Laura Lee Hope

“ Russ was not happy unless he was whistling, or unless he was making something, just as Laddie was very fond of asking riddles.
"I guess maybe I got a riddle, now," said the little chap who was Violet's twin.
"Is it about Mun Bun and the balloon basket?" asked Russ.
"No, it's about why is a cat like a kite."
"It isn't," said Russ. "A cat isn't anything like a kite."
"Yes, it is, too!" declared Laddie. "They both have tails."
"Oh, well. But some kites don't have any tails," said Russ. "I know a boy, and he knows how to make kites that go up without any tails. So that riddle's no good!" ”

“ Up into the attic tramped the six little Bunkers. From the windows, high up, they could look across the snow-covered fields. They could see the trees, now bare of leaves, and the great black hedge around Grandpa Ford's house. The big chimney of the house was hot and that kept the attic fairly warm.
"You wouldn't think a ghost could get in, would you?" asked Rose of Russ in a low voice.
"Maybe it was here already," suggested Russ. "An attic is a good place for ghosts. Let's look for one here."
"But don't let the others know," cautioned Rose, motioning to Mun Bun and Margy, Laddie and Vi. ”

“ All at once, as Russ, who was in the lead of the procession of children, looked at the snow man, he cried:
"Oh!"
"What's the matter?" asked Rose.
"Did you hear some funny noise?" questioned Violet.
"No, but look at Mr. White!" cried Russ. "He took off his hat and made a bow to me!"
"Why, Russ Bunker!" gasped Vi.
"Took off his hat?" cried Laddie.
"Made a bow to you!" exclaimed Rose. "Why, how could he? Mr. White is only a snow man. He isn't alive!"
"Well, he made a bow just the same!" cried Russ. "You just watch, and he'll do it again!"
Eagerly the children watched. Mr. White did not move. ”

“ As Grandpa Ford had said, an ice boat, in a way, is like a big skate or sled. It slides over the frozen ice of a pond, lake or river instead of sailing through the water, as another boat does. And an ice boat really has something like skates on it, only they are called runners. Perhaps I might say they are more like the runners of a sled.
If you will take two long, strong, heavy pieces of wood and fasten them together like a cross, or as you fasten kite sticks, you will see how the frame of an ice boat is built. ”

“ Russ and Laddie had a room together, and so did Rose and Vi, and before the two older Bunker children went to bed Rose whispered to her brother:
"Shall we get up and hunt for the ghost when the others are asleep?" ”

“ What is it?"
"What kind of a tree would you rather drive?" asked Laddie. "That's the riddle. Russ says you can't drive a tree, that you can only climb it or chop it down, or burn it up."
"And I said you could sit in the shade of it," added Rose.
"Well, all of those things can be done to trees," said Grandma Ford with a smile, as she gave Mun Bun some more bread and jam. "I think I should like best sitting in the shade of a tree. But what is your riddle, Laddie?" ”

“ So did Margy.
"What makes us get hungry?" asked Violet, as Mun Bun let Rose brush the snow from him. "What makes us?"
"It's when something tickles us in our stomachs," answered Laddie. "I know, 'cause I feel that way right now. I wish I had something to eat."
"So do I," said Margy. "My stomach doesn't zactly tickle, but it's hungry."
"Well, I'll go and ask Grandma for some cookies," offered Russ. "She always has a lot in a jar, and they taste awful good. ”

“ Rattle and bang-bang and rattle sounded the noise of the drum in Grandpa Ford's house, and yet, as the grown folks downstairs in the sitting-room looked at one another, they could not imagine who was playing at soldier. ”

“ And with great suddenness the train was, almost at once, shut in by a cloud of white snowflakes, like a fog. The swirling white [Pg 84] crystals were blown all about, and tapped against the glass of the windows, as if they wanted to come in where the six little Bunkers were. But the glass kept them out.
"How is it out—cold?" asked Grandpa Ford of a brakeman who came in an hour or so later, covered with white flakes.
"Very cold, sir, and growing more so. I'm afraid we'll run into a bad storm before we reach Tarrington. It's snowing worse all the while." ”

“ They were all very much puzzled.
"It's worse than one of Laddie's queer riddles," said Daddy Bunker, when he and Grandpa Ford came back from having searched in several of the rooms.
They listened for a while longer, but the noise was not heard again, and then it was time to go to bed. The wind sprang up again and the clouds seemed to promise more snow. And, surely enough, in the morning, the white flakes were falling thick and fast.
"They'll cover up our snow man," said Laddie to Russ.
"Never mind. I know how we can have more fun," said the older boy. ”

