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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/19736-h.zip b/19736-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b7ddbb6 --- /dev/null +++ b/19736-h.zip diff --git a/19736-h/19736-h.htm b/19736-h/19736-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f245ed --- /dev/null +++ b/19736-h/19736-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6901 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo'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; + } + .hang1 {text-indent: -3em; margin-left: 3em;} + 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: 5%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's, by Laura Lee Hope + +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 www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: November 7, 2006 [EBook #19736] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J.P.W. Fraser, Emmy +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + + + + +<h1>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS<br />AT AUNT JO'S</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3><h2>LAURA LEE HOPE</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<span class="smcap">Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "The Bunny<br /> +Brown Series," "The Outdoor Girls Series," etc.</span><br /> +<br /><br /><br /> +<i>ILLUSTRATED</i><br /> +<br /><br /><br /> +NEW YORK<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +PUBLISHERS<br /> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class='bbox'> +<h2>BOOKS</h2> + +<h2>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h2> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 50 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="THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES"> +<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="THE 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="THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES"> +<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: 25%;' /> + +<h3>THE OUTDOOR GIRL SERIES</h3> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="THE OUTDOOR GIRL SERIES"> +<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> + +<div class='center'><br /><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP,</b> PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK</div> +</div> + +<div class='center'><br /> +Copyright, 1918, by<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's</i><br /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 254px;"> +<img src="images/p001.jpg" width="254" height="400" alt="THE CHILDREN WERE HAVING LOTS OF FUN WITH THEIR FUNNY LITTLE PET." title="THE CHILDREN WERE HAVING LOTS OF FUN WITH THEIR FUNNY LITTLE PET." /> +<span class="caption">THE CHILDREN WERE HAVING LOTS OF FUN WITH THEIR FUNNY LITTLE PET.</span> +</div> + +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's.</i> <i>Frontispiece</i>—(<i><a href='#Page_158'>Page 158</a></i>)</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" 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">A Queer Hunt</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">Good-bye to Grandma</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">On the Boat</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_22'>22</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In Boston</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_32'>32</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Alexis is Splashed</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_42'>42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Pocketbook</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_52'>52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Sad Letter</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Russ Makes a Fountain</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">What Happened to William</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_83'>83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Rose Makes an Airship</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_92'>92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Vi is Lost</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_103'>103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Margy Takes a Ride</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_112'>112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mun Bun Drives Away</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_122'>122</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Whistling Wagon</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_133'>133</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Laddie's Funny "Riddle"</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_144'>144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Rose Breaks Her Skate</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_151'>151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Skate Wagon</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">The Spinning Tops</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_171'>171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Flying a Kite</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_181'>181</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Jumping-Rope</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_191'>191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mun Bun in a Hole</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_202'>202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Out to Nantasket Beach</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_210'>210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Merry-Go-Round</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">Rose Finds Her Doll</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_228'>228</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Pocketbook Owner</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_238'>238</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>A QUEER HUNT</h3> + + +<p>"Let me count noses now, to see if you're all here," said Mother Bunker +with a laugh, as her flock of children gathered around her.</p> + +<p>"Don't you want some help?" asked Grandma Bell. "Can you count so many +boys and girls all alone, Amy?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think so," answered Mother Bunker. "You see I am used to it. I +count them every time we come to the woods, and each time I start for +home, to be sure none has been left behind. Now then, children! +Attention! as the soldier captain says."</p> + +<p>Six little Bunkers, who were getting ready to run off into the woods to +frolic and have a good time at a good-bye picnic, laughed and shouted +and finally stood still long enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> for their mother to "count noses," +as she called it.</p> + +<p>"And I'll help," said Grandma Bell, at whose country home in Maine, near +Lake Sagatook, the six little Bunkers were spending part of their summer +vacation.</p> + +<p>"Russ and Rose!" called Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Here we are!" answered Russ, and he pointed to his sister.</p> + +<p>"Vi and Laddie!" went on Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"We're here, but we're going to run now," said Laddie. "I'm going to +think of a riddle to guess when we get to the woods."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to run to?" asked Vi, or Violet, which was her +right name, though she was more often called Vi. "Where you going to run +to, Laddie?" she asked again. But Laddie, her twin brother, did not stop +to answer the question. Indeed it would take a great deal of time to +reply to the questions Vi asked, and no one ever stopped to answer them +all, any more than they tried to answer all the riddles—real and +make-believe—that Laddie asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's four of them," said Grandma Bell with a laugh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mother Bunker. "And now for the last. Margy and Mun!"</p> + +<p>"We's here!" said Margy, who, as you may easily guess, was, more +properly, Margaret. "Come on, Mun Bun!" she called. "Now we can have +some fun."</p> + +<p>And for fear you might be wondering what sort of creature Mun Bun was, +I'll say right here that he was Margy's little brother, and his right +name was Munroe Ford Bunker; but he was called Mun Bun for short.</p> + +<p>"They're all here," said Grandma Bell, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Mrs. Bunker, as she saw the six children running across +the field toward the woods. "They're all here now, and I hope they'll +all be here when we start back."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think they will," said Grandma Bell with a smile. "I'm sorry this +is your last picnic with me. I certainly have enjoyed your visit +here—yours and the children's."</p> + +<p>The two women walked slowly over the field and toward the woods, in +which the six little Bunkers were already running about and having fun. +The woods were on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> edge of Lake Sagatook, and not far from Grandma +Bell's house.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Rose!" called Russ to his sister. "We'll have a last ride on +the steamboat."</p> + +<p>"I want to come, too!" shouted Laddie, dropping a bundle of pine cones +he had picked up.</p> + +<p>"So do I," added Vi. "I want a ride."</p> + +<p>"Say, we can't all get on the steamboat at once!" Russ cried. "It'll +sink if we do."</p> + +<p>"Then we can play shipwreck," proposed Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we could do that," Russ agreed. "But if the steamboat sinks it'll +be on the bottom of the lake, and it won't move and we can't have rides. +That'll be no fun!" And the boy began to whistle, which he almost always +did when he was thinking hard, as he was just now.</p> + +<p>"Well, what can we do?" asked Rose. "I want a ride on the steamboat."</p> + +<p>It wasn't really a steamboat at all, being only some fence rails and +boards nailed roughly together. It was more of a raft than a boat, but +it would float in the shallow water of the lake near the shore, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +children could stand on it in their bare feet and paddle about in a +small cove that a bend in the shore-line of the lake made. The reason +they had to take off their shoes and stockings was because the water +came up over the top of the raft, and splashed on the children's feet. +Anyhow, it was more fun to go barefooted, and no sooner had the six +little Bunkers reached the shore of the lake in the midst of the woods, +than off came their shoes and stockings.</p> + +<p>"I want to ride on the steamer, too," said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"No, we don't want to do that," put in Margy, who was standing near him.</p> + +<p>"Why?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"'Cause."</p> + +<p>"But why?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you 'member? We're goin' to roll downhill where the pine needles +make it so slippery."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," agreed Mun Bun. "We'll roll downhill, and then we'll ride on +the steamer."</p> + +<p>"But I want a ride now!" insisted Violet.</p> + +<p>"So do I," added Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I asked first," cried Rose. "But I s'pose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> mother'll make me give in to +you two, 'cause I'm older'n you; but I don't want to," she added.</p> + +<p>"My! what's all this about?" asked Mother Bunker, as she came along with +Grandma Bell, the two women having walked more slowly than the children. +"Has anything happened?" She could tell by the faces of the little ones +that everything was not just right.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they all want to ride on the steamboat at once, and it isn't big +enough," explained Russ.</p> + +<p>"Then you must take turns," said Mother Bunker quickly. "That's the only +way to do. Rose, dear, you are the oldest; you will let Laddie and +Violet have the first ride, will you not?"</p> + +<p>"There! I <i>knew</i> you'd ask me to do that!" cried Rose, and her voice was +not just as pleasant as it might have been.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Rose," whispered Russ to her. "I'll give you a longer ride +than I give them. Anyway, they'll soon get tired of the raft, and then +you and I can play sailor, and steamboat around as much as we like."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And will you let me help push with the pole?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can do that, of course," Russ agreed.</p> + +<p>"All right," assented Rose. "I'll wait. Go on, Violet and Laddie. You +may have your ride first."</p> + +<p>With shouts of glee the twins ran down to the edge of the lake where the +raft, or, as Russ called it, the "steamboat," was tied by a rope to an +old stump. Russ, with the help of Tom Hardy, the hired man, had made the +raft, and on it the children had had lots of fun.</p> + +<p>Russ now took his place in the middle, holding a long pole by which he +pushed the raft about in the shallow cove of the lake. The water here +was not deep—hardly over the children's knees.</p> + +<p>"All aboard!" cried Russ, and Laddie and Violet got on the raft. Mother +Bunker and Grandma Bell sat down in the shade to watch, while Mun Bun +and Margy ran over to a little hill, covered with dry, slippery pine +needles, and there they started to roll over and over down the slope, +tumbling about in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> the soft grass at the foot, laughing and giggling.</p> + +<p>Up and down, and around and around the little cove of Lake Sagatook Russ +pushed his little twin brother and sister. The raft was just about large +enough for three children of the size of those who were on it, but any +more would have made it sink to the sandy bottom of the lake. Then, +though they might have played "shipwreck," it would not be as much fun, +Russ thought.</p> + +<p>"Toot! Toot!" cried Russ, making believe he was the steamboat's whistle. +Then he ding-donged the bell and hissed, to let off steam. Violet and +Laddie laughed, and did the same thing, pretending they were part of the +engine of the boat.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think you have ridden on the steamboat long enough now, Laddie +and Vi!" called Mother Bunker, after a bit. "Give Rose a turn."</p> + +<p>"Just one more ride!" pleaded Laddie.</p> + +<p>"All right—just one more. But that's the last," said Russ.</p> + +<p>So he poled the raft across the cove again, and then his little brother +and sister got off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> while Rose waded out in her bare feet and got on +board, carrying a pole so she could help push the raft; for it had no +sails like a sailboat, and no motor like a motor-boat, and to make it go +it had to be pushed.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Vi. Let's go over and roll downhill with Margy and Mun Bun," +said Laddie, after watching Rose and Russ a bit. "They're having lots of +fun."</p> + +<p>The two smallest of the six little Bunkers did, indeed, appear to be +having a good time. Over and over they rolled down the clean, slippery +hill covered with the brown pine needles.</p> + +<p>Soon Laddie and Vi joined in the fun, and their shouts and laughter +could be heard by Mother Bunker and Grandma Bell, where they were +sitting in the shade of the trees.</p> + +<p>All at once Laddie, who had rolled to the bottom of the hill, ending +with a somersault in the soft grass, stood up and called:</p> + +<p>"Listen! What's that?"</p> + +<p>Vi, Margy and Mun Bun listened.</p> + +<p>"I don't hear anything," said Vi.</p> + +<p>"I do," went on Laddie. "It's some one hollering!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + +<p>And, as the children became quiet and listened more intently, they did, +indeed, hear a voice calling:</p> + +<p>"Come and get me! Come and get me!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's somebody lost in the woods!" said Violet.</p> + +<p>"A little boy, maybe!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Or a little girl," added Mun Bun, his eyes big with wonder.</p> + +<p>"Let's go and hunt for 'em," proposed Laddie. "If we were lost, we'd +like some one to hunt for us. Come on!"</p> + +<p>The other children did not stop to think whether or not this was right. +Laddie was the oldest of the four, except Violet, who was just as old, +except maybe a minute or two, and Mun Bun and Margy thought what Laddie +said must be right.</p> + +<p>"Come and get me! Come and get me!" cried the voice again, and to the +four little Bunkers it seemed to be a sad one.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" exclaimed Laddie. And the children started on a queer hunt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>GOOD-BYE TO GRANDMA</h3> + + +<p>Mrs. Bunker, who was busy talking to Grandma Bell, looked up just in +time to see Laddie, Violet, Margy and Mun Bun running off through the +woods.</p> + +<p>"Children! Children!" she cried. "Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>Faintly came back Laddie's answer:</p> + +<p>"There's a little boy or girl lost in the woods, an' they're callin' to +us and we're going to hunt for 'em!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mother Bunker. "Wait, children! Wait for me!" she +continued. "Russ—Rose! Come off the raft! I don't want you on it while +I'm not near you!"</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Grandma Bell, as she saw her daughter +getting up.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to see what those children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> mean," was Mrs. Bunker's answer. +"I can't tell what mischief they may get into."</p> + +<p>And while Rose and Russ poled the raft toward shore, as their mother +told them to, and got off, Mrs. Bunker started after the other children, +who were going to find the strange voice that had called to them.</p> + +<p>And while this is going on I shall have a chance to tell my new readers +something about the little Bunkers. There were six of them, as, perhaps, +you have counted. Russ, or Russell, to give him the whole of his name, +was eight years old. He was the oldest, a great boy for making things to +play with, such as a steamboat out of some old boards, or an automobile +from a chair and a sofa cushion. He was also very fond of whistling, and +knew several real tunes.</p> + +<p>Rose, who came next, was seven years old. She was a regular "mother's +helper," and often sang as she washed the dishes or did the dusting. She +had light hair and blue eyes while Russ had a dark complexion.</p> + +<p>Then there came Violet and Laddie, the twins, aged six. Laddie's real +name was Fillmore Bunker, but he was seldom called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> that. His hair was +curly, and his eyes were gray, and whether that made him so fond of +making up riddles, or of asking those others made up, I can't say. +Anyhow he did it. His twin sister loved to ask questions. She could ask +more questions in a day than several persons could answer. No one ever +tried to answer all Vi asked. Her hair and eyes were just like Laddie's.</p> + +<p>Next came Margy and Mun Bun. Margy was five, and her brother was a year +younger. He had blue eyes and golden hair, and, you can easily imagine, +was a pretty picture.</p> + +<p>"Daddy" Bunker, whose name was Charles, had a real estate and lumber +office in Pineville, which was in Pennsylvania, and was on the Rainbow +River. About twenty thousand people lived in Pineville, and it was a +very nice place indeed. The home of the Bunkers was on the main street +of the town, and was less than a mile from Daddy Bunker's office.</p> + +<p>Then there was Mother Bunker, whose hands were full keeping house and +looking after the six little Bunkers. Her name was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> Amy, and before she +married Daddy Bunker her last name had been Bell.</p> + +<p>Those of you who have read the first book of this series, called "Six +Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," remember that there were two other +members of the "family"—Norah O'Grady, the good-natured Irish cook, and +Jerry Simms, the man who had once been a soldier and who was very kind +to the children. Jerry did odd bits of work about the house, and often +ran the automobile for Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>The Bunkers had many relatives. There was Grandma Bell, who was Mrs. +Bunker's mother, and there was Grandpa Ford, who was Daddy Bunker's +stepfather. He was kind and good, and had loved Daddy Bunker when Daddy +Bunker was a little boy, and now loved the six little Bunkers as well. +Grandma Bell lived in Maine, near Lake Sagatook, and Grandpa Ford lived +at Tarrington, New York, his place being called Great Hedge Estate.</p> + +<p>Then there was Miss Josephine Bunker (she was "Aunt Jo," you know), who +lived in Boston; Uncle Frederick Bell, of Moon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> City, Montana; and +Cousin Tom Bunker, who lived at Seaview, on the New Jersey coast.</p> + +<p>In the first book I told you about the six little Bunkers when on a +visit to Grandma Bell, in Maine, and how they helped solve a mystery and +find some valuable real estate papers that an old tramp lumberman had +carried off in a ragged coat.</p> + +<p>I can't begin to tell you, here, all the fun the six little Bunkers had +at Grandma Bell's. They spent the last of July and the first part of +August there, and now, just before leaving, they were planning for the +rest of the summer vacation.</p> + +<p>But, just at the present moment, something else was happening. The +children's play had been stopped by the voice in the woods; a voice +heard by Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun and Margy.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure it was a little child you heard calling?" asked Mrs. +Bunker, overtaking the four children.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; sure!" answered Laddie. "It was a little boy."</p> + +<p>"I think it was a little girl," said Violet.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" exclaimed Grandma Bell, who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> come with Mother Bunker. "There +it goes once more!"</p> + +<p>And, surely enough, the voice called again:</p> + +<p>"Come and get me! I'm lost!"</p> + +<p>"Poor thing!" said Grandma Bell. "I wonder whose little boy or girl it +is."</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't any of us," said Violet, "'cause we're all here!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I counted to make sure," said Mother Bunker. "But we must find out +who it is. Come on, children. Are we going too fast for you, Mother?" +she asked Grandma Bell.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, indeed!"</p> + +<p>"We must find the lost one," Mother Bunker continued, and so they kept +on with the queer hunt. Every now and then they could hear the voice +calling. Pretty soon Mrs. Bell said:</p> + +<p>"I can hear some one coming."</p> + +<p>Then the voice called again:</p> + +<p>"Come and get me! I'm lost!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, there it is! Over in that direction!" exclaimed Grandma Bell.</p> + +<p>They hurried toward a thick clump of trees, from which the voice seemed +to come. Then, all at once, another voice called:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, there you are! I see you! Now come right here to me, and don't go +away again!"</p> + +<p>"Why, I know who <i>that</i> is!" exclaimed Grandma Bell.</p> + +<p>Before the children could ask they heard a funny voice say:</p> + +<p>"Oh, hello! Pretty Poll! Pretty Poll! Polly wants a cracker!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll get one, and it won't be a sweet cracker, either, if you +fly out of your cage again," said a man's voice. "You'll get a +fire-cracker! Now you flutter right down to me and be good!"</p> + +<p>"Hello! Hello!" said the funny voice, and then came a strange laugh. +"Ha! Ha! Ha!"</p> + +<p>"Why—why! It's a <i>parrot</i>!" shouted Laddie. "I can see his green +feathers!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and there is Mr. Hixon after him," said Grandma Bell. "You have +been fooled by Bill Hixon's parrot, children, just as you were teased +once before. It wasn't a little boy or girl lost in the woods at all. It +was just the parrot."</p> + +<p>"That's just what it was, Mrs. Bell," said Mr. Hixon, and a man stepped +out from behind a tree. "Were you after him, too?" he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> asked, as he held +out his hand the parrot flew down out of the tree and alighted on his +finger.</p> + +<p>"The children, playing in the woods, heard your parrot calling, and +thought it was a lost child," said Mrs. Bunker. "Did he get out of his +cage?"</p> + +<p>"That's what he did," said Mr. William Hixon, or "Bill," as his +neighbors called him. "He got out early this morning, and I've been +looking for him ever since. I followed along through these woods, +because a man said he had seen a green bird flying about in here, and, +surely enough, I heard my Polly singing out about being lost, and +wanting some one to come and get her. She always begs that way when she +gets lost."</p> + +<p>"We heard her," said Laddie. "But I thought it was a little boy."</p> + +<p>"And I thought it was a little girl," added Violet.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy didn't say anything. They just stood and looked at the +green parrot on Mr. Hixon's finger. The bird seemed happy now, and bent +its head over toward its owner.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She wants it scratched," said Mr. Hixon. "Well, I'll be nice to you +now, but I won't like you if you get out of your cage again," he said. +"She can open the door herself," he explained to Grandma Bell and Mrs. +Bunker.</p> + +<p>"She talks very plainly for a parrot," said Grandma Bell. "I remember +the day the six little Bunkers first came, and Polly was in the back of +the auto. We thought it was a child then."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Polly is a good talker," said Mr. Hixon, who lived not far from +Grandma Bell's. "But I think I'll have to get her a new cage so she +can't get out. It keeps me busy chasing after her."</p> + +<p>"Polly wants a cracker! Polly wants a sweet cracker!" chanted the +parrot.</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll get a sour one if you aren't good!" said Mr. Hixon, with a +laugh. "I'm sorry my parrot fooled you, and made you think a child was +lost in the woods," he went on.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," said Mother Bunker. "We didn't mind hunting, and +we're glad no one was lost."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How are all the six little Bunkers?" asked the owner of the green +parrot, as he started for his home.</p> + +<p>"Well, these four, as you see, are fine," said Grandma Bell. "The other +two, Russ and Rose, are playing steamboat on the lake. But I am going to +lose them all."</p> + +<p>"Lose them all!" cried Mr. Hixon. "How's that?"</p> + +<p>"We are going to pay a visit to Mr. Bunker's sister, who lives in +Boston," explained Mrs. Bunker. "She wrote and asked us to come, and +this is our last week at Grandma Bell's."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sure we'll miss the six little Bunkers when they go," said +Mr. Hixon.</p> + +<p>"Indeed we shall!" said Grandma Bell. "But they are coming to see me +again."</p> + +<p>"We love it here," put in Vi.</p> + +<p>"And we've had lots of fun," added Margy.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we'll have fun at Aunt Jo's," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you will. I guess you could have fun anywhere, you six," said +Mr. Hixon with a laugh. "Well, good-bye, if I don't see you again!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good-bye!" said the others.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," echoed the parrot.</p> + +<p>Grandma Bell, Mother Bunker and the four children went back to the shady +cove of the lake.</p> + +<p>"Where'd you go?" asked Russ and Rose, who were walking along to meet +them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we thought somebody was lost in the woods," answered Laddie.</p> + +<p>"But it was Mr. Hixon's parrot," added Vi.</p> + +<p>The children went back to their play.</p> + +<p>A day or so later they helped pack the things they had brought with them +to Grandma Bell's.</p> + +<p>"We're going to Aunt Jo's! We're going to Aunt Jo's!" shouted Rose, +dancing about.</p> + +<p>"In Boston! In Boston!" added Russ. "And we'll have Boston baked beans!"</p> + +<p>The next day the children said good-bye to Grandma Bell and, with Daddy +and Mother Bunker, started for Aunt Jo's. They hardly even dreamed of +all the good times they were to have there, nor of the strange things +that were to happen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>ON THE BOAT</h3> + + +<p>From Grandma Bell's home, near Lake Sagatook, the six little Bunkers, +with their father and mother, were taken to the railroad station in a +big automobile. As the children looked back, waving their hands to their +dear grandmother, who had made their visit such a pleasant one, Russ +said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked his father. "You seem sad."</p> + +<p>"I wish we could take that nice lake with us," explained Russ. "We had +such fun there."</p> + +<p>"And the boat, too," added Rose. "Can we have a boat at Aunt Jo's, +Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"I hardly think so," answered Mr. Bunker with a smile. "Aunt Jo lives in +the city—in Boston, in the Back Bay section, and I hardly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> think there +is a place there where you can paddle a raft."</p> + +<p>"Can we go wadin'?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Not unless there is a little lake in some park near by," his father +answered.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't we wait for it to rain and make a mud puddle?" asked Vi. "We +could wade in that! We do when we're home!"</p> + +<p>"But Boston isn't home. And you can't do in a big city the things you +can do at home in Pineville," said Mrs. Bunker, as the automobile +chugged along through the woods.</p> + +<p>"Can't we have <i>any</i> fun?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, lots of fun," his father replied. "Aunt Jo wouldn't ask us to +spend two weeks or more at her house, if she didn't know you children +could have fun, even if she does live in a city. Don't worry about +that—you'll have fun."</p> + +<p>"But we can't have a boat," sighed Rose. She and the other children +loved the water, and, living so near Rainbow River as they did, they +were used to paddling about, playing with make-believe boats and toys +like that.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you can't have a boat at Aunt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> Jo's in Boston, you are going +to ride on one before you get to her house," said Mother Bunker with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"Are we?" cried Russ and Rose together.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Didn't I tell you about that?" asked Daddy Bunker. "We are going +to Boston by boat, instead of by train. That is, we are going most of +the way by boat."</p> + +<p>"Where is there any water for a boat?" asked Vi, looking around in the +woods through which they were riding. "You can't make a boat go lessen +you have water."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know. Yes, you can! Yes, you can!" suddenly cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>"How can you?" asked Russ. "You can't sail a boat without water."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can!" said Laddie again, and he was laughing now. "I just +thought of a riddle. This is it. What kind of a boat can you sail +without water? It's a riddle!"</p> + +<p>"Huh! I should say it <i>was</i>! Nobody could answer a riddle like <i>that</i>!" +declared Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they can!" insisted Laddie. "It's a riddle! And I made it up all +by myself. Nobody told me, and I know the answer."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, that's more than I do," said Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Suppose +you tell us, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"And then Daddy can tell us about the boat we're going to ride on to +Aunt Jo's," suggested Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll do that," said Mr. Bunker. "Go on, Laddie. What is the riddle +you thought of?"</p> + +<p>"What kind of a boat don't have to go in water?" asked the little boy, +his eyes shining, for he loved to make up riddles.</p> + +<p>"Well, go on. Tell us the answer," said his mother.</p> + +<p>"It's a gravy boat!" laughed Laddie. "You know, a gravy boat. It's the +kind of a dish we have on the table, with gravy in it, for your bread. +You don't have to put <i>that</i> kind of a boat in water."</p> + +<p>"That's right! You don't," said Mr. Bunker. "That was a good riddle, +Laddie."</p> + +<p>"And maybe I could think up another one," went on the little boy. "I +almost got one. It's about what makes bread always fall with the +butter-side down. But I haven't thought of the answer yet."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, don't tell us any more riddles now," said Russ. "We want to hear +about the boat we're going to ride on to Aunt Jo's. Tell us, Daddy."</p> + +<p>"All right, I will," promised the children's father.</p> + +<p>Then he went on to tell that, by taking a train to a station on the +coast, they could get a boat that would take them to Boston.</p> + +<p>"We shall have to travel all night though, just as we did in the +sleeping-car," said Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Because it will take that long to reach Boston," explained her father.</p> + +<p>Rose had quite a large doll, her best one, which she carried with her in +her arms whenever the family went traveling. Rose had brought her doll +to Grandma Bell's and something funny had happened to the doll in the +sleeping-car. You may read about it in the book before this one.</p> + +<p>"I must see if my doll is asleep," said Rose.</p> + +<p>She had put her toy in a cosy corner of the auto seat, and covered her +with a blanket.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> But when Rose went to look for Sue, as she called her +doll, Sue was not to be found.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Sue's gone! Sue's gone!" cried Rose. "Somebody has taken my Sue!"</p> + +<p>"Who did?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure she hasn't fallen to the floor of the car?" asked Mrs. +Bunker.</p> + +<p>"No, she isn't here at all," wailed Rose.</p> + +<p>"Maybe you didn't bring her. Perhaps you left her at Grandma Bell's," +said Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! I'm sure I had her," sobbed Rose. "Don't you all 'member that I +held her up and wiggled her hand at grandma to say good-bye?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do remember that," said Mrs. Bunker. "Rose surely had her doll +when we started. Have any of you children seen Sue?" she asked.</p> + +<p>None of them had, and then Daddy Bunker called to the man driving the +auto to stop.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"I thought I'd walk back a little way and see if Sue had not dropped out +along the road," answered her husband.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Have we got time for that? Won't the train go?"</p> + +<p>"Well, we've got a little time," said the driver. "I'll get out and help +you look, Mr. Bunker."</p> + +<p>"Why'd you lose Sue, Rose?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Why, Vi Bunker, I didn't mean to lose her!" exclaimed Rose.</p> + +<p>Rose was still searching among the blankets, hoping that, somehow or +other, the doll might be found, and her father and Mr. Mead, the auto +driver, were getting out, when they heard a shout behind them.</p> + +<p>"That's some one calling," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>They looked and saw riding toward them a boy on a bicycle. He had +something in one hand, and clung to the steering bars with the other.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he has my doll! He has my doll! I can see Sue!" cried Rose, +clapping her hands in joy. "He found her!"</p> + +<p>"I do believe he has the child's doll," said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"But where did he get her?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"He must have picked her up along the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> road after she slipped out of the +auto," answered Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>By this time the boy on the bicycle had caught up to the auto, which had +stopped in a shady place.</p> + +<p>"This doll dropped out of your car in front of our house," panted the +bicycle boy. "I saw it fall, and I picked it up and rode after you. But +I had hard work to catch you."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you did catch us," said Mr. Bunker, taking the doll from the +boy's hand. "You had quite a ride. Aren't you tired?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm a little tired, but not much," said the boy. "The doll is all +right. She had a little dust on her, but I brushed it off."</p> + +<p>"I'm ever so much obliged to you," said Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Thank you—a whole lot!" murmured Rose. "I was 'fraid my doll was lost +forever."</p> + +<p>"And here is something for your trouble," said Mr. Bunker, giving the +boy a silver quarter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't want to take it!" he said, backing away.</p> + +<p>"Of course you must take it!" insisted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> Rose's father. "You had a hard +ride to bring the doll back to us, and you saved us a long walk to look +for her. Take the money and get yourself something with it."</p> + +<p>"All right. Thank you," said the boy, blushing a little under his tan. +"I'll get me a new knife. I want a knife a lot. My old one's no good."</p> + +<p>Then the boy told of having seen the doll bounce out of the automobile +as it went past his house. He had called, but the machine made such a +noise, and the six little Bunkers were probably talking so much, that no +one heard the lad.</p> + +<p>So he picked up Sue from the road and hurried on after the car.</p> + +<p>"And I never want to lose you again," said Rose, as she hugged her doll +close in her arms.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker and Mr. Mead got back into the auto, and they set off again, +Rose and the children waving good-bye to the boy, who stood near his +bicycle, looking at the silver quarter in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Why'd you give the boy a quarter, Daddy?" asked Vi. But that was one +ques<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>tion too many from Vi, and her father did not explain.</p> + +<p>A little later the Bunkers reached the railroad station, without losing +anything more, and they were soon on their way to take the boat for +Boston.</p> + +<p>They had had much fun in Maine, at Lake Sagatook, but just as good times +were ahead of them, they all felt.</p> + +<p>It was evening when they went aboard the big steamer that was to take +them to Boston. The children were rather tired from the day's journey in +automobile and train.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll all be glad to get into our little beds," said Mother +Bunker, as they went to their staterooms, there being two, one next to +the other. "Now let me count noses, to make sure you're all here," she +went on. "Russ, Rose, Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun—Where is Margy?" she suddenly +cried, as she missed the little girl. "Margy isn't here! Where is she?"</p> + +<p>It was true. Margy wasn't with the other little Bunkers. There were only +five in sight!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>IN BOSTON</h3> + + +<p>Daddy Bunker and Mother Bunker were used to having things happen to the +six little Bunkers. Not that they liked to have things happen—that is, +unpleasant things—but the father and the mother knew they could not +travel around with half a dozen children and not find a bit of trouble +now and then.</p> + +<p>And now trouble had come! Margy was not to be found!</p> + +<p>"I'm sure she came on the boat with us," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know that," said his wife, as she looked quickly around the +deck. "I saw her with the rest not a minute ago."</p> + +<p>"Then where can she have gone?" asked Mr. Bunker. "As the steamer has +not moved away from the dock, maybe she ran back to shore to get +something, or look at something."</p> + +<p>"Why'd Margy go away?" asked Vi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Margy is too little to go off by herself," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean some one took her—maybe a gypsy?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose. "Are there gypsies here?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! Of course not!" answered Mr. Bunker, seeing that what Russ +had said might frighten the children. "No one has taken Margy. Maybe she +is just playing hide-and-go-seek!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker didn't really believe Margy was doing this, but he said it to +make the children feel better.</p> + +<p>"You take the children down to the stateroom," said Mr. Bunker to his +wife, "and I'll look for Margy. I'll find her in a jiffy, which is very +quick time, indeed," he told the children. "Run along now, Mun Bun, and +you too, Vi and Laddie. Rose, you go with your mother and help take care +of Mun Bun."</p> + +<p>"Shall I come with you, Daddy?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Mr. Bunker, "you may come with me, Russ. You can run +faster<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> than I can, and if we find Margy playing tag with some of the +other little boys and girls on the steamer you can catch her more easily +than I can."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker said this for fun. He didn't really think Margy was playing +tag. But he had to say something so the others would not be frightened. +And, to tell the truth, Mr. Bunker was a little bit frightened himself, +and so was his wife.</p> + +<p>"Where do you suppose Margy can be?" Mrs. Bunker asked her husband, as +she started down the stairs for the staterooms, or bedrooms, where they +were to spend the night.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's around somewhere," he answered. "She may be watching the men +load the steamer." Boxes and barrels were still being put into the hold, +or "cellar," of the steamer, which would soon start for Boston. Margy, +from the upper deck, might have seen this work going on, and have +stepped out of sight to watch.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Russ, we'll find her," said Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>Many people were now coming on board<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> the steamer. There were some boys +and girls, and certainly a number of them were tired and sleepy. As Mrs. +Bunker went down the stairs with the four little Bunkers, she looked at +every other child she saw, hoping it might be Margy. But she did not see +her smallest daughter.</p> + +<p>Russ and his father walked around the upper deck. They met several men +who worked on the steamer, and asked them if they had seen a little girl +about five years old, with dark hair and eyes, for that is how Margy +looked.</p> + +<p>Each of the men Mr. Bunker asked said he had not seen the little lost +girl, and then Mr. Bunker said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Russ, we'll go down on the next deck. Maybe she is there."</p> + +<p>There were several decks to the steamer, just as there are several +floors in a large house. Russ and his father went downstairs, and as +they started to look on the lower deck they met a man who had shiny gold +braid on the sleeves of his coat, and also on his cap.</p> + +<p>"Are you looking for some one?" asked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> this man, who was a mate, or +helper, to the captain.</p> + +<p>"We are looking for my little girl," said Mr. Bunker. "She has wandered +away since we came on board."</p> + +<p>"Was she a very little girl?" asked the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'ate'">mate</ins>.</p> + +<p>"Rather small," answered Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"And did she have dark hair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" exclaimed Russ eagerly. "Oh, have you seen her? She's my sister +Margy."</p> + +<p>"Well, I just happened to pass a stateroom, where I chance to know no +little girl belongs on this trip. The door was open, and I looked in," +went on the mate. "On the bunk, which is what we call the beds on a +steamer," he told Russ, "I saw a little girl with dark hair curled up in +a heap. She seemed to be asleep, and there was a little white poodle dog +with her."</p> + +<p>"A little white poodle dog!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "Then I'm afraid it +can't be my little girl. We have no white poodle dog."</p> + +<p>"Maybe Margy found one, Daddy, and that's why she didn't come with us," +said Russ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Better take a look at this little girl," went on the mate. "She seems +to be all alone in this stateroom, and she may be yours."</p> + +<p>"We'll look," said Mr. Bunker. "But I hardly think it can be Margy."</p> + +<p>He followed the mate, holding Russ by the hand so the little boy would +not get lost, though Russ was almost too big for this.</p> + +<p>"Here she is," said the mate, as he came to a stop at an open door of a +stateroom. And there, on the clean, white bunk, curled up with one arm +around a white poodle dog was a little girl, whose dark hair mingled +with the white coat of the poodle.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is Margy!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, so it is," said Mr. Bunker. "Thank you," he added to the captain's +helper. "Now we are all right. We have found our lost little girl."</p> + +<p>"I was wondering to whom she belonged," said the mate. "And I was going +to tell the captain about her. Now I won't have to."</p> + +<p>When Mr. Bunker and Russ went into the room, the little poodle dog +raised up his head, opened one eye, and wagged his little stump of a +tail, as if he were saying:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's all right. You don't need to worry. I'm taking care of Margy and +she's taking care of me."</p> + +<p>And it was Margy asleep in the bunk! Poor, tired, sleepy little Margy +Bunker.</p> + +<p>"My dear little girl," said Daddy Bunker softly, as he took her up in +his arms. "We were so worried about you. Where have you been?"</p> + +<p>"I—I founded a little dog," said Margy sleepily, as she put her head +down on her father's shoulder. "He was a little white dog an' I loved +him an' I went with him an' we went to—went to—we——"</p> + +<p>And then Margy herself went to where she was trying to tell her daddy +she had gone—to sleep.</p> + +<p>"We'll ask her about it in the morning," said Mr. Bunker. "I'll carry +her to her mother now, so she won't be anxious any more."</p> + +<p>Margy was in slumberland once more, and so was the little white poodle +dog. He just looked up, with one eye, when he saw Mr. Bunker carrying +his little girl away, and then doggie went to sleep again also.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Aren't you glad we found Margy?" asked Russ, as he walked back with his +father to where Mrs. Bunker and the other children were waiting.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I am," said Margy's daddy.</p> + +<p>"Where was she?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she saw her lost little girl.</p> + +<p>"She had wandered into some other stateroom, and had gone to sleep," Mr. +Bunker answered.</p> + +<p>"And the little poodle dog was asleep with her," added Russ.</p> + +<p>"Where's the little poodle dog?" demanded Laddie, who was almost asleep +himself.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we couldn't bring him," Russ said. And then his father told how +Margy had been found.</p> + +<p>The little girl was still too sleepy to talk, so her mother undressed +her and put her to bed.</p> + +<p>"We can ask her in the morning what happened," she said.</p> + +<p>Now the six little Bunkers were together again, and happy once more, and +Mr. and Mrs. Bunker were no longer worried. They all went to bed, and +then the steamer trav<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>eled through the night, getting to Boston the next +day.</p> + +<p>The children were awake early, and when they were dressed they went out +on deck. They had breakfast on board, in the big dining-saloon.</p> + +<p>"When shall we get to Aunt Jo's?" asked Rose, as she helped her mother +pick up some of the things the other children had scattered about the +stateroom.</p> + +<p>"We'll be there in time for dinner," said Mr. Bunker. "But we haven't +yet heard what happened to Margy. Why did you go to sleep in the strange +bed?" he asked his little girl.</p> + +<p>"'Cause I wanted the doggie," she answered. And then she told how it had +happened, though they had to ask her many questions to get the whole +story.</p> + +<p>Soon after coming on board the steamer Margy, walking a little distance +apart from the other little Bunkers, had seen the white poodle dog +running about the deck. She made friends with him, and when the dog, who +belonged to an elderly lady passenger, went off by himself, Margy +followed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>The poodle went into the stateroom where his mistress was to sleep, and +jumped up on the bed. Margy did the same thing, and then they both fell +asleep. Through the open door the mate saw them and then Mr. Bunker came +and got his little girl.</p> + +<p>"But you mustn't do it again, Margy," he said.</p> + +<p>"No, Daddy. I won't," she promised. "But he was an awful nice little +dog."</p> + +<p>"Could we have him?" Mun Bun wanted to know, for they had seen the white +poodle running about the deck that morning.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," replied Mrs. Bunker. "We're going to Aunt Jo's, and she may +have a dog herself."</p> + +<p>"That'll be fun!" laughed Margy. "I likes a dog!"</p> + +<p>"Has Aunt Jo a dog, really?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe," returned her mother.</p> + +<p>A little later the six little Bunkers were riding through the Boston +streets on their way to Aunt Jo's house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>ALEXIS IS SPLASHED</h3> + + +<p>"Well, well! Oh, I'm <i>so</i> glad to see you! Now stand still, please, +while I look at you to make sure you're all here!"</p> + +<p>This is what Aunt Jo said as she stood smiling on the steps of her +beautiful house in the fashionable Back Bay section of Boston. The six +little Bunkers, with Daddy and Mother, had arrived in a big automobile +that Mr. Bunker had engaged at the steamer dock. It needed a large +machine to take the whole family, with their baggage, through the city. +And when they had rung the bell Aunt Jo was waiting to answer it +herself, as she expected her visitors.</p> + +<p>"One, two, three, four, five, six!" she counted, pointing her finger, +first at Russ, as he was the oldest, and ending with Mun Bun, who was +the youngest. "All here! And I'm <i>so</i> glad to see you," she went on.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And we're glad to see you!" added Daddy Bunker as he kissed his sister, +for Aunt Jo was his sister, you remember. "I'm afraid you won't find +room for us all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I shall," said Aunt Jo, and she laughed and looked so jolly +that the six little Bunkers loved her at once. "I've got lots of room in +this big house," she went on.</p> + +<p>Just then a big dog, the kind called a Great Dane, came stalking into +the hall where the Bunker family was gathered. The dog seemed pleased +when he saw the children, and wagged his tail.</p> + +<p>"I can sleep with the dog if you haven't got room for me anywhere else," +said Margy, as she went up to Alexis, which was the dog's name. "I did +sleep with a dog on the boat, and he did love me and I did love him."</p> + +<p>"Has you got a cat?" asked Mun Bun. "I want to love something, too," and +he looked at Aunt Jo with big, round eyes.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Daddy's sister, "I haven't a cat, but Alexis is large +enough for all you six little Bunkers to love, I guess," and truly the +Great Dane seemed so.</p> + +<p>"What makes Alexis so big?" asked Vi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Because he's a Great Dane."</p> + +<p>"What makes a Great Dane be so big?"</p> + +<p>"Vi, Vi!" protested her mother. "Don't ask any more questions now."</p> + +<p>"But come in and get your things off," went on Aunt Jo. "I'm keeping you +standing in the hall as if I didn't have room for you inside. Come in, +make yourselves at home and I'll have Parker hurry the lunch. You must +be starved."</p> + +<p>"We had breakfast, but it wasn't much," said Russ. "I guess it's on +account of war times." Russ had really eaten a big breakfast, but, of +course, that had been a long time before.</p> + +<p>"Well, of course we must all help with the war," said Aunt Jo, "but I +think Parker can give you enough to eat."</p> + +<p>"Is Parker a cat?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" laughed Aunt Jo. "Parker is my cook. I call her by her last +name instead of her first name, as it is the same as mine. Parker is a +very good cook, you'll find."</p> + +<p>"If Parker was a cat maybe I could think up a riddle about her," put in +Laddie. "Anyhow, I know a new riddle, Aunt Jo."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you? Well, I must hear it," she said, as she opened the door to the +sitting-room.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Laddie, can't you wait to ask riddles until we get our things off?" +asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm afraid I might forget it," said the little boy. "It's a hard +riddle."</p> + +<p>"Well, let me hear it," said Aunt Jo with a laugh. "I used to be pretty +good at guessing them."</p> + +<p>"This is it," said Laddie. "I didn't make it up, but I asked one of the +sailors on the steamer for a good riddle, and he told me this one. It's, +'What can you put in your left hand that you can't put in your right +hand?' That's the riddle."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! there can't be any answer to that," said Russ. "If you can put +anything in your left hand you can put it in your right, too. Look!"</p> + +<p>He took his knife from his pocket, and put it first in his right hand +and then in his left.</p> + +<p>"But I don't mean a knife," said Laddie. "'Tisn't what you <i>can</i> put in +both hands, it's what you <i>can't</i>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Let me hear the riddle again," begged Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"What can you put in your left hand that you <i>can't</i> put in your right?" +asked Laddie. "It's awful hard—you'll never guess it," he went on, +laughing at the puzzled look on Aunt Jo's face.</p> + +<p>They all tried to guess the riddle—that is all except the smallest +children—Mun Bun and Margy, and they were too much taken up with loving +the dog Alexis. Aunt Jo tried several things, but she found she could +put them in one hand as easily as she could in the other, so that +couldn't be the answer.</p> + +<p>"Do you give up?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said his father, "we all give up. Tell us the answer."</p> + +<p>"It's your right elbow," said the little boy with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Your right elbow?" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Laddie went on. "Look! You can hold your right elbow in your left +hand, but you can't put your <i>right</i> elbow in your <i>right</i> hand. Nobody +can!"</p> + +<p>And, surely enough, when they tried, no one could do it. And you can +quickly prove<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> it for yourself to make sure Laddie was right. You can +easily rest your <i>right</i> elbow in the palm of your <i>left</i> hand. But try +to put your <i>left</i> elbow in your <i>left</i> hand, or the <i>right</i> elbow in +the <i>right</i> hand, and see how hard it is.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a good riddle!" laughed Aunt Jo. "I shall have to put on +my thinking cap when you ask me any more, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know <i>lots</i> more riddles," cried Laddie eagerly. "Some I made up +myself. I know one about why don't the railroad tickets get mad when the +conductor punches 'em, but I never can think of an answer for that +riddle."</p> + +<p>"Well, a riddle isn't much fun unless you know the answer," agreed Aunt +Jo. "And now I'll show you to your rooms, and you can get ready for +lunch."</p> + +<p>They went upstairs, Alexis following, for he seemed to like children. +And the six little Bunkers certainly liked the big dog.</p> + +<p>"Does he like dolls?" asked Rose, as she held her Sue close in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Well, I never saw him bite any," said Aunt Jo.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't want to put my doll down where he could get her if he would +carry her off," went on the little girl.</p> + +<p>"Would Alexis do <i>that</i>?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't believe Alexis would hurt the doll," said Aunt Jo. "Here, +we will try him. Come to me, Alexis!" she called.</p> + +<p>The dog managed to get away from Mun Bun and Margy, who were trying to +see who could hug him the hardest, and he stood near his mistress.</p> + +<p>"Do you see this doll, Alexis?" went on Aunt Jo, holding Sue out for him +to see. "Look at her!"</p> + +<p>"Bow-wow!" barked Alexis, and that meant: "Yes, I see her, what about +it?"</p> + +<p>"You must be very nice to her, and not chew her nor carry her off and +put her in some hiding-place, as you do your bones," went on Aunt Jo. +Alexis waved his big tail, sniffed at Rose's doll, and then barked +again.</p> + +<p>"He will never hurt your toy, Rose," said Aunt Jo. "You may safely leave +her anywhere in the house."</p> + +<p>"She's my best doll, and she's been lost in the woods and had lots of +adventures," Rose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> said. "But I wouldn't like a dog to carry her +off—'specially not such a big dog."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't worry about Alexis," said Aunt Jo. "He won't hurt your +Sue."</p> + +<p>The visitors were shown to their different rooms, and their baggage was +carried up so the children could change their clothes.</p> + +<p>"Why do we have to change our clothes?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"We want to put on some old things so we can have some fun," returned +Russ.</p> + +<p>"Can we sail a boat anywhere around here?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not," said Aunt Jo. "You see this is a big city, and not the +country, as at Grandma Bell's, where you have been staying. True, we are +near the bay, but you couldn't very well sail boats there. I shall have +to think up some other fun for you."</p> + +<p>"We like fun," added Violet.</p> + +<p>By this time Mun Bun and Margy had been fitted out with their "play +clothes" as they called them; clothes that could not easily be soiled. +Russ and Rose had dressed themselves, and Mrs. Bunker was seeing to +Laddie and Violet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And when you're all ready I'll have Parker serve the lunch," said Aunt +Jo. "If you'll just excuse me now, I'll run down and see about it," she +added to her brother.</p> + +<p>"Go ahead," said he. "We'll be right down."</p> + +<p>"Can Alexis stay up here with us?" asked Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, he likes to be with children," said Miss Bunker, for that +really was Aunt Jo's name, she being Daddy Bunker's sister.</p> + +<p>So Aunt Jo went downstairs to see that the cook got a nice lunch ready +for the six little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bunker, now that they had the children ready, could stop +and "get their breaths," as Mother Bunker said. Really it is a good deal +of work to look after six children.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" called Daddy Bunker, when he had helped his wife put the +baggage away in the rooms they were to have while at Aunt Jo's house. +"Come down to lunch, children!"</p> + +<p>Russ, Rose, Violet and Laddie came from the windows, out of which they +had been looking at scenes in the street.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where is Mun Bun?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"And Margy?" added her husband.</p> + +<p>"I saw 'em a minute ago," answered Rose.</p> + +<p>And just then, from down the hall, came strange sounds.</p> + +<p>"Now it's my turn, Mun Bun! It's my turn to splash him!" shouted Margy.</p> + +<p>"No, it's mine!" insisted her brother. "You splashed him a lot, an' I'm +goin' to do it now. You let me pull it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what are those children doing now?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"I'll go and see," offered her husband.</p> + +<p>And then, from a room down the hall, came the sound of splashing water +and the barking of Alexis, the big dog, while Mun Bun could be heard +calling:</p> + +<p>"Let me pull it! Let me pull it! I want to splash him, too!"</p> + +<p>"What are Mun and Margy Bunker doing?" asked Vi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE POCKETBOOK</h3> + + +<p>"Where are they?" asked Daddy Bunker, looking at his wife.</p> + +<p>"They must be in the bathroom," she answered. "Oh, do go and look +please, and see what is happening."</p> + +<p>"What is it? May I go and see?" cried Vi, going toward the bathroom +without waiting to have her questions answered.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker ran down the hall. The bathroom door was open and within he +saw a strange sight.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy had, somehow or other, got the big dog Alexis to jump +into the bathtub. Perhaps the dog had done it before. Anyhow he was in +it now, and, as he stood there, Margy and Mun Bun were having a sort of +tug of war to see who should pull the handle of the chain that worked +the shower bath.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + +<p>Margy had her chubby fists on the handle, and she was pulling, but Mun +Bun was trying to pull her hands away so he could take hold of the chain +himself. So the pull of the two children was enough to make the water +spurt out from the overhead shower. Down the water came, splashing on +Alexis, but he seemed to like it. He barked, but not too loudly, and +wagged his tail.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 251px;"> +<img src="images/p058.jpg" width="251" height="400" alt="DOWN THE WATER CAME, SPLASHING ON ALEXIS." title="DOWN THE WATER CAME, SPLASHING ON ALEXIS." /> +<span class="caption">DOWN THE WATER CAME, SPLASHING ON ALEXIS.</span> +</div> + +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's.</i>—<i>Page 53</i></div> + +<p>"Mun Bun! Margy! What in the world are you doing?" cried their father. +Of course he could see, perfectly well, what they were doing, but, +somehow or other, that seemed the most natural thing to ask.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"We're splashing Alexis," said Margy.</p> + +<p>"It's my turn to do it, but she won't let me," complained Mun Bun. +"She's splashed him a lot, and now I want to."</p> + +<p>"You mustn't either of you splash Alexis any more like this!" exclaimed +Mr. Bunker, wanting to laugh at the funny sight, but really not daring +to, lest the children try it again some time.</p> + +<p>"Stop it at once," he said. "Turn that water off, Mun Bun!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm not pulling it—it's Margy!" said the little boy.</p> + +<p>"Both of you stop!" commanded their father. "Come here, Alexis!" he +called, and the big dog jumped out of the bathtub. Luckily the floor of +the room was of white tile, so the water that dripped on it from the dog +did no harm. But when he gave himself a shake, as dogs always do when +they come out of water, the drops splashed on the two children and also +on Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried Mun Bun. "I'm—I'm all wet!"</p> + +<p>"So'm I!" added Margy. She had let go of the shower-bath chain, and the +water no longer ran out.</p> + +<p>"Alexis got me wet, too," said Daddy Bunker. "But you children should +not have done this. It was very wrong."</p> + +<p>"But Alexis was very hot," said Margy. "His tongue was stickin' out of +his mouth just like Grandma's dog Zip's used to, and so we wanted to +cool him off; didn't we, Mun Bun?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we did," answered the little boy. "So I told him to get into the +bathtub, and we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> pulled the chain and the water splashed out on him."</p> + +<p>"I should say it <i>did</i> splash!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker, trying not to +laugh. "I don't know what Aunt Jo will say."</p> + +<p>"Well, she said she wanted us to have fun," went on Margy, "and we did +have fun, and Alexis liked it."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he did," said her father, for the dog did not seem to mind +being wet. "But it was very wrong to do it. You children are very wet."