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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/17761-h.zip b/17761-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5916858 --- /dev/null +++ b/17761-h.zip diff --git a/17761-h/17761-h.htm b/17761-h/17761-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73ca8b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/17761-h/17761-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6609 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford'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: 25%; margin-right: 25%; text-align: justify;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; 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 Grandpa Ford'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 Grandpa Ford's</p> +<p>Author: Laura Lee Hope</p> +<p>Release Date: February 12, 2006 [eBook #17761]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J. P. W. Fraser, 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> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> + +<h1>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS</h1> +<h1>AT GRANDPA FORD'S</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>LAURA LEE HOPE</h2> + +<div class="center"><br /><span class="smcap">Author of "The Bunny Brown Series," "The Bobbsey<br /> +Twins Series," "The Outdoor Girls Series," etc.</span></div> + +<div class="center"><br /><br /><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></div> + +<div class="center"><br /><br /><br />NEW YORK<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +PUBLISHERS<br /> +Made in the United States of America<br /><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 253px;"> +<img src="images/p001.jpg" width="253" height="400" alt=""WE GOT HIM UP, BUT WE CAN'T GET HIM DOWN," CRIED LADDIE." title=""WE GOT HIM UP, BUT WE CAN'T GET HIM DOWN," CRIED LADDIE." /> +<span class="caption">"WE GOT HIM UP, BUT WE CAN'T GET HIM DOWN," CRIED LADDIE.</span> +</div> +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's.</i> <i>Frontispiece</i>—(<a href='#Page_45'><i>Page 45</i></a>)</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BOOKS</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.</i> 50 <i>cents per volume</i></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES</h3> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Six Little Bunkers Book"> +<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: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES</h3> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bobbsey Twins Series"> +<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: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES</h3> + + + +<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%;' /> + +<h3>THE OUTDOOR GIRL SERIES</h3> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Outdoor Girls"> +<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<br /> +<br /> +Copyright, 1918, by<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> +<div class="center"><i>Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's</i> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'><span class="smcap">chapter</span></td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Man on the Porch</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">Grandpa Ford</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">Something Queer</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">Russ Makes a Balloon</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_31'>31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Big Bang Noise</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_44'>44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Off to Great Hedge</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_54'>54</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mun Bun Takes Something</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_63'>63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">a Big Storm</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_73'>73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">At Tarrington</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_85'>85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Great Hedge at Last</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_95'>95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Night Noise</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_105'>105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Up in the Attic</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_113'>113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Old Spinning Wheel</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_125'>125</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Coasting Fun</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_137'>137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Jingling Bells</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_145'>145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Thanksgiving Fun</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">Russ Makes Snowshoes</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_163'>163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">On Skates</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_172'>172</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Ice Boat</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_182'>182</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Another Night Scare</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_192'>192</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mr. White</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">An Upset</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">In the Cabin</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_219'>219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Christmas Joys</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 Ghost at Last</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_237'>237</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> + +<h3>AT GRANDPA FORD'S</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE MAN ON THE PORCH</h3> + + +<p>"Oh, Daddy, come and take him off! He's a terrible big one, and he's +winkin' one of his claws at me! Come and take him off!"</p> + +<p>"All right, Mun Bun. I'll be there in just a second. Hold him under +water so he won't let go, and I'll get him for you."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker, who had been reading the paper on the porch of Cousin +Tom's bungalow at Seaview, hurried down to the little pier that was +built out into Clam River. On the end of the pier stood a little boy, +who was called Mun Bun, but whose real name was Munroe Ford Bunker. +However, he was almost always called Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Come quick, Daddy, or he'll get away!" cried Mun Bun, and he leaned a +little way over the edge of the pier to look at some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>thing which was on +the end of a line he held. The something was down under water.</p> + +<p>"Be careful, Mun Bun! Don't fall in!" cried his father, who, having +caught up a long-handled net, was now running down a little hill to the +pier. "Be careful!" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"I will," answered the little boy, shaking his golden hair out of his +blue eyes, as he tried to get a better view of what he had caught. "Oh, +but he's a big one, and he winks his claws at me!"</p> + +<p>"Well, as long as the crab doesn't pinch you you'll be all right," said +Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>There! I meant to tell you before that Mun Bun was catching crabs, and +not fish, as you might have supposed at first. He had a long string, +with a piece of meat on the end, and he had been dangling this in the +water of Clam River, from Cousin Tom's boat pier.</p> + +<p>Then a big crab had come along and, catching hold of the chunk of meat +in one claw, had tried to swim away with it to eat it in some hole on +the bottom of the inlet.</p> + +<p>But the string, to which the meat was tied, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>did not let him. Mun Bun +held on to the string and as he slowly pulled it up he caught sight of +the crab. As the little fellow had said, it was a big one, and one of +the claws was "winkin'" at him. By that Mun Bun meant the crab was +opening and closing his claw as one opens and closes an eye.</p> + +<p>"Hold him under water, Mun Bun, or he'll let go and drop off," called +Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"I will," answered the golden-haired boy, and he leaned still farther +over the edge of the pier to make sure the crab was still holding to the +piece of meat.</p> + +<p>"Be careful, Mun Bun!" shouted his father. "Be careful! Oh, there you +go!"</p> + +<p>And there Mun Bun did go! Right off the pier he fell with a big splash +into Clam River. Under the water he went, but he soon came up again, +and, having held his breath, as his father had taught him to do whenever +his head went under water, Mun Bun, after a gasp or two, was able to +cry:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy, Daddy, don't let him get me! Don't let the crab pinch me!"</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker did not answer for a mo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>ment. He was too busy to talk, for +he dropped the long-handled crab net, ran down to the pier and, jumping +off himself, grabbed Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>Luckily the water was not deep—hardly over Mun Bun's head—and his +father soon lifted the little fellow up out of danger.</p> + +<p>"There!" cried Daddy Bunker, laughing to show Mun Bun that there was no +more danger. "Now the crab can't get you!"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun looked around to make sure, and then, seeing that he was sitting +on the pier, where his father had placed him, he looked around again.</p> + +<p>"Did you—did you get the crab?" he asked, his voice was a little choky.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed I didn't!" laughed Mr. Bunker. "I was only trying to get +you. I told you to be careful and not lean too far over."</p> + +<p>"Well, I—I wanted to see my crab!"</p> + +<p>"And the crab came near getting you. Well, it can't be helped now. You +are soaking wet. I'll take you up to the bungalow and your mother can +put dry clothes on you. Come along."</p> + +<p>"But I want to get my crab, Daddy!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, he's gone, Mun Bun. No crab <i>would</i> stay near the pier after all +the splashing I made when I jumped in to get you out."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he's on my string yet," insisted the little fellow. "I tied my +string to the pier. Please, Daddy, pull it up and see if it has a crab +on it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will," said Mun Bun's father, as he jumped up on the pier from +the water, after having lifted out his little boy. "I'll pull up the +string, but I'm sure the crab has swum back into the ocean."</p> + +<p>Both Mun Bun and his father were soaking wet, but as it was a hot day in +October they did not mind. Mr. Bunker slowly pulled on the string, the +end of which, as Mun Bun had said, was tied to a post on the pier. +Slowly Mr. Bunker pulled in, not to scare away the crab, if there was +one, and a moment later he cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, there is a big one, Mun Bun! It didn't go away with all the +splashing! Run and get me the net and I'll catch it for you!"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun ran up on shore and came back with the long-handled net Mr. +Bunker had dropped. Then, holding the string, with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>the chunk of meat on +it, in one hand, the meat being just under water, Mun Bun's father +carefully dipped the net into the water and thrust it under the bait and +the crab.</p> + +<p>A moment later he quickly lifted the net, and in it was a great, big +crab—one of the largest Mr. Bunker had ever seen, and there were some +big ones in Clam River.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you got him, didn't you!" cried Mun Bun, capering about. "You +caught my terrible crab, didn't you, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I rather guess we did, Mun Bun!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "He is a +big one, too."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker turned the net over a peach basket, and the crab, slashing +and snapping his claws, dropped into it. Then Mun Bun looked down at +him.</p> + +<p>"I got you, I did!" said the little boy. "My daddy and I got you, we +did."</p> + +<p>"But it took a lot of work, Mun Bun!" laughed Mr. Bunker. "If I had to +jump in and pull you out every time you wanted to catch a crab I +wouldn't like it. But he surely is a big one."</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and his father were looking at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>the crab in the peach basket, +when a voice called:</p> + +<p>"Oh, what has happened to you? You are all wet!"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun's mother came down to the pier.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" she repeated.</p> + +<p>"Look at the big crab I caught!" cried the little fellow. "Daddy pulled +him out for me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and it looks as if Daddy had pulled out something more than a +crab," said Mrs. Bunker. "Did you fall in, Mun Bun?"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't zactly fall in. I—I just slipped."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Mrs. Bunker. "I thought maybe you'd say the crab pulled you +in."</p> + +<p>"Well, he pretty nearly did," said the little fellow.</p> + +<p>"He leaned too far over the water," explained Mr. Bunker to his wife. +"But I soon got him out. He's all right."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I'll have to change his clothes. However, it isn't the first +time. I'm getting used to it."</p> + +<p>Well might Mrs. Bunker say that, for, since coming to Cousin Tom's +bungalow at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> Seaview one or more of the children had gotten wet nearly +every day, not always from falling off the pier, but from wading, from +going too near the high waves at the beach, or from playing in the +boats.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at Mun Bun!" cried another voice, as a little girl ran down +the slope from the bungalow to the pier. "He's all wet!"</p> + +<p>"Did he fall in?" asked another little boy excitedly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at the big crab!" exclaimed a girl, who, though older than Mun +Bun, had the same light hair and blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"Did you catch him, Mun Bun?" asked a boy, who seemed older than any of +the six children now gathered on the pier. "Did you catch him?"</p> + +<p>"Daddy helped me," answered Mun Bun. "And I fell in, I did!"</p> + +<p>"That's easy to see!" laughed his mother. "Oh, did the mail come?" she +asked, for she saw that the oldest boy had some letters in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mother," was the answer. "Oh, look at the crab trying to get out!" +and with a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>stick Russ, the oldest of the six little Bunkers, thrust the +creature back into the basket.</p> + +<p>There were six of the Bunker children. I might have told you that at the +start, but I was so excited about Mun Bun falling off the pier that I +forgot about it. Anyhow now you have time to count them.</p> + +<p>There was Russ, aged eight years; Rose, a year younger; and then came +Laddie and Violet, who was called Vi for short.</p> + +<p>Laddie and Vi were twins. They were six years old and both had curly +hair and gray eyes.</p> + +<p>You could tell them apart, even if they were twins, for one was a girl +and the other was a boy. But there was another way, for Vi was always +asking questions and Laddie was very fond of making up queer little +riddles. So in case you forget who is which, that will help you to know.</p> + +<p>Then came Margy, or Margaret, who was five years old. She had dark hair +and eyes, and next to her was the one I have already told you about—Mun +Bun. He was four years old.</p> + +<p>While the six little Bunkers were gathered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>around the basket, in which +the big crab Mun Bun had caught was crawling about, Daddy Bunker and his +wife were reading the letters Russ had handed them.</p> + +<p>"Then we'll have to go back home at once," Mrs. Bunker said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so," agreed her husband. "We were going at the end of the +week, anyhow, but, since getting this letter, I think we had better +start at once, or by to-morrow, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Oh, are we going home?" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear. Daddy thinks we had better. He just had a letter—— Be +careful, Mun Bun! Do you want to fall in again?" she cried, for the +little fellow, still wet from his first bath, had nearly slipped off the +edge of the pier once more, as he jumped back when the big crab again +climbed to the top of the peach basket.</p> + +<p>"Come! I must take you up to the house and get dry clothes on you," said +Mun Bun's mother to him. "Then we must begin to pack and get ready to go +home. Our visit to Cousin Tom is at an end."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried the six little Bunkers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>But children, especially as young as they were, are seldom unhappy for +very long over anything.</p> + +<p>"We can have a lot of fun at home," said Russ to Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, so we can. It won't be like the seashore, but we can have +fun!"</p> + +<p>There was much excitement in Cousin Tom's bungalow at Seaview the next +day, for the Bunkers were packing to go back to their home in Pineville, +Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>"We are very sorry to see you go," said Cousin Tom.</p> + +<p>"Indeed we are," agreed his pretty wife, Ruth. "You must come to see us +next summer."</p> + +<p>"We will," promised Mr. Bunker. "But just now we must hurry back home. I +hope we shall be in time."</p> + +<p>Russ and Rose, who heard this, wondered at the reason for it. But they +did not have time to ask for, just then, along came the automobile that +was to take them from Cousin Tom's house to the railroad station.</p> + +<p>Good-byes were said, there was much laughter and shouting; and finally +the six little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> Bunkers and their father and mother were on their way +home.</p> + +<p>It was a long trip, but finally they reached Pineville and took a +carriage from the depot to their house.</p> + +<p>"How funny everything looks!" exclaimed Russ, for they had been away +from home visiting around, for some time.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it does look funny," agreed Rose. "Oh, I see our house!" she +called, pointing down the street. "There's our house!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Russ. "And oh, look! Daddy! Mother! There's a man on our +porch! There's a man asleep on our porch!"</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers, and Daddy and Mother Bunker looked. There was, +indeed, an elderly man asleep in a rocking-chair on the porch.</p> + +<p>Who could he be?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>GRANDPA FORD</h3> + + +<p>Eagerly peering from the carriage in which they had ridden from the +Pineville station, the six little Bunkers looked to see who the man was +on their porch. He seemed to be asleep, for he sat very still in the +rocking-chair, which had been forgotten and left on the porch when the +family had gone away.</p> + +<p>"Do you know him, Daddy?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he is from your office," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he's the old tramp lumberman that had your papers in the old +coat, Daddy," suggested Russ.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker hurried down from the carriage, and walked up the steps.</p> + +<p>As he did so the old man on the porch woke suddenly from his nap. He sat +up, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>looked at the Bunker family, now crowding up on the steps, and a +kind smile spread over his face.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "I got here ahead of you, I see!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Father!" cried Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's Grandpa Ford!" exclaimed Rose.</p> + +<p>"Grandpa Ford!" fairly shouted Russ, dropping the valise he was +carrying, and hurrying to be clasped in the old gentleman's arms.</p> + +<p>"Grandpa Ford!" cried Laddie and Vi together, just as twins often do.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm Grandpa Ford!" said the old gentleman, smiling and kissing the +children one after the other. "You didn't expect to see me, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Hardly so soon," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we are glad! Have you been here +long?"</p> + +<p>"No, not very. I came on a day sooner than I expected, and as I knew +from your letters that you would be home to-day, I came here to wait for +you."</p> + +<p>"I'll get the house open right away and make you a cup of tea," said +Mrs. Bunker. "You must be tired."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, no, not very. I had a nice little nap in the chair on your shady +porch. Well, how are you all?"</p> + +<p>"Fine," answered Mr. Bunker. "You look well, Father!"</p> + +<p>"I am well."</p> + +<p>"Do you know any riddles?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Do I know any riddles, little man? Well, I don't know. I might think of +one."</p> + +<p>"I know one," went on Laddie, not stopping to hear what his grandfather +might say. "It's about which would you rather be, a door or a window?"</p> + +<p>"Which would I rather be, a door or a window?" asked Grandpa Ford with a +laugh. "Well, I don't know that there is much difference, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, there is!" exclaimed the little fellow. "I'd rather be a door, +'cause a window always has a pane in it! Ha! Ha!"</p> + +<p>"Well, that's pretty good," said Grandpa Ford with a smile. "I see you +haven't forgotten your riddles, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"Now you ask me one," said the little boy. "I like to guess riddles."</p> + +<p>"Wait until Grandpa has had a cup of tea,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> said Mrs. Bunker, who had +opened the front door that had been locked so long. "And then you can +tell us, Father," she went on, "why you had to come away from Great +Hedge. Is it something important?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's something queer," said Grandpa Ford. "But I'll tell you +about it after a while."</p> + +<p>And while the Bunker home is being opened, after having been closed for +a long vacation, I will explain to my new readers who the children are, +and something about the other books in this series.</p> + +<p>First, however, I'll tell you why Daddy Bunker called Grandpa Ford +"Father." You see Daddy Bunker's real father had died many years before, +and this was his stepfather. Mr. Bunker's mother had married a gentleman +named Munroe Ford.</p> + +<p>So, of course, after that her name was Mrs. Ford, though Daddy Bunker +kept his own name and called his step-parent "Father."</p> + +<p>Grandpa Ford was as kind as any real father could be; and he also loved +the six little Bunkers as much as if he had been their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>real +grandfather, which they really thought him to be.</p> + +<p>Now to go back to the beginning. There were six little Bunkers, as I +have told you, Russ, Rose, Laddie, Vi, Margy, and Mun Bun. I have told +you their ages and how they looked.</p> + +<p>They lived in the town of Pineville on Rainbow River, and Daddy Bunker's +real estate office was about a mile from his home. Besides the family of +the six little Bunkers and their father and mother, there was Norah +O'Grady, the cook, and there was also Jerry Simms, the man who cut the +grass, cleaned the automobile, and sprinkled the lawn in summer and took +ashes out of the furnace in winter.</p> + +<p>The first book of this series is called "Six Little Bunkers at Grandma +Bell's." In that I told of the visit of the children to Lake Sagatook, +in Maine, where Mrs. Bunker's mother, Grandma Bell, lived. There the +whole family had fine times, and they also solved a real mystery.</p> + +<p>After that the children were taken to visit another relative, and in the +second book,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> "Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's," you may find out all +that happened when they reached Boston—how Rose found a pocketbook, and +how, after many weeks, it was learned to whom it belonged.</p> + +<p>Next comes the book just ahead of this one, "Six Little Bunkers at +Cousin Tom's." The children came from there to find Grandpa Ford on +their porch.</p> + +<p>Cousin Tom Bunker was Daddy Bunker's nephew, being the son of a dead +brother, Ralph. Cousin Tom had not been married very long, and soon +after he and his wife, Ruth, started housekeeping in a bungalow at +Seaview, on the New Jersey coast, he invited the Bunkers to visit him.</p> + +<p>They went there from Aunt Jo's, and many wonderful things happened at +the seashore. Rose lost her gold locket and chain, a queer box was +washed up on the beach, Mun Bun and Margy were marooned on an island, +and there were many more adventures.</p> + +<p>"Did you know Grandpa Ford was coming to visit us when we got home?" +asked Rose of her mother, as she helped set the table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, that was what he told us in the letter that came the day Mun Bun +fell off the pier. It was Grandpa Ford's letter that made us hurry home, +for he said he would meet us here. But he came on sooner than we +expected, and got here ahead of us," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>By this time the house had been opened and aired, Norah had come from +where she had been staying all summer, and so had Jerry Simms, so the +Bunkers were really at home again. Grandpa Ford had been shown to his +room, and was getting washed and brushed up ready for tea. The six +little Bunkers, having changed into their old clothes, were running +about the yard, getting acquainted with the premises all over again.</p> + +<p>"Now I guess we're all ready to sit down," said Mother Bunker, for, with +the help of Rose and Norah, the table had been set, tea made and a meal +gotten ready in quick time. Norah and Jerry had been told, by telegraph, +to come back to help get the house in order.</p> + +<p>"I'm terrible glad you came, Grandpa Ford," said Mun Bun, as he sat +opposite the old gentleman at the table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So'm I," said Margy. "Are you going to live with us always?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, little Toddlekins," laughed Grandpa Ford. "I wish I were. But I +shall soon have to go back to Great Hedge. Though I may not go back +alone."</p> + +<p>"Is that a riddle?" asked Laddie eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No, not exactly," said Grandpa Ford with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"I know another riddle," went on Laddie. "It's about how do the tickets +feel when the conductor punches them. But I never could find an answer."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe there is any," said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know <i>any</i> riddles?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Well, I might think of <i>one</i>, if I tried real hard," said the old +gentleman. "Let me think, now. Here is one we used to ask one another +when I was a boy. See if you can guess it. 'A house full and a hole +full, but you can't catch a bowlful.' What is that, Laddie?"</p> + +<p>"'A house full and a hole full, but you can't catch a bowlful,'" +repeated Laddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is it crabs?" asked Mun Bun. "I helped catch a basketful of crabs, +once."</p> + +<p>"No, it isn't crabs," laughed Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"I give up. What is it?" asked Laddie, anxious to hear the answer.</p> + +<p>"It's smoke!" said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. "A house full and a hole +full of smoke, but, no matter how hard you try, you can't catch a +bowlful. For, if you try to catch smoke it just rolls away from you."</p> + +<p>"A house full and a hole full—but you can't catch a bowlful," repeated +Laddie slowly. "That's a good riddle!" he announced, after thinking it +over, and I guess he ought to know, as he asked a great many of them.</p> + +<p>They had a jolly time at the meal, even if it was gotten up in a hurry, +and then, just as the children were going out to play again, Daddy +Bunker remarked:</p> + +<p>"You haven't yet told us, Father, what brought you away from Great +Hedge."</p> + +<p>"No, I haven't, but I will," said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>Great Hedge, I might say, was the name of a large estate Grandpa Ford +had bought to live on not a great while before. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>was just outside the +city of Tarrington, in New York State, and was a fine, big country +estate.</p> + +<p>Grandpa Ford looked around the room. He saw Russ and Rose over by the +sideboard, each taking a cookie to eat out in the yard. The other little +Bunkers had already run out, for it was not yet dark.</p> + +<p>"As soon as they go I'll tell you why I came away from Great Hedge," +said Grandpa Ford in a low voice to Mr. and Mrs. Bunker. "It's something +of a mystery, and I don't want the children to become frightened, +especially as they may go up there," he went on. "I'll tell you when +they go out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>SOMETHING QUEER</h3> + + +<p>Russ Bunker took a cookie from the dish on the sideboard, handed one to +Rose, and then the two children went out on the porch. Rose was just +going to run along to find Vi, who had taken her Japanese doll to play +with, when Russ caught his sister by her dress.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, Rose."</p> + +<p>"What for?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" went on Russ. "Not so loud. Didn't you hear what Grandpa Ford +said?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't listen," admitted Rose. "I wanted to see if there were any +molasses cookies, but they're all sugar. What was it?" and Rose, too, +talked very low.</p> + +<p>They were now out on the side porch, under the dining-room windows, +which were open, for, as I have said, it was warm October weather.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He said there was something queer about Great Hedge, where he lives +with Grandma," went on Russ. "He didn't want us to hear, 'cause I heard +him tell Daddy and Mother so. But we can hear out here if we listen. +Let's keep still, and maybe we can tell what it is."</p> + +<p>"But that won't be nice," protested Rose. "Mother said we shouldn't peep +through keyholes, or listen behind doors."</p> + +<p>"There isn't any keyhole here," said Russ. "And we're not behind a door, +either."</p> + +<p>"Well, but——" But Rose could think of nothing else to say. Besides, +just then, she heard her grandfather's voice. He was speaking to Mr. and +Mrs. Bunker, and saying:</p> + +<p>"Yes, it certainly is very strange. It's quite a puzzle to me—a riddle, +I suppose Laddie would call it. But I don't want the children to know +anything about it."</p> + +<p>"There, you see!" exclaimed Russ in a whisper. "It's only a riddle he is +going to tell. We can listen to it, and have some fun. We won't tell +what the answer is when he asks us. We'll make believe we don't know."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, if it's only a riddle, I guess it's all right to listen to it," +agreed Rose.</p> + +<p>So the two eldest Bunker children crouched down on the side porch, under +the dining-room windows, and listened to the talk that was going on +inside. Of course this was not right, but they did not know any better, +especially after Grandpa Ford spoke about a "riddle."</p> + +<p>And so it came about that Rose and Russ heard what it was not intended +they should hear.</p> + +<p>"You know," went on Grandpa Ford, as Russ and Rose listened outside, +"that I bought Great Hedge Estate from a Mr. James Ripley, who lives +near here."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know that," said Daddy Bunker. "Well, you like it, don't you, +Father?"</p> + +<p>"Quite well. Your mother likes it, too. It is a large farm, as you know, +and there is a big stretch of woods, as well as land where I can raise +fruits and vegetables. There are meadows for grazing, and fields for +corn, hay and oats. Great Hedge is a fine place, and your mother and I +like it there very much.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We were a bit lonesome, at first, as it is large, but we hope to get +over that part in a little while.</p> + +<p>"What brought me down here is to see Mr. Ripley, and find out something +about the place he sold me. I must find out something about Great +Hedge."</p> + +<p>"Here is where the riddle comes in," said Russ in a whisper to his +sister. "We must listen hard now."</p> + +<p>"What do you want to find out about Great Hedge, Father?" asked Daddy +Bunker. "Do you think you paid too much for it?"</p> + +<p>"No, I got it very cheap. But there is something queer about it, and I +want to find out if Mr. Ripley can tell me what it is."</p> + +<p>"Something queer?" repeated Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a sort of mystery," went on Grandpa Ford. "It's a puzzle to me. A +riddle I should call it if I were Laddie. By the way, I hope the +children don't hear me tell this, or they might be frightened."</p> + +<p>"No, they have all gone out to play," said Mrs. Bunker. "They can not +hear you."</p> + +<p>"So there is something wrong about Great Hedge, is there?" asked Daddy +Bunker. "By <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>the way," he went on, "I have never been there, but I +suppose it is called that because it has a big hedge around it."</p> + +<p>"That is it," said Grandpa Ford. "All around the house, enclosing it +like a fence, is a big, thick hedge. It is green and pretty in summer, +but bare and brown in the winter. However, it keeps off the north wind, +so I rather like it. In the summer it shades the house and makes it +cool. Yes, the hedge gives the name to the place.</p> + +<p>"But now I must tell you what is queer about it—the mystery or the +puzzle. And I don't want you or the children to be alarmed."</p> + +<p>"Why should we?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Well, most persons are frightened by <i>ghosts</i>," said Grandpa Ford with +a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Father, you don't mean to tell me you believe in <i>ghosts</i>!" cried Daddy +Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Of course not!" answered his stepfather. "There aren't any such things +as ghosts, and, naturally, I don't believe in them. But I know that some +people do, and children might be frightened if they heard the name."</p> + +<p>"Do you hear what he says?" whispered Rose to her brother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes. But I'm not frightened. Are you?"</p> + +<p>"Nope. What's a ghost, anyhow, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's something white that comes in the dark and scares you."</p> + +<p>"Well, it isn't dark now," went on the little girl, "so we're all right. +And at night, when it is dark, we go to bed, so I don't guess we'll see +any ghost."</p> + +<p>"No, I guess not. But listen!"</p> + +<p>Grandpa Ford was speaking again.</p> + +<p>"Of course I don't believe in ghosts," he said, "and I only use that +name, speaking about the queer things at Great Hedge, because I don't +know what else to call them. Your mother," he went on to Daddy Bunker, +"calls it the same thing. We say the 'ghost' did this or that. In fact +we laugh over it and make fun of it. But, all the same, it is very +strange and queer, and I should like to have it stopped, or explained."</p> + +<p>"Do you think Mr. Ripley can stop it or explain it?" asked Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"I should think he could," said Grandpa Ford. "Mr. Ripley owned Great +Hedge a long while before he sold it to me. He ought to know all about +the queer, big old house, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>and why there are so many strange noises in +it."</p> + +<p>"Is the noise the ghost?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"That's part of it."</p> + +<p>"What's the other part?" Daddy Bunker queried.</p> + +<p>"Well, it mostly is queer noises," said his stepfather. "I'll tell you +how it happened from the very beginning—the first night your mother and +I stayed at Great Hedge. It has been going on for some time, and at last +I thought I would come on here, see you, have a talk with Mr. Ripley, +and then see if we could not clear up the mystery. In fact, I hope +you'll go back with me and help me solve the riddle.</p> + +<p>"You and your wife and the six little Bunkers. I want you all to come up +to Grandpa Ford's. But now I'll finish telling you about the ghost."</p> + +<p>"Please do," begged Mother Bunker with a laugh. "I have always liked +ghost stories. It is very jolly when one finds out what caused the queer +noises and sights. Let's hear about the ghost!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right," went on Grandpa Ford. "I'll tell you about our first night +at Great Hedge. It was just about twelve o'clock—midnight—when, all of +a sudden——"</p> + +<p>At that instant a crash sounded out on the porch.</p> + +<p>"Mercy!" cried Mother Bunker. "What can that be?"</p> + +<p>She and Daddy Bunker rushed from the room, Grandpa Ford following more +slowly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>RUSS MAKES A BALLOON</h3> + + +<p>"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Mother Bunker as she opened a +door leading on to the porch, where she had heard the crashing noise. +Those were the first things the mother of the six little Bunkers always +asked whenever anything unusual happened.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" she cried.</p> + +<p>Then she saw. Lying on the porch, under the hammock, was Russ. He was +huddled in a heap, and he was doing his best not to cry. Mrs. Bunker +could tell that by the way his face was wrinkled up. Near him stood +Rose, and she looked startled.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" repeated Mrs. Bunker. "Are you hurt, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"No'm—that is, not very much. I—I fell out of the hammock."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see you did. What made you?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> Did you swing too high? I've told +you not to do that."</p> + +<p>"What does it all mean?" asked Daddy Bunker, while Grandpa Ford looked +on. "Were you trying to do some circus tricks in the hammock, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"No. I—I was just climbing up, like a sailor when he goes up a rope, +you know, and——"</p> + +<p>"I call that a circus trick!" interrupted Mr. Bunker. "I wouldn't try +those, if I were you, Russ. You aren't hurt much this time, I guess, but +you might be another time. Don't try any tricks until you get older."</p> + +<p>"Well, it wasn't exactly a trick," explained Russ, and then he saw Rose +looking at him in a queer way and he stopped.</p> + +<p>"As long as you're all right it's a blessing," said his mother.</p> + +<p>"I thought the house was falling down," remarked Grandpa Ford with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'll get used to all sorts of noises like that, Father, if you're +very long around the six little Bunkers," said his stepson. "As soon as +we hear a louder noise than common we rush out. But we have been very +lucky <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>so far. None of the children has been badly hurt."</p> + +<p>"I hope they'll be as lucky as that when they come to my place at Great +Hedge," said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"Oh, are we going to stay with you, Grandpa Ford?" cried Russ, +forgetting all about his pains and bruises, now that there was a +prospect of a new place to go to.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what fun!" exclaimed Rose. "I'm going to tell Laddie and Vi!"</p> + +<p>"No, don't, please, Rose," said her mother. "It isn't settled yet. We +haven't really decided to go."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you must come if I have to come down with my big hay wagon and +cart you up!" said Grandpa Ford. "But we'll talk about that later. I'm +glad neither of you two children was hurt. Now here is five cents each. +Run down and buy a lollypop. I imagine they must be five cents apiece +now, with the way everything has gone up."</p> + +<p>"No, they're only a penny apiece, but sometimes you used to get two for +a cent," explained Russ, as he took one coin and Rose the other. "Thank +you," he went on. "We'll <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>get something, and give Mun Bun and Margy a +bit."</p> + +<p>"And Violet and Laddie, too," added Rose.</p> + +<p>Russ looked at the five-cent piece in his hand as if wondering if it +would stretch that far.</p> + +<p>"Send the other children to me, and I'll give them each five cents," +said Grandpa Ford with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Then we can all go to the store!" said Rose, clapping her hands. "They +have lovely five-cent grab-bags down at Henderson's store."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't eat too much trash," said Mrs. Bunker. Then, turning to +Grandpa Ford, she said: "Now we can go back in the house and you can +finish what you were telling us when Russ fell out of the hammock."</p> + +<p>"I didn't zactly fall <i>out</i> of it," the little boy explained. "I wasn't +in it. I was climbing up on one side, and I—I——"</p> + +<p>"Well, you fell, anyhow," said his father. "Please don't do it again. +Now we'll go in, Father."</p> + +<p>Russ and Rose were left standing on the porch, each holding a five-cent +piece. Russ <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>looked at Rose, and Rose looked at Russ.</p> + +<p>"We didn't hear what the ghost was at Great Hedge," said the little +girl.</p> + +<p>"No," agreed Russ. "He was saying that, 'all of a sudden,' just like in +a story, you know, when——"</p> + +<p>"When you fell all of a sudden!" interrupted Rose.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it," declared Russ. "If you'd had the mat, I wouldn't +'a' made any noise."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, let's go and spend our five cents," suggested Rose. "And we +can tell Laddie and Vi and Margy and Mun Bun to go for theirs. We'll +have to wait for them to go to the store with us, anyhow. Mun Bun and +Margy can't go alone."</p> + +<p>"All right, you go and tell 'em," returned Russ. "Shall I go and listen +some more at the window?"</p> + +<p>"No, I guess not," said Rose. "They might see you."</p> + +<p>For it was in listening at the window that Russ had fallen. As he had +partly explained, he had climbed up the hammock, as a sailor climbs a +rope.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>The hammock swung on the side porch, but when it was not in use it hung +by one hook, rather high up, and by twisting it together it could be +made into a sort of rope. Russ and Rose, as I have told you, had been +listening under the porch window to what Grandpa Ford had been telling +about the queer happenings at Great Hedge Estate.</p> + +<p>Just as he reached the point where he was going to tell about the +strange noise at midnight, Russ decided he could hear better if he were +higher up, and nearer the window.</p> + +<p>The hammock had been left hanging by one hook, after Laddie and Vi had +finished swinging in it a little while before, and up this Russ climbed.</p> + +<p>But his hands slipped, and down he fell, making a good deal of noise. Of +course if Rose had put the mat under him, as he had told her to do, +there would not have been such a racket.</p> + +<p>"And now we sha'n't ever know about the ghost," said Russ, just before +his sister hurried off to tell the others that Grandpa Ford had a treat +for them.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we shall," said the little girl.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"We'll wait till we get there. We're all going, 'cause Grandpa Ford said +so. When we get to Great Hedge we can find the ghost for ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Yes, maybe we can," agreed Russ. "Anyhow, I'm not going to climb up any +more hammocks. It hurts too much when you fall." And he walked from the +porch, limping.</p> + +<p>Then, after Russ and Rose had gone away, Grandpa Ford told Mr. and Mrs. +Bunker more about the strange doings at his house, which was surrounded +by the great hedge. And the old gentleman ended with:</p> + +<p>"And now I want you all to come out there with me and help solve the +mystery. I want you, Son," and he turned with a kindly look to Mr. +Bunker, "and I want your wife and the six little Bunkers."</p> + +<p>"Maybe the children will be afraid of the ghost," said their mother.</p> + +<p>"We won't tell them anything about it," said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. +"They'll never know a thing about it."</p> + +<p>If he had only seen Russ and Rose listening on the porch under the +window!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, as long as they don't know about it, I don't see that they can be +frightened," said Mr. Bunker. "As you say, it is queer, but maybe Mr. +Ripley can explain the queer noises and other things."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he can," agreed Grandpa Ford. "That's what I came on to see +about, and I'll take you all back with me."</p> + +<p>"But it will soon be cold weather," objected Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"All the better!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "There is no nicer place in the +world in winter than Great Hedge. The big hedge made of what are almost +trees, keeps off the cold north wind. We always have plenty of snow up +in New York state, and the children will have no end of good times. You +must all arrange to come back with me."</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose we'll have to," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we won't say +anything to the children about the ghost."</p> + +<p>"Unless they find it out for themselves," remarked Daddy Bunker. "And if +they do I don't believe it will frighten them much. Laddie will, most +likely, make up a riddle about it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He certainly is good at them," said Grandpa Ford with a chuckle.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Russ and Rose had told the good news to the other little +Bunkers—that is, the news about the five-cent pieces.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come on down to the store! I know what I'm going to buy!" exclaimed +Laddie, when they all had their money.</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Vi. "Some candy? Oh, let's all buy candy and then we can +have a play-party with it!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to buy candy!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to get?" Rose asked.</p> + +<p>"A toy balloon," Laddie answered. "I'm going to see how far up I can +make it go."</p> + +<p>"How are you going to get it back?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"I'll tie a string to it. I know how to do it. And if your doll wants a +ride, Vi, I'll give her one in my balloon. I can tie a basket to the +balloon and put your doll in it—in the basket, I mean."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" cried Vi. "Rose's doll went up into the air in a balloon like +that once, when we were at Aunt Jo's, and it was a good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>while before +she got her back. I'm not going to lose my doll."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll send my balloon up, anyhow," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll get a balloon, too," said Russ. "Then we can have a race."</p> + +<p>"Aren't you going to get any candy?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't guess so," answered Russ. "Maybe Grandpa Ford will give us +more money for candy to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I'll give you a little of mine if you let me hold your balloon," said +Vi to Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Then I will."</p> + +<p>"So will I," said Rose to Russ.</p> + +<p>Down to the toy and candy store they went, and while four of the six +little Bunkers got sweets, Russ and Laddie each bought a five-cent +balloon, that would float high in the air. They had lots of fun playing +with them, and Rose and Violet kept their words about giving their +brothers some candy in exchange for the treat of holding the balloon +strings part of the time.</p> + +<p>After a bit Mun Bun and Margy went back to the house with Vi and Rose. +Laddie and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> Russ remained in the side yard, flying their balloons.</p> + +<p>"I know what we can do!" suddenly exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"What?" asked his smaller brother.</p> + +<p>"We can make a big balloon."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"I'll show you. Come on."</p> + +<p>"All right."</p> + +<p>Russ, letting his toy balloon float over his head, while Laddie did the +same, went out to the barn back of the house. It was not really a barn +any longer, as Daddy Bunker kept his automobile in it, but it looked +like a barn, so I will call it that instead of a garage.</p> + +<p>"How are you going to make a balloon?" asked Laddie as he saw Russ tie +his toy to a picket of the fence.</p> + +<p>"You wait, I'll show you. First you go in and get the big clothes +basket. Don't let Norah see you, or she might stop you. Bring me out the +clothes basket."</p> + +<p>Laddie did as he was told. As he came back with the basket, which was a +large, round one, Laddie said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you think we can fasten our two balloons to this and go up in it?"</p> + +<p>"No, I'm not going to make my balloon that way," Russ answered. "You'll +see. Come on into the barn. We have to go upstairs."</p> + +<p>Overhead in the barn was a place where hay had once been kept for the +horse. There was a little door in the peak of the second story, to which +the hay could be hoisted up from the wagon on the ground below. The hay +was hoisted by a rope running around a wheel, or pulley, and this rope +and pulley were still in place, though they had not been used in some +time.</p> + +<p>Into the rather dark loft of the barn went Russ and Laddie. They had +climbed up the ladder, as they had done oftentimes before.</p> + +<p>"It's dark!" Laddie exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"I'll make it light," announced Russ.</p> + +<p>He opened the little door in the front of the barn, and then he and +Laddie could look down to the ground below. Russ loosened the pulley +rope and let one end fall to the ground.</p> + +<p>"That's how we'll make our balloon," he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>said. "We'll fasten the rope to +the clothes basket, and pull it up like a balloon. Won't that be fun?"</p> + +<p>"Lots of fun!" agreed Laddie.</p> + +<p>It was about half an hour after this that, as Mother Bunker was +beginning to think about supper, she heard, from the direction of the +barn, a shrill yell for help.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't get him down! I can't get him down!" was the cry.</p> + +<p>"Dear me! Something else has happened!" cried Mother Bunker. "Come on, +Norah. We must see what it is!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE BIG BANG NOISE</h3> + + +<p>It did not take Mrs. Bunker long to see what the matter was this time. +As she came in sight of the barn she beheld the clothes basket dangling +about half-way to the roof, swinging this way and that from one end of a +rope.</p> + +<p>On the other end of the rope Russ and Laddie were pulling, while in the +clothes basket, his little face peering over the side, was Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing? Let him down!" cried Mother Bunker, for Mun Bun was +crying.</p> + +<p>"We can't get him down!" shouted Russ. "The balloon won't come down!"</p> + +<p>"Balloon? I don't see any balloon!" cried Mrs. Bunker. She thought, +perhaps, as sometimes did happen, a balloonist from a neigh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>boring +fairground might have gone up, giving an exhibition as was often the +case in the Fall. But all the balloons she saw were the toys Russ and +Laddie had tied to the fence.</p> + +<p>"Where is the balloon, and what do you mean by pulling Mun Bun up in the +basket that way?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Mun Bun's in the balloon!" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"We got him up, but we can't get him down," added Laddie. "The rope's +stuck."</p> + +<p>And that is just what had happened. I think you can guess the kind of +game Russ and Laddie had been playing when the accident happened? They +had tied the clothes basket to the rope running over the wheel. The +pulley had been used when Mr. Bunker kept a horse, for pulling the hay +up from the ground to the second story of the barn.</p> + +<p>Then, with the basket tied to the rope, Laddie and Russ had taken turns +pulling one another up. The rope went around several pulleys, or wheels, +instead of one, and this made it easy for even a small boy, by pulling +on the loose end, to lift up quite a weight. So it was not hard for Russ +to pull Laddie in the basket up to the little door of the hay-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>loft. +Laddie could not have pulled Russ up, if Russ, himself, had not taken +hold of the rope and pulled also. But they had lots of good times, and +they pretended they were going up and down in a balloon.</p> + +<p>Then along came Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"I want to play, too!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"We'll pull him up!" said Russ. "He's light and little, and we can pull +him up fast!"</p> + +<p>So Mun Bun got into the clothes basket, and Russ and Laddie, hauling on +the rope, pulled him up and let him come down quite swiftly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's fun!" laughed Mun Bun. "I like the balloon!"</p> + +<p>And it was fun, until the accident happened. Then, in some way, the rope +became caught in one of the wheels, and when Mun Bun was half-way +between the ground and the second story of the barn, there he stuck!</p> + +<p>"We'd better holler for mother!" said Laddie, as Mun Bun, looking over +the edge of the basket, began to cry.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we can get him down ourselves," said Russ. "Pull some more."</p> + +<p>He and Laddie pulled as hard as they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>could. But still Mun Bun was stuck +in the "balloon."</p> + +<p>"I want to get down! I want to get down!" he cried.</p> + +<p>Then Laddie and Russ became frightened and shouted for their mother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you poor, dear little boy!" said Mrs. Bunker, as she saw what the +matter was. "Don't be afraid now. I'll soon get you down."</p> + +<p>She looked at the rope, saw where it was twisted so it would not run +easily over the pulley wheels. Then she untwisted it, and the basket +could come down, with Mun Bun in it.</p> + +<p>"I don't like that old balloon!" he said, tears in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Well, Laddie and Russ mustn't put you in again," said his mother. +"Don't cry any more. You're all right."</p> + +<p>And, as soon as he saw that he was safe on the ground, and that the +clothes basket balloon wasn't going to take him up again, the little +chap dried his tears.</p> + +<p>"What made you think of that game to play?" asked Mrs. Bunker of Russ +and Lad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>die, when she had seen to it that they took the clothes basket +off the rope.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we thought of it when we saw our toy balloons go up in the air," +said Russ. "We had a race with 'em, and Laddie's went higher than mine. +Then he said wouldn't it be fun to have a real balloon. And I said yes, +and then I thought of the rope at the barn and Norah's clothes basket +and we made a hoister balloon, and Mun Bun wanted to go up in it, he +did."</p> + +<p>"And we pulled him, we did, and he got stuck," added Laddie. "I guess I +could make up a pretty good riddle about it, if I thought real hard."</p> + +<p>"Well, please think hard and don't get your little brother into a fix +like that again," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>Of course Russ and Laddie promised that they wouldn't play that game any +more, but this was not saying they wouldn't do something else just as +risky. They were not bad boys, but they liked to have fun, and they did +not always stop to think what might happen when they had it.</p> + +<p>"What'll we do next?" asked Laddie, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>they carried the clothes basket +back to Norah's laundry.</p> + +<p>"Well, we could——" began Russ.</p> + +<p>Just then the supper bell rang.</p> + +<p>"We'll eat!" cried Laddie. "That'll be lots of fun."</p> + +<p>And after supper the six little Bunkers were too tired and sleepy to do +anything except go to bed.</p> + +<p>"But we'll have lots of fun at Grandpa Ford's," murmured Rose as she +went up to her room.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Russ. "We'll have lots of fun, and we'll hunt around and +find——"</p> + +<p>Rose gave her brother a queer look and cried:</p> + +<p>"That's a secret!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, so it is! That's a secret!" agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>"What's a secret?" asked Vi, not too sleepy to put a question, if it was +the last thing she did that day.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we can't tell!" laughed Russ. "Wait until we all get to Great +Hedge, and then we'll all hunt for it."</p> + +<p>"Hunt for the secret?" asked Vi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Rose.</p> + +<p>"Mother, Russ and Rose have a secret and they won't tell me!" exclaimed +the little questioning girl. "Please make 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Not to-night, my dear," said Mrs. Bunker. "Besides, if it is their +secret it wouldn't be fair for you to know."</p> + +<p>"But I want to, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"We're not going to tell!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"Come now! Go to bed, all of you!" cried Daddy Bunker. "You'll have +plenty of fun, and secrets, too, if you go to Great Hedge."</p> + +<p>"Oh, then we must be going!" cried Rose, and Vi was so excited about +this that she forgot to ask any more about the secret.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker thought it was only some little joke between her two older +children. If she had known what they had heard out on the porch that +afternoon she might have talked to them before they went to sleep. But +Russ and Rose hid in their hearts what they had heard about the ghost of +Great Hedge.</p> + +<p>It was fully decided on the next day that the six little Bunkers and +Daddy and Mother would go, shortly, with Grandpa Ford to his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>big estate +in the country, just outside of Tarrington, in New York state. Russ and +Rose listened carefully to see if they could hear any more about the +ghost, but neither Mr. Ford nor Mr. Bunker mentioned it. And Mother +Bunker was so busy, with Norah, getting the things ready for another +trip, that she did not speak of it, either.</p> + +<p>"My!" exclaimed Norah, as she helped sort out the clean clothes, "these +six little Bunkers are getting to be great travelers. First they go to +Grandma Bell's, then to Aunt Jo's and then to Cousin Tom's, and now to +Grandpa Ford's. I wonder where they'll go next?"</p> + +<p>"There's no telling," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we must take plenty of warm +clothes along for them this time, as it will soon be cold weather and +winter."</p> + +<p>"I love to be in the country in the winter," said Rose, who was helping +her mother. "You can have such fun snowballing."</p> + +<p>"And making snow men and snow forts," added Russ, who came in to get a +piece of string for something he was making. He went out whistling, and +soon he and Laddie <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>were heard pounding away on the back porch.</p> + +<p>Russ was not happy unless he was whistling, or unless he was making +something, just as Laddie was very fond of asking riddles.</p> + +<p>"I guess maybe I got a riddle, now," said the little chap who was +Violet's twin.</p> + +<p>"Is it about Mun Bun and the balloon basket?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, it's about why is a cat like a kite."</p> + +<p>"It isn't," said Russ. "A cat isn't anything like a kite."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is, too!" declared Laddie. "They both have tails."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well. But some kites don't have any tails," said Russ. "I know a +boy, and he knows how to make kites that go up without any tails. So +that riddle's no good!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is!" insisted Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Why is it?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause some cats haven't got tails either."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there are not any cats without tails."</p> + +<p>"Yes, there are! You go and ask Mother. She showed me a picture of one +the other day. I think it's called a Banks cat, 'cause maybe it lives in +a bank, and it doesn't have any tail so it can't get caught in the +door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> You go and ask Mother if a kite isn't like a cat 'cause they both +have tails, and some kites have no tails and so haven't some cats."</p> + +<p>"I will!" exclaimed Russ. "I'll go and ask Mother if there's ever a cat +without a tail!"</p> + +<p>Away the two boys started, but they had not reached the house before, +out in the street in front, they heard a loud bang, a most awfully loud +bang. At the same time they heard their Grandpa Ford crying:</p> + +<p>"Whoa! Whoa there! Don't run away!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what's that?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"We'll go and see!" exclaimed Russ; and the two boys set off on a run.