Mrs. Bunker

“ Howard Bunker, she admitted, was likable,—a jolly, unpretentious, shrewd business man, with a hearty American appetite for the bustle of existence. As for the handsome Mrs. Bunker,—"She was from Waterbury, Connecticut, you know," she said, assuming that Milly, who had heard of the Connecticut town solely as a place where a popular cheap watch was manufactured, would understand the depth of social inferiority Mrs. Howard Bunker's origin implied. "She's too lazy to be really ambitious. They have a box at the Opera, but that means nothing these days. ”

“ Bunker, mockingly. "A man is never safe from marriage until he is married."
"Ha, ha, ha! Very good. Mrs. Bunker, you are really the liveliest woman I have ever met."
"Well, I'm not going to waste my day here," said Mrs. Bunker, decidedly. "I want to see the shops and take Indiana along. Thurston," advancing into the room, "I'm dying to see Indiana."
Thurston looked at her gravely.
"My dear Mrs. Bunker, I have plans for the future, which it is best you should know before you see Indiana."
Mr. and Mrs. Stillwater looked anxious, but Mrs. Bunker took his words lightly. ”

“ Bunker, sitting up in bed. She looked at her husband. "Where is Mun Bun?" she asked.
"I don't know," he answered. "He was sleeping with me, but, all of a sudden, I woke up and Mun Bun was not with me."
"He must have awakened and got up to get a drink, or something," said Mrs. Bunker. "Then when he went to go back again, he couldn't find the place where you were, and he's either crawled in with Russ [62] and Laddie, or with Rose and Violet. We must look for him."
"I'll look," said Mr. Bunker. "You stay with Margy. If she wakes up and finds you gone, she'll cry and disturb the whole car. ”

“ Bunker. "Never trust a woman with a soft cooing voice."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Quite so, Mrs. Bunker."
"What a sudden change," remarked Lord Canning, "from a fairy pastoral to this mysterious wilderness. Are these sudden changes common to the country?"
"Common to the country—and the women," replied Indiana, laughing.
"Quite so, Miss Stillwater," said Lord Stafford. "You know Pope's familiar couplet—
Women like variegated tulips show,
'Tis to their changes, half their charms they owe.'"
"Do you echo that sentiment, Lord Stafford," asked Mrs. Bunker, archly. ”

“ I’m looking for a family named Bunker. Do you know if they live around here?”
“We’re the Bunkers!” quickly answered Russ. “Anyhow, we’re the most of ’em,” he [Pg 19] added, laughing. “All but daddy and——”
“Oh!” murmured the driver of the truck. “Are there more of you?”
“It is rather a large family,” said Mrs. Bunker. “I have two more boys.”
“My daddy’s in his office,” volunteered Violet, who was now satisfied that her doll, Esmeralda, was all right except for a little dirt.
“And Laddie and Mun Bun are digging a hole to China,” added Margy. ”

“ Bunker carrying Margy across the floor. "They often feel a bit faint from riding too much, or from the motion. The air makes 'em all right. Take her right down to the beach. That would be best, I think."
"I will," said Mr. Bunker.
Tenderly he looked down at the little white face on his arm. Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo looked worried, as they hurried after Mr. Bunker, and Rose and Russ, who, with Violet, Mun Bun and Laddie had gotten off the merry-go-round, followed through the crowd. ”

“ Bunker. "Lord Stafford, I'm sure you'll be charmed with it. We must start immediately after lunch—it's a long drive."
"And if Miss Stillwater is to drive, I'm afraid she will be taxing herself too much, after rowing the greater part of the morning."
"Oh, Indiana likes to be always on the go," said Mrs. Stillwater. "I'm afraid she'll wear herself out some day."
"Nonsense, Mary," exclaimed Mrs. Bunker, sharply, "she's as strong as a horse."
"Your granddaughter is athletic," said Lord Canning, "but of a very slender build. It is her nervous activity that keeps her up, rather than strength. ”

“ It would be a "shop party," she expected. "That's all the social imagination these people have: they get us together by groups—we're the magazine group. Possibly she'll have Clive Reinhard. He's different, though, because he's made a name for himself, so that all sorts of people run after him."
Mrs. Bunker met the young women at the station, driving her own ponies. Milly recognized the type at a glance, as much from her Chicago experience as from Mrs. Fredericks' description. Mrs. Bunker was a largish, violent blonde, with a plethora of everything about her,—hair and blood and flesh. ”