</p> + +<p>"Did anything happen?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she came down the hall +toward the bathroom, with Russ, Rose and Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Well, lots happened, but nothing very bad," said her husband. "Alexis +had his bath, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dears!" cried Mrs. Bunker, when she saw the splashed bathroom +and how wet the two children were. "How <i>could</i> you do it?"</p> + +<p>"I'll show you how to do it!" exclaimed Mun Bun, not exactly knowing +what his mother meant. "This is how!" and he reached for the handle of +the shower-bath chain. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> his father caught him just in time to stop +him from splashing any more water about.</p> + +<p>"It is a good thing I changed their clothes," said Mrs. Bunker. "Poor +Alexis! Did you think it was raining?" she asked, as she patted the +dog's wet head.</p> + +<p>But the Great Dane did not seem to mind. He wagged his tail joyfully, +and, after all, the day was a hot one.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind about a little water, as long as the children are all +right," said Aunt Jo, when she heard what had happened. "Alexis loves to +get a bath, but he is generally washed out in the garage by William, the +man who attends to the car. I had never put him in a bathtub, but I +suppose he liked it."</p> + +<p>"He waggled his tail like anything," said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Well, then that's a sure sign he was pleased," said Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>Margy and Mun Bun had been partly dried off in time for lunch, and the +six little Bunkers, with the rest of the family, were now at table.</p> + +<p>"What we going to do this afternoon?" asked Vi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What would you like to do?" inquired her aunt with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd like to see something," Russ put in.</p> + +<p>"I want to see some cows and sheep," added Laddie. "Maybe I could think +up a riddle about them if I was to see some. We had some at Grandma +Bell's."</p> + +<p>"And he gave 'em sugar 'stid of salt," said Russ with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Well, they liked it," Laddie declared. "Only the old ram—<i>he</i> wasn't +nice!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, but there aren't any sheep or cows around here," said Aunt +Jo with a smile. "You must remember that this is a city, and not the +country. But there are many things to see here. We can go to visit +Bunker Hill Monument, and we can go on excursions to Nantasket +Beach—oh, we can do lots of things to have fun!"</p> + +<p>"That's good!" murmured Rose. "I think I'd like to go for a walk, and +see things."</p> + +<p>"So would I," agreed her mother. "If you like, Rose, you and I will take +a walk. I want to get a few things from the store."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can do that," said Daddy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> Bunker, "and I'll stay here with +Aunt Jo and look after the children. I'm afraid even five little Bunkers +will be too much for her to manage."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" exclaimed Aunt Jo. "I love children!"</p> + +<p>She had never had any of her own, being unmarried, but no mother could +have been more kind nor have loved children any more than did Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"Well, if mother and Rose go downtown for a walk, we'll stay here and +look around a bit," said Daddy Bunker.</p> + +<p>"And maybe I can find something to make," said Russ, as he walked about, +whistling his shrillest. Russ was not quite happy unless he was making +something, whether it was whittling a sword out of a piece of wood, or +building an airship.</p> + +<p>So, while Daddy Bunker took the children out into Aunt Jo's back +yard—and she had a large one, for which the boys and girls were very +glad—Mrs. Bunker and Rose got ready to go shopping.</p> + +<p>At one end of the yard was the garage for the automobile. The reason she +had not sent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> it to the dock to meet her brother and the children when +the boat came in was that she did not know at just what hour they would +arrive.</p> + +<p>Working around the garage was William, the chauffeur, who also helped +about the house, taking out the ashes in winter and cutting the grass in +summer.</p> + +<p>"We've a man named Jerry Simms who does that at our house," said Russ, +when he learned what William did for Aunt Jo. "Jerry is a soldier, or he +was. Are you a soldier, Mr. William?"</p> + +<p>"No, but I may be, some day," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Have you got any corn shuckers here?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"A corn shucker? No. What's that?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a thing, and you put ears of corn in a spout and turn a +wheel and the kernels of corn come out of one end, and the empty cob +comes out of the other end. Grandma Bell's got one."</p> + +<p>"And we put Rose's doll in and shucked off all her buttons," added Russ.</p> + +<p>"That's what they did," said Daddy Bunker. "I'm glad you haven't one +here,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> William. Rose didn't like it when all the buttons came off her +doll."</p> + +<p>"But it was lots of fun," added Laddie. "Maybe I could think up a riddle +about a corn shucker, if I tried real hard."</p> + +<p>"Oh, look! Here's a hose!" cried Russ, as he saw one with which William +had been washing the automobile. "May we squirt it?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you'll get wet," said the chauffeur, with a look at Mr. +Bunker.</p> + +<p>"A little water won't hurt them," said the children's father. "They have +on their old clothes. But perhaps you don't want them to take it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was going to water the lawn, anyhow," said William; "and I'd just +as soon they would do it if you don't mind."</p> + +<p>"Hurray!" cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to have first turn at squirting!" insisted Russ.</p> + +<p>Their father settled this little dispute by saying that Vi and the two +older boys might have the hose for five minutes at a time, and he would +stay near by to see that everything was fair. So Laddie and Russ and Vi +began to sprinkle the lawn, while Margy and Mun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> Bun found a pile of +clean sand near the garage, where they could play.</p> + +<p>And now I must tell you something that happened to Rose and her mother. +They were walking down one of the Boston streets, after having bought +some things in one of the stores, when Rose, who was walking a little +ahead of her mother, suddenly called:</p> + +<p>"Look! Look, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"It's a pocketbook," went on Rose, pointing to one on the sidewalk. "And +it looks as if it had money in it. Shall I pick it up, Mother?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Why not?" said Mrs. Bunker, glancing about, and seeing no one who +might have dropped it. "Why shouldn't you pick it up, Rose?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause maybe it's an April fool one, and somebody will pull it away +with a string," the little girl answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>A SAD LETTER</h3> + + +<p>April fool was something Mrs. Bunker had not thought of as she looked at +the pocketbook lying on the sidewalk. As Rose had said, it did seem to +have money in it, but perhaps it might be stuffed with paper.</p> + +<p>Then, too, there might be a string tied to the wallet, and boys, hidden +somewhere near, might pull on the string and yank the pocketbook away +just as soon as any one stooped over to pick it up. Still Mrs. Bunker +said to Rose:</p> + +<p>"This is too late for April fool. This is August, and no boys would +think of playing such tricks now."</p> + +<p>"Maybe not, Mother," Rose agreed. "I just thought maybe that was what it +was there for. But I'll pick it up. I hope it's got a lot of money in +it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>With shining eyes Rose stooped to pick up the purse.</p> + +<p>"Open it, Rose, and see what is inside," said Mrs. Bunker. "We may find +out the name of the owner, and, if she lives around here—for it looks +like a lady's pocketbook—we can take it to her."</p> + +<p>"But we don't know the streets, Mother," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"We can ask a policeman. If we find the name of the owner, and it is too +far for us to go where she lives, we can give the pocketbook to the +policeman and he will deliver it for us. But open it and see what is in +it," returned Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>The pocketbook opened easily enough, and as Rose turned back the flap +she gave a cry of surprise.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked the excited child's mother.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh, it's just <i>full</i> of money!" cried the little girl. "It's piled +full of money, Mother! Look!"</p> + +<p>She hurried to her mother's side with the opened pocketbook. Surely +enough, when Mrs. Bunker looked, she saw a roll of green bills.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> Just +how many were in the pocketbook she could not tell.</p> + +<p>"Well, this is quite a find!" said Rose's mother. "The person who lost +this will feel bad about it. We must try to find the owner."</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't I keep it?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Of course not," said her mother. "Whenever we find anything we must try +to discover the owner and give the lost thing back. If you lost your +doll you'd want whoever found her to give her back; wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, of course, Mother! But Sue—she isn't a <i>pocketbook</i> full of +money."</p> + +<p>"No," agreed Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "If Russ were here I suppose he'd +say your doll was full of sawdust. However, no matter what it is, we +must give back whatever we have found if we can find the owner. Of +course, after we have tried hard, if we can't discover who lost whatever +we have found, we may keep it."</p> + +<p>"How can we tell who lost this pocketbook and all the money?" asked +Rose.</p> + +<p>"We'll look inside, and we'll also count the money," said her mother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Maybe it's a hundred dollars!" exclaimed the little girl, her eyes +shining brightly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it may be," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we won't count it out here +on the street. We have nearly finished shopping, so we will take the +pocketbook home with us, and show it to Daddy and Aunt Jo."</p> + +<p>Rose had the wallet open, looking at the roll of bills inside. Now her +mother gently took it from her and closed it.</p> + +<p>"What made you do that?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Because the wind might blow some of the money out," was the answer, +"and then we could not give it all back to the poor person who owns it."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think the pocketbook is a poor person's?" asked Rose, +who was asking almost as many questions as would her sister Vi had she +been there.</p> + +<p>"Well, the pocketbook is rather a shabby one, even though it seems to +have quite a lot of money in it," said Mrs. Bunker, as she put it away +in her own shopping bag. "The leather is worn and it is torn. But we +will go over it more carefully when we get home."</p> + +<p>Rose could hardly wait to get back to Aunt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> Jo's house to look farther +into the pocketbook and see what it held. No one on the street had paid +the slightest attention to Rose and her mother when the wallet had been +found, and no policeman was in sight who could be asked about it. So +Mrs. Bunker thought the best thing to do was to take it with her and +examine it later.</p> + +<p>When Aunt Jo's house was reached Laddie, Vi and Russ had about finished +watering the lawn. They had watered themselves a little, also, for they +were so eager, and took so many turns with the hose that it splashed on +them.</p> + +<p>But the day was warm, and, as they had on their old clothes, their +father did not mind, as long as they did not get too wet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we had lots of fun!" cried Russ as he saw his mother and Rose +coming along.</p> + +<p>"We had a dandy time!" added Laddie.</p> + +<p>"You don't know what I found!" cried Rose, not thinking so much about +her brothers' fun with the hose as she was about what had happened to +herself and her mother. "I found something!"</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Vi.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Was it a little kittie?" asked Mun Bun, who, with Margy, had finished +playing in the sand pile.</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't a kittie, though I wish I could find one," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Did you find a new riddle?" Laddie wanted to know. He thought more of +riddles than of many other things that most boys like.</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't a riddle," answered Rose. "You'd never guess, so I'll +tell you. I found a pocketbook, and maybe it's got two hundred dollars +in it! So there!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you did not! Did she, Mother?" asked Russ, in surprise at what his +sister had said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Rose did find a pocketbook," answered Mrs. Bunker. "It was lying +on the sidewalk in front of us. But whether it has two hundred dollars +in it, or only one hundred, I don't know yet."</p> + +<p>"Where is it? Where is it?" cried Vi over and over.</p> + +<p>"In my bag. We really did make quite a find," she went on to her husband +and Aunt Jo, who came out on the porch just then.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> "Look!" and Mrs. +Bunker took the purse out of her shopping bag, handing it over to her +husband.</p> + +<p>"See if you can find out who owns it," she suggested.</p> + +<p>"And if nobody owns it I'm going to keep it for mine," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Can she, Mother?" Russ wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll see," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile her husband was opening the pocketbook. He saw the roll of +bills and whistled.</p> + +<p>"Well, there's some money here, anyhow," he said. "I'll count it first, +so we'll know just how much it is."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker was used to counting over bills. He could not do it quite as +fast, perhaps, as the cashier in a bank, but he soon had spread out the +money in a chair in front of him on the porch, and he said:</p> + +<p>"There are just sixty-five dollars here."</p> + +<p>"Sixty-five!" exclaimed Rose. "I thought it was two hundred."</p> + +<p>"Is sixty-five dollars much money?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Well, sixty-five dollars is a lot of money<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> if you lose it," said her +father. "And whoever lost this will be very glad to get it back, you may +be sure."</p> + +<p>"Is there anything else in the pocketbook to tell who may own it?" asked +Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"No, there doesn't seem to be anything but just the roll of bills," he +answered. "Hold on, though!" he exclaimed, as he looked in another part +of the pocketbook, "here is <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'some some'">some</ins> sort of a paper."</p> + +<p>"That may have the owner's name on it," said Aunt Jo. "I always carry in +my purse a slip with my name and address on it, so if I lose my +pocketbook whoever finds it will know where to bring it back. Probably +that is what this is."</p> + +<p>"No, it doesn't seem to be," said Mr. Bunker. "This appears to be part +of a letter. Of course it isn't nice to read letters that are for other +people, but as we are trying to find out to whom this money and +pocketbook belong it will be all right. I'll read this."</p> + +<p>He took out a folded paper from a compartment in the pocketbook next to +where the money had been, and began to read. He read it aloud. It said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mother</span>: I am so glad you have the sixty-five +dollars, for then you will not have to work so +hard, and can take a little rest. It was so good +of Uncle Jack to send it to you. I feel so much +better now that you have this money. You will not +have to worry so much. I am working hard myself, +but I like it, and I will save all I can and send +all I can spare to you. Take good care of the +money and don't lose it, for you may never have as +much again. I am very lonesome and wish I could +see you, but I know the rest will do you good. +With lots of love." </p></div> + +<p>"Is that all?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as her husband stopped reading.</p> + +<p>"That is all," he said.</p> + +<p>"Isn't there any name or address to that little letter?" Aunt Jo wanted +to know.</p> + +<p>"No, nothing like that," answered her brother. "The only name in it is +'Uncle Jack,' and that might mean anybody. There must have been a name +signed to the letter, but it has been torn off. You can see where the +paper has been torn across. I don't see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> how we can find who owns the +money from this letter."</p> + +<p>"Maybe there is something else in the pocketbook," said Russ.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker looked, and did find a Chinese coin with a square hole in it. +There was only the letter, addressed to "Dear Mother," and the +sixty-five dollars, and the Chinese coin.</p> + +<p>"We'll have to put an advertisement in the paper, saying we have found a +pocketbook," said Mr. Bunker. "Whoever has lost it will see the +advertisement and call here. And we must look in the 'lost and found' +advertisements in the paper to-night."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll do that," said Aunt Jo. "The poor woman must be very sad +over her loss. She will be very glad to get it back, and——"</p> + +<p>Just then the telephone in Aunt Jo's house gave a loud ring.</p> + +<p>"Oh," cried Rose. "Maybe that's some one now to ask about the pocketbook +I found. Oh, maybe it is!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>RUSS MAKES A FOUNTAIN</h3> + + +<p>The six little Bunkers, as well as their father and mother, waited while +Aunt Jo went to answer the telephone, which kept on ringing as though in +a hurry. Vi had asked "Who's ringing?" but of course nobody could tell +her until Aunt Jo answered the call.</p> + +<p>"Yes! What is it?" asked Aunt Jo into the mouthpiece of the instrument, +which stood on a table in the sitting-room. "Oh, it's you, is it, Mr. +North?" she went on. "What's that? Did we lose anything? No, not that I +know of. One of my little guests <i>found</i> something, but I haven't heard +of anything being lost. Wait a minute, though, until I count noses. I'll +see if all the six little Bunkers are here. I might have missed one and +not know it."</p> + +<p>Laughing, Aunt Jo turned from the telephone to look at the children. +They were all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> there, from Russ the oldest to Mun Bun the youngest. Then +Aunt Jo spoke again into the instrument.</p> + +<p>"No, we haven't lost anything," she said. "Oh, you'll bring it over, +will you, Mr. North? Thank you!"</p> + +<p>"Was it something about the pocketbook?" asked Rose eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No, it was nothing like that," answered her aunt. "The gentleman who +telephoned was Mr. North, my next-door neighbor. He says he has +something belonging to one of you children, and he is going to bring it +right over. Did any of you leave out any of your toys when you were +playing in the yard?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't," said Russ, and none of his brothers or sisters could think +of anything of theirs that was missing. In a few minutes the door bell +rang, and when this was answered, Mr. North brought in what seemed to be +a bundle of rags.</p> + +<p>"Your dog Alexis brought this over and left it on my door mat," he said +to Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's my doll Sue!" cried Rose, as she ran forward to take it. "I +forgot all about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> her. I left her to sleep on the porch in the sun so +she would get nice and tanned, as I do when I go to the seashore, and +then I went downtown with mother and I forgot all about her."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad to bring her back to you," said Mr. North with a smile. +"I guess I must have been holding her upside down," and so he had. That +was what made Sue look so like a bundle of rags. Really she was a nice +doll when she was held right side up.</p> + +<p>"It's queer Alexis brought her to your house, instead of in here to me," +said Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Alexis and I are great friends," said Mr. North. "He often brings +me my paper when the boy leaves it at the front gate instead of walking +up to the porch with it, and perhaps your dog might have thought this +was a paper, though a very large one," and Mr. North smiled at Rose.</p> + +<p>Mr. North had been introduced to the six little Bunkers, and also to +Daddy and Mother Bunker, when he entered, and he stayed some little +time, talking with them, for he liked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> children, though all his were +grown into big boys and girls now.</p> + +<p>"I found a pocketbook," said Rose, when she had got over her first bit +of shyness sufficiently to talk to the visitor.</p> + +<p>"Did you, indeed? Well, you are lucky!" said Mr. North. Then he was told +about the sixty-five dollars, and shown the sad letter in the +pocketbook.</p> + +<p>"We are going to put an advertisement in the paper," said Aunt Jo. "And +if you hear of any poor woman who has lost this sum of money, or read +about any in the paper, I wish you would tell us."</p> + +<p>"I will," promised Mr. North. "Well, Rose, you have had quite an +experience almost as soon as you come to Boston. What are you children +going to do the rest of your stay here?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I won't know how to provide fun for so many of them," said +Aunt Jo. "I want them to have a good time, and remember their visit +pleasantly, but I have no toys for girls and boys——"</p> + +<p>"That's just what I was going to speak about," said Mr. North. "There is +an ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>press wagon in my barn, and an old velocipede, as well as a +coaster wagon. They used to belong to my youngsters, but they have +outgrown them. If the six little Bunkers would like to play with those +toys they are very welcome."</p> + +<p>"That will be splendid!" cried Aunt Jo. "I was just wondering what I +could do to amuse Russ and the others, for I haven't any things that +children like, and we can't go on sight-seeing trips or excursions all +the while, though we will go on some. The toys you have, Mr. North, will +be just the thing."</p> + +<p>And indeed they did prove so. The next day Russ and his brothers and +sisters went over to Mr. North's barn. It was an old-fashioned one, the +kind horses and carriages used to be kept in before there were +automobiles. Mr. North also had a garage for his cars, but the old barn +stood far back in his yard, which was a large one next to Aunt Jo's, and +in it were the velocipede, the express wagon, a coaster wagon and other +things with which to have fun.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we can have jolly good times now!" cried Russ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And I can give my doll a ride, after Alexis carried her in his teeth," +put in Rose.</p> + +<p>"Can't we have rides, too?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"'Course you can," answered Russ. "I'll give you a nice ride."</p> + +<p>And then, while Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker went to a Red Cross meeting +and while Daddy Bunker went downtown to put an advertisement in the +paper about the pocketbook Rose had found, the children played around +Mr. North's barn and Aunt Jo's yard.</p> + +<p>"Will it be all right to leave them while we go out?" asked Aunt Jo of +Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, as long as your man, William, and your cook, Parker, and your +housemaid, Anne, are around to sort of look after them. I often leave +them with our Norah and Jerry Simms."</p> + +<p>So the six little Bunkers were left to themselves. And you can easily +imagine that they had all sorts of good times. There was a stone walk +around Aunt Jo's house, as well as around Mr. North's, and there Russ +and his brothers and sisters rode in the express wagon, on the +velocipede and on the coaster.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> They laughed and shouted, and every now +and then there would be an upset, but no one was hurt and they all +seemed to like it.</p> + +<p>Now and then Parker or William or Anne would come out from the house or +the garage to look and see that the six little Bunkers were coming to no +harm, and when they found the children were all right they smiled, for +it was fun to watch them play.</p> + +<p>"I know what we can do," said Russ to Laddie, after they had taken turns +riding on the velocipede and coaster. Just at this time Margy and Mun +Bun had the coaster and were playing steam-car with it.</p> + +<p>"What can we do?" asked Laddie, always ready to have fun with his older +brother.</p> + +<p>"We can make a harness for Alexis, and hitch him to the express wagon," +went on Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that'll be lots of fun!" cried Laddie. "But what'll we make a +harness of? Aunt Jo hasn't any horses and Mr. North hasn't either."</p> + +<p>"We can make it of string," said Russ. "It doesn't need to be very +strong, for we aren't very heavy to pull."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>So Russ and Laddie begged pieces of string from Parker, not telling what +they were going to make.</p> + +<p>"If it's a cat's cradle you have cord enough for a dozen," said the +good-natured cook, as she handed out the pieces of string she had saved +from the grocery packages.</p> + +<p>"No, we're not going to make cats' cradles," answered Russ. "You can see +it when we get finished."</p> + +<p>It was no very hard matter to catch Alexis and fasten a lot of pieces of +string around him, as nearly like a harness as the two little boys could +manage. The dog loved children, and asked nothing better than to be with +them. So he stood very still, just hanging his tongue out of his mouth, +as the day was hot, while Laddie and Russ tied the cord around him. Then +they fastened the ends to the express wagon, tying a number of knots.</p> + +<p>"We've got to have lines to drive him with," said Laddie. "Else we can't +guide him the way we want him to go."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll make some lines," said Russ. He tied two strings around the +neck of Alexis,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> one for the left-hand side and the other for the right.</p> + +<p>"I can't put a bit in his mouth, as I could if he was a horse," said +Russ, "'cause Alexis holds his mouth open so much, to cool off his +tongue, that the bit would fall out."</p> + +<p>"That's right," said Laddie. "Anyhow, we don't want a bit. Now can we +have a ride?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so," said Russ.</p> + +<p>There was quite a collection of strings tied around Alexis and made fast +to the little express wagon.</p> + +<p>"We'll get in now," said Russ, when he had the cord reins in his hands, +"and we'll drive around the walk where Rose and Vi are playing with +their dolls," for the two girls were having a party, with cookies and +sugar water, which had been given to them by Parker.</p> + +<p>Into the wagon got Russ and Laddie. Alexis, harnessed to the little +wagon, turned his head to look at them, as if to make sure they were all +right.</p> + +<p>"Gid-dap!" called Russ, as he would to a horse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bow-wow!" barked the dog, meaning, perhaps: "I will!"</p> + +<p>Then he started to walk off.</p> + +<p>Now, when I tell you that Alexis was a big, strong dog, and that Laddie +and Russ in the express wagon made quite a heavy load, and when I say +that the string harness was not very strong, you can easily imagine what +happened. Alexis had not taken more than two steps before——</p> + +<p>Snap! went the string harness, and it broke in several places.</p> + +<p>"Whoa! Whoa!" called Russ. "Whoa there, Alexis!"</p> + +<p>But Alexis never "whoaed" a bit. He kept on walking, and he walked right +off with the bits of the string harness clinging to him, leaving the +express wagon with the two little boys in it on the walk at the side of +the house.</p> + +<p>"Come on back and give us a ride!" called Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll have to make a stronger harness," said Russ with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"I guess so, too," agreed Laddie.</p> + +<p>Anyhow, Alexis didn't come back. Just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> outside Aunt Jo's fence he saw +another dog which he knew, and he ran up to have a "talk" with him, in +bow-wow language, of course.</p> + +<p>"Well, we didn't get a ride," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No," agreed Russ, "we didn't. But I know what else we can do."</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>Russ did not answer for a moment. He was looking at a shovel lying in +the back part of the yard, where William had been spading for a late +flower bed. Then Russ saw the hose with which the man had been washing +the automobile.</p> + +<p>"We can make a fountain, Laddie!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"A fountain! How?"</p> + +<p>"Come on, I'll show you!" said Russ.</p> + +<p>Then he and his brother began to make a fountain. And I suppose you +wonder how they did it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>WHAT HAPPENED TO WILLIAM</h3> + + +<p>"First," said Russ, as he took up the shovel, "we've got to make a +hole."</p> + +<p>"I thought you said we were going to make a fountain," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"We are," Russ went on. "But first you have to have some place for the +fountain water to run into, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so," agreed Laddie, who was not quite sure.</p> + +<p>"'Course you have," insisted his older brother. "Don't you 'member how a +fountain is? It has a big basin where the water splashes in out of a +thing like a hose, and us boys could paddle our feet in the water if we +wanted to."</p> + +<p>"Oh! are you goin' to make <i>that</i> kind of a fountain?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Sure," said Russ. "Come on, help me dig the hole, and then we'll fix +the hose in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> it and run it full of water and then we can paddle in it—I +mean in the hole full of water—and the hose'll be squirtin', and that +will be a fountain."</p> + +<p>"That'll be fine!" cried Laddie. "I'll get a shovel and help you dig."</p> + +<p>Laddie found a small shovel in the barn, and, Russ using the larger one, +which was really too big for him, the two brothers began to make their +fountain. If their father and mother had been at home, or even Aunt Jo +had seen them, I don't suppose they would have been allowed to do this, +for it wasn't exactly right, no matter how much fun they thought they +would have.</p> + +<p>But the boys went on digging, making a deep and large hole in the +garden. They tossed the dirt out with their shovels, and, as the soil +was soft, it was easy for them to dig in it.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it 'most big enough now?" asked Laddie, after a while.</p> + +<p>"Almost," Russ answered, as he looked up from where he stood in the +hole.</p> + +<p>"I'm tired—my back aches," Laddie went on.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm tired, too," said Russ. "But I guess when you build a fountain it +makes 'most everybody tired. We'll only dig a little more, and then we +can run the water in and wade. I haven't had a good wade since we came +from Grandma Bell's."</p> + +<p>"Neither have I," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>So they dug some more, until they really had quite a large hole in the +garden, and then Russ went to get the hose. It was still attached to the +faucet, but the water was not turned on.</p> + +<p>If William had seen what the boys were doing he would have stopped them. +For, though Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had said nothing about not letting the +children play in the water, and though Aunt Jo had not spoken of it, +either, still, I feel sure William would have stopped Laddie and Russ +from making their fountain if he had seen them. But he did not. He was +doing something inside the garage just then, and it was at this time +that Russ took the nozzle end of the hose, and dragged the long, rubber +pipe over toward the hole he and Laddie had dug.</p> + +<p>"Now all we've got to do is to fasten the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> hose in the hole, so it +sticks up straight," said Russ. "Then I'll turn the water on, and we'll +have a fountain and we can wade in it."</p> + +<p>"That'll be fun!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>At first Russ did not have an easy time trying to make the hose nozzle +stand up straight in the hole he and his brother had dug. Then the boy, +after whistling a bit, and thinking as well as he could, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I know how to do it!"</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'll just drive a stick down in the middle of the hole, and I'll +leave part of it sticking up. Then I can tie the end of the hose to it, +sticking up in the air, you know, and when I turn the water on it'll +squirt right straight up and come down in the fountain."</p> + +<p>"That'll be nice," said Laddie. But you just wait and see what happens.</p> + +<p>Russ found an old broom-handle, and, using the shovel for a hammer, he +drove this stick down into the soft dirt, leaving enough showing above +the bottom of the hole to which to tie the hose.</p> + +<p>Laddie helped his brother do this, and then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> the fountain was ready to +"play" as it is called. I suppose the water bubbling up and down, as it +does in a fountain, really looks as though it were playing.</p> + +<p>"Now we're all ready to turn it on," said Russ when the hose was tied +fast.</p> + +<p>"And then we can wade in the fountain," added Laddie. "I'm going to get +my shoes and stockings off now," and he sat down on the ground, near the +hole, and began to do this.</p> + +<p>Russ went back to where, on the outside wall of the garage, the hose was +screwed on the faucet. He tried to turn the brass handle. But it was +stiff, and more than his little fingers could manage.</p> + +<p>"Come here, Laddie!" called Russ. "You've got to help me turn on the +water."</p> + +<p>"Wait till I get my other shoe off!" said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, come on! Do it now!" said Russ. "You can take your shoe off +afterwards, while we're waiting for the fountain basin to fill."</p> + +<p>So, with one shoe on and the other off, Laddie limped over to the garage +to help his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> brother turn the faucet. Before this William had finished +what he was doing, and had gone to the house to ask Parker something. He +did not notice what Laddie and Russ were doing, but on his way back to +the garage the chauffeur saw the pile of dirt, noticed the hole and +looked at the end of the hose sticking up in the air.</p> + +<p>"Now I wonder what that is," said William to himself. "I didn't leave +the hose like that, and I don't believe Alexis could have dug such a big +hole. I must certainly see what it is."</p> + +<p>So William, forgetting for the moment about the little Bunkers, walked +over to the hose. He saw it sticking up in the hole and, as he bent over +it, he said:</p> + +<p>"This must be the work of Laddie and Russ. I wonder what they're going +to do. Play fireman, maybe."</p> + +<p>And it was just then, as William leaned over the hose, that Russ and +Laddie managed to turn the faucet. You can imagine what happened after +that.</p> + +<p>Through the hose spurted the water, out of the end, right in William's +face. But of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> course Laddie and Russ did not mean to do that.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my! Here! What's this! Oh, I'm all wet!" spluttered the chauffeur. +He jumped back, but not quite far enough, for he stumbled over some of +the dirt, and fell down, and the water, shooting up into the air, came +down on him in a regular shower.</p> + +<p>"I say now! Stop it! Shut off the water!" cried William.</p> + +<p>At first Laddie and Russ did not know what he meant. Then they looked +toward the hole, which they intended for a fountain, and saw the +chauffeur getting wet. William's legs seemed to be so tangled that he +couldn't get up in a hurry, and he was getting very wet.</p> + +<p>"Turn off the water! Turn off the water!" he begged. "I'm getting all +mud!"</p> + +<p>Laddie and Russ were frightened, then, and they tried to shut off the +faucet. But, just as, often, when you want to do a thing in a hurry you +can't, so it happened with the two boys. The faucet wouldn't turn, and +the water kept on spurting, and William kept getting wet, until he +finally managed to roll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> out of the way and then he stood up, looking at +the showering hose.</p> + +<p>"What's all this?" asked the dripping chauffeur, but he was not angry. +"What are you boys doing?"</p> + +<p>"Please, it's a fountain we made," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"And we're goin' wadin' in it!" added Laddie. "Oh, look, Russ! It +squirts fine! I'm going to take off my other shoe!"</p> + +<p>He sat down to do this. Really the fountain made from the hose, was +sending out a fine shower of water that sparkled in the sun. The water +was beginning to fill the hole the boys had dug.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" asked William, wiping the water from his +face.</p> + +<p>"We're goin' wadin' in the fountain," explained Laddie. "That's what we +made it for."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, you'd better not," said William. "I'm sorry, but your aunt +wouldn't like a fountain in her garden. It'll only be a mud-hole, and +you'll get all dirty. Your father and mother wouldn't want that. I guess +I'd better shut off the water. When your aunt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> comes home, if she lets +you do it, why then it will be all right. But I'm afraid I can't let you +do it now."</p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie looked disappointed. After all their work not to have +the fountain! It was too bad!</p> + +<p>"We—we're sorry you got wet," said Russ, thinking perhaps William felt +a little vexed at them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," said William. "I don't mind. These are my old +clothes, anyhow. But I'd best shut off the water."</p> + +<p>He started toward the faucet to do this. Already the hole Laddie and +Russ had dug was half full, and would have made, as Russ said, a "dandy" +place to wade. But it was not to be.</p> + +<p>As the boys stood beside the hole half filled with water, and as William +was at the faucet, ready to turn it off, a loud barking was heard, and +into the garden came racing a little dog, chased by big Alexis, who was +barking loudly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" cried Russ.</p> + +<p>And then something else happened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>ROSE MAKES AN AIRSHIP</h3> + + +<p>The little dog that Alexis was racing after must have thought the puddle +of water Russ and Laddie had made would be a good place in which to +hide. For right into it he ran, and he splattered some of the muddy +water over the two boys, who stood near the hole they had dug. William +was over at the garage, turning off the faucet, so he did not get wet +this time. And it was a good thing, too, as he was quite wet enough +already.</p> + +<p>The little dog kept on paddling in the puddle, but big Alexis did not +stop when he came to the edge. With a loud bark, in he jumped, and as he +was almost as big as a small Shetland pony you can easily imagine what a +big splash he made.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried Russ, as he felt the muddy water shower all over him.</p> + +<p>In the puddle floundered Alexis after the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> smaller dog, and as the water +was not deep enough for Aunt Jo's Great Dane to swim in, he just ran +through it, really making more of a splash than if he had swum. And he +splashed a lot of muddy water over Russ and Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at me!" cried Laddie, as he glanced down at his suit, which +was speckled and checkered with wet and brown spots.</p> + +<p>"I'm the same way," said Russ. "But I don't care! We couldn't help it, +and these are our old clothes, anyhow."</p> + +<p>Just then the little dog scrambled out on the far side of the hole, and +Alexis, with a bark, sprang after him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, stop him, William!" cried Laddie. "Stop him! Alexis will bite the +little dog all to pieces."</p> + +<p>"No, he won't do that," replied the chauffeur. "The two dogs are good +friends. The little one lives down the street a way, and he and Alexis +often play together this way, and race all over the yard. But I never +saw 'em go into a mud-puddle before. Say, but you two youngsters are +sights! Look at the mud!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had shut off the water by this time, and come back to the hole. +Meanwhile Alexis was rolling on the grass, letting the little dog +pretend to bite his ears.</p> + +<p>"The mud'll brush off," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"These are our old clothes," added his brother.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a good thing," said the chauffeur. "We're all in the same +boat, I guess. But don't dig any more holes in the yard, and don't play +with the hose unless your aunt says you may. She may blame me as it is."</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo came home, the mud had pretty well dried on +the clothes of Russ and Laddie, and they did not look so dirty. But of +course they told what had happened.</p> + +<p>"You must never do it again!" said their mother. "Don't make any more +fountains in Aunt Jo's yard."</p> + +<p>"We won't," promised Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Could we make one over in Mr. North's yard?" asked Russ. "Maybe he'd +like one."</p> + +<p>"No, not over there, either," his mother said, trying not to laugh.</p> + +<p>So that was how Russ made a fountain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> and what happened afterward, and +for many a day he and Laddie had fun telling the other little Bunkers +what they had done.</p> + +<p>As the summer days went by the children had lots of fun at Aunt Jo's. +They went downtown to see the sights of Boston, including Bunker Hill +monument, saw some nice moving-picture shows and went on excursions.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Daddy Bunker and others had looked in the paper to see if any +one had advertised for a lost pocketbook with sixty-five dollars in it. +But no one had.</p> + +<p>And to make sure of finding the owner Mr. Bunker put an advertisement in +himself, stating that such a purse had been found, and offering to give +it to the real owner.</p> + +<p>But no one came to claim it. The shabby wallet, with the roll of bills +and the sad little letter, was locked in Aunt Jo's safe, waiting for the +owner to come. But no one came.</p> + +<p>"And can I keep the money?" asked Rose, who inquired, each day, whether +any one had yet come for it.</p> + +<p>"We'll see," promised her mother.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have the money to spend," went on Rose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear! What would you spend so much money for?" asked Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"I'd buy a lot of circus balloons," answered Rose. "I know a store, +about two blocks down the street, that sells 'em. And I want some."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, if you only want money for a toy balloon I'll give you that," +said her mother.</p> + +<p>"May I have one, too?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"And me?" added Margy.</p> + +<p>"And me?" said Mun Bun. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>He always wanted what the others had, whether or not he knew what it +was.</p> + +<p>"Let's all get one!" exclaimed Russ, who seemed to have an idea. "Let's +all get a balloon, and then we can tie strings to 'em and see which one +goes the highest."</p> + +<p>"We can have a race!" suggested Laddie.</p> + +<p>"That's right!" agreed Russ. "We'll have a race."</p> + +<p>Thinking this would be harmless fun for the children, Mrs. Bunker gave +them money enough so each one could buy a good ten-cent toy balloon, for +Rose wanted that kind.</p> + +<p>"The tenners are bigger than the fivers,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> she said, "and they go higher +and last longer."</p> + +<p>With shouts of glee and laughter the six little Bunkers went down the +street to get the toy balloons. It was not far, and their mother knew +they would not get lost.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid the children aren't having as much fun here at my house in +Boston as they had at Grandma Bell's," said Aunt Jo, as the youngsters +went down the street after the balloons.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they are indeed!" said Mother Bunker. "They always have a good +time, wherever they go. Don't worry about them."</p> + +<p>"If the weather keeps nice we'll go down to Nantasket Beach some day," +said Aunt Jo. "I think they'll like it there. It is a seaside resort."</p> + +<p>"They'll be sure to," said Mrs. Bunker. "I do wish we could find the +person who owned that sixty-five dollars. I have an idea it must be the +savings of some poor woman, or rather, from the letter, money some one +sent her. It must be hard for her to lose it, but we can't seem to find +to whom it belongs."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we shall, some day," said Aunt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> Jo. And they were to, in a very +strange way, as you shall hear in due time.</p> + +<p>Down the street ran the six little Bunkers, to get the toy balloons. +They saw them in the store window—red, green and blue ones, and they +picked out different colors.</p> + +<p>"Don't they look pretty?" cried Vi, as they marched back with the +blown-up rubber bags floating in the air over their heads.</p> + +<p>As yet the balloons had only short strings on them, and Rose, to make +sure the toys of Mun Bun and Margy would not get away, tied the strings +to their wrists.</p> + +<p>"They look like big plums or apples," said Laddie. "Maybe I could think +up a riddle about the balloons."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can be thinking about it when we have a race to see which one +goes highest in the air," said Russ. "When we get to Aunt Jo's house, +we'll get string and let the balloons sail away up."</p> + +<p>Mother Bunker said strong thread would be better than string, as it +would not be so heavy, and soon the six little Bunkers were out in the +front yard, letting their toys sail high above their heads.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mine's the highest!" cried Russ, as he looked at his green balloon +floating high above the trees.</p> + +<p>"That's 'cause you let out all the thread," said Laddie. "I'm not going +to let all mine unwind."</p> + +<p>And neither did the other children, for they were afraid their toys +might get away. For some time they had fun in this way, pulling the +balloons down when they got very far up in the air, and then letting +them float upward again.</p> + +<p>Then came a call from the house. It was Mother Bunker, saying:</p> + +<p>"Here is some bread and jam for hungry children. How many of you want +it?"</p> + +<p>There was no question as to how many did. Each of the six little Bunkers +was hungry.</p> + +<p>"Let's tie our balloons to the fence and leave 'em here until we get +back," said Russ, and this was done, he and Rose tying the threads of +Mun Bun and Margy, who could not make very good knots as yet.</p> + +<p>And so, with the balloons floating out in front, the children went back +to sit under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> grape-arbor and eat bread and jam that Parker spread +for them.</p> + +<p>It was so good that some of them had two slices, and then William +brought the automobile out of the garage and began to get it ready for a +run. Aunt Jo was to take the children for a ride.</p> + +<p>"What's William doing to the auto?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Come on! Let's watch him!" proposed Russ, and he and Laddie, with Vi, +Mun Bun and Margy, ran over to where the chauffeur was doing something +to the car.</p> + +<p>"Will our balloons be all right?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they can't get away," said Russ.</p> + +<p>Well, that was true enough. The balloons could not have gotten away by +themselves, but something happened to them.</p> + +<p>Rose did not go with her brothers and sisters over to watch William. +Instead, she went into the house, got Lily, one of her dolls, and a +small basket. Rose had a queer idea in her little head, and she was +going to carry it out.</p> + +<p>A day or so before an airship had flown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> over Boston, circling around +the Back Bay section, and right over Aunt Jo's house. The children were +much excited by it, and at first Russ was going to make one. But he +found it harder than he supposed, so he gave it up.</p> + +<p>"But I can make an airship," said Rose to herself. "Anyhow I can make +something to give my doll a ride in the air in a basket."</p> + +<p>And that is what the little girl was going to do. She had felt how hard +one balloon pulled—for they were filled with gas just as a real balloon +is—and Rose thought that if one balloon pulled so strongly six would +pull harder yet.</p> + +<p>"I'll tie all six balloons to the basket, and put Lily in and give her +an airship ride," said Rose.</p> + +<p>So, while her brothers and sisters were watching the chauffeur, this is +what Rose did. She carefully loosed each balloon, besides her own, from +the fence, and tied the strings to the handle of the basket in which she +put Lily.</p> + +<p>Lily was not heavy like Sue, the doll about which I told you before, the +one the lady once thought was her baby in the car. The basket<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> was not +heavy, either. So that when Rose had tied the last balloon to the +handle, she found that it rose into the air with her doll, and would +have floated off, only Rose tied a cord to the bottom of the basket, and +kept hold of that.</p> + +<p>"Now I've got an airship for my doll!" exclaimed the little girl, and, +really, she did have one kind of airship.</p> + +<p>Up above her head floated the basket with Lily in it, and Rose was quite +pleased.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> +<img src="images/p108.jpg" width="250" height="400" alt="ABOVE HER HEAD FLOATED THE BASKET WITH LILY IN IT." title="ABOVE HER HEAD FLOATED THE BASKET WITH LILY IN IT." /> +<span class="caption">ABOVE HER HEAD FLOATED THE BASKET WITH LILY IN IT.</span> +</div> + +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's.—Page 102</i></div> + +<p>"I can make things as good as Russ, even if I can't whistle like him," +she said. "This is fun! Don't you like it, Lily?"</p> + +<p>Of course Lily couldn't answer and say that she did, but if dolls like +airship rides I'm sure this one of Rose's did.</p> + +<p>Up and along floated the balloons, lifting the basket, and then, all of +a sudden, something happened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>VI IS LOST</h3> + + +<p>Rose said, afterward, that it was not the fault of Alexis, though the +barking of the big dog made her jump and lose her hold on the string +that was fast to the basket in which the doll Lily rode as if in an +airship. But that is what happened.</p> + +<p>As Rose was walking along, letting the balloons float over her head, and +giving a ride to Lily, the big dog came bounding out of the side yard. +He wanted to play with Rose, and he raced toward her, jumping up and +down. Rose was afraid he would jump up and put his paws on her, and +Alexis was so big that when he did this to any of the six little Bunkers +he almost always knocked them down. In fact, he had knocked Mun Bun and +Margy down more than once, but only in fun, and he had not hurt them.</p> + +<p>"Go away, Alexis! Now go away!" ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>claimed Rose, as she held the string +above her head. "I can't play with you now, because I got to give Lily +an airship ride. Go away, Alexis!"</p> + +<p>But Alexis didn't want to go away! He barked and he danced around, and +he kept coming closer and closer to Rose, until he really almost bumped +into her. And then it happened.</p> + +<p>Rose let go of the string, by which she was holding the basket that had +Lily in it, and up it shot, high in the air, pulled by the gas-filled +toy balloons. There were six of them, extra big ten-cent ones, and they +could easily lift the small doll in the basket.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Rose, three times. "Look what you made me do, +Alexis! Oh! Oh!"</p> + +<p>And yet, afterward, Rose said it wasn't the dog's fault.</p> + +<p>"I oughtn't to have taken anybody's balloon but mine, and then they +wouldn't be lost," said the little girl sadly.</p> + +<p>For that is what happened.</p> + +<p>Up and up into the air, high above Rose's head, shot the six +balloons—red, green and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> blue—carrying the doll. When she first felt +the string pulling out of her hand Rose did not know what to do. Then, +as she saw the balloons sailing away, she jumped up into the air and +tried to grab them. But it was too late. Away over the trees sailed the +airship Rose had made, carrying her doll on an unknown voyage.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried the little girl again, as she saw that, no matter how +high she jumped, she could not get hold of the string again. "Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>She looked at the six floating balloons, hoping they might get caught in +a tree, as once one did that Mun Bun had.</p> + +<p>But no such good luck as this happened. The balloons sailed clear of the +trees and went on and on and up and up, becoming smaller and smaller.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my poor, dear Lily!" sobbed Rose, and she was really crying now. +"My dear, darling Lily!"</p> + +<p>"Why, what is the matter, my dear?" asked Aunt Jo, who came along, just +then. "Has anything happened? Did Alexis hurt you?" for she saw the big +dog standing near Rose,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> and thought perhaps, in his play, he might have +scratched the little girl.</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't the fault of Alexis," said Rose, "though he did bump into +me and make me let go of the string. But I ought never to have taken the +balloons."</p> + +<p>"The balloons?" asked Aunt Jo, not exactly understanding at first.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Rose. "They're gone. I made an airship of 'em for my doll, +and—there she goes!"</p> + +<p>She pointed up into the air. Aunt Jo saw the toy balloons, tied to the +handle of the basket, and they were getting smaller and smaller.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear little girl!" said she. "And you have taken all the +balloons! That's too bad!"</p> + +<p>And Rose cried harder than ever. Really she had not done just right, but +of course she had not meant to spoil the fun of her brothers and +sisters, and lose their toys. But she had.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon Russ, Laddie and the others came from having watched William +get the automobile ready.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where are our balloons?" demanded Laddie, not seeing them tied to the +fence.</p> + +<p>"They're gone," said Aunt Jo softly, as she put her arms around Rose.</p> + +<p>"Gone?" cried Russ. "Where? Did they bust?"</p> + +<p>"I made an airship of 'em," confessed Rose, "and let go the cord when +Alexis bumped me, and—and there they go!" and she pointed to the sky.</p> + +<p>Well, you can easily imagine that the five little Bunkers felt quite bad +at losing their balloons. Margy and Mun Bun cried, being the smallest. +Vi looked as if she wanted to, and so did Laddie. But Laddie felt he was +too big, and Vi didn't want to do anything her twin brother didn't do; +especially crying.</p> + +<p>Russ swallowed what seemed to be a lump in his throat, and then, +learning that his sister's doll had been carried off in the "airship" +and seeing how bad Rose felt, and noticing the tears on her cheeks, he +said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, maybe the balloons would have busted anyhow. I don't care +'cause you lost mine, Rose."</p> + +<p>"I don't either," said Laddie bravely.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then Vi said the same thing. Wasn't that good of them? I think so.</p> + +<p>Of course Margy and Mun Bun, being little, felt worse over the loss of +their balloons than the others did. But Aunt Jo found some pieces of +candy for the little tots, and promised they could have new balloons in +a few days.</p> + +<p>"And now we'll all go for an auto ride," she said.</p> + +<p>That made Margy and Mun Bun smile, and the other little Bunkers also +felt better.</p> + +<p>"Will you take us out the way the balloons are blowing?" asked Russ, for +the "airship" could still be seen, a faint speck in the sky.</p> + +<p>"Why do you want to go that way?" asked Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"Because maybe then we can get the balloons back," Russ said.</p> + +<p>"And my doll, too, and the basket!" added Rose eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Maybe," said Russ. "You know balloons and airships have always got to +come down. They can't sail on forever, and when this one you made, Rose, +comes down, we can get it, and your doll, too."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, won't that be good!" cried the little girl. "I do hope we can!"</p> + +<p>"Well, of course you may find it," said Aunt Jo; "but I'm afraid you +never will, Rose. Of course I know, around the Fourth of July, sometimes +fire balloons, that burn out and don't burn up, come down. Once one came +down in our yard, and William got it. And this may happen to the +balloons you sent up, or that you let get away from you. The gas may all +go out of them, as it probably will, and the basket and the doll will +come down."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to get Lily again, awful much," said Rose. "'Course she wasn't +my best doll, but I love her just the same."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll take an automobile ride," said her aunt, "and if we see the +airship down anywhere we'll get it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe some other little girl will find it, as you did the pocketbook, +and want to keep it," suggested Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, if she knew it was my doll wouldn't she give it back to me?" +asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure she would," put in Aunt Jo. "But don't set your heart too much +on it, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> dear. I'm afraid your doll is gone forever."</p> + +<p>But you just wait and see what happens.</p> + +<p>They all went for an automobile ride, and, though they looked in the +direction the balloons had floated, they did not see the "airship." Rose +and Russ even asked several policemen they passed if they had seen the +balloons and basket with the doll in it come down, but none had.</p> + +<p>Of course Rose felt bad, and so did the other little Bunkers, about +losing their balloons, but there was no help for it. They were gone.</p> + +<p>It was a day or so after this, and the children were talking about a +trip to Nantasket Beach Aunt Jo was to take them on, when just as lunch +was about to be served, Parker came in to say:</p> + +<p>"We are all out of bread, Miss Bunker. The baker forgot to stop. Shall I +send William for some?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me go!" begged Vi. "I know where there is a bakery, right down +the street. It isn't far."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you know the way?" asked Aunt Jo.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Course I do," Vi answered.</p> + +<p>"Well, you may go," said Aunt Jo. "Only be careful not to get lost. +Don't turn around the wrong corners."</p> + +<p>"I won't," promised Vi.</p> + +<p>But that is just what she did. She got the bread all right, but, on the +way back she stopped to pet a kitten that rubbed up against her. And +then Vi got turned around, and she went down a side street, and walked +two or three blocks before she knew that she was wrong.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Jo doesn't live on this street," said the little girl to herself, +as she stopped and looked around. "I don't see her house and I don't see +Mr. North's. I must have come the wrong way."</p> + +<p>So she had, and she turned to go back. But she went wrong again, making +a turn around another corner and then Vi didn't know what to do. She +stood in front of a house, with the bread under her arm, and tears came +into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Vi. "It's terrible to be lost so near home!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>MARGY TAKES A RIDE</h3> + + +<p>This was not the first time Violet had been lost. More than once, even +in her home town of Pineville, she had wandered away over the fields or +out toward the woods, and had not been able to find her way back again. +But always, at such times, Norah or Jerry Simms, or Daddy or Mother +Bunker had come to find her and take her home.</p> + +<p>"But I don't see any of them now," said Vi, as she gazed around her. +There were quite a number of persons on the street, for it was the noon +hour, but the little girl knew none of them, and none of them seemed to +pay any attention to her.</p> + +<p>I think, though, almost any one of those who passed by poor little Vi, +standing there in the street, if they had known she was lost, would have +gone up to her and tried to help her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<p>But there were many children in the street, and several of them were +standing still, looking not very different from Vi, except that she was +crying—not a great deal, but enough to make her eyes wet.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'd better walk along a little," said Vi to herself, after a +bit. "Maybe I'll see Aunt Jo's house, or Russ or Rose or—or somebody +that knows me."</p> + +<p>Poor little Vi, just then, would have been glad to see even Alexis, the +big dog. Alexis would lead her home, Vi felt sure. But the big dog was +not in sight.</p> + +<p>Vi walked a little way down the street, and then a little way up it. She +looked at all the houses and at every one she met, still holding fast to +the loaf of bread. But she did not see Aunt Jo's house, and she did not +know any of the men or women or boys or girls that passed her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm worse lost than ever!" sighed the little girl. "I wonder what I +can do. I'm going to ask some one!"</p> + +<p>Now the best way for Vi to have done was to have gone up to one of the +houses and asked where her Aunt Jo's home was. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> the funny thing +about it was that Vi wasn't quite sure what her aunt's name was. Her own +name, she knew, was Violet Bunker, but she never spoke of Aunt Jo except +just by that name, never using the last part and, while it was the same +name as her own, Vi didn't know it. She felt she couldn't very well go +up to a house and say:</p> + +<p>"Where does my Aunt Jo live?"</p> + +<p>The person in the house would be sure to ask:</p> + +<p>"What is your aunt's last name, my dear, and on what street does she +live?"</p> + +<p>But Vi didn't know that. So you see she was quite badly lost, though she +had only been away from her aunt's home a little while.</p> + +<p>And then, as the little girl stood there, the tears coming into her eyes +faster than ever, along came a rather tall girl with a pleasant face, +who, as soon as she saw Vi, went up to her and asked kindly:</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Did you lose your money?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," Vi answered, "I didn't lose my money, but I've lost myself. I +spent the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> money for bread for Aunt Jo, but I came on the wrong street, +I guess, and I don't know where she lives."