Daddy Bunker

“ She went out and Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker laughed. The youngsters were suddenly excited at that moment by the stopping of a taxicab at the door. Vi had spied it from the window, for hard as it snowed she could see that.
"Here's Daddy! Here's Daddy!" she cried, dancing up and down.
Mun Bun and Margy joined in the dance, while the other three children entered upon a whirlwind rush down the stairway to meet Mr. Bunker at the front entrance.
He came in, covered with snow, and with his traveling bag. The children's charge upon him would su [34] rely have overturned anybody but Daddy Bunker. ”

“ Just as Daddy Bunker and Uncle Ben were going to thrust at the ram, a voice behind them called:
"Look out, friends! That's a bad animal! Once he goes on a rampage there's no stopping him."
The four little Bunkers and their father and Captain Ben turned to see the canal mule driver rushing to their aid with a long whip in his hand. ”

“ Back and forth the plows hurried, turning up strip after strip of damp ground. It was so hot now, because the fire was nearer, that Daddy Bunker led the children back a way.
"Could the fire get ahead of me if I ran fast?" asked Russ, as he watched the flames and smoke.
"Yes, if the wind blows hard the fire can go faster than the fastest man can run," said Captain Roy, who came up to where Daddy Bunker stood. The captain was thirsty, and wanted a drink of water from the pail Daddy Bunker had carried from the house.
"Do you think you can stop the fire?" asked Violet. ”

“ Bunker.
"Ask him, Daddy—ask him," urged Laddie eagerly. "He's an awful intelligent pony."
Pinky had been halted before the group at the ranch house. Daddy Bunker said again:
"I wonder if he could show us where he left Rose?"
And when he spoke Pinky began to nod his head up and down and paw with one hoof. The children were delighted—even Russ.
"Oh! I believe he is trying to explain," Russ cried. "Ask him another question, Daddy."
Mr. Bunker laughed rather grimly. "Let Vi ask the pony questions; she can think of them faster than I can. Or let Laddie ask him a riddle. ”

“ Thunder is only a noise."
"I don't care," said Rose, "it's the thunder that scares you—— Oh! Hear it?"
"Does the thunder hit you?" asked Vi.
"Why, nothing is going to hit us," Russ replied bravely, realizing that he must soothe any fears felt by his younger brothers and sisters. Russ was nine, and Daddy Bunker and mother expected him to set a good example to Rose and Laddie and Violet and Margy and Munroe Ford Bunker, who, when he was very little, had named himself "Mun Bun." ”

“ Bunker to her husband, who came out to see if there were any letters for him. "They can play in the sand and never get a bit dirty."
"Yes, they can do that," said Mr. Bunker. "So Cousin Tom wrote, did he? Well, I suppose that means we will soon be leaving Aunt Jo's."
"I shall be sorry to see you go," said Aunt Jo herself—Miss Josephine Bunker, to give [Pg 15] her complete name and title. She was Daddy Bunker's sister, and had never married, but she had a fine home in the Back Bay section of Boston, and the six little Bunkers, with their father and mother, had been spending some weeks there. ”

“ Last of all in the half dozen little Bunkers were Margy and Mun Bun. Margy's real name was Margaret, and the complete name of her small brother was Munroe Ford Bunker.
Now that we have finished with the children we will start on the grown-ups of the family. Daddy Bunker's name was Charles, and he was in the real estate business in Pineville, Pennsylvania. Mother Bunker's name was Amy, and before her marriage she was Miss Amy Bell.
Then there was Norah O'Grady, the good-natured cook, and Jerry Simms, an old soldier who could tell fine stories about the time he fought in battle. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In two minutes they came to the clearing in which Mammy June's cabin stood. One end of the little house was all ablaze.
"The poor soul hasn't got out," cried Mr. Armatage, and with Mr. Bunker he charged for the door, burst it in, and dashed into the smoke which filled the interior.
Russ thought that Daddy Bunker was very brave indeed to do this. It looked to the boy as though both men would be burned by the [170] raging fire. But he was brave himself. He fought back his tears and ran to the stream to fill with water both the pails he carried. ”

“ SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S CHAPTER I THE MAN ON THE PORCH
"Oh, Daddy, come and take him off! He's a terrible big one, and he's winkin' one of his claws at me! Come and take him off!"
"All right, Mun Bun. I'll be there in just a second. Hold him under water so he won't let go, and I'll get him for you."
Daddy Bunker, who had been reading the paper on the porch of Cousin Tom's bungalow at Seaview, hurried down to the little pier that was built out into Clam River. On the end of the pier stood a little boy, who was called Mun Bun, but whose real name was Munroe Ford Bunker. ”

“ In another moment the barrel on which Russ sat fell apart, and with a clatter and clash of staves he toppled in on Laddie. Then the chairs, behind the barrel, where Rose, Vi and Margy and Mun were sitting, toppled over. In another instant the whole steamboat load of children was all upset in the middle of the playroom floor, having made a crash that sounded throughout the house.
CHAPTER II DADDY BUNKER'S WORRY
"Dear me! What's that? What happened?" called Mother Bunker from the sitting-room downstairs. "Is any one hurt, children? What did you do?" ”

“ 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. ”

“ Now I can go back to sleep."
"So can I," said Rose.
And the other little Bunkers said the same thing. As for Mun Bun and Margy, as soon as they heard that everything was all right they uncovered their heads and went to sleep before any one else.
"Well, well! To think what a little thing can puzzle every one," said Grandpa Ford to Daddy Bunker, as the grown folks went back to their rooms. "Maybe we'll find that the other noises are made just as simply as this one was."
"Maybe," agreed Daddy Bunker. "But of late we haven't heard that groaning noise much, and maybe we shall not again." ”

“ On the beach, near Russ and Rose, where they were standing with their father and Cousin Tom, a cheerful blaze sprang up. It looked very pretty in the moonlight night, with the sparkling sea out beyond.
"Can we roast 'em now?" asked Laddie, as he got ready one of the long, pointed sticks.
"Not quite yet," said his father. "Better to wait until the fire makes a lot of red-hot coals, or embers of wood. Then we can hold our candies over them and they will not get burned or blackened by the blaze. Wait a bit."
So they sat about the fire, while Daddy Bunker and Cousin Tom piled on more wood. ”

“ Brown's now," said Daddy Bunker to Russ and the others. "We'll see what we can do toward getting the car out, though I don't see how we can travel any farther to-day. It means another night on the road."
"Oh, it's fun! I like it," said Rose.
"It will be all right if nobody walks in his sleep," added Russ.
"But I want to see mother and Mun Bun and Margy," said Vi, in a sad little voice. ”

“ Laddie and Russ, by accident, have found the very place we were looking for. I'm sure it's a good thing I brought the six little Bunkers out to Three Star Ranch."
"Don't be too sure yet," laughed Daddy Bunker. "We haven't found the answer to the riddle, yet."
They were going to ride back to the barn, to get picks and shovels, when Mrs. Bunker came hurrying out to them. [230]
"Oh, Fred!" she called to her brother. "Something has happened!"
"What?" he asked.
"Russ and Laddie——" went on Mrs. Bunker.
"Has anything happened to them?" cried Daddy Bunker quickly.
"No, they're all right. ”

“ I can't have my son starving himself for the sake of feeding a sea-eagle."
"Oh! It isn't the eagle, Daddy."
"What is it, then?"
"It—it isn't an it at all!" exclaimed Russ Bunker and he was so very much worried that he was almost in tears.
"What do you mean?" asked his father.
"I—I can't tell you," Russ faltered. "It isn't about me at all. It's som [94] ebody else, and I oughtn't to tell you, Daddy."
CHAPTER X CHARLESTON AND THE FLEET
A boy hates to tell on another person if he is the right kind of boy. And Russ was the right kind of boy.
Daddy Bunker knew this; so he did not scold. ”

