CHAPTER IIITHE SECRET
Mrs. Bunker could not have said anything more exciting than the word “secret” if she had tried for a week. Hearing it, the six little Bunkers fairly jumped for joy.
“Oh, ho! A secret!” cried Russ.
“Let me guess what it is!” begged Laddie, acting as though he thought it a riddle.
“Oh, tell me!” cried Rose. “I won’t tell the others, Mother.”
“No, no!” laughed Mrs. Bunker. “When it is time to tell the secret you shall all know it at once.”
“Is it about us?” asked Violet, with what she thought a cunning air, hoping she might surprise something of the secret from her mother.
“Yes, it’s about all of you,” was the answer.
“Is it good to eat?” was what Mun Bun wanted to know.
“Yes, the secret is good to eat,” answered Mrs. Bunker, with laughing eyes, as she looked at Farmer Joel’s truck driver.
“Is it good to play with?” was the question Margy asked.
“Yes, it’s good to play with, too,” said her mother.
This set all the six little Bunkers to guessing, and they named first one thing and then another, but Mrs. Bunker only shook her head, laughed, and told them they would have to wait to find out about the secret.
“You’ve got your hands full with those youngsters, I can see that,” chuckled the truck driver, who had said his name was Adam North. “They must keep you busy.”
“They do. But they are good children,” Mrs. Bunker said, while Rose was murmuring:
“I can’t think what kind of a secret it can be that you can eat and play with. Can you, Russ?”
“Not unless it’s a candy cane—the kind we used to get for Christmas,” he answered.
“Oh, it couldn’t bethat!” quickly declared Rose. “Mother wouldn’t make a secret abouta candy cane. I think it must have something to do with this Farmer Joel.”
“Maybe,” agreed Russ. “But I have to go into the house and brush my clothes. I didn’t think they were so dusty. It’s like sliding for first base when you’re playing ball.”
By this time the six little Bunkers in charge of their mother were ready to walk back toward their house. They made a pretty picture as they stood in the street, Mun Bun and Margy were first, side by side, and holding hands as the two youngest generally did. Then came the twins, Violet and Laddie, next largest in size, and back of them were Rose and Russ, while Mrs. Bunker came behind the two oldest, smiling at her “brood,” as she sometimes called them, pretending they were hungry chickens.
“Well, we’re generally hungry all right,” Russ would say with a laugh when his mother spoke thus.
“I suppose we look like a procession, don’t we?” asked Mrs. Bunker of Adam North, as he prepared to start his truckload of flowers.
“Well, a little, yes,” he agreed, with a laugh. “But it’s a mighty nice procession. Iguess Farmer Joel wishes he had one like it.”
“That’s so, he has no children, has he?” remarked Mrs. Bunker. “It’s been some time since I have seen him, and I thought perhaps he might have married.”
“No,” went on Mr. North, while the six little Bunkers listened to the talk, wondering, the while, what the wonderful secret might be. “Farmer Joel is still a bachelor. He lives with his sister Miss Lavina. She keeps house for him, you know.”
“Oh, yes, I know Lavina Todd very well,” said Mrs. Bunker. “She and I were old chums. We went to school together when we lived in the same country town as girls. But that was quite a number of years ago, and I thought Farmer Joel might have married in all that time.”
“No—old bachelor,” replied Adam North. “But he’s the kindest, jolliest soul you’d want to meet and he loves children. That’s why I say he’d like a procession like yours. Now then, where do you want these flowers? I’ve got quite a load of ’em.”
“Indeed you have a wonderful load of blossoms,” said Mrs. Bunker. “It was verykind of Farmer Joel to send them. But I’m afraid I can’t set them out all alone.”
“Oh, I’ll stay and help you plant the flowers,” offered Adam North, who was something of a farmer and gardener himself. “Mr. Todd said I was to do that. I’ve got to stay, anyhow, to see Mr. Bunker. He’ll be home soon, I expect.”
“Yes, he’ll come home to supper,” replied Mrs. Bunker. “I hope you can stay and have a meal with us,” she added.
“Well, I might—yes,” was the slow answer. “In fact, I was going to stay over at the hotel all night, as it’s a long ride back to Cedarhurst, and I don’t like to drive the truck after dark if I can help it.”
“Oh, then you can stay at our house,” quickly said Mrs. Bunker. “We’d be delighted to have you. There is plenty of room.”
“And you can tell us about the farm,” added Rose.
“And about the bees,” added Mun Bun. “Does they sting?”
“Sometimes,” laughed Mr. North.
THE CHILDREN HELPED AS MUCH AS THEY COULD.Six Little Bunkers at Farmer Joel’s.(Page31)
THE CHILDREN HELPED AS MUCH AS THEY COULD.Six Little Bunkers at Farmer Joel’s.(Page31)
THE CHILDREN HELPED AS MUCH AS THEY COULD.
Six Little Bunkers at Farmer Joel’s.(Page31)
Six Little Bunkers at Farmer Joel’s.
(Page31)
“And tell us about the cows and chickens,”begged Laddie. “I know a riddle about—now—about a cow, only I can’t think of it.”
“Maybe it’s the cow that jumped over the moon,” joked Mr. North.
“No, it isn’t that,” Laddie answered. “Maybe I’ll think of it after a while.”
“I’d like to hear about the horses,” suggested Violet. “How many horses does Farmer Joel have and do they ever run away and did they ever run away with you and did you get hurt and are there any little horses? I don’t believe they’d run away, would they? And if a horse runs away does he run back again and——”
“Violet! Violet!” cried her mother. But the little girl had stopped herself, for she was out of breath.
