Laura Lee Hope

“ Russ and Laddie made little boats and set them adrift in the blue water. Rose and Vi played with their dolls, for they had each brought two or three of them. Mun Bun and Margy dug in the sand with sticks which they picked up on the shore of the lake.
"It's almost like the seashore," said Rose, when she came back from having given her rubber doll a dip in the lake, "only the water doesn't taste salty like when you cry tears."
"I like it here," said Vi. "I wish we could stay always." ”

“ Russ asked.
"Well, yes, you could call me that," admitted the red-haired man, speaking slowly. "I'm a sort of tramp lumberman. I never like to stay long in one place, and so I'm roving all over. You could call me a tramp."
"That's good," said Russ.
"Well, sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't," said Mr. Gannon. "It isn't so bad tramping in the summer, but in the winter it isn't so nice. You get cold and hungry."
"I meant it's good 'cause you're the very one we want to see," went on Russ, who felt quite big and grown-up, now that he and Laddie had come this far alone. ”

“ Mead drove off in his auto with the parrot.
"Yes, I have, my dear."
"Oh, where are they?"
"Zip, my dog, is out in the barn, I imagine. He generally goes out there when Tom is working around."
"Who's Tom?" asked Laddie. "Is he the cat?"
"No, Tom is the hired man. Thomas Hardy is his name."
"And where's the cat?" asked Vi, looking around the front yard, as if she might see the pussy under some flower bush.
"Oh, Muffin is in the house, I presume," said Grandma Bell. "And that's where we'd better go. I guess you're all hungry after your trip, aren't you? ”

“ Behind them came Norah and Jerry Simms.
"Maybe the tramp will come to see the fireworks," said Rose, who was walking beside Russ.
"You mean the red-headed one that has daddy's papers?"
"No, I mean the one that came begging at our house to-night."
"Well, maybe he will," admitted Russ. "If I was a tramp I'd walk all around and go to every place that I was sure they were going to have fireworks."
"So would I," said Rose. "I love fireworks."
"But you couldn't be a tramp," declared her brother.
"Why not?" Rose wanted to know.
"'Cause you're a girl, and only men and boys are tramps. ”

“ Soon the raft was made big enough so that Russ could stand up on it and not have it sink to the bottom of the lake near the shore.
"Do you like it? asked Laddie.
"It's lots of fun," answered Russ. "I'm glad you thought of this."
"I was trying to think of a riddle," said Laddie. "It was something about what makes the lake wet when it rains, and then I saw some pieces of board floating along and I thought of a raft and I made one."
"And I'm glad you thought of it instead of the riddle," said Russ with a laugh. "You can't ride on a riddle." ”

“ Then, as Russ and Laddie looked at him, and as Zip sat looking at the cat, the red-haired tramp lumberman said:
"Well, now, it's a funny thing, but I have got that old coat yet. It's too ragged for me to wear—it got a lot more ragged after your father gave it to me—but I sort of took a liking to it, and I kept it. I've got it yet."
"Where is it?" asked Russ eagerly.
"Right here in my cabin. Mr. Barker lets me stay here while I'm cutting down trees to build his dock. I like to be by myself. I've got the coat here. I'll get it." ”

“ You don't tell a steamboat to 'gid-dap' when you want that to start!" exclaimed Russ. "You say 'All aboard! Toot! Toot!'"
"All right then. Toot! Toot!" cried Vi, and Margy and Mun, who had climbed up together in a single chair beside Vi, began to laugh.
"I know another riddle," announced Laddie, as he took his place inside the barrel, for he was going to be the fireman, and, of course, they always rode away down inside the steamboat. "I know a nice riddle about a horse," went on Laddie. "What makes a horse's shoes different from ours?" he asked. ”

“ It was tattered and torn.
"This is the coat your father gave me," said the lumberman, "but I'm sorry to say there are no papers in the pockets. You can look yourself if you like. There isn't a paper at all!"
As Russ watched, the red-haired man thrust his hands first into one pocket and then into the others. But no papers came out. Russ looked sad and disappointed. So did Laddie.
"This is the coat all right that I got at a real estate office in Pineville," said Mr. Gannon. "But every pocket was empty when I got it. I remember feeling in them. There were no papers at all. ”

“ Let the children play there. You can see them from the house; so, if we look out every now and then, we'll be sure they are all right."
"Very well," said Daddy Bunker. "We'll first have a look at the lake."
"Oh, goody!" cried Russ.
"Now we can have a lot of fun and sail boats!" added Laddie. "We can have a whole lot of fun."
"I'll take my doll down and give her a bath," said Rose.
"Oh, won't water spoil your doll, my dear?" asked Grandma Bell.
"I don't mean my big one, that the lady took for her baby," explained the little girl. "I mean my small rubber doll." ”

“ Hurd to his horse, and down the road it went, the carriage soon being out of sight. Zip, the dog harnessed to the cart which Russ and Laddie had helped make, still lay in the shade. He was taking a good rest.
"Oh, wouldn't it be fine if this is the lumberman daddy wants, and he could get back his papers?" said Laddie.
"Very fine," agreed Russ. "We'd better go back and tell him right away. Maybe he'll take us to Mr. Barker's place with him!"
"Oh, maybe!" cried Laddie. "Let's hurry home."
But you can not always tell what is going to happen in this world. ”

“ With the dog-cart, taking rowing trips on the lake now and then, going fishing, hunting for berries and walking in the woods, the six little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's had a fine time that early summer. There seemed to be something new to do every day, or, if there wasn't, Russ or Laddie made it.
"And I've thought up a new riddle," said the smaller boy one day.
"What's it about?" asked Russ.
"It's about Zip," Laddie replied. "Why is Zip like a little boy when he's tired? I mean when Zip is tired. Why is he like a little boy then?" ”