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>OFF TO GREAT HEDGE</h3> + + +<p>Russ and Laddie saw Grandpa Ford holding the bridle of a horse harnessed +to a light carriage, in which sat a pretty young lady. The horse was +trying to rise up on its hind legs, and Grandpa Ford was doing his best +to make the animal stand still.</p> + +<p>Not far away was a large automobile, and smoke was coming from the back +of this, while a man, who seemed to have just gotten out of the car, was +hurrying toward the prancing horse.</p> + +<p>"I guess he's all right now, Miss," said Grandpa Ford. "When that +automobile back-fired, and made such a bang, it scared your horse."</p> + +<p>"I never knew him to be afraid of an auto before," said the young lady. +"But then I never heard one, before, make such a loud bang."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nor I," returned Grandpa Ford. "It was enough to scare any horse."</p> + +<p>"And I am very sorry it happened," said the man who had gotten out of +the car. "My machine is a new one, and it does not run just right, but +this is the first time it ever made such a racket. I thought I was going +to be blown up, and I guess your horse did too, Miss. I'm very sorry for +the fright I caused you. I'll not start my auto again until you drive +on. Then, if it should happen to back-fire again, your horse will not +mind it so much."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," the young lady said. "But I do not want to drive on right +away. I came to see you," she announced to Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"To see me?" and Mr. Ford was quite surprised. "You drove up here to see +me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you are Mr. Munroe Ford." And the young lady smiled pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's my name," said Mr. Bunker's stepfather. "And if you don't +believe me you can ask these boys," and he pointed to Russ and Laddie, +who were staring at the pretty young lady. "Only," went on the old +gentle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>man, "they would probably say I was 'Grandpa Ford,' and so I am, +to them."</p> + +<p>"That's who he is," declared Russ.</p> + +<p>"He's grandpa to all us six little Bunkers," added Laddie. "We thought +it was a big cannon," he went on, speaking about the noise.</p> + +<p>"I seem to have stirred up some excitement," remarked the man who owned +the new automobile. "I had better get away from here before I have the +police after me," and he laughed, to show he was only joking. Of course +it was not his fault that the automobile made so much noise.</p> + +<p>"If you are not going to drive on, to get out of the way of my machine, +where your horse won't hear any more explosions, I think I had better +drive on myself. I'll go as quietly as I can," he said.</p> + +<p>"And I'll hold her horse," offered Grandpa Ford. "As long as she has +come to see me, and is going to stay, I'll see that her horse doesn't +run away."</p> + +<p>"You know how to manage horses," said the automobile man. "I don't. But +I can run an auto."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, I've been among horses for a number of years," replied Grandpa +Ford. "I have three or four on my place, Great Hedge. I'd rather drive a +horse than an auto. But won't you get down and come in, if you want to +see me?" asked Grandpa Ford of the young lady.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, no. I'm only going to stay a few minutes, Mr. Ford," she +answered. "I feel almost like calling you Grandpa Ford myself," she +added. "You look just like a grandfather I used to have."</p> + +<p>"Call me that as much as you please," laughed Grandpa Ford. "But what +shall I call you? I don't remember meeting you before." And he led her +horse to a hitching post, where he tied the animal fast. By this time +the loud-banging new automobile had rolled around the corner into the +next street, luckily without making any great noise.</p> + +<p>"I am Mabel Ripley," said the young lady. "You called to see my father, +the other day, about the Great Hedge place he sold you, but Daddy was +out. However, he got the message you left, and he sent me over to-day +with an answer. It's about the gh——"</p> + +<p>"Ahem!" loudly and suddenly exclaimed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> Grandpa Ford. "I rather think, +Miss Ripley, you had better come into the house where you can talk to me +alone," he said, with a quick glance at Russ and Laddie. "Little +pitchers have big ears, you know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I understand!" exclaimed the pretty young lady. She, too, +looked at Russ and Laddie in a strange way, smiling the while. "You +don't want the little pitchers to know anything about it?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Not yet," answered Grandpa Ford. "It's a sort of secret, you know. I +think it will all be easily explained, but I wanted to ask your father +about it, since, as he sold me Great Hedge, he would know more about the +house than I do, he having lived there so long."</p> + +<p>"I lived there, too," said Miss Ripley with a smile. "Well, as long as +the banging auto is gone, I think my horse will stand all right, so I'll +come in and tell you all I know, and all my father knows, about the +place, and the strange things you heard. I'll go in where the little +pitchers can't be filled up," and again she smiled at the two boys.</p> + +<p>"Is that a riddle, Grandpa Ford?" asked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Laddie, as Miss Ripley started +toward the front porch.</p> + +<p>"Is what a riddle, Laddie boy?"</p> + +<p>"About little pitchers and big ears."</p> + +<p>"Oh! No, not exactly a riddle. I'll tell you about it some other time. +Here is five cents each, for you and Russ. Run along now while I take +Miss Ripley into the house."</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me one thing before you go in?" asked Laddie, as he +slipped into his pocket the nickel his grandfather had given him, while +Russ did the same.</p> + +<p>"If your question isn't a hard riddle I'll try to answer it," said +Grandpa Ford. "Let me hear it."</p> + +<p>"It's about kites and tails and cats," explained Laddie. "Isn't there a +cat that hasn't a tail, and isn't it a Banks cat?" asked Laddie. "I made +up a riddle why is a cat like a kite because it has a tail. And some +kites haven't any tails, Russ says. But mother showed me a picture of a +Banks cat. And don't they call 'em that because maybe they live in banks +and haven't any tails so they won't get shut in a door? Will you answer +that question, Grandpa?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Really, Laddie boy, I should say there were almost a dozen questions +there!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "But I'll answer only one now. About the +cats. There is a kind called Manx, and that sounds like banks, I +suppose. Manx is an island, near England, and cats that come from there +have no tails—or at least they have only little short ones that you can +hardly see. I guess when your mother told you about the Manx cats you +thought she said 'banks.' But now run along and have some fun."</p> + +<p>Grandpa Ford turned up the walk with Miss Ripley, and Laddie and Russ +heard her say:</p> + +<p>"Father sent me over to tell you not to be alarmed, as he doesn't +believe it is anything. He'll come out and help you look for whatever it +may be, if you want him to."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the six little Bunkers and their father and mother are coming with +me," said Mr. Ford. "The six little Bunkers don't know about the strange +goings on, as yet, but their father and mother will help me hunt for +the——"</p> + +<p>That was all Russ and Laddie heard, for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>their grandfather turned a +corner in the path then, and his voice was not so loud.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if they're talking about a riddle," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I don't guess so," returned Russ. He knew, or thought he knew, what +Miss Ripley and Grandpa Ford were talking about. It was the "secret" +about which he and Rose had heard something.</p> + +<p>But it was not yet time to tell Laddie anything about it. Russ wished +Rose had been with him to hear what Miss Ripley said. Rose might know +what it all meant.</p> + +<p>"But we'll wait until we get to Great Hedge," thought Russ. Then to +Laddie he said: "Come on, we'll go and spend our nickels."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed the little boy. "But I was pretty near right about +the Banks cat; wasn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty near," agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>When Russ and Laddie reached home again, after a trip to the store, they +found Miss Ripley had gone. And then, for a time, Russ, as well as Rose, +forgot about the "secret," as the whole family, six little Bunkers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>and +all, were so busy packing up to go away.</p> + +<p>At last, after some weeks, the day came. The trunks and valises had been +packed, the house in Pineville had been shut for the winter, the water +being turned off so it would not freeze, and everything was all ready +for the winter visit to Grandpa Ford at Great Hedge.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Norah! Good-bye, Jerry Simms!" called the six little Bunkers, +waving their hands to the cook and man. "Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye!" answered Jerry and Norah. "Come back as soon as you can!"</p> + +<p>And so they started for Grandpa Ford's. And not even Russ and Rose, who +guessed a little of the "secret," knew all the strange things that were +to happen at Great Hedge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>MUN BUN TAKES SOMETHING</h3> + + +<p>The trip to Grandpa Ford's was to last all day. The six little Bunkers, +with their father and mother, had taken the railroad train about nine +o'clock in the morning, and they would reach Tarrington, in New York +State, about five in the evening.</p> + +<p>"And one of my men will be at the depot to meet us with a carriage," +said Grandpa Ford. "We'll drive over with horses, though I have an auto +on my place. But I like horses better."</p> + +<p>"Will there be room enough for all of us in the carriage?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. I sent word to bring the biggest carriage I have. It has four +seats, and I guess I can pack you all in."</p> + +<p>Having found out this much Russ was satisfied. He looked at Rose and +nodded, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>they sat together in the railroad train. Russ had feared +that, as there were so many of them, some might be left behind after +Tarrington was reached. And he wanted to get to Great Hedge as soon as +he could, to begin to find out why there was something strange in or +about the big house.</p> + +<p>"Well, now we can settle down for a long ride," said Mrs. Bunker, as she +"counted noses," to make sure all her children were with her and her +husband.</p> + +<p>It was quite cold, but the car was warm and the six little Bunkers +looked out of the windows, and enjoyed the trip. They always liked to +travel.</p> + +<p>"It looks like snow," said Grandpa Ford to the conductor, when it was +time to collect the tickets.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I came down from New York State the other night," said the +railroad man, "and we were having quite a flurry then. Shouldn't be +surprised if we ran into a big blizzard before we reached Tarrington."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope not," said Grandpa Ford. "I don't want any big blizzard +until I get the six little Bunkers safely home at Great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> Hedge. Then it +can snow as much as it likes."</p> + +<p>"I hope it snows a lot," said Mun Bun. "I like snow."</p> + +<p>"So do I, when I'm at home in my warm house," said Grandpa Ford. "But +too much snow isn't any fun. Can you make a snow man, Mun Bun?"</p> + +<p>"A little one," he answered. "If you helped me I could make a big one."</p> + +<p>"I will!" promised his grandfather with a laugh. "We'll make a big snow +man and a snow house and have all sorts of good times."</p> + +<p>"What's snow made of?" asked Violet, who had been pressing her nose +against the car window, looking out at the telegraph poles that seemed +to whiz past so quickly.</p> + +<p>"It's frozen rain," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Who freezes it?" went on Violet. "Does the ice-cream man freeze the +rain to make snow?"</p> + +<p>"No, it freezes up in the air—in the clouds," her father explained.</p> + +<p>"Well, what makes it come down?" went on Violet. "Rain comes down 'cause +it's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>heavy. Once a raindrop splashed in my eye and it felt terrible +heavy. But snow isn't heavy at all. It's light like a feather. What +makes snow and feathers fall when they aren't heavy, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, now, my little girl is asking too many questions," said Daddy +Bunker with a laugh. "Some time, when you are a little older, I'll tell +you why it is that things fall, whether they are heavy or light. Things +even lighter than snowflakes fall as easily as a chunk of lead, but, as +you say, a snowflake is like a feather. It falls from side to side, like +a leaf, and not as fast as a drop of rain. But I do believe we shall +have snow soon," he went on. "The storm clouds are beginning to gather," +and he looked up at the sky.</p> + +<p>"I don't mind traveling in the snow, but I don't like it in the rain," +said Mother Bunker. "And we must expect snow, as it will soon be +winter."</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers amused themselves in different ways in the car, +as the train puffed on, over hills and through valleys, to Grandpa +Ford's home at Great Hedge. As Daddy Bunker had said, the clouds were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>gathering, and they seemed to hold snow, which might soon come down +with a flurry.</p> + +<p>"But it can't hurt us," said Mun Bun, "'cause we're in the train."</p> + +<p>"I have a new riddle," announced Laddie, after a while.</p> + +<p>"Have you?" asked Grandpa Ford. "Well, let's hear it. I'll try to guess +it."</p> + +<p>"Why is a train like a boy?" asked the little fellow.</p> + +<p>"That's a funny riddle!" exclaimed Russ. "A train isn't like a boy at +all. It's too big and it isn't alive."</p> + +<p>"Well, it goes," said Laddie; "and anything that goes is almost alive, +anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Is that why you made a riddle about a train and boy?" asked Grandpa +Ford. "A train is like a boy because it goes. Is that it, Laddie?"</p> + +<p>"Nope! It's 'cause a train can whistle and so can a boy," said the +little chap with a laugh. "Isn't that a good riddle?"</p> + +<p>"A train doesn't whistle," declared Russ. "It's only the engine that +whistles. Isn't that so, Grandpa?"</p> + +<p>"Well, the engine whistles, of course. But <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>the engine is the main part +of the train. If it wasn't for the engine there wouldn't be any train, +so I guess Laddie's riddle is all right there. A train-engine is like a +boy, because it whistles. There it goes now."</p> + +<p>As he spoke the engine gave several loud, shrill blasts.</p> + +<p>"What makes it do that?" asked Violet. "What makes the engine whistle? +Was it 'cause Laddie asked that riddle?"</p> + +<p>"You children will make Grandpa Ford sleepy with your questions and +riddles," observed Mrs. Bunker to Laddie and Violet. "Please be quiet +now, and let him rest."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mind," said the old gentleman. "I love the children, and I +like Laddie's riddles and Vi's questions. Only don't ask me such hard +ones that I can't answer," he went on.</p> + +<p>Margy was in the seat with her mother, playing with one of the Japanese +dolls that had come ashore on the beach at Cousin Tom's, as I have told +you in the book just before this one.</p> + +<p>"My doll wants a drink," suddenly announced the little girl. "She's +awful thirsty."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You probably mean you are," laughed her mother. "Rose, will you take +Margy to the water tank and get her a drink? Be careful, and hold on to +the arms of the seats so you don't fall down. It isn't far."</p> + +<p>"I wants a drink, too," announced Mun Bun. "I'm going to drink it +myself, too," he announced, "and not give it to any doll."</p> + +<p>"Well, Rose can take both of you," said Mrs. Bunker. Rose was a real +"mother's helper," and often looked after the two smaller children in +such things as getting them drinks of water. The tank was at the end of +the car, not far from where the Bunkers were sitting.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker bought a picture book for Laddie, from the train boy who came +through the car every half hour or so, and the little riddle-chap curled +up in his seat to look at this.</p> + +<p>Russ, with some bits of string, some little sticks he had in his pocket +and some paper, was making "something," though just what it was not even +he seemed to know. Violet got in the seat with Laddie to look at his +picture book. At the same time she may have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>been thinking up more +questions to ask, for all I know.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bunker sat together now, near Grandpa Ford, and they talked +together in low voices. Russ was too busy with his string and sticks to +listen, though, if he had, he might have heard something more about the +queer secret.</p> + +<p>As for Rose, who shared part of the secret with him, she was taking +Margy and Mun Bun to get a drink.</p> + +<p>"Ladies first," said Rose to her little brother, when he would have +reached for the cup she filled. "Ladies first, Mun Bun. Let Margy have a +drink before you."</p> + +<p>"Does her doll have to drink, too?" asked Mun Bun. "Is she a lady?"</p> + +<p>"She just makes believe drink," said Margy. "I'll give you the cup as +soon as I take some, Munny Bunny." Sometimes Margy called her little +brother that for fun.</p> + +<p>Margy was very thirsty, and wanted two cups of water. But then the cup +was not a very large one. Next Mun Bun had to have some, and he tried to +drink three cupfuls. But the last one was a little too much <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>for him, +and he spilled part of it on himself.</p> + +<p>"But I don't care," he said. "It's only like when it rains, or when the +water splashes on you when you go in bathing. Only this water isn't +salt, like that down in the ocean at Cousin Tom's," he added.</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing it isn't salt, or you couldn't drink it," said Rose, +as she wiped the water drops off Mun Bun with her handkerchief. "Now +come on back to your seats," she went on. "I guess I'd better take you +alone first, Margy. Then I'll come back for you, Mun Bun. The train is +so jiggily I can't lead you both."</p> + +<p>The cars were indeed swaying, for the train was going faster now, and +around curves, which always makes it hard to walk along inside a railway +coach.</p> + +<p>"Stay here, by the water tank, Mun Bun," said Rose. "I'll take Margy to +her seat, and then come back for you."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed the little boy. "I'll wait for you."</p> + +<p>Now at this end of the car the train boy had left his basket, in which +were a number of toys, that he walked up and down the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>aisles with, +selling. He had left the basket there, in a vacant seat, while he went +back into the baggage-car to get a magazine for which a lady had asked +him.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun saw the basket of toys. There were picture books, little dolls, +prettily colored boxes, jumping-jacks—things that fathers and mothers +might like to buy to amuse their children with on a long railway +journey.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Mun Bun, as he turned and saw the train boy's basket of +toys. "Oh, my! I'm going to have something!"</p> + +<p>Then Mun Bun, reaching in his hand, which was, of course, not right to +do, took something from the basket, slipped it around behind him, as he +saw Rose coming, and toddled up the aisle to meet her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>A BIG STORM</h3> + + +<p>"Why didn't you wait for me, Mun Bun?" asked Rose, as she caught her +little brother just as he was about to topple over in the aisle, from +the swaying of the train. "I told you to wait for me. You might be hurt +coming up by yourself!"</p> + +<p>"I was in a hurry," explained Mun Bun. He gave one hand to Rose, but the +other he held behind his back. In it was the thing he had taken from the +train boy's basket.</p> + +<p>Once more the six little Bunkers were in their seats, looking out of the +windows. The train was puffing along, bringing them nearer and nearer to +Grandpa Ford's, though it would still be some hours before they reached +Tarrington.</p> + +<p>"There!" Russ suddenly exclaimed. "I have it all done!" and he whistled +a merry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>tune, as he turned in his seat and held up something for the +others to see.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"It's a buzzy-buzzer," answered the boy. "Look, it goes around this +way."</p> + +<p>He put the loops of two strings over his thumbs, and pulled his hands +apart. Then two pieces of cardboard, strung on the strings, began to +whirl about very fast.</p> + +<p>"Why, that's like a pin-wheel!" exclaimed Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"I call it a buzzy-buzzer," laughed Russ. "I was going to make a +wind-mill, but I didn't have enough things here in the train. I'll make +you a wind-mill when we get to Great Hedge, Grandpa."</p> + +<p>After a while a colored man, dressed in a spotless white suit, came +through the car, calling:</p> + +<p>"First call for dinner in the dining-car! First call for dinner!"</p> + +<p>"What does he mean—first call?" asked Violet, who, as usual, was the +one who asked the first question.</p> + +<p>"He means that dinner is now ready in the dining-car," said Mr. Bunker. +"You see the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>car is rather small, and every one can't eat at once. So +they take turns, so to speak."</p> + +<p>"I wish we could eat first," sighed Vi. "I'm terrible hungry!"</p> + +<p>"So'm I," said Margy.</p> + +<p>"Me, too," added Mun Bun. He had gone back to his seat, after taking +something from the train boy's basket, and he had cuddled up by himself. +What he had he showed to no one, and now, when he heard that dinner was +ready, he stuffed something down between the edge of the seat and the +side of the car next the window.</p> + +<p>"This is my seat," Mun Bun announced, "and please don't any one take it +when we come back! I got something hid here."</p> + +<p>No one paid much attention to him, as it had been decided that they +would all go into the dining-car at the first call, and they thought +every one else was thinking of that, too.</p> + +<p>So the Bunkers and Grandpa Ford walked out of the coach in which they +had been riding, to the second car ahead, where dinner was being served +at little tables. It took more than two tables to seat the six little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +Bunkers, their father, their mother, and Grandpa Ford, but soon they +were all settled, and the colored waiter, in spotless white, just like +the one who had called out that dinner was ready, began to serve the +hungry folks.</p> + +<p>You may be sure the six little Bunkers were hungry. In fact, they were +always that way, except, perhaps, just after a meal, or when they were +asleep. Though it was not the first time these little travelers had +eaten in dining-cars, and on boats, they always liked the fun it was to +sit and eat, and see the trees, fences, and telegraph poles seemingly go +whizzing past the windows.</p> + +<p>"Have you had enough?" asked Daddy Bunker in about half an hour, as he +looked around at his boys and girls. "Anybody want any more?"</p> + +<p>"Could I have more pie?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, a small piece, yes," answered his mother.</p> + +<p>"I want a piece, too," declared Laddie. "I didn't have hardly any. Mun +Bun reached over and took half of mine."</p> + +<p>"I'll have the waiter divide a piece between Russ and Laddie," said Mr. +Bunker. And <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>when this had been done, even the two hungry boys announced +that they were satisfied. Then back to the other car the Bunkers and +Grandpa Ford went.</p> + +<p>Now at home, almost always after dinner, the two youngest of the six +little Bunkers went to sleep. Mother Bunker called it taking a "nap," +and almost always Mun Bun and Margy, and sometimes Laddie and Violet had +one.</p> + +<p>In a little while Mrs. Bunker noticed that the heads of Margy and Mun +Bun were nodding as they sat in their seats.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to have those children lie down," she said. "Mun Bun, come +over and sit with me. I'll cuddle you to sleep. Margy, you can go with +Daddy."</p> + +<p>"I want to stay here," said Mun Bun. "I've got something in my seat, and +I don't want anybody to take it."</p> + +<p>"I want to stay too!" exclaimed Margy. "I want to see what Mun Bun has."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker turned the seat in front of the two smaller children over so +a sort of bed could be made for them with a pile of coats and valises. +Soon Mun Bun and Margy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>side by side, were having a fine sleep, and the +train rumbled on.</p> + +<p>Margy's doll was perched up on the seat in front of her, and Margy said +her doll was "sleeping" too. But this doll slept with her eyes open.</p> + +<p>Violet was looking at the picture book Laddie had finished with, and +Laddie was trying to make a buzzer, as Russ had done. For Laddie had +broken the one his brother had made for him.</p> + +<p>Rose and Russ were sitting together, and for the first time in some +days, they had a chance to talk about the ghost at Great Hedge.</p> + +<p>"What kind do you s'pose it'll be?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the regular, scary kind," Russ answered.</p> + +<p>"I hope it won't be too scary," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"I'll be with you when we try to find out what it is," went on Russ. +"Boys are never afraid of ghosts or—or anything."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I won't be afraid—not if you're with me, anyway. Isn't it fun to +have a secret? And they don't know we heard about it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> Rose added. +"Won't they be s'prised if we find the ghost?"</p> + +<p>"I guess they will," agreed Russ. "Maybe they're talking about it now," +he went on, for his father and mother, with Grandpa Ford, several seats +back, were talking earnestly together, as Russ could see. Just what they +were saying the two oldest Bunker children did not know.</p> + +<p>But, as a story-teller, or a writer of books, can sometimes be in two +places at once, and listen to all sorts of talk, without the people who +are talking knowing anything about it, I will tell you, as a special +favor, that Mr. and Mrs. Bunker and Grandpa Ford really were talking +about the "ghost," at Great Hedge.</p> + +<p>"So neither Mr. Ripley nor his daughter, whose horse nearly ran away +when she came to see you, could tell what all the queer doings meant at +Great Hedge, could they?" asked Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"No. They said they never heard any queer noises when they lived at the +place before they sold it to me," answered Grandpa Ford. "But your +mother and I have heard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>many strange noises, and we can't account for +them.</p> + +<p>"Of course," went on Grandpa Ford, "I don't believe in ghosts. But I +know we hear the strange noises, and we don't know what they mean. Your +mother is annoyed by them. She has an idea, too, that perhaps there is a +secret way for some one to get into our house, and that perhaps some +persons go in at night, after we are in bed, and make noises."</p> + +<p>"But why would any one do that?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Well, it may be some folks who would like to scare me away so they +could buy Great Hedge for themselves," said Grandpa Ford. "The place is +valuable, and Mr. Ripley sold it to me very reasonably, because his wife +and little boy died there and he did not like to stay in the place that +reminded him of them so much. So he sold."</p> + +<p>"So he never heard the queer noises," said Mr. Bunker musingly.</p> + +<p>"He says not. And neither did his daughter, Mabel. But Grandmother Ford +and I hear them often enough, and so I thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> I'd come down, and get +all you Bunkers, to have you help me either find out what it is, or +drive the ghost away," and Grandpa Ford smiled.</p> + +<p>"Tell us, over again, what sort of noises they are," said Mother Bunker. +"I have been so busy the last few days, getting ready to travel, that I +hardly remember what you said. Were the noises like yells or groans? Or +were they just hangings?"</p> + +<p>"Well," began Grandpa Ford, "on some nights the noises are like——"</p> + +<p>And just then there came a sudden pop, as of a pistol, and a loud cry +from Margy. She sat up in her seat and fairly shouted:</p> + +<p>"Now you stop, Mun Bun! Stop shooting my doll! Mother, make Mun Bun +stop!" cried the little girl. "He's got a gun, and he shot my doll, and +he knocked her off the seat, and maybe she's killed."</p> + +<p>"Mun Bun with a gun! What do you mean?" cried Daddy Bunker, jumping up +from his seat. "What are you doing, Munroe?" he asked, a bit sternly.</p> + +<p>The two youngest children had awakened while Grandpa Ford was telling +about the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>ghost at Great Hedge. Of course they did not hear about it, +nor did Rose and Russ.</p> + +<p>"I have a popgun, and it shoots a cork," explained Mun Bun, as he held +up what he had aimed at Margy's doll. "It didn't hurt, 'cause it only +shoots a cork," he said.</p> + +<p>"But you shooted my doll, and knocked her over, and maybe she's broken!" +sobbed Margy.</p> + +<p>By this time Mrs. Bunker had reached the seat where the little girl and +her brother had been sleeping. The mother picked the Japanese doll up +from where it had fallen to the floor of the car, and said:</p> + +<p>"Don't cry any more, Margy. Your doll isn't hurt a bit. But Mun Bun +mustn't shoot at her any more, with corks or anything else. Munroe Ford +Bunker! where did you get the popgun?" his mother asked, as she saw that +he really did have a small one.</p> + +<p>"Out of the basket," he answered. "When Margy and I went to get a drink +of water I saw the popgun in the train boy's basket, and I took it out. +I thought maybe I'd want to shoot at a snow man me and Grandpa are going +to make, so I kept the gun. Daddy can <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>give the train boy a penny for +it. I hid it in the seat. Then I saw Margy's doll on the seat in front, +and she was asleep—Margy was—and I shot at the doll, but I didn't mean +to make her fall."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Such a boy!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "To take the gun without +asking! Here comes the boy now. You must give it back."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let him keep it," said Grandpa Ford. "I'll buy it for him. We may +want to shoot the snow man," he said with a laugh.</p> + +<p>So Mun Bun got his popgun after all, though, of course, he did not do +right in taking it from the train boy's basket. Nor was it quite right, +I suppose, to shoot Margy's doll. But Mun Bun was a very little boy.</p> + +<p>However, the train boy was paid, some other toys were bought, and then, +as Grandpa Ford, some time later, looked from the train window, he +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Ha! Here comes the snow! I think we are in for a big storm!"</p> + +<p>And with great suddenness the train was, almost at once, shut in by a +cloud of white snowflakes, like a fog. The swirling white <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>crystals were +blown all about, and tapped against the glass of the windows, as if they +wanted to come in where the six little Bunkers were. But the glass kept +them out.</p> + +<p>"How is it out—cold?" asked Grandpa Ford of a brakeman who came in an +hour or so later, covered with white flakes.</p> + +<p>"Very cold, sir, and growing more so. I'm afraid we'll run into a bad +storm before we reach Tarrington. It's snowing worse all the while."</p> + +<p>And so it was.</p> + +<p>"Is this the blizzard?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"Pretty close to it," answered Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>Just then the train gave a sudden jerk, rattling every one in his seat, +and came to a stop.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>AT TARRINGTON</h3> + + +<p>"Are we there?" cried Laddie, as he slid out of his seat and turned to +Grandpa Ford. "Are we at Great Hedge?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if we are, the train must have run into it, and got stuck fast," +answered the old gentleman with a smile.</p> + +<p>"What made it bump so?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"I think we must have hit a snow bank, or else some of the rails and +switches are stopped up with snow," answered Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>It was getting quite dark, because of the snow clouds outside, and the +electric lights of the train had been switched on. Every one in the car +where the Bunkers rode, and, I suppose, in each of the other cars of the +train, had been well shaken up when it stopped so suddenly. But no one +had really been hurt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps we had better see what it is," said Daddy Bunker to his +stepfather. "Perhaps the train can't go any farther, and we can't get to +Tarrington."</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't we go to Grandpa's?" asked Rose, looking as if she could not +bear to have such a dreadful thing happen. "I want to go!"</p> + +<p>"If the train can't go we can get out and walk," suggested Russ. "I like +to walk in the snow. If I had some lawn tennis rackets I could make +snowshoes for all of us, and we could walk on them."</p> + +<p>"But you haven't any tennis rackets," observed Laddie. "And you can't +get any on the train, lessen maybe the boy that had Mun Bun's popgun has +some."</p> + +<p>"They don't play lawn tennis in winter," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Hush, children, dear," begged Mrs. Bunker, for they were raising their +voices as they talked. "We want to hear what the trainman says."</p> + +<p>"What happened that made us stop so quickly, and with such a bump?" +asked Grandpa Ford, as the railroad man came in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>covered with the white +flakes. "Was there an accident?"</p> + +<p>"A little one," the man answered. "But we'll soon be all right. The snow +clogged and stopped up a switch, and the engineer was afraid he would +get on the wrong track, so he put on the brakes quickly and made a short +and sudden stop. But we are going to dig away the snow, and then, I +think, we can go on again."</p> + +<p>"We want to go to Grandpa Ford's," spoke up Violet, as she stood close +to the trainman. "Will the train take us there?"</p> + +<p>"It will if the snow will let us, little girl," was the answer, and many +passengers in the train laughed at Vi's funny question.</p> + +<p>The brakeman hurried out, and some of the men passengers, putting on +their heavy overcoats, went with him. It was too dark outside for any of +the six little Bunkers to see anything that was going on. But by placing +their faces close against the windows of the car and holding a hand on +either side of the face to shut out the light in the car, they could see +a little way into the darkness outside.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's snowing hard," reported Russ.</p> + +<p>"I like it," said Rose. "We can have some sleigh rides, and coast +downhill."</p> + +<p>"And build snow men," added Violet, giving a little wriggle of pleasure.</p> + +<p>"And snow forts, and have snowball fights!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy were eating some cookies their mother had saved for +them, so they didn't say anything, just then.</p> + +<p>"Could you ever make a snow man that would talk?" asked Vi, when she and +the others had tired of looking out at the swirling flakes.</p> + +<p>"'Course not!" exclaimed Laddie. "That would be like a riddle."</p> + +<p>"I could make a snow man talk," declared Russ.</p> + +<p>"You could not! How could you?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I could scoop out a hollow place in his back and put a phonograph +inside, and when I wound it up the snow man would talk."</p> + +<p>"The phonograph would freeze inside a snow man," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, it wouldn't. If it did I could build a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>little fire and melt it," +Russ went on. "Maybe I'll do it, too; that is, if I can find a +phonograph."</p> + +<p>"But if you built a fire to thaw out the phonograph it would melt the +snow man," said Rose.</p> + +<p>Russ seemed to be puzzled by this.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd do it somehow," he declared. "I'd just build a little fire, +and that wouldn't melt the snow man very much."</p> + +<p>Back into the car came trooping some of the men who had gone out to see +the switch and rails clogged with the snow.</p> + +<p>"Are we able to go on?" asked Grandpa Ford of one of these men.</p> + +<p>"I think so," was the answer. "The snow has been shoveled away from the +switch, and the engineer is going to try again. But it is a bad storm, +and I doubt if we get through to-night."</p> + +<p>"Won't we get home to your place, Grandpa?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"It's hard to tell," answered the old gentleman. "But, if worst comes to +worst, we can stay on the train all night. We can sleep here and eat +here, but perhaps we can get <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>almost to Tarrington, and drive in a big +sled the rest of the way."</p> + +<p>"Where can you get a sled?" asked Violet, always ready with a question.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can hire one, if I can't get my own," said Grandpa Ford. "I told +one of my men to meet us at the depot with a big carriage. But when he +sees it snowing, as it is now up at Great Hedge, he'll take out the +sled, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"I like to ride in a sled," said Rose. "It's such fun to cuddle down in +the fur robes."</p> + +<p>"Have you got fur robes, Grandpa?" Vi inquired.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, plenty of them," he answered. "But I hope we'll get to +Tarrington," he added in a low voice to Mr. and Mrs. Bunker. "I would +not want to drive in an open sled through this cold storm with the +children."</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't mind it," said Daddy Bunker. "If they were well-wrapped +they would like it."</p> + +<p>"I suppose I should have waited until warmer weather to bring you to +Great Hedge," went on Grandpa Ford. "But I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>wanted to have the children +with me, and so did their grandmother. She hasn't seen them all together +for some time. So I just thought I'd bring you in the winter, and not +wait for summer."</p> + +<p>"And I'm glad you did," said Mother Bunker. "We'll be all right, once we +get there."</p> + +<p>"Another reason why I wanted you at Great Hedge," went on Grandpa Ford, +"is that I want you to help me find out about those queer noises, and +what makes them. If there's a——"</p> + +<p>But just then Grandpa Ford saw Rose and Russ looking at him in a queer +and interested way and as if they wanted to hear what was being said, so +he stopped with:</p> + +<p>"Well, you know what I mean."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Daddy Bunker. "We know."</p> + +<p>"I know what they were talking about," said Russ in a whisper to Rose, a +little later.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"About the ghost. Grandpa has a ghost at Great Hedge, and he wants to +find it. We'll find it for him, Rose."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but we mustn't tell any one else <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>about it," and Rose nodded +toward Mun Bun and the others.</p> + +<p>"No, we won't tell them," agreed Russ. "We'll hunt all by ourselves, and +s'prise Grandpa and Grandma."</p> + +<p>The passengers were now settled in their seats again, and pretty soon +the train started off once more. It did not go as fast as at first, +because there was so much snow on the tracks. But there were no more +sudden stops, and soon a brakeman came through the coach and said he +thought everything would be all right.</p> + +<p>"Will we get to Tarrington?" asked Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am pretty sure we shall," was the answer.</p> + +<p>The train did get to Tarrington, though not without some trouble and one +or two more stops to clear snow out of the switches. And when Tarrington +was reached it was quite late. It was dark, and cold, and snowing hard.</p> + +<p>"I don't know about going on to my place to-night," said Grandpa Ford +with a shake of his head as he looked at the six little Bunk<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>ers. "I'm +afraid it will be a long, cold drive for them."</p> + +<p>"Wrap them up in robes and we'll try it," said Daddy Bunker. "Is your +sled here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my man is here with a strong team of horses and the big bob sled. +He says the roads are pretty good, but it is very cold. Well, we'll try. +And, if we can't make it, we'll come back and stay at the hotel here all +night."</p> + +<p>They were in the Tarrington station now, where it was nice and warm and +light. Outside it was dark and cold and snowing hard. But the children +did not mind.</p> + +<p>"We'll soon be at Grandpa's!" chanted Laddie.</p> + +<p>"And have some bread and jam!" added Violet. "What's jam made of?" she +asked quickly. "Has it got honey in to make it sweet?"</p> + +<p>"No time for questions now," said Mother Bunker. "Save them until we get +to Grandpa's."</p> + +<p>"I'm hungry!" wailed Margy. "I want something to eat!"</p> + +<p>"So do I!" added Mun Bun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There's a lunch counter in this station," said Grandpa Ford. "If you +want to we can get the children something to eat here, and perhaps we'd +better, before we start on the long, cold drive. It may be late before +we get to Great Hedge."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think it best to get something," agreed Daddy Bunker. "I'll go +and see what there is to eat."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker started toward the lunch counter, but at that moment there +was a loud crash, a breaking of glass, and a voice cried:</p> + +<p>"Now you've gone and done it! You busted it, an' spilled 'em all!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>GREAT HEDGE AT LAST</h3> + + +<p>"Oh, what has happened now?" exclaimed Mother Bunker as she looked +around the depot to see if any of the children was in mischief. She +noticed Rose and Russ, Laddie and Vi, and Margy. But Mun Bun was not in +sight.</p> + +<p>"Did he fall out of a window?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"Mercy! I hope not," cried Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>Then they all heard Mun Bun's voice saying, rather tearfully:</p> + +<p>"I—I didn't mean to do it. I only wanted a cake!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you busted it, an' now somebody's got to pay for it!" came +another voice, and one that was rather angry.</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker hurried around to the other side of the ticket office, and +the others, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>cluding Grandpa Ford, followed. There, standing near the +lunch counter, with a broken bowl at his feet, and cakes scattered +around him, stood Mun Bun. In front of him was the young man who had +charge of the station lunch counter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mun Bun!" sighed his mother.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mun Bun! what happened?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"He happened—that!" exclaimed the young man. "He pulled it over, off +the counter, and it smashed. And look at the cakes—all spoiled."</p> + +<p>"Not all spoiled," said Mun Bun. "I can eat 'em, an' so can Margy. We're +both hungry!"</p> + +<p>"Did you pull over the bowl of cakes?" asked Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Yes," admitted Mun Bun, "I did. I reached up to get one, and the bowl +tipped over on me and they all spilled."</p> + +<p>"And the bowl broke," said the lunch-counter young man.</p> + +<p>"I'll pay for it, Tom," said Grandpa Ford, who seemed to know the young +man. "That'll be all right. I'll pay for the bowl and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>cakes, too. +Some of them are all right. They fell on this newspaper."</p> + +<p>And this was true. Mun Bun had reached up, standing on his tip-toes, to +get a cake out of the bowl. As he said, he was hungry, and while Daddy +Bunker and Grandpa Ford were talking about getting the children +something to eat, Mun Bun had wandered off by himself, found the lunch +counter, and started to help himself. But he was not quite tall enough, +and the glass bowl had fallen with a crash.</p> + +<p>The cakes had scattered out, but, as Grandpa Ford had said, some of them +had fallen on a clean newspaper which some one had dropped on the depot +floor just before the accident.</p> + +<p>Grandpa Ford, Daddy Bunker and Tom, the lunchman, picked up the clean +cakes and put them in another bowl. The broken pieces of the smashed +bowl and the cakes that had gone on the floor were also picked up.</p> + +<p>"Well, now that we're all here, we might as well get the children +something to eat," said Grandpa Ford. "Tom can give them hot milk and +cakes, and we grown-folks can have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>some hot coffee to get us ready for +the ride out to Great Hedge. Tom, can you take care of this big family?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess so," was the answer, and the lunchman was not angry now, +for he saw he would lose nothing by what Mun Bun had done.</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers ate well, for the other five, as well as Mun Bun, +were hungry. Then, when the grown-ups had been fed, and the broken bowl +paid for, Grandpa Ford went out into the storm to tell his man, who was +in charge of the horses and sled, that the party was ready to start. The +horses had been kept waiting under a shed so they would be out of the +storm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that sounds just like Santa Claus!" cried Margy, as the sound of +jingling bells was heard outside the depot.</p> + +<p>It seemed rather hard to leave the cosy, bright, warm station at that +hour of the night and start out into the darkness and storm. But the +children did not mind it. They were too eager to get to Great Hedge and +see Grandma Ford. That is, most of them were. Perhaps Mun Bun and Margy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>were a bit too sleepy to care much what happened.</p> + +<p>"But we can cuddle them down in the straw in the bottom of the sled, +cover them with blankets and let them go to sleep," said Grandpa Ford, +as he noted the blinking eyes of the two youngest Bunkers. "They'll go +to sleep and be at Great Hedge before they know it."</p> + +<p>"How can you find it in the dark?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the horses know the way," answered the old gentleman. "Come on."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to make up a riddle about a horse," began Laddie. "I have it +almost made up. It's about what kind of a tree would you like to drive."</p> + +<p>"You can't drive a tree!" exclaimed Russ. "All you can do is to climb +it, or cut it down. So there!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can!" insisted Laddie. "You can drive my riddle kind of tree."</p> + +<p>"You can not! Can you, Mother?" appealed Russ. "You can climb a tree and +cut it down, and that's all you can do to it, isn't it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You can sit in the shade of it," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, well, but that doesn't count!" said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Anyhow it's a riddle," went on Laddie. "What kind of a tree would you +like to drive?"</p> + +<p>"We haven't any time for riddles now," said Mother Bunker. "Come along, +children, Grandpa is waiting!"</p> + +<p>And, with Laddie's riddle still unanswered, they went out into the +darkness and the storm.</p> + +<p>At first it rather took away the breath of the children—that is, of the +four oldest. Mun Bun was carried by his mother, while Daddy Bunker took +Margy in his arms. Thus they were cuddled up so the cold wind and snow +could not blow on them. Grandpa Ford wanted to carry Violet from the +depot out to the waiting sled, but she said she was big enough to walk.</p> + +<p>The sled stood near the depot platform, and the lights from the station +shone on it, so it was easy to tuck the children in. Down in the warm +straw, and under the warm blankets, the six little Bunkers were placed, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>until no cold wind nor snow could get at them.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 252px;"> +<img src="images/p106.jpg" width="252" height="400" alt="DOWN IN THE WARM STRAW AND UNDER THE BLANKETS THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS WERE PLACED." title="DOWN IN THE WARM STRAW AND UNDER THE BLANKETS THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS WERE PLACED." /> +<span class="caption">DOWN IN THE WARM STRAW AND UNDER THE BLANKETS THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS WERE PLACED.</span> +</div> + +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's.</i> —<a href='#Page_100'><i>Page 100</i></a></div> + +<p>"Well, I guess we're all ready, Dick," said Grandpa Ford to his hired +man, who was to drive. "Think we can make it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, Mr. Ford," was the answer. "The horses are anxious to get +home, and the roads aren't as bad as they'll be in the morning."</p> + +<p>"Well, when we get to Great Hedge we can stay there a long time," said +Grandpa Ford. "Go ahead, Dick."</p> + +<p>"Go 'long, horses!" called Dick, at the same time cracking his whip. Of +course he did not hit the horses with it. He just snapped it in the air +over their backs.</p> + +<p>Away they sprang, with a jingle of bells, their feet making no noise in +the soft snow. Away they went, and on down the road which was white with +the crystal flakes that sparkled in the light of a lantern that was hung +underneath the big sled.</p> + +<p>"How long a drive is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, about half an hour," answered Grandpa Ford. "We'll be there before +you know <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>it. It's downhill, and the horses are anxious to get to their +warm stable."</p> + +<p>And this seemed to be true, for the animals, with the jingling bells +around them, raced bravely along. Mun Bun and Margy fell asleep almost +at once, it was so warm and cosy in Grandpa's sled. But the other +children peered out now and then from beneath the robes. However, they +were soon glad to pull their heads in again, for it was very cold.</p> + +<p>The drive, too, was longer than Grandpa Ford thought it would be, as one +of the roads was so blocked with a drift that the sled could not get +through, and they had to drive around it.</p> + +<p>"But we'll get through!" said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>On and on they went. It was a long, cold ride, but it came to an end at +last. Russ, peering up over a blanket, saw, down the road, a large, +black patch, and from it a light seemed to glow.</p> + +<p>"Is that another railroad station?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, that's Great Hedge," answered Grandpa Ford. "The black part you see +is the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>hedge around the house, and the light comes from a lantern I +have outside. Here we are at Great Hedge at last!"</p> + +<p>The sled turned into a driveway and stopped beneath a sort of covered +porch.</p> + +<p>"Whoa!" called Dick to the horses.</p> + +<p>A door opened, letting out a glow of warm, cheerful light.</p> + +<p>"Are the six little Bunkers there?" asked a voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, every one, and the two big Bunkers, too!" answered Grandpa Ford. +"Come on, children! Here's Grandma Ford all ready with that bread and +jam for you!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad!" sighed Rose. "I was getting hungry again."</p> + +<p>"So was I," admitted Russ.</p> + +<p>"Now I'm going to finish my riddle," declared Laddie, as he untangled +himself from the robes.</p> + +<p>"And we can begin to hunt for the ghost," whispered Rose to Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he whispered back.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy were awakened and carried in the house. Oh, how nice +and warm it was after the storm!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Have you really got bread and jam?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed, my dear, I have!" laughed Grandma Ford, hugging and +kissing her, and then hugging and kissing, in turn, the other five +little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>"Wait till you hear my riddle," began Laddie. "What kind of a tree would +you like——"</p> + +<p>And just then a loud noise sounded through the house. It was as if a +giant had uttered a deep groan.</p> + +<p>"O-u-g-h-m!"</p> + +<p>Grandpa and Grandma Ford looked at each other. So did Daddy and Mother +Bunker. And Rose leaned over and whispered to Russ:</p> + +<p>"That's the ghost!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE NIGHT NOISE</h3> + + +<p>Outside of Great Hedge the wind howled and the snow whirled about in +white flakes. Inside it was warm, light and cosy. But the queer noise +which had sounded, and which had seemed so to startle the grown folk, +came from inside, and not outside. At least that is what Rose and Russ +thought.</p> + +<p>"It's the ghost!" said Rose again.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "What do you children know about +ghosts? There aren't such things. There never has been a ghost and never +will be one. That was the wind."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it was," agreed Russ, who was not quite as ready as his sister +was to think of ghosts.</p> + +<p>"Of course it was!" exclaimed Grandma Ford. "The wind often howls that +way in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>winter. And now come over where it's warmer, and I'll get you +all some bread and jam. You must be hungry, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>"I am," said Mun Bun. "I went to get some cakes in the depot, and I——"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and he pulled over the whole bowl full and it broke," said Margy, +interrupting Mun Bun's story. "And the man was awful mad!"</p> + +<p>"But we ate the cakes, anyhow," added Mun Bun. "They fell on a paper and +most of 'em were clean. Have you got cakes, Grandma?"</p> + +<p>"Bless your heart! Lots of 'em. But I don't believe cake will be good +for you at night; especially after you've had some, as you did at the +depot. But bread and jam and a glass of milk won't hurt you, and you +shall have that. Do any of the rest of you want anything to eat?"</p> + +<p>"I do!" cried Vi. "Where do you keep your things to eat, Grandma? Have +you got a big pantry?"</p> + +<p>"I guess Vi is afraid you won't have enough," laughed Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I laid in a big stock of food when I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>heard the six little Bunkers +were coming," said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>Neither Russ nor Rose said anything then about the ghost. But they saw +that their father and Grandpa Ford were talking together in one corner +of the room.</p> + +<p>"Maybe they're talking about that," whispered Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Russ, also in a whisper. "But let's get something to eat, +and then we can hunt by ourselves. You're not afraid, are you, Rose?"</p> + +<p>"No. Are you?"</p> + +<p>"I—I guess not! No, I'm not afraid," and Russ spoke more firmly now. +"It's so nice and light here I'm not a bit afraid," he went on.</p> + +<p>Grandma Ford led the six little Bunkers out to the dining-room, where +the table was already set waiting for them. There seemed to be plenty of +bread and jam on it, and other things, too.</p> + +<p>"Can't I tell my riddle now?" asked Laddie when they were all seated at +the table and had eaten something. "Don't you want to hear it, +Grandma?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, of course I do, my dear. What is it?"</p> + +<p>"What kind of a tree would you rather drive?" asked Laddie. "That's the +riddle. Russ says you can't drive a tree, that you can only climb it or +chop it down, or burn it up."</p> + +<p>"And I said you could sit in the shade of it," added Rose.</p> + +<p>"Well, all of those things can be done to trees," said Grandma Ford with +a smile, as she gave Mun Bun some more bread and jam. "I think I should +like best sitting in the shade of a tree. But what is your riddle, +Laddie?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you have to guess it!" exclaimed the little fellow. "I ask you the +question and you have to answer it. That's what a riddle is for. Now, I +ask you, what kind of a tree would you rather drive?"</p> + +<p>Grandma Ford thought for a moment, and then said:</p> + +<p>"A dogwood tree if it wouldn't bite."</p> + +<p>"Is there a dogwood tree?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Grandma Ford. "And very pretty blossoms it has on it, +too. Is that the answer to your riddle?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No'm," answered Laddie. "It's a horse chestnut tree. That's the kind +you'd rather drive, wouldn't you? A <i>horse</i> chestnut!" and he laughed +gleefully.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess that would be the most proper sort of tree to drive," +said Grandpa Ford, who came in just then with Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"And I'll take my dogwood tree along to run under the wagon that your +horse chestnut is pulling," said Grandma Ford.</p> + + +<p>"What makes some dogs—the kind with black spots on—trot under wagons?" +asked Vi. "Is it so they won't get rained on?"</p> + +<p>"I guess that's as good a reason as any," said her father.</p> + +<p>So the six little Bunkers ate their supper—rather a late one, for the +storm had delayed them—and then they sat about and talked for a while. +Grandma Ford asked the children all about themselves, where they had +been visiting and so on, and they told her about having been to Grandma +Bell's, to Aunt Jo's, and to Cousin Tom's.</p> + +<p>"It was warm while we were at all those places," said Rose. "And now it +is winter."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I guess you'd say so if you looked outdoors!" exclaimed Russ, who came +back from having peered from a window. "It's snowing terrible hard."</p> + +<p>"Then we can make lots of snow men!" exclaimed Laddie. "That will be +heaps of fun."</p> + +<p>"You'll have to be well wrapped up when you go out," remarked Grandma +Ford. "It is colder here than it is during the winter at your home, so +put on your coats every time you go out."</p> + +<p>"The place for them to go now is to bed!" said Mrs. Bunker. "Mun Bun and +Margy are asleep in their chairs this very minute, and Vi is almost +asleep. Come, children, off to bed with you!"</p> + +<p>Outside it was darker than ever, and still snowing and blowing hard. But +Grandpa's house at Great Hedge was the nicest place in the world.</p> + +<p>"Did the horses go to bed?" sleepily asked Mun Bun as his mother carried +him up.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they're in bed and asleep long ago. And that's where you will soon +be yourself."</p> + +<p>The children's rooms were close together, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>some of them sleeping in the +same apartment. And Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had a room down at the end of +the hall, so that they could go to any of the six little Bunkers who +might call in the night. Often one of the four smaller ones wanted a +drink.</p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie had a room together, and so did Rose and Vi, and before +the two older Bunker children went to bed Rose whispered to her brother:</p> + +<p>"Shall we get up and hunt for the ghost when the others are asleep?"</p> + +<p>"I don't guess we'd better do it to-night," he answered. "I'm too +sleepy. Besides we don't know our way around the house in the dark. +We'll wait until to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Rose. This suited her. She, too, was ready for bed.</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford did not, of course, go to bed as early as +did the children. And Mother Bunker was going downstairs to talk to +Grandma Ford as soon as Margy and Mun Bun were sound asleep.</p> + +<p>One after another the six little Bunkers got into bed and, though the +two smallest were asleep almost at once, the others turned and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>twisted +a little, as almost every one does in a strange bed. But, finally, even +Rose and Russ, in their rooms, were in Slumberland, lulled by the +whistle of the wind and the rattle of the snow against the windows.</p> + +<p>Russ thought it must be the middle of the night when he was suddenly +awakened by a loud noise. It was a banging sound, as though something +heavy had fallen to the floor. Then came a rattle of tin and a splash of +water, and the voice of one of the little Bunkers cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I fell in! I fell in! Somebody get me out!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>UP IN THE ATTIC</h3> + + +<p>Russ leaped out of bed and ran into the hall, where a light was burning. +The Bunkers always burned one, turned low.</p> + +<p>"Mother! Daddy!" cried Russ. "Come on, quick! The ghost has got one of +us! Come quick!"