then Mrs. Bunker, who had jumped up from the sand where she had +been sitting for a moment, and who was running toward her husband, +cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, see! The children are standing up! Oh, if they should fall +overboard!"</p> + +<p>Margy and Mun Bun, who, at first, had been sitting down in the drifting +boat, were now seen to be standing up. And it is always dangerous to +stand up in a small boat.</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker put his hands to his mouth, to make a sort of megaphone, +and called:</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Margy! Sit down, Mun Bun! Sit down and keep quiet and Daddy +will soon come for you. Sit down and keep still!"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and his little sister did as their father told them, and sat +down in the middle of the boat.</p> + +<p>"Now we'll get them all right," said Mr. Bunker to his wife. "Don't +worry—they will be all right."</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom ran out on the end of his pier. He waved his hands to the man +in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>motor-boat, who was a lobster fisherman, going out to "lift" his +pots.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute!" called Cousin Tom. "Two children are adrift in that +boat. We want to go after them!"</p> + +<p>The lobster fisherman waved his hand to show that he understood. The +motor of his boat was making such a noise that he could not make his +voice heard, nor could he tell what Cousin Tom was saying. But he knew +what was meant, for he saw the drifting boat.</p> + +<p>With another wave of his hand to show that he knew what was wanted of +him, the lobsterman steered his boat toward Cousin Tom's wharf. A few +minutes later Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom were in it, and were speeding +down Clam River after the drifting craft in which sat Margy and Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"How did it happen?" asked Mr. Oscar Burnett, the lobster fisherman, as +he steered his boat down stream.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Daddy Bunker "All I know is my wife called to +me to come out, and I saw the two tots drifting off in the boat."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They must have climbed in to play when the boat was tied to the wharf," +said Cousin Tom. "Then either they or some one else must have loosened +the rope."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it came loose of itself," suggested Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"It couldn't," said Cousin Tom. "I tied it myself, and I am a good +enough sailor to know how to tie a boat so it won't work loose."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess you are," said Mr. Burnett. "The youngsters must have +loosened the rope themselves. Or some older children did it, for those +two are pretty small," and he looked at Margy and Mun Bun, for the +motor-boat was now quite near the drifting rowboat.</p> + +<p>"All right, Margy! All right, Mun Bun! We'll soon have you back safe!" +called Daddy Bunker to them, waving his hands. Both children were +crying.</p> + +<p>Up alongside the drifting rowboat went the lobster craft. Cousin Tom +caught hold of the boat in which the children sat, and held it while +Daddy Bunker lifted out Margy and her brother.</p> + +<p>Then the rowboat was tied fast to the stern <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>of the other boat, which +was steered around by Mr. Burnett, and headed up the inlet.</p> + +<p>"I've got time to take you back to your pier," he said to Cousin Tom. "I +started out a bit early this morning, so I don't have to hurry. Besides, +the tide is running pretty strong, and you'd have it a bit hard rowing +back."</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing you came along," said Daddy Bunker, as he thanked the +lobsterman. "The children might have been carried out to sea."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the life guard at the station on the beach would have seen them in +time," returned Mr. Burnett. "But I'm just as glad we got them when we +did."</p> + +<p>"What made you go off in the boat?" asked Daddy Bunker of Margy.</p> + +<p>"We didn't mean to," answered Mun Bun. "We got in to play sail, and the +boat went off by itself."</p> + +<p>And this was about all the two children could say as to what had +happened. They had got into the boat, which was tied to the pier, and +had been playing in it for some time. Then, before they knew it, the +boat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>became loose, and drifted off. Russ, who had been playing on the +beach not far away, had seen them, but not in time to help them.</p> + +<p>He had, indeed, called to them to "come out of the boat," but then it +was too late for Margy and Mun Bun to do this. There was already some +water between their boat and the pier. Then Russ did the next best +thing; he called his mother.</p> + +<p>It did not take long for the lobster motor-boat to make the run back to +Cousin Tom's pier, pulling the empty rowboat behind. Mrs. Bunker rushed +down and hugged Margy and Mun Bun in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought I should never see you again!" she cried, and there were +tears in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"We didn't mean to go away in the boat," said Margy.</p> + +<p>"We didn't mean to," repeated Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>And of course the children did not. They had been playing in the boat as +it was tied to the wharf, and they never thought it would get loose. +Just how this happened was never found out. Perhaps Mun Bun or Margy +might have pulled at the knot in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>rope until they loosened it, and +the tug of the tide did the rest.</p> + +<p>But the children were soon safe on the beach again, playing in the sand, +and the alarm was over.</p> + +<p>"What makes the water in the inlet run up sometimes and down other +times?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"It's the tide," said Russ, who had heard some fishermen talking about +high and low water.</p> + +<p>"What's the tide?" went on the little girl.</p> + +<p>"The moon," added Russ. "I heard Mother read a story, and it said the +moon makes the tides."</p> + +<p>"Does it, Daddy?" persisted Violet. She certainly had her questioning +cap on that evening.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the moon causes the tides," said Daddy Bunker. "But just how, it +is a bit hard to tell to such little children. The moon pulls on the +water in the oceans, just as a magnet pulls on a piece of iron or steel. +When the moon is on one side of the earth it pulls the water into a sort +of bunch, or hill, there, and that makes it lower in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>opposite part +of the earth. That is low tide. Then, as the moon changes, it pulls the +water up in the place where it was low before, and that makes high tide. +And when the tide is high in our ocean here it pushes a lot of water up +Clam River. And when the water is low in our ocean here the water runs +out of Clam River. That is what makes high tide and low tide here."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Violet, though I am not sure she understood all about it.</p> + +<p>But after that Margy and Mun Bun were careful about getting into the +boat, even when they felt sure it was tightly tied to the pier. They +always waited until some older folks were with them, and this was the +best way.</p> + +<p>The happy days passed at Cousin Tom's. The six little Bunkers played on +the beach, and, now and then, they looked and dug holes to try to find +Rose's locket.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's gone forever," said the little girl as the days passed and +no locket appeared. And she never even dreamed of the strange way good +luck was to come to her once more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>One warm day, when all the children were playing down on the sandy shore +of the inlet, Violet came running back to the house.</p> + +<p>"Mother, make Russ stop!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"What is he doing?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"He's taking my doll. He's going to take her out on the ocean in a boat. +Make him stop."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Russ mustn't do that!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "Of course I'll make +him stop!"</p> + +<p>She went down to the beach with Violet, and, just as they came within +sight of the group of children, they heard Rose say:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Russ! Now you've done it! You have drowned Vi's doll!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE BOX ON THE BEACH</h3> + + +<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed the children's mother, as she hurried along beside +Violet to help settle whatever trouble Russ had caused.</p> + +<p>"Oh! did you hear what Rose said?" asked Vi. "Did you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, I did."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my lovely doll is drowned!" cried the little girl, and there were +real tears in her eyes, and some even ran down her nose and splashed to +the ground. "I just knew Russ would be mean and tease me, and he did, +and now my doll is drowned and——"</p> + +<p>"Well, it might better be a doll that is drowned and not one of my six +little Bunkers," said the mother. "Though, of course, <i>I</i> am sorry if +any of your playthings are lost. Russ, did you drown Vi's doll?" she +called to her oldest son.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I didn't mean to, Mother," was the answer. "I was giving the doll a +ride in a boat I made, and the boat got blown by the wind, and the wind +upset the boat, and the boat went under water, 'cause I had a cargo of +stones on it, and——"</p> + +<p>"What happened to Vi's doll?" asked Mother Bunker. "Why don't you get to +that part of it, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"I was going to," he said. "The doll fell off when the boat upset and +sank, and the doll sank, too, I guess."</p> + +<p>"Is my doll really, really, drowned?" cried Violet.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm afraid I guess so," stammered Russ. "But maybe I can fish her up +again when the tide is low," he added hopefully.</p> + +<p>"Do it now," sobbed the little girl.</p> + +<p>"The water's too deep now."</p> + +<p>"Where did she get drowned?" asked Violet, gazing through her tears at +the waters of the inlet.</p> + +<p>"The boat upset out there in the middle," said Russ, pointing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Violet. "If she was my rubber doll maybe she wouldn't +be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>drowned. But she's my china doll, and they won't float, will they, +Mother?"</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, I'm afraid not. How did it happen, Russ? Why did you take +Violet's doll?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause I wanted to give her a ride, and I didn't think she would +care—I mean Vi. Course the doll didn't care."</p> + +<p>"She did so!" exclaimed the little girl, stamping her foot on the sand. +"My dolls have got feelings, same as you have, Russ Bunker, so there!"</p> + +<p>"Now children, don't get excited," said Mrs. Bunker gently. "Russ, you +shouldn't have taken Vi's doll."</p> + +<p>"Well, I wanted to see how much my boat would hold, and I was playing +the doll was a passenger. I'll get it back for her. Cousin Tom will take +me out in his boat to the middle, and I can scoop the doll up with a +crab net."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker went with Russ and Violet to find Cousin Tom, leaving +Laddie, Rose, Margy and Mun Bun playing with pebbles and shells in the +sand.</p> + +<p>Russ told Cousin Tom what had happened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> The little boy had made a boat +out of a piece of board, with a mast and a bit of cloth for a sail. He +had loaded his boat with stones he had picked up on the beach of the +inlet, and had started his craft off on a voyage.</p> + +<p>Violet had been playing near by with her doll, and when she put it down +for a moment Russ had taken the doll and put it on his toy boat.</p> + +<p>Then he gave it a shove out into the Clam River, the wind blowing on the +sail and sending his toy well out toward the middle of the inlet. There +the accident happened. The boat turned over and sank. Perhaps if Russ +had only laid the stones on, instead of tying one or two large ones +fast, as he had, the boat might have floated, even though upset.</p> + +<p>For if the stones had not been tied on they would have rolled off and +the boat would have righted herself and floated, being made of wood. +But, as it was, she sank.</p> + +<p>"And my doll went down with it," said Vi sadly. "Please, Cousin Tom, can +you get her back?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Violet. I'll see," was the answer. "The tide is running +out now, for it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>was high water a little while ago. If the boat sank +down to the bottom, and stayed there, we may be able to get it when the +water is low if we can see it."</p> + +<p>"The sail is white, and you can see white cloth even under water," said +Russ.</p> + +<p>"But I'm afraid the cloth won't stay white very long. The mud and sand +of the inlet will cover it," remarked Cousin Tom. "Did you tie the doll +on the boat, too, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"No, I just laid the doll down on top of the stones."</p> + +<p>"Then when the boat upset the doll rolled off, and she probably sank in +another place," said Mr. Bunker. "I don't believe we can ever find her, +Vi, I'm sorry to say, but I'll try at low tide."</p> + +<p>"Would she be carried out to sea, like Mun Bun and Margy 'most was?" the +little girl wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"She might, if the tide current was strong enough," said Cousin Tom. +"What kind of doll was she?"</p> + +<p>"China," answered Vi. "She was hollow, 'cause she made a hollow sound +when you tapped her. And she had a hole in her back, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>and sometimes I +used to pour milk in there, and make believe feed her."</p> + +<p>"Well, if your doll was hollow, and had a hole in her back, she probably +filled with water when she sank," said Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Violet.</p> + +<p>That evening, when the tide was low, so there was not so much water in +the inlet, Cousin Tom and Daddy Bunker, taking Russ with them to show +where his boat had upset, rowed out to the middle of Clam River. It took +them a little while to find the place where Russ had last seen his toy +boat, but finally they found it. Then, looking down into the water, they +peered about for a sight of the white sail.</p> + +<p>"There it is!" suddenly cried Russ, as he leaned over the side of the +boat. "I see something white."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it, too," said Daddy Bunker. "Perhaps that is the sail of +the sunken toy boat, and perhaps the doll is near here."</p> + +<p>But when Cousin Tom put down the long-handled crab net and scooped up +the white object, it was found to be a bit of paper.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Russ. "I wish it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> Vi's doll!" He felt bad about +the sorrow he had caused his little sister.</p> + +<p>"We'll try again," said his father, and, after rowing about a bit and +peering down into the water, they saw something else white, and this +time it really was Russ's boat. Cousin Tom scooped it up in his crab +net, and when the stones which were tied on deck, were loosed, the boat +floated as well as ever, and the wind and sun soon dried the wet sail.</p> + +<p>But, though they scooped with crab nets all about the place where they +had found the boat, they could not bring up Vi's doll.</p> + +<p>"Oh, didn't you find her?" asked the little girl, when her father, +Cousin Tom, and Russ came back in the rowboat.</p> + +<p>"No, dear, we couldn't find her," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" and Vi cried very hard.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, I'll get you another doll," said her mother.</p> + +<p>"They won't ever a doll be as nice as she was," sobbed Vi. "I—I just +lo-lo-loved her!"</p> + +<p>They all felt sorry for Violet, and Russ said she could have his new +knife, if she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>wanted it. But she said she didn't; all she wanted was +her doll.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Rose, trying to comfort her sister. "Maybe when I +find my gold locket, if I ever do, you'll find your lost doll. We've got +two things to hunt for now—your doll and my locket."</p> + +<p>"But your locket is lost on land, and, maybe, if you dig in the sand +enough, you can find it," sobbed Violet. "But you can't dig in the +water!"</p> + +<p>"Maybe she'll be washed up on the beach with the tide, same as the +driftwood and the shells and the seaweed are washed up," put in Russ. +"I'll look along the beach every day, Vi, and maybe I'll find your doll +for you."</p> + +<p>This comforted Vi some, and she dried her tears. Then Laddie made them +all laugh by saying:</p> + +<p>"I have a new riddle!"</p> + +<p>"Is it about a doll?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"No. It's about a cow."</p> + +<p>"How can you make a riddle about a cow?" Russ demanded.</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't make this one up," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> Laddie; "and it isn't like the +riddles I like to ask, 'cause there isn't any answer to it."</p> + +<p>"There must be some answer," declared Violet. "All riddles have +answers."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll tell you this one, and you can see if it has," went on +Laddie. "Now listen, everybody."</p> + +<p>Then he slowly said:</p> + +<p>"How is it that a red cow can eat green grass and give white milk that +makes yellow butter?"</p> + +<p>No one answered for a moment, and then Daddy Bunker laughed.</p> + +<p>"That is pretty good," he said, "and I don't believe there is any answer +to it. Of course we all know a red cow, or one that is a sort of +brownish red, does eat green grass. And the milk a cow gives is white +and the butter made from the white milk is yellow. Of course that isn't +exactly a riddle, but it's pretty good, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"And is there an answer to it?" the little boy asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe there is," answered his father. "It's just one of those +things that happen. Did you make that up, Laddie?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No. Cousin Tom told it to me out of a book. But I like it."</p> + +<p>Vi still sorrowed for her doll, and, in the days that followed, she +often walked along the beach hoping "Sarah Janet," as she called her, +might be cast up by the tide or the waves. Russ looked also, as did the +others, but no doll was found. Nor did Rose find her gold locket, though +many holes were dug in the sand searching for it.</p> + +<p>One morning, after breakfast, when he had gone down on the beach to +watch the fishing boats come in, which he often did, Russ came running +back to the house, very much excited.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked his mother. "Did one of the boats upset and +spill out the fishermen?"</p> + +<p>"No'm, Mother. But a box washed up on shore, and it's nailed shut, and +it's heavy, and maybe Vi's doll is in it! Oh, please come down and see +the box on the beach!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>CAUGHT BY THE TIDE</h3> + + +<p>Ever since they had come to Cousin Tom's, at Seaview, the six little +Bunkers had hoped to find some treasure-trove on the beach. That is, +Russ and Rose and Vi and Laddie did. Margy and Mun Bun were almost too +little to understand what the others meant by "treasure," but they liked +to go along the sand looking for things.</p> + +<p>At first, when the children came to the shore, they had hoped to dig up +gold, as Sammie Brown had said his father had when shipwrecked. But a +week or so of making holes in the sand, and finding nothing more than +pretty shells or pebbles, had about cured the older children of hoping +to find a fortune.</p> + +<p>"Instead of finding any gold we lost some," said Rose, as she thought of +her pretty locket, which, she feared, was gone forever.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>But now, when Russ came running in, telling about a big box being cast +up on the beach, his mother did not know what to think. The children had +heard her read stories about shipwrecked persons, who found things to +eat, and things of value, cast up on the sands, and she knew Russ must +imagine this was something like that.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, Mother, and we'll see what it is!" cried the little boy, and +taking hold of her hand he fairly dragged Mrs. Bunker along the path +toward the beach.</p> + +<p>"What sort of box is it?" the little boy's mother asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's a wooden box," Russ answered eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't suppose it was tin or pasteboard," said Mrs. Bunker with +a laugh. "A tin box would sink, and a pasteboard box would melt away in +the water. Of course I know it must be of wood. But is it closed or +open, and what is in it?"</p> + +<p>"That's what we don't know, Mother," Russ answered. "The box has a cover +nailed on it, and it isn't so very big—about so high," and Russ +measured with his hands.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you open the box?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"No'm," Russ answered. "We were all playing on the sand when I saw +something bobbing up and down on the waves. We threw stones at it, and +then it washed up on the beach, and I ran down into the water and +grabbed it.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's gold in it, Laddie says," went on Russ. "But I told him it +wasn't heavy enough for gold."</p> + +<p>"No, I hardly think it will be gold," said his mother with a smile.</p> + +<p>"And Vi thinks maybe it's her doll," went on the little boy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it hardly could be that. Her doll is probably at the bottom of the +ocean by this time. It could hardly have been got up and put in a box. +I'm afraid you will find nothing more than straw or shavings in your +treasure-trove, Russ. Don't count too much on it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, but we're just hoping it's something nice," Russ said. "You go +on down where the box is and I'll go get a hammer from Cousin Tom so we +can open the box."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>He led his mother to a little hummock of sand, from the top of which she +could look down and see the children gathered on the beach about a +square wooden box that had been cast up by the sea. Then Russ ran back +to get the hammer.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker looked at the box. There seemed to have been some writing on +a piece of paper that was tacked on the box, but the writing was blurred +by the sea water and could not be read.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother! what you s'pose is in it?" asked Vi. "My doll, maybe!"</p> + +<p>"No, I hardly think so, little girl."</p> + +<p>"Maybe gold," added Laddie, his eyes big with excitement.</p> + +<p>"No, and not gold," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Candy?" asked Margy, who had not one sweet tooth, it seemed, but +several.</p> + +<p>"Pop-corn balls!" said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Huh! candy and pop-corn balls would all be wet in the ocean," exclaimed +Laddie.</p> + +<p>By this time Russ came running back with the hammer. Behind him came +Cousin Tom, Cousin Ruth and Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"What's all this I hear about a million dol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>lars being found in a box on +the beach?" asked Daddy Bunker with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Well, there's the box," said Russ, pointing. "Please open it."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what can be in it," said Cousin Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe nothing," replied her husband, who did not want the children +to be too much disappointed if the box should be opened and found to +hold nothing more than some straw or shavings for packing.</p> + +<p>"Lots of boxes that are cast up on the beach have nothing in them," said +Cousin Tom, as Daddy Bunker got ready to use the hammer on the one Russ +and the others had found.</p> + +<p>"There is something in this box, all right," said Daddy Bunker, as he +lifted one end. "I don't believe this box is empty, though what is in it +may turn out to be of no use. But we will open it and see."</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers crowded around to look. So did Mother Bunker and +Cousin Tom and his wife. And then a very disappointing thing happened. +All of a sudden a wave, bigger than any of the others that had been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>rolling up on the beach, broke right in front of the box resting on the +sand. Up the shore rushed the salty, green water.</p> + +<p>"Look out!" cried Mother Bunker. "We'll all be wet!"</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker, not wishing to have his shoes soiled with the brine, +jumped back. So did the others. And, in jumping back, Mr. Bunker let go +his hold on the box, which he was just going to open with Cousin Tom's +hammer. And the big wave, which was part of the rising tide, just lifted +the box up, and the next moment carried it out into the ocean, far from +shore, as the wave itself ran back down the hill of sand.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"Grab it!" yelled Russ.</p> + +<p>"I'll get it!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>He made a rush to get hold of the box again before it should be washed +too far out from shore, but he stumbled over a pile of sand and fell. He +was not hurt, but when he got up the box was farther out than ever.</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker looked at the water between him and the box, and said:</p> + +<p>"It's too deep to wade and spoil a pair of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>shoes. And, after all, maybe +there is only a lot of old trash in the box."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought maybe my doll was in it," sighed Violet.</p> + +<p>"Can't you take your boat, Tom, and row out and get the box?" asked +Cousin Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I could do that," he said. "I will, too! The water is calm, though +I can't tell how long it will stay so."</p> + +<p>But before Cousin Tom could go back to the pier in the inlet, where the +boat was tied, the box was washed quite a distance out from shore. Then +the wind sprang up and the sea became rough, and it was decided that he +had better not try it.</p> + +<p>"Let the box go," said Daddy Bunker. "I guess there was nothing very +much in it."</p> + +<p>But the children thought differently. They stood looking out at the +unopened box, now drifting to sea, and thought of the different things +that <i>might</i> be in it. Each one had an idea of some toy he or she liked +best.</p> + +<p>"Well, we waited too long about opening it," said Mr. Bunker. "We should +have pulled the box farther up on the beach, Russ."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's right," said Cousin Tom. "The tides are getting high now, as +fall is coming on, and the tides are always highest in the spring and +the autumn. But maybe we can get the box back, after all."</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Russ eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Well, it may come ashore again, farther up the beach," replied Cousin +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Then somebody else may find it and open it," Russ remarked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that may happen," said his father. "Well, we won't worry over it. +We didn't lose anything, for we never really had it."</p> + +<p>But, just the same, the six little Bunkers could not help feeling sorry +for themselves at not having seen what was in the box. They kept +wondering and wondering what it could have been.</p> + +<p>But a day or so later they had nearly forgotten about what might have +been a treasure, for they found many other things to do.</p> + +<p>One afternoon Margy and Mun Bun, who had been freshly washed and combed, +went down to the wharf where Cousin Tom kept his boat.</p> + +<p>"Don't get in it, though," warned their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>mother. "You were carried away +in a boat once, and I don't want it to happen again. Keep away from the +boats."</p> + +<p>"We will!" promised Mun Bun and Margy.</p> + +<p>When they reached the shore of the inlet Mun Bun said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Margy, look how low the water is! We can wade over to that little +island!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Margy, "we can. We can take off our shoes an' stockin's, +an' carry 'em. Mother didn't tell us not to go wadin'."</p> + +<p>And Mrs. Bunker had not, for she did not think the children would do +this. So Margy and Mun Bun sat down on the wharf and made themselves +barefooted. Then they started to wade across a shallow place in the +inlet to where a little island of sand showed in the middle. And Margy +and Mun Bun did not know what was going to happen to them, or they never +would have done this.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>MAROONED</h3> + + +<p>"That's a nice little island over there," said Mun Bun to Margy as they +waded along.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's a terrible nice little island," agreed his sister.</p> + +<p>"An' we can camp out there an' have lots of fun."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mun Bun, catch me! I'm sinking down in a hole!"</p> + +<p>"All right, I'll get you!" cried the little boy, and he grasped hold of +his sister's arm. She had stepped into a little sandy hole, and the +water came up half way to her knees. Of course that was not very deep, +and when Margy saw she was not going to sink down very far she was no +longer frightened.</p> + +<p>"But I was scared till you grabbed hold of me," she said to Mun Bun. "Is +it very deep any more?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, it isn't deep at all," the little boy answered. "I can see down to +the bottom all the way to the little island, and it isn't hardly over +your toenails."</p> + +<p>The tide was very low that day, and in some parts of the inlet there was +no water at all, the sandy bottom showing quite dry in the sun.</p> + +<p>As Cousin Tom had said, toward the fall of the year the tides are both +extra high and extra low. Of course not at the same time, you +understand, but twice a day. Sometimes the waters of the ocean came up +into the inlet until they nearly flowed over the small pier. Then, some +hours later, they would be very low. This was one of the low times for +the tide, and it had made several small islands of sand in the middle of +Clam River.</p> + +<p>It was toward one of these islands that Margy and Mun Bun were wading. +They had seen it from the shore and it looked to be a good place to +play. There was a big, almost round, spot of white sand, and all about +it was shallow water, sparkling in the sun. The deepest water between +the shore and the island was half way up to Margy's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>knees, and that, as +I think you will admit, was not deep at all.</p> + +<p>"We'll have some fun there," said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we can dig clams," went on the little girl.</p> + +<p>Clam River was so called because so many soft and hard clams were dug +there by the fishermen, who sold them to people who liked to make +chowder of them.</p> + +<p>There are two kinds of clams that are good to eat, the hard and the +soft. One has a very hard shell, and this is the kind of clam you most +often see in the stores.</p> + +<p>But there is another sort of clam, with a thin shell, and out of one end +of it the clam sticks a long thing, like a rubber tube. And when the +clam digs a hole for himself down in the sand or the mud he thrusts this +tube up to the top, and through it he sucks down things to eat.</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers had often seen the fishermen on Clam River dig +down after these soft-shelled fellows. The men used a short-handled hoe, +and when they had dug away the sand there they found the clams in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>something that looked like little pockets, or burrows.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we can dig clams," said Margy.</p> + +<p>"We hasn't got any shovel or hoe," returned Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we can dig with some big clam shells, if we can find some," his +sister said.</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached the little island. Just like the islands +in your geography, it was "entirely surrounded by water," and it made a +nice place to play, except that it was rather sunny. But Mun Bun and +Margy did not mind the sun very much.</p> + +<p>They were used to playing out in it, and they were now as brown as +berries, or Indians, or nuts, whichever you like best. They were well +tanned, and did not get sunburned as many little boys and girls do when +they go to the seashore for the first time.</p> + +<p>"We can take the clams to Cousin Ruth and she can make chowder and +she'll give us some cookies, maybe," said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"I like clams better than cookies," remarked Margy. "I mean I like to +eat cookies, but I like to dig clams."</p> + +<p>"You can't dig cookies," said Mun Bun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You could dig one if you dropped yours in the sand," returned his +sister.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you could do that," agreed the little boy. "But it would be all +sand, and it wouldn't be good to eat."</p> + +<p>"I don't guess it would. We'll just dig clams. Anyhow, we hasn't any +cookies to dig or to eat."</p> + +<p>This was very true. And now the two little children began to hunt for +clam shells to use for shovels in digging. They wanted the large shells +of the hard clam, and soon each had one. Then they began to dig, as they +had seen their father and Cousin Tom do. For Daddy Bunker had once taken +Margy and Mun Bun with him and the other Mr. Bunker, when they went to +dig soft clams.</p> + +<p>Whether Margy and Mun Bun did not know how to dig, or whether there were +no clams in the sand of the island I do not know. But I do know that the +two little Bunkers did not find any, though they dug holes until their +backs ached.</p> + +<p>Then Margy said:</p> + +<p>"Let's don't play this any more."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What shall we play?" asked Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's see if we can find some wood and make little boats."</p> + +<p>So they walked about the island looking for bits of wood. But none was +to be found. For wood floats; that is, unless it is so soaked with water +as to be too heavy, and all the pieces of wood that had ever been on the +island had floated away.</p> + +<p>"I don't guess we can build any boats," said Margy. "Let's go back to +shore and get some wood, and then we can come back and sail boats."</p> + +<p>"That'll be fun," said Mun Bun. "We'll go."</p> + +<p>But when he and his sister started to wade back, they had not gone very +far before Margy cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, the water's terrible deep! Look how deep down my foot goes!"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun looked. Indeed the water was almost up to Margy's knees now, and +she had gone only a few steps away from the shore of the island.</p> + +<p>"Let me try it," said her brother. "I'm bigger than you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> + +<p>He wasn't, though he liked to think so, for Margy was a year older. But +I guess Mun Bun was like most boys; he liked to think himself larger +than he was.</p> + +<p>However, when he stepped out from the island, ahead of Margy, he, too, +found that the water was deeper than it had been when they started to +wade from the shore near Cousin Tom's pier.</p> + +<p>"What makes it?" asked Margy.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," answered Mun Bun. "I guess somebody must have poured +more water in the river."</p> + +<p>"Lessen maybe it rained," suggested Margy. "Don't you know how Rainbow +River gets bigger when it rains?"</p> + +<p>"It didn't rain," said Mun Bun, "or we'd be wet on our backs."</p> + +<p>"No, I guess it didn't rain," agreed Margy. Then she cried: "Oh, look, +Mun Bun! Our island's getting awful little! It only sticks out of the +water hardly any now! Look!"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun turned and looked behind him. As his sister had said, the island +was very much smaller.</p> + +<p>"What—what makes it?" asked Margy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," answered Mun Bun. "But it is getting littler, just +like when you keep on sucking a lollypop."</p> + +<p>And that is just what the island was doing. What Margy and Mun Bun did +not know was that the tide had turned, that it was rising, and that it +would soon not only make their island much smaller, but would cover it +from sight, leaving no island at all!</p> + +<p>"Oh, the water's getting deeper," said Margy, as she took another step +and found it coming over her little knees. "What are we going to do, Mun +Bun?"</p> + +<p>"I—I guess we must go back to the middle of the island and stay there," +said her brother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, shall we ever get off?" Margy asked, and her voice sounded as +though she might cry before long. "I can't ever wade to shore when the +water is so deep. What are we going to do?"</p> + +<p>"We'll call for Daddy!" said Mun Bun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE MARSHMALLOW ROAST</h3> + + +<p>When anything happened to Mun Bun or his sister Margy they always called +for Daddy or Mother Bunker. The other children did the same thing, +though of course Margy and Mun Bun, being the youngest, naturally called +the most, just as they were the ones who were most often in trouble that +needed a father or a mother to straighten out.</p> + +<p>"Our island's getting terrible small," said Margy; "and the water's +gettin' deeper all around us."</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Mun Bun, as he got in the middle of what was left of the +circle of sand and looked about. "The water is deep. I guess I'd better +call!"</p> + +<p>"I'll help you," said Margy.</p> + +<p>The two children stood in the center of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>sandy island that was all +the while getting smaller because the tide was rising and covering it, +and they called:</p> + +<p>"Daddy! Mother! Daddy Bunker! Come and get us!"</p> + +<p>They called this way several times, and then waited for some one to come +and get them.</p> + +<p>If you want to imagine how Margy and Mun Bun looked, marooned as they +were on an island in the middle of Clam River, with the tide rising, +just get a big, clean stone and put it down in the middle of your +bathtub. If you try this you had better put a piece of paper under the +stone, so it will not scratch the clean, white tub.</p> + +<p>Then on the stone put two other little stones to stand for Margy and Mun +Bun. Now put the stopper in the tub and turn on the water. You will see +it begin to rise around the stone, and soon only a little of it will be +left sticking out of the water.</p> + +<p>"Daddy! Mother! Daddy Bunker! Come and get us!"</p> + +<p>Now Margy and Mun Bun did not have very strong voices, and, besides, +though they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>were not far from one part of the shore, it was quite a +distance to Cousin Tom's house, where their father and mother were at +that moment. Also, the wind was blowing their voices away, and over +toward the other shore of Clam River, where at this time no one lived.</p> + +<p>But the two little Bunkers did not know this, and they kept on calling +for their mother or father to come to get them. But neither Daddy nor +Mother Bunker answered.</p> + +<p>And the water kept on rising, for the tide was coming in fast, and it +was going to be high.</p> + +<p>Now it happened, just about this time, that Mr. Oscar Burnett, the +lobster fisherman, was coming up the inlet in his motor-boat. He had +been out to sea to lift his lobster-pots and he had been waiting at the +entrance of Clam River for the tide to make the water deep enough for +him to come up. On days when the tide was not so low he could come up +all right, even at "slack water." But this time the channel was not deep +enough for his motor-boat and he had to wait.</p> + +<p>And as he puffed up, steering this way and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>that so as not to run on +sand bars, he heard, faintly, the cries of Margy and Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>Having good ears, and knowing the cries must be near him, Mr. Burnett +looked about.</p> + +<p>He saw the place where the island was now almost hidden from sight +because of the rising waters, and he saw the two children, Margy and Mun +Bun, standing there, their arms around each other, crying for help, and +also crying real tears. For they were very much frightened.</p> + +<p>"Well, I swan to goodness!" exclaimed the lobster fisherman. "There's +those two children again, and this time they're marooned 'stead of being +adrift! Yes, sir! They're marooned!"</p> + +<p>I used that word once before and I forgot to tell you what it means, so +I'll do so now. It means, in sailor talk, being left alone on an island +without any way of getting off. Sometimes pirates used to capture ships, +take off the passengers and set them on an island without leaving a +boat. And the poor passengers were marooned. They could no more get off +than could Margy and Mun Bun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Marooned! That's what they are!" said Mr. Burnett. "I'll have to go +over and get 'em, just as I got 'em when they drifted down the inlet in +the boat. I never saw such children for getting into trouble!"</p> + +<p>Not that Mr. Burnett thought it was too much trouble to go and get Margy +and Mun Bun off the island where they were marooned. Instead, he was +very glad to do it, for he loved children. So he steered his motor-boat +over toward what was left of the island—which was very little now, as +the tide was still rising. Then the lobster fisherman called:</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid, Mun Bun and Margy! I'll soon get you! Don't be afraid. +Just stand still and don't wade off into the deep water."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 254px;"> +<img src="images/p182.png" width="254" height="400" alt=""DON'T BE AFRAID! I'LL SOON GET YOU!" SAID MR. BURNETT." title=""DON'T BE AFRAID! I'LL SOON GET YOU!" SAID MR. BURNETT." /> +<span class="caption">"DON'T BE AFRAID! I'LL SOON GET YOU!" SAID MR. BURNETT.<br /> +<i>Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's.</i>—<i>Page</i> <a href='#Page_174'>174</a></span> +</div> + + +<p>The island was shaped like a little hill, high in the middle, and Margy +and Mun Bun had kept stepping back until they now stood on the highest +part in the middle.</p> + +<p>All about them was the water, deeper in some places than in others. And +you may be sure that the little boy and his sister did not try to get +off the high spot. There the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>water was only over their feet, but if +they stayed there much longer it might cover their heads.</p> + +<p>However no such dreadful thing happened, for Mr. Burnett steered his +boat up to them until it grounded in the sand of the island that was now +under water.</p> + +<p>"Now you're all right!" said the kind man. He shut off his motor and +jumped over the side of the boat. Right into the water he stepped, but +as he had on high rubber boots he did not get his feet wet.</p> + +<p>Mr. Burnett picked up Margy and set her down in his boat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at the big lobsters!" cried the little girl. "Will they pinch +me?"</p> + +<p>Well might she ask that question, for the bottom of the boat was filled +with lobsters with big claws, some of which were moving about, the +pinching parts opening and shutting.</p> + +<p>"They won't hurt you," said Mr. Burnett with a laugh. "Just keep up on +the seat, Margy, and you won't get pinched."</p> + +<p>The seats in the lobster boat were broad and high, and on one of them +Margy and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> Mun Bun, who was soon lifted off the island to her side, were +safe from the lobsters, which Mr. Burnett had taken from his pots, some +miles out at sea.</p> + +<p>"How did you come to go on the island when the tide was rising?" asked +the fisherman, as he started his boat once more.</p> + +<p>"The water was low, and we waded out barefoot," explained Margy.</p> + +<p>"We were goin' to dig clams," added Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"But we couldn't find any," continued Margy. "And then when we went to +wade back home the water got deep and we were afraid."</p> + +<p>"I should think you would be!" replied the lobster fisherman. "Well, I'm +glad I heard you call. It wouldn't be very nice on your island now."</p> + +<p>The children looked back. Their island was out of sight. It was +"submerged," as a sailor would say, meaning that it was under the water. +For the tide had risen and covered it.</p> + +<p>"Will you take us home?" asked Margy.</p> + +<p>"That's what I will," said the lobster fish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>erman. "I'll take you right +up to Mr. Bunker's pier. I guess your folks don't know where you are, +nor what trouble you might have been in if I hadn't come along just when +I did."</p> + +<p>And this was true, for neither Daddy nor Mother Bunker, nor Cousin Tom +nor his wife, nor any of the other little Bunkers had heard the cries of +Mun Bun and Margy.</p> + +<p>But as the motor-boat went puffing up to the little wharf the noise it +made was heard by Mr. and Mrs. Bunker, who ran down from the cottage to +see it, as they wanted to buy a fresh lobster and they had been told +that Mr. Burnett might soon come back from having gone to lift his pots.</p> + +<p>"Well, I had pretty good luck to-day," said the old fisherman, as he +stopped his boat at the pier, and pointed to Margy and Mun Bun. "See +what I caught!"</p> + +<p>"Margy!" cried her mother, in great surprise.</p> + +<p>"Mun Bun!" exclaimed the little boy's father.</p> + +<p>"Did you go out in a boat again?" asked Mrs. Bunker.