</p> + +<p>"Where who lives?"</p> + +<p>"Aunt Jo. I'm one of the six little Bunkers and we're staying at Aunt +Jo's, but I don't know where she lives."</p> + +<p>Then this tall, pleasant-faced girl asked, just as any one else would +have done:</p> + +<p>"What's Aunt Jo's other name?"</p> + +<p>And Vi didn't know!</p> + +<p>Then the girl tried to get Vi to tell in what sort of house Aunt Jo +lived, and near what other houses or big buildings it was. But Vi was +only six years old, and she hadn't noticed much about houses. She had +been too busy playing.</p> + +<p>"But Aunt Jo has a big dog," said Vi. "He's an awful big dog, and he +almost knocks you down when he plays with you. If I could find him he'd +take me home."</p> + +<p>"What's the dog's name?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"Alexis," answered Vi, "and he——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, now I know where your aunt lives!" cried the tall girl. "I often +see that big dog, and I have heard the chauffeur call him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> Alexis. I +remember it because it's a sort of Russian name, and I like to read +about Russia. Now I can take you home."</p> + +<p>"Can you—really?" asked Vi eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Surely. I know the very house where Alexis lives, and if you live there +with your Aunt Jo I can take you home. It isn't far; come on. My name is +Mary Turner, and my mother used to sew for a lady on the same street +where your aunt lives. I know the way; come on."</p> + +<p>Taking hold of Vi's hand, the kind girl led her along the street, around +a corner and down another block and then Vi cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, now I'm all right. I know where I am now. That's Mr. North's house +and I see Aunt Jo's house and here comes Daddy to meet me!" And surely +enough, along came Mr. Bunker, looking up and down the street for a +sight of his little girl, who had been gone so long for the loaf of +bread that he knew she must be lost.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you're sure you can find your way I'll let you run along by +yourself," said Mary Turner.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I'm all right now," said Vi. "My<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> father sees me, and he's +waving to me. Thank you for taking care of me."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad I could help you a little," said Mary.</p> + +<p>"Does your mother sew any more?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Mary, and her voice sounded sad. "She had a great shock, +and she's ill in the hospital now. I have to go to work to take care of +her. Well, good-bye, and don't get lost again," and Mary turned down a +side street and walked on, waving her hand to Violet.</p> + +<p>"Well, little girl, what happened to you?" asked Daddy Bunker, as he +walked up to his daughter. "We were getting worried about you, so I came +out to see what had happened."</p> + +<p>"I got lost," Vi answered. "I went down the wrong street, but Mary +Turner—she knew where Alexis lived, and she brought me to you."</p> + +<p>"Who is Mary Turner?" asked Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"That's the nice girl that just went away," said Vi, pointing, for her +new friend was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> still in sight. "Her mother used to sew for somebody on +Aunt Jo's street, but she's in the hospital now—I mean her mother is; +she's sick."</p> + +<p>"That's too bad," said Mr. Bunker. "Aunt Jo might do something for her. +But perhaps the girl doesn't like to ask. Anyhow, I'm glad you're not +lost any longer. Come along to lunch now."</p> + +<p>So that's how Vi was lost and found. And she was soon eating lunch with +the other little Bunkers and telling them what had happened.</p> + +<p>"What can we do this afternoon to have fun?" asked Russ, as he got up +from the table.</p> + +<p>"Let's see if we can't make a better harness for Alexis, and have him +pull us in the express wagon," suggested Laddie. "I found some strong +rope that we can tie on him."</p> + +<p>"All right, we'll do that," agreed Russ. "That'll be fun."</p> + +<p>"Will you give me a ride?" asked Mun Bun. "I'll help you make the +harness if you will."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll give you a ride," said Russ,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> "but I guess we can make the +harness ourselves. Come on, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to play with my doll," said Margy. "My rubber doll is all +dirty and I'm going to wash her."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't turn the hose on her, as Russ and Laddie did to William," +laughed Aunt Jo. "Just wash your doll in a basin of water, Margy dear."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll do that, Aunt Jo," answered the little girl.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to make a new dress for my big best doll Sue," announced +Rose. "I haven't got my little Lily to love now, so I'll make Sue look +nice. You didn't find my doll that went up in the airship, did you, +Daddy?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Mr. Bunker. "And I don't believe I ever shall."</p> + +<p>"And we haven't heard who lost that pocketbook with the sixty-five +dollars in it," said Mrs. Bunker. "It is very strange no one claims the +money."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Aunt Jo, "it is. But some day we may find out who owns it. +Though if we don't by the time you folks are ready to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> go home, it will +belong to Rose, for she found it."</p> + +<p>"And then I can buy a new doll," said the little girl.</p> + +<p>So, while Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun went to the garage to try to make +another harness for Alexis, Rose and Margy played with their dolls. +Violet said she was tired from having walked around so much when she was +lost, though I think it was because she had cried, so her mother put her +to bed for a short nap. Then Daddy Bunker went downtown and Aunt Jo and +Mrs. Bunker sat on the porch sewing.</p> + +<p>It was about half an hour after Margy and Rose had begun to play with +their dolls, Margy washing her rubber one in a basin of water, that +something happened. Margy got up from the side porch where she was +sitting with Rose, and said:</p> + +<p>"I'm going to dry her now."</p> + +<p>"Dry who?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"My rubber doll," answered Margy. "She's all wet and I'm going to take +her down in the laundry where Parker is, and put my doll by the fire to +dry."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right," answered Rose, "don't burn yourself."</p> + +<p>"I won't," said Margy, as she went toward the laundry, which was in the +basement of Aunt Jo's big house.</p> + +<p>A little while after this Parker, on going into the kitchen over the +laundry, heard a voice crying:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't get out! I can't get out! I'm stuck in and I can't get +out."</p> + +<p>"For land sakes! Who are you, and what has happened?" cried the +frightened cook. "It's one of the six little Bunkers, I know," she went +on, "but what happened?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I went to take a ride," said Margy, "and now I can't get out! Oh, +dear!"</p> + +<p>And her voice seemed to come from afar.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>MUN BUN DRIVES AWAY</h3> + + +<p>Parker was a good cook, but she did not know much about children. She +liked them though, and was kind to them. So when she heard Margy's voice +calling, she could not imagine what had happened, nor did she know what +to do.</p> + +<p>If it had been Mrs. Bunker, or even Daddy Bunker, they would have at +once found out what the matter was. But then they were used to things +happening to children.</p> + +<p>"Oh, where are you?" cried Parker, as Margy kept on screaming.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you call it, but I'm in it," said the little girl, in +that queer, faraway voice.</p> + +<p>"But where is it?" asked Parker, for, somehow, the voice seemed to come +from somewhere between the laundry and the kitchen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's that thing you pull up and down with soap and starch and clothes +on," said Margy. "I got in it to have a ride, but my leg is stuck and I +can't get out and, oh, dear! I want my mother!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I guess I want her, too!" exclaimed Parker. "Oh, my! This is +worse than having the chimney on fire. I'll go and call your mother, +child," she went on, "for I can't see a blessed hair of your head. +Though you must be somewhere around, and maybe hiding to fool me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I'm not hiding," answered Margy, who, it seems, could hear +Parker very well. "I'm in the pull-up-and-let-down-thing, and I want to +get out!"</p> + +<p>But Parker did not stay to listen. She ran out to the side porch, where +Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker were sewing, and cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, come quick! The poor child's caught and can't get out and I can't +see her!"</p> + +<p>"Where is she? What happened?" asked Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"She's somewhere between the laundry and the kitchen," said the maid. "I +can't see her, though I can hear her and——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker and her sister-in-law did not stop to listen to any more. To +the kitchen they hurried, and there they, too, heard the voice of Margy +crying:</p> + +<p>"Take me out! Take me out! I'm in the puller-up-and-down-thing!"</p> + +<p>Aunt Jo knew right away what Margy meant.</p> + +<p>"She must be stuck in the dumbwaiter—that we pull up and down between +the kitchen and the laundry," she said. "Are you there, Margy?" she +asked as she opened a door in the side wall of the kitchen.</p> + +<p>And then, up the shaft, came the voice of the little girl:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm in here and I can't go down and I can't get up. Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>"Now don't cry! Mother is here," said Mrs. Bunker. "And so is Aunt Jo. +We'll get you up in a minute. Don't be afraid."</p> + +<p>Aunt Jo ran downstairs and looked up the dumbwaiter shaft. She could see +the box-like waiter stuck halfway up, but of course she could not see +Margy. A dumbwaiter is like a little elevator, except that, as a rule, +no one rides in it. It is used to pull things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> up and down between two +rooms, when a person does not want to use the stairs.</p> + +<p>"I see what's the matter," said Aunt Jo, as she looked up the shaft once +more. "Margy's foot stuck out over the edge of the box, in which she +climbed to have a ride, and the waiter can't slide up and down. Her foot +wedges it fast."</p> + +<p>"Can we get it loose?" asked Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, easily, I think. Get me my long-handled parasol, Parker. I'll +reach that up the shaft and push Margy's foot loose. Then the +dumbwaiter, with her in it, will slide down."</p> + +<p>And that is just what happened. With the end of the parasol, not pushing +so hard as to hurt, Aunt Jo shoved loose Margy's foot. Then the +dumbwaiter, which was a sort of open box, slid down on the rope that ran +over a pulley-wheel, and Margy was lifted out. She had been crying and +was frightened, but she felt all right when her mother took her in her +arms and kissed her.</p> + +<p>"How did you come to do it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I came down to the laundry to dry my rubber doll after I'd washed her," +said Margy, "and I put her by the fire. One day I saw Parker give a lot +of bars of soap a ride on the go-up-and-down-thing."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do use the dumbwaiter for that," said the cook.</p> + +<p>"Then I thought I could get a ride if the soap got a ride," went on +Margy. "So, when Parker was out by the garage I went up in the kitchen, +and I stood on a chair, I did, and I crawled into the +go-up-and-down-thing, and it went down with me. But it didn't go all the +way down. It stuck and I couldn't have a nice ride."</p> + +<p>"I should say not!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "And you mustn't do such a thing +again. You might have been hurt when you got your foot caught."</p> + +<p>"It does hurt a little," said Margy, rubbing it.</p> + +<p>So that's how it happened. Margy had crawled from the chair in the +kitchen into the box of the dumbwaiter. It had run down with her until +her foot, sticking over the edge, wedged the waiter fast, halfway<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> down +the shaft. Then the door in the wall blew shut, and when Margy cried +Parker was so "flustered," as she said afterward, that she never stopped +to think where the voice came from.</p> + +<p>"But don't do it again," warned Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"I won't," promised Margy.</p> + +<p>From out in the yard of Aunt Jo's house came joyous shouts and laughter. +Russ could be heard calling:</p> + +<p>"Oh, it works! It works all right! Now we can all have rides."</p> + +<p>"Well, whatever it is, I hope it isn't a dumbwaiter they're riding in," +said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>She and Aunt Jo looked from the window. They saw that Russ and Laddie +had finally managed to make a harness for the dog Alexis, out of +stronger pieces of cord than they used at first. The dog was tied with +the cords to the express wagon, and seated in it were Laddie and Mun +Bun. Russ was walking alongside, guiding Alexis by strings tied around +his neck.</p> + +<p>"Make him go fast!" cried Mun Bun. "I want to ride fast!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, if he runs too fast I can't keep up with him," said Russ. "Alexis +can run a lot faster than I can, and if he goes too fast I'll lose hold +of him."</p> + +<p>"Let me drive a little," begged Laddie. So Russ let his smaller brother +take the strings that answered for reins. But Russ stayed near the head +of the big dog, with his hand on his collar. For Russ was a careful boy, +and did not want the dog to run away and, perhaps, spill the little boys +out of the wagon.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want a ride in that!" cried Margy, when she saw what her brothers +were doing. "That's nicer than the up-and-down-thing I was in."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and a little safer," said her mother. "You may go out and Russ +will give you a ride. Russ, Margy is coming out," she called. "Take care +of her!"</p> + +<p>"I will," promised the largest Bunker boy.</p> + +<p>Then such fun as the six children had riding behind Alexis, for Violet +awakened from her sleep and came out to enjoy the sport. Russ and Laddie +had tied so many ropes on Alexis, fastening them to the cart, that +Wil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>liam said it would take an hour to loosen the knots. But Alexis did +not seem to mind. He walked along, pulling the cart, with two or three +children in it, as easily as though he were dragging along a tin can +tied to his tail, and much more sedately.</p> + +<p>Only nobody had ever tied a tin can to the tail of Alexis. He wasn't the +kind of dog one could do that to. You might have dared try when he was a +little puppy, but not after he grew up to be almost as big as a small +Shetland pony.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Rose, when it was her turn to have a +ride. "I wish my doll Lily was here to like it."</p> + +<p>"She had a good ride in the airship," remarked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" suddenly cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Russ. "Did a bee sting you?"</p> + +<p>"No. I just thought of a nice riddle. It's about the balloon airship +Rose made and the dumbwaiter Margy had a ride in."</p> + +<p>"What's the riddle?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"It's like this," went on Laddie, thinking hard to get it just right. +"What's the dif<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>ference between Rose's airship and the dumbwaiter Margy +rode in? What's the difference?"</p> + +<p>"A whole lot!" said Rose. "They're not alike at all."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's the riddle—what makes 'em different!" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Because they both have a basket," said Russ. "Rose tied the balloons to +a basket, and the clothes basket rides on the dumbwaiter."</p> + +<p>"Nope! That isn't it," said Laddie, shaking his head. "You see Rose's +airship went up, and wouldn't come down, and the dumbwaiter, with Margy +in it, went down and wouldn't come up."</p> + +<p>"Huh! That's pretty good," said Russ. "But I guess those balloons are +down by this time."</p> + +<p>"And my doll, too," added Rose. "I wish I could find her."</p> + +<p>"Well, part of the riddle is right, anyhow," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's pretty good," agreed Russ. "And now we'll have some more +rides."</p> + +<p>Around Aunt Jo's house, up and down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> lawn and on the paths Alexis +pulled the six little Bunkers in the express wagon, with the string +harness, and they had lots of fun. Even the big dog seemed to enjoy it, +and he didn't get tired.</p> + +<p>It was two days after this, during which time the children had lots of +fun, that something else happened. Mun Bun was the unlucky one; or +lucky, whichever way you look at it.</p> + +<p>Sometimes, even in the fashionable Back Bay section of Boston, rag +peddlers came to buy odds and ends from the homes of the people. The +chauffeurs or the furnace men usually attended to the selling of this, +being allowed to keep whatever money they got for themselves.</p> + +<p>One of the wagons, with bags and all sorts of things in it, stopped, one +day, in front of Aunt Jo's house. The ragman knew William, who often +sold him old newspapers or junk, and this time he had quite a few things +to sell.</p> + +<p>"Rags! Rags! Bottles and rags!" cried the junkman as he went back to the +garage with a bag over his shoulder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> + +<p>As it happened, Mun Bun was out, watching William pump air into a new +tire, and when the chauffeur went into the cellar with the junkman to +get the papers, Mun Bun wandered out in front to where the junkman's +horse and wagon was standing.</p> + +<p>"If I could get up into that wagon now," thought Mun Bun to himself, "I +could have a better ride than with Alexis. I guess I will."</p> + +<p>How he managed to climb up I don't know, but he did. The wagon was not +very high, and there was a step near the front, and of course there were +wheels. Somehow, Mun Bun scrambled up, and the horse, luckily for him, +did not move while the boy was climbing. Right up on the seat got Mun +Bun. He picked up the real reins, as he had seen Russ do with the +make-believe ones on Alexis, and then Mun Bun called:</p> + +<p>"Gid-dap!"</p> + +<p>And, just as easily as you please, the horse started off as natural as +anything, with Mun Bun driving. Down the street he slowly walked, much +to the delight of Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>But what would happen next?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>THE WHISTLING WAGON</h3> + + +<p>Mun Bun smiled happily. This was more fun than he had ever expected to +have at Aunt Jo's house. In fact, what little thinking he did about it +was to the effect that he could have had a lot more fun by staying at +Grandma Bell's.</p> + +<p>Up he sat on the seat of the junkman's wagon, holding the reins as he +had helped Russ or Laddie hold the reins on the big dog Alexis, who +pulled the six little Bunkers in the express wagon.</p> + +<p>"This is fun!" said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>The horse slowly walked along. Junkmen's horses hardly ever run. There +are several reasons for this.</p> + +<p>In the first place, a junkman's horse goes slowly because the junkman is +never in a hurry. He wants to look at the houses on each side of the +street to see if any one is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> going to call him in to sell him paper, +rags, old bottles, rubber boots or broken stoves.</p> + +<p>So, of course, a junkman wants his horse to go slowly, for then he has a +chance to look at the houses on each side of the street. For nowadays +the junkmen, in the cities, at least, are not allowed to ring bells and +shout loudly or make much noise. They used to do that, but they can't +any more.</p> + +<p>Another reason why a junkman's horse walks slowly is that the poor horse +is nearly always old and thin and hungry.</p> + +<p>And I suppose it's a good thing this junkman's horse was old and thin +and tired and hungry. That's what made him go slowly, so Mun Bun was not +rattled off the seat. He was only a little fellow, and it would not have +taken much of a jolt of the wagon to have tossed him off. But as long as +the wagon went slowly he was all right.</p> + +<p>"Gid-dap!" cried Mun Bun in a jolly voice, and he pulled on the reins, +thinking what fun it was really to drive, and not make-believe, as he +and the others had done with Alexis.</p> + +<p>All this while the junkman was in Aunt Jo's yard, talking with William +about the old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> rags and papers the chauffeur had to sell. The five other +little Bunkers were playing at different games, Daddy Bunker was +downtown, and Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker were busy at something or other, +I've forgotten just what.</p> + +<p>So there was no one in particular to see what Mun Bun was doing, and he +was just having the grandest time, all by himself, driving the poor, +thin horse. Of course he wasn't really driving it. The horse just went +along as it always did, as slowly as it could, and, very likely, it +didn't know, or care, whether Mun Bun was driving it, or the junkman.</p> + +<p>"Gid-dap!" cried the little fellow again, and he pulled on the reins. +And then a funny thing happened. He pulled a little harder on the left +rein than on the right, and, just as the animal had been used to doing +whenever this happened, the horse turned to the left, and went down a +side street.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun didn't mind this. He didn't care which way the horse went as +long as he was having a ride and was doing the driving. Down the side +street went the junk wagon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> with Mun Bun on it. He was now out of sight +of any one who might be looking from Aunt Jo's yard.</p> + +<p>The little fellow was halfway down the new block when a woman, looking +from the window of her house, saw the bony horse and the old rattly, +rickety wagon.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's a junkman!" she cried. "I've been looking for one a long +time to take the papers out of the cellar. There's a junkman!"</p> + +<p>"No, it's a junk boy," said the woman's cook, who happened to be with +her. "There's no one but a little boy on the wagon."</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe it's the junkman's little boy," said the woman. "They let +them drive when they go in after the junk. Run after him, Jane, and stop +him. I want to get the trash cleaned out of the cellar."</p> + +<p>So the cook ran quickly to the front door and cried:</p> + +<p>"Hey! Junk boy! Stop! We got some papers for you!"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun heard, and turned around.</p> + +<p>"I isn't the junkman," he said. "I'm just havin' a ride!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We have some old papers for you," called the cook.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun didn't know just what it all meant, but he saw the cook waving +her hand at him, and he heard her calling, though he could not make out +all the words, because the wagon rattled so. But Mun Bun had an idea.</p> + +<p>"I guess maybe she wants a ride," he said. "She likes to ride same as I +do. I'll give her a ride with me."</p> + +<p>He pulled on the reins, and called:</p> + +<p>"Whoa!"</p> + +<p>But either Mun Bun did not pull hard enough, or he did not call loudly +enough, for the horse did not stop. Perhaps it thought that if it did +stop it would be too hard work to start again, so it kept on going.</p> + +<p>"Stop! Stop!" cried the cook. "We have some papers to sell you!"</p> + +<p>"Whoa!" called Mun Bun again. But the horse did not stop.</p> + +<p>Just then a policeman came down the street. He saw Mun Bun on the seat +of the wagon, and he saw the cook waving at him and calling. And the +policeman needed to take only one look to make him feel sure that Mun +Bun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> was not the junkman's little boy driving the wagon. Mun Bun was not +dressed as a junkman's little boy would probably be dressed.</p> + +<p>"That's funny," said the policeman to himself. "I must see about this." +He walked toward the wagon. By this time the cook had come out on the +sidewalk. She knew the policeman.</p> + +<p>"Stop him!" she called, pointing to the wagon. "Stop that junkman!"</p> + +<p>"That isn't a junkman," said the officer.</p> + +<p>"Well, stop that junk boy then, Mr. Mulligan," begged the cook, smiling +at the policeman.</p> + +<p>"Nor yet it isn't a junk boy," said the officer. "He doesn't belong on +that wagon."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say he stole it?" asked the cook. "Mrs. Rynsler has some +junk she wants to get out of the cellar, and——"</p> + +<p>"This boy'll never take it," said Mr. Mulligan, the policeman. "In the +first place he's too little, and in the second place he isn't a junk +boy. I must see about this," and, hurrying along for a little distance, +then walking out to the curb, he reached out his hand and stopped the +horse. It was not hard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> work. The bony horse was ready to stop almost +any time.</p> + +<p>"Whoa!" said the policeman.</p> + +<p>"Whoa!" echoed Mun Bun, and he smiled at the officer.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Mr. Mulligan.</p> + +<p>"I'm having a ride," said Mun Bun. "The junkman is at my Aunt Jo's +house, and I got up on the seat and I'm having a ride!"</p> + +<p>"Land love us! And look at the size of him!" murmured the cook, who had +followed the policeman.</p> + +<p>"He is little," said the policeman. "But you'd better get down, my +little man. You might fall off."</p> + +<p>"I had a nice ride, anyhow," said Mun Bun, as the policeman lifted him +down from the wagon.</p> + +<p>"But now I've got to find out where you live, and who owns this rig," +went on the officer.</p> + +<p>"The idea of him drivin' off with it all alone—the likes of him!" +murmured the wondering cook.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's a smart little chap!" said the po<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>liceman, smiling at Mun Bun. +"But, unless I'm mistaken, here comes the real junkman. He looks +worried, too."</p> + +<p>Around the corner of the street came the man who had been talking to +William in Aunt Jo's yard. He was running hard, and his hat had fallen +off.</p> + +<p>"My horse! My wagon!" he cried. "Somebody ran away with them!"</p> + +<p>"No, they didn't, Ike!" said the policeman, who had seen the junk +collector before. "Your horse just walked away with this boy, and it's +lucky the little chap didn't fall off the seat. Get on now, and drive +back where you came from. Where does this boy belong?"</p> + +<p>"How should I know?" asked the junkman. "I never saw him before."</p> + +<p>"Well, he must have got on the wagon at the last place you stopped," +said the officer. "Where was that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, sure! I know what you mean!" exclaimed the junkman. "I know the +lady's house. Her automobile man often sells me old papers. I can tell +you," and he did, mentioning Aunt Jo's house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll just take the boy back," said the policeman.</p> + +<p>His hand in that of the big policeman, Mun Bun went back gladly enough, +and just in time, too, for his mother, looking out and "counting noses" +had not seen him with the other children, and, fearing he had wandered +away, she was just starting out to look for him.</p> + +<p>"Where have you been?" she cried, as she saw Mun Bun with a policeman.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I had a nice ride," answered the little boy.</p> + +<p>"He was on the junk wagon," Mr. Mulligan explained.</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho! So it was you who ran with Ike's rig, was it?" asked William. +"Well, well! He was frightened when he didn't see his horse out in front +where he had left it. How do you like the junk business, Mun Bun?"</p> + +<p>"I like the horse, and I did drive him, I did!" said the little fellow +proudly.</p> + +<p>"Well, don't do it again," sighed Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"No'm, I won't!" promised Mun Bun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers always promised this whenever they did anything +they ought not to have done. But the trouble was that they did something +different the next time, and not the same thing they were told not to +do.</p> + +<p>"I wish I'd had a ride with you," said Margy, as her little brother, +after the policeman had gone, told what had happened.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>So Mun Bun got safely back home again, and the rest of the day his +mother saw to it that he played in the yard and around the house with +his brothers and sisters.</p> + +<p>"Did anybody ever come for the pocketbook and the sixty-five dollars?" +asked Rose one day, after breakfast, when the six little Bunkers were +wondering what to do to have fun.</p> + +<p>"No, we haven't yet found an owner," said her father. "But there is time +enough yet."</p> + +<p>"And you didn't find my doll that the balloons took away, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet, Rose. I'm afraid Lily is gone forever," answered her mother. +"Some day I'll get you a new doll."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes; but she wouldn't be Lily," said Rose, and she felt quite bad about +what had happened.</p> + +<p>Out in the yard went the children to play. Russ was making what he said +was going to be a kite, and Laddie and Violet were playing in the sand. +Rose was watching Parker bake a cake and Margy and Mun Bun walked up and +down the porch, pulling two little rubber dolls in a thread box, which +they pretended was a big automobile.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon, down the street came a two-wheeled cart, pushed by a man +who had gold rings in his ears, and the cart made a cheerful whistling +sound.</p> + +<p>"Oh, listen!" cried Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"It's like a choo-choo car!" said Margy.</p> + +<p>"Let's go and look at it!" cried Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed his sister.</p> + +<p>Leaving the thread-box automobile and the two little dolls on the porch, +the two small children ran down to the front gate to look at the +whistling wagon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>LADDIE'S FUNNY RIDDLE</h3> + + +<p>"Doesn't it make a nice noise?" asked Mun Bun of Margy.</p> + +<p>"Terrible nice," agreed the little girl. "What makes it?"</p> + +<p>Mun Bun looked at the whistling wagon. It was, as I have said, a +two-wheeled cart, and was pushed by a man who had gold rings in his +ears. His face was very dark, too, but he smiled pleasantly at the +children.</p> + +<p>"It's a teakettle, that's what makes it," said Mun Bun, as he looked. +"See the steam coming out, just like it does out of the kettle in +Parker's kitchen," and he pointed to something on one end of the cart.</p> + +<p>This something looked like a little stove, and the children could see +the glow of fire in one end of it. And, as Mun Bun had said, steam was +coming from what seemed to be a spout.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The steam whistles," said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Margy. "I like it!"</p> + +<p>The steam did make a shrill whistling sound.</p> + +<p>The wagon was out in front of Aunt Jo's house now, and suddenly Mun Bun +sniffed the air. He smelled something good.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know what it is!" he cried. "It's peanuts! The man is roasting +peanuts and they whistles to tell him they're done. Don't you 'member, +down at the corner by Daddy's office, home, there's a man an' he sells +peanuts and they whistles."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" said Margy. "I 'members! I likes peanuts, too!"</p> + +<p>"So do I!" said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>The man with the gold rings in his ears was stopping in front of Aunt +Jo's house now. He smiled at the children, while the steam from the hot +peanut-roaster made a louder whistling sound, and the man yelled:</p> + +<p>"Hot peanuts, five cents a bag!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wish we had some!" sighed Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"So do I," added his sister. "Have you five cents, Mun Bun?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nope! Has you five cents, Margy?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Mun Bun thought for a few seconds while the smiling Italian man, with +the whistling wagon, looked at the two little Bunkers hanging on Aunt +Jo's gate.</p> + +<p>"Please go 'way!" said Mun Bun. "We hasn't got any five cents for your +hot peanuts."</p> + +<p>"No gotta five cents?" asked the Italian.</p> + +<p>"No," and Mun Bun shook his head.</p> + +<p>"An' we like peanuts," added Margy. "If you've any left over you could +give us some."</p> + +<p>"Hot peanuts—five a bag!" said the peddler in a sort of sing-song +voice.</p> + +<p>"Please go 'way!" begged Mun Bun again. "They smells awful good, but we +hasn't got any five centies!"</p> + +<p>"Maybe you go in th' house, li'l' boy, you get money," the Italian went +on.</p> + +<p>Margy looked at Mun Bun and Mun Bun looked at Margy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe we could!" exclaimed the little girl eagerly. "Let's go an' +ask, Mun Bun!"</p> + +<p>"All right!" said he. "We will!"</p> + +<p>And they did. Into the room where Aunt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> Jo and Mother Bunker were sewing +burst the two children, out of breath from their run up the gravel +drive.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother!" cried Mun Bun. "He wants five cents."</p> + +<p>"An' he's got a whistlin' wagon!" added Margy.</p> + +<p>"An' they smell awful good!" went on her brother.</p> + +<p>"Come an' hear the whistle," begged the little girl.</p> + +<p>"My goodness me!" cried Aunt Jo. "What is this all about?"</p> + +<p>"It's hot peanuts—five a bag!" answered Mun Bun, in a sing-song voice +almost like the Italian's.</p> + +<p>"But we haven't the five cents," added Margy. "An' we want some +peanuts."</p> + +<p>"Well, I think you may have some," said Mrs. Bunker. "I'll come down to +the whistling wagon with you and see about it."</p> + +<p>Margy and Mun Bun led her down to the front gate, where the peanut man, +still smiling, was waiting. The hot oven on his wagon, in which he +roasted the peanuts, was still whistling. Afterward Daddy Bunker<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> told +the children that the steam came out and made the whistling sound by +puffing itself through a tin thing with holes in it, just as a boy blows +his breath through the same kind of tin thing to make a whistle.</p> + +<p>"And the reason the Italian puts water in the top of his peanut-roaster +is so that the peanuts in the bags, where he puts them to keep warm, +will not burn," the father of the six little Bunkers told them. "The +whistling is like the bell the old-fashioned ice-cream man used to ring. +People hear it and come to buy, just as you did."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker found the Italian's peanuts fresh and nicely browned and +roasted, and she bought enough for all the children.</p> + +<p>"You have to thank Margy and Mun Bun for them," she said to Russ, Rose +and the twins. "They first heard the whistling wagon and ran out to see +what it was."</p> + +<p>The children had a sort of little play-party with the peanuts, though +Laddie stuffed some of his in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to save 'em," he said.</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked Russ, who had his kite partly finished.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe I'll see an elephant in a circus parade," the little boy +answered.</p> + +<p>"Circus parades never come up in our Back Bay section," said Aunt Jo +with a smile. "So I don't believe you'll see an elephant, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, then I can eat the peanuts myself," he returned. "But maybe I +might see a squirrel."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we have some of them in our parks," went on Aunt Jo. "And I have +seen them so tame that they would come up and take a nut from your +fingers. Some day we'll go to the park and look for the little fellows. +But I'm afraid you won't have any peanuts left then, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"Well, we can get some more," said the little boy with a laugh.</p> + +<p>It was a little later that same afternoon, when Rose, who was out on the +porch, getting her doll dressed for supper, as she said, came running +in, looking very much excited.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it now?" asked her mother. "Has Mun Bun or any of the +others, ridden off on a junk wagon?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," answered the little girl. "But Laddie went off down the street +with his pea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>nuts in his pocket, and now he's come back and he has a +funny riddle."</p> + +<p>"A funny riddle!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "What do you mean? Is it a +riddle about the peanuts?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Rose. "But Laddie has something hid under his +coat, and he asked me to guess what it was, so it must be a riddle. And +it makes a funny squeaking noise."</p> + +<p>"My goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "I must see what Laddie's riddle +is this time!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>ROSE BREAKS HER SKATE</h3> + + +<p>Out on the porch Mrs. Bunker found her six children, for Rose had +followed her mother out of the house, finally running ahead of her to +see if any one had yet guessed Laddie's latest riddle.</p> + +<p>"What have you there, Sonny?" asked Laddie's mother, as she saw him +standing in front of Russ, Rose and the others, with something under his +coat.</p> + +<p>"He says it's a riddle," explained Russ.</p> + +<p>"It is, sort of!" declared Laddie. "Yet 'tisn't zactly a riddle. I just +told 'em to guess what I had under my coat."</p> + +<p>"Where'd you get it?" asked Aunt Jo, who came out to see what the fun +was about.</p> + +<p>"I got it with the peanuts I had in my pocket," the little boy answered.</p> + +<p>"Oh, then it's a squirrel!" guessed Rose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, it isn't a squirrel," said Laddie, shaking his head.</p> + +<p>"It's got a tail! I can see it!" cried Vi, as she stooped down and +looked under her brother's coat. "I can see it sticking out. It's +brown."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's got a tail," admitted Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Is it a kite?" asked Russ, for he had not yet finished the one he was +making.</p> + +<p>"Nope! 'Tisn't a kite!" Laddie answered. "It's alive, and kites aren't +that way!"</p> + +<p>"They wiggle around as if they were alive, sometimes," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I heard it squeak!" cried Mun Bun. "Is it a little kittie?"</p> + +<p>Again Laddie shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Nope," he answered, "'tisn't a kittie. But it's got fur on. Now I'll +give you each one more guess for my riddle, and——"</p> + +<p>But Laddie's "riddle" seemed to think the fun had gone on long enough, +and it didn't want to be guessed about any more. All at once the little +boy began to wiggle and try to hold something still beneath his +coat—something which seemed very much alive indeed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Laddie, but he was laughing.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"It—it's <i>tickling</i> me!" he exclaimed. "Oh—there it is!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke a funny little wrinkled black face, followed by a little +brown furry body and a long tail, scrambled out from under Laddie's +buttoned coat and sat on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" cried Rose.</p> + +<p>"It's a black pussy with a long tail!" cried Violet.</p> + +<p>"No, it isn't!" Russ exclaimed. "It's a monkey! That's what it is! A +monkey!"</p> + +<p>"A monkey!" repeated Mrs. Bunker. "Why, so it is. Oh, Laddie boy! where +did you get a monkey?"</p> + +<p>Laddie put up his hand to stroke the funny little creature, which seemed +to like it, crouching down on Laddie's shoulder and nestling close to +him. The monkey was not much larger than a cat.</p> + +<p>"Where'd you get it?" repeated the children's mother.</p> + +<p>"Have they got any more? Can I get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> one?" cried Russ. "I'll go and find +some peanuts!"</p> + +<p>"Don't let him wind his tail on me!" begged Mun Bun, hiding behind his +mother's skirts.</p> + +<p>"Can he play a hand-organ?" asked Violet.</p> + +<p>The children were laughing so hard, and asking so many questions as they +crowded around Laddie, that their mother exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear six little Bunkers! please be quiet a minute until I can +hear what Laddie has to say. Tell us where you got such a cute little +riddle!"</p> + +<p>"I got him with peanuts," Laddie said. "He was up in a tree and I saw +him, and I held out some peanuts in my hand and he came down and sat on +my shoulder and ate 'em and then I put him under my coat and he liked it +and I brought him home."</p> + +<p>"But where did you find him?" asked Aunt Jo. "In what tree?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, just down by the corner at the end of this street," answered Laddie +with a wave of his hand.</p> + +<p>"Mercy," gasped Aunt Jo, "are monkeys beginning to make their homes in +the trees<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> of the Boston streets?" and she and Mother Bunker laughed.</p> + +<p>"But was he up a tree?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he was," Laddie went on. "First I thought it was a cat, but when I +saw him hang by his tail I knew it wasn't a cat."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we're finding lots of things!" cried Rose. "I found a pocketbook, +and now Laddie finds a monkey."</p> + +<p>"And I'm going to keep it and get a hand-organ and then I'm going around +and take in pennies," said the little boy, on whose shoulder the monkey +was still perched, looking here and there at the other children, and +wrinkling up his funny black face.</p> + +<p>"I know where it came from," said Russ, after thinking a moment.</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Vi. "Do you mean out of a circus?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Russ. "But it must have got away from a hand-organ man."</p> + +<p>"I think that's just what happened," said Aunt Jo. "Hand-organ men, with +monkeys fast to the ends of long strings, often come up this way, and +play what they call music, and they let the funny little animals go +after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> the pennies. One of these Italians must have been around here +with his music-machine, and his monkey must have run away from him and +hidden up in a tree where you saw him, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"But I found him, and he's mine. I want to keep him," said the little +boy. "He's awful soft and fuzzy, and he likes me."</p> + +<p>Indeed the monkey was a nice, clean little chap, and he seemed to like +Laddie. And he seemed to like to have the other children pet him, also. +He wore a funny little red jacket and a green cap, and every now and +then he would take off his cap and hold it out, as he had been taught to +do, for pennies.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun, who had been afraid the monkey would wind its long tail around +him, came out from behind his mother's skirts, and even dared to pet +Laddie's "riddle," as they called it.</p> + +<p>"He's awful nice!" said Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"He'd make a lovely doll," observed Rose. "I wish I had a doll that was +alive."</p> + +<p>"I'll let you play with him sometimes," promised Laddie. "I'm going to +call him. 'Peanuts' 'cause he likes 'em so."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, that would be a nice name for a monkey," said Mrs. Bunker. "But +don't get your heart set on keeping this one, Laddie."</p> + +<p>"Why not, Mother? Can't I have him?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not. In the first place Aunt Jo has no place in her Boston +home for a monkey, and, in the second place, Alexis, the big dog, might +bark at Peanuts and scare him."</p> + +<p>Alexis was not there just then, or he would have seen the monkey, and +surely would have barked, as he always did when he saw anything new or +strange.</p> + +<p>"Another reason why you can't keep him," said Mother Bunker, "is that +the Italian hand-organ grinder will want his monkey himself. That is how +he makes his living—by having the monkey collect pennies for him."</p> + +<p>"But can I keep him until the organ man comes?" asked Laddie, as he +cuddled his "riddle" in his arms.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I guess you can keep him until then," said Mrs. Bunker. "We +couldn't turn the poor little monkey loose, anyhow, or dogs would chase +him. We'll see what your father says when he comes home."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And we can have some fun now, with Peanuts," added Russ. "We can tie a +string to his collar and make-believe we have a circus."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he'll bite," said Margy.</p> + +<p>"He didn't bite me," Laddie explained, "and I carried him under my coat +from down the street. He tickled me though, when he wanted to get out."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo said the children could play with the monkey +awhile on the side porch, fastening it by a string attached to the +collar around its neck, so it could not get away.</p> + +<p>"The Italian may be along pretty soon looking for it," said William, the +chauffeur, who had been called from the garage to see Laddie's new pet.</p> + +<p>"Peanuts," as the six little Bunkers called the monkey, seemed to enjoy +being with them. He climbed about the porch, and came down when they +held out in their hands bread, bits of crackers or cake, which the +monkey liked to eat.</p> + +<p>The children were having lots of fun with their funny little pet, and +they were talking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> over and over again their wish that they might keep +him, when, from out in front, came the sound of a hand-organ. It played +rather a sad and doleful tune, and, at the sound of it, the monkey +seemed to prick up his ears, much as a dog might do.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Rose. "Maybe that's the hand-organ man that owns this +monkey."</p> + +<p>"If it is I'd better see about it," said Aunt Jo. "I want you children +to have all the fun you can, but we don't want to keep a poor man's +monkey, any more than we do the poor woman's purse, though she hasn't +come for that yet."</p> + +<p>William, the chauffeur, who also heard the hand-organ tune, went out in +front, and came back to tell Aunt Jo that the Italian had indeed lost +his monkey, and was looking everywhere for it.</p> + +<p>"Tell him to come in," said Miss Bunker.</p> + +<p>And a little later, walking along and grinding out the doleful tune, the +Italian came into the yard.</p> + +<p>"<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'It'">Is</ins> this your monkey?" asked Aunt Jo, pointing to the one that Laddie +had coaxed down out of the tree with peanuts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Petro! Petro!" cried the Italian, leaning his hand-organ up against +a tree and rushing to the porch. "Ah, Petro! I have found you again, my +baby!" and he held out his arms. The monkey made a jump for them, and +sat up on the man's shoulder, chattering and taking off and putting on +his green cap so often that, as Russ said, he looked like a moving +picture.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Petro! Petro!" cried the hand-organ man, and then he began to talk +to the monkey in Italian, which the little creature seemed to +understand, for he chattered back, though of course he spoke monkey +talk, or, maybe, jungle talk.</p> + +<p>"Is that your animal?" asked William.</p> + +<p>"Sure, he mine!" exclaimed the Italian. "His name Petro! I make-a de +music down de street, an' a big dog chase after Petro! He break-a de +string an' jump oop de tree. I no can find! Now I have him back! Ah, my +Petro!"</p> + +<p>"Well, the children will be sorry to lose their pet," said Aunt Jo, "but +I'm glad you have him back."</p> + +<p>"I glad. Vera mooch-a glad, too!" said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> the Italian, taking off his hat, +and bowing to Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker. "Petro bring me in pennies. I +play for you, but I no want-a pennies. No take pennies—you find my +Petro."</p> + +<p>"This little boy found him," said William, pointing to Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I gave him peanuts," said Laddie. "He was up a tree."</p> + +<p>"Mooch 'bliged," said the Italian. "I make-a de music for you. Petro do +tricks."</p> + +<p>Then he fastened the long cord he had in his pocket to Petro's collar, +and began to grind out what he called "music." He also made the monkey +do several tricks, such as turning somersaults or climbing trees and +jumping from one branch to another.</p> + +<p>Then, with more thanks, and promising to come and play again for them, +and not to let Petro take any pennies, the Italian went on his way with +the monkey and the hand-organ.</p> + +<p>Laddie and the others were sorry to lose their pet, but, as Daddy Bunker +said afterward, the monkey and Alexis might not have been good friends.</p> + +<p>"Well, I found a monkey, and somebody<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> came for it," said Laddie that +night. "But nobody has come for the pocketbook yet."</p> + +<p>"And, if they don't, I'm going to have the money," said Rose. "Anyhow, I +can have some of it, daddy says. And I'm going to buy a pair of new +roller skates, 'cause my old ones are 'most worn out."</p> + +<p>However, Rose could still skate on them, and speaking of them as she +did, made her think of them the next day. So, when she had put her dolls +to "sleep," the little girl went out roller-skating on the sidewalk in +front of Aunt Jo's house.</p> + +<p>Rose had not been skating long before her mother heard her crying.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" Rose was saying.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked her mother, hurrying out to the porch. "Did +you fall and hurt yourself, Rose, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"No. But I struck my foot against the curbstone, and now one of my +roller skates is broken, and I can't have any fun!"</p> + +<p>Rose held up one foot. The skate that had been on it was now in two +pieces, and Mrs. Bunker saw that it could not easily be fixed again. It +was too bad!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>THE SKATE WAGON</h3> + + +<p>While Rose and her mother were looking at the little girl's broken +roller skate, Russ came along. He had been in the yard, playing with +Alexis, and his clothes were covered with grass, some of it green and +some of it dried.</p> + +<p>"But I had lots of fun," said Russ, as he whistled a merry tune. "And +grass doesn't hurt my old clothes."</p> + +<p>"Alexis always has on his old clothes. He doesn't have to change his to +play," said Laddie, who was with Russ.</p> + +<p>Just then the two boys saw their mother and Rose looking at the broken +skate.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" Russ wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I bumped my foot on the curbstone," answered Rose. "And now look!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> + +<p>She held out the skate that was broken in two parts.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Russ can fix it," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "He makes so +many things that he might mend this."</p> + +<p>Russ took the pieces of the skate in his hand. Rose still had the other, +the unbroken one, on her foot.</p> + +<p>"I could push myself along on one skate," said the little girl, "but it +isn't much fun. Can you fix it, Russ?"</p> + +<p>Her brother shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I don't guess anybody could fix that broken skate," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose.</p> + +<p>"But," went on Russ, "I know how to make something that you can have +lots of fun with; and so can I!"</p> + +<p>"Can I, too?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"We all can," said Russ. "We can take turns."</p> + +<p>"On what?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"A skate wagon," answered Russ. "I saw a boy downtown have one—the day +we went to the movies. You take a good roller skate, and pull it apart. +Then you put two of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> wheels on the front end of a board, and the two +other wheels on the back end."</p> + +<p>"Well, then what do you do?" asked Laddie, for Russ had come to a pause.</p> + +<p>"Well, then you nail a stick up on the front end of the board, for a +handle, and you stand on it—you stand on the board, I mean—and you +ride downhill on the sidewalk on the skate wagon. It's fun!"</p> + +<p>"Say, let's do it!" cried Laddie. "I'll help you, Russ! Give us that one +skate that isn't busted, Rose, and we'll make a skate wagon."</p> + +<p>Laddie knelt down and began to unfasten the strap of the one good skate, +which was still on Rose's left foot.</p> + +<p>"Stop! Stop it!" cried the little girl, pulling back her leg.</p> + +<p>"Hold still!" exclaimed Laddie. "I can't get your skate off if you +wiggle so much."</p> + +<p>"I don't want my skate off!" insisted Rose.</p> + +<p>"Then how am I going to make a skate wagon?" asked Russ in some +surprise.</p> + +<p>"I can push myself along on one foot, and skate that way," went on Rose. +"If I let you boys take my skate to make a wagon of, you'll be riding +all the time and I won't have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> any fun. I'm going to keep my own skate. +So there!"</p> + +<p>"We'll give you some rides; won't we, Russ?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"'Course we will! Lots of 'em!" added the older boy.</p> + +<p>"I'd let them take my skate, if I were you," said Mrs. Bunker. "One +skate is not of much use to you, Rose, and if Russ can make a sort of +wagon, or skatemobile, as I have heard them called, it will be fun for +all of you."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Rose, after thinking over what her mother said. "But I +got to have my turns."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you may all have turns," said Mother Bunker, who usually settled +disputes in this gentle way. "Now, Russ and Laddie, let us see you make +the funny coaster wagon."</p> + +<p>Rose let Laddie take the roller skate off her foot, and then Russ took +the two front wheels from the two back ones. He had looked at a +"skatemobile" a few days before, and, being a clever little chap, he +remembered how it was made.</p> + +<p>"I can get the pieces of board out in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> garage," said Russ. "I saw +William have some, and he said I could take them."</p> + +<p>Russ did not find it quite so easy to make the coaster wagon as he had +thought. To fasten the wheels of the skate to the board he used many +nails, and bent most of them. Then William, who had been doing something +to Aunt Jo's automobile, came out and watched Russ at work.</p> + +<p>"Ouch!" Russ suddenly exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked the chauffeur.</p> + +<p>"I pounded my finger!" said the little boy, as he popped it into his +mouth. "It hurts!" But he did not cry.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it generally does hurt when you hit your finger or thumb with a +hammer," said William. "Better let me finish that for you. I can put the +wheels on so they won't come off."</p> + +<p>"I wish you would then," said Russ. "We want to see how it works."</p> + +<p>William did not take long to fasten the four wheels to the long, narrow +board, two wheels on each end, so that it could easily coast down the +sidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Then, to the front of the +nar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>row board, just as Russ had explained, William nailed a handle, +making it stick straight up, so it could be grasped by whoever was +taking a ride.</p> + +<p>"Now your skate wagon is done," he said.</p> + +<p>"Let's go out and try it!" cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>"But I've got to have a turn," insisted Rose. "It's my skate."</p> + +<p>"You shall all have turns," put in Mother Bunker, who had come out to +the garage to see how matters were going. "That is, all except Mun Bun +and Margy. I'm afraid they're too little to coast. They might fall off."</p> + +<p>"I'll hold 'em on and give 'em a ride," offered Russ, who was very kind +to his little brother and sister.</p> + +<p>"You can have the first ride," said Laddie to Rose, "'cause it's your +roller skate."</p> + +<p>"I can't go first," answered the little girl. "I don't know how you do +it. You go first, Russ."</p> + +<p>Russ was very willing to do this. So he took the skate wagon to the top +of the sidewalk "hill," as the little Bunkers called it, and then he put +one foot on the flat board, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> which were fastened the roller-skate +wheels.</p> + +<p>"You have to push yourself along with one foot, just the same as when +you're skating on one skate," explained Russ. "Then when you get to +going fast you put the other foot on the board and stand there, and you +hold on tight and down you go."</p> + +<p>"Show me!" begged Rose, jumping up and down because she was so excited +and pleased.</p> + +<p>And then Russ went riding downhill, almost as nicely as he coasted on +the snow in winter.</p> + +<p>"Is it fun?" shouted Laddie, from where he stood with Rose at the top of +the hill—only almost no one would have called such a slight grade a +"hill."</p> + +<p>"Lots of fun!" answered Russ.</p> + +<p>Down to the bottom of the hill he rode, and then he walked up.</p> + +<p>"Now it's your turn, Rose," he said, as he handed her the skatemobile. +But the little girl shook her head.</p> + +<p>"I'll watch a little more," she said. "Let Laddie go."</p> + +<p>So Laddie coasted down. Then Rose took her turn. Down the sidewalk hill +she coasted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> on the skate wagon, and she was just turning around to wave +to her mother and her brothers, who were watching her, when all of a +sudden out from a gate ran a little dog. Right in front of Rose, and a +little ahead of her he ran, and then he stood on the sidewalk and barked +at her.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Rose! Look out!" cried her mother.</p> + +<p>"Steer to one side! Turn out for him!" yelled Russ.</p> + +<p>"Stick out your foot and stop the skate wagon, same as you stop yourself +on roller skates," cried Laddie.</p> + +<p>But Rose, it seemed, could do none of these things. Straight for the +little dog she coasted.</p> + +<p>What was going to happen?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE SPINNING TOPS</h3> + + +<p>Rose was not able to stop the skate wagon, on which she was coasting +down the sidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Nor did the little +dog seem to want to get out of the way. He just stood in front of Rose, +while she was coasting toward him, and barked and wagged his tail. And +it was almost as if he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, what's all this? Are you coming to give me a ride?"</p> + +<p>"Get out of the way! Get out of the way—please!" begged Rose. "I'll +bump into you, same as I bumped into the curbstone, if you don't get out +of the way, little dog; and then I'll run over you! Get out of the way!"</p> + +<p>But the little dog just stayed right there.</p> + +<p>Of course, if Rose had thought about it, she might have jumped off the +skate wagon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> and let that go on by itself, shoving it to one side.</p> + +<p>But she was coasting down the stone sidewalk hill quite rapidly now, and +she was so excited that she never once thought of getting off or even +trying to turn the skate wagon aside. Straight for the barking little +dog she coasted.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we must stop her!" cried Mrs. Bunker, running down the slope after +the little girl.</p> + +<p>"I'll get her, Mother!" cried Russ. "I guess I can run faster than you +can."</p> + +<p>But there was no chance for either of them to catch Rose before +something happened. And the something that happened was that Rose ran +right into the little dog. Right into him she ran with the skate wagon.</p> + +<p>"Ki-yi-yi-yip! Ki-yi! Yip! Yip!" yelled the little dog.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sobbed Rose, for she was crying.</p> + +<p>Bang! went the skate wagon over into the gutter.</p> + +<p>The little dog—Well, I was almost going to say he laughed to see so +much sport, but that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> little dog is in Mother Goose, if I remember +rightly, and this little dog didn't laugh. He was very much frightened, +and he was hurt a little, and so was Rose. So the little dog just tucked +his tail in between his hind legs, and back he ran into the yard out of +which he had come to see what was going on when he heard the skate wagon +rattling down the sidewalk hill.</p> + +<p>By this time Russ, Laddie, and their mother had come up to Rose.</p> + +<p>"Are you much hurt?" asked Mrs. Bunker. "There now, don't cry. We'll +take care of you!"</p> + +<p>"It—it's my knees!" sobbed Rose. "I scraped 'em! And is my skate wagon +all busted?"</p> + +<p>"No, it's all right," said Laddie, as he picked it up from the gutter +where it had rolled after Rose fell off. "It's as good as ever."</p> + +<p>"And your knees aren't hurt much—only scratched," said Mrs. Bunker, as +she looked. Rose wore socks, and her legs, above her shoes, and partly +above her knees were bare. "See if you can't stand up," urged Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +Bunker, for Rose was as limp as a rag in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Stand up and have some more rides!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want any more rides on the old skate wagon!" cried his +sister. "I don't like it."</p> + +<p>"Then we can have it all ourselves, Russ!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, you can't either!" said Rose, and she suddenly stopped crying. "You +can't have my skate wagon. I want it myself!"</p> + +<p>"But if you can't stand up you can't ride on it——" began Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"But I can stand up, Mother!" cried Rose, and she did, showing that +nothing much was the matter with her.</p> + +<p>"See, then you're not hurt," said her mother. "Now don't begin to cry +again, and you can have some more rides. But perhaps you had better not +coast down any more hills. Just ride along the sidewalk as you did on +your roller skates. That will be best."</p> + +<p>"Yes, maybe I'll do that," said Rose. "Where's the dog that made me run +into him?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> + +<p>The little dog was safely behind his own fence now, looking out through +the pickets and barking. Perhaps he wondered what it was all about, and +what had happened to him. He had been knocked about a bit, and bruised, +but not much hurt. Only he was "all mussed up," as Russ said, after a +look at him.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess he won't get in the way of your roller-skate wagon +again," said Mrs. Bunker. "Now you can take some more rides, Rose. Your +knees are all right."</p> + +<p>And so they were, after they had been washed off with a little warm +water. Then Rose and her brothers, with Violet taking a turn now and +then, had fine fun on the skatemobile. They rode down the hill though, +as they found they could steer better when going fast.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun and Margy came from the yard, where they had been playing in the +sand pile, and they, too, wanted rides. Russ and Laddie held them on, +for the smaller children were hardly old enough to coast alone, though +Mun Bun did drive off in the junk cart, as I have told you. But that was +different. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> roller-skate wagon went faster than the junkman's horse.</p> + +<p>So the six little Bunkers had fun on the skate wagon, and as the days +went on they were more and more glad they had come to Aunt Jo's house to +spend a part of their vacation.