“Does she often get spells like that?” asked Adam North, with a laughing look at Mrs. Bunker.
“Sometimes,” was the smiling answer. “But generally she asks her questions one at a time. I don’t know what made her take such a streak. But come, children, I want to get these flowers set out before daddy comes home. Come along.”
“We can plant some in the hole we dug,” said Laddie.
“No! No!” cried Mun Bun. “That’s a hole to China and we don’t want any flowers in it!”
“Easy, Mun Bun! Don’t get so excited,” soothed Russ. “Maybe the people in China would like some of these flowers.”
“Oh, all right. I give some flowers to Chiweeze,” agreed Mun Bun.
By this time the truck had rolled into the driveway of the Bunker home, and the family of children and their mother soon followed. The doll, which had been the cause of so much excitement, and not a little trouble, was put in the house where no wandering dog could carry her off again. Then Adam North began unloading the pots of flowers, some of which needed to be set out in the ground to make them grow better.
It was toward the end of spring, with summer in prospect and just the time to start making a flower garden, Mr. North said. Farmer Joel raised many kinds of plants and blossoms, his sister Miss Lavina Todd helpinghim. They had so many that it had been decided to send some to Mr. Bunker.
“But I never thought he could spare all these,” remarked Mrs. Bunker, when she saw the geraniums, the begonias, the four-o’clocks, the petunias, the zinnias, the marigolds and many other kinds of “posy-trees,” as Mun Bun called them.
“Oh, yes, we have more flowers at Cedarhurst than we know what to do with,” said Adam North, as he began setting out the blossoms.
The children and Mrs. Bunker helped as much as they could, but except for what Russ, Rose and Mrs. Bunker did there was really not much help. For Violet, Margy, Mun Bun and Laddie would start to dig a hole in which to set out a plant, then they would forget all about it in running to see a new kind of blossom that was taken from the truck.
So it was that there were a number of half-dug holes about the garden, with nothing planted in them. But Adam North knew his business well, and soon he had turned the formerly dull Bunker yard into a veritableflower-show, with bright blossoms here and there.
“Now if you’ll just give ’em a little wetting down with the hose so they won’t wilt, they’ll come up fresh and strong by morning,” he said, when the last plant was set out.
“I’ll use the hose!” offered Russ.
“I’ll help!” said Rose.
“So will I!” cried the other four little Bunkers. Using the hose was something they all delighted to do.
“No, my dears,” said Mrs. Bunker firmly. “Russ will do the sprinkling and all the others must come in and get washed ready for supper. Daddy will soon be home and then——”
“Will you tell us the secret?” asked Rose.
“I think so—yes,” was the reply, and this gave the smaller children something to think about so they did not mind not being allowed to use the hose.
“I wouldn’t dare let them take turns wetting the new plants,” said Mrs. Bunker to Adam. “Russ is all right, but the others would shower every one passing in the street.”
“I reckon so, and wash out all the new plants besides,” chuckled Farmer Joel’s hiredman. “And now,” he went on, “since you have been so kind as to ask me to stay to supper and remain all night, I’d like to wash up myself. I’m pretty dirty,” he added, with a laugh, as he looked at his grimy hands, for he had been delving in the dirt to set out the flowers.
“Come with me,” said Mrs. Bunker. “And, Russ,” she added, “be careful about the hose. Don’t spray on any people who may be passing.”
“I’ll be careful,” he promised.
Ordinarily when Russ used the hose all the other little Bunkers stood around anxiously waiting for their turn. But now, with the prospect of hearing a secret, they went willingly to the bathroom and soon were as shining as soap and water could make them.
Adam, as the children soon began to call him, for he was very friendly, ran the big truck up alongside the garage, as there was not room for it inside. Then, after he had washed and prepared for supper, he went out to see that Russ did not spray too much water on the newly set out plants.
Norah, the cook, had supper almost readyand Adam had told Russ enough water had been used when the boy, looking down the street, saw his father approaching.
“Here comes daddy!” he cried.
Mr. Bunker waved his newspaper and as he reached the gate and saw the visitor a pleasant smile came over his face and he cried:
“Well, Adam North! Glad to see you! How’s Farmer Joel?”
“Right hearty! I brought you those flowers.”
“That’s good! Hello, Russ! How’s everything here?”
“All right, Daddy!”
“Daddy! Daddy!” came in a chorus from the other little Bunkers, and their father was overwhelmed in a joyous rush.
“What’s the secret?”
“Tell us the secret!”
“Can Mother tell us the secret now?”
These were only a few of the words Mr. Bunker heard as he was hugged and kissed.
“Secret?” he exclaimed, looking at Adam. “What secret?”
“Oh, you know!” laughed Rose. “It must be about Farmer Joel!”
“Oh, that!” chuckled Mr. Bunker. “Yes, the secret is about him,” he admitted. “But how did you all know it?”
“There’s been a lot of excitement in the last hour,” said Adam. “I nearly ran over a doll, just missed smashing Russ, and there’s a secret in the air. Oh, nobody’s hurt,” he quickly added, for he saw that Mr. Bunker looked a little alarmed at the mention of what had so nearly been an accident.
“That’s good,” said Daddy Bunker.
“The secret! The secret!” begged the children.
“All right. Come into the house and I’ll tell you the secret,” he promised.
With whoops of delight, in trooped the six little Bunkers.