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, no'm, we didn't do that!" said Mun Bun quickly.</p> + +<p>"We just waded over to the little island," said Margy. "But somebody +poured water in the river, and it got high and we couldn't wade back +again."</p> + +<p>"They were marooned in the middle of Clam River for a fact! That's what +they were!" said Mr. Burnett. "But I heard 'em yell, and I took 'em off. +Here they are."</p> + +<p>"You must never wade out like that again," said the father of Mun Bun +and Margy. "This river isn't like ours at home. An island there is +always an island, unless floods come, and you know about them. There is +a tide here twice a day and what may seem a safe bit of sand on which to +play at one time may be covered with water at another. So don't go +wading unless you ask your mother or me first."</p> + +<p>"We won't," promised Mun Bun and Margy.</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Bunker thanked Mr. Burnett and after the lobster had been +bought the fisherman puffed away in his boat, waving a good-bye to the +children he had saved from being marooned on the island.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy had to tell their story over again several times and +they had to answer many questions from their brothers and sisters, about +how they felt when they saw the water coming up.</p> + +<p>Of course the two smallest of the six little Bunkers had been in some +danger, though if Mr. Burnett had not seen them and rescued them, some +one else might have done so. But it taught all the little Bunkers a +lesson about the dangers of the rising tide, and if any of you ever go +to the seashore I hope you will be careful. If you live at the shore, of +course you know about the tides.</p> + +<p>As the August days went on, the children played in the sand and had many +good times. Often they would pretend to be digging for gold, as they had +heard Sammie Brown tell of his father having done, but they had given up +hoping to find any.</p> + +<p>"But we might find my locket," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"And we might find that queer box the tide washed away before we could +see what was in it," said Russ. "I wish we could find that."</p> + +<p>Often he would walk along the beach look<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>ing at the driftwood and other +things cast up by the waves and hope for a sight of the mysterious box.</p> + +<p>"If we'd only seen what was in it we wouldn't feel so bad," said Rose. +"But it's like a puzzle you never can guess."</p> + +<p>One evening Daddy Bunker came home from the village with some round tin +boxes.</p> + +<p>"What's in 'em?" cried Violet, always the first to ask a question.</p> + +<p>"Let's guess!" proposed Laddie. "Maybe I can make up a riddle about +'em."</p> + +<p>"I know what's in them," said Russ. "I can read it on the box. It's +marshmallow candies."</p> + +<p>"Oh, are we going to have a marshmallow roast on the beach?" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's what we are going to have," her father said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, hurray! Hurray! Hurray!" cried the six little Bunkers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>THE SALLIE GROWLER</h3> + + +<p>Have you ever toasted marshmallow candies at the seashore beach? If you +have you need not stop to read this part of the story. But if you have +not, from this and the next page you may learn how to do it.</p> + +<p>In the first place you need three things to have a marshmallow roast, +and you can easily guess what the first thing is. It's a box of the +white candies. Then you need a fire, and, if you are a little boy or +girl, it will be best to have your father or mother or some big person +make the fire for you, as you might get burned.</p> + +<p>Then you need some long, pointed sticks on which to hold the marshmallow +candies as you toast them. If the sticks are too short you will toast +your fingers or your face instead of the candies.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Have you got lots of marshmallows, Daddy?" asked Rose, as she and the +other children gathered about their father.</p> + +<p>"Plenty, I think," he answered. "We don't want so many that you will be +made ill, you know."</p> + +<p>"I can eat a lot of 'em without getting sick," declared Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I like 'em, too," said Vi. "Where do the marshmallow candies come from, +Daddy?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"From the store, of course!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, I mean before they get to the store," went on the little girl. +"Does a hen lay the marshmallows, same as chickens lay eggs?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "Marshmallow candy is made from sugar +and other things, just as most candies are."</p> + +<p>As the six little Bunkers, with their father and mother and Cousin Tom +and his wife, walked down to the shore of the sea, which was light from +the beams of a silvery moon, Laddie said:</p> + +<p>"I have a new riddle!"</p> + +<p>"Is it about marshmallows?" asked Vi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No. But the candies made me think of it," replied her brother. "It's +about a fire."</p> + +<p>"What is your riddle about a fire?" asked Cousin Ruth, who always liked +to hear Laddie ask his funny questions.</p> + +<p>"Where does the fire go when it goes out?" Laddie asked. "That's my +riddle. Where does the fire go when it goes out?"</p> + +<p>"It doesn't go anywhere," declared Russ. "It just stays where it is."</p> + +<p>"Part of it goes away," declared Laddie. "Where does it go? Where does +the hot part go when the fire goes out?"</p> + +<p>"Up in the air," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Off in the ocean!" exclaimed Mun Bun, who really did not know what they +were talking about.</p> + +<p>"Does it, Daddy?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Why, I don't know," said Mr. Bunker. "It's your riddle; you ought to +know what the answer is."</p> + +<p>"But I don't," admitted Laddie. "I made up the riddle, but I don't know +what the answer is. If some of you could think of a good answer it would +be a good riddle."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess it would," agreed Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> Bunker. "This is the time you +didn't think of a good one, Laddie. A riddle isn't much good unless some +one knows the answer."</p> + +<p>Perhaps some of you who are reading this story can tell the answer.</p> + +<p>Down on the beach went the six little Bunkers. There was a bright moon +shining and here and there were other parties of children and young +people, some going to have marshmallow roasts also, and some who only +came down to look at the ocean shining under the silver moon.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy, with Violet and Laddie, raced about in the sand, +while Russ and Rose helped their father and Cousin Tom gather driftwood +for the fire. There was plenty of it, and it was dry, for it had been in +the hot sun all day.</p> + +<p>"What makes the sand so sandy?" asked Vi, as she sat down beside her +mother and Cousin Ruth and let some of the "beach dust," as Daddy Bunker +sometimes called it, run through her fingers.</p> + +<p>"That's a hard question to answer," laughed Mother Bunker. "You might as +well ask what makes the moon so shiny."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Or what makes the water so wet," added Cousin Ruth. "Oh, you are such a +funny little girl, Violet!"</p> + +<p>"What makes me?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"I suppose one reason is that you ask so many funny questions," said +Cousin Ruth. "But there, Daddy has lighted the fire, and we can soon +begin to roast the marshmallows."</p> + +<p>On the beach, near Russ and Rose, where they were standing with their +father and Cousin Tom, a cheerful blaze sprang up. It looked very pretty +in the moonlight night, with the sparkling sea out beyond.</p> + +<p>"Can we roast 'em now?" asked Laddie, as he got ready one of the long, +pointed sticks.</p> + +<p>"Not quite yet," said his father. "Better to wait until the fire makes a +lot of red-hot coals, or embers of wood. Then we can hold our candies +over them and they will not get burned or blackened by the blaze. Wait a +bit."</p> + +<p>So they sat about the fire, while Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom piled on +more wood. The boxes of the candies had been opened, so they would be +all ready, and each of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>ten Bunkers had a long, sharp-pointed stick +to use as a toasting-fork.</p> + +<p>"I guess we are ready now," said Daddy Bunker, after they had listened +to a jolly song sung by another party of marshmallow roasters farther +down the beach. "There are plenty of hot embers now."</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom poked aside the blazing pieces of driftwood and underneath +were the hot, glowing embers.</p> + +<p>"Now each one put a candy on a stick and hold the marshmallow over the +embers," said Daddy Bunker. "Don't hold it still, but turn it around. +This is just the same as shaking corn when you pop it, or turning bread +over when you toast it. By turning the marshmallow it will not burn so +quickly."</p> + +<p>So, kneeling in a circle about the fire, the six little Bunkers, and the +others, began to roast the candies. But Margy and Mun Bun did not have +very good luck. They forgot to turn their marshmallows and they held +them so close to the fire that they had accidents.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mun Bun's candy is burning!" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"And Margy's is on fire, too!" added Russ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, that's too bad!" cried Mother Bunker. "Never mind," she said, as +she saw that the two little tots felt sorry. "I'll toast your candies +for you. It's rather hard for you to do it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker's own candy was toasted a nice brown and all puffed up, for +this is what happens when you toast marshmallows. So she gave Mun Bun +and Margy some of hers, and then began to brown more.</p> + +<p>The other children did very well, and soon they were all eating the +toasted candies. Now and then one would catch fire, for sugar, you know, +burns faster than wood or coal. But it was easy to blow out the flaming +candies, and, if they were not too badly burned, they were good to eat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at the little dog!" cried Rose, as she put a fresh marshmallow +on her stick. "He smells our candy! May I give him one, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but give him one that isn't toasted. He might burn himself on a +hot one. Whose dog is he?"</p> + +<p>"He just ran over to me from down there," and Rose pointed to some boys +and girls <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>about another fire farther down the beach, who were also +roasting marshmallows. The dog seemed glad to be with Rose and his new +friends, and let each of the six little Bunkers pat him. He ate several +candies and then ran back where he belonged.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he was awful cute!" exclaimed Vi. "I wish we could keep him. +Couldn't we have a dog some time?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe, when we get back home again," promised Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>The marshmallow roast was fun, and even after the candies had all been +eaten the party sat on the beach a little longer, looking at the waves +in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"Now it's time to go to bed!" called Mother Bunker. "Margy and Mun Bun +are so sleepy they can't keep their eyes open. Come on! We'll have more +fun to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>"I'm going crabbing off the pier," declared Russ. "There's lots of crabs +now, Mr. Burnett says."</p> + +<p>"Yes, August is a good month to catch crabs," returned Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>"I'm going fishing," said Laddie. "Can you catch fish off your pier, +Cousin Tom?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, sometimes. But don't catch any Sallie Growlers."</p> + +<p>"What's a Sallie Growler?" asked Vi, before any one else could speak.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'll know as soon as you catch one," laughed her cousin. Then he +picked up Mun Bun, who was really asleep by this time, and carried him +up to the house, while Daddy Bunker took Margy, whose eyes were also +closed.</p> + +<p>True to their promises Russ and Laddie went down to the little boat +wharf the next morning after breakfast. Russ had the crab net and a +chunk of meat tied to a string. Laddie had a short pole and line and a +hook baited with a piece of clam, for that was what fishermen often +used, Cousin Tom said.</p> + +<p>"Now we'll see who catches the first fish!" exclaimed Laddie, as he sat +down on the pier.</p> + +<p>"I'm not fishing for fish, I'm fishing for crabs," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, in this race we'll count a crab and a fish as the same thing," +returned Laddie. "We'll see who gets the first one."</p> + +<p>The boys waited some time. Now and then Russ would feel a little tug at +his line, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>as if the crabs were tasting his bait, but had not quite made +up their minds to take a good hold so he could pull them up and catch +them in the net. And the cork float on Laddie's line would bob up and +down a little as though he, too, had nibbles. But neither of them had +caught anything yet.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Laddie felt a hard tug, and he yelled:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I got one! I got one! I got the first bite!"</p> + +<p>He yanked on his pole. Something brown and wiggling came up out of the +water and flopped down on the wharf. At the same time a little dog that +had run up behind the two boys and was sniffing around, gave a sudden +yelp.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"He's bit by a Sallie Growler! The Sallie Growler you caught bit my dog +on the nose!" exclaimed another boy and he began striking at the brown +thing Laddie had caught, which was now fast to the nose of the dog that +had been eating marshmallows the night before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>THE WALKING FISH</h3> + + +<p>Laddie dropped his fishing-pole. Russ let go of his crab-line, and they +both stood looking at the dog and at the strange boy. The dog was +howling, and trying to paw off from his nose a queer and ugly-looking +fish that had hold of it. It was the fish Laddie had caught and which +the boy had called a "Sallie Growler."</p> + +<p>"Cousin Tom told us about them last night," thought Russ. "I wonder why +they have such a funny name, and what makes 'em bite so."</p> + +<p>But he did not ask the questions aloud just then. There was too much +going on to let him do this.</p> + +<p>The dog was howling, and the new boy was yelling, at the same time +striking at the fish on the end of his dog's nose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Take him off! Take off that Sallie Growler!" yelled the boy.</p> + +<p>But the brown fish Laddie had caught looked too ugly and savage. Neither +of the little Bunkers was going to touch it and the new boy did not seem +to want to any more than did Russ or Laddie.</p> + +<p>As for the dog, he could not help himself. The fish had hold of him; he +didn't have hold of the fish.</p> + +<p>Finally, after much howling and pawing, the dog either knocked the fish +off his nose, or the Sallie Growler let go of its own accord and lay on +the pier.</p> + +<p>"Poor Teddy!" said the boy as he bent over his pet to pat him. "Did he +hurt you a lot?" The dog whimpered and wagged his tail. He did not seem +to be badly hurt, though there were some spots of blood on his nose.</p> + +<p>"I guess he'll be all right if the Sallie Growler doesn't poison him," +said the boy. "How'd you come to catch it?" he asked, looking from +Laddie to Russ.</p> + +<p>"I didn't want to catch it," said Laddie. "I was fishing for good fish +and I got a bite and pulled <i>that</i> up!" and he pointed to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>ugly +brown fish that lay gasping on the boards.</p> + +<p>"Is it a Sallie Growler?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"It is," said the new boy. "And they can bite like anything. Look how +that one held on to my dog's nose."</p> + +<p>"I hope he isn't hurt much," put in Laddie. "I didn't mean to do it."</p> + +<p>"No, I guess you didn't," said the other boy. "Nobody ever tries to +catch a Sallie Growler. They're too nasty and hard to get off the hook. +'Most always they swallow it, but this one didn't. He dropped off just +as you landed him and then my dog came along and smelled him—Teddy's +always smelling something—and the fish bit him."</p> + +<p>"Do you live around here?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we're here for the summer. I guess I saw you down on the beach +last night roasting marshmallows, didn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and we gave your dog some," returned Laddie. "What's your name?"</p> + +<p>"George Carr. What's yours?"</p> + +<p>"Laddie Bunker."</p> + +<p>"Mine's Russ," said Laddie's brother. "Oh, look! I guess I've got a +crab!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>He ran to where he had tied the end of his string to a post of the pier, +and began to pull in. Surely enough, on the end was a big blue-clawed +crab, and, with the help of Laddie, who used the net, the creature was +soon landed on the pier.</p> + +<p>"Here! You keep away from that crab!" called George Carr to his dog +Teddy. "Do you want your nose bit again?"</p> + +<p>And from the way the crab raised its claws in the air, snapping them +shut, it would seem that the shellfish would have been very glad indeed +to pinch the dog's nose. But Teddy had learned a lesson. He kept well +away from the gasping Sallie Growler, too.</p> + +<p>"What makes 'em be called Sallie Growler?" asked Laddie, as he and Russ +looked at the fish. It was very ugly, with a head shaped like a toad, +and a very big mouth.</p> + +<p>"I don't know why they call 'em Sallie," said George; "but they call 'em +Growler 'cause they do growl. Sometimes you can hear 'em grunting under +the water. There goes this one now!"</p> + +<p>Just as he spoke the fish did give a sort of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>groan or growl. It opened +its mouth, gasping for breath.</p> + +<p>"They're no good—worse than a toad fish!" exclaimed George, as he +kicked the one Laddie had caught into the water.</p> + +<p>"Are there many around here?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, quite a lot in the inlet," answered George. "They don't bite on +crab-meat bait, but if you're fishing for fish they often swallow your +hook, bait and all. I don't like 'em, and I guess Teddy won't either +after to-day."</p> + +<p>"Was he ever bit before?" Laddie wanted to know as the dog lay down on +the pier and began to lick his bitten nose with his tongue.</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of," answered George, who was a little older than Russ. +"Once is enough. I wouldn't want one to bite me."</p> + +<p>"Me, neither," added Russ. "Want to help catch crabs?" he asked George. +"I have two lines and you can have one."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, I will. I was out walking with my dog and I saw you two down on +this pier. I came to see if you were the same boys that gave my dog +marshmallows last night."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, we're the same," answered Russ. "Did he like the candy we fed +him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, sure! He always eats candy, but he doesn't get too much at our +house. Teddy's always smelling things. That's how he came to go up to +the Sallie Growler. I guess he'll let the next one alone."</p> + +<p>"I hope I don't catch any more," said Laddie. "I don't like 'em."</p> + +<p>"Nobody else does," said George. "We come to the seashore every year, +and I never saw anybody yet that liked a Sallie Growler."</p> + +<p>Laddie, Russ and their new chum stayed on the pier for some time. Russ +and George caught quite a number of crabs, and Laddie had fine luck with +his fish-pole and line, landing three good-sized fish on the pier. He +caught no more Sallie Growlers, for which he was thankful. I guess Teddy +was, too, for his nose was quite sore.</p> + +<p>For several days after that George came over each morning to play with +the two older Bunker boys. He brought his dog with him and Teddy made +friends over again with Rose and Violet and Margy and Mun Bun, as well +as with Russ and Laddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I guess he 'members we gave him candy," said Margy, as she patted the +dog's shaggy head.</p> + +<p>There were many happy days at Seaview. The six little Bunkers played in +the sand, they went wading and bathing and had picnics, more marshmallow +roasts and even popcorn parties on the beach.</p> + +<p>"I don't ever want to go home," said Laddie one night after a day of fun +on the beach. "This is such a nice place. It's so good to think up +riddles."</p> + +<p>"Have you a new one?" asked his father. "Have you thought up an answer +yet to where the fire goes when it goes out?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet," Laddie answered. "But I have one about what is the sleepiest +letter of the alphabet."</p> + +<p>"What is the sleepiest letter of the alphabet?" repeated Russ. "Do you +mean the letter I? That ought to be sleepy 'cause it's got an eye to +shut."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't mean I," said Laddie. "But that's a good riddle, too, isn't +it? What's the sleepiest letter of the alphabet?"</p> + +<p>"Do you know the answer?" Rose wanted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>to know. "This isn't like the +fire riddle, is it?"</p> + +<p>"No, I know an answer to this," Laddie said. "Can anybody else answer +it?"</p> + +<p>They all made different guesses, and Vi, as usual, asked all sort of +questions, but finally no one could guess, or, if Mother and Daddy +Bunker could, they didn't say so, and Laddie exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"The sleepiest letter of the alphabet is E 'cause it's always in bed; +B-E-D, bed!" and he laughed at his riddle.</p> + +<p>"That is a pretty good one," said his mother.</p> + +<p>"You ought to say what are the three sleepiest letters in the alphabet," +declared Russ, "'cause there are three letters in bed."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, one is enough for a riddle," said Laddie, and I think so +myself.</p> + +<p>One day the children saw Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom putting on long +rubber boots, and taking down heavy fishing-poles and some baskets.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Down to fish in the surf," answered his father. "Want to come?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie did. Rose and Violet were already trying to catch crabs +further up the inlet. Margy and Mun Bun had gone to take their afternoon +nap.</p> + +<p>Laddie and Russ played about on the beach while their father and Cousin +Tom began to fish, throwing the heavy sinkers and big hooks far out in +the surf, trying to catch a bass. The men had to stand where the waves +broke, and that is why they wore rubber boots.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Laddie, who had run down the beach to watch a big piece of +driftwood come floating in, called:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Russ! Come here, quick! Here is a fish that's got legs! It's a fish +that can walk! It's worse than a Sallie Growler! Come and look at it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>THE QUEER BOX AGAIN</h3> + + +<p>Russ at first thought his smaller brother was playing a joke.</p> + +<p>"You can't fool me," cried Russ. "I don't want to guess any of your +riddles!"</p> + +<p>"This isn't a riddle!" declared Laddie. "It's a real fish, and it's got +real legs. Come and look at it!"</p> + +<p>He was pointing to something on the beach, which seemed to have been +washed in by the tide.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" cried Laddie again. "It isn't a riddle—honest! It's a fish +with legs. I didn't see him walk, but it sort of—sort of stands up!"</p> + +<p>Still Russ was afraid of being fooled. So he called over to his father +and Cousin Tom, who were fishing in the surf not far away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Daddy, is there a fish with legs? Laddie says he's found one on the +beach."</p> + +<p>"Well, you might call 'em legs," answered Cousin Tom, as he flung his +hook and sinker as far as he could out into the ocean. "I guess what +Laddie has found is a skate."</p> + +<p>"But he says it's a fish!" exclaimed Russ. "Now you call it a skate! I +guess you're both trying to make up riddles."</p> + +<p>"No, Russ," said his father, as he reeled in his line. "The fish Laddie +sees, and I can see it from where I stand, really has some long, thin +fins, which are like legs. And the name of the fish is 'skate,' so you +see they are both right. Come, we'll go and look at it."</p> + +<p>And when Russ got to where Laddie was standing over the queer creature +on the beach he had to laugh, for surely the fish was a very queer one.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it funny?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I should say so!" cried Russ. "It's as funny as some of your riddles."</p> + +<p>And if any of you have ever seen a skate at the seashore I think you +will agree with Russ. Imagine, if you have never seen one, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>a fish as +flat as a flounder, with a flat, pointed nose sticking out in front. +Away back, under this nose, and out of sight from the top, or the back +of the fish, is its mouth. And the mouth is rather large and has sharp +teeth.</p> + +<p>Fastened to the back of the skate is a long, slender tail, like that of +a rat, only larger, and between the tail and the round, flat body on the +under side, are two things that really look like legs. Perhaps the skate +may use them to walk around on the bottom of the ocean, as a horseshoe +crab uses his legs for walking. But a skate can also swim, and in that +way it comes up off the bottom, and often bites on the hooks of +fishermen who do not at all want to catch such an unpleasant fish.</p> + +<p>The skate swims, using the things like legs as a fish uses its fins, and +sometimes, when landed on the shore, the fish really seems to be +standing up on these legs, so Laddie was not so far wrong. On each side +of the skate were thin, flat fins, which were something like wings. The +skate had a humpy head and big, bulging eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What's a skate for?" asked Russ, as he looked at the queer creature.</p> + +<p>"And who gave it that name?" Laddie wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"My! You two are getting as bad at asking questions as Violet!" laughed +Mr. Bunker. "Well, I'll answer as well as I can. I don't know how the +fish came to be called a skate unless it sort of skates around on the +bottom of the ocean. Though when a skate is dead its tail curls up and +around like the old-fashioned skates once used in Holland. It may get +its name from that."</p> + +<p>"Are they good to eat?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Some kinds are said to be," answered Cousin Tom, "though I never tasted +one myself. I have heard of fishermen eating certain parts of the skates +caught along here. But I never saw any one do it. Whenever I catch a +skate I throw it back into the water. I can't see that they are good for +anything."</p> + +<p>The skate which Laddie and Russ were watching, and which seemed to have +been cast up on the beach by the waves, was flopping about, now and then +raising itself on its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>queer legs, until, finally, the tide came up +higher and washed it out into the sea again.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's glad to get back in the ocean," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed his brother. "I'd have put it back in only I was afraid it +might bite me."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't believe it would," said Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>"There's heaps of funny things down at the seashore," said Laddie, as he +watched to see if the skate would swim back, but it did not.</p> + +<p>"Lots of funny things," agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>"The shore is a good place to make riddles," went on Laddie.</p> + +<p>"And it's a bad place to lose things," said his brother. "Look how Rose +lost her locket."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that was too bad," said Daddy Bunker. "I'm afraid we shall never +find that now. There is so much sand here."</p> + +<p>"We've dug holes and looked all over," said Russ, "but we can't find +it."</p> + +<p>"I wish we could find that box we had up on shore and that the waves +came up and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>washed away," remarked Laddie. "Don't you 'member the box +you were going to open, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I remember," answered Mr. Bunker. "I would like to know what was +in that. But I don't suppose we ever shall."</p> + +<p>"And I guess we'll never get back Vi's doll that I lost," said Russ. +"But when I get back home I'm going to save up and buy her another."</p> + +<p>"That will be a nice thing to do," replied Mr. Bunker. "Of course Violet +has, in a way, forgotten about her doll, but I'm sure she would like to +have you get her another."</p> + +<p>"And I will!" exclaimed Russ. He did not even dream how soon he was to +do this.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Cousin Tom, after the skate had been washed out to sea, "I +don't believe, Daddy Bunker, that we are going to have any luck fishing +to-day. I think we might as well go back to the bungalow and see what +they have to eat."</p> + +<p>"I hope they didn't count on us bringing some fish," said the father of +the six little Bunkers with a laugh. "If they did we'll all go hungry."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't want to be hungry," murmured Laddie, with a queer look at his +father.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's only joking," whispered Russ. "I can tell by the way he laughs +around his eyes."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm only joking," said Laddie's father. "I guess Cousin Ruth will +have plenty to eat. We'll walk along the beach a little way and then go +home."</p> + +<p>The two men reeled in their fish lines and, with the two little boys, +strolled along the sand. Laddie and Russ were wondering what they could +do to have some fun, and they were thinking of different things when +Cousin Tom, who was a little way ahead, cried:</p> + +<p>"Look! Isn't that a box being washed up on the beach?"</p> + +<p>They all looked and saw something white and square being rolled over and +over in the waves nearest the shore. It was quite a distance ahead of +them, but Cousin Tom, handing his pole and basket to Daddy Bunker, ran +and, wading into the surf with his high rubber boots, caught hold of the +box.</p> + +<p>"It shan't get away from us this time!" he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>called to Daddy Bunker, Russ +and Laddie as they hastened toward him. "I'll keep it safe this time, +all right!" and he carried the box well up among the sand dunes, or +little hills, well out of reach of the highest tide.</p> + +<p>"Why do you say 'this time'?" asked Daddy Bunker. "Did you ever pull in +this box before?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I did, or, rather, one of us did. This is the same box the +children found once before; don't you remember? This time we'll find out +what is in this box for sure. And we won't wait for a hammer, either. +I'll use a piece of driftwood."</p> + +<p>As Daddy Bunker and the two boys gathered around the box they saw that +indeed it was the same one that had been cast up before by the waves.</p> + +<p>What could be in it?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>THE UPSET BOAT</h3> + + +<p>Cousin Tom had said he was not going to wait for a hammer to open the +box, and he was as good as his word. When he had carried the box well up +on the beach, out of reach of even the highest waves, he looked about +for a piece of driftwood that he could use in knocking the cover off the +case. And while he was thus searching, Daddy Bunker, Russ and Laddie +examined the box.</p> + +<p>"It looks just like the same one," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"I'm positive it is," added his father. "I remember the size and shape +of the other box and this is just the same. And there were two funny +marks in the wood on top, and this has the same marks."</p> + +<p>"There was a piece of paper tacked on the other box," said Russ. "That +isn't here now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That was soaked off in the water and washed away," said his father. +"But you can still see the four tacks, one for each corner of the card. +I suppose that had some address on but it was washed off by the salt +water."</p> + +<p>"What made the box come back to us?" asked Laddie, as Cousin Tom came +walking along with a heavy stick he was going to use as a hammer to open +the case.</p> + +<p>"Well, no one knows what the sea is going to do," replied Daddy Bunker. +"It washes up queer things and takes them away again. I suppose this has +been floating around for some time—ever since it was washed away from +us the time we thought we so surely had it."</p> + +<p>"It may have been washed up on the beach in some lonely spot a little +while after we last saw it," said Cousin Tom. "And it may have been +there ever since until the last high tide, when it was washed away again +and then I happened to spy it just now. But it will not get away again +until we open it."</p> + +<p>Using the piece of heavy driftwood he had picked up as a hammer, Cousin +Tom soon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>broke the top of the box that had drifted ashore. He pulled +back the splintered pieces and eagerly they all looked inside. The box +was about two feet long and the same in height and width, and all Laddie +and Russ could see at first was what seemed to be some heavy paper.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 252px;"> +<img src="images/p222.png" width="252" height="400" alt="COUSIN TOM BROKE OPEN THE BOX WITH A PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD" title="COUSIN TOM BROKE OPEN THE BOX WITH A PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD" /> +<span class="caption">COUSIN TOM BROKE OPEN THE BOX WITH A PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD<br /> +<i>Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's.</i>—<i>Page</i> <a href='#Page_210'>210</a></span> +</div> + +<p>"Is that all that's in it?" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"Wait and see," advised his father. "There may be something under the +paper."</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom put his hand in and raised the covering. Some bright colors +were seen and then what appeared to be a lot of pieces of cloth.</p> + +<p>"A lot of dresses!" exclaimed Russ in disappointed tones. "That's all!"</p> + +<p>"But here is something inside the dresses," said his father with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"Something in the dresses?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Unless I am very much mistaken there are Japanese dolls in this +box—maybe half a dozen of them—and it is their gaily colored dresses +which you see. Isn't that it, Cousin Tom?"</p> + +<p>"You are right, Daddy Bunker! There they are! Japanese dolls!" and +Cousin Tom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>pulled out one about two feet long and held it up in front +of the two boys.</p> + +<p>"Dolls!" gasped Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Japanese dolls!" added his brother.</p> + +<p>"A little spoiled by the salt water, but still pretty good," said Cousin +Tom, as he pulled another doll out of the box. "They were wrapped in +oiled silk and the box is lined with a sort of water-proof cloth, so +they didn't get as wet as they might otherwise. Some of the dresses are +a bit stained, and I see that the black-haired wig of one of the dolls +has melted off. But we can glue that on again. Well, that's quite a +find—six nice, large Japanese dolls," laughed Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>"They aren't any good for us!" exclaimed Russ. "I was thinking maybe +there'd be a toy steam engine in the box."</p> + +<p>"If there had been it would have been spoiled by the sea water," said +Cousin Tom with a smile. "Dolls are about the best thing that could be +in the box. They are light and wouldn't sink. And, being so well wrapped +up, they didn't get very wet. We can take them home to Rose and Mun Bun +and Margy and——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, there'll be one for Violet!" cried Russ. "Now I can give her back a +doll for the one that sunk when my boat upset! Save the nicest doll for +Violet!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think that would be no more than fair," said Daddy Bunker. "The +sea took Violet's doll and the sea gives her back another. How many +dolls did you say there were, Cousin Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Six. One for each of the six little Bunkers."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! I don't want a doll!" exclaimed Russ. "I'm too big!"</p> + +<p>"So'm I!" added Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Very well. And as there are six dolls and only four who will want them, +that will leave two over, so if Rose or Violet or Mun Bun loses a doll +we'll have two extra ones. Only I hope they won't lose anything more +while we're here," and Daddy Bunker smiled.</p> + +<p>"Where do you suppose the dolls came from?" asked Russ as Cousin Tom +packed them back in the box so the case could be carried to the +bungalow.</p> + +<p>"It's hard to say," was the answer. "As the tag on the box has been +washed off we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>don't know to whom the dolls belonged. They may have +gotten in a load of refuse from New York by mistake, from one of the big +stores, and been dumped into the sea, or they may have been lost off +some vessel in a storm. Or there may even have been a wreck.</p> + +<p>"Anyhow the box of dolls, well wrapped up from the water, has been +floating around for some time, I should say. It came to us once but we +lost it. Then we had another chance at it and we didn't lose it. Now +we'll take the dolls home and see what Rose, Violet and the others have +to say about them."</p> + +<p>It was a jolly home-going, even though no fish had been caught. Long +before they were at the bungalow but within sight of it Laddie and Russ +cried:</p> + +<p>"Look what we got!"</p> + +<p>"We found the box again!"</p> + +<p>Rose, Violet, Margy and Mun Bun came running out to see what it all +meant.</p> + +<p>"Did you find my gold locket?" asked Rose eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, we didn't find that," her father answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you get my doll back from the bottom of the ocean?" Violet called.</p> + +<p>"Well, we pretty nearly did," answered Russ. "Anyhow, we got you one I +guess maybe you'll like as well."</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom gave Russ one of the Japanese dolls from the box and, with it +in his arms, Russ ran toward his little sister.</p> + +<p>"Look! Here it is!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" gasped Violet, hardly able to believe her eyes. "Oh, what +a lovely, lovely doll!"</p> + +<p>A disappointed look came over the face of Rose, but it changed to one of +joy when her father took out another doll and gave it to her. Then Mun +Bun set up a cry:</p> + +<p>"I want one!"</p> + +<p>"So do I!" echoed Margy.</p> + +<p>"There is one for each of you," laughed Cousin Tom, as he took out two +more dolls.</p> + +<p>"And two left over!" added Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, where did you get them?" asked Rose. "Oh, I just love mine!" and +she hugged it to her closely.</p> + +<p>"My doll's wet!" exclaimed Mun Bun, as he saw the damp dress on his +plaything.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mine is, too," said Violet. "But all dolls have to be wet when they +come out of the ocean, don't they, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose so. And that is where these dolls came from—right out +of the ocean."</p> + +<p>Then the children were told how the queer box had been found again +floating near the beach and how Cousin Tom had waded out in his high +rubber boots and brought it to shore.</p> + +<p>Mother Bunker and Cousin Ruth came out to see the find and they, too, +thought the dolls were wonderful.</p> + +<p>"And we saw a fish that could walk," added Laddie when the dolls had +been looked at again and again.</p> + +<p>Then he and Russ told about the queer-looking skate.</p> + +<p>The doll with the wig of black hair that had been soaked off was laid +aside to be mended, as was the one the dress of which was badly stained +by sea water. But the other dolls were almost as good as new. And, in +fact, Rose and Violet would rather have had them than new dolls right +out of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>the store, because there was such a queer story connected with +them.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if they came right from Japan," mused Rose as she made believe +put her doll to sleep.</p> + +<p>"We can pretend so, anyhow," said Violet. "I'm not going to cry about my +other doll that was drowned now, 'cause I got this one. She's the nicest +one I ever had."</p> + +<p>"Mine, too," added Rose.</p> + +<p>I might say that the six little Bunkers never found out where the dolls +came from. But most likely they had fallen off some ship and the oiled +silk and other wrappings kept them in good shape until the box was +washed up on the beach the second time.</p> + +<p>"Well, if the seashore is a bad place to lose things on account of so +much sand it is also a good place to find things," said Mother Bunker +that night when the six little Bunkers had been put to bed and the dolls +were also "asleep."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you like it here," said Cousin Ruth. "But I am sorry that Rose +lost her locket."</p> + +<p>"Well, it couldn't be helped," said the little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>girl's mother. "I did +have hopes that we would find it soon after she lost it. But now I have +given up."</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed her husband. "The locket is gone forever."</p> + +<p>But I have still a secret to tell you about that.</p> + +<p>A few days after the finding of the dolls all six of the little Bunkers +were playing down on the beach. Four of them had the Japanese dolls, but +Russ and Laddie did not.</p> + +<p>Laddie was digging a hole in the sand and trying to think of a new +riddle, and Violet had just finished asking Russ a lot of questions +when, all of a sudden, George Carr, the little boy whose dog had been +bitten by the Sallie Growler, came running around a group of sand dunes, +crying:</p> + +<p>"Oh, the boat's upset! The boat's upset, and all the men are spilled +out! And the fish, too! Come and see the upset boat!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>THE SAND FORT</h3> + + +<p>"What do you mean—the boat upset?" asked Russ, looking up from the sand +fort he was making on the beach. "Do you mean one of your toy boats and +is it make-believe men that are spilled out?"</p> + +<p>"No, I mean real ones!" exclaimed George. "It's one of the fishing +boats, and it was just coming in from having been out to the nets. It +was full of fish and they're all over, and you can pick up a lot of 'em +and they're good to eat. And maybe one of the men is drowned. Anyhow, +there's a lot of 'em in the water. Come on and look!"</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Right down the beach!" and George pointed. "'Tisn't far."</p> + +<p>"Come on, Mun Bun and Margy!" called Rose as she saw Russ and Laddie +start down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>the beach with George and his dog. "We'll go and see what it +is. Vi, you take Mun Bun's hand and I'll look after Margy."</p> + +<p>"Shall we leave our dolls here?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Yes. There's nobody here now and we can go faster if we don't carry +them," answered Rose. "Here, Mun Bun and Margy, leave your dolls with +Vi's and mine. They'll be all right."</p> + +<p>Rose laid her doll down on the sand and the others did the same, so that +there were four Japanese dolls in a row.</p> + +<p>"Won't the waves come up and get 'em?" asked Margy as she looked back on +the dolls.</p> + +<p>"No, the waves don't come up as high as the place where we left them," +said Rose, who had taken care to put the dolls to "sleep" well above +what is called "high-water mark," that is, the highest place on the +beach where the tide ever comes.</p> + +<p>"Come on! Hurry if you want to see the men from the upset boat!" George +called back to Rose and the others.</p> + +<p>"Let's wait for 'em," proposed Laddie. "Maybe they'll be lonesome. I'm +going to wait."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, we'll all wait," said George, who was a kind-hearted boy. "If you +can't see the men swim out you can see the lot of fish that went +overboard."</p> + +<p>As the children came out from behind the little hills of sand they saw, +down on the beach, a crowd of men and boys. And out in the surf and the +waves, which were high and rough, was a large white boat, turned bottom +up, and about it were men swimming.</p> + +<p>"Oh, will they drown?" asked Russ, much excited.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess not," answered George. "They're fishermen and they 'most +all can swim. Anyhow the water isn't very deep where they are. They're +trying to get their boat right side up so they can pull it up on the +beach."</p> + +<p>"What made 'em upset?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Rough water. There's going to be a storm and the ocean gets rough just +before that," George explained.</p> + +<p>The children watched the men swimming about the overturned boat, and +noticed that the water all about them was filled with floating, dead +fish.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did the men kill the fish when they upset?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"No, the men got the fish out of their nets," explained George, who had +been at the seashore every summer that he could remember. "There are the +nets out where you see those poles," and he pointed to a place about a +half mile off shore. "The men go out there in a big motor-boat," he went +on, "and pull up the net. They empty the fish into the bottom of the +boat and then they come ashore. They put the fish in barrels with a lot +of ice and send them to New York.