</p> + +<p>It was early in August, and there was much of the summer before them. +The weather was hot, but there was plenty of shade around Aunt Jo's +house, so that it was almost as nice as it had been at Grandma Bell's.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to stay here until vacation is all over?" asked Russ of +his father one day.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm not sure," he said. "Cousin Tom spoke once of having us come +down to see him."</p> + +<p>"Down to the seashore, do you mean?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, down to Seaview, New Jersey."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it would be dandy there!" cried Russ. "I could go swimming in the +ocean, couldn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you might go in if the water wasn't too deep," his father said +with a smile. "But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> we'll talk about that later. Rose, where is that +pocketbook you found?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Why? Do you know who owns it?" the little girl asked.</p> + +<p>"No, but I want to look at it again. Perhaps there may be a card, or +something, that will tell the address of the person who lost it and the +sixty-five dollars."</p> + +<p>"But we did look," said Russ, "and we couldn't find any."</p> + +<p>"I thought perhaps the card or paper might have slipped through a hole +in the lining," said Mr. Bunker, "as the real estate papers I searched +for so long slipped inside the lining of the old coat I gave the +lumberman. Where is the pocketbook?"</p> + +<p>"Mother has it," answered Rose. "I'll get it for you, Daddy!"</p> + +<p>She ran to her mother, and soon returned with the purse. The sixty-five +dollars had been put in a safe in Aunt Jo's house, but the sad little +letter was still in the wallet.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bunker read it over again, and then carefully looked through the +pocketbook. It was an old one, and the lining was torn, but there was no +slip of paper or card in any hole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> that would tell to whom the +pocketbook should be returned.</p> + +<p>"I'll advertise once more," said Mr. Bunker, "and then, if no one claims +it, I guess the money will belong to you, Rose."</p> + +<p>"And can I spend it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no indeed! Not all of it. A little, perhaps; but the rest will be +put away for you, until you grow to be a young lady. Still I would +rather give it to whoever owns it."</p> + +<p>"So should I," said Rose softly. "I'd like to get back my lost doll, +that I sent up in the balloon airship, and I guess the pocketbook lady +would like to get her money back."</p> + +<p>They all thought the pocketbook belonged to a poor woman. They got this +idea from the letter—that is, the grown-up folks and the older children +did. Mun Bun and Margy didn't think much about it, one way or the other. +All they cared about was having fun.</p> + +<p>And the six little Bunkers certainly had fun at Aunt Jo's. They played +in the yard or around the garage; they went for auto rides, on little +excursions and picnics, they played with Alexis, the big dog, and they +rode on the skatemobile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> + +<p>One day a boy named Tom Martin, who lived about half a block from Aunt +Jo's house, came up in front and called:</p> + +<p>"Hi, Russ! Ho, Laddie! Come on out and play tops!"</p> + +<p>The two older Bunker boys had become acquainted with Tom, and liked to +play with him. Now they heard him calling and Russ answered:</p> + +<p>"We'll be out in a minute; soon as we've had some bread and jam."</p> + +<p>"Bring Tom a piece, too," suggested Laddie, for Parker, the good-natured +cook, was giving the boys a little treat.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll give you a slice for your friend," she said.</p> + +<p>So she spread him a nice slice of bread and jam, and Russ and Laddie, +carrying their own, which they ate on the way, also took one to their +new playmate.</p> + +<p>"Let's play tops," suggested Tom. "We can go down the street where the +sidewalk is big and smooth, and spin 'em there."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Russ. "We'll have some fun."</p> + +<p>Down the street they went, to a corner,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> where a big apartment house +stood close to the sidewalk. There the pavement was smooth, just the +place for spinning tops.</p> + +<p>"There, mine's spinning first!" cried Tom, as he flung his top down, +quickly pulling the string away, and thus making the top whirl around +very fast. "Let's see if either of you can hit my top with yours."</p> + +<p>"I can!" said Russ, and he threw his top at Tom's with all his might.</p> + +<p>Russ didn't hit his playmate's top, but he did hit something else. Up +into the air bounced Russ's top, and, the next moment, there was a crash +of glass.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Tom. "You've broken a window!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>FLYING A KITE</h3> + + +<p>That was just what had happened. When Russ threw his top down so hard, +it had bounced up again from the sidewalk, and had gone sailing through +the air against one of the lower windows of the apartment house which +stood so close to the pavement. And the top went right through the +glass.</p> + +<p>The three little boys were so surprised that they just stood there, +looking at the shower of broken glass on the pavement. Then Tom cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'd better run!"</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"'Cause you broke the window. The lady or the man'll come out an' +they'll get a policeman."</p> + +<p>Russ said nothing for two or three seconds. Laddie, who was just going +to bounce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> down his top, to spin it, still held it in his hand. He +didn't want to break a glass.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" cried Tom in a whisper. "Come on 'fore they catch us!"</p> + +<p>Russ shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No," he answered. "I'm not going to run. I'll stay here, and when they +come out I'll tell 'em I busted it and my father will pay for it. That's +what we always do; don't we, Laddie?"</p> + +<p>"Yep," answered the smaller boy.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever break windows before?" asked Tom, who had started to run +away, but who came back when he saw that his two friends were not coming +with him.</p> + +<p>"We broke one at Grandma Bell's," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"But she didn't make us pay for it," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Tom Hardy, the hired man, put a new glass in," went on Russ. "And once +we broke a window back home when we were playing ball. I threw the ball, +and Laddie didn't grab it, and it went through a candy-store window, but +we didn't run."</p> + +<p>"What did you do?" asked Tom, to whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> this seemed something new. He +looked up at the place where the window had been smashed. As yet no one +had thrust a head out of the window or threatened to send for a +policeman. "What did you do?" asked Tom again.</p> + +<p>"Well, the lady who owned the candy store knew us," answered Russ, "and +she knew our father would pay for the glass."</p> + +<p>"Did he?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course he did!" exclaimed Laddie.</p> + +<p>"But he said we each had to save up and give him back five cents—a +penny at a time," added Russ. "That was to help pay for the glass, and +make us—make us more careful, I guess he called it.</p> + +<p>"Anyhow, that's what I'm going to do now. We'll wait, and when somebody +comes out I'll tell 'em my father'll pay for the glass my top broke."</p> + +<p>"Here comes somebody now!" whispered Tom, and surely enough a man, +wearing blue overalls and looking as though he had been cleaning out a +cellar, came from the basement door of the big apartment house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who broke that glass?" he asked, and his voice was rather harsh.</p> + +<p>"I—I did—with my top," spoke up Russ, but his voice trembled a little.</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll have to pay for it!" went on the janitor, for such he was. +"I've told you boys to keep away from here spinning your tops, and yet +you will come! Now you've got to pay for it!"</p> + +<p>"I never spun my top here before," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"And I didn't either," added Laddie.</p> + +<p>"That's right, Mr. Quinn," put in Tom, who seemed to know the janitor. +"I brought 'em here. It's part my fault."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" said the janitor. "This is something new, to have boys own up to +it when they break windows, and not run away. Who did you say was going +to pay for the glass?" he asked. "It'll cost about a dollar. Lucky for +you Mr. Tanzy wasn't at home. It's in his parlor you broke the window, +and he's awful cross."</p> + +<p>Russ had thought the janitor himself was cross, at first, but now he did +not think so, for the dusty man smiled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm going to pay for the glass—I am, and my brother," Russ went on. "I +broke it."</p> + +<p>"Have you got the money with you?" asked Mr. Quinn, the janitor.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Russ. "I've only five cents. But you can have that, and +my father'll give you the rest when I tell him."</p> + +<p>"Who's your father?" asked the janitor.</p> + +<p>"They're staying with their Aunt Jo," explained Tom Martin. "She lives +on this street—Miss Bunker, you know."</p> + +<p>"We're two of the six little Bunkers," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm glad to know that," and Mr. Quinn smiled again. "Well, as it +happens, I used to be your aunt's furnace man, so I know her. If you're +related to her you must be all right. I'll let you two little Bunkers go +now, but your father must come and pay for the window."</p> + +<p>"He will," promised Russ, who was glad no policeman had come along, +though he had made up his mind to be brave, and not be afraid if one +should happen to be called in by the janitor. But none was.</p> + +<p>"I'll help pay for the window, too," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> Tom. "It was part my fault, +'cause I asked Russ and Laddie to come down here to play tops."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, boys!" the janitor called after them. "I'm sorry you had this +accident, but I like the way you acted."</p> + +<p>Russ, Laddie and Tom were sorry, too, for they knew their fathers would +feel bad, not so much at having to pay out fifty cents each, as because +the boys had played tops in a place where they might, almost any time, +break a window.</p> + +<p>Tom ought to have known better than to go down by the apartment house, +for, more than once, he had been told to keep away, but Russ and Laddie +had not. However, neither Mr. Martin nor Daddy Bunker scolded very much. +They sent the money to the janitor, and told the boys just what Mr. +Quinn had told them—to play tops on some other pavement. And this the +boys did.</p> + +<p>"But we got to have <i>some</i> fun," grumbled Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there are lots of other places where you can spin your tops without +going down near the apartment house," said Mr. Bunker.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> "Windows will +get broken, once in a while, but I don't like it to happen too often."</p> + +<p>"Did you get any answers to the advertisement about the lost +pocketbook?" asked Mrs. Bunker of her husband that night, for he had +said he would stop at the newspaper office and inquire.</p> + +<p>"No," he replied. "I'm afraid whoever owns it does not read the papers. +I wish I knew who it was."</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Rose.</p> + +<p>For, even though she would like to keep the money for herself, she knew +it was better that the poor person, whose it was, should have it. But, +so far, no one had come to claim the wallet and the sixty-five dollars.</p> + +<p>After dinner one day Aunt Jo said:</p> + +<p>"Who wants to go on an auto ride?"</p> + +<p>"I do!" cried Rose and Violet.</p> + +<p>"Me, too!" added Margy, and Mun Bun said something, though they could +not be sure just what it was, as he was still chewing on a bit of +cracker he had carried from the table with him.</p> + +<p>"I guess he means he'll go, too," said his mother. "But after this, Mun +Bun, my dear,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> finish your eating at the table, and don't be dropping +cracker crumbs all over Aunt Jo's floor."</p> + +<p>"I get Alexis, and he pick 'em up," said Mun Bun; and he started for the +door to let in the big dog.</p> + +<p>"No, don't!" laughed Aunt Jo. "Alexis has just been given a bath by +William, and our dog pet is wet. He'd be worse for the floor than a few +crumbs are. I'll have them swept up, Mun Bun. But come, let's get ready +for the auto ride."</p> + +<p>When the time to go came, Russ and Laddie said they wanted to stay at +home. This was unusual. Generally they were the first to want to go.</p> + +<p>"Why aren't you coming?" asked Rose of Russ. "Maybe we might find my +doll that sailed away with the balloons."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't guess you will," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Anyhow, Laddie and I are going to make some things when you're gone. +We've got to make 'em so we can fly 'em with Tom Martin. He's going to +make one, too."</p> + +<p>"Will it fly?" asked Rose. "Oh, is it an airship?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, it's just a kite," said Russ. "I started to make one, but I didn't +finish. Now I'm going to make a good one so it will fly away up high. +And so are Laddie and Tom. That's why we don't want to go in the auto."</p> + +<p>"All right, then we'll leave you and Laddie at home with your father and +William," said Aunt Jo, for she was going to run the car herself.</p> + +<p>"Be good boys," begged Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"We will!" promised Russ.</p> + +<p>"And you won't spin tops and break any more windows, will you?" inquired +Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"Nope!" agreed Laddie. "We'll just fly kites, and they can't break +windows, or do any thing else."</p> + +<p>But you just wait and see what happens.</p> + +<p>After Aunt Jo and the others had gone off in the car, Russ and Laddie +got their paste, paper and string, and began making kites. Russ knew how +pretty well, and he showed Laddie. They made kites with tails on them, +as these are easier for small boys to build, though they are not so easy +to fly as the kind without tails. The tails of kites get tangled in so +many things.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now mine's done," said Russ, as he held up his finished toy.</p> + +<p>"I wish mine was," replied Laddie.</p> + +<p>"I'll help you," offered his brother, and he did.</p> + +<p>The two boys were soon ready to go to a vacant lot not far from Aunt +Jo's house, to fly their kites.</p> + +<p>"A city's no place to fly kites," said Laddie. "We ought to be in the +country."</p> + +<p>"We ought to be at Grandma Bell's," agreed Russ. "That was a dandy place +to fly kites—big fields and no telegraph wires to tangle the tail in."</p> + +<p>However, they managed, after some hard work, to get their kites up into +the air, and then they sat in the lot, holding the strings and sending +up messengers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>THE JUMPING ROPE</h3> + + +<p>"My kite's higher than yours," said Laddie, as he looked at his +plaything, away up in the air, and then at his brother's.</p> + +<p>"Well, I haven't let out all my string yet," Russ answered. "I can make +mine go up a lot higher than yours when I unwind some more cord, and I'm +going to."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to send up another messenger," said Laddie. "I haven't got +any more string to let out, but maybe I could get some."</p> + +<p>He took a small piece of paper, put a hole in it, and then slipped +through this hole the stick to which his kite cord was tied. Then the +piece of paper went sailing up the kite string, twirling around and +around until it was half way to the kite itself.</p> + +<p>"Look at my messenger go!" cried Laddie, as the piece of paper whirled +around and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> around in a brisk breeze. "Why don't you send up one, and we +can have a race?"</p> + +<p>"I will!" exclaimed Russ. "We'll have a race with the paper messengers, +and then I'll get some more string, and send my kite higher."</p> + +<p>"So'll I," decided Laddie. "Oh, Russ, we can even have a race with the +kites!" he went on. "We'll see whose kite will go highest."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we can do that," agreed the older boy. "Now I'll make a +messenger."</p> + +<p>So Russ did that, and as the messenger Laddie had put on was, by this +time, nearly up to his kite, he put another on the string. The boys held +them from going up until both were ready, and then, just as when they +sometimes had a foot race, Russ cried:</p> + +<p>"Go!"</p> + +<p>They took their hands off the paper messengers, and up the strings they +shot, the wind blowing them very fast.</p> + +<p>"Look at 'em go! Look at 'em!" cried Laddie, dancing about in delight.</p> + +<p>"And you'd better look out and not let go of your kite string, or +that'll go, too," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> Russ. "Your kite'll fly away same as Rose's +balloon airship did."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if they'd go to the same place," said Laddie. "If my kite +would be sure to fly to where Rose let the balloons fly to I'd let it +go."</p> + +<p>"Why would you?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"'Cause then I could find Rose's doll for her. I could walk along by my +kite string and keep on going and going and going, and then I'd come to +the place where the kite was and there would be the basket with the doll +in it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that would be nice," said Russ. "But I don't guess they'd go to +the same place. You'd better hold on to your kite."</p> + +<p>"I will," agreed Laddie. "I wonder how high we could let our kites go +up?" he went on, as he watched the messengers whirling around the +strings. "How far would they go?"</p> + +<p>"They'd go as far as you had cord for," said Russ.</p> + +<p>"Could they go away up to the sky?" asked Laddie.</p> + +<p>"'Course they could," said Russ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The sky's awful far," went on Laddie, looking up at the blue part, +across which the white, fleecy clouds were flying.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's far," assented Russ. "But we could get an awful lot of +string, and let the kites go up."</p> + +<p>"Could we do it now?" the smaller boy wanted to know. "I'd like to see +my kite go up to the sky."</p> + +<p>"Well, we could do it," Russ said. "But look! My messenger beat yours!" +he suddenly cried. "It's away ahead!"</p> + +<p>"So it is," assented Laddie. "Well, anyhow, I've got more of 'em up than +you have."</p> + +<p>"Now I'm going to get a lot of cord and send my kite up high," announced +Russ, as he got up from the grass where he was sitting.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to take your kite down?" his brother wanted to know.</p> + +<p>Russ shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to tie my kite string to a stone," he said. "That'll keep it +from blowing away while I go into the house to get more cord. You watch +my kite while I'm gone."</p> + +<p>"I will," promised Laddie. "I'll tie my kite, too."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> + +<p>Russ tied the end of his cord to a heavy stone in the vacant lot near +Aunt Jo's house, in which the boys were flying their kites. Laddie sat +down on the grass, and looked up at the kites, which were like two +birds, high in the air. Russ was gone some little time. It was harder +than he thought it would be to find the right kind of cord. But he had +made up his mind to send his kite up in the air as high as it would go, +and he wanted plenty of string.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Laddie, who was watching his own and his brother's kites, +noticed that Russ's was acting very strangely. It bobbed and fluttered +about a bit, and then began to sink down.</p> + +<p>"I've got to pull on the cord," thought Laddie. Though he was younger +than Russ he knew enough for this—when a kite starts to come down, to +run with it, or to wind the cord in quickly. There wasn't much room in +the vacant city lot to run, so Laddie began winding in the string of +Russ's kite.</p> + +<p>Then Laddie noticed that his own kite was bobbing about and coming down +also.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the little boy. "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> can't wind 'em both in at +once. I wish Russ would come!"</p> + +<p>But Russ was still back at Aunt Jo's house, and Laddie, much as he +wanted to save his brother's kite, wanted even more to save his own.</p> + +<p>So Laddie let go of the string of his brother's kite, and began to pull +in on his own. As he did so Russ's sank lower and lower, falling like a +leaf, from side to side.</p> + +<p>But as Laddie pulled on his cord his kite went higher and higher into +the air, until, getting to a place higher up, where the wind was blowing +stronger, it was out of danger.</p> + +<p>But Russ's kite floated lower and lower, and Laddie dared not let go his +own string to pull in his brother's. Just then Russ came running back +with the cord he at last had found.</p> + +<p>"Where's my kite?" he cried, as he reached the lot, and did not see his +kite in the air.</p> + +<p>"It started to come down, and so did mine, but I couldn't pull 'em +both," said his brother. "I'm sorry, but——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, maybe I can pull it up," said Russ, who was not going to find +fault with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> Laddie for what could not be helped. "I'll wind up the +string as fast as I can."</p> + +<p>So he did this, and at last he saw his kite come into sight above the +houses in the next street. But the wind, low down, was not strong enough +to carry the kite up again, and Russ saw that it was of no use. His kite +still fluttered from side to side.</p> + +<p>"I can't get it up again this way," he said to Laddie. "I've got to pull +it all the way down, and then send it up again. And I'll make it go +terrible high this time, 'cause I've got a lot of string."</p> + +<p>"When mine comes down I'm going to send it up higher," said Laddie. But +his kite was still well up in the air.</p> + +<p>Russ pulled and pulled on his string, and finally he had his kite where +he could see it. It was floating over the street near the vacant lot, +and Russ was pulling it toward him, when, all of a sudden, something +happened.</p> + +<p>A woman, with a large hat on, was walking along the street, right under +Russ's kite. Suddenly the kite swooped down, until the dangling tail +touched the woman's hat. Russ, not seeing what had taken place, kept on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +pulling on the string, winding it in. And, of course, you can easily +guess what happened.</p> + +<p>"Stop! Stop it, little boy!" called the woman. "Stop pulling on your +kite string!"</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked Russ, who had been looking at the stick on which he +was winding his cord, wondering if it would be large enough to hold it +all.</p> + +<p>"Because you're pulling off my hat!"</p> + +<p>And that is just what Russ was doing. The tail of the kite had become +tangled in the trimming on the woman's hat, and Russ was pulling it off +her head.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please stop, little boy!" she cried, and she had to run along, +following the kite across the street.</p> + +<p>Then Russ stopped winding the string, and the woman, putting up her +hands, took hold of the kite tail, so it did not quite pull off her hat. +But it almost did.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm sorry," Russ said, as he saw what had happened.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," the woman answered with a laugh. "You couldn't +help it. I have a little boy of my own, and he likes to fly his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> kite, +but he never got it tangled in my hat, that I remember. But it's all +right. No harm is done. I can pin my hat on again, but my hair is rather +mussed up, I'm afraid."</p> + +<p>"You could go into my Aunt Jo's house and fix it," said Russ politely. +"She has a looking-glass."</p> + +<p>"Has she? That's nice," said the lady with another laugh. "But I have a +little one of my own. See!" She opened her purse and showed a tiny, +round mirror fastened inside. "If you'll hold that up, so I can see +myself in it, I can put my hat on again and it will be all right," she +went on.</p> + +<p>This Russ did. His kite had fallen to the street, but it was not torn +and was all right for putting up again. So he held the woman's mirror, +which was in her pocketbook, as well as he could, while she smoothed out +her hair and straightened her hat. Then, with a smile and a bow, she +said:</p> + +<p>"There! Is it all right?"</p> + +<p>"It looks nice—just like my mother's," answered Russ, and the woman +laughed as she took back her purse.</p> + +<p>"Did you lose a pocketbook?" asked Russ.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No," was the answer. "Why do you ask?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause my sister Rose found one, and it had some money in, but nobody +ever came to get it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope you can fly your kite again," said the woman, as she +walked away.</p> + +<p>Russ picked up his kite and went back to the vacant lot with it. He +tried to fly it, but the wind had gone down, and the toy would not rise. +Laddie's, too, had begun to bob about, and he said:</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll pull mine down before it falls."</p> + +<p>"Well, we had some fun, anyhow," remarked Russ.</p> + +<p>It was the next day, a fine, sunny one, that Rose and Violet, having +played with their dolls until they were tired, wanted to do something +else. Daddy Bunker had taken Russ and Laddie to a moving picture show, +but as Rose and Violet had seen it once, they did not want to go again. +Margy and Mun Bun were asleep, and the two girls didn't know what to +play.</p> + +<p>"I know how to have some fun," said Rose at last.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How?" asked her sister.</p> + +<p>"We can jump rope. I know where there's a piece of clothesline that Aunt +Jo'll let us take."</p> + +<p>"How can two of us jump rope?" asked Vi. "We'd both have to turn, so who +could jump?"</p> + +<p>"We can tie one end to a tree, and take turns turning," said Rose. "Then +one of us can jump, and whoever misses has to turn for the other."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, we can do it that way," assented Vi. So the two little girls +ran to get the clothesline and soon they were jumping rope.</p> + +<p>"It's lots of fun," said Vi, when it was her turn to have "three +slow—pepper," while Rose turned, the other end of the rope being fast +to a tree.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>MUN BUN IN A HOLE</h3> + + +<p>While Rose turned, Vi jumped, and the little girl was getting along +nicely when she tripped, or the rope caught on her foot, and stopped.</p> + +<p>"Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Rose. "You missed, and you have to turn +for me."</p> + +<p>"You made me trip!" exclaimed Vi. "You gave me the pepper before I was +ready."</p> + +<p>"You said to give you 'three slow—pepper,' and I did," declared Rose.</p> + +<p>I suppose you girls who jump rope know what "three slow—pepper" means, +but the boys probably will not, so I'll explain.</p> + +<p>The person who is turning the rope for the other to jump, turns it very +slowly for three times. Then she turns it fast. Jumping fast is called +jumping "pepper," and sometimes jumping slow is called "salt." And I +have heard some little girls, when they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> jumping rope, call for +"mustard and vinegar." But that is very fast indeed—too fast for little +girls, I should think. Rose and Vi never jumped faster than pepper.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know I said 'three slow—pepper,'" admitted Vi. "But I didn't +want you to give me such fast pepper."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, try it again," said Rose, good-naturedly. "I won't go so fast +the next time."</p> + +<p>So she began turning the rope again, and Vi started to jump. This time +all went well, and Vi, when it came to the "pepper" part, did so well +and kept it up so long that Rose at last cried, with a laugh:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my arm is tired! Let me rest, Vi!"</p> + +<p>"I will," said the little girl. "I'm tired, too. After I rest a minute +I'll turn for you."</p> + +<p>They sat on the grass under the trees for a while, and then began taking +turns jumping again.</p> + +<p>"Now let's try a new way," suggested Rose after a bit. "We'll see how +high we can jump over the rope."</p> + +<p>So they began this game, and pretty soon some little girls from the +house across the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> street came out to play with Rose and Vi. They were +from a family that Aunt Jo knew, and had played with the little Bunkers +before.</p> + +<p>The children had lots of fun, skipping rope, and seeing who could jump +the highest. Rose was best at this, though Mabel Potter, one of the +little girls from across the street, jumped nearly as high.</p> + +<p>"Now let's go and play with our dolls again," suggested Vi. "Can you +come over to our Aunt Jo's house, and sit on her porch?" she asked +Mabel, Florence and Sallie, the other little girls.</p> + +<p>They said they could, and they were just starting to get their dolls +when along came a boy with a basket of groceries on his arm. He had got +out of a delivery wagon down the street, and was bringing some things to +Aunt Jo. The boy had often called with groceries before, and Rose and Vi +knew him. His name was Henry Jones.</p> + +<p>"Hello, little girls!" called Henry, for he was older than any of them. +"What you doin'?"</p> + +<p>"Seeing who can jump highest," answered Rose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can jump higher'n any of you!" boasted Henry. "Want to see me?"</p> + +<p>"Well, you ought to jump higher—you're bigger'n we are," said Mabel.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll jump and keep on holding my basket," offered the grocery +boy. "That'll make it harder for me. Go on! Hold the rope up real high +and I'll jump over it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you might spill the things in your basket," suggested Rose.</p> + +<p>"No, I won't. I'm a good jumper," said Henry. "Hold the rope up real +high."</p> + +<p>Rose took hold of one end of the rope and Mabel the other. They held it +across the sidewalk as high up as their own waists.</p> + +<p>"Higher!" ordered Henry.</p> + +<p>They raised it a little.</p> + +<p>"There! That's high enough!" said the grocery boy. "Now you watch me +sail over that. I'll show you some jumpin'!"</p> + +<p>Henry, still holding his basket of groceries, stood on the sidewalk, a +little way back from the rope. Then he took a run and started toward it. +Up into the air he jumped, but something sad happened.</p> + +<p>Whether Henry did not spring up high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> enough, or whether one of the +girls raised the end of the rope when she ought not to have done so, no +one ever knew.</p> + +<p>But what happened was that Henry's feet became entangled in the cord, +and down he fell, luckily on the grass at one side of the pavement, and +not on the sidewalk stones, or he might have been hurt.</p> + +<p>He sat right down flat, and his basket bounced off his arm, and a lot of +groceries spilled out of it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, did you hurt yourself?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>Henry was too much surprised, for a moment, to speak. He looked as if he +did not know what had happened. Then he slowly got up.</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't hurt myself," he answered. "But I guess I can't jump as +high as I thought I could. But I'm going to try it again."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'd better not," Mabel said. "You might break some more eggs."</p> + +<p>"I didn't break any eggs!" declared Henry.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you did! Look at that bag," said Rose, and she pointed to one that +had bounced from the basket, together with other bags<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> and bundles. From +this bag something yellow was running on the grass.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! I guess I did bust some eggs!" exclaimed the grocery boy. +"Your aunt'll be awful mad!" he went on. "I wish I hadn't jumped the +rope."</p> + +<p>Henry picked up the bag of eggs and looked inside.</p> + +<p>"Only one's busted," he said, "and that's just partly cracked. I'll +hurry into the house with it and she can put it in a dish and save it. +'Tisn't cracked very much."</p> + +<p>"That's good," said Rose. "Parker is going to bake a cake, I heard her +say, so she'll need some eggs right away, and she can use the cracked +one first."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that," observed Henry.</p> + +<p>Then he hurried into Aunt Jo's house with the eggs and other groceries, +and when he came out—not having been scolded a bit—the girls had gone +with their jumping-rope, so Henry didn't have another chance to take a +tumble.</p> + +<p>On the shady porch of Aunt Jo's house Rose, Vi and their three little +girl friends played with their dolls. They were having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> lots of fun, +undressing and dressing them, sending them on "visits," one to another, +and having play-parties.</p> + +<p>"Do you like it here?" asked Mabel of Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, lots," was the answer. "We've had just the loveliest summer. +First, we were at Grandma Bell's, and now we're at Aunt Jo's, and maybe +we'll go to Cousin Tom's at the seashore before we go back home."</p> + +<p>"You've got lots of relations, haven't you?" asked Sallie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's only part of 'em," Rose went on. "We've got more," and she +mentioned them.</p> + +<p>Vi was putting her doll to sleep on a bed of grass made in a corner of +the porch, when a door slammed and the sound of running feet was heard.</p> + +<p>"Hush! Don't make so much noise!" exclaimed Violet in a whisper. "My +doll's asleep."</p> + +<p>"It's Margy and Mun Bun," said Rose, as the two smallest Bunkers came +racing around the corner of the porch. "They're my little sister and +brother," Rose explained to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> other girls. "They've just had a nap, +so they feel like playing now."</p> + +<p>"Can we have some fun?" asked Margy.</p> + +<p>"We want lots of fun!" added Mun Bun.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! They'll wake up my doll!" whispered Vi. "Can't you two go +away and play somewhere else?"</p> + +<p>"Here. I'll let 'em take these marbles," said Mabel. "They're my little +brother's. He gave me his bag to hold when he went off to play tops with +some of the boys. I'll let Margy and Mun Bun take the marbles to play +with."</p> + +<p>"That'll be nice," said Rose. "Run along, Mun Bun and Margy, and play +marbles."</p> + +<p>This just suited the younger children. Down off the porch they ran, and +soon the others could hear them laughing and shouting. But pretty soon +Margy came running back.</p> + +<p>"Come an' get Mun Bun," she said to Rose. "He's got his head in, an' he +can't get it out."</p> + +<p>"Got his head in where?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"In a hole," answered Margy quite calmly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>OUT TO NANTASKET BEACH</h3> + + +<p>When Margy told Rose about Mun Bun being down in a hole, Mabel, Florence +and Sallie looked much more frightened than the little girl who had come +running to the porch with the news. Indeed, Margy did not seem +frightened at all; but, of course, Mun Bun could not stay always with +his head in a hole, so she had come to tell some one to get him out.</p> + +<p>"What kind of a hole is he in?" asked Mabel.</p> + +<p>"Can't he ever get out?" Florence inquired.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Margy. "It's a funny hole. It's in the yard, +and Mun Bun's head is away down in it. I can't see his head, but his +legs are stickin' out."</p> + +<p>"Mother! Mother!" cried Rose, running into the house, where Mrs. Bunker +was sit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>ting in the sewing-room with Aunt Jo. "Oh, Mother! Mun Bun——"</p> + +<p>Rose had to stop, for she was out of breath.</p> + +<p>"What's he been doing now?" asked Mrs. Bunker. Then she saw Rose's face, +and added: "Oh, has anything happened?" and she hurried over to Rose.</p> + +<p>"Margy says his head is in a hole in the yard, and that his legs are +sticking out," went on the little girl. "Mun Bun and Margy went out to +play marbles an'——"</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Bunker did not stop to hear. Followed by Aunt Jo, out she +rushed to the yard, and there she saw a strange sight. In the middle of +the lawn Mun Bun seemed to be kneeling down. But the funny part of it +was that his head did not show. And yet it wasn't so funny either, just +then, though they all laughed about it afterward.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what has happened to him?" cried Mrs. Bunker as she rushed across +the grass. Aunt Jo was beside her, and Rose, Vi, Margy and the three +other girls followed.</p> + +<p>"Mun Bun! Mun Bun!" called his mother, as she came closer to him. "What +are you doing?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, my head's in a hole! It's in a hole, and I can't get it out!" +sobbed the little fellow. And, just as Margy had said, his voice did +sound strange—as if it came from the cellar.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid. I see what has happened," said Aunt Jo. "Mun Bun isn't +hurt, and I can get him out of the hole."</p> + +<p>"And can you get his head out, too?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, his head and—everything," said Aunt Jo. "I see what he has +done. He has taken the cover off the lawn-drain, and stuck his head down +in it, though why he did it I don't know."</p> + +<p>"He's trying to get some of our marbles," explained Margy, as Aunt Jo +and Mother Bunker hurried to the side of Mun Bun. "The marbles rolled +down the hole in the yard and Mun Bun said he could get 'em back. So he +stuck down his head, and now he can't get it up."</p> + +<p>"I wonder why?" said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"It's on account of his ears," said Aunt Jo, who had her hands on the +head of Mun Bun now. "They stick out so they catch on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> the side and +edges of the hole. But I'll hold them back for him."</p> + +<p>She slipped her thin fingers down into the hole, on either side of Mun +Bun's head. Then she raised up his head, and out of the hole it came.</p> + +<p>Mun Bun's face was very red—standing on his head as he had been almost +doing, had sent the blood there. His face was red, and it was dirty, for +he had been crying.</p> + +<p>"Now you're all right!" said Aunt Jo, kissing him.</p> + +<p>"Don't cry any more!" went on Mother Bunker, as she clasped the little +boy in her arms. Mun Bun soon stopped sobbing.</p> + +<p>"I see how it all happened," went on Aunt Jo. "In the middle of my lawn +is a drain-pipe to let the water run off when too much of it rains down. +Over the hole in the pipe is an iron grating, like a big coffee +strainer. This strainer keeps the leaves, sticks and stones out of the +pipe. But the holes are large enough for marbles to roll down, I +suppose."</p> + +<p>"Some of my marbles rolled down the holes, and so did some of Margy's," +explained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> Mun Bun. "That is, they wasn't our marbles, but <i>she</i> let us +take 'em," and he pointed to Mabel. "And when they rolled down in the +little holes I wanted to get 'em back. So I put my head down to look and +I couldn't get up again."</p> + +<p>"But if the holes were only large enough to let marbles roll through, I +don't see how Mun Bun could get his head down them," said Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but he lifted off the iron grating of the pipe, and put his head +right down in the pipe itself," said Aunt Jo. "The iron grating is made +to lift up, so the pipe can be cleaned. I suppose Mun Bun found it +loose, lifted it up, stuck his head down, and then the edge of the +strainer-holder held his ears, so he couldn't get loose. I pushed his +ears in close to the sides of his head, and then he was all right."</p> + +<p>And that is just the way it happened. Mun Bun, when he saw the marbles +roll down into the drain-pipe, wanted to get them back. He could easily +lift up the grating, but when his head was in he could not so easily get +it out again. So he yelled and cried, and Margy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> heard him and went for +help, which was a good thing.</p> + +<p>"Well, you're all right now, but don't ever do anything like that +again," said Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"I won't," promised Mun Bun, as his mother carried him to the house to +be washed and combed. "But I wanted the marbles, and they're down the +pipe yet. I couldn't get 'em."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Mabel. "My brother has lots more. He won't care about +losing a few."</p> + +<p>And he did not, so Mun Bun had all <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'h'">his</ins> trouble for nothing, not even +getting back the marbles. But it taught him never to put his head in a +hole unless he was sure he could get it out.</p> + +<p>When Russ and Laddie came home from the moving picture show, they heard +all about what had happened to their little brother.</p> + +<p>"Let's go out and look at the hole," suggested Laddie.</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Russ. "I knew it was there, 'cause the last time it +rained I saw water running into it. But I didn't know the iron grating +lifted up."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> + +<p>For several days after that the six little Bunkers had lots of fun at +Aunt Jo's. They played all sorts of games, and had rides on the +roller-skate wagon Russ had made, as well as in the express wagon, +pulled by Alexis, the big dog.</p> + +<p>They went out to Bunker Hill monument, where they were told something +about what had happened when the men of the colonies fought that these +United States might become a free nation.</p> + +<p>"Daddy," asked Vi very seriously, "didn't they name this monument after +you?"</p> + +<p>"How could they?" broke in Russ. "This monument was put up years and +years before Daddy was born."</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe they named it after his great, great, I don't know how many +great grandfathers," put in Laddie.</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't named after any one in our family," answered Daddy +Bunker.</p> + +<p>The father also took the children out to the Charlestown Navy Yard, and +told them something about the navy and how our fighting men of the sea +helped to keep us a great and free people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p> + +<p>And then, one day, Russ saw his mother and father and Aunt Jo looking +over some papers and small books. Russ knew what they were—time tables, +to tell when trains and boats leave and arrive. He had seen them at his +father's real estate office, and also at the house in Pineville just +before the family started for Grandma Bell's.</p> + +<p>"Oh, are we going home?" asked Russ, his voice showing the sadness he +felt at such a thing happening.</p> + +<p>"Going home? What makes you think that?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I hope you're not going home for a good while yet," said Aunt +Jo. "It hardly seems a week since you came."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad you have enjoyed us," said Mother Bunker.</p> + +<p>"But are we going home?" persisted Russ.</p> + +<p>"No, not yet," answered his father. "You think because we are looking at +time tables we are going to leave. Well, we are, but we are only going +on an excursion, or picnic."</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Russ, and once more he felt happy.</p> + +<p>"Out to Nantasket Beach," said Aunt Jo.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> "That's a nice trip by boat. It +takes about an hour and a half from Boston, and we are looking to see +what time the boats sail and come back."</p> + +<p>"Oh, are we coming back?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes. We can only spend the day there," said his mother. "But Aunt Jo +says it is very nice. It's a sort of picnic ground, with all sorts of +things at which you can have fun. There are merry-go-rounds and +roller-coasters. And you can have nice things to eat, and can play in +the sand near the ocean."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Russ. "When are we going?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow," answered Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>Russ jumped up and down, he was so happy, and ran out to tell the other +little Bunkers.</p> + +<p>And the next day they all went out to Nantasket Beach. While they were +there something very strange and wonderful happened, and I'll tell you +all about it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>THE MERRY-GO-ROUND</h3> + + +<p>"Oh, look over here!"</p> + +<p>"See this funny boat!"</p> + +<p>"Look, Daddy! What's that man doing?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hear some music!"</p> + +<p>These were some of the things the six little Bunkers said and shouted as +they were on the boat going to Nantasket Beach. The day was a fine, +sunny one, and they had started early in the morning to have as long a +time as possible at the playground, for that is what Nantasket Beach +really is.</p> + +<p>Russ and Rose, Violet and Laddie, and Margy and Mun Bun ran here and +there on the boat, finding different things to look at and wonder over +on the vessel itself, or in the waters across which they were steaming.</p> + +<p>Mother and Daddy Bunker sat with Aunt Jo in a shady place on deck, and +watched the children at their play.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p> + +<p>Russ and Laddie and the two older girls were standing near the rail, +toward the front, or bow, of the boat, and they had to hold their hats +on to keep them from being blown away.</p> + +<p>"I would like a kite here," Laddie said. Then he watched some boats +moving back and forth in the water, big ones and little ones, and, +suddenly turning to his brother, said:</p> + +<p>"I've got a new riddle."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" Russ asked. "I can guess it."</p> + +<p>"Nope! You can't!" Laddie went on. "And it's an easy one, too."</p> + +<p>"Go on and tell it!" exclaimed Russ. "I know I can guess it."</p> + +<p>"Why is this boat like a duck?" asked Laddie. "Now, you can't answer +that."</p> + +<p>"I can so!" cried Russ, as he thought for a moment. "That's easy. This +boat is like a duck 'cause it goes in water."</p> + +<p>"Nope!" said Laddie, shaking his head with vigor.</p> + +<p>"It is so!" cried Russ. "I'm going to ask Mother."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p> + +<p>The two boys went in search of their mother, leaving Rose and Vi up in +front.</p> + +<p>"What is it now?" Mrs. Bunker wanted to know, as the two boys ran up to +her.</p> + +<p>"Laddie made up a riddle about 'why this boat is like a duck,' and when +I told him 'cause it goes in water like a duck, he says that isn't the +answer. It is, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"That isn't the answer I mean!" exclaimed Laddie, before his mother had +a chance to speak.</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose Laddie can pick out the one answer he wants to his own +riddles, if he makes them up," said Mrs. Bunker to the two boys.</p> + +<p>"I have an answer," said Laddie, "and Russ didn't guess it right."</p> + +<p>"Give me another chance," pleaded the older boy. "I know why the boat is +like a duck—'cause it <i>swims</i> in water! That's it!"</p> + +<p>"Nope!" said Laddie again, shaking his head harder than before.</p> + +<p>"Then there isn't any answer!" declared Russ.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is, too," insisted Laddie. "I'll tell you. This boat is like +a duck because it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> <i>paddles</i>! See? A duck paddles its feet in water and +this boat paddles its wheels in water. I saw the paddle-wheels when we +came on board."</p> + +<p>"Huh!" exclaimed Russ. "I could have thought of that if you'd given me +one more turn."</p> + +<p>"Isn't that a good riddle?" demanded Laddie, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Pretty good," admitted Russ. "I'm going to think up one now, and I'm +sure there can't anybody answer it. You wait!" and he went off by +himself to think up his riddle.</p> + +<p>Margy and Mun Bun, after running about a bit, had heard some music being +played on board, and had teased their mother to take them to hear it. +This Mrs. Bunker was glad to do, as it gave her a chance to sit quietly +with the smaller children.</p> + +<p>Across the waters steamed the boat, and Russ finally gave up trying to +think of a hard riddle, and walked here and there with Laddie, finally +getting to a place where they could watch the engines.</p> + +<p>Russ did not find it as easy to think up a hard riddle as he had thought +he would, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> he said he was going to try after they got back to Aunt +Jo's house.</p> + +<p>"'Cause," he said, "there's so much to see now that I don't want to miss +any of it."</p> + +<p>It was a ride of about an hour and a half from Boston to Nantasket +Beach, and that pleasure spot was reached long enough before noon for +the children to play about and have fun before lunch.</p> + +<p>They had brought some things to eat with them, but Daddy Bunker said +they would also have something to eat at a restaurant. It was a good +thing Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo did provide sandwiches, for the children +were hungry as soon as they left the boat and insisted on eating.</p> + +<p>And then the fun began. There was plenty to do at Nantasket Beach, +smooth slides to coast down on, funny tricks that could be played, and +phonographs that one could listen to by putting the ends of rubber tubes +in the ears after having dropped a penny in the machine. There were +moving pictures and other things to enjoy.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 257px;"> +<img src="images/p230.jpg" width="257" height="400" alt="BEST OF ALL THE CHILDREN LIKED THE MERRY-GO-ROUND." title="BEST OF ALL THE CHILDREN LIKED THE MERRY-GO-ROUND." /> +<span class="caption">BEST OF ALL THE CHILDREN LIKED THE MERRY-GO-ROUND.</span> +</div> + +<div class='center'><i>Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's.</i>—<i>Page 223</i></div> + +<p>Best of all the children liked the merry-go-rounds, and they had so many +rides on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> prancing horses, the lions, the tigers, the ostriches and +the other animals and birds that Daddy Bunker said:</p> + +<p>"My! I'm afraid we'll all go to the poorhouse if I spend all my +pennies."</p> + +<p>"You can take some of the sixty-five dollars I found in the pocketbook," +said Rose.</p> + +<p>"No," and her father shook his head. "We mustn't touch that money yet. I +haven't given up the hope of finding who owns it, though it certainly +takes them a long while to find out about it. But there must be +something wrong. Either they have not seen our advertisements, or they +have gone far away."</p> + +<p>"Can't we ever spend any of the money?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe, some day, if we don't find the owner," said his father.</p> + +<p>The children went in bathing, and then had lunch at an open-air +restaurant. And such appetites as they had! The salt air seemed to make +them hungry, even if they had eaten the sandwiches brought from home.</p> + +<p>"Now I want some more rides on the merry-go-round," said Margy, after +they had taken in some other amusements. "I want to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> ride on the rooster +this time. He's bigger than the rooster at Grandma Bell's, but he's nice +and red."</p> + +<p>Among the creatures in the merry-go-round machine was a big, wooden +rooster, painted red, with his beak open just as if he were going to +crow. Margy had ridden on a horse and on a lion, and now she wanted the +rooster.</p> + +<p>"Well, you may have just one more ride," said her mother. "But don't +tease for any more."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" Margy wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Because it might make you ill, my dear," said Mrs. Bunker. "Too much +riding, when you go around in a circle that way, may upset your stomach. +One ride more will be enough, I think."</p> + +<p>Margy agreed to be content with one, but when that was over she had +enjoyed it so much that she teased and begged for just one more.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let her have it, Mother!" suggested Rose. "We'd all like another +ride. And I'll sit beside Margy in one of the seats, and then maybe it +won't make her sick."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> + +<p>Margy didn't look ill, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.</p> + +<p>"Well, this is a sort of play-day," said Daddy Bunker, "and I want you +children to have a good time. I don't suppose one more ride will do any +harm," he said to his wife. "And, I'll try to keep out of the poorhouse +until we can use the sixty-five dollars in the pocketbook Rose found," +and he laughed.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you say it's all right I suppose it is," agreed his wife. "But +this is, positively, the last ride!"</p> + +<p>So the children got their tickets, and Margy and Rose took their seats +in a little make-believe chariot, drawn by a green camel.</p> + +<p>The music began to play, the merry-go-round began to turn and once more +the children were having a good time. In chairs near the big machine +Daddy and Mother Bunker and Aunt Jo waved to the children each time they +came around.</p> + +<p>The turn was almost over when Mrs. Bunker happened to see Margy leaning +up against Rose. And the mother noticed that her littlest girl's face +was very white. Rose, too, seemed frightened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm sure Margy is ill!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "She has ridden too +much! Oh, Charles! Have them stop the machine!"</p> + +<p>"It's stopping now," he said. He, too, had noticed the paleness of +Margy's face.</p> + +<p>Slowly the merry-go-round came to a stop, but even before it had +altogether ceased moving Daddy Bunker had jumped on and hurried to where +Rose sat holding Margy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy!" exclaimed Rose, "she says she feels terribly bad."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with Daddy's little girl?" asked Mr. Bunker, as he +took Margy in his arms and started to get off the machine. "Did you +become frightened?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! No, Daddy!" answered Margy in a weak voice. "But I feel funny +right here," and she put her hand on her stomach. "And my head hurts and +I feel dizzy—and—and——"</p> + +<p>Then poor little Margy's head fell back and her eyes closed. She was too +ill to talk any more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>ROSE FINDS HER DOLL</h3> + + +<p>"Take her out in the air," said one of the men in charge of the +merry-go-round, as he saw Mr. Bunker carrying Margy across the floor. +"They often feel a bit faint from riding too much, or from the motion. +The air makes 'em all right. Take her right down to the beach. That +would be best, I think."</p> + +<p>"I will," said Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>Tenderly he looked down at the little white face on his arm. Mrs. Bunker +and Aunt Jo looked worried, as they hurried after Mr. Bunker, and Rose +and Russ, who, with Violet, Mun Bun and Laddie had gotten off the +merry-go-round, followed through the crowd.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter? What is it? Was any one hurt?" asked several +persons.</p> + +<p>"No, it's only a little girl sort of fainted," a policeman said, and +that was really what had happened to Margy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The fresh air down by the beach will bring her around all right," said +the man who had first spoken to Mr. Bunker. "I'll look around for a +doctor, if you like."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't think she is as badly off as that," replied Margy's father. +"As you say, the fresh air will bring her around."</p> + +<p>So the six little Bunkers, with Margy being carried by her daddy, went +down near the water. The merry-go-round was not far from the bathing +pavilion where they had left their clothes when they went in swimming +during the morning.</p> + +<p>At the cashier's desk was a young lady, who gave out the tickets and +took charge of watches, jewelry, money and other things that the +bathing-folk left with her for safe-keeping. This young lady cashier saw +Margy being carried by Mr. Bunker, and called to him:</p> + +<p>"Bring the little girl up here. She can lie down on a bench in the +shade, and feel the fresh ocean air. That will be better than having her +out in the sun."</p> + +<p>"Indeed it will," said Mrs. Bunker. "Thank you very much."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> + +<p>With some dry bathing-suits and towels, the girl kindly made a sort of +bed on a bench for Margy, and there the little girl was tenderly put to +rest by her father. Then he looked carefully at her, and listened to the +beating of her heart.</p> + +<p>"She'll be all right in a little while," he said. "If I could get her a +glass of cold water——"</p> + +<p>"I'll get you one," offered the bathing cashier. "We have some ice water +inside."</p> + +<p>"You are very kind," said Mrs. Bunker. "We went in bathing from this +place not very long ago, but I did not see you here then."</p> + +<p>"No, I come only in the afternoons," said the girl. "Another girl and I +take turns, as the work is pretty hard on a hot day when lots of folks +go in swimming."</p> + +<p>She brought the water for Margy, and then the little girl opened her +eyes and looked about her.</p> + +<p>"Take a drink," said her mother. "Do you feel better now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Margy. "I'm all right. I felt awful funny," she said, and +she smiled a lit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>tle. Her cheeks were not so pale now, and she tried to +sit up.</p> + +<p>"Better lie down a bit yet," said Daddy Bunker. "Then you'll feel a lot +better. Next time you mustn't ride so much on the merry-go-round. Too +many trips are not good for any one."</p> + +<p>In a short time Margy felt so much better that she could sit up. The +cashier came back from her place at the window to ask how the little +girl was feeling, and she seemed glad when told that Margy was better.</p> + +<p>Russ, Rose and the other children had been asked to stay outside and +play in the sand, but now, having been told by Aunt Jo that Margy was +nearly recovered, they came in the bathing pavilion office to look at +their little sister. Just at this time there were not many people +wanting bathing-suits, so the cashier who had been so kind was not very +busy.</p> + +<p>As Rose and the others stood looking at Margy, and also at the cashier, +Vi suddenly exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Why, I know her!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who?" asked Mrs. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Her," went on Vi. She pointed to the cashier. "She found me the day I +was lost, when I went after the loaf of bread and I went down the wrong +street and I couldn't find Aunt Jo's house. She found the right street +for me. I know her—her name's Mary!"</p> + +<p>The cashier turned to look at Violet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now I remember you!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I did see you crying on +the street in the Back Bay section of Boston one day. I remember now. I +could tell where you lived because my mother used to sew in that +neighborhood, and I had seen the big dog at your aunt's house. So you +got home all right, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she came just as I was starting out to look for her," said Daddy +Bunker. "We often wondered who had been so kind as to show Violet the +right way, but all she could tell was that it was a girl named 'Mary'. I +often thought I'd like to see her, and thank her for being so kind to +our little girl, but, only knowing your first name——"</p> + +<p>"My name is Mary Turner," said the girl.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> "I live in Boston, though not +at Back Bay, but I come over here every day on the boat to work."</p> + +<p>"Do you like it?" asked Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is very pleasant, and not too hard. I like the smell of the +salt water. I'd be near the ocean all the while if I could. But we can't +have all we want," and she smiled. "Shall I get you some more cold +water?" she asked Margy.</p> + +<p>"Yes, please," answered the little girl. "I feel a lot better now."</p> + +<p>"That's good," said Mary Turner, as she went to the water-cooler.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it funny I should see her again?" said Violet. "She was awful +nice to me when I was lost."</p> + +<p>"She seems like a very nice girl," said Mrs. Bunker, "and she is +certainly very kind to us. I'm glad we met her."</p> + +<p>Mary came back with more water for Margy, who was now able to walk +around, the feeling of illness having passed.</p> + +<p>"I want to go down and play in the sand," she said.</p> + +<p>"Better not go out in the hot sun right<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> away," advised Aunt Jo. "Stay +in the shade a bit, Margy."</p> + +<p>"Yes," urged Mary Turner. "Come and see my queer little office, where I +sit all day and hand out tickets and take in gold watches and diamond +rings and things like that."</p> + +<p>"Do you keep 'em?" asked Russ.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! The people who go in bathing leave them with me for safety. I +have to give them back when they hand me the check I give them. I keep +each person's things separately in little pigeonholes, and there is a +man on guard there, too,—a sort of policeman."</p> + +<p>"Are there any pigeons in the pigeonholes?" asked Vi.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" laughed Mary. "They just call them pigeonholes because they +are like the openings that pigeons go in and out of at barns, and such +places, I suppose. They are like the boxes in a post office, only +larger. Come, I'll show them to you."</p> + +<p>As this would keep Margy in the shade a while longer, Mrs. Bunker said +the children could go with Mary and look at her "office."</p> + +<p>"My daddy's got an office," said Rose. "It's a real estate office."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, mine is different from that," Mary said.</p> + +<p>They went with her to look. As it was rather soon after the dinner hour, +not many persons were in bathing, and the compartments or "pigeonholes" +were not all filled. In some, however, were the envelopes in which +people sealed their watches, rings and other valuables.</p> + +<p>The six little Bunkers were quite pleased at seeing Mary Turner's +office, and the "policeman" who was on guard so no one would come in and +take the envelopes.</p> + +<p>"Did some one leave that when they went in bathing?" asked Mr. Bunker +with a smile, as he pointed to something in one of the pigeonholes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," answered Mary with a smile. "That's mine. It's a doll, and I +brought it with me to-day, thinking I would have time to make a new +dress for it, and give it to a little girl I know. I don't play with +dolls any more, though I used to like them very much, and I still like +to make dresses for them. But I've been rather busy this morning, +helping Mr. Barton, who owns the bath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>ing pavilion, so I didn't get time +to do any sewing."</p> + +<p>As she spoke she took down the doll, and held it out for Margy and the +others to see. And, as Rose looked at it, she exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, look! Why—why, that's Lily! That's my doll that went up in the +airship! That's Lily!"</p> + +<p>"It can't be, Rose!" said her mother.