Laura Lee Hope

“ They took one of the robes from Aunt Jo's automobile, and, spreading this out on the grass, they blew bubbles and let them fall on the cloth. The bubbles bounced up, sometimes making several bounds before they burst.
"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Laddie. "It's more fun than making riddles."
"I wondered why you hadn't asked one," said Russ with a laugh. "Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed, for he had happened to laugh just as he was blowing a big bubble, and it burst, scattering a little fine spray of soapy water in his face.
Margy giggled delightedly. ”

“ This last he made believe was hay for a make-believe elephant.
"Do pirates have elephants?" asked Violet.
"Sometimes maybe they do," her brother said. "Anyhow I can make believe that just for fun."
"Are we going to eat any more?" asked Laddie. "Or is that only make-believe, too?"
"I'll see if I can get some more from Cousin Ruth," promised Russ. Once more he made a trip up to the real bungalow, and Cousin Ruth, with laughter, filled another bag with cookies. This time Margy and Mun Bun, tired of playing with the shells and pebbles, went down on the beach to the driftwood pirate bungalow. ”

“ What makes the ocean so salty?"
"I don't know," said Russ. "We'll ask Daddy when we go up. But come on, and let's build the bungalow. I'll be a pirate, and we'll play shipwreck and everything."
"I'll be a pirate, too," added Laddie. "I know a good riddle about a pirate, but I can't think of it now. Maybe I will after I've been a pirate for a while."
"We'll be pirates, too," said Vi.
"No, girls can't be," said Russ. "You can be our prisoners. Pirates always have prisoners." ”

“ CHAPTER XXIII THE SAND FORT
"What do you mean—the boat upset?" asked Russ, looking up from the sand fort he was making on the beach. "Do you mean one of your toy boats and is it make-believe men that are spilled out?"
"No, I mean real ones!" exclaimed George. "It's one of the fishing boats, and it was just coming in from having been out to the nets. It was full of fish and they're all over, and you can pick up a lot of 'em and they're good to eat. And maybe one of the men is drowned. Anyhow, there's a lot of 'em in the water. Come on and look!"
"Where is it?" asked Laddie. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIV A MYSTERIOUS ENEMY
"Here's a good place to make the fort," said Russ as he and Laddie reached the beach not far from Cousin Tom's bungalow and looked about them. "We'll build the fort right here, Laddie, near this hill of sand."
"What's the hill for?"
"That's where we can put our flag. They always put a flag on a hill where everybody can see it." ”

“ A few days after the finding of the dolls all six of the little Bunkers were playing down on the beach. Four of them had the Japanese dolls, but Russ and Laddie did not.
Laddie was digging a hole in the sand and trying to think of a new riddle, and Violet had just finished asking Russ a lot of questions when, all of a sudden, George Carr, the little boy whose dog had been bitten by the Sallie Growler, came running around a group of sand dunes, crying:
"Oh, the boat's upset! The boat's upset, and all the men are spilled out! And the fish, too! Come and see the upset boat!" ”

“ Bunker. "After this don't dig such deep sand holes, or, if you do, don't get into them. Sand, you know, is not like other dirt. It doesn't stay in one place, but slips and slides about."
"But we want to have something to play in!" exclaimed Russ.
"Well, we want you to have fun while you are here at Cousin Tom's, but we don't want you to get hurt," said Mrs. Bunker. "Can't you make a little playhouse of the driftwood on the beach? That would be nicer to play in than a damp hole."
"Oh, yes, we could do that!" cried Rose. "Let's make a wooden house on the beach, Russ! There's lots of wood!" ”

“ Margy and Mun Bun didn't say anything, but they looked as if they could eat.
"I thought of another riddle," said Laddie, as he went along with Russ. "It's about why does the sand run."
"No! That isn't it!" laughed Rose. "You've started it backward, Laddie, and spoiled it."
"Oh, yes, now I know. Why is sand like a boy?"
"Because they both run," answered Russ. It was easy to guess the riddle after Laddie had partly told it to him.
"Cousin Tom said lobsters run backwards," put in Violet, having heard Rose say that Laddie started his riddle backwards. "What makes lobsters go that way, Russ?" ”