“ Just the same, he did not feel as though he could make a riddle out of it.
"Now, Rose, and you, Laddie," said Mother Bunker admonishingly, as she seated them before her in one of the double seats of the Pullman car in which they had their reservations, "I want to know all about how you came to forget the watch and the pin—and just where you forgot them?"
Although Mother Bunker was usually very cheerful and patient with the children, this was a serious matter. Carelessness and inattention were faults that Mother Bunker was always trying to correct. ”

“ Bunker, in a soothing voice. Men, to her, were like big children—to be humored.
They had moved gradually toward the fire. "These logs," continued Lord Canning, "are a magnet towards which my eyes have been drawn every night since I came. If you knew what I see in them—such a sweet domestic picture, a vision of true happiness!"
"Well, don't depend too much on Indiana's domesticity," said Mrs. Bunker.
"We generally gauge a daughter by her mother, in England," stated Lord Canning.
"Well, it's different over here. The young generation are so precocious—so far ahead of the mothers." ”

“ Bunker in the rage of desperation.
“To insult yo' husband! Well—I came here to get a letter that his wife received from his political and natural enemy and—perhaps I DID!” With a side glance at Mrs. Bunker's crimson cheek she added carelessly, “I have nothing against Captain Bunker; he's a straightforward man and must go with his kind. He helped those hounds of Vigilantes because he believes in them. We couldn't bribe him if we wanted to. And we don't.”
If she only knew something of this woman's relations to Marion—which she only instinctively suspected—and could retaliate upon her, Mrs. ”

“ Russ and Margy being the only Bunker chil [88] dren in sight, Mr. Bunker "shooed" them back to the Pullman car. He saw Rose and Mun Bun disappearing up the high steps, and he presumed Laddie and Violet were ahead. The train had started and the four children and daddy came to mother's seat before it was discovered that there were two little Bunkers missing.
"Oh, Charles!" gasped Mrs. Bunker. "Where are they?" The train began to move more rapidly. "They are left behind!" ”

“ Stillwater."
"And this is my grandmother," continued Indiana.
"Your grandmother!" exclaimed Lady Canning, staring in surprise at the vivacious and essentially modern woman before her. Mrs. Bunker, on this occasion, wore a very becoming, extremely youthful hat.
"It's difficult to realize, isn't it?" remarked Mrs. Bunker, laughing and flattered at Lady Canning's astonishment. "We consider it criminal in the States for a woman not to look at least ten years younger than she really is. I've always been regarded as a remarkable woman for my age." ”

“ Allen, good Mrs. Bunker would have talked until noon, apparently, if Jim had not interrupted her to say that we must go at once to report our arrival to Parson Allen, and to see what arrangements we could make for Alice there.
"Remember, Mrs. Bunker," he said, with great earnestness, "if Ally wakes, she is not to leave this room, and I do not wish her to see any one except yourself; she must not be told that her father is dead by any one but me. I hope very much that she will sleep till we return. I think she will, for she is very much exhausted." ”

“ It was the more crushing that there also seemed to be in this haughty woman the same incongruousness and sharp contrast to the plain and homely surroundings of the cottage that she remembered in HIM.
“Yo' aw Mrs. Bunker, I believe,” she said in languid Southern accents. “How de doh?”
“I am Mrs. Bunker,” said Mrs. Bunker shortly.
“And so this is where Cunnle Marion stopped when he waited fo' the boat to take him off,” said the stranger, glancing lazily around, and delaying with smiling insolence the explanation she knew Mrs. Bunker was expecting. ”

“ Bunker. "There's a different place to see every day, and when you've seen everything the hunting will commence."
"We couldn't have a nicer day for a drive," remarked Mrs. Stillwater. "It has rained all night, and there won't be any dust."
"Oh, if a storm don't come up while we're out," said Mrs. Bunker. "You never can tell what's behind these mountains. They're always brewing something. Don't you ever let Indiana get you out in that sail-boat—while I think of it, Lord Canning." ”