</p> + +<p>For a moment no one answered his call, and then he heard, from the room +where Mun Bun had been put to sleep, the sound of crying.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Russ, trying to make his voice sound brave. +"Are you hurt, Mun Bun? Or Margy?"</p> + +<p>"I—I fell in and I'm all wet," sobbed Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! Come quick!" fairly shouted Russ. "The ghost pushed Mun Bun +in, and he can't get out!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>Feet were heard coming upstairs. Then a voice asked:</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? What has happened now, Russ? Are you hurt?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mother!" answered the oldest Bunker boy. "But I guess it's Mun Bun. +It sounds like him, and I guess the ghost has him!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! There are no ghosts! Don't cry, Mun Bun," Mrs. Bunker went +on, as she hurried up the stairs. "I'm coming, and so is Daddy Bunker! +You'll be all right."</p> + +<p>"But I'm all wet!" sobbed Mun Bun. "I—I guess I fell in the ocean, and +I can't get out!"</p> + +<p>"You're dreaming that you're back at Cousin Tom's," laughed Mrs. Bunker, +as she turned up the light and went into the room where Mun Bun and +Margy slept. "You're dreaming, and—Oh, you poor little dear!" she +cried, as she saw what had happened. "You have fallen out of bed!"</p> + +<p>And that is just what happened. Mun Bun, being in a strange bed, had +rolled too near one edge, and had fallen out. That was the bumping, +banging noise Russ heard.</p> + +<p>"But what made the splash?" Russ asked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>as he came in to see his mother +lift Mun Bun from the floor, and put him back in bed.</p> + +<p>"That was when he upset a tin cup of water I had put in a chair near his +bed, so it would be handy when I wanted to give him a drink in the +night," said Mrs. Bunker. "It splashed all over Mun Bun, and that made +him think, I guess, that he had fallen into the water. Did it, Mun Bun?" +she asked.</p> + +<p>"I—I guess so," he murmured. "I thought I fell into the water, 'cause I +was all wet. I didn't like it."</p> + +<p>"I don't blame you," said Mrs. Bunker. "Now I'll put a dry nightgown on +you, and you can go to sleep again. I'll put a chair by the bed so you +won't roll out again, and I'll set the water on the bureau.</p> + +<p>"Now, don't make any more noise, Russ, or Mun Bun, and wake up Margy," +went on Mrs. Bunker. "She is sleeping too nicely to be awakened." Mun +Bun's little sister, though in the same bed with him, had not heard him +fall out, knock over the tin cup of water, and call out that he had +fallen in. She slept through it all.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun was soon dressed in a dry gar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>ment, the water on the floor was +mopped up, and the light turned down again.</p> + +<p>Then the six little Bunkers at Great Hedge quieted down and slept all +the way through until morning.</p> + +<p>But that same night, when Mother Bunker went downstairs, after having +put Mun Bun back to bed, she said to her husband and Grandpa and Grandma +Ford:</p> + +<p>"What do you suppose has got into Russ to be talking about a ghost?"</p> + +<p>"Is that what he said?" asked Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"Yes. When he was awakened by Mun's falling out of bed the first thing +he called to me was that the ghost had got Mun. I don't understand where +the children heard anything about such a thing."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"We mustn't let them get the idea that anything is wrong here at Great +Hedge," went on Grandpa Ford. "It might frighten them, though, of +course, it is nothing like a ghost. I can't imagine where they got the +idea, but we must not speak of it again in front of them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I do wish we could find out what it is that makes such a queer noise. +Your mother and I," he said to Daddy Bunker, "have heard it many times, +and now, the first night you are here, it sounds again."</p> + +<p>"But only once," said Mr. Bunker, "and that may have been the wind, as +we said it was."</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't the wind," declared Grandpa Ford. "For I have heard the +same moaning sound when there was hardly any wind. The wind has died +down now. It is quieter. I think the storm has stopped, or soon will."</p> + +<p>He went to the window to look out, and, as he did so, there sounded +through the house a deep, dull groan. It seemed to fill many rooms, and +for a moment Daddy and Mother Bunker and Grandpa and Grandma Ford looked +at one another. Then they listened to see if any of the children were +awake. But upstairs all was quiet.</p> + +<p>"There it goes again," said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"I heard it," answered Daddy Bunker. "I wonder what it could have been?"</p> + +<p>"The wind," said Mrs. Bunker in a low voice.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But the wind has stopped blowing," remarked Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, we'll find out what it is soon," said Daddy Bunker. "Don't +let it worry you. We came here, Mother dear, to help you hunt for the +queer noise, and that's what we'll do."</p> + +<p>The grown folks listened, but the noise did not sound again, and then, +as it was getting late, they all went to bed. Nothing disturbed them +until morning.</p> + +<p>"Hurray! It's stopped snowing!" cried Russ as he ran to the window and +looked out. "Now we can make a snow man."</p> + +<p>"And a snow fort!" added Laddie.</p> + +<p>"And slide downhill, I hope," said Rose. "I wonder if Grandpa Ford has +any sleds we can take?"</p> + +<p>"He said there were some," declared Vi. "I asked him last night. And +there are skates, too. I asked him that."</p> + +<p>One might depend on Vi to ask the questions.</p> + +<p>"Then we'll have lots of fun!" said Russ. "Come on, now, we'll get our +breakfast and then we can go out and have fun."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I want to go out and see where the horses slept," remarked Mun Bun. +"Did any of them fall out of bed, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Grandma Ford with a laugh. "Horses have beds that are right +on the floor. They are made of straw, and the horses can't fall out. But +you shall see for yourself. Come, now, while the cakes are hot. And we +have maple syrup to eat on them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, hurray!" cried Russ. "I love buckwheat cakes!"</p> + +<p>And you should have seen the breakfast the six little Bunkers ate! No, +on second thought, perhaps it is just as well you didn't see it, for it +might have made you hungry. But I'll tell you this much: It was a very +good one.</p> + +<p>"Now we'll go out and have some fun!" cried Russ, as they left the +table. "Shall we make a snow man first, or a fort?"</p> + +<p>"A man!" cried Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"A fort!" called Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Wait just a minute, all of you," said Mother Bunker. "I don't want any +of you to go out just yet."</p> + +<p>"Oh!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>Thus, one after another, cried some of the six little Bunkers. They were +all much disappointed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm going to let you go out and play in the snow all you like," +said Mother Bunker quickly, "only I want you to wait until I can unpack +your rubber boots and leggings. Then you won't get wet. So just wait an +hour or two. That won't hurt you."</p> + +<p>"And while you are waiting you can play up in the attic," said Grandma +Ford with a smile. "I think you will like it there. Our attic is very +large and there are a number of old-fashioned things in it with which +you may play. The Ripleys left a lot of things behind. There are old +trunks, and they are filled with old clothes that you can dress up in. +There is a spinning wheel and candle-moulds, there are strings of old +sleigh bells. And there are some things that I used to have when I was a +girl. I moved them here from our old home. Don't you think you would +like to play up there?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, of course we would!" cried Rose. "We can take up our dolls!"</p> + +<p>"And have a play-party!" added Violet.</p> + +<p>"And dress up and play go visiting," added Margy.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to make something!" cried Russ, with a jolly whistle.</p> + +<p>"I'll think up some new riddles!" declared Laddie.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, Mun Bun?" asked his grandmother, for the +little chap had said nothing as yet, just listening to the others.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm not going to fall out of bed!" he answered, and then he wondered +why all the others laughed.</p> + +<p>"Well, trot up to the attic," said Grandma Ford, "and have all the fun +you want. Don't be afraid of playing with things, for I don't believe +you can hurt them. Then your mother and I will be getting out your +rubber boots, and you may play in the snow this afternoon."</p> + +<p>With whoops and shouts of delight the six little Bunkers trooped up to +the attic. As Grandma Ford had said, it was a large one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> It was over +about half the house of Great Hedge Estate, and the house Grandpa Ford +had bought from Mr. Ripley was a big one.</p> + +<p>There were many rooms on the first floor, more on the second and some on +the third. Then came the attic, highest of all, and in this attic were +stored the things thought to be of no use any more.</p> + +<p>As Great Hedge was in the country, though not many miles outside the +city of Tarrington, there were country things in the attic, such as a +spinning wheel, two of them, in fact, candlesticks, candle-moulds and so +on. You all know that a candlestick is something in which to stick a +candle so one may carry it around. In the olden days, before we had +electric lights, gas or even kerosene lamps, the people used to read and +work by means of candles.</p> + +<p>A candle is a stick of tallow, wax or something like that, with a +string, or wick, in the middle, just as rock candy has a string in the +middle. Only you light the string in a candle, and you throw away the +string in a stick of rock candy.</p> + +<p>Candle-moulds are tin tubes, just the shape <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>of candles, and into these +tubes was poured the melted wax or tallow to make the light-givers.</p> + +<p>Up into the attic tramped the six little Bunkers. From the windows, high +up, they could look across the snow-covered fields. They could see the +trees, now bare of leaves, and the great black hedge around Grandpa +Ford's house. The big chimney of the house was hot and that kept the +attic fairly warm.</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't think a ghost could get in, would you?" asked Rose of Russ +in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it was here already," suggested Russ. "An attic is a good place +for ghosts. Let's look for one here."</p> + +<p>"But don't let the others know," cautioned Rose, motioning to Mun Bun +and Margy, Laddie and Vi.</p> + +<p>"No," agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>He and his sister began to look about the big attic. As Grandma Ford had +said, there were many things with which to play and have fun.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Russ!" cried Laddie. "Here are two spinning wheels. Couldn't you +make some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>thing of them—a steamboat or an auto or something?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess I could," agreed Russ. "Let's see if they turn around +easy."</p> + +<p>He and Laddie were trying the spinning wheels, whirling them around, +when there came a sudden cry from Margy. They turned to see her standing +in one corner of the big attic, and, the next moment, she seemed to +vanish from sight, as if she had fallen down some big hole.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Margy! Margy!" cried Rose. "Where are you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE OLD SPINNING WHEEL</h3> + + +<p>For a moment there was no answer to the cry Rose gave when she saw her +sister disappear from sight. The other children, frightened by Rose's +scream, gathered about.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Russ, who was whirling one of the spinning +wheels, while Laddie spun the other.</p> + +<p>"Margy's gone!" exclaimed Rose. "She's gone, and maybe——"</p> + +<p>"Where'd she go?" asked Russ. "Come on, Laddie, we'll find her."</p> + +<p>Before Rose could answer Margy spoke for herself by uttering loud cries +and sobs. They seemed to come from a dark hole in the attic, but the +little girl herself could not be seen by her brothers and sisters.</p> + +<p>"Oh, get me out! Get me out!" screamed Margy. "I don't like it here! +It's dark!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>The five little Bunkers were puzzled. It was worse than some of Laddie's +riddles. They could hear Margy, but they could not see her. She had gone +into a dark corner and that seemed to be the last of her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what shall we do?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"We better go for Daddy or Mother or Grandpa," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"I'll go," offered Laddie.</p> + +<p>But there was no need, for just then up the attic stairs came Mrs. +Bunker and Grandma Ford. They knew right away that something was the +matter.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Margy's gone, and we can't find her, but we can hear her," explained +Rose.</p> + +<p>She need not have said the last, for Margy was still screaming:</p> + +<p>"I want to get out! Take me out! It's terrible dark here!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the poor child's in the nut cubby-hole!" cried Grandma Ford. "Of +course it's dark there! Wait a minute, my dear, and I'll get you out," +she said.</p> + +<p>Grandma Ford quickly crossed the attic. Then she stooped over in the +dark corner, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>reached down, and lifted something up and there +was—Margy!</p> + +<p>The little girl was carried into the light, crying and sobbing; but, as +soon as she found out there was nothing the matter with her, and that +she was with her mother and grandmother and brothers and sisters, she +stopped crying.</p> + +<p>"What happened to you, Margy?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," she answered. "I just slipped like once when I rolled +downhill."</p> + +<p>"She fell into the nut cubby-hole," explained Grandma Ford. "There are +many nut trees on Great Hedge Estate, and the Ripley family used to +gather the nuts and store them here in the attic to dry. But the rats +and mice used to take a great many of the nuts, so they built a sort of +big box down in a hole in the floor. The hole was there anyhow, being +part of the attic. But it was lined with tin, so the mice could not gnaw +through, and the nuts were stored in it.</p> + +<p>"I meant to tell you children to look out for it, as it is like a hole +in the floor, though it is not very deep, and one end slopes down, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>like +a hill, so you slide into it instead of falling.</p> + +<p>"But I forgot about it, and I forgot that the cover has been off the nut +cubby-hole for some time. So Margy, walking in the dark corner, slid +into this hole."</p> + +<p>"That's what I did," said the little girl. "I slid just like going +downhill."</p> + +<p>"That's why she disappeared so suddenly," went on Grandma Ford. "The +tin, being smooth, didn't hurt her a bit, as she slid. And it is very +dark in there. But after this I'll keep the cover on, so no more of my +little Bunkers will get into trouble."</p> + +<p>By the gleam of a candle which she lighted, Grandma Ford showed the +children the nut cubby-hole into which Margy had fallen. Then the cover +was put on so there was no more danger.</p> + +<p>"And now you may go out and play in the snow," said Mrs. Bunker. "I have +unpacked your rubber boots and old, warm coats, so run out and have some +fun."</p> + +<p>Laughing, shouting, and whooping, the six little Bunkers ran out to +play. It was their first sight of Great Hedge in winter by day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>light, +and Russ and Rose paused for a moment after getting out of doors to look +at the big house, on all sides of which was the tall hedge.</p> + +<p>"It's a terribly big house," said Russ to his sister as they tramped on +through the white snow. "I wonder what part the ghost lives in, don't +you?"</p> + +<p>"I thought he was up in the attic, and took Margy," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"So did I, at first," admitted Russ. "But I don't guess he stays there. +I guess the ghost lives down cellar. We'll hunt for him after a while, +and Grandpa Ford will be glad we found him."</p> + +<p>But it was now such a fine, sunny day outside, after the storm, that the +six little Bunkers thought of nothing but having fun. They raced about +in the snow, threw soft balls of it at one another, and then went out to +the barn.</p> + +<p>Dick, the hired man, was there feeding the horses, and the children saw +the animals that had pulled them over the snow from the railroad station +the night before.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>There were several small sleds in the barn—some that Grandma Ford had +bought when it was decided that the six little Bunkers would visit Great +Hedge Estate—and they were just the proper toys for the six little +children. Soon they were coasting down a small hill which Dick showed +them and also helped trample down smooth for them. For snow on a hill +has to be packed hard and made smooth before one can coast well.</p> + +<p>"Let's have a race!" cried Russ, as he and Laddie had their turn riding +down the slope.</p> + +<p>"All right, I can beat you!" Laddie shouted. And he would have done so, +too, only he guided wrong, and his sled went into a bank of snow, +upsetting and tumbling him off.</p> + +<p>"But I like it!" he shouted as he got up and shook the snow from him.</p> + +<p>"When are you going to make the snow man?" asked Vi. "I want to see a +snow man. And are you going to put a phonograph inside him, Russ, and +make him talk?"</p> + +<p>"I am if I can find a phonograph little enough," said Russ.</p> + +<p>But Russ did not wait for that. With Laddie to help him, he rolled two +or three balls <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>of snow. It was soft, for the sun was now warm, and the +snow packed well. The snowballs were put together, and thus the snow man +was started. The six little Bunkers then made arms and legs for him, +stuck pieces of coal in for buttons on his coat and for his eyes and +nose and mouth, and then Dick gave them an old hat to put on the snow +man's head.</p> + +<p>"Now he won't catch cold," said Dick, when the hat had been stuck on.</p> + +<p>"Could he catch cold?" asked Vi. "I don't see how he could, 'cause he's +cold already. He makes my hands cold," and she showed her little red +fingers.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you hear him sneeze come in and tell me," said Dick with a +smile. "If a snow man sneezes that's a sure sign he's catching cold. So +listen if you hear this one go 'a-ker-choo!' That means we'll have to +get the doctor."</p> + +<p>"I guess that's only a joke, like some of Laddie's riddles," remarked +Russ, when Dick had gone back to the barn.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to make up a riddle about a snow man, but I haven't got it +thought out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>yet," said Laddie. "Come on, Russ, let's make a snow fort."</p> + +<p>The snow man being finished, the two older Bunker boys let the smaller +children play with it, and throw snowballs at it, trying to knock off +the old hat, and Laddie and Russ started work on the fort.</p> + +<p>They had great fun at this, and made quite a big fort, getting inside it +and throwing snowballs at a make-believe enemy on the outside.</p> + +<p>All that day and the next the six little Bunkers played around Great +Hedge, having fun in the snow. Sometimes Mother and Grandma came out to +watch them. Grandpa Ford and Daddy Bunker went to town in a cutter, with +the merry jingling bells <i>on</i> the horse, and Daddy went home for a week +on business.</p> + +<p>Nothing more was said about the ghost for several days, and even Russ +and Rose seemed to forget there was such a make-believe chap. They +coasted downhill, played, and had fun in the snow and were very glad +indeed that they had come to Grandpa Ford's.</p> + +<p>Then, about a week after their arrival, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>there came a cold, blustery day +when it was not nice to be out.</p> + +<p>"Let's go up to the attic and make something with the old spinning +wheels," said Russ to Laddie. "Maybe we can make an airship."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Laddie. "Only we won't sail up very high in 'em, +'cause we might fall down."</p> + +<p>Rose was out in the kitchen, watching Grandma Ford make an apple pie, +and Rose was singing away, for she was trying to make a pie also—a +little one with pieces left over from her grandmother's crust.</p> + +<p>Up to the attic went Russ and Laddie, and Mun Bun followed them.</p> + +<p>"I want to come and watch you," he said, shaking his pretty, bobbed hair +around his head.</p> + +<p>"Shall we let him?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, he can watch us," said Russ, who was always kind to his little +brother.</p> + +<p>Grandma Ford had said the boys could play with the spinning wheels if +they did not break them, and this Russ and Laddie took care not to do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"First we must make 'em so both wheels will turn around together at the +same time alike," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"How are you going to do that?" Laddie asked, while Mun Bun sat down in +a corner near the big chimney to watch.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll put a belt on 'em, same as the belt on mother's +sewing-machine. Don't you know? That has a round leather belt on the big +wheel, and when you turn the big wheel the little wheel goes. Same as on +our tricycle, only there are chains on those."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I know," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>They found some string and made a belt of it, putting it around each of +the two big spinning wheels. Then, by turning one, the other, at some +distance away, could be made to go around.</p> + +<p>"This is just like an airship!" cried Laddie. "We'll make believe this +is the engine, and we'll go up in it."</p> + +<p>This the boys did, even pretending to take Mun Bun up on one trip. Then +they played other games with the spinning wheels, making believe they +worked in a big factory, and things like that.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>By this time Laddie and Russ had forgotten about Mun Bun, and the little +fellow had wandered off by himself to the place in the attic where the +strings of sleigh bells hung. He had fun jingling these. Then Russ and +Laddie found something else with which to play. These were the +candle-moulds. Leaving the spinning wheels, with a number of strings and +cords still fast to them, the two older boys began to make believe they +were soldiers with the candle-moulds for guns.</p> + +<p>"I'll be a soldier and you can be an Indian," said Russ to Laddie. "I +must live in a log cabin, and you must come in the night and try to get +me, and I wake up and yell 'Bang! Bang!' That means you're shot."</p> + +<p>"All right, and then I must shoot you, after a while."</p> + +<p>"Sure, we'll play that way."</p> + +<p>So they did, and had fun. They aimed at one another with the candlestick +moulds and shouted so many "bangs!" that the attic echoed with the +noise.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, as they stopped a moment for breath, they heard the +voice of Mun Bun crying:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, stop pulling my hair! Stop pulling my hair! Oh, it hurts!"</p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie looked at one another in surprise. Neither of them was +near Mun Bun, and yet they could see the little fellow standing close to +one of the spinning wheels, and his golden hair stuck straight out +behind him, just as if an unseen hand had hold of it and was pulling it +hard.</p> + +<p>"Oh, stop! Stop! You hurt!" sobbed Mun Bun. "Let go my hair!"</p> + +<p>But who had hold of it?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>COASTING FUN</h3> + + +<p>Russ and Laddie said, afterward, that they were much frightened at what +happened. They were really more frightened than was Mun Bun, for he was +not so much frightened as he was hurt. He thought some one had crept up +behind him and was pulling his hair, as often happened when some of the +six little Bunkers were not as good as they should be.</p> + +<p>"Let go my hair! Stop pulling!" cried Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"We're not touching you," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Is any one there?" asked Russ, looking to see if any one stood back of +his brother.</p> + +<p>But he could look right through the spokes of the spinning wheel, near +which Mun Bun was standing, and see no one except his little brother. +And the bobbed, golden hair of Mun Bun still stuck straight out behind +him, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>as stiff as if the wind were blowing it, or as if some one had +hold of it.</p> + +<p>"Make 'em stop pulling my hair!" begged Mun Bun again. And then, as he +moved a little to one side, Laddie saw the spinning wheel turn and he +cried:</p> + +<p>"I know what it is!"</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Russ. "Do you see 'em? Is it Margy or Vi?"</p> + +<p>"Neither one," answered Laddie. "It isn't anybody."</p> + +<p>"Nobody pulling Mun Bun's hair?" asked Russ. "Then what's he hollering +for?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause the spinning wheel's pulling it. Look! He's caught in one of the +spinning wheels, and his leg is tangled in one of the string belts we +left on, and he made the wheel go around himself."</p> + +<p>Russ dropped his candle-mould gun and ran over to his little brother. +Surely enough it had happened just as Laddie had said.</p> + +<p>The golden hair of the little boy had become tangled in the slender +spokes of the spinning wheel, some of which were a bit splintery.</p> + +<p>As I told you, when Russ and Laddie fin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>ished making believe the wheels +were an airship, they left some strings on them. By pulling on these +strings the spinning wheels could be made to go around. And that was +what Mun Bun had done, though he did not know it.</p> + +<p>At first he did not feel it when, leaning up against one of the wheels, +his hair got caught. Then his legs became entangled in one of the +strings, and, as he stepped out, he pulled on the string and the wheel +began to spin.</p> + +<p>Of course that stretched his hair tightly, and it felt exactly as if +some one were pulling it, which was the case. Only it was the spinning +wheel, and not a ghost or any person.</p> + +<p>All ghost stories will turn out that way if you wait long enough. Every +time it is something real which makes the funny noises or does the funny +things. For there are no ghosts.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, Mun Bun, and I'll fix you!" cried Russ. "Stand still. +The more you move the more you pull your own hair."</p> + +<p>"I'm not pulling my hair," said Mun Bun. "Somebody behind me is pulling +it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's the spinning wheel," said Laddie with a laugh.</p> + +<p>Then, when they had untangled Mun Bun's hair, they showed him how it all +had happened. He had really pulled his own hair. Of course, he was not +hurt very much, for only a little of his hair had stuck to the wheel.</p> + +<p>"I can make a riddle up about this," said Laddie when Mun Bun was free +once more.</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know just yet, but it'll be something about how can you +pull your own hair and not pull it. And the answer will be a spinning +wheel."</p> + +<p>"Can I make the spinning wheels go 'round?" asked Mun Bun, who wanted to +have some fun after his trouble.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can play with 'em," agreed Russ. "That is, with one of 'em. +I'm going to take the other and make it ring the sleigh bells."</p> + +<p>"How can you?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I'll show you," answered Russ.</p> + +<p>He took the strings off one wheel, letting Mun Bun play with that, and +then tied more strings on the second wheel. He also fast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>ened a string +of bells on the wheel, and then, standing in a far corner of the attic, +and pulling on the string of jingling bells, Russ could make them tinkle +and ring.</p> + +<p>"This is fun!" cried Laddie, and he and his brother enjoyed themselves +very much, and so did Mun Bun. The attic was a great place to have jolly +times.</p> + +<p>"And I don't believe there's any ghost up there, either," said Russ to +Rose that night. "First I thought it might be him pulling Mun Bun's +hair, but it wasn't. There's no ghost there."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of it," said Rose.</p> + +<p>The weather became somewhat warmer again, and the six little Bunkers +could play out in the snow. The hill back of the barn was worn smoother +and smoother, and it made a fine place for coasting.</p> + +<p>"Let's take our dolls out and give them a ride," said Vi to Rose one +day. "They haven't had a sleigh ride for a long while."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll give 'em a ride," agreed Rose.</p> + +<p>"My doll wants a ride, too," said Margy.</p> + +<p>Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun were making another snow-man, which was to be a +regu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>lar "giant," so the girls had the coasting hill to themselves. They +took two sleds, for Vi wanted to go by herself. But Margy was almost too +little for this.</p> + +<p>"You shall ride down with sister," promised Rose. "I'll take care of +you."</p> + +<p>"And I can hold my doll, can't I?" asked Margy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," agreed Rose.</p> + +<p>They had brought to Great Hedge with them the Japanese dolls that had +come ashore in the box on the beach at Cousin Tom's, and these the three +girls took out with them to coast downhill. They had made new clothes +for the dolls, as the Japanese dresses were hardly warm enough for the +cold weather at Grandpa Ford's.</p> + +<p>Reaching the hill, Vi took her place on her sled, holding her doll in +her lap, and then, holding to the sled rope, she began pushing herself +to the edge of the slope, at the same time calling:</p> + +<p>"Gid-ap! Gid-ap!"</p> + +<p>"You don't say 'gid-ap' to a sled," objected Rose. "That's only for a +horse when you want it to go."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, I want my sled to go, and that's the same thing," declared Vi. +"Why can't I say it if I want to? Gid-ap!" she went on, not waiting for +an answer to her question. Very often Vi asked questions to which there +was no answer.</p> + +<p>"Come on, I want a ride like Vi!" exclaimed Margy.</p> + +<p>"All right, you shall have it," answered Rose. "And you may say 'gid-ap' +to our sled, too, if you like."</p> + +<p>"All right—gid-ap!" cried Margy, and then Rose pushed the sled on which +she and her little sister sat to the edge of the hill, and down they +coasted.</p> + +<p>The three little Bunker girls had great fun on the hill. Now and then +Dick, who was working around the barn, would come out to watch them.</p> + +<p>"Don't you want a ride?" asked Rose, for a few days before Dick had let +her sit on the back of one of Grandpa's horses, and had ridden her +around the big barn.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm afraid my legs are too long for those sleds," laughed the hired +man. "I'll have to get a bigger one."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You can hold my doll if you want to," offered Vi. "I'm going to coast +like the boys do, and I can't hold her."</p> + +<p>"Well, you had better leave your doll in the barn," said Dick. "I might +lose her if I took her."</p> + +<p>Vi stretched out face downward on the sled, to ride "boy fashion," and, +of course, she couldn't hold her doll that way. So she left the toy in a +warm place in the hay in the barn.</p> + +<p>Rose, Vi and Margy had great sport coasting on the hill, and they were +thinking of going in and getting some of Grandma Ford's good bread and +jam when Margy cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my doll! Where's my doll? She's gone. She went sliding downhill all +by herself, and now she's gone! Oh, dear!" And Margy began to cry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>JINGLING BELLS</h3> + + +<p>Dick came running out of the barn.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he asked. "Are any of you hurt?"</p> + +<p>But as soon as he asked that he could see that none of the three little +Bunker girls was hurt, for they all stood on the hill beside the two +sleds.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Dick again, for he could see that Margy was +crying, and crying hard.</p> + +<p>"She's lost her doll," explained Rose. "I guess it dropped in the snow. +Could you find it for her? It's a Japanese doll, and we got her out of +the ocean."</p> + +<p>"Out of the ocean!" exclaimed Dick. "Well, if you got her out of the +ocean I suppose I can get her out of a snow bank. For I guess that's +where your doll is now, Margy. Don't cry! I'll try to find her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<p>Dick loved children, and, as it was rather lonesome at Great Hedge, he +was very glad the six little Bunkers had come with their father and +mother to stay until Spring.</p> + +<p>"Where did you lose your doll, Margy?" asked Dick, stooping down and +leaning over the little girl, who was crying so hard now that she could +hardly see on account of her tears.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I—I—don't know," she sobbed. "I—I had her in my arms, and I was +giving her a nice ride and, all of a sudden, I didn't have her any +m-more."</p> + +<p>"I guess she slipped out when you went over a bump, or something like +that," said Dick. "But, as I said, if you found her in the ocean, I +guess we can find her when she's only in a snow bank. I never saw the +ocean. Is it very big?"</p> + +<p>"Terrible big," answered Rose. "We were down at Cousin Tom's, and a box +was washed up on shore and some Japanese dolls were in it. We each have +one—all except Russ and Laddie, 'cause they're too big to play with +dolls. But now Margy's is lost. But we've two more home, Margy, 'cause +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>there were half a dozen in the box, and you can have one of them."</p> + +<p>"Don't want them!" exclaimed Margy. "I want my own doll that I had on +the sled. Where is she?" And Margy cried harder than ever.</p> + +<p>"We'll look," said Dick.</p> + +<p>He went into the barn and came out again with a big wooden rake. In +summer the rake was used to clean the lawn. But now it was to be used in +the snow.</p> + +<p>"You little girls go up to the top of the hill and sit down on your +sleds," said Dick. "Or, better still, go into the barn, like the robin +in the song, and keep warm. Then I'll look for your doll, Margy."</p> + +<p>Then, with the long, wooden rake the man began "combing," as Vi called +it, the snow along the hill. There was no need to look in the middle, +where the sleds slid down, for there the snow was packed hard, and +anything, even smaller than a good-sized Japanese doll, could be seen +easily. But Dick raked on each side in the soft snow.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon he cried:</p> + +<p>"Hurray!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did you find it?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Yes, this time I have it!" replied Dick, and he held up to view Margy's +lost doll. She had fallen into the soft snow, and was not hurt a bit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Margy.</p> + +<p>After the snow had been brushed off the Japanese doll, Margy hugged her +close in her arms.</p> + +<p>"I'm never, never, never going to lose you again!" cried the little +girl.</p> + +<p>"And we're much obliged to you for finding her," said Rose to Dick.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I forgot. Mother said I was always to say thank you, and I +do!" exclaimed Margy. "I could give you a kiss, too, if you wanted it," +she went on, "and so could my doll."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd rather have one from you," laughed Dick. "But I haven't +shaved to-day, and my face is rather whiskery."</p> + +<p>"My father's face is like that lots of times—I don't mind," said Margy, +so she kissed Dick and was very happy.</p> + +<p>Then, after some more coasting, during which time the dolls were left in +the barn, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>the three little Bunker girls went back to the house.</p> + +<p>"Ready for bread and jam?" asked Grandma Ford. "That was always what I +used to want when I came in out of the cold, and I think you want the +same.".</p> + +<p>"Yes, please, we do," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, please!" added Vi.</p> + +<p>"I lost my doll," said Margy, "but Dick raked her up and I did give him +a kiss."</p> + +<p>"That was nice!" laughed Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>As she was spreading the bread and jam for Rose, Margy and Vi, in came +Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun, leaving, of course, the snow man outside. And +you can easily guess what the boys wanted.</p> + +<p>Bread and jam!</p> + +<p>That's just it, and you may go to the head of the class. I wish I had +some bread and jam to give you for guessing right, but I haven't.</p> + +<p>The next day when Daddy Bunker, who had come back from business, and +Grandpa Ford went out to the barn to look at one of the horses that had +a cold, Russ and Laddie followed. On the way they passed a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>small house, +or pen, such as chickens are kept in, and from it came a loud:</p> + +<p>"Gobble-obble-obble!"</p> + +<p>"What's that?" asked Mun Bun. "Is it a hand-organ monkey?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "That's our prize turkey, and do you +know what he says?"</p> + +<p>"Did he say anything?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed he did!" said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. "You see I +understand turkey talk, and this bird just said: 'Thanksgiving is +coming, and then I'll be gobbled-obbled-obbled!' That's what he said, +and it's going to come true. That's going to be part of our Thanksgiving +day dinner."</p> + +<p>"I like turkey," said Russ. "Is Thanksgiving coming soon?"</p> + +<p>"Next week," his father told him. "You want to get up good appetites +between now and then."</p> + +<p>"I'm hungry now," said Laddie, though how he could be, having only had +breakfast a little while before, I don't know. But lots of children are +that way.</p> + +<p>There was plenty to see and do around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> Great Hedge Estate, and after the +six little Bunkers had peeped in at the big Thanksgiving turkey, they +played around the barn a bit and then romped in the snow.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon Grandpa Ford hitched a team of horses to a big +sled—the same one that had brought them from the station—and took them +all for a long ride, the bells merrily jingling all the way. They +stopped in the city of Tarrington on the way home, and bought some +things Grandma Ford wanted for the Thanksgiving dinner.</p> + +<p>Coming home in the afternoon, the children went up to the attic to play +again, taking some apples with them to have a play party.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Grandpa Ford's is just a lovely place!" exclaimed Rose that night +as she and the others were going to bed.</p> + +<p>"And we didn't hear any more funny ghost noises," said Russ in a low +voice. "I guess the ghost has gone, Rose."</p> + +<p>"I guess so, too. I didn't hear Daddy or Mother or Grandpa or Grandma +say any more about it."</p> + +<p>That night Mun Bun awakened, and called <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>to his mother to give him a +drink of water. As it happened Rose and Russ were also awake, and Margy, +hearing her brother ask for water, wanted some, too. So there were +several of the Bunkers awake at once.</p> + +<p>Just as Mrs. Bunker was giving Mun Bun his drink, there suddenly sounded +through the dim and silent house the loud ringing of a string of sleigh +bells.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" called Grandma Ford from across the hall. "Is some one +stopping out in front?"</p> + +<p>"I'll look," said Grandpa Ford. It was bright moonlight, and he could +see plainly. "No one there," he said.</p> + +<p>The bells jingled again, more loudly.</p> + +<p>"They're up in the attic!" cried Russ. "Some one is ringing the bells in +the attic!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>THANKSGIVING FUN</h3> + + +<p>By this time it seemed as if every one in Grandpa Ford's house at Great +Hedge was awake. Even Mun Bun and Margy sat up in bed, after having had +their drinks, and listened.</p> + +<p>"There certainly are bells jingling," said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"And they are in this house, too," added Grandma Ford, as she came out +in the dimly-lighted hall, wearing a dark dressing-gown. "I thought, at +first, it might be a sleigh-riding party out in front. Often they stop +to ask their way."</p> + +<p>"No sleighs out in front that I can see," remarked Grandpa Ford. "Where +do the bells seem to you to be?" he asked Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Up in the attic!" called Russ from his room. "That's where they +sound."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I believe he is right," said Grandma Ford. "I have a good ear for +sound, and that jingling is certainly up in the attic. Father, you'd +better take a look."</p> + +<p>"Aren't you—aren't you afraid?" asked Rose, rather hesitating over the +words.</p> + +<p>"Afraid of what?" inquired Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's so dark up in the attic," went on Rose, and Russ, hearing +what she said, knew what she meant. It was the ghost Rose was thinking +of, and not the dark.</p> + +<p>"I can take a light," said Grandpa Ford. "Then it won't be dark. But you +mustn't be afraid in the dark. It can't hurt any one."</p> + +<p>Just then the bells gave a very loud jingle, just as if some one had +hold of the string and was shaking it hard.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Rose.</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' to sleep!" announced Mun Bun, and he covered his head with +the bedclothes.</p> + +<p>"So'm I," said Margy, and she did as her little brother had done, +snuggling under the covers.</p> + +<p>Rose and Russ heard their father ask Grandpa Ford:</p> + +<p>"Did this ever happen before?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No," answered Grandpa Ford. "We have heard many strange noises at Great +Hedge, noises we thought were caused by—well, you know what I mean," +and he nodded at Mr. Bunker to show that he did not want to use the word +"ghost."</p> + +<p>Of course, Russ and Rose, being in bed in different rooms, could not see +this nod, but they guessed what Grandpa Ford meant.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'd better go up and see what it is," said Daddy Bunker. "We +can't sleep with all that jingling going on," and even as he spoke the +bells rang out again.</p> + +<p>"I'll get a light," said Grandpa Ford. "A lantern will be best. There is +always more or less breeze up in the attic, and a candle or lamp might +blow out. Come on."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford went up into the attic, while the six +little Bunkers, two of them with their heads under the covers, waited to +hear what would happen. So did Mother Bunker and Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>The two men were heard tramping around in the attic, and then, suddenly, +just as the bells gave another jingle, there was a loud laugh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There! It's all right," said Mother Bunker. "They've found +the—the—whatever it was," she said quickly. "And it must be funny, for +hear them laugh."</p> + +<p>Down came Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford. Grandpa Ford carried the +lantern, and Daddy Bunker had something in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Here's what caused all the trouble!" he said, and he held out something +round and red.</p> + +<p>"An apple!" cried Russ, who had come out in the hall to see.</p> + +<p>"Just an apple," went on Daddy Bunker. "This apple made all the noise, +or, rather, was the cause of the bells jingling."</p> + +<p>"How could an apple make bells jingle?" asked Laddie. "Is that a riddle, +Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Well, almost, you might say. This is how it happened. When Grandpa Ford +and I got up to the attic, we saw the string of sleigh bells hanging +from a nail, where you children must have left them when you last played +with them. But we couldn't see any one near them who might have rung +them, and there was no one in the attic, as far as we knew.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then, even as we stood there, waiting and looking about, I saw the +string of bells move, and then they jingled, and, looking down on the +floor, I saw a big rat trying to carry this apple away in his mouth."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy!" cried Rose, "how could a rat carrying an apple away in his +mouth, make the bells ring?"</p> + +<p>"Easily enough," her father answered. "The apple was tied on a string, +as I suppose some of you children left it when you got through playing +this afternoon. And the other end of the cord was tied to the string of +bells. That was also more of your play, I suppose.</p> + +<p>"The rat came out of his hole in the attic, smelled the apple on the +floor, and tried to drag it into his cupboard. But the string held it +fast, and as the rat pulled and tugged he made the sleigh bells jingle; +for every time he pulled the apple he pulled the string, and every time +he pulled the string he pulled the bells."</p> + +<p>"And is that all there was?" asked Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>"All there was," answered Grandpa Ford.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> "Just a rat trying to have a +nice apple supper made the bells ring."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad I know what it was," said Mother Bunker. "If I hear a +noise in the night I like to know what it is and where it comes from. +Now I can go back to sleep."</p> + +<p>"So can I," said Rose.</p> + +<p>And the other little Bunkers said the same thing. As for Mun Bun and +Margy, as soon as they heard that everything was all right they +uncovered their heads and went to sleep before any one else.</p> + +<p>"Well, well! To think what a little thing can puzzle every one," said +Grandpa Ford to Daddy Bunker, as the grown folks went back to their +rooms. "Maybe we'll find that the other noises are made just as simply +as this one was."</p> + +<p>"Maybe," agreed Daddy Bunker. "But of late we haven't heard that +groaning noise much, and maybe we shall not again."</p> + +<p>"I hope not," said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>The grown folks did not know that, half asleep as they were even then, +Russ and Rose heard this talk. And the two older Bunker children made up +their minds to find the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>ghost—if there was one—or whatever sounded +like one.</p> + +<p>The next day the children all went up to the attic and saw the string +where one of them had left it tied to the bells. Daddy Bunker had taken +off the apple.</p> + +<p>"I wish we could see the rat!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I don't," said Rose. "I don't like rats."</p> + +<p>"I guess I've a riddle about a rat," said Laddie after a pause.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Russ. "I can guess it, easy."</p> + +<p>"No, you can't!" declared his brother.</p> + +<p>"I can so!"</p> + +<p>"You can not!"</p> + +<p>"Well, let's hear it," demanded Russ.</p> + +<p>"It's when is a rat not a rat?" asked Laddie. "That's the riddle. When +is a rat not a rat?"</p> + +<p>"It's always a rat," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean when a cat is after him?" asked Russ, trying to guess the +riddle.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Laddie. "That isn't it. I'll give you another guess."</p> + +<p>Russ tried to think of several other rea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>sons why a rat was sometimes +not a rat, but at last he gave up.</p> + +<p>"This is it," said Laddie. "A rat isn't a rat when he's a bell-ringer; +like the one in the attic was last night."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's a pretty good riddle," agreed Russ, after a bit. "Some day +I'm going to make a riddle. Now I'm going to make snowshoes."</p> + +<p>"How do you make them?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>Russ was going to tell his brother, and take him out to the barn to show +him, when Mother Bunker called up:</p> + +<p>"Who wants to go for a ride with Grandpa?"</p> + +<p>"I do! I! Take me! I want to go!" came in a chorus.</p> + +<p>"Well, he has room for all of you, so come along. He's going to +Tarrington to get some friends to come out to the Thanksgiving dinner, +and you six may all go along," said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>So the six little Bunkers had another fine sleigh ride, and came back to +Great Hedge with fine appetites. They also brought back in the sled with +them Mr. and Mrs. Burton, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>old friends of Grandpa Ford, who generally +spent the Thanksgiving holiday with him.</p> + +<p>For the next few days there were so many things going on at Great Hedge +that if I only told about them I'd fill this book. But, as I have other +happenings to relate to you, and the ghost to tell about, I will just +skip over this part by saying that every one, even down to Mun Bun, +helped get ready for the Thanksgiving dinner.</p> + +<p>Such goings-on as there were in Grandma Ford's kitchen! Such delicious +smells of cake and pie and pudding! Such baking, roasting, boiling, +frying and stewing! Such heaps of good things in the pantry!</p> + +<p>And then the dinner! The big roast turkey, and celery, and a big dish of +red cranberries, and other good things!</p> + +<p>"I got the wish-bone!" cried Rose, as she finished her plate.</p> + +<p>"Let me help pull it with you, when it gets dry!" begged Russ, and then, +in a whisper, he said: "If I get the wish I'll wish we could find the +ghost."</p> + +<p>"So'll I," said Rose.</p> + +<p>After dinner the children played games in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>the house, as it blew up cold +and blustery and was not nice to go out in the snow. Rose had put the +wish-bone over the kitchen stove to dry, and, late in the afternoon, she +and Russ went out to get it to break, and wish over it. The one who held +the larger part could make a wish.</p> + +<p>"Snap!" went the wish-bone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have it!" cried Rose. "I'm going to wish!"</p> + +<p>And just then, all of a sudden, a loud, hollow groan sounded throughout +the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>RUSS MAKES SNOWSHOES</h3> + + +<p>"There it goes! There it goes again!" cried Rose, and, forgetting all +about having gotten the larger end of the bone, so that she had the +right to make a wish, she dropped it and ran toward the sitting-room.</p> + +<p>The rest of the six little Bunkers and the father and mother, with +Grandma and Grandpa Ford and their guests, were gathered in the +sitting-room after the Thanksgiving dinner.</p> + +<p>There was no doubt that they all heard the noise. It was so loud, and it +sounded through the whole house in such a way that every one heard it. +Only Mun Bun and Margy and Violet and Laddie did not pay much heed to +it. They were playing a game in one corner of the room.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear it?" asked Russ, as Rose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>ran over and crouched down +beside her mother.</p> + +<p>"I heard a noise, yes," answered Mrs. Bunker quietly.</p> + +<p>"We all heard it—and there it goes again!" exclaimed Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"O-u-g-h-m!" came the awful sound.</p> + +<p>"It's the wind," said Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>"The wind isn't blowing," said Daddy Bunker. "It must be something else. +There is no wind."</p> + +<p>There was a little, but not enough to blow the snow about. It had been +blustery—so cold and blowy, in fact, that the six little Bunkers could +not go out to play. But now the sun had gone down, and, as often +happens, the wind died down with it. The night was going to be still and +cold.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't believe it was the wind," said Grandpa Ford. "It's the same +noise we heard before. We must try to find out what it is, Charles," and +he turned to Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"It's the ghost! That's what it is!" exclaimed Russ. "We tried to find +it, Rose and I did—but we couldn't. It's the ghost!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! What do you know about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>ghosts?" said Mother Bunker, and she +tried to laugh, but it did not sound very jolly. "There aren't any such +things as ghosts," she went on.</p> + +<p>"Well, I got the big end of the wish-bone," said Rose, "and I was just +going to wish that I'd find the ghost when, all of a sudden, I heard +it!"</p> + +<p>"Now see here, you two!" exclaimed Daddy Bunker, speaking to Russ and +Rose, while Laddie and Vi, with Mun Bun and Margy, were still at their +game. "You mustn't be talking about such things as ghosts. There isn't +any such thing, and you may scare the younger children."</p> + +<p>"How did you hear about a ghost at Great Hedge?" asked Grandpa Ford +curiously.</p> + +<p>Russ and Rose looked at each other. The time had come to tell of their +listening under the window, and they felt a little ashamed of it. But +they had been taught to tell the truth, no matter how much it hurt, and +they must do it now.</p> + +<p>"How did you know about a ghost?" asked Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"We—we heard you and Grandpa Ford <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>talking about it—the time he came +to our house," confessed Russ. He felt that he, being the oldest, must +speak first.</p> + +<p>"We listened under the window," added Rose. She wanted to do her share +of the telling.</p> + +<p>"That was very wrong to do," said her mother. "But, of course, I know +you didn't mean to do wrong. Still, as it happened, no great harm was +done, but you should have told me about it at the time. It was not right +to be so mysterious about it, nor to have it as a secret. You two +children are too small to have secrets away from Father and Mother, +unless they are little ones, like birthday surprises and the like. Now, +don't listen under windows again."</p> + +<p>"We won't," promised Russ and Rose, who then told the whole story.</p> + +<p>"But is there a ghost?" asked Russ, as the strange noise sounded again.</p> + +<p>"No, of course not," said Daddy Bunker. "But, since you have heard part +of the story, you may as well hear all of it."</p> + +<p>Seeing that the four smaller children were busy at their play, and would +not listen to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>what he said, Daddy Bunker drew Russ and Rose up on his +lap and began:</p> + +<p>"You remember when Grandpa Ford came to see us, he said he wanted to +take us back with him, and, if we could, have us help him find out +something queer about Great Hedge, which he had bought from Mr. Ripley. +The 'something queer' was that, every now and then, noises, such as you +heard just now, sound through the house. Grandpa Ford and Grandma Ford +couldn't find out where they came from, and neither Mr. Ripley nor his +daughter knew what made them.</p> + +<p>"Of course," went on Daddy Bunker, "some people, when they hear a +strange sound or see a strange sight, think it is a ghost. But there is +no such thing."</p> + +<p>"We thought it was a ghost made Mun Bun's hair stick out and be pulled," +confessed Rose, "but it was only the spinning wheel."</p> + +<p>"Now, to go on with my story. As the queer noises kept up, Grandpa Ford +came to get me, to see if I could help him. I am in the real estate +business, you know—I buy and sell houses—and he thought I might know +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>something about the queer noise in his house. I have bought and sold +houses that people said were haunted—that is, which were supposed to +have ghosts in," laughed Daddy Bunker. "But I never saw nor heard of any +spirits."</p> + +<p>"Did you find out what made this noise?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, we haven't yet, but we take a look every time we hear it," said his +father. "That is what we are going to do now. So, after this, don't be +afraid when you hear it. It is something in the house that makes it—not +a ghost or anything like that. We'll find it sooner or later, Grandpa +Ford and I."</p> + +<p>"May we help?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Please, Daddy?" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I guess so, if you want to," answered his father slowly. "If +you hear the noise, and it sounds anywhere near you, look around and see +if you can find out what makes it. Don't cry 'ghost!' and scare the +others."</p> + +<p>"We won't," promised Rose. "And maybe we'll be lucky and find it."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will," put in Grandma Ford.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It sounded like a cow mooing," remarked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it did," agreed Grandpa Ford. "At first I thought it was a cow +that had got into the cellar. But I couldn't find one. Then I thought it +was boys playing a trick on us, but I heard the noise in the middle of +the night, when no boys would be out. I don't know what makes it, but +I'd like to find the ghost, as I call it, though I'm not going to after +this. That isn't a good name. We'll just call it 'Mr. Noise.'"</p> + +<p>"And we'll help you find 'Mr. Noise'!" laughed Russ.</p> + +<p>Laddie came from where he was playing with a new riddle, and, while they +were laughing over it, the groaning noise sounded again.</p> + +<p>"Listen, all of you, and see if you can tell where it is," said Grandpa +Ford.</p> + +<p>Russ and Rose listened. So did Laddie and Violet; but Mun Bun and Margy +kept on playing with their dolls.</p> + +<p>"It's a tree rubbing against the house outside," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"I thought so at first," said Grandpa Ford,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> "but there are now no trees +that rub. I cut off the branches of those that did."</p> + +<p>Each one thought it was in a different room, but a search showed nothing +out of the way. They were all very much puzzled.</p> + +<p>"It's worse than one of Laddie's queer riddles," said Daddy Bunker, when +he and Grandpa Ford came back from having searched in several of the +rooms.</p> + +<p>They listened for a while longer, but the noise was not heard again, and +then it was time to go to bed. The wind sprang up again and the clouds +seemed to promise more snow. And, surely enough, in the morning, the +white flakes were falling thick and fast.</p> + +<p>"They'll cover up our snow man," said Laddie to Russ.</p> + +<p>"Never mind. I know how we can have more fun," said the older boy.</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"I'll make some snowshoes for us, and we can walk without sinking down +in the snow."</p> + +<p>"How can you do that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll show you. I started to make 'em before, but I forgot about it. +Now I will."</p> + +<p>And, when breakfast was over, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>four older children had been +warmly wrapped and allowed to go out to play in the storm, Russ led +Laddie to the barn.</p> + +<p>"We'll make the snowshoes there," he said. "I have everything all +ready."</p> + +<p>Laddie saw a pile of barrel staves—the long, thin pieces of wood of +which barrels are made, where his brother had stacked them. Russ also +had some pieces of rope, a hammer and some nails, and some long poles.</p> + +<p>"What are they for?" asked Laddie, pointing to the poles.</p> + +<p>"That's to take hold of and help yourself along. It's awful hard to walk +on snowshoes—real ones, I mean. And, maybe, it'll be harder to walk on +the barrel kind I'm going to make."</p> + +<p>Then Russ began making the snowshoes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>ON SKATES</h3> + + +<p>You have probably all seen pictures of regular snowshoes, even if you +have not seen real snowshoes, so you know how much like big lawn-tennis +rackets they look. Snowshoes are broad and flat, and fasten on outside +of one's regular shoes, so a person can walk on the soft snow, or on the +hard crust, without sinking down in.</p> + +<p>The Indians used to make snowshoes by bending a frame of wood into +almost the shape of a tennis racket—except it had no long handle—and +then stretching pieces of the skins of animals across this.</p> + +<p>"But I'm not going to make that kind," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"What kind are you going to make?" asked Laddie as he watched his +brother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mine's going to be easier than that."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<p>Russ took a long, thin barrel stave, that was curved up a little on +either end. To the middle of the stave he tacked some pieces of rope and +string.</p> + +<p>"That's to tie the shoe to your foot," he explained to Laddie.</p> + +<p>In a little while, with his brother's help, Russ had made four of the +barrel-stave snowshoes—a pair for himself and a pair for Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Now all we have to do," said Russ, "is to tie 'em on and walk out on +the snow. We won't sink down in, as we do with our regular feet, and we +can go as fast as anything."</p> + +<p>"Won't we fall?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"We'll hold on to the poles. That's what I got 'em for," said Russ.