“ Fastened to the back of the skate is a long, slender tail, like that of a rat, only larger, and between the tail and the round, flat body on the under side, are two things that really look like legs. Perhaps the skate may use them to walk around on the bottom of the ocean, as a horseshoe crab uses his legs for walking. But a skate can also swim, and in that way it comes up off the bottom, and often bites on the hooks of fishermen who do not at all want to catch such an unpleasant fish. ”

“ Why is a crab like a newspaper?"
"'Tisn't!" exclaimed Russ who came along just then. He was limping a bit, for his toe was sore where the crab had pinched him.
"Yes, 'tis!" declared Laddie. "That's the riddle. It's something like the one Rose told. Why is a crab like a newspaper?"
"'Cause it folds its claws when it doesn't want to bite you?" asked Violet.
"Nope!" [Pg 129]
"Tell us," suggested Russ.
"Well, a crab is like a newspaper, 'cause when it's red it can't bite or pinch," Laddie said. "See?"
"Huh! Yes, I see," murmured Russ. "A crab is like a newspaper because when it's red. Oh, I know! ”

“ What's she lashing her tail so for?"
"Wait a minute, Vi!" cried Russ with a laugh. "You mustn't ask so many questions all to once."
"Treasure isn't good to eat!" said Laddie. "But if you find a lot of gold you can buy ice-cream sodas with it."
"Maybe the robin is flitting its tail to scare the cat," suggested Rose, who remembered Violet's second question. [Pg 20]
"Well, I know why the cat is lashing her tail," said Russ. "Cats always do that when they think they're going to catch a bird. This cat thinks she's going to catch the robin. But she won't!"
"Why not?" asked Rose. ”

“ At the same time a boy with curly hair and gray eyes, who was Violet's twin, dropped some pieces of wood, which he had been trying to make into some sort of toy, and came running along the path.
"I want to blow some bubbles, too!" he said.
"We'll all blow them!" called Rose, who had a sort of "little mother" air about her when the smaller children were with her. "We'll have a soap-bubble party!"
"Shall we have things to eat?" asked Mun Bun.
"'Course we will," cried Margy, the little girl who had been playing with him in the sand. "We always has good things to eat at parties; don't we, Rose?" ”

“ Here they are."
"You must never wade out like that again," said the father of Mun Bun and Margy. "This river isn't like ours at home. An island there is always an island, unless floods come, and you know about them. There is a tide here twice a day and what may seem a safe bit of sand on which to play at one time may be covered with water at another. ”

“ Vi, you take Mun Bun's hand and I'll look after Margy."
"Shall we leave our dolls here?" asked Vi.
"Yes. There's nobody here now and we can go faster if we don't carry them," answered Rose. "Here, Mun Bun and Margy, leave your dolls with Vi's and mine. They'll be all right."
Rose laid her doll down on the sand and the others did the same, so that there were four Japanese dolls in a row. ”

“ Russ picked up a shell, and started to dig. [Pg 80]
"What are you looking for?" asked Rose.
"I was just wondering if there was any gold here," said her brother. "Sammie Brown said there was gold in sand, and there's lots of sand here; isn't there, Rose?"
"Yes, but Laddie and Violet dug in a lot of places to-day, and so did Margy and Mun Bun, and they didn't find any gold."
"They didn't know how to look for it," declared Russ. "You have to dig deep for gold."
"I'll help," offered Rose. "I like to dig in the sand." ”

“ Daddy Bunker looked at the water between him and the box, and said:
"It's too deep to wade and spoil a pair of [Pg 159] shoes. And, after all, maybe there is only a lot of old trash in the box."
"Oh, I thought maybe my doll was in it," sighed Violet.
"Can't you take your boat, Tom, and row out and get the box?" asked Cousin Ruth.
"Yes, I could do that," he said. "I will, too! The water is calm, though I can't tell how long it will stay so."
But before Cousin Tom could go back to the pier in the inlet, where the boat was tied, the box was washed quite a distance out from shore. ”

“ But when you children have a bite, your Daddy or I will use the net for you."
"Oh, it's going to be lots of fun," cried Violet. "I like this kind of fishing."
"And there aren't any sharp hooks to hurt the crab," added Rose.
"No, it doesn't hurt a crab to catch him this way," said Daddy Bunker. "And crabs are very good to eat after they are cooked. I like them better than fish."
"Is a crab a fish?" asked Laddie, who was holding a little stick down in the water, [Pg 115] watching the ripples it made as the boat was rowed along.
"A crab is a sort of fish," said Cousin Tom. "Why did you ask?" ”