</p> + +<p>"But sometimes when the boat tries to come up on the beach with the men +and a load of fish in it the waves in the surf are so big that the boat +upsets. That's what this one did. I was watching it and I saw it. Then I +came to tell you, 'cause I saw you playing on the sand."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you did," said Russ. "I'm sorry the men got upset, but I like +to see 'em."</p> + +<p>"So am I. Will they lose all their fish?" demanded Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Most of 'em," said George. "They can scoop up some in nets, I guess, +but a lot <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>that wasn't quite dead swam away and the waves took the +others out to sea. The fish hawks will get 'em and lots of boys and men +are taking fish home. The fishermen can't save 'em all and when a boat +upsets anybody that wants to, keeps the fish."</p> + +<p>After hard work the men who had been tossed into the water when the boat +went over managed to get it right side up again. Then a rope was made +fast to it and horses on shore, pulling on the cable, hauled the boat up +out of reach of the waves, where it would stay until it was time to make +another trip to the nets.</p> + +<p>"Could we take some of the fish?" asked Russ of George.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, as many as you like," said his friend. "The fishermen can +never pick them all up."</p> + +<p>So the six little Bunkers each picked up a fish and took it home to +Cousin Ruth. They were nice and fresh and she cooked them for dinner.</p> + +<p>"Well, you youngsters had better luck than Cousin Tom and I had," said +Daddy Bunker with a laugh as he saw what Russ and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>others had picked +up. "I guess, after this, we'll take you fishing with us."</p> + +<p>The promise of the storm brought by the big waves that upset the +fishing-boat, came true. That night the wind began to rise and to blow +with a howling and mournful sound about the bungalow. But inside it was +cosy and light.</p> + +<p>In the morning, when the children awakened, it was raining hard, the +drops dashing against the windows as though they wanted to break the +glass and get inside.</p> + +<p>"Is the sea very rough now, Daddy?" asked Russ after breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think it is," was the answer. "Would you like to see it?"</p> + +<p>Russ thought he would, and Laddie wanted to go also, but his mother said +he was too small to go out in the storm.</p> + +<p>"It is a bad storm," said Cousin Tom. "I saw a fisherman as I was coming +back from the village this morning early and he said he never felt a +worse blow. The sea is very high."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom put on "oilskins," that is, suits of cloth +covered with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>a sort of yellow rubber, through which the water could not +come.</p> + +<p>A small suit with a hat of the same kind, called a "sou'wester," was +found for Russ, and then the three started down for the beach. It was +hard work walking against the wind, which came out of the northeast, and +the rain stung Russ in the face so that he had to walk with his head +down most of the time and let his father and Cousin Tom lead him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what big waves!" cried Russ as he got within sight of the beach. +And indeed the surf was very high. The tide was in and this, with the +force of the wind, sent the big billows crashing up on the beach with a +noise like thunder.</p> + +<p>"I guess no fishermen could go out in that, could they, Daddy?" asked +the little boy.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, Son! This weather is bad for the fishermen and all who are +at sea," said Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>They remained looking at the heavy waves for some time and then went +back to the house. Russ was glad to be indoors again, away from the blow +and noise of the storm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you often have such blows here?" asked Mother Bunker of Cousin Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Well, I haven't been here, at this beach, very long, but almost always +toward the end of August and the beginning of September there are hard +storms at the shore."</p> + +<p>It rained so hard that the six little Bunkers could not go out to play +and Cousin Ruth and their mother had to make some amusement for them in +the bungalow.</p> + +<p>"Have you ever been up in the attic?" asked Cousin Ruth.</p> + +<p>"No!" cried the six little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>"Well, you may play up there," said Cousin Ruth. "It isn't very big, but +you can pretend it is a playhouse and do as you please."</p> + +<p>With shouts of joy the children hurried up to the attic. Indeed it was a +small place. But the six little Bunkers liked it. There were so many +little holes into which they could crawl away and hide.</p> + +<p>The four who liked to play with dolls brought up their Japanese toys, +and Russ and Laddie found some of their playthings, so they had lots of +fun in the bungalow attic.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> Cousin Ruth gave them something to eat and +they played they were shipwrecked sailors part of the time. With the +wind howling outside and the rain beating down on the roof, it was very +easy to pretend this.</p> + +<p>The storm lasted three days, and toward the end the grown folks in +Cousin Tom's bungalow began to wish it would stop, not only because they +were tired of the wind and rain, but because the children were fretting +to be out.</p> + +<p>At last the wind died down, the rain ceased and the sun shone. Out +rushed the six little Bunkers with gladsome shouts. Laddie and Russ had +some large toy shovels which their mother had bought them.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" Rose asked her two older brothers as she saw +them hurrying down to the beach when the sun was out.</p> + +<p>"We're going to make a sand fort and have a battle," answered Russ. "The +sand will pack fine now 'cause it's so wet. We're going to make a big +sand fort."</p> + +<p>And he and Laddie began this play. Something very strange was to come +from it, too.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>A MYSTERIOUS ENEMY</h3> + + +<p>"Here's a good place to make the fort," said Russ as he and Laddie +reached the beach not far from Cousin Tom's bungalow and looked about +them. "We'll build the fort right here, Laddie, near this hill of sand."</p> + +<p>"What's the hill for?"</p> + +<p>"That's where we can put our flag. They always put a flag on a hill +where everybody can see it."</p> + +<p>"But we haven't a flag. Where are we going to get one?"</p> + +<p>"Say, you ask almost as many questions as Vi," exclaimed Russ. "We'll +<i>make</i> a flag!"</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"Out of a handkerchief. You've a handkerchief and so have I. One is +enough for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>both of us and we can take the other and make a flag of it."</p> + +<p>"But that'll be a white flag, Russ, and soldiers don't ever have a white +flag lessen they give up and surrender. We didn't surrender, 'cause we +haven't even got our fort built. We don't want a white flag."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, I didn't mean to have a white flag. That's just the start. +We'll take a white handkerchief for a flag and we can make it red and +blue."</p> + +<p>"How?" Laddie certainly was asking questions.</p> + +<p>"Well, Cousin Tom has some red and blue pencils. I saw 'em on his desk +the other night. He marks his papers with 'em. You go and ask Cousin +Ruth if we can't take a red and a blue pencil and then I'll show you how +to make a red, white and blue flag out of a handkerchief."</p> + +<p>"You won't make the fort till I come back, will you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I'll only start it. Now you go and get the pencils."</p> + +<p>Laddie ran back to the bungalow and Cousin Ruth let him have what he +wanted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> He promised not to lose the pencils, and soon he was helping +Russ mark red stripes and blue stars on Laddie's white handkerchief. +They did make something that looked like our flag, and then, finding a +long piece of driftwood to use as a flag-pole they planted it on top of +the hill.</p> + +<p>Making a fort in the damp sand at the seashore is very easy. It is even +easier than making one of snow, for you don't have to wait for the snow +to fall and often after it has snowed the flakes are so cold and dry +that they will not pack and hold together. But you can always find damp +sand at the seashore. Even though it is dry on top if you dig down a +little way you will find it moist. Now, on account of the rain, the sand +was wet all over and was just fine for making forts.</p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie had some toy shovels their mother had bought for them. +The shovels had long handles and were larger than the kind children +usually play with at the shore, so the boys could dig faster with them.</p> + +<p>"How do you make a fort?" asked Laddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," explained Russ, "you dig a sort of hole and you pile the sand up +in front of you in a sort of half ring and then you can lie down behind +it and if anybody throws bullets at you they won't hit you."</p> + +<p>"Do you have a roof to your fort?"</p> + +<p>"No! Course forts don't ever have a roof."</p> + +<p>"Then you get wet when it rains."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but a soldier doesn't ever mind rain. All he minds is bullets, and +they can't hit him in the fort."</p> + +<p>"Supposin' they come over the top where there isn't a roof?"</p> + +<p>"I don't guess they'll come that way," said Russ. "Anyhow, you mustn't +throw any that way."</p> + +<p>"Oh! am I going to throw the bullets?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Russ replied, "We'll take turns being in the fort. After we get +it made I'll be captain of it and you must come up and try to take it +away. You must shoot bullets at me."</p> + +<p>"Real ones?"</p> + +<p>"No, course not! Make 'em of paper. Then they won't hurt. After a while +I'll take <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>down the flag—that means I surrender—and you can be in the +fort and I'll fire bullets at you."</p> + +<p>"That'll be fun!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Lots of fun!" agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>So they dug in the sand with their shovels, piling it up in front of +them in a long ridge shaped like a half circle. The ridge of sand which +was to be the outer wall of the fort was in front of the hill over which +floated the red, white and blue handkerchief flag. Between the hill and +the outer wall of the fort was a hole which was made as Laddie and Russ +tossed out the sand.</p> + +<p>"I'll sit down in this hole," Russ explained, "and then it will be all +the harder for you to hit me with the paper bullets."</p> + +<p>The boys fairly made the sand fly as they dug with their shovels, and +soon they had quite a high ridge of it half way around the little hill +with the flag on top. There was also quite a hole for Russ to stand in +and throw paper bullets back at Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Now I guess we can have the battle," said Russ. "You get a lot of +paper, Laddie, and roll it up into bullets."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And I'll make some big ones!" exclaimed the little fellow.</p> + +<p>"We can call the big bullets cannon balls," said Russ, and Laddie agreed +to this. "I'll help you make the bullets," Russ offered.</p> + +<p>There were plenty of old papers at the bungalow, and soon Russ and +Laddie were tearing them up on the beach near their fort and wadding and +rolling them up into "bullets" and "cannon balls."</p> + +<p>"I guess we have enough," said Russ at last. "Come on now, we'll have a +battle."</p> + +<p>"Are Rose and Vi going to play?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Nope! Girls never can be in a battle. They can be Red Cross nurses if +they want to. But we won't call 'em until after the fight. They'd only +holler like anything."</p> + +<p>Rose and Violet were up in the bungalow playing jackstones, while Margy +and Mun Bun had gone for a walk with their mother. So Russ and Laddie +had the beach to themselves to play on.</p> + +<p>Russ got inside the fort and crouched down in the hole he had dug. +Laddie took up his position not far away, a little distance down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>the +beach, having with him a pile of paper wads that he was to throw at his +brother.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"All ready!" answered Russ. "Go ahead and fire!"</p> + +<p>"Bang! Bang!" shouted Laddie, making believe he was shooting off a gun. +The boys often played this game so they knew just how to do it. "Bang! +Bang!"</p> + +<p>Then Laddie began throwing large and small wads of paper at the sand +fort behind which crouched Russ. And Russ threw wads of paper at his +smaller brother.</p> + +<p>The sand walls of the fort kept Russ from being "shot" in the battle. +Laddie's "bullets" and "cannon balls" hit the sand walls of the fort +more often than they struck his brother and Russ only laughed at them, +at the same time he was pelting Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, say! this is no fun," complained the smaller boy after a bit. "I'm +getting hit all the while and you don't get any at all."</p> + +<p>"I do so! I got hit twice!"</p> + +<p>"Well, that was when I threw cannon balls up in the air and they came +down on your head like rain."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, you shoot me a few more times and then I'll let you come into the +fort," agreed Russ. "I'll pull down the flag and surrender. Go on, shoot +me some more!"</p> + +<p>So Laddie got together more paper "bullets" and "cannon balls" and threw +them at his brother. But hardly any of them hit Russ. The fort was a +good protection and with the flag floating from the top of the hill made +a fine place for him to stay.</p> + +<p>"This is the last time I'm going to shoot!" cried Laddie, and he took +good aim with a large wad of paper which he called a "double cannon +ball."</p> + +<p>He threw it at Russ and then, from some point back of the fort another +"cannon ball" came sailing into it, flying off and hitting Laddie's +brother.</p> + +<p>"Ouch! Quit that!" cried Russ. "'Tisn't fair throwing sand! A lot of it +went down my neck."</p> + +<p>"I didn't throw sand!" said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you did, too! That last cannon ball you threw had a lot of sand +wrapped up in it."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't," cried Laddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't you think I know!" shouted Russ, scrambling up out of the hole +behind his fort. "Can't I feel it?"</p> + +<p>Just then another paper "cannon ball" sailed into the fort from a sand +hill back of it and it fell at the feet of Russ and burst, letting out a +pile of sand.</p> + +<p>"There!" cried Russ. "What'd I tell you?"</p> + +<p>"But I didn't throw it!" said Laddie. "You looked right at me and I +didn't throw it."</p> + +<p>"No, you didn't," admitted Russ. "It came from in back of me. I wonder +who's throwing sand cannon balls at us."</p> + +<p>And then came another which hit Laddie, sending a shower of the gritty +grains down his back.</p> + +<p>"Hi! Quit that!" cried Russ. He and Laddie looked all around, but they +could see no one. A mysterious enemy was shooting at them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>THE TREASURE</h3> + + +<p>Once more there came sailing through the air a paper "cannon ball." It +fell on the ground between Laddie and Russ and burst open, a lot of dry, +soft sand spilling out.</p> + +<p>"There!" cried Laddie. "See! I didn't throw 'em!"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't guess you did," admitted Russ. "But who did?"</p> + +<p>Just then a jolly laugh sounded, and out from behind a ridge of +sand—one of the dunes made by the wind—came George Carr.</p> + +<p>"Did I scare you?" asked George.</p> + +<p>"A—a little," admitted Russ, wiggling to get rid of the sand down his +back.</p> + +<p>"We didn't know who it was," said Laddie. And he, too, squirmed about, +for there was sand inside his blouse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought you wouldn't," said George, laughing again. "I saw you +playing soldiers and I thought I'd make believe I was another enemy +coming up behind. You didn't make any fort in back of you," he said to +Russ, "and so I could easily fire at you."</p> + +<p>"But we don't put sand in our paper bullets," complained Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Don't you?" asked George. "Then I'm sorry I did. I hope I didn't hurt +you, or get any in your eyes."</p> + +<p>"No," answered Russ, sort of shaking himself to let the sand sift down +through the legs of his knickerbockers. "But it tickles a lot."</p> + +<p>"Well, I won't throw any more," promised George. "But lots of times we +play soldier down on the beach and we throw sand bullets. Only we don't +ever throw 'em at each others' eyes. Sand in your eyes hurts like +anything."</p> + +<p>"I know it does," agreed Russ. "Mun Bun got some in his the other day +and he cried a lot."</p> + +<p>"Well, come on, let's play soldier some more," suggested George. "I'll +be on Laddie's side. You go in the fort, Russ, and we'll <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>stand against +you. Two to one is fair when the one is inside a fort."</p> + +<p>"And won't you throw any more sand bullets or cannon balls?"</p> + +<p>"No, only paper ones."</p> + +<p>"All right, then I'll play."</p> + +<p>Russ went back in his fort, and Laddie and George, outside the wall of +sand, began pelting him with wads of paper. But now the battle went +differently. The attacking force could shoot twice as many paper bullets +and balls as could Russ and they soon ran up on him, pelting him so that +he had to put his hands over his head.</p> + +<p>"All right—I surrender! I give up!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Wait till I haul down the flag!" laughed George.</p> + +<p>Then he took down the red and blue penciled handkerchief and he and +Laddie took possession of the fort. Russ was beaten, but he did not +mind, for it was all in fun. Then he took a turn outside the fort, with +Laddie and George inside. However, as this was two against one, Russ +could not win, though the three boys had jolly times.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were pelting away at one another, using paper "bullets" and "cannon +balls," shouting and laughing, when, as they became quiet for a moment, +they heard a voice asking:</p> + +<p>"What is all this?"</p> + +<p>They looked up to see Mrs. Bunker with Mun Bun and Margy.</p> + +<p>"How-do?" called George, grinning.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we're having such fun!" cried Laddie. "We're soldiers and we got a +fort, and we had a flag——"</p> + +<p>"It's made out of a handkerchief and red and blue pencils," added Russ.</p> + +<p>"I want to play soldier!" exclaimed Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"No, it's too rough for you," explained Russ.</p> + +<p>"I want to play, too!" insisted Margy.</p> + +<p>"We're done playing fort and soldier," said Russ. "We'll play something +else."</p> + +<p>"Let's see who can dig the deepest hole," suggested George. "I'll go and +get a shovel, and you have yours, Russ and Laddie. Let's see who can dig +the deepest hole!"</p> + +<p>The two older Bunker boys thought this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>would be fun, and George ran +over to his cottage to get his shovel.</p> + +<p>"Can we play that game, Mother?" asked Margy.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you and Mun Bun can do that," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>The warm sun was drying out the beach, and when George came back with +his shovel he and Laddie and Russ began three holes in a row, each one +trying to make his the deepest. Mun Bun and Margy, each of whom had a +small shovel, also began to dig, though, of course, they could not +expect to dig as fast as the boys, nor make as deep holes.</p> + +<p>"I'll sit on the sand and watch you," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we'll find a treasure," suggested Russ.</p> + +<p>"What treasure?" asked George.</p> + +<p>"Oh, before we came down here, when we were at our Aunt Jo's in Boston," +Russ explained, "we knew a boy named Sammie Brown. His father dug up +some treasure on a desert island once. We thought maybe we could dig up +some here."</p> + +<p>"But we didn't—not yet," added Laddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And I don't guess we ever will," said Russ. "Only we make believe, lots +of times, that we're going to."</p> + +<p>The three boys dug away and Mun Bun and Margy did the same, only more +slowly. Then along came Rose and Violet.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" Violet asked, getting in her question first, as +usual.</p> + +<p>"Digging holes," answered Russ.</p> + +<p>"Seeing who can make the biggest," added George. "Mine's deeper than +yours!" he said to Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but mine's going to be bigger. I'm going to make a hole big enough +so I can stand down in it and dig. I'm going to make a regular well."</p> + +<p>"I guess I will, too," decided George.</p> + +<p>"So'll I," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you come to water, don't fall in," advised Mrs. Bunker with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>"You go get a shovel and dig, too," called Russ to Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want to," said his sister. "I'll watch you."</p> + +<p>My, how the sand was flying on the beach now! Russ, Laddie and George +were all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>digging as fast as they could with their shovels, each one +trying to make the biggest hole. Mun Bun and Margy dug also, but, though +they made a lot of sand fly, they did not always dig in the same place. +Instead of keeping to one hole they made three or four. But they had +just as much fun.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Laddie, who had made a hole in which he could stand, it being +so deep that he was half hidden from sight in it, uttered a cry.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked his mother. "Did you hurt yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Did you dig up a Sallie Growler?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's a crab," said Mun Bun, and he dropped his shovel and started +for his mother.</p> + +<p>"No, nothing like that," said Laddie. "Only—oh, goody—I guess I've +found the treasure!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Treasure!" cried Russ. "What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I've found some gold in my hole!" went on Laddie. "Come and +look! It shines like anything!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p>Russ and George leaped out of the holes they were digging and ran toward +Laddie. Mrs. Bunker got up and hurried down the beach. Mun Bun and Margy +followed. Rose and Violet went too.</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" asked Russ, stooping over the edge of his brother's hole. +"Where's the treasure?"</p> + +<p>"There," answered Laddie, pointing to something shining in the sand. It +did glitter brightly and it was not buried very deeply, being near the +top of the hole, but on the far edge, where Laddie had not done much +digging.</p> + +<p>"It is gold!" cried George. "Whoop! Maybe that boy you knew was right, +and there is pirate's treasure here!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker bent down and looked at what Laddie had uncovered. Then she +took a stick and began carefully to dig around it.</p> + +<p>"Here, take my shovel," offered Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want to scratch it, if it is what I think," said his +mother. "I had better dig with the stick."</p> + +<p>She went on scratching away the sand. As she did so the piece of shiny +thing became <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>larger. It sparkled more brightly in the sun.</p> + +<p>"Is it treasure?" asked Laddie eagerly. "Did I find some gold treasure?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think you did, Son," said Mrs. Bunker. "It is gold and it is a +treasure."</p> + +<p>"Did the pirates hide it?" demanded Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, I think not," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "I think Rose lost +it."</p> + +<p>"Rose lost it!" cried the two Bunker boys. "What?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is her locket that she dropped when we first came here and +never could find," went on Mrs. Bunker. "Laddie, you have found it. You +have discovered the golden treasure—Rose's locket!"</p> + +<p>Having dug away the sand in which it was imbedded, Mrs. Bunker lifted up +a dangling gold chain to which was fastened the gold locket.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is mine!" cried Rose. "Oh, how glad I am to get it back again! +Oh, Laddie, how glad I am!"</p> + +<p>Her mother handed the little girl her long-lost locket. It was not a bit +hurt from having been buried in the sand, for true gold does not tarnish +in clean sand. And the orna<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>ment was as good as ever. Rose clasped it +about her neck and looked very happy.</p> + +<p>"How did it get in my hole?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"It didn't," said his mother. "You happened to dig in just the place +where Rose dropped her locket and you uncovered it. Or this may not have +been the exact place where it fell. Perhaps the sands shifted and +carried the locket with them. That is why we could not find it before. +But now we have it back."</p> + +<p>"It was like finding real treasure," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"I wish we'd find some more," said George. "I'm going to dig a big +hole."</p> + +<p>But, though he scooped out more sand, he found no more gold, nor did +Russ, though they found some pretty shells.</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker, Cousin Tom and Cousin Ruth came down to the beach to see +what all the joyful laughter was about and they were told of the finding +of the lost locket Rose had dropped in the sand.</p> + +<p>"I never thought I'd get it back," she said, "but I did."</p> + +<p>"And I never thought I'd get my doll <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>back," said Vi, "and I didn't. But +I got a nicer one out of the sea."</p> + +<p>"Well, that was very good luck," said Daddy Bunker. "For once digging in +the sand had some results."</p> + +<p>They all walked up to Cousin Tom's bungalow.</p> + +<p>On the way Laddie seemed rather quiet.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked his father. "Aren't you glad you found your +sister's gold locket?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, very glad," answered Laddie. "Only I was trying to think up a +riddle about it and I can't. But I have one about why is the ocean like +a garden?"</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't like a garden," declared Russ. "It's all water, the ocean is."</p> + +<p>"It's like a garden in my riddle," insisted Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Why?" his mother asked.</p> + +<p>"The ocean is like a garden 'cause it's full of seaweed," answered +Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I don't think that's a very good riddle," remarked Russ.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be a very good garden that had weeds in it," said Mr. +Bunker with a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>laugh. "Anyhow we ought to be happy because Rose has her +locket back."</p> + +<p>And they all were, I'm sure.</p> + +<p>"What makes gold so bright?" asked Vi, as she saw the locket sparkling +in the sun.</p> + +<p>"Because it is polished," her mother answered.</p> + +<p>"What makes it polished?" went on Vi.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear, if you keep on asking questions I'll get in such a tangle +that I'll never be able to find my way out," laughed her mother. "Come, +we'll get ready to go crabbing this afternoon and that will keep you so +busy you won't want to talk."</p> + +<p>"We never came to any nicer place than this, did we?" asked Russ of Rose +as they sat on the pier that afternoon catching crabs by the dozen.</p> + +<p>"No, we never had any better fun than we've had here. I wonder where +we'll go next."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Russ. "Home, maybe."</p> + +<p>But the children did not stay at home very long, and if you want to hear +more about their adventures I invite you to read the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>next book in this +series. It will be called: "Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's," and +in it is told all about what happened that winter and how the ghost——</p> + +<p>But there. I guess you'd better read the book.</p> + +<p>"Daddy! Daddy! Come quick!" called Mun Bun, as he felt a tug at his +line. "I got a terrible big crab!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I should say you had!" exclaimed his father, as he caught it in +the net. "It's a wonder it didn't pull you off the pier!"</p> + +<p>The crab was a large one, the largest caught that day, and Mun Bun was +very glad and happy. But he was no more glad than was Rose over her +locket that had been lost and found.</p> + +<p>And so we will leave them, the six little Bunkers, enjoying the last +days of their visit at Cousin Tom's.</p> + + +<h2>THE END</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS</h2> + +<h3>For Little Men and Women</h3> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of "The Bunny Brown" Series, Etc.</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Copyright publications which cannot be obtained elsewhere. Books that +charm the hearts of the little ones, and of which they never tire. Many +of the adventures are comical in the extreme, and all the accidents that +ordinarily happen to youthful personages happened to these many-sided +little mortals. Their haps and mishaps make decidedly entertaining +reading.</p> + +<div class='blockquot'> +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL</div> + +<p>Telling how they go home from the seashore; went to school and were +promoted, and of their many trials and tribulations.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE</div> + +<p>Telling of the winter holidays, and of the many fine times and +adventures the twins had at a winter lodge in the big woods.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT</div> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey obtains a houseboat, and the whole family go off on a +tour.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK</div> + +<p>The young folks visit the farm again and have plenty of good times +and several adventures.</p> + + +<div class='unindent'><br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME</div> + +<p>The twins get into all sorts of trouble—and out again—also bring +aid to a poor family.</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS</h2> + +<h2>SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series."</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The adventures of Ruth and Alice DeVere. Their father, a widower, is an +actor who has taken up work for the "movies." Both girls wish to aid him +in his work and visit various localities to act in all sorts of +pictures.</p> + +<div class='blockquot'> +<div class='unindent'><br />THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS<br /> +Or First Appearance in Photo Dramas.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Having lost his voice, the father of the girls goes into the movies</span> +and the girls follow. Tells how many "parlor dramas" are filmed.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM<br /> +Or Queer Happenings While Taking Rural Plays.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Full of fun in the country, the haps and mishaps of taking film</span> +plays, and giving an account of two unusual discoveries.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND<br /> +Or The Proof on the Film.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A tale of winter adventures in the wilderness, showing how the</span> +photo-play actors sometimes suffer.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS<br /> +Or Lost in the Wilds of Florida.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How they went to the land of palms, played many parts in dramas</span> +before the camera; were lost, and aided others who were also lost.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH<br /> +Or Great Days Among the Cowboys.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">All who have ever seen moving pictures of the great West will want to</span> +know just how they are made. This volume gives every detail and is full +of clean fun and excitement.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA<br /> +Or a Pictured Shipwreck that Became Real.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A thrilling account of the girls' experiences on the water.</span> +<br /> +<br /> +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS<br /> +Or The Sham Battles at Oak Farm.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The girls play important parts in big battle scenes and have plenty</span> +of hard work along with considerable fun.<br /> +<br /> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap</span>, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, <span class="smcap">New York</span></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of the "Bobbsey Twin Books" and "Bunny Brown" Series.</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>These tales take in the various adventures participated in by several +bright, up-to-date girls who love outdoor life. They are clean and +wholesome, free from sensationalism, absorbing from the first chapter to +the last.</p> + +<div class='blockquot'> +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE<br /> +Or Camping and Tramping for Fun and Health.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Telling how the girls organized their Camping and Tramping Club, how</span> +they went on a tour, and of various adventures which befell them.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE<br /> +Or Stirring Cruise of the Motor Boat Gem.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">One of the girls becomes the proud possessor of a motor boat and</span> +invites her club members to take a trip down the river to Rainbow Lake,<br /> +a beautiful sheet of water lying between the mountains.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR<br /> +Or The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">One of the girls has learned to run a big motor car, and she invites</span> +the club to go on a tour to visit some distant relatives. On the way +they stop at a deserted mansion and make a surprising discovery.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP<br /> +Or Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In this story, the scene is shifted to a winter season. The girls</span> +have some jolly times skating and ice boating, and visit a hunters' camp +in the big woods.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA<br /> +Or Wintering in the Sunny South.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The parents of one of the girls have bought an orange grove in</span> +Florida, and her companions are invited to visit the place. They take a +trip into the interior, where several unusual things happen.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW<br /> +Or The Box that Was Found in the Sand.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The girls have great fun and solve a mystery while on an outing along</span> +the New England coast.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND<br /> +Or A Cave and What it Contained.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A bright, healthful story, full of good times at a bungalow camp on</span> +Pine Island.<br /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap</span>, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, <span class="smcap">New York</span></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE EVERY CHILD</h2> + +<h2>SHOULD KNOW SERIES</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<div class='center'><b>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list</b></div> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW SERIES"> +<tr><td align='left'>BIRDS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Neltje Blanchan. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>EARTH AND SKY EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Julia Ellen Rogers. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ESSAYS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Hamilton W. Mabie</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>FAIRY TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Hamilton W. Mabie</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>FAMOUS STORIES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Hamilton W. Mabie</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Hamilton W. Mabie</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Hamilton W. Mabie</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HEROINES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">C</span><span class="smcap">oedited by Hamilton W. Mabie and Kate Stephens</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HYMNS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Dolores Bacon</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>LEGENDS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Hamilton W. Mabie</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>MYTHS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Hamilton W. Mabie</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>OPERAS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Dolores Bacon. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>PICTURES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Dolores Bacon. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>POEMS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Mary E. Burt</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>PROSE EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Mary E. Burt</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SONGS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">E</span><span class="smcap">dited by Dolores Bacon</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>TREES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Julia Ellen Rogers. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>WATER WONDERS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Jean M. Thompson. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>WILD ANIMALS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Julia Ellen Rogers. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>WILD FLOWERS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">B</span><span class="smcap">y Frederic William Stack. Illustrated</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap</span>, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, <span class="smcap">New York</span></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 17492-h.htm or 17492-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/4/9/17492">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/4/9/17492</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's + + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + + + +Release Date: January 11, 2006 [eBook #17492] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN +TOM'S*** + + +E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 17492-h.htm or 17492-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/4/9/17492/17492-h/17492-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/4/9/17492/17492-h.zip) + + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S + +by + +LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of "Six Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," "Six Little Bunkers at +Aunt Jo's," "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "The Bunny Brown Series," Etc. + +Illustrated + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THEY STEAMED ON DOWN PAST THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. +_Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's._ _Frontispiece_--(_Page_ 57)] + + + + +New York +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers + + + + * * * * * + + +BOOKS + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + + 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 50 cents per volume. + + + THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES + + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S + + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA + + + THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES + + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRL SERIES + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + + + * * * * * + + +Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York +Copyright, 1918, by +Grosset & Dunlap + + + * * * * * + + +Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. SAMMIE'S STORY 1 + + II. TREASURE HOPES 13 + + III. ON THE BOAT 23 + + IV. A MIX-UP 33 + + V. MARGY'S CRAWL 41 + + VI. AT COUSIN TOM'S 51 + + VII. DIGGING FOR GOLD 62 + + VIII. ROSE'S LOCKET 72 + + IX. THE SAND HOUSE 82 + + X. THE PIRATE BUNGALOW 93 + + XI. GOING CRABBING 101 + + XII. "THEY'RE LOOSE!" 111 + + XIII. IN THE BOAT 123 + + XIV. VIOLET'S DOLL 132 + + XV. THE BOX ON THE BEACH 143 + + XVI. CAUGHT BY THE TIDE 153 + + XVII. MAROONED 162 + +XVIII. THE MARSHMALLOW ROAST 170 + + XIX. THE SALLIE GROWLER 181 + + XX. THE WALKING FISH 191 + + XXI. THE QUEER BOX AGAIN 200 + + XXII. THE UPSET BOAT 208 + +XXIII. THE SAND FORT 218 + + XXIV. A MYSTERIOUS ENEMY 227 + + XXV. THE TREASURE 236 + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS + +AT COUSIN TOM'S + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SAMMIE'S STORY + + +They were playing on the lawn of Aunt Jo's house--the little Bunkers, +six of them. You could count them, if you wanted to, but it was rather +hard work, as they ran about so--like chickens, Mrs. Bunker was wont to +say--that it was hard to keep track of them. So you might take my word +for it, now, that there were six of them, and count them afterward, if +you care to. + +"Come on!" cried the eldest Bunker--Russ, who was eight years old. "Come +on, Rose, let's have some fun." + +"What'll we do?" asked Rose, Russ' sister, who was about a year younger. +"I'm not going to roll on the grass, 'cause I've got a clean dress on, +and mother said I wasn't to spoil it." + +"Pooh! Clean grass like Aunt Jo's won't spoil any dress," said Russ. +"Anyhow, I'm not going to roll much more. Let's get the pipes and see +who can blow the biggest soap bubbles." + +"Oh, I want to do that!" cried Vi, or Violet, who was, you might say, +the third little Bunker, being the third oldest, except Laddie, of +course. "What makes so many colors come in soap bubbles when you blow +them?" she asked. + +"The soap," answered Russ, getting up after a roll on the grass, and +brushing his clothes. "It's the soap that does it." + +"But soap isn't that color when we wash ourselves with it," went on Vi. +"And what makes bubbles burst when you blow 'em too big?" + +"I don't know," answered Russ. Like many an older person, he did not try +to answer all Vi's questions. She asked too many of them. + +"Let's blow the bubbles," suggested Rose. "Then maybe we can see what +makes 'em burst!" + +"Come on, Margy and Mun Bun!" called Vi to two other and smaller +Bunkers, a little boy and girl who were digging little holes in a sandy +place in the yard of Aunt Jo's home. "Come on; we're going to blow +bubbles!" + +These two little Bunkers left their play and hastened to join the +others. At the same time a boy with curly hair and gray eyes, who was +Violet's twin, dropped some pieces of wood, which he had been trying to +make into some sort of toy, and came running along the path. + +"I want to blow some bubbles, too!" he said. + +"We'll all blow them!" called Rose, who had a sort of "little mother" +air about her when the smaller children were with her. "We'll have a +soap-bubble party!" + +"Shall we have things to eat?" asked Mun Bun. + +"'Course we will," cried Margy, the little girl who had been playing +with him in the sand. "We always has good things to eat at parties; +don't we, Rose?" + +"Well, maybe we can get some cookies from Aunt Jo," said Rose. "You can +run and ask her." + +Off started Margy, eager to get the good things to eat. It would not +seem like a party, even with soap bubbles, unless there were things to +eat! All the six little Bunkers felt this. + +While Margy was running along the walk that led to the kitchen, where +Aunt Jo's good-natured cook might be expected to hand out cookies and +cakes, another little Bunker, who was walking beside Violet, the one who +had been trying to make something out of pieces of wood, called out: + +"Nobody can guess what I have in my mouth!" + +"Is that a riddle, Laddie?" asked Russ. For Laddie was the name of the +gray-eyed and curly-haired boy, and he was very fond of asking +puzzle-questions. "Is it a riddle?" Russ repeated. + +"Sort of," admitted Laddie. "Who can guess what I have in my mouth?" + +"Oh, it's candy!" cried Violet, as she saw one of her brother's cheeks +puffed out. "It's candy! Give me some, Laddie!" + +"Nope. 