</p> + +<p>In a short time he and his brother had fastened the barrel staves to +their shoes, winding and tying the cords and ropes, and even some old +straps around and around. Their feet looked very queer—almost like +those of some clown in the circus. But Laddie and Russ did not mind +that. They wanted to walk on the home-made snowshoes.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" called Russ, as he shuffled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>across the barn floor toward the +door, from which led a big stretch of deep, white snow. "Come on, +Laddie!"</p> + +<p>"I—I can't seem to walk," the little fellow said. "I keep stepping on +my feet all the while."</p> + +<p>This was very true. As he took one step he would put the other snowshoe +down on the one he had moved last, and then he could not raise the +underneath foot.</p> + +<p>"Spread your legs apart and sort of slide along," said Russ. "Then you +won't step on your own feet. Do it this way."</p> + +<p>Russ separated one foot from the other as far as he could, and then he +shuffled along, not raising his feet. He found this the best way, and +soon he was at the barn door, with Laddie behind him.</p> + +<p>"Come on now, we'll start and walk on the snow, and we'll s'prise Daddy +and Mother," cried Russ.</p> + +<p>He did manage to glide over the snow, the broad, long barrel staves +keeping him from sinking in the soft drifts. Laddie did not do quite so +well, but he managed to get along.</p> + +<p>The boys held long poles, which helped to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>keep them from falling over, +and, at first, so uneven was the walking that they might have fallen if +it had not been for the long staffs.</p> + +<p>"I'll make snowshoes for all of us," said Russ, as he and Laddie went +slowly around the corner of the barn. "Then we can play Indians, and go +on a long walk and take our dinner and stay all day."</p> + +<p>Together they walked around the barn. They were getting used to the +barrel-stave snowshoes now, and really did quite well on them. Of +course, now and then, one or the other's fastenings would become loose, +and they would have to stop and tie them. Laddie got so he could do this +for himself.</p> + +<p>"It's like when your shoelace comes untied," he said. "Did the Indians' +laces come untied, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so. But now come on. We'll go to the house and get some bread +and jam."</p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie started out bravely enough, and they were half-way to +the house when Russ said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's see if we can get across that big drift!"</p> + +<p>This was a large pile of snow, made by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>the wind into a small hill, and +it must have been many feet deep—well over the heads of the two small +boys.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we might get hurt there," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, we won't!" cried Russ. "Come on."</p> + +<p>Russ was part way to the top when something happened. All at once one +leg sank away down, barrel-stave snowshoe and all, and a moment later he +was floundering in the snow, and crying:</p> + +<p>"Hey, Laddie, I can't get out. I can't get out. Go and call Daddy or +Grandpa! I can't get out!"</p> + +<p>"Are you hurt?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No. But my foot is stuck away down under the snow, and I can't pull it +out."</p> + +<p>"I'll go!" cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>He never knew how fast he could travel on the home-made snowshoes until +he tried. Up to the side porch he shuffled, and, not stopping to +unfasten the pieces of barrel on his feet, he called out:</p> + +<p>"Mother, come quick! Russ is upside down and he can't get his leg out!"</p> + +<p>Inside the house Mother Bunker and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> Grandma Ford heard the queer +thumping sound on the porch.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what that is?" said Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's our friend that makes the queer noises, making a new one," +answered Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>Then they heard Laddie calling:</p> + +<p>"Oh, come quick! Russ is upside down and his leg is stuck and he can't +get it out! Oh, hurry, please!"</p> + +<p>"Mercy me!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "Something has happened!"</p> + +<p>Out of the door she rushed, with Grandma Ford after her, and when they +saw Laddie, with the barrel staves on his shoes, his mother asked:</p> + +<p>"What has happened? What have you done to yourself? What are those +things on your feet?"</p> + +<p>"Snowshoes that Russ made," was the answer. "He's got some on his own +feet, but he fell into a snow bank and he can't get out and he's +hollerin' like anything!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's too bad!" cried Grandma Ford. "But if he fell into a snow +bank it's so soft <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>he won't be hurt. But I'll get Grandpa to dig him +out."</p> + +<p>But Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford had gone to town in the sled. But +Dick, the hired man, was at home, and he came to help Mother Bunker and +Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>"I'll get you out, Russ! Don't cry!" shouted Dick, as he ran up with his +long rubber boots on. These were so high that he could wade into almost +any snowdrift. "Don't cry, Russ!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not cryin'," answered Laddie's brother. "I'm only hollerin' so +somebody'll come and get me. My foot's stuck!"</p> + +<p>And that is just what had happened to him. He had stepped into a soft +part of the drift with one foot, and had nearly turned a somersault. +Then the long barrel stave, tied fast to his shoe, became caught +crossways under the hole in the snow, and Russ couldn't pull his foot +out.</p> + +<p>He could not stand up, and so had to lie down, and one leg was out of +sight down in the hole.</p> + +<p>"I'll soon have you out!" cried Dick.</p> + +<p>He was as good as his word. Reaching <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>down in, he loosened the +barrel-stave snowshoe from Russ's foot, and soon pulled the little boy +up straight. Then he carried him to the porch.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't go in deep places with those queer things on my feet any +more," said Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>"No, we won't," promised Russ.</p> + +<p>So, when the snowshoe was again tied on his foot, he and Laddie shuffled +about where the snow was not too deep. They had lots of fun, and the +other little Bunkers came out to watch them. Mun Bun wanted a pair of +the barrel-stave snowshoes for himself, but his mother said he was too +little; but Russ made some for Rose and Vi.</p> + +<p>Two days later, when the six little Bunkers got out of bed, they found +that the weather had turned warmer, and that it was raining.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now the nice snow will be all gone!" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"And we can't make any more snow men and forts," added Russ.</p> + +<p>"But you can have fun when it freezes," said his father.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"You can go skating," was the answer. "There is a pond not far from +Grandpa Ford's house, and when it freezes, as it will when the rain +stops, you and the others can go skating."</p> + +<p>"I can skate a little," announced Russ.</p> + +<p>"So can I," said Laddie. "Did we bring any skates?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we packed some from home," replied his mother.</p> + +<p>"I want to skate!" exclaimed Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"You can have fun sliding, you and Margy," said Rose. "And I'll pull you +over the ice on a sled."</p> + +<p>This satisfied the smaller children, and then, as the weather was so bad +that they could not go out and play, the six little Bunkers stayed in +the house and waited for the rain to be over and the ice to freeze.</p> + +<p>They played around the house and up in the attic, and, now and then, +Russ and Rose found themselves listening for the queer noise. They +didn't call it the "ghost" any longer. It was just the "queer noise."</p> + +<p>But they did not hear it, and they rather <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>wanted to, for they thought +it would be fun to find out what caused it.</p> + +<p>After two days of rain the snow was all gone. The ground was bleak and +bare, but the six little Bunkers did not mind that, for they were eager +for ice to freeze.</p> + +<p>Then, one morning, Daddy Bunker called up the stairs:</p> + +<p>"Come on out, everybody! The freeze has come! The pond is frozen over, +and we're all going skating!"</p> + +<p>"Hurray!" cried Russ. "This will be more fun than snowshoes!"</p> + +<p>Little did he guess what was going to happen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>THE ICE BOAT</h3> + + +<p>"Now you must all eat good breakfasts," said Grandma Ford, as the six +little Bunkers came trooping downstairs in answer to their father's +call. "Eat plenty of buckwheat cakes and maple syrup, so you will not be +cold and hungry when you go out on the ice to skate."</p> + +<p>Russ, Laddie and the others needed no second invitation, and soon there +was a rattle of knives, forks and spoons that told of hungry children +eating heartily.</p> + +<p>The house at Great Hedge was warm and cosy, and the smell of the bacon, +the buckwheat cakes and the maple syrup would have made almost any one +hungry.</p> + +<p>"Are we all going out skating?" asked Rose, as she ate her last cake.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll take you all," said Daddy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> Bunker. "Dick went over to the +pond, and he says the ice is fine. It's smooth and hard."</p> + +<p>"Is it strong enough to hold?" asked Mother Bunker. "I don't want any of +my six little Bunkers falling through the ice."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," added Daddy Bunker. "We'll take good care that they don't. Now +wrap up well. I have skates for all but Margy and Mun Bun. I'm afraid +they are a bit too small to try to skate yet, but we'll take over sleds +for them."</p> + +<p>"Russ and I are going to have a race!" boasted Laddie. "And if I win, +you've got to guess any riddle I ask you, Russ."</p> + +<p>"I will, if you don't make it too hard," said the older boy with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>As Daddy Bunker had said, there were skates for Russ, Rose, Laddie and +Vi, these having been brought from home. Russ and Rose had learned to +skate the winter before, and Laddie had made one or two attempts at it. +He felt that he could do much better now. Violet, not to be outdone by +her twin, was to learn too. Of course, the children could not skate very +far, nor very fast, but they could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>have fun, and, after all, that is +what skates are for, mostly.</p> + +<p>"Could we take something to eat with us? We may get hungry," said Russ, +as they were about to start.</p> + +<p>"Bless your hearts! Of course you may!" exclaimed Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>She put up two bags of cookies, and then Daddy Bunker, thrusting them +into the big pockets of his overcoat, led the children out into the +crisp December air.</p> + +<p>It was cold, but the wind did not blow very hard, and the six little +Bunkers were well wrapped up. Over the frozen ground they went to the +pond, which was back of Grandpa Ford's barn. It was a pond where, in the +summer, ducks and geese swam, and where the cows went to drink. But now +it was covered with a sheet of what seemed to be glass.</p> + +<p>"What makes the ice so smooth?" asked Vi, as she leaned down and touched +it.</p> + +<p>"Because it freezes so hard," answered her father.</p> + +<p>"Well, the ground is frozen hard, too," said the little girl. "But it +isn't smooth."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's because it wasn't smooth before it was frozen," said Mr. Bunker. +"When cold comes it freezes things into just the shapes they are at the +time. The ground was cut up into ruts and furrows, and it froze that +way. The pond of water was smooth, as it always is except when the wind +blows up the waves, and it froze smooth."</p> + +<p>"Would my face freeze smooth?" asked Violet, trying to look down at her +nose.</p> + +<p>"I hope it doesn't freeze at all," her father told her with a laugh. +"But if it did your nose would be all wrinkled, as it is now."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm going to smooth it," said Violet, and she did.</p> + +<p>Russ could put on his own skates, as could Rose, but Laddie had to have +help. Then the three children began gliding about the ice, their father +watching them.</p> + +<p>"Don't go too far over toward the middle," he warned them. "Dick said he +thought it was safe there, but it may not be. Stay near shore."</p> + +<p>The children promised that they would, and they had great fun gliding +about on the steel runners.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then Daddy Bunker put the skates on Vi and held her up while he taught +her how to take the strokes. It was very wabbly skating, you may be +sure.</p> + +<p>Finally, however, she began to do very well for such a little girl and +for such a short time. But after a while she said she was tired.</p> + +<p>"Very well, Vi," said Daddy Bunker, "you sit on one sled and take Mun +Bun in your lap. Margy can sit on the smaller sled, and I'll fasten the +two together with ropes. Then I can pull both."</p> + +<p>And Daddy Bunker did this. Over the ice along the shore he pulled the +sleds with the three children on them, while Rose, Russ and Laddie +skated about not far away. Finally Laddie called:</p> + +<p>"Come on, Russ! Let's have a race! Let's see who can skate all the way +across the pond first!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mustn't skate across the pond!" exclaimed Rose. "Daddy said we +must stay near the edge."</p> + +<p>"But the ice is smoother out in the middle," said Russ. "It's all humpy +and rough <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>here, and you can't skate fast. I want to go out in the +middle!"</p> + +<p>"So do I," added Laddie. "Come on, Russ. I'll race you, but you ought to +give me a head-start 'cause you're older than I am and you can skate +better."</p> + +<p>"All right, I will," said Russ. "I'll let you go first, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm going to tell Daddy you're going out in the middle and across +the lake!" cried Rose. "He said you mustn't!"</p> + +<p>"All right, go on and be a tattle-tale if you want to!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>Now, of course, it wasn't nice of him to speak to his sister that way, +and it wasn't right for him to go where his father had told him not to +go. Of course Rose didn't want to be a tattle-tale, but still it was +better to be that than to let her brother do what he intended. So, while +Russ and Laddie got ready for their race, Rose skated, as quickly as she +could, to the other end of the pond, where her father was giving Violet, +Mun Bun and Margy some of Grandma's cookies, which they had brought +along.</p> + +<p>"Come on, now! One, two, three! Race!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> cried Russ, after he had let +Laddie get a little start of him.</p> + +<p>Away the boys skated, toward the middle of the pond. At first Laddie was +ahead, but Russ was the better skater and soon passed him. Russ was near +the middle of the pond when suddenly there was a loud crack.</p> + +<p>Russ heard it and tried to stop himself and turn back. But he was going +quite fast, and before he could slow up the ice in front of him cracked +open. He saw a stretch of black water, and then, with a yell, into it +splashed poor Russ.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 251px;"> +<img src="images/p204.jpg" width="251" height="400" alt="BEFORE RUSS COULD SLOW UP, THE ICE IN FRONT OF HIM CRACKED OPEN." title="BEFORE RUSS COULD SLOW UP, THE ICE IN FRONT OF HIM CRACKED OPEN." /> +<span class="caption">BEFORE RUSS COULD SLOW UP, THE ICE IN FRONT OF HIM CRACKED OPEN.</span> +</div> + +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's.</i> —<a href='#Page_188'><i>Page 188</i></a></div> + +<p>"Oh, he's fallen in! Russ has fallen in!" shouted Laddie, who had seen +what had happened. And he suddenly tripped and sat down, sliding slowly +along, or he, too, might have gone through the hole in the ice.</p> + +<p>It was a good thing Rose had run and told her father what her brothers +were going to do, for Mr. Bunker was already half-way to Russ when the +ice broke.</p> + +<p>"I'll get you! I'll get you!" called Mr. Bunker to Russ. "Rose, you look +after the others, and I'll get Russ out. The pond is not very deep, and +I'll soon have him out!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker ran out on the ice right toward the hole where the black +water was. Russ had not fallen in head first, luckily, and now stood +with the water about up to his waist.</p> + +<p>The ice broke under the weight of Mr. Bunker, and into the water he +splashed, but he did not mind. Laddie had quickly crawled away from the +vicinity of the hole, and he now went back to where Rose was looking +after Margy, Mun Bun and Violet.</p> + +<p>"I've got you, Russ!" cried Mr. Bunker, as he caught the scared boy in +his arms. And then, wet as both of them were, Mr. Bunker managed to get +up on ice that was firm enough to hold him, and hurried to the bank, +carrying Russ with him.</p> + +<p>"I must get you home as soon as I can, and take off your wet clothes," +he said. "You must be terribly cold. Laddie and Rose, take off your +skates and follow after me. Bring Mun Bun and Margy, and tell Vi to +come. Hurry now. Russ, I told you not to go out in the middle, where the +ice might break."</p> + +<p>"I—I'm sorry, Daddy!" shivered Russ. "I won't do it any more."</p> + +<p>And I am glad to say he did not.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of course Mother Bunker and Grandma Ford were excited when Daddy Bunker +came racing in, all dripping wet, with Russ, also soaked through, in his +arms. But Grandmother Ford and Mother Bunker were used to accidents. Dry +clothes were put on, the two shivering ones sat by the fire and drank +hot milk, and soon they were all right again.</p> + +<p>The hole in the ice froze over in a little while, and the ice became so +thick that even the grown men could go out in the middle of the pond. +Then there was no danger of the children's tumbling in, and they were +told they might play wherever they liked.</p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie had another race—one that was finished, and Russ won, +so he did not have to guess Laddie's riddle.</p> + +<p>"If I had beat you," said Laddie, "I was going to ask you why is an +automobile tire like a snake."</p> + +<p>"Pooh, that's easy to guess," said Russ. "'Cause it's round and fat."</p> + +<p>"Nope," said Laddie. "It's 'cause a snake hisses and so does an auto +tire when the air comes out."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Russ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were all in the house, after dinner, when Dick came in to ask +Grandpa Ford about something that needed fixing in the barn. The hired +man saw the children sitting about with nothing particular to do, and +said:</p> + +<p>"How would you like to come for a ride in my boat?"</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Russ eagerly.</p> + +<p>"On the pond," answered Dick.</p> + +<p>"The pond is covered with ice!" said Russ. "Is that a riddle? How can +you sail a boat on a pond that is covered with ice?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to sail an ice boat," answered Dick. "Want to come down and +see me, and have a ride?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>ANOTHER NIGHT SCARE</h3> + + +<p>You can easily imagine what the six little Bunkers said when Dick asked +this question about his ice boat.</p> + +<p>"I want to come!" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"I want a ride!" shouted Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Shall we get wet?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, not in an ice boat," said Grandpa Ford. "I've seen Dick sail +one before. An ice boat is like a big skate, you know. It just slides +over the ice. You may take some of the little Bunkers for a ride in your +ice boat, Dick, if you'll be careful of them."</p> + +<p>"I'll be very careful," promised Dick. "Come along!"</p> + +<p>With shouts and laughter the six little Bunkers got ready to go down to +the pond with Dick, and ride in his ice boat.</p> + +<p>I presume that not many of you have seen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>ice boats, so I will tell you +a little about them. Those of you who know all about them need not read +this part.</p> + +<p>As Grandpa Ford had said, an ice boat, in a way, is like a big skate or +sled. It slides over the frozen ice of a pond, lake or river instead of +sailing through the water, as another boat does. And an ice boat really +has something like skates on it, only they are called runners. Perhaps I +might say they are more like the runners of a sled.</p> + +<p>If you will take two long, strong, heavy pieces of wood and fasten them +together like a cross, or as you fasten kite sticks, you will see how +the frame of an ice boat is built. On the ends of the shorter +cross-piece are fastened the runners that slide over the ice. On the end +of the longer cross-piece is another runner, but this one turns about +from side to side with a tiller, like the tiller of a boat that goes in +water, and by this the ice boat is steered.</p> + +<p>Where the two sticks cross the mast is set up, and on this is fastened +the sail, and between the sail and the tiller is a sort of shallow box. +This is the cabin of the ice boat, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>where the people sit when they are +sailing over the frozen pond.</p> + +<p>"My ice boat is only a small home-made one," said Dick, "and I can't +take you all at one time. But I'll give you each some turns, and I hope +you'll like it."</p> + +<p>Down to the edge of the pond went the six little Bunkers with Dick. +Grandpa Ford and Daddy Bunker went, too, to see the ice boat.</p> + +<p>Dick's ice boat was large enough to hold him and two little Bunkers at a +time, and first he said he would take Russ and Mun Bun, for Russ could +hold on to his little brother.</p> + +<p>"I have to manage the sail and steer the boat," explained the hired man, +"and sometimes we go pretty fast. Then you have to hold on as tight as +you can. But you'll not spill out, for the ice is smooth."</p> + +<p>Russ and Mun Bun took their places on some pieces of old carpet that +Dick had put in the cabin of his boat. It was not like the cabin of any +other boat, for it was open on all sides. Really all it could be called +was a shallow box.</p> + +<p>"All ready?" asked Dick.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All ready!" answered Russ, holding tightly to Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>Away they sailed over the ice, turning this way and that, and they went +so fast that, at times, it almost took away the breath of Mun Bun and +Russ. But they liked it, and laughed so gleefully about it that Laddie +and Violet were eager to have their turn.</p> + +<p>They, too, liked the ride on the ice boat, as it glided across the +frozen pond. The wind blew on the sail, and made the ice boat go fast.</p> + +<p>Then came the turn of Rose and Margy. At first Margy thought she would +not go, but when they told her how much Mun Bun had liked it, and when +Mun Bun himself had said he wanted to go again, Margy let Rose lift her +in.</p> + +<p>"Here we go!" cried Dick, and away glided the boat. Back and forth +across the pond it went, and Rose laughed, and so did Margy. She found +she liked it very much.</p> + +<p>"Could I have another ride?" asked Russ after a bit.</p> + +<p>"I guess so," agreed Dick. "I'll take you and Laddie this time. The wind +is stronger <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>now, and we'll go faster—too fast for the smallest ones, +maybe."</p> + +<p>"I like to go fast!" exclaimed Russ. But he went even faster than he +expected to.</p> + +<p>As Dick had said, the wind was blowing very strong now, and it stretched +the sail of the ice boat away out. Dick had all he could do to hold it +while Russ and Laddie got on board.</p> + +<p>"All ready?"</p> + +<p>"All ready!" answered Russ.</p> + +<p>The boat swung around and away it whizzed over the ice. Russ and Laddie +clung to the sides of the box-like cabin, and Russ had fairly to shout +to make himself heard above the whistling of the wind.</p> + +<p>"This is fast!" he called in Laddie's ear.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I like it," said the smaller boy. "I'm going to make up a +riddle about the ice boat but it goes so fast as soon as I think of +anything in my head I forget it."</p> + +<p>"It's fun!" exclaimed Russ. "When I get bigger I'm going to make an ice +boat that goes——"</p> + +<p>But what Russ intended to do he never finished telling for, just then, +there came a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>stronger puff of wind than before, and Dick cried:</p> + +<p>"Lookout!"</p> + +<p>Just what they were to look out for Russ and Laddie did not know, but +they soon discovered.</p> + +<p>The ice boat seemed to tilt up on one side, "as if it wanted to stand on +its ear," Grandpa Ford said afterward, and out spilled Russ, out spilled +Laddie, and Dick, himself, almost spilled out. But he managed to hold +fast, which the two boys could not do.</p> + +<p>Out of the ice boat the lads tumbled. But as they had on thick coats, +and as they did not fall very far but went spinning over the frozen +pond, they thought it was fun.</p> + +<p>Over the ice they slid, just as a skater slides when he falls down, and +finally they stopped and sat up.</p> + +<p>"Huh!" grunted Russ.</p> + +<p>"That—that was fun, wasn't it?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Lots of fun!" agreed Russ. "I wonder if he did it on purpose?"</p> + +<p>"Let's ask him to do it again," suggested Laddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the spill was an accident. Dick had not meant that it should happen.</p> + +<p>"As for giving you more rides," he said, when he had brought the boat +back to shore, "I don't believe I'd better. The wind is getting +stronger, and there might be a real accident next time. Some other day +I'll give you more rides."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dick, please!" pleaded Violet. But Dick said he was sorry, but they +would all have to wait for a calmer day.</p> + +<p>So the little Bunkers had to be satisfied with this, and really they had +had fine fun, and all agreed that Dick's ice boat was just grand.</p> + +<p>Back to the house they went, and, as it was nearly time to eat, they did +not come out again until after the meal. Then there was more skating, +and some fun on the ice with sleds, until it was time to come in for the +day.</p> + +<p>"What'll we do to-morrow?" asked Rose, as she and the other little +Bunkers were getting ready for bed.</p> + +<p>"If it snows we can go coasting," said Russ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, it looks and feels like snow," said Grandpa Ford, who came in +from the barn just then, having gone out to see that the horses and cows +were all right.</p> + +<p>The grown folks sat about the fire after supper, talking and telling +stories while the children were asleep in their beds.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" suddenly exclaimed Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked her husband.</p> + +<p>"I thought I heard one of the children," she answered.</p> + +<p>And just then, through the house, there sounded, as from some distance +away, the rattle of a drum.</p> + +<p>"Another queer noise!" exclaimed Grandma Ford in dismay. "What will +happen next?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>MR. WHITE</h3> + + +<p>Rattle and bang-bang and rattle sounded the noise of the drum in Grandpa +Ford's house, and yet, as the grown folks downstairs in the sitting-room +looked at one another, they could not imagine who was playing at +soldier. And yet that is what it sounded like—children beating a drum.</p> + +<p>"Are any of those little ones up?" asked Mother Bunker. "Could they have +gotten out of their beds to beat a drum?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know they had a drum with them," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"They didn't bring any from home," returned his wife.</p> + +<p>"There is an old drum up in the attic," said Grandpa Ford. "It used to +belong to Mr. Ripley, I think. Could Russ or Laddie have gone up there +and be beating that?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The noise has stopped now," remarked Grandma Ford. "Let's go up and see +which of the six little Bunkers did it," and she smiled at Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>It took only a glance into the different rooms to show that all six of +the little Bunkers were in bed. Margy and Mun Bun had not been awakened +by the drumming or the talk, but the other four were now waiting with +wide-open eyes to learn what had happened.</p> + +<p>"There it goes again!" exclaimed Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>Surely enough the rub-a-dub-dubbing sounded again, this time more loudly +than before, because the grown folks were nearer the attic.</p> + +<p>"We must see what it is," said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"We surely must," at once agreed Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>As he and Grandpa Ford started up the stairs to the attic the drumming +noise stopped, and all was quiet when the two men went into the attic. +It was not dark, as Daddy Bunker took with him his electric <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>flashlight, +which he flashed into the different corners.</p> + +<p>"Where is that drum you spoke of, Father?" he asked of Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"I don't see it now," was the answer. "It used to hang up on one of the +rafters. But maybe the children took it down."</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker flashed his light to and fro.</p> + +<p>"Here it is!" he cried, and he pointed to the drum standing up at one +side of the big chimney, which was in the center of the attic. "The +children did have it down, playing with it.</p> + +<p>"But I don't see what would make it rattle," went on Daddy Bunker. +"Unless," he added, "a rat is flapping its tail against the drum."</p> + +<p>The noise had stopped again, but, all of a sudden, as Grandpa Ford and +Daddy Bunker stood looking at the drum, the rattle and rub-a-dub-dub +broke out again, more loudly than before. The drum seemed to shake and +tremble, so hard was it beaten.</p> + +<p>"Who is doing it?" cried Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>Daddy Bunker quickly stepped over where he could see the other side of +the drum, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>was in the dark. He leaned over, holding his flashlight +close, and then he suddenly lifted into view a large, battered alarm +clock, without a bell.</p> + +<p>"This was beating the drum," he said.</p> + +<p>"That?" cried Grandpa Ford. "How could that old alarm clock make it +sound as if soldiers were coming?"</p> + +<p>"Very easily," answered Daddy Bunker. "See, the bell is off the clock, +and the hammer, or striker, sticks out. This is shaped like a little +ball, and it stood close against the head of the drum.</p> + +<p>"I suppose the children wound the clock up when they were playing with +it up here and when it went off the striker beat against the head of the +drum and played a regular tattoo."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can see how that might happen," replied Grandpa Ford. "But what +made the drum beat sometimes and not at others. Why didn't the alarm +clock keep on tapping the drum all the while?"</p> + +<p>"Because," said Daddy Bunker, as the clock began to shake and tremble in +his hand, "this is one of those alarm clocks that ring for a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>half +minute or so, and then stop, then, in a few minutes, ring again. That is +so when a person falls asleep, after the first or second alarm, the +third or fourth may awaken him.</p> + +<p>"And that's what happened this time. The old alarm clock went off and +beat the drum. Then when we started to find out what it was all about, +the clock stopped. Then it went off again."</p> + +<p>"Another time Mr. Ghost fooled us," said Grandma Ford, when her husband +and son came down from the attic.</p> + +<p>"Did any of you children have the alarm clock?" asked Mother Bunker, for +the four oldest Bunkers were still awake.</p> + +<p>"I was playing with it," said Russ. "I was going to make a toy +automobile out of it, but it wouldn't work."</p> + +<p>"I had it after him, and I wound it up and left it by the drum," said +Laddie. "But I didn't think it would go off."</p> + +<p>But that is just what happened. Laddie had set the clock to go off at a +certain hour, not knowing that he had done so. And he had put it down on +the attic floor so the bell-striker was against the head of the drum.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, it's a good thing it didn't go off in the very middle of the +night, when we were all asleep," said Mother Bunker. "We surely would +have thought an army of soldiers was marching past."</p> + +<p>"And it wasn't any ghost at all!" exclaimed Rose, as the grown folks +turned to go downstairs.</p> + +<p>"No, and there never will be," said her mother. "All noises have +something real back of them—even that funny groaning noise we heard."</p> + +<p>"But we don't know what that is, yet," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Go to sleep now," urged his mother, and soon the awakened four of the +six little Bunkers were slumbering again.</p> + +<p>The next morning they all had a good laugh over the drum and the alarm +clock, and Laddie and Russ had fun making it go off again. The clock was +one that had never kept good time, and so had been tossed away in the +attic, which held so many things with which the children could have fun.</p> + +<p>"Want to help us, Rose?" asked Russ after breakfast, when the children +had on their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>rubber boots, ready to go out and play in the snow.</p> + +<p>"What you going to do?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Make a snow man," Russ answered. "We're going to make another big +one—bigger than the one the rain spoiled."</p> + +<p>"It'll be lots of fun," added Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I'll help," offered Rose.</p> + +<p>"Comin', Vi?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>But Violet, Mun Bun and Margy were going to coast on a little hill which +Dick had made for them, so the three Bunkers began to make the snow man.</p> + +<p>As Russ had said, they were going to make a large one. So big balls were +rolled and moulded together, and after a while the pile of white flakes +began to look like a man, with arms sticking out, and big, fat legs on +which to stand.</p> + +<p>"Grandpa said we could have one of his old tall silk hats to put on Mr. +White," said Russ. "That will make him look fine."</p> + +<p>"Who is Mr. White?" asked Dick, who was passing at that moment.</p> + +<p>"The snow man," answered Laddie. "That's what we're going to call him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +'Pleased to meet you, Mr. White!'" he exclaimed with a laugh, as he made +a bow.</p> + +<p>Soon Mr. White was finished, with the tall hat and all. There were +pieces of black coal for buttons, while some red flannel made him look +as if he had very red lips. A nose was made of snow, and bits of coal +were his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Let's make a Mrs. White!" exclaimed Rose. "And then some little White +children, and we can have a whole family," she added.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, let's do it!" cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Russ.</p> + +<p>But just as they were going to start to make Mrs. White they heard a cry +from the spot where the other children were coasting.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mun Bun's hurt!" shouted Rose, and, dropping her shovel, she ran +toward the hill.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>AN UPSET</h3> + + +<p>Russ followed his sister over the snow to the place where Dick had made +the little hill. If there was trouble Russ wanted to help, for, though +Rose was the "little mother," Russ felt he must do his share to help +her.</p> + +<p>They found that Mun Bun had rolled off the sled in going down a little +hill and had toppled into a snow bank.</p> + +<p>"But that didn't hurt you!" said Rose, laughing as she picked him up. +"There, sister will kiss the place and make it better. You only got a +little snow up your sleeve, and it makes your arm cold."</p> + +<p>"But I bumped my head, too!" sobbed Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll rub that and make it well," said Rose, and she did.</p> + +<p>"But I'm hungry, too," added Mun Bun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't rub your hungry away," and Rose laughed so merrily that Mun +Bun stopped his crying and laughed too. So did Margy.</p> + +<p>"What makes us get hungry?" asked Violet, as Mun Bun let Rose brush the +snow from him. "What makes us?"</p> + +<p>"It's when something tickles us in our stomachs," answered Laddie. "I +know, 'cause I feel that way right now. I wish I had something to eat."</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Margy. "My stomach doesn't zactly tickle, but it's +hungry."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll go and ask Grandma for some cookies," offered Russ. "She +always has a lot in a jar, and they taste awful good. I'll be back in a +minute."</p> + +<p>Away he ran to the house which was surrounded by the great, high hedge, +and soon he came back with both hands and his pockets filled with sugar +and molasses cookies.</p> + +<p>"I brought two kinds," he said, "'cause I thought some of you would want +one kind, and I might want both kinds."</p> + +<p>The making of the snow man and the coasting down the little hill stopped +while the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>children ate their cookies, and then, after a while, Russ +said:</p> + +<p>"Well, we must finish the White family."</p> + +<p>"What's that?" asked Violet, brushing some cookie crumbs off her jacket.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's a snow family we're making," explained Rose. "There's Mr. +White and Mrs. White and we're going to make some little White snow +children."</p> + +<p>"Like us six little Bunkers?" asked Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess not so many as that," replied Laddie. "That would take us +all day. We'll just make two children, a girl and a boy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm going to help make the White children!" cried Vi.</p> + +<p>"Let's go an' watch 'em!" called Margy to Mun Bun. "We've had enough +coasting, haven't we?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mun Bun. "We'll make some snow mans ourselves."</p> + +<p>With the smaller children dragging their sleds and following them, Russ +and Rose and Laddie and Vi went back to where they had left Mr. White +standing. There he was, very fine and brave-looking with his tall silk +hat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>on his head, his coal-black eyes glistening in the sun, and his row +of black buttons also shining.</p> + +<p>All at once, as Russ, who was in the lead of the procession of children, +looked at the snow man, he cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear some funny noise?" questioned Violet.</p> + +<p>"No, but look at Mr. White!" cried Russ. "He took off his hat and made a +bow to me!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Russ Bunker!" gasped Vi.</p> + +<p>"Took off his hat?" cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Made a bow to you!" exclaimed Rose. "Why, how could he? Mr. White is +only a snow man. He isn't alive!"</p> + +<p>"Well, he made a bow just the same!" cried Russ. "You just watch, and +he'll do it again!"</p> + +<p>Eagerly the children watched. Mr. White did not move. He just stared at +them with his black eyes, smiled at them with his red cloth lips, and +the tall, silk hat upon his snowy head never moved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You're fooling us, Russ!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, I'm not—really!" Russ declared. "I saw him take off his hat and +wave it at me."</p> + +<p>For a moment the six little Bunkers stood in a row and looked at Mr. +White. Then, just as naturally as if he had been used to doing it all +his life, Mr. White's tall, black silk hat came off his head, was +lowered before the children and was put back again. This time they all +saw it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look! Oh!" exclaimed Rose.</p> + +<p>"Why—why——" and that was all Laddie could say as he stood with his +mouth wide open, he was so surprised.</p> + +<p>"You made him do it, Russ!" exclaimed Violet.</p> + +<p>"I? How could I make him do it?" Russ demanded.</p> + +<p>"It's one of your tricks. You pulled a string and made his hat come off. +It's a trick!"</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe it is a trick, but I didn't do it," declared Russ. "I +haven't got any string fast to his hat. And, anyhow, if I did, may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>be I +could pull his hat off with a string, but I couldn't pull it back on +again, could I?"</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe not, but you did it!" insisted Vi.</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't!" said Russ. "You watch and I won't move my finger even, +and maybe Mr. White will take his hat off again."</p> + +<p>"Did you know he was going to do it?" asked Rose, as she looked at the +snow man carefully.</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't know anything about it," said Russ. "I was walking along +with you all, just now, and, all of a sudden, I saw the hat come off. +First I thought the wind blew it, and then, when I saw it wave at me, +and go back on his head, I knew somebody did it—or—or maybe he did +himself."</p> + +<p>"But he couldn't, 'cause he's a snow man," insisted Laddie. "And I +helped make him and you didn't put any phonograph or any machinery in +him. You didn't, did you, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"No, not a thing. He's just a snow man."</p> + +<p>"Then he couldn't do it!" declared Rose. "But maybe it was Mr. Ghost! +No, it couldn't be that 'cause he only makes a noise, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>and, anyhow, +there isn't any such thing. But what is it?"</p> + +<p>"Look! He's doing it again!" cried Vi.</p> + +<p>Surely enough, the snow man once more took off his tall silk hat, and +waved it toward the children. Then it went back on his head again, but +this time it was not quite straight. It was tilted to one side, and gave +him a very odd look.</p> + +<p>"Ho! Ho! Isn't he funny!" laughed Mun Bun. "I like that snow man. I'm +going to see what makes him take off his hat!"</p> + +<p>"No, don't!" cried Rose, catching hold of her little brother's arm as he +was about to run toward Mr. White.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" Mun Bun wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"'Cause he might—something might—oh, I don't want you to go!" +exclaimed Rose. "I guess we'd better go and tell Daddy."</p> + +<p>They stood for a moment looking at the snow man who had acted so +strangely.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the tall silk hat was straightened on Mr. White's head, and +then, once more, it was lifted off and bowed to the six little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>"Oh!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come on!" cried Russ to Laddie after a moment. "Let's see what does +it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's a riddle," Laddie suggested.</p> + +<p>"If it is, it's a funny one," said his brother.</p> + +<p>They started for Mr. White, and, all at once, off came the hat again, +and then, suddenly, there was a loud a-ker-choo sneeze!</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's alive! The snow man has come to life!" cried Rose. "I'm going +to the house."</p> + +<p>But just then, out from behind the big snow image, with the tall hat in +his hand, stepped—Grandpa Ford. He was laughing.</p> + +<p>"I tried to stop that sneeze, but I couldn't," he said. "It came out in +spite of me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, was that you, Grandpa?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Did you hide behind the snow man?" questioned Russ.</p> + +<p>"And tip his hat?" Laddie demanded.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't we see you?" inquired Violet.</p> + +<p>"My! what a lot of questions," laughed Grandpa Ford. "Yes, I played a +little joke on you. I hid behind the snow man, which was so large I +could keep out of sight. I hid there when I saw you coming toward it, +and I thought it would be fun to make you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>think it was alive. So I made +him bow with the tall hat."</p> + +<p>"But we didn't see your arm," said Russ. "How did you do it? Did you put +your arm up inside the snow arm of Mr. White?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered his grandfather. "I wound this white scarf around my arm, +and it looked so much like the snow man himself that you couldn't see +when I moved. Did I fool you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you did—a lot!" admitted Russ.</p> + +<p>"It was better than a riddle," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>Then Grandpa Ford showed how he had hidden himself behind Mr. White, +and, wrapping his arm in a white scarf, which he wore around his neck in +cold weather, Mr. Ford had reached up and lifted off the hat and put it +back. The white scarf hid his arm, and it looked exactly as if the snow +man had made bows.</p> + +<p>"We thought maybe he was alive!" laughed Rose.</p> + +<p>"Well, I was going to have him throw snowballs at you in another +minute," said Grandpa Ford with a smile, "but I had to sneeze and spoil +my trick."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But it was a good one," said Violet.</p> + +<p>"Now, we'll make the rest of the snow family of White," said Russ. "And +if Dick or anybody comes along we'll play the same trick on them that +Grandpa played on us."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can finish making Mr. White's family later," said Grandpa +Ford. "I came out now to see if you don't all want to come for a ride +with me. I have to go to town for some groceries, and also go a little +way into the country to see a man. Do you want to come for a ride?"</p> + +<p>Well, you can just imagine how gladly the six little Bunkers answered +that they did. They forgot all about the snow people, except to tell +Daddy and Mother Bunker about Grandpa's funny trick, and, a little +later, they were in the big sled filled with straw, riding over the +snow.</p> + +<p>Merrily jingled the bells as over the drifts the horses pranced. Down +the road they went to the store in Tarrington, where Grandpa Ford bought +the things Grandma had sent him after.</p> + +<p>"Are we going home now?" asked Russ, as the sled turned down a country +road.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, not right away," answered his grandfather. "I have to go over to +Glodgett's Mills to see a man, and after that we'll turn around and be +home in time for supper. It looks like more snow, and I want to get you +back before, the storm."</p> + +<p>Out on the country roads, where the snow was deep, went the horses, +jingling their bells and pulling the sled full of children after them.</p> + +<p>"Get along, ponies!" cried Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>And then, all of a sudden, something happened. The sled went into a big +drift, which was deeper than Grandpa Ford thought. A moment later there +was an upset, and the six little Bunkers were spilled out into the +snow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>IN THE CABIN</h3> + + +<p>"Whoa! Whoa there, ponies!" cried Grandpa Ford, as he jumped off the +seat and held tightly to the reins. "Whoa!"</p> + +<p>Grandpa's horses were kind and gentle and well-trained. They did not try +to run away, but stood still after the sled was upset in the snow bank.</p> + +<p>Russ was one of the first to get to his feet. He rolled out of the +drift, shook himself as a dog does coming out of the water, and then +looked about him.</p> + +<p>"See if the others are all right!" called his grandfather to him. "I'll +hold the horses. Get out Margy and Mun Bun and the others."</p> + +<p>Russ, though not very big, was a sturdy young chap, and, seeing Mun +Bun's legs sticking out from under a pile of blankets, he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>pulled on +them. And, as Mun Bun was still fast to his legs, when Russ pulled on +them he pulled his little brother out into view.</p> + +<p>"Hi! Quit that! What you doin'?" Mun Bun wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"I had to get you out," said Russ. "Where's Margy?"</p> + +<p>Margy did not answer in words, but she did by crawling out from where +she had been sitting next to Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>Then out came Laddie, Vi and Rose, and all the six little Bunkers were +accounted for.</p> + +<p>"That drift was deeper than I thought it was," said Grandpa Ford. "The +sled went up one side of it and just toppled over. It spilled you all +out nice and easy."</p> + +<p>And that is just what had happened. The sled had gone over on one side +so slowly and gently that no one was caught under it. The six little +Bunkers had been toppled out, still wrapped in the blankets in which +they had ridden from Great Hedge.</p> + +<p>"What are we going to do?" asked Russ. "How are we going to get home, +Grandpa?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll see about that in just a minute," answered Grandpa Ford. "I +don't believe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>anything is broken. But I'll have to get help to lift the +sled right side up again. Whoa, now, ponies!"</p> + +<p>The horses, which Grandpa Ford called "ponies," just for fun, were +turning to look at the overturned sled. The six little Bunkers stood in +a row, also looking at what had happened.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't the ponies' fault, was it, Grandpa?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>"No, dear. It was mine. I shouldn't have driven them into the bank of +snow. But I thought it was soft so the sled runners would sink down in +it. However, it was hard, and upset us. But we'll soon be all right. +Whoa, now, ponies!"</p> + +<p>The big basket of things Grandpa Ford had bought at the store for his +wife had been spilled out of the sled when the upset came. However, +nothing was damaged, and the children helped him pick up the scattered +things, while Russ held the horses.</p> + +<p>The animals had not fallen down when the sled upset, and were not +tangled in the harness, so they did not try to run away. The reason for +this was that the front runner <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>of the sled, to which was fastened the +tongue, or long pole, on either side of which the horses ran—the front +runner, I say, remained straight on the ground. The sled seemed to have +broken off from this front part in turning on its side.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's broken," said Grandpa Ford as he looked at the sled. "I shall +have to get it mended before I can drive home again. It's too bad, but +I'm glad none of you is hurt."</p> + +<p>He let Russ hold the horses, which stood very still, and the small boy +was very proud of having charge of the animals. Down the road stood a +small house, which looked something like a log cabin.</p> + +<p>"Could you get the sled fixed there, Grandpa Ford?" asked Russ, pointing +to the cabin.</p> + +<p>"No, I hardly think so. I need to go to a blacksmith shop for a bolt to +use in place of one that is broken. But I know what I can do. I can +leave you children in the cabin until I come back."</p> + +<p>"Leave us there all alone?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," replied Grandpa Ford. "Mr. and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> Mrs. Thompson live there. I'll +leave you with Mrs. Thompson. She is very good and kind. She'll look +after you. I'll get Mr. Thompson to help me turn the sled right side up, +and then I'll go to the blacksmith shop and get a new bolt in place of +the broken one."</p> + +<p>"Will you have to walk?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, I'll ride one of the horses."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Could I ride the other?" begged Laddie eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you're too little," said Grandpa Ford. "Besides, I want to +ride fast on the back of Major. And if you rode on Prince, which is the +other horse, he might jiggle you off into a snow bank.</p> + +<p>"I think all you six little Bunkers had better stay at Mr. Thompson's +cabin until I come back," went on Grandpa Ford. "I won't be any longer +than I can help, and when I get the sled fixed we'll all ride home. I +won't make my trip to the country as I was going to, as it will be too +late."</p> + +<p>"Can we get something to eat at the cabin?" asked Margy. "I'm hungry."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess Mrs. Thompson has something to eat," laughed Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>Grandpa unhitched the horses from the overturned sled and then started +to drive them toward the cabin, which was the only house for some +distance on that road. The six little Bunkers followed, the highway +being well-packed with hard snow, so that walking was easy.</p> + +<p>As the procession, led by Grandpa Ford driving the horses, approached +the cabin, a door opened and a man came out.</p> + +<p>"Had an accident, did you, Mr. Ford?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the children's grandfather. "My sled upset in a drift +and spilled out my six little Bunkers. I also broke a bolt, and I shall +have to ride to the blacksmith shop to get another. I was wondering if +the children couldn't wait in your house until I came back."</p> + +<p>"Of course they may!" exclaimed a motherly-looking woman, coming to the +door behind her husband. "Bring them in, every one, and I'll give them +some bread and milk. I have cookies, too, for I just baked to-day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that!" exclaimed Laddie, and the grown folks laughed at him +because he said it so earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Come right in!" went on Mrs. Thompson. "Are you cold?"</p> + +<p>"Not very, thank you," answered Rose. "We had lots of blankets in the +sled, and we didn't get much snow on us."</p> + +<p>"Well, sit up by the fire, and I'll get you something to eat," said Mrs. +Thompson.</p> + +<p>"I'll put one of your horses in the stable while you ride to the +blacksmith shop on the other," said Mr. Thompson, putting on his hat and +overcoat, to go out where Grandpa Ford was waiting.</p> + +<p>"Now, you'll be all right, little Bunkers!" called their grandfather to +them, as he started away on the back of Major, who had been unharnessed. +"I'll be back as soon as I can."</p> + +<p>Mr. Thompson took Prince to his stable. There was a small one back of +the cabin. I have called it a "cabin," though it really was a small +house. But it was built like a log cabin, and was much smaller than the +house at Great Hedge. It was clean and neat, and on a table covered with +a bright red <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>cloth, in front of a glowing fire in the stove, Mrs. +Thompson set out some cups, some milk, a plate of bread and some +cookies.</p> + +<p>"Now come and eat," she said to the six little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>They were just drawing up their chairs, and Russ was wondering how long +his grandfather would be gone, when, all at once, a hollow groan sounded +through the cabin.</p> + +<p>"Umph! Urr-rumph!"</p> + +<p>It was a most sorrowful and sad sound and, hearing it, Rose cried:</p> + +<p>"Why, there's the ghost again! Oh, it's come from Great Hedge down to +this house! There's the ghost!"</p> + +<p>Again the hollow groan sounded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>CHRISTMAS JOYS</h3> + + +<p>Russ, who was about to take a bite out of a cookie that Mrs. Thompson +had given him, stopped with the piece half-way to his mouth. He looked +at Rose with wide-open eyes.</p> + +<p>The other little Bunkers also looked at their sister, who had left her +chair and was standing in the middle of the room.</p> + +<p>"What did you say, my dear?" asked Mrs. Thompson.</p> + +<p>Before Rose could answer again came a queer, hollow, groaning noise, +that sounded, the children said afterward, "as if a sick bear had hidden +down the cellar and couldn't get out."</p> + +<p>Just what sort of noise a sick bear makes I don't know, for I never +heard one. But this noise at any rate, must have been very strange.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Umph! Umph! Urr-rumph!" it went.</p> + +<p>"There it is!" cried Rose. "That's the ghost! It sounds just like the +noise at Great Hedge, doesn't it, Russ?"</p> + +<p>"It—it sounds something like it," Russ had to admit. "But there isn't a +ghost—Daddy said so."</p> + +<p>"A ghost, child! I should say not!" cried Mrs. Thompson. "Of course +there is no such thing."</p> + +<p>"But what makes the sound?" asked Russ. "Don't you hear it?"</p> + +<p>"I hear it!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Violet.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy probably heard it, also, but they were too busy +finishing their bread and milk to say anything. Probably they knew that +Russ and Rose, who always looked after them, would take care of the +strange noise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, <i>that</i> noise!" exclaimed Mrs. Thompson, as once more the hollow +groan sounded, throughout the house. "You weren't afraid of that, were +you?" And her eyes began to twinkle, then she laughed.</p> + +<p>"A—a little," admitted Rose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It sounds like the cur'us noise at Great Hedge," added Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't know you had a curious noise at your grandfather's +place," went on Mrs. Thompson. "First I ever heard of it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, there's a ghost there, only it isn't a ghost 'cause there's no +such thing! Daddy said so!" exclaimed Rose. "But we got——"</p> + +<p>"We've got a funny noise there," said Russ, breaking in on what his +sister was saying. "It sounds like your noise, too."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's nothing so very curious about this noise," laughed Mrs. +Thompson. "That's only my husband playing on the big horn he used to +blow when he was in the band. He hasn't used it much for years, and +can't blow it as well as he used to. But that's what the noise is. Every +once in a while he takes a notion and goes up into the attic and blows +on the horn. I imagine he did it this time to amuse you children. I'll +ask him.</p> + +<p>"Jabez!" she called up the stairs that led to the small second story of +the house. "Jabez! Is that you blowing the old bass horn?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sarah, that's me," was the answer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Only I can't seem to blow it just right. Something appears to have got +stopped up in the horn, or else maybe it's frozen. It doesn't blow like +it used to."</p> + +<p>"I should think it didn't!" laughed his wife. "Stop your tooting, and +bring the horn down where the children can see it. Some of 'em thought +it was a ghost, such as they have at Great Hedge. Did you ever hear of a +ghost there?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've heard some talk of it," answered Mr. Thompson, and now the six +little Bunkers could hear him coming downstairs. He seemed to be +carrying something large and heavy.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you tell me about it?" asked his wife. "I like ghost +stories."</p> + +<p>"Oh, this isn't really a ghost," quickly explained Rose. "It's just a +queer, groaning sound, and it comes in the middle of the night +sometimes, and my daddy and grandpa can't find out what it is."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it was Mr. Thompson blowing his horn," suggested Russ. "It +sounded like that."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sorry my playing sounds as bad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>as that," laughed Mr. +Thompson, and then he came into the room where the children were, +carrying a large brass horn, the kind that play the bass, or heavy, +notes in a band. Putting his lips to the mouthpiece Mr. Thompson made +the same "umph-umph!" sound that had so startled the children at first.</p> + +<p>"Does that sound like the ghost?" he asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Just like it, only louder," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what it can be at Great Hedge," said Mrs. Thompson. "I should +think it would scare you dreadfully," she went on.</p> + +<p>"Why, no," answered Rose. "But we want to find out what it is. So does +my daddy and Grandpa Ford. We're going to help him, Russ and I, only +every time we hear a funny noise it turns out to be Mun Bun falling out +of bed, or an alarm clock beating a drum or something like that."</p> + +<p>"Mercy sakes!" exclaimed Mrs. Thompson. "You must have great goings-on +at Great Hedge!" She laughed when Russ and Rose told her of the +different queer noises, each one turning out to be something that was +only funny and easily explainable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sorry I startled you," said Mr. Thompson. "I sometimes take a +notion to go off by myself and blow the old horn as I used to in the +band when I belonged to it years ago. That wasn't here; it was in +another village. But I had no idea I sounded like a ghost."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it—it sounded nice after we knew what it was," said Rose, thinking +Mr. Thompson's feelings might be hurt if they said they didn't like his +horn.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll not blow it again while you're here," he said. "And now, +unless I'm mistaken, I think I see your grandfather coming back. He'll +soon have the sled fixed."