Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jos | Page 4

and
we're going to hunt for 'em!"
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mother Bunker. "Wait, children! Wait for me!"
she continued. "Russ--Rose! Come off the raft! I don't want you on it

while I'm not near you!"
"Where are you going?" asked Grandma Bell, as she saw her daughter
getting up.
"I'm going to see what those children mean," was Mrs. Bunker's answer.
"I can't tell what mischief they may get into."
And while Rose and Russ poled the raft toward shore, as their mother
told them to, and got off, Mrs. Bunker started after the other children,
who were going to find the strange voice that had called to them.
And while this is going on I shall have a chance to tell my new readers
something about the little Bunkers. There were six of them, as, perhaps,
you have counted. Russ, or Russell, to give him the whole of his name,
was eight years old. He was the oldest, a great boy for making things to
play with, such as a steamboat out of some old boards, or an
automobile from a chair and a sofa cushion. He was also very fond of
whistling, and knew several real tunes.
Rose, who came next, was seven years old. She was a regular "mother's
helper," and often sang as she washed the dishes or did the dusting. She
had light hair and blue eyes while Russ had a dark complexion.
Then there came Violet and Laddie, the twins, aged six. Laddie's real
name was Fillmore Bunker, but he was seldom called that. His hair was
curly, and his eyes were gray, and whether that made him so fond of
making up riddles, or of asking those others made up, I can't say.
Anyhow he did it. His twin sister loved to ask questions. She could ask
more questions in a day than several persons could answer. No one ever
tried to answer all Vi asked. Her hair and eyes were just like Laddie's.
Next came Margy and Mun Bun. Margy was five, and her brother was
a year younger. He had blue eyes and golden hair, and, you can easily
imagine, was a pretty picture.
"Daddy" Bunker, whose name was Charles, had a real estate and
lumber office in Pineville, which was in Pennsylvania, and was on the

Rainbow River. About twenty thousand people lived in Pineville, and it
was a very nice place indeed. The home of the Bunkers was on the
main street of the town, and was less than a mile from Daddy Bunker's
office.
Then there was Mother Bunker, whose hands were full keeping house
and looking after the six little Bunkers. Her name was Amy, and before
she married Daddy Bunker her last name had been Bell.
Those of you who have read the first book of this series, called "Six
Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," remember that there were two other
members of the "family"--Norah O'Grady, the good-natured Irish cook,
and Jerry Simms, the man who had once been a soldier and who was
very kind to the children. Jerry did odd bits of work about the house,
and often ran the automobile for Mr. Bunker.
The Bunkers had many relatives. There was Grandma Bell, who was
Mrs. Bunker's mother, and there was Grandpa Ford, who was Daddy
Bunker's stepfather. He was kind and good, and had loved Daddy
Bunker when Daddy Bunker was a little boy, and now loved the six
little Bunkers as well. Grandma Bell lived in Maine, near Lake
Sagatook, and Grandpa Ford lived at Tarrington, New York, his place
being called Great Hedge Estate.
Then there was Miss Josephine Bunker (she was "Aunt Jo," you know),
who lived in Boston; Uncle Frederick Bell, of Moon City, Montana;
and Cousin Tom Bunker, who lived at Seaview, on the New Jersey
coast.
In the first book I told you about the six little Bunkers when on a visit
to Grandma Bell, in Maine, and how they helped solve a mystery and
find some valuable real estate papers that an old tramp lumberman had
carried off in a ragged coat.
I can't begin to tell you, here, all the fun the six little Bunkers had at
Grandma Bell's. They spent the last of July and the first part of August
there, and now, just before leaving, they were planning for the rest of
the summer vacation.

But, just at the present moment, something else was happening. The
children's play had been stopped by the voice in the woods; a voice
heard by Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun and Margy.
"Are you sure it was a little child you heard calling?" asked Mrs.
Bunker, overtaking the four children.
"Oh, yes; sure!" answered Laddie. "It was a little boy."
"I think it was a little girl," said Violet.
"Hark!" exclaimed