'Tisn't candy!" he cried. "You must guess again!" + +Nothing pleased Laddie more than to make his brothers and sisters guess +his riddles. + +"Is it a piece of cake?" asked Mun Bun. + +"Nope!" + +"Then 'tis so candy!" insisted Violet. And then, seeing her mother +coming down the side porch, she cried: "Mother, make Laddie give me some +of his candy! He's got a big piece in his mouth, and he won't give me +any!" + +"I haven't any candy!" declared Laddie. "I only asked her if she could +guess what I had." + +"'Tis so candy!" insisted Violet again. + +"No, 'tisn't!" disputed Laddie. + +"Children! Children!" said Mrs. Bunker softly. "I don't like my six +little toadikins to talk this way. Where's Margy?" she asked as she +"counted noses," which she called looking about to see if all six of the +children were present. + +"Margy's gone to get some cakes, 'cause we're going to have a +soap-bubble party," explained Russ. + +"What makes so many pretty colors come in the bubbles, Mother?" asked +Violet. + +"It is the light shining through, just as the sun shines through the +water in the sky after the rain, making the rainbow." + +"Oh," said Violet. She didn't understand very well about it, but her +question had been answered, anyhow. "And now what's Laddie got in his +mouth?" she went on. "Make him give me some, Mother!" + +"I can't, 'cause it's only my tongue, and I can't take it out!" laughed +Laddie, and he showed how he had thrust his tongue to one side, bulging +out his cheek, so it really did look as though he had a piece of candy +in his mouth. + +"That's the time I fooled you with a riddle!" he said to Violet. "It was +only my tongue!" + +"I don't care! When I get some real candy I won't give you any!" cried +Violet. + +"Here comes Margy with the cakes!" exclaimed Rose. "Now we'll have the +soap-bubble party." + +"But don't get any soap on your cake, or it won't taste nice," warned +Mother Bunker. "Now play nicely. Has the postman been past yet?" + +"Not yet, Mother," answered Russ. "Do you think he is going to bring you +a letter?" + +"He may, yes." + +"Will it be a letter asking us to come some other place to have a good +time for the rest of the summer?" Rose wanted to know. For the six +little Bunkers were paying a visit to Aunt Jo in Boston, and expected to +leave shortly. + +"I don't know just what kind of letter I shall get," said Mrs. Bunker +with a smile, "but I hope it will be a nice one. Now have your party, +and see who can blow the largest bubbles." + +"Let's eat our cake and cookies first," said Russ. "Then we can't get +any soap on 'em." + +"Why not?" asked Violet, who seemed especially fond of asking questions +this day. + +"'Cause they'll be inside us--I mean the cookies will," explained Russ. + +"Oh, that would make a good riddle!" exclaimed Laddie. "I'm going to +make up one about that." + +The children went out to the garage, where there was a room in which +they often played. There they ate their cookies and cakes, and then +Russ and Rose made some bowls of soapy water, and with clay pipes, which +the little Bunkers had bought for their play, they began to blow +bubbles. They made large and small ones, and nearly all of them had the +pretty colors that Violet had asked about. + +They took one of the robes from Aunt Jo's automobile, and, spreading +this out on the grass, they blew bubbles and let them fall on the cloth. +The bubbles bounced up, sometimes making several bounds before they +burst. + +"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Laddie. "It's more fun than making +riddles." + +"I wondered why you hadn't asked one," said Russ with a laugh. "Oh!" he +suddenly exclaimed, for he had happened to laugh just as he was blowing +a big bubble, and it burst, scattering a little fine spray of soapy +water in his face. + +Margy giggled delightedly. + +"I like this!" said Mun Bun, as he put his pipe down into the bowl of +water and blew a big string of little bubbles. + +Just then a voice called: + +"Hey, Russ! Where are you?" + +"Back here! Come on!" answered Russ, laying aside his pipe. + +"Who is it?" asked Rose. + +"It's Sammie Brown, the boy we met the other day when we went to +Nantasket Beach," Russ explained. "He lives about two blocks from here, +and I told him to come over and see us. Here he is now!" and he pointed +to a boy, about his own age, who was coming up the walk. + +"Hello, Sammie!" greeted Russ. "Want to blow bubbles?" + +"Yes," was the answer, and a pipe was found for Sammie. He seemed to +know how to use it, for he blew bubbles bigger than any one else. + +"What's inside the bubbles?" asked Violet, who simply had to ask another +question. "Is it water?" + +"No, it's air," said Sammie. "If you could blow a bubble big enough to +get inside of you could breathe the air, just like outside. Only when it +was all breathed up you'd have to get more." + +"Would you, really?" asked Rose. + +"Sure," Sammie answered. + +"How do you know?" Violet questioned. + +"'Cause my father's a sea captain, and he takes divers out on his boat +and they go down after things that sink. The divers have air pumped to +them, and they wear a big thing on their heads like a soap bubble, only +it's called a helmet. This is pumped full of air for the diver to +breathe." + +"Oh, tell us about it!" begged Laddie, laying aside his pipe. + +"Did your father ever go down like a diver?" asked Russ. + +"Yes, once or twice. But now he just helps the other men go down. He's +been a sea captain all his life, and once he was shipwrecked." + +"What's shipwrecked?" asked Margy. + +"It's when your ship hits a rock, or runs on a desert island and sinks," +said Sammie. "Then you have to get off if you don't want to be drowned. +And once my father was shipwrecked on a desert island that way, and they +found a lot of gold." + +"They did?" cried Russ. + +"Sure! I've heard him tell about it lots of times." + +"Oh, is it a story?" asked Rose. + +"No, it's real," said Sammie. + +"Tell us about it," demanded Laddie. + +"Well, I don't 'member much about it," Sammie said. "But if you come +over to my house, my father'll tell you about it. Only he isn't home now +'cause he's got some divers down in the harbor and they're going to +raise up a ship that's sunk." + +"Couldn't you tell us a little about it?" asked Russ. "Did your father +dig gold on the desert island?" + +"Yes, he dug a lot of it," said Sammie. "He's got one piece at home now. +It's yellow, just like a five-dollar gold piece." + +"Where was the island?" asked Violet. + +"Maybe we can go there," suggested Laddie. "That is, if it isn't too +far." + +"Oh, it's terrible far," said Sammie. "It's half-way around the world." + +"That's too far," said Russ with a sigh. + +"Maybe we could dig for gold here," suggested Rose. "There's nice sand +in one part of Aunt Jo's garden, and I guess she'd let us dig for gold. +We could give her some if we found any." + +"I don't guess there's any gold here," said Sammie, looking the place +over. "This isn't a desert island." + +"We could pretend it was," said Laddie. "Let's do that! I'll go for a +shovel." + +He ran to where the garden tools were kept, but, on the way, he heard +the postman's whistle and stopped to get the mail. This he carried to +his mother, and, when she saw one letter, she cried: + +"Oh, this is from Cousin Tom! I hope it has good news in it!" + +Quickly she read it, while Laddie wondered what the good news was about. +Then Mrs. Bunker said: + +"Oh, Laddie! We're going on another nice trip! Cousin Tom has invited us +all down to his seashore cottage! Won't that be fine? We must soon get +ready to leave Aunt Jo's and go to Cousin Tom's!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +TREASURE HOPES + + +Laddie Bunker looked up at his mother as she finished reading the +letter. Then he shook his head and said: + +"We can't go to Cousin Tom's!" + +"Can't go to Cousin Tom's!" repeated his mother. "Why not, Laddie, my +boy?" + +"'Cause we're going to dig for gold here. Sammie Brown's father is a sea +captain, and he has divers. He knows a lot about digging gold on desert +islands, Sammie's father does, and we're going to make believe Aunt Jo's +back yard is a desert island, and we're going to dig for gold there." + +"But there isn't any," replied Mrs. Bunker, wanting to laugh, but not +doing it, as she did not want to hurt Laddie's feelings. + +"Well, we're going to dig, just the same," insisted Laddie. "We can go +to Cousin Tom's after we find the gold." + +"Oh, I see," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "Well, don't you think it +would be nice to go to the seashore? There is plenty of sand there, and +perhaps there may be a desert island, or something like that, near +Cousin Tom's. Couldn't you dig for gold and treasure at the seashore?" + +"Oh, maybe we could!" cried Laddie. "I guess that would be nice, Mother. +I'll go and tell the others. We're going to Cousin Tom's! We're going to +Cousin Tom's!" he sang joyously, as he raced back to where he had left +Sammie Brown telling his story, and the other little Bunkers who wanted +to dig for gold. + +"I think it will be just lovely for the children at Cousin Tom's," said +Mrs. Bunker to her husband, who came out to see if there were any +letters for him. "They can play in the sand and never get a bit dirty." + +"Yes, they can do that," said Mr. Bunker. "So Cousin Tom wrote, did he? +Well, I suppose that means we will soon be leaving Aunt Jo's." + +"I shall be sorry to see you go," said Aunt Jo herself--Miss Josephine +Bunker, to give her complete name and title. She was Daddy Bunker's +sister, and had never married, but she had a fine home in the Back Bay +section of Boston, and the six little Bunkers, with their father and +mother, had been spending some weeks there. + +While Mr. and Mrs. Bunker are talking about the coming trip to the +seashore, and while Laddie is hurrying back to tell his brothers and +sisters the good news, there will be a chance for me to let my new +readers hear something about the children who are to have the largest +part in this story. + +This book is complete in itself, but it forms one of a series about the +six children, and the first volume is called "Six Little Bunkers at +Grandma Bell's." In that I introduced the boys and girls. + +First there was Russ, aged eight years. He had dark hair and eyes, and +was very fond of whistling and making things to play with, such as an +automobile out of a soap box or a steamboat out of a broken chair. Rose, +who was next in size, was seven years old. She often helped her mother +about the house and looked after the younger children. And that she was +happy when she worked you could tell because she nearly always sang. +Rose had light hair and blue eyes. + +Vi, or Violet, was six years old. As you have noticed, she was very fond +of asking questions, and she looked at you with her gray eyes until you +answered. Laddie, her twin brother, was as persistent in making up queer +little riddles as Vi was with her questions, and between the two they +kept their father and mother busy. + +Margy, or Margaret, was five years old, and almost as dark as a little +Gypsy girl. Margy and Mun Bun usually played together, and they had a +great deal of fun. Lest you might think "Mun Bun" was some kind of +candy, I will say that it was the pet name of Munroe Ford Bunker, and it +was shortened to Mun Bun as the other was too long to say. Mun Bun was +rather small, even for his age of four years. He had blue eyes and +golden hair and looked almost as I have an idea fairies look, if there +are any real ones. + +So there you have the six little Bunkers. When they were at home, they +lived in the town of Pineville, on the Rainbow River. Mr. Bunker was a +real estate dealer, whose office was about a mile from his home. + +In the first book of the series I told you of a trip the Bunkers took to +Grandma Bell's at Lake Sagatook, in Maine. Grandma Bell was Mrs. +Bunker's mother, and in the Maine woods the children had so many good +times that it was years before they forgot them. They had quite an +adventure, too, with a tramp lumberman, who had a ragged coat, but I +will not spoil that story by telling it to you here. + +Before the Bunkers left Grandma Bell's they received an invitation to +visit Aunt Jo in Boston, and they were at her Back Bay home when the +present story opens. + +There had been adventures in Boston, too, and the pocketbook which Rose +found, with sixty-five dollars in it, was quite a mystery for a time. +But, finally, the real owner was discovered, and very glad she was to +get the money back. + +"Well, we have had good times here at Aunt Jo's," said Mrs. Bunker to +her husband, when they had read all the letters that had come in the +mail. "And now it is time for us to go. I think we shall enjoy our stay +at Cousin Tom's." + +"It will be fine for the children," said their father. + +"Yes, they are already counting on digging gold out of the sand," said +Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Sammie Brown has been telling them some story +about buried treasure his father found." + +"Well, I believe that is a true story," said Mr. Bunker. "I heard my +sister say something about Mr. Brown having been shipwrecked on an +island once, and coming back with gold. But if we go to Cousin Tom's we +shall have to begin packing soon, shall we not?" he went on. + +"Yes," agreed his wife. "We are to leave about the middle of next week." + +"We have been doing a great deal of traveling so far this summer," went +on Mr. Bunker. "Here it is about the middle of August, and we have been +at Grandma Bell's, at Aunt Jo's and we are now going to Cousin Tom's. I +had a letter from Grandpa Ford, saying that he wished we'd come there." + +"And my brother Fred is anxious to have us come out to his western +ranch," said Mrs. Bunker. "If we accept all the invitations we shall be +very busy." + +So Mr. and Mrs. Bunker talked over the time of leaving, what they would +need to take, and the best way of going. Meanwhile Laddie had run back +to tell his brothers and sisters the good news. + +"We're going to the real seashore!" he exclaimed. "It's down to Seaview +where Cousin Tom lives, and we can dig for treasure there!" + +"Can we really?" asked Violet. "What's treasure, Russ? Is any of it good +to eat? And look at that robin! What makes him waggle his tail that way? +And look at the cat! What's she lashing her tail so for?" + +"Wait a minute, Vi!" cried Russ with a laugh. "You mustn't ask so many +questions all to once." + +"Treasure isn't good to eat!" said Laddie. "But if you find a lot of +gold you can buy ice-cream sodas with it." + +"Maybe the robin is flitting its tail to scare the cat," suggested Rose, +who remembered Violet's second question. + +"Well, I know why the cat is lashing her tail," said Russ. "Cats always +do that when they think they're going to catch a bird. This cat thinks +she's going to catch the robin. But she won't!" + +"Why not?" asked Rose. + +"'Cause I'm going to throw a stone at it--at the cat, I mean," explained +Russ. He tossed a pebble at the cat, not hitting it, and the furry +creature slunk away. The robin flew off, also, so it was not caught, at +least not just then. + +"I know a riddle about a robin!" said Laddie. "Only I can't think of it +now," he added. "Maybe I shall after a while. Then I'll tell it to you. +Go on, Sammie. Tell us more about how your father got the gold on the +desert island." + +"He dug for it," Sammie answered. "He and the other sailors just dug in +the sand for it." + +"With shovels?" + +"No, they used big shells. It's easy to dig in the sand." + +"Is sand the best place to dig for gold?" Rose wanted to know. + +"I guess so," answered Sammie. "Anyhow there's always sand on a desert +island, like that one where my father was." + +"There's sand down at Cousin Tom's," put in Laddie. "I heard my mother +say so. I'm going to dig for gold, and if I get a lot, Sammie, I'll send +you some." + +"I hope you find a big lot!" exclaimed the visiting boy with a laugh. + +They talked over their hopes of finding treasure in the seashore sand, +forgetting all about the soap bubbles they had been blowing. + +"I'll be lonesome when you go away," said Sammie to Russ. "I like you +Bunkers." + +"And we like you," said Russ. "Maybe if we dig for gold down at Cousin +Tom's, and can't find any, you'll come down and help us." + +"Sure I will!" exclaimed Sammie, as if that would be the easiest thing +in the world. "I'll ask my father the best way, and then I'll come +down." + +"Could you bring a diving suit?" asked Laddie. "Maybe the gold would be +down on the bottom of the ocean, and we'd have to dive for it. Would +your father let you take a diving suit?" + +"No, I don't guess he would," said Sammie, shaking his head. "They are +only for big men, and you have to have air pumped down to you all the +while. It makes bubbles come up, and as long as the bubbles come up the +diver is all right." + +"Did a shark ever bite your father?" asked Rose. + +"No, I guess not," Sammie answered. "Anyhow he never told me about it. +But I must go now, 'cause it's time for my lunch. I'll come over after +lunch and we can have some more fun." + +Sammie said good-bye to the six little Bunkers and started down the side +path toward the front gate of Aunt Jo's home. Hardly had he reached the +sidewalk when Russ and the others heard him yelling: + +"Oh, come here! Come here quick, and look! Hurry!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE BOAT + + +"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Rose, as she hurried after her +brother, who started to run toward Sammie Brown. + +"I don't know," Russ answered. "But something has happened!" + +"Maybe Sammie found the treasure," suggested Laddie. "Oh, wouldn't that +be great? Then we wouldn't have to dig for it down in the sand at Cousin +Tom's!" + +"Pooh! there couldn't be no treasure out in front of Aunt Jo's house," +exclaimed Violet, not being quite so careful of her words as she should +have been. + +By this time Russ and Rose were in the front yard, but they could not +see Sammie, because between the yard and the street were some high +bushes, and the shrubbery hid Sammie from sight. + +"What's the matter?" asked Rose. + +"What happened?" Russ wanted to know. + +"A policeman has arrested a big bear!" cried Sammie. "Come on and see +it! The policeman has the bear, an' there's a man with gold rings in his +ears, and he's got a red handkerchief on his neck, or maybe that's where +the bear scratched him, and there's a big crowd and--and--everything!" + +Words failed Sammie. He had to stop then. + +"Oh--a--a bear!" gasped Rose. + +She and Russ, followed by the rest of the six little Bunkers, hurried +out to Aunt Jo's front gate. There they saw just what Sammie had said +they would--a policeman had hold of a long cord which was fastened about +the neck of a bear. And there was an excited man with a red handkerchief +tied about his throat, and he had gold rings in his ears. He was talking +to the policeman, and there was a crowd of men and children and a few +women about the bear, the policeman, and the other man, who seemed to be +the bear's owner. + +"What happened?" asked Russ of a boy whom he knew, and who lived a few +doors from Aunt Jo's house. + +"I don't know," was the answer. "I guess the bear bit somebody though, +and the policeman arrested it." + +"No, that wasn't it," said another boy. "The bear broke into a bake shop +and ate a lot of pies. That's why the policeman is going to take it to +the station house." + +"Here comes the patrol wagon!" some one else cried, and up the street +dashed the automobile from the precinct station house, its bell clanging +loudly. + +"Get in!" the six little Bunkers heard the policeman say to the man with +the red handkerchief around his neck. "Get in, you and the bear! I'll +teach you to come around here!" + +"Oh, maybe the bear bit the policeman," half whispered Rose. + +"No, my dears," said Aunt Jo, who, with Mother Bunker, had come out to +see what the excitement was about and why the six little Bunkers had run +so fast around the side of the house. "Nothing much at all happened, my +dears," said Aunt Jo. "But in this part of Boston, at least, they don't +allow performing bears in the streets. That is why the policeman is +taking this one away. The man, who is an Italian, led his tame bear +along the street and started to have the animal do tricks. But we don't +allow that in this Back Bay section." + +"Will he shoot the bear?" asked Mun Bun breathlessly. + +"Oh, no," said Aunt Jo with a laugh. "The poor bear has done nothing, +and his master did not know any better than to bring him here. They will +just make them go to another part of the city, where, perhaps, +performing bears are not objected to. Whether they allow them anywhere +in Boston or not, I can't say. But he will be taken away from here." + +The automobile patrol, with the bear and man in charge of the policeman, +rumbled away. The crowd waited a little while, and then, as nothing more +seemed likely to happen, it began to scatter. + +"I'm glad we saw it," said Russ, as he turned back into the yard. + +"So'm I," added Laddie. "It's 'most as much fun as digging for gold. +Say, Russ, I hope we find some, don't you?" + +"I sure do! I wish we were at Cousin Tom's right now. I want to start +digging for that treasure." + +"Don't be too sure of finding any," said Mother Bunker, who heard what +her two little boys were saying. "Many persons dig for gold but never +get any." + +"Oh, we'll get some," declared Russ, and if you read this book through +you will find out that what Russ said came true. + +After supper that evening, when they had finished talking about the bear +that had been arrested, Laddie and Vi wanted to go out into the yard and +start digging. + +"Oh, no," said their mother. "You have been washed and dressed, and +digging will get you dirty again. Better wait until to-morrow." + +"I thought we were going to start to pack to-morrow to go to Cousin +Tom's," remarked Rose. + +"So we are, but I guess you'll have time to dig for a little gold," +returned Mother Bunker with a laugh. "Though that doesn't mean you will +find any," she went on with another laugh. + +The next day Laddie and Vi did start to dig in a place where Aunt Jo +said it would do no harm to turn over the ground. + +"Though if there is a golden treasure in my yard I never knew it," she +said. "But dig as much as you like." + +"I--I just thought of a riddle," said Laddie, as he and Vi started out. + +"Let me hear it," suggested Aunt Jo. + +"What is it that's so big you can't put it in anything?" he asked. +"That's the riddle. What is it that's so big you can't put it in +anything in this world?" + +"The ocean," answered Rose, who came along just then. + +"Nope!" and Laddie shook his head. + +"Well, the ocean is terrible big," Violet stated. + +"Yes, it is," agreed Laddie. "But that isn't the answer to my riddle." + +"Do you mean the sky?" asked Russ. "That's big, too." + +"That isn't the answer," said Laddie. "I'll tell you, 'cause you never +could guess it. It's a hole that you dig. You can dig one so big that +you couldn't put it in anything. Not even the biggest box that ever was. +Isn't that a good riddle?" + +"Yes, it's pretty good," agreed Russ; and he commenced to whistle a +merry tune. "But you could fill a small box with some dirt, and dig a +little hole in that, and you'd have a hole in a box," he added, after a +moment. + +"Yes, but the answer to my riddle is a _big_ hole," said Laddie. "Now +come on out and dig!" + +"How big a hole are you going to dig?" Vi wanted to know. + +"Oh, not the kind in my riddle," replied her brother. "We'll just dig a +little one and make believe we're after treasure." + +Of course I need not tell you that Laddie and Violet did not find any. +Treasure doesn't usually grow in Boston back yards. But the children had +fun, and that was best of all. + +During the next few days there was much packing of trunks and valises to +do, for the six little Bunkers were getting ready to go to Cousin Tom's +at Seaview. This was a place on the New Jersey coast, and none of the +Bunkers had ever been there. For Cousin Tom had been only recently +married to a very pretty girl, named Ruth Robinson. Cousin Tom and his +bride had stopped to pay a visit to Daddy and Mother Bunker when the +young couple were on their honeymoon trip, and then Cousin Tom and his +wife had said that as soon as they were settled in their new seashore +home the Bunkers must come to see them. + +"And now we are going," said Mother Bunker, on the morning of the day +they were to leave Aunt Jo's. The last trunk had been locked and sent +away, and the family of travelers was soon to take the train from Boston +to Fall River. There they would get on a boat that would take them to +New York, and from New York they could go on another boat to Atlantic +Highlands, in New Jersey. Then they would take a train down the coast to +Seaview. + +"Well, I certainly shall miss you!" said Aunt Jo, as she kissed the big +and little Bunkers good-bye. "And I hope, children, that you find lots +of treasure in the sand." + +"We'll dig deep for it," said Laddie. "Did you hear my riddle, Aunt Jo, +about what's so big you can't put it in anything?" + +"Yes, dear, I heard it." + +"The answer is a _big_ hole," went on Laddie, lest his aunt might have +forgotten. + +"I remember," she said with a laugh. + +The trip to Fall River was not a very long one, and the six little +Bunkers, who looked out of the windows at the sights they saw, hardly +realized it when they were told it was time to get off the train. + +"Where do we go now?" asked Rose, as she helped her mother by carrying a +package in one hand and holding to Margy with the other. Rose was a real +"mother's helper" that day. + +"We go on the boat now," said Daddy Bunker. "And I want you children to +be very careful. We are going to ride on the boat all night, and we +shall be in New York in the morning." + +"Shall we sleep on the boat?" asked Laddie. + +"Yes, we'll have cute little beds to sleep in," said Mother Bunker. + +A half hour later they were on one of the big Fall River boats that +make nightly trips between New York and the Massachusetts city. The +Bunkers were shown to their state-rooms. They had three large +apartments, with several bunks, or beds, in each one, so there would be +plenty of room. + +They had their supper on the boat, and then they went out on deck in the +evening. There were many sights new and strange to the children, and +they looked eagerly at each one. Then it grew dark, and it was decided +that the time had come for little folks to "turn in," and go to sleep. + +Laddie, who with Russ and his father shared a room together, was looking +from the window of the stateroom, out into the dark night, when he +suddenly cried out: + +"Oh, there's going to be a big thunder storm! I just saw the flash of +lightning!" + +"Are you sure it was lightning?" asked Mr. Bunker with a smile. "I +didn't hear any thunder." + +"There it is again!" cried Laddie, and this time a ray of bright, white +light shone in the window, full in Laddie's face. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A MIX-UP + + +"That isn't lightning," said Russ, who had come to the window of the +stateroom to stand beside his brother and look out. + +"'Tis, too!" insisted Laddie, as another flash came. "It's lightning, +and maybe it'll set our boat on fire, and then we can't go to Cousin +Tom's an' dig for gold! So there!" + +Mr. Bunker, who was opening a valise in one corner of the room, getting +out the boys' pajamas for the night, had not seen the light shining in +the window, but had seen the glare of it on the wall. + +"'Tisn't lightning at all!" declared Russ again. + +"How do you know it isn't?" asked Laddie. + +"'Cause lightning flashes are a different color," said Russ. "And, +besides, they don't stay still so long. Look, Daddy, this one is +peeping right in our window like a light from Aunt Jo's automobile!" + +Mr. Bunker turned in time to see the bright flash of light come in +through the window, and then it seemed to stay in the room, making it +much brighter than the light from the electric lamps on the wall. + +"Of course that isn't lightning!" said Mr. Bunker. "That's a +search-light from some ship. Come on out on deck, boys, and we'll see +it." + +The bright glare was still in the room, but it did not flare up as +lightning would have done, and there were no loud claps of thunder. + +"Well, if it isn't a storm I'll come out on deck and look," Laddie said. +"But if it rains I'm coming in!" + +"It won't," said Daddy Bunker with a laugh. "We'll go out for a few +minutes, and then we'll come in and go to bed. To-morrow we'll be at +Cousin Tom's." + +Out on the deck of the big Fall River boat they went, and, surely +enough, the light did come from the search-lantern of a big ship not +far away. It was a United States warship, the boys' father told them, +and it was probably kept near Newport, where there is a station at which +young sailors are trained. The warship flashed the light all about the +water, lighting up other boats. + +"I thought it was lightning," said Laddie. + +"It is a kind of lightning," said Daddy Bunker. "For the light is made +by electricity, and lightning and electricity are the same thing, though +no one has yet been able to use lightning to read by." + +Mrs. Bunker, who had left Rose in charge of Margy and Mun Bun, came out +on deck with Violet, and met her husband and the two boys. She was told +about Laddie's thinking the light was from a storm, and laughed with him +over it. + +"I'm going to make up a riddle about the search-light to-morrow," said +the little fellow eagerly. + +They stayed out on deck a while longer, while the boat steamed ahead, +watching the various lights on shore and on other vessels, and +occasionally seeing the glare of the search-beam from the warship. Then, +as it was getting late and the children were tired, Mother Bunker said +they had better go to their beds. + +This they did, and they slept soundly all night. + +The morning was bright and fair, and the day promised to be a fine one +for the rest of the trip to Cousin Tom's. As I have mentioned, they were +to take a boat from New York City to Atlantic Highlands, and from there +a train would take them down the New Jersey coast to Seaview, and to Mr. +Thomas Bunker's house on the beach. + +"Are we going to have breakfast on the boat?" asked Russ, as he helped +his father gather up the baggage, whistling meanwhile a merry tune. + +"No, I think we will go to a restaurant on shore," said Mr. Bunker. "I +want to telegraph to Cousin Tom, and let him know we are coming, and I +think we shall all enjoy a meal on shore more than on the boat after it +has tied up at the dock." + +So on shore they all went, and Daddy Bunker, after leaving the hand +baggage at the dock where they were to take the Atlantic Highlands boat +later in the day, took them to a restaurant. + +"Shall we have good things to eat?" asked Violet, as she walked along by +her mother's side. + +"Of course, my dear," was the answer. "That is what restaurants are +for." + +"Will they have as good things as we had at Aunt Jo's?" + +"Well, yes, I think so." + +"Will they have strawberry shortcake?" + +"You don't want that for breakfast!" laughed Daddy Bunker, turning +around, for he was walking ahead with Russ. + +"I like strawberry shortcake," went on Violet. "It's good and mother +said they had good things in a rest'ant. I want strawberry shortcake." + +"Well, you shall have some if we can get it," promised Mother Bunker, +for Violet was talking quite loudly, and several persons on the street, +hearing her, looked down at the little girl and smiled. + +"All right," said Vi. "I'm glad I'm going to get strawberry shortcake in +the rest'ant. What makes 'em call it a rest'ant, Daddy? Does an ant +rest there? And why doesn't Aunt Jo come to one an' rest?" + +"I'll tell you about it when we get there," said her father. + +The restaurant was not far from where they were to take the boat for +Atlantic Highlands, and, though it was rather early in the morning, +quite a number of persons were at breakfast. + +There was a smell of many things being cooked, and the rattle of dishes, +and of knives, forks and spoons made such a clatter that it sounded as +though every one was in a great hurry. + +"Are all these people going down to the seashore like us?" asked Violet, +who seemed to have many questions to ask that day. + +"Oh, no," answered her father. "They are just hungry, and they want +their breakfast. Perhaps some of them have been traveling all night, as +we were. But come, we must find a table large enough for all of us. I +don't believe they often have a whole family, the size of ours, at +breakfast here." + +A waiter, who had seen the Bunkers come in, motioned them to follow him, +and he led them to a quiet corner where there was a table with just +eight chairs about it. + +"Ho! I guess this was made specially for us," said Russ with a laugh, as +he slid into his seat. + +"Yes, it just seems to fit," agreed Mr. Bunker. "Now, Mother," and he +looked over at his wife, "you order for some of the children, and I'll +order for the others. In that way we'll be through sooner." + +"Have they got any strawberry shortcake?" asked Vi. "I want some." + +"I don't see it down on the bill of fare for breakfast," replied her +father, "but I'll ask the waiter." + +One of the men, of whom there were many hurrying to and fro with big +trays heaped high with dishes of food, came over to the Bunkers' table. + +"No, the strawberry shortcake isn't ready until lunch," he said. "But +you can have hot waffles and maple syrup." + +"Oh, I like them!" and Violet clapped her hands. "I like them better +than strawberry shortcake." + +"Then you may bring some," said Mr. Bunker. It took a little time to +get just what each child wanted, and sometimes, after the order was +given, one or the other of the youngsters would change. But finally the +waiter had gone back to the kitchen, to get the different things for the +six little Bunkers and their father and mother. + +"And now we can sit back and draw our breaths," said Mrs. Bunker. "My, I +never saw such a hungry lot of children! Now sit still, all of you, +until I 'count noses.' I want to see if you're really all here." + +She began at Russ, and went to Rose, to Violet, to Laddie, and to Margy, +and then Mrs. Bunker suddenly cried: + +"Why, you're not Mun Bun! Where is Mun Bun? You are not my little boy!" + +And, surely enough, there was a mix-up. For in the seat where Mun Bun +had been sitting was a strange little boy. He was about as big as Mun +Bun, but he was not one of the six little Bunkers. + +Where was Mun Bun? + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MARGY'S CRAWL + + +Mother Bunker looked at the strange little boy. And the strange little +boy looked at Mother Bunker. + +"Where did you come from?" asked Mr. Bunker. + +"Over there, and I'm hungry!" said the little fellow. "I'm terrible +hungry, 'cause I didn't have no breakfast yet. Has you got any +breakfast?" and he looked at each plate in turn, for the waiter had put +plates in front of each of the Bunkers. "No, you hasn't anything to eat, +either. I guess I'll go back," and he started to slip down from his +chair. He was sitting between Violet and Margy. + +"Wait a minute, my little man," said Daddy Bunker with a smile. "Don't +run away so fast. You might get lost. Who are you and where do you +live?" + +"I live away far off," answered the strange boy. "My name is Tommie, and +I come in a ship and I'm going out West, and I'm hungry!" + +"Oh, maybe he's lost!" exclaimed Russ. + +"I'm sure Mun Bun is!" said Mrs. Bunker. "Oh, where can he be? He was in +his chair a minute ago, and then I looked to see what else I wanted to +order to eat, but when I looked up there was this strange boy, and Mun +Bun was gone. Oh, I hope he hasn't gone into the street!" and she looked +toward the door of the restaurant. + +Mun Bun was not in sight, and Mr. Bunker got up from his chair to make a +search. The strange boy who had said his name was Tommie, looked about +hungrily. + +Just as Mrs. Bunker was going to call a waiter, and ask about Mun Bun, +there came a cry from another table at the far end of the restaurant. It +was the voice of a woman, and she said: + +"Oh, that isn't Tommie! Where is he? Where is Tommie?" + +"I guess that explains the mystery," said Mr. Bunker with a smile. "The +two boys are mixed up. We have Tommie--whatever his other name is--at +our table, and Mun Bun must have gone down there," and he pointed to the +table where the woman had called for Tommie. There were five children at +this table, waiting for breakfast as the six little Bunkers were +waiting, and one of them was Mun Bun, as his mother could see. She ran +down the long room. + +"Oh, Mun Bun!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "What made you go away? Why did you +come over here?" And she hurried to his chair and took him in her arms. + +At the same time the boy who had called himself Tommie, slipped out of +his chair and hurried with Mrs. Bunker back to the table where the woman +who had called him sat. + +"Now I guess the mix-up is straightened out," said Daddy Bunker with a +laugh. "Mun Bun slipped away, when we were not looking, and went to the +wrong table. At the same time a little boy from that table came to ours. +They just traded places." + +"Like puss-in-the-corner," said Rose, who had followed her mother and +father to the other end of the room. + +"That's it," agreed Daddy Bunker. "I'm sorry you were frightened about +your little boy," he went on to Tommie's mother. "We didn't know we had +him." + +"And I didn't know I had yours," she said with a smile. "I have five +children, all girls but this one, and when I didn't see Tommie in his +place, but saw, instead, this strange little chap, I didn't know what +had happened." + +"That's just the way I felt," said Mrs. Bunker. "I have six, and when we +travel it keeps me and their father busy looking after them." + +"My husband isn't with me now," said the woman, who gave her name as +Mrs. Wilson. "But I expect to meet him at the station. We are going to +Asbury Park for the rest of the summer." + +"We are going to Seaview," said Mrs. Bunker. "Perhaps we may meet you at +the shore." + +"I hope so," said Mrs. Wilson, as Tommie slipped into the seat out of +which Mun Bun slid. "Now here comes your breakfast, children." + +"Yes, and the waiter is bringing ours," said Mr. Bunker with a look over +toward his own table. "Come, Mother, and Mun Bun. You, too, Rose." + +They said good-bye to Mrs. Wilson, and soon the six little Bunkers at +one table were eating waffles and maple syrup, and at the other table +the five little Wilsons were enjoying their meal. + +"What made you go away, Mun Bun?" asked his mother, as she buttered +another waffle for him. + +"I wanted to see if they had any shortcake down there," he explained. "I +wanted some like Vi did, and I went to another table to see. But there +wasn't have any," he added, getting rather mixed up in his talk. "And +when I wanted to come back I didn't know the way and I sat down and you +weren't there, Mother, and I was afraid and----" + +"But you're all right now," said Mrs. Bunker, as she saw Mun Bun's chin +begin to quiver as it always did just before he cried. "You're all right +now, and not lost any more. Finish your waffle, and we'll soon be ready +to go on the boat to Cousin Tom's." + +The children were eating heartily, for they were hungry after their +night trip from Fall River. Laddie, who had had several helpings of +waffles, at last seemed satisfied. He leaned back in his chair and said: + +"I know another riddle. When is Mun Bun not Mun Bun?" + +"He's always Mun Bun, 'ceptin' when Mother calls him Munroe Ford Bunker, +when he's got himself all dirt," said Vi. "I don't call that a riddle." + +"It is a riddle," insisted Laddie. "When is Mun Bun not Mun Bun?" + +"Is it when he's asleep?" asked Russ, taking a guess just to please his +small brother. + +"Nope! That isn't it," went on the small boy. "It's awful hard, and +you'd never guess it, so I'll tell you. Mun Bun isn't Mun Bun when he's +Tommie Wilson. Isn't that a good riddle?" he asked. "Mun Bun isn't Mun +Bun when he's Tommie Wilson." + +"Yes, that is pretty good," said Mr. Bunker. "But now we had better +hurry, or we may be late for the Atlantic Highlands boat. Are you all +through?" + +They were; all but Mun Bun, who saw a little pool of maple syrup on his +plate, and wanted to get that up with a spoon before he left the table. +Then once more the six little Bunkers were on their way. + +The Atlantic Highlands boat left from a pier near one of the New Jersey +Central Railroad ferry slips on West street in New York City, and it was +quite a long walk from the shore end of the pier to the end that was out +in the Hudson River. It was at the river end that the boat stopped, +coming down from a pier farther up the stream. + +"Now are we all here?" asked Mother Bunker, as she and her husband +started down West street. "I don't want Mun Bun to change into some one +else after we get started on the boat, for then it will be too late to +change him back. Are we all here?" + +They were, it seemed, and down West street they hurried. The way was +lined with out-door stands, where it seemed that nearly everything from +bananas and oranges to pocketbooks and shoes, were sold. West street is +along the river front, where many boats land, and there are sailors, and +other persons, who have no time to go shopping for things up town, or +farther inland in the city of New York. So the stands on West street are +very useful. You can buy things to eat, as well as things to wear, +without going into a store. A big shed over the top keeps off the rain. + +As the Bunker family hastened on, Margy, who had been walking with Rose, +let go of her sister's hand and cried: + +"Oh, look at the little kittie! I want to rub the little kittie!" + +A small cat had crawled out from under one stand and was walking along +the street. Margy saw it, and, being very fond of animals, she wanted to +pet it. + +But the cat, young as it was, seemed to be afraid. As Margy ran from +Rose's side and trotted after the furry animal, it gave a sudden scamper +under another stand. + +But Margy had chased kittens before, and she knew that once they got +under something they generally stayed near the front edge, hoping they +would not be seen. By stooping down, and reaching, she had often pulled +her own kitten out from under her mother's dresser. + +"I can get you! I can get you!" laughed the little girl. + +Paying no attention to her clean, white stockings, which her mother had +put on her only that morning, Margy knelt down on the sidewalk, and +stretched her arms under the fruit stand, beneath which the +half-frightened kitten had crawled. + +If the little cat had known that Margy only wanted to stroke it softly +and pet it I am sure it would not have run away. But that is what it +did, and that is what caused all the trouble. For there was trouble. +I'll tell you about it. + +"Come on out, kittie!" called Margy. "Come on out! I won't hurt you! I +like kitties, I do! Come on out and let me rub you!" + +She stooped lower down to see under the edge of the fruit stand. By this +time Mrs. Bunker had seen what had happened, and she called: + +"Margaret Bunker, get right up off your knees this instant. You'll spoil +your clean white stockings! Get up! We'll miss the boat!" + +But Margy paid no heed. She could see the kitten now, back in a dark +corner under the stand, and she wanted to get it out. + +"Come on, kittie!" called the little girl. "Come on out, and I'll take +you to Cousin Tom's with us and you can play in the sand! Come on, I'll +rub you nice and soft!" + +"Mew! Mew!" said the kitten, but it did not come out. + +And then Margy did a very queer thing. + +With a sudden wiggle and a twist she crawled all the way under the fruit +stand, her little legs, in the white stockings, being the last to +disappear. + +"Oh, catch her! Quick! Catch her!" cried Mrs. Bunker. But it was too +late. Margy was out of sight under the fruit stand after the little +kitten. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT COUSIN TOM'S + + +When Mr. Bunker heard his wife calling as she did, he stopped and looked +back, for he was walking on ahead with Russ and Laddie. Then all the +other Bunkers stopped, too, and gathered around the fruit stand. All +except Mr. Bunker and the two boys knew what had happened, for they had +seen Margy crawl under. + +The man who owned the stand, who had gone away from it a moment to talk +to the man who kept a socks-and-suspender stand next to him, had not +seen the kitten crawl under his pile of fruit, nor had he seen Margy go +after it. But when he saw the seven Bunkers gathered in a group he at +once thought they wanted to buy some apples, pears, or oranges. + +"Nice fruit! Nice fruit!" said the man, who was an Italian. "Very nice +good fruit and cheap." + +"No, we don't want any fruit now," said Mrs. Bunker. "I want my little +girl." + +"Lil' girl? Lil' girl!" exclaimed the Italian. + +"No got lil' girls. Only got fruit, banan', orange, apple! You want to +buy? Good nice fruit cheap!" + +"No, I want Margy!" cried Mrs. Bunker. + +"Where is she?" asked Mr. Bunker, who, as I have told you, had not seen +where Margy went. + +"She's under the stand," explained his wife. + +"She went to get a kitten," added Rose. + +"No got kittens nor cats needer," said the Italian. "Only got fruit. +Nice fruit, cheap!" + +Mr. Bunker stooped down to look under the stand. + +"No fruit there!" the owner said. "All fruit on top. Nice fruit, cheap!" + +"I am looking for my little girl," explained Mr. Bunker. "She crawled +under there--under your stand--after a kitten." + +And just then could be heard a loud: + +"Mew! Mew! Mew!" + +"Oh, she's caught it! Margy's caught the kittie," cried Mun Bun. "I can +hear him holler." + +Certainly something seemed to have happened to the kitten, for it was +mewing very loudly. Mr. Bunker reached in under the fruit stand, and +made a grab for something. He gave a pull and out came--Margy! + +And as Margy came into view, being pulled by one leg by her father, who +found that was the only way he could reach her, it was seen that the +little girl held, clasped in her arms, the kitten after which she had +crawled. + +"I got it! I got it!" cried Margy, as she sat down on the sidewalk in +front of the fruit stand. + +The kitten was a soft, furry one, but it was rather mussed and +bedraggled now, from the way Margy had mauled it. And the little Bunker +girl was rather tousled herself, for there was not much room underneath +the stand where she had crawled. + +"Oh, my dear Margy!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "You are such a sight!" + +"But I got my kittie!" said the little girl. + +By this time quite a crowd had gathered around the six little Bunkers +and their father and mother. Margy still sat on the sidewalk, with the +kitten in her lap, petting and rubbing it. + +"Come! We must hurry!