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is!" insisted the little girl, as she took the doll from her +sister's hand. "Look! Don't you 'member where there was a cut in her and +her sawdust insides ran out and Aunt Jo sewed up the place with red +thread?" and Rose turned the doll over and showed where, surely enough, +the doll was sewed with red thread.</p> + +<p>"Is that really your doll?" asked Mary, and there was a queer look on +her face.</p> + +<p>"It really is," said Rose Bunker. "I sent her up in a basket and there +was a lot of balloons tied to it. I called it an airship and it got +loose and Lily went away up in the sky, and I couldn't get her down."</p> + +<p>"I said she'd come down," cried Russ, "'cause I knew the balloons +couldn't stay up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> forever. But we looked for the doll and couldn't find +her."</p> + +<p>"Did she drop out of the airship?" asked Rose eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No, she came down with the 'airship,' as you call it," went on the +bathing-pavilion cashier. "She was in a basket when I found her. And +tied to the basket were some toy balloons. A few of them had burst, and +the gas had come out of the others, so that they were all flabby and +wouldn't keep the airship up any more. Then it came down, and it +happened to land right in the back yard of the place where I board, in +Boston.</p> + +<p>"I saw it in the morning, when I went out to feed the pet cat, and I +brought the doll in. She was all wet, and her dress had come off. But I +carried her into the house and I've kept her ever since. I've been +intending to dress her and give her to a little girl, but I'm glad you +have her back," and she smiled at Rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, isn't it just wonderful!" cried the little girl. "To think I have +my own darling Lily back after her going up in the airship!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>THE POCKETBOOK OWNER</h3> + + +<p>Indeed it was quite strange and wonderful, as they all agreed, that +Rose's doll had been found in such a curious way. Rose, herself, was +very happy, for, though the doll was not her "best" one, she liked it +very much indeed, and had felt sad at losing Lily.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad the airship came down at your house," said Rose to Mary.</p> + +<p>"And I'm glad I found her for you," said the cashier.</p> + +<p>"'Cause," remarked Vi, "she might have fallen in a house where there was +a puppy dog, and he'd have bitten her and torn her dress. I wonder where +her dress went."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess the wind blew it off," said Russ. "The wind is awful strong +up high in the air. Once it busted one of my kites."</p> + +<p>"I guess that's how it happened," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> Daddy Bunker. "The toy balloons +must have gone up very high, carrying your doll along, Rose."</p> + +<p>"No. Lily didn't have on a dress that day. I was in an awful hurry, an' +I just wrapped a handkerchief around her. That blew away, I guess."</p> + +<p>By this time Margy was feeling all right again, and after a little more +talk with Mary, the six little Bunkers went out to play on the sandy +beach, Rose carrying her doll.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's lovely at Nantasket Beach!" said Russ, as he and Laddie ran +about and waded in the shallow water. "Thank you, Aunt Jo, for bringing +us here."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm enjoying it as much as you children are," said Daddy's sister.</p> + +<p>But all things must come to an end, even picnics, and when the six +little Bunkers had done about everything they wanted to at the pleasure +resort it was time to take the boat back for Boston.</p> + +<p>On board, after the children and the grown folks were seated, Vi saw her +friend Mary Turner.</p> + +<p>"There's the girl that found me when I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> was lost, and the one that had +Rose's doll," said Vi, pointing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, so it is!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "Don't you want to come over and +sit by us?" she asked the bathing-pavilion girl.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I should like to," was the answer. "It's lonesome riding home +alone."</p> + +<p>"Where do you live in Boston?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as Mary sat down near +her and the children, who were too tired with their fun to romp around +much.</p> + +<p>"I board down near where I can get this steamer easily," was the answer. +"I have a pass on the boat, and by walking to the dock I save carfare. +And these days one has to save all one can," she added.</p> + +<p>"You say you board," put in Aunt Jo. "Have you no relatives?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I have a brother and a mother, but Mother is ill in the +hospital," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"That's too bad," said the ladies, who felt quite sorry for Mary.</p> + +<p>Then they talked about different things until, at dusk, the boat landed +at the wharf, and the six little Bunkers and all the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> passengers +got off. Rose whispered something to her mother, who looked a little +surprised and then spoke to Aunt Jo.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I'd be delighted to have her," was the low answer, for Mary +was walking on ahead, with Russ and Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Rose thinks it would be nice to ask Mary to come to supper with us," +said Mrs. Bunker to her husband. "Aunt Jo says that she is willing."</p> + +<p>"Of course we'll ask her!" said Mr. Bunker kindly, and when Mary was +told <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'abont'">about</ins> the plan she smiled and said she would be glad to come. So to +Aunt Jo's nice home they all went, and Parker had a fine supper soon +ready for them, even though she didn't expect company.</p> + +<p>After the supper, which Mary seemed to enjoy very much, saying it was +much nicer than at her boarding-house, she and the six little Bunkers +sat on the porch and talked. Mary told about the funny things which +sometimes happened at the bathing-beach.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad we went there to-day," said Rose. "If we hadn't I'd +never have found my airship doll."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You were very lucky," said Laddie.</p> + +<p>"Yes," added Russ. "I wish I had such good luck as Rose. She found her +doll and she found a pocketbook."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I didn't tell you about that!" exclaimed Rose to Mary. "I really +did find a pocketbook in the street, about two weeks ago, and it had a +lot of money in it."</p> + +<p>"Did it?" asked the bathing-beach girl, and she seemed interested more +than usual.</p> + +<p>"Oh, a lot of money," went on Rose. "Please, Daddy, can't I show Mary +the pocketbook I found?" she asked, for Miss Turner had told the +children to call her by her first name. "I want to show her the +pocketbook I picked up," went on the little girl.</p> + +<p>"All right, you may," said Mr. Bunker. "I'll get it for you," and he +brought it from the house.</p> + +<p>"There it is!" cried Rose. "Wasn't I lucky to pick that up?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed you were," said Mary Turner, and then, as she caught sight of +the wallet in Mr. Bunker's hand she exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Why, there it is! There's the very one! Oh, to think that you have +it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you know whose this is?" asked Mr. Bunker. "Ever since my little +girl found the wallet we've been trying to find the owner, but we +haven't been able to."</p> + +<p>"That's my mother's pocketbook!" cried Mary. "And it's on account of +that she's in the hospital, and ill. Oh, how wonderful!"</p> + +<p>"Is this really your mother's purse?" asked Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"It surely is," answered the bathing-beach girl. "She had just +sixty-five dollars in it."</p> + +<p>"That's just how much was in this!" exclaimed Russ.</p> + +<p>"And besides," went on Mary, "I know the pocketbook. It has a little +tear in one corner, and the clasp is bent."</p> + +<p>"That's right," said Mr. Bunker.</p> + +<p>"And," went on Mary, "besides the sixty-five dollars there was a funny +Chinese coin with a square hole in the middle. Did you find that in the +purse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," exclaimed Aunt Jo, "there was a Chinese coin in the pocketbook! +That proves it must be your mother's pocketbook."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure of it," said Mary. "Oh, how glad she'll be that it is found, +and the money,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> too. That is—if we can have it back," she said softly.</p> + +<p>"Have it back? Of course you may!" cried Mr. Bunker. "If it is your +mother's we want you to have it. Was there anything else in the purse +when your mother lost it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Mary said, "there was a letter from my brother, but part of it +was torn off," and she spoke of what the note had in it. Then they were +all sure it was Mrs. Turner's purse.</p> + +<p>The letter, from which the lower part had been torn, was from Mary's +brother John. He was a soldier in the army. His mother had written, +telling him that her brother, Mary and John's "Uncle Jack," had sent the +money to her, and that she was going to spend it in trying to get a rest +of a month, as she was very tired from overwork.</p> + +<p>But the pocketbook had been lost by Mrs. Turner, and, as Mary said, it +made her mother ill, so she had had to go to the hospital.</p> + +<p>But through the good luck of Rose everything had come out all right, for +Mary felt that the news of the recovery of the money would take the +worry from Mrs. Turner's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> mind, thus making it easier to regain her +health.</p> + +<p>"You found my doll," exclaimed Rose, "and I found your pocketbook! We +are both lucky!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed we are," said Mary, smiling, as she took the wallet from Mr. +Bunker. "Oh, but Mother will be happy, now!" went on the girl.</p> + +<p>"Mother had been overworking, for we are poor and she had had us two +children to bring up, as my father is dead. She was on her way to see +about going away for a time to get a good rest, now that John and I are +old enough to look out for ourselves, when she lost the purse and the +sixty-five dollars.</p> + +<p>"She felt so bad about it, when she couldn't find it, that she was made +ill, and had to be taken to a hospital. We did not tell my brother, as +we did not want to worry him. But I know this good news will make Mother +better.</p> + +<p>"I walked all around the streets near where she thought she had lost her +purse, but I couldn't find it."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you read the lost and found ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>vertisements?" asked Mr. Bunker. +"We advertised the finding of the pocketbook in the papers."</p> + +<p>"No, I was so worried about Mother that I never thought to," was the +answer. "And when I had her taken to the hospital, and found a +boarding-place for myself, and went to work at Nantasket Beach, I +thought there was no use to look. I never expected to get the money +back."</p> + +<p>"But you did, and I'm glad I found it," said Rose.</p> + +<p>They were all glad. Mr. Bunker took Mary that very night to the hospital +where her mother was, and the good news so cheered Mrs. Turner that the +doctor said she would soon get better, and, after a while, entirely +well. That is what good news sometimes does.</p> + +<p>But the good luck of the Turners did not end with the getting back of +the lost pocketbook. Aunt Jo became interested in the little family, and +promised to give Mrs. Turner plenty of work to do at sewing as soon as +she was well. And a better place was found for Mary to work, where she +would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> not have to take the long trip back and forth from Nantasket +Beach.</p> + +<p>So many good things came about just because Rose saw the pocketbook and +picked it up.</p> + +<p>And now my story is nearly done. Not that the six little Bunkers did not +have more fun at Aunt Jo's, for they did, but I have not room for any +more about them in this book.</p> + +<p>"But do we have to go home right away?" asked Russ, when he heard his +father and mother talking of packing up a few days later.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," was the answer. "We have a letter from another of our +relatives, asking us to come to see him before we go back to Pineville, +and I think we'll accept."</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" asked Rose.</p> + +<p>"Down at the seashore," answered her father. "Don't you remember?" And +what next happened to the children will be told in the book after this, +to be called, "Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's."</p> + +<p>It was a beautifully sunshiny day. Out on the lawn Russ and Laddie were +playing with the hose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mother, make Russ stop!" suddenly Laddie cried.</p> + +<p>"What's he doing?" asked Mrs. Bunker, who could see that not very much +was happening.</p> + +<p>"He's squirting water on me from the hose."</p> + +<p>"I am not, Mother," said Russ, laughing. "I'm only making believe Laddie +is in bathing down at Cousin Tom's at the seashore, and when you go in +swimming you've got to get a little wet!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, if you're making believe play <i>that</i>, all right," said +Laddie, "wet me some more."</p> + +<p>Russ did. So, at their play, we will take leave, for a time, of the six +little Bunkers, wishing them well.</p> + + +<h2>THE END</h2> + + + +<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</div> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> +<div class='center'>Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by<br /> + +FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This new series by the author of the "Bobbsey +Twins" Books will be eagerly welcomed by the +little folks from about five to ten years of age. +Their eyes will fairly dance with delight at the +lively doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown +and his cunning, trustful sister Sue. </p></div> + + + + +<div class="blockquot">BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE<br /> +<p>Bunny was a lively little boy, very inquisitive. +When he did anything, Sue followed his leadership. +They had many adventures, some comical in the +extreme. </p></div> + + + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM<br /><p>How the youngsters journeyed to the farm in an +auto, and what good times followed, is +realistically told. </p></div> + + + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS<br /><p>First the children gave a little affair, but when +they obtained an old army tent the show was truly +grand. </p></div> + + + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE<br /><p>The family go into camp on the edge of a beautiful +lake, and Bunny and his sister have more good +times and some adventures. </p></div> + + + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME<br /><p>The city proved a wonderful place to the little +folks. They took in all the sights and helped a +colored girl who had run away from home. </p></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS</h2> + +<h3>For Little Men and Women</h3> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of "The Bunny Brown" Series, Etc.</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Copyright publications which cannot be obtained +elsewhere. Books that charm the hearts of the +little ones, and of which they never tire. Many of +the adventures are comical in the extreme, and all +the accidents that ordinarily happen to youthful +personages happened to these many-sided little +mortals. Their haps and mishaps make decidedly +entertaining reading. </p></div> + +<div class="blockquot">THE BOBBSEY TWINS<br /> + +<br /> +THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY<br /> +<br /> +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE<br /> +<br /> +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL<br /> + +<p>Telling how they go home from the seashore; went +to school and were promoted, and of their many +trials and tribulations. </p> + +<br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE<br /> + +<p>Telling of the winter holidays, and of the many +fine times and adventures the twins had at a +winter lodge in the big woods. </p> + +<br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT<br /> + +<p>Mr. Bobbsey obtains a houseboat, and the whole +family go off on a tour. </p><br /> + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK<br /> + +<p>The young folks visit the farm again and have +plenty of good times and several adventures. </p> + + +<br />THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME<br /> + +<p>The twins get into all sorts of trouble—and out +again—also bring aid to a poor family. </p></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By GERTRUDE W. MORRISON</h3> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Here is a series full of the spirit of high school +life of to-day. The girls are real flesh-and-blood +characters, and we follow them with interest in +school and out. There are many contested matches +on track and field, and on the water, as well as +doings in the classroom and on the school stage. +There is plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, +pure and wholesome. </p></div> + + +<div class="blockquot">THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH<br /> +Or Rivals for all Honors.<br /><p>A stirring tale of high school life, full of fan, +with a touch of mystery and a strange initiation. </p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><br />THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA<br /> +Or The Crew That Won.<br /><p>Telling of water sports and fun galore, and of +fine times in camp. </p></div> + + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH AT BASKETBALL<br /> +Or The Great Gymnasium Mystery.<br /><p>Here we have a number of thrilling contests at +basketball and in addition, the solving of a +mystery which had bothered the high school +authorities for a long while. </p></div> + + + + + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON THE STAGE<br /> +Or The Play That Took the Prize.<br /><p>How the girls went in for theatricals and how one +of them wrote a play which afterward was made over +for the professional stage and brought in some +much-needed money. </p></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON TRACK AND FIELD<br /> +Or The Girl Champions of the School League<br /><p>This story takes in high school athletics in their +most approved and up-to-date fashion. Full of fun +and excitement. </p></div> + + + + +<div class="blockquot"><br />THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH IN CAMP<br /> +Or The Old Professor's Secret.<br /><p>The girls went camping on Acorn Island and had a +delightful time at boating, swimming and picnic +parties. </p></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN</h3> + + +<p>The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a +small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are +greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have +motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go +everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give +full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals +and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim, +etc. Full of the spirit of outdoor life.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Rivals of the Mississippi.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Golden Cup Mystery.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="center"><p><b>12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely +bound in Cloth.</b> </p></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes</h3> +<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p> + +<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. +Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's, by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S *** + +***** This file should be named 19736-h.htm or 19736-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/7/3/19736/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J.P.W. 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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 Aunt Jo's + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: November 7, 2006 [EBook #19736] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J.P.W. Fraser, Emmy +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S + +BY LAURA LEE HOPE + + AUTHOR OF "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES," "THE BUNNY + BROWN SERIES," "THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES," ETC. + + _ILLUSTRATED_ + + NEW YORK + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS + + + + + +BOOKS + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + + * * * * * + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 50 cents per volume._ + + * * * * * + +=THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES= + + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S + + * * * * * + +=THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES= + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA + + * * * * * + +=THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES= + + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY + + * * * * * + +=THE OUTDOOR GIRL SERIES= + + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND + THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP,= PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + Copyright, 1918, by + GROSSET & DUNLAP + + * * * * * + + _Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's_ + +[Illustration: THE CHILDREN WERE HAVING LOTS OF FUN WITH THEIR FUNNY +LITTLE PET. + +_Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's._ _Frontispiece_--(_Page 158_)] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. A QUEER HUNT 1 + + II. GOOD-BYE TO GRANDMA 11 + + III. ON THE BOAT 22 + + IV. IN BOSTON 32 + + V. ALEXIS IS SPLASHED 42 + + VI. THE POCKETBOOK 52 + + VII. A SAD LETTER 62 + + VIII. RUSS MAKES A FOUNTAIN 72 + + IX. WHAT HAPPENED TO WILLIAM 83 + + X. ROSE MAKES AN AIRSHIP 92 + + XI. VI IS LOST 103 + + XII. MARGY TAKES A RIDE 112 + + XIII. MUN BUN DRIVES AWAY 122 + + XIV. THE WHISTLING WAGON 133 + + XV. LADDIE'S FUNNY "RIDDLE" 144 + + XVI. ROSE BREAKS HER SKATE 151 + + XVII. THE SKATE WAGON 163 + + XVIII. THE SPINNING TOPS 171 + + XIX. FLYING A KITE 181 + + XX. THE JUMPING-ROPE 191 + + XXI. MUN BUN IN A HOLE 202 + + XXII. OUT TO NANTASKET BEACH 210 + + XXIII. THE MERRY-GO-ROUND 219 + + XXIV. ROSE FINDS HER DOLL 228 + + XXV. THE POCKETBOOK OWNER 238 + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS +AT AUNT JO'S + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A QUEER HUNT + + +"Let me count noses now, to see if you're all here," said Mother Bunker +with a laugh, as her flock of children gathered around her. + +"Don't you want some help?" asked Grandma Bell. "Can you count so many +boys and girls all alone, Amy?" + +"Oh, I think so," answered Mother Bunker. "You see I am used to it. I +count them every time we come to the woods, and each time I start for +home, to be sure none has been left behind. Now then, children! +Attention! as the soldier captain says." + +Six little Bunkers, who were getting ready to run off into the woods to +frolic and have a good time at a good-bye picnic, laughed and shouted +and finally stood still long enough for their mother to "count noses," +as she called it. + +"And I'll help," said Grandma Bell, at whose country home in Maine, near +Lake Sagatook, the six little Bunkers were spending part of their summer +vacation. + +"Russ and Rose!" called Mother Bunker. + +"Here we are!" answered Russ, and he pointed to his sister. + +"Vi and Laddie!" went on Mrs. Bunker. + +"We're here, but we're going to run now," said Laddie. "I'm going to +think of a riddle to guess when we get to the woods." + +"Where are you going to run to?" asked Vi, or Violet, which was her +right name, though she was more often called Vi. "Where you going to run +to, Laddie?" she asked again. But Laddie, her twin brother, did not stop +to answer the question. Indeed it would take a great deal of time to +reply to the questions Vi asked, and no one ever stopped to answer them +all, any more than they tried to answer all the riddles--real and +make-believe--that Laddie asked. + +"Well, that's four of them," said Grandma Bell with a laugh. + +"Yes," said Mother Bunker. "And now for the last. Margy and Mun!" + +"We's here!" said Margy, who, as you may easily guess, was, more +properly, Margaret. "Come on, Mun Bun!" she called. "Now we can have +some fun." + +And for fear you might be wondering what sort of creature Mun Bun was, +I'll say right here that he was Margy's little brother, and his right +name was Munroe Ford Bunker; but he was called Mun Bun for short. + +"They're all here," said Grandma Bell, with a smile. + +"Yes," answered Mrs. Bunker, as she saw the six children running across +the field toward the woods. "They're all here now, and I hope they'll +all be here when we start back." + +"Oh, I think they will," said Grandma Bell with a smile. "I'm sorry this +is your last picnic with me. I certainly have enjoyed your visit +here--yours and the children's." + +The two women walked slowly over the field and toward the woods, in +which the six little Bunkers were already running about and having fun. +The woods were on the edge of Lake Sagatook, and not far from Grandma +Bell's house. + +"Come on, Rose!" called Russ to his sister. "We'll have a last ride on +the steamboat." + +"I want to come, too!" shouted Laddie, dropping a bundle of pine cones +he had picked up. + +"So do I," added Vi. "I want a ride." + +"Say, we can't all get on the steamboat at once!" Russ cried. "It'll +sink if we do." + +"Then we can play shipwreck," proposed Rose. + +"Yes, we could do that," Russ agreed. "But if the steamboat sinks it'll +be on the bottom of the lake, and it won't move and we can't have rides. +That'll be no fun!" And the boy began to whistle, which he almost always +did when he was thinking hard, as he was just now. + +"Well, what can we do?" asked Rose. "I want a ride on the steamboat." + +It wasn't really a steamboat at all, being only some fence rails and +boards nailed roughly together. It was more of a raft than a boat, but +it would float in the shallow water of the lake near the shore, and the +children could stand on it in their bare feet and paddle about in a +small cove that a bend in the shore-line of the lake made. The reason +they had to take off their shoes and stockings was because the water +came up over the top of the raft, and splashed on the children's feet. +Anyhow, it was more fun to go barefooted, and no sooner had the six +little Bunkers reached the shore of the lake in the midst of the woods, +than off came their shoes and stockings. + +"I want to ride on the steamer, too," said Mun Bun. + +"No, we don't want to do that," put in Margy, who was standing near him. + +"Why?" he asked. + +"'Cause." + +"But why?" + +"Don't you 'member? We're goin' to roll downhill where the pine needles +make it so slippery." + +"Oh, yes," agreed Mun Bun. "We'll roll downhill, and then we'll ride on +the steamer." + +"But I want a ride now!" insisted Violet. + +"So do I," added Laddie. + +"I asked first," cried Rose. "But I s'pose mother'll make me give in to +you two, 'cause I'm older'n you; but I don't want to," she added. + +"My! what's all this about?" asked Mother Bunker, as she came along with +Grandma Bell, the two women having walked more slowly than the children. +"Has anything happened?" She could tell by the faces of the little ones +that everything was not just right. + +"Oh, they all want to ride on the steamboat at once, and it isn't big +enough," explained Russ. + +"Then you must take turns," said Mother Bunker quickly. "That's the only +way to do. Rose, dear, you are the oldest; you will let Laddie and +Violet have the first ride, will you not?" + +"There! I _knew_ you'd ask me to do that!" cried Rose, and her voice was +not just as pleasant as it might have been. + +"Never mind, Rose," whispered Russ to her. "I'll give you a longer ride +than I give them. Anyway, they'll soon get tired of the raft, and then +you and I can play sailor, and steamboat around as much as we like." + +"And will you let me help push with the pole?" asked Rose. + +"Yes, you can do that, of course," Russ agreed. + +"All right," assented Rose. "I'll wait. Go on, Violet and Laddie. You +may have your ride first." + +With shouts of glee the twins ran down to the edge of the lake where the +raft, or, as Russ called it, the "steamboat," was tied by a rope to an +old stump. Russ, with the help of Tom Hardy, the hired man, had made the +raft, and on it the children had had lots of fun. + +Russ now took his place in the middle, holding a long pole by which he +pushed the raft about in the shallow cove of the lake. The water here +was not deep--hardly over the children's knees. + +"All aboard!" cried Russ, and Laddie and Violet got on the raft. Mother +Bunker and Grandma Bell sat down in the shade to watch, while Mun Bun +and Margy ran over to a little hill, covered with dry, slippery pine +needles, and there they started to roll over and over down the slope, +tumbling about in the soft grass at the foot, laughing and giggling. + +Up and down, and around and around the little cove of Lake Sagatook Russ +pushed his little twin brother and sister. The raft was just about large +enough for three children of the size of those who were on it, but any +more would have made it sink to the sandy bottom of the lake. Then, +though they might have played "shipwreck," it would not be as much fun, +Russ thought. + +"Toot! Toot!" cried Russ, making believe he was the steamboat's whistle. +Then he ding-donged the bell and hissed, to let off steam. Violet and +Laddie laughed, and did the same thing, pretending they were part of the +engine of the boat. + +"Well, I think you have ridden on the steamboat long enough now, Laddie +and Vi!" called Mother Bunker, after a bit. "Give Rose a turn." + +"Just one more ride!" pleaded Laddie. + +"All right--just one more. But that's the last," said Russ. + +So he poled the raft across the cove again, and then his little brother +and sister got off while Rose waded out in her bare feet and got on +board, carrying a pole so she could help push the raft; for it had no +sails like a sailboat, and no motor like a motor-boat, and to make it go +it had to be pushed. + +"Come on, Vi. Let's go over and roll downhill with Margy and Mun Bun," +said Laddie, after watching Rose and Russ a bit. "They're having lots of +fun." + +The two smallest of the six little Bunkers did, indeed, appear to be +having a good time. Over and over they rolled down the clean, slippery +hill covered with the brown pine needles. + +Soon Laddie and Vi joined in the fun, and their shouts and laughter +could be heard by Mother Bunker and Grandma Bell, where they were +sitting in the shade of the trees. + +All at once Laddie, who had rolled to the bottom of the hill, ending +with a somersault in the soft grass, stood up and called: + +"Listen! What's that?" + +Vi, Margy and Mun Bun listened. + +"I don't hear anything," said Vi. + +"I do," went on Laddie. "It's some one hollering!" + +And, as the children became quiet and listened more intently, they did, +indeed, hear a voice calling: + +"Come and get me! Come and get me!" + +"Oh, it's somebody lost in the woods!" said Violet. + +"A little boy, maybe!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"Or a little girl," added Mun Bun, his eyes big with wonder. + +"Let's go and hunt for 'em," proposed Laddie. "If we were lost, we'd +like some one to hunt for us. Come on!" + +The other children did not stop to think whether or not this was right. +Laddie was the oldest of the four, except Violet, who was just as old, +except maybe a minute or two, and Mun Bun and Margy thought what Laddie +said must be right. + +"Come and get me! Come and get me!" cried the voice again, and to the +four little Bunkers it seemed to be a sad one. + +"Come on!" exclaimed Laddie. And the children started on a queer hunt. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +GOOD-BYE TO GRANDMA + + +Mrs. Bunker, who was busy talking to Grandma Bell, looked up just in +time to see Laddie, Violet, Margy and Mun Bun running off through the +woods. + +"Children! Children!" she cried. "Where are you going?" + +Faintly came back Laddie's answer: + +"There's a little boy or girl lost in the woods, an' they're callin' to +us and we're going to hunt for 'em!" + +"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mother Bunker. "Wait, children! Wait for me!" she +continued. "Russ--Rose! Come off the raft! I don't want you on it while +I'm not near you!" + +"Where are you going?" asked Grandma Bell, as she saw her daughter +getting up. + +"I'm going to see what those children mean," was Mrs. Bunker's answer. +"I can't tell what mischief they may get into." + +And while Rose and Russ poled the raft toward shore, as their mother +told them to, and got off, Mrs. Bunker started after the other children, +who were going to find the strange voice that had called to them. + +And while this is going on I shall have a chance to tell my new readers +something about the little Bunkers. There were six of them, as, perhaps, +you have counted. Russ, or Russell, to give him the whole of his name, +was eight years old. He was the oldest, a great boy for making things to +play with, such as a steamboat out of some old boards, or an automobile +from a chair and a sofa cushion. He was also very fond of whistling, and +knew several real tunes. + +Rose, who came next, was seven years old. She was a regular "mother's +helper," and often sang as she washed the dishes or did the dusting. She +had light hair and blue eyes while Russ had a dark complexion. + +Then there came Violet and Laddie, the twins, aged six. Laddie's real +name was Fillmore Bunker, but he was seldom called that. His hair was +curly, and his eyes were gray, and whether that made him so fond of +making up riddles, or of asking those others made up, I can't say. +Anyhow he did it. His twin sister loved to ask questions. She could ask +more questions in a day than several persons could answer. No one ever +tried to answer all Vi asked. Her hair and eyes were just like Laddie's. + +Next came Margy and Mun Bun. Margy was five, and her brother was a year +younger. He had blue eyes and golden hair, and, you can easily imagine, +was a pretty picture. + +"Daddy" Bunker, whose name was Charles, had a real estate and lumber +office in Pineville, which was in Pennsylvania, and was on the Rainbow +River. About twenty thousand people lived in Pineville, and it was a +very nice place indeed. The home of the Bunkers was on the main street +of the town, and was less than a mile from Daddy Bunker's office. + +Then there was Mother Bunker, whose hands were full keeping house and +looking after the six little Bunkers. Her name was Amy, and before she +married Daddy Bunker her last name had been Bell. + +Those of you who have read the first book of this series, called "Six +Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," remember that there were two other +members of the "family"--Norah O'Grady, the good-natured Irish cook, and +Jerry Simms, the man who had once been a soldier and who was very kind +to the children. Jerry did odd bits of work about the house, and often +ran the automobile for Mr. Bunker. + +The Bunkers had many relatives. There was Grandma Bell, who was Mrs. +Bunker's mother, and there was Grandpa Ford, who was Daddy Bunker's +stepfather. He was kind and good, and had loved Daddy Bunker when Daddy +Bunker was a little boy, and now loved the six little Bunkers as well. +Grandma Bell lived in Maine, near Lake Sagatook, and Grandpa Ford lived +at Tarrington, New York, his place being called Great Hedge Estate. + +Then there was Miss Josephine Bunker (she was "Aunt Jo," you know), who +lived in Boston; Uncle Frederick Bell, of Moon City, Montana; and +Cousin Tom Bunker, who lived at Seaview, on the New Jersey coast. + +In the first book I told you about the six little Bunkers when on a +visit to Grandma Bell, in Maine, and how they helped solve a mystery and +find some valuable real estate papers that an old tramp lumberman had +carried off in a ragged coat. + +I can't begin to tell you, here, all the fun the six little Bunkers had +at Grandma Bell's. They spent the last of July and the first part of +August there, and now, just before leaving, they were planning for the +rest of the summer vacation. + +But, just at the present moment, something else was happening. The +children's play had been stopped by the voice in the woods; a voice +heard by Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun and Margy. + +"Are you sure it was a little child you heard calling?" asked Mrs. +Bunker, overtaking the four children. + +"Oh, yes; sure!" answered Laddie. "It was a little boy." + +"I think it was a little girl," said Violet. + +"Hark!" exclaimed Grandma Bell, who had come with Mother Bunker. "There +it goes once more!" + +And, surely enough, the voice called again: + +"Come and get me! I'm lost!" + +"Poor thing!" said Grandma Bell. "I wonder whose little boy or girl it +is." + +"'Tisn't any of us," said Violet, "'cause we're all here!" + +"Yes, I counted to make sure," said Mother Bunker. "But we must find out +who it is. Come on, children. Are we going too fast for you, Mother?" +she asked Grandma Bell. + +"Oh, no, indeed!" + +"We must find the lost one," Mother Bunker continued, and so they kept +on with the queer hunt. Every now and then they could hear the voice +calling. Pretty soon Mrs. Bell said: + +"I can hear some one coming." + +Then the voice called again: + +"Come and get me! I'm lost!" + +"Oh, there it is! Over in that direction!" exclaimed Grandma Bell. + +They hurried toward a thick clump of trees, from which the voice seemed +to come. Then, all at once, another voice called: + +"Oh, there you are! I see you! Now come right here to me, and don't go +away again!" + +"Why, I know who _that_ is!" exclaimed Grandma Bell. + +Before the children could ask they heard a funny voice say: + +"Oh, hello! Pretty Poll! Pretty Poll! Polly wants a cracker!" + +"Well, you'll get one, and it won't be a sweet cracker, either, if you +fly out of your cage again," said a man's voice. "You'll get a +fire-cracker! Now you flutter right down to me and be good!" + +"Hello! Hello!" said the funny voice, and then came a strange laugh. +"Ha! Ha! Ha!" + +"Why--why! It's a _parrot_!" shouted Laddie. "I can see his green +feathers!" + +"Yes, and there is Mr. Hixon after him," said Grandma Bell. "You have +been fooled by Bill Hixon's parrot, children, just as you were teased +once before. It wasn't a little boy or girl lost in the woods at all. It +was just the parrot." + +"That's just what it was, Mrs. Bell," said Mr. Hixon, and a man stepped +out from behind a tree. "Were you after him, too?" he asked, as he held +out his hand the parrot flew down out of the tree and alighted on his +finger. + +"The children, playing in the woods, heard your parrot calling, and +thought it was a lost child," said Mrs. Bunker. "Did he get out of his +cage?" + +"That's what he did," said Mr. William Hixon, or "Bill," as his +neighbors called him. "He got out early this morning, and I've been +looking for him ever since. I followed along through these woods, +because a man said he had seen a green bird flying about in here, and, +surely enough, I heard my Polly singing out about being lost, and +wanting some one to come and get her. She always begs that way when she +gets lost." + +"We heard her," said Laddie. "But I thought it was a little boy." + +"And I thought it was a little girl," added Violet. + +Mun Bun and Margy didn't say anything. They just stood and looked at the +green parrot on Mr. Hixon's finger. The bird seemed happy now, and bent +its head over toward its owner. + +"She wants it scratched," said Mr. Hixon. "Well, I'll be nice to you +now, but I won't like you if you get out of your cage again," he said. +"She can open the door herself," he explained to Grandma Bell and Mrs. +Bunker. + +"She talks very plainly for a parrot," said Grandma Bell. "I remember +the day the six little Bunkers first came, and Polly was in the back of +the auto. We thought it was a child then." + +"Yes, Polly is a good talker," said Mr. Hixon, who lived not far from +Grandma Bell's. "But I think I'll have to get her a new cage so she +can't get out. It keeps me busy chasing after her." + +"Polly wants a cracker! Polly wants a sweet cracker!" chanted the +parrot. + +"Well, you'll get a sour one if you aren't good!" said Mr. Hixon, with a +laugh. "I'm sorry my parrot fooled you, and made you think a child was +lost in the woods," he went on. + +"Oh, that's all right," said Mother Bunker. "We didn't mind hunting, and +we're glad no one was lost." + +"How are all the six little Bunkers?" asked the owner of the green +parrot, as he started for his home. + +"Well, these four, as you see, are fine," said Grandma Bell. "The other +two, Russ and Rose, are playing steamboat on the lake. But I am going to +lose them all." + +"Lose them all!" cried Mr. Hixon. "How's that?" + +"We are going to pay a visit to Mr. Bunker's sister, who lives in +Boston," explained Mrs. Bunker. "She wrote and asked us to come, and +this is our last week at Grandma Bell's." + +"Well, I'm sure we'll miss the six little Bunkers when they go," said +Mr. Hixon. + +"Indeed we shall!" said Grandma Bell. "But they are coming to see me +again." + +"We love it here," put in Vi. + +"And we've had lots of fun," added Margy. + +"Maybe we'll have fun at Aunt Jo's," said Laddie. + +"I'm sure you will. I guess you could have fun anywhere, you six," said +Mr. Hixon with a laugh. "Well, good-bye, if I don't see you again!" + +"Good-bye!" said the others. + +"Good-bye," echoed the parrot. + +Grandma Bell, Mother Bunker and the four children went back to the shady +cove of the lake. + +"Where'd you go?" asked Russ and Rose, who were walking along to meet +them. + +"Oh, we thought somebody was lost in the woods," answered Laddie. + +"But it was Mr. Hixon's parrot," added Vi. + +The children went back to their play. + +A day or so later they helped pack the things they had brought with them +to Grandma Bell's. + +"We're going to Aunt Jo's! We're going to Aunt Jo's!" shouted Rose, +dancing about. + +"In Boston! In Boston!" added Russ. "And we'll have Boston baked beans!" + +The next day the children said good-bye to Grandma Bell and, with Daddy +and Mother Bunker, started for Aunt Jo's. They hardly even dreamed of +all the good times they were to have there, nor of the strange things +that were to happen. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ON THE BOAT + + +From Grandma Bell's home, near Lake Sagatook, the six little Bunkers, +with their father and mother, were taken to the railroad station in a +big automobile. As the children looked back, waving their hands to their +dear grandmother, who had made their visit such a pleasant one, Russ +said: + +"Oh, dear!" + +"What's the matter?" asked his father. "You seem sad." + +"I wish we could take that nice lake with us," explained Russ. "We had +such fun there." + +"And the boat, too," added Rose. "Can we have a boat at Aunt Jo's, +Daddy?" + +"I hardly think so," answered Mr. Bunker with a smile. "Aunt Jo lives in +the city--in Boston, in the Back Bay section, and I hardly think there +is a place there where you can paddle a raft." + +"Can we go wadin'?" asked Laddie. + +"Not unless there is a little lake in some park near by," his father +answered. + +"Couldn't we wait for it to rain and make a mud puddle?" asked Vi. "We +could wade in that! We do when we're home!" + +"But Boston isn't home. And you can't do in a big city the things you +can do at home in Pineville," said Mrs. Bunker, as the automobile +chugged along through the woods. + +"Can't we have _any_ fun?" asked Russ. + +"Oh, yes, lots of fun," his father replied. "Aunt Jo wouldn't ask us to +spend two weeks or more at her house, if she didn't know you children +could have fun, even if she does live in a city. Don't worry about +that--you'll have fun." + +"But we can't have a boat," sighed Rose. She and the other children +loved the water, and, living so near Rainbow River as they did, they +were used to paddling about, playing with make-believe boats and toys +like that. + +"Well, if you can't have a boat at Aunt Jo's in Boston, you are going +to ride on one before you get to her house," said Mother Bunker with a +smile. + +"Are we?" cried Russ and Rose together. + +"Yes. Didn't I tell you about that?" asked Daddy Bunker. "We are going +to Boston by boat, instead of by train. That is, we are going most of +the way by boat." + +"Where is there any water for a boat?" asked Vi, looking around in the +woods through which they were riding. "You can't make a boat go lessen +you have water." + +"Oh, I know. Yes, you can! Yes, you can!" suddenly cried Laddie. + +"How can you?" asked Russ. "You can't sail a boat without water." + +"Yes, you can!" said Laddie again, and he was laughing now. "I just +thought of a riddle. This is it. What kind of a boat can you sail +without water? It's a riddle!" + +"Huh! I should say it _was_! Nobody could answer a riddle like _that_!" +declared Russ. + +"Yes, they can!" insisted Laddie. "It's a riddle! And I made it up all +by myself. Nobody told me, and I know the answer." + +"Well, that's more than I do," said Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Suppose +you tell us, Laddie." + +"And then Daddy can tell us about the boat we're going to ride on to +Aunt Jo's," suggested Rose. + +"Yes, I'll do that," said Mr. Bunker. "Go on, Laddie. What is the riddle +you thought of?" + +"What kind of a boat don't have to go in water?" asked the little boy, +his eyes shining, for he loved to make up riddles. + +"Well, go on. Tell us the answer," said his mother. + +"It's a gravy boat!" laughed Laddie. "You know, a gravy boat. It's the +kind of a dish we have on the table, with gravy in it, for your bread. +You don't have to put _that_ kind of a boat in water." + +"That's right! You don't," said Mr. Bunker. "That was a good riddle, +Laddie." + +"And maybe I could think up another one," went on the little boy. "I +almost got one. It's about what makes bread always fall with the +butter-side down. But I haven't thought of the answer yet." + +"Well, don't tell us any more riddles now," said Russ. "We want to hear +about the boat we're going to ride on to Aunt Jo's. Tell us, Daddy." + +"All right, I will," promised the children's father. + +Then he went on to tell that, by taking a train to a station on the +coast, they could get a boat that would take them to Boston. + +"We shall have to travel all night though, just as we did in the +sleeping-car," said Mr. Bunker. + +"Why?" asked Vi. + +"Because it will take that long to reach Boston," explained her father. + +Rose had quite a large doll, her best one, which she carried with her in +her arms whenever the family went traveling. Rose had brought her doll +to Grandma Bell's and something funny had happened to the doll in the +sleeping-car. You may read about it in the book before this one. + +"I must see if my doll is asleep," said Rose. + +She had put her toy in a cosy corner of the auto seat, and covered her +with a blanket. But when Rose went to look for Sue, as she called her +doll, Sue was not to be found. + +"Oh! Sue's gone! Sue's gone!" cried Rose. "Somebody has taken my Sue!" + +"Who did?" asked Vi. + +"Are you sure she hasn't fallen to the floor of the car?" asked Mrs. +Bunker. + +"No, she isn't here at all," wailed Rose. + +"Maybe you didn't bring her. Perhaps you left her at Grandma Bell's," +said Mr. Bunker. + +"Oh, no! I'm sure I had her," sobbed Rose. "Don't you all 'member that I +held her up and wiggled her hand at grandma to say good-bye?" + +"Yes, I do remember that," said Mrs. Bunker. "Rose surely had her doll +when we started. Have any of you children seen Sue?" she asked. + +None of them had, and then Daddy Bunker called to the man driving the +auto to stop. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"I thought I'd walk back a little way and see if Sue had not dropped out +along the road," answered her husband. + +"Have we got time for that? Won't the train go?" + +"Well, we've got a little time," said the driver. "I'll get out and help +you look, Mr. Bunker." + +"Why'd you lose Sue, Rose?" asked Vi. + +"Why, Vi Bunker, I didn't mean to lose her!" exclaimed Rose. + +Rose was still searching among the blankets, hoping that, somehow or +other, the doll might be found, and her father and Mr. Mead, the auto +driver, were getting out, when they heard a shout behind them. + +"That's some one calling," said Mrs. Bunker. + +They looked and saw riding toward them a boy on a bicycle. He had +something in one hand, and clung to the steering bars with the other. + +"Oh, he has my doll! He has my doll! I can see Sue!" cried Rose, +clapping her hands in joy. "He found her!" + +"I do believe he has the child's doll," said Mother Bunker. + +"But where did he get her?" asked Vi. + +"He must have picked her up along the road after she slipped out of the +auto," answered Mrs. Bunker. + +By this time the boy on the bicycle had caught up to the auto, which had +stopped in a shady place. + +"This doll dropped out of your car in front of our house," panted the +bicycle boy. "I saw it fall, and I picked it up and rode after you. But +I had hard work to catch you." + +"I'm glad you did catch us," said Mr. Bunker, taking the doll from the +boy's hand. "You had quite a ride. Aren't you tired?" + +"Oh, I'm a little tired, but not much," said the boy. "The doll is all +right. She had a little dust on her, but I brushed it off." + +"I'm ever so much obliged to you," said Mr. Bunker. + +"Thank you--a whole lot!" murmured Rose. "I was 'fraid my doll was lost +forever." + +"And here is something for your trouble," said Mr. Bunker, giving the +boy a silver quarter. + +"Oh, I don't want to take it!" he said, backing away. + +"Of course you must take it!" insisted Rose's father. "You had a hard +ride to bring the doll back to us, and you saved us a long walk to look +for her. Take the money and get yourself something with it." + +"All right. Thank you," said the boy, blushing a little under his tan. +"I'll get me a new knife. I want a knife a lot. My old one's no good." + +Then the boy told of having seen the doll bounce out of the automobile +as it went past his house. He had called, but the machine made such a +noise, and the six little Bunkers were probably talking so much, that no +one heard the lad. + +So he picked up Sue from the road and hurried on after the car. + +"And I never want to lose you again," said Rose, as she hugged her doll +close in her arms. + +Mr. Bunker and Mr. Mead got back into the auto, and they set off again, +Rose and the children waving good-bye to the boy, who stood near his +bicycle, looking at the silver quarter in his hand. + +"Why'd you give the boy a quarter, Daddy?" asked Vi. But that was one +question too many from Vi, and her father did not explain. + +A little later the Bunkers reached the railroad station, without losing +anything more, and they were soon on their way to take the boat for +Boston. + +They had had much fun in Maine, at Lake Sagatook, but just as good times +were ahead of them, they all felt. + +It was evening when they went aboard the big steamer that was to take +them to Boston. The children were rather tired from the day's journey in +automobile and train. + +"I guess we'll all be glad to get into our little beds," said Mother +Bunker, as they went to their staterooms, there being two, one next to +the other. "Now let me count noses, to make sure you're all here," she +went on. "Russ, Rose, Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun--Where is Margy?" she suddenly +cried, as she missed the little girl. "Margy isn't here! Where is she?" + +It was true. Margy wasn't with the other little Bunkers. There were only +five in sight! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +IN BOSTON + + +Daddy Bunker and Mother Bunker were used to having things happen to the +six little Bunkers. Not that they liked to have things happen--that is, +unpleasant things--but the father and the mother knew they could not +travel around with half a dozen children and not find a bit of trouble +now and then. + +And now trouble had come! Margy was not to be found! + +"I'm sure she came on the boat with us," said Daddy Bunker. + +"Yes, I know that," said his wife, as she looked quickly around the +deck. "I saw her with the rest not a minute ago." + +"Then where can she have gone?" asked Mr. Bunker. "As the steamer has +not moved away from the dock, maybe she ran back to shore to get +something, or look at something." + +"Why'd Margy go away?" asked Vi. + +"Margy is too little to go off by herself," said Mrs. Bunker. + +"Do you mean some one took her--maybe a gypsy?" asked Russ. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose. "Are there gypsies here?" + +"Nonsense! Of course not!" answered Mr. Bunker, seeing that what Russ +had said might frighten the children. "No one has taken Margy. Maybe she +is just playing hide-and-go-seek!" + +Mr. Bunker didn't really believe Margy was doing this, but he said it to +make the children feel better. + +"You take the children down to the stateroom," said Mr. Bunker to his +wife, "and I'll look for Margy. I'll find her in a jiffy, which is very +quick time, indeed," he told the children. "Run along now, Mun Bun, and +you too, Vi and Laddie. Rose, you go with your mother and help take care +of Mun Bun." + +"Shall I come with you, Daddy?" asked Russ. + +"Yes," answered Mr. Bunker, "you may come with me, Russ. You can run +faster than I can, and if we find Margy playing tag with some of the +other little boys and girls on the steamer you can catch her more easily +than I can." + +Mr. Bunker said this for fun. He didn't really think Margy was playing +tag. But he had to say something so the others would not be frightened. +And, to tell the truth, Mr. Bunker was a little bit frightened himself, +and so was his wife. + +"Where do you suppose Margy can be?" Mrs. Bunker asked her husband, as +she started down the stairs for the staterooms, or bedrooms, where they +were to spend the night. + +"Oh, she's around somewhere," he answered. "She may be watching the men +load the steamer." Boxes and barrels were still being put into the hold, +or "cellar," of the steamer, which would soon start for Boston. Margy, +from the upper deck, might have seen this work going on, and have +stepped out of sight to watch. + +"Come on, Russ, we'll find her," said Mr. Bunker. + +Many people were now coming on board the steamer. There were some boys +and girls, and certainly a number of them were tired and sleepy. As Mrs. +Bunker went down the stairs with the four little Bunkers, she looked at +every other child she saw, hoping it might be Margy. But she did not see +her smallest daughter. + +Russ and his father walked around the upper deck. They met several men +who worked on the steamer, and asked them if they had seen a little girl +about five years old, with dark hair and eyes, for that is how Margy +looked. + +Each of the men Mr. Bunker asked said he had not seen the little lost +girl, and then Mr. Bunker said: + +"Well, Russ, we'll go down on the next deck. Maybe she is there." + +There were several decks to the steamer, just as there are several +floors in a large house. Russ and his father went downstairs, and as +they started to look on the lower deck they met a man who had shiny gold +braid on the sleeves of his coat, and also on his cap. + +"Are you looking for some one?" asked this man, who was a mate, or +helper, to the captain. + +"We are looking for my little girl," said Mr. Bunker. "She has wandered +away since we came on board." + +"Was she a very little girl?" asked the mate. + +"Rather small," answered Daddy Bunker. + +"And did she have dark hair?" + +"Yes!" exclaimed Russ eagerly. "Oh, have you seen her? She's my sister +Margy." + +"Well, I just happened to pass a stateroom, where I chance to know no +little girl belongs on this trip. The door was open, and I looked in," +went on the mate. "On the bunk, which is what we call the beds on a +steamer," he told Russ, "I saw a little girl with dark hair curled up in +a heap. She seemed to be asleep, and there was a little white poodle dog +with her." + +"A little white poodle dog!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "Then I'm afraid it +can't be my little girl. We have no white poodle dog." + +"Maybe Margy found one, Daddy, and that's why she didn't come with us," +said Russ. + +"Better take a look at this little girl," went on the mate. "She seems +to be all alone in this stateroom, and she may be yours." + +"We'll look," said Mr. Bunker. "But I hardly think it can be Margy." + +He followed the mate, holding Russ by the hand so the little boy would +not get lost, though Russ was almost too big for this. + +"Here she is," said the mate, as he came to a stop at an open door of a +stateroom. And there, on the clean, white bunk, curled up with one arm +around a white poodle dog was a little girl, whose dark hair mingled +with the white coat of the poodle. + +"Oh, it is Margy!" exclaimed Russ. + +"Yes, so it is," said Mr. Bunker. "Thank you," he added to the captain's +helper. "Now we are all right. We have found our lost little girl." + +"I was wondering to whom she belonged," said the mate. "And I was going +to tell the captain about her. Now I won't have to." + +When Mr. Bunker and Russ went into the room, the little poodle dog +raised up his head, opened one eye, and wagged his little stump of a +tail, as if he were saying: + +"It's all right. You don't need to worry. I'm taking care of Margy and +she's taking care of me." + +And it was Margy asleep in the bunk! Poor, tired, sleepy little Margy +Bunker. + +"My dear little girl," said Daddy Bunker softly, as he took her up in +his arms. "We were so worried about you. Where have you been?" + +"I--I founded a little dog," said Margy sleepily, as she put her head +down on her father's shoulder. "He was a little white dog an' I loved +him an' I went with him an' we went to--went to--we----" + +And then Margy herself went to where she was trying to tell her daddy +she had gone--to sleep. + +"We'll ask her about it in the morning," said Mr. Bunker. "I'll carry +her to her mother now, so she won't be anxious any more." + +Margy was in slumberland once more, and so was the little white poodle +dog. He just looked up, with one eye, when he saw Mr. Bunker carrying +his little girl away, and then doggie went to sleep again also. + +"Aren't you glad we found Margy?" asked Russ, as he walked back with his +father to where Mrs. Bunker and the other children were waiting. + +"Indeed I am," said Margy's daddy. + +"Where was she?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she saw her lost little girl. + +"She had wandered into some other stateroom, and had gone to sleep," Mr. +Bunker answered. + +"And the little poodle dog was asleep with her," added Russ. + +"Where's the little poodle dog?" demanded Laddie, who was almost asleep +himself. + +"Oh, we couldn't bring him," Russ said. And then his father told how +Margy had been found. + +The little girl was still too sleepy to talk, so her mother undressed +her and put her to bed. + +"We can ask her in the morning what happened," she said. + +Now the six little Bunkers were together again, and happy once more, and +Mr. and Mrs. Bunker were no longer worried. They all went to bed, and +then the steamer traveled through the night, getting to Boston the next +day. + +The children were awake early, and when they were dressed they went out +on deck. They had breakfast on board, in the big dining-saloon. + +"When shall we get to Aunt Jo's?" asked Rose, as she helped her mother +pick up some of the things the other children had scattered about the +stateroom. + +"We'll be there in time for dinner," said Mr. Bunker. "But we haven't +yet heard what happened to Margy. Why did you go to sleep in the strange +bed?" he asked his little girl. + +"'Cause I wanted the doggie," she answered. And then she told how it had +happened, though they had to ask her many questions to get the whole +story. + +Soon after coming on board the steamer Margy, walking a little distance +apart from the other little Bunkers, had seen the white poodle dog +running about the deck. She made friends with him, and when the dog, who +belonged to an elderly lady passenger, went off by himself, Margy +followed. + +The poodle went into the stateroom where his mistress was to sleep, and +jumped up on the bed. Margy did the same thing, and then they both fell +asleep. Through the open door the mate saw them and then Mr. Bunker came +and got his little girl. + +"But you mustn't do it again, Margy," he said. + +"No, Daddy. I won't," she promised. "But he was an awful nice little +dog." + +"Could we have him?" Mun Bun wanted to know, for they had seen the white +poodle running about the deck that morning. + +"Oh, no," replied Mrs. Bunker. "We're going to Aunt Jo's, and she may +have a dog herself." + +"That'll be fun!" laughed Margy. "I likes a dog!" + +"Has Aunt Jo a dog, really?" asked Vi. + +"Well, maybe," returned her mother. + +A little later the six little Bunkers were riding through the Boston +streets on their way to Aunt Jo's house. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ALEXIS IS SPLASHED + + +"Well, well! Oh, I'm _so_ glad to see you! Now stand still, please, +while I look at you to make sure you're all here!" + +This is what Aunt Jo said as she stood smiling on the steps of her +beautiful house in the fashionable Back Bay section of Boston. The six +little Bunkers, with Daddy and Mother, had arrived in a big automobile +that Mr. Bunker had engaged at the steamer dock. It needed a large +machine to take the whole family, with their baggage, through the city. +And when they had rung the bell Aunt Jo was waiting to answer it +herself, as she expected her visitors. + +"One, two, three, four, five, six!" she counted, pointing her finger, +first at Russ, as he was the oldest, and ending with Mun Bun, who was +the youngest. "All here! And I'm _so_ glad to see you," she went on. + +"And we're glad to see you!" added Daddy Bunker as he kissed his sister, +for Aunt Jo was his sister, you remember. "I'm afraid you won't find +room for us all." + +"Oh, yes, I shall," said Aunt Jo, and she laughed and looked so jolly +that the six little Bunkers loved her at once. "I've got lots of room in +this big house," she went on. + +Just then a big dog, the kind called a Great Dane, came stalking into +the hall where the Bunker family was gathered. The dog seemed pleased +when he saw the children, and wagged his tail. + +"I can sleep with the dog if you haven't got room for me anywhere else," +said Margy, as she went up to Alexis, which was the dog's name. "I did +sleep with a dog on the boat, and he did love me and I did love him." + +"Has you got a cat?" asked Mun Bun. "I want to love something, too," and +he looked at Aunt Jo with big, round eyes. + +"No," answered Daddy's sister, "I haven't a cat, but Alexis is large +enough for all you six little Bunkers to love, I guess," and truly the +Great Dane seemed so. + +"What makes Alexis so big?" asked Vi. + +"Because he's a Great Dane." + +"What makes a Great Dane be so big?" + +"Vi, Vi!" protested her mother. "Don't ask any more questions now." + +"But come in and get your things off," went on Aunt Jo. "I'm keeping you +standing in the hall as if I didn't have room for you inside. Come in, +make yourselves at home and I'll have Parker hurry the lunch. You must +be starved." + +"We had breakfast, but it wasn't much," said Russ. "I guess it's on +account of war times." Russ had really eaten a big breakfast, but, of +course, that had been a long time before. + +"Well, of course we must all help with the war," said Aunt Jo, "but I +think Parker can give you enough to eat." + +"Is Parker a cat?" asked Vi. + +"Oh, no!" laughed Aunt Jo. "Parker is my cook. I call her by her last +name instead of her first name, as it is the same as mine. Parker is a +very good cook, you'll find." + +"If Parker was a cat maybe I could think up a riddle about her," put in +Laddie. "Anyhow, I know a new riddle, Aunt Jo." + +"Do you? Well, I must hear it," she said, as she opened the door to the +sitting-room. + +"Oh, Laddie, can't you wait to ask riddles until we get our things off?" +asked his mother. + +"I--I'm afraid I might forget it," said the little boy. "It's a hard +riddle." + +"Well, let me hear it," said Aunt Jo with a laugh. "I used to be pretty +good at guessing them." + +"This is it," said Laddie. "I didn't make it up, but I asked one of the +sailors on the steamer for a good riddle, and he told me this one. It's, +'What can you put in your left hand that you can't put in your right +hand?' That's the riddle." + +"Pooh! there can't be any answer to that," said Russ. "If you can put +anything in your left hand you can put it in your right, too. Look!" + +He took his knife from his pocket, and put it first in his right hand +and then in his left. + +"But I don't mean a knife," said Laddie. "'Tisn't what you _can_ put in +both hands, it's what you _can't_." + +"Let me hear the riddle again," begged Aunt Jo. + +"What can you put in your left hand that you _can't_ put in your right?" +asked Laddie. "It's awful hard--you'll never guess it," he went on, +laughing at the puzzled look on Aunt Jo's face. + +They all tried to guess the riddle--that is all except the smallest +children--Mun Bun and Margy, and they were too much taken up with loving +the dog Alexis. Aunt Jo tried several things, but she found she could +put them in one hand as easily as she could in the other, so that +couldn't be the answer. + +"Do you give up?" asked Laddie. + +"Yes," said his father, "we all give up. Tell us the answer." + +"It's your right elbow," said the little boy with a laugh. + +"Your right elbow?" cried Russ. + +"Yes," Laddie went on. "Look! You can hold your right elbow in your left +hand, but you can't put your _right_ elbow in your _right_ hand. Nobody +can!" + +And, surely enough, when they tried, no one could do it. And you can +quickly prove it for yourself to make sure Laddie was right. You can +easily rest your _right_ elbow in the palm of your _left_ hand. But try +to put your _left_ elbow in your _left_ hand, or the _right_ elbow in +the _right_ hand, and see how hard it is. + +"Well, that's a good riddle!" laughed Aunt Jo. "I shall have to put on +my thinking cap when you ask me any more, Laddie." + +"Oh, I know _lots_ more riddles," cried Laddie eagerly. "Some I made up +myself. I know one about why don't the railroad tickets get mad when the +conductor punches 'em, but I never can think of an answer for that +riddle." + +"Well, a riddle isn't much fun unless you know the answer," agreed Aunt +Jo. "And now I'll show you to your rooms, and you can get ready for +lunch." + +They went upstairs, Alexis following, for he seemed to like children. +And the six little Bunkers certainly liked the big dog. + +"Does he like dolls?" asked Rose, as she held her Sue close in her arms. + +"Well, I never saw him bite any," said Aunt Jo. + +"I don't want to put my doll down where he could get her if he would +carry her off," went on the little girl. + +"Would Alexis do _that_?" asked Vi. + +"No, I don't believe Alexis would hurt the doll," said Aunt Jo. "Here, +we will try him. Come to me, Alexis!" she called. + +The dog managed to get away from Mun Bun and Margy, who were trying to +see who could hug him the hardest, and he stood near his mistress. + +"Do you see this doll, Alexis?" went on Aunt Jo, holding Sue out for him +to see. "Look at her!" + +"Bow-wow!" barked Alexis, and that meant: "Yes, I see her, what about +it?" + +"You must be very nice to her, and not chew her nor carry her off and +put her in some hiding-place, as you do your bones," went on Aunt Jo. +Alexis waved his big tail, sniffed at Rose's doll, and then barked +again. + +"He will never hurt your toy, Rose," said Aunt Jo. "You may safely leave +her anywhere in the house." + +"She's my best doll, and she's been lost in the woods and had lots of +adventures," Rose said. "But I wouldn't like a dog to carry her +off--'specially not such a big dog." + +"Well, don't worry about Alexis," said Aunt Jo. "He won't hurt your +Sue." + +The visitors were shown to their different rooms, and their baggage was +carried up so the children could change their clothes. + +"Why do we have to change our clothes?" asked Vi. + +"We want to put on some old things so we can have some fun," returned +Russ. + +"Can we sail a boat anywhere around here?" asked Laddie. + +"I'm afraid not," said Aunt Jo. "You see this is a big city, and not the +country, as at Grandma Bell's, where you have been staying. True, we are +near the bay, but you couldn't very well sail boats there. I shall have +to think up some other fun for you." + +"We like fun," added Violet. + +By this time Mun Bun and Margy had been fitted out with their "play +clothes" as they called them; clothes that could not easily be soiled. +Russ and Rose had dressed themselves, and Mrs. Bunker was seeing to +Laddie and Violet. + +"And when you're all ready I'll have Parker serve the lunch," said Aunt +Jo. "If you'll just excuse me now, I'll run down and see about it," she +added to her brother. + +"Go ahead," said he. "We'll be right down." + +"Can Alexis stay up here with us?" asked Mun Bun. + +"Oh, yes, he likes to be with children," said Miss Bunker, for that +really was Aunt Jo's name, she being Daddy Bunker's sister. + +So Aunt Jo went downstairs to see that the cook got a nice lunch ready +for the six little Bunkers. + +Mr. and Mrs. Bunker, now that they had the children ready, could stop +and "get their breaths," as Mother Bunker said. Really it is a good deal +of work to look after six children. + +"Come on!" called Daddy Bunker, when he had helped his wife put the +baggage away in the rooms they were to have while at Aunt Jo's house. +"Come down to lunch, children!" + +Russ, Rose, Violet and Laddie came from the windows, out of which they +had been looking at scenes in the street. + +"Where is Mun Bun?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"And Margy?" added her husband. + +"I saw 'em a minute ago," answered Rose. + +And just then, from down the hall, came strange sounds. + +"Now it's my turn, Mun Bun! It's my turn to splash him!" shouted Margy. + +"No, it's mine!" insisted her brother. "You splashed him a lot, an' I'm +goin' to do it now. You let me pull it!" + +"Oh, what are those children doing now?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"I'll go and see," offered her husband. + +And then, from a room down the hall, came the sound of splashing water +and the barking of Alexis, the big dog, while Mun Bun could be heard +calling: + +"Let me pull it! Let me pull it! I want to splash him, too!" + +"What are Mun and Margy Bunker doing?" asked Vi. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE POCKETBOOK + + +"Where are they?" asked Daddy Bunker, looking at his wife. + +"They must be in the bathroom," she answered. "Oh, do go and look +please, and see what is happening." + +"What is it? May I go and see?" cried Vi, going toward the bathroom +without waiting to have her questions answered. + +Mr. Bunker ran down the hall. The bathroom door was open and within he +saw a strange sight. + +Mun Bun and Margy had, somehow or other, got the big dog Alexis to jump +into the bathtub. Perhaps the dog had done it before. Anyhow he was in +it now, and, as he stood there, Margy and Mun Bun were having a sort of +tug of war to see who should pull the handle of the chain that worked +the shower bath. + +Margy had her chubby fists on the handle, and she was pulling, but Mun +Bun was trying to pull her hands away so he could take hold of the chain +himself. So the pull of the two children was enough to make the water +spurt out from the overhead shower. Down the water came, splashing on +Alexis, but he seemed to like it. He barked, but not too loudly, and +wagged his tail. + +[Illustration: DOWN THE WATER CAME, SPLASHING ON ALEXIS. + +_Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's._--_Page 53_] + +"Mun Bun! Margy! What in the world are you doing?" cried their father. +Of course he could see, perfectly well, what they were doing, but, +somehow or other, that seemed the most natural thing to ask. + +"What are you doing?" he cried. + +"We're splashing Alexis," said Margy. + +"It's my turn to do it, but she won't let me," complained Mun Bun. +"She's splashed him a lot, and now I want to." + +"You mustn't either of you splash Alexis any more like this!" exclaimed +Mr. Bunker, wanting to laugh at the funny sight, but really not daring +to, lest the children try it again some time. + +"Stop it at once," he said. "Turn that water off, Mun Bun!" + +"I'm not pulling it--it's Margy!" said the little boy. + +"Both of you stop!" commanded their father. "Come here, Alexis!" he +called, and the big dog jumped out of the bathtub. Luckily the floor of +the room was of white tile, so the water that dripped on it from the dog +did no harm. But when he gave himself a shake, as dogs always do when +they come out of water, the drops splashed on the two children and also +on Mr. Bunker. + +"Oh! Oh!" cried Mun Bun. "I'm--I'm all wet!" + +"So'm I!" added Margy. She had let go of the shower-bath chain, and the +water no longer ran out. + +"Alexis got me wet, too," said Daddy Bunker. "But you children should +not have done this. It was very wrong." + +"But Alexis was very hot," said Margy. "His tongue was stickin' out of +his mouth just like Grandma's dog Zip's used to, and so we wanted to +cool him off; didn't we, Mun Bun?" + +"Yes, we did," answered the little boy. "So I told him to get into the +bathtub, and we pulled the chain and the water splashed out on him." + +"I should say it _did_ splash!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker, trying not to +laugh. "I don't know what Aunt Jo will say." + +"Well, she said she wanted us to have fun," went on Margy, "and we did +have fun, and Alexis liked it." + +"Perhaps he did," said her father, for the dog did not seem to mind +being wet. "But it was very wrong to do it. You children are very wet." + +"Did anything happen?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she came down the hall +toward the bathroom, with Russ, Rose and Laddie. + +"Well, lots happened, but nothing very bad," said her husband. "Alexis +had his bath, that's all." + +"Oh, my dears!" cried Mrs. Bunker, when she saw the splashed bathroom +and how wet the two children were. "How _could_ you do it?" + +"I'll show you how to do it!" exclaimed Mun Bun, not exactly knowing +what his mother meant. "This is how!" and he reached for the handle of +the shower-bath chain. But his father caught him just in time to stop +him from splashing any more water about. + +"It is a good thing I changed their clothes," said Mrs. Bunker. "Poor +Alexis! Did you think it was raining?" she asked, as she patted the +dog's wet head. + +But the Great Dane did not seem to mind. He wagged his tail joyfully, +and, after all, the day was a hot one. + +"Don't mind about a little water, as long as the children are all +right," said Aunt Jo, when she heard what had happened. "Alexis loves to +get a bath, but he is generally washed out in the garage by William, the +man who attends to the car. I had never put him in a bathtub, but I +suppose he liked it." + +"He waggled his tail like anything," said Mun Bun. + +"Well, then that's a sure sign he was pleased," said Aunt Jo. + +Margy and Mun Bun had been partly dried off in time for lunch, and the +six little Bunkers, with the rest of the family, were now at table. + +"What we going to do this afternoon?" asked Vi. + +"What would you like to do?" inquired her aunt with a smile. + +"Well, I'd like to see something," Russ put in. + +"I want to see some cows and sheep," added Laddie. "Maybe I could think +up a riddle about them if I was to see some. We had some at Grandma +Bell's." + +"And he gave 'em sugar 'stid of salt," said Russ with a laugh. + +"Well, they liked it," Laddie declared. "Only the old ram--_he_ wasn't +nice!" + +"I'm sorry, but there aren't any sheep or cows around here," said Aunt +Jo with a smile. "You must remember that this is a city, and not the +country. But there are many things to see here. We can go to visit +Bunker Hill Monument, and we can go on excursions to Nantasket +Beach--oh, we can do lots of things to have fun!" + +"That's good!" murmured Rose. "I think I'd like to go for a walk, and +see things." + +"So would I," agreed her mother. "If you like, Rose, you and I will take +a walk. I want to get a few things from the store." + +"Well, you can do that," said Daddy Bunker, "and I'll stay here with +Aunt Jo and look after the children. I'm afraid even five little Bunkers +will be too much for her to manage." + +"Oh, no!" exclaimed Aunt Jo. "I love children!" + +She had never had any of her own, being unmarried, but no mother could +have been more kind nor have loved children any more than did Aunt Jo. + +"Well, if mother and Rose go downtown for a walk, we'll stay here and +look around a bit," said Daddy Bunker. + +"And maybe I can find something to make," said Russ, as he walked about, +whistling his shrillest. Russ was not quite happy unless he was making +something, whether it was whittling a sword out of a piece of wood, or +building an airship. + +So, while Daddy Bunker took the children out into Aunt Jo's back +yard--and she had a large one, for which the boys and girls were very +glad--Mrs. Bunker and Rose got ready to go shopping. + +At one end of the yard was the garage for the automobile. The reason she +had not sent it to the dock to meet her brother and the children when +the boat came in was that she did not know at just what hour they would +arrive. + +Working around the garage was William, the chauffeur, who also helped +about the house, taking out the ashes in winter and cutting the grass in +summer. + +"We've a man named Jerry Simms who does that at our house," said Russ, +when he learned what William did for Aunt Jo. "Jerry is a soldier, or he +was. Are you a soldier, Mr. William?" + +"No, but I may be, some day," he answered. + +"Have you got any corn shuckers here?" asked Laddie. + +"A corn shucker? No. What's that?" + +"Well, it's a thing, and you put ears of corn in a spout and turn a +wheel and the kernels of corn come out of one end, and the empty cob +comes out of the other end. Grandma Bell's got one." + +"And we put Rose's doll in and shucked off all her buttons," added Russ. + +"That's what they did," said Daddy Bunker. "I'm glad you haven't one +here, William. Rose didn't like it when all the buttons came off her +doll." + +"But it was lots of fun," added Laddie. "Maybe I could think up a riddle +about a corn shucker, if I tried real hard." + +"Oh, look! Here's a hose!" cried Russ, as he saw one with which William +had been washing the automobile. "May we squirt it?" + +"I'm afraid you'll get wet," said the chauffeur, with a look at Mr. +Bunker. + +"A little water won't hurt them," said the children's father. "They have +on their old clothes. But perhaps you don't want them to take it." + +"Oh, I was going to water the lawn, anyhow," said William; "and I'd just +as soon they would do it if you don't mind." + +"Hurray!" cried Laddie. + +"I'm going to have first turn at squirting!" insisted Russ. + +Their father settled this little dispute by saying that Vi and the two +older boys might have the hose for five minutes at a time, and he would +stay near by to see that everything was fair. So Laddie and Russ and Vi +began to sprinkle the lawn, while Margy and Mun Bun found a pile of +clean sand near the garage, where they could play. + +And now I must tell you something that happened to Rose and her mother. +They were walking down one of the Boston streets, after having bought +some things in one of the stores, when Rose, who was walking a little +ahead of her mother, suddenly called: + +"Look! Look, Mother!" + +"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"It's a pocketbook," went on Rose, pointing to one on the sidewalk. "And +it looks as if it had money in it. Shall I pick it up, Mother?" + +"Yes. Why not?" said Mrs. Bunker, glancing about, and seeing no one who +might have dropped it. "Why shouldn't you pick it up, Rose?" + +"'Cause maybe it's an April fool one, and somebody will pull it away +with a string," the little girl answered. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A SAD LETTER + + +April fool was something Mrs. Bunker had not thought of as she looked at +the pocketbook lying on the sidewalk. As Rose had said, it did seem to +have money in it, but perhaps it might be stuffed with paper. + +Then, too, there might be a string tied to the wallet, and boys, hidden +somewhere near, might pull on the string and yank the pocketbook away +just as soon as any one stooped over to pick it up. Still Mrs. Bunker +said to Rose: + +"This is too late for April fool. This is August, and no boys would +think of playing such tricks now." + +"Maybe not, Mother," Rose agreed. "I just thought maybe that was what it +was there for. But I'll pick it up. I hope it's got a lot of money in +it!" + +With shining eyes Rose stooped to pick up the purse. + +"Open it, Rose, and see what is inside," said Mrs. Bunker. "We may find +out the name of the owner, and, if she lives around here--for it looks +like a lady's pocketbook--we can take it to her." + +"But we don't know the streets, Mother," said Rose. + +"We can ask a policeman. If we find the name of the owner, and it is too +far for us to go where she lives, we can give the pocketbook to the +policeman and he will deliver it for us. But open it and see what is in +it," returned Mrs. Bunker. + +The pocketbook opened easily enough, and as Rose turned back the flap +she gave a cry of surprise. + +"What's the matter?" asked the excited child's mother. + +"Oh! Oh, it's just _full_ of money!" cried the little girl. "It's piled +full of money, Mother! Look!" + +She hurried to her mother's side with the opened pocketbook. Surely +enough, when Mrs. Bunker looked, she saw a roll of green bills. Just +how many were in the pocketbook she could not tell. + +"Well, this is quite a find!" said Rose's mother. "The person who lost +this will feel bad about it. We must try to find the owner." + +"Oh, can't I keep it?" asked Rose. + +"Of course not," said her mother. "Whenever we find anything we must try +to discover the owner and give the lost thing back. If you lost your +doll you'd want whoever found her to give her back; wouldn't you?" + +"Oh, of course, Mother! But Sue--she isn't a _pocketbook_ full of +money." + +"No," agreed Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "If Russ were here I suppose he'd +say your doll was full of sawdust. However, no matter what it is, we +must give back whatever we have found if we can find the owner. Of +course, after we have tried hard, if we can't discover who lost whatever +we have found, we may keep it." + +"How can we tell who lost this pocketbook and all the money?" asked +Rose. + +"We'll look inside, and we'll also count the money," said her mother. + +"Maybe it's a hundred dollars!" exclaimed the little girl, her eyes +shining brightly. + +"Perhaps it may be," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we won't count it out here +on the street. We have nearly finished shopping, so we will take the +pocketbook home with us, and show it to Daddy and Aunt Jo." + +Rose had the wallet open, looking at the roll of bills inside. Now her +mother gently took it from her and closed it. + +"What made you do that?" asked Rose. + +"Because the wind might blow some of the money out," was the answer, +"and then we could not give it all back to the poor person who owns it." + +"What makes you think the pocketbook is a poor person's?" asked Rose, +who was asking almost as many questions as would her sister Vi had she +been there. + +"Well, the pocketbook is rather a shabby one, even though it seems to +have quite a lot of money in it," said Mrs. Bunker, as she put it away +in her own shopping bag. "The leather is worn and it is torn. But we +will go over it more carefully when we get home." + +Rose could hardly wait to get back to Aunt Jo's house to look farther +into the pocketbook and see what it held. No one on the street had paid +the slightest attention to Rose and her mother when the wallet had been +found, and no policeman was in sight who could be asked about it. So +Mrs. Bunker thought the best thing to do was to take it with her and +examine it later. + +When Aunt Jo's house was reached Laddie, Vi and Russ had about finished +watering the lawn. They had watered themselves a little, also, for they +were so eager, and took so many turns with the hose that it splashed on +them. + +But the day was warm, and, as they had on their old clothes, their +father did not mind, as long as they did not get too wet. + +"Oh, we had lots of fun!" cried Russ as he saw his mother and Rose +coming along. + +"We had a dandy time!" added Laddie. + +"You don't know what I found!" cried Rose, not thinking so much about +her brothers' fun with the hose as she was about what had happened to +herself and her mother. "I found something!" + +"What?" asked Vi. + +"Was it a little kittie?" asked Mun Bun, who, with Margy, had finished +playing in the sand pile. + +"No, it wasn't a kittie, though I wish I could find one," said Rose. + +"Did you find a new riddle?" Laddie wanted to know. He thought more of +riddles than of many other things that most boys like. + +"No, it wasn't a riddle," answered Rose. "You'd never guess, so I'll +tell you. I found a pocketbook, and maybe it's got two hundred dollars +in it! So there!" + +"Oh, you did not! Did she, Mother?" asked Russ, in surprise at what his +sister had said. + +"Yes, Rose did find a pocketbook," answered Mrs. Bunker. "It was lying +on the sidewalk in front of us. But whether it has two hundred dollars +in it, or only one hundred, I don't know yet." + +"Where is it? Where is it?" cried Vi over and over. + +"In my bag. We really did make quite a find," she went on to her husband +and Aunt Jo, who came out on the porch just then. "Look!" and Mrs. +Bunker took the purse out of her shopping bag, handing it over to her +husband. + +"See if you can find out who owns it," she suggested. + +"And if nobody owns it I'm going to keep it for mine," said Rose. + +"Can she, Mother?" Russ wanted to know. + +"Well, we'll see," said Mrs. Bunker. + +Meanwhile her husband was opening the pocketbook. He saw the roll of +bills and whistled. + +"Well, there's some money here, anyhow," he said. "I'll count it first, +so we'll know just how much it is." + +Mr. Bunker was used to counting over bills. He could not do it quite as +fast, perhaps, as the cashier in a bank, but he soon had spread out the +money in a chair in front of him on the porch, and he said: + +"There are just sixty-five dollars here." + +"Sixty-five!" exclaimed Rose. "I thought it was two hundred." + +"Is sixty-five dollars much money?" asked Vi. + +"Well, sixty-five dollars is a lot of money if you lose it," said her +father. "And whoever lost this will be very glad to get it back, you may +be sure." + +"Is there anything else in the pocketbook to tell who may own it?" asked +Mrs. Bunker. + +"No, there doesn't seem to be anything but just the roll of bills," he +answered. "Hold on, though!" he exclaimed, as he looked in another part +of the pocketbook, "here is some sort of a paper." + +"That may have the owner's name on it," said Aunt Jo. "I always carry in +my purse a slip with my name and address on it, so if I lose my +pocketbook whoever finds it will know where to bring it back. Probably +that is what this is." + +"No, it doesn't seem to be," said Mr. Bunker. "This appears to be part +of a letter. Of course it isn't nice to read letters that are for other +people, but as we are trying to find out to whom this money and +pocketbook belong it will be all right. I'll read this." + +He took out a folded paper from a compartment in the pocketbook next to +where the money had been, and began to read. He read it aloud. It said: + + "DEAR MOTHER: I am so glad you have the sixty-five + dollars, for then you will not have to work so + hard, and can take a little rest. It was so good + of Uncle Jack to send it to you. I feel so much + better now that you have this money. You will not + have to worry so much. I am working hard myself, + but I like it, and I will save all I can and send + all I can spare to you. Take good care of the + money and don't lose it, for you may never have as + much again. I am very lonesome and wish I could + see you, but I know the rest will do you good. + With lots of love." + +"Is that all?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as her husband stopped reading. + +"That is all," he said. + +"Isn't there any name or address to that little letter?" Aunt Jo wanted +to know. + +"No, nothing like that," answered her brother. "The only name in it is +'Uncle Jack,' and that might mean anybody. There must have been a name +signed to the letter, but it has been torn off. You can see where the +paper has been torn across. I don't see how we can find who owns the +money from this letter." + +"Maybe there is something else in the pocketbook," said Russ. + +Mr. Bunker looked, and did find a Chinese coin with a square hole in it. +There was only the letter, addressed to "Dear Mother," and the +sixty-five dollars, and the Chinese coin. + +"We'll have to put an advertisement in the paper, saying we have found a +pocketbook," said Mr. Bunker. "Whoever has lost it will see the +advertisement and call here. And we must look in the 'lost and found' +advertisements in the paper to-night." + +"Yes, we'll do that," said Aunt Jo. "The poor woman must be very sad +over her loss. She will be very glad to get it back, and----" + +Just then the telephone in Aunt Jo's house gave a loud ring. + +"Oh," cried Rose. "Maybe that's some one now to ask about the pocketbook +I found. Oh, maybe it is!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RUSS MAKES A FOUNTAIN + + +The six little Bunkers, as well as their father and mother, waited while +Aunt Jo went to answer the telephone, which kept on ringing as though in +a hurry. Vi had asked "Who's ringing?" but of course nobody could tell +her until Aunt Jo answered the call. + +"Yes! What is it?" asked Aunt Jo into the mouthpiece of the instrument, +which stood on a table in the sitting-room. "Oh, it's you, is it, Mr. +North?" she went on. "What's that? Did we lose anything? No, not that I +know of. One of my little guests _found_ something, but I haven't heard +of anything being lost. Wait a minute, though, until I count noses. I'll +see if all the six little Bunkers are here. I might have missed one and +not know it." + +Laughing, Aunt Jo turned from the telephone to look at the children. +They were all there, from Russ the oldest to Mun Bun the youngest. Then +Aunt Jo spoke again into the instrument. + +"No, we haven't lost anything," she said. "Oh, you'll bring it over, +will you, Mr. North? Thank you!" + +"Was it something about the pocketbook?" asked Rose eagerly. + +"No, it was nothing like that," answered her aunt. "The gentleman who +telephoned was Mr. North, my next-door neighbor. He says he has +something belonging to one of you children, and he is going to bring it +right over. Did any of you leave out any of your toys when you were +playing in the yard?" + +"I didn't," said Russ, and none of his brothers or sisters could think +of anything of theirs that was missing. In a few minutes the door bell +rang, and when this was answered, Mr. North brought in what seemed to be +a bundle of rags. + +"Your dog Alexis brought this over and left it on my door mat," he said +to Aunt Jo. + +"Oh, it's my doll Sue!" cried Rose, as she ran forward to take it. "I +forgot all about her. I left her to sleep on the porch in the sun so +she would get nice and tanned, as I do when I go to the seashore, and +then I went downtown with mother and I forgot all about her." + +"Well, I'm glad to bring her back to you," said Mr. North with a smile. +"I guess I must have been holding her upside down," and so he had. That +was what made Sue look so like a bundle of rags. Really she was a nice +doll when she was held right side up. + +"It's queer Alexis brought her to your house, instead of in here to me," +said Aunt Jo. + +"Oh, Alexis and I are great friends," said Mr. North. "He often brings +me my paper when the boy leaves it at the front gate instead of walking +up to the porch with it, and perhaps your dog might have thought this +was a paper, though a very large one," and Mr. North smiled at Rose. + +Mr. North had been introduced to the six little Bunkers, and also to +Daddy and Mother Bunker, when he entered, and he stayed some little +time, talking with them, for he liked children, though all his were +grown into big boys and girls now. + +"I found a pocketbook," said Rose, when she had got over her first bit +of shyness sufficiently to talk to the visitor. + +"Did you, indeed? Well, you are lucky!" said Mr. North. Then he was told +about the sixty-five dollars, and shown the sad letter in the +pocketbook. + +"We are going to put an advertisement in the paper," said Aunt Jo. "And +if you hear of any poor woman who has lost this sum of money, or read +about any in the paper, I wish you would tell us." + +"I will," promised Mr. North. "Well, Rose, you have had quite an +experience almost as soon as you come to Boston. What are you children +going to do the rest of your stay here?" + +"I'm afraid I won't know how to provide fun for so many of them," said +Aunt Jo. "I want them to have a good time, and remember their visit +pleasantly, but I have no toys for girls and boys----" + +"That's just what I was going to speak about," said Mr. North. "There is +an express wagon in my barn, and an old velocipede, as well as a +coaster wagon. They used to belong to my youngsters, but they have +outgrown them. If the six little Bunkers would like to play with those +toys they are very welcome." + +"That will be splendid!" cried Aunt Jo. "I was just wondering what I +could do to amuse Russ and the others, for I haven't any things that +children like, and we can't go on sight-seeing trips or excursions all +the while, though we will go on some. The toys you have, Mr. North, will +be just the thing." + +And indeed they did prove so. The next day Russ and his brothers and +sisters went over to Mr. North's barn. It was an old-fashioned one, the +kind horses and carriages used to be kept in before there were +automobiles. Mr. North also had a garage for his cars, but the old barn +stood far back in his yard, which was a large one next to Aunt Jo's, and +in it were the velocipede, the express wagon, a coaster wagon and other +things with which to have fun. + +"Oh, we can have jolly good times now!" cried Russ. + +"And I can give my doll a ride, after Alexis carried her in his teeth," +put in Rose. + +"Can't we have rides, too?" asked Vi. + +"'Course you can," answered Russ. "I'll give you a nice ride." + +And then, while Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker went to a Red Cross meeting +and while Daddy Bunker went downtown to put an advertisement in the +paper about the pocketbook Rose had found, the children played around +Mr. North's barn and Aunt Jo's yard. + +"Will it be all right to leave them while we go out?" asked Aunt Jo of +Mrs. Bunker. + +"Oh, yes, as long as your man, William, and your cook, Parker, and your +housemaid, Anne, are around to sort of look after them. I often leave +them with our Norah and Jerry Simms." + +So the six little Bunkers were left to themselves. And you can easily +imagine that they had all sorts of good times. There was a stone walk +around Aunt Jo's house, as well as around Mr. North's, and there Russ +and his brothers and sisters rode in the express wagon, on the +velocipede and on the coaster. They laughed and shouted, and every now +and then there would be an upset, but no one was hurt and they all +seemed to like it. + +Now and then Parker or William or Anne would come out from the house or +the garage to look and see that the six little Bunkers were coming to no +harm, and when they found the children were all right they smiled, for +it was fun to watch them play. + +"I know what we can do," said Russ to Laddie, after they had taken turns +riding on the velocipede and coaster. Just at this time Margy and Mun +Bun had the coaster and were playing steam-car with it. + +"What can we do?" asked Laddie, always ready to have fun with his older +brother. + +"We can make a harness for Alexis, and hitch him to the express wagon," +went on Russ. + +"Oh, that'll be lots of fun!" cried Laddie. "But what'll we make a +harness of? Aunt Jo hasn't any horses and Mr. North hasn't either." + +"We can make it of string," said Russ. "It doesn't need to be very +strong, for we aren't very heavy to pull." + +So Russ and Laddie begged pieces of string from Parker, not telling what +they were going to make. + +"If it's a cat's cradle you have cord enough for a dozen," said the +good-natured cook, as she handed out the pieces of string she had saved +from the grocery packages. + +"No, we're not going to make cats' cradles," answered Russ. "You can see +it when we get finished." + +It was no very hard matter to catch Alexis and fasten a lot of pieces of +string around him, as nearly like a harness as the two little boys could +manage. The dog loved children, and asked nothing better than to be with +them. So he stood very still, just hanging his tongue out of his mouth, +as the day was hot, while Laddie and Russ tied the cord around him. Then +they fastened the ends to the express wagon, tying a number of knots. + +"We've got to have lines to drive him with," said Laddie. "Else we can't +guide him the way we want him to go." + +"Yes, I'll make some lines," said Russ. He tied two strings around the +neck of Alexis, one for the left-hand side and the other for the right. + +"I can't put a bit in his mouth, as I could if he was a horse," said +Russ, "'cause Alexis holds his mouth open so much, to cool off his +tongue, that the bit would fall out." + +"That's right," said Laddie. "Anyhow, we don't want a bit. Now can we +have a ride?" + +"I guess so," said Russ. + +There was quite a collection of strings tied around Alexis and made fast +to the little express wagon. + +"We'll get in now," said Russ, when he had the cord reins in his hands, +"and we'll drive around the walk where Rose and Vi are playing with +their dolls," for the two girls were having a party, with cookies and +sugar water, which had been given to them by Parker. + +Into the wagon got Russ and Laddie. Alexis, harnessed to the little +wagon, turned his head to look at them, as if to make sure they were all +right. + +"Gid-dap!" called Russ, as he would to a horse. + +"Bow-wow!" barked the dog, meaning, perhaps: "I will!" + +Then he started to walk off. + +Now, when I tell you that Alexis was a big, strong dog, and that Laddie +and Russ in the express wagon made quite a heavy load, and when I say +that the string harness was not very strong, you can easily imagine what +happened. Alexis had not taken more than two steps before---- + +Snap! went the string harness, and it broke in several places. + +"Whoa! Whoa!" called Russ. "Whoa there, Alexis!" + +But Alexis never "whoaed" a bit. He kept on walking, and he walked right +off with the bits of the string harness clinging to him, leaving the +express wagon with the two little boys in it on the walk at the side of +the house. + +"Come on back and give us a ride!" called Laddie. + +"I guess we'll have to make a stronger harness," said Russ with a laugh. + +"I guess so, too," agreed Laddie. + +Anyhow, Alexis didn't come back. Just outside Aunt Jo's fence he saw +another dog which he knew, and he ran up to have a "talk" with him, in +bow-wow language, of course. + +"Well, we didn't get a ride," said Laddie. + +"No," agreed Russ, "we didn't. But I know what else we can do." + +"What?" asked Laddie. + +Russ did not answer for a moment. He was looking at a shovel lying in +the back part of the yard, where William had been spading for a late +flower bed. Then Russ saw the hose with which the man had been washing +the automobile. + +"We can make a fountain, Laddie!" exclaimed Russ. + +"A fountain! How?" + +"Come on, I'll show you!" said Russ. + +Then he and his brother began to make a fountain. And I suppose you +wonder how they did it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +WHAT HAPPENED TO WILLIAM + + +"First," said Russ, as he took up the shovel, "we've got to make a +hole." + +"I thought you said we were going to make a fountain," said Laddie. + +"We are," Russ went on. "But first you have to have some place for the +fountain water to run into, don't you?" + +"I guess so," agreed Laddie, who was not quite sure. + +"'Course you have," insisted his older brother. "Don't you 'member how a +fountain is? It has a big basin where the water splashes in out of a +thing like a hose, and us boys could paddle our feet in the water if we +wanted to." + +"Oh! are you goin' to make _that_ kind of a fountain?" asked Laddie. + +"Sure," said Russ. "Come on, help me dig the hole, and then we'll fix +the hose in it and run it full of water and then we can paddle in it--I +mean in the hole full of water--and the hose'll be squirtin', and that +will be a fountain." + +"That'll be fine!" cried Laddie. "I'll get a shovel and help you dig." + +Laddie found a small shovel in the barn, and, Russ using the larger one, +which was really too big for him, the two brothers began to make their +fountain. If their father and mother had been at home, or even Aunt Jo +had seen them, I don't suppose they would have been allowed to do this, +for it wasn't exactly right, no matter how much fun they thought they +would have. + +But the boys went on digging, making a deep and large hole in the +garden. They tossed the dirt out with their shovels, and, as the soil +was soft, it was easy for them to dig in it. + +"Isn't it 'most big enough now?" asked Laddie, after a while. + +"Almost," Russ answered, as he looked up from where he stood in the +hole. + +"I'm tired--my back aches," Laddie went on. + +"I'm tired, too," said Russ. "But I guess when you build a fountain it +makes 'most everybody tired. We'll only dig a little more, and then we +can run the water in and wade. I haven't had a good wade since we came +from Grandma Bell's." + +"Neither have I," said Laddie. + +So they dug some more, until they really had quite a large hole in the +garden, and then Russ went to get the hose. It was still attached to the +faucet, but the water was not turned on. + +If William had seen what the boys were doing he would have stopped them. +For, though Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had said nothing about not letting the +children play in the water, and though Aunt Jo had not spoken of it, +either, still, I feel sure William would have stopped Laddie and Russ +from making their fountain if he had seen them. But he did not. He was +doing something inside the garage just then, and it was at this time +that Russ took the nozzle end of the hose, and dragged the long, rubber +pipe over toward the hole he and Laddie had dug. + +"Now all we've got to do is to fasten the hose in the hole, so it +sticks up straight," said Russ. "Then I'll turn the water on, and we'll +have a fountain and we can wade in it." + +"That'll be fun!" exclaimed Laddie. + +At first Russ did not have an easy time trying to make the hose nozzle +stand up straight in the hole he and his brother had dug. Then the boy, +after whistling a bit, and thinking as well as he could, exclaimed: + +"I know how to do it!" + +"How?" asked Laddie. + +"Why, I'll just drive a stick down in the middle of the hole, and I'll +leave part of it sticking up. Then I can tie the end of the hose to it, +sticking up in the air, you know, and when I turn the water on it'll +squirt right straight up and come down in the fountain." + +"That'll be nice," said Laddie. But you just wait and see what happens. + +Russ found an old broom-handle, and, using the shovel for a hammer, he +drove this stick down into the soft dirt, leaving enough showing above +the bottom of the hole to which to tie the hose. + +Laddie helped his brother do this, and then the fountain was ready to +"play" as it is called. I suppose the water bubbling up and down, as it +does in a fountain, really looks as though it were playing. + +"Now we're all ready to turn it on," said Russ when the hose was tied +fast. + +"And then we can wade in the fountain," added Laddie. "I'm going to get +my shoes and stockings off now," and he sat down on the ground, near the +hole, and began to do this. + +Russ went back to where, on the outside wall of the garage, the hose was +screwed on the faucet. He tried to turn the brass handle. But it was +stiff, and more than his little fingers could manage. + +"Come here, Laddie!" called Russ. "You've got to help me turn on the +water." + +"Wait till I get my other shoe off!" said Laddie. + +"No, come on! Do it now!" said Russ. "You can take your shoe off +afterwards, while we're waiting for the fountain basin to fill." + +So, with one shoe on and the other off, Laddie limped over to the garage +to help his brother turn the faucet. Before this William had finished +what he was doing, and had gone to the house to ask Parker something. He +did not notice what Laddie and Russ were doing, but on his way back to +the garage the chauffeur saw the pile of dirt, noticed the hole and +looked at the end of the hose sticking up in the air. + +"Now I wonder what that is," said William to himself. "I didn't leave +the hose like that, and I don't believe Alexis could have dug such a big +hole. I must certainly see what it is." + +So William, forgetting for the moment about the little Bunkers, walked +over to the hose. He saw it sticking up in the hole and, as he bent over +it, he said: + +"This must be the work of Laddie and Russ. I wonder what they're going +to do. Play fireman, maybe." + +And it was just then, as William leaned over the hose, that Russ and +Laddie managed to turn the faucet. You can imagine what happened after +that. + +Through the hose spurted the water, out of the end, right in William's +face. But of course Laddie and Russ did not mean to do that. + +"Oh, my! Here! What's this! Oh, I'm all wet!" spluttered the chauffeur. +He jumped back, but not quite far enough, for he stumbled over some of +the dirt, and fell down, and the water, shooting up into the air, came +down on him in a regular shower. + +"I say now! Stop it! Shut off the water!" cried William. + +At first Laddie and Russ did not know what he meant. Then they looked +toward the hole, which they intended for a fountain, and saw the +chauffeur getting wet. William's legs seemed to be so tangled that he +couldn't get up in a hurry, and he was getting very wet. + +"Turn off the water! Turn off the water!" he begged. "I'm getting all +mud!" + +Laddie and Russ were frightened, then, and they tried to shut off the +faucet. But, just as, often, when you want to do a thing in a hurry you +can't, so it happened with the two boys. The faucet wouldn't turn, and +the water kept on spurting, and William kept getting wet, until he +finally managed to roll out of the way and then he stood up, looking at +the showering hose. + +"What's all this?" asked the dripping chauffeur, but he was not angry. +"What are you boys doing?" + +"Please, it's a fountain we made," said Russ. + +"And we're goin' wadin' in it!" added Laddie. "Oh, look, Russ! It +squirts fine! I'm going to take off my other shoe!" + +He sat down to do this. Really the fountain made from the hose, was +sending out a fine shower of water that sparkled in the sun. The water +was beginning to fill the hole the boys had dug. + +"What are you going to do?" asked William, wiping the water from his +face. + +"We're goin' wadin' in the fountain," explained Laddie. "That's what we +made it for." + +"Oh, no, you'd better not," said William. "I'm sorry, but your aunt +wouldn't like a fountain in her garden. It'll only be a mud-hole, and +you'll get all dirty. Your father and mother wouldn't want that. I guess +I'd better shut off the water. When your aunt comes home, if she lets +you do it, why then it will be all right. But I'm afraid I can't let you +do it now." + +Russ and Laddie looked disappointed. After all their work not to have +the fountain! It was too bad! + +"We--we're sorry you got wet," said Russ, thinking perhaps William felt +a little vexed at them. + +"Oh, that's all right," said William. "I don't mind. These are my old +clothes, anyhow. But I'd best shut off the water." + +He started toward the faucet to do this. Already the hole Laddie and +Russ had dug was half full, and would have made, as Russ said, a "dandy" +place to wade. But it was not to be. + +As the boys stood beside the hole half filled with water, and as William +was at the faucet, ready to turn it off, a loud barking was heard, and +into the garden came racing a little dog, chased by big Alexis, who was +barking loudly. + +"Oh, look!" cried Russ. + +And then something else happened. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ROSE MAKES AN AIRSHIP + + +The little dog that Alexis was racing after must have thought the puddle +of water Russ and Laddie had made would be a good place in which to +hide. For right into it he ran, and he splattered some of the muddy +water over the two boys, who stood near the hole they had dug. William +was over at the garage, turning off the faucet, so he did not get wet +this time. And it was a good thing, too, as he was quite wet enough +already. + +The little dog kept on paddling in the puddle, but big Alexis did not +stop when he came to the edge. With a loud bark, in he jumped, and as he +was almost as big as a small Shetland pony you can easily imagine what a +big splash he made. + +"Oh! Oh!" cried Russ, as he felt the muddy water shower all over him. + +In the puddle floundered Alexis after the smaller dog, and as the water +was not deep enough for Aunt Jo's Great Dane to swim in, he just ran +through it, really making more of a splash than if he had swum. And he +splashed a lot of muddy water over Russ and Laddie. + +"Oh, look at me!" cried Laddie, as he glanced down at his suit, which +was speckled and checkered with wet and brown spots. + +"I'm the same way," said Russ. "But I don't care! We couldn't help it, +and these are our old clothes, anyhow." + +Just then the little dog scrambled out on the far side of the hole, and +Alexis, with a bark, sprang after him. + +"Oh, stop him, William!" cried Laddie. "Stop him! Alexis will bite the +little dog all to pieces." + +"No, he won't do that," replied the chauffeur. "The two dogs are good +friends. The little one lives down the street a way, and he and Alexis +often play together this way, and race all over the yard. But I never +saw 'em go into a mud-puddle before. Say, but you two youngsters are +sights! Look at the mud!" + +He had shut off the water by this time, and come back to the hole. +Meanwhile Alexis was rolling on the grass, letting the little dog +pretend to bite his ears. + +"The mud'll brush off," said Russ. + +"These are our old clothes," added his brother. + +"Well, that's a good thing," said the chauffeur. "We're all in the same +boat, I guess. But don't dig any more holes in the yard, and don't play +with the hose unless your aunt says you may. She may blame me as it is." + +When Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo came home, the mud had pretty well dried on +the clothes of Russ and Laddie, and they did not look so dirty. But of +course they told what had happened. + +"You must never do it again!" said their mother. "Don't make any more +fountains in Aunt Jo's yard." + +"We won't," promised Laddie. + +"Could we make one over in Mr. North's yard?" asked Russ. "Maybe he'd +like one." + +"No, not over there, either," his mother said, trying not to laugh. + +So that was how Russ made a fountain, and what happened afterward, and +for many a day he and Laddie had fun telling the other little Bunkers +what they had done. + +As the summer days went by the children had lots of fun at Aunt Jo's. +They went downtown to see the sights of Boston, including Bunker Hill +monument, saw some nice moving-picture shows and went on excursions. + +Meanwhile, Daddy Bunker and others had looked in the paper to see if any +one had advertised for a lost pocketbook with sixty-five dollars in it. +But no one had. + +And to make sure of finding the owner Mr. Bunker put an advertisement in +himself, stating that such a purse had been found, and offering to give +it to the real owner. + +But no one came to claim it. The shabby wallet, with the roll of bills +and the sad little letter, was locked in Aunt Jo's safe, waiting for the +owner to come. But no one came. + +"And can I keep the money?" asked Rose, who inquired, each day, whether +any one had yet come for it. + +"We'll see," promised her mother. + +"I'd like to have the money to spend," went on Rose. + +"Oh, my dear! What would you spend so much money for?" asked Aunt Jo. + +"I'd buy a lot of circus balloons," answered Rose. "I know a store, +about two blocks down the street, that sells 'em. And I want some." + +"Oh, well, if you only want money for a toy balloon I'll give you that," +said her mother. + +"May I have one, too?" asked Vi. + +"And me?" added Margy. + +"And me?" said Mun Bun. "What is it?" + +He always wanted what the others had, whether or not he knew what it +was. + +"Let's all get one!" exclaimed Russ, who seemed to have an idea. "Let's +all get a balloon, and then we can tie strings to 'em and see which one +goes the highest." + +"We can have a race!" suggested Laddie. + +"That's right!" agreed Russ. "We'll have a race." + +Thinking this would be harmless fun for the children, Mrs. Bunker gave +them money enough so each one could buy a good ten-cent toy balloon, for +Rose wanted that kind. + +"The tenners are bigger than the fivers," she said, "and they go higher +and last longer." + +With shouts of glee and laughter the six little Bunkers went down the +street to get the toy balloons. It was not far, and their mother knew +they would not get lost. + +"I'm afraid the children aren't having as much fun here at my house in +Boston as they had at Grandma Bell's," said Aunt Jo, as the youngsters +went down the street after the balloons. + +"Oh, they are indeed!" said Mother Bunker. "They always have a good +time, wherever they go. Don't worry about them." + +"If the weather keeps nice we'll go down to Nantasket Beach some day," +said Aunt Jo. "I think they'll like it there. It is a seaside resort." + +"They'll be sure to," said Mrs. Bunker. "I do wish we could find the +person who owned that sixty-five dollars. I have an idea it must be the +savings of some poor woman, or rather, from the letter, money some one +sent her. It must be hard for her to lose it, but we can't seem to find +to whom it belongs." + +"Perhaps we shall, some day," said Aunt Jo. And they were to, in a very +strange way, as you shall hear in due time. + +Down the street ran the six little Bunkers, to get the toy balloons. +They saw them in the store window--red, green and blue ones, and they +picked out different colors. + +"Don't they look pretty?" cried Vi, as they marched back with the +blown-up rubber bags floating in the air over their heads. + +As yet the balloons had only short strings on them, and Rose, to make +sure the toys of Mun Bun and Margy would not get away, tied the strings +to their wrists. + +"They look like big plums or apples," said Laddie. "Maybe I could think +up a riddle about the balloons." + +"Well, you can be thinking about it when we have a race to see which one +goes highest in the air," said Russ. "When we get to Aunt Jo's house, +we'll get string and let the balloons sail away up." + +Mother Bunker said strong thread would be better than string, as it +would not be so heavy, and soon the six little Bunkers were out in the +front yard, letting their toys sail high above their heads. + +"Mine's the highest!" cried Russ, as he looked at his green balloon +floating high above the trees. + +"That's 'cause you let out all the thread," said Laddie. "I'm not going +to let all mine unwind." + +And neither did the other children, for they were afraid their toys +might get away. For some time they had fun in this way, pulling the +balloons down when they got very far up in the air, and then letting +them float upward again. + +Then came a call from the house. It was Mother Bunker, saying: + +"Here is some bread and jam for hungry children. How many of you want +it?" + +There was no question as to how many did. Each of the six little Bunkers +was hungry. + +"Let's tie our balloons to the fence and leave 'em here until we get +back," said Russ, and this was done, he and Rose tying the threads of +Mun Bun and Margy, who could not make very good knots as yet. + +And so, with the balloons floating out in front, the children went back +to sit under the grape-arbor and eat bread and jam that Parker spread +for them. + +It was so good that some of them had two slices, and then William +brought the automobile out of the garage and began to get it ready for a +run. Aunt Jo was to take the children for a ride. + +"What's William doing to the auto?" asked Vi. + +"Come on! Let's watch him!" proposed Russ, and he and Laddie, with Vi, +Mun Bun and Margy, ran over to where the chauffeur was doing something +to the car. + +"Will our balloons be all right?" asked Laddie. + +"Yes, they can't get away," said Russ. + +Well, that was true enough. The balloons could not have gotten away by +themselves, but something happened to them. + +Rose did not go with her brothers and sisters over to watch William. +Instead, she went into the house, got Lily, one of her dolls, and a +small basket. Rose had a queer idea in her little head, and she was +going to carry it out. + +A day or so before an airship had flown over Boston, circling around +the Back Bay section, and right over Aunt Jo's house. The children were +much excited by it, and at first Russ was going to make one. But he +found it harder than he supposed, so he gave it up. + +"But I can make an airship," said Rose to herself. "Anyhow I can make +something to give my doll a ride in the air in a basket." + +And that is what the little girl was going to do. She had felt how hard +one balloon pulled--for they were filled with gas just as a real balloon +is--and Rose thought that if one balloon pulled so strongly six would +pull harder yet. + +"I'll tie all six balloons to the basket, and put Lily in and give her +an airship ride," said Rose. + +So, while her brothers and sisters were watching the chauffeur, this is +what Rose did. She carefully loosed each balloon, besides her own, from +the fence, and tied the strings to the handle of the basket in which she +put Lily. + +Lily was not heavy like Sue, the doll about which I told you before, the +one the lady once thought was her baby in the car. The basket was not +heavy, either. So that when Rose had tied the last balloon to the +handle, she found that it rose into the air with her doll, and would +have floated off, only Rose tied a cord to the bottom of the basket, and +kept hold of that. + +"Now I've got an airship for my doll!" exclaimed the little girl, and, +really, she did have one kind of airship. + +Up above her head floated the basket with Lily in it, and Rose was quite +pleased. + +[Illustration: ABOVE HER HEAD FLOATED THE BASKET WITH LILY IN IT. + +_Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's.--Page 102_] + +"I can make things as good as Russ, even if I can't whistle like him," +she said. "This is fun! Don't you like it, Lily?" + +Of course Lily couldn't answer and say that she did, but if dolls like +airship rides I'm sure this one of Rose's did. + +Up and along floated the balloons, lifting the basket, and then, all of +a sudden, something happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +VI IS LOST + + +Rose said, afterward, that it was not the fault of Alexis, though the +barking of the big dog made her jump and lose her hold on the string +that was fast to the basket in which the doll Lily rode as if in an +airship. But that is what happened. + +As Rose was walking along, letting the balloons float over her head, and +giving a ride to Lily, the big dog came bounding out of the side yard. +He wanted to play with Rose, and he raced toward her, jumping up and +down. Rose was afraid he would jump up and put his paws on her, and +Alexis was so big that when he did this to any of the six little Bunkers +he almost always knocked them down. In fact, he had knocked Mun Bun and +Margy down more than once, but only in fun, and he had not hurt them. + +"Go away, Alexis! Now go away!" exclaimed Rose, as she held the string +above her head. "I can't play with you now, because I got to give Lily +an airship ride. Go away, Alexis!" + +But Alexis didn't want to go away! He barked and he danced around, and +he kept coming closer and closer to Rose, until he really almost bumped +into her. And then it happened. + +Rose let go of the string, by which she was holding the basket that had +Lily in it, and up it shot, high in the air, pulled by the gas-filled +toy balloons. There were six of them, extra big ten-cent ones, and they +could easily lift the small doll in the basket. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Rose, three times. "Look what you made me do, +Alexis! Oh! Oh!" + +And yet, afterward, Rose said it wasn't the dog's fault. + +"I oughtn't to have taken anybody's balloon but mine, and then they +wouldn't be lost," said the little girl sadly. + +For that is what happened. + +Up and up into the air, high above Rose's head, shot the six +balloons--red, green and blue--carrying the doll. When she first felt +the string pulling out of her hand Rose did not know what to do. Then, +as she saw the balloons sailing away, she jumped up into the air and +tried to grab them. But it was too late. Away over the trees sailed the +airship Rose had made, carrying her doll on an unknown voyage. + +"Oh, dear!" cried the little girl again, as she saw that, no matter how +high she jumped, she could not get hold of the string again. "Oh, dear!" + +She looked at the six floating balloons, hoping they might get caught in +a tree, as once one did that Mun Bun had. + +But no such good luck as this happened. The balloons sailed clear of the +trees and went on and on and up and up, becoming smaller and smaller. + +"Oh, my poor, dear Lily!" sobbed Rose, and she was really crying now. +"My dear, darling Lily!" + +"Why, what is the matter, my dear?" asked Aunt Jo, who came along, just +then. "Has anything happened? Did Alexis hurt you?" for she saw the big +dog standing near Rose, and thought perhaps, in his play, he might have +scratched the little girl. + +"No, it wasn't the fault of Alexis," said Rose, "though he did bump into +me and make me let go of the string. But I ought never to have taken the +balloons." + +"The balloons?" asked Aunt Jo, not exactly understanding at first. + +"Yes," said Rose. "They're gone. I made an airship of 'em for my doll, +and--there she goes!" + +She pointed up into the air. Aunt Jo saw the toy balloons, tied to the +handle of the basket, and they were getting smaller and smaller. + +"Oh, my dear little girl!" said she. "And you have taken all the +balloons! That's too bad!" + +And Rose cried harder than ever. Really she had not done just right, but +of course she had not meant to spoil the fun of her brothers and +sisters, and lose their toys. But she had. + +Pretty soon Russ, Laddie and the others came from having watched William +get the automobile ready. + +"Where are our balloons?" demanded Laddie, not seeing them tied to the +fence. + +"They're gone," said Aunt Jo softly, as she put her arms around Rose. + +"Gone?" cried Russ. "Where? Did they bust?" + +"I made an airship of 'em," confessed Rose, "and let go the cord when +Alexis bumped me, and--and there they go!" and she pointed to the sky. + +Well, you can easily imagine that the five little Bunkers felt quite bad +at losing their balloons. Margy and Mun Bun cried, being the smallest. +Vi looked as if she wanted to, and so did Laddie. But Laddie felt he was +too big, and Vi didn't want to do anything her twin brother didn't do; +especially crying. + +Russ swallowed what seemed to be a lump in his throat, and then, +learning that his sister's doll had been carried off in the "airship" +and seeing how bad Rose felt, and noticing the tears on her cheeks, he +said: + +"Oh, well, maybe the balloons would have busted anyhow. I don't care +'cause you lost mine, Rose." + +"I don't either," said Laddie bravely. + +Then Vi said the same thing. Wasn't that good of them? I think so. + +Of course Margy and Mun Bun, being little, felt worse over the loss of +their balloons than the others did. But Aunt Jo found some pieces of +candy for the little tots, and promised they could have new balloons in +a few days. + +"And now we'll all go for an auto ride," she said. + +That made Margy and Mun Bun smile, and the other little Bunkers also +felt better. + +"Will you take us out the way the balloons are blowing?" asked Russ, for +the "airship" could still be seen, a faint speck in the sky. + +"Why do you want to go that way?" asked Aunt Jo. + +"Because maybe then we can get the balloons back," Russ said. + +"And my doll, too, and the basket!" added Rose eagerly. + +"Maybe," said Russ. "You know balloons and airships have always got to +come down. They can't sail on forever, and when this one you made, Rose, +comes down, we can get it, and your doll, too." + +"Oh, won't that be good!" cried the little girl. "I do hope we can!" + +"Well, of course you may find it," said Aunt Jo; "but I'm afraid you +never will, Rose. Of course I know, around the Fourth of July, sometimes +fire balloons, that burn out and don't burn up, come down. Once one came +down in our yard, and William got it. And this may happen to the +balloons you sent up, or that you let get away from you. The gas may all +go out of them, as it probably will, and the basket and the doll will +come down." + +"I'd like to get Lily again, awful much," said Rose. "'Course she wasn't +my best doll, but I love her just the same." + +"Well, we'll take an automobile ride," said her aunt, "and if we see the +airship down anywhere we'll get it." + +"Maybe some other little girl will find it, as you did the pocketbook, +and want to keep it," suggested Russ. + +"Well, if she knew it was my doll wouldn't she give it back to me?" +asked Rose. + +"I'm sure she would," put in Aunt Jo. "But don't set your heart too much +on it, my dear. I'm afraid your doll is gone forever." + +But you just wait and see what happens. + +They all went for an automobile ride, and, though they looked in the +direction the balloons had floated, they did not see the "airship." Rose +and Russ even asked several policemen they passed if they had seen the +balloons and basket with the doll in it come down, but none had. + +Of course Rose felt bad, and so did the other little Bunkers, about +losing their balloons, but there was no help for it. They were gone. + +It was a day or so after this, and the children were talking about a +trip to Nantasket Beach Aunt Jo was to take them on, when just as lunch +was about to be served, Parker came in to say: + +"We are all out of bread, Miss Bunker. The baker forgot to stop. Shall I +send William for some?" + +"Oh, let me go!" begged Vi. "I know where there is a bakery, right down +the street. It isn't far." + +"Are you sure you know the way?" asked Aunt Jo. + +"'Course I do," Vi answered. + +"Well, you may go," said Aunt Jo. "Only be careful not to get lost. +Don't turn around the wrong corners." + +"I won't," promised Vi. + +But that is just what she did. She got the bread all right, but, on the +way back she stopped to pet a kitten that rubbed up against her. And +then Vi got turned around, and she went down a side street, and walked +two or three blocks before she knew that she was wrong. + +"Aunt Jo doesn't live on this street," said the little girl to herself, +as she stopped and looked around. "I don't see her house and I don't see +Mr. North's. I must have come the wrong way." + +So she had, and she turned to go back. But she went wrong again, making +a turn around another corner and then Vi didn't know what to do. She +stood in front of a house, with the bread under her arm, and tears came +into her eyes. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Vi. "It's terrible to be lost so near home!