Laura Lee Hope

“ 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!" ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 [125] 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ Down the side street went the junk wagon, [136] 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. [201]
"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. ”

“ 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. [126]
"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." ”

“ 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 [58] 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'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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." [158]
"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. ”

“ 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. ”