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "We may miss the boat. Get +up, Margy. Rose, you help your mother dust Margy off, and then we must +hurry." + +"Can't I take the kittie?" asked the little girl. + +"No, dear," answered her mother. "It isn't yours. And besides, we never +could take it to Cousin Tom's with us. Put it down, Margy, my dear!" + +"Oh, oh, I don't want to!" cried the little girl, and real tears came +into her eyes. "I got this kittie out of a dark corner, and it loves me +and I love it! I want it." + +"But you can't take it," said Daddy Bunker. "The kittie must stay here. +It belongs to the fruit stand. It's your cat, isn't it?" he asked the +Italian. + +"My keeten? No. I have no keeten. I sell banan', orange, apple! You buy +some I give you keetie. Me no want!" + +"No, and we don't want it, either," said Mrs. Bunker. "I was hoping it +was yours so you could say you had to keep it here to drive the mice +away. If Margy thought it was yours she wouldn't want to take it away." + +"Ah, I see!" exclaimed the Italian with a smile. "All right, I keep the +keeten," and he said the name in a funny way. + +"There, Margy!" exclaimed her father. "You see you'll have to leave the +kitten here to keep the mice away from the oranges." + +"Can't I take it to Cousin Tom's with me?" + +"No. And you must put it down quickly, and hurry, or we shall miss the +boat." + +Margy started to cry, but the Italian, who seemed to understand +children, quickly offered her a big, yellow orange. Then Margy let go of +the kitten, and the fruit man quickly picked it up and put it down in a +little box out of sight. + +"She no see--she no want," he whispered to Mrs. Bunker. + +"I want an orange!" exclaimed Mun Bun, seeing Margy beginning to eat +hers. "I likes oranges!" + +"All right, we'll all have some," said Mr. Bunker. It seemed like +disappointing the stand-owner to go away without buying some, after all +that had gone on at his place of business. + +So Mr. Bunker bought a large bag of oranges, telling his wife they could +eat them on the boat. Margy forgot about the kitten, and, being dusted, +for she was dirty from her crawl under the stand, the six little Bunkers +once more started off. This time their father and mother watched each +one of the boys and girls to see that none of them did anything to cause +further delays. Russ and Rose and Laddie and Violet were not so +venturesome this way as were Margy and Mun Bun. + +"Now here we are at the dock, and all we have to do is to walk straight +out to the end of the pier and get on the boat when it comes," said Mr. +Bunker. "It is nearly time for it. I don't believe anything more can +happen." + +And nothing did. There was a long walk, or platform, elevated at one +side of the covered pier, and along this the children hurried with their +father and mother. A whistle sounded out on the Hudson River, which +flowed past the far end of the dock. + +"Is that our boat?" asked Russ. + +"I hope not," his father answered. "If it is, we may miss it yet. But I +do not think it is. There are many boats on the river, and they all have +whistles." + +A little later they were in the waiting-room at the end of the dock, +where there were a number of other passengers, and soon a big white +boat, with the name "_Asbury Park_" painted on one side, was seen +steering toward the dock. + +"Here she is!" cried Mr. Bunker, and, a little later, they were all on +board and steaming down New York Bay. + +They steamed on down past the Statue of Liberty, that gift from the +French, past the forts at the Narrows, and so on down the bay. Off to +the left, Daddy Bunker told the children, was Coney Island, where so +many persons from New York go on hot days and nights to get cooled off +near the ocean. + +"Is Seaview like Coney Island?" asked Vi. + +"Well, it may be a little like it," her father answered; "though there +will not be so many merry-go-rounds there or other things to make fun +for you. But I think you will have a good time all the same." + +"We're going to dig for gold, like Sammie Brown's father," declared +Laddie. "If we find a lot of it we can buy a ticket for Coney Island." + +"What makes them call it Coney Island?" asked Vi. "Did they find some +coneys there?" + +"I don't know," her father replied. + +"What's a coney, anyhow?" went on the little girl. + +"I don't know the answer to that question, either," said Mr. Bunker. +"You'll have to ask me something else, Vi." + +"Maybe it's an ice-cream cone they meant," said Russ, "and they changed +it to coney." + +"Did they, Daddy?" Vi wanted to know. + +"Well, you have a questioning streak on to-day," laughed her father. +"I'm sorry I can't tell you how Coney Island got its name." + +So the children looked, first on one side of the boat and then on the +other as they steamed along. Now and then Vi asked questions. Russ +whistled and thought of many things he would make when he reached +Cousin Tom's. Laddie tried to think up a riddle about why the smoke from +the steamer did not stack up in a pile, instead of blowing away, but he +couldn't seem to think of a good answer. And, as he said: + +"A riddle without an answer isn't any fun, 'cause you don't know when +people guess it wrong or right." + +Finally the boat turned toward land and, a little later, Daddy Bunker +said they were near Atlantic Highlands. Then the steamer slowly swung up +to a big pier, the gangplank was run out, and the six little Bunkers, +with their father and mother and the other passengers, got off, their +tickets being taken up as they left the boat. + +A train was waiting at the pier, and soon, with the Bunkers in one of +the coaches, it was puffing down the track, along the edge of the water. +Above the train towered the high hills which gave Atlantic Highlands its +name. + +On the heights, at a station called "Highlands," are two big +lighthouses. + +The Highland light is as bright as ninety-five million candles, and on +a clear night can be seen flashing for many miles. + +"Could we come down and see the light some night?" asked Russ, as his +father told him about it. + +"Yes, I think so," was the answer. "But get ready now. We shall soon be +at Cousin Tom's place." + +The train rumbled over a bridge across the Shrewsbury river, which flows +into Sandy Hook Bay, and then, after passing a few more stations, the +brakeman cried: + +"Seaview! Seaview! All out for Seaview!" + +"Oh, now we're at Cousin Tom's!" cried Rose. "Won't we have fun?" + +"Lots!" agreed Russ. + +"And don't forget about digging for gold!" added Laddie. + +They got off the train, and Cousin Tom, who was waiting for them, +hurried up, all smiles. Behind him came his pretty wife. + +"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" said Cousin Ruth. + +"Are all the six little Bunkers here?" Cousin Tom wanted to know, with a +grin. + +"Every one!" answered Mother Bunker. "But we nearly lost Margy. She +crawled under a fruit stand after a kitten. Where is she now? Margy, +come back!" she called, for she saw the little girl running toward the +train. "Don't get on the cars!" cried Mrs. Bunker. The train was +beginning to move. "Come back, Margy! Oh, get her, some one!" + +But Margy was not going near the train. Suddenly she stooped over and +caught up in her arms a little, white, woolly poodle dog. + +"Look what I found!" she cried. "If I can't have a kittie cat, I can +have a dog. He is a nice dog and he jumped off the train 'cause he likes +me!" + +And, just as Margy picked up the dog in her arms, a woman thrust her +head out of one of the windows of the moving train and screamed. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DIGGING FOR GOLD + + +The dog began to bark, the engine of the train whistled, the woman with +her head out of the car window kept on screaming, and the conductor, +standing out on the platform, shouted something, though no one could +tell what it was. + +"It sounded," said Daddy Bunker, afterward, "like that Mother Goose +story, where the fire begins to burn the stick, the stick begins to beat +the dog, the dog begins to chase the pig and the old lady got home +before midnight." + +"What is the matter?" asked Cousin Tom, who had stopped greeting the six +little Bunkers to look at Margy and the dog, and listen to the screaming +of the woman on the train. + +No one seemed to know, but, suddenly, the engine whistled loudly once, +and then the train came to a stop. Out of the car rushed the woman, +down the steps and toward Margy. + +"My dog!" she cried. "Oh, my pet dog! I thought he was killed!" + +"No'm, I picked him up," explained Margy, as the woman took her pet +animal. "I saw him, and he came to me, 'cause he liked me. I almost got +a little kitten, but it went under a stand and when I pulled it out +Mother wouldn't let me keep it. Now I can't have the doggie, either," +and Margy acted as if she were going to cry. + +"I'm sorry, little girl," said the woman, "but I couldn't give up my pet +Carlo. He is all I have!" and she cuddled the dog in her arms as she +would a baby. + +"Did you stop my train, lady?" asked the conductor, and he seemed rather +angry. + +"Yes," was the answer. "My Carlo ran off, just as it started, and I saw +the little girl pick him up. Then I pulled the whistle-cord, and stopped +the train. I just had to jump off and get my Carlo!" + +"Well, now that you have him, please get back on again," said the +conductor. "We are late now, and must hurry." + +"I'm sorry I can't leave Carlo with you, for I'm sure you would love +him," said the woman to Margy. "But I could not get along without him." + +Margy did not have time to answer, as the woman had to hurry back to the +train. The conductor was waiting, watch in hand, for the train had +stopped after it had started away from the station, and would be a few +minutes late. And on a railroad a few minutes mean a great deal. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Margy. "I had a little kittie and then I didn't have +it. Then I had a little dog and now I haven't that, either! Oh, dear!" + +"Never mind," said Cousin Tom, as he patted the little girl on the head. +"You can come down to the bungalow and play in the sand, and maybe you +can find a starfish or something like that." + +"Oh, are there fish down in your ocean?" asked Russ. + +"Lots of 'em, if you can catch 'em," said Cousin Tom, laughing. + +"And is there any gold?" Laddie asked. + +"I never found any, if there is," was the answer. "But then I never had +much time to dig for it. You may, if you like. But now are you all +ready?" + +"All ready, I think," said Mother Bunker. "Don't pick up any more stray +dogs or cats, Margy, my dear." + +"This one came to me," said the little girl. "I loved him, I did, but +now he is gone." + +However there was so much new to see and talk about down at the seashore +that Margy soon forgot about her little troubles. There were some +carriages and automobiles at the station, and, dividing themselves +between two of these, the Bunkers and Cousin Tom and his wife were soon +driving down toward the ocean, for Cousin Tom lived on a street not far +from the beach. He was the son of Mr. Ralph Bunker, who had been dead +some years, and Mr. Ralph Bunker was Daddy Bunker's brother. So the +children's father was Cousin Tom's uncle, you see. + +"Did you have a nice trip?" asked Cousin Ruth, of Mrs. Bunker, as she +rode beside her in the automobile. + +"Yes, very. Laddie thought a search-light was a thunderstorm, when we +were coming down on the Fall River boat, Margy crawled under a fruit +stand in New York to get a stray kitten, and Mun Bun got mixed up with +another little boy. But we are used to such things happening, and we +don't mind. I hope you will not be driven wild by the children." + +"Oh, no, I love them!" said Cousin Ruth with a smile, as she looked over +at the six little Bunkers. + +"That's good," said their mother with a smile. "Of course they get into +mischief once in a while, but they are usually pretty good and don't +give much trouble. They play very nicely together." + +"I'm sure they must. I shall love them all--every one! I wonder if they +are hungry." + +"They generally are ready to eat," said Mrs. Bunker. "But don't fuss too +much over them. They can wait until meal time." + +But the six little Bunkers did not have to do this, for when they +reached the bungalow, not far from the beach, where Cousin Tom and his +wife lived, there was plenty of bread and jam for the hungry +children--and hungry they were, you would have believed, if you could +have seen them eat. Cousin Ruth seemed to think it was fun. + +"Welcome to Seaview!" cried Cousin Tom, when the children were eating +and Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had laid aside their things and the baggage had +been carried to the different rooms. "Now I want you all to have a good +time while you're here. Make yourselves right at home." + +"They seem to be doing that," said Daddy Bunker, for the children just +then finished their bread and butter and jam, and began to run all +around the house. + +Cousin Tom's bungalow was about a block from the ocean, and on a new +street in Seaview, so there were no other houses very near it. Not far +away was what is called an "inlet." That is, the waters of the ocean +came into the land for quite a distance, making a place where boats +could get in and out without going through the surf, or heavy waves. +This inlet was called Clam River, for toward the upper end, a mile or so +from the sea, it was shallow and sandy, and many clams were found +there. + +Clam River was a harbor for fishing and lobster boats, and they could +run into it and be safe from storms at sea. + +"I'm going out and dig in the sand!" cried Mun Bun. + +"I'll come, too," said Margy. + +"Well, don't pick up any stray dogs or cats," warned her mother. +"Perhaps you had better go with them, Rose," she said to the oldest +girl. + +"All right, Mother. I'll look after them," was the answer, and Rose +became her mother's little helper again. + +Vi and Laddie seemed to be looking for something. They wandered about +the big porch of the bungalow, and out in front, up and down. + +"What do you want?" asked Cousin Ruth, who saw them. + +"Something we can use to dig for gold," answered Laddie. + +"Dig for gold!" exclaimed Cousin Ruth. "Is that a riddle?" for she had +heard that Laddie was very fond of asking riddles. + +"No, this is real," answered the little fellow. "'Tisn't a riddle at +all. Sammie Brown's father dug for gold, and we're going to. There is +always gold in sand." + +"Oh, I'm glad to know that," answered Cousin Ruth. "We have so much sand +around us that if it all has gold in it I'm sure we shall soon be rich. +But I wouldn't be too sure about it, Laddie. Some sand may not have any +gold in it. But you may dig all you like. You'll find some shovels and +pails on the side porch. I put them there on purpose for you children." + +Vi and Laddie found what they wanted, and hurried down to the beach to +dig. Margy and Mun Bun went also, with Rose, while Russ, having found +some bits of driftwood, began to whittle out a boat which he said he was +going to sail on Clam River, where the water was smooth. + +Mr. and Mrs. Bunker sat in the bungalow talking to Cousin Tom and his +wife, telling them about their trip and the visit to Aunt Jo's, from +whose house they had just come. + +"I hope you can stay the rest of the summer with us," said Cousin Tom. + +"It is a lovely place," said Mrs. Bunker, "And we shall stay as long as +you like to have us, for I think the children will like it here. And we +are more than glad to be with you and Cousin Tom. But we have half +promised to visit Grandpa Ford." + +"Yes, and he surely expects us," added her husband. "Is it all right for +the children to play on the beach?" he asked his nephew. + +"Oh, yes, surely. Did you think anything could hurt them?" + +"Well, I didn't know. It's so near the water----" + +"The beach is a very safe one, and the water is shallow, even at high +tide," said Cousin Tom. "At low tide you can wade quite a distance out. +The children will be all right. But do they really expect to find gold +by digging?" + +"I believe they do. It's a story they heard," said Mr. Bunker with a +laugh. "Near Aunt Jo's lived a boy whose father was a sea captain, and +who, I believe, did once find gold on an island. It set Laddie and Vi to +thinking they might do the same. But, of course, there isn't any gold +here." + +"Of course not," said Cousin Tom. + +So Mr. and Mrs. Bunker talked with Cousin Tom and his wife, while the +children played outside. The sun was going down, and it would soon be +time for supper, when Mrs. Bunker, who had gone upstairs to change her +dress, heard Rose calling: + +"Come back, Laddie! Come back! You mustn't get into that boat!" + +"Into a boat? Oh, I should say not!" cried Mrs. Bunker, who could not +see from her window what was going on. "What are you doing, Laddie?" she +called, as she hurried down. + +She heard her little boy's voice in answer: + +"I'm going off in the boat and dig for gold. No, I won't come back, +Rose. I'm going to dig for gold. Come on, Vi!" + +Fearing that something was going to happen, Mrs. Bunker ran out on the +porch, from where she could see the beach. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ROSE'S LOCKET + + +Mrs. Bunker gave a quick glance about to see what was happening. She +noticed Margy and Mun Bun, well up on the beach, digging holes and +making little piles of sand. But down near the inlet, where a boat was +tied, Rose was having trouble with Laddie. + +The little boy who was so fond of asking riddles, and his sister Violet, +who liked to ask questions, had left the place where they first had +begun to "dig for gold," as they called it, and Laddie was about to get +into the boat, calling to his sister Vi to follow. + +"No, you mustn't go!" declared Rose. "You mustn't get into the boat. +Mother told me to stay and watch you, and you've got to keep here on the +beach and dig for gold!" + +"There isn't any gold here!" declared Laddie. "I've dug all over, and we +can't find any; can we, Vi?" + +"Nope, not a bit," and Vi shook her curly hair. + +"So we're going out in the boat, like real sailors. That's what Sammie +Brown's father did," went on Laddie. "Then we'll find gold." + +"But you mustn't get into the boat, Laddie, unless Daddy or Cousin Tom +is with you!" said Mother Bunker. "Do as Rose tells you, and come away." + +Laddie did not want to, but he always minded his mother, except when he +was very bad, and this was not one of those times. So he went slowly +away from the boat, which was tied to a little pier. + +"I was going after gold," he said. "We can't find any here," and he +pointed to the holes he and his little sister had dug. + +"But if you went out in the boat alone, or with Vi, you might fall into +the water," said his mother. "Never get into the boat unless some big +person is with you, Laddie. And I mean you, too, Vi." + +"All right," said the two children. "We won't." + +"Come on!" called Rose to them, now that the dispute was over. "We will +go farther down the shore and dig. And if we don't find any gold maybe +we'll find some pretty shells, or a starfish." + +"Does a starfish twinkle, Mother?" asked Vi. + +"No, I don't believe it does, my dear." + +"Then what makes 'em call it a starfish?" the little girl wanted to +know. + +"Because it has five arms, or perhaps they are legs, and as a star, such +as you see in our flag, has five points, they call the fish that name. +It is shaped like a star, you see. It doesn't twinkle, and it eats +oysters, so I have read." + +"How does it crack the oyster shells?" asked Vi. + +"Oh, now you are asking too many questions for a little girl, and some +that I can't answer," said Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Run along and play +in the sand with Rose. But don't go too far, for it will be time for +supper soon. And don't forget about the boat!" + +"I hope we find a starfish," said Laddie, glad he had something new to +think about. + +"Could I make up a riddle about one, Mother?" + +"I guess so, if you tried hard." + +"I know a riddle about the sand," went on the little chap. "Why is the +sand like a boy?" + +"It isn't," said Rose. "Sand isn't at all like a boy." + +"Yes, it is," went on Laddie. "A boy runs and so does sand." + +"Sand doesn't run," declared Rose. + +"Yes, it does," insisted her little brother. "I heard you say that some +sand ran down into your shoe. So sand runs and a boy runs and that's a +riddle." + +"Yes, I guess it is," laughed Mother Bunker. "Well, you run along and +play." + +And Rose and Laddie and Violet did. They went to where Margy and Mun Bun +were digging holes in the sand. + +"Did you find any gold?" asked Laddie. + +Mun Bun shook his head until his hair was in his eyes. + +"We found a lot of funny little white bugs that jump," he said. + +"They were awful nice little bugs, and they wiggled and wiggled in the +sand," added Margy. + +"Oh, I want to see some!" cried Vi, and then Margy and Mun Bun dug until +they found some "sand hoppers," for the other children. They are a sort +of shore shrimp, I think, and very lively, jumping about, digging +themselves holes in the sand in which they hide. + +Margy and Mun Bun and Laddie and Vi became so interested in looking for +the sand hoppers that they forgot about digging for gold, and it was +almost time for supper when Russ came whistling down the beach calling: + +"Who wants to come and see me sail my boat?" + +"I do! I do!" cried Mun Bun and Laddie, and the girls, Rose also, said +they would go. + +"I haven't got all the sails on yet," explained Russ, "but I guess it +will sail a little this way, and I can put some more sails on +to-morrow." + +From an old shingle and some sticks Russ had made a nice little boat, +fastening to the mast a bit of cloth, which looked like a sail. Followed +by his smaller brothers and sisters Russ took his boat to a place in +the inlet where the water was not deep, and there he let the wind blow +it about, to the delight of all. + +Then came a call from the bungalow. + +"Supper, children! Come on in and get washed!" + +"Oh, I'm so hungry!" cried Rose. + +"So'm I," agreed Russ. + +Margy and Mun Bun didn't say anything, but they looked as if they could +eat. + +"I thought of another riddle," said Laddie, as he went along with Russ. +"It's about why does the sand run." + +"No! That isn't it!" laughed Rose. "You've started it backward, Laddie, +and spoiled it." + +"Oh, yes, now I know. Why is sand like a boy?" + +"Because they both run," answered Russ. It was easy to guess the riddle +after Laddie had partly told it to him. + +"Cousin Tom said lobsters run backwards," put in Violet, having heard +Rose say that Laddie started his riddle backwards. "What makes lobsters +go that way, Russ?" + +"I don't know. I s'pose 'cause they like it." + +"Do fish go backwards?" the little girl went on. + +"I never saw any," Russ answered. + +"And can they stand on their heads?" went on the little girl. + +But no one could answer this question, and there was no time to do so, +anyhow, as they were now at Cousin Tom's bungalow, and from it came the +smell of many good things that had been cooked for supper. + +"My! you have a houseful with all of us Bunkers," said the children's +mother, as they gathered about the table. + +"Yes. There wouldn't be room for many more," said Cousin Tom's pretty +wife. "But I like company." + +"Even if they eat so much it will keep you busy buying more?" asked +Daddy Bunker. + +"Oh, I guess they won't do that," replied Cousin Tom, laughing. + +"We're going to dig gold in the sand, and then we can buy our own things +to eat," declared Laddie. + +"Well, until you do that I'll see that you get enough to eat," said his +cousin. + +After supper they went for a ride on the inlet in Cousin Tom's big +rowboat. + +"I think we had better go back," said Mother Bunker, after they had +ridden about a bit. "It is getting late, and I see two of my little tots +are getting sleepy." + +This was true, for Margy and Mun Bun were nidding and nodding, hardly +able to keep their eyes open, though it was hardly dark yet. But they +had been up early and they had traveled far that day. + +Back to the bungalow they went, and soon the four smaller children were +in bed. + +"And it will be time for you, Russ and Rose, in a little while," said +Mrs. Bunker. They were allowed to stay up a half hour longer than the +others. + +While Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom and the two Mrs. Bunkers were talking +on the side porch, and watching the moon rise, as though it came right +from the ocean, Russ and Rose sat down on the beach. They were within +call from the bungalow, though about a block away from it, Cousin Tom's +place being the first one up from the water. + +Russ picked up a shell, and started to dig. + +"What are you looking for?" asked Rose. + +"I was just wondering if there was any gold here," said her brother. +"Sammie Brown said there was gold in sand, and there's lots of sand +here; isn't there, Rose?" + +"Yes, but Laddie and Violet dug in a lot of places to-day, and so did +Margy and Mun Bun, and they didn't find any gold." + +"They didn't know how to look for it," declared Russ. "You have to dig +deep for gold." + +"I'll help," offered Rose. "I like to dig in the sand." + +She found a clam shell, as large as the one Russ had, and with those for +shovels, the children began digging on the beach in the moonlight. They +could look back and see the bungalow, and Mr. and Mrs. Bunker could see +the children from where they sat. + +The ocean surf made a loud noise. + +"Doesn't it sound nice and scary-like?" asked Rose, as she reached her +arm down into the hole she was digging, and scooped up some damp sand. + +"Yes. It's like the desert island Sammie told about," agreed Russ, +listening to the boom and hiss of the waves as they broke on the beach. +"Have you found any gold yet, Rose?" + +"No. Have you?" + +Russ shook his head. + +"I guess we've got to go deeper," he said. + +It grew later. The moon rose higher, and it became a little more +"scary-like." Presently Mrs. Bunker called: + +"Come, Rose! Russ! Time to go to bed!" + +"All right!" they answered. They were tired enough to want to go to +sleep. + +They dropped their clam shells near the holes they had dug, and started +up the beach. Suddenly Rose gave a cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked Russ. + +"My locket! My gold locket that Grandma gave me! It's gone! Oh, I have +lost my lovely gold locket!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE SAND HOUSE + + +"What's the matter?" called Mr. Bunker from the bungalow porch. He had +heard the sobbing voice of Rose. "Has anything happened?" he went on. +"Tell Daddy what it is." + +"I have lost my lovely gold locket!" sobbed Rose. "The one Grandma gave +me! I dropped it in the sand, I guess, when I was digging the holes for +gold. I wish I hadn't dug!" + +"Stand right where you are!" called Daddy Bunker. "I'll bring my +electric flashlight and look around for your locket. It may have dropped +on the sand right where you are. So don't move until I get there and can +see the place. I'll find your gold locket, Rose." + +The moon was bright, and, shining on the ocean and on the white sand, +made the beach very light. But still, as Rose looked about her and over +to where Russ stood, she could not see her gold locket. And she wanted +very much to get it back, as it was a present from Grandma Bell, and +Rose liked it more than any of her other gifts. She did not often wear +it, but on this occasion, coming on the trip from Aunt Jo's, Rose had +begged to be allowed to hang the ornament on its gold chain about her +neck, and her mother had allowed her to do so. + +Rose had promised to be careful, and she had been. She had noticed the +locket after supper and when she came out in the evening to dig in the +sand with Russ. But now it was gone, and just where she had dropped it +Rose did not know. + +"And now my lovely locket is gone!" she sobbed. + +"Never mind! I'll get it for you," said Daddy Bunker. + +Russ and Rose stood still as he had told them to do, and now they saw +their father coming toward them waving his pocket electric light. He +usually carried it with him to peer into dark corners. It would be just +the thing with which to look for the lost locket. + +"Did you remember where you had it on you last?" asked Daddy Bunker, as +he came close to Rose. + +"Just before Russ and I started to dig with the clam shells to find the +gold," she answered. + +"Where was that?" her father asked. + +Russ and his sister pointed to where two little piles of sand near some +holes could be seen in the moonlight. + +"That is where we dug for gold," said Rose. + +"But we didn't find any," added Russ. + +"You may now, if you dig--or to-morrow," said their father. + +"Really?" inquired Russ. + +"You may dig up Rose's gold locket," went on Mr. Bunker. "I don't +believe there is any other gold in these sands, even if Sammie Brown's +father did find some on a desert island. But if Rose dropped her locket +here, there is surely gold, for the locket was made of that. Now don't +walk about, or you may step on the locket and bend it. I will flash my +light as I go along, and look." + +Daddy Bunker did this, while Rose, standing near her brother, looked on +anxiously. Would her father find the piece of jewelry she liked so +much? It was hard to find things, once they were buried in the sand, +Rose knew, for that afternoon Cousin Ruth had told about once dropping a +piece of money on the beach, and never finding it again. + +"And maybe my locket slipped off my neck when I was digging the deep +hole," thought Rose; "and then I piled up the sand and covered it all +over." + +Daddy Bunker must have thought the same thing, for he flashed his light +about the sand piles made by Russ and his sister. He did not dig in +them, however. + +"We won't do any digging until morning," he said. "We can see better, +then, what we are doing. I thought perhaps the locket might lie on top +of the sand, and that I could pick it up. But it doesn't seem to. You +had better come in to bed, Russ and Rose." + +"But I want my locket," sighed the little girl. + +"And I thought I could find it for you," said Mr. Bunker. "I think I +can, in the morning, when the sun shines. Just now there are so many +shadows that it is hard to see such a little thing as a locket." + +"Will it be all right out here all alone in the night?" asked Rose. + +"Oh, yes, I think so," her father said. "As it is gold it will not +tarnish. And as no one knows where it is it will probably not be picked +up, for no one will be able to see it any more than I. And I don't +believe many persons come down here after dark. It is rather a lonely +part of the shore. I think your locket will be all right until we can +take a look for it in the morning." + +"Maybe a starfish might get it," said the little girl. + +"Oh, no!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "Starfish like oysters, but they do not +care for gold lockets. I'll find yours for you in the morning, Rose." + +This made Rose feel better, and she went inside the bungalow with Russ +and her father. Mrs. Bunker, as well as Cousin Tom and his wife, felt +sorry on hearing of Rose's loss, but they, too, felt sure that the +ornament would be found on the sand in the morning. + +I do not know whether or not Rose dreamed about her lost locket. +Certainly she thought about it the last thing before she fell asleep. +But she slumbered very soundly, and, if she dreamed at all, she did not +remember what her visions of the night were. + +But she thought of her locket as soon as she awoke, however, and, +dressing quickly, she ran down on the sand. Her father was ahead of her, +though, and, with a rake in his hand, he was going over the beach near +the place where Russ and Rose had dug the holes. + +"Is this the only place you children hunted for gold?" asked Mr. Bunker, +as he saw Rose coming along. + +"Yes, Daddy," she answered. "And we were right there when I didn't have +my locket any more. Can't you find it?" + +"I haven't yet," he answered. "I've raked over the sand as carefully as +I could, but I didn't see the locket." + +"Did you look down into the holes we dug, Daddy?" + +"Yes, and all around them. It's queer, but the locket seems to have +disappeared." + +"Maybe a starfish came up and took it down into the ocean with him." + +"No, Rose. If the locket was dropped on the beach it is here yet. But it +is rather a large place, and perhaps I am not looking just where I ought +to. However I will not give up." + +Daddy Bunker looked for some little time longer, pulling the sand about +with the rake, but no locket showed. Then others looked, including the +children, Cousin Tom, his wife and Mother Bunker. But they had no better +luck. + +"Well, we know one thing," said Daddy Bunker. "There is gold in this +sand now if there was not before. Rose's gold locket is here." + +"And I don't guess I'll ever find it," said the little girl with a sigh. +"Oh, dear!" + +"Maybe it slipped off your neck in the house," suggested Cousin Ruth. +"I'll look carefully, and you may help me." + +But this did no good either, and though the search was a careful one, +and though the sand was gone over again, the lost locket was not picked +up. + +"I'm going to dig every day until I find it!" said Rose. + +"And I'll help!" added Russ. + +"So will I!" said Laddie; and the other children, when they knew what a +loss had come to Rose, said they, also, would help. + +If it had not been for this accident the visit of the six little Bunkers +to Seaview would have been without a flaw. Even as it was, it turned out +to be most delightful. Seaview was a fine place to spend the end of the +summer, and Cousin Tom and his wife made the children feel so at home, +and did so much for them, that Russ and the others said they never had +been in a nicer place. + +"If I only had my locket!" sighed Rose, as the days passed. + +But it seemed it would never be found, and after a time, the thought of +it passed, in a measure, from the little girl's mind. She did not speak +of it often, though sometimes when she went down on the beach, near the +holes she and Russ had dug in the moonlight, Rose looked about and +scraped the sand to and fro with a shell or a bit of driftwood. + +But as the beach looks pretty much alike in many places, it is hard to +know whether, after the first few times, Rose dug in the right place. + +Cousin Ruth looked again all through the bungalow for the gold locket, +and, whenever any one thought of it, he or she poked about in the sand. +But the locket seemed gone forever. + +There was plenty to do at Seaview to have fun. The children could go in +wading and swimming, they could play in the sand, they could sail toy +boats in the inlet and they could go out in a real boat with their +father or Cousin Tom. + +More than once they were taken out on the quiet waters, and they sat in +the boat while their father or his nephew fished. Once Russ held the +pole and he caught a funny, flat fish, that seemed as if it had been put +through the wringer which squeezed the water out of the clothes on wash +day. + +"What kind of fish is that?" asked Violet, when she saw it flapping +about in the bottom of the boat. + +"It's a flounder," answered Cousin Tom. + +"Is it good to eat?" + +"Yes, very good." + +"Maybe it swallowed Rose's locket. Do you think so, Daddy?" asked the +little girl. + +"Oh, no, Vi. Now don't ask so many questions, please." + +"Could I ask a riddle?" Laddie wanted to know. + +"Oh, I suppose so," laughed his father. "What is it?" + +"I haven't made it up yet," went on Laddie. "It's going to be about a +flounder and a wringer, but I got to think. When I get it ready I'll +tell you." + +"Don't forget!" laughed Cousin Tom. + +It was about a week after Rose had lost her locket and it had not been +found, that one day Russ called to Rose: + +"Come on down to the beach. I know how we can have some fun." + +"What can we do?" asked his sister. + +"We'll build a house and have a play party," answered Russ. + +"Where?" + +"On the beach. We can build a house in the sand." + +So the children started off, with their shovels and sand pails. Their +mother watched them, thinking how nice it was that they could be at the +shore in hot weather. + +It was about an hour after Rose and Russ had started down the beach +together to make a sand house that Mrs. Bunker, who was just thinking of +taking a walk and having another look for the lost locket, heard cries. + +"Mother! Mother! Come quick!" she heard Russ calling. + +"What's the matter?" cried Mrs. Bunker. + +"Oh, come quick!" went on Russ. "Rose is in the sand house! Rose is in +the sand house!" + +Not knowing what had happened, Mrs. Bunker set off on a run down the +beach. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PIRATE BUNGALOW + + +The mother of the six little Bunkers was used to having things happen to +them. She did not have half a dozen children without knowing that, +nearly every day, some one of them would fall down and bump a nose, cut +a finger, get caught in a fence, or have something like that happen to +make trouble. So, in a way, Mrs. Bunker was used to calls for help. + +"But this seems different," she said to herself, as she ran along. "I'm +afraid something has happened to Rose." + +And something had. As Mrs. Bunker came within sight of Russ and his +sister, where they had gone to dig their sand house, their mother saw +her oldest boy dancing about on the beach. + +"Where is Rose?" called Mrs. Bunker. "What have you done with Rose?" + +"I didn't do anything to her, Mother!" answered Russ. "But she's in the +sand house and she can't get out!" + +Mrs. Bunker kept on running toward the children; at least toward Russ. +Rose she could not see. + +"She can't get out of the sand house 'cause it fell down on her," +explained Russ. "I tried to pull her out, but I couldn't, so I hollered +for you, Mother!" + +"Something dreadful must have happened! I wish I had stopped for Daddy!" +thought Mrs. Bunker. + +By this time she was close beside Russ, who was capering about like an +Indian doing a war dance. But Russ was not doing it for fun. He was just +excited, and couldn't keep still. + +"Where is your sister?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"There!" answered Russ, pointing. + +Then Mrs. Bunker understood why she had not seen Rose before. It was +because the little girl was hidden behind a pile of sand. But there was +more than this the matter. For Rose was down in a hole, and the sand had +caved in on her feet and legs, covering her up almost to her waist. Rose +was held fast in a heap of sand, and, wiggle and twist though she did, +she could not get out. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sobbed the little girl, tears streaming down her +cheeks. "I'm all fast and I can't get out!" + +"I'll get you out! There! Don't cry any more," said Mrs. Bunker. "I'll +soon have you out. Get a shovel, and help me dig Rose loose," she called +to Russ. + +"All right," answered the little boy. He had stopped jumping about now. + +"Where are your shovels, Russ?" asked his mother, looking about for +something with which to dig. + +"We didn't have any. We used big clam shells," he answered. "Here's one, +and I'll get another." + +The large clam shells were pretty good to use as shovels, though Mrs. +Bunker felt that she could have worked faster with a regular one. +However, she had to do the best she could, and really the shell scooped +the sand out very well. Russ helped, and they both set to work to dig +Rose out of the hole in which she was partly buried. + +"It's a good thing the sand didn't slide in on you and cover your head," +said Mrs. Bunker. "How did it happen, Russ?" + +"Well, we were digging a sand house--it was just a hole in the sand, you +know," the little boy explained. "We were going to put some sticks +across the top, when we got it deep enough to stand up in, and put some +seaweed over the sticks for a roof. I saw some boys on the beach make a +sand house like that yesterday. + +"But after we dug down a way," he went on, "Rose got down in the hole so +she could dig better. She scooped the sand up to me and I put it in a +heap on the beach. And then, all of a sudden, a lot of the sand slid in +on Rose and she was held fast and--and----" + +"And I couldn't get out, but I tried like anything!" added Rose, as her +brother stopped for breath. "And then Russ screamed for you +and--and--Oh, I'm so glad you came!" and Rose leaned her head against +her mother, who was busy digging out the sand with the clam shell. + +"I'm glad I came, too, my dear," said Mrs. Bunker. "After this don't dig +such deep sand holes, or, if you do, don't get into them. Sand, you +know, is not like other dirt. It doesn't stay in one place, but slips +and slides about." + +"But we want to have something to play in!" exclaimed Russ. + +"Well, we want you to have fun while you are here at Cousin Tom's, but +we don't want you to get hurt," said Mrs. Bunker. "Can't you make a +little playhouse of the driftwood on the beach? That would be nicer to +play in than a damp hole." + +"Oh, yes, we could do that!" cried Rose. "Let's make a wooden house on +the beach, Russ! There's lots of wood!" + +"And then we can play pirates!" added the little boy. + +A little later Rose had been dug out of the sand, and though her dress +was a little damp, for the sand, as one dug down into it, was rather +wet, she was not hurt. + +All along the sands at Seaview, after high tide, were bits of planks and +boards and chips, and after Rose had been dug out of the sand house she +and Russ began gathering all the wood they could pick up to make what +Russ said would be a "pirate bungalow." + +Mrs. Bunker, after telling the children once more not to dig deep holes, +left them on the beach to play, herself going back to Cousin Tom's +bungalow. + +Margy and Mun Bun, who had been gathering shells and stones down on the +sand, had come up to play in front of the house, on a bit of green lawn. +Laddie and Vi, who had walked up and down the beach, looking for some +starfish, which they did not find, came to where Russ and Rose were +getting ready to play. + +"What are you making?" asked Laddie. + +"A pirate bungalow," answered Russ. "Want to help?" + +"Yep," answered Laddie. + +"And I will, too," said Vi. "What are you going to put in it? Will it be +big enough for all of us, and what makes so much wood here, Russ?" + +"Now if you're going to ask a lot of questions you can't play!" said +Rose. "You just help pick up the wood, Vi." + +"Can't I ask just one more question?" + +"What is it?" asked Russ, smiling. + +"What makes the ocean so salty?" Vi asked this time. "I got some water +on my hands and then I put my finger in my mouth and it tasted just like +I'd put too much salt on my potatoes. What makes the ocean so salty?" + +"I don't know," said Russ. "We'll ask Daddy when we go up. But come on, +and let's build the bungalow. I'll be a pirate, and we'll play shipwreck +and everything." + +"I'll be a pirate, too," added Laddie. "I know a good riddle about a +pirate, but I can't think of it now. Maybe I will after I've been a +pirate for a while." + +"We'll be pirates, too," said Vi. + +"No, girls can't be," said Russ. "You can be our prisoners. Pirates +always have prisoners." + +"Prisoners? What's them?" asked Vi. + +"They're what pirates have," explained Laddie. "I know, 'cause I saw +some pictures of 'em in a book. Pirates always keep their prisoners +shut up in a cave." + +"I'm not going to be in a cave," said Rose. "I was in the sand house +when it caved in, and I don't like it." + +"But you get good things to eat," explained Russ. "Pirates always have +to feed their prisoners good things to eat." + +"Then I'll be one, 'cause I'm hungry," said Vi. + +"So'll I," added Laddie. "I'll be a prisoner. I guess I'd rather be a +prisoner than a pirate, Russ. You can be the pirate and get us all good +things to eat." + +"All right, I will. Now come on, we've got to get a lot more wood to +make this pirate bungalow. Get all the wood you can." + +"Why don't you get some?" asked Laddie, as he saw his brother sitting +down on a pile of drift pieces that had already been gathered. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +GOING CRABBING + + +Russ Bunker looked up at his brother Laddie and smiled. Still he made no +move toward helping gather the driftwood for the bungalow they were +going to make. + +"Well, why don't you help get wood?" asked Laddie again. "Think we're +going to do all the work and have you sit there?" + +"Say, I'm a pirate, ain't I?" asked Russ, not getting his words just +right, though his brother and sisters understood what he meant. "Didn't +you say I was to be the pirate?" + +"Yes, 'cause we don't want to be," retorted Rose. + +"Well, all right then, I'm going to be the pirate," went on Russ. + +"But you've got to get us good things to eat," said Vi. "We're the +prisoners, an' you said they had good things to eat." + +"I'll get good things to eat if Cousin Ruth'll give 'em to me," promised +Russ. "But I'm the pirate, and pirates don't ever work. They just boss +the prisoners. Now come on, prisoners, and build me the bungalow!" and +Russ leaned back on a pile of sea weed and looked very lazy and +comfortable. + +"Don't pirates _ever_ work?" asked Laddie. + +"Nope! Not the kind I ever heard Mother read about in books," went on +Russ. "They just tell the prisoners what to do, 'ceptin', of course, +when there's any fighting. Pirates are 'most always fighting, but we +won't play that part, 'cause Mother doesn't like that. I'll be a good +pirate, and I'll let you prisoners build the bungalow." + +"But you've got to get us something to eat," said Vi again. + +"I'll do that," promised Russ. "I'll go up now and ask Cousin Ruth for +some, and you prisoners can be getting a lot of wood." + +The plans Russ made came out all right. Cousin Tom's pretty young wife +was very glad to give the children some crackers and cookies to take +down on the beach to eat, and when Russ got back with the bag of good +things he found that Rose, Laddie and Violet had collected a large pile +of driftwood. + +"Now we'll make the bungalow," decided Russ. "I'll help work at that, +'cause the pirates want it made just so. But you prisoners have got to +help." + +"Can't we eat first, 'fore we make the bungalow?" asked Violet. "I'm as +hungry as anything!" + +"Yes, I guess we could eat first. I'm hungry, too," returned the +"pirate." + +Then the "pirate" and his "prisoners" sat down on the sand together, as +nicely as you please, leaning against bits of driftwood covered with +seaweed, and ate the lunch Cousin Ruth had given them. It did not take +very long. Probably you know what a very short time cookies last among +four hungry children. + +"Well, now we'll start to build," said Russ, when the last cookie and +cracker had been eaten. "First we'll stick up four posts in the sand, +one for each corner of the bungalow." + +The children had made playhouses before, not only at their home in +Pineville, but while they were at Grandma Bell's house, near Lake +Sagatook, Maine; so they knew something of what they wanted to do. + +Of course the bungalow was rather rough. It could not be otherwise with +only rough driftwood with which to make it. But then it was just what +the children wanted. + +When the four posts were set deep in the sand, in holes dug with clam +shells, the children placed boards from one to the other, sometimes +making them fast, by driving in, with stones for hammers, the rusty +nails which were found in some pieces of the wood. Other boards or +planks they tied together with bits of string. Over the top they placed +sticks, and on top of the sticks they spread seaweed. + +"We don't want the roof very heavy," said Russ, "'cause then if it falls +in on us, as our snow house roof did once, it won't hurt us. All we want +is something to keep off the sun." + +"Won't it keep the rain out, too?" asked Rose. + +"No, I don't guess it will," answered Russ, as he looked up and saw +several holes in the roof. "Anyhow we won't play out here when it rains. +Mother wouldn't let us." + +The pirate bungalow was soon finished; that is, finished as much as the +children wanted it, and then they began playing in it. Russ pretended +that he was the pirate, and that the others were his prisoners. He made +them dig little holes in the sand, and bring in shells and stones as +well as seaweed. This last he made believe was hay for a make-believe +elephant. + +"Do pirates have elephants?" asked Violet. + +"Sometimes maybe they do," her brother said. "Anyhow I can make believe +that just for fun." + +"Are we going to eat any more?" asked Laddie. "Or is that only +make-believe, too?" + +"I'll see if I can get some more from Cousin Ruth," promised Russ. Once +more he made a trip up to the real bungalow, and Cousin Ruth, with +laughter, filled another bag with cookies. This time Margy and Mun Bun, +tired of playing with the shells and pebbles, went down on the beach to +the driftwood pirate bungalow. + +It was rather a tight squeeze to get all six of the little Bunkers +inside, and not have the place burst and fall apart. But they managed +it, and then they sat under the seaweed roof and ate the cookies, having +a fine time. + +"My, this is cozy!" cried Cousin Tom, as, with Daddy Bunker, he came +down to see what the children were doing. "And you've had something to +eat, too!" he went on, as he saw some crumbs scattered about. + +"Yes, we had some," said Russ, "but it's all gone now. But if you are +hungry I can get some more," and he started from the bungalow. + +"Oh, no!" laughed Daddy Bunker, who had been told by his wife of Russ' +two visits to Cousin Ruth's kitchen. "I guess we don't feel hungry now. +Anyhow dinner will soon be ready." + +The children played in the pirate bungalow all the remainder of the day, +stopping only for dinner and supper. The seaweed roof kept off the hot +August sun, and, as it did not rain, the holes in the covering did not +matter. + +Rose and Violet took their dolls down and played with them there. Russ, +after a while, gave up being a pirate, and said his "prisoners" could +all go, but they seemed to like staying around the driftwood house. + +"If we had a door on it we could stay in it all night," said Vi. "Why +didn't you make a door, Russ?" + +"Too hard work," he answered. "Anyhow we don't want to stay down here +all night." + +"The waves might come up and wash us away," said Rose. + +Laddie, who had been smoothing the sand in one corner of the pirate +bungalow, now stopped and seemed to be thinking hard. + +"What's the matter?" asked Russ. + +"I have a new riddle," was the answer. "It's about a door." + +"Is it why does a door swing?" asked Violet. "'Cause if it is, I can +answer that one. I've heard it before. A door swings because it isn't a +hammock." + +"Nope! 