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MARGY TAKES A RIDE + + +This was not the first time Violet had been lost. More than once, even +in her home town of Pineville, she had wandered away over the fields or +out toward the woods, and had not been able to find her way back again. +But always, at such times, Norah or Jerry Simms, or Daddy or Mother +Bunker had come to find her and take her home. + +"But I don't see any of them now," said Vi, as she gazed around her. +There were quite a number of persons on the street, for it was the noon +hour, but the little girl knew none of them, and none of them seemed to +pay any attention to her. + +I think, though, almost any one of those who passed by poor little Vi, +standing there in the street, if they had known she was lost, would have +gone up to her and tried to help her. + +But there were many children in the street, and several of them were +standing still, looking not very different from Vi, except that she was +crying--not a great deal, but enough to make her eyes wet. + +"I guess I'd better walk along a little," said Vi to herself, after a +bit. "Maybe I'll see Aunt Jo's house, or Russ or Rose or--or somebody +that knows me." + +Poor little Vi, just then, would have been glad to see even Alexis, the +big dog. Alexis would lead her home, Vi felt sure. But the big dog was +not in sight. + +Vi walked a little way down the street, and then a little way up it. She +looked at all the houses and at every one she met, still holding fast to +the loaf of bread. But she did not see Aunt Jo's house, and she did not +know any of the men or women or boys or girls that passed her. + +"Oh, I'm worse lost than ever!" sighed the little girl. "I wonder what I +can do. I'm going to ask some one!" + +Now the best way for Vi to have done was to have gone up to one of the +houses and asked where her Aunt Jo's home was. But the funny thing +about it was that Vi wasn't quite sure what her aunt's name was. Her own +name, she knew, was Violet Bunker, but she never spoke of Aunt Jo except +just by that name, never using the last part and, while it was the same +name as her own, Vi didn't know it. She felt she couldn't very well go +up to a house and say: + +"Where does my Aunt Jo live?" + +The person in the house would be sure to ask: + +"What is your aunt's last name, my dear, and on what street does she +live?" + +But Vi didn't know that. So you see she was quite badly lost, though she +had only been away from her aunt's home a little while. + +And then, as the little girl stood there, the tears coming into her eyes +faster than ever, along came a rather tall girl with a pleasant face, +who, as soon as she saw Vi, went up to her and asked kindly: + +"What is the matter? Did you lose your money?" + +"Oh, no," Vi answered, "I didn't lose my money, but I've lost myself. I +spent the money for bread for Aunt Jo, but I came on the wrong street, +I guess, and I don't know where she lives." + +"Where who lives?" + +"Aunt Jo. I'm one of the six little Bunkers and we're staying at Aunt +Jo's, but I don't know where she lives." + +Then this tall, pleasant-faced girl asked, just as any one else would +have done: + +"What's Aunt Jo's other name?" + +And Vi didn't know! + +Then the girl tried to get Vi to tell in what sort of house Aunt Jo +lived, and near what other houses or big buildings it was. But Vi was +only six years old, and she hadn't noticed much about houses. She had +been too busy playing. + +"But Aunt Jo has a big dog," said Vi. "He's an awful big dog, and he +almost knocks you down when he plays with you. If I could find him he'd +take me home." + +"What's the dog's name?" asked the girl. + +"Alexis," answered Vi, "and he----" + +"Oh, now I know where your aunt lives!" cried the tall girl. "I often +see that big dog, and I have heard the chauffeur call him Alexis. I +remember it because it's a sort of Russian name, and I like to read +about Russia. Now I can take you home." + +"Can you--really?" asked Vi eagerly. + +"Surely. I know the very house where Alexis lives, and if you live there +with your Aunt Jo I can take you home. It isn't far; come on. My name is +Mary Turner, and my mother used to sew for a lady on the same street +where your aunt lives. I know the way; come on." + +Taking hold of Vi's hand, the kind girl led her along the street, around +a corner and down another block and then Vi cried: + +"Oh, now I'm all right. I know where I am now. That's Mr. North's house +and I see Aunt Jo's house and here comes Daddy to meet me!" And surely +enough, along came Mr. Bunker, looking up and down the street for a +sight of his little girl, who had been gone so long for the loaf of +bread that he knew she must be lost. + +"Well, if you're sure you can find your way I'll let you run along by +yourself," said Mary Turner. + +"Oh, yes, I'm all right now," said Vi. "My father sees me, and he's +waving to me. Thank you for taking care of me." + +"I'm glad I could help you a little," said Mary. + +"Does your mother sew any more?" asked Vi. + +"No," answered Mary, and her voice sounded sad. "She had a great shock, +and she's ill in the hospital now. I have to go to work to take care of +her. Well, good-bye, and don't get lost again," and Mary turned down a +side street and walked on, waving her hand to Violet. + +"Well, little girl, what happened to you?" asked Daddy Bunker, as he +walked up to his daughter. "We were getting worried about you, so I came +out to see what had happened." + +"I got lost," Vi answered. "I went down the wrong street, but Mary +Turner--she knew where Alexis lived, and she brought me to you." + +"Who is Mary Turner?" asked Mr. Bunker. + +"That's the nice girl that just went away," said Vi, pointing, for her +new friend was still in sight. "Her mother used to sew for somebody on +Aunt Jo's street, but she's in the hospital now--I mean her mother is; +she's sick." + +"That's too bad," said Mr. Bunker. "Aunt Jo might do something for her. +But perhaps the girl doesn't like to ask. Anyhow, I'm glad you're not +lost any longer. Come along to lunch now." + +So that's how Vi was lost and found. And she was soon eating lunch with +the other little Bunkers and telling them what had happened. + +"What can we do this afternoon to have fun?" asked Russ, as he got up +from the table. + +"Let's see if we can't make a better harness for Alexis, and have him +pull us in the express wagon," suggested Laddie. "I found some strong +rope that we can tie on him." + +"All right, we'll do that," agreed Russ. "That'll be fun." + +"Will you give me a ride?" asked Mun Bun. "I'll help you make the +harness if you will." + +"Yes, we'll give you a ride," said Russ, "but I guess we can make the +harness ourselves. Come on, Laddie." + +"I'm going to play with my doll," said Margy. "My rubber doll is all +dirty and I'm going to wash her." + +"Well, don't turn the hose on her, as Russ and Laddie did to William," +laughed Aunt Jo. "Just wash your doll in a basin of water, Margy dear." + +"Yes, I'll do that, Aunt Jo," answered the little girl. + +"I'm going to make a new dress for my big best doll Sue," announced +Rose. "I haven't got my little Lily to love now, so I'll make Sue look +nice. You didn't find my doll that went up in the airship, did you, +Daddy?" she asked. + +"No," answered Mr. Bunker. "And I don't believe I ever shall." + +"And we haven't heard who lost that pocketbook with the sixty-five +dollars in it," said Mrs. Bunker. "It is very strange no one claims the +money." + +"Yes," said Aunt Jo, "it is. But some day we may find out who owns it. +Though if we don't by the time you folks are ready to go home, it will +belong to Rose, for she found it." + +"And then I can buy a new doll," said the little girl. + +So, while Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun went to the garage to try to make +another harness for Alexis, Rose and Margy played with their dolls. +Violet said she was tired from having walked around so much when she was +lost, though I think it was because she had cried, so her mother put her +to bed for a short nap. Then Daddy Bunker went downtown and Aunt Jo and +Mrs. Bunker sat on the porch sewing. + +It was about half an hour after Margy and Rose had begun to play with +their dolls, Margy washing her rubber one in a basin of water, that +something happened. Margy got up from the side porch where she was +sitting with Rose, and said: + +"I'm going to dry her now." + +"Dry who?" asked Rose. + +"My rubber doll," answered Margy. "She's all wet and I'm going to take +her down in the laundry where Parker is, and put my doll by the fire to +dry." + +"All right," answered Rose, "don't burn yourself." + +"I won't," said Margy, as she went toward the laundry, which was in the +basement of Aunt Jo's big house. + +A little while after this Parker, on going into the kitchen over the +laundry, heard a voice crying: + +"Oh, I can't get out! I can't get out! I'm stuck in and I can't get +out." + +"For land sakes! Who are you, and what has happened?" cried the +frightened cook. "It's one of the six little Bunkers, I know," she went +on, "but what happened?" + +"Oh, I went to take a ride," said Margy, "and now I can't get out! Oh, +dear!" + +And her voice seemed to come from afar. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MUN BUN DRIVES AWAY + + +Parker was a good cook, but she did not know much about children. She +liked them though, and was kind to them. So when she heard Margy's voice +calling, she could not imagine what had happened, nor did she know what +to do. + +If it had been Mrs. Bunker, or even Daddy Bunker, they would have at +once found out what the matter was. But then they were used to things +happening to children. + +"Oh, where are you?" cried Parker, as Margy kept on screaming. + +"I don't know what you call it, but I'm in it," said the little girl, in +that queer, faraway voice. + +"But where is it?" asked Parker, for, somehow, the voice seemed to come +from somewhere between the laundry and the kitchen. + +"It's that thing you pull up and down with soap and starch and clothes +on," said Margy. "I got in it to have a ride, but my leg is stuck and I +can't get out and, oh, dear! I want my mother!" + +"Yes, and I guess I want her, too!" exclaimed Parker. "Oh, my! This is +worse than having the chimney on fire. I'll go and call your mother, +child," she went on, "for I can't see a blessed hair of your head. +Though you must be somewhere around, and maybe hiding to fool me." + +"Oh, no, I'm not hiding," answered Margy, who, it seems, could hear +Parker very well. "I'm in the pull-up-and-let-down-thing, and I want to +get out!" + +But Parker did not stay to listen. She ran out to the side porch, where +Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker were sewing, and cried: + +"Oh, come quick! The poor child's caught and can't get out and I can't +see her!" + +"Where is she? What happened?" asked Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker. + +"She's somewhere between the laundry and the kitchen," said the maid. "I +can't see her, though I can hear her and----" + +Mrs. Bunker and her sister-in-law did not stop to listen to any more. To +the kitchen they hurried, and there they, too, heard the voice of Margy +crying: + +"Take me out! Take me out! I'm in the puller-up-and-down-thing!" + +Aunt Jo knew right away what Margy meant. + +"She must be stuck in the dumbwaiter--that we pull up and down between +the kitchen and the laundry," she said. "Are you there, Margy?" she +asked as she opened a door in the side wall of the kitchen. + +And then, up the shaft, came the voice of the little girl: + +"Yes, I'm in here and I can't go down and I can't get up. Oh, dear!" + +"Now don't cry! Mother is here," said Mrs. Bunker. "And so is Aunt Jo. +We'll get you up in a minute. Don't be afraid." + +Aunt Jo ran downstairs and looked up the dumbwaiter shaft. She could see +the box-like waiter stuck halfway up, but of course she could not see +Margy. A dumbwaiter is like a little elevator, except that, as a rule, +no one rides in it. It is used to pull things up and down between two +rooms, when a person does not want to use the stairs. + +"I see what's the matter," said Aunt Jo, as she looked up the shaft once +more. "Margy's foot stuck out over the edge of the box, in which she +climbed to have a ride, and the waiter can't slide up and down. Her foot +wedges it fast." + +"Can we get it loose?" asked Mother Bunker. + +"Oh, yes, easily, I think. Get me my long-handled parasol, Parker. I'll +reach that up the shaft and push Margy's foot loose. Then the +dumbwaiter, with her in it, will slide down." + +And that is just what happened. With the end of the parasol, not pushing +so hard as to hurt, Aunt Jo shoved loose Margy's foot. Then the +dumbwaiter, which was a sort of open box, slid down on the rope that ran +over a pulley-wheel, and Margy was lifted out. She had been crying and +was frightened, but she felt all right when her mother took her in her +arms and kissed her. + +"How did you come to do it?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"I came down to the laundry to dry my rubber doll after I'd washed her," +said Margy, "and I put her by the fire. One day I saw Parker give a lot +of bars of soap a ride on the go-up-and-down-thing." + +"Yes, I do use the dumbwaiter for that," said the cook. + +"Then I thought I could get a ride if the soap got a ride," went on +Margy. "So, when Parker was out by the garage I went up in the kitchen, +and I stood on a chair, I did, and I crawled into the go-up-and-down-thing, +and it went down with me. But it didn't go all the way down. It stuck and +I couldn't have a nice ride." + +"I should say not!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "And you mustn't do such a thing +again. You might have been hurt when you got your foot caught." + +"It does hurt a little," said Margy, rubbing it. + +So that's how it happened. Margy had crawled from the chair in the +kitchen into the box of the dumbwaiter. It had run down with her until +her foot, sticking over the edge, wedged the waiter fast, halfway down +the shaft. Then the door in the wall blew shut, and when Margy cried +Parker was so "flustered," as she said afterward, that she never stopped +to think where the voice came from. + +"But don't do it again," warned Aunt Jo. + +"I won't," promised Margy. + +From out in the yard of Aunt Jo's house came joyous shouts and laughter. +Russ could be heard calling: + +"Oh, it works! It works all right! Now we can all have rides." + +"Well, whatever it is, I hope it isn't a dumbwaiter they're riding in," +said Mother Bunker. + +She and Aunt Jo looked from the window. They saw that Russ and Laddie +had finally managed to make a harness for the dog Alexis, out of +stronger pieces of cord than they used at first. The dog was tied with +the cords to the express wagon, and seated in it were Laddie and Mun +Bun. Russ was walking alongside, guiding Alexis by strings tied around +his neck. + +"Make him go fast!" cried Mun Bun. "I want to ride fast!" + +"Oh, if he runs too fast I can't keep up with him," said Russ. "Alexis +can run a lot faster than I can, and if he goes too fast I'll lose hold +of him." + +"Let me drive a little," begged Laddie. So Russ let his smaller brother +take the strings that answered for reins. But Russ stayed near the head +of the big dog, with his hand on his collar. For Russ was a careful boy, +and did not want the dog to run away and, perhaps, spill the little boys +out of the wagon. + +"Oh, I want a ride in that!" cried Margy, when she saw what her brothers +were doing. "That's nicer than the up-and-down-thing I was in." + +"Yes, and a little safer," said her mother. "You may go out and Russ +will give you a ride. Russ, Margy is coming out," she called. "Take care +of her!" + +"I will," promised the largest Bunker boy. + +Then such fun as the six children had riding behind Alexis, for Violet +awakened from her sleep and came out to enjoy the sport. Russ and Laddie +had tied so many ropes on Alexis, fastening them to the cart, that +William said it would take an hour to loosen the knots. But Alexis did +not seem to mind. He walked along, pulling the cart, with two or three +children in it, as easily as though he were dragging along a tin can +tied to his tail, and much more sedately. + +Only nobody had ever tied a tin can to the tail of Alexis. He wasn't the +kind of dog one could do that to. You might have dared try when he was a +little puppy, but not after he grew up to be almost as big as a small +Shetland pony. + +"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Rose, when it was her turn to have a +ride. "I wish my doll Lily was here to like it." + +"She had a good ride in the airship," remarked Russ. + +"Oh! Oh!" suddenly cried Laddie. + +"What's the matter?" asked Russ. "Did a bee sting you?" + +"No. I just thought of a nice riddle. It's about the balloon airship +Rose made and the dumbwaiter Margy had a ride in." + +"What's the riddle?" asked Vi. + +"It's like this," went on Laddie, thinking hard to get it just right. +"What's the difference between Rose's airship and the dumbwaiter Margy +rode in? What's the difference?" + +"A whole lot!" said Rose. "They're not alike at all." + +"Well, that's the riddle--what makes 'em different!" asked Laddie. + +"Because they both have a basket," said Russ. "Rose tied the balloons to +a basket, and the clothes basket rides on the dumbwaiter." + +"Nope! That isn't it," said Laddie, shaking his head. "You see Rose's +airship went up, and wouldn't come down, and the dumbwaiter, with Margy +in it, went down and wouldn't come up." + +"Huh! That's pretty good," said Russ. "But I guess those balloons are +down by this time." + +"And my doll, too," added Rose. "I wish I could find her." + +"Well, part of the riddle is right, anyhow," said Laddie. + +"Yes, it's pretty good," agreed Russ. "And now we'll have some more +rides." + +Around Aunt Jo's house, up and down the lawn and on the paths Alexis +pulled the six little Bunkers in the express wagon, with the string +harness, and they had lots of fun. Even the big dog seemed to enjoy it, +and he didn't get tired. + +It was two days after this, during which time the children had lots of +fun, that something else happened. Mun Bun was the unlucky one; or +lucky, whichever way you look at it. + +Sometimes, even in the fashionable Back Bay section of Boston, rag +peddlers came to buy odds and ends from the homes of the people. The +chauffeurs or the furnace men usually attended to the selling of this, +being allowed to keep whatever money they got for themselves. + +One of the wagons, with bags and all sorts of things in it, stopped, one +day, in front of Aunt Jo's house. The ragman knew William, who often +sold him old newspapers or junk, and this time he had quite a few things +to sell. + +"Rags! Rags! Bottles and rags!" cried the junkman as he went back to the +garage with a bag over his shoulder. + +As it happened, Mun Bun was out, watching William pump air into a new +tire, and when the chauffeur went into the cellar with the junkman to +get the papers, Mun Bun wandered out in front to where the junkman's +horse and wagon was standing. + +"If I could get up into that wagon now," thought Mun Bun to himself, "I +could have a better ride than with Alexis. I guess I will." + +How he managed to climb up I don't know, but he did. The wagon was not +very high, and there was a step near the front, and of course there were +wheels. Somehow, Mun Bun scrambled up, and the horse, luckily for him, +did not move while the boy was climbing. Right up on the seat got Mun +Bun. He picked up the real reins, as he had seen Russ do with the +make-believe ones on Alexis, and then Mun Bun called: + +"Gid-dap!" + +And, just as easily as you please, the horse started off as natural as +anything, with Mun Bun driving. Down the street he slowly walked, much +to the delight of Mun Bun. + +But what would happen next? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE WHISTLING WAGON + + +Mun Bun smiled happily. This was more fun than he had ever expected to +have at Aunt Jo's house. In fact, what little thinking he did about it +was to the effect that he could have had a lot more fun by staying at +Grandma Bell's. + +Up he sat on the seat of the junkman's wagon, holding the reins as he +had helped Russ or Laddie hold the reins on the big dog Alexis, who +pulled the six little Bunkers in the express wagon. + +"This is fun!" said Mun Bun. + +The horse slowly walked along. Junkmen's horses hardly ever run. There +are several reasons for this. + +In the first place, a junkman's horse goes slowly because the junkman is +never in a hurry. He wants to look at the houses on each side of the +street to see if any one is going to call him in to sell him paper, +rags, old bottles, rubber boots or broken stoves. + +So, of course, a junkman wants his horse to go slowly, for then he has a +chance to look at the houses on each side of the street. For nowadays +the junkmen, in the cities, at least, are not allowed to ring bells and +shout loudly or make much noise. They used to do that, but they can't +any more. + +Another reason why a junkman's horse walks slowly is that the poor horse +is nearly always old and thin and hungry. + +And I suppose it's a good thing this junkman's horse was old and thin +and tired and hungry. That's what made him go slowly, so Mun Bun was not +rattled off the seat. He was only a little fellow, and it would not have +taken much of a jolt of the wagon to have tossed him off. But as long as +the wagon went slowly he was all right. + +"Gid-dap!" cried Mun Bun in a jolly voice, and he pulled on the reins, +thinking what fun it was really to drive, and not make-believe, as he +and the others had done with Alexis. + +All this while the junkman was in Aunt Jo's yard, talking with William +about the old rags and papers the chauffeur had to sell. The five other +little Bunkers were playing at different games, Daddy Bunker was +downtown, and Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker were busy at something or other, +I've forgotten just what. + +So there was no one in particular to see what Mun Bun was doing, and he +was just having the grandest time, all by himself, driving the poor, +thin horse. Of course he wasn't really driving it. The horse just went +along as it always did, as slowly as it could, and, very likely, it +didn't know, or care, whether Mun Bun was driving it, or the junkman. + +"Gid-dap!" cried the little fellow again, and he pulled on the reins. +And then a funny thing happened. He pulled a little harder on the left +rein than on the right, and, just as the animal had been used to doing +whenever this happened, the horse turned to the left, and went down a +side street. + +Mun Bun didn't mind this. He didn't care which way the horse went as +long as he was having a ride and was doing the driving. Down the side +street went the junk wagon, with Mun Bun on it. He was now out of sight +of any one who might be looking from Aunt Jo's yard. + +The little fellow was halfway down the new block when a woman, looking +from the window of her house, saw the bony horse and the old rattly, +rickety wagon. + +"Oh, there's a junkman!" she cried. "I've been looking for one a long +time to take the papers out of the cellar. There's a junkman!" + +"No, it's a junk boy," said the woman's cook, who happened to be with +her. "There's no one but a little boy on the wagon." + +"Well, maybe it's the junkman's little boy," said the woman. "They let +them drive when they go in after the junk. Run after him, Jane, and stop +him. I want to get the trash cleaned out of the cellar." + +So the cook ran quickly to the front door and cried: + +"Hey! Junk boy! Stop! We got some papers for you!" + +Mun Bun heard, and turned around. + +"I isn't the junkman," he said. "I'm just havin' a ride!" + +"We have some old papers for you," called the cook. + +Mun Bun didn't know just what it all meant, but he saw the cook waving +her hand at him, and he heard her calling, though he could not make out +all the words, because the wagon rattled so. But Mun Bun had an idea. + +"I guess maybe she wants a ride," he said. "She likes to ride same as I +do. I'll give her a ride with me." + +He pulled on the reins, and called: + +"Whoa!" + +But either Mun Bun did not pull hard enough, or he did not call loudly +enough, for the horse did not stop. Perhaps it thought that if it did +stop it would be too hard work to start again, so it kept on going. + +"Stop! Stop!" cried the cook. "We have some papers to sell you!" + +"Whoa!" called Mun Bun again. But the horse did not stop. + +Just then a policeman came down the street. He saw Mun Bun on the seat +of the wagon, and he saw the cook waving at him and calling. And the +policeman needed to take only one look to make him feel sure that Mun +Bun was not the junkman's little boy driving the wagon. Mun Bun was not +dressed as a junkman's little boy would probably be dressed. + +"That's funny," said the policeman to himself. "I must see about this." +He walked toward the wagon. By this time the cook had come out on the +sidewalk. She knew the policeman. + +"Stop him!" she called, pointing to the wagon. "Stop that junkman!" + +"That isn't a junkman," said the officer. + +"Well, stop that junk boy then, Mr. Mulligan," begged the cook, smiling +at the policeman. + +"Nor yet it isn't a junk boy," said the officer. "He doesn't belong on +that wagon." + +"Do you mean to say he stole it?" asked the cook. "Mrs. Rynsler has some +junk she wants to get out of the cellar, and----" + +"This boy'll never take it," said Mr. Mulligan, the policeman. "In the +first place he's too little, and in the second place he isn't a junk +boy. I must see about this," and, hurrying along for a little distance, +then walking out to the curb, he reached out his hand and stopped the +horse. It was not hard work. The bony horse was ready to stop almost +any time. + +"Whoa!" said the policeman. + +"Whoa!" echoed Mun Bun, and he smiled at the officer. + +"Where are you going?" asked Mr. Mulligan. + +"I'm having a ride," said Mun Bun. "The junkman is at my Aunt Jo's +house, and I got up on the seat and I'm having a ride!" + +"Land love us! And look at the size of him!" murmured the cook, who had +followed the policeman. + +"He is little," said the policeman. "But you'd better get down, my +little man. You might fall off." + +"I had a nice ride, anyhow," said Mun Bun, as the policeman lifted him +down from the wagon. + +"But now I've got to find out where you live, and who owns this rig," +went on the officer. + +"The idea of him drivin' off with it all alone--the likes of him!" +murmured the wondering cook. + +"Oh, he's a smart little chap!" said the policeman, smiling at Mun Bun. +"But, unless I'm mistaken, here comes the real junkman. He looks +worried, too." + +Around the corner of the street came the man who had been talking to +William in Aunt Jo's yard. He was running hard, and his hat had fallen +off. + +"My horse! My wagon!" he cried. "Somebody ran away with them!" + +"No, they didn't, Ike!" said the policeman, who had seen the junk +collector before. "Your horse just walked away with this boy, and it's +lucky the little chap didn't fall off the seat. Get on now, and drive +back where you came from. Where does this boy belong?" + +"How should I know?" asked the junkman. "I never saw him before." + +"Well, he must have got on the wagon at the last place you stopped," +said the officer. "Where was that?" + +"Oh, sure! I know what you mean!" exclaimed the junkman. "I know the +lady's house. Her automobile man often sells me old papers. I can tell +you," and he did, mentioning Aunt Jo's house. + +"I'll just take the boy back," said the policeman. + +His hand in that of the big policeman, Mun Bun went back gladly enough, +and just in time, too, for his mother, looking out and "counting noses" +had not seen him with the other children, and, fearing he had wandered +away, she was just starting out to look for him. + +"Where have you been?" she cried, as she saw Mun Bun with a policeman. + +"Oh, I had a nice ride," answered the little boy. + +"He was on the junk wagon," Mr. Mulligan explained. + +"Oh, ho! So it was you who ran with Ike's rig, was it?" asked William. +"Well, well! He was frightened when he didn't see his horse out in front +where he had left it. How do you like the junk business, Mun Bun?" + +"I like the horse, and I did drive him, I did!" said the little fellow +proudly. + +"Well, don't do it again," sighed Mrs. Bunker. + +"No'm, I won't!" promised Mun Bun. + +The six little Bunkers always promised this whenever they did anything +they ought not to have done. But the trouble was that they did something +different the next time, and not the same thing they were told not to +do. + +"I wish I'd had a ride with you," said Margy, as her little brother, +after the policeman had gone, told what had happened. + +"Well, I don't!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. + +So Mun Bun got safely back home again, and the rest of the day his +mother saw to it that he played in the yard and around the house with +his brothers and sisters. + +"Did anybody ever come for the pocketbook and the sixty-five dollars?" +asked Rose one day, after breakfast, when the six little Bunkers were +wondering what to do to have fun. + +"No, we haven't yet found an owner," said her father. "But there is time +enough yet." + +"And you didn't find my doll that the balloons took away, did you?" + +"Not yet, Rose. I'm afraid Lily is gone forever," answered her mother. +"Some day I'll get you a new doll." + +"Yes; but she wouldn't be Lily," said Rose, and she felt quite bad about +what had happened. + +Out in the yard went the children to play. Russ was making what he said +was going to be a kite, and Laddie and Violet were playing in the sand. +Rose was watching Parker bake a cake and Margy and Mun Bun walked up and +down the porch, pulling two little rubber dolls in a thread box, which +they pretended was a big automobile. + +Pretty soon, down the street came a two-wheeled cart, pushed by a man +who had gold rings in his ears, and the cart made a cheerful whistling +sound. + +"Oh, listen!" cried Mun Bun. + +"It's like a choo-choo car!" said Margy. + +"Let's go and look at it!" cried Mun Bun. + +"All right," agreed his sister. + +Leaving the thread-box automobile and the two little dolls on the porch, +the two small children ran down to the front gate to look at the +whistling wagon. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LADDIE'S FUNNY RIDDLE + + +"Doesn't it make a nice noise?" asked Mun Bun of Margy. + +"Terrible nice," agreed the little girl. "What makes it?" + +Mun Bun looked at the whistling wagon. It was, as I have said, a +two-wheeled cart, and was pushed by a man who had gold rings in his +ears. His face was very dark, too, but he smiled pleasantly at the +children. + +"It's a teakettle, that's what makes it," said Mun Bun, as he looked. +"See the steam coming out, just like it does out of the kettle in +Parker's kitchen," and he pointed to something on one end of the cart. + +This something looked like a little stove, and the children could see +the glow of fire in one end of it. And, as Mun Bun had said, steam was +coming from what seemed to be a spout. + +"The steam whistles," said Mun Bun. + +"Yes," agreed Margy. "I like it!" + +The steam did make a shrill whistling sound. + +The wagon was out in front of Aunt Jo's house now, and suddenly Mun Bun +sniffed the air. He smelled something good. + +"Oh, I know what it is!" he cried. "It's peanuts! The man is roasting +peanuts and they whistles to tell him they're done. Don't you 'member, +down at the corner by Daddy's office, home, there's a man an' he sells +peanuts and they whistles." + +"Oh, yes!" said Margy. "I 'members! I likes peanuts, too!" + +"So do I!" said Mun Bun. + +The man with the gold rings in his ears was stopping in front of Aunt +Jo's house now. He smiled at the children, while the steam from the hot +peanut-roaster made a louder whistling sound, and the man yelled: + +"Hot peanuts, five cents a bag!" + +"Oh, I wish we had some!" sighed Mun Bun. + +"So do I," added his sister. "Have you five cents, Mun Bun?" + +"Nope! Has you five cents, Margy?" + +"No." + +Mun Bun thought for a few seconds while the smiling Italian man, with +the whistling wagon, looked at the two little Bunkers hanging on Aunt +Jo's gate. + +"Please go 'way!" said Mun Bun. "We hasn't got any five cents for your +hot peanuts." + +"No gotta five cents?" asked the Italian. + +"No," and Mun Bun shook his head. + +"An' we like peanuts," added Margy. "If you've any left over you could +give us some." + +"Hot peanuts--five a bag!" said the peddler in a sort of sing-song +voice. + +"Please go 'way!" begged Mun Bun again. "They smells awful good, but we +hasn't got any five centies!" + +"Maybe you go in th' house, li'l' boy, you get money," the Italian went +on. + +Margy looked at Mun Bun and Mun Bun looked at Margy. + +"Oh, maybe we could!" exclaimed the little girl eagerly. "Let's go an' +ask, Mun Bun!" + +"All right!" said he. "We will!" + +And they did. Into the room where Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker were sewing +burst the two children, out of breath from their run up the gravel +drive. + +"Oh, Mother!" cried Mun Bun. "He wants five cents." + +"An' he's got a whistlin' wagon!" added Margy. + +"An' they smell awful good!" went on her brother. + +"Come an' hear the whistle," begged the little girl. + +"My goodness me!" cried Aunt Jo. "What is this all about?" + +"It's hot peanuts--five a bag!" answered Mun Bun, in a sing-song voice +almost like the Italian's. + +"But we haven't the five cents," added Margy. "An' we want some +peanuts." + +"Well, I think you may have some," said Mrs. Bunker. "I'll come down to +the whistling wagon with you and see about it." + +Margy and Mun Bun led her down to the front gate, where the peanut man, +still smiling, was waiting. The hot oven on his wagon, in which he +roasted the peanuts, was still whistling. Afterward Daddy Bunker told +the children that the steam came out and made the whistling sound by +puffing itself through a tin thing with holes in it, just as a boy blows +his breath through the same kind of tin thing to make a whistle. + +"And the reason the Italian puts water in the top of his peanut-roaster +is so that the peanuts in the bags, where he puts them to keep warm, +will not burn," the father of the six little Bunkers told them. "The +whistling is like the bell the old-fashioned ice-cream man used to ring. +People hear it and come to buy, just as you did." + +Mrs. Bunker found the Italian's peanuts fresh and nicely browned and +roasted, and she bought enough for all the children. + +"You have to thank Margy and Mun Bun for them," she said to Russ, Rose +and the twins. "They first heard the whistling wagon and ran out to see +what it was." + +The children had a sort of little play-party with the peanuts, though +Laddie stuffed some of his in his pocket. + +"I'm going to save 'em," he said. + +"What for?" asked Russ, who had his kite partly finished. + +"Oh, maybe I'll see an elephant in a circus parade," the little boy +answered. + +"Circus parades never come up in our Back Bay section," said Aunt Jo +with a smile. "So I don't believe you'll see an elephant, Laddie." + +"Oh, well, then I can eat the peanuts myself," he returned. "But maybe I +might see a squirrel." + +"Yes, we have some of them in our parks," went on Aunt Jo. "And I have +seen them so tame that they would come up and take a nut from your +fingers. Some day we'll go to the park and look for the little fellows. +But I'm afraid you won't have any peanuts left then, Laddie." + +"Well, we can get some more," said the little boy with a laugh. + +It was a little later that same afternoon, when Rose, who was out on the +porch, getting her doll dressed for supper, as she said, came running +in, looking very much excited. + +"Well, what is it now?" asked her mother. "Has Mun Bun or any of the +others, ridden off on a junk wagon?" + +"Oh, no," answered the little girl. "But Laddie went off down the street +with his peanuts in his pocket, and now he's come back and he has a +funny riddle." + +"A funny riddle!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "What do you mean? Is it a +riddle about the peanuts?" + +"I don't know," answered Rose. "But Laddie has something hid under his +coat, and he asked me to guess what it was, so it must be a riddle. And +it makes a funny squeaking noise." + +"My goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "I must see what Laddie's riddle +is this time!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ROSE BREAKS HER SKATE + + +Out on the porch Mrs. Bunker found her six children, for Rose had +followed her mother out of the house, finally running ahead of her to +see if any one had yet guessed Laddie's latest riddle. + +"What have you there, Sonny?" asked Laddie's mother, as she saw him +standing in front of Russ, Rose and the others, with something under his +coat. + +"He says it's a riddle," explained Russ. + +"It is, sort of!" declared Laddie. "Yet 'tisn't zactly a riddle. I just +told 'em to guess what I had under my coat." + +"Where'd you get it?" asked Aunt Jo, who came out to see what the fun +was about. + +"I got it with the peanuts I had in my pocket," the little boy answered. + +"Oh, then it's a squirrel!" guessed Rose. + +"No, it isn't a squirrel," said Laddie, shaking his head. + +"It's got a tail! I can see it!" cried Vi, as she stooped down and +looked under her brother's coat. "I can see it sticking out. It's +brown." + +"Yes, it's got a tail," admitted Laddie. + +"Is it a kite?" asked Russ, for he had not yet finished the one he was +making. + +"Nope! 'Tisn't a kite!" Laddie answered. "It's alive, and kites aren't +that way!" + +"They wiggle around as if they were alive, sometimes," said Rose. + +"Oh, I heard it squeak!" cried Mun Bun. "Is it a little kittie?" + +Again Laddie shook his head. + +"Nope," he answered, "'tisn't a kittie. But it's got fur on. Now I'll +give you each one more guess for my riddle, and----" + +But Laddie's "riddle" seemed to think the fun had gone on long enough, +and it didn't want to be guessed about any more. All at once the little +boy began to wiggle and try to hold something still beneath his +coat--something which seemed very much alive indeed. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Laddie, but he was laughing. + +"What's the matter?" asked his mother. + +"It--it's _tickling_ me!" he exclaimed. "Oh--there it is!" + +As he spoke a funny little wrinkled black face, followed by a little +brown furry body and a long tail, scrambled out from under Laddie's +buttoned coat and sat on his shoulder. + +"Oh, look!" cried Rose. + +"It's a black pussy with a long tail!" cried Violet. + +"No, it isn't!" Russ exclaimed. "It's a monkey! That's what it is! A +monkey!" + +"A monkey!" repeated Mrs. Bunker. "Why, so it is. Oh, Laddie boy! where +did you get a monkey?" + +Laddie put up his hand to stroke the funny little creature, which seemed +to like it, crouching down on Laddie's shoulder and nestling close to +him. The monkey was not much larger than a cat. + +"Where'd you get it?" repeated the children's mother. + +"Have they got any more? Can I get one?" cried Russ. "I'll go and find +some peanuts!" + +"Don't let him wind his tail on me!" begged Mun Bun, hiding behind his +mother's skirts. + +"Can he play a hand-organ?" asked Violet. + +The children were laughing so hard, and asking so many questions as they +crowded around Laddie, that their mother exclaimed: + +"Oh, my dear six little Bunkers! please be quiet a minute until I can +hear what Laddie has to say. Tell us where you got such a cute little +riddle!" + +"I got him with peanuts," Laddie said. "He was up in a tree and I saw +him, and I held out some peanuts in my hand and he came down and sat on +my shoulder and ate 'em and then I put him under my coat and he liked it +and I brought him home." + +"But where did you find him?" asked Aunt Jo. "In what tree?" + +"Oh, just down by the corner at the end of this street," answered Laddie +with a wave of his hand. + +"Mercy," gasped Aunt Jo, "are monkeys beginning to make their homes in +the trees of the Boston streets?" and she and Mother Bunker laughed. + +"But was he up a tree?" asked Russ. + +"Yes, he was," Laddie went on. "First I thought it was a cat, but when I +saw him hang by his tail I knew it wasn't a cat." + +"Oh, we're finding lots of things!" cried Rose. "I found a pocketbook, +and now Laddie finds a monkey." + +"And I'm going to keep it and get a hand-organ and then I'm going around +and take in pennies," said the little boy, on whose shoulder the monkey +was still perched, looking here and there at the other children, and +wrinkling up his funny black face. + +"I know where it came from," said Russ, after thinking a moment. + +"Where?" asked Vi. "Do you mean out of a circus?" + +"No," answered Russ. "But it must have got away from a hand-organ man." + +"I think that's just what happened," said Aunt Jo. "Hand-organ men, with +monkeys fast to the ends of long strings, often come up this way, and +play what they call music, and they let the funny little animals go +after the pennies. One of these Italians must have been around here +with his music-machine, and his monkey must have run away from him and +hidden up in a tree where you saw him, Laddie." + +"But I found him, and he's mine. I want to keep him," said the little +boy. "He's awful soft and fuzzy, and he likes me." + +Indeed the monkey was a nice, clean little chap, and he seemed to like +Laddie. And he seemed to like to have the other children pet him, also. +He wore a funny little red jacket and a green cap, and every now and +then he would take off his cap and hold it out, as he had been taught to +do, for pennies. + +Mun Bun, who had been afraid the monkey would wind its long tail around +him, came out from behind his mother's skirts, and even dared to pet +Laddie's "riddle," as they called it. + +"He's awful nice!" said Mun Bun. + +"He'd make a lovely doll," observed Rose. "I wish I had a doll that was +alive." + +"I'll let you play with him sometimes," promised Laddie. "I'm going to +call him. 'Peanuts' 'cause he likes 'em so." + +"Well, that would be a nice name for a monkey," said Mrs. Bunker. "But +don't get your heart set on keeping this one, Laddie." + +"Why not, Mother? Can't I have him?" + +"I'm afraid not. In the first place Aunt Jo has no place in her Boston +home for a monkey, and, in the second place, Alexis, the big dog, might +bark at Peanuts and scare him." + +Alexis was not there just then, or he would have seen the monkey, and +surely would have barked, as he always did when he saw anything new or +strange. + +"Another reason why you can't keep him," said Mother Bunker, "is that +the Italian hand-organ grinder will want his monkey himself. That is how +he makes his living--by having the monkey collect pennies for him." + +"But can I keep him until the organ man comes?" asked Laddie, as he +cuddled his "riddle" in his arms. + +"Oh, yes, I guess you can keep him until then," said Mrs. Bunker. "We +couldn't turn the poor little monkey loose, anyhow, or dogs would chase +him. We'll see what your father says when he comes home." + +"And we can have some fun now, with Peanuts," added Russ. "We can tie a +string to his collar and make-believe we have a circus." + +"Maybe he'll bite," said Margy. + +"He didn't bite me," Laddie explained, "and I carried him under my coat +from down the street. He tickled me though, when he wanted to get out." + +Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo said the children could play with the monkey +awhile on the side porch, fastening it by a string attached to the +collar around its neck, so it could not get away. + +"The Italian may be along pretty soon looking for it," said William, the +chauffeur, who had been called from the garage to see Laddie's new pet. + +"Peanuts," as the six little Bunkers called the monkey, seemed to enjoy +being with them. He climbed about the porch, and came down when they +held out in their hands bread, bits of crackers or cake, which the +monkey liked to eat. + +The children were having lots of fun with their funny little pet, and +they were talking over and over again their wish that they might keep +him, when, from out in front, came the sound of a hand-organ. It played +rather a sad and doleful tune, and, at the sound of it, the monkey +seemed to prick up his ears, much as a dog might do. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Rose. "Maybe that's the hand-organ man that owns this +monkey." + +"If it is I'd better see about it," said Aunt Jo. "I want you children +to have all the fun you can, but we don't want to keep a poor man's +monkey, any more than we do the poor woman's purse, though she hasn't +come for that yet." + +William, the chauffeur, who also heard the hand-organ tune, went out in +front, and came back to tell Aunt Jo that the Italian had indeed lost +his monkey, and was looking everywhere for it. + +"Tell him to come in," said Miss Bunker. + +And a little later, walking along and grinding out the doleful tune, the +Italian came into the yard. + +"Is this your monkey?" asked Aunt Jo, pointing to the one that Laddie +had coaxed down out of the tree with peanuts. + +"Oh, Petro! Petro!" cried the Italian, leaning his hand-organ up against +a tree and rushing to the porch. "Ah, Petro! I have found you again, my +baby!" and he held out his arms. The monkey made a jump for them, and +sat up on the man's shoulder, chattering and taking off and putting on +his green cap so often that, as Russ said, he looked like a moving +picture. + +"Ah, Petro! Petro!" cried the hand-organ man, and then he began to talk +to the monkey in Italian, which the little creature seemed to +understand, for he chattered back, though of course he spoke monkey +talk, or, maybe, jungle talk. + +"Is that your animal?" asked William. + +"Sure, he mine!" exclaimed the Italian. "His name Petro! I make-a de +music down de street, an' a big dog chase after Petro! He break-a de +string an' jump oop de tree. I no can find! Now I have him back! Ah, my +Petro!" + +"Well, the children will be sorry to lose their pet," said Aunt Jo, "but +I'm glad you have him back." + +"I glad. Vera mooch-a glad, too!" said the Italian, taking off his hat, +and bowing to Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker. "Petro bring me in pennies. I +play for you, but I no want-a pennies. No take pennies--you find my +Petro." + +"This little boy found him," said William, pointing to Laddie. + +"I gave him peanuts," said Laddie. "He was up a tree." + +"Mooch 'bliged," said the Italian. "I make-a de music for you. Petro do +tricks." + +Then he fastened the long cord he had in his pocket to Petro's collar, +and began to grind out what he called "music." He also made the monkey +do several tricks, such as turning somersaults or climbing trees and +jumping from one branch to another. + +Then, with more thanks, and promising to come and play again for them, +and not to let Petro take any pennies, the Italian went on his way with +the monkey and the hand-organ. + +Laddie and the others were sorry to lose their pet, but, as Daddy Bunker +said afterward, the monkey and Alexis might not have been good friends. + +"Well, I found a monkey, and somebody came for it," said Laddie that +night. "But nobody has come for the pocketbook yet." + +"And, if they don't, I'm going to have the money," said Rose. "Anyhow, I +can have some of it, daddy says. And I'm going to buy a pair of new +roller skates, 'cause my old ones are 'most worn out." + +However, Rose could still skate on them, and speaking of them as she +did, made her think of them the next day. So, when she had put her dolls +to "sleep," the little girl went out roller-skating on the sidewalk in +front of Aunt Jo's house. + +Rose had not been skating long before her mother heard her crying. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" Rose was saying. + +"What's the matter?" asked her mother, hurrying out to the porch. "Did +you fall and hurt yourself, Rose, my dear?" + +"No. But I struck my foot against the curbstone, and now one of my +roller skates is broken, and I can't have any fun!" + +Rose held up one foot. The skate that had been on it was now in two +pieces, and Mrs. Bunker saw that it could not easily be fixed again. It +was too bad! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE SKATE WAGON + + +While Rose and her mother were looking at the little girl's broken +roller skate, Russ came along. He had been in the yard, playing with +Alexis, and his clothes were covered with grass, some of it green and +some of it dried. + +"But I had lots of fun," said Russ, as he whistled a merry tune. "And +grass doesn't hurt my old clothes." + +"Alexis always has on his old clothes. He doesn't have to change his to +play," said Laddie, who was with Russ. + +Just then the two boys saw their mother and Rose looking at the broken +skate. + +"What's the matter?" Russ wanted to know. + +"Oh, I bumped my foot on the curbstone," answered Rose. "And now look!" + +She held out the skate that was broken in two parts. + +"Perhaps Russ can fix it," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "He makes so +many things that he might mend this." + +Russ took the pieces of the skate in his hand. Rose still had the other, +the unbroken one, on her foot. + +"I could push myself along on one skate," said the little girl, "but it +isn't much fun. Can you fix it, Russ?" + +Her brother shook his head. + +"I don't guess anybody could fix that broken skate," he said. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose. + +"But," went on Russ, "I know how to make something that you can have +lots of fun with; and so can I!" + +"Can I, too?" asked Laddie. + +"We all can," said Russ. "We can take turns." + +"On what?" asked Rose. + +"A skate wagon," answered Russ. "I saw a boy downtown have one--the day +we went to the movies. You take a good roller skate, and pull it apart. +Then you put two of the wheels on the front end of a board, and the two +other wheels on the back end." + +"Well, then what do you do?" asked Laddie, for Russ had come to a pause. + +"Well, then you nail a stick up on the front end of the board, for a +handle, and you stand on it--you stand on the board, I mean--and you +ride downhill on the sidewalk on the skate wagon. It's fun!" + +"Say, let's do it!" cried Laddie. "I'll help you, Russ! Give us that one +skate that isn't busted, Rose, and we'll make a skate wagon." + +Laddie knelt down and began to unfasten the strap of the one good skate, +which was still on Rose's left foot. + +"Stop! Stop it!" cried the little girl, pulling back her leg. + +"Hold still!" exclaimed Laddie. "I can't get your skate off if you +wiggle so much." + +"I don't want my skate off!" insisted Rose. + +"Then how am I going to make a skate wagon?" asked Russ in some +surprise. + +"I can push myself along on one foot, and skate that way," went on Rose. +"If I let you boys take my skate to make a wagon of, you'll be riding +all the time and I won't have any fun. I'm going to keep my own skate. +So there!" + +"We'll give you some rides; won't we, Russ?" asked Laddie. + +"'Course we will! Lots of 'em!" added the older boy. + +"I'd let them take my skate, if I were you," said Mrs. Bunker. "One +skate is not of much use to you, Rose, and if Russ can make a sort of +wagon, or skatemobile, as I have heard them called, it will be fun for +all of you." + +"All right," said Rose, after thinking over what her mother said. "But I +got to have my turns." + +"Yes, you may all have turns," said Mother Bunker, who usually settled +disputes in this gentle way. "Now, Russ and Laddie, let us see you make +the funny coaster wagon." + +Rose let Laddie take the roller skate off her foot, and then Russ took +the two front wheels from the two back ones. He had looked at a +"skatemobile" a few days before, and, being a clever little chap, he +remembered how it was made. + +"I can get the pieces of board out in the garage," said Russ. "I saw +William have some, and he said I could take them." + +Russ did not find it quite so easy to make the coaster wagon as he had +thought. To fasten the wheels of the skate to the board he used many +nails, and bent most of them. Then William, who had been doing something +to Aunt Jo's automobile, came out and watched Russ at work. + +"Ouch!" Russ suddenly exclaimed. + +"What's the matter?" asked the chauffeur. + +"I pounded my finger!" said the little boy, as he popped it into his +mouth. "It hurts!" But he did not cry. + +"Yes, it generally does hurt when you hit your finger or thumb with a +hammer," said William. "Better let me finish that for you. I can put the +wheels on so they won't come off." + +"I wish you would then," said Russ. "We want to see how it works." + +William did not take long to fasten the four wheels to the long, narrow +board, two wheels on each end, so that it could easily coast down the +sidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Then, to the front of the +narrow board, just as Russ had explained, William nailed a handle, +making it stick straight up, so it could be grasped by whoever was +taking a ride. + +"Now your skate wagon is done," he said. + +"Let's go out and try it!" cried Laddie. + +"But I've got to have a turn," insisted Rose. "It's my skate." + +"You shall all have turns," put in Mother Bunker, who had come out to +the garage to see how matters were going. "That is, all except Mun Bun +and Margy. I'm afraid they're too little to coast. They might fall off." + +"I'll hold 'em on and give 'em a ride," offered Russ, who was very kind +to his little brother and sister. + +"You can have the first ride," said Laddie to Rose, "'cause it's your +roller skate." + +"I can't go first," answered the little girl. "I don't know how you do +it. You go first, Russ." + +Russ was very willing to do this. So he took the skate wagon to the top +of the sidewalk "hill," as the little Bunkers called it, and then he put +one foot on the flat board, to which were fastened the roller-skate +wheels. + +"You have to push yourself along with one foot, just the same as when +you're skating on one skate," explained Russ. "Then when you get to +going fast you put the other foot on the board and stand there, and you +hold on tight and down you go." + +"Show me!" begged Rose, jumping up and down because she was so excited +and pleased. + +And then Russ went riding downhill, almost as nicely as he coasted on +the snow in winter. + +"Is it fun?" shouted Laddie, from where he stood with Rose at the top of +the hill--only almost no one would have called such a slight grade a +"hill." + +"Lots of fun!" answered Russ. + +Down to the bottom of the hill he rode, and then he walked up. + +"Now it's your turn, Rose," he said, as he handed her the skatemobile. +But the little girl shook her head. + +"I'll watch a little more," she said. "Let Laddie go." + +So Laddie coasted down. Then Rose took her turn. Down the sidewalk hill +she coasted on the skate wagon, and she was just turning around to wave +to her mother and her brothers, who were watching her, when all of a +sudden out from a gate ran a little dog. Right in front of Rose, and a +little ahead of her he ran, and then he stood on the sidewalk and barked +at her. + +"Look out, Rose! Look out!" cried her mother. + +"Steer to one side! Turn out for him!" yelled Russ. + +"Stick out your foot and stop the skate wagon, same as you stop yourself +on roller skates," cried Laddie. + +But Rose, it seemed, could do none of these things. Straight for the +little dog she coasted. + +What was going to happen? + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SPINNING TOPS + + +Rose was not able to stop the skate wagon, on which she was coasting +down the sidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Nor did the little +dog seem to want to get out of the way. He just stood in front of Rose, +while she was coasting toward him, and barked and wagged his tail. And +it was almost as if he said: + +"Well, what's all this? Are you coming to give me a ride?" + +"Get out of the way! Get out of the way--please!" begged Rose. "I'll +bump into you, same as I bumped into the curbstone, if you don't get out +of the way, little dog; and then I'll run over you! Get out of the way!" + +But the little dog just stayed right there. + +Of course, if Rose had thought about it, she might have jumped off the +skate wagon, and let that go on by itself, shoving it to one side. + +But she was coasting down the stone sidewalk hill quite rapidly now, and +she was so excited that she never once thought of getting off or even +trying to turn the skate wagon aside. Straight for the barking little +dog she coasted. + +"Oh, we must stop her!" cried Mrs. Bunker, running down the slope after +the little girl. + +"I'll get her, Mother!" cried Russ. "I guess I can run faster than you +can." + +But there was no chance for either of them to catch Rose before +something happened. And the something that happened was that Rose ran +right into the little dog. Right into him she ran with the skate wagon. + +"Ki-yi-yi-yip! Ki-yi! Yip! Yip!" yelled the little dog. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sobbed Rose, for she was crying. + +Bang! went the skate wagon over into the gutter. + +The little dog--Well, I was almost going to say he laughed to see so +much sport, but that little dog is in Mother Goose, if I remember +rightly, and this little dog didn't laugh. He was very much frightened, +and he was hurt a little, and so was Rose. So the little dog just tucked +his tail in between his hind legs, and back he ran into the yard out of +which he had come to see what was going on when he heard the skate wagon +rattling down the sidewalk hill. + +By this time Russ, Laddie, and their mother had come up to Rose. + +"Are you much hurt?" asked Mrs. Bunker. "There now, don't cry. We'll +take care of you!" + +"It--it's my knees!" sobbed Rose. "I scraped 'em! And is my skate wagon +all busted?" + +"No, it's all right," said Laddie, as he picked it up from the gutter +where it had rolled after Rose fell off. "It's as good as ever." + +"And your knees aren't hurt much--only scratched," said Mrs. Bunker, as +she looked. Rose wore socks, and her legs, above her shoes, and partly +above her knees were bare. "See if you can't stand up," urged Mrs. +Bunker, for Rose was as limp as a rag in her arms. + +"Stand up and have some more rides!" exclaimed Russ. + +"No, I don't want any more rides on the old skate wagon!" cried his +sister. "I don't like it." + +"Then we can have it all ourselves, Russ!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"No, you can't either!" said Rose, and she suddenly stopped crying. "You +can't have my skate wagon. I want it myself!" + +"But if you can't stand up you can't ride on it----" began Mrs. Bunker. + +"But I can stand up, Mother!" cried Rose, and she did, showing that +nothing much was the matter with her. + +"See, then you're not hurt," said her mother. "Now don't begin to cry +again, and you can have some more rides. But perhaps you had better not +coast down any more hills. Just ride along the sidewalk as you did on +your roller skates. That will be best." + +"Yes, maybe I'll do that," said Rose. "Where's the dog that made me run +into him?" + +The little dog was safely behind his own fence now, looking out through +the pickets and barking. Perhaps he wondered what it was all about, and +what had happened to him. He had been knocked about a bit, and bruised, +but not much hurt. Only he was "all mussed up," as Russ said, after a +look at him. + +"Well, I guess he won't get in the way of your roller-skate wagon +again," said Mrs. Bunker. "Now you can take some more rides, Rose. Your +knees are all right." + +And so they were, after they had been washed off with a little warm +water. Then Rose and her brothers, with Violet taking a turn now and +then, had fine fun on the skatemobile. They rode down the hill though, +as they found they could steer better when going fast. + +Mun Bun and Margy came from the yard, where they had been playing in the +sand pile, and they, too, wanted rides. Russ and Laddie held them on, +for the smaller children were hardly old enough to coast alone, though +Mun Bun did drive off in the junk cart, as I have told you. But that was +different. The roller-skate wagon went faster than the junkman's horse. + +So the six little Bunkers had fun on the skate wagon, and as the days +went on they were more and more glad they had come to Aunt Jo's house to +spend a part of their vacation. + +It was early in August, and there was much of the summer before them. +The weather was hot, but there was plenty of shade around Aunt Jo's +house, so that it was almost as nice as it had been at Grandma Bell's. + +"Are we going to stay here until vacation is all over?" asked Russ of +his father one day. + +"Well, I'm not sure," he said. "Cousin Tom spoke once of having us come +down to see him." + +"Down to the seashore, do you mean?" asked Rose. + +"Yes, down to Seaview, New Jersey." + +"Oh, it would be dandy there!" cried Russ. "I could go swimming in the +ocean, couldn't I?" + +"Well, you might go in if the water wasn't too deep," his father said +with a smile. "But we'll talk about that later. Rose, where is that +pocketbook you found?" he asked. + +"Why? Do you know who owns it?" the little girl asked. + +"No, but I want to look at it again. Perhaps there may be a card, or +something, that will tell the address of the person who lost it and the +sixty-five dollars." + +"But we did look," said Russ, "and we couldn't find any." + +"I thought perhaps the card or paper might have slipped through a hole +in the lining," said Mr. Bunker, "as the real estate papers I searched +for so long slipped inside the lining of the old coat I gave the +lumberman. Where is the pocketbook?" + +"Mother has it," answered Rose. "I'll get it for you, Daddy!" + +She ran to her mother, and soon returned with the purse. The sixty-five +dollars had been put in a safe in Aunt Jo's house, but the sad little +letter was still in the wallet. + +Mr. Bunker read it over again, and then carefully looked through the +pocketbook. It was an old one, and the lining was torn, but there was no +slip of paper or card in any hole that would tell to whom the +pocketbook should be returned. + +"I'll advertise once more," said Mr. Bunker, "and then, if no one claims +it, I guess the money will belong to you, Rose." + +"And can I spend it?" + +"Oh, no indeed! Not all of it. A little, perhaps; but the rest will be +put away for you, until you grow to be a young lady. Still I would +rather give it to whoever owns it." + +"So should I," said Rose softly. "I'd like to get back my lost doll, +that I sent up in the balloon airship, and I guess the pocketbook lady +would like to get her money back." + +They all thought the pocketbook belonged to a poor woman. They got this +idea from the letter--that is, the grown-up folks and the older children +did. Mun Bun and Margy didn't think much about it, one way or the other. +All they cared about was having fun. + +And the six little Bunkers certainly had fun at Aunt Jo's. They played +in the yard or around the garage; they went for auto rides, on little +excursions and picnics, they played with Alexis, the big dog, and they +rode on the skatemobile. + +One day a boy named Tom Martin, who lived about half a block from Aunt +Jo's house, came up in front and called: + +"Hi, Russ! Ho, Laddie! Come on out and play tops!" + +The two older Bunker boys had become acquainted with Tom, and liked to +play with him. Now they heard him calling and Russ answered: + +"We'll be out in a minute; soon as we've had some bread and jam." + +"Bring Tom a piece, too," suggested Laddie, for Parker, the good-natured +cook, was giving the boys a little treat. + +"Yes, I'll give you a slice for your friend," she said. + +So she spread him a nice slice of bread and jam, and Russ and Laddie, +carrying their own, which they ate on the way, also took one to their +new playmate. + +"Let's play tops," suggested Tom. "We can go down the street where the +sidewalk is big and smooth, and spin 'em there." + +"All right," agreed Russ. "We'll have some fun." + +Down the street they went, to a corner, where a big apartment house +stood close to the sidewalk. There the pavement was smooth, just the +place for spinning tops. + +"There, mine's spinning first!" cried Tom, as he flung his top down, +quickly pulling the string away, and thus making the top whirl around +very fast. "Let's see if either of you can hit my top with yours." + +"I can!" said Russ, and he threw his top at Tom's with all his might. + +Russ didn't hit his playmate's top, but he did hit something else. Up +into the air bounced Russ's top, and, the next moment, there was a crash +of glass. + +"Oh!" cried Tom. "You've broken a window!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FLYING A KITE + + +That was just what had happened. When Russ threw his top down so hard, +it had bounced up again from the sidewalk, and had gone sailing through +the air against one of the lower windows of the apartment house which +stood so close to the pavement. And the top went right through the +glass. + +The three little boys were so surprised that they just stood there, +looking at the shower of broken glass on the pavement. Then Tom cried: + +"Oh, we'd better run!" + +"What for?" asked Russ. + +"'Cause you broke the window. The lady or the man'll come out an' +they'll get a policeman." + +Russ said nothing for two or three seconds. Laddie, who was just going +to bounce down his top, to spin it, still held it in his hand. He +didn't want to break a glass. + +"Come on!" cried Tom in a whisper. "Come on 'fore they catch us!" + +Russ shook his head. + +"No," he answered. "I'm not going to run. I'll stay here, and when they +come out I'll tell 'em I busted it and my father will pay for it. That's +what we always do; don't we, Laddie?" + +"Yep," answered the smaller boy. + +"Did you ever break windows before?" asked Tom, who had started to run +away, but who came back when he saw that his two friends were not coming +with him. + +"We broke one at Grandma Bell's," said Russ. + +"But she didn't make us pay for it," said Laddie. + +"Tom Hardy, the hired man, put a new glass in," went on Russ. "And once +we broke a window back home when we were playing ball. I threw the ball, +and Laddie didn't grab it, and it went through a candy-store window, but +we didn't run." + +"What did you do?" asked Tom, to whom this seemed something new. He +looked up at the place where the window had been smashed. As yet no one +had thrust a head out of the window or threatened to send for a +policeman. "What did you do?" asked Tom again. + +"Well, the lady who owned the candy store knew us," answered Russ, "and +she knew our father would pay for the glass." + +"Did he?" + +"Why, of course he did!" exclaimed Laddie. + +"But he said we each had to save up and give him back five cents--a +penny at a time," added Russ. "That was to help pay for the glass, and +make us--make us more careful, I guess he called it. + +"Anyhow, that's what I'm going to do now. We'll wait, and when somebody +comes out I'll tell 'em my father'll pay for the glass my top broke." + +"Here comes somebody now!" whispered Tom, and surely enough a man, +wearing blue overalls and looking as though he had been cleaning out a +cellar, came from the basement door of the big apartment house. + +"Who broke that glass?" he asked, and his voice was rather harsh. + +"I--I did--with my top," spoke up Russ, but his voice trembled a little. + +"Well, you'll have to pay for it!" went on the janitor, for such he was. +"I've told you boys to keep away from here spinning your tops, and yet +you will come! Now you've got to pay for it!" + +"I never spun my top here before," said Russ. + +"And I didn't either," added Laddie. + +"That's right, Mr. Quinn," put in Tom, who seemed to know the janitor. +"I brought 'em here. It's part my fault." + +"Hum!" said the janitor. "This is something new, to have boys own up to +it when they break windows, and not run away. Who did you say was going +to pay for the glass?" he asked. "It'll cost about a dollar. Lucky for +you Mr. Tanzy wasn't at home. It's in his parlor you broke the window, +and he's awful cross." + +Russ had thought the janitor himself was cross, at first, but now he did +not think so, for the dusty man smiled. + +"I'm going to pay for the glass--I am, and my brother," Russ went on. "I +broke it." + +"Have you got the money with you?" asked Mr. Quinn, the janitor. + +"No," answered Russ. "I've only five cents. But you can have that, and +my father'll give you the rest when I tell him." + +"Who's your father?" asked the janitor. + +"They're staying with their Aunt Jo," explained Tom Martin. "She lives +on this street--Miss Bunker, you know." + +"We're two of the six little Bunkers," said Russ. + +"Oh, I'm glad to know that," and Mr. Quinn smiled again. "Well, as it +happens, I used to be your aunt's furnace man, so I know her. If you're +related to her you must be all right. I'll let you two little Bunkers go +now, but your father must come and pay for the window." + +"He will," promised Russ, who was glad no policeman had come along, +though he had made up his mind to be brave, and not be afraid if one +should happen to be called in by the janitor. But none was. + +"I'll help pay for the window, too," said Tom. "It was part my fault, +'cause I asked Russ and Laddie to come down here to play tops." + +"Good-bye, boys!" the janitor called after them. "I'm sorry you had this +accident, but I like the way you acted." + +Russ, Laddie and Tom were sorry, too, for they knew their fathers would +feel bad, not so much at having to pay out fifty cents each, as because +the boys had played tops in a place where they might, almost any time, +break a window. + +Tom ought to have known better than to go down by the apartment house, +for, more than once, he had been told to keep away, but Russ and Laddie +had not. However, neither Mr. Martin nor Daddy Bunker scolded very much. +They sent the money to the janitor, and told the boys just what Mr. +Quinn had told them--to play tops on some other pavement. And this the +boys did. + +"But we got to have _some_ fun," grumbled Russ. + +"Oh, there are lots of other places where you can spin your tops without +going down near the apartment house," said Mr. Bunker. "Windows will +get broken, once in a while, but I don't like it to happen too often." + +"Did you get any answers to the advertisement about the lost +pocketbook?" asked Mrs. Bunker of her husband that night, for he had +said he would stop at the newspaper office and inquire. + +"No," he replied. "I'm afraid whoever owns it does not read the papers. +I wish I knew who it was." + +"So do I," said Rose. + +For, even though she would like to keep the money for herself, she knew +it was better that the poor person, whose it was, should have it. But, +so far, no one had come to claim the wallet and the sixty-five dollars. + +After dinner one day Aunt Jo said: + +"Who wants to go on an auto ride?" + +"I do!" cried Rose and Violet. + +"Me, too!" added Margy, and Mun Bun said something, though they could +not be sure just what it was, as he was still chewing on a bit of +cracker he had carried from the table with him. + +"I guess he means he'll go, too," said his mother. "But after this, Mun +Bun, my dear, finish your eating at the table, and don't be dropping +cracker crumbs all over Aunt Jo's floor." + +"I get Alexis, and he pick 'em up," said Mun Bun; and he started for the +door to let in the big dog. + +"No, don't!" laughed Aunt Jo. "Alexis has just been given a bath by +William, and our dog pet is wet. He'd be worse for the floor than a few +crumbs are. I'll have them swept up, Mun Bun. But come, let's get ready +for the auto ride." + +When the time to go came, Russ and Laddie said they wanted to stay at +home. This was unusual. Generally they were the first to want to go. + +"Why aren't you coming?" asked Rose of Russ. "Maybe we might find my +doll that sailed away with the balloons." + +"Oh, I don't guess you will," said Russ. + +"Anyhow, Laddie and I are going to make some things when you're gone. +We've got to make 'em so we can fly 'em with Tom Martin. He's going to +make one, too." + +"Will it fly?" asked Rose. "Oh, is it an airship?" + +"No, it's just a kite," said Russ. "I started to make one, but I didn't +finish. Now I'm going to make a good one so it will fly away up high. +And so are Laddie and Tom. That's why we don't want to go in the auto." + +"All right, then we'll leave you and Laddie at home with your father and +William," said Aunt Jo, for she was going to run the car herself. + +"Be good boys," begged Mrs. Bunker. + +"We will!" promised Russ. + +"And you won't spin tops and break any more windows, will you?" inquired +Aunt Jo. + +"Nope!" agreed Laddie. "We'll just fly kites, and they can't break +windows, or do any thing else." + +But you just wait and see what happens. + +After Aunt Jo and the others had gone off in the car, Russ and Laddie +got their paste, paper and string, and began making kites. Russ knew how +pretty well, and he showed Laddie. They made kites with tails on them, +as these are easier for small boys to build, though they are not so easy +to fly as the kind without tails. The tails of kites get tangled in so +many things. + +"Now mine's done," said Russ, as he held up his finished toy. + +"I wish mine was," replied Laddie. + +"I'll help you," offered his brother, and he did. + +The two boys were soon ready to go to a vacant lot not far from Aunt +Jo's house, to fly their kites. + +"A city's no place to fly kites," said Laddie. "We ought to be in the +country." + +"We ought to be at Grandma Bell's," agreed Russ. "That was a dandy place +to fly kites--big fields and no telegraph wires to tangle the tail in." + +However, they managed, after some hard work, to get their kites up into +the air, and then they sat in the lot, holding the strings and sending +up messengers. