"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.
"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.
DOWN THE WATER CAME, SPLASHING ON ALEXIS.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 wepulled the chain and the water splashed out on him."
"I should say itdidsplash!" 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. "Howcouldyou 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. Buthis 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—hewasn'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 DaddyBunker, "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 sentit 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 MunBun 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.
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 justfullof 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 apocketbookfull 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 AuntJo'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 moneyif 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 issomesort 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."
"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 seehow 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!"
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 guestsfoundsomething, 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 allthere, 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 abouther. 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 likedchildren, 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. Justoutside 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.
"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 makethatkind of a fountain?" asked Laddie.
"Sure," said Russ. "Come on, help me dig the hole, and then we'll fix the hose init 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 thehose 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 thenthe 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 hisbrother 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 ofcourse 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 rollout 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 auntcomes 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.
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 thesmaller 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 AuntJo. 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 thegrape-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 flownover 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 basketwas 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.