“ Grandma Bell explained. "You see out here, years ago, when Grandpa Bell ran the farm, we didn't have gasoline engines such as are now used in automobiles and for pumps and other farm work. So we had to use a sort of engine that one or two horses could make go. It was called a treadmill, and some were made so that even dogs, trotting on a moving wooden platform, could work a churn. We used to have one of those, but the one Russ got on was a treadmill for one horse."
"I saw it," said Laddie. "Russ wanted me to get on, but I wouldn't. He did and then he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop running!" ”

“ Mrs. Bell hired me to come over and get you. You see I'm about the only one that's got an auto in these parts, and as it's quite a drive through the woods for a team, Mrs. Bell thought maybe I'd better come in my machine."
"I'm glad you did," said Mr. Bunker. "There will be room for all of us in it."
"Yes, and the baggage too," said the man, who said he was Mr. Jim Mead. "When I get an auto I want one big enough for the whole family. Pile in now, children, and make yourselves at home."
"Do you know our Grandma Bell?" asked Russ of Mr. Mead. ”

“ Just follow this road to the lake. Will your dog pull you there?"
"Oh, yes, Zip is a good puller," said Russ. "He gave us this ride from Lake Sagatook."
"And he ran after a rabbit!" added Laddie. "And he might 'a' got it, only the bunny went down a hole."
"They mostly do that when a dog chases 'em," said the gate-man. "Well, you just follow the road along until you come to the cabin where the red-haired lumberman lives—Mike Gannon is his name—and then you can ask him about the ragged coat and the papers. Stop and tell me about it on your way out."
"We will," promised Russ and Laddie. ”

“ Barker lives here," returned Russ. "We live over at Lake Sagatook—that is, we don't zactly live there, but we're visiting Grandma Bell."
"Oh, are you some of the little children staying at Mrs. Bell's house?" asked the gate-tender. "I heard she had company. I know her well, but I don't often get a chance to see her. So you're her company."
"She's our grandma," explained Russ. "And we are the six little Bunkers—everybody calls us that. 'Course Laddie and I are only two Bunkers—there're four more at home—Rose, Vi, Margy and Mun Bun." ”

“ I'm too sick to work very hard. All I want is something to eat. And I haven't any papers that belong to your father. Is he at home—or your mother?"
"I'll call them," said Rose, for she knew that was the right thing to do when tramps came to the house.
But there was no need to go in after Mr. and Mrs. Bunker. They had heard the children talking out on the side porch, and a strange man's voice was also noticed, so they went out to see what it was.
"Oh, Daddy!" cried Russ. "Here's the tramp lumberman you gave the old coat to, but he says he hasn't any papers!" ”

“ He had pushed her out from shore, hoping to give her a nice ride, but in the middle of the stream the boat went down, and Vi was frightened—or maybe just cross because she was not getting the ride she expected. She screamed. Laddie couldn't understand why the boat sank, and called out to know. That was when Russ heard them.
"But you're all right now," said Mrs. Bunker. "And it's so warm to-day that wading in the brook won't hurt you. Only don't upset and fall in. I don't believe you can ride in your boat, Laddie. It won't float when it leaks so much." ”

“ We'll ask daddy or grandma."
"Say, it'll be lots of fun if we can make a dog-cart!" cried Laddie. "Could we really ride in it, do you s'pose?"
"Why, yes!" answered Russ. "Zip is strong enough to pull us both. Look at him pull that log. Feel how hard he pulls on the rope!"
The boys took hold of the rope and tried to hold back on it. But Zip was so strong that he dragged them along a little way, as well as the log. And Zip growled and snarled, pretending he was very angry.
"Look out!" cried Mother Bunker. "He might bite you!"
"Zip is only playing," said Grandma Bell. "He never bites. ”

“ Oh, what kind is that?" asked Rose.
"Maybe it's a riddle," suggested Laddie.
"Oh, you're always thinking about riddles!" exclaimed Russ. "Come on, let's go out to the barn and have some fun in the hay," for Mr. Bunker kept a horse for driving customers about to look at real estate.
"What kind of fun can we have?" asked Vi.
"Come on, and you'll see," returned Russ.
By this time most of their fireworks had been shot off, though Daddy Bunker had insisted that they save a few for afternoon. ”

“ You don't yourself."
"I know I don't, but maybe the lumberman might. Maybe he'd like to answer it. I guess I'll ask him."
"No, don't do it," advised Russ. "He's a poor lumberman, or he wouldn't want an old coat. And if he's poor he wouldn't pay money for tickets, so he wouldn't know why the conductor punched 'em."
Laddie thought about this a while.
"All right," he said, finally, as Zip trotted along down the hill, and came out on a level road that led to Green Pond. "I'll make up a new riddle for the lumberman," he went on. "Or I could ask him about Zip's breath coming in short pants." ”

“ Then I must see if I can't get the police to find this red-haired tramp lumberman who is carrying those valuable papers around in my old coat. It's queer I never thought that I put them in the pocket. Very queer!"
"Maybe the tramp will bring them back," said Rose after a bit. "Lots of times, when people find things, they bring them back." ”

“ Vi went on.
"That's their trunk," explained Rose. "But it isn't like the trunk we put our things in. Elephants only put peanuts in their trunks."
"Then what makes 'em so big? Their trunks, I mean," asked Vi.
"I don't know," Rose confessed. "Only I know elephants have little tails."
"This animal had a big tail," declared Mun Bun.
"Maybe it was the elephant's trunk they saw," suggested Vi. "Do you think it was?"
"Elephants don't live in the lake," decided Rose. Then she started down toward the shore where Mun Bun and Margy had been paddling in their bare feet. ”