Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jos | Page 6

is our last week at Grandma Bell's."
"Well, I'm sure we'll miss the six little Bunkers when they go," said Mr.
Hixon.
"Indeed we shall!" said Grandma Bell. "But they are coming to see me
again."
"We love it here," put in Vi.
"And we've had lots of fun," added Margy.
"Maybe we'll have fun at Aunt Jo's," said Laddie.
"I'm sure you will. I guess you could have fun anywhere, you six," said
Mr. Hixon with a laugh. "Well, good-bye, if I don't see you again!"
"Good-bye!" said the others.
"Good-bye," echoed the parrot.
Grandma Bell, Mother Bunker and the four children went back to the
shady cove of the lake.
"Where'd you go?" asked Russ and Rose, who were walking along to
meet them.
"Oh, we thought somebody was lost in the woods," answered Laddie.

"But it was Mr. Hixon's parrot," added Vi.
The children went back to their play.
A day or so later they helped pack the things they had brought with
them to Grandma Bell's.
"We're going to Aunt Jo's! We're going to Aunt Jo's!" shouted Rose,
dancing about.
"In Boston! In Boston!" added Russ. "And we'll have Boston baked
beans!"
The next day the children said good-bye to Grandma Bell and, with
Daddy and Mother Bunker, started for Aunt Jo's. They hardly even
dreamed of all the good times they were to have there, nor of the
strange things that were to happen.
CHAPTER III
ON THE BOAT
From Grandma Bell's home, near Lake Sagatook, the six little Bunkers,
with their father and mother, were taken to the railroad station in a big
automobile. As the children looked back, waving their hands to their
dear grandmother, who had made their visit such a pleasant one, Russ
said:
"Oh, dear!"
"What's the matter?" asked his father. "You seem sad."
"I wish we could take that nice lake with us," explained Russ. "We had
such fun there."
"And the boat, too," added Rose. "Can we have a boat at Aunt Jo's,
Daddy?"
"I hardly think so," answered Mr. Bunker with a smile. "Aunt Jo lives

in the city--in Boston, in the Back Bay section, and I hardly think there
is a place there where you can paddle a raft."
"Can we go wadin'?" asked Laddie.
"Not unless there is a little lake in some park near by," his father
answered.
"Couldn't we wait for it to rain and make a mud puddle?" asked Vi.
"We could wade in that! We do when we're home!"
"But Boston isn't home. And you can't do in a big city the things you
can do at home in Pineville," said Mrs. Bunker, as the automobile
chugged along through the woods.
"Can't we have any fun?" asked Russ.
"Oh, yes, lots of fun," his father replied. "Aunt Jo wouldn't ask us to
spend two weeks or more at her house, if she didn't know you children
could have fun, even if she does live in a city. Don't worry about
that--you'll have fun."
"But we can't have a boat," sighed Rose. She and the other children
loved the water, and, living so near Rainbow River as they did, they
were used to paddling about, playing with make-believe boats and toys
like that.
"Well, if you can't have a boat at Aunt Jo's in Boston, you are going to
ride on one before you get to her house," said Mother Bunker with a
smile.
"Are we?" cried Russ and Rose together.
"Yes. Didn't I tell you about that?" asked Daddy Bunker. "We are going
to Boston by boat, instead of by train. That is, we are going most of the
way by boat."
"Where is there any water for a boat?" asked Vi, looking around in the
woods through which they were riding. "You can't make a boat go

lessen you have water."
"Oh, I know. Yes, you can! Yes, you can!" suddenly cried Laddie.
"How can you?" asked Russ. "You can't sail a boat without water."
"Yes, you can!" said Laddie again, and he was laughing now. "I just
thought of a riddle. This is it. What kind of a boat can you sail without
water? It's a riddle!"
"Huh! I should say it was! Nobody could answer a riddle like that!"
declared Russ.
"Yes, they can!" insisted Laddie. "It's a riddle! And I made it up all by
myself. Nobody told me, and I know the answer."
"Well, that's more than I do," said Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Suppose
you tell us, Laddie."
"And then Daddy can tell us about the boat we're going to ride on to
Aunt Jo's," suggested Rose.
"Yes, I'll do that," said Mr. Bunker. "Go on, Laddie. What is the riddle
you thought of?"
"What kind of a boat don't have to go in water?" asked the