“ How much had Bunker seen? How much had he understood? Was it fancy, or did the dog crouch, the tiniest impulse, away from him as he bent to pat him? Bunker was tired; he relapsed on to his haunches, wagged his tail, grinned, but in his eyes there seemed, although the lamplight was deceptive, to be the faintest shadow of an apprehension.
"Good old dog, good old Bunker." Bunker wagged his tail, but the tiniest shiver passed, like a thought, through his body.
Olva left him.
As he passed through the streets he met men whom he knew. They nodded or flung a greeting. ”

“ Ally was still asleep; Mrs. Bunker said she had roused once, and asked for "the kind gentleman," and on being told that he had left word that she must not stir from bed; had asked pitifully: "Does he keep little girls in bed all day, every day?" and had then fallen asleep again almost immediately.
"I don't wonder, sir, that Mr. Ordway 's so taken with her," said Mrs. Bunker to me, as we stood together in the front door. "She 's jest the winnin'est child I ever laid eyes on; she 's jest like a lamb, yit there ain't nothin' stoopid about her. ”

“ Bunker, imitating her. Haller, who was washing out "The Indiana" and observing at the same time, gave vent to a long guffaw. Mrs. Bunker looked at him crossly. "I can't bear that Haller," she said, as they climbed up to the camp. "He's always making faces at me."
"When you think he's making faces, he's only smiling, I tell you," said Indiana. "He's a fine guide; what more do you want?"
"Wear your red dress to-night, Indiana," said Mrs. Bunker, ignoring this last remark.
"I think white is so much prettier for a young girl," suggested Mrs. Stillwater. ”

“ The smallest Bunkers—Margy, whose real name was Margaret, and Mun Bun, whose real name was Monroe Ford—were quite as anxious to get out from under the heap of boxes as the others. Mother Bunker and Aunt Jo ran to their assistance, and soon the six were on their feet to be hugged and scolded a little by both their mother and aunt.
"But they do get into such mischief all the time," sighed Mother Bunker. "I shall be glad when Daddy gets back and decides what to do for the winter. ”

“ Brown thought he was a pesky apple boy but he wasn't," said Vi. "He only took a few 'cause he was hungry."
"I wants an apple!" said Mun Bun, as he scampered around his brothers and sisters.
"And I want two apples!" said Margy.
Mrs. Bunker wanted Tad to stay to supper, but he said he had some relatives in Avalon, the next town, which could soon be reached by a trolley car. So he left, after thanking the Bunkers, and saying he would come over to see them soon.
"There's something queer about that boy," said Mr. Bunker, when Tad had gone to the trolley station. ”

“ CHAPTER XII LADDIE CATCHES A RIDDLE
Mrs. Bunker was startled when she did not see Violet with the other little Bunkers.
"Where's Vi?" she asked the other children. "Where did she go?"
"Oh, she just took her doll for a walk," said Russ. "She went away a little while ago, over there," and he pointed to the rolling plains behind the willow trees.
The plain was not flat, like a board. It was rolling land, with hills and hollows here and there. Some of the hills were high enough to hide a man behind them. ”

“ Bunker anxiously, as she saw her husband coming up the walk toward the house. "Did you get your papers?"
"No," he answered. "I forgot that I had given the old coat to a tramp, and the papers were in one of the pockets," and he told his wife what had happened at the real estate office.
"And we got a letter from Grandma Bell!" exclaimed Rose as soon as she had a chance to speak.
"And we're going to see her—up to Lake Sagatook, in Maine," added Russ.
"No? Really?" cried Mrs. Bunker in delight. "Did you get a letter from mother?" she asked her husband. ”

“ I'm hungry and——"
"I'll tell Norah to get him something to eat," said Mrs. Bunker, who was kind to every one.
And while she was gone, and while the six little Bunkers looked at the ragged man, the children's father talked to him.
"I'd like to find that tramp lumberman," said Mr. Bunker. "I gave him the coat because he needed it more than I did, but I didn't know I had left the papers in the pocket. You're not the man, though. ”

“ Frane Armatage and his wife sat.
The servants who were supposed to keep some watch upon the children were now all [228] in the quarters. Servants in the South seldom sleep in "the big house." And perhaps Mother Bunker forgot this fact.
At any rate, when she came to look for her brood late in the evening she found the four little ones fast asleep in their beds, as she had expected them to be. But Rose was not with Phillis and Alice Armatage, and Russ's bed was likewise empty.
"Where are those children?" Mother Bunker demanded of Daddy, when she had run downstairs again. "Do you know? ”