</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers rushed to the window and saw Grandpa Ford riding +down the road on the back of Major. Prince had been left in Mr. +Thompson's barn. In a little while Russ and Rose were telling their +grandfather about the queer noise of the bass horn.</p> + +<p>"I never heard you had a ghost at Great Hedge," said Mrs. Thompson to +Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"Well, I call it a ghost for want of a bet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>ter name," he replied. "It's +just a noise, and I thought we would find out what it was before this, +but we haven't. However, we don't worry about it. What do you think of +my six little Bunkers?"</p> + +<p>"I love them—each and every one," said Mrs. Thompson. "Let them come +over and see me again."</p> + +<p>"I will," promised Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>"And I promise I won't play the horn for you," added Mr. Thompson, +laughing.</p> + +<p>He helped Mr. Ford fix the big sled, and soon it had been turned right +side up, the horses were again hitched to it, and the children, after +bidding their new friends good-bye, got in, and away they drove again, +the merry bells jingling.</p> + +<p>"Well, I wish we could find out what the queer noise is here at Great +Hedge as easily as you children found out what the one was at the +cabin," said Grandma Ford, when Russ and Rose and Laddie and Vi, by +turns, had told her what had happened when Mr. Thompson blew his horn.</p> + +<p>"Did the ghost sound while I was away?" asked Grandpa Ford.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, and louder than ever," said Mother Bunker. "We looked all over, +but we couldn't find out what made the sound."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it was Santa Claus," said Violet. "He's coming here, and maybe +he's trying the chimney to see if it fits him."</p> + +<p>"We thought of that before," said Rose. "But the noise sounded long +before Santa Claus comes around. I'm sure it couldn't be him."</p> + +<p>"But he's coming, anyhow," said Violet. "Grandpa said so, and I hope he +brings me a new cradle for my doll."</p> + +<p>"I want a new pair of skates," said Russ. "Mine are getting too small."</p> + +<p>"I want a ship I can sail in the Summer, and a bigger sled," came from +Laddie.</p> + +<p>And so the children began to talk about Christmas, and what they wanted +Santa Claus to bring them.</p> + +<p>The weather was now cold and blowy and blustery, with a snowstorm nearly +every day. But the six little Bunkers went out often to play, even if it +was cold. They had lots of fun.</p> + +<p>Now and again the queer noise would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>sound, but, though each time the +grown folks went to look for it, they could not find it. It seemed to +sound all through the house, almost like the blowing of Mr. Thompson's +horn, only not so loud.</p> + +<p>"Well, I declare!" exclaimed Grandpa Ford after one night's search, when +nothing had been found, "this surely is a mystery!"</p> + +<p>"I could make a riddle about it, only I'd never know the answer," said +Laddie. "And a riddle without an answer is no good."</p> + +<p>"That's very true!" said his grandfather, laughing.</p> + +<p>The days passed. Christmas came nearer and nearer. There was to be a +tree at Great Hedge, and the children were also going to hang up their +stockings. Grandpa Ford and Daddy Bunker went out into the woods and cut +the tree, which was placed in the parlor, and the doors shut.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't do for any of you to go in there from now on," said Mrs. +Bunker. "You might surprise Santa Claus, and he doesn't like to be +surprised."</p> + +<p>Finally came Christmas Eve. The children listened to the reading of +Bible stories as they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>sat before the fire, and then went early to bed +so "morning would come quicker."</p> + +<p>But, in spite of the fact that they wanted to go to sleep, it was some +time before the older ones dropped off into Slumberland. Then, in the +middle of the night, it seemed, there sounded throughout the house the +sound of a horn being blown.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Rose, suddenly awakening and sitting up in bed. "Is +that—is that the——"</p> + +<p>"It's the horn of Santa Claus!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "Wake up! It's +Christmas morning!"</p> + +<p>And so it was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>THE GHOST AT LAST</h3> + + +<p>"Merry Christmas!" called the six little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>"Merry Christmas!" answered Grandpa and Grandma Ford and Daddy and +Mother Bunker. "Merry Christmas!"</p> + +<p>"Merry Christmas!" called Dick as he tramped in from the barn, all +covered with snow.</p> + +<p>And such a jolly Christmas as it was! If each of the six little Bunkers +did not get exactly what he or she wanted, all got something just as +good.</p> + +<p>There were toys, dolls, sleds, games and picture books. There was a +magic lantern for Russ—something he had long wanted. There was a toy +airship, that could be wound up and would fly, for Laddie. This he had +wished for many times.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the grown folks were not forgotten. There were fur-lined slippers +for both Grandpa and Grandma Ford, a gold pin for Mother Bunker, and a +new shaving set for Daddy Bunker. Dick had some new neckties, a pipe, +and a pair of rubber boots.</p> + +<p>"Just what I wanted!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>And I wish you could have seen the Christmas tree! It was a beautiful +one, and covered with colored balls that sparkled red, green, blue, and +yellow in the candle light. It was wonderful!</p> + +<p>"I wish I could try my new skates," said Russ. But this was a vain wish, +as the ice on the pond, as well as the ground, was covered with snow.</p> + +<p>"But we can have lots more rides now, 'cause I got my big new sled, and +you can all take turns on it," said Laddie. "And, oh, I've thought of a +new riddle!" he cried. "Why would your dress be good to go fishing with, +Mother?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Why would my dress be good to go fishing with?" repeated Mrs. Bunker. +"It wouldn't, Laddie. I wouldn't want to soil my nice dress by going +fishing in it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Anyhow, what's that got to do with your new sled?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," answered Laddie. "Only I just happened to think of this +riddle. Why would Mother's dress be good to go fishing with?"</p> + +<p>"Well, why would it?" asked Grandma Ford. "I want to hear the answer, +because I have to go out into the kitchen and see about getting the +dinner. Why would your mother's dress be good for fishing with, Laddie?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause it's got hooks on," he answered with a laugh. "I heard her ask +you to hook it up this morning. Isn't that a good riddle?"</p> + +<p>"Very good," answered Grandma Ford. "Now see if you can think of one +about roast chicken, as that's what we're going to have for dinner. Get +good and hungry, all of you."</p> + +<p>"Better go out into the air and play a while," suggested Daddy Bunker. +"That will give you good, healthy appetites."</p> + +<p>So the six little Bunkers went out to play. It was not very cold, but +Grandpa Ford said it looked as though there would be more snow.</p> + +<p>"Then we can make more snow men!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> shouted Russ. "And maybe I'll make an +ice boat, too, when the snow melts so we can go on the pond."</p> + +<p>Out in the snow rushed the six little Bunkers, and they had fun playing +near the big hedge which gave Grandpa Ford's place its name.</p> + +<p>When the children were romping about, sliding down a little hill they +made, and tumbling about in the snow, along came Mr. Thompson.</p> + +<p>"Merry Christmas!" he called to Russ, Rose and the others.</p> + +<p>"Merry Christmas!" they answered.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy, who had been making a little snow man all by +themselves, stopped their play and walked toward the house.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to ask Grandma for a cookie," explained Mun Bun. "I'm +hungry."</p> + +<p>"So'm I," added Margy.</p> + +<p>"Don't eat before dinner," advised Rose. "Save your 'hungry' for the +roast chicken."</p> + +<p>And Grandma Ford told the little ones the same thing, but they insisted +that they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>wanted a cookie each, so she gave them one apiece, but they +were rather small.</p> + +<p>"Because," said Grandma, "I want you to eat my nice, brown, roast +chicken."</p> + +<p>And Mun Bun and Margy did. For, when dinner time came, they had as good +appetites as any of the others. Every one seemed to be hungry, and, for +a while, the sound of the clatter of the knives, forks and plates was +louder than the talk.</p> + +<p>After dinner they sat about the open fire on the big hearth in the +living-room, and cracked nuts. Or, rather, Grandpa Ford cracked them and +the children ate them.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it be funny," began Russ, "if we should——"</p> + +<p>And, just then, there suddenly sounded throughout the house that +strange, groaning sound.</p> + +<p>"O-u-g-h-m!"</p> + +<p>It seemed louder than ever, and, for a moment, every one was startled. +Mun Bun and Margy ran to their mother.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" called Grandpa Ford to Daddy Bunker. "We must find out what +that noise is. It has been going on long enough, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>now to have it +come when we are all so happy at Christmas time is too much! We must +find where it is."</p> + +<p>"Can't we help hunt?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, let us, Mother, won't you?" added Rose.</p> + +<p>"But what is it?" asked Laddie. "What makes the funny groaning noise?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe Mr. Thompson is blowing his horn," said Vi.</p> + +<p>The groaning noise kept up longer this time than ever before. Every few +minutes it would echo through the house. Sometimes it sounded as though +upstairs, and again down in the cellar.</p> + +<p>"We'll try the attic," said Grandpa Ford.</p> + +<p>He and Daddy Bunker went up there. Grandma Ford and Mother Bunker stayed +in the sitting-room with Mun Bun and Margy.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" called Russ to Rose. "Let's go and look."</p> + +<p>Rose followed her brother.</p> + +<p>"Want to come?" she asked Violet and Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yep," the twins said exactly together, just as twins should, I +suppose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p>Russ, Rose, Laddie and Vi walked slowly through the different downstairs +rooms. In each one they listened. In some they could hear the noise more +plainly than in others. Finally they came to the kitchen.</p> + +<p>"It sounds plainer here," said Russ.</p> + +<p>And, just then, the groan sounded so near at hand that Rose jumped and +caught Russ by the arm.</p> + +<p>"O-u-g-h-m!"</p> + +<p>Again the groan sounded.</p> + +<p>"It's over in there!" cried Laddie, pointing to a large storeroom +opening out of the kitchen. The door of this room was open, and the +noise, indeed, did seem to come from there.</p> + +<p>"Let's go in!" suggested Russ, and he started toward it.</p> + +<p>"Maybe you'd better call Grandpa and Daddy, and let them look," said Vi.</p> + +<p>Just then Mother Bunker and Grandma Ford, followed by the two smallest +children, came into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we've found the ghost!" cried Rose to her mother. "It's in the +storeroom! Listen!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> + +<p>The two women listened. The groan sounded very plainly, and did seem to +come from the room off the kitchen.</p> + +<p>Grandma Ford walked in. All was quiet for a moment, and then the noise +sounded again.</p> + +<p>"I've found it!" cried Grandma Ford. "I've found the ghost at last!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" exclaimed Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"I don't know exactly what makes it," said Grandma Ford; "but the noise +comes out of this rain-water pipe under the window of the storeroom. +We'll call Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford and have them look. But come in +and listen, all of you."</p> + +<p>With their mother the six little Bunkers went into the storeroom. Just +as they entered the groan sounded loudly, and, as Grandma Ford said, it +came from a rain-water pipe that ran slantingly under the window.</p> + +<p>"That's the ghost!" cried Mother Bunker. "No wonder we couldn't find it. +We never looked here before."</p> + +<p>And when Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford came down out of the attic, where +they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>had not been able to find the "ghost," though they heard the sound +of it faintly there, they were told what the six little Bunkers had +discovered with the help of Grandma Ford.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the noise comes from the rain-water pipe," said Grandpa Ford, when +he had looked and listened carefully.</p> + +<p>"What makes it?" asked Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Well, the pipe is broken, and partly filled with water from the rain or +melted snow. There are also some dried leaves in the pipe. One end has +sunk down and the wind blows across that and makes a hollow, groaning +sound, just as you can make by blowing across the open mouth of a big, +empty bottle. That was the ghost—the wind blowing across the broken +water pipe."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that is what made it," said Daddy Bunker, when he had taken a look +and had listened again. "The sound comes loudest when the wind blows."</p> + +<p>"The noise sounded, sometimes, when the wind didn't blow," said Grandpa +Ford, as he took the pipe apart, "because of the dried leaves that were +in it. The leaves became water-soaked, and were in a lump. Then, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>when +this lump slid down it made a sort of choking sound like a pump that +runs out of water. The wind blowing across the pipe, and the wet leaves +sinking down, made the queer noises. I'm glad we've found out about +them."</p> + +<p>"But what made it blow all through the house?" asked Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Because there are rain-water pipes, or drain pipes, from the gutters on +all sides of the house," explained her husband. "The pipes are +connected, and the sound, starting in the broken pipe under the window +in the storeroom, vibrated all around the house from the attic to the +cellar. That ends the ghost, children."</p> + +<p>And so it did, for when that pipe and some others were mended, and +fastened together after being cleaned out, no more groans were heard. +And so the "ghost" at Great Hedge was found to be nothing more than all +ghosts are—something natural and simple.</p> + +<p>"Now I can make a riddle about it," said Laddie. "I can ask why is a +ghost like an umbrella?"</p> + +<p>"Why is it?" asked Violet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Cause it hid in a rain-water pipe. 'Course that isn't a <i>very</i> good +riddle," admitted Laddie. "Maybe I'll think of a better one after a +while."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's good enough this time," laughed Grandpa Ford. "Now the ghost +is 'laid,' as they call it, we'll have lots of fun at Great Hedge."</p> + +<p>And so the children did. The Christmas holidays passed and New Year's +came. The snow melted, and there was a chance for more skating and for +rides in the ice boat. Russ kept his word and made one, but it upset +more times than it sailed.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what we'll do next Winter," said Rose, as she and Russ were +sliding downhill one day.</p> + +<p>"Summer comes before next Winter," he said. "Maybe we'll go visiting +again."</p> + +<p>And where the children went and what they did you may learn by reading +the next volume of this series, to be called: "Six Little Bunkers at +Uncle Fred's." He had a ranch out West and——</p> + +<p>But there, I'll let you read the book for yourselves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, but we're having lots of fun here," said Laddie that night, as he +sat trying to think of a new riddle. "Lots of fun."</p> + +<p>"And the best fun of all was finding the ghost that wasn't a ghost," +said Russ.</p> + +<p>And I think so myself. So, having been on many adventures with the six +little Bunkers, we will leave them for a while.</p> + + +<h2>THE END</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><span class='u'><i>This Isn't All!</i></span></h2> + +<div class='blockquot'>Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in +this book?<br /> +<br /> +Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and +experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?<br /> +<br />On the <i>reverse side</i> of the wrapper which comes with this book, you +will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same +store where you got this book.<br /></div> + +<h3><i>Don't throw away the Wrapper</i></h3> + +<div class='blockquot'><i>Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But +in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete +catalog.</i></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown<br />Series, The Blythe +Girls Books, Etc.</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.<br />Every Volume +Complete in Itself.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into immediate +popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take them at once to +your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun and cute +sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own—one that can be easily +followed—and all are written in Miss Hope's most entertaining manner. +Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on the bookshelf of every +child in the land.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Six Little 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> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT INDIAN JOHN'S</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK</span></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books, Etc</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.<br />Every Volume +Complete in Itself.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>These stories are eagerly welcomed by the little folks from about five +to ten years of age. Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively +doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful +sister Sue.</p> + + + +<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 CAMP-REST-A-WHILE</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 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> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON THE ROLLING OCEAN</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON JACK FROST ISLAND</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</b></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS</h2> + +<h4>For Little Men and Women</h4> + +<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>Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.<br />Every Volume +Complete in Itself.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stands +among children and their parents of this generation where the books of +Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this +inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a +source of keen delight to imaginative children everywhere.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bobbsey Twins 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> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<p> </p> +<div class='tnote'><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> Obvious printer's punctuation errors have been repaired.</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 17761-h.txt or 17761-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/6/17761">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/7/6/17761</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 Grandpa Ford's + + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + + + +Release Date: February 12, 2006 [eBook #17761] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA +FORD'S*** + + +E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J. P. W. Fraser, 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 17761-h.htm or 17761-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/6/17761/17761-h/17761-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/6/17761/17761-h.zip) + + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S + +by + +LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of "The Bunny Brown Series," "The Bobbsey +Twins Series," "The Outdoor Girls Series," Etc. + +Illustrated + + + + + + + +New York +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers +Made in the United States of America + + + + [Illustration: "WE GOT HIM UP, BUT WE CAN'T GET HIM DOWN," CRIED LADDIE. + _Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's._ _Frontispiece_ --(_Page 45_)] + + + + * * * * * + + +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 Grandpa Ford's + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. THE MAN ON THE PORCH 1 + + II. GRANDPA FORD 13 + + III. SOMETHING QUEER 23 + + IV. RUSS MAKES A BALLOON 31 + + V. THE BIG BANG NOISE 44 + + VI. OFF TO GREAT HEDGE 54 + + VII. MUN BUN TAKES SOMETHING 63 + + VIII. A BIG STORM 73 + + IX. AT TARRINGTON 85 + + X. GREAT HEDGE AT LAST 95 + + XI. THE NIGHT NOISE 105 + + XII. UP IN THE ATTIC 113 + + XIII. THE OLD SPINNING WHEEL 125 + + XIV. COASTING FUN 137 + + XV. JINGLING BELLS 145 + + XVI. THANKSGIVING FUN 153 + + XVII. RUSS MAKES SNOWSHOES 163 + +XVIII. ON SKATES 172 + + XIX. THE ICE BOAT 182 + + XX. ANOTHER NIGHT SCARE 192 + + XXI. MR. WHITE 200 + + XXII. AN UPSET 208 + +XXIII. IN THE CABIN 219 + + XXIV. CHRISTMAS JOYS 227 + + XXV. THE GHOST AT LAST 237 + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE MAN ON THE PORCH + + +"Oh, Daddy, come and take him off! He's a terrible big one, and he's +winkin' one of his claws at me! Come and take him off!" + +"All right, Mun Bun. I'll be there in just a second. Hold him under +water so he won't let go, and I'll get him for you." + +Daddy Bunker, who had been reading the paper on the porch of Cousin +Tom's bungalow at Seaview, hurried down to the little pier that was +built out into Clam River. On the end of the pier stood a little boy, +who was called Mun Bun, but whose real name was Munroe Ford Bunker. +However, he was almost always called Mun Bun. + +"Come quick, Daddy, or he'll get away!" cried Mun Bun, and he leaned a +little way over the edge of the pier to look at something which was on +the end of a line he held. The something was down under water. + +"Be careful, Mun Bun! Don't fall in!" cried his father, who, having +caught up a long-handled net, was now running down a little hill to the +pier. "Be careful!" he repeated. + +"I will," answered the little boy, shaking his golden hair out of his +blue eyes, as he tried to get a better view of what he had caught. "Oh, +but he's a big one, and he winks his claws at me!" + +"Well, as long as the crab doesn't pinch you you'll be all right," said +Daddy Bunker. + +There! I meant to tell you before that Mun Bun was catching crabs, and +not fish, as you might have supposed at first. He had a long string, +with a piece of meat on the end, and he had been dangling this in the +water of Clam River, from Cousin Tom's boat pier. + +Then a big crab had come along and, catching hold of the chunk of meat +in one claw, had tried to swim away with it to eat it in some hole on +the bottom of the inlet. + +But the string, to which the meat was tied, did not let him. Mun Bun +held on to the string and as he slowly pulled it up he caught sight of +the crab. As the little fellow had said, it was a big one, and one of +the claws was "winkin'" at him. By that Mun Bun meant the crab was +opening and closing his claw as one opens and closes an eye. + +"Hold him under water, Mun Bun, or he'll let go and drop off," called +Daddy Bunker. + +"I will," answered the golden-haired boy, and he leaned still farther +over the edge of the pier to make sure the crab was still holding to the +piece of meat. + +"Be careful, Mun Bun!" shouted his father. "Be careful! Oh, there you +go!" + +And there Mun Bun did go! Right off the pier he fell with a big splash +into Clam River. Under the water he went, but he soon came up again, +and, having held his breath, as his father had taught him to do whenever +his head went under water, Mun Bun, after a gasp or two, was able to +cry: + +"Oh, Daddy, Daddy, don't let him get me! Don't let the crab pinch me!" + +Daddy Bunker did not answer for a moment. He was too busy to talk, for +he dropped the long-handled crab net, ran down to the pier and, jumping +off himself, grabbed Mun Bun. + +Luckily the water was not deep--hardly over Mun Bun's head--and his +father soon lifted the little fellow up out of danger. + +"There!" cried Daddy Bunker, laughing to show Mun Bun that there was no +more danger. "Now the crab can't get you!" + +Mun Bun looked around to make sure, and then, seeing that he was sitting +on the pier, where his father had placed him, he looked around again. + +"Did you--did you get the crab?" he asked, his voice was a little choky. + +"No, indeed I didn't!" laughed Mr. Bunker. "I was only trying to get +you. I told you to be careful and not lean too far over." + +"Well, I--I wanted to see my crab!" + +"And the crab came near getting you. Well, it can't be helped now. You +are soaking wet. I'll take you up to the bungalow and your mother can +put dry clothes on you. Come along." + +"But I want to get my crab, Daddy!" + +"Oh, he's gone, Mun Bun. No crab _would_ stay near the pier after all +the splashing I made when I jumped in to get you out." + +"Maybe he's on my string yet," insisted the little fellow. "I tied my +string to the pier. Please, Daddy, pull it up and see if it has a crab +on it." + +"Well, I will," said Mun Bun's father, as he jumped up on the pier from +the water, after having lifted out his little boy. "I'll pull up the +string, but I'm sure the crab has swum back into the ocean." + +Both Mun Bun and his father were soaking wet, but as it was a hot day in +October they did not mind. Mr. Bunker slowly pulled on the string, the +end of which, as Mun Bun had said, was tied to a post on the pier. +Slowly Mr. Bunker pulled in, not to scare away the crab, if there was +one, and a moment later he cried: + +"Oh, there is a big one, Mun Bun! It didn't go away with all the +splashing! Run and get me the net and I'll catch it for you!" + +Mun Bun ran up on shore and came back with the long-handled net Mr. +Bunker had dropped. Then, holding the string, with the chunk of meat on +it, in one hand, the meat being just under water, Mun Bun's father +carefully dipped the net into the water and thrust it under the bait and +the crab. + +A moment later he quickly lifted the net, and in it was a great, big +crab--one of the largest Mr. Bunker had ever seen, and there were some +big ones in Clam River. + +"Oh, you got him, didn't you!" cried Mun Bun, capering about. "You +caught my terrible crab, didn't you, Daddy?" + +"Well, I rather guess we did, Mun Bun!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "He is a +big one, too." + +Mr. Bunker turned the net over a peach basket, and the crab, slashing +and snapping his claws, dropped into it. Then Mun Bun looked down at +him. + +"I got you, I did!" said the little boy. "My daddy and I got you, we +did." + +"But it took a lot of work, Mun Bun!" laughed Mr. Bunker. "If I had to +jump in and pull you out every time you wanted to catch a crab I +wouldn't like it. But he surely is a big one." + +Mun Bun and his father were looking at the crab in the peach basket, +when a voice called: + +"Oh, what has happened to you? You are all wet!" + +Mun Bun's mother came down to the pier. + +"What happened?" she repeated. + +"Look at the big crab I caught!" cried the little fellow. "Daddy pulled +him out for me." + +"Yes, and it looks as if Daddy had pulled out something more than a +crab," said Mrs. Bunker. "Did you fall in, Mun Bun?" + +"No, I didn't zactly fall in. I--I just slipped." + +"Oh," said Mrs. Bunker. "I thought maybe you'd say the crab pulled you +in." + +"Well, he pretty nearly did," said the little fellow. + +"He leaned too far over the water," explained Mr. Bunker to his wife. +"But I soon got him out. He's all right." + +"Yes, but I'll have to change his clothes. However, it isn't the first +time. I'm getting used to it." + +Well might Mrs. Bunker say that, for, since coming to Cousin Tom's +bungalow at Seaview one or more of the children had gotten wet nearly +every day, not always from falling off the pier, but from wading, from +going too near the high waves at the beach, or from playing in the +boats. + +"Oh, look at Mun Bun!" cried another voice, as a little girl ran down +the slope from the bungalow to the pier. "He's all wet!" + +"Did he fall in?" asked another little boy excitedly. + +"Oh, look at the big crab!" exclaimed a girl, who, though older than Mun +Bun, had the same light hair and blue eyes. + +"Did you catch him, Mun Bun?" asked a boy, who seemed older than any of +the six children now gathered on the pier. "Did you catch him?" + +"Daddy helped me," answered Mun Bun. "And I fell in, I did!" + +"That's easy to see!" laughed his mother. "Oh, did the mail come?" she +asked, for she saw that the oldest boy had some letters in his hand. + +"Yes, Mother," was the answer. "Oh, look at the crab trying to get out!" +and with a stick Russ, the oldest of the six little Bunkers, thrust the +creature back into the basket. + +There were six of the Bunker children. I might have told you that at the +start, but I was so excited about Mun Bun falling off the pier that I +forgot about it. Anyhow now you have time to count them. + +There was Russ, aged eight years; Rose, a year younger; and then came +Laddie and Violet, who was called Vi for short. + +Laddie and Vi were twins. They were six years old and both had curly +hair and gray eyes. + +You could tell them apart, even if they were twins, for one was a girl +and the other was a boy. But there was another way, for Vi was always +asking questions and Laddie was very fond of making up queer little +riddles. So in case you forget who is which, that will help you to know. + +Then came Margy, or Margaret, who was five years old. She had dark hair +and eyes, and next to her was the one I have already told you about--Mun +Bun. He was four years old. + +While the six little Bunkers were gathered around the basket, in which +the big crab Mun Bun had caught was crawling about, Daddy Bunker and his +wife were reading the letters Russ had handed them. + +"Then we'll have to go back home at once," Mrs. Bunker said. + +"Yes, I think so," agreed her husband. "We were going at the end of the +week, anyhow, but, since getting this letter, I think we had better +start at once, or by to-morrow, anyhow." + +"Oh, are we going home?" cried Rose. + +"Yes, dear. Daddy thinks we had better. He just had a letter---- Be +careful, Mun Bun! Do you want to fall in again?" she cried, for the +little fellow, still wet from his first bath, had nearly slipped off the +edge of the pier once more, as he jumped back when the big crab again +climbed to the top of the peach basket. + +"Come! I must take you up to the house and get dry clothes on you," said +Mun Bun's mother to him. "Then we must begin to pack and get ready to go +home. Our visit to Cousin Tom is at an end." + +"Oh, dear!" cried the six little Bunkers. + +But children, especially as young as they were, are seldom unhappy for +very long over anything. + +"We can have a lot of fun at home," said Russ to Rose. + +"Oh, yes, so we can. It won't be like the seashore, but we can have +fun!" + +There was much excitement in Cousin Tom's bungalow at Seaview the next +day, for the Bunkers were packing to go back to their home in Pineville, +Pennsylvania. + +"We are very sorry to see you go," said Cousin Tom. + +"Indeed we are," agreed his pretty wife, Ruth. "You must come to see us +next summer." + +"We will," promised Mr. Bunker. "But just now we must hurry back home. I +hope we shall be in time." + +Russ and Rose, who heard this, wondered at the reason for it. But they +did not have time to ask for, just then, along came the automobile that +was to take them from Cousin Tom's house to the railroad station. + +Good-byes were said, there was much laughter and shouting; and finally +the six little Bunkers and their father and mother were on their way +home. + +It was a long trip, but finally they reached Pineville and took a +carriage from the depot to their house. + +"How funny everything looks!" exclaimed Russ, for they had been away +from home visiting around, for some time. + +"Yes, it does look funny," agreed Rose. "Oh, I see our house!" she +called, pointing down the street. "There's our house!" + +"Yes," answered Russ. "And oh, look! Daddy! Mother! There's a man on our +porch! There's a man asleep on our porch!" + +The six little Bunkers, and Daddy and Mother Bunker looked. There was, +indeed, an elderly man asleep in a rocking-chair on the porch. + +Who could he be? + + + + +CHAPTER II + +GRANDPA FORD + + +Eagerly peering from the carriage in which they had ridden from the +Pineville station, the six little Bunkers looked to see who the man was +on their porch. He seemed to be asleep, for he sat very still in the +rocking-chair, which had been forgotten and left on the porch when the +family had gone away. + +"Do you know him, Daddy?" asked Rose. + +"Maybe he is from your office," said Laddie. + +"Maybe he's the old tramp lumberman that had your papers in the old +coat, Daddy," suggested Russ. + +Mr. Bunker hurried down from the carriage, and walked up the steps. + +As he did so the old man on the porch woke suddenly from his nap. He sat +up, looked at the Bunker family, now crowding up on the steps, and a +kind smile spread over his face. + +"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "I got here ahead of you, I see!" + +"Why, Father!" cried Mr. Bunker. + +"Oh, it's Grandpa Ford!" exclaimed Rose. + +"Grandpa Ford!" fairly shouted Russ, dropping the valise he was +carrying, and hurrying to be clasped in the old gentleman's arms. + +"Grandpa Ford!" cried Laddie and Vi together, just as twins often do. + +"Yes, I'm Grandpa Ford!" said the old gentleman, smiling and kissing the +children one after the other. "You didn't expect to see me, did you?" + +"Hardly so soon," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we are glad! Have you been here +long?" + +"No, not very. I came on a day sooner than I expected, and as I knew +from your letters that you would be home to-day, I came here to wait for +you." + +"I'll get the house open right away and make you a cup of tea," said +Mrs. Bunker. "You must be tired." + +"Oh, no, not very. I had a nice little nap in the chair on your shady +porch. Well, how are you all?" + +"Fine," answered Mr. Bunker. "You look well, Father!" + +"I am well." + +"Do you know any riddles?" asked Laddie. + +"Do I know any riddles, little man? Well, I don't know. I might think of +one." + +"I know one," went on Laddie, not stopping to hear what his grandfather +might say. "It's about which would you rather be, a door or a window?" + +"Which would I rather be, a door or a window?" asked Grandpa Ford with a +laugh. "Well, I don't know that there is much difference, Laddie." + +"Oh, yes, there is!" exclaimed the little fellow. "I'd rather be a door, +'cause a window always has a pane in it! Ha! Ha!" + +"Well, that's pretty good," said Grandpa Ford with a smile. "I see you +haven't forgotten your riddles, Laddie." + +"Now you ask me one," said the little boy. "I like to guess riddles." + +"Wait until Grandpa has had a cup of tea," said Mrs. Bunker, who had +opened the front door that had been locked so long. "And then you can +tell us, Father," she went on, "why you had to come away from Great +Hedge. Is it something important?" + +"Well, it's something queer," said Grandpa Ford. "But I'll tell you +about it after a while." + +And while the Bunker home is being opened, after having been closed for +a long vacation, I will explain to my new readers who the children are, +and something about the other books in this series. + +First, however, I'll tell you why Daddy Bunker called Grandpa Ford +"Father." You see Daddy Bunker's real father had died many years before, +and this was his stepfather. Mr. Bunker's mother had married a gentleman +named Munroe Ford. + +So, of course, after that her name was Mrs. Ford, though Daddy Bunker +kept his own name and called his step-parent "Father." + +Grandpa Ford was as kind as any real father could be; and he also loved +the six little Bunkers as much as if he had been their real +grandfather, which they really thought him to be. + +Now to go back to the beginning. There were six little Bunkers, as I +have told you, Russ, Rose, Laddie, Vi, Margy, and Mun Bun. I have told +you their ages and how they looked. + +They lived in the town of Pineville on Rainbow River, and Daddy Bunker's +real estate office was about a mile from his home. Besides the family of +the six little Bunkers and their father and mother, there was Norah +O'Grady, the cook, and there was also Jerry Simms, the man who cut the +grass, cleaned the automobile, and sprinkled the lawn in summer and took +ashes out of the furnace in winter. + +The first book of this series is called "Six Little Bunkers at Grandma +Bell's." In that I told of the visit of the children to Lake Sagatook, +in Maine, where Mrs. Bunker's mother, Grandma Bell, lived. There the +whole family had fine times, and they also solved a real mystery. + +After that the children were taken to visit another relative, and in the +second book, "Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's," you may find out all +that happened when they reached Boston--how Rose found a pocketbook, and +how, after many weeks, it was learned to whom it belonged. + +Next comes the book just ahead of this one, "Six Little Bunkers at +Cousin Tom's." The children came from there to find Grandpa Ford on +their porch. + +Cousin Tom Bunker was Daddy Bunker's nephew, being the son of a dead +brother, Ralph. Cousin Tom had not been married very long, and soon +after he and his wife, Ruth, started housekeeping in a bungalow at +Seaview, on the New Jersey coast, he invited the Bunkers to visit him. + +They went there from Aunt Jo's, and many wonderful things happened at +the seashore. Rose lost her gold locket and chain, a queer box was +washed up on the beach, Mun Bun and Margy were marooned on an island, +and there were many more adventures. + +"Did you know Grandpa Ford was coming to visit us when we got home?" +asked Rose of her mother, as she helped set the table. + +"Yes, that was what he told us in the letter that came the day Mun Bun +fell off the pier. It was Grandpa Ford's letter that made us hurry home, +for he said he would meet us here. But he came on sooner than we +expected, and got here ahead of us," said Mrs. Bunker. + +By this time the house had been opened and aired, Norah had come from +where she had been staying all summer, and so had Jerry Simms, so the +Bunkers were really at home again. Grandpa Ford had been shown to his +room, and was getting washed and brushed up ready for tea. The six +little Bunkers, having changed into their old clothes, were running +about the yard, getting acquainted with the premises all over again. + +"Now I guess we're all ready to sit down," said Mother Bunker, for, with +the help of Rose and Norah, the table had been set, tea made and a meal +gotten ready in quick time. Norah and Jerry had been told, by telegraph, +to come back to help get the house in order. + +"I'm terrible glad you came, Grandpa Ford," said Mun Bun, as he sat +opposite the old gentleman at the table. + +"So'm I," said Margy. "Are you going to live with us always?" + +"Oh, no, little Toddlekins," laughed Grandpa Ford. "I wish I were. But I +shall soon have to go back to Great Hedge. Though I may not go back +alone." + +"Is that a riddle?" asked Laddie eagerly. + +"No, not exactly," said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. + +"I know another riddle," went on Laddie. "It's about how do the tickets +feel when the conductor punches them. But I never could find an answer." + +"I don't believe there is any," said Grandpa Ford. + +"Don't you know _any_ riddles?" asked Laddie. + +"Well, I might think of _one_, if I tried real hard," said the old +gentleman. "Let me think, now. Here is one we used to ask one another +when I was a boy. See if you can guess it. 'A house full and a hole +full, but you can't catch a bowlful.' What is that, Laddie?" + +"'A house full and a hole full, but you can't catch a bowlful,'" +repeated Laddie. + +"Is it crabs?" asked Mun Bun. "I helped catch a basketful of crabs, +once." + +"No, it isn't crabs," laughed Grandpa Ford. + +"I give up. What is it?" asked Laddie, anxious to hear the answer. + +"It's smoke!" said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. "A house full and a hole +full of smoke, but, no matter how hard you try, you can't catch a +bowlful. For, if you try to catch smoke it just rolls away from you." + +"A house full and a hole full--but you can't catch a bowlful," repeated +Laddie slowly. "That's a good riddle!" he announced, after thinking it +over, and I guess he ought to know, as he asked a great many of them. + +They had a jolly time at the meal, even if it was gotten up in a hurry, +and then, just as the children were going out to play again, Daddy +Bunker remarked: + +"You haven't yet told us, Father, what brought you away from Great +Hedge." + +"No, I haven't, but I will," said Grandpa Ford. + +Great Hedge, I might say, was the name of a large estate Grandpa Ford +had bought to live on not a great while before. It was just outside the +city of Tarrington, in New York State, and was a fine, big country +estate. + +Grandpa Ford looked around the room. He saw Russ and Rose over by the +sideboard, each taking a cookie to eat out in the yard. The other little +Bunkers had already run out, for it was not yet dark. + +"As soon as they go I'll tell you why I came away from Great Hedge," +said Grandpa Ford in a low voice to Mr. and Mrs. Bunker. "It's something +of a mystery, and I don't want the children to become frightened, +especially as they may go up there," he went on. "I'll tell you when +they go out." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SOMETHING QUEER + + +Russ Bunker took a cookie from the dish on the sideboard, handed one to +Rose, and then the two children went out on the porch. Rose was just +going to run along to find Vi, who had taken her Japanese doll to play +with, when Russ caught his sister by her dress. + +"Wait a minute, Rose." + +"What for?" she asked. + +"Hush!" went on Russ. "Not so loud. Didn't you hear what Grandpa Ford +said?" + +"I didn't listen," admitted Rose. "I wanted to see if there were any +molasses cookies, but they're all sugar. What was it?" and Rose, too, +talked very low. + +They were now out on the side porch, under the dining-room windows, +which were open, for, as I have said, it was warm October weather. + +"He said there was something queer about Great Hedge, where he lives +with Grandma," went on Russ. "He didn't want us to hear, 'cause I heard +him tell Daddy and Mother so. But we can hear out here if we listen. +Let's keep still, and maybe we can tell what it is." + +"But that won't be nice," protested Rose. "Mother said we shouldn't peep +through keyholes, or listen behind doors." + +"There isn't any keyhole here," said Russ. "And we're not behind a door, +either." + +"Well, but----" But Rose could think of nothing else to say. Besides, +just then, she heard her grandfather's voice. He was speaking to Mr. and +Mrs. Bunker, and saying: + +"Yes, it certainly is very strange. It's quite a puzzle to me--a riddle, +I suppose Laddie would call it. But I don't want the children to know +anything about it." + +"There, you see!" exclaimed Russ in a whisper. "It's only a riddle he is +going to tell. We can listen to it, and have some fun. We won't tell +what the answer is when he asks us. We'll make believe we don't know." + +"Well, if it's only a riddle, I guess it's all right to listen to it," +agreed Rose. + +So the two eldest Bunker children crouched down on the side porch, under +the dining-room windows, and listened to the talk that was going on +inside. Of course this was not right, but they did not know any better, +especially after Grandpa Ford spoke about a "riddle." + +And so it came about that Rose and Russ heard what it was not intended +they should hear. + +"You know," went on Grandpa Ford, as Russ and Rose listened outside, +"that I bought Great Hedge Estate from a Mr. James Ripley, who lives +near here." + +"Yes, I know that," said Daddy Bunker. "Well, you like it, don't you, +Father?" + +"Quite well. Your mother likes it, too. It is a large farm, as you know, +and there is a big stretch of woods, as well as land where I can raise +fruits and vegetables. There are meadows for grazing, and fields for +corn, hay and oats. Great Hedge is a fine place, and your mother and I +like it there very much. + +"We were a bit lonesome, at first, as it is large, but we hope to get +over that part in a little while. + +"What brought me down here is to see Mr. Ripley, and find out something +about the place he sold me. I must find out something about Great +Hedge." + +"Here is where the riddle comes in," said Russ in a whisper to his +sister. "We must listen hard now." + +"What do you want to find out about Great Hedge, Father?" asked Daddy +Bunker. "Do you think you paid too much for it?" + +"No, I got it very cheap. But there is something queer about it, and I +want to find out if Mr. Ripley can tell me what it is." + +"Something queer?" repeated Mrs. Bunker. + +"Yes, a sort of mystery," went on Grandpa Ford. "It's a puzzle to me. A +riddle I should call it if I were Laddie. By the way, I hope the +children don't hear me tell this, or they might be frightened." + +"No, they have all gone out to play," said Mrs. Bunker. "They can not +hear you." + +"So there is something wrong about Great Hedge, is there?" asked Daddy +Bunker. "By the way," he went on, "I have never been there, but I +suppose it is called that because it has a big hedge around it." + +"That is it," said Grandpa Ford. "All around the house, enclosing it +like a fence, is a big, thick hedge. It is green and pretty in summer, +but bare and brown in the winter. However, it keeps off the north wind, +so I rather like it. In the summer it shades the house and makes it +cool. Yes, the hedge gives the name to the place. + +"But now I must tell you what is queer about it--the mystery or the +puzzle. And I don't want you or the children to be alarmed." + +"Why should we?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"Well, most persons are frightened by _ghosts_," said Grandpa Ford with +a laugh. + +"Father, you don't mean to tell me you believe in _ghosts_!" cried Daddy +Bunker. + +"Of course not!" answered his stepfather. "There aren't any such things +as ghosts, and, naturally, I don't believe in them. But I know that some +people do, and children might be frightened if they heard the name." + +"Do you hear what he says?" whispered Rose to her brother. + +"Yes. But I'm not frightened. Are you?" + +"Nope. What's a ghost, anyhow, Russ?" + +"Oh, it's something white that comes in the dark and scares you." + +"Well, it isn't dark now," went on the little girl, "so we're all right. +And at night, when it is dark, we go to bed, so I don't guess we'll see +any ghost." + +"No, I guess not. But listen!" + +Grandpa Ford was speaking again. + +"Of course I don't believe in ghosts," he said, "and I only use that +name, speaking about the queer things at Great Hedge, because I don't +know what else to call them. Your mother," he went on to Daddy Bunker, +"calls it the same thing. We say the 'ghost' did this or that. In fact +we laugh over it and make fun of it. But, all the same, it is very +strange and queer, and I should like to have it stopped, or explained." + +"Do you think Mr. Ripley can stop it or explain it?" asked Daddy Bunker. + +"I should think he could," said Grandpa Ford. "Mr. Ripley owned Great +Hedge a long while before he sold it to me. He ought to know all about +the queer, big old house, and why there are so many strange noises in +it." + +"Is the noise the ghost?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"That's part of it." + +"What's the other part?" Daddy Bunker queried. + +"Well, it mostly is queer noises," said his stepfather. "I'll tell you +how it happened from the very beginning--the first night your mother and +I stayed at Great Hedge. It has been going on for some time, and at last +I thought I would come on here, see you, have a talk with Mr. Ripley, +and then see if we could not clear up the mystery. In fact, I hope +you'll go back with me and help me solve the riddle. + +"You and your wife and the six little Bunkers. I want you all to come up +to Grandpa Ford's. But now I'll finish telling you about the ghost." + +"Please do," begged Mother Bunker with a laugh. "I have always liked +ghost stories. It is very jolly when one finds out what caused the queer +noises and sights. Let's hear about the ghost!" + +"All right," went on Grandpa Ford. "I'll tell you about our first night +at Great Hedge. It was just about twelve o'clock--midnight--when, all of +a sudden----" + +At that instant a crash sounded out on the porch. + +"Mercy!" cried Mother Bunker. "What can that be?" + +She and Daddy Bunker rushed from the room, Grandpa Ford following more +slowly. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +RUSS MAKES A BALLOON + + +"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Mother Bunker as she opened a +door leading on to the porch, where she had heard the crashing noise. +Those were the first things the mother of the six little Bunkers always +asked whenever anything unusual happened. + +"What is the matter?" she cried. + +Then she saw. Lying on the porch, under the hammock, was Russ. He was +huddled in a heap, and he was doing his best not to cry. Mrs. Bunker +could tell that by the way his face was wrinkled up. Near him stood +Rose, and she looked startled. + +"What's the matter?" repeated Mrs. Bunker. "Are you hurt, Russ?" + +"No'm--that is, not very much. I--I fell out of the hammock." + +"Yes, I see you did. What made you? Did you swing too high? I've told +you not to do that." + +"What does it all mean?" asked Daddy Bunker, while Grandpa Ford looked +on. "Were you trying to do some circus tricks in the hammock, Russ?" + +"No. I--I was just climbing up, like a sailor when he goes up a rope, +you know, and----" + +"I call that a circus trick!" interrupted Mr. Bunker. "I wouldn't try +those, if I were you, Russ. You aren't hurt much this time, I guess, but +you might be another time. Don't try any tricks until you get older." + +"Well, it wasn't exactly a trick," explained Russ, and then he saw Rose +looking at him in a queer way and he stopped. + +"As long as you're all right it's a blessing," said his mother. + +"I thought the house was falling down," remarked Grandpa Ford with a +laugh. + +"Oh, you'll get used to all sorts of noises like that, Father, if you're +very long around the six little Bunkers," said his stepson. "As soon as +we hear a louder noise than common we rush out. But we have been very +lucky so far. None of the children has been badly hurt." + +"I hope they'll be as lucky as that when they come to my place at Great +Hedge," said Grandpa Ford. + +"Oh, are we going to stay with you, Grandpa Ford?" cried Russ, +forgetting all about his pains and bruises, now that there was a +prospect of a new place to go to. + +"Oh, what fun!" exclaimed Rose. "I'm going to tell Laddie and Vi!" + +"No, don't, please, Rose," said her mother. "It isn't settled yet. We +haven't really decided to go." + +"Oh, but you must come if I have to come down with my big hay wagon and +cart you up!" said Grandpa Ford. "But we'll talk about that later. I'm +glad neither of you two children was hurt. Now here is five cents each. +Run down and buy a lollypop. I imagine they must be five cents apiece +now, with the way everything has gone up." + +"No, they're only a penny apiece, but sometimes you used to get two for +a cent," explained Russ, as he took one coin and Rose the other. "Thank +you," he went on. "We'll get something, and give Mun Bun and Margy a +bit." + +"And Violet and Laddie, too," added Rose. + +Russ looked at the five-cent piece in his hand as if wondering if it +would stretch that far. + +"Send the other children to me, and I'll give them each five cents," +said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. + +"Then we can all go to the store!" said Rose, clapping her hands. "They +have lovely five-cent grab-bags down at Henderson's store." + +"Well, don't eat too much trash," said Mrs. Bunker. Then, turning to +Grandpa Ford, she said: "Now we can go back in the house and you can +finish what you were telling us when Russ fell out of the hammock." + +"I didn't zactly fall _out_ of it," the little boy explained. "I wasn't +in it. I was climbing up on one side, and I--I----" + +"Well, you fell, anyhow," said his father. "Please don't do it again. +Now we'll go in, Father." + +Russ and Rose were left standing on the porch, each holding a five-cent +piece. Russ looked at Rose, and Rose looked at Russ. + +"We didn't hear what the ghost was at Great Hedge," said the little +girl. + +"No," agreed Russ. "He was saying that, 'all of a sudden,' just like in +a story, you know, when----" + +"When you fell all of a sudden!" interrupted Rose. + +"I couldn't help it," declared Russ. "If you'd had the mat, I wouldn't +'a' made any noise." + +"Oh, well, let's go and spend our five cents," suggested Rose. "And we +can tell Laddie and Vi and Margy and Mun Bun to go for theirs. We'll +have to wait for them to go to the store with us, anyhow. Mun Bun and +Margy can't go alone." + +"All right, you go and tell 'em," returned Russ. "Shall I go and listen +some more at the window?" + +"No, I guess not," said Rose. "They might see you." + +For it was in listening at the window that Russ had fallen. As he had +partly explained, he had climbed up the hammock, as a sailor climbs a +rope. + +The hammock swung on the side porch, but when it was not in use it hung +by one hook, rather high up, and by twisting it together it could be +made into a sort of rope. Russ and Rose, as I have told you, had been +listening under the porch window to what Grandpa Ford had been telling +about the queer happenings at Great Hedge Estate. + +Just as he reached the point where he was going to tell about the +strange noise at midnight, Russ decided he could hear better if he were +higher up, and nearer the window. + +The hammock had been left hanging by one hook, after Laddie and Vi had +finished swinging in it a little while before, and up this Russ climbed. + +But his hands slipped, and down he fell, making a good deal of noise. Of +course if Rose had put the mat under him, as he had told her to do, +there would not have been such a racket. + +"And now we sha'n't ever know about the ghost," said Russ, just before +his sister hurried off to tell the others that Grandpa Ford had a treat +for them. + +"Yes, we shall," said the little girl. + +"How?" + +"We'll wait till we get there. We're all going, 'cause Grandpa Ford said +so. When we get to Great Hedge we can find the ghost for ourselves." + +"Yes, maybe we can," agreed Russ. "Anyhow, I'm not going to climb up any +more hammocks. It hurts too much when you fall." And he walked from the +porch, limping. + +Then, after Russ and Rose had gone away, Grandpa Ford told Mr. and Mrs. +Bunker more about the strange doings at his house, which was surrounded +by the great hedge. And the old gentleman ended with: + +"And now I want you all to come out there with me and help solve the +mystery. I want you, Son," and he turned with a kindly look to Mr. +Bunker, "and I want your wife and the six little Bunkers." + +"Maybe the children will be afraid of the ghost," said their mother. + +"We won't tell them anything about it," said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. +"They'll never know a thing about it." + +If he had only seen Russ and Rose listening on the porch under the +window! + +"Well, as long as they don't know about it, I don't see that they can be +frightened," said Mr. Bunker. "As you say, it is queer, but maybe Mr. +Ripley can explain the queer noises and other things." + +"Maybe he can," agreed Grandpa Ford. "That's what I came on to see +about, and I'll take you all back with me." + +"But it will soon be cold weather," objected Mother Bunker. + +"All the better!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "There is no nicer place in the +world in winter than Great Hedge. The big hedge made of what are almost +trees, keeps off the cold north wind. We always have plenty of snow up +in New York state, and the children will have no end of good times. You +must all arrange to come back with me." + +"Well, I suppose we'll have to," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we won't say +anything to the children about the ghost." + +"Unless they find it out for themselves," remarked Daddy Bunker. "And if +they do I don't believe it will frighten them much. Laddie will, most +likely, make up a riddle about it." + +"He certainly is good at them," said Grandpa Ford with a chuckle. + +Meanwhile Russ and Rose had told the good news to the other little +Bunkers--that is, the news about the five-cent pieces. + +"Oh, come on down to the store! I know what I'm going to buy!" exclaimed +Laddie, when they all had their money. + +"What?" asked Vi. "Some candy? Oh, let's all buy candy and then we can +have a play-party with it!" + +"I'm not going to buy candy!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"What are you going to get?" Rose asked. + +"A toy balloon," Laddie answered. "I'm going to see how far up I can +make it go." + +"How are you going to get it back?" asked Russ. + +"I'll tie a string to it. I know how to do it. And if your doll wants a +ride, Vi, I'll give her one in my balloon. I can tie a basket to the +balloon and put your doll in it--in the basket, I mean." + +"Oh, no!" cried Vi. "Rose's doll went up into the air in a balloon like +that once, when we were at Aunt Jo's, and it was a good while before +she got her back. I'm not going to lose my doll." + +"Well, I'll send my balloon up, anyhow," said Laddie. + +"I guess I'll get a balloon, too," said Russ. "Then we can have a race." + +"Aren't you going to get any candy?" asked Rose. + +"No, I don't guess so," answered Russ. "Maybe Grandpa Ford will give us +more money for candy to-morrow." + +"I'll give you a little of mine if you let me hold your balloon," said +Vi to Laddie. + +"Then I will." + +"So will I," said Rose to Russ. + +Down to the toy and candy store they went, and while four of the six +little Bunkers got sweets, Russ and Laddie each bought a five-cent +balloon, that would float high in the air. They had lots of fun playing +with them, and Rose and Violet kept their words about giving their +brothers some candy in exchange for the treat of holding the balloon +strings part of the time. + +After a bit Mun Bun and Margy went back to the house with Vi and Rose. +Laddie and Russ remained in the side yard, flying their balloons. + +"I know what we can do!" suddenly exclaimed Russ. + +"What?" asked his smaller brother. + +"We can make a big balloon." + +"How?" + +"I'll show you. Come on." + +"All right." + +Russ, letting his toy balloon float over his head, while Laddie did the +same, went out to the barn back of the house. It was not really a barn +any longer, as Daddy Bunker kept his automobile in it, but it looked +like a barn, so I will call it that instead of a garage. + +"How are you going to make a balloon?" asked Laddie as he saw Russ tie +his toy to a picket of the fence. + +"You wait, I'll show you. First you go in and get the big clothes +basket. Don't let Norah see you, or she might stop you. Bring me out the +clothes basket." + +Laddie did as he was told. As he came back with the basket, which was a +large, round one, Laddie said: + +"Do you think we can fasten our two balloons to this and go up in it?" + +"No, I'm not going to make my balloon that way," Russ answered. "You'll +see. Come on into the barn. We have to go upstairs." + +Overhead in the barn was a place where hay had once been kept for the +horse. There was a little door in the peak of the second story, to which +the hay could be hoisted up from the wagon on the ground below. The hay +was hoisted by a rope running around a wheel, or pulley, and this rope +and pulley were still in place, though they had not been used in some +time. + +Into the rather dark loft of the barn went Russ and Laddie. They had +climbed up the ladder, as they had done oftentimes before. + +"It's dark!" Laddie exclaimed. + +"I'll make it light," announced Russ. + +He opened the little door in the front of the barn, and then he and +Laddie could look down to the ground below. Russ loosened the pulley +rope and let one end fall to the ground. + +"That's how we'll make our balloon," he said. "We'll fasten the rope to +the clothes basket, and pull it up like a balloon. Won't that be fun?" + +"Lots of fun!" agreed Laddie. + +It was about half an hour after this that, as Mother Bunker was +beginning to think about supper, she heard, from the direction of the +barn, a shrill yell for help. + +"Oh, I can't get him down! I can't get him down!" was the cry. + +"Dear me! Something else has happened!" cried Mother Bunker. "Come on, +Norah. We must see what it is!