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE JUMPING ROPE + + +"My kite's higher than yours," said Laddie, as he looked at his +plaything, away up in the air, and then at his brother's. + +"Well, I haven't let out all my string yet," Russ answered. "I can make +mine go up a lot higher than yours when I unwind some more cord, and I'm +going to." + +"I'm going to send up another messenger," said Laddie. "I haven't got +any more string to let out, but maybe I could get some." + +He took a small piece of paper, put a hole in it, and then slipped +through this hole the stick to which his kite cord was tied. Then the +piece of paper went sailing up the kite string, twirling around and +around until it was half way to the kite itself. + +"Look at my messenger go!" cried Laddie, as the piece of paper whirled +around and around in a brisk breeze. "Why don't you send up one, and we +can have a race?" + +"I will!" exclaimed Russ. "We'll have a race with the paper messengers, +and then I'll get some more string, and send my kite higher." + +"So'll I," decided Laddie. "Oh, Russ, we can even have a race with the +kites!" he went on. "We'll see whose kite will go highest." + +"Yes, we can do that," agreed the older boy. "Now I'll make a +messenger." + +So Russ did that, and as the messenger Laddie had put on was, by this +time, nearly up to his kite, he put another on the string. The boys held +them from going up until both were ready, and then, just as when they +sometimes had a foot race, Russ cried: + +"Go!" + +They took their hands off the paper messengers, and up the strings they +shot, the wind blowing them very fast. + +"Look at 'em go! Look at 'em!" cried Laddie, dancing about in delight. + +"And you'd better look out and not let go of your kite string, or +that'll go, too," said Russ. "Your kite'll fly away same as Rose's +balloon airship did." + +"I wonder if they'd go to the same place," said Laddie. "If my kite +would be sure to fly to where Rose let the balloons fly to I'd let it +go." + +"Why would you?" asked Russ. + +"'Cause then I could find Rose's doll for her. I could walk along by my +kite string and keep on going and going and going, and then I'd come to +the place where the kite was and there would be the basket with the doll +in it." + +"Yes, that would be nice," said Russ. "But I don't guess they'd go to +the same place. You'd better hold on to your kite." + +"I will," agreed Laddie. "I wonder how high we could let our kites go +up?" he went on, as he watched the messengers whirling around the +strings. "How far would they go?" + +"They'd go as far as you had cord for," said Russ. + +"Could they go away up to the sky?" asked Laddie. + +"'Course they could," said Russ. + +"The sky's awful far," went on Laddie, looking up at the blue part, +across which the white, fleecy clouds were flying. + +"Yes, it's far," assented Russ. "But we could get an awful lot of +string, and let the kites go up." + +"Could we do it now?" the smaller boy wanted to know. "I'd like to see +my kite go up to the sky." + +"Well, we could do it," Russ said. "But look! My messenger beat yours!" +he suddenly cried. "It's away ahead!" + +"So it is," assented Laddie. "Well, anyhow, I've got more of 'em up than +you have." + +"Now I'm going to get a lot of cord and send my kite up high," announced +Russ, as he got up from the grass where he was sitting. + +"Are you going to take your kite down?" his brother wanted to know. + +Russ shook his head. + +"I'm going to tie my kite string to a stone," he said. "That'll keep it +from blowing away while I go into the house to get more cord. You watch +my kite while I'm gone." + +"I will," promised Laddie. "I'll tie my kite, too." + +Russ tied the end of his cord to a heavy stone in the vacant lot near +Aunt Jo's house, in which the boys were flying their kites. Laddie sat +down on the grass, and looked up at the kites, which were like two +birds, high in the air. Russ was gone some little time. It was harder +than he thought it would be to find the right kind of cord. But he had +made up his mind to send his kite up in the air as high as it would go, +and he wanted plenty of string. + +Suddenly Laddie, who was watching his own and his brother's kites, +noticed that Russ's was acting very strangely. It bobbed and fluttered +about a bit, and then began to sink down. + +"I've got to pull on the cord," thought Laddie. Though he was younger +than Russ he knew enough for this--when a kite starts to come down, to +run with it, or to wind the cord in quickly. There wasn't much room in +the vacant city lot to run, so Laddie began winding in the string of +Russ's kite. + +Then Laddie noticed that his own kite was bobbing about and coming down +also. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the little boy. "I can't wind 'em both in at +once. I wish Russ would come!" + +But Russ was still back at Aunt Jo's house, and Laddie, much as he +wanted to save his brother's kite, wanted even more to save his own. + +So Laddie let go of the string of his brother's kite, and began to pull +in on his own. As he did so Russ's sank lower and lower, falling like a +leaf, from side to side. + +But as Laddie pulled on his cord his kite went higher and higher into +the air, until, getting to a place higher up, where the wind was blowing +stronger, it was out of danger. + +But Russ's kite floated lower and lower, and Laddie dared not let go his +own string to pull in his brother's. Just then Russ came running back +with the cord he at last had found. + +"Where's my kite?" he cried, as he reached the lot, and did not see his +kite in the air. + +"It started to come down, and so did mine, but I couldn't pull 'em +both," said his brother. "I'm sorry, but----" + +"Oh, well, maybe I can pull it up," said Russ, who was not going to find +fault with Laddie for what could not be helped. "I'll wind up the +string as fast as I can." + +So he did this, and at last he saw his kite come into sight above the +houses in the next street. But the wind, low down, was not strong enough +to carry the kite up again, and Russ saw that it was of no use. His kite +still fluttered from side to side. + +"I can't get it up again this way," he said to Laddie. "I've got to pull +it all the way down, and then send it up again. And I'll make it go +terrible high this time, 'cause I've got a lot of string." + +"When mine comes down I'm going to send it up higher," said Laddie. But +his kite was still well up in the air. + +Russ pulled and pulled on his string, and finally he had his kite where +he could see it. It was floating over the street near the vacant lot, +and Russ was pulling it toward him, when, all of a sudden, something +happened. + +A woman, with a large hat on, was walking along the street, right under +Russ's kite. Suddenly the kite swooped down, until the dangling tail +touched the woman's hat. Russ, not seeing what had taken place, kept on +pulling on the string, winding it in. And, of course, you can easily +guess what happened. + +"Stop! Stop it, little boy!" called the woman. "Stop pulling on your +kite string!" + +"What for?" asked Russ, who had been looking at the stick on which he +was winding his cord, wondering if it would be large enough to hold it +all. + +"Because you're pulling off my hat!" + +And that is just what Russ was doing. The tail of the kite had become +tangled in the trimming on the woman's hat, and Russ was pulling it off +her head. + +"Oh, please stop, little boy!" she cried, and she had to run along, +following the kite across the street. + +Then Russ stopped winding the string, and the woman, putting up her +hands, took hold of the kite tail, so it did not quite pull off her hat. +But it almost did. + +"I--I'm sorry," Russ said, as he saw what had happened. + +"Oh, that's all right," the woman answered with a laugh. "You couldn't +help it. I have a little boy of my own, and he likes to fly his kite, +but he never got it tangled in my hat, that I remember. But it's all +right. No harm is done. I can pin my hat on again, but my hair is rather +mussed up, I'm afraid." + +"You could go into my Aunt Jo's house and fix it," said Russ politely. +"She has a looking-glass." + +"Has she? That's nice," said the lady with another laugh. "But I have a +little one of my own. See!" She opened her purse and showed a tiny, +round mirror fastened inside. "If you'll hold that up, so I can see +myself in it, I can put my hat on again and it will be all right," she +went on. + +This Russ did. His kite had fallen to the street, but it was not torn +and was all right for putting up again. So he held the woman's mirror, +which was in her pocketbook, as well as he could, while she smoothed out +her hair and straightened her hat. Then, with a smile and a bow, she +said: + +"There! Is it all right?" + +"It looks nice--just like my mother's," answered Russ, and the woman +laughed as she took back her purse. + +"Did you lose a pocketbook?" asked Russ. + +"No," was the answer. "Why do you ask?" + +"'Cause my sister Rose found one, and it had some money in, but nobody +ever came to get it." + +"Well, I hope you can fly your kite again," said the woman, as she +walked away. + +Russ picked up his kite and went back to the vacant lot with it. He +tried to fly it, but the wind had gone down, and the toy would not rise. +Laddie's, too, had begun to bob about, and he said: + +"I guess I'll pull mine down before it falls." + +"Well, we had some fun, anyhow," remarked Russ. + +It was the next day, a fine, sunny one, that Rose and Violet, having +played with their dolls until they were tired, wanted to do something +else. Daddy Bunker had taken Russ and Laddie to a moving picture show, +but as Rose and Violet had seen it once, they did not want to go again. +Margy and Mun Bun were asleep, and the two girls didn't know what to +play. + +"I know how to have some fun," said Rose at last. + +"How?" asked her sister. + +"We can jump rope. I know where there's a piece of clothesline that Aunt +Jo'll let us take." + +"How can two of us jump rope?" asked Vi. "We'd both have to turn, so who +could jump?" + +"We can tie one end to a tree, and take turns turning," said Rose. "Then +one of us can jump, and whoever misses has to turn for the other." + +"Oh, yes, we can do it that way," assented Vi. So the two little girls +ran to get the clothesline and soon they were jumping rope. + +"It's lots of fun," said Vi, when it was her turn to have "three +slow--pepper," while Rose turned, the other end of the rope being fast +to a tree. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MUN BUN IN A HOLE + + +While Rose turned, Vi jumped, and the little girl was getting along +nicely when she tripped, or the rope caught on her foot, and stopped. + +"Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Rose. "You missed, and you have to turn +for me." + +"You made me trip!" exclaimed Vi. "You gave me the pepper before I was +ready." + +"You said to give you 'three slow--pepper,' and I did," declared Rose. + +I suppose you girls who jump rope know what "three slow--pepper" means, +but the boys probably will not, so I'll explain. + +The person who is turning the rope for the other to jump, turns it very +slowly for three times. Then she turns it fast. Jumping fast is called +jumping "pepper," and sometimes jumping slow is called "salt." And I +have heard some little girls, when they were jumping rope, call for +"mustard and vinegar." But that is very fast indeed--too fast for little +girls, I should think. Rose and Vi never jumped faster than pepper. + +"Yes, I know I said 'three slow--pepper,'" admitted Vi. "But I didn't +want you to give me such fast pepper." + +"Oh, well, try it again," said Rose, good-naturedly. "I won't go so fast +the next time." + +So she began turning the rope again, and Vi started to jump. This time +all went well, and Vi, when it came to the "pepper" part, did so well +and kept it up so long that Rose at last cried, with a laugh: + +"Oh, my arm is tired! Let me rest, Vi!" + +"I will," said the little girl. "I'm tired, too. After I rest a minute +I'll turn for you." + +They sat on the grass under the trees for a while, and then began taking +turns jumping again. + +"Now let's try a new way," suggested Rose after a bit. "We'll see how +high we can jump over the rope." + +So they began this game, and pretty soon some little girls from the +house across the street came out to play with Rose and Vi. They were +from a family that Aunt Jo knew, and had played with the little Bunkers +before. + +The children had lots of fun, skipping rope, and seeing who could jump +the highest. Rose was best at this, though Mabel Potter, one of the +little girls from across the street, jumped nearly as high. + +"Now let's go and play with our dolls again," suggested Vi. "Can you +come over to our Aunt Jo's house, and sit on her porch?" she asked +Mabel, Florence and Sallie, the other little girls. + +They said they could, and they were just starting to get their dolls +when along came a boy with a basket of groceries on his arm. He had got +out of a delivery wagon down the street, and was bringing some things to +Aunt Jo. The boy had often called with groceries before, and Rose and Vi +knew him. His name was Henry Jones. + +"Hello, little girls!" called Henry, for he was older than any of them. +"What you doin'?" + +"Seeing who can jump highest," answered Rose. + +"I can jump higher'n any of you!" boasted Henry. "Want to see me?" + +"Well, you ought to jump higher--you're bigger'n we are," said Mabel. + +"Well, I'll jump and keep on holding my basket," offered the grocery +boy. "That'll make it harder for me. Go on! Hold the rope up real high +and I'll jump over it." + +"Maybe you might spill the things in your basket," suggested Rose. + +"No, I won't. I'm a good jumper," said Henry. "Hold the rope up real +high." + +Rose took hold of one end of the rope and Mabel the other. They held it +across the sidewalk as high up as their own waists. + +"Higher!" ordered Henry. + +They raised it a little. + +"There! That's high enough!" said the grocery boy. "Now you watch me +sail over that. I'll show you some jumpin'!" + +Henry, still holding his basket of groceries, stood on the sidewalk, a +little way back from the rope. Then he took a run and started toward it. +Up into the air he jumped, but something sad happened. + +Whether Henry did not spring up high enough, or whether one of the +girls raised the end of the rope when she ought not to have done so, no +one ever knew. + +But what happened was that Henry's feet became entangled in the cord, +and down he fell, luckily on the grass at one side of the pavement, and +not on the sidewalk stones, or he might have been hurt. + +He sat right down flat, and his basket bounced off his arm, and a lot of +groceries spilled out of it. + +"Oh, did you hurt yourself?" asked Rose. + +Henry was too much surprised, for a moment, to speak. He looked as if he +did not know what had happened. Then he slowly got up. + +"No, I didn't hurt myself," he answered. "But I guess I can't jump as +high as I thought I could. But I'm going to try it again." + +"Oh, you'd better not," Mabel said. "You might break some more eggs." + +"I didn't break any eggs!" declared Henry. + +"Yes, you did! Look at that bag," said Rose, and she pointed to one that +had bounced from the basket, together with other bags and bundles. From +this bag something yellow was running on the grass. + +"Oh, dear! I guess I did bust some eggs!" exclaimed the grocery boy. +"Your aunt'll be awful mad!" he went on. "I wish I hadn't jumped the +rope." + +Henry picked up the bag of eggs and looked inside. + +"Only one's busted," he said, "and that's just partly cracked. I'll +hurry into the house with it and she can put it in a dish and save it. +'Tisn't cracked very much." + +"That's good," said Rose. "Parker is going to bake a cake, I heard her +say, so she'll need some eggs right away, and she can use the cracked +one first." + +"I'm glad of that," observed Henry. + +Then he hurried into Aunt Jo's house with the eggs and other groceries, +and when he came out--not having been scolded a bit--the girls had gone +with their jumping-rope, so Henry didn't have another chance to take a +tumble. + +On the shady porch of Aunt Jo's house Rose, Vi and their three little +girl friends played with their dolls. They were having lots of fun, +undressing and dressing them, sending them on "visits," one to another, +and having play-parties. + +"Do you like it here?" asked Mabel of Rose. + +"Oh, yes, lots," was the answer. "We've had just the loveliest summer. +First, we were at Grandma Bell's, and now we're at Aunt Jo's, and maybe +we'll go to Cousin Tom's at the seashore before we go back home." + +"You've got lots of relations, haven't you?" asked Sallie. + +"Oh, that's only part of 'em," Rose went on. "We've got more," and she +mentioned them. + +Vi was putting her doll to sleep on a bed of grass made in a corner of +the porch, when a door slammed and the sound of running feet was heard. + +"Hush! Don't make so much noise!" exclaimed Violet in a whisper. "My +doll's asleep." + +"It's Margy and Mun Bun," said Rose, as the two smallest Bunkers came +racing around the corner of the porch. "They're my little sister and +brother," Rose explained to the other girls. "They've just had a nap, +so they feel like playing now." + +"Can we have some fun?" asked Margy. + +"We want lots of fun!" added Mun Bun. + +"Oh, dear! They'll wake up my doll!" whispered Vi. "Can't you two go +away and play somewhere else?" + +"Here. I'll let 'em take these marbles," said Mabel. "They're my little +brother's. He gave me his bag to hold when he went off to play tops with +some of the boys. I'll let Margy and Mun Bun take the marbles to play +with." + +"That'll be nice," said Rose. "Run along, Mun Bun and Margy, and play +marbles." + +This just suited the younger children. Down off the porch they ran, and +soon the others could hear them laughing and shouting. But pretty soon +Margy came running back. + +"Come an' get Mun Bun," she said to Rose. "He's got his head in, an' he +can't get it out." + +"Got his head in where?" asked Rose. + +"In a hole," answered Margy quite calmly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +OUT TO NANTASKET BEACH + + +When Margy told Rose about Mun Bun being down in a hole, Mabel, Florence +and Sallie looked much more frightened than the little girl who had come +running to the porch with the news. Indeed, Margy did not seem +frightened at all; but, of course, Mun Bun could not stay always with +his head in a hole, so she had come to tell some one to get him out. + +"What kind of a hole is he in?" asked Mabel. + +"Can't he ever get out?" Florence inquired. + +"I don't know," answered Margy. "It's a funny hole. It's in the yard, +and Mun Bun's head is away down in it. I can't see his head, but his +legs are stickin' out." + +"Mother! Mother!" cried Rose, running into the house, where Mrs. Bunker +was sitting in the sewing-room with Aunt Jo. "Oh, Mother! Mun Bun----" + +Rose had to stop, for she was out of breath. + +"What's he been doing now?" asked Mrs. Bunker. Then she saw Rose's face, +and added: "Oh, has anything happened?" and she hurried over to Rose. + +"Margy says his head is in a hole in the yard, and that his legs are +sticking out," went on the little girl. "Mun Bun and Margy went out to +play marbles an'----" + +But Mrs. Bunker did not stop to hear. Followed by Aunt Jo, out she +rushed to the yard, and there she saw a strange sight. In the middle of +the lawn Mun Bun seemed to be kneeling down. But the funny part of it +was that his head did not show. And yet it wasn't so funny either, just +then, though they all laughed about it afterward. + +"Oh, what has happened to him?" cried Mrs. Bunker as she rushed across +the grass. Aunt Jo was beside her, and Rose, Vi, Margy and the three +other girls followed. + +"Mun Bun! Mun Bun!" called his mother, as she came closer to him. "What +are you doing?" + +"Oh, my head's in a hole! It's in a hole, and I can't get it out!" +sobbed the little fellow. And, just as Margy had said, his voice did +sound strange--as if it came from the cellar. + +"Don't be afraid. I see what has happened," said Aunt Jo. "Mun Bun isn't +hurt, and I can get him out of the hole." + +"And can you get his head out, too?" asked Vi. + +"Oh, yes, his head and--everything," said Aunt Jo. "I see what he has +done. He has taken the cover off the lawn-drain, and stuck his head down +in it, though why he did it I don't know." + +"He's trying to get some of our marbles," explained Margy, as Aunt Jo +and Mother Bunker hurried to the side of Mun Bun. "The marbles rolled +down the hole in the yard and Mun Bun said he could get 'em back. So he +stuck down his head, and now he can't get it up." + +"I wonder why?" said Mother Bunker. + +"It's on account of his ears," said Aunt Jo, who had her hands on the +head of Mun Bun now. "They stick out so they catch on the side and +edges of the hole. But I'll hold them back for him." + +She slipped her thin fingers down into the hole, on either side of Mun +Bun's head. Then she raised up his head, and out of the hole it came. + +Mun Bun's face was very red--standing on his head as he had been almost +doing, had sent the blood there. His face was red, and it was dirty, for +he had been crying. + +"Now you're all right!" said Aunt Jo, kissing him. + +"Don't cry any more!" went on Mother Bunker, as she clasped the little +boy in her arms. Mun Bun soon stopped sobbing. + +"I see how it all happened," went on Aunt Jo. "In the middle of my lawn +is a drain-pipe to let the water run off when too much of it rains down. +Over the hole in the pipe is an iron grating, like a big coffee +strainer. This strainer keeps the leaves, sticks and stones out of the +pipe. But the holes are large enough for marbles to roll down, I +suppose." + +"Some of my marbles rolled down the holes, and so did some of Margy's," +explained Mun Bun. "That is, they wasn't our marbles, but _she_ let us +take 'em," and he pointed to Mabel. "And when they rolled down in the +little holes I wanted to get 'em back. So I put my head down to look and +I couldn't get up again." + +"But if the holes were only large enough to let marbles roll through, I +don't see how Mun Bun could get his head down them," said Mrs. Bunker. + +"Oh, but he lifted off the iron grating of the pipe, and put his head +right down in the pipe itself," said Aunt Jo. "The iron grating is made +to lift up, so the pipe can be cleaned. I suppose Mun Bun found it +loose, lifted it up, stuck his head down, and then the edge of the +strainer-holder held his ears, so he couldn't get loose. I pushed his +ears in close to the sides of his head, and then he was all right." + +And that is just the way it happened. Mun Bun, when he saw the marbles +roll down into the drain-pipe, wanted to get them back. He could easily +lift up the grating, but when his head was in he could not so easily get +it out again. So he yelled and cried, and Margy heard him and went for +help, which was a good thing. + +"Well, you're all right now, but don't ever do anything like that +again," said Aunt Jo. + +"I won't," promised Mun Bun, as his mother carried him to the house to +be washed and combed. "But I wanted the marbles, and they're down the +pipe yet. I couldn't get 'em." + +"Never mind," said Mabel. "My brother has lots more. He won't care about +losing a few." + +And he did not, so Mun Bun had all his trouble for nothing, not even +getting back the marbles. But it taught him never to put his head in a +hole unless he was sure he could get it out. + +When Russ and Laddie came home from the moving picture show, they heard +all about what had happened to their little brother. + +"Let's go out and look at the hole," suggested Laddie. + +"All right," agreed Russ. "I knew it was there, 'cause the last time it +rained I saw water running into it. But I didn't know the iron grating +lifted up." + +For several days after that the six little Bunkers had lots of fun at +Aunt Jo's. They played all sorts of games, and had rides on the +roller-skate wagon Russ had made, as well as in the express wagon, +pulled by Alexis, the big dog. + +They went out to Bunker Hill monument, where they were told something +about what had happened when the men of the colonies fought that these +United States might become a free nation. + +"Daddy," asked Vi very seriously, "didn't they name this monument after +you?" + +"How could they?" broke in Russ. "This monument was put up years and +years before Daddy was born." + +"Well, maybe they named it after his great, great, I don't know how many +great grandfathers," put in Laddie. + +"No, it wasn't named after any one in our family," answered Daddy +Bunker. + +The father also took the children out to the Charlestown Navy Yard, and +told them something about the navy and how our fighting men of the sea +helped to keep us a great and free people. + +And then, one day, Russ saw his mother and father and Aunt Jo looking +over some papers and small books. Russ knew what they were--time tables, +to tell when trains and boats leave and arrive. He had seen them at his +father's real estate office, and also at the house in Pineville just +before the family started for Grandma Bell's. + +"Oh, are we going home?" asked Russ, his voice showing the sadness he +felt at such a thing happening. + +"Going home? What makes you think that?" asked his father. + +"Indeed, I hope you're not going home for a good while yet," said Aunt +Jo. "It hardly seems a week since you came." + +"Well, I'm glad you have enjoyed us," said Mother Bunker. + +"But are we going home?" persisted Russ. + +"No, not yet," answered his father. "You think because we are looking at +time tables we are going to leave. Well, we are, but we are only going +on an excursion, or picnic." + +"Where?" asked Russ, and once more he felt happy. + +"Out to Nantasket Beach," said Aunt Jo. "That's a nice trip by boat. It +takes about an hour and a half from Boston, and we are looking to see +what time the boats sail and come back." + +"Oh, are we coming back?" asked Russ. + +"Yes. We can only spend the day there," said his mother. "But Aunt Jo +says it is very nice. It's a sort of picnic ground, with all sorts of +things at which you can have fun. There are merry-go-rounds and +roller-coasters. And you can have nice things to eat, and can play in +the sand near the ocean." + +"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Russ. "When are we going?" + +"To-morrow," answered Aunt Jo. + +Russ jumped up and down, he was so happy, and ran out to tell the other +little Bunkers. + +And the next day they all went out to Nantasket Beach. While they were +there something very strange and wonderful happened, and I'll tell you +all about it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE MERRY-GO-ROUND + + +"Oh, look over here!" + +"See this funny boat!" + +"Look, Daddy! What's that man doing?" + +"Oh, I hear some music!" + +These were some of the things the six little Bunkers said and shouted as +they were on the boat going to Nantasket Beach. The day was a fine, +sunny one, and they had started early in the morning to have as long a +time as possible at the playground, for that is what Nantasket Beach +really is. + +Russ and Rose, Violet and Laddie, and Margy and Mun Bun ran here and +there on the boat, finding different things to look at and wonder over +on the vessel itself, or in the waters across which they were steaming. + +Mother and Daddy Bunker sat with Aunt Jo in a shady place on deck, and +watched the children at their play. + +Russ and Laddie and the two older girls were standing near the rail, +toward the front, or bow, of the boat, and they had to hold their hats +on to keep them from being blown away. + +"I would like a kite here," Laddie said. Then he watched some boats +moving back and forth in the water, big ones and little ones, and, +suddenly turning to his brother, said: + +"I've got a new riddle." + +"What is it?" Russ asked. "I can guess it." + +"Nope! You can't!" Laddie went on. "And it's an easy one, too." + +"Go on and tell it!" exclaimed Russ. "I know I can guess it." + +"Why is this boat like a duck?" asked Laddie. "Now, you can't answer +that." + +"I can so!" cried Russ, as he thought for a moment. "That's easy. This +boat is like a duck 'cause it goes in water." + +"Nope!" said Laddie, shaking his head with vigor. + +"It is so!" cried Russ. "I'm going to ask Mother." + +The two boys went in search of their mother, leaving Rose and Vi up in +front. + +"What is it now?" Mrs. Bunker wanted to know, as the two boys ran up to +her. + +"Laddie made up a riddle about 'why this boat is like a duck,' and when +I told him 'cause it goes in water like a duck, he says that isn't the +answer. It is, isn't it?" + +"That isn't the answer I mean!" exclaimed Laddie, before his mother had +a chance to speak. + +"Well, I suppose Laddie can pick out the one answer he wants to his own +riddles, if he makes them up," said Mrs. Bunker to the two boys. + +"I have an answer," said Laddie, "and Russ didn't guess it right." + +"Give me another chance," pleaded the older boy. "I know why the boat is +like a duck--'cause it _swims_ in water! That's it!" + +"Nope!" said Laddie again, shaking his head harder than before. + +"Then there isn't any answer!" declared Russ. + +"Yes, there is, too," insisted Laddie. "I'll tell you. This boat is like +a duck because it _paddles_! See? A duck paddles its feet in water and +this boat paddles its wheels in water. I saw the paddle-wheels when we +came on board." + +"Huh!" exclaimed Russ. "I could have thought of that if you'd given me +one more turn." + +"Isn't that a good riddle?" demanded Laddie, smiling. + +"Pretty good," admitted Russ. "I'm going to think up one now, and I'm +sure there can't anybody answer it. You wait!" and he went off by +himself to think up his riddle. + +Margy and Mun Bun, after running about a bit, had heard some music being +played on board, and had teased their mother to take them to hear it. +This Mrs. Bunker was glad to do, as it gave her a chance to sit quietly +with the smaller children. + +Across the waters steamed the boat, and Russ finally gave up trying to +think of a hard riddle, and walked here and there with Laddie, finally +getting to a place where they could watch the engines. + +Russ did not find it as easy to think up a hard riddle as he had thought +he would, but he said he was going to try after they got back to Aunt +Jo's house. + +"'Cause," he said, "there's so much to see now that I don't want to miss +any of it." + +It was a ride of about an hour and a half from Boston to Nantasket +Beach, and that pleasure spot was reached long enough before noon for +the children to play about and have fun before lunch. + +They had brought some things to eat with them, but Daddy Bunker said +they would also have something to eat at a restaurant. It was a good +thing Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo did provide sandwiches, for the children +were hungry as soon as they left the boat and insisted on eating. + +And then the fun began. There was plenty to do at Nantasket Beach, +smooth slides to coast down on, funny tricks that could be played, and +phonographs that one could listen to by putting the ends of rubber tubes +in the ears after having dropped a penny in the machine. There were +moving pictures and other things to enjoy. + +[Illustration: BEST OF ALL THE CHILDREN LIKED THE MERRY-GO-ROUND. + +_Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's._--_Page 223_] + +Best of all the children liked the merry-go-rounds, and they had so many +rides on the prancing horses, the lions, the tigers, the ostriches and +the other animals and birds that Daddy Bunker said: + +"My! I'm afraid we'll all go to the poorhouse if I spend all my +pennies." + +"You can take some of the sixty-five dollars I found in the pocketbook," +said Rose. + +"No," and her father shook his head. "We mustn't touch that money yet. I +haven't given up the hope of finding who owns it, though it certainly +takes them a long while to find out about it. But there must be +something wrong. Either they have not seen our advertisements, or they +have gone far away." + +"Can't we ever spend any of the money?" asked Russ. + +"Well, maybe, some day, if we don't find the owner," said his father. + +The children went in bathing, and then had lunch at an open-air +restaurant. And such appetites as they had! The salt air seemed to make +them hungry, even if they had eaten the sandwiches brought from home. + +"Now I want some more rides on the merry-go-round," said Margy, after +they had taken in some other amusements. "I want to ride on the rooster +this time. He's bigger than the rooster at Grandma Bell's, but he's nice +and red." + +Among the creatures in the merry-go-round machine was a big, wooden +rooster, painted red, with his beak open just as if he were going to +crow. Margy had ridden on a horse and on a lion, and now she wanted the +rooster. + +"Well, you may have just one more ride," said her mother. "But don't +tease for any more." + +"Why not?" Margy wanted to know. + +"Because it might make you ill, my dear," said Mrs. Bunker. "Too much +riding, when you go around in a circle that way, may upset your stomach. +One ride more will be enough, I think." + +Margy agreed to be content with one, but when that was over she had +enjoyed it so much that she teased and begged for just one more. + +"Oh, let her have it, Mother!" suggested Rose. "We'd all like another +ride. And I'll sit beside Margy in one of the seats, and then maybe it +won't make her sick." + +Margy didn't look ill, and she seemed to be enjoying herself. + +"Well, this is a sort of play-day," said Daddy Bunker, "and I want you +children to have a good time. I don't suppose one more ride will do any +harm," he said to his wife. "And, I'll try to keep out of the poorhouse +until we can use the sixty-five dollars in the pocketbook Rose found," +and he laughed. + +"Well, if you say it's all right I suppose it is," agreed his wife. "But +this is, positively, the last ride!" + +So the children got their tickets, and Margy and Rose took their seats +in a little make-believe chariot, drawn by a green camel. + +The music began to play, the merry-go-round began to turn and once more +the children were having a good time. In chairs near the big machine +Daddy and Mother Bunker and Aunt Jo waved to the children each time they +came around. + +The turn was almost over when Mrs. Bunker happened to see Margy leaning +up against Rose. And the mother noticed that her littlest girl's face +was very white. Rose, too, seemed frightened. + +"Oh, I'm sure Margy is ill!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "She has ridden too +much! Oh, Charles! Have them stop the machine!" + +"It's stopping now," he said. He, too, had noticed the paleness of +Margy's face. + +Slowly the merry-go-round came to a stop, but even before it had +altogether ceased moving Daddy Bunker had jumped on and hurried to where +Rose sat holding Margy. + +"Oh, Daddy!" exclaimed Rose, "she says she feels terribly bad." + +"What's the matter with Daddy's little girl?" asked Mr. Bunker, as he +took Margy in his arms and started to get off the machine. "Did you +become frightened?" + +"Oh, no! No, Daddy!" answered Margy in a weak voice. "But I feel funny +right here," and she put her hand on her stomach. "And my head hurts and +I feel dizzy--and--and----" + +Then poor little Margy's head fell back and her eyes closed. She was too +ill to talk any more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +ROSE FINDS HER DOLL + + +"Take her out in the air," said one of the men in charge of the +merry-go-round, as he saw Mr. Bunker carrying Margy across the floor. +"They often feel a bit faint from riding too much, or from the motion. +The air makes 'em all right. Take her right down to the beach. That +would be best, I think." + +"I will," said Mr. Bunker. + +Tenderly he looked down at the little white face on his arm. Mrs. Bunker +and Aunt Jo looked worried, as they hurried after Mr. Bunker, and Rose +and Russ, who, with Violet, Mun Bun and Laddie had gotten off the +merry-go-round, followed through the crowd. + +"What's the matter? What is it? Was any one hurt?" asked several +persons. + +"No, it's only a little girl sort of fainted," a policeman said, and +that was really what had happened to Margy. + +"The fresh air down by the beach will bring her around all right," said +the man who had first spoken to Mr. Bunker. "I'll look around for a +doctor, if you like." + +"Oh, I don't think she is as badly off as that," replied Margy's father. +"As you say, the fresh air will bring her around." + +So the six little Bunkers, with Margy being carried by her daddy, went +down near the water. The merry-go-round was not far from the bathing +pavilion where they had left their clothes when they went in swimming +during the morning. + +At the cashier's desk was a young lady, who gave out the tickets and +took charge of watches, jewelry, money and other things that the +bathing-folk left with her for safe-keeping. This young lady cashier saw +Margy being carried by Mr. Bunker, and called to him: + +"Bring the little girl up here. She can lie down on a bench in the +shade, and feel the fresh ocean air. That will be better than having her +out in the sun." + +"Indeed it will," said Mrs. Bunker. "Thank you very much." + +With some dry bathing-suits and towels, the girl kindly made a sort of +bed on a bench for Margy, and there the little girl was tenderly put to +rest by her father. Then he looked carefully at her, and listened to the +beating of her heart. + +"She'll be all right in a little while," he said. "If I could get her a +glass of cold water----" + +"I'll get you one," offered the bathing cashier. "We have some ice water +inside." + +"You are very kind," said Mrs. Bunker. "We went in bathing from this +place not very long ago, but I did not see you here then." + +"No, I come only in the afternoons," said the girl. "Another girl and I +take turns, as the work is pretty hard on a hot day when lots of folks +go in swimming." + +She brought the water for Margy, and then the little girl opened her +eyes and looked about her. + +"Take a drink," said her mother. "Do you feel better now?" + +"Yes," said Margy. "I'm all right. I felt awful funny," she said, and +she smiled a little. Her cheeks were not so pale now, and she tried to +sit up. + +"Better lie down a bit yet," said Daddy Bunker. "Then you'll feel a lot +better. Next time you mustn't ride so much on the merry-go-round. Too +many trips are not good for any one." + +In a short time Margy felt so much better that she could sit up. The +cashier came back from her place at the window to ask how the little +girl was feeling, and she seemed glad when told that Margy was better. + +Russ, Rose and the other children had been asked to stay outside and +play in the sand, but now, having been told by Aunt Jo that Margy was +nearly recovered, they came in the bathing pavilion office to look at +their little sister. Just at this time there were not many people +wanting bathing-suits, so the cashier who had been so kind was not very +busy. + +As Rose and the others stood looking at Margy, and also at the cashier, +Vi suddenly exclaimed: + +"Why, I know her!" + +"Who?" asked Mrs. Bunker. + +"Her," went on Vi. She pointed to the cashier. "She found me the day I +was lost, when I went after the loaf of bread and I went down the wrong +street and I couldn't find Aunt Jo's house. She found the right street +for me. I know her--her name's Mary!" + +The cashier turned to look at Violet. + +"Oh, now I remember you!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I did see you crying on +the street in the Back Bay section of Boston one day. I remember now. I +could tell where you lived because my mother used to sew in that +neighborhood, and I had seen the big dog at your aunt's house. So you +got home all right, did you?" + +"Yes, she came just as I was starting out to look for her," said Daddy +Bunker. "We often wondered who had been so kind as to show Violet the +right way, but all she could tell was that it was a girl named 'Mary'. I +often thought I'd like to see her, and thank her for being so kind to +our little girl, but, only knowing your first name----" + +"My name is Mary Turner," said the girl. "I live in Boston, though not +at Back Bay, but I come over here every day on the boat to work." + +"Do you like it?" asked Aunt Jo. + +"Yes, it is very pleasant, and not too hard. I like the smell of the +salt water. I'd be near the ocean all the while if I could. But we can't +have all we want," and she smiled. "Shall I get you some more cold +water?" she asked Margy. + +"Yes, please," answered the little girl. "I feel a lot better now." + +"That's good," said Mary Turner, as she went to the water-cooler. + +"Wasn't it funny I should see her again?" said Violet. "She was awful +nice to me when I was lost." + +"She seems like a very nice girl," said Mrs. Bunker, "and she is +certainly very kind to us. I'm glad we met her." + +Mary came back with more water for Margy, who was now able to walk +around, the feeling of illness having passed. + +"I want to go down and play in the sand," she said. + +"Better not go out in the hot sun right away," advised Aunt Jo. "Stay +in the shade a bit, Margy." + +"Yes," urged Mary Turner. "Come and see my queer little office, where I +sit all day and hand out tickets and take in gold watches and diamond +rings and things like that." + +"Do you keep 'em?" asked Russ. + +"Oh, no! The people who go in bathing leave them with me for safety. I +have to give them back when they hand me the check I give them. I keep +each person's things separately in little pigeonholes, and there is a +man on guard there, too,--a sort of policeman." + +"Are there any pigeons in the pigeonholes?" asked Vi. + +"Oh, no!" laughed Mary. "They just call them pigeonholes because they +are like the openings that pigeons go in and out of at barns, and such +places, I suppose. They are like the boxes in a post office, only +larger. Come, I'll show them to you." + +As this would keep Margy in the shade a while longer, Mrs. Bunker said +the children could go with Mary and look at her "office." + +"My daddy's got an office," said Rose. "It's a real estate office." + +"Well, mine is different from that," Mary said. + +They went with her to look. As it was rather soon after the dinner hour, +not many persons were in bathing, and the compartments or "pigeonholes" +were not all filled. In some, however, were the envelopes in which +people sealed their watches, rings and other valuables. + +The six little Bunkers were quite pleased at seeing Mary Turner's +office, and the "policeman" who was on guard so no one would come in and +take the envelopes. + +"Did some one leave that when they went in bathing?" asked Mr. Bunker +with a smile, as he pointed to something in one of the pigeonholes. + +"Oh, no," answered Mary with a smile. "That's mine. It's a doll, and I +brought it with me to-day, thinking I would have time to make a new +dress for it, and give it to a little girl I know. I don't play with +dolls any more, though I used to like them very much, and I still like +to make dresses for them. But I've been rather busy this morning, +helping Mr. Barton, who owns the bathing pavilion, so I didn't get time +to do any sewing." + +As she spoke she took down the doll, and held it out for Margy and the +others to see. And, as Rose looked at it, she exclaimed: + +"Oh, look! Why--why, that's Lily! That's my doll that went up in the +airship! That's Lily!" + +"It can't be, Rose!" said her mother. + +"Yes, it is!" insisted the little girl, as she took the doll from her +sister's hand. "Look! Don't you 'member where there was a cut in her and +her sawdust insides ran out and Aunt Jo sewed up the place with red +thread?" and Rose turned the doll over and showed where, surely enough, +the doll was sewed with red thread. + +"Is that really your doll?" asked Mary, and there was a queer look on +her face. + +"It really is," said Rose Bunker. "I sent her up in a basket and there +was a lot of balloons tied to it. I called it an airship and it got +loose and Lily went away up in the sky, and I couldn't get her down." + +"I said she'd come down," cried Russ, "'cause I knew the balloons +couldn't stay up forever. But we looked for the doll and couldn't find +her." + +"Did she drop out of the airship?" asked Rose eagerly. + +"No, she came down with the 'airship,' as you call it," went on the +bathing-pavilion cashier. "She was in a basket when I found her. And +tied to the basket were some toy balloons. A few of them had burst, and +the gas had come out of the others, so that they were all flabby and +wouldn't keep the airship up any more. Then it came down, and it +happened to land right in the back yard of the place where I board, in +Boston. + +"I saw it in the morning, when I went out to feed the pet cat, and I +brought the doll in. She was all wet, and her dress had come off. But I +carried her into the house and I've kept her ever since. I've been +intending to dress her and give her to a little girl, but I'm glad you +have her back," and she smiled at Rose. + +"Oh, isn't it just wonderful!" cried the little girl. "To think I have +my own darling Lily back after her going up in the airship!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE POCKETBOOK OWNER + + +Indeed it was quite strange and wonderful, as they all agreed, that +Rose's doll had been found in such a curious way. Rose, herself, was +very happy, for, though the doll was not her "best" one, she liked it +very much indeed, and had felt sad at losing Lily. + +"I'm glad the airship came down at your house," said Rose to Mary. + +"And I'm glad I found her for you," said the cashier. + +"'Cause," remarked Vi, "she might have fallen in a house where there was +a puppy dog, and he'd have bitten her and torn her dress. I wonder where +her dress went." + +"Oh, I guess the wind blew it off," said Russ. "The wind is awful strong +up high in the air. Once it busted one of my kites." + +"I guess that's how it happened," said Daddy Bunker. "The toy balloons +must have gone up very high, carrying your doll along, Rose." + +"No. Lily didn't have on a dress that day. I was in an awful hurry, an' +I just wrapped a handkerchief around her. That blew away, I guess." + +By this time Margy was feeling all right again, and after a little more +talk with Mary, the six little Bunkers went out to play on the sandy +beach, Rose carrying her doll. + +"Oh, it's lovely at Nantasket Beach!" said Russ, as he and Laddie ran +about and waded in the shallow water. "Thank you, Aunt Jo, for bringing +us here." + +"Oh, I'm enjoying it as much as you children are," said Daddy's sister. + +But all things must come to an end, even picnics, and when the six +little Bunkers had done about everything they wanted to at the pleasure +resort it was time to take the boat back for Boston. + +On board, after the children and the grown folks were seated, Vi saw her +friend Mary Turner. + +"There's the girl that found me when I was lost, and the one that had +Rose's doll," said Vi, pointing. + +"Oh, so it is!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "Don't you want to come over and +sit by us?" she asked the bathing-pavilion girl. + +"Yes, I should like to," was the answer. "It's lonesome riding home +alone." + +"Where do you live in Boston?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as Mary sat down near +her and the children, who were too tired with their fun to romp around +much. + +"I board down near where I can get this steamer easily," was the answer. +"I have a pass on the boat, and by walking to the dock I save carfare. +And these days one has to save all one can," she added. + +"You say you board," put in Aunt Jo. "Have you no relatives?" + +"Oh, yes, I have a brother and a mother, but Mother is ill in the +hospital," was the answer. + +"That's too bad," said the ladies, who felt quite sorry for Mary. + +Then they talked about different things until, at dusk, the boat landed +at the wharf, and the six little Bunkers and all the other passengers +got off. Rose whispered something to her mother, who looked a little +surprised and then spoke to Aunt Jo. + +"Why, yes, I'd be delighted to have her," was the low answer, for Mary +was walking on ahead, with Russ and Laddie. + +"Rose thinks it would be nice to ask Mary to come to supper with us," +said Mrs. Bunker to her husband. "Aunt Jo says that she is willing." + +"Of course we'll ask her!" said Mr. Bunker kindly, and when Mary was +told about the plan she smiled and said she would be glad to come. So to +Aunt Jo's nice home they all went, and Parker had a fine supper soon +ready for them, even though she didn't expect company. + +After the supper, which Mary seemed to enjoy very much, saying it was +much nicer than at her boarding-house, she and the six little Bunkers +sat on the porch and talked. Mary told about the funny things which +sometimes happened at the bathing-beach. + +"Well, I'm glad we went there to-day," said Rose. "If we hadn't I'd +never have found my airship doll." + +"You were very lucky," said Laddie. + +"Yes," added Russ. "I wish I had such good luck as Rose. She found her +doll and she found a pocketbook." + +"Oh, I didn't tell you about that!" exclaimed Rose to Mary. "I really +did find a pocketbook in the street, about two weeks ago, and it had a +lot of money in it." + +"Did it?" asked the bathing-beach girl, and she seemed interested more +than usual. + +"Oh, a lot of money," went on Rose. "Please, Daddy, can't I show Mary +the pocketbook I found?" she asked, for Miss Turner had told the +children to call her by her first name. "I want to show her the +pocketbook I picked up," went on the little girl. + +"All right, you may," said Mr. Bunker. "I'll get it for you," and he +brought it from the house. + +"There it is!" cried Rose. "Wasn't I lucky to pick that up?" + +"Indeed you were," said Mary Turner, and then, as she caught sight of +the wallet in Mr. Bunker's hand she exclaimed: + +"Why, there it is! There's the very one! Oh, to think that you have +it!" + +"Do you know whose this is?" asked Mr. Bunker. "Ever since my little +girl found the wallet we've been trying to find the owner, but we +haven't been able to." + +"That's my mother's pocketbook!" cried Mary. "And it's on account of +that she's in the hospital, and ill. Oh, how wonderful!" + +"Is this really your mother's purse?" asked Mr. Bunker. + +"It surely is," answered the bathing-beach girl. "She had just +sixty-five dollars in it." + +"That's just how much was in this!" exclaimed Russ. + +"And besides," went on Mary, "I know the pocketbook. It has a little +tear in one corner, and the clasp is bent." + +"That's right," said Mr. Bunker. + +"And," went on Mary, "besides the sixty-five dollars there was a funny +Chinese coin with a square hole in the middle. Did you find that in the +purse?" + +"Yes," exclaimed Aunt Jo, "there was a Chinese coin in the pocketbook! +That proves it must be your mother's pocketbook." + +"I'm sure of it," said Mary. "Oh, how glad she'll be that it is found, +and the money, too. That is--if we can have it back," she said softly. + +"Have it back? Of course you may!" cried Mr. Bunker. "If it is your +mother's we want you to have it. Was there anything else in the purse +when your mother lost it?" + +"Yes," Mary said, "there was a letter from my brother, but part of it +was torn off," and she spoke of what the note had in it. Then they were +all sure it was Mrs. Turner's purse. + +The letter, from which the lower part had been torn, was from Mary's +brother John. He was a soldier in the army. His mother had written, +telling him that her brother, Mary and John's "Uncle Jack," had sent the +money to her, and that she was going to spend it in trying to get a rest +of a month, as she was very tired from overwork. + +But the pocketbook had been lost by Mrs. Turner, and, as Mary said, it +made her mother ill, so she had had to go to the hospital. + +But through the good luck of Rose everything had come out all right, for +Mary felt that the news of the recovery of the money would take the +worry from Mrs. Turner's mind, thus making it easier to regain her +health. + +"You found my doll," exclaimed Rose, "and I found your pocketbook! We +are both lucky!" + +"Indeed we are," said Mary, smiling, as she took the wallet from Mr. +Bunker. "Oh, but Mother will be happy, now!" went on the girl. + +"Mother had been overworking, for we are poor and she had had us two +children to bring up, as my father is dead. She was on her way to see +about going away for a time to get a good rest, now that John and I are +old enough to look out for ourselves, when she lost the purse and the +sixty-five dollars. + +"She felt so bad about it, when she couldn't find it, that she was made +ill, and had to be taken to a hospital. We did not tell my brother, as +we did not want to worry him. But I know this good news will make Mother +better. + +"I walked all around the streets near where she thought she had lost her +purse, but I couldn't find it." + +"Didn't you read the lost and found advertisements?" asked Mr. Bunker. +"We advertised the finding of the pocketbook in the papers." + +"No, I was so worried about Mother that I never thought to," was the +answer. "And when I had her taken to the hospital, and found a +boarding-place for myself, and went to work at Nantasket Beach, I +thought there was no use to look. I never expected to get the money +back." + +"But you did, and I'm glad I found it," said Rose. + +They were all glad. Mr. Bunker took Mary that very night to the hospital +where her mother was, and the good news so cheered Mrs. Turner that the +doctor said she would soon get better, and, after a while, entirely +well. That is what good news sometimes does. + +But the good luck of the Turners did not end with the getting back of +the lost pocketbook. Aunt Jo became interested in the little family, and +promised to give Mrs. Turner plenty of work to do at sewing as soon as +she was well. And a better place was found for Mary to work, where she +would not have to take the long trip back and forth from Nantasket +Beach. + +So many good things came about just because Rose saw the pocketbook and +picked it up. + +And now my story is nearly done. Not that the six little Bunkers did not +have more fun at Aunt Jo's, for they did, but I have not room for any +more about them in this book. + +"But do we have to go home right away?" asked Russ, when he heard his +father and mother talking of packing up a few days later. + +"Oh, no," was the answer. "We have a letter from another of our +relatives, asking us to come to see him before we go back to Pineville, +and I think we'll accept." + +"Where is it?" asked Rose. + +"Down at the seashore," answered her father. "Don't you remember?" And +what next happened to the children will be told in the book after this, +to be called, "Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's." + +It was a beautifully sunshiny day. Out on the lawn Russ and Laddie were +playing with the hose. + +"Mother, make Russ stop!" suddenly Laddie cried. + +"What's he doing?" asked Mrs. Bunker, who could see that not very much +was happening. + +"He's squirting water on me from the hose." + +"I am not, Mother," said Russ, laughing. "I'm only making believe Laddie +is in bathing down at Cousin Tom's at the seashore, and when you go in +swimming you've got to get a little wet!" + +"Oh, well, if you're making believe play _that_, all right," said +Laddie, "wet me some more." + +Russ did. So, at their play, we will take leave, for a time, of the six +little Bunkers, wishing them well. + + +THE END + + + + +THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + + * * * * * + +Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books + +Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by + +FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY + + * * * * * + +=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.= + + * * * * * + + This new series by the author of the "Bobbsey + Twins" Books will be eagerly welcomed by the + little folks from about five to ten years of age. + Their eyes will 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 was a lively little boy, very inquisitive. + When he did anything, Sue followed his leadership. + They had many adventures, some comical in the + extreme. + + +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM + + How the youngsters journeyed to the farm in an + auto, and what good times followed, is + realistically told. + + +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS + + First the children gave a little affair, but when + they obtained an old army tent the show was truly + grand. + + +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE + + The family go into camp on the edge of a beautiful + lake, and Bunny and his sister have more good + times and some adventures. + + +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME + + The city proved a wonderful place to the little + folks. They took in all the sights and helped a + colored girl who had run away from home. + + * * * * * + +=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. + + * * * * * + +=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.= + + * * * * * + + Copyright publications which cannot be obtained + elsewhere. Books that charm the hearts of the + little ones, and of which they never tire. Many of + the adventures are comical in the extreme, and all + the accidents that ordinarily happen to youthful + personages happened to these many-sided little + mortals. Their haps and mishaps make decidedly + entertaining reading. + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL + + Telling how they go home from the seashore; went + to school and were promoted, and of their many + trials and tribulations. + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE + + Telling of the winter holidays, and of the many + fine times and adventures the twins had at a + winter lodge in the big woods. + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT + + Mr. Bobbsey obtains a houseboat, and the whole + family go off on a tour. + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK + + The young folks visit the farm again and have + plenty of good times and several adventures. + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME + + The twins get into all sorts of trouble--and out + again--also bring aid to a poor family. + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH SERIES + +By GERTRUDE W. MORRISON + + * * * * * + +=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.= + + * * * * * + + Here is a series full of the spirit of high school + life of to-day. The girls are real flesh-and-blood + characters, and we follow them with interest in + school and out. There are many contested matches + on track and field, and on the water, as well as + doings in the classroom and on the school stage. + There is plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, + pure and wholesome. + + + THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH + Or Rivals for all Honors. + + A stirring tale of high school life, full of fan, + with a touch of mystery and a strange initiation. + + + THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA + Or The Crew That Won. + + Telling of water sports and fun galore, and of + fine times in camp. + + + THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH AT BASKETBALL + Or The Great Gymnasium Mystery. + + Here we have a number of thrilling contests at + basketball and in addition, the solving of a + mystery which had bothered the high school + authorities for a long while. + + + THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON THE STAGE + Or The Play That Took the Prize. + + How the girls went in for theatricals and how one + of them wrote a play which afterward was made over + for the professional stage and brought in some + much-needed money. + + + THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON TRACK AND FIELD + Or The Girl Champions of the School League + + This story takes in high school athletics in their + most approved and up-to-date fashion. Full of fun + and excitement. + + + THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH IN CAMP + Or The Old Professor's Secret. + + The girls went camping on Acorn Island and had a + delightful time at boating, swimming and picnic + parties. + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES + +By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN + + +The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a +small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are +greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have +motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go +everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give +full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals +and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim, +etc. Full of the spirit of outdoor life. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS + Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE + Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST + Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF + Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME + Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT + Or The Rivals of the Mississippi. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS + Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run. + + THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT + Or The Golden Cup Mystery. + + =12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. + Handsomely bound in Cloth.= + + * * * * * + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 36, "ate" changed to "mate". (asked the mate) + +Page 69, "some some" changed to "some". (here is some sort of a paper) + +Page 159, "It" changed to "Is". (Is this your) + +Page 215, "h" changed to "his". (had all his) + +Page 241, "abont" changed to "about". (was told about) + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's, by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S *** + +***** This file should be named 19736.txt or 19736.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/7/3/19736/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J.P.W. 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