“ White and we're going to make some little White snow children."
"Like us six little Bunkers?" asked Mun Bun.
"No, I guess not so many as that," replied Laddie. "That would take us all day. We'll just make two children, a girl and a boy."
"Oh, I'm going to help make the White children!" cried Vi.
"Let's go an' watch 'em!" called Margy to Mun Bun. "We've had enough coasting, haven't we?"
"Yes," said Mun Bun. "We'll make some snow mans ourselves."
With the smaller children dragging their sleds and following them, Russ and Rose and Laddie and Vi went back to where they had left Mr. White standing. ”

“ It was a long trip, but finally they reached Pineville and took a carriage from the depot to their house.
"How funny everything looks!" exclaimed Russ, for they had been away from home visiting around, for some time.
"Yes, it does look funny," agreed Rose. "Oh, I see our house!" she called, pointing down the street. "There's our house!"
"Yes," answered Russ. "And oh, look! Daddy! Mother! There's a man on our porch! There's a man asleep on our porch!"
The six little Bunkers, and Daddy and Mother Bunker looked. There was, indeed, an elderly man asleep in a rocking-chair on the porch. ”

“ But you shall see for yourself. Come, now, while the cakes are hot. And we have maple syrup to eat on them."
"Oh, hurray!" cried Russ. "I love buckwheat cakes!"
And you should have seen the breakfast the six little Bunkers ate! No, on second thought, perhaps it is just as well you didn't see it, for it might have made you hungry. But I'll tell you this much: It was a very good one.
"Now we'll go out and have some fun!" cried Russ, as they left the table. "Shall we make a snow man first, or a fort?"
"A man!" cried Mun Bun.
"A fort!" called Laddie. ”

“ They were getting used to the barrel-stave snowshoes now, and really did quite well on them. Of course, now and then, one or the other's fastenings would become loose, and they would have to stop and tie them. Laddie got so he could do this for himself.
"It's like when your shoelace comes untied," he said. "Did the Indians' laces come untied, Russ?"
"I guess so. But now come on. We'll go to the house and get some bread and jam."
Russ and Laddie started out bravely enough, and they were half-way to the house when Russ said:
"Oh, let's see if we can get across that big drift!" ”

“ For Laddie had broken the one his brother had made for him.
Rose and Russ were sitting together, and for the first time in some days, they had a chance to talk about the ghost at Great Hedge.
"What kind do you s'pose it'll be?" asked Rose.
"Oh, the regular, scary kind," Russ answered.
"I hope it won't be too scary," said Rose.
"I'll be with you when we try to find out what it is," went on Russ. "Boys are never afraid of ghosts or—or anything."
"Oh, I won't be afraid—not if you're with me, anyway. Isn't it fun to have a secret? And they don't know we heard about it!" [Pg 79] Rose added. ”

“ Daddy Bunker and Grandpa Ford did not, of course, go to bed as early as did the children. And Mother Bunker was going downstairs to talk to Grandma Ford as soon as Margy and Mun Bun were sound asleep.
One after another the six little Bunkers got into bed and, though the two smallest were asleep almost at once, the others turned and [Pg 112] twisted a little, as almost every one does in a strange bed. But, finally, even Rose and Russ, in their rooms, were in Slumberland, lulled by the whistle of the wind and the rattle of the snow against the windows. ”

“ As Great Hedge was in the country, though not many miles outside the city of Tarrington, there were country things in the attic, such as a spinning wheel, two of them, in fact, candlesticks, candle-moulds and so on. You all know that a candlestick is something in which to stick a candle so one may carry it around. In the olden days, before we had electric lights, gas or even kerosene lamps, the people used to read and work by means of candles.
A candle is a stick of tallow, wax or something like that, with a string, or wick, in the middle, just as rock candy has a string in the middle. ”

“ It's 'cause a train can whistle and so can a boy," said the little chap with a laugh. "Isn't that a good riddle?"
"A train doesn't whistle," declared Russ. "It's only the engine that whistles. Isn't that so, Grandpa?"
"Well, the engine whistles, of course. But [Pg 68] the engine is the main part of the train. If it wasn't for the engine there wouldn't be any train, so I guess Laddie's riddle is all right there. A train-engine is like a boy, because it whistles. ”