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE BIG BANG NOISE + + +It did not take Mrs. Bunker long to see what the matter was this time. +As she came in sight of the barn she beheld the clothes basket dangling +about half-way to the roof, swinging this way and that from one end of a +rope. + +On the other end of the rope Russ and Laddie were pulling, while in the +clothes basket, his little face peering over the side, was Mun Bun. + +"What are you doing? Let him down!" cried Mother Bunker, for Mun Bun was +crying. + +"We can't get him down!" shouted Russ. "The balloon won't come down!" + +"Balloon? I don't see any balloon!" cried Mrs. Bunker. She thought, +perhaps, as sometimes did happen, a balloonist from a neighboring +fairground might have gone up, giving an exhibition as was often the +case in the Fall. But all the balloons she saw were the toys Russ and +Laddie had tied to the fence. + +"Where is the balloon, and what do you mean by pulling Mun Bun up in the +basket that way?" she asked. + +"Mun Bun's in the balloon!" cried Russ. + +"We got him up, but we can't get him down," added Laddie. "The rope's +stuck." + +And that is just what had happened. I think you can guess the kind of +game Russ and Laddie had been playing when the accident happened? They +had tied the clothes basket to the rope running over the wheel. The +pulley had been used when Mr. Bunker kept a horse, for pulling the hay +up from the ground to the second story of the barn. + +Then, with the basket tied to the rope, Laddie and Russ had taken turns +pulling one another up. The rope went around several pulleys, or wheels, +instead of one, and this made it easy for even a small boy, by pulling +on the loose end, to lift up quite a weight. So it was not hard for Russ +to pull Laddie in the basket up to the little door of the hay-loft. +Laddie could not have pulled Russ up, if Russ, himself, had not taken +hold of the rope and pulled also. But they had lots of good times, and +they pretended they were going up and down in a balloon. + +Then along came Mun Bun. + +"I want to play, too!" he cried. + +"We'll pull him up!" said Russ. "He's light and little, and we can pull +him up fast!" + +So Mun Bun got into the clothes basket, and Russ and Laddie, hauling on +the rope, pulled him up and let him come down quite swiftly. + +"Oh, it's fun!" laughed Mun Bun. "I like the balloon!" + +And it was fun, until the accident happened. Then, in some way, the rope +became caught in one of the wheels, and when Mun Bun was half-way +between the ground and the second story of the barn, there he stuck! + +"We'd better holler for mother!" said Laddie, as Mun Bun, looking over +the edge of the basket, began to cry. + +"Maybe we can get him down ourselves," said Russ. "Pull some more." + +He and Laddie pulled as hard as they could. But still Mun Bun was stuck +in the "balloon." + +"I want to get down! I want to get down!" he cried. + +Then Laddie and Russ became frightened and shouted for their mother. + +"Oh, you poor, dear little boy!" said Mrs. Bunker, as she saw what the +matter was. "Don't be afraid now. I'll soon get you down." + +She looked at the rope, saw where it was twisted so it would not run +easily over the pulley wheels. Then she untwisted it, and the basket +could come down, with Mun Bun in it. + +"I don't like that old balloon!" he said, tears in his eyes. + +"Well, Laddie and Russ mustn't put you in again," said his mother. +"Don't cry any more. You're all right." + +And, as soon as he saw that he was safe on the ground, and that the +clothes basket balloon wasn't going to take him up again, the little +chap dried his tears. + +"What made you think of that game to play?" asked Mrs. Bunker of Russ +and Laddie, when she had seen to it that they took the clothes basket +off the rope. + +"Oh, we thought of it when we saw our toy balloons go up in the air," +said Russ. "We had a race with 'em, and Laddie's went higher than mine. +Then he said wouldn't it be fun to have a real balloon. And I said yes, +and then I thought of the rope at the barn and Norah's clothes basket +and we made a hoister balloon, and Mun Bun wanted to go up in it, he +did." + +"And we pulled him, we did, and he got stuck," added Laddie. "I guess I +could make up a pretty good riddle about it, if I thought real hard." + +"Well, please think hard and don't get your little brother into a fix +like that again," said Mrs. Bunker. + +Of course Russ and Laddie promised that they wouldn't play that game any +more, but this was not saying they wouldn't do something else just as +risky. They were not bad boys, but they liked to have fun, and they did +not always stop to think what might happen when they had it. + +"What'll we do next?" asked Laddie, as they carried the clothes basket +back to Norah's laundry. + +"Well, we could----" began Russ. + +Just then the supper bell rang. + +"We'll eat!" cried Laddie. "That'll be lots of fun." + +And after supper the six little Bunkers were too tired and sleepy to do +anything except go to bed. + +"But we'll have lots of fun at Grandpa Ford's," murmured Rose as she +went up to her room. + +"Yes," agreed Russ. "We'll have lots of fun, and we'll hunt around and +find----" + +Rose gave her brother a queer look and cried: + +"That's a secret!" + +"Oh, yes, so it is! That's a secret!" agreed Russ. + +"What's a secret?" asked Vi, not too sleepy to put a question, if it was +the last thing she did that day. + +"Oh, we can't tell!" laughed Russ. "Wait until we all get to Great +Hedge, and then we'll all hunt for it." + +"Hunt for the secret?" asked Vi. + +"Yes," answered Rose. + +"Mother, Russ and Rose have a secret and they won't tell me!" exclaimed +the little questioning girl. "Please make 'em!" + +"Not to-night, my dear," said Mrs. Bunker. "Besides, if it is their +secret it wouldn't be fair for you to know." + +"But I want to, Mother!" + +"We're not going to tell!" exclaimed Russ. + +"Come now! Go to bed, all of you!" cried Daddy Bunker. "You'll have +plenty of fun, and secrets, too, if you go to Great Hedge." + +"Oh, then we must be going!" cried Rose, and Vi was so excited about +this that she forgot to ask any more about the secret. + +Mrs. Bunker thought it was only some little joke between her two older +children. If she had known what they had heard out on the porch that +afternoon she might have talked to them before they went to sleep. But +Russ and Rose hid in their hearts what they had heard about the ghost of +Great Hedge. + +It was fully decided on the next day that the six little Bunkers and +Daddy and Mother would go, shortly, with Grandpa Ford to his big estate +in the country, just outside of Tarrington, in New York state. Russ and +Rose listened carefully to see if they could hear any more about the +ghost, but neither Mr. Ford nor Mr. Bunker mentioned it. And Mother +Bunker was so busy, with Norah, getting the things ready for another +trip, that she did not speak of it, either. + +"My!" exclaimed Norah, as she helped sort out the clean clothes, "these +six little Bunkers are getting to be great travelers. First they go to +Grandma Bell's, then to Aunt Jo's and then to Cousin Tom's, and now to +Grandpa Ford's. I wonder where they'll go next?" + +"There's no telling," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we must take plenty of warm +clothes along for them this time, as it will soon be cold weather and +winter." + +"I love to be in the country in the winter," said Rose, who was helping +her mother. "You can have such fun snowballing." + +"And making snow men and snow forts," added Russ, who came in to get a +piece of string for something he was making. He went out whistling, and +soon he and Laddie were heard pounding away on the back porch. + +Russ was not happy unless he was whistling, or unless he was making +something, just as Laddie was very fond of asking riddles. + +"I guess maybe I got a riddle, now," said the little chap who was +Violet's twin. + +"Is it about Mun Bun and the balloon basket?" asked Russ. + +"No, it's about why is a cat like a kite." + +"It isn't," said Russ. "A cat isn't anything like a kite." + +"Yes, it is, too!" declared Laddie. "They both have tails." + +"Oh, well. But some kites don't have any tails," said Russ. "I know a +boy, and he knows how to make kites that go up without any tails. So +that riddle's no good!" + +"Yes, it is!" insisted Laddie. + +"Why is it?" + +"'Cause some cats haven't got tails either." + +"Oh, there are not any cats without tails." + +"Yes, there are! You go and ask Mother. She showed me a picture of one +the other day. I think it's called a Banks cat, 'cause maybe it lives in +a bank, and it doesn't have any tail so it can't get caught in the +door. You go and ask Mother if a kite isn't like a cat 'cause they both +have tails, and some kites have no tails and so haven't some cats." + +"I will!" exclaimed Russ. "I'll go and ask Mother if there's ever a cat +without a tail!" + +Away the two boys started, but they had not reached the house before, +out in the street in front, they heard a loud bang, a most awfully loud +bang. At the same time they heard their Grandpa Ford crying: + +"Whoa! Whoa there! Don't run away!" + +"Oh, what's that?" asked Laddie. + +"We'll go and see!" exclaimed Russ; and the two boys set off on a run. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +OFF TO GREAT HEDGE + + +Russ and Laddie saw Grandpa Ford holding the bridle of a horse harnessed +to a light carriage, in which sat a pretty young lady. The horse was +trying to rise up on its hind legs, and Grandpa Ford was doing his best +to make the animal stand still. + +Not far away was a large automobile, and smoke was coming from the back +of this, while a man, who seemed to have just gotten out of the car, was +hurrying toward the prancing horse. + +"I guess he's all right now, Miss," said Grandpa Ford. "When that +automobile back-fired, and made such a bang, it scared your horse." + +"I never knew him to be afraid of an auto before," said the young lady. +"But then I never heard one, before, make such a loud bang." + +"Nor I," returned Grandpa Ford. "It was enough to scare any horse." + +"And I am very sorry it happened," said the man who had gotten out of +the car. "My machine is a new one, and it does not run just right, but +this is the first time it ever made such a racket. I thought I was going +to be blown up, and I guess your horse did too, Miss. I'm very sorry for +the fright I caused you. I'll not start my auto again until you drive +on. Then, if it should happen to back-fire again, your horse will not +mind it so much." + +"Thank you," the young lady said. "But I do not want to drive on right +away. I came to see you," she announced to Grandpa Ford. + +"To see me?" and Mr. Ford was quite surprised. "You drove up here to see +me?" + +"Yes, if you are Mr. Munroe Ford." And the young lady smiled pleasantly. + +"Yes, that's my name," said Mr. Bunker's stepfather. "And if you don't +believe me you can ask these boys," and he pointed to Russ and Laddie, +who were staring at the pretty young lady. "Only," went on the old +gentleman, "they would probably say I was 'Grandpa Ford,' and so I am, +to them." + +"That's who he is," declared Russ. + +"He's grandpa to all us six little Bunkers," added Laddie. "We thought +it was a big cannon," he went on, speaking about the noise. + +"I seem to have stirred up some excitement," remarked the man who owned +the new automobile. "I had better get away from here before I have the +police after me," and he laughed, to show he was only joking. Of course +it was not his fault that the automobile made so much noise. + +"If you are not going to drive on, to get out of the way of my machine, +where your horse won't hear any more explosions, I think I had better +drive on myself. I'll go as quietly as I can," he said. + +"And I'll hold her horse," offered Grandpa Ford. "As long as she has +come to see me, and is going to stay, I'll see that her horse doesn't +run away." + +"You know how to manage horses," said the automobile man. "I don't. But +I can run an auto." + +"Yes, I've been among horses for a number of years," replied Grandpa +Ford. "I have three or four on my place, Great Hedge. I'd rather drive a +horse than an auto. But won't you get down and come in, if you want to +see me?" asked Grandpa Ford of the young lady. + +"Thank you, no. I'm only going to stay a few minutes, Mr. Ford," she +answered. "I feel almost like calling you Grandpa Ford myself," she +added. "You look just like a grandfather I used to have." + +"Call me that as much as you please," laughed Grandpa Ford. "But what +shall I call you? I don't remember meeting you before." And he led her +horse to a hitching post, where he tied the animal fast. By this time +the loud-banging new automobile had rolled around the corner into the +next street, luckily without making any great noise. + +"I am Mabel Ripley," said the young lady. "You called to see my father, +the other day, about the Great Hedge place he sold you, but Daddy was +out. However, he got the message you left, and he sent me over to-day +with an answer. It's about the gh----" + +"Ahem!" loudly and suddenly exclaimed Grandpa Ford. "I rather think, +Miss Ripley, you had better come into the house where you can talk to me +alone," he said, with a quick glance at Russ and Laddie. "Little +pitchers have big ears, you know." + +"Oh, yes, I understand!" exclaimed the pretty young lady. She, too, +looked at Russ and Laddie in a strange way, smiling the while. "You +don't want the little pitchers to know anything about it?" she asked. + +"Not yet," answered Grandpa Ford. "It's a sort of secret, you know. I +think it will all be easily explained, but I wanted to ask your father +about it, since, as he sold me Great Hedge, he would know more about the +house than I do, he having lived there so long." + +"I lived there, too," said Miss Ripley with a smile. "Well, as long as +the banging auto is gone, I think my horse will stand all right, so I'll +come in and tell you all I know, and all my father knows, about the +place, and the strange things you heard. I'll go in where the little +pitchers can't be filled up," and again she smiled at the two boys. + +"Is that a riddle, Grandpa Ford?" asked Laddie, as Miss Ripley started +toward the front porch. + +"Is what a riddle, Laddie boy?" + +"About little pitchers and big ears." + +"Oh! No, not exactly a riddle. I'll tell you about it some other time. +Here is five cents each, for you and Russ. Run along now while I take +Miss Ripley into the house." + +"Will you tell me one thing before you go in?" asked Laddie, as he +slipped into his pocket the nickel his grandfather had given him, while +Russ did the same. + +"If your question isn't a hard riddle I'll try to answer it," said +Grandpa Ford. "Let me hear it." + +"It's about kites and tails and cats," explained Laddie. "Isn't there a +cat that hasn't a tail, and isn't it a Banks cat?" asked Laddie. "I made +up a riddle why is a cat like a kite because it has a tail. And some +kites haven't any tails, Russ says. But mother showed me a picture of a +Banks cat. And don't they call 'em that because maybe they live in banks +and haven't any tails so they won't get shut in a door? Will you answer +that question, Grandpa?" + +"Really, Laddie boy, I should say there were almost a dozen questions +there!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "But I'll answer only one now. About the +cats. There is a kind called Manx, and that sounds like banks, I +suppose. Manx is an island, near England, and cats that come from there +have no tails--or at least they have only little short ones that you can +hardly see. I guess when your mother told you about the Manx cats you +thought she said 'banks.' But now run along and have some fun." + +Grandpa Ford turned up the walk with Miss Ripley, and Laddie and Russ +heard her say: + +"Father sent me over to tell you not to be alarmed, as he doesn't +believe it is anything. He'll come out and help you look for whatever it +may be, if you want him to." + +"Oh, the six little Bunkers and their father and mother are coming with +me," said Mr. Ford. "The six little Bunkers don't know about the strange +goings on, as yet, but their father and mother will help me hunt for +the----" + +That was all Russ and Laddie heard, for their grandfather turned a +corner in the path then, and his voice was not so loud. + +"I wonder if they're talking about a riddle," said Laddie. + +"I don't guess so," returned Russ. He knew, or thought he knew, what +Miss Ripley and Grandpa Ford were talking about. It was the "secret" +about which he and Rose had heard something. + +But it was not yet time to tell Laddie anything about it. Russ wished +Rose had been with him to hear what Miss Ripley said. Rose might know +what it all meant. + +"But we'll wait until we get to Great Hedge," thought Russ. Then to +Laddie he said: "Come on, we'll go and spend our nickels." + +"All right," agreed the little boy. "But I was pretty near right about +the Banks cat; wasn't I?" + +"Pretty near," agreed Russ. + +When Russ and Laddie reached home again, after a trip to the store, they +found Miss Ripley had gone. And then, for a time, Russ, as well as Rose, +forgot about the "secret," as the whole family, six little Bunkers and +all, were so busy packing up to go away. + +At last, after some weeks, the day came. The trunks and valises had been +packed, the house in Pineville had been shut for the winter, the water +being turned off so it would not freeze, and everything was all ready +for the winter visit to Grandpa Ford at Great Hedge. + +"Good-bye, Norah! Good-bye, Jerry Simms!" called the six little Bunkers, +waving their hands to the cook and man. "Good-bye!" + +"Good-bye!" answered Jerry and Norah. "Come back as soon as you can!" + +And so they started for Grandpa Ford's. And not even Russ and Rose, who +guessed a little of the "secret," knew all the strange things that were +to happen at Great Hedge. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MUN BUN TAKES SOMETHING + + +The trip to Grandpa Ford's was to last all day. The six little Bunkers, +with their father and mother, had taken the railroad train about nine +o'clock in the morning, and they would reach Tarrington, in New York +State, about five in the evening. + +"And one of my men will be at the depot to meet us with a carriage," +said Grandpa Ford. "We'll drive over with horses, though I have an auto +on my place. But I like horses better." + +"Will there be room enough for all of us in the carriage?" asked Russ. + +"Oh, yes. I sent word to bring the biggest carriage I have. It has four +seats, and I guess I can pack you all in." + +Having found out this much Russ was satisfied. He looked at Rose and +nodded, as they sat together in the railroad train. Russ had feared +that, as there were so many of them, some might be left behind after +Tarrington was reached. And he wanted to get to Great Hedge as soon as +he could, to begin to find out why there was something strange in or +about the big house. + +"Well, now we can settle down for a long ride," said Mrs. Bunker, as she +"counted noses," to make sure all her children were with her and her +husband. + +It was quite cold, but the car was warm and the six little Bunkers +looked out of the windows, and enjoyed the trip. They always liked to +travel. + +"It looks like snow," said Grandpa Ford to the conductor, when it was +time to collect the tickets. + +"Yes, I came down from New York State the other night," said the +railroad man, "and we were having quite a flurry then. Shouldn't be +surprised if we ran into a big blizzard before we reached Tarrington." + +"Oh, I hope not," said Grandpa Ford. "I don't want any big blizzard +until I get the six little Bunkers safely home at Great Hedge. Then it +can snow as much as it likes." + +"I hope it snows a lot," said Mun Bun. "I like snow." + +"So do I, when I'm at home in my warm house," said Grandpa Ford. "But +too much snow isn't any fun. Can you make a snow man, Mun Bun?" + +"A little one," he answered. "If you helped me I could make a big one." + +"I will!" promised his grandfather with a laugh. "We'll make a big snow +man and a snow house and have all sorts of good times." + +"What's snow made of?" asked Violet, who had been pressing her nose +against the car window, looking out at the telegraph poles that seemed +to whiz past so quickly. + +"It's frozen rain," said Daddy Bunker. + +"Who freezes it?" went on Violet. "Does the ice-cream man freeze the +rain to make snow?" + +"No, it freezes up in the air--in the clouds," her father explained. + +"Well, what makes it come down?" went on Violet. "Rain comes down 'cause +it's heavy. Once a raindrop splashed in my eye and it felt terrible +heavy. But snow isn't heavy at all. It's light like a feather. What +makes snow and feathers fall when they aren't heavy, Daddy?" + +"Oh, now, my little girl is asking too many questions," said Daddy +Bunker with a laugh. "Some time, when you are a little older, I'll tell +you why it is that things fall, whether they are heavy or light. Things +even lighter than snowflakes fall as easily as a chunk of lead, but, as +you say, a snowflake is like a feather. It falls from side to side, like +a leaf, and not as fast as a drop of rain. But I do believe we shall +have snow soon," he went on. "The storm clouds are beginning to gather," +and he looked up at the sky. + +"I don't mind traveling in the snow, but I don't like it in the rain," +said Mother Bunker. "And we must expect snow, as it will soon be +winter." + +The six little Bunkers amused themselves in different ways in the car, +as the train puffed on, over hills and through valleys, to Grandpa +Ford's home at Great Hedge. As Daddy Bunker had said, the clouds were +gathering, and they seemed to hold snow, which might soon come down +with a flurry. + +"But it can't hurt us," said Mun Bun, "'cause we're in the train." + +"I have a new riddle," announced Laddie, after a while. + +"Have you?" asked Grandpa Ford. "Well, let's hear it. I'll try to guess +it." + +"Why is a train like a boy?" asked the little fellow. + +"That's a funny riddle!" exclaimed Russ. "A train isn't like a boy at +all. It's too big and it isn't alive." + +"Well, it goes," said Laddie; "and anything that goes is almost alive, +anyhow." + +"Is that why you made a riddle about a train and boy?" asked Grandpa +Ford. "A train is like a boy because it goes. Is that it, Laddie?" + +"Nope! It's 'cause a train can whistle and so can a boy," said the +little chap with a laugh. "Isn't that a good riddle?" + +"A train doesn't whistle," declared Russ. "It's only the engine that +whistles. Isn't that so, Grandpa?" + +"Well, the engine whistles, of course. But the engine is the main part +of the train. If it wasn't for the engine there wouldn't be any train, +so I guess Laddie's riddle is all right there. A train-engine is like a +boy, because it whistles. There it goes now." + +As he spoke the engine gave several loud, shrill blasts. + +"What makes it do that?" asked Violet. "What makes the engine whistle? +Was it 'cause Laddie asked that riddle?" + +"You children will make Grandpa Ford sleepy with your questions and +riddles," observed Mrs. Bunker to Laddie and Violet. "Please be quiet +now, and let him rest." + +"Oh, I don't mind," said the old gentleman. "I love the children, and I +like Laddie's riddles and Vi's questions. Only don't ask me such hard +ones that I can't answer," he went on. + +Margy was in the seat with her mother, playing with one of the Japanese +dolls that had come ashore on the beach at Cousin Tom's, as I have told +you in the book just before this one. + +"My doll wants a drink," suddenly announced the little girl. "She's +awful thirsty." + +"You probably mean you are," laughed her mother. "Rose, will you take +Margy to the water tank and get her a drink? Be careful, and hold on to +the arms of the seats so you don't fall down. It isn't far." + +"I wants a drink, too," announced Mun Bun. "I'm going to drink it +myself, too," he announced, "and not give it to any doll." + +"Well, Rose can take both of you," said Mrs. Bunker. Rose was a real +"mother's helper," and often looked after the two smaller children in +such things as getting them drinks of water. The tank was at the end of +the car, not far from where the Bunkers were sitting. + +Mr. Bunker bought a picture book for Laddie, from the train boy who came +through the car every half hour or so, and the little riddle-chap curled +up in his seat to look at this. + +Russ, with some bits of string, some little sticks he had in his pocket +and some paper, was making "something," though just what it was not even +he seemed to know. Violet got in the seat with Laddie to look at his +picture book. At the same time she may have been thinking up more +questions to ask, for all I know. + +Mr. and Mrs. Bunker sat together now, near Grandpa Ford, and they talked +together in low voices. Russ was too busy with his string and sticks to +listen, though, if he had, he might have heard something more about the +queer secret. + +As for Rose, who shared part of the secret with him, she was taking +Margy and Mun Bun to get a drink. + +"Ladies first," said Rose to her little brother, when he would have +reached for the cup she filled. "Ladies first, Mun Bun. Let Margy have a +drink before you." + +"Does her doll have to drink, too?" asked Mun Bun. "Is she a lady?" + +"She just makes believe drink," said Margy. "I'll give you the cup as +soon as I take some, Munny Bunny." Sometimes Margy called her little +brother that for fun. + +Margy was very thirsty, and wanted two cups of water. But then the cup +was not a very large one. Next Mun Bun had to have some, and he tried to +drink three cupfuls. But the last one was a little too much for him, +and he spilled part of it on himself. + +"But I don't care," he said. "It's only like when it rains, or when the +water splashes on you when you go in bathing. Only this water isn't +salt, like that down in the ocean at Cousin Tom's," he added. + +"It's a good thing it isn't salt, or you couldn't drink it," said Rose, +as she wiped the water drops off Mun Bun with her handkerchief. "Now +come on back to your seats," she went on. "I guess I'd better take you +alone first, Margy. Then I'll come back for you, Mun Bun. The train is +so jiggily I can't lead you both." + +The cars were indeed swaying, for the train was going faster now, and +around curves, which always makes it hard to walk along inside a railway +coach. + +"Stay here, by the water tank, Mun Bun," said Rose. "I'll take Margy to +her seat, and then come back for you." + +"All right," agreed the little boy. "I'll wait for you." + +Now at this end of the car the train boy had left his basket, in which +were a number of toys, that he walked up and down the aisles with, +selling. He had left the basket there, in a vacant seat, while he went +back into the baggage-car to get a magazine for which a lady had asked +him. + +Mun Bun saw the basket of toys. There were picture books, little dolls, +prettily colored boxes, jumping-jacks--things that fathers and mothers +might like to buy to amuse their children with on a long railway +journey. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Mun Bun, as he turned and saw the train boy's basket of +toys. "Oh, my! I'm going to have something!" + +Then Mun Bun, reaching in his hand, which was, of course, not right to +do, took something from the basket, slipped it around behind him, as he +saw Rose coming, and toddled up the aisle to meet her. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A BIG STORM + + +"Why didn't you wait for me, Mun Bun?" asked Rose, as she caught her +little brother just as he was about to topple over in the aisle, from +the swaying of the train. "I told you to wait for me. You might be hurt +coming up by yourself!" + +"I was in a hurry," explained Mun Bun. He gave one hand to Rose, but the +other he held behind his back. In it was the thing he had taken from the +train boy's basket. + +Once more the six little Bunkers were in their seats, looking out of the +windows. The train was puffing along, bringing them nearer and nearer to +Grandpa Ford's, though it would still be some hours before they reached +Tarrington. + +"There!" Russ suddenly exclaimed. "I have it all done!" and he whistled +a merry tune, as he turned in his seat and held up something for the +others to see. + +"What is it?" asked his father. + +"It's a buzzy-buzzer," answered the boy. "Look, it goes around this +way." + +He put the loops of two strings over his thumbs, and pulled his hands +apart. Then two pieces of cardboard, strung on the strings, began to +whirl about very fast. + +"Why, that's like a pin-wheel!" exclaimed Grandpa Ford. + +"I call it a buzzy-buzzer," laughed Russ. "I was going to make a +wind-mill, but I didn't have enough things here in the train. I'll make +you a wind-mill when we get to Great Hedge, Grandpa." + +After a while a colored man, dressed in a spotless white suit, came +through the car, calling: + +"First call for dinner in the dining-car! First call for dinner!" + +"What does he mean--first call?" asked Violet, who, as usual, was the +one who asked the first question. + +"He means that dinner is now ready in the dining-car," said Mr. Bunker. +"You see the car is rather small, and every one can't eat at once. So +they take turns, so to speak." + +"I wish we could eat first," sighed Vi. "I'm terrible hungry!" + +"So'm I," said Margy. + +"Me, too," added Mun Bun. He had gone back to his seat, after taking +something from the train boy's basket, and he had cuddled up by himself. +What he had he showed to no one, and now, when he heard that dinner was +ready, he stuffed something down between the edge of the seat and the +side of the car next the window. + +"This is my seat," Mun Bun announced, "and please don't any one take it +when we come back! I got something hid here." + +No one paid much attention to him, as it had been decided that they +would all go into the dining-car at the first call, and they thought +every one else was thinking of that, too. + +So the Bunkers and Grandpa Ford walked out of the coach in which they +had been riding, to the second car ahead, where dinner was being served +at little tables. It took more than two tables to seat the six little +Bunkers, their father, their mother, and Grandpa Ford, but soon they +were all settled, and the colored waiter, in spotless white, just like +the one who had called out that dinner was ready, began to serve the +hungry folks. + +You may be sure the six little Bunkers were hungry. In fact, they were +always that way, except, perhaps, just after a meal, or when they were +asleep. Though it was not the first time these little travelers had +eaten in dining-cars, and on boats, they always liked the fun it was to +sit and eat, and see the trees, fences, and telegraph poles seemingly go +whizzing past the windows. + +"Have you had enough?" asked Daddy Bunker in about half an hour, as he +looked around at his boys and girls. "Anybody want any more?" + +"Could I have more pie?" asked Russ. + +"Well, a small piece, yes," answered his mother. + +"I want a piece, too," declared Laddie. "I didn't have hardly any. Mun +Bun reached over and took half of mine." + +"I'll have the waiter divide a piece between Russ and Laddie," said Mr. +Bunker. And when this had been done, even the two hungry boys announced +that they were satisfied. Then back to the other car the Bunkers and +Grandpa Ford went. + +Now at home, almost always after dinner, the two youngest of the six +little Bunkers went to sleep. Mother Bunker called it taking a "nap," +and almost always Mun Bun and Margy, and sometimes Laddie and Violet had +one. + +In a little while Mrs. Bunker noticed that the heads of Margy and Mun +Bun were nodding as they sat in their seats. + +"I'm going to have those children lie down," she said. "Mun Bun, come +over and sit with me. I'll cuddle you to sleep. Margy, you can go with +Daddy." + +"I want to stay here," said Mun Bun. "I've got something in my seat, and +I don't want anybody to take it." + +"I want to stay too!" exclaimed Margy. "I want to see what Mun Bun has." + +Mr. Bunker turned the seat in front of the two smaller children over so +a sort of bed could be made for them with a pile of coats and valises. +Soon Mun Bun and Margy, side by side, were having a fine sleep, and the +train rumbled on. + +Margy's doll was perched up on the seat in front of her, and Margy said +her doll was "sleeping" too. But this doll slept with her eyes open. + +Violet was looking at the picture book Laddie had finished with, and +Laddie was trying to make a buzzer, as Russ had done. For Laddie had +broken the one his brother had made for him. + +Rose and Russ were sitting together, and for the first time in some +days, they had a chance to talk about the ghost at Great Hedge. + +"What kind do you s'pose it'll be?" asked Rose. + +"Oh, the regular, scary kind," Russ answered. + +"I hope it won't be too scary," said Rose. + +"I'll be with you when we try to find out what it is," went on Russ. +"Boys are never afraid of ghosts or--or anything." + +"Oh, I won't be afraid--not if you're with me, anyway. Isn't it fun to +have a secret? And they don't know we heard about it!" Rose added. +"Won't they be s'prised if we find the ghost?" + +"I guess they will," agreed Russ. "Maybe they're talking about it now," +he went on, for his father and mother, with Grandpa Ford, several seats +back, were talking earnestly together, as Russ could see. Just what they +were saying the two oldest Bunker children did not know. + +But, as a story-teller, or a writer of books, can sometimes be in two +places at once, and listen to all sorts of talk, without the people who +are talking knowing anything about it, I will tell you, as a special +favor, that Mr. and Mrs. Bunker and Grandpa Ford really were talking +about the "ghost," at Great Hedge. + +"So neither Mr. Ripley nor his daughter, whose horse nearly ran away +when she came to see you, could tell what all the queer doings meant at +Great Hedge, could they?" asked Daddy Bunker. + +"No. They said they never heard any queer noises when they lived at the +place before they sold it to me," answered Grandpa Ford. "But your +mother and I have heard many strange noises, and we can't account for +them. + +"Of course," went on Grandpa Ford, "I don't believe in ghosts. But I +know we hear the strange noises, and we don't know what they mean. Your +mother is annoyed by them. She has an idea, too, that perhaps there is a +secret way for some one to get into our house, and that perhaps some +persons go in at night, after we are in bed, and make noises." + +"But why would any one do that?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"Well, it may be some folks who would like to scare me away so they +could buy Great Hedge for themselves," said Grandpa Ford. "The place is +valuable, and Mr. Ripley sold it to me very reasonably, because his wife +and little boy died there and he did not like to stay in the place that +reminded him of them so much. So he sold." + +"So he never heard the queer noises," said Mr. Bunker musingly. + +"He says not. And neither did his daughter, Mabel. But Grandmother Ford +and I hear them often enough, and so I thought I'd come down, and get +all you Bunkers, to have you help me either find out what it is, or +drive the ghost away," and Grandpa Ford smiled. + +"Tell us, over again, what sort of noises they are," said Mother Bunker. +"I have been so busy the last few days, getting ready to travel, that I +hardly remember what you said. Were the noises like yells or groans? Or +were they just hangings?" + +"Well," began Grandpa Ford, "on some nights the noises are like----" + +And just then there came a sudden pop, as of a pistol, and a loud cry +from Margy. She sat up in her seat and fairly shouted: + +"Now you stop, Mun Bun! Stop shooting my doll! Mother, make Mun Bun +stop!" cried the little girl. "He's got a gun, and he shot my doll, and +he knocked her off the seat, and maybe she's killed." + +"Mun Bun with a gun! What do you mean?" cried Daddy Bunker, jumping up +from his seat. "What are you doing, Munroe?" he asked, a bit sternly. + +The two youngest children had awakened while Grandpa Ford was telling +about the ghost at Great Hedge. Of course they did not hear about it, +nor did Rose and Russ. + +"I have a popgun, and it shoots a cork," explained Mun Bun, as he held +up what he had aimed at Margy's doll. "It didn't hurt, 'cause it only +shoots a cork," he said. + +"But you shooted my doll, and knocked her over, and maybe she's broken!" +sobbed Margy. + +By this time Mrs. Bunker had reached the seat where the little girl and +her brother had been sleeping. The mother picked the Japanese doll up +from where it had fallen to the floor of the car, and said: + +"Don't cry any more, Margy. Your doll isn't hurt a bit. But Mun Bun +mustn't shoot at her any more, with corks or anything else. Munroe Ford +Bunker! where did you get the popgun?" his mother asked, as she saw that +he really did have a small one. + +"Out of the basket," he answered. "When Margy and I went to get a drink +of water I saw the popgun in the train boy's basket, and I took it out. +I thought maybe I'd want to shoot at a snow man me and Grandpa are going +to make, so I kept the gun. Daddy can give the train boy a penny for +it. I hid it in the seat. Then I saw Margy's doll on the seat in front, +and she was asleep--Margy was--and I shot at the doll, but I didn't mean +to make her fall." + +"Oh, dear! Such a boy!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "To take the gun without +asking! Here comes the boy now. You must give it back." + +"Oh, let him keep it," said Grandpa Ford. "I'll buy it for him. We may +want to shoot the snow man," he said with a laugh. + +So Mun Bun got his popgun after all, though, of course, he did not do +right in taking it from the train boy's basket. Nor was it quite right, +I suppose, to shoot Margy's doll. But Mun Bun was a very little boy. + +However, the train boy was paid, some other toys were bought, and then, +as Grandpa Ford, some time later, looked from the train window, he +exclaimed: + +"Ha! Here comes the snow! I think we are in for a big storm!" + +And with great suddenness the train was, almost at once, shut in by a +cloud of white snowflakes, like a fog. The swirling white crystals were +blown all about, and tapped against the glass of the windows, as if they +wanted to come in where the six little Bunkers were. But the glass kept +them out. + +"How is it out--cold?" asked Grandpa Ford of a brakeman who came in an +hour or so later, covered with white flakes. + +"Very cold, sir, and growing more so. I'm afraid we'll run into a bad +storm before we reach Tarrington. It's snowing worse all the while." + +And so it was. + +"Is this the blizzard?" asked Violet. + +"Pretty close to it," answered Grandpa Ford. + +Just then the train gave a sudden jerk, rattling every one in his seat, +and came to a stop. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +AT TARRINGTON + + +"Are we there?" cried Laddie, as he slid out of his seat and turned to +Grandpa Ford. "Are we at Great Hedge?" + +"Well, if we are, the train must have run into it, and got stuck fast," +answered the old gentleman with a smile. + +"What made it bump so?" asked Violet. + +"I think we must have hit a snow bank, or else some of the rails and +switches are stopped up with snow," answered Daddy Bunker. + +It was getting quite dark, because of the snow clouds outside, and the +electric lights of the train had been switched on. Every one in the car +where the Bunkers rode, and, I suppose, in each of the other cars of the +train, had been well shaken up when it stopped so suddenly. But no one +had really been hurt. + +"Perhaps we had better see what it is," said Daddy Bunker to his +stepfather. "Perhaps the train can't go any farther, and we can't get to +Tarrington." + +"Oh, can't we go to Grandpa's?" asked Rose, looking as if she could not +bear to have such a dreadful thing happen. "I want to go!" + +"If the train can't go we can get out and walk," suggested Russ. "I like +to walk in the snow. If I had some lawn tennis rackets I could make +snowshoes for all of us, and we could walk on them." + +"But you haven't any tennis rackets," observed Laddie. "And you can't +get any on the train, lessen maybe the boy that had Mun Bun's popgun has +some." + +"They don't play lawn tennis in winter," said Rose. + +"Hush, children, dear," begged Mrs. Bunker, for they were raising their +voices as they talked. "We want to hear what the trainman says." + +"What happened that made us stop so quickly, and with such a bump?" +asked Grandpa Ford, as the railroad man came in covered with the white +flakes. "Was there an accident?" + +"A little one," the man answered. "But we'll soon be all right. The snow +clogged and stopped up a switch, and the engineer was afraid he would +get on the wrong track, so he put on the brakes quickly and made a short +and sudden stop. But we are going to dig away the snow, and then, I +think, we can go on again." + +"We want to go to Grandpa Ford's," spoke up Violet, as she stood close +to the trainman. "Will the train take us there?" + +"It will if the snow will let us, little girl," was the answer, and many +passengers in the train laughed at Vi's funny question. + +The brakeman hurried out, and some of the men passengers, putting on +their heavy overcoats, went with him. It was too dark outside for any of +the six little Bunkers to see anything that was going on. But by placing +their faces close against the windows of the car and holding a hand on +either side of the face to shut out the light in the car, they could see +a little way into the darkness outside. + +"It's snowing hard," reported Russ. + +"I like it," said Rose. "We can have some sleigh rides, and coast +downhill." + +"And build snow men," added Violet, giving a little wriggle of pleasure. + +"And snow forts, and have snowball fights!" exclaimed Laddie. + +Mun Bun and Margy were eating some cookies their mother had saved for +them, so they didn't say anything, just then. + +"Could you ever make a snow man that would talk?" asked Vi, when she and +the others had tired of looking out at the swirling flakes. + +"'Course not!" exclaimed Laddie. "That would be like a riddle." + +"I could make a snow man talk," declared Russ. + +"You could not! How could you?" asked Laddie. + +"I could scoop out a hollow place in his back and put a phonograph +inside, and when I wound it up the snow man would talk." + +"The phonograph would freeze inside a snow man," said Laddie. + +"No, it wouldn't. If it did I could build a little fire and melt it," +Russ went on. "Maybe I'll do it, too; that is, if I can find a +phonograph." + +"But if you built a fire to thaw out the phonograph it would melt the +snow man," said Rose. + +Russ seemed to be puzzled by this. + +"Well, I'd do it somehow," he declared. "I'd just build a little fire, +and that wouldn't melt the snow man very much." + +Back into the car came trooping some of the men who had gone out to see +the switch and rails clogged with the snow. + +"Are we able to go on?" asked Grandpa Ford of one of these men. + +"I think so," was the answer. "The snow has been shoveled away from the +switch, and the engineer is going to try again. But it is a bad storm, +and I doubt if we get through to-night." + +"Won't we get home to your place, Grandpa?" asked Laddie. + +"It's hard to tell," answered the old gentleman. "But, if worst comes to +worst, we can stay on the train all night. We can sleep here and eat +here, but perhaps we can get almost to Tarrington, and drive in a big +sled the rest of the way." + +"Where can you get a sled?" asked Violet, always ready with a question. + +"Oh, I can hire one, if I can't get my own," said Grandpa Ford. "I told +one of my men to meet us at the depot with a big carriage. But when he +sees it snowing, as it is now up at Great Hedge, he'll take out the +sled, I'm sure." + +"I like to ride in a sled," said Rose. "It's such fun to cuddle down in +the fur robes." + +"Have you got fur robes, Grandpa?" Vi inquired. + +"Oh, yes, plenty of them," he answered. "But I hope we'll get to +Tarrington," he added in a low voice to Mr. and Mrs. Bunker. "I would +not want to drive in an open sled through this cold storm with the +children." + +"They wouldn't mind it," said Daddy Bunker. "If they were well-wrapped +they would like it." + +"I suppose I should have waited until warmer weather to bring you to +Great Hedge," went on Grandpa Ford. "But I wanted to have the children +with me, and so did their grandmother. She hasn't seen them all together +for some time. So I just thought I'd bring you in the winter, and not +wait for summer." + +"And I'm glad you did," said Mother Bunker. "We'll be all right, once we +get there." + +"Another reason why I wanted you at Great Hedge," went on Grandpa Ford, +"is that I want you to help me find out about those queer noises, and +what makes them. If there's a----" + +But just then Grandpa Ford saw Rose and Russ looking at him in a queer +and interested way and as if they wanted to hear what was being said, so +he stopped with: + +"Well, you know what I mean." + +"Yes," said Daddy Bunker. "We know." + +"I know what they were talking about," said Russ in a whisper to Rose, a +little later. + +"What?" + +"About the ghost. Grandpa has a ghost at Great Hedge, and he wants to +find it. We'll find it for him, Rose." + +"Yes, but we mustn't tell any one else about it," and Rose nodded +toward Mun Bun and the others. + +"No, we won't tell them," agreed Russ. "We'll hunt all by ourselves, and +s'prise Grandpa and Grandma." + +The passengers were now settled in their seats again, and pretty soon +the train started off once more. It did not go as fast as at first, +because there was so much snow on the tracks. But there were no more +sudden stops, and soon a brakeman came through the coach and said he +thought everything would be all right. + +"Will we get to Tarrington?" asked Daddy Bunker. + +"Yes, I am pretty sure we shall," was the answer. + +The train did get to Tarrington, though not without some trouble and one +or two more stops to clear snow out of the switches. And when Tarrington +was reached it was quite late. It was dark, and cold, and snowing hard. + +"I don't know about going on to my place to-night," said Grandpa Ford +with a shake of his head as he looked at the six little Bunkers. "I'm +afraid it will be a long, cold drive for them." + +"Wrap them up in robes and we'll try it," said Daddy Bunker. "Is your +sled here?" + +"Yes, my man is here with a strong team of horses and the big bob sled. +He says the roads are pretty good, but it is very cold. Well, we'll try. +And, if we can't make it, we'll come back and stay at the hotel here all +night." + +They were in the Tarrington station now, where it was nice and warm and +light. Outside it was dark and cold and snowing hard. But the children +did not mind. + +"We'll soon be at Grandpa's!" chanted Laddie. + +"And have some bread and jam!" added Violet. "What's jam made of?" she +asked quickly. "Has it got honey in to make it sweet?" + +"No time for questions now," said Mother Bunker. "Save them until we get +to Grandpa's." + +"I'm hungry!" wailed Margy. "I want something to eat!" + +"So do I!" added Mun Bun. + +"There's a lunch counter in this station," said Grandpa Ford. "If you +want to we can get the children something to eat here, and perhaps we'd +better, before we start on the long, cold drive. It may be late before +we get to Great Hedge." + +"Yes, I think it best to get something," agreed Daddy Bunker. "I'll go +and see what there is to eat." + +Daddy Bunker started toward the lunch counter, but at that moment there +was a loud crash, a breaking of glass, and a voice cried: + +"Now you've gone and done it! You busted it, an' spilled 'em all!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +GREAT HEDGE AT LAST + + +"Oh, what has happened now?" exclaimed Mother Bunker as she looked +around the depot to see if any of the children was in mischief. She +noticed Rose and Russ, Laddie and Vi, and Margy. But Mun Bun was not in +sight. + +"Did he fall out of a window?" asked Violet. + +"Mercy! I hope not," cried Mrs. Bunker. + +Then they all heard Mun Bun's voice saying, rather tearfully: + +"I--I didn't mean to do it. I only wanted a cake!" + +"Well, you busted it, an' now somebody's got to pay for it!" came +another voice, and one that was rather angry. + +Daddy Bunker hurried around to the other side of the ticket office, and +the others, including Grandpa Ford, followed. There, standing near the +lunch counter, with a broken bowl at his feet, and cakes scattered +around him, stood Mun Bun. In front of him was the young man who had +charge of the station lunch counter. + +"Oh, Mun Bun!" sighed his mother. + +"Why, Mun Bun! what happened?" asked his father. + +"He happened--that!" exclaimed the young man. "He pulled it over, off +the counter, and it smashed. And look at the cakes--all spoiled." + +"Not all spoiled," said Mun Bun. "I can eat 'em, an' so can Margy. We're +both hungry!" + +"Did you pull over the bowl of cakes?" asked Mr. Bunker. + +"Yes," admitted Mun Bun, "I did. I reached up to get one, and the bowl +tipped over on me and they all spilled." + +"And the bowl broke," said the lunch-counter young man. + +"I'll pay for it, Tom," said Grandpa Ford, who seemed to know the young +man. "That'll be all right. I'll pay for the bowl and the cakes, too. +Some of them are all right. They fell on this newspaper." + +And this was true. Mun Bun had reached up, standing on his tip-toes, to +get a cake out of the bowl. As he said, he was hungry, and while Daddy +Bunker and Grandpa Ford were talking about getting the children +something to eat, Mun Bun had wandered off by himself, found the lunch +counter, and started to help himself. But he was not quite tall enough, +and the glass bowl had fallen with a crash. + +The cakes had scattered out, but, as Grandpa Ford had said, some of them +had fallen on a clean newspaper which some one had dropped on the depot +floor just before the accident. + +Grandpa Ford, Daddy Bunker and Tom, the lunchman, picked up the clean +cakes and put them in another bowl. The broken pieces of the smashed +bowl and the cakes that had gone on the floor were also picked up. + +"Well, now that we're all here, we might as well get the children +something to eat," said Grandpa Ford. "Tom can give them hot milk and +cakes, and we grown-folks can have some hot coffee to get us ready for +the ride out to Great Hedge. Tom, can you take care of this big family?" + +"Oh, I guess so," was the answer, and the lunchman was not angry now, +for he saw he would lose nothing by what Mun Bun had done. + +The six little Bunkers ate well, for the other five, as well as Mun Bun, +were hungry. Then, when the grown-ups had been fed, and the broken bowl +paid for, Grandpa Ford went out into the storm to tell his man, who was +in charge of the horses and sled, that the party was ready to start. The +horses had been kept waiting under a shed so they would be out of the +storm. + +"Oh, that sounds just like Santa Claus!" cried Margy, as the sound of +jingling bells was heard outside the depot. + +It seemed rather hard to leave the cosy, bright, warm station at that +hour of the night and start out into the darkness and storm. But the +children did not mind it. They were too eager to get to Great Hedge and +see Grandma Ford. That is, most of them were. Perhaps Mun Bun and Margy +were a bit too sleepy to care much what happened. + +"But we can cuddle them down in the straw in the bottom of the sled, +cover them with blankets and let them go to sleep," said Grandpa Ford, +as he noted the blinking eyes of the two youngest Bunkers. "They'll go +to sleep and be at Great Hedge before they know it." + +"How can you find it in the dark?" asked Vi. + +"Oh, the horses know the way," answered the old gentleman. "Come on." + +"I'm going to make up a riddle about a horse," began Laddie. "I have it +almost made up. It's about what kind of a tree would you like to drive." + +"You can't drive a tree!" exclaimed Russ. "All you can do is to climb +it, or cut it down. So there!" + +"Yes, you can!" insisted Laddie. "You can drive my riddle kind of tree." + +"You can not! Can you, Mother?" appealed Russ. "You can climb a tree and +cut it down, and that's all you can do to it, isn't it?" + +"You can sit in the shade of it," said Rose. + +"Oh, yes, well, but that doesn't count!" said Russ. + +"Anyhow it's a riddle," went on Laddie. "What kind of a tree would you +like to drive?" + +"We haven't any time for riddles now," said Mother Bunker. "Come along, +children, Grandpa is waiting!" + +And, with Laddie's riddle still unanswered, they went out into the +darkness and the storm. + +At first it rather took away the breath of the children--that is, of the +four oldest. Mun Bun was carried by his mother, while Daddy Bunker took +Margy in his arms. Thus they were cuddled up so the cold wind and snow +could not blow on them. Grandpa Ford wanted to carry Violet from the +depot out to the waiting sled, but she said she was big enough to walk. + +The sled stood near the depot platform, and the lights from the station +shone on it, so it was easy to tuck the children in. Down in the warm +straw, and under the warm blankets, the six little Bunkers were placed, +until no cold wind nor snow could get at them. + + + [Illustration: DOWN IN THE WARM STRAW AND UNDER THE BLANKETS THE SIX + LITTLE BUNKERS WERE PLACED. + _Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's._ --_Page 100_] + +"Well, I guess we're all ready, Dick," said Grandpa Ford to his hired +man, who was to drive. "Think we can make it?" + +"Oh, yes, Mr. Ford," was the answer. "The horses are anxious to get +home, and the roads aren't as bad as they'll be in the morning." + +"Well, when we get to Great Hedge we can stay there a long time," said +Grandpa Ford. "Go ahead, Dick." + +"Go 'long, horses!" called Dick, at the same time cracking his whip. Of +course he did not hit the horses with it. He just snapped it in the air +over their backs. + +Away they sprang, with a jingle of bells, their feet making no noise in +the soft snow. Away they went, and on down the road which was white with +the crystal flakes that sparkled in the light of a lantern that was hung +underneath the big sled. + +"How long a drive is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"Oh, about half an hour," answered Grandpa Ford. "We'll be there before +you know it. It's downhill, and the horses are anxious to get to their +warm stable." + +And this seemed to be true, for the animals, with the jingling bells +around them, raced bravely along. Mun Bun and Margy fell asleep almost +at once, it was so warm and cosy in Grandpa's sled. But the other +children peered out now and then from beneath the robes. However, they +were soon glad to pull their heads in again, for it was very cold. + +The drive, too, was longer than Grandpa Ford thought it would be, as one +of the roads was so blocked with a drift that the sled could not get +through, and they had to drive around it. + +"But we'll get through!" said Grandpa Ford. + +On and on they went. It was a long, cold ride, but it came to an end at +last. Russ, peering up over a blanket, saw, down the road, a large, +black patch, and from it a light seemed to glow. + +"Is that another railroad station?" he asked. + +"No, that's Great Hedge," answered Grandpa Ford. "The black part you see +is the hedge around the house, and the light comes from a lantern I +have outside. Here we are at Great Hedge at last!" + +The sled turned into a driveway and stopped beneath a sort of covered +porch. + +"Whoa!" called Dick to the horses. + +A door opened, letting out a glow of warm, cheerful light. + +"Are the six little Bunkers there?" asked a voice. + +"Yes, every one, and the two big Bunkers, too!" answered Grandpa Ford. +"Come on, children! Here's Grandma Ford all ready with that bread and +jam for you!" + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" sighed Rose. "I was getting hungry again." + +"So was I," admitted Russ. + +"Now I'm going to finish my riddle," declared Laddie, as he untangled +himself from the robes. + +"And we can begin to hunt for the ghost," whispered Rose to Russ. + +"Yes," he whispered back. + +Mun Bun and Margy were awakened and carried in the house. Oh, how nice +and warm it was after the storm! + +"Have you really got bread and jam?" asked Vi. + +"Yes, indeed, my dear, I have!" laughed Grandma Ford, hugging and +kissing her, and then hugging and kissing, in turn, the other five +little Bunkers. + +"Wait till you hear my riddle," began Laddie. "What kind of a tree would +you like----" + +And just then a loud noise sounded through the house. It was as if a +giant had uttered a deep groan. + +"O-u-g-h-m!" + +Grandpa and Grandma Ford looked at each other. So did Daddy and Mother +Bunker. And Rose leaned over and whispered to Russ: + +"That's the ghost!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE NIGHT NOISE + + +Outside of Great Hedge the wind howled and the snow whirled about in +white flakes. Inside it was warm, light and cosy. But the queer noise +which had sounded, and which had seemed so to startle the grown folk, +came from inside, and not outside. At least that is what Rose and Russ +thought. + +"It's the ghost!" said Rose again. + +"Nonsense!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "What do you children know about +ghosts? There aren't such things. There never has been a ghost and never +will be one. That was the wind." + +"Maybe it was," agreed Russ, who was not quite as ready as his sister +was to think of ghosts. + +"Of course it was!" exclaimed Grandma Ford. "The wind often howls that +way in winter. And now come over where it's warmer, and I'll get you +all some bread and jam. You must be hungry, aren't you?" + +"I am," said Mun Bun. "I went to get some cakes in the depot, and I----" + +"Yes, and he pulled over the whole bowl full and it broke," said Margy, +interrupting Mun Bun's story. "And the man was awful mad!" + +"But we ate the cakes, anyhow," added Mun Bun. "They fell on a paper and +most of 'em were clean. Have you got cakes, Grandma?" + +"Bless your heart! Lots of 'em. But I don't believe cake will be good +for you at night; especially after you've had some, as you did at the +depot. But bread and jam and a glass of milk won't hurt you, and you +shall have that. Do any of the rest of you want anything to eat?" + +"I do!" cried Vi. "Where do you keep your things to eat, Grandma? Have +you got a big pantry?" + +"I guess Vi is afraid you won't have enough," laughed Mrs. Bunker. + +"Oh, I laid in a big stock of food when I heard the six little Bunkers +were coming," said Grandpa Ford. + +Neither Russ nor Rose said anything then about the ghost. But they saw +that their father and Grandpa Ford were talking together in one corner +of the room. + +"Maybe they're talking about that," whispered Rose. + +"Yes," agreed Russ, also in a whisper. "But let's get something to eat, +and then we can hunt by ourselves. You're not afraid, are you, Rose?" + +"No. Are you?" + +"I--I guess not! No, I'm not afraid," and Russ spoke more firmly now. +"It's so nice and light here I'm not a bit afraid," he went on. + +Grandma Ford led the six little Bunkers out to the dining-room, where +the table was already set waiting for them. There seemed to be plenty of +bread and jam on it, and other things, too. + +"Can't I tell my riddle now?" asked Laddie when they were all seated at +the table and had eaten something. "Don't you want to hear it, +Grandma?" + +"Yes, of course I do, my dear. What is it?" + +"What kind of a tree would you rather drive?" asked Laddie. "That's the +riddle. Russ says you can't drive a tree, that you can only climb it or +chop it down, or burn it up." + +"And I said you could sit in the shade of it," added Rose. + +"Well, all of those things can be done to trees," said Grandma Ford with +a smile, as she gave Mun Bun some more bread and jam. "I think I should +like best sitting in the shade of a tree. But what is your riddle, +Laddie?" + +"Oh, you have to guess it!" exclaimed the little fellow. "I ask you the +question and you have to answer it. That's what a riddle is for. Now, I +ask you, what kind of a tree would you rather drive?" + +Grandma Ford thought for a moment, and then said: + +"A dogwood tree if it wouldn't bite." + +"Is there a dogwood tree?" asked Laddie. + +"Yes," answered Grandma Ford. "And very pretty blossoms it has on it, +too. Is that the answer to your riddle?" + +"No'm," answered Laddie. "It's a horse chestnut tree. That's the kind +you'd rather drive, wouldn't you? A _horse_ chestnut!" and he laughed +gleefully. + +"Well, I guess that would be the most proper sort of tree to drive," +said Grandpa Ford, who came in just then with Daddy Bunker. + +"And I'll take my dogwood tree along to run under the wagon that your +horse chestnut is pulling," said Grandma Ford. + + +"What makes some dogs--the kind with black spots on--trot under wagons?" +asked Vi. "Is it so they won't get rained on?" + +"I guess that's as good a reason as any," said her father. + +So the six little Bunkers ate their supper--rather a late one, for the +storm had delayed them--and then they sat about and talked for a while. +Grandma Ford asked the children all about themselves, where they had +been visiting and so on, and they told her about having been to Grandma +Bell's, to Aunt Jo's, and to Cousin Tom's. + +"It was warm while we were at all those places," said Rose. "And now it +is winter." + +"I guess you'd say so if you looked outdoors!" exclaimed Russ, who came +back from having peered from a window. "It's snowing terrible hard." + +"Then we can make lots of snow men!" exclaimed Laddie. "That will be +heaps of fun." + +"You'll have to be well wrapped up when you go out," remarked Grandma +Ford. "It is colder here than it is during the winter at your home, so +put on your coats every time you go out." + +"The place for them to go now is to bed!" said Mrs. Bunker. "Mun Bun and +Margy are asleep in their chairs this very minute, and Vi is almost +asleep. Come, children, off to bed with you!" + +Outside it was darker than ever, and still snowing and blowing hard. But +Grandpa's house at Great Hedge was the nicest place in the world. + +"Did the horses go to bed?" sleepily asked Mun Bun as his mother carried +him up. + +"Yes, they're in bed and asleep long ago. And that's where you will soon +be yourself." + +The children's rooms were close together, some of them sleeping in the +same apartment. And Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had a room down at the end of +the hall, so that they could go to any of the six little Bunkers who +might call in the night. Often one of the four smaller ones wanted a +drink. + +Russ and Laddie had a room together, and so did Rose and Vi, and before +the two older Bunker children went to bed Rose whispered to her brother: + +"Shall we get up and hunt for the ghost when the others are asleep?" + +"I don't guess we'd better do it to-night," he answered. "I'm too +sleepy. Besides we don't know our way around the house in the dark. +We'll wait until to-morrow." + +"All right," agreed Rose. This suited her. She, too, was ready for bed. + +Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford did not, of course, go to bed as early as +did the children. And Mother Bunker was going downstairs to talk to +Grandma Ford as soon as Margy and Mun Bun were sound asleep. + +One after another the six little Bunkers got into bed and, though the +two smallest were asleep almost at once, the others turned and twisted +a little, as almost every one does in a strange bed. But, finally, even +Rose and Russ, in their rooms, were in Slumberland, lulled by the +whistle of the wind and the rattle of the snow against the windows. + +Russ thought it must be the middle of the night when he was suddenly +awakened by a loud noise. It was a banging sound, as though something +heavy had fallen to the floor. Then came a rattle of tin and a splash of +water, and the voice of one of the little Bunkers cried: + +"Oh, I fell in! I fell in! Somebody get me out!