'Tisn't that," said Laddie. "This is my new riddle. What goes +through a door, but never comes into the room?" + +"Say it again," begged Russ, who had not been listening carefully. + +"What goes through the door, but never comes into the room?" asked +Laddie again. "It's a good riddle, and I made it up all myself." + +"Does it go out of the room if it doesn't come in?" asked Rose. + +"Nope," answered Laddie, shaking his head. "It doesn't do anything. It +just goes through the door, but it doesn't come in or go out." + +"Nothing can do that," declared Russ. "If a thing goes through the door +it's got to come in or go out, else it doesn't go through." + +"Oh, yes, it does," said Laddie. "Do you give up?" + +"Is it a cat?" asked Vi. + +"Nope." + +"A dog?" + +"Nope." + +"A turtle?" guessed Mun Bun, who didn't quite know what it was all +about, but who wanted to guess something. + +"Nope!" said Laddie, laughing. "I'll tell you. It's the keyhole!" + +"The keyhole?" cried Russ. "No!" + +"To be sure!" answered his small brother. "Doesn't a keyhole go all the +way through the door? If it didn't you couldn't get the key in. The +keyhole goes through the door, but it doesn't come into the room nor go +out. It just stays in the door. Isn't that a good riddle?" + +"Yes, it is," answered Rose. "I'd never have guessed it." + +"I thought it up all myself while you were talking about a door to this +bungalow," said Laddie. "What goes through the door but doesn't come in +the room? A keyhole," and he laughed at his own riddle. + +The next day Cousin Tom went down to the beach, where once more Russ, +Rose and the others were playing in the driftwood bungalow, and called: + +"How many of you would like to go crabbing?" + +"I would!" cried Russ. + +"So would I," said Rose. + +"What is it like?" asked Vi, who, you might know, would ask a question +the first thing. + +"Well, it's like fishing, only it isn't quite so hard for little folk," +said Cousin Tom. "Come along, if you're through playing, and I'll show +you how to go crabbing." + +"Are Daddy and Mother going?" asked Rose. + +"Yes, we'll all go. Come along." + +The six little Bunkers followed Cousin Tom up the beach to the inlet. +There, tied to a pier not far from Cousin Tom's bungalow, was a large +boat. Near it stood Mother and Father Bunker and Cousin Ruth. Cousin +Ruth had some peach baskets, two long-handled nets and some strings to +the ends of which were tied chunks of meat. + +"Are we going to feed a dog?" asked Russ. + +"No, that is bait for the crabs," said Cousin Tom. "Come, now, get into +the boat, and we'll go for a new kind of fishing." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +"THEY'RE LOOSE!" + + +"All aboard!" cried Russ as he stood on the edge of the little wharf in +the inlet, at which the boat was tied. "All aboard." + +"Does he mean we must all get a piece of board?" asked Violet. + +"No," answered her mother with a smile. "Russ is saying what the sailors +say when they want every one to get on the ship, take their places, and +be ready for the start." + +The rowboat was a large one, and would hold the six little Bunkers, as +well as their daddy and mother and Cousin Tom. + +Cousin Ruth had intended to go, but, at the last minute, the woman +living in the next bungalow asked her to help with some sewing; so +Cousin Ruth stayed at home. + +"I'll get all ready to cook the crabs if you catch any," she said with a +smile, as Cousin Tom and Daddy Bunker rowed the boat out into the +inlet. + +"Oh, we'll get some!" cried Russ. + +"Crabs bite, don't they?" asked Violet, who seemed started on her +questioning tricks. + +"Well, they don't exactly bite; it's more of a pinch," said Cousin Tom. +"But it hurts, I can tell you." + +"Then I'm not going to catch any," declared Violet. "I'll just watch +you." + +"Oh, a crab won't pinch you if you catch him in a net; and that's what +I'll do," said her cousin. "We'll soon be at the place where there are +lots of them, I hope." + +As Cousin Tom rowed along, he told the six little Bunkers that the crabs +swam up the inlet from the sea to get things to eat, and also for the +mother crab to lay eggs, so little crabs would hatch out. + +"And when the big crabs swim up, which they do whenever the tide runs +into the inlet, twice a day," said Cousin Tom, "we go out and catch +them. Of course you can catch them at other times, but the crabbing is +best when the tide is coming in." + +"But I don't see any hooks on the lines," remarked Laddie, who was +looking at the strings in the bottom of the boat. On one end of each +string was a short piece of wood, and on the other end a piece of meat, +while on a few were some fish heads. + +"You don't need hooks to catch crabs," explained Cousin Tom. "All you +need to do is to tie a piece of meat on the string." + +"And does the crab bite that?" asked Russ. + +"No, but he takes it in his strong claws, to hold it so he can tear off +little pieces with his smaller claws and put them into his mouth," said +Cousin Tom. "A crab's mouth is small, and he has to tear his food into +little bits before he can swallow it. He uses his big front claws for +grabbing hold of what he wants to eat and holding on to it, and he likes +old meat or fish heads best of all. + +"So, when we get to the place where I think some crabs are, we'll let +down the pieces of meat. The crabs, swimming along, or crawling sideways +on the bottom of the inlet, as they more often do, will smell the chunk +of meat. They will take hold of it in their claws, and then one of us +can reach down the net and scoop it under Mr. Crab. That's how we catch +them." + +"But how do you know when one has hold of the piece of meat on the +string?" asked Rose. + +"You can feel him giving it little jerks and tugs," said Cousin Tom. +"Or, if the water is clear, you can see him as he takes hold of the +chunk of meat. Then you want to pull up on your string, very, very +gently, so as not to scare the crab and make him let go. If you know how +to do it you can lift your string up with one hand, and scoop the net +under the crab with the other. But when you children have a bite, your +Daddy or I will use the net for you." + +"Oh, it's going to be lots of fun," cried Violet. "I like this kind of +fishing." + +"And there aren't any sharp hooks to hurt the crab," added Rose. + +"No, it doesn't hurt a crab to catch him this way," said Daddy Bunker. +"And crabs are very good to eat after they are cooked. I like them +better than fish." + +"Is a crab a fish?" asked Laddie, who was holding a little stick down in +the water, watching the ripples it made as the boat was rowed along. + +"A crab is a sort of fish," said Cousin Tom. "Why did you ask?" + +"Oh, I am trying to make up a riddle about a crab and a fish," said +Laddie. "But I don't guess I can if they are pretty near the same. I +guess I'll make up a riddle about a boat. I have one 'most thought up. +It goes like this: When a boat goes in the water why doesn't the water +go in the boat?" + +"It does, sometimes, if the boat leaks," replied Cousin Tom with a +laugh. "I hope your riddle doesn't come true this trip, Laddie!" + +"Oh, well, I haven't got the riddle all made up yet," was the answer. "I +can't think of a good answer. Maybe I can after I catch some crabs." + +"Why doesn't our boat sink?" asked Violet. + +"'Cause it's wood, and that floats," said Russ. + +"Well, once you made a little wooden boat, and it sunk when we put a lot +of stones on it," said Vi. "And my doll--a little one--was on the boat, +and she got all wet." + +"Well, if a boat is made of wood, an' it's big enough, it won't sink, +will it, Daddy?" asked Russ. + +"No, I don't believe it will, if it doesn't get a hole through it so the +water can get in. But sit still now, children. I think we are at the +place where Cousin Tom is going to let us catch crabs. Aren't we, Tom?" +asked Mr. Bunker of his nephew. + +"Yes," said Cousin Tom, "this is a good place. There is plenty of +seaweed on the bottom of the inlet here, and the crabs like to hide in +that--especially the soft-shelled crabs." + +"Are there two kinds?" Russ inquired. + +"Yes, hard and soft," was his cousin's answer. + +"Like eggs," said Russ with a laugh. "There are hard and soft boiled +eggs. Isn't that so, Cousin Tom? + +"Yes," said Cousin Tom with a smile. "But the funny part of it is that +sometimes the same crab is soft-shelled, and again it is hard-shelled. +An egg can't be that way. Once it is boiled hard it never can be boiled +soft again." + +"What makes soft crabs?" Rose wanted to know. + +"A soft-shelled crab is a hard-shelled crab with its old, hard shell +off, and it is only soft while it is waiting for its new shell to harden +in the salty sea water," explained Cousin Tom. "You see a crab grows, +but its shell, or its house that it lives in, doesn't grow. So it has to +shed that, or wiggle out of it, to let a larger one grow in its place. +When it does that it is a soft-shelled crab for a time, and very good to +eat. But you can't catch soft-shelled crabs on a string and a chunk of +meat. You have to go along and scoop them out of the seaweed with a net. +But now we will fish for hard-shelled crabs." + +Cousin Tom and Daddy Bunker had rowed the boat about a mile up the +inlet, and now the anchor was tossed over the side, to keep the craft +from drifting with the tide. + +"Now each one of you take a string, and toss the meat-end of it over the +side," said Cousin Tom. "Keep hold of the stick-end, or tie that end to +the boat. If you lose that you can't pull in your crab. Each one of you +keep watch of his or her string. When you see it beginning to be +pulled, or when you feel a little tug or jerk on it, as if a fish were +nibbling, then pull up very slowly and carefully. And look as you pull. +Don't pull it all the way to the top, or the crab, if there is one on +it, will see you, let go, and swim away." + +The six little Bunkers did as they were told. Of course Margy and Mun +Bun were too little to know how to catch crabs, but they each had a +line, and Mother Bunker said she would catch them for the small tots. + +"Oh, I think I have one!" suddenly exclaimed Russ in a whisper. "Look at +my line move!" + +"Yes, you may have a crab on there," returned Cousin Tom. "Pull up very +gently." + +Russ did so, while his cousin reached forward with the long-handled net +ready to scoop it under the crab, if it should happen to be one. + +Up and up Russ pulled his line. Every one was eagerly watching, for they +wanted to see the first crab caught. And then, as the chunk of meat on +Russ's string came near the top of the water, Rose, from the other end +of the boat, cried: + +"Oh, it's only a piece of seaweed!" + +And so it was! How disappointed Russ was! The bit of green seaweed, +catching on his line, had wiggled and tugged, as the tide swayed it, +just as a crab would have done. + +"Oh, I have one! I have one!" suddenly called Laddie, from his end of +the boat. "He's a big one! He's pulling like anything!" + +"Well, don't get excited and fall overboard," said Daddy Bunker. "Keep +still, pull up slowly, and I'll get him in the net for you." + +Slowly Laddie pulled up. Every one was watching. Would his "bite," too, +prove to be only seaweed? + +"Yes, you have one!" said Mother Bunker in a low voice, so as not to +frighten the crab. I don't really know whether loud noises frighten +crabs or not, but generally every one keeps quiet when fishing. + +"Yes, Laddie has a crab," said Daddy Bunker. "Wait, now, I'll get it in +the net!" + +[Illustration: THE CRAB HAD HOLD OF LADDIE'S BAIT IN BOTH CLAWS. +_Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's._--_Page 120_] + +Laddie's father dipped the net down into the water, shoved it under the +crab, chunk of meat and all, and lifted it suddenly out of the water. +The crab had hold of Laddie's bait in both claws, and before the +creature could let go it had been caught. + +"Oh, look at him wriggle!" cried Rose. + +"Now I'll dump him into the basket," said Daddy Bunker. He turned the +net upside down over the peach basket. Out dropped Mr. Crab, letting go +of the chunk of meat, which Laddie pulled out by the string. The crab +crawled about sideways on the bottom of the basket, raising its claws +into the air and clashing them together, at the same time opening and +shutting the pinching part. + +"That's the way a crab fights," said Cousin Tom. "And sometimes two big +crabs will fight so hard that one pulls a claw off the other. You have +caught a fine, big one, Laddie." + +"A dandy," agreed Laddie. + +"And I've got one, too!" cried Vi. "Oh, he's pulling like anything!" + +She really had a crab on her line. Cousin Tom netted it for her, and it +turned out to be larger than Laddie's. + +"I think the crab fishing will be good to-day," said Daddy Bunker. + +And so it turned out. From then on each one began to catch the pinching +creatures, the older folks using the net when the children had bites. +Once Russ tried to use the net himself, but he was not quick enough with +it, and the crab let go of the chunk of meat and swam quickly away. + +"He was a dandy big one, too!" said Russ regretfully. + +Mun Bun and Margy each one caught a crab, with the help of their mother, +and Rose, Violet and Laddie had good luck, also. Cousin Tom and Daddy +Bunker, of course, caught the most. Mother Bunker helped the children +land theirs in the net. And, after about an hour of fishing, the peach +basket was full of the big-clawed crabs. + +"I think we have enough," said Cousin Tom. "We will take them home and +cook them. Then we can eat them cold-boiled with lemon juice on them, or +they can be made into a salad." + +"Catching crabs is lots of fun," said Russ. + +"Eating them is good, too," said his father. + +They rowed back home, and found Cousin Ruth waiting for them at the +bungalow. + +"Oh, you did have good luck," said Cousin Tom's wife. "A whole +basketful! Well, I'll soon have the water boiling and we'll cook them." + +The basket full of live crabs was set in the kitchen, and the six little +Bunkers and the others went out on the porch to rest and wait for the +water to boil. Russ, a little later, wanted a drink, and, going into the +kitchen, he turned to go to the sink. He was barefooted, and suddenly he +felt a sharp pain on one toe. + +"Oh, I'm bit! I'm bit!" he cried. "Something pinched me!" + +And then, as he looked at the kitchen floor, he cried: + +"Oh, come quick! Come quick! They're loose! They're all loose!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN THE BOAT + + +Every one out on the porch of the bungalow jumped up on hearing Russ's +cries. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mother Bunker. + +"What happened?" Daddy Bunker wanted to know. + +"Oh, they're all loose, and one of 'em bit me," wailed Russ, and now +came sounds which seemed to indicate that he was hopping about on one +foot, and holding the other in his hands. And he really was doing this, +as they found out afterward. + +"Loose? They're all loose? What does he mean?" asked Rose. + +"It's the crabs!" exclaimed Cousin Tom, as he made a run for the +kitchen. "I guess some of them got out of the basket. They will do that +once in a while." + +Daddy and Mother Bunker, with Cousin Ruth, followed Cousin Tom to the +kitchen, where Russ was still hopping about and yelling: + +"Oh, they're all loose! They're all loose, and one of 'em pinched me! +Oh, dear!" + +"Don't cry, silly little boy!" called his mother. "A pinch by a crab +can't hurt as much as that." + +"Oh, but it hurts like anything!" yelled Russ. "He 'most bit off my big +toe!" + +By this time they were all in the kitchen. The rest of the six little +Bunkers had followed their father and mother. They saw a queer sight. + +Crabs were crawling all over the floor. They had managed to wiggle out +of the peach basket in which they had been put as they were caught from +the boat. Cousin Tom had spread wet seaweed over the top of the basket, +but this had not been enough to keep the crabs in. + +"Look, they're chasing us!" cried Rose, as a crab came sliding sideways +over the oil-cloth, clashing its big claws. + +"They are only trying to get into the dark corners to hide," said +Cousin Tom. "I'll pick them up." + +"Will they pinch you?" asked Laddie. + +"No, not if I pick them up by one of their back flippers," said his +cousin. "There is a certain way to pick up a crab so he can't reach you +with his claws." + +Just then a crab came toward Cousin Tom. He put out his foot, and held +it tightly on the hard shell of the crab's back. Then, reaching behind +the crab, and taking hold of one of the broad, flat swimming flippers, +he lifted the crab up that way. The crab wiggled and tried to reach +Cousin Tom with the pinching claws, but could not. + +"That's the way to do it," called out Cousin Tom, as he tossed the crab +into the basket. + +"I can do it!" said Laddie, who liked to try new things. + +"You'd better not," advised his mother. "Look how the crab pinched +Russ." + +"My toe's bleeding," said the little fellow, and so it was. A big crab +can easily pinch hard enough to draw blood. + +"I'll tie it up for you," said his mother. "Perhaps you children had +better not try to pick up Crabs the way Cousin Tom did," she went on. +"You might make a mistake and get badly pinched." + +"Yes, let the children keep out of the way," agreed Daddy Bunker. +"Cousin Tom and I will catch the crabs." + +Russ was led away, hopping on one foot, though if he had tried, he could +easily have stepped on his sore foot. He was more frightened than hurt, +I think. And then the other children followed him, though the twins +would rather have staid. + +It was not easy to catch the crabs, for there were so many of them, and +they scurried around so fast. But Cousin Tom picked them up in his +fingers, and Daddy Bunker soon learned the trick of this. As for Cousin +Ruth, she took the crab tongs, which were two pieces of wood fastened +together on one end, like a pair of fire tongs. In these the crabs could +be picked up either front or back, or even by one claw, and they could +only pinch the wood, which they often did. + +"There, I think we have them all," said Cousin Tom at last. "And now, +as the water is boiling, we can cook them." + +So the crabs were cooked, and set aside to cool until morning, when the +white meat would be picked out of the red shells, and made into salad. + +"What makes the crabs red?" asked Violet the next morning as she saw the +pile of cold, boiled creatures. "They were a sort of brown and green +color when we caught them yesterday." + +"Yes," said her father, "crabs, lobsters and shrimps, when they are +boiled, turn red. Just why this is I don't know. I suppose there is +something in their shells that the hot water changes." + +"Can they pinch my toe now?" asked Mun Bun, as he stood near his mother, +looking at the basket full of cooked crabs. + +"Nope! They can't hurt you now; they're cooked," Laddie replied. "I'm +not 'fraid!" and he picked up a big crab, holding it by one of the +claws. + +Vi then did the same thing. + +"Go ahead and take one, Mun Bun," urged Laddie. + +"No! I don't guess I want to," said the little fellow. + +"I know a riddle you could make up about a crab," said Rose, who had +come to the kitchen to watch Cousin Ruth clean the shellfish. + +"What is it?" Laddie demanded instantly. + +"What color is a crab when it can't pinch?" sing-songed Rose. "And the +answer is it's red when it can't pinch." + +"Yes, that is a pretty good riddle," said Laddie, as, with his head on +one side, he thought it over. "But I know how to make it better," he +went on. + +"How?" asked his mother. + +"Let me think a minute," he begged. "Oh, I have it! Why is a crab like a +newspaper?" + +"'Tisn't!" exclaimed Russ who came along just then. He was limping a +bit, for his toe was sore where the crab had pinched him. + +"Yes, 'tis!" declared Laddie. "That's the riddle. It's something like +the one Rose told. Why is a crab like a newspaper?" + +"'Cause it folds its claws when it doesn't want to bite you?" asked +Violet. + +"Nope!" + +"Tell us," suggested Russ. + +"Well, a crab is like a newspaper, 'cause when it's red it can't bite or +pinch," Laddie said. "See?" + +"Huh! Yes, I see," murmured Russ. "A crab is like a newspaper because +when it's red. Oh, I know! You mean when a newspaper is r-e-a-d. That's +a different red from reading. But it's a good riddle all right, Laddie." + +"I didn't think of it all," said the little boy. "Rose helped." + +"Oh, well, you made a riddle out of it," his sister told him. "Here +comes Cousin Ruth. I'm going to watch her clean the crabs." + +It was quite a lot of work to take the sweet, white meat out of the +crab-shells, but Cousin Ruth knew the best way to do it. + +In about an hour she had a large bowl full of the picked-out meat, and +the children--all except Mun Bun and Margy, who were too little to be +allowed to eat any--said the crabs were better than fish. Daddy and +Mother Bunker liked them, too. + +"Some of the crabs have awful big claws," remarked Russ after dinner, +as he looked at a pile of the legs and claws. "I guess they could dig in +the sand with 'em, the crabs could. They could dig deep holes." + +"I wish one would dig down and find my lost locket," said Rose with a +sorrowful sigh. + +For, though they had all searched the sand near the bungalow beach over +and over, there was no sign of the missing gold locket. + +"I guess we'll never find it," Rose went on with another sigh. "Not even +if a crab could dig down deep." + +"Well, I'll dig some more," promised Laddie. "Vi and I are going to make +some holes in the sand to play a new game, and maybe we'll find your +locket that way." + +But they did not, and Rose, though she herself searched and dug in many +places, could not find the ornament. + +There were many happy August days for the six little Bunkers at Cousin +Tom's. They played in the sand, went crabbing and fishing, wading and +swimming. + +One hot afternoon, when it was too warm to do more than sit in the +shade, Mrs. Bunker, who had been lying on the porch in a hammock +reading, laid aside her book and looked up. + +"Where has Mun Bun gone?" she asked Rose, who was playing jackstones +near by. "And did Margy go with him?" + +"I don't know, Mother," Rose answered. "They were here a minute ago. +I'll go and look for them." + +Just as Rose got up and as Mrs. Bunker arose from the hammock, a voice +down near the shore of the inlet called: + +"Come back. Get out of that boat! Mother, Margy and Mun Bun are in the +boat, and it's loose, and they're riding down the inlet and the tide's +going out! Oh, Mother, hurry!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +VIOLET'S DOLL + + +You can easily believe that Mrs. Bunker did hurry on hearing what Russ +was calling about Mun Bun and Margy. She almost fell out of the hammock, +did Mrs. Bunker, she was in such haste. + +"Daddy! Daddy! Come quick!" she called to her husband, who was in the +bungalow, talking to Cousin Tom. "Margy and Mun Bun are in a boat on the +inlet and are being carried out to sea. Hurry!" + +Daddy Bunker also hurried. + +Mother Bunker was the first to get down to the shore, where she could +see what had happened. + +At first all she noticed was Russ jumping up and down in his excitement, +and, at the same time, pointing to something on the water. Mrs. Bunker +looked at what Russ was pointing to and saw that it was Cousin Tom's +smaller rowboat, and, also, that in it were her two little children, Mun +Bun and Margy! + +And the boat was being carried by the tide down the inlet toward the +sea. The inlet, when the tide was flowing in or out, was like a powerful +river, more powerful in its current than Rainbow River at home in +Pineville, where the six little Bunkers lived. + +"Oh, Margy! Mun Bun!" cried Mrs. Bunker, holding out her hands to the +children. + +"Oh, what will happen to them?" went on Mother Bunker, as she reached +Russ standing near the edge of the inlet. She could see the boat, with +Margy and Mun Bun in it, drifting farther and farther away. "Oh, I must +get them!" + +Mrs. Bunker was just about to rush into the water, all dressed as she +was. She had an idea she might wade out and get hold of the boat to +bring it back. But the inlet was too deep for that. + +"Wait a minute! Don't go into the water, Mother! We'll get the children +back all right!" cried Daddy Bunker, as he ran up beside his wife and +caught her by the arm. + +"How?" asked Mrs. Bunker, clinging to her husband. + +"We'll go after them in another boat," said Mr. Bunker. "Here comes +Cousin Tom. He and I will go after the children in the other boat. You +sit down and wait for us. We'll soon have them back!" + +Cousin Tom had two boats tied at the pier in the inlet. One was the +large one in which they had gone crabbing a few days before, and the +other was the small one in which Margy and Mun Bun had gone drifting +away. + +Daddy Bunker, left his wife sitting on the sand and ran to loosen the +large boat. But Cousin Tom cried: + +"Don't take that. It will be too slow and too heavy to row." + +"What shall we take?" asked the children's father. + +"Here comes a motor-boat. I'll hail the man in that and ask him to go +after the drifting boat for us," Cousin Tom answered. + +"All right," agreed Mr. Bunker, as he looked up and saw coming down the +inlet, or Clam River, a speedy motor-boat, in which sat a man. This +would be much faster than a rowboat. + +Just then Mrs. Bunker, who had jumped up from the sand where she had +been sitting for a moment, and who was running toward her husband, +cried: + +"Oh, see! The children are standing up! Oh, if they should fall +overboard!" + +Margy and Mun Bun, who, at first, had been sitting down in the drifting +boat, were now seen to be standing up. And it is always dangerous to +stand up in a small boat. + +Daddy Bunker put his hands to his mouth, to make a sort of megaphone, +and called: + +"Sit down, Margy! Sit down, Mun Bun! Sit down and keep quiet and Daddy +will soon come for you. Sit down and keep still!" + +Mun Bun and his little sister did as their father told them, and sat +down in the middle of the boat. + +"Now we'll get them all right," said Mr. Bunker to his wife. "Don't +worry--they will be all right." + +Cousin Tom ran out on the end of his pier. He waved his hands to the man +in the motor-boat, who was a lobster fisherman, going out to "lift" his +pots. + +"Wait a minute!" called Cousin Tom. "Two children are adrift in that +boat. We want to go after them!" + +The lobster fisherman waved his hand to show that he understood. The +motor of his boat was making such a noise that he could not make his +voice heard, nor could he tell what Cousin Tom was saying. But he knew +what was meant, for he saw the drifting boat. + +With another wave of his hand to show that he knew what was wanted of +him, the lobsterman steered his boat toward Cousin Tom's wharf. A few +minutes later Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom were in it, and were speeding +down Clam River after the drifting craft in which sat Margy and Mun Bun. + +"How did it happen?" asked Mr. Oscar Burnett, the lobster fisherman, as +he steered his boat down stream. + +"I don't know," answered Daddy Bunker "All I know is my wife called to +me to come out, and I saw the two tots drifting off in the boat." + +"They must have climbed in to play when the boat was tied to the wharf," +said Cousin Tom. "Then either they or some one else must have loosened +the rope." + +"Maybe it came loose of itself," suggested Daddy Bunker. + +"It couldn't," said Cousin Tom. "I tied it myself, and I am a good +enough sailor to know how to tie a boat so it won't work loose." + +"Yes, I guess you are," said Mr. Burnett. "The youngsters must have +loosened the rope themselves. Or some older children did it, for those +two are pretty small," and he looked at Margy and Mun Bun, for the +motor-boat was now quite near the drifting rowboat. + +"All right, Margy! All right, Mun Bun! We'll soon have you back safe!" +called Daddy Bunker to them, waving his hands. Both children were +crying. + +Up alongside the drifting rowboat went the lobster craft. Cousin Tom +caught hold of the boat in which the children sat, and held it while +Daddy Bunker lifted out Margy and her brother. + +Then the rowboat was tied fast to the stern of the other boat, which +was steered around by Mr. Burnett, and headed up the inlet. + +"I've got time to take you back to your pier," he said to Cousin Tom. "I +started out a bit early this morning, so I don't have to hurry. Besides, +the tide is running pretty strong, and you'd have it a bit hard rowing +back." + +"It's a good thing you came along," said Daddy Bunker, as he thanked the +lobsterman. "The children might have been carried out to sea." + +"Oh, the life guard at the station on the beach would have seen them in +time," returned Mr. Burnett. "But I'm just as glad we got them when we +did." + +"What made you go off in the boat?" asked Daddy Bunker of Margy. + +"We didn't mean to," answered Mun Bun. "We got in to play sail, and the +boat went off by itself." + +And this was about all the two children could say as to what had +happened. They had got into the boat, which was tied to the pier, and +had been playing in it for some time. Then, before they knew it, the +boat became loose, and drifted off. Russ, who had been playing on the +beach not far away, had seen them, but not in time to help them. + +He had, indeed, called to them to "come out of the boat," but then it +was too late for Margy and Mun Bun to do this. There was already some +water between their boat and the pier. Then Russ did the next best +thing; he called his mother. + +It did not take long for the lobster motor-boat to make the run back to +Cousin Tom's pier, pulling the empty rowboat behind. Mrs. Bunker rushed +down and hugged Margy and Mun Bun in her arms. + +"Oh, I thought I should never see you again!" she cried, and there were +tears in her eyes. + +"We didn't mean to go away in the boat," said Margy. + +"We didn't mean to," repeated Mun Bun. + +And of course the children did not. They had been playing in the boat as +it was tied to the wharf, and they never thought it would get loose. +Just how this happened was never found out. Perhaps Mun Bun or Margy +might have pulled at the knot in the rope until they loosened it, and +the tug of the tide did the rest. + +But the children were soon safe on the beach again, playing in the sand, +and the alarm was over. + +"What makes the water in the inlet run up sometimes and down other +times?" asked Violet. + +"It's the tide," said Russ, who had heard some fishermen talking about +high and low water. + +"What's the tide?" went on the little girl. + +"The moon," added Russ. "I heard Mother read a story, and it said the +moon makes the tides." + +"Does it, Daddy?" persisted Violet. She certainly had her questioning +cap on that evening. + +"Yes, the moon causes the tides," said Daddy Bunker. "But just how, it +is a bit hard to tell to such little children. The moon pulls on the +water in the oceans, just as a magnet pulls on a piece of iron or steel. +When the moon is on one side of the earth it pulls the water into a sort +of bunch, or hill, there, and that makes it lower in the opposite part +of the earth. That is low tide. Then, as the moon changes, it pulls the +water up in the place where it was low before, and that makes high tide. +And when the tide is high in our ocean here it pushes a lot of water up +Clam River. And when the water is low in our ocean here the water runs +out of Clam River. That is what makes high tide and low tide here." + +"Oh," said Violet, though I am not sure she understood all about it. + +But after that Margy and Mun Bun were careful about getting into the +boat, even when they felt sure it was tightly tied to the pier. They +always waited until some older folks were with them, and this was the +best way. + +The happy days passed at Cousin Tom's. The six little Bunkers played on +the beach, and, now and then, they looked and dug holes to try to find +Rose's locket. + +"I guess it's gone forever," said the little girl as the days passed and +no locket appeared. And she never even dreamed of the strange way good +luck was to come to her once more. + +One warm day, when all the children were playing down on the sandy shore +of the inlet, Violet came running back to the house. + +"Mother, make Russ stop!" she cried. + +"What is he doing?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"He's taking my doll. He's going to take her out on the ocean in a boat. +Make him stop." + +"Oh, Russ mustn't do that!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "Of course I'll make +him stop!" + +She went down to the beach with Violet, and, just as they came within +sight of the group of children, they heard Rose say: + +"Oh, Russ! Now you've done it! You have drowned Vi's doll!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BOX ON THE BEACH + + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the children's mother, as she hurried along beside +Violet to help settle whatever trouble Russ had caused. + +"Oh! did you hear what Rose said?" asked Vi. "Did you hear?" + +"Yes, my dear, I did." + +"Oh, my lovely doll is drowned!" cried the little girl, and there were +real tears in her eyes, and some even ran down her nose and splashed to +the ground. "I just knew Russ would be mean and tease me, and he did, +and now my doll is drowned and----" + +"Well, it might better be a doll that is drowned and not one of my six +little Bunkers," said the mother. "Though, of course, _I_ am sorry if +any of your playthings are lost. Russ, did you drown Vi's doll?" she +called to her oldest son. + +"I didn't mean to, Mother," was the answer. "I was giving the doll a +ride in a boat I made, and the boat got blown by the wind, and the wind +upset the boat, and the boat went under water, 'cause I had a cargo of +stones on it, and----" + +"What happened to Vi's doll?" asked Mother Bunker. "Why don't you get to +that part of it, Russ?" + +"I was going to," he said. "The doll fell off when the boat upset and +sank, and the doll sank, too, I guess." + +"Is my doll really, really, drowned?" cried Violet. + +"I--I'm afraid I guess so," stammered Russ. "But maybe I can fish her up +again when the tide is low," he added hopefully. + +"Do it now," sobbed the little girl. + +"The water's too deep now." + +"Where did she get drowned?" asked Violet, gazing through her tears at +the waters of the inlet. + +"The boat upset out there in the middle," said Russ, pointing. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Violet. "If she was my rubber doll maybe she wouldn't +be drowned. But she's my china doll, and they won't float, will they, +Mother?" + +"No, my dear, I'm afraid not. How did it happen, Russ? Why did you take +Violet's doll?" + +"'Cause I wanted to give her a ride, and I didn't think she would +care--I mean Vi. Course the doll didn't care." + +"She did so!" exclaimed the little girl, stamping her foot on the sand. +"My dolls have got feelings, same as you have, Russ Bunker, so there!" + +"Now children, don't get excited," said Mrs. Bunker gently. "Russ, you +shouldn't have taken Vi's doll." + +"Well, I wanted to see how much my boat would hold, and I was playing +the doll was a passenger. I'll get it back for her. Cousin Tom will take +me out in his boat to the middle, and I can scoop the doll up with a +crab net." + +Mrs. Bunker went with Russ and Violet to find Cousin Tom, leaving +Laddie, Rose, Margy and Mun Bun playing with pebbles and shells in the +sand. + +Russ told Cousin Tom what had happened. The little boy had made a boat +out of a piece of board, with a mast and a bit of cloth for a sail. He +had loaded his boat with stones he had picked up on the beach of the +inlet, and had started his craft off on a voyage. + +Violet had been playing near by with her doll, and when she put it down +for a moment Russ had taken the doll and put it on his toy boat. + +Then he gave it a shove out into the Clam River, the wind blowing on the +sail and sending his toy well out toward the middle of the inlet. There +the accident happened. The boat turned over and sank. Perhaps if Russ +had only laid the stones on, instead of tying one or two large ones +fast, as he had, the boat might have floated, even though upset. + +For if the stones had not been tied on they would have rolled off and +the boat would have righted herself and floated, being made of wood. +But, as it was, she sank. + +"And my doll went down with it," said Vi sadly. "Please, Cousin Tom, can +you get her back?" + +"I don't know, Violet. I'll see," was the answer. "The tide is running +out now, for it was high water a little while ago. If the boat sank +down to the bottom, and stayed there, we may be able to get it when the +water is low if we can see it." + +"The sail is white, and you can see white cloth even under water," said +Russ. + +"But I'm afraid the cloth won't stay white very long. The mud and sand +of the inlet will cover it," remarked Cousin Tom. "Did you tie the doll +on the boat, too, Russ?" + +"No, I just laid the doll down on top of the stones." + +"Then when the boat upset the doll rolled off, and she probably sank in +another place," said Mr. Bunker. "I don't believe we can ever find her, +Vi, I'm sorry to say, but I'll try at low tide." + +"Would she be carried out to sea, like Mun Bun and Margy 'most was?" the +little girl wanted to know. + +"She might, if the tide current was strong enough," said Cousin Tom. +"What kind of doll was she?" + +"China," answered Vi. "She was hollow, 'cause she made a hollow sound +when you tapped her. And she had a hole in her back, and sometimes I +used to pour milk in there, and make believe feed her." + +"Well, if your doll was hollow, and had a hole in her back, she probably +filled with water when she sank," said Cousin Tom. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Violet. + +That evening, when the tide was low, so there was not so much water in +the inlet, Cousin Tom and Daddy Bunker, taking Russ with them to show +where his boat had upset, rowed out to the middle of Clam River. It took +them a little while to find the place where Russ had last seen his toy +boat, but finally they found it. Then, looking down into the water, they +peered about for a sight of the white sail. + +"There it is!" suddenly cried Russ, as he leaned over the side of the +boat. "I see something white." + +"Yes, I see it, too," said Daddy Bunker. "Perhaps that is the sail of +the sunken toy boat, and perhaps the doll is near here." + +But when Cousin Tom put down the long-handled crab net and scooped up +the white object, it was found to be a bit of paper. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Russ. "I wish it was Vi's doll!" He felt bad about +the sorrow he had caused his little sister. + +"We'll try again," said his father, and, after rowing about a bit and +peering down into the water, they saw something else white, and this +time it really was Russ's boat. Cousin Tom scooped it up in his crab +net, and when the stones which were tied on deck, were loosed, the boat +floated as well as ever, and the wind and sun soon dried the wet sail. + +But, though they scooped with crab nets all about the place where they +had found the boat, they could not bring up Vi's doll. + +"Oh, didn't you find her?" asked the little girl, when her father, +Cousin Tom, and Russ came back in the rowboat. + +"No, dear, we couldn't find her," said Daddy Bunker. + +"Oh, dear!" and Vi cried very hard. + +"Never mind, I'll get you another doll," said her mother. + +"They won't ever a doll be as nice as she was," sobbed Vi. "I--I just +lo-lo-loved her!" + +They all felt sorry for Violet, and Russ said she could have his new +knife, if she wanted it. But she said she didn't; all she wanted was +her doll. + +"Never mind," said Rose, trying to comfort her sister. "Maybe when I +find my gold locket, if I ever do, you'll find your lost doll. We've got +two things to hunt for now--your doll and my locket." + +"But your locket is lost on land, and, maybe, if you dig in the sand +enough, you can find it," sobbed Violet. "But you can't dig in the +water!" + +"Maybe she'll be washed up on the beach with the tide, same as the +driftwood and the shells and the seaweed are washed up," put in Russ. +"I'll look along the beach every day, Vi, and maybe I'll find your doll +for you." + +This comforted Vi some, and she dried her tears. Then Laddie made them +all laugh by saying: + +"I have a new riddle!" + +"Is it about a doll?" asked Rose. + +"No. It's about a cow." + +"How can you make a riddle about a cow?" Russ demanded. + +"Well, I didn't make this one up," said Laddie; "and it isn't like the +riddles I like to ask, 'cause there isn't any answer to it." + +"There must be some answer," declared Violet. "All riddles have +answers." + +"Well, I'll tell you this one, and you can see if it has," went on +Laddie. "Now listen, everybody." + +Then he slowly said: + +"How is it that a red cow can eat green grass and give white milk that +makes yellow butter?" + +No one answered for a moment, and then Daddy Bunker laughed. + +"That is pretty good," he said, "and I don't believe there is any answer +to it. Of course we all know a red cow, or one that is a sort of +brownish red, does eat green grass. And the milk a cow gives is white +and the butter made from the white milk is yellow. Of course that isn't +exactly a riddle, but it's pretty good, Laddie." + +"And is there an answer to it?" the little boy asked. + +"I don't believe there is," answered his father. "It's just one of those +things that happen. Did you make that up, Laddie?" + +"No. Cousin Tom told it to me out of a book. But I like it." + +Vi still sorrowed for her doll, and, in the days that followed, she +often walked along the beach hoping "Sarah Janet," as she called her, +might be cast up by the tide or the waves. Russ looked also, as did the +others, but no doll was found. Nor did Rose find her gold locket, though +many holes were dug in the sand searching for it. + +One morning, after breakfast, when he had gone down on the beach to +watch the fishing boats come in, which he often did, Russ came running +back to the house, very much excited. + +"What's the matter?" asked his mother. "Did one of the boats upset and +spill out the fishermen?" + +"No'm, Mother. But a box washed up on shore, and it's nailed shut, and +it's heavy, and maybe Vi's doll is in it! Oh, please come down and see +the box on the beach!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CAUGHT BY THE TIDE + + +Ever since they had come to Cousin Tom's, at Seaview, the six little +Bunkers had hoped to find some treasure-trove on the beach. That is, +Russ and Rose and Vi and Laddie did. Margy and Mun Bun were almost too +little to understand what the others meant by "treasure," but they liked +to go along the sand looking for things. + +At first, when the children came to the shore, they had hoped to dig up +gold, as Sammie Brown had said his father had when shipwrecked. But a +week or so of making holes in the sand, and finding nothing more than +pretty shells or pebbles, had about cured the older children of hoping +to find a fortune. + +"Instead of finding any gold we lost some," said Rose, as she thought of +her pretty locket, which, she feared, was gone forever. + +But now, when Russ came running in, telling about a big box being cast +up on the beach, his mother did not know what to think. The children had +heard her read stories about shipwrecked persons, who found things to +eat, and things of value, cast up on the sands, and she knew Russ must +imagine this was something like that. + +"Hurry, Mother, and we'll see what it is!" cried the little boy, and +taking hold of her hand he fairly dragged Mrs. Bunker along the path +toward the beach. + +"What sort of box is it?" the little boy's mother asked. + +"Oh, it's a wooden box," Russ answered eagerly. + +"Well, I didn't suppose it was tin or pasteboard," said Mrs. Bunker with +a laugh. "A tin box would sink, and a pasteboard box would melt away in +the water. Of course I know it must be of wood. But is it closed or +open, and what is in it?" + +"That's what we don't know, Mother," Russ answered. "The box has a cover +nailed on it, and it isn't so very big--about so high," and Russ +measured with his hands. + +"Did you open the box?