“ He can't read writing. He always worked in the fields or up here at the house. Those signs aren't any good—just as Mammy June says."
This opinion caused Russ and Rose additional anxiety. They did not know what to do about it. Even the boy's inventive mind was at fault in the emergency.
While the older Bunker brother and sister were troubled in this way and Laddie and Vi were recovering from their adventure with the red fox, Margy and Mun Bun were, as usual, having their own pleasures and difficulties. The littlest Bunker was a born explorer. Daddy Bunker said so. ”

“ The children had lots of fun on the warm, sunny hillside, picking the sweet, red, wild strawberries, but if Daddy Bunker had had to depend on the six little Bunkers to bring him home some of the fruit he would have got very few berries, I'm afraid. For the children ate more than they picked. But then, one could hardly blame them, as the strawberries were good.
However, Grandma Bell and Mother Bunker saved some for daddy, so he had a chance to taste them, and he ate them at supper that night as he listened to the story of the ram and Margy's red coat. ”

“ Russ and Laddie could only stare, and some of the other passengers began to open their curtains and ask questions of the porter. The fat man grabbed his own curtain away from the colored man and quickly shut himself in again.
"All right! All right!" said the porter, picking up his stool and going back to his place. "Ain't nobody killed yet. Guess we goin' to have peace now fo' a while."
Daddy Bunker awoke too and sent his little folks back to bed, and Russ and Laddie did not wake up again till broad daylight. ”

“ Outside of Great Hedge the wind howled and the snow whirled about in white flakes. Inside it was warm, light and cosy. But the queer noise which had sounded, and which had seemed so to startle the grown folk, came from inside, and not outside. At least that is what Rose and Russ thought.
"It's the ghost!" said Rose again.
"Nonsense!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "What do you children know about ghosts? There aren't such things. There never has been a ghost and never will be one. ”

“ Do you know if there is a hotel around here, or a place where I can take the children to stay while we are working on the car?"
"There isn't any hotel," said the mule driver, "but about a quarter of a mile down the road is Mr. Brown's place. He has a big farm and orchard, and he sells meals to auto travelers, and sometimes keeps them over night."
"That might be just the place for us," said Daddy Bunker. "We may have to stay all night again."
"If we do," said Rose, "I hope nobody walks in his sleep." ”

“ Come back!" cried Russ, holding his hand to his mouth to make a sort of funnel, or megaphone, as he had often seen the fishermen do, and also the cowboys on Uncle Fred's ranch.
Across the water came faintly to the ears of Rose and Russ the sobs and cries of Laddie and Vi in the rowboat.
"Those men are taking 'em away!" cried Rose. "What shall we do?"
Just then Captain Ben and Daddy Bunker came down from the bungalow, up on the hill, to the beach where the children had gone to play. At once the two men saw that something was the matter. Then they noticed the two little Bunkers out in the boat. ”

“ Bunker to his wife, "and I'll look for Margy. I'll find her in a jiffy, which is very quick time, indeed," he told the children. "Run along now, Mun Bun, and you too, Vi and Laddie. Rose, you go with your mother and help take care of Mun Bun."
"Shall I come with you, Daddy?" asked Russ.
"Yes," answered Mr. Bunker, "you may come with me, Russ. You can run faster [34] than I can, and if we find Margy playing tag with some of the other little boys and girls on the steamer you can catch her more easily than I can."
Mr. Bunker said this for fun. He didn't really think Margy was playing tag. ”

“ Why can't we have coal to burn? Who has got our coal?"
Nobody gave her questions much attention, which of course was not unusual. But Daddy Bunker began to laugh.
"I can see what is working in Russ's mind," he said. "You reason from the cause of a lack of coal, to an effect that you need not go to school?"
"I—I don't mind going to school," Rose said, a little doubtfully but looking at her elder brother.
"And I don't mind, either," said Russ promptly. "Only daddy is going to that Cowboy Jack's. And if we can't go to school for a month, why can't we go with daddy? We might as well." ”

“ 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!" ”