“ The mother picked the Japanese doll up from where it had fallen to the floor of the car, and said:
"Don't cry any more, Margy. Your doll isn't hurt a bit. But Mun Bun mustn't shoot at her any more, with corks or anything else. Munroe Ford Bunker! where did you get the popgun?" his mother asked, as she saw that he really did have a small one.
"Out of the basket," he answered. "When Margy and I went to get a drink of water I saw the popgun in the train boy's basket, and I took it out. I thought maybe I'd want to shoot at a snow man me and Grandpa are going to make, so I kept the gun. ”

“ We must find where it is."
"Can't we help hunt?" asked Russ.
"Yes, let us, Mother, won't you?" added Rose.
"But what is it?" asked Laddie. "What makes the funny groaning noise?"
"Maybe Mr. Thompson is blowing his horn," said Vi.
The groaning noise kept up longer this time than ever before. Every few minutes it would echo through the house. Sometimes it sounded as though upstairs, and again down in the cellar.
"We'll try the attic," said Grandpa Ford.
He and Daddy Bunker went up there. Grandma Ford and Mother Bunker stayed in the sitting-room with Mun Bun and Margy. ”

“ If there was trouble Russ wanted to help, for, though Rose was the "little mother," Russ felt he must do his share to help her.
They found that Mun Bun had rolled off the sled in going down a little hill and had toppled into a snow bank.
"But that didn't hurt you!" said Rose, laughing as she picked him up. "There, sister will kiss the place and make it better. You only got a little snow up your sleeve, and it makes your arm cold." ”

“ Shouldn't be surprised if we ran into a big blizzard before we reached Tarrington."
"Oh, I hope not," said Grandpa Ford. "I don't want any big blizzard until I get the six little Bunkers safely home at Great [Pg 65] Hedge. Then it can snow as much as it likes."
"I hope it snows a lot," said Mun Bun. "I like snow."
"So do I, when I'm at home in my warm house," said Grandpa Ford. "But too much snow isn't any fun. Can you make a snow man, Mun Bun?" ”

“ There is a kind called Manx, and that sounds like banks, I suppose. Manx is an island, near England, and cats that come from there have no tails—or at least they have only little short ones that you can hardly see. I guess when your mother told you about the Manx cats you thought she said 'banks.' But now run along and have some fun."
Grandpa Ford turned up the walk with Miss Ripley, and Laddie and Russ heard her say:
"Father sent me over to tell you not to be alarmed, as he doesn't believe it is anything. He'll come out and help you look for whatever it may be, if you want him to." ”

“ By this time Laddie and Russ had forgotten about Mun Bun, and the little fellow had wandered off by himself to the place in the attic where the strings of sleigh bells hung. He had fun jingling these. Then Russ and Laddie found something else with which to play. These were the candle-moulds. Leaving the spinning wheels, with a number of strings and cords still fast to them, the two older boys began to make believe they were soldiers with the candle-moulds for guns.
"I'll be a soldier and you can be an Indian," said Russ to Laddie. ”

“ Daddy said so!" exclaimed Rose. "But we got——"
"We've got a funny noise there," said Russ, breaking in on what his sister was saying. "It sounds like your noise, too."
"Well, there's nothing so very curious about this noise," laughed Mrs. Thompson. "That's only my husband playing on the big horn he used to blow when he was in the band. He hasn't used it much for years, and can't blow it as well as he used to. But that's what the noise is. Every once in a while he takes a notion and goes up into the attic and blows on the horn. I imagine he did it this time to amuse you children. I'll ask him. ”

“ These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stands among children and their parents of this generation where the books of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative children everywhere. ”

“ Only it was the spinning wheel, and not a ghost or any person.
All ghost stories will turn out that way if you wait long enough. Every time it is something real which makes the funny noises or does the funny things. For there are no ghosts.
"Wait a minute, Mun Bun, and I'll fix you!" cried Russ. "Stand still. The more you move the more you pull your own hair."
"I'm not pulling my hair," said Mun Bun. "Somebody behind me is pulling it." [Pg 140]
"It's the spinning wheel," said Laddie with a laugh. ”

“ Bunker. "As you say, it is queer, but maybe Mr. Ripley can explain the queer noises and other things."
"Maybe he can," agreed Grandpa Ford. "That's what I came on to see about, and I'll take you all back with me."
"But it will soon be cold weather," objected Mother Bunker.
"All the better!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "There is no nicer place in the world in winter than Great Hedge. The big hedge made of what are almost trees, keeps off the cold north wind. We always have plenty of snow up in New York state, and the children will have no end of good times. ”