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"No'm," Russ answered. "We were all playing on the sand when I saw +something bobbing up and down on the waves. We threw stones at it, and +then it washed up on the beach, and I ran down into the water and +grabbed it. + +"Maybe it's gold in it, Laddie says," went on Russ. "But I told him it +wasn't heavy enough for gold." + +"No, I hardly think it will be gold," said his mother with a smile. + +"And Vi thinks maybe it's her doll," went on the little boy. + +"Oh, it hardly could be that. Her doll is probably at the bottom of the +ocean by this time. It could hardly have been got up and put in a box. +I'm afraid you will find nothing more than straw or shavings in your +treasure-trove, Russ. Don't count too much on it." + +"Oh, no, but we're just hoping it's something nice," Russ said. "You go +on down where the box is and I'll go get a hammer from Cousin Tom so we +can open the box." + +He led his mother to a little hummock of sand, from the top of which she +could look down and see the children gathered on the beach about a +square wooden box that had been cast up by the sea. Then Russ ran back +to get the hammer. + +Mrs. Bunker looked at the box. There seemed to have been some writing on +a piece of paper that was tacked on the box, but the writing was blurred +by the sea water and could not be read. + +"Oh, Mother! what you s'pose is in it?" asked Vi. "My doll, maybe!" + +"No, I hardly think so, little girl." + +"Maybe gold," added Laddie, his eyes big with excitement. + +"No, and not gold," said Mrs. Bunker. + +"Candy?" asked Margy, who had not one sweet tooth, it seemed, but +several. + +"Pop-corn balls!" said Mun Bun. + +"Huh! candy and pop-corn balls would all be wet in the ocean," exclaimed +Laddie. + +By this time Russ came running back with the hammer. Behind him came +Cousin Tom, Cousin Ruth and Daddy Bunker. + +"What's all this I hear about a million dollars being found in a box on +the beach?" asked Daddy Bunker with a laugh. + +"Well, there's the box," said Russ, pointing. "Please open it." + +"I wonder what can be in it," said Cousin Ruth. + +"Oh, maybe nothing," replied her husband, who did not want the children +to be too much disappointed if the box should be opened and found to +hold nothing more than some straw or shavings for packing. + +"Lots of boxes that are cast up on the beach have nothing in them," said +Cousin Tom, as Daddy Bunker got ready to use the hammer on the one Russ +and the others had found. + +"There is something in this box, all right," said Daddy Bunker, as he +lifted one end. "I don't believe this box is empty, though what is in it +may turn out to be of no use. But we will open it and see." + +The six little Bunkers crowded around to look. So did Mother Bunker and +Cousin Tom and his wife. And then a very disappointing thing happened. +All of a sudden a wave, bigger than any of the others that had been +rolling up on the beach, broke right in front of the box resting on the +sand. Up the shore rushed the salty, green water. + +"Look out!" cried Mother Bunker. "We'll all be wet!" + +Daddy Bunker, not wishing to have his shoes soiled with the brine, +jumped back. So did the others. And, in jumping back, Mr. Bunker let go +his hold on the box, which he was just going to open with Cousin Tom's +hammer. And the big wave, which was part of the rising tide, just lifted +the box up, and the next moment carried it out into the ocean, far from +shore, as the wave itself ran back down the hill of sand. + +"Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Rose. + +"Grab it!" yelled Russ. + +"I'll get it!" exclaimed Laddie. + +He made a rush to get hold of the box again before it should be washed +too far out from shore, but he stumbled over a pile of sand and fell. He +was not hurt, but when he got up the box was farther out than ever. + +Daddy Bunker looked at the water between him and the box, and said: + +"It's too deep to wade and spoil a pair of shoes. And, after all, maybe +there is only a lot of old trash in the box." + +"Oh, I thought maybe my doll was in it," sighed Violet. + +"Can't you take your boat, Tom, and row out and get the box?" asked +Cousin Ruth. + +"Yes, I could do that," he said. "I will, too! The water is calm, though +I can't tell how long it will stay so." + +But before Cousin Tom could go back to the pier in the inlet, where the +boat was tied, the box was washed quite a distance out from shore. Then +the wind sprang up and the sea became rough, and it was decided that he +had better not try it. + +"Let the box go," said Daddy Bunker. "I guess there was nothing very +much in it." + +But the children thought differently. They stood looking out at the +unopened box, now drifting to sea, and thought of the different things +that _might_ be in it. Each one had an idea of some toy he or she liked +best. + +"Well, we waited too long about opening it," said Mr. Bunker. "We should +have pulled the box farther up on the beach, Russ." + +"That's right," said Cousin Tom. "The tides are getting high now, as +fall is coming on, and the tides are always highest in the spring and +the autumn. But maybe we can get the box back, after all." + +"How?" asked Russ eagerly. + +"Well, it may come ashore again, farther up the beach," replied Cousin +Tom. + +"Then somebody else may find it and open it," Russ remarked. + +"Yes, that may happen," said his father. "Well, we won't worry over it. +We didn't lose anything, for we never really had it." + +But, just the same, the six little Bunkers could not help feeling sorry +for themselves at not having seen what was in the box. They kept +wondering and wondering what it could have been. + +But a day or so later they had nearly forgotten about what might have +been a treasure, for they found many other things to do. + +One afternoon Margy and Mun Bun, who had been freshly washed and combed, +went down to the wharf where Cousin Tom kept his boat. + +"Don't get in it, though," warned their mother. "You were carried away +in a boat once, and I don't want it to happen again. Keep away from the +boats." + +"We will!" promised Mun Bun and Margy. + +When they reached the shore of the inlet Mun Bun said: + +"Oh, Margy, look how low the water is! We can wade over to that little +island!" + +"Yes," agreed Margy, "we can. We can take off our shoes an' stockin's, +an' carry 'em. Mother didn't tell us not to go wadin'." + +And Mrs. Bunker had not, for she did not think the children would do +this. So Margy and Mun Bun sat down on the wharf and made themselves +barefooted. Then they started to wade across a shallow place in the +inlet to where a little island of sand showed in the middle. And Margy +and Mun Bun did not know what was going to happen to them, or they never +would have done this. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +MAROONED + + +"That's a nice little island over there," said Mun Bun to Margy as they +waded along. + +"Yes, it's a terrible nice little island," agreed his sister. + +"An' we can camp out there an' have lots of fun." + +"Oh, Mun Bun, catch me! I'm sinking down in a hole!" + +"All right, I'll get you!" cried the little boy, and he grasped hold of +his sister's arm. She had stepped into a little sandy hole, and the +water came up half way to her knees. Of course that was not very deep, +and when Margy saw she was not going to sink down very far she was no +longer frightened. + +"But I was scared till you grabbed hold of me," she said to Mun Bun. "Is +it very deep any more?" + +"No, it isn't deep at all," the little boy answered. "I can see down to +the bottom all the way to the little island, and it isn't hardly over +your toenails." + +The tide was very low that day, and in some parts of the inlet there was +no water at all, the sandy bottom showing quite dry in the sun. + +As Cousin Tom had said, toward the fall of the year the tides are both +extra high and extra low. Of course not at the same time, you +understand, but twice a day. Sometimes the waters of the ocean came up +into the inlet until they nearly flowed over the small pier. Then, some +hours later, they would be very low. This was one of the low times for +the tide, and it had made several small islands of sand in the middle of +Clam River. + +It was toward one of these islands that Margy and Mun Bun were wading. +They had seen it from the shore and it looked to be a good place to +play. There was a big, almost round, spot of white sand, and all about +it was shallow water, sparkling in the sun. The deepest water between +the shore and the island was half way up to Margy's knees, and that, as +I think you will admit, was not deep at all. + +"We'll have some fun there," said Mun Bun. + +"Maybe we can dig clams," went on the little girl. + +Clam River was so called because so many soft and hard clams were dug +there by the fishermen, who sold them to people who liked to make +chowder of them. + +There are two kinds of clams that are good to eat, the hard and the +soft. One has a very hard shell, and this is the kind of clam you most +often see in the stores. + +But there is another sort of clam, with a thin shell, and out of one end +of it the clam sticks a long thing, like a rubber tube. And when the +clam digs a hole for himself down in the sand or the mud he thrusts this +tube up to the top, and through it he sucks down things to eat. + +The six little Bunkers had often seen the fishermen on Clam River dig +down after these soft-shelled fellows. The men used a short-handled hoe, +and when they had dug away the sand there they found the clams in +something that looked like little pockets, or burrows. + +"Maybe we can dig clams," said Margy. + +"We hasn't got any shovel or hoe," returned Mun Bun. + +"Maybe we can dig with some big clam shells, if we can find some," his +sister said. + +By this time they had reached the little island. Just like the islands +in your geography, it was "entirely surrounded by water," and it made a +nice place to play, except that it was rather sunny. But Mun Bun and +Margy did not mind the sun very much. + +They were used to playing out in it, and they were now as brown as +berries, or Indians, or nuts, whichever you like best. They were well +tanned, and did not get sunburned as many little boys and girls do when +they go to the seashore for the first time. + +"We can take the clams to Cousin Ruth and she can make chowder and +she'll give us some cookies, maybe," said Mun Bun. + +"I like clams better than cookies," remarked Margy. "I mean I like to +eat cookies, but I like to dig clams." + +"You can't dig cookies," said Mun Bun. + +"You could dig one if you dropped yours in the sand," returned his +sister. + +"Yes, you could do that," agreed the little boy. "But it would be all +sand, and it wouldn't be good to eat." + +"I don't guess it would. We'll just dig clams. Anyhow, we hasn't any +cookies to dig or to eat." + +This was very true. And now the two little children began to hunt for +clam shells to use for shovels in digging. They wanted the large shells +of the hard clam, and soon each had one. Then they began to dig, as they +had seen their father and Cousin Tom do. For Daddy Bunker had once taken +Margy and Mun Bun with him and the other Mr. Bunker, when they went to +dig soft clams. + +Whether Margy and Mun Bun did not know how to dig, or whether there were +no clams in the sand of the island I do not know. But I do know that the +two little Bunkers did not find any, though they dug holes until their +backs ached. + +Then Margy said: + +"Let's don't play this any more." + +"What shall we play?" asked Mun Bun. + +"Oh, let's see if we can find some wood and make little boats." + +So they walked about the island looking for bits of wood. But none was +to be found. For wood floats; that is, unless it is so soaked with water +as to be too heavy, and all the pieces of wood that had ever been on the +island had floated away. + +"I don't guess we can build any boats," said Margy. "Let's go back to +shore and get some wood, and then we can come back and sail boats." + +"That'll be fun," said Mun Bun. "We'll go." + +But when he and his sister started to wade back, they had not gone very +far before Margy cried: + +"Oh, the water's terrible deep! Look how deep down my foot goes!" + +Mun Bun looked. Indeed the water was almost up to Margy's knees now, and +she had gone only a few steps away from the shore of the island. + +"Let me try it," said her brother. "I'm bigger than you." + +He wasn't, though he liked to think so, for Margy was a year older. But +I guess Mun Bun was like most boys; he liked to think himself larger +than he was. + +However, when he stepped out from the island, ahead of Margy, he, too, +found that the water was deeper than it had been when they started to +wade from the shore near Cousin Tom's pier. + +"What makes it?" asked Margy. + +"I--I don't know," answered Mun Bun. "I guess somebody must have poured +more water in the river." + +"Lessen maybe it rained," suggested Margy. "Don't you know how Rainbow +River gets bigger when it rains?" + +"It didn't rain," said Mun Bun, "or we'd be wet on our backs." + +"No, I guess it didn't rain," agreed Margy. Then she cried: "Oh, look, +Mun Bun! Our island's getting awful little! It only sticks out of the +water hardly any now! Look!" + +Mun Bun turned and looked behind him. As his sister had said, the island +was very much smaller. + +"What--what makes it?" asked Margy. + +"I--I don't know," answered Mun Bun. "But it is getting littler, just +like when you keep on sucking a lollypop." + +And that is just what the island was doing. What Margy and Mun Bun did +not know was that the tide had turned, that it was rising, and that it +would soon not only make their island much smaller, but would cover it +from sight, leaving no island at all! + +"Oh, the water's getting deeper," said Margy, as she took another step +and found it coming over her little knees. "What are we going to do, Mun +Bun?" + +"I--I guess we must go back to the middle of the island and stay there," +said her brother. + +"Oh, shall we ever get off?" Margy asked, and her voice sounded as +though she might cry before long. "I can't ever wade to shore when the +water is so deep. What are we going to do?" + +"We'll call for Daddy!" said Mun Bun. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE MARSHMALLOW ROAST + + +When anything happened to Mun Bun or his sister Margy they always called +for Daddy or Mother Bunker. The other children did the same thing, +though of course Margy and Mun Bun, being the youngest, naturally called +the most, just as they were the ones who were most often in trouble that +needed a father or a mother to straighten out. + +"Our island's getting terrible small," said Margy; "and the water's +gettin' deeper all around us." + +"Yes," agreed Mun Bun, as he got in the middle of what was left of the +circle of sand and looked about. "The water is deep. I guess I'd better +call!" + +"I'll help you," said Margy. + +The two children stood in the center of the sandy island that was all +the while getting smaller because the tide was rising and covering it, +and they called: + +"Daddy! Mother! Daddy Bunker! Come and get us!" + +They called this way several times, and then waited for some one to come +and get them. + +If you want to imagine how Margy and Mun Bun looked, marooned as they +were on an island in the middle of Clam River, with the tide rising, +just get a big, clean stone and put it down in the middle of your +bathtub. If you try this you had better put a piece of paper under the +stone, so it will not scratch the clean, white tub. + +Then on the stone put two other little stones to stand for Margy and Mun +Bun. Now put the stopper in the tub and turn on the water. You will see +it begin to rise around the stone, and soon only a little of it will be +left sticking out of the water. + +"Daddy! Mother! Daddy Bunker! Come and get us!" + +Now Margy and Mun Bun did not have very strong voices, and, besides, +though they were not far from one part of the shore, it was quite a +distance to Cousin Tom's house, where their father and mother were at +that moment. Also, the wind was blowing their voices away, and over +toward the other shore of Clam River, where at this time no one lived. + +But the two little Bunkers did not know this, and they kept on calling +for their mother or father to come to get them. But neither Daddy nor +Mother Bunker answered. + +And the water kept on rising, for the tide was coming in fast, and it +was going to be high. + +Now it happened, just about this time, that Mr. Oscar Burnett, the +lobster fisherman, was coming up the inlet in his motor-boat. He had +been out to sea to lift his lobster-pots and he had been waiting at the +entrance of Clam River for the tide to make the water deep enough for +him to come up. On days when the tide was not so low he could come up +all right, even at "slack water." But this time the channel was not deep +enough for his motor-boat and he had to wait. + +And as he puffed up, steering this way and that so as not to run on +sand bars, he heard, faintly, the cries of Margy and Mun Bun. + +Having good ears, and knowing the cries must be near him, Mr. Burnett +looked about. + +He saw the place where the island was now almost hidden from sight +because of the rising waters, and he saw the two children, Margy and Mun +Bun, standing there, their arms around each other, crying for help, and +also crying real tears. For they were very much frightened. + +"Well, I swan to goodness!" exclaimed the lobster fisherman. "There's +those two children again, and this time they're marooned 'stead of being +adrift! Yes, sir! They're marooned!" + +I used that word once before and I forgot to tell you what it means, so +I'll do so now. It means, in sailor talk, being left alone on an island +without any way of getting off. Sometimes pirates used to capture ships, +take off the passengers and set them on an island without leaving a +boat. And the poor passengers were marooned. They could no more get off +than could Margy and Mun Bun. + +"Marooned! That's what they are!" said Mr. Burnett. "I'll have to go +over and get 'em, just as I got 'em when they drifted down the inlet in +the boat. I never saw such children for getting into trouble!" + +Not that Mr. Burnett thought it was too much trouble to go and get Margy +and Mun Bun off the island where they were marooned. Instead, he was +very glad to do it, for he loved children. So he steered his motor-boat +over toward what was left of the island--which was very little now, as +the tide was still rising. Then the lobster fisherman called: + +"Don't be afraid, Mun Bun and Margy! I'll soon get you! Don't be afraid. +Just stand still and don't wade off into the deep water." + +[Illustration: "DON'T BE AFRAID! I'LL SOON GET YOU!" SAID MR. BURNETT. +_Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's._--_Page 174_] + +The island was shaped like a little hill, high in the middle, and Margy +and Mun Bun had kept stepping back until they now stood on the highest +part in the middle. + +All about them was the water, deeper in some places than in others. And +you may be sure that the little boy and his sister did not try to get +off the high spot. There the water was only over their feet, but if +they stayed there much longer it might cover their heads. + +However no such dreadful thing happened, for Mr. Burnett steered his +boat up to them until it grounded in the sand of the island that was now +under water. + +"Now you're all right!" said the kind man. He shut off his motor and +jumped over the side of the boat. Right into the water he stepped, but +as he had on high rubber boots he did not get his feet wet. + +Mr. Burnett picked up Margy and set her down in his boat. + +"Oh, look at the big lobsters!" cried the little girl. "Will they pinch +me?" + +Well might she ask that question, for the bottom of the boat was filled +with lobsters with big claws, some of which were moving about, the +pinching parts opening and shutting. + +"They won't hurt you," said Mr. Burnett with a laugh. "Just keep up on +the seat, Margy, and you won't get pinched." + +The seats in the lobster boat were broad and high, and on one of them +Margy and Mun Bun, who was soon lifted off the island to her side, were +safe from the lobsters, which Mr. Burnett had taken from his pots, some +miles out at sea. + +"How did you come to go on the island when the tide was rising?" asked +the fisherman, as he started his boat once more. + +"The water was low, and we waded out barefoot," explained Margy. + +"We were goin' to dig clams," added Mun Bun. + +"But we couldn't find any," continued Margy. "And then when we went to +wade back home the water got deep and we were afraid." + +"I should think you would be!" replied the lobster fisherman. "Well, I'm +glad I heard you call. It wouldn't be very nice on your island now." + +The children looked back. Their island was out of sight. It was +"submerged," as a sailor would say, meaning that it was under the water. +For the tide had risen and covered it. + +"Will you take us home?" asked Margy. + +"That's what I will," said the lobster fisherman. "I'll take you right +up to Mr. Bunker's pier. I guess your folks don't know where you are, +nor what trouble you might have been in if I hadn't come along just when +I did." + +And this was true, for neither Daddy nor Mother Bunker, nor Cousin Tom +nor his wife, nor any of the other little Bunkers had heard the cries of +Mun Bun and Margy. + +But as the motor-boat went puffing up to the little wharf the noise it +made was heard by Mr. and Mrs. Bunker, who ran down from the cottage to +see it, as they wanted to buy a fresh lobster and they had been told +that Mr. Burnett might soon come back from having gone to lift his pots. + +"Well, I had pretty good luck to-day," said the old fisherman, as he +stopped his boat at the pier, and pointed to Margy and Mun Bun. "See +what I caught!" + +"Margy!" cried her mother, in great surprise. + +"Mun Bun!" exclaimed the little boy's father. + +"Did you go out in a boat again?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"Oh, no'm, we didn't do that!" said Mun Bun quickly. + +"We just waded over to the little island," said Margy. "But somebody +poured water in the river, and it got high and we couldn't wade back +again." + +"They were marooned in the middle of Clam River for a fact! That's what +they were!" said Mr. Burnett. "But I heard 'em yell, and I took 'em off. +Here they are." + +"You must never wade out like that again," said the father of Mun Bun +and Margy. "This river isn't like ours at home. An island there is +always an island, unless floods come, and you know about them. There is +a tide here twice a day and what may seem a safe bit of sand on which to +play at one time may be covered with water at another. So don't go +wading unless you ask your mother or me first." + +"We won't," promised Mun Bun and Margy. + +Then Mr. Bunker thanked Mr. Burnett and after the lobster had been +bought the fisherman puffed away in his boat, waving a good-bye to the +children he had saved from being marooned on the island. + +Mun Bun and Margy had to tell their story over again several times and +they had to answer many questions from their brothers and sisters, about +how they felt when they saw the water coming up. + +Of course the two smallest of the six little Bunkers had been in some +danger, though if Mr. Burnett had not seen them and rescued them, some +one else might have done so. But it taught all the little Bunkers a +lesson about the dangers of the rising tide, and if any of you ever go +to the seashore I hope you will be careful. If you live at the shore, of +course you know about the tides. + +As the August days went on, the children played in the sand and had many +good times. Often they would pretend to be digging for gold, as they had +heard Sammie Brown tell of his father having done, but they had given up +hoping to find any. + +"But we might find my locket," said Rose. + +"And we might find that queer box the tide washed away before we could +see what was in it," said Russ. "I wish we could find that." + +Often he would walk along the beach looking at the driftwood and other +things cast up by the waves and hope for a sight of the mysterious box. + +"If we'd only seen what was in it we wouldn't feel so bad," said Rose. +"But it's like a puzzle you never can guess." + +One evening Daddy Bunker came home from the village with some round tin +boxes. + +"What's in 'em?" cried Violet, always the first to ask a question. + +"Let's guess!" proposed Laddie. "Maybe I can make up a riddle about +'em." + +"I know what's in them," said Russ. "I can read it on the box. It's +marshmallow candies." + +"Oh, are we going to have a marshmallow roast on the beach?" cried Rose. + +"Yes, that's what we are going to have," her father said. + +"Oh, hurray! Hurray! Hurray!" cried the six little Bunkers. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE SALLIE GROWLER + + +Have you ever toasted marshmallow candies at the seashore beach? If you +have you need not stop to read this part of the story. But if you have +not, from this and the next page you may learn how to do it. + +In the first place you need three things to have a marshmallow roast, +and you can easily guess what the first thing is. It's a box of the +white candies. Then you need a fire, and, if you are a little boy or +girl, it will be best to have your father or mother or some big person +make the fire for you, as you might get burned. + +Then you need some long, pointed sticks on which to hold the marshmallow +candies as you toast them. If the sticks are too short you will toast +your fingers or your face instead of the candies. + +"Have you got lots of marshmallows, Daddy?" asked Rose, as she and the +other children gathered about their father. + +"Plenty, I think," he answered. "We don't want so many that you will be +made ill, you know." + +"I can eat a lot of 'em without getting sick," declared Laddie. + +"I like 'em, too," said Vi. "Where do the marshmallow candies come from, +Daddy?" she asked. + +"From the store, of course!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"No, I mean before they get to the store," went on the little girl. +"Does a hen lay the marshmallows, same as chickens lay eggs?" + +"Oh, no!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "Marshmallow candy is made from sugar +and other things, just as most candies are." + +As the six little Bunkers, with their father and mother and Cousin Tom +and his wife, walked down to the shore of the sea, which was light from +the beams of a silvery moon, Laddie said: + +"I have a new riddle!" + +"Is it about marshmallows?" asked Vi. + +"No. But the candies made me think of it," replied her brother. "It's +about a fire." + +"What is your riddle about a fire?" asked Cousin Ruth, who always liked +to hear Laddie ask his funny questions. + +"Where does the fire go when it goes out?" Laddie asked. "That's my +riddle. Where does the fire go when it goes out?" + +"It doesn't go anywhere," declared Russ. "It just stays where it is." + +"Part of it goes away," declared Laddie. "Where does it go? Where does +the hot part go when the fire goes out?" + +"Up in the air," said Rose. + +"Off in the ocean!" exclaimed Mun Bun, who really did not know what they +were talking about. + +"Does it, Daddy?" asked Laddie. + +"Why, I don't know," said Mr. Bunker. "It's your riddle; you ought to +know what the answer is." + +"But I don't," admitted Laddie. "I made up the riddle, but I don't know +what the answer is. If some of you could think of a good answer it would +be a good riddle." + +"Yes, I guess it would," agreed Mrs. Bunker. "This is the time you +didn't think of a good one, Laddie. A riddle isn't much good unless some +one knows the answer." + +Perhaps some of you who are reading this story can tell the answer. + +Down on the beach went the six little Bunkers. There was a bright moon +shining and here and there were other parties of children and young +people, some going to have marshmallow roasts also, and some who only +came down to look at the ocean shining under the silver moon. + +Mun Bun and Margy, with Violet and Laddie, raced about in the sand, +while Russ and Rose helped their father and Cousin Tom gather driftwood +for the fire. There was plenty of it, and it was dry, for it had been in +the hot sun all day. + +"What makes the sand so sandy?" asked Vi, as she sat down beside her +mother and Cousin Ruth and let some of the "beach dust," as Daddy Bunker +sometimes called it, run through her fingers. + +"That's a hard question to answer," laughed Mother Bunker. "You might as +well ask what makes the moon so shiny." + +"Or what makes the water so wet," added Cousin Ruth. "Oh, you are such a +funny little girl, Violet!" + +"What makes me?" asked Vi. + +"I suppose one reason is that you ask so many funny questions," said +Cousin Ruth. "But there, Daddy has lighted the fire, and we can soon +begin to roast the marshmallows." + +On the beach, near Russ and Rose, where they were standing with their +father and Cousin Tom, a cheerful blaze sprang up. It looked very pretty +in the moonlight night, with the sparkling sea out beyond. + +"Can we roast 'em now?" asked Laddie, as he got ready one of the long, +pointed sticks. + +"Not quite yet," said his father. "Better to wait until the fire makes a +lot of red-hot coals, or embers of wood. Then we can hold our candies +over them and they will not get burned or blackened by the blaze. Wait a +bit." + +So they sat about the fire, while Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom piled on +more wood. The boxes of the candies had been opened, so they would be +all ready, and each of the ten Bunkers had a long, sharp-pointed stick +to use as a toasting-fork. + +"I guess we are ready now," said Daddy Bunker, after they had listened +to a jolly song sung by another party of marshmallow roasters farther +down the beach. "There are plenty of hot embers now." + +Cousin Tom poked aside the blazing pieces of driftwood and underneath +were the hot, glowing embers. + +"Now each one put a candy on a stick and hold the marshmallow over the +embers," said Daddy Bunker. "Don't hold it still, but turn it around. +This is just the same as shaking corn when you pop it, or turning bread +over when you toast it. By turning the marshmallow it will not burn so +quickly." + +So, kneeling in a circle about the fire, the six little Bunkers, and the +others, began to roast the candies. But Margy and Mun Bun did not have +very good luck. They forgot to turn their marshmallows and they held +them so close to the fire that they had accidents. + +"Oh, Mun Bun's candy is burning!" cried Rose. + +"And Margy's is on fire, too!" added Russ. + +"Oh, that's too bad!" cried Mother Bunker. "Never mind," she said, as +she saw that the two little tots felt sorry. "I'll toast your candies +for you. It's rather hard for you to do it." + +Mrs. Bunker's own candy was toasted a nice brown and all puffed up, for +this is what happens when you toast marshmallows. So she gave Mun Bun +and Margy some of hers, and then began to brown more. + +The other children did very well, and soon they were all eating the +toasted candies. Now and then one would catch fire, for sugar, you know, +burns faster than wood or coal. But it was easy to blow out the flaming +candies, and, if they were not too badly burned, they were good to eat. + +"Oh, look at the little dog!" cried Rose, as she put a fresh marshmallow +on her stick. "He smells our candy! May I give him one, Daddy?" + +"Yes, but give him one that isn't toasted. He might burn himself on a +hot one. Whose dog is he?" + +"He just ran over to me from down there," and Rose pointed to some boys +and girls about another fire farther down the beach, who were also +roasting marshmallows. The dog seemed glad to be with Rose and his new +friends, and let each of the six little Bunkers pat him. He ate several +candies and then ran back where he belonged. + +"Oh, he was awful cute!" exclaimed Vi. "I wish we could keep him. +Couldn't we have a dog some time?" + +"Maybe, when we get back home again," promised Mother Bunker. + +The marshmallow roast was fun, and even after the candies had all been +eaten the party sat on the beach a little longer, looking at the waves +in the moonlight. + +"Now it's time to go to bed!" called Mother Bunker. "Margy and Mun Bun +are so sleepy they can't keep their eyes open. Come on! We'll have more +fun to-morrow!" + +"I'm going crabbing off the pier," declared Russ. "There's lots of crabs +now, Mr. Burnett says." + +"Yes, August is a good month to catch crabs," returned Cousin Tom. + +"I'm going fishing," said Laddie. "Can you catch fish off your pier, +Cousin Tom?" + +"Oh, yes, sometimes. But don't catch any Sallie Growlers." + +"What's a Sallie Growler?" asked Vi, before any one else could speak. + +"Oh, you'll know as soon as you catch one," laughed her cousin. Then he +picked up Mun Bun, who was really asleep by this time, and carried him +up to the house, while Daddy Bunker took Margy, whose eyes were also +closed. + +True to their promises Russ and Laddie went down to the little boat +wharf the next morning after breakfast. Russ had the crab net and a +chunk of meat tied to a string. Laddie had a short pole and line and a +hook baited with a piece of clam, for that was what fishermen often +used, Cousin Tom said. + +"Now we'll see who catches the first fish!" exclaimed Laddie, as he sat +down on the pier. + +"I'm not fishing for fish, I'm fishing for crabs," said Russ. + +"Well, in this race we'll count a crab and a fish as the same thing," +returned Laddie. "We'll see who gets the first one." + +The boys waited some time. Now and then Russ would feel a little tug at +his line, as if the crabs were tasting his bait, but had not quite made +up their minds to take a good hold so he could pull them up and catch +them in the net. And the cork float on Laddie's line would bob up and +down a little as though he, too, had nibbles. But neither of them had +caught anything yet. + +Suddenly Laddie felt a hard tug, and he yelled: + +"Oh, I got one! I got one! I got the first bite!" + +He yanked on his pole. Something brown and wiggling came up out of the +water and flopped down on the wharf. At the same time a little dog that +had run up behind the two boys and was sniffing around, gave a sudden +yelp. + +"What's the matter?" cried Russ. + +"He's bit by a Sallie Growler! The Sallie Growler you caught bit my dog +on the nose!" exclaimed another boy and he began striking at the brown +thing Laddie had caught, which was now fast to the nose of the dog that +had been eating marshmallows the night before. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE WALKING FISH + + +Laddie dropped his fishing-pole. Russ let go of his crab-line, and they +both stood looking at the dog and at the strange boy. The dog was +howling, and trying to paw off from his nose a queer and ugly-looking +fish that had hold of it. It was the fish Laddie had caught and which +the boy had called a "Sallie Growler." + +"Cousin Tom told us about them last night," thought Russ. "I wonder why +they have such a funny name, and what makes 'em bite so." + +But he did not ask the questions aloud just then. There was too much +going on to let him do this. + +The dog was howling, and the new boy was yelling, at the same time +striking at the fish on the end of his dog's nose. + +"Take him off! Take off that Sallie Growler!" yelled the boy. + +But the brown fish Laddie had caught looked too ugly and savage. Neither +of the little Bunkers was going to touch it and the new boy did not seem +to want to any more than did Russ or Laddie. + +As for the dog, he could not help himself. The fish had hold of him; he +didn't have hold of the fish. + +Finally, after much howling and pawing, the dog either knocked the fish +off his nose, or the Sallie Growler let go of its own accord and lay on +the pier. + +"Poor Teddy!" said the boy as he bent over his pet to pat him. "Did he +hurt you a lot?" The dog whimpered and wagged his tail. He did not seem +to be badly hurt, though there were some spots of blood on his nose. + +"I guess he'll be all right if the Sallie Growler doesn't poison him," +said the boy. "How'd you come to catch it?" he asked, looking from +Laddie to Russ. + +"I didn't want to catch it," said Laddie. "I was fishing for good fish +and I got a bite and pulled _that_ up!" and he pointed to the ugly +brown fish that lay gasping on the boards. + +"Is it a Sallie Growler?" asked Russ. + +"It is," said the new boy. "And they can bite like anything. Look how +that one held on to my dog's nose." + +"I hope he isn't hurt much," put in Laddie. "I didn't mean to do it." + +"No, I guess you didn't," said the other boy. "Nobody ever tries to +catch a Sallie Growler. They're too nasty and hard to get off the hook. +'Most always they swallow it, but this one didn't. He dropped off just +as you landed him and then my dog came along and smelled him--Teddy's +always smelling something--and the fish bit him." + +"Do you live around here?" asked Russ. + +"Yes, we're here for the summer. I guess I saw you down on the beach +last night roasting marshmallows, didn't I?" + +"Yes, and we gave your dog some," returned Laddie. "What's your name?" + +"George Carr. What's yours?" + +"Laddie Bunker." + +"Mine's Russ," said Laddie's brother. "Oh, look! I guess I've got a +crab!" + +He ran to where he had tied the end of his string to a post of the pier, +and began to pull in. Surely enough, on the end was a big blue-clawed +crab, and, with the help of Laddie, who used the net, the creature was +soon landed on the pier. + +"Here! You keep away from that crab!" called George Carr to his dog +Teddy. "Do you want your nose bit again?" + +And from the way the crab raised its claws in the air, snapping them +shut, it would seem that the shellfish would have been very glad indeed +to pinch the dog's nose. But Teddy had learned a lesson. He kept well +away from the gasping Sallie Growler, too. + +"What makes 'em be called Sallie Growler?" asked Laddie, as he and Russ +looked at the fish. It was very ugly, with a head shaped like a toad, +and a very big mouth. + +"I don't know why they call 'em Sallie," said George; "but they call 'em +Growler 'cause they do growl. Sometimes you can hear 'em grunting under +the water. There goes this one now!" + +Just as he spoke the fish did give a sort of groan or growl. It opened +its mouth, gasping for breath. + +"They're no good--worse than a toad fish!" exclaimed George, as he +kicked the one Laddie had caught into the water. + +"Are there many around here?" asked Russ. + +"Yes, quite a lot in the inlet," answered George. "They don't bite on +crab-meat bait, but if you're fishing for fish they often swallow your +hook, bait and all. I don't like 'em, and I guess Teddy won't either +after to-day." + +"Was he ever bit before?" Laddie wanted to know as the dog lay down on +the pier and began to lick his bitten nose with his tongue. + +"Not that I know of," answered George, who was a little older than Russ. +"Once is enough. I wouldn't want one to bite me." + +"Me, neither," added Russ. "Want to help catch crabs?" he asked George. +"I have two lines and you can have one." + +"Thanks, I will. I was out walking with my dog and I saw you two down on +this pier. I came to see if you were the same boys that gave my dog +marshmallows last night." + +"Yes, we're the same," answered Russ. "Did he like the candy we fed +him?" + +"Oh, sure! He always eats candy, but he doesn't get too much at our +house. Teddy's always smelling things. That's how he came to go up to +the Sallie Growler. I guess he'll let the next one alone." + +"I hope I don't catch any more," said Laddie. "I don't like 'em." + +"Nobody else does," said George. "We come to the seashore every year, +and I never saw anybody yet that liked a Sallie Growler." + +Laddie, Russ and their new chum stayed on the pier for some time. Russ +and George caught quite a number of crabs, and Laddie had fine luck with +his fish-pole and line, landing three good-sized fish on the pier. He +caught no more Sallie Growlers, for which he was thankful. I guess Teddy +was, too, for his nose was quite sore. + +For several days after that George came over each morning to play with +the two older Bunker boys. He brought his dog with him and Teddy made +friends over again with Rose and Violet and Margy and Mun Bun, as well +as with Russ and Laddie. + +"I guess he 'members we gave him candy," said Margy, as she patted the +dog's shaggy head. + +There were many happy days at Seaview. The six little Bunkers played in +the sand, they went wading and bathing and had picnics, more marshmallow +roasts and even popcorn parties on the beach. + +"I don't ever want to go home," said Laddie one night after a day of fun +on the beach. "This is such a nice place. It's so good to think up +riddles." + +"Have you a new one?" asked his father. "Have you thought up an answer +yet to where the fire goes when it goes out?" + +"Not yet," Laddie answered. "But I have one about what is the sleepiest +letter of the alphabet." + +"What is the sleepiest letter of the alphabet?" repeated Russ. "Do you +mean the letter I? That ought to be sleepy 'cause it's got an eye to +shut." + +"No, I don't mean I," said Laddie. "But that's a good riddle, too, isn't +it? What's the sleepiest letter of the alphabet?" + +"Do you know the answer?" Rose wanted to know. "This isn't like the +fire riddle, is it?" + +"No, I know an answer to this," Laddie said. "Can anybody else answer +it?" + +They all made different guesses, and Vi, as usual, asked all sort of +questions, but finally no one could guess, or, if Mother and Daddy +Bunker could, they didn't say so, and Laddie exclaimed: + +"The sleepiest letter of the alphabet is E 'cause it's always in bed; +B-E-D, bed!" and he laughed at his riddle. + +"That is a pretty good one," said his mother. + +"You ought to say what are the three sleepiest letters in the alphabet," +declared Russ, "'cause there are three letters in bed." + +"Oh, well, one is enough for a riddle," said Laddie, and I think so +myself. + +One day the children saw Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom putting on long +rubber boots, and taking down heavy fishing-poles and some baskets. + +"Where are you going?" asked Russ. + +"Down to fish in the surf," answered his father. "Want to come?" + +Russ and Laddie did. Rose and Violet were already trying to catch crabs +further up the inlet. Margy and Mun Bun had gone to take their afternoon +nap. + +Laddie and Russ played about on the beach while their father and Cousin +Tom began to fish, throwing the heavy sinkers and big hooks far out in +the surf, trying to catch a bass. The men had to stand where the waves +broke, and that is why they wore rubber boots. + +Suddenly Laddie, who had run down the beach to watch a big piece of +driftwood come floating in, called: + +"Oh, Russ! Come here, quick! Here is a fish that's got legs! It's a fish +that can walk! It's worse than a Sallie Growler! Come and look at it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE QUEER BOX AGAIN + + +Russ at first thought his smaller brother was playing a joke. + +"You can't fool me," cried Russ. "I don't want to guess any of your +riddles!" + +"This isn't a riddle!" declared Laddie. "It's a real fish, and it's got +real legs. Come and look at it!" + +He was pointing to something on the beach, which seemed to have been +washed in by the tide. + +"Come on!" cried Laddie again. "It isn't a riddle--honest! It's a fish +with legs. I didn't see him walk, but it sort of--sort of stands up!" + +Still Russ was afraid of being fooled. So he called over to his father +and Cousin Tom, who were fishing in the surf not far away. + +"Daddy, is there a fish with legs? Laddie says he's found one on the +beach." + +"Well, you might call 'em legs," answered Cousin Tom, as he flung his +hook and sinker as far as he could out into the ocean. "I guess what +Laddie has found is a skate." + +"But he says it's a fish!" exclaimed Russ. "Now you call it a skate! I +guess you're both trying to make up riddles." + +"No, Russ," said his father, as he reeled in his line. "The fish Laddie +sees, and I can see it from where I stand, really has some long, thin +fins, which are like legs. And the name of the fish is 'skate,' so you +see they are both right. Come, we'll go and look at it." + +And when Russ got to where Laddie was standing over the queer creature +on the beach he had to laugh, for surely the fish was a very queer one. + +"Isn't it funny?" asked Laddie. + +"I should say so!" cried Russ. "It's as funny as some of your riddles." + +And if any of you have ever seen a skate at the seashore I think you +will agree with Russ. Imagine, if you have never seen one, a fish as +flat as a flounder, with a flat, pointed nose sticking out in front. +Away back, under this nose, and out of sight from the top, or the back +of the fish, is its mouth. And the mouth is rather large and has sharp +teeth. + +Fastened to the back of the skate is a long, slender tail, like that of +a rat, only larger, and between the tail and the round, flat body on the +under side, are two things that really look like legs. Perhaps the skate +may use them to walk around on the bottom of the ocean, as a horseshoe +crab uses his legs for walking. But a skate can also swim, and in that +way it comes up off the bottom, and often bites on the hooks of +fishermen who do not at all want to catch such an unpleasant fish. + +The skate swims, using the things like legs as a fish uses its fins, and +sometimes, when landed on the shore, the fish really seems to be +standing up on these legs, so Laddie was not so far wrong. On each side +of the skate were thin, flat fins, which were something like wings. The +skate had a humpy head and big, bulging eyes. + +"What's a skate for?" asked Russ, as he looked at the queer creature. + +"And who gave it that name?" Laddie wanted to know. + +"My! You two are getting as bad at asking questions as Violet!" laughed +Mr. Bunker. "Well, I'll answer as well as I can. I don't know how the +fish came to be called a skate unless it sort of skates around on the +bottom of the ocean. Though when a skate is dead its tail curls up and +around like the old-fashioned skates once used in Holland. It may get +its name from that." + +"Are they good to eat?" asked Russ. + +"Some kinds are said to be," answered Cousin Tom, "though I never tasted +one myself. I have heard of fishermen eating certain parts of the skates +caught along here. But I never saw any one do it. Whenever I catch a +skate I throw it back into the water. I can't see that they are good for +anything." + +The skate which Laddie and Russ were watching, and which seemed to have +been cast up on the beach by the waves, was flopping about, now and then +raising itself on its queer legs, until, finally, the tide came up +higher and washed it out into the sea again. + +"I guess it's glad to get back in the ocean," said Russ. + +"Yes," agreed his brother. "I'd have put it back in only I was afraid it +might bite me." + +"No, I don't believe it would," said Cousin Tom. + +"There's heaps of funny things down at the seashore," said Laddie, as he +watched to see if the skate would swim back, but it did not. + +"Lots of funny things," agreed Russ. + +"The shore is a good place to make riddles," went on Laddie. + +"And it's a bad place to lose things," said his brother. "Look how Rose +lost her locket." + +"Yes, that was too bad," said Daddy Bunker. "I'm afraid we shall never +find that now. There is so much sand here." + +"We've dug holes and looked all over," said Russ, "but we can't find +it." + +"I wish we could find that box we had up on shore and that the waves +came up and washed away," remarked Laddie. "Don't you 'member the box +you were going to open, Daddy?" + +"Yes, I remember," answered Mr. Bunker. "I would like to know what was +in that. But I don't suppose we ever shall." + +"And I guess we'll never get back Vi's doll that I lost," said Russ. +"But when I get back home I'm going to save up and buy her another." + +"That will be a nice thing to do," replied Mr. Bunker. "Of course Violet +has, in a way, forgotten about her doll, but I'm sure she would like to +have you get her another." + +"And I will!" exclaimed Russ. He did not even dream how soon he was to +do this. + +"Well," said Cousin Tom, after the skate had been washed out to sea, "I +don't believe, Daddy Bunker, that we are going to have any luck fishing +to-day. I think we might as well go back to the bungalow and see what +they have to eat." + +"I hope they didn't count on us bringing some fish," said the father of +the six little Bunkers with a laugh. "If they did we'll all go hungry." + +"I don't want to be hungry," murmured Laddie, with a queer look at his +father. + +"Oh, he's only joking," whispered Russ. "I can tell by the way he laughs +around his eyes." + +"Yes, I'm only joking," said Laddie's father. "I guess Cousin Ruth will +have plenty to eat. We'll walk along the beach a little way and then go +home." + +The two men reeled in their fish lines and, with the two little boys, +strolled along the sand. Laddie and Russ were wondering what they could +do to have some fun, and they were thinking of different things when +Cousin Tom, who was a little way ahead, cried: + +"Look! Isn't that a box being washed up on the beach?" + +They all looked and saw something white and square being rolled over and +over in the waves nearest the shore. It was quite a distance ahead of +them, but Cousin Tom, handing his pole and basket to Daddy Bunker, ran +and, wading into the surf with his high rubber boots, caught hold of the +box. + +"It shan't get away from us this time!" he called to Daddy Bunker, Russ +and Laddie as they hastened toward him. "I'll keep it safe this time, +all right!" and he carried the box well up among the sand dunes, or +little hills, well out of reach of the highest tide. + +"Why do you say 'this time'?" asked Daddy Bunker. "Did you ever pull in +this box before?" + +"Indeed I did, or, rather, one of us did. This is the same box the +children found once before; don't you remember? This time we'll find out +what is in this box for sure. And we won't wait for a hammer, either. +I'll use a piece of driftwood." + +As Daddy Bunker and the two boys gathered around the box they saw that +indeed it was the same one that had been cast up before by the waves. + +What could be in it? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE UPSET BOAT + + +Cousin Tom had said he was not going to wait for a hammer to open the +box, and he was as good as his word. When he had carried the box well up +on the beach, out of reach of even the highest waves, he looked about +for a piece of driftwood that he could use in knocking the cover off the +case. And while he was thus searching, Daddy Bunker, Russ and Laddie +examined the box. + +"It looks just like the same one," said Russ. + +"I'm positive it is," added his father. "I remember the size and shape +of the other box and this is just the same. And there were two funny +marks in the wood on top, and this has the same marks." + +"There was a piece of paper tacked on the other box," said Russ. "That +isn't here now." + +"That was soaked off in the water and washed away," said his father. +"But you can still see the four tacks, one for each corner of the card. +I suppose that had some address on but it was washed off by the salt +water." + +"What made the box come back to us?" asked Laddie, as Cousin Tom came +walking along with a heavy stick he was going to use as a hammer to open +the case. + +"Well, no one knows what the sea is going to do," replied Daddy Bunker. +"It washes up queer things and takes them away again. I suppose this has +been floating around for some time--ever since it was washed away from +us the time we thought we so surely had it." + +"It may have been washed up on the beach in some lonely spot a little +while after we last saw it," said Cousin Tom. "And it may have been +there ever since until the last high tide, when it was washed away again +and then I happened to spy it just now. But it will not get away again +until we open it." + +Using the piece of heavy driftwood he had picked up as a hammer, Cousin +Tom soon broke the top of the box that had drifted ashore. He pulled +back the splintered pieces and eagerly they all looked inside. The box +was about two feet long and the same in height and width, and all Laddie +and Russ could see at first was what seemed to be some heavy paper. + +[Illustration: COUSIN TOM BROKE OPEN THE BOX WITH A PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD +_Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's._--_Page 210_] + +"Is that all that's in it?" cried Russ. + +"Wait and see," advised his father. "There may be something under the +paper." + +Cousin Tom put his hand in and raised the covering. Some bright colors +were seen and then what appeared to be a lot of pieces of cloth. + +"A lot of dresses!" exclaimed Russ in disappointed tones. "That's all!" + +"But here is something inside the dresses," said his father with a +smile. + +"Something in the dresses?" + +"Yes. Unless I am very much mistaken there are Japanese dolls in this +box--maybe half a dozen of them--and it is their gaily colored dresses +which you see. Isn't that it, Cousin Tom?" + +"You are right, Daddy Bunker! There they are! Japanese dolls!" and +Cousin Tom pulled out one about two feet long and held it up in front +of the two boys. + +"Dolls!" gasped Laddie. + +"Japanese dolls!" added his brother. + +"A little spoiled by the salt water, but still pretty good," said Cousin +Tom, as he pulled another doll out of the box. "They were wrapped in +oiled silk and the box is lined with a sort of water-proof cloth, so +they didn't get as wet as they might otherwise. Some of the dresses are +a bit stained, and I see that the black-haired wig of one of the dolls +has melted off. But we can glue that on again. Well, that's quite a +find--six nice, large Japanese dolls," laughed Cousin Tom. + +"They aren't any good for us!" exclaimed Russ. "I was thinking maybe +there'd be a toy steam engine in the box." + +"If there had been it would have been spoiled by the sea water," said +Cousin Tom with a smile. "Dolls are about the best thing that could be +in the box. They are light and wouldn't sink. And, being so well wrapped +up, they didn't get very wet. We can take them home to Rose and Mun Bun +and Margy and----" + +"Oh, there'll be one for Violet!" cried Russ. "Now I can give her back a +doll for the one that sunk when my boat upset! Save the nicest doll for +Violet!" + +"Yes, I think that would be no more than fair," said Daddy Bunker. "The +sea took Violet's doll and the sea gives her back another. How many +dolls did you say there were, Cousin Tom?" + +"Six. One for each of the six little Bunkers." + +"Pooh! I don't want a doll!" exclaimed Russ. "I'm too big!" + +"So'm I!" added Laddie. + +"Very well. And as there are six dolls and only four who will want them, +that will leave two over, so if Rose or Violet or Mun Bun loses a doll +we'll have two extra ones. Only I hope they won't lose anything more +while we're here," and Daddy Bunker smiled. + +"Where do you suppose the dolls came from?" asked Russ as Cousin Tom +packed them back in the box so the case could be carried to the +bungalow. + +"It's hard to say," was the answer. "As the tag on the box has been +washed off we don't know to whom the dolls belonged. They may have +gotten in a load of refuse from New York by mistake, from one of the big +stores, and been dumped into the sea, or they may have been lost off +some vessel in a storm. Or there may even have been a wreck. + +"Anyhow the box of dolls, well wrapped up from the water, has been +floating around for some time, I should say. It came to us once but we +lost it. Then we had another chance at it and we didn't lose it. Now +we'll take the dolls home and see what Rose, Violet and the others have +to say about them." + +It was a jolly home-going, even though no fish had been caught. Long +before they were at the bungalow but within sight of it Laddie and Russ +cried: + +"Look what we got!" + +"We found the box again!" + +Rose, Violet, Margy and Mun Bun came running out to see what it all +meant. + +"Did you find my gold locket?" asked Rose eagerly. + +"No, my dear, we didn't find that," her father answered. + +"Did you get my doll back from the bottom of the ocean?" Violet called. + +"Well, we pretty nearly did," answered Russ. "Anyhow, we got you one I +guess maybe you'll like as well." + +Cousin Tom gave Russ one of the Japanese dolls from the box and, with it +in his arms, Russ ran toward his little sister. + +"Look! Here it is!" he cried. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" gasped Violet, hardly able to believe her eyes. "Oh, what +a lovely, lovely doll!" + +A disappointed look came over the face of Rose, but it changed to one of +joy when her father took out another doll and gave it to her. Then Mun +Bun set up a cry: + +"I want one!" + +"So do I!" echoed Margy. + +"There is one for each of you," laughed Cousin Tom, as he took out two +more dolls. + +"And two left over!" added Russ. + +"Oh, where did you get them?" asked Rose. "Oh, I just love mine!" and +she hugged it to her closely. + +"My doll's wet!" exclaimed Mun Bun, as he saw the damp dress on his +plaything. + +"Mine is, too," said Violet. "But all dolls have to be wet when they +come out of the ocean, don't they, Daddy?" + +"Yes, I suppose so. And that is where these dolls came from--right out +of the ocean." + +Then the children were told how the queer box had been found again +floating near the beach and how Cousin Tom had waded out in his high +rubber boots and brought it to shore. + +Mother Bunker and Cousin Ruth came out to see the find and they, too, +thought the dolls were wonderful. + +"And we saw a fish that could walk," added Laddie when the dolls had +been looked at again and again. + +Then he and Russ told about the queer-looking skate. + +The doll with the wig of black hair that had been soaked off was laid +aside to be mended, as was the one the dress of which was badly stained +by sea water. But the other dolls were almost as good as new. And, in +fact, Rose and Violet would rather have had them than new dolls right +out of the store, because there was such a queer story connected with +them. + +"I wonder if they came right from Japan," mused Rose as she made believe +put her doll to sleep. + +"We can pretend so, anyhow," said Violet. "I'm not going to cry about my +other doll that was drowned now, 'cause I got this one. She's the nicest +one I ever had." + +"Mine, too," added Rose. + +I might say that the six little Bunkers never found out where the dolls +came from. But most likely they had fallen off some ship and the oiled +silk and other wrappings kept them in good shape until the box was +washed up on the beach the second time. + +"Well, if the seashore is a bad place to lose things on account of so +much sand it is also a good place to find things," said Mother Bunker +that night when the six little Bunkers had been put to bed and the dolls +were also "asleep." + +"I'm glad you like it here," said Cousin Ruth. "But I am sorry that Rose +lost her locket." + +"Well, it couldn't be helped," said the little girl's mother. "I did +have hopes that we would find it soon after she lost it. But now I have +given up." + +"Yes," agreed her husband. "The locket is gone forever." + +But I have still a secret to tell you about that. + +A few days after the finding of the dolls all six of the little Bunkers +were playing down on the beach. Four of them had the Japanese dolls, but +Russ and Laddie did not. + +Laddie was digging a hole in the sand and trying to think of a new +riddle, and Violet had just finished asking Russ a lot of questions +when, all of a sudden, George Carr, the little boy whose dog had been +bitten by the Sallie Growler, came running around a group of sand dunes, +crying: + +"Oh, the boat's upset! The boat's upset, and all the men are spilled +out! And the fish, too! Come and see the upset boat!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE SAND FORT + + +"What do you mean--the boat upset?" asked Russ, looking up from the sand +fort he was making on the beach. "Do you mean one of your toy boats and +is it make-believe men that are spilled out?" + +"No, I mean real ones!" exclaimed George. "It's one of the fishing +boats, and it was just coming in from having been out to the nets. It +was full of fish and they're all over, and you can pick up a lot of 'em +and they're good to eat. And maybe one of the men is drowned. Anyhow, +there's a lot of 'em in the water. Come on and look!" + +"Where is it?" asked Laddie. + +"Right down the beach!" and George pointed. "'Tisn't far." + +"Come on, Mun Bun and Margy!" called Rose as she saw Russ and Laddie +start down the beach with George and his dog. "We'll go and see what it +is. Vi, you take Mun Bun's hand and I'll look after Margy." + +"Shall we leave our dolls here?" asked Vi. + +"Yes. There's nobody here now and we can go faster if we don't carry +them," answered Rose. "Here, Mun Bun and Margy, leave your dolls with +Vi's and mine. They'll be all right." + +Rose laid her doll down on the sand and the others did the same, so that +there were four Japanese dolls in a row. + +"Won't the waves come up and get 'em?" asked Margy as she looked back on +the dolls. + +"No, the waves don't come up as high as the place where we left them," +said Rose, who had taken care to put the dolls to "sleep" well above +what is called "high-water mark," that is, the highest place on the +beach where the tide ever comes. + +"Come on! Hurry if you want to see the men from the upset boat!" George +called back to Rose and the others. + +"Let's wait for 'em," proposed Laddie. "Maybe they'll be lonesome. I'm +going to wait." + +"Well, we'll all wait," said George, who was a kind-hearted boy. "If you +can't see the men swim out you can see the lot of fish that went +overboard." + +As the children came out from behind the little hills of sand they saw, +down on the beach, a crowd of men and boys. And out in the surf and the +waves, which were high and rough, was a large white boat, turned bottom +up, and about it were men swimming. + +"Oh, will they drown?" asked Russ, much excited. + +"No, I guess not," answered George. "They're fishermen and they 'most +all can swim. Anyhow the water isn't very deep where they are. They're +trying to get their boat right side up so they can pull it up on the +beach." + +"What made 'em upset?" asked Laddie. + +"Rough water. There's going to be a storm and the ocean gets rough just +before that," George explained. + +The children watched the men swimming about the overturned boat, and +noticed that the water all about them was filled with floating, dead +fish. + +"Did the men kill the fish when they upset?" asked Violet. + +"No, the men got the fish out of their nets," explained George, who had +been at the seashore every summer that he could remember. "There are the +nets out where you see those poles," and he pointed to a place about a +half mile off shore. "The men go out there in a big motor-boat," he went +on, "and pull up the net. They empty the fish into the bottom of the +boat and then they come ashore. They put the fish in barrels with a lot +of ice and send them to New York. + +"But sometimes when the boat tries to come up on the beach with the men +and a load of fish in it the waves in the surf are so big that the boat +upsets. That's what this one did. I was watching it and I saw it. Then I +came to tell you, 'cause I saw you playing on the sand." + +"I'm glad you did," said Russ. "I'm sorry the men got upset, but I like +to see 'em." + +"So am I. Will they lose all their fish?" demanded Laddie. + +"Most of 'em," said George. "They can scoop up some in nets, I guess, +but a lot that wasn't quite dead swam away and the waves took the +others out to sea. The fish hawks will get 'em and lots of boys and men +are taking fish home. The fishermen can't save 'em all and when a boat +upsets anybody that wants to, keeps the fish." + +After hard work the men who had been tossed into the water when the boat +went over managed to get it right side up again. Then a rope was made +fast to it and horses on shore, pulling on the cable, hauled the boat up +out of reach of the waves, where it would stay until it was time to make +another trip to the nets. + +"Could we take some of the fish?" asked Russ of George. + +"Oh, yes, as many as you like," said his friend. "The fishermen can +never pick them all up." + +So the six little Bunkers each picked up a fish and took it home to +Cousin Ruth. They were nice and fresh and she cooked them for dinner. + +"Well, you youngsters had better luck than Cousin Tom and I had," said +Daddy Bunker with a laugh as he saw what Russ and the others had picked +up. "I guess, after this, we'll take you fishing with us." + +The promise of the storm brought by the big waves that upset the +fishing-boat, came true. That night the wind began to rise and to blow +with a howling and mournful sound about the bungalow. But inside it was +cosy and light. + +In the morning, when the children awakened, it was raining hard, the +drops dashing against the windows as though they wanted to break the +glass and get inside. + +"Is the sea very rough now, Daddy?" asked Russ after breakfast. + +"Yes, I think it is," was the answer. "Would you like to see it?" + +Russ thought he would, and Laddie wanted to go also, but his mother said +he was too small to go out in the storm. + +"It is a bad storm," said Cousin Tom. "I saw a fisherman as I was coming +back from the village this morning early and he said he never felt a +worse blow. The sea is very high." + +Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom put on "oilskins," that is, suits of cloth +covered with a sort of yellow rubber, through which the water could not +come. + +A small suit with a hat of the same kind, called a "sou'wester," was +found for Russ, and then the three started down for the beach. It was +hard work walking against the wind, which came out of the northeast, and +the rain stung Russ in the face so that he had to walk with his head +down most of the time and let his father and Cousin Tom lead him. + +"Oh, what big waves!" cried Russ as he got within sight of the beach. +And indeed the surf was very high. The tide was in and this, with the +force of the wind, sent the big billows crashing up on the beach with a +noise like thunder. + +"I guess no fishermen could go out in that, could they, Daddy?" asked +the little boy. + +"No, indeed, Son! This weather is bad for the fishermen and all who are +at sea," said Mr. Bunker. + +They remained looking at the heavy waves for some time and then went +back to the house. Russ was glad to be indoors again, away from the blow +and noise of the storm. + +"Do you often have such blows here?" asked Mother Bunker of Cousin Ruth. + +"Well, I haven't been here, at this beach, very long, but almost always +toward the end of August and the beginning of September there are hard +storms at the shore." + +It rained so hard that the six little Bunkers could not go out to play +and Cousin Ruth and their mother had to make some amusement for them in +the bungalow. + +"Have you ever been up in the attic?" asked Cousin Ruth. + +"No!" cried the six little Bunkers. + +"Well, you may play up there," said Cousin Ruth. "It isn't very big, but +you can pretend it is a playhouse and do as you please." + +With shouts of joy the children hurried up to the attic. Indeed it was a +small place. But the six little Bunkers liked it. There were so many +little holes into which they could crawl away and hide. + +The four who liked to play with dolls brought up their Japanese toys, +and Russ and Laddie found some of their playthings, so they had lots of +fun in the bungalow attic. Cousin Ruth gave them something to eat and +they played they were shipwrecked sailors part of the time. With the +wind howling outside and the rain beating down on the roof, it was very +easy to pretend this. + +The storm lasted three days, and toward the end the grown folks in +Cousin Tom's bungalow began to wish it would stop, not only because they +were tired of the wind and rain, but because the children were fretting +to be out. + +At last the wind died down, the rain ceased and the sun shone. Out +rushed the six little Bunkers with gladsome shouts. Laddie and Russ had +some large toy shovels which their mother had bought them. + +"What are you going to do?" Rose asked her two older brothers as she saw +them hurrying down to the beach when the sun was out. + +"We're going to make a sand fort and have a battle," answered Russ. "The +sand will pack fine now 'cause it's so wet. We're going to make a big +sand fort." + +And he and Laddie began this play. Something very strange was to come +from it, too. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A MYSTERIOUS ENEMY + + +"Here's a good place to make the fort," said Russ as he and Laddie +reached the beach not far from Cousin Tom's bungalow and looked about +them. "We'll build the fort right here, Laddie, near this hill of sand." + +"What's the hill for?" + +"That's where we can put our flag. They always put a flag on a hill +where everybody can see it." + +"But we haven't a flag. Where are we going to get one?" + +"Say, you ask almost as many questions as Vi," exclaimed Russ. "We'll +_make_ a flag!" + +"How?" + +"Out of a handkerchief. You've a handkerchief and so have I. One is +enough for both of us and we can take the other and make a flag of it." + +"But that'll be a white flag, Russ, and soldiers don't ever have a white +flag lessen they give up and surrender. We didn't surrender, 'cause we +haven't even got our fort built. We don't want a white flag." + +"Oh, well, I didn't mean to have a white flag. That's just the start. +We'll take a white handkerchief for a flag and we can make it red and +blue." + +"How?" Laddie certainly was asking questions. + +"Well, Cousin Tom has some red and blue pencils. I saw 'em on his desk +the other night. He marks his papers with 'em. You go and ask Cousin +Ruth if we can't take a red and a blue pencil and then I'll show you how +to make a red, white and blue flag out of a handkerchief." + +"You won't make the fort till I come back, will you?" + +"No, I'll only start it. Now you go and get the pencils." + +Laddie ran back to the bungalow and Cousin Ruth let him have what he +wanted. He promised not to lose the pencils, and soon he was helping +Russ mark red stripes and blue stars on Laddie's white handkerchief. +They did make something that looked like our flag, and then, finding a +long piece of driftwood to use as a flag-pole they planted it on top of +the hill. + +Making a fort in the damp sand at the seashore is very easy. It is even +easier than making one of snow, for you don't have to wait for the snow +to fall and often after it has snowed the flakes are so cold and dry +that they will not pack and hold together. But you can always find damp +sand at the seashore. Even though it is dry on top if you dig down a +little way you will find it moist. Now, on account of the rain, the sand +was wet all over and was just fine for making forts. + +Russ and Laddie had some toy shovels their mother had bought for them. +The shovels had long handles and were larger than the kind children +usually play with at the shore, so the boys could dig faster with them. + +"How do you make a fort?" asked Laddie. + +"Well," explained Russ, "you dig a sort of hole and you pile the sand up +in front of you in a sort of half ring and then you can lie down behind +it and if anybody throws bullets at you they won't hit you." + +"Do you have a roof to your fort?" + +"No! Course forts don't ever have a roof." + +"Then you get wet when it rains." + +"Yes, but a soldier doesn't ever mind rain. All he minds is bullets, and +they can't hit him in the fort." + +"Supposin' they come over the top where there isn't a roof?" + +"I don't guess they'll come that way," said Russ. "Anyhow, you mustn't +throw any that way." + +"Oh! am I going to throw the bullets?" + +"Yes," Russ replied, "We'll take turns being in the fort. After we get +it made I'll be captain of it and you must come up and try to take it +away. You must shoot bullets at me." + +"Real ones?" + +"No, course not! Make 'em of paper. Then they won't hurt. After a while +I'll take down the flag--that means I surrender--and you can be in the +fort and I'll fire bullets at you." + +"That'll be fun!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"Lots of fun!" agreed Russ. + +So they dug in the sand with their shovels, piling it up in front of +them in a long ridge shaped like a half circle. The ridge of sand which +was to be the outer wall of the fort was in front of the hill over which +floated the red, white and blue handkerchief flag. Between the hill and +the outer wall of the fort was a hole which was made as Laddie and Russ +tossed out the sand. + +"I'll sit down in this hole," Russ explained, "and then it will be all +the harder for you to hit me with the paper bullets." + +The boys fairly made the sand fly as they dug with their shovels, and +soon they had quite a high ridge of it half way around the little hill +with the flag on top. There was also quite a hole for Russ to stand in +and throw paper bullets back at Laddie. + +"Now I guess we can have the battle," said Russ. "You get a lot of +paper, Laddie, and roll it up into bullets." + +"And I'll make some big ones!" exclaimed the little fellow. + +"We can call the big bullets cannon balls," said Russ, and Laddie agreed +to this. "I'll help you make the bullets," Russ offered. + +There were plenty of old papers at the bungalow, and soon Russ and +Laddie were tearing them up on the beach near their fort and wadding and +rolling them up into "bullets" and "cannon balls." + +"I guess we have enough," said Russ at last. "Come on now, we'll have a +battle." + +"Are Rose and Vi going to play?" asked Laddie. + +"Nope! Girls never can be in a battle. They can be Red Cross nurses if +they want to. But we won't call 'em until after the fight. They'd only +holler like anything." + +Rose and Violet were up in the bungalow playing jackstones, while Margy +and Mun Bun had gone for a walk with their mother. So Russ and Laddie +had the beach to themselves to play on. + +Russ got inside the fort and crouched down in the hole he had dug. +Laddie took up his position not far away, a little distance down the +beach, having with him a pile of paper wads that he was to throw at his +brother. + +"Are you ready?" asked Laddie. + +"All ready!" answered Russ. "Go ahead and fire!" + +"Bang! Bang!" shouted Laddie, making believe he was shooting off a gun. +The boys often played this game so they knew just how to do it. "Bang! +Bang!" + +Then Laddie began throwing large and small wads of paper at the sand +fort behind which crouched Russ. And Russ threw wads of paper at his +smaller brother. + +The sand walls of the fort kept Russ from being "shot" in the battle. +Laddie's "bullets" and "cannon balls" hit the sand walls of the fort +more often than they struck his brother and Russ only laughed at them, +at the same time he was pelting Laddie. + +"Oh, say! this is no fun," complained the smaller boy after a bit. "I'm +getting hit all the while and you don't get any at all." + +"I do so! I got hit twice!" + +"Well, that was when I threw cannon balls up in the air and they came +down on your head like rain." + +"Well, you shoot me a few more times and then I'll let you come into the +fort," agreed Russ. "I'll pull down the flag and surrender. Go on, shoot +me some more!" + +So Laddie got together more paper "bullets" and "cannon balls" and threw +them at his brother. But hardly any of them hit Russ. The fort was a +good protection and with the flag floating from the top of the hill made +a fine place for him to stay. + +"This is the last time I'm going to shoot!" cried Laddie, and he took +good aim with a large wad of paper which he called a "double cannon +ball." + +He threw it at Russ and then, from some point back of the fort another +"cannon ball" came sailing into it, flying off and hitting Laddie's +brother. + +"Ouch! Quit that!" cried Russ. "'Tisn't fair throwing sand! A lot of it +went down my neck." + +"I didn't throw sand!" said Laddie. + +"Yes, you did, too! That last cannon ball you threw had a lot of sand +wrapped up in it." + +"No, I didn't," cried Laddie. + +"Don't you think I know!" shouted Russ, scrambling up out of the hole +behind his fort. "Can't I feel it?" + +Just then another paper "cannon ball" sailed into the fort from a sand +hill back of it and it fell at the feet of Russ and burst, letting out a +pile of sand. + +"There!" cried Russ. "What'd I tell you?" + +"But I didn't throw it!" said Laddie. "You looked right at me and I +didn't throw it." + +"No, you didn't," admitted Russ. "It came from in back of me. I wonder +who's throwing sand cannon balls at us." + +And then came another which hit Laddie, sending a shower of the gritty +grains down his back. + +"Hi! Quit that!" cried Russ. He and Laddie looked all around, but they +could see no one. A mysterious enemy was shooting at them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE TREASURE + + +Once more there came sailing through the air a paper "cannon ball." It +fell on the ground between Laddie and Russ and burst open, a lot of dry, +soft sand spilling out. + +"There!" cried Laddie. "See! I didn't throw 'em!" + +"No, I don't guess you did," admitted Russ. "But who did?" + +Just then a jolly laugh sounded, and out from behind a ridge of +sand--one of the dunes made by the wind--came George Carr. + +"Did I scare you?" asked George. + +"A--a little," admitted Russ, wiggling to get rid of the sand down his +back. + +"We didn't know who it was," said Laddie. And he, too, squirmed about, +for there was sand inside his blouse. + +"I thought you wouldn't," said George, laughing again. "I saw you +playing soldiers and I thought I'd make believe I was another enemy +coming up behind. You didn't make any fort in back of you," he said to +Russ, "and so I could easily fire at you." + +"But we don't put sand in our paper bullets," complained Laddie. + +"Don't you?" asked George. "Then I'm sorry I did. I hope I didn't hurt +you, or get any in your eyes." + +"No," answered Russ, sort of shaking himself to let the sand sift down +through the legs of his knickerbockers. "But it tickles a lot." + +"Well, I won't throw any more," promised George. "But lots of times we +play soldier down on the beach and we throw sand bullets. Only we don't +ever throw 'em at each others' eyes. Sand in your eyes hurts like +anything." + +"I know it does," agreed Russ. "Mun Bun got some in his the other day +and he cried a lot." + +"Well, come on, let's play soldier some more," suggested George. "I'll +be on Laddie's side. You go in the fort, Russ, and we'll stand against +you. Two to one is fair when the one is inside a fort." + +"And won't you throw any more sand bullets or cannon balls?" + +"No, only paper ones." + +"All right, then I'll play." + +Russ went back in his fort, and Laddie and George, outside the wall of +sand, began pelting him with wads of paper. But now the battle went +differently. The attacking force could shoot twice as many paper bullets +and balls as could Russ and they soon ran up on him, pelting him so that +he had to put his hands over his head. + +"All right--I surrender! I give up!" he cried. + +"Wait till I haul down the flag!" laughed George. + +Then he took down the red and blue penciled handkerchief and he and +Laddie took possession of the fort. Russ was beaten, but he did not +mind, for it was all in fun. Then he took a turn outside the fort, with +Laddie and George inside. However, as this was two against one, Russ +could not win, though the three boys had jolly times. + +They were pelting away at one another, using paper "bullets" and "cannon +balls," shouting and laughing, when, as they became quiet for a moment, +they heard a voice asking: + +"What is all this?" + +They looked up to see Mrs. Bunker with Mun Bun and Margy. + +"How-do?" called George, grinning. + +"Oh, we're having such fun!" cried Laddie. "We're soldiers and we got a +fort, and we had a flag----" + +"It's made out of a handkerchief and red and blue pencils," added Russ. + +"I want to play soldier!" exclaimed Mun Bun. + +"No, it's too rough for you," explained Russ. + +"I want to play, too!" insisted Margy. + +"We're done playing fort and soldier," said Russ. "We'll play something +else." + +"Let's see who can dig the deepest hole," suggested George. "I'll go and +get a shovel, and you have yours, Russ and Laddie. Let's see who can dig +the deepest hole!" + +The two older Bunker boys thought this would be fun, and George ran +over to his cottage to get his shovel. + +"Can we play that game, Mother?" asked Margy. + +"Yes, you and Mun Bun can do that," said Mrs. Bunker. + +The warm sun was drying out the beach, and when George came back with +his shovel he and Laddie and Russ began three holes in a row, each one +trying to make his the deepest. Mun Bun and Margy, each of whom had a +small shovel, also began to dig, though, of course, they could not +expect to dig as fast as the boys, nor make as deep holes. + +"I'll sit on the sand and watch you," said Mrs. Bunker. + +"Maybe we'll find a treasure," suggested Russ. + +"What treasure?" asked George. + +"Oh, before we came down here, when we were at our Aunt Jo's in Boston," +Russ explained, "we knew a boy named Sammie Brown. His father dug up +some treasure on a desert island once. We thought maybe we could dig up +some here." + +"But we didn't--not yet," added Laddie. + +"And I don't guess we ever will," said Russ. "Only we make believe, lots +of times, that we're going to." + +The three boys dug away and Mun Bun and Margy did the same, only more +slowly. Then along came Rose and Violet. + +"What are you doing?" Violet asked, getting in her question first, as +usual. + +"Digging holes," answered Russ. + +"Seeing who can make the biggest," added George. "Mine's deeper than +yours!" he said to Russ. + +"Yes, but mine's going to be bigger. I'm going to make a hole big enough +so I can stand down in it and dig. I'm going to make a regular well." + +"I guess I will, too," decided George. + +"So'll I," said Laddie. + +"Well, if you come to water, don't fall in," advised Mrs. Bunker with a +laugh. + +"You go get a shovel and dig, too," called Russ to Rose. + +"No, I don't want to," said his sister. "I'll watch you." + +My, how the sand was flying on the beach now! Russ, Laddie and George +were all digging as fast as they could with their shovels, each one +trying to make the biggest hole. Mun Bun and Margy dug also, but, though +they made a lot of sand fly, they did not always dig in the same place. +Instead of keeping to one hole they made three or four. But they had +just as much fun. + +Suddenly Laddie, who had made a hole in which he could stand, it being +so deep that he was half hidden from sight in it, uttered a cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked his mother. "Did you hurt yourself?" + +"Did you dig up a Sallie Growler?" asked Vi. + +"Maybe it's a crab," said Mun Bun, and he dropped his shovel and started +for his mother. + +"No, nothing like that," said Laddie. "Only--oh, goody--I guess I've +found the treasure!" he shouted. + +"Treasure!" cried Russ. "What do you mean?" + +"I guess I've found some gold in my hole!" went on Laddie. "Come and +look! It shines like anything!" + +Russ and George leaped out of the holes they were digging and ran toward +Laddie. Mrs. Bunker got up and hurried down the beach. Mun Bun and Margy +followed. Rose and Violet went too. + +"Where is it?" asked Russ, stooping over the edge of his brother's hole. +"Where's the treasure?" + +"There," answered Laddie, pointing to something shining in the sand. It +did glitter brightly and it was not buried very deeply, being near the +top of the hole, but on the far edge, where Laddie had not done much +digging. + +"It is gold!" cried George. "Whoop! Maybe that boy you knew was right, +and there is pirate's treasure here!" + +Mrs. Bunker bent down and looked at what Laddie had uncovered. Then she +took a stick and began carefully to dig around it. + +"Here, take my shovel," offered Laddie. + +"No, I don't want to scratch it, if it is what I think," said his +mother. "I had better dig with the stick." + +She went on scratching away the sand. As she did so the piece of shiny +thing became larger. It sparkled more brightly in the sun. + +"Is it treasure?" asked Laddie eagerly. "Did I find some gold treasure?" + +"Yes, I think you did, Son," said Mrs. Bunker. "It is gold and it is a +treasure." + +"Did the pirates hide it?" demanded Russ. + +"No, I think not," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "I think Rose lost +it." + +"Rose lost it!" cried the two Bunker boys. "What?" + +"Yes, it is her locket that she dropped when we first came here and +never could find," went on Mrs. Bunker. "Laddie, you have found it. You +have discovered the golden treasure--Rose's locket!" + +Having dug away the sand in which it was imbedded, Mrs. Bunker lifted up +a dangling gold chain to which was fastened the gold locket. + +"Oh, it is mine!" cried Rose. "Oh, how glad I am to get it back again! +Oh, Laddie, how glad I am!" + +Her mother handed the little girl her long-lost locket. It was not a bit +hurt from having been buried in the sand, for true gold does not tarnish +in clean sand. And the ornament was as good as ever. Rose clasped it +about her neck and looked very happy. + +"How did it get in my hole?" asked Laddie. + +"It didn't," said his mother. "You happened to dig in just the place +where Rose dropped her locket and you uncovered it. Or this may not have +been the exact place where it fell. Perhaps the sands shifted and +carried the locket with them. That is why we could not find it before. +But now we have it back." + +"It was like finding real treasure," said Russ. + +"I wish we'd find some more," said George. "I'm going to dig a big +hole." + +But, though he scooped out more sand, he found no more gold, nor did +Russ, though they found some pretty shells. + +Daddy Bunker, Cousin Tom and Cousin Ruth came down to the beach to see +what all the joyful laughter was about and they were told of the finding +of the lost locket Rose had dropped in the sand. + +"I never thought I'd get it back," she said, "but I did." + +"And I never thought I'd get my doll back," said Vi, "and I didn't. But +I got a nicer one out of the sea." + +"Well, that was very good luck," said Daddy Bunker. "For once digging in +the sand had some results." + +They all walked up to Cousin Tom's bungalow. + +On the way Laddie seemed rather quiet. + +"What's the matter?" asked his father. "Aren't you glad you found your +sister's gold locket?" + +"Oh, yes, very glad," answered Laddie. "Only I was trying to think up a +riddle about it and I can't. But I have one about why is the ocean like +a garden?" + +"'Tisn't like a garden," declared Russ. "It's all water, the ocean is." + +"It's like a garden in my riddle," insisted Laddie. + +"Why?" his mother asked. + +"The ocean is like a garden 'cause it's full of seaweed," answered +Laddie. + +"I don't think that's a very good riddle," remarked Russ. + +"It wouldn't be a very good garden that had weeds in it," said Mr. +Bunker with a laugh. "Anyhow we ought to be happy because Rose has her +locket back." + +And they all were, I'm sure. + +"What makes gold so bright?" asked Vi, as she saw the locket sparkling +in the sun. + +"Because it is polished," her mother answered. + +"What makes it polished?" went on Vi. + +"Oh, my dear, if you keep on asking questions I'll get in such a tangle +that I'll never be able to find my way out," laughed her mother. "Come, +we'll get ready to go crabbing this afternoon and that will keep you so +busy you won't want to talk." + +"We never came to any nicer place than this, did we?" asked Russ of Rose +as they sat on the pier that afternoon catching crabs by the dozen. + +"No, we never had any better fun than we've had here. I wonder where +we'll go next." + +"I don't know," answered Russ. "Home, maybe." + +But the children did not stay at home very long, and if you want to hear +more about their adventures I invite you to read the next book in this +series. It will be called: "Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's," and +in it is told all about what happened that winter and how the ghost---- + +But there. I guess you'd better read the book. + +"Daddy! Daddy! Come quick!" called Mun Bun, as he felt a tug at his +line. "I got a terrible big crab!" + +"Well, I should say you had!" exclaimed his father, as he caught it in +the net. "It's a wonder it didn't pull you off the pier!" + +The crab was a large one, the largest caught that day, and Mun Bun was +very glad and happy. But he was no more glad than was Rose over her +locket that had been lost and found. + +And so we will leave them, the six little Bunkers, enjoying the last +days of their visit at Cousin Tom's. + + +THE END + + + + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS + + For Little Men and Women + + By LAURA LEE HOPE + + Author of "The Bunny Brown" Series, Etc. + + * * * * * + + 12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. + + * * * * * + + Copyright publications which cannot be obtained elsewhere. Books that + charm the hearts of the little ones, and of which they never tire. Many + of the adventures are comical in the extreme, and all the accidents that + ordinarily happen to youthful personages happened to these many-sided + little mortals. Their haps and mishaps make decidedly entertaining + reading. + + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL + Telling how they go home from the seashore; went to school and were + promoted, and of their many trials and tribulations. + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE + Telling of the winter holidays, and of the many fine times and + adventures the twins had at a winter lodge in the big woods. + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT + Mr. Bobbsey obtains a houseboat, and the whole family go off on a + tour. + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK + The young folks visit the farm again and have plenty of good times + and several adventures. + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME + The twins get into all sorts of trouble--and out again--also bring + aid to a poor family. + + * * * * * + + GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS + + SERIES + + By LAURA LEE HOPE + + Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series." + + * * * * * + + 12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING + + * * * * * + + The adventures of Ruth and Alice DeVere. Their father, a widower, is an + actor who has taken up work for the "movies." Both girls wish to aid him + in his work and visit various localities to act in all sorts of + pictures. + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS + Or First Appearance in Photo Dramas. + Having lost his voice, the father of the girls goes into the movies + and the girls follow. Tells how many "parlor dramas" are filmed. + + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM + Or Queer Happenings While Taking Rural Plays. + Full of fun in the country, the haps and mishaps of taking film + plays, and giving an account of two unusual discoveries. + + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND + Or The Proof on the Film. + A tale of winter adventures in the wilderness, showing how the + photo-play actors sometimes suffer. + + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS + Or Lost in the Wilds of Florida. + How they went to the land of palms, played many parts in dramas + before the camera; were lost, and aided others who were also lost. + + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH + Or Great Days Among the Cowboys. + All who have ever seen moving pictures of the great West will want to + know just how they are made. This volume gives every detail and is full + of clean fun and excitement. + + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA + Or a Pictured Shipwreck that Became Real. + A thrilling account of the girls' experiences on the water. + + + THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS + Or The Sham Battles at Oak Farm. + The girls play important parts in big battle scenes and have plenty + of hard work along with considerable fun. + + + * * * * * + + GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES + + By LAURA LEE HOPE + + Author of the "Bobbsey Twin Books" and "Bunny Brown" Series. + + * * * * * + + 12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. + + * * * * * + + These tales take in the various adventures participated in by several + bright, up-to-date girls who love outdoor life. They are clean and + wholesome, free from sensationalism, absorbing from the first chapter to + the last. + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE + Or Camping and Tramping for Fun and Health. + Telling how the girls organized their Camping and Tramping Club, how + they went on a tour, and of various adventures which befell them. + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE + Or Stirring Cruise of the Motor Boat Gem. + One of the girls becomes the proud possessor of a motor boat and + invites her club members to take a trip down the river to Rainbow Lake, + a beautiful sheet of water lying between the mountains. + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR + Or The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley. + One of the girls has learned to run a big motor car, and she invites + the club to go on a tour to visit some distant relatives. On the way + they stop at a deserted mansion and make a surprising discovery. + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP + Or Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats. + In this story, the scene is shifted to a winter season. The girls + have some jolly times skating and ice boating, and visit a hunters' camp + in the big woods. + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA + Or Wintering in the Sunny South. + The parents of one of the girls have bought an orange grove in + Florida, and her companions are invited to visit the place. They take a + trip into the interior, where several unusual things happen. + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW + Or The Box that Was Found in the Sand. + The girls have great fun and solve a mystery while on an outing along + the New England coast. + + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND + Or A Cave and What it Contained. + A bright, healthful story, full of good times at a bungalow camp on + Pine Island. + + GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + + THE EVERY CHILD + SHOULD KNOW SERIES + + May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list + + BIRDS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY NELTJE BLANCHAN. ILLUSTRATED + EARTH AND SKY EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY JULIA ELLEN ROGERS. ILLUSTRATED + ESSAYS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE + FAIRY TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE + FAMOUS STORIES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE + FOLK TALES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE + HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE + HEROINES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + COEDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE AND KATE STEPHENS + HYMNS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY DOLORES BACON + LEGENDS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE + MYTHS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY HAMILTON W. MABIE + OPERAS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY DOLORES BACON. ILLUSTRATED + PICTURES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY DOLORES BACON. ILLUSTRATED + POEMS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY MARY E. BURT + PROSE EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY MARY E. BURT + SONGS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + EDITED BY DOLORES BACON + TREES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY JULIA ELLEN ROGERS. ILLUSTRATED + WATER WONDERS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY JEAN M. THOMPSON. ILLUSTRATED + WILD ANIMALS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY JULIA ELLEN ROGERS. ILLUSTRATED + WILD FLOWERS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW + BY FREDERIC WILLIAM STACK. ILLUSTRATED + + * * * * * + + GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + * * * * * + + + +Transcriber's notes: + + Punctuation normalised. + + Page 100, "it" changed to "in". (when it caved in) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S*** + + +******* This file should be named 17492.txt or 17492.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/4/9/17492 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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