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +UP IN THE ATTIC + + +Russ leaped out of bed and ran into the hall, where a light was burning. +The Bunkers always burned one, turned low. + +"Mother! Daddy!" cried Russ. "Come on, quick! The ghost has got one of +us! Come quick!" + +For a moment no one answered his call, and then he heard, from the room +where Mun Bun had been put to sleep, the sound of crying. + +"What's the matter?" asked Russ, trying to make his voice sound brave. +"Are you hurt, Mun Bun? Or Margy?" + +"I--I fell in and I'm all wet," sobbed Mun Bun. + +"Oh, Daddy! Come quick!" fairly shouted Russ. "The ghost pushed Mun Bun +in, and he can't get out!" + +Feet were heard coming upstairs. Then a voice asked: + +"What is the matter? What has happened now, Russ? Are you hurt?" + +"No, Mother!" answered the oldest Bunker boy. "But I guess it's Mun Bun. +It sounds like him, and I guess the ghost has him!" + +"Nonsense! There are no ghosts! Don't cry, Mun Bun," Mrs. Bunker went +on, as she hurried up the stairs. "I'm coming, and so is Daddy Bunker! +You'll be all right." + +"But I'm all wet!" sobbed Mun Bun. "I--I guess I fell in the ocean, and +I can't get out!" + +"You're dreaming that you're back at Cousin Tom's," laughed Mrs. Bunker, +as she turned up the light and went into the room where Mun Bun and +Margy slept. "You're dreaming, and--Oh, you poor little dear!" she +cried, as she saw what had happened. "You have fallen out of bed!" + +And that is just what happened. Mun Bun, being in a strange bed, had +rolled too near one edge, and had fallen out. That was the bumping, +banging noise Russ heard. + +"But what made the splash?" Russ asked as he came in to see his mother +lift Mun Bun from the floor, and put him back in bed. + +"That was when he upset a tin cup of water I had put in a chair near his +bed, so it would be handy when I wanted to give him a drink in the +night," said Mrs. Bunker. "It splashed all over Mun Bun, and that made +him think, I guess, that he had fallen into the water. Did it, Mun Bun?" +she asked. + +"I--I guess so," he murmured. "I thought I fell into the water, 'cause I +was all wet. I didn't like it." + +"I don't blame you," said Mrs. Bunker. "Now I'll put a dry nightgown on +you, and you can go to sleep again. I'll put a chair by the bed so you +won't roll out again, and I'll set the water on the bureau. + +"Now, don't make any more noise, Russ, or Mun Bun, and wake up Margy," +went on Mrs. Bunker. "She is sleeping too nicely to be awakened." Mun +Bun's little sister, though in the same bed with him, had not heard him +fall out, knock over the tin cup of water, and call out that he had +fallen in. She slept through it all. + +Mun Bun was soon dressed in a dry garment, the water on the floor was +mopped up, and the light turned down again. + +Then the six little Bunkers at Great Hedge quieted down and slept all +the way through until morning. + +But that same night, when Mother Bunker went downstairs, after having +put Mun Bun back to bed, she said to her husband and Grandpa and Grandma +Ford: + +"What do you suppose has got into Russ to be talking about a ghost?" + +"Is that what he said?" asked Grandpa Ford. + +"Yes. When he was awakened by Mun's falling out of bed the first thing +he called to me was that the ghost had got Mun. I don't understand where +the children heard anything about such a thing." + +"Nor I," said Daddy Bunker. + +"We mustn't let them get the idea that anything is wrong here at Great +Hedge," went on Grandpa Ford. "It might frighten them, though, of +course, it is nothing like a ghost. I can't imagine where they got the +idea, but we must not speak of it again in front of them. + +"I do wish we could find out what it is that makes such a queer noise. +Your mother and I," he said to Daddy Bunker, "have heard it many times, +and now, the first night you are here, it sounds again." + +"But only once," said Mr. Bunker, "and that may have been the wind, as +we said it was." + +"No, it wasn't the wind," declared Grandpa Ford. "For I have heard the +same moaning sound when there was hardly any wind. The wind has died +down now. It is quieter. I think the storm has stopped, or soon will." + +He went to the window to look out, and, as he did so, there sounded +through the house a deep, dull groan. It seemed to fill many rooms, and +for a moment Daddy and Mother Bunker and Grandpa and Grandma Ford looked +at one another. Then they listened to see if any of the children were +awake. But upstairs all was quiet. + +"There it goes again," said Grandpa Ford. + +"I heard it," answered Daddy Bunker. "I wonder what it could have been?" + +"The wind," said Mrs. Bunker in a low voice. + +"But the wind has stopped blowing," remarked Grandma Ford. + +"Oh, well, we'll find out what it is soon," said Daddy Bunker. "Don't +let it worry you. We came here, Mother dear, to help you hunt for the +queer noise, and that's what we'll do." + +The grown folks listened, but the noise did not sound again, and then, +as it was getting late, they all went to bed. Nothing disturbed them +until morning. + +"Hurray! It's stopped snowing!" cried Russ as he ran to the window and +looked out. "Now we can make a snow man." + +"And a snow fort!" added Laddie. + +"And slide downhill, I hope," said Rose. "I wonder if Grandpa Ford has +any sleds we can take?" + +"He said there were some," declared Vi. "I asked him last night. And +there are skates, too. I asked him that." + +One might depend on Vi to ask the questions. + +"Then we'll have lots of fun!" said Russ. "Come on, now, we'll get our +breakfast and then we can go out and have fun." + +"I want to go out and see where the horses slept," remarked Mun Bun. +"Did any of them fall out of bed, I wonder?" + +"No," said Grandma Ford with a laugh. "Horses have beds that are right +on the floor. They are made of straw, and the horses can't fall out. But +you shall see for yourself. Come, now, while the cakes are hot. And we +have maple syrup to eat on them." + +"Oh, hurray!" cried Russ. "I love buckwheat cakes!" + +And you should have seen the breakfast the six little Bunkers ate! No, +on second thought, perhaps it is just as well you didn't see it, for it +might have made you hungry. But I'll tell you this much: It was a very +good one. + +"Now we'll go out and have some fun!" cried Russ, as they left the +table. "Shall we make a snow man first, or a fort?" + +"A man!" cried Mun Bun. + +"A fort!" called Laddie. + +"Wait just a minute, all of you," said Mother Bunker. "I don't want any +of you to go out just yet." + +"Oh!" + +"Oh, dear!" + +"Oh, Mother!" + +"Why?" + +Thus, one after another, cried some of the six little Bunkers. They were +all much disappointed. + +"Oh, I'm going to let you go out and play in the snow all you like," +said Mother Bunker quickly, "only I want you to wait until I can unpack +your rubber boots and leggings. Then you won't get wet. So just wait an +hour or two. That won't hurt you." + +"And while you are waiting you can play up in the attic," said Grandma +Ford with a smile. "I think you will like it there. Our attic is very +large and there are a number of old-fashioned things in it with which +you may play. The Ripleys left a lot of things behind. There are old +trunks, and they are filled with old clothes that you can dress up in. +There is a spinning wheel and candle-moulds, there are strings of old +sleigh bells. And there are some things that I used to have when I was a +girl. I moved them here from our old home. Don't you think you would +like to play up there?" + +"Oh, of course we would!" cried Rose. "We can take up our dolls!" + +"And have a play-party!" added Violet. + +"And dress up and play go visiting," added Margy. + +"I'm going to make something!" cried Russ, with a jolly whistle. + +"I'll think up some new riddles!" declared Laddie. + +"What are you going to do, Mun Bun?" asked his grandmother, for the +little chap had said nothing as yet, just listening to the others. + +"I--I'm not going to fall out of bed!" he answered, and then he wondered +why all the others laughed. + +"Well, trot up to the attic," said Grandma Ford, "and have all the fun +you want. Don't be afraid of playing with things, for I don't believe +you can hurt them. Then your mother and I will be getting out your +rubber boots, and you may play in the snow this afternoon." + +With whoops and shouts of delight the six little Bunkers trooped up to +the attic. As Grandma Ford had said, it was a large one. It was over +about half the house of Great Hedge Estate, and the house Grandpa Ford +had bought from Mr. Ripley was a big one. + +There were many rooms on the first floor, more on the second and some on +the third. Then came the attic, highest of all, and in this attic were +stored the things thought to be of no use any more. + +As Great Hedge was in the country, though not many miles outside the +city of Tarrington, there were country things in the attic, such as a +spinning wheel, two of them, in fact, candlesticks, candle-moulds and so +on. You all know that a candlestick is something in which to stick a +candle so one may carry it around. In the olden days, before we had +electric lights, gas or even kerosene lamps, the people used to read and +work by means of candles. + +A candle is a stick of tallow, wax or something like that, with a +string, or wick, in the middle, just as rock candy has a string in the +middle. Only you light the string in a candle, and you throw away the +string in a stick of rock candy. + +Candle-moulds are tin tubes, just the shape of candles, and into these +tubes was poured the melted wax or tallow to make the light-givers. + +Up into the attic tramped the six little Bunkers. From the windows, high +up, they could look across the snow-covered fields. They could see the +trees, now bare of leaves, and the great black hedge around Grandpa +Ford's house. The big chimney of the house was hot and that kept the +attic fairly warm. + +"You wouldn't think a ghost could get in, would you?" asked Rose of Russ +in a low voice. + +"Maybe it was here already," suggested Russ. "An attic is a good place +for ghosts. Let's look for one here." + +"But don't let the others know," cautioned Rose, motioning to Mun Bun +and Margy, Laddie and Vi. + +"No," agreed Russ. + +He and his sister began to look about the big attic. As Grandma Ford had +said, there were many things with which to play and have fun. + +"Oh, Russ!" cried Laddie. "Here are two spinning wheels. Couldn't you +make something of them--a steamboat or an auto or something?" + +"Yes, I guess I could," agreed Russ. "Let's see if they turn around +easy." + +He and Laddie were trying the spinning wheels, whirling them around, +when there came a sudden cry from Margy. They turned to see her standing +in one corner of the big attic, and, the next moment, she seemed to +vanish from sight, as if she had fallen down some big hole. + +"Oh, Margy! Margy!" cried Rose. "Where are you?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE OLD SPINNING WHEEL + + +For a moment there was no answer to the cry Rose gave when she saw her +sister disappear from sight. The other children, frightened by Rose's +scream, gathered about. + +"What's the matter?" asked Russ, who was whirling one of the spinning +wheels, while Laddie spun the other. + +"Margy's gone!" exclaimed Rose. "She's gone, and maybe----" + +"Where'd she go?" asked Russ. "Come on, Laddie, we'll find her." + +Before Rose could answer Margy spoke for herself by uttering loud cries +and sobs. They seemed to come from a dark hole in the attic, but the +little girl herself could not be seen by her brothers and sisters. + +"Oh, get me out! Get me out!" screamed Margy. "I don't like it here! +It's dark!" + +The five little Bunkers were puzzled. It was worse than some of Laddie's +riddles. They could hear Margy, but they could not see her. She had gone +into a dark corner and that seemed to be the last of her. + +"Oh, what shall we do?" asked Rose. + +"We better go for Daddy or Mother or Grandpa," said Russ. + +"I'll go," offered Laddie. + +But there was no need, for just then up the attic stairs came Mrs. +Bunker and Grandma Ford. They knew right away that something was the +matter. + +"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"Margy's gone, and we can't find her, but we can hear her," explained +Rose. + +She need not have said the last, for Margy was still screaming: + +"I want to get out! Take me out! It's terrible dark here!" + +"Oh, the poor child's in the nut cubby-hole!" cried Grandma Ford. "Of +course it's dark there! Wait a minute, my dear, and I'll get you out," +she said. + +Grandma Ford quickly crossed the attic. Then she stooped over in the +dark corner, reached down, and lifted something up and there +was--Margy! + +The little girl was carried into the light, crying and sobbing; but, as +soon as she found out there was nothing the matter with her, and that +she was with her mother and grandmother and brothers and sisters, she +stopped crying. + +"What happened to you, Margy?" asked Russ. + +"I--I don't know," she answered. "I just slipped like once when I rolled +downhill." + +"She fell into the nut cubby-hole," explained Grandma Ford. "There are +many nut trees on Great Hedge Estate, and the Ripley family used to +gather the nuts and store them here in the attic to dry. But the rats +and mice used to take a great many of the nuts, so they built a sort of +big box down in a hole in the floor. The hole was there anyhow, being +part of the attic. But it was lined with tin, so the mice could not gnaw +through, and the nuts were stored in it. + +"I meant to tell you children to look out for it, as it is like a hole +in the floor, though it is not very deep, and one end slopes down, like +a hill, so you slide into it instead of falling. + +"But I forgot about it, and I forgot that the cover has been off the nut +cubby-hole for some time. So Margy, walking in the dark corner, slid +into this hole." + +"That's what I did," said the little girl. "I slid just like going +downhill." + +"That's why she disappeared so suddenly," went on Grandma Ford. "The +tin, being smooth, didn't hurt her a bit, as she slid. And it is very +dark in there. But after this I'll keep the cover on, so no more of my +little Bunkers will get into trouble." + +By the gleam of a candle which she lighted, Grandma Ford showed the +children the nut cubby-hole into which Margy had fallen. Then the cover +was put on so there was no more danger. + +"And now you may go out and play in the snow," said Mrs. Bunker. "I have +unpacked your rubber boots and old, warm coats, so run out and have some +fun." + +Laughing, shouting, and whooping, the six little Bunkers ran out to +play. It was their first sight of Great Hedge in winter by daylight, +and Russ and Rose paused for a moment after getting out of doors to look +at the big house, on all sides of which was the tall hedge. + +"It's a terribly big house," said Russ to his sister as they tramped on +through the white snow. "I wonder what part the ghost lives in, don't +you?" + +"I thought he was up in the attic, and took Margy," said Rose. + +"So did I, at first," admitted Russ. "But I don't guess he stays there. +I guess the ghost lives down cellar. We'll hunt for him after a while, +and Grandpa Ford will be glad we found him." + +But it was now such a fine, sunny day outside, after the storm, that the +six little Bunkers thought of nothing but having fun. They raced about +in the snow, threw soft balls of it at one another, and then went out to +the barn. + +Dick, the hired man, was there feeding the horses, and the children saw +the animals that had pulled them over the snow from the railroad station +the night before. + +There were several small sleds in the barn--some that Grandma Ford had +bought when it was decided that the six little Bunkers would visit Great +Hedge Estate--and they were just the proper toys for the six little +children. Soon they were coasting down a small hill which Dick showed +them and also helped trample down smooth for them. For snow on a hill +has to be packed hard and made smooth before one can coast well. + +"Let's have a race!" cried Russ, as he and Laddie had their turn riding +down the slope. + +"All right, I can beat you!" Laddie shouted. And he would have done so, +too, only he guided wrong, and his sled went into a bank of snow, +upsetting and tumbling him off. + +"But I like it!" he shouted as he got up and shook the snow from him. + +"When are you going to make the snow man?" asked Vi. "I want to see a +snow man. And are you going to put a phonograph inside him, Russ, and +make him talk?" + +"I am if I can find a phonograph little enough," said Russ. + +But Russ did not wait for that. With Laddie to help him, he rolled two +or three balls of snow. It was soft, for the sun was now warm, and the +snow packed well. The snowballs were put together, and thus the snow man +was started. The six little Bunkers then made arms and legs for him, +stuck pieces of coal in for buttons on his coat and for his eyes and +nose and mouth, and then Dick gave them an old hat to put on the snow +man's head. + +"Now he won't catch cold," said Dick, when the hat had been stuck on. + +"Could he catch cold?" asked Vi. "I don't see how he could, 'cause he's +cold already. He makes my hands cold," and she showed her little red +fingers. + +"Well, if you hear him sneeze come in and tell me," said Dick with a +smile. "If a snow man sneezes that's a sure sign he's catching cold. So +listen if you hear this one go 'a-ker-choo!' That means we'll have to +get the doctor." + +"I guess that's only a joke, like some of Laddie's riddles," remarked +Russ, when Dick had gone back to the barn. + +"I'm going to make up a riddle about a snow man, but I haven't got it +thought out yet," said Laddie. "Come on, Russ, let's make a snow fort." + +The snow man being finished, the two older Bunker boys let the smaller +children play with it, and throw snowballs at it, trying to knock off +the old hat, and Laddie and Russ started work on the fort. + +They had great fun at this, and made quite a big fort, getting inside it +and throwing snowballs at a make-believe enemy on the outside. + +All that day and the next the six little Bunkers played around Great +Hedge, having fun in the snow. Sometimes Mother and Grandma came out to +watch them. Grandpa Ford and Daddy Bunker went to town in a cutter, with +the merry jingling bells _on_ the horse, and Daddy went home for a week +on business. + +Nothing more was said about the ghost for several days, and even Russ +and Rose seemed to forget there was such a make-believe chap. They +coasted downhill, played, and had fun in the snow and were very glad +indeed that they had come to Grandpa Ford's. + +Then, about a week after their arrival, there came a cold, blustery day +when it was not nice to be out. + +"Let's go up to the attic and make something with the old spinning +wheels," said Russ to Laddie. "Maybe we can make an airship." + +"All right," agreed Laddie. "Only we won't sail up very high in 'em, +'cause we might fall down." + +Rose was out in the kitchen, watching Grandma Ford make an apple pie, +and Rose was singing away, for she was trying to make a pie also--a +little one with pieces left over from her grandmother's crust. + +Up to the attic went Russ and Laddie, and Mun Bun followed them. + +"I want to come and watch you," he said, shaking his pretty, bobbed hair +around his head. + +"Shall we let him?" asked Laddie. + +"Oh, yes, he can watch us," said Russ, who was always kind to his little +brother. + +Grandma Ford had said the boys could play with the spinning wheels if +they did not break them, and this Russ and Laddie took care not to do. + +"First we must make 'em so both wheels will turn around together at the +same time alike," said Russ. + +"How are you going to do that?" Laddie asked, while Mun Bun sat down in +a corner near the big chimney to watch. + +"Well, we'll put a belt on 'em, same as the belt on mother's +sewing-machine. Don't you know? That has a round leather belt on the big +wheel, and when you turn the big wheel the little wheel goes. Same as on +our tricycle, only there are chains on those." + +"Oh, yes, I know," said Laddie. + +They found some string and made a belt of it, putting it around each of +the two big spinning wheels. Then, by turning one, the other, at some +distance away, could be made to go around. + +"This is just like an airship!" cried Laddie. "We'll make believe this +is the engine, and we'll go up in it." + +This the boys did, even pretending to take Mun Bun up on one trip. Then +they played other games with the spinning wheels, making believe they +worked in a big factory, and things like that. + +By this time Laddie and Russ had forgotten about Mun Bun, and the little +fellow had wandered off by himself to the place in the attic where the +strings of sleigh bells hung. He had fun jingling these. Then Russ and +Laddie found something else with which to play. These were the +candle-moulds. Leaving the spinning wheels, with a number of strings and +cords still fast to them, the two older boys began to make believe they +were soldiers with the candle-moulds for guns. + +"I'll be a soldier and you can be an Indian," said Russ to Laddie. "I +must live in a log cabin, and you must come in the night and try to get +me, and I wake up and yell 'Bang! Bang!' That means you're shot." + +"All right, and then I must shoot you, after a while." + +"Sure, we'll play that way." + +So they did, and had fun. They aimed at one another with the candlestick +moulds and shouted so many "bangs!" that the attic echoed with the +noise. + +Then, suddenly, as they stopped a moment for breath, they heard the +voice of Mun Bun crying: + +"Oh, stop pulling my hair! Stop pulling my hair! Oh, it hurts!" + +Russ and Laddie looked at one another in surprise. Neither of them was +near Mun Bun, and yet they could see the little fellow standing close to +one of the spinning wheels, and his golden hair stuck straight out +behind him, just as if an unseen hand had hold of it and was pulling it +hard. + +"Oh, stop! Stop! You hurt!" sobbed Mun Bun. "Let go my hair!" + +But who had hold of it? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +COASTING FUN + + +Russ and Laddie said, afterward, that they were much frightened at what +happened. They were really more frightened than was Mun Bun, for he was +not so much frightened as he was hurt. He thought some one had crept up +behind him and was pulling his hair, as often happened when some of the +six little Bunkers were not as good as they should be. + +"Let go my hair! Stop pulling!" cried Mun Bun. + +"We're not touching you," said Laddie. + +"Is any one there?" asked Russ, looking to see if any one stood back of +his brother. + +But he could look right through the spokes of the spinning wheel, near +which Mun Bun was standing, and see no one except his little brother. +And the bobbed, golden hair of Mun Bun still stuck straight out behind +him, as stiff as if the wind were blowing it, or as if some one had +hold of it. + +"Make 'em stop pulling my hair!" begged Mun Bun again. And then, as he +moved a little to one side, Laddie saw the spinning wheel turn and he +cried: + +"I know what it is!" + +"What?" asked Russ. "Do you see 'em? Is it Margy or Vi?" + +"Neither one," answered Laddie. "It isn't anybody." + +"Nobody pulling Mun Bun's hair?" asked Russ. "Then what's he hollering +for?" + +"'Cause the spinning wheel's pulling it. Look! He's caught in one of the +spinning wheels, and his leg is tangled in one of the string belts we +left on, and he made the wheel go around himself." + +Russ dropped his candle-mould gun and ran over to his little brother. +Surely enough it had happened just as Laddie had said. + +The golden hair of the little boy had become tangled in the slender +spokes of the spinning wheel, some of which were a bit splintery. + +As I told you, when Russ and Laddie finished making believe the wheels +were an airship, they left some strings on them. By pulling on these +strings the spinning wheels could be made to go around. And that was +what Mun Bun had done, though he did not know it. + +At first he did not feel it when, leaning up against one of the wheels, +his hair got caught. Then his legs became entangled in one of the +strings, and, as he stepped out, he pulled on the string and the wheel +began to spin. + +Of course that stretched his hair tightly, and it felt exactly as if +some one were pulling it, which was the case. Only it was the spinning +wheel, and not a ghost or any person. + +All ghost stories will turn out that way if you wait long enough. Every +time it is something real which makes the funny noises or does the funny +things. For there are no ghosts. + +"Wait a minute, Mun Bun, and I'll fix you!" cried Russ. "Stand still. +The more you move the more you pull your own hair." + +"I'm not pulling my hair," said Mun Bun. "Somebody behind me is pulling +it." + +"It's the spinning wheel," said Laddie with a laugh. + +Then, when they had untangled Mun Bun's hair, they showed him how it all +had happened. He had really pulled his own hair. Of course, he was not +hurt very much, for only a little of his hair had stuck to the wheel. + +"I can make a riddle up about this," said Laddie when Mun Bun was free +once more. + +"How?" asked Russ. + +"Oh, I don't know just yet, but it'll be something about how can you +pull your own hair and not pull it. And the answer will be a spinning +wheel." + +"Can I make the spinning wheels go 'round?" asked Mun Bun, who wanted to +have some fun after his trouble. + +"Yes, you can play with 'em," agreed Russ. "That is, with one of 'em. +I'm going to take the other and make it ring the sleigh bells." + +"How can you?" asked Laddie. + +"I'll show you," answered Russ. + +He took the strings off one wheel, letting Mun Bun play with that, and +then tied more strings on the second wheel. He also fastened a string +of bells on the wheel, and then, standing in a far corner of the attic, +and pulling on the string of jingling bells, Russ could make them tinkle +and ring. + +"This is fun!" cried Laddie, and he and his brother enjoyed themselves +very much, and so did Mun Bun. The attic was a great place to have jolly +times. + +"And I don't believe there's any ghost up there, either," said Russ to +Rose that night. "First I thought it might be him pulling Mun Bun's +hair, but it wasn't. There's no ghost there." + +"I'm glad of it," said Rose. + +The weather became somewhat warmer again, and the six little Bunkers +could play out in the snow. The hill back of the barn was worn smoother +and smoother, and it made a fine place for coasting. + +"Let's take our dolls out and give them a ride," said Vi to Rose one +day. "They haven't had a sleigh ride for a long while." + +"Yes, we'll give 'em a ride," agreed Rose. + +"My doll wants a ride, too," said Margy. + +Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun were making another snow-man, which was to be a +regular "giant," so the girls had the coasting hill to themselves. They +took two sleds, for Vi wanted to go by herself. But Margy was almost too +little for this. + +"You shall ride down with sister," promised Rose. "I'll take care of +you." + +"And I can hold my doll, can't I?" asked Margy. + +"Oh, yes," agreed Rose. + +They had brought to Great Hedge with them the Japanese dolls that had +come ashore in the box on the beach at Cousin Tom's, and these the three +girls took out with them to coast downhill. They had made new clothes +for the dolls, as the Japanese dresses were hardly warm enough for the +cold weather at Grandpa Ford's. + +Reaching the hill, Vi took her place on her sled, holding her doll in +her lap, and then, holding to the sled rope, she began pushing herself +to the edge of the slope, at the same time calling: + +"Gid-ap! Gid-ap!" + +"You don't say 'gid-ap' to a sled," objected Rose. "That's only for a +horse when you want it to go." + +"Well, I want my sled to go, and that's the same thing," declared Vi. +"Why can't I say it if I want to? Gid-ap!" she went on, not waiting for +an answer to her question. Very often Vi asked questions to which there +was no answer. + +"Come on, I want a ride like Vi!" exclaimed Margy. + +"All right, you shall have it," answered Rose. "And you may say 'gid-ap' +to our sled, too, if you like." + +"All right--gid-ap!" cried Margy, and then Rose pushed the sled on which +she and her little sister sat to the edge of the hill, and down they +coasted. + +The three little Bunker girls had great fun on the hill. Now and then +Dick, who was working around the barn, would come out to watch them. + +"Don't you want a ride?" asked Rose, for a few days before Dick had let +her sit on the back of one of Grandpa's horses, and had ridden her +around the big barn. + +"Oh, I'm afraid my legs are too long for those sleds," laughed the hired +man. "I'll have to get a bigger one." + +"You can hold my doll if you want to," offered Vi. "I'm going to coast +like the boys do, and I can't hold her." + +"Well, you had better leave your doll in the barn," said Dick. "I might +lose her if I took her." + +Vi stretched out face downward on the sled, to ride "boy fashion," and, +of course, she couldn't hold her doll that way. So she left the toy in a +warm place in the hay in the barn. + +Rose, Vi and Margy had great sport coasting on the hill, and they were +thinking of going in and getting some of Grandma Ford's good bread and +jam when Margy cried: + +"Oh, my doll! Where's my doll? She's gone. She went sliding downhill +all by herself, and now she's gone! Oh, dear!" And Margy began to cry. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +JINGLING BELLS + + +Dick came running out of the barn. + +"What's the matter?" he asked. "Are any of you hurt?" + +But as soon as he asked that he could see that none of the three little +Bunker girls was hurt, for they all stood on the hill beside the two +sleds. + +"What's the matter?" asked Dick again, for he could see that Margy was +crying, and crying hard. + +"She's lost her doll," explained Rose. "I guess it dropped in the snow. +Could you find it for her? It's a Japanese doll, and we got her out of +the ocean." + +"Out of the ocean!" exclaimed Dick. "Well, if you got her out of the +ocean I suppose I can get her out of a snow bank. For I guess that's +where your doll is now, Margy. Don't cry! I'll try to find her." + +Dick loved children, and, as it was rather lonesome at Great Hedge, he +was very glad the six little Bunkers had come with their father and +mother to stay until Spring. + +"Where did you lose your doll, Margy?" asked Dick, stooping down and +leaning over the little girl, who was crying so hard now that she could +hardly see on account of her tears. + +"Oh, I--I--don't know," she sobbed. "I--I had her in my arms, and I was +giving her a nice ride and, all of a sudden, I didn't have her any +m-more." + +"I guess she slipped out when you went over a bump, or something like +that," said Dick. "But, as I said, if you found her in the ocean, I +guess we can find her when she's only in a snow bank. I never saw the +ocean. Is it very big?" + +"Terrible big," answered Rose. "We were down at Cousin Tom's, and a box +was washed up on shore and some Japanese dolls were in it. We each have +one--all except Russ and Laddie, 'cause they're too big to play with +dolls. But now Margy's is lost. But we've two more home, Margy, 'cause +there were half a dozen in the box, and you can have one of them." + +"Don't want them!" exclaimed Margy. "I want my own doll that I had on +the sled. Where is she?" And Margy cried harder than ever. + +"We'll look," said Dick. + +He went into the barn and came out again with a big wooden rake. In +summer the rake was used to clean the lawn. But now it was to be used in +the snow. + +"You little girls go up to the top of the hill and sit down on your +sleds," said Dick. "Or, better still, go into the barn, like the robin +in the song, and keep warm. Then I'll look for your doll, Margy." + +Then, with the long, wooden rake the man began "combing," as Vi called +it, the snow along the hill. There was no need to look in the middle, +where the sleds slid down, for there the snow was packed hard, and +anything, even smaller than a good-sized Japanese doll, could be seen +easily. But Dick raked on each side in the soft snow. + +Pretty soon he cried: + +"Hurray!" + +"Did you find it?" asked Vi. + +"Yes, this time I have it!" replied Dick, and he held up to view Margy's +lost doll. She had fallen into the soft snow, and was not hurt a bit. + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Margy. + +After the snow had been brushed off the Japanese doll, Margy hugged her +close in her arms. + +"I'm never, never, never going to lose you again!" cried the little +girl. + +"And we're much obliged to you for finding her," said Rose to Dick. + +"Oh, yes, I forgot. Mother said I was always to say thank you, and I +do!" exclaimed Margy. "I could give you a kiss, too, if you wanted it," +she went on, "and so could my doll." + +"Well, I'd rather have one from you," laughed Dick. "But I haven't +shaved to-day, and my face is rather whiskery." + +"My father's face is like that lots of times--I don't mind," said Margy, +so she kissed Dick and was very happy. + +Then, after some more coasting, during which time the dolls were left in +the barn, the three little Bunker girls went back to the house. + +"Ready for bread and jam?" asked Grandma Ford. "That was always what I +used to want when I came in out of the cold, and I think you want the +same.". + +"Yes, please, we do," said Rose. + +"Oh, yes, please!" added Vi. + +"I lost my doll," said Margy, "but Dick raked her up and I did give him +a kiss." + +"That was nice!" laughed Grandma Ford. + +As she was spreading the bread and jam for Rose, Margy and Vi, in came +Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun, leaving, of course, the snow man outside. And +you can easily guess what the boys wanted. + +Bread and jam! + +That's just it, and you may go to the head of the class. I wish I had +some bread and jam to give you for guessing right, but I haven't. + +The next day when Daddy Bunker, who had come back from business, and +Grandpa Ford went out to the barn to look at one of the horses that had +a cold, Russ and Laddie followed. On the way they passed a small house, +or pen, such as chickens are kept in, and from it came a loud: + +"Gobble-obble-obble!" + +"What's that?" asked Mun Bun. "Is it a hand-organ monkey?" + +"Oh, no!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "That's our prize turkey, and do you +know what he says?" + +"Did he say anything?" asked Russ. + +"Oh, indeed he did!" said Grandpa Ford with a laugh. "You see I +understand turkey talk, and this bird just said: 'Thanksgiving is +coming, and then I'll be gobbled-obbled-obbled!' That's what he said, +and it's going to come true. That's going to be part of our Thanksgiving +day dinner." + +"I like turkey," said Russ. "Is Thanksgiving coming soon?" + +"Next week," his father told him. "You want to get up good appetites +between now and then." + +"I'm hungry now," said Laddie, though how he could be, having only had +breakfast a little while before, I don't know. But lots of children are +that way. + +There was plenty to see and do around Great Hedge Estate, and after the +six little Bunkers had peeped in at the big Thanksgiving turkey, they +played around the barn a bit and then romped in the snow. + +In the afternoon Grandpa Ford hitched a team of horses to a big +sled--the same one that had brought them from the station--and took them +all for a long ride, the bells merrily jingling all the way. They +stopped in the city of Tarrington on the way home, and bought some +things Grandma Ford wanted for the Thanksgiving dinner. + +Coming home in the afternoon, the children went up to the attic to play +again, taking some apples with them to have a play party. + +"Oh, Grandpa Ford's is just a lovely place!" exclaimed Rose that night +as she and the others were going to bed. + +"And we didn't hear any more funny ghost noises," said Russ in a low +voice. "I guess the ghost has gone, Rose." + +"I guess so, too. I didn't hear Daddy or Mother or Grandpa or Grandma +say any more about it." + +That night Mun Bun awakened, and called to his mother to give him a +drink of water. As it happened Rose and Russ were also awake, and Margy, +hearing her brother ask for water, wanted some, too. So there were +several of the Bunkers awake at once. + +Just as Mrs. Bunker was giving Mun Bun his drink, there suddenly sounded +through the dim and silent house the loud ringing of a string of sleigh +bells. + +"What's that?" called Grandma Ford from across the hall. "Is some one +stopping out in front?" + +"I'll look," said Grandpa Ford. It was bright moonlight, and he could +see plainly. "No one there," he said. + +The bells jingled again, more loudly. + +"They're up in the attic!" cried Russ. "Some one is ringing the bells in +the attic!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THANKSGIVING FUN + + +By this time it seemed as if every one in Grandpa Ford's house at Great +Hedge was awake. Even Mun Bun and Margy sat up in bed, after having had +their drinks, and listened. + +"There certainly are bells jingling," said Mother Bunker. + +"And they are in this house, too," added Grandma Ford, as she came out +in the dimly-lighted hall, wearing a dark dressing-gown. "I thought, at +first, it might be a sleigh-riding party out in front. Often they stop +to ask their way." + +"No sleighs out in front that I can see," remarked Grandpa Ford. "Where +do the bells seem to you to be?" he asked Daddy Bunker. + +"Up in the attic!" called Russ from his room. "That's where they +sound." + +"I believe he is right," said Grandma Ford. "I have a good ear for +sound, and that jingling is certainly up in the attic. Father, you'd +better take a look." + +"Aren't you--aren't you afraid?" asked Rose, rather hesitating over the +words. + +"Afraid of what?" inquired Grandpa Ford. + +"Well, it's so dark up in the attic," went on Rose, and Russ, hearing +what she said, knew what she meant. It was the ghost Rose was thinking +of, and not the dark. + +"I can take a light," said Grandpa Ford. "Then it won't be dark. But you +mustn't be afraid in the dark. It can't hurt any one." + +Just then the bells gave a very loud jingle, just as if some one had +hold of the string and was shaking it hard. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Rose. + +"I'm goin' to sleep!" announced Mun Bun, and he covered his head with +the bedclothes. + +"So'm I," said Margy, and she did as her little brother had done, +snuggling under the covers. + +Rose and Russ heard their father ask Grandpa Ford: + +"Did this ever happen before?" + +"No," answered Grandpa Ford. "We have heard many strange noises at Great +Hedge, noises we thought were caused by--well, you know what I mean," +and he nodded at Mr. Bunker to show that he did not want to use the word +"ghost." + +Of course, Russ and Rose, being in bed in different rooms, could not see +this nod, but they guessed what Grandpa Ford meant. + +"Well, we'd better go up and see what it is," said Daddy Bunker. "We +can't sleep with all that jingling going on," and even as he spoke the +bells rang out again. + +"I'll get a light," said Grandpa Ford. "A lantern will be best. There is +always more or less breeze up in the attic, and a candle or lamp might +blow out. Come on." + +Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford went up into the attic, while the six +little Bunkers, two of them with their heads under the covers, waited to +hear what would happen. So did Mother Bunker and Grandma Ford. + +The two men were heard tramping around in the attic, and then, suddenly, +just as the bells gave another jingle, there was a loud laugh. + +"There! It's all right," said Mother Bunker. "They've found +the--the--whatever it was," she said quickly. "And it must be funny, for +hear them laugh." + +Down came Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford. Grandpa Ford carried the +lantern, and Daddy Bunker had something in his hand. + +"Here's what caused all the trouble!" he said, and he held out something +round and red. + +"An apple!" cried Russ, who had come out in the hall to see. + +"Just an apple," went on Daddy Bunker. "This apple made all the noise, +or, rather, was the cause of the bells jingling." + +"How could an apple make bells jingle?" asked Laddie. "Is that a riddle, +Daddy?" + +"Well, almost, you might say. This is how it happened. When Grandpa Ford +and I got up to the attic, we saw the string of sleigh bells hanging +from a nail, where you children must have left them when you last played +with them. But we couldn't see any one near them who might have rung +them, and there was no one in the attic, as far as we knew. + +"Then, even as we stood there, waiting and looking about, I saw the +string of bells move, and then they jingled, and, looking down on the +floor, I saw a big rat trying to carry this apple away in his mouth." + +"Oh, Daddy!" cried Rose, "how could a rat carrying an apple away in his +mouth, make the bells ring?" + +"Easily enough," her father answered. "The apple was tied on a string, +as I suppose some of you children left it when you got through playing +this afternoon. And the other end of the cord was tied to the string of +bells. That was also more of your play, I suppose. + +"The rat came out of his hole in the attic, smelled the apple on the +floor, and tried to drag it into his cupboard. But the string held it +fast, and as the rat pulled and tugged he made the sleigh bells jingle; +for every time he pulled the apple he pulled the string, and every time +he pulled the string he pulled the bells." + +"And is that all there was?" asked Grandma Ford. + +"All there was," answered Grandpa Ford. "Just a rat trying to have a +nice apple supper made the bells ring." + +"Well, I'm glad I know what it was," said Mother Bunker. "If I hear a +noise in the night I like to know what it is and where it comes from. +Now I can go back to sleep." + +"So can I," said Rose. + +And the other little Bunkers said the same thing. As for Mun Bun and +Margy, as soon as they heard that everything was all right they +uncovered their heads and went to sleep before any one else. + +"Well, well! To think what a little thing can puzzle every one," said +Grandpa Ford to Daddy Bunker, as the grown folks went back to their +rooms. "Maybe we'll find that the other noises are made just as simply +as this one was." + +"Maybe," agreed Daddy Bunker. "But of late we haven't heard that +groaning noise much, and maybe we shall not again." + +"I hope not," said Mother Bunker. + +The grown folks did not know that, half asleep as they were even then, +Russ and Rose heard this talk. And the two older Bunker children made up +their minds to find the ghost--if there was one--or whatever sounded +like one. + +The next day the children all went up to the attic and saw the string +where one of them had left it tied to the bells. Daddy Bunker had taken +off the apple. + +"I wish we could see the rat!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"I don't," said Rose. "I don't like rats." + +"I guess I've a riddle about a rat," said Laddie after a pause. + +"What is it?" asked Russ. "I can guess it, easy." + +"No, you can't!" declared his brother. + +"I can so!" + +"You can not!" + +"Well, let's hear it," demanded Russ. + +"It's when is a rat not a rat?" asked Laddie. "That's the riddle. When +is a rat not a rat?" + +"It's always a rat," said Rose. + +"Do you mean when a cat is after him?" asked Russ, trying to guess the +riddle. + +"No," answered Laddie. "That isn't it. I'll give you another guess." + +Russ tried to think of several other reasons why a rat was sometimes +not a rat, but at last he gave up. + +"This is it," said Laddie. "A rat isn't a rat when he's a bell-ringer; +like the one in the attic was last night." + +"Yes, that's a pretty good riddle," agreed Russ, after a bit. "Some day +I'm going to make a riddle. Now I'm going to make snowshoes." + +"How do you make them?" asked Laddie. + +Russ was going to tell his brother, and take him out to the barn to show +him, when Mother Bunker called up: + +"Who wants to go for a ride with Grandpa?" + +"I do! I! Take me! I want to go!" came in a chorus. + +"Well, he has room for all of you, so come along. He's going to +Tarrington to get some friends to come out to the Thanksgiving dinner, +and you six may all go along," said Mother Bunker. + +So the six little Bunkers had another fine sleigh ride, and came back to +Great Hedge with fine appetites. They also brought back in the sled with +them Mr. and Mrs. Burton, old friends of Grandpa Ford, who generally +spent the Thanksgiving holiday with him. + +For the next few days there were so many things going on at Great Hedge +that if I only told about them I'd fill this book. But, as I have other +happenings to relate to you, and the ghost to tell about, I will just +skip over this part by saying that every one, even down to Mun Bun, +helped get ready for the Thanksgiving dinner. + +Such goings-on as there were in Grandma Ford's kitchen! Such delicious +smells of cake and pie and pudding! Such baking, roasting, boiling, +frying and stewing! Such heaps of good things in the pantry! + +And then the dinner! The big roast turkey, and celery, and a big dish of +red cranberries, and other good things! + +"I got the wish-bone!" cried Rose, as she finished her plate. + +"Let me help pull it with you, when it gets dry!" begged Russ, and then, +in a whisper, he said: "If I get the wish I'll wish we could find the +ghost." + +"So'll I," said Rose. + +After dinner the children played games in the house, as it blew up cold +and blustery and was not nice to go out in the snow. Rose had put the +wish-bone over the kitchen stove to dry, and, late in the afternoon, she +and Russ went out to get it to break, and wish over it. The one who held +the larger part could make a wish. + +"Snap!" went the wish-bone. + +"Oh, I have it!" cried Rose. "I'm going to wish!" + +And just then, all of a sudden, a loud, hollow groan sounded throughout +the house. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +RUSS MAKES SNOWSHOES + + +"There it goes! There it goes again!" cried Rose, and, forgetting all +about having gotten the larger end of the bone, so that she had the +right to make a wish, she dropped it and ran toward the sitting-room. + +The rest of the six little Bunkers and the father and mother, with +Grandma and Grandpa Ford and their guests, were gathered in the +sitting-room after the Thanksgiving dinner. + +There was no doubt that they all heard the noise. It was so loud, and it +sounded through the whole house in such a way that every one heard it. +Only Mun Bun and Margy and Violet and Laddie did not pay much heed to +it. They were playing a game in one corner of the room. + +"Did you hear it?" asked Russ, as Rose ran over and crouched down +beside her mother. + +"I heard a noise, yes," answered Mrs. Bunker quietly. + +"We all heard it--and there it goes again!" exclaimed Grandpa Ford. + +"O-u-g-h-m!" came the awful sound. + +"It's the wind," said Grandma Ford. + +"The wind isn't blowing," said Daddy Bunker. "It must be something else. +There is no wind." + +There was a little, but not enough to blow the snow about. It had been +blustery--so cold and blowy, in fact, that the six little Bunkers could +not go out to play. But now the sun had gone down, and, as often +happens, the wind died down with it. The night was going to be still and +cold. + +"No, I don't believe it was the wind," said Grandpa Ford. "It's the same +noise we heard before. We must try to find out what it is, Charles," and +he turned to Daddy Bunker. + +"It's the ghost! That's what it is!" exclaimed Russ. "We tried to find +it, Rose and I did--but we couldn't. It's the ghost!" + +"Nonsense! What do you know about ghosts?" said Mother Bunker, and she +tried to laugh, but it did not sound very jolly. "There aren't any such +things as ghosts," she went on. + +"Well, I got the big end of the wish-bone," said Rose, "and I was just +going to wish that I'd find the ghost when, all of a sudden, I heard +it!" + +"Now see here, you two!" exclaimed Daddy Bunker, speaking to Russ and +Rose, while Laddie and Vi, with Mun Bun and Margy, were still at their +game. "You mustn't be talking about such things as ghosts. There isn't +any such thing, and you may scare the younger children." + +"How did you hear about a ghost at Great Hedge?" asked Grandpa Ford +curiously. + +Russ and Rose looked at each other. The time had come to tell of their +listening under the window, and they felt a little ashamed of it. But +they had been taught to tell the truth, no matter how much it hurt, and +they must do it now. + +"How did you know about a ghost?" asked Mother Bunker. + +"We--we heard you and Grandpa Ford talking about it--the time he came +to our house," confessed Russ. He felt that he, being the oldest, must +speak first. + +"We listened under the window," added Rose. She wanted to do her share +of the telling. + +"That was very wrong to do," said her mother. "But, of course, I know +you didn't mean to do wrong. Still, as it happened, no great harm was +done, but you should have told me about it at the time. It was not right +to be so mysterious about it, nor to have it as a secret. You two +children are too small to have secrets away from Father and Mother, +unless they are little ones, like birthday surprises and the like. Now, +don't listen under windows again." + +"We won't," promised Russ and Rose, who then told the whole story. + +"But is there a ghost?" asked Russ, as the strange noise sounded again. + +"No, of course not," said Daddy Bunker. "But, since you have heard part +of the story, you may as well hear all of it." + +Seeing that the four smaller children were busy at their play, and would +not listen to what he said, Daddy Bunker drew Russ and Rose up on his +lap and began: + +"You remember when Grandpa Ford came to see us, he said he wanted to +take us back with him, and, if we could, have us help him find out +something queer about Great Hedge, which he had bought from Mr. Ripley. +The 'something queer' was that, every now and then, noises, such as you +heard just now, sound through the house. Grandpa Ford and Grandma Ford +couldn't find out where they came from, and neither Mr. Ripley nor his +daughter knew what made them. + +"Of course," went on Daddy Bunker, "some people, when they hear a +strange sound or see a strange sight, think it is a ghost. But there is +no such thing." + +"We thought it was a ghost made Mun Bun's hair stick out and be pulled," +confessed Rose, "but it was only the spinning wheel." + +"Now, to go on with my story. As the queer noises kept up, Grandpa Ford +came to get me, to see if I could help him. I am in the real estate +business, you know--I buy and sell houses--and he thought I might know +something about the queer noise in his house. I have bought and sold +houses that people said were haunted--that is, which were supposed to +have ghosts in," laughed Daddy Bunker. "But I never saw nor heard of any +spirits." + +"Did you find out what made this noise?" asked Russ. + +"No, we haven't yet, but we take a look every time we hear it," said his +father. "That is what we are going to do now. So, after this, don't be +afraid when you hear it. It is something in the house that makes it--not +a ghost or anything like that. We'll find it sooner or later, Grandpa +Ford and I." + +"May we help?" asked Russ. + +"Please, Daddy?" cried Rose. + +"Well, yes, I guess so, if you want to," answered his father slowly. "If +you hear the noise, and it sounds anywhere near you, look around and see +if you can find out what makes it. Don't cry 'ghost!' and scare the +others." + +"We won't," promised Rose. "And maybe we'll be lucky and find it." + +"I hope you will," put in Grandma Ford. + +"It sounded like a cow mooing," remarked Russ. + +"Yes, it did," agreed Grandpa Ford. "At first I thought it was a cow +that had got into the cellar. But I couldn't find one. Then I thought it +was boys playing a trick on us, but I heard the noise in the middle of +the night, when no boys would be out. I don't know what makes it, but +I'd like to find the ghost, as I call it, though I'm not going to after +this. That isn't a good name. We'll just call it 'Mr. Noise.'" + +"And we'll help you find 'Mr. Noise'!" laughed Russ. + +Laddie came from where he was playing with a new riddle, and, while they +were laughing over it, the groaning noise sounded again. + +"Listen, all of you, and see if you can tell where it is," said Grandpa +Ford. + +Russ and Rose listened. So did Laddie and Violet; but Mun Bun and Margy +kept on playing with their dolls. + +"It's a tree rubbing against the house outside," said Russ. + +"I thought so at first," said Grandpa Ford, "but there are now no trees +that rub. I cut off the branches of those that did." + +Each one thought it was in a different room, but a search showed nothing +out of the way. They were all very much puzzled. + +"It's worse than one of Laddie's queer riddles," said Daddy Bunker, when +he and Grandpa Ford came back from having searched in several of the +rooms. + +They listened for a while longer, but the noise was not heard again, and +then it was time to go to bed. The wind sprang up again and the clouds +seemed to promise more snow. And, surely enough, in the morning, the +white flakes were falling thick and fast. + +"They'll cover up our snow man," said Laddie to Russ. + +"Never mind. I know how we can have more fun," said the older boy. + +"How?" + +"I'll make some snowshoes for us, and we can walk without sinking down +in the snow." + +"How can you do that?" + +"Oh, I'll show you. I started to make 'em before, but I forgot about it. +Now I will." + +And, when breakfast was over, and the four older children had been +warmly wrapped and allowed to go out to play in the storm, Russ led +Laddie to the barn. + +"We'll make the snowshoes there," he said. "I have everything all +ready." + +Laddie saw a pile of barrel staves--the long, thin pieces of wood of +which barrels are made, where his brother had stacked them. Russ also +had some pieces of rope, a hammer and some nails, and some long poles. + +"What are they for?" asked Laddie, pointing to the poles. + +"That's to take hold of and help yourself along. It's awful hard to walk +on snowshoes--real ones, I mean. And, maybe, it'll be harder to walk on +the barrel kind I'm going to make." + +Then Russ began making the snowshoes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ON SKATES + + +You have probably all seen pictures of regular snowshoes, even if you +have not seen real snowshoes, so you know how much like big lawn-tennis +rackets they look. Snowshoes are broad and flat, and fasten on outside +of one's regular shoes, so a person can walk on the soft snow, or on the +hard crust, without sinking down in. + +The Indians used to make snowshoes by bending a frame of wood into +almost the shape of a tennis racket--except it had no long handle--and +then stretching pieces of the skins of animals across this. + +"But I'm not going to make that kind," said Russ. + +"What kind are you going to make?" asked Laddie as he watched his +brother. + +"Oh, mine's going to be easier than that." + +Russ took a long, thin barrel stave, that was curved up a little on +either end. To the middle of the stave he tacked some pieces of rope and +string. + +"That's to tie the shoe to your foot," he explained to Laddie. + +In a little while, with his brother's help, Russ had made four of the +barrel-stave snowshoes--a pair for himself and a pair for Laddie. + +"Now all we have to do," said Russ, "is to tie 'em on and walk out on +the snow. We won't sink down in, as we do with our regular feet, and we +can go as fast as anything." + +"Won't we fall?" asked Laddie. + +"We'll hold on to the poles. That's what I got 'em for," said Russ. + +In a short time he and his brother had fastened the barrel staves to +their shoes, winding and tying the cords and ropes, and even some old +straps around and around. Their feet looked very queer--almost like +those of some clown in the circus. But Laddie and Russ did not mind +that. They wanted to walk on the home-made snowshoes. + +"Come on!" called Russ, as he shuffled across the barn floor toward the +door, from which led a big stretch of deep, white snow. "Come on, +Laddie!" + +"I--I can't seem to walk," the little fellow said. "I keep stepping on +my feet all the while." + +This was very true. As he took one step he would put the other snowshoe +down on the one he had moved last, and then he could not raise the +underneath foot. + +"Spread your legs apart and sort of slide along," said Russ. "Then you +won't step on your own feet. Do it this way." + +Russ separated one foot from the other as far as he could, and then he +shuffled along, not raising his feet. He found this the best way, and +soon he was at the barn door, with Laddie behind him. + +"Come on now, we'll start and walk on the snow, and we'll s'prise Daddy +and Mother," cried Russ. + +He did manage to glide over the snow, the broad, long barrel staves +keeping him from sinking in the soft drifts. Laddie did not do quite so +well, but he managed to get along. + +The boys held long poles, which helped to keep them from falling over, +and, at first, so uneven was the walking that they might have fallen if +it had not been for the long staffs. + +"I'll make snowshoes for all of us," said Russ, as he and Laddie went +slowly around the corner of the barn. "Then we can play Indians, and go +on a long walk and take our dinner and stay all day." + +Together they walked around the barn. They were getting used to the +barrel-stave snowshoes now, and really did quite well on them. Of +course, now and then, one or the other's fastenings would become loose, +and they would have to stop and tie them. Laddie got so he could do this +for himself. + +"It's like when your shoelace comes untied," he said. "Did the Indians' +laces come untied, Russ?" + +"I guess so. But now come on. We'll go to the house and get some bread +and jam." + +Russ and Laddie started out bravely enough, and they were half-way to +the house when Russ said: + +"Oh, let's see if we can get across that big drift!" + +This was a large pile of snow, made by the wind into a small hill, and +it must have been many feet deep--well over the heads of the two small +boys. + +"Maybe we might get hurt there," said Laddie. + +"No, we won't!" cried Russ. "Come on." + +Russ was part way to the top when something happened. All at once one +leg sank away down, barrel-stave snowshoe and all, and a moment later he +was floundering in the snow, and crying: + +"Hey, Laddie, I can't get out. I can't get out. Go and call Daddy or +Grandpa! I can't get out!" + +"Are you hurt?" asked Laddie. + +"No. But my foot is stuck away down under the snow, and I can't pull it +out." + +"I'll go!" cried Laddie. + +He never knew how fast he could travel on the home-made snowshoes until +he tried. Up to the side porch he shuffled, and, not stopping to +unfasten the pieces of barrel on his feet, he called out: + +"Mother, come quick! Russ is upside down and he can't get his leg out!" + +Inside the house Mother Bunker and Grandma Ford heard the queer +thumping sound on the porch. + +"I wonder what that is?" said Grandma Ford. + +"Maybe it's our friend that makes the queer noises, making a new one," +answered Mrs. Bunker. + +Then they heard Laddie calling: + +"Oh, come quick! Russ is upside down and his leg is stuck and he can't +get it out! Oh, hurry, please!" + +"Mercy me!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "Something has happened!" + +Out of the door she rushed, with Grandma Ford after her, and when they +saw Laddie, with the barrel staves on his shoes, his mother asked: + +"What has happened? What have you done to yourself? What are those +things on your feet?" + +"Snowshoes that Russ made," was the answer. "He's got some on his own +feet, but he fell into a snow bank and he can't get out and he's +hollerin' like anything!" + +"Oh, that's too bad!" cried Grandma Ford. "But if he fell into a snow +bank it's so soft he won't be hurt. But I'll get Grandpa to dig him +out." + +But Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford had gone to town in the sled. But +Dick, the hired man, was at home, and he came to help Mother Bunker and +Grandma Ford. + +"I'll get you out, Russ! Don't cry!" shouted Dick, as he ran up with his +long rubber boots on. These were so high that he could wade into almost +any snowdrift. "Don't cry, Russ!" + +"I'm not cryin'," answered Laddie's brother. "I'm only hollerin' so +somebody'll come and get me. My foot's stuck!" + +And that is just what had happened to him. He had stepped into a soft +part of the drift with one foot, and had nearly turned a somersault. +Then the long barrel stave, tied fast to his shoe, became caught +crossways under the hole in the snow, and Russ couldn't pull his foot +out. + +He could not stand up, and so had to lie down, and one leg was out of +sight down in the hole. + +"I'll soon have you out!" cried Dick. + +He was as good as his word. Reaching down in, he loosened the +barrel-stave snowshoe from Russ's foot, and soon pulled the little boy +up straight. Then he carried him to the porch. + +"I wouldn't go in deep places with those queer things on my feet any +more," said Grandma Ford. + +"No, we won't," promised Russ. + +So, when the snowshoe was again tied on his foot, he and Laddie shuffled +about where the snow was not too deep. They had lots of fun, and the +other little Bunkers came out to watch them. Mun Bun wanted a pair of +the barrel-stave snowshoes for himself, but his mother said he was too +little; but Russ made some for Rose and Vi. + +Two days later, when the six little Bunkers got out of bed, they found +that the weather had turned warmer, and that it was raining. + +"Oh, now the nice snow will be all gone!" cried Rose. + +"And we can't make any more snow men and forts," added Russ. + +"But you can have fun when it freezes," said his father. + +"How?" asked Laddie. + +"You can go skating," was the answer. "There is a pond not far from +Grandpa Ford's house, and when it freezes, as it will when the rain +stops, you and the others can go skating." + +"I can skate a little," announced Russ. + +"So can I," said Laddie. "Did we bring any skates?" + +"Yes, we packed some from home," replied his mother. + +"I want to skate!" exclaimed Mun Bun. + +"You can have fun sliding, you and Margy," said Rose. "And I'll pull you +over the ice on a sled." + +This satisfied the smaller children, and then, as the weather was so bad +that they could not go out and play, the six little Bunkers stayed in +the house and waited for the rain to be over and the ice to freeze. + +They played around the house and up in the attic, and, now and then, +Russ and Rose found themselves listening for the queer noise. They +didn't call it the "ghost" any longer. It was just the "queer noise." + +But they did not hear it, and they rather wanted to, for they thought +it would be fun to find out what caused it. + +After two days of rain the snow was all gone. The ground was bleak and +bare, but the six little Bunkers did not mind that, for they were eager +for ice to freeze. + +Then, one morning, Daddy Bunker called up the stairs: + +"Come on out, everybody! The freeze has come! The pond is frozen over, +and we're all going skating!" + +"Hurray!" cried Russ. "This will be more fun than snowshoes!" + +Little did he guess what was going to happen. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE ICE BOAT + + +"Now you must all eat good breakfasts," said Grandma Ford, as the six +little Bunkers came trooping downstairs in answer to their father's +call. "Eat plenty of buckwheat cakes and maple syrup, so you will not be +cold and hungry when you go out on the ice to skate." + +Russ, Laddie and the others needed no second invitation, and soon there +was a rattle of knives, forks and spoons that told of hungry children +eating heartily. + +The house at Great Hedge was warm and cosy, and the smell of the bacon, +the buckwheat cakes and the maple syrup would have made almost any one +hungry. + +"Are we all going out skating?" asked Rose, as she ate her last cake. + +"Yes, I'll take you all," said Daddy Bunker. "Dick went over to the +pond, and he says the ice is fine. It's smooth and hard." + +"Is it strong enough to hold?" asked Mother Bunker. "I don't want any of +my six little Bunkers falling through the ice." + +"Nor I," added Daddy Bunker. "We'll take good care that they don't. Now +wrap up well. I have skates for all but Margy and Mun Bun. I'm afraid +they are a bit too small to try to skate yet, but we'll take over sleds +for them." + +"Russ and I are going to have a race!" boasted Laddie. "And if I win, +you've got to guess any riddle I ask you, Russ." + +"I will, if you don't make it too hard," said the older boy with a +laugh. + +As Daddy Bunker had said, there were skates for Russ, Rose, Laddie and +Vi, these having been brought from home. Russ and Rose had learned to +skate the winter before, and Laddie had made one or two attempts at it. +He felt that he could do much better now. Violet, not to be outdone by +her twin, was to learn too. Of course, the children could not skate very +far, nor very fast, but they could have fun, and, after all, that is +what skates are for, mostly. + +"Could we take something to eat with us? We may get hungry," said Russ, +as they were about to start. + +"Bless your hearts! Of course you may!" exclaimed Grandma Ford. + +She put up two bags of cookies, and then Daddy Bunker, thrusting them +into the big pockets of his overcoat, led the children out into the +crisp December air. + +It was cold, but the wind did not blow very hard, and the six little +Bunkers were well wrapped up. Over the frozen ground they went to the +pond, which was back of Grandpa Ford's barn. It was a pond where, in the +summer, ducks and geese swam, and where the cows went to drink. But now +it was covered with a sheet of what seemed to be glass. + +"What makes the ice so smooth?" asked Vi, as she leaned down and touched +it. + +"Because it freezes so hard," answered her father. + +"Well, the ground is frozen hard, too," said the little girl. "But it +isn't smooth." + +"That's because it wasn't smooth before it was frozen," said Mr. Bunker. +"When cold comes it freezes things into just the shapes they are at the +time. The ground was cut up into ruts and furrows, and it froze that +way. The pond of water was smooth, as it always is except when the wind +blows up the waves, and it froze smooth." + +"Would my face freeze smooth?" asked Violet, trying to look down at her +nose. + +"I hope it doesn't freeze at all," her father told her with a laugh. +"But if it did your nose would be all wrinkled, as it is now." + +"Then I'm going to smooth it," said Violet, and she did. + +Russ could put on his own skates, as could Rose, but Laddie had to have +help. Then the three children began gliding about the ice, their father +watching them. + +"Don't go too far over toward the middle," he warned them. "Dick said he +thought it was safe there, but it may not be. Stay near shore." + +The children promised that they would, and they had great fun gliding +about on the steel runners. + +Then Daddy Bunker put the skates on Vi and held her up while he taught +her how to take the strokes. It was very wabbly skating, you may be +sure. + +Finally, however, she began to do very well for such a little girl and +for such a short time. But after a while she said she was tired. + +"Very well, Vi," said Daddy Bunker, "you sit on one sled and take Mun +Bun in your lap. Margy can sit on the smaller sled, and I'll fasten the +two together with ropes. Then I can pull both." + +And Daddy Bunker did this. Over the ice along the shore he pulled the +sleds with the three children on them, while Rose, Russ and Laddie +skated about not far away. Finally Laddie called: + +"Come on, Russ! Let's have a race! Let's see who can skate all the way +across the pond first!" + +"Oh, you mustn't skate across the pond!" exclaimed Rose. "Daddy said we +must stay near the edge." + +"But the ice is smoother out in the middle," said Russ. "It's all humpy +and rough here, and you can't skate fast. I want to go out in the +middle!" + +"So do I," added Laddie. "Come on, Russ. I'll race you, but you ought to +give me a head-start 'cause you're older than I am and you can skate +better." + +"All right, I will," said Russ. "I'll let you go first, Laddie." + +"Oh, I'm going to tell Daddy you're going out in the middle and across +the lake!" cried Rose. "He said you mustn't!" + +"All right, go on and be a tattle-tale if you want to!" exclaimed Russ. + +Now, of course, it wasn't nice of him to speak to his sister that way, +and it wasn't right for him to go where his father had told him not to +go. Of course Rose didn't want to be a tattle-tale, but still it was +better to be that than to let her brother do what he intended. So, while +Russ and Laddie got ready for their race, Rose skated, as quickly as she +could, to the other end of the pond, where her father was giving Violet, +Mun Bun and Margy some of Grandma's cookies, which they had brought +along. + +"Come on, now! One, two, three! Race!" cried Russ, after he had let +Laddie get a little start of him. + +Away the boys skated, toward the middle of the pond. At first Laddie was +ahead, but Russ was the better skater and soon passed him. Russ was near +the middle of the pond when suddenly there was a loud crack. + +Russ heard it and tried to stop himself and turn back. But he was going +quite fast, and before he could slow up the ice in front of him cracked +open. He saw a stretch of black water, and then, with a yell, into it +splashed poor Russ. + + [Illustration: BEFORE RUSS COULD SLOW UP, THE ICE IN FRONT OF HIM + CRACKED OPEN. + _Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's._ --_Page 188_] + +"Oh, he's fallen in! Russ has fallen in!" shouted Laddie, who had seen +what had happened. And he suddenly tripped and sat down, sliding slowly +along, or he, too, might have gone through the hole in the ice. + +It was a good thing Rose had run and told her father what her brothers +were going to do, for Mr. Bunker was already half-way to Russ when the +ice broke. + +"I'll get you! I'll get you!" called Mr. Bunker to Russ. "Rose, you look +after the others, and I'll get Russ out. The pond is not very deep, and +I'll soon have him out!" + +Mr. Bunker ran out on the ice right toward the hole where the black +water was. Russ had not fallen in head first, luckily, and now stood +with the water about up to his waist. + +The ice broke under the weight of Mr. Bunker, and into the water he +splashed, but he did not mind. Laddie had quickly crawled away from the +vicinity of the hole, and he now went back to where Rose was looking +after Margy, Mun Bun and Violet. + +"I've got you, Russ!" cried Mr. Bunker, as he caught the scared boy in +his arms. And then, wet as both of them were, Mr. Bunker managed to get +up on ice that was firm enough to hold him, and hurried to the bank, +carrying Russ with him. + +"I must get you home as soon as I can, and take off your wet clothes," +he said. "You must be terribly cold. Laddie and Rose, take off your +skates and follow after me. Bring Mun Bun and Margy, and tell Vi to +come. Hurry now. Russ, I told you not to go out in the middle, where the +ice might break." + +"I--I'm sorry, Daddy!" shivered Russ. "I won't do it any more." + +And I am glad to say he did not. + +Of course Mother Bunker and Grandma Ford were excited when Daddy Bunker +came racing in, all dripping wet, with Russ, also soaked through, in his +arms. But Grandmother Ford and Mother Bunker were used to accidents. Dry +clothes were put on, the two shivering ones sat by the fire and drank +hot milk, and soon they were all right again. + +The hole in the ice froze over in a little while, and the ice became so +thick that even the grown men could go out in the middle of the pond. +Then there was no danger of the children's tumbling in, and they were +told they might play wherever they liked. + +Russ and Laddie had another race--one that was finished, and Russ won, +so he did not have to guess Laddie's riddle. + +"If I had beat you," said Laddie, "I was going to ask you why is an +automobile tire like a snake." + +"Pooh, that's easy to guess," said Russ. "'Cause it's round and fat." + +"Nope," said Laddie. "It's 'cause a snake hisses and so does an auto +tire when the air comes out." + +"Oh!" said Russ. + +They were all in the house, after dinner, when Dick came in to ask +Grandpa Ford about something that needed fixing in the barn. The hired +man saw the children sitting about with nothing particular to do, and +said: + +"How would you like to come for a ride in my boat?" + +"Where?" asked Russ eagerly. + +"On the pond," answered Dick. + +"The pond is covered with ice!" said Russ. "Is that a riddle? How can +you sail a boat on a pond that is covered with ice?" + +"I'm going to sail an ice boat," answered Dick. "Want to come down and +see me, and have a ride?" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ANOTHER NIGHT SCARE + + +You can easily imagine what the six little Bunkers said when Dick asked +this question about his ice boat. + +"I want to come!" cried Russ. + +"I want a ride!" shouted Laddie. + +"Shall we get wet?" asked Rose. + +"Oh, no, not in an ice boat," said Grandpa Ford. "I've seen Dick sail +one before. An ice boat is like a big skate, you know. It just slides +over the ice. You may take some of the little Bunkers for a ride in your +ice boat, Dick, if you'll be careful of them." + +"I'll be very careful," promised Dick. "Come along!" + +With shouts and laughter the six little Bunkers got ready to go down to +the pond with Dick, and ride in his ice boat. + +I presume that not many of you have seen ice boats, so I will tell you +a little about them. Those of you who know all about them need not read +this part. + +As Grandpa Ford had said, an ice boat, in a way, is like a big skate or +sled. It slides over the frozen ice of a pond, lake or river instead of +sailing through the water, as another boat does. And an ice boat really +has something like skates on it, only they are called runners. Perhaps I +might say they are more like the runners of a sled. + +If you will take two long, strong, heavy pieces of wood and fasten them +together like a cross, or as you fasten kite sticks, you will see how +the frame of an ice boat is built. On the ends of the shorter +cross-piece are fastened the runners that slide over the ice. On the end +of the longer cross-piece is another runner, but this one turns about +from side to side with a tiller, like the tiller of a boat that goes in +water, and by this the ice boat is steered. + +Where the two sticks cross the mast is set up, and on this is fastened +the sail, and between the sail and the tiller is a sort of shallow box. +This is the cabin of the ice boat, where the people sit when they are +sailing over the frozen pond. + +"My ice boat is only a small home-made one," said Dick, "and I can't +take you all at one time. But I'll give you each some turns, and I hope +you'll like it." + +Down to the edge of the pond went the six little Bunkers with Dick. +Grandpa Ford and Daddy Bunker went, too, to see the ice boat. + +Dick's ice boat was large enough to hold him and two little Bunkers at a +time, and first he said he would take Russ and Mun Bun, for Russ could +hold on to his little brother. + +"I have to manage the sail and steer the boat," explained the hired man, +"and sometimes we go pretty fast. Then you have to hold on as tight as +you can. But you'll not spill out, for the ice is smooth." + +Russ and Mun Bun took their places on some pieces of old carpet that +Dick had put in the cabin of his boat. It was not like the cabin of any +other boat, for it was open on all sides. Really all it could be called +was a shallow box. + +"All ready?" asked Dick. + +"All ready!" answered Russ, holding tightly to Mun Bun. + +Away they sailed over the ice, turning this way and that, and they went +so fast that, at times, it almost took away the breath of Mun Bun and +Russ. But they liked it, and laughed so gleefully about it that Laddie +and Violet were eager to have their turn. + +They, too, liked the ride on the ice boat, as it glided across the +frozen pond. The wind blew on the sail, and made the ice boat go fast. + +Then came the turn of Rose and Margy. At first Margy thought she would +not go, but when they told her how much Mun Bun had liked it, and when +Mun Bun himself had said he wanted to go again, Margy let Rose lift her +in. + +"Here we go!" cried Dick, and away glided the boat. Back and forth +across the pond it went, and Rose laughed, and so did Margy. She found +she liked it very much. + +"Could I have another ride?" asked Russ after a bit. + +"I guess so," agreed Dick. "I'll take you and Laddie this time. The wind +is stronger now, and we'll go faster--too fast for the smallest ones, +maybe." + +"I like to go fast!" exclaimed Russ. But he went even faster than he +expected to. + +As Dick had said, the wind was blowing very strong now, and it stretched +the sail of the ice boat away out. Dick had all he could do to hold it +while Russ and Laddie got on board. + +"All ready?" + +"All ready!" answered Russ. + +The boat swung around and away it whizzed over the ice. Russ and Laddie +clung to the sides of the box-like cabin, and Russ had fairly to shout +to make himself heard above the whistling of the wind. + +"This is fast!" he called in Laddie's ear. + +"Yes, but I like it," said the smaller boy. "I'm going to make up a +riddle about the ice boat but it goes so fast as soon as I think of +anything in my head I forget it." + +"It's fun!" exclaimed Russ. "When I get bigger I'm going to make an ice +boat that goes----" + +But what Russ intended to do he never finished telling for, just then, +there came a stronger puff of wind than before, and Dick cried: + +"Lookout!" + +Just what they were to look out for Russ and Laddie did not know, but +they soon discovered. + +The ice boat seemed to tilt up on one side, "as if it wanted to stand on +its ear," Grandpa Ford said afterward, and out spilled Russ, out spilled +Laddie, and Dick, himself, almost spilled out. But he managed to hold +fast, which the two boys could not do. + +Out of the ice boat the lads tumbled. But as they had on thick coats, +and as they did not fall very far but went spinning over the frozen +pond, they thought it was fun. + +Over the ice they slid, just as a skater slides when he falls down, and +finally they stopped and sat up. + +"Huh!" grunted Russ. + +"That--that was fun, wasn't it?" asked Laddie. + +"Lots of fun!" agreed Russ. "I wonder if he did it on purpose?" + +"Let's ask him to do it again," suggested Laddie. + +But the spill was an accident. Dick had not meant that it should happen. + +"As for giving you more rides," he said, when he had brought the boat +back to shore, "I don't believe I'd better. The wind is getting +stronger, and there might be a real accident next time. Some other day +I'll give you more rides." + +"Oh, Dick, please!" pleaded Violet. But Dick said he was sorry, but they +would all have to wait for a calmer day. + +So the little Bunkers had to be satisfied with this, and really they had +had fine fun, and all agreed that Dick's ice boat was just grand. + +Back to the house they went, and, as it was nearly time to eat, they did +not come out again until after the meal. Then there was more skating, +and some fun on the ice with sleds, until it was time to come in for the +day. + +"What'll we do to-morrow?" asked Rose, as she and the other little +Bunkers were getting ready for bed. + +"If it snows we can go coasting," said Russ. + +"Well, it looks and feels like snow," said Grandpa Ford, who came in +from the barn just then, having gone out to see that the horses and cows +were all right. + +The grown folks sat about the fire after supper, talking and telling +stories while the children were asleep in their beds. + +"Hark!" suddenly exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. + +"What is it?" asked her husband. + +"I thought I heard one of the children," she answered. + +And just then, through the house, there sounded, as from some distance +away, the rattle of a drum. + +"Another queer noise!" exclaimed Grandma Ford in dismay. "What will +happen next?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MR. WHITE + + +Rattle and bang-bang and rattle sounded the noise of the drum in Grandpa +Ford's house, and yet, as the grown folks downstairs in the sitting-room +looked at one another, they could not imagine who was playing at +soldier. And yet that is what it sounded like--children beating a drum. + +"Are any of those little ones up?" asked Mother Bunker. "Could they have +gotten out of their beds to beat a drum?" + +"I didn't know they had a drum with them," said Daddy Bunker. + +"They didn't bring any from home," returned his wife. + +"There is an old drum up in the attic," said Grandpa Ford. "It used to +belong to Mr. Ripley, I think. Could Russ or Laddie have gone up there +and be beating that?" + +"The noise has stopped now," remarked Grandma Ford. "Let's go up and see +which of the six little Bunkers did it," and she smiled at Mrs. Bunker. + +It took only a glance into the different rooms to show that all six of +the little Bunkers were in bed. Margy and Mun Bun had not been awakened +by the drumming or the talk, but the other four were now waiting with +wide-open eyes to learn what had happened. + +"There it goes again!" exclaimed Daddy Bunker. + +Surely enough the rub-a-dub-dubbing sounded again, this time more loudly +than before, because the grown folks were nearer the attic. + +"We must see what it is," said Grandpa Ford. + +"We surely must," at once agreed Daddy Bunker. + +As he and Grandpa Ford started up the stairs to the attic the drumming +noise stopped, and all was quiet when the two men went into the attic. +It was not dark, as Daddy Bunker took with him his electric flashlight, +which he flashed into the different corners. + +"Where is that drum you spoke of, Father?" he asked of Grandpa Ford. + +"I don't see it now," was the answer. "It used to hang up on one of the +rafters. But maybe the children took it down." + +Daddy Bunker flashed his light to and fro. + +"Here it is!" he cried, and he pointed to the drum standing up at one +side of the big chimney, which was in the center of the attic. "The +children did have it down, playing with it. + +"But I don't see what would make it rattle," went on Daddy Bunker. +"Unless," he added, "a rat is flapping its tail against the drum." + +The noise had stopped again, but, all of a sudden, as Grandpa Ford and +Daddy Bunker stood looking at the drum, the rattle and rub-a-dub-dub +broke out again, more loudly than before. The drum seemed to shake and +tremble, so hard was it beaten. + +"Who is doing it?" cried Grandpa Ford. + +Daddy Bunker quickly stepped over where he could see the other side of +the drum, which was in the dark. He leaned over, holding his flashlight +close, and then he suddenly lifted into view a large, battered alarm +clock, without a bell. + +"This was beating the drum," he said. + +"That?" cried Grandpa Ford. "How could that old alarm clock make it +sound as if soldiers were coming?" + +"Very easily," answered Daddy Bunker. "See, the bell is off the clock, +and the hammer, or striker, sticks out. This is shaped like a little +ball, and it stood close against the head of the drum. + +"I suppose the children wound the clock up when they were playing with +it up here and when it went off the striker beat against the head of the +drum and played a regular tattoo." + +"Yes, I can see how that might happen," replied Grandpa Ford. "But what +made the drum beat sometimes and not at others. Why didn't the alarm +clock keep on tapping the drum all the while?" + +"Because," said Daddy Bunker, as the clock began to shake and tremble in +his hand, "this is one of those alarm clocks that ring for a half +minute or so, and then stop, then, in a few minutes, ring again. That is +so when a person falls asleep, after the first or second alarm, the +third or fourth may awaken him. + +"And that's what happened this time. The old alarm clock went off and +beat the drum. Then when we started to find out what it was all about, +the clock stopped. Then it went off again." + +"Another time Mr. Ghost fooled us," said Grandma Ford, when her husband +and son came down from the attic. + +"Did any of you children have the alarm clock?" asked Mother Bunker, for +the four oldest Bunkers were still awake. + +"I was playing with it," said Russ. "I was going to make a toy +automobile out of it, but it wouldn't work." + +"I had it after him, and I wound it up and left it by the drum," said +Laddie. "But I didn't think it would go off." + +But that is just what happened. Laddie had set the clock to go off at a +certain hour, not knowing that he had done so. And he had put it down on +the attic floor so the bell-striker was against the head of the drum. + +"Well, it's a good thing it didn't go off in the very middle of the +night, when we were all asleep," said Mother Bunker. "We surely would +have thought an army of soldiers was marching past." + +"And it wasn't any ghost at all!" exclaimed Rose, as the grown folks +turned to go downstairs. + +"No, and there never will be," said her mother. "All noises have +something real back of them--even that funny groaning noise we heard." + +"But we don't know what that is, yet," said Russ. + +"Go to sleep now," urged his mother, and soon the awakened four of the +six little Bunkers were slumbering again. + +The next morning they all had a good laugh over the drum and the alarm +clock, and Laddie and Russ had fun making it go off again. The clock was +one that had never kept good time, and so had been tossed away in the +attic, which held so many things with which the children could have fun. + +"Want to help us, Rose?" asked Russ after breakfast, when the children +had on their rubber boots, ready to go out and play in the snow. + +"What you going to do?" she asked. + +"Make a snow man," Russ answered. "We're going to make another big +one--bigger than the one the rain spoiled." + +"It'll be lots of fun," added Laddie. + +"I'll help," offered Rose. + +"Comin', Vi?" asked Laddie. + +But Violet, Mun Bun and Margy were going to coast on a little hill which +Dick had made for them, so the three Bunkers began to make the snow man. + +As Russ had said, they were going to make a large one. So big balls were +rolled and moulded together, and after a while the pile of white flakes +began to look like a man, with arms sticking out, and big, fat legs on +which to stand. + +"Grandpa said we could have one of his old tall silk hats to put on Mr. +White," said Russ. "That will make him look fine." + +"Who is Mr. White?" asked Dick, who was passing at that moment. + +"The snow man," answered Laddie. "That's what we're going to call him. +'Pleased to meet you, Mr. White!'" he exclaimed with a laugh, as he made +a bow. + +Soon Mr. White was finished, with the tall hat and all. There were +pieces of black coal for buttons, while some red flannel made him look +as if he had very red lips. A nose was made of snow, and bits of coal +were his eyes. + +"Let's make a Mrs. White!" exclaimed Rose. "And then some little White +children, and we can have a whole family," she added. + +"Oh, yes, let's do it!" cried Laddie. + +"All right," agreed Russ. + +But just as they were going to start to make Mrs. White they heard a cry +from the spot where the other children were coasting. + +"Oh, Mun Bun's hurt!" shouted Rose, and, dropping her shovel, she ran +toward the hill. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AN UPSET + + +Russ followed his sister over the snow to the place where Dick had made +the little hill. If there was trouble Russ wanted to help, for, though +Rose was the "little mother," Russ felt he must do his share to help +her. + +They found that Mun Bun had rolled off the sled in going down a little +hill and had toppled into a snow bank. + +"But that didn't hurt you!" said Rose, laughing as she picked him up. +"There, sister will kiss the place and make it better. You only got a +little snow up your sleeve, and it makes your arm cold." + +"But I bumped my head, too!" sobbed Mun Bun. + +"Well, I'll rub that and make it well," said Rose, and she did. + +"But I'm hungry, too," added Mun Bun. + +"Oh, I can't rub your hungry away," and Rose laughed so merrily that Mun +Bun stopped his crying and laughed too. So did Margy. + +"What makes us get hungry?" asked Violet, as Mun Bun let Rose brush the +snow from him. "What makes us?" + +"It's when something tickles us in our stomachs," answered Laddie. "I +know, 'cause I feel that way right now. I wish I had something to eat." + +"So do I," said Margy. "My stomach doesn't zactly tickle, but it's +hungry." + +"Well, I'll go and ask Grandma for some cookies," offered Russ. "She +always has a lot in a jar, and they taste awful good. I'll be back in a +minute." + +Away he ran to the house which was surrounded by the great, high hedge, +and soon he came back with both hands and his pockets filled with sugar +and molasses cookies. + +"I brought two kinds," he said, "'cause I thought some of you would want +one kind, and I might want both kinds." + +The making of the snow man and the coasting down the little hill stopped +while the children ate their cookies, and then, after a while, Russ +said: + +"Well, we must finish the White family." + +"What's that?" asked Violet, brushing some cookie crumbs off her jacket. + +"Oh, it's a snow family we're making," explained Rose. "There's Mr. +White and Mrs. White and we're going to make some little White snow +children." + +"Like us six little Bunkers?" asked Mun Bun. + +"No, I guess not so many as that," replied Laddie. "That would take us +all day. We'll just make two children, a girl and a boy." + +"Oh, I'm going to help make the White children!" cried Vi. + +"Let's go an' watch 'em!" called Margy to Mun Bun. "We've had enough +coasting, haven't we?" + +"Yes," said Mun Bun. "We'll make some snow mans ourselves." + +With the smaller children dragging their sleds and following them, Russ +and Rose and Laddie and Vi went back to where they had left Mr. White +standing. There he was, very fine and brave-looking with his tall silk +hat on his head, his coal-black eyes glistening in the sun, and his row +of black buttons also shining. + +All at once, as Russ, who was in the lead of the procession of children, +looked at the snow man, he cried: + +"Oh!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Rose. + +"Did you hear some funny noise?" questioned Violet. + +"No, but look at Mr. White!" cried Russ. "He took off his hat and made a +bow to me!" + +"Why, Russ Bunker!" gasped Vi. + +"Took off his hat?" cried Laddie. + +"Made a bow to you!" exclaimed Rose. "Why, how could he? Mr. White is +only a snow man. He isn't alive!" + +"Well, he made a bow just the same!" cried Russ. "You just watch, and +he'll do it again!" + +Eagerly the children watched. Mr. White did not move. He just stared at +them with his black eyes, smiled at them with his red cloth lips, and +the tall, silk hat upon his snowy head never moved. + +"You're fooling us, Russ!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"No, I'm not--really!" Russ declared. "I saw him take off his hat and +wave it at me." + +For a moment the six little Bunkers stood in a row and looked at Mr. +White. Then, just as naturally as if he had been used to doing it all +his life, Mr. White's tall, black silk hat came off his head, was +lowered before the children and was put back again. This time they all +saw it. + +"Oh, look! Oh!" exclaimed Rose. + +"Why--why----" and that was all Laddie could say as he stood with his +mouth wide open, he was so surprised. + +"You made him do it, Russ!" exclaimed Violet. + +"I? How could I make him do it?" Russ demanded. + +"It's one of your tricks. You pulled a string and made his hat come off. +It's a trick!" + +"Well, maybe it is a trick, but I didn't do it," declared Russ. "I +haven't got any string fast to his hat. And, anyhow, if I did, maybe I +could pull his hat off with a string, but I couldn't pull it back on +again, could I?" + +"Well, maybe not, but you did it!" insisted Vi. + +"No, I didn't!" said Russ. "You watch and I won't move my finger even, +and maybe Mr. White will take his hat off again." + +"Did you know he was going to do it?" asked Rose, as she looked at the +snow man carefully. + +"No, I didn't know anything about it," said Russ. "I was walking along +with you all, just now, and, all of a sudden, I saw the hat come off. +First I thought the wind blew it, and then, when I saw it wave at me, +and go back on his head, I knew somebody did it--or--or maybe he did +himself." + +"But he couldn't, 'cause he's a snow man," insisted Laddie. "And I +helped make him and you didn't put any phonograph or any machinery in +him. You didn't, did you, Russ?" + +"No, not a thing. He's just a snow man." + +"Then he couldn't do it!" declared Rose. "But maybe it was Mr. Ghost! +No, it couldn't be that 'cause he only makes a noise, and, anyhow, +there isn't any such thing. But what is it?" + +"Look! He's doing it again!" cried Vi. + +Surely enough, the snow man once more took off his tall silk hat, and +waved it toward the children. Then it went back on his head again, but +this time it was not quite straight. It was tilted to one side, and gave +him a very odd look. + +"Ho! Ho! Isn't he funny!" laughed Mun Bun. "I like that snow man. I'm +going to see what makes him take off his hat!" + +"No, don't!" cried Rose, catching hold of her little brother's arm as he +was about to run toward Mr. White. + +"Why not?" Mun Bun wanted to know. + +"'Cause he might--something might--oh, I don't want you to go!" +exclaimed Rose. "I guess we'd better go and tell Daddy." + +They stood for a moment looking at the snow man who had acted so +strangely. + +Suddenly the tall silk hat was straightened on Mr. White's head, and +then, once more, it was lifted off and bowed to the six little Bunkers. + +"Oh!" + +"Come on!" cried Russ to Laddie after a moment. "Let's see what does +it." + +"Maybe it's a riddle," Laddie suggested. + +"If it is, it's a funny one," said his brother. + +They started for Mr. White, and, all at once, off came the hat again, +and then, suddenly, there was a loud a-ker-choo sneeze! + +"Oh, he's alive! The snow man has come to life!" cried Rose. "I'm going +to the house." + +But just then, out from behind the big snow image, with the tall hat in +his hand, stepped--Grandpa Ford. He was laughing. + +"I tried to stop that sneeze, but I couldn't," he said. "It came out in +spite of me." + +"Oh, was that you, Grandpa?" asked Rose. + +"Did you hide behind the snow man?" questioned Russ. + +"And tip his hat?" Laddie demanded. + +"Why didn't we see you?" inquired Violet. + +"My! what a lot of questions," laughed Grandpa Ford. "Yes, I played a +little joke on you. I hid behind the snow man, which was so large I +could keep out of sight. I hid there when I saw you coming toward it, +and I thought it would be fun to make you think it was alive. So I made +him bow with the tall hat." + +"But we didn't see your arm," said Russ. "How did you do it? Did you put +your arm up inside the snow arm of Mr. White?" + +"No," answered his grandfather. "I wound this white scarf around my arm, +and it looked so much like the snow man himself that you couldn't see +when I moved. Did I fool you?" + +"Yes, you did--a lot!" admitted Russ. + +"It was better than a riddle," said Laddie. + +Then Grandpa Ford showed how he had hidden himself behind Mr. White, +and, wrapping his arm in a white scarf, which he wore around his neck in +cold weather, Mr. Ford had reached up and lifted off the hat and put it +back. The white scarf hid his arm, and it looked exactly as if the snow +man had made bows. + +"We thought maybe he was alive!" laughed Rose. + +"Well, I was going to have him throw snowballs at you in another +minute," said Grandpa Ford with a smile, "but I had to sneeze and spoil +my trick." + +"But it was a good one," said Violet. + +"Now, we'll make the rest of the snow family of White," said Russ. "And +if Dick or anybody comes along we'll play the same trick on them that +Grandpa played on us." + +"Well, you can finish making Mr. White's family later," said Grandpa +Ford. "I came out now to see if you don't all want to come for a ride +with me. I have to go to town for some groceries, and also go a little +way into the country to see a man. Do you want to come for a ride?" + +Well, you can just imagine how gladly the six little Bunkers answered +that they did. They forgot all about the snow people, except to tell +Daddy and Mother Bunker about Grandpa's funny trick, and, a little +later, they were in the big sled filled with straw, riding over the +snow. + +Merrily jingled the bells as over the drifts the horses pranced. Down +the road they went to the store in Tarrington, where Grandpa Ford bought +the things Grandma had sent him after. + +"Are we going home now?" asked Russ, as the sled turned down a country +road. + +"No, not right away," answered his grandfather. "I have to go over to +Glodgett's Mills to see a man, and after that we'll turn around and be +home in time for supper. It looks like more snow, and I want to get you +back before, the storm." + +Out on the country roads, where the snow was deep, went the horses, +jingling their bells and pulling the sled full of children after them. + +"Get along, ponies!" cried Grandpa Ford. + +And then, all of a sudden, something happened. The sled went into a big +drift, which was deeper than Grandpa Ford thought. A moment later there +was an upset, and the six little Bunkers were spilled out into the +snow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +IN THE CABIN + + +"Whoa! Whoa there, ponies!" cried Grandpa Ford, as he jumped off the +seat and held tightly to the reins. "Whoa!" + +Grandpa's horses were kind and gentle and well-trained. They did not try +to run away, but stood still after the sled was upset in the snow bank. + +Russ was one of the first to get to his feet. He rolled out of the +drift, shook himself as a dog does coming out of the water, and then +looked about him. + +"See if the others are all right!" called his grandfather to him. "I'll +hold the horses. Get out Margy and Mun Bun and the others." + +Russ, though not very big, was a sturdy young chap, and, seeing Mun +Bun's legs sticking out from under a pile of blankets, he pulled on +them. And, as Mun Bun was still fast to his legs, when Russ pulled on +them he pulled his little brother out into view. + +"Hi! Quit that! What you doin'?" Mun Bun wanted to know. + +"I had to get you out," said Russ. "Where's Margy?" + +Margy did not answer in words, but she did by crawling out from where +she had been sitting next to Mun Bun. + +Then out came Laddie, Vi and Rose, and all the six little Bunkers were +accounted for. + +"That drift was deeper than I thought it was," said Grandpa Ford. "The +sled went up one side of it and just toppled over. It spilled you all +out nice and easy." + +And that is just what had happened. The sled had gone over on one side +so slowly and gently that no one was caught under it. The six little +Bunkers had been toppled out, still wrapped in the blankets in which +they had ridden from Great Hedge. + +"What are we going to do?" asked Russ. "How are we going to get home, +Grandpa?" + +"Well, I'll see about that in just a minute," answered Grandpa Ford. "I +don't believe anything is broken. But I'll have to get help to lift the +sled right side up again. Whoa, now, ponies!" + +The horses, which Grandpa Ford called "ponies," just for fun, were +turning to look at the overturned sled. The six little Bunkers stood in +a row, also looking at what had happened. + +"It wasn't the ponies' fault, was it, Grandpa?" asked Violet. + +"No, dear. It was mine. I shouldn't have driven them into the bank of +snow. But I thought it was soft so the sled runners would sink down in +it. However, it was hard, and upset us. But we'll soon be all right. +Whoa, now, ponies!" + +The big basket of things Grandpa Ford had bought at the store for his +wife had been spilled out of the sled when the upset came. However, +nothing was damaged, and the children helped him pick up the scattered +things, while Russ held the horses. + +The animals had not fallen down when the sled upset, and were not +tangled in the harness, so they did not try to run away. The reason for +this was that the front runner of the sled, to which was fastened the +tongue, or long pole, on either side of which the horses ran--the front +runner, I say, remained straight on the ground. The sled seemed to have +broken off from this front part in turning on its side. + +"Yes, it's broken," said Grandpa Ford as he looked at the sled. "I shall +have to get it mended before I can drive home again. It's too bad, but +I'm glad none of you is hurt." + +He let Russ hold the horses, which stood very still, and the small boy +was very proud of having charge of the animals. Down the road stood a +small house, which looked something like a log cabin. + +"Could you get the sled fixed there, Grandpa Ford?" asked Russ, pointing +to the cabin. + +"No, I hardly think so. I need to go to a blacksmith shop for a bolt to +use in place of one that is broken. But I know what I can do. I can +leave you children in the cabin until I come back." + +"Leave us there all alone?" asked Rose. + +"Oh, no," replied Grandpa Ford. "Mr. and Mrs. Thompson live there. +I'll leave you with Mrs. Thompson. She is very good and kind. She'll +look after you. I'll get Mr. Thompson to help me turn the sled right +side up, and then I'll go to the blacksmith shop and get a new bolt in +place of the broken one." + +"Will you have to walk?" asked Russ. + +"No, I'll ride one of the horses." + +"Oh! Could I ride the other?" begged Laddie eagerly. + +"I'm afraid you're too little," said Grandpa Ford. "Besides, I want to +ride fast on the back of Major. And if you rode on Prince, which is the +other horse, he might jiggle you off into a snow bank. + +"I think all you six little Bunkers had better stay at Mr. Thompson's +cabin until I come back," went on Grandpa Ford. "I won't be any longer +than I can help, and when I get the sled fixed we'll all ride home. I +won't make my trip to the country as I was going to, as it will be too +late." + +"Can we get something to eat at the cabin?" asked Margy. "I'm hungry." + +"Oh, I guess Mrs. Thompson has something to eat," laughed Grandpa Ford. + +Grandpa unhitched the horses from the overturned sled and then started +to drive them toward the cabin, which was the only house for some +distance on that road. The six little Bunkers followed, the highway +being well-packed with hard snow, so that walking was easy. + +As the procession, led by Grandpa Ford driving the horses, approached +the cabin, a door opened and a man came out. + +"Had an accident, did you, Mr. Ford?" he asked. + +"Yes," answered the children's grandfather. "My sled upset in a drift +and spilled out my six little Bunkers. I also broke a bolt, and I shall +have to ride to the blacksmith shop to get another. I was wondering if +the children couldn't wait in your house until I came back." + +"Of course they may!" exclaimed a motherly-looking woman, coming to the +door behind her husband. "Bring them in, every one, and I'll give them +some bread and milk. I have cookies, too, for I just baked to-day." + +"I'm glad of that!" exclaimed Laddie, and the grown folks laughed at him +because he said it so earnestly. + +"Come right in!" went on Mrs. Thompson. "Are you cold?" + +"Not very, thank you," answered Rose. "We had lots of blankets in the +sled, and we didn't get much snow on us." + +"Well, sit up by the fire, and I'll get you something to eat," said Mrs. +Thompson. + +"I'll put one of your horses in the stable while you ride to the +blacksmith shop on the other," said Mr. Thompson, putting on his hat and +overcoat, to go out where Grandpa Ford was waiting. + +"Now, you'll be all right, little Bunkers!" called their grandfather to +them, as he started away on the back of Major, who had been unharnessed. +"I'll be back as soon as I can." + +Mr. Thompson took Prince to his stable. There was a small one back of +the cabin. I have called it a "cabin," though it really was a small +house. But it was built like a log cabin, and was much smaller than the +house at Great Hedge. It was clean and neat, and on a table covered with +a bright red cloth, in front of a glowing fire in the stove, Mrs. +Thompson set out some cups, some milk, a plate of bread and some +cookies. + +"Now come and eat," she said to the six little Bunkers. + +They were just drawing up their chairs, and Russ was wondering how long +his grandfather would be gone, when, all at once, a hollow groan sounded +through the cabin. + +"Umph! Urr-rumph!" + +It was a most sorrowful and sad sound and, hearing it, Rose cried: + +"Why, there's the ghost again! Oh, it's come from Great Hedge down to +this house! There's the ghost!" + +Again the hollow groan sounded. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CHRISTMAS JOYS + + +Russ, who was about to take a bite out of a cookie that Mrs. Thompson +had given him, stopped with the piece half-way to his mouth. He looked +at Rose with wide-open eyes. + +The other little Bunkers also looked at their sister, who had left her +chair and was standing in the middle of the room. + +"What did you say, my dear?" asked Mrs. Thompson. + +Before Rose could answer again came a queer, hollow, groaning noise, +that sounded, the children said afterward, "as if a sick bear had hidden +down the cellar and couldn't get out." + +Just what sort of noise a sick bear makes I don't know, for I never +heard one. But this noise at any rate, must have been very strange. + +"Umph! Umph! Urr-rumph!" it went. + +"There it is!" cried Rose. "That's the ghost! It sounds just like the +noise at Great Hedge, doesn't it, Russ?" + +"It--it sounds something like it," Russ had to admit. "But there isn't a +ghost--Daddy said so." + +"A ghost, child! I should say not!" cried Mrs. Thompson. "Of course +there is no such thing." + +"But what makes the sound?" asked Russ. "Don't you hear it?" + +"I hear it!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"So do I," said Violet. + +Mun Bun and Margy probably heard it, also, but they were too busy +finishing their bread and milk to say anything. Probably they knew that +Russ and Rose, who always looked after them, would take care of the +strange noise. + +"Oh, _that_ noise!" exclaimed Mrs. Thompson, as once more the hollow +groan sounded, throughout the house. "You weren't afraid of that, were +you?" And her eyes began to twinkle, then she laughed. + +"A--a little," admitted Rose. + +"It sounds like the cur'us noise at Great Hedge," added Russ. + +"Well, I didn't know you had a curious noise at your grandfather's +place," went on Mrs. Thompson. "First I ever heard of it." + +"Oh, yes, there's a ghost there, only it isn't a ghost 'cause there's no +such thing! Daddy said so!" exclaimed Rose. "But we got----" + +"We've got a funny noise there," said Russ, breaking in on what his +sister was saying. "It sounds like your noise, too." + +"Well, there's nothing so very curious about this noise," laughed Mrs. +Thompson. "That's only my husband playing on the big horn he used to +blow when he was in the band. He hasn't used it much for years, and +can't blow it as well as he used to. But that's what the noise is. Every +once in a while he takes a notion and goes up into the attic and blows +on the horn. I imagine he did it this time to amuse you children. I'll +ask him. + +"Jabez!" she called up the stairs that led to the small second story of +the house. "Jabez! Is that you blowing the old bass horn?" + +"Yes, Sarah, that's me," was the answer. + +"Only I can't seem to blow it just right. Something appears to have got +stopped up in the horn, or else maybe it's frozen. It doesn't blow like +it used to." + +"I should think it didn't!" laughed his wife. "Stop your tooting, and +bring the horn down where the children can see it. Some of 'em thought +it was a ghost, such as they have at Great Hedge. Did you ever hear of a +ghost there?" + +"Oh, I've heard some talk of it," answered Mr. Thompson, and now the six +little Bunkers could hear him coming downstairs. He seemed to be +carrying something large and heavy. + +"Why didn't you tell me about it?" asked his wife. "I like ghost +stories." + +"Oh, this isn't really a ghost," quickly explained Rose. "It's just a +queer, groaning sound, and it comes in the middle of the night +sometimes, and my daddy and grandpa can't find out what it is." + +"Maybe it was Mr. Thompson blowing his horn," suggested Russ. "It +sounded like that." + +"Well, I'm sorry my playing sounds as bad as that," laughed Mr. +Thompson, and then he came into the room where the children were, +carrying a large brass horn, the kind that play the bass, or heavy, +notes in a band. Putting his lips to the mouthpiece Mr. Thompson made +the same "umph-umph!" sound that had so startled the children at first. + +"Does that sound like the ghost?" he asked Russ. + +"Just like it, only louder," was the answer. + +"I wonder what it can be at Great Hedge," said Mrs. Thompson. "I should +think it would scare you dreadfully," she went on. + +"Why, no," answered Rose. "But we want to find out what it is. So does +my daddy and Grandpa Ford. We're going to help him, Russ and I, only +every time we hear a funny noise it turns out to be Mun Bun falling out +of bed, or an alarm clock beating a drum or something like that." + +"Mercy sakes!" exclaimed Mrs. Thompson. "You must have great goings-on +at Great Hedge!" She laughed when Russ and Rose told her of the +different queer noises, each one turning out to be something that was +only funny and easily explainable. + +"Well, I'm sorry I startled you," said Mr. Thompson. "I sometimes take a +notion to go off by myself and blow the old horn as I used to in the +band when I belonged to it years ago. That wasn't here; it was in +another village. But I had no idea I sounded like a ghost." + +"Oh, it--it sounded nice after we knew what it was," said Rose, thinking +Mr. Thompson's feelings might be hurt if they said they didn't like his +horn. + +"Well, I'll not blow it again while you're here," he said. "And now, +unless I'm mistaken, I think I see your grandfather coming back. He'll +soon have the sled fixed." + +The six little Bunkers rushed to the window and saw Grandpa Ford riding +down the road on the back of Major. Prince had been left in Mr. +Thompson's barn. In a little while Russ and Rose were telling their +grandfather about the queer noise of the bass horn. + +"I never heard you had a ghost at Great Hedge," said Mrs. Thompson to +Grandpa Ford. + +"Well, I call it a ghost for want of a better name," he replied. "It's +just a noise, and I thought we would find out what it was before this, +but we haven't. However, we don't worry about it. What do you think of +my six little Bunkers?" + +"I love them--each and every one," said Mrs. Thompson. "Let them come +over and see me again." + +"I will," promised Grandpa Ford. + +"And I promise I won't play the horn for you," added Mr. Thompson, +laughing. + +He helped Mr. Ford fix the big sled, and soon it had been turned right +side up, the horses were again hitched to it, and the children, after +bidding their new friends good-bye, got in, and away they drove again, +the merry bells jingling. + +"Well, I wish we could find out what the queer noise is here at Great +Hedge as easily as you children found out what the one was at the +cabin," said Grandma Ford, when Russ and Rose and Laddie and Vi, by +turns, had told her what had happened when Mr. Thompson blew his horn. + +"Did the ghost sound while I was away?" asked Grandpa Ford. + +"Yes, and louder than ever," said Mother Bunker. "We looked all over, +but we couldn't find out what made the sound." + +"Maybe it was Santa Claus," said Violet. "He's coming here, and maybe +he's trying the chimney to see if it fits him." + +"We thought of that before," said Rose. "But the noise sounded long +before Santa Claus comes around. I'm sure it couldn't be him." + +"But he's coming, anyhow," said Violet. "Grandpa said so, and I hope he +brings me a new cradle for my doll." + +"I want a new pair of skates," said Russ. "Mine are getting too small." + +"I want a ship I can sail in the Summer, and a bigger sled," came from +Laddie. + +And so the children began to talk about Christmas, and what they wanted +Santa Claus to bring them. + +The weather was now cold and blowy and blustery, with a snowstorm nearly +every day. But the six little Bunkers went out often to play, even if it +was cold. They had lots of fun. + +Now and again the queer noise would sound, but, though each time the +grown folks went to look for it, they could not find it. It seemed to +sound all through the house, almost like the blowing of Mr. Thompson's +horn, only not so loud. + +"Well, I declare!" exclaimed Grandpa Ford after one night's search, when +nothing had been found, "this surely is a mystery!" + +"I could make a riddle about it, only I'd never know the answer," said +Laddie. "And a riddle without an answer is no good." + +"That's very true!" said his grandfather, laughing. + +The days passed. Christmas came nearer and nearer. There was to be a +tree at Great Hedge, and the children were also going to hang up their +stockings. Grandpa Ford and Daddy Bunker went out into the woods and cut +the tree, which was placed in the parlor, and the doors shut. + +"It wouldn't do for any of you to go in there from now on," said Mrs. +Bunker. "You might surprise Santa Claus, and he doesn't like to be +surprised." + +Finally came Christmas Eve. The children listened to the reading of +Bible stories as they sat before the fire, and then went early to bed +so "morning would come quicker." + +But, in spite of the fact that they wanted to go to sleep, it was some +time before the older ones dropped off into Slumberland. Then, in the +middle of the night, it seemed, there sounded throughout the house the +sound of a horn being blown. + +"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Rose, suddenly awakening and sitting up in bed. "Is +that--is that the----" + +"It's the horn of Santa Claus!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "Wake up! It's +Christmas morning!" + +And so it was. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE GHOST AT LAST + + +"Merry Christmas!" called the six little Bunkers. + +"Merry Christmas!" answered Grandpa and Grandma Ford and Daddy and +Mother Bunker. "Merry Christmas!" + +"Merry Christmas!" called Dick as he tramped in from the barn, all +covered with snow. + +And such a jolly Christmas as it was! If each of the six little Bunkers +did not get exactly what he or she wanted, all got something just as +good. + +There were toys, dolls, sleds, games and picture books. There was a +magic lantern for Russ--something he had long wanted. There was a toy +airship, that could be wound up and would fly, for Laddie. This he had +wished for many times. + +And the grown folks were not forgotten. There were fur-lined slippers +for both Grandpa and Grandma Ford, a gold pin for Mother Bunker, and a +new shaving set for Daddy Bunker. Dick had some new neckties, a pipe, +and a pair of rubber boots. + +"Just what I wanted!" he exclaimed. + +And I wish you could have seen the Christmas tree! It was a beautiful +one, and covered with colored balls that sparkled red, green, blue, and +yellow in the candle light. It was wonderful! + +"I wish I could try my new skates," said Russ. But this was a vain wish, +as the ice on the pond, as well as the ground, was covered with snow. + +"But we can have lots more rides now, 'cause I got my big new sled, and +you can all take turns on it," said Laddie. "And, oh, I've thought of a +new riddle!" he cried. "Why would your dress be good to go fishing with, +Mother?" he asked. + +"Why would my dress be good to go fishing with?" repeated Mrs. Bunker. +"It wouldn't, Laddie. I wouldn't want to soil my nice dress by going +fishing in it." + +"Anyhow, what's that got to do with your new sled?" asked Russ. + +"Nothing," answered Laddie. "Only I just happened to think of this +riddle. Why would Mother's dress be good to go fishing with?" + +"Well, why would it?" asked Grandma Ford. "I want to hear the answer, +because I have to go out into the kitchen and see about getting the +dinner. Why would your mother's dress be good for fishing with, Laddie?" + +"'Cause it's got hooks on," he answered with a laugh. "I heard her ask +you to hook it up this morning. Isn't that a good riddle?" + +"Very good," answered Grandma Ford. "Now see if you can think of one +about roast chicken, as that's what we're going to have for dinner. Get +good and hungry, all of you." + +"Better go out into the air and play a while," suggested Daddy Bunker. +"That will give you good, healthy appetites." + +So the six little Bunkers went out to play. It was not very cold, but +Grandpa Ford said it looked as though there would be more snow. + +"Then we can make more snow men!" shouted Russ. "And maybe I'll make an +ice boat, too, when the snow melts so we can go on the pond." + +Out in the snow rushed the six little Bunkers, and they had fun playing +near the big hedge which gave Grandpa Ford's place its name. + +When the children were romping about, sliding down a little hill they +made, and tumbling about in the snow, along came Mr. Thompson. + +"Merry Christmas!" he called to Russ, Rose and the others. + +"Merry Christmas!" they answered. + +Mun Bun and Margy, who had been making a little snow man all by +themselves, stopped their play and walked toward the house. + +"Where are you going?" asked Russ. + +"I'm going to ask Grandma for a cookie," explained Mun Bun. "I'm +hungry." + +"So'm I," added Margy. + +"Don't eat before dinner," advised Rose. "Save your 'hungry' for the +roast chicken." + +And Grandma Ford told the little ones the same thing, but they insisted +that they wanted a cookie each, so she gave them one apiece, but they +were rather small. + +"Because," said Grandma, "I want you to eat my nice, brown, roast +chicken." + +And Mun Bun and Margy did. For, when dinner time came, they had as good +appetites as any of the others. Every one seemed to be hungry, and, for +a while, the sound of the clatter of the knives, forks and plates was +louder than the talk. + +After dinner they sat about the open fire on the big hearth in the +living-room, and cracked nuts. Or, rather, Grandpa Ford cracked them and +the children ate them. + +"Wouldn't it be funny," began Russ, "if we should----" + +And, just then, there suddenly sounded throughout the house that +strange, groaning sound. + +"O-u-g-h-m!" + +It seemed louder than ever, and, for a moment, every one was startled. +Mun Bun and Margy ran to their mother. + +"Come on!" called Grandpa Ford to Daddy Bunker. "We must find out what +that noise is. It has been going on long enough, and now to have it +come when we are all so happy at Christmas time is too much! We must +find where it is." + +"Can't we help hunt?" asked Russ. + +"Yes, let us, Mother, won't you?" added Rose. + +"But what is it?" asked Laddie. "What makes the funny groaning noise?" + +"Maybe Mr. Thompson is blowing his horn," said Vi. + +The groaning noise kept up longer this time than ever before. Every few +minutes it would echo through the house. Sometimes it sounded as though +upstairs, and again down in the cellar. + +"We'll try the attic," said Grandpa Ford. + +He and Daddy Bunker went up there. Grandma Ford and Mother Bunker stayed +in the sitting-room with Mun Bun and Margy. + +"Come on!" called Russ to Rose. "Let's go and look." + +Rose followed her brother. + +"Want to come?" she asked Violet and Laddie. + +"Yep," the twins said exactly together, just as twins should, I +suppose. + +Russ, Rose, Laddie and Vi walked slowly through the different downstairs +rooms. In each one they listened. In some they could hear the noise more +plainly than in others. Finally they came to the kitchen. + +"It sounds plainer here," said Russ. + +And, just then, the groan sounded so near at hand that Rose jumped and +caught Russ by the arm. + +"O-u-g-h-m!" + +Again the groan sounded. + +"It's over in there!" cried Laddie, pointing to a large storeroom +opening out of the kitchen. The door of this room was open, and the +noise, indeed, did seem to come from there. + +"Let's go in!" suggested Russ, and he started toward it. + +"Maybe you'd better call Grandpa and Daddy, and let them look," said Vi. + +Just then Mother Bunker and Grandma Ford, followed by the two smallest +children, came into the kitchen. + +"Oh, we've found the ghost!" cried Rose to her mother. "It's in the +storeroom! Listen!" + +The two women listened. The groan sounded very plainly, and did seem to +come from the room off the kitchen. + +Grandma Ford walked in. All was quiet for a moment, and then the noise +sounded again. + +"I've found it!" cried Grandma Ford. "I've found the ghost at last!" + +"What is it?" exclaimed Mother Bunker. + +"I don't know exactly what makes it," said Grandma Ford; "but the noise +comes out of this rain-water pipe under the window of the storeroom. +We'll call Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford and have them look. But come in +and listen, all of you." + +With their mother the six little Bunkers went into the storeroom. Just +as they entered the groan sounded loudly, and, as Grandma Ford said, it +came from a rain-water pipe that ran slantingly under the window. + +"That's the ghost!" cried Mother Bunker. "No wonder we couldn't find it. +We never looked here before." + +And when Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford came down out of the attic, where +they had not been able to find the "ghost," though they heard the sound +of it faintly there, they were told what the six little Bunkers had +discovered with the help of Grandma Ford. + +"Yes, the noise comes from the rain-water pipe," said Grandpa Ford, when +he had looked and listened carefully. + +"What makes it?" asked Daddy Bunker. + +"Well, the pipe is broken, and partly filled with water from the rain or +melted snow. There are also some dried leaves in the pipe. One end has +sunk down and the wind blows across that and makes a hollow, groaning +sound, just as you can make by blowing across the open mouth of a big, +empty bottle. That was the ghost--the wind blowing across the broken +water pipe." + +"Yes, that is what made it," said Daddy Bunker, when he had taken a look +and had listened again. "The sound comes loudest when the wind blows." + +"The noise sounded, sometimes, when the wind didn't blow," said Grandpa +Ford, as he took the pipe apart, "because of the dried leaves that were +in it. The leaves became water-soaked, and were in a lump. Then, when +this lump slid down it made a sort of choking sound like a pump that +runs out of water. The wind blowing across the pipe, and the wet leaves +sinking down, made the queer noises. I'm glad we've found out about +them." + +"But what made it blow all through the house?" asked Mother Bunker. + +"Because there are rain-water pipes, or drain pipes, from the gutters on +all sides of the house," explained her husband. "The pipes are +connected, and the sound, starting in the broken pipe under the window +in the storeroom, vibrated all around the house from the attic to the +cellar. That ends the ghost, children." + +And so it did, for when that pipe and some others were mended, and +fastened together after being cleaned out, no more groans were heard. +And so the "ghost" at Great Hedge was found to be nothing more than all +ghosts are--something natural and simple. + +"Now I can make a riddle about it," said Laddie. "I can ask why is a +ghost like an umbrella?" + +"Why is it?" asked Violet. + +"'Cause it hid in a rain-water pipe. 'Course that isn't a _very_ good +riddle," admitted Laddie. "Maybe I'll think of a better one after a +while." + +"Well, it's good enough this time," laughed Grandpa Ford. "Now the ghost +is 'laid,' as they call it, we'll have lots of fun at Great Hedge." + +And so the children did. The Christmas holidays passed and New Year's +came. The snow melted, and there was a chance for more skating and for +rides in the ice boat. Russ kept his word and made one, but it upset +more times than it sailed. + +"I wonder what we'll do next Winter," said Rose, as she and Russ were +sliding downhill one day. + +"Summer comes before next Winter," he said. "Maybe we'll go visiting +again." + +And where the children went and what they did you may learn by reading +the next volume of this series, to be called: "Six Little Bunkers at +Uncle Fred's." He had a ranch out West and---- + +But there, I'll let you read the book for yourselves. + +"Oh, but we're having lots of fun here," said Laddie that night, as he +sat trying to think of a new riddle. "Lots of fun." + +"And the best fun of all was finding the ghost that wasn't a ghost," +said Russ. + +And I think so myself. So, having been on many adventures with the six +little Bunkers, we will leave them for a while. + + +THE END + + + + +_This Isn't All!_ + +Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in +this book? + +Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and +experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author? + +On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you +will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same +store where you got this book. + +_Don't throw away the Wrapper_ + +_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But +in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete +catalog._ + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The Blythe +Girls Books, Etc. + + * * * * * + +Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume +Complete in Itself. + + * * * * * + +Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into immediate +popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take them at once to +your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun and cute +sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own--one that can be easily +followed--and all are written in Miss Hope's most entertaining manner. +Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on the bookshelf of every +child in the land. + + 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 + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT INDIAN JOHN'S + + * * * * * + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + * * * * * + + + + +THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books, Etc + + * * * * * + +Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume +Complete in Itself. + + * * * * * + +These stories are eagerly welcomed by the little folks from about five +to ten years of age. Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively +doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful +sister Sue. + + 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 CAMP-REST-A-WHILE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME + 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 + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON THE ROLLING OCEAN + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON JACK FROST ISLAND + + * * * * * + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK + + + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS + +For Little Men and Women + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of "The Bunny Brown Series," Etc. + + * * * * * + +Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume +Complete in Itself. + + * * * * * + +These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stands +among children and their parents of this generation where the books of +Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this +inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a +source of keen delight to imaginative children everywhere. + + 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 BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR + THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY + + * * * * * + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + * * * * * + + + +Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's punctuation errors have been +repaired. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA +FORD'S*** + + +******* This file should be named 17761.txt or 17761.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/7/6/17761 + + + +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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