“ There is plenty of seaweed on the bottom of the inlet here, and the crabs like to hide in that—especially the soft-shelled crabs."
"Are there two kinds?" Russ inquired.
"Yes, hard and soft," was his cousin's answer.
"Like eggs," said Russ with a laugh. "There are hard and soft boiled eggs. Isn't that so, Cousin Tom?
"Yes," said Cousin Tom with a smile. "But the funny part of it is that sometimes the same crab is soft-shelled, and again it is hard-shelled. An egg can't be that way. Once it is boiled hard it never can be boiled soft again." [Pg 117]
"What makes soft crabs?" Rose wanted to know. ”

“ So she gave Mun Bun and Margy some of hers, and then began to brown more.
The other children did very well, and soon they were all eating the toasted candies. Now and then one would catch fire, for sugar, you know, burns faster than wood or coal. But it was easy to blow out the flaming candies, and, if they were not too badly burned, they were good to eat.
"Oh, look at the little dog!" cried Rose, as she put a fresh marshmallow on her stick. "He smells our candy! May I give him one, Daddy?"
"Yes, but give him one that isn't toasted. He might burn himself on a hot one. Whose dog is he?" ”

“ By this time quite a crowd had gathered [Pg 54] around the six little Bunkers and their father and mother. Margy still sat on the sidewalk, with the kitten in her lap, petting and rubbing it.
"Come! We must hurry!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "We may miss the boat. Get up, Margy. Rose, you help your mother dust Margy off, and then we must hurry."
"Can't I take the kittie?" asked the little girl.
"No, dear," answered her mother. "It isn't yours. And besides, we never could take it to Cousin Tom's with us. Put it down, Margy, my dear!" ”

“ It's so near the water——"
"The beach is a very safe one, and the water is shallow, even at high tide," said Cousin Tom. "At low tide you can wade quite a distance out. The children will be all right. But do they really expect to find gold by digging?"
"I believe they do. It's a story they heard," said Mr. Bunker with a laugh. "Near Aunt Jo's lived a boy whose father was a sea captain, and who, I believe, did once find gold on an island. It set Laddie and Vi to thinking they might do the same. ”

“ On one end of each string was a short piece of wood, and on the other end a piece of meat, while on a few were some fish heads.
"You don't need hooks to catch crabs," explained Cousin Tom. "All you need to do is to tie a piece of meat on the string."
"And does the crab bite that?" asked Russ.
"No, but he takes it in his strong claws, to hold it so he can tear off little pieces with his smaller claws and put them into his mouth," said Cousin Tom. "A crab's mouth is small, and he has to tear his food into little bits before he can swallow it. ”

“ Look how that one held on to my dog's nose."
"I hope he isn't hurt much," put in Laddie. "I didn't mean to do it."
"No, I guess you didn't," said the other boy. "Nobody ever tries to catch a Sallie Growler. They're too nasty and hard to get off the hook. 'Most always they swallow it, but this one didn't. He dropped off just as you landed him and then my dog came along and smelled him—Teddy's always smelling something—and the fish bit him."
"Do you live around here?" asked Russ.
"Yes, we're here for the summer. I guess I saw you down on the beach last night roasting marshmallows, didn't I?" ”

“ Cousin Tom answered.
"All right," agreed Mr. Bunker, as he looked up and saw coming down the inlet, or [Pg 135] Clam River, a speedy motor-boat, in which sat a man. This would be much faster than a rowboat.
Just then Mrs. Bunker, who had jumped up from the sand where she had been sitting for a moment, and who was running toward her husband, cried:
"Oh, see! The children are standing up! Oh, if they should fall overboard!"
Margy and Mun Bun, who, at first, had been sitting down in the drifting boat, were now seen to be standing up. And it is always dangerous to stand up in a small boat. ”

“ Laddie thought a search-light [Pg 66] was a thunderstorm, when we were coming down on the Fall River boat, Margy crawled under a fruit stand in New York to get a stray kitten, and Mun Bun got mixed up with another little boy. But we are used to such things happening, and we don't mind. I hope you will not be driven wild by the children."
"Oh, no, I love them!" said Cousin Ruth with a smile, as she looked over at the six little Bunkers.
"That's good," said their mother with a smile. "Of course they get into mischief once in a while, but they are usually pretty good and don't give much trouble. ”