CHAPTER IX
Rose jumped out of bed, brushing aside the little River girl who had stolen so silently into her room, and hurried out into the hall, where a night light burned. As she hastened out, Rose gave a hasty glance at Violet. Her little sister had not awakened.
There was a patter of bare feet behind Rose, and she knew that Bess was following. As she went after Rose into the hall Bess exclaimed:
"Oh, there he goes! There he goes! He's gone and done it again!"
At the same time there was a confusion of voices in several rooms, and some one called:
"Never mind, Jack. Mother's coming!"
This was just what Rose had often heard her mother say when there had been some scare in the night among the six little Bunkers.
"He's gone and done it again!" cried Bess, and she now clung to Rose's nightgown. Then from the room whence the thud of the fall had come, sounded another voice crying:
"I didn't mean to!"
"Well, this is getting more and more queer all the while!" thought Rose, rubbing her eyes to make herself more widely awake. "First it was Laddie who was calling about being pulled out of bed, but that wasn't Laddie who spoke last, nor Russ."
A moment later Russ appeared, coming from the room where he had been sleeping with his small brother Laddie. There was a strange look on Russ' face. As Rose looked at him she saw the little figure of Jack come out of the room behind Russ, even as Bess had followed her out of her room. And then came Laddie, making a procession of three little pajama-clad small boys.
At the other end of the hall Daddy Bunker appeared in his dressing gown, and then came Mrs. River and Mr. White.
"What's the matter?" asked Daddy Bunker.
"I don't know," Rose answered. "But this little girl—Bess—came into my room and woke me up. I didn't know what to do, and then I heard Laddie call about being pulled out of bed, and——"
"And I was pulled out of bed, too!" Laddie interrupted. "Somebody came into my room in the night and pulled all the covers off me, and then he pulled me, and it wasn't Russ, either!" he added.
"No, it was him!" and Bess pointed an accusing finger at her small brother Jack. "He did it again, Uncle Ned," she added, looking toward Mr. White.
"Dear me! what is it all about?" asked Captain Ben, now appearing. "I don't quite understand."
"I think I can explain," said Mrs. River, who had slipped on a dressing gown and slippers. "Jack walked in his sleep again, didn't he, Bess?"
"Yes, Mother, he did. He got awful scrambly when I was sleeping with him, and I thought he was going to kick me out of bed, as he does lots of times, so I got out first."
"You did?" exclaimed her mother. "And where did you go?"
"In with her," answered Bess, pointing to Rose.
"Then Jack must have got up a little later and pulled this little boy out of bed," said Mrs. River. "I hope he didn't hurt you," and she patted Laddie on the head.
"Oh, no'm. I fell on a pile of bedclothes," he answered. "But it felt funny at first."
Jack, the innocent cause of all the trouble, stood scratching his back, or rather, trying to reach an itchy place in the very center. But his arms were not long enough.
"I'll scratch it for you," offered Laddie, and he did, amid the laughter of the grown folk.
"Is that all that happened?" asked Daddy Bunker, when quiet was restored.
"Yes," was the answer from Russ. "First I knew I heard Laddie yelling, and then he rolled out of bed."
"I didn't roll—I was pulled. He pulled me!" said Laddie, pointing to the poor little "brook" boy.
"I—I didn't mean to," said the poor little culprit. "I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't even know I got out of my bed."
"I think, when you get back in, I'll have to tie you with a piece of clothesline," his mother said. "He has often walked in his sleep before," she explained; "but I never knew him to pull any one out of bed until now."
The excitement was soon over, and the children went back to their beds and to sleep. Mrs. River took Jack in with her, and Bess was allowed to sleep with Rose and Violet, much to the delight of Bess. Violet never awakened through all these happenings, nor did Tom, the oldest River boy.
The sun was shining when the four little Bunkers came down to breakfast the next morning, and they laughed with the little "brooks" at the memory of what had happened in the night.
"As soon as I heard that big bang I knew what had happened," said Bess. "I knew Jack had gone and done it again, but I didn't know who it was he had pulled out of bed."
Breakfast over, the four little Bunkers, with Captain Ben and their father, got ready to resume their trip to Grand View. They still had many miles to go, but they thought they could make it by night, even though the roads were bad.
"And they are pretty sure to be in poor condition," said Captain Ben, as he brought the automobile around to the side porch. "We shall have to drive slowly on account of so much slippery mud after the rain."
Mr. White would not accept any money for having taken care of the travelers over night, and after thanking him and saying good-bye to the little "brooks," promising to come and visit them some time, the Bunkers started off once more.
"We'll have lots to tell mother when we see her," said Rose as she settled herself in the rear seat of the car.
"I should say so!" exclaimed Russ. "It surely was funny to wake up and hear Laddie yelling, and then to hear him fall out of bed!"
"And I didn't know what to think when I felt Bess touch me," remarked Rose. "At first I thought it was Margy."
"I guess Margy and Mun Bun are playing near the ocean now," said Vi. "I wish we were."
"You'll soon be with them," promised Captain Ben.
"And I'm going to try to think up a riddle about falling out of bed," said Laddie.
Though the sun shone and the weather was fine now, there were traces of the night's storm on every side. In some places there were brooks still running high with water, and in one or two sections the road bed had been washed away, so that Captain Ben had to drive slowly and carefully.
They had just left a small village, after a stop to get something to eat and to let the children have soda water, when they passed a man driving an empty farm wagon.
"You folks want to watch out just the other side of the white bridge," this man called to Captain Ben.
"What's the matter?" asked Daddy Bunker.
"There's a bad piece of road just after you cross the white bridge," was the answer. "It's clay, and clay is slippery when it's wet. Watch out!"
"We will," promised Captain Ben, and he drove slowly along. They soon came in sight of the white bridge. It went over a canal, and there was a hill on either side of the bridge, which was raised high over the canal to allow boats to pass under it.
"I should say it was a bad, slippery road!" said Captain Ben, as the machine started down the slope after crossing the bridge. "I'll just have to crawl."
He shut off all power and put on the brakes. For a little way the car went down well, and it seemed as if nothing would happen. Then, suddenly, the wheels slipped in the slimy clay and Daddy Bunker shouted:
"Look out!"
But, even as he spoke, the automobile slid to one side, and the next moment there was a crash and the four little Bunkers and their father and Captain Ben were almost standing on their heads inside the automobile, which slid into a deep ditch partly filled with water at the side of the road.