Six Little Bunkers at Cowboy Jacks | Page 9

believed he could get within
reach of the calf. But, having reached the animal, what could the boy
do?
"Bla-a-at!" bawled the calf, his smutched head lifted out of the mire.
"Oh, dear! The poor bossy!" gasped Rose, staggering along with
another rail. "How you going to help him, Russ?"

"Give me that rail," commanded her brother, standing up gingerly upon
the crisscrossed rails. "I bet I can keep him from sinking any farther,
anyway. And maybe Tad will find his owner before long."
Russ had just thought of something to do. He balanced himself
carefully and took the last rail from Rose.
"Oh, Russ!" cried Vi, "your shoes are getting all muddy."
"Well, I can clean them, can't I?" panted the boy.
"How can you when you haven't any blacking and brush here?" asked
Vi.
Russ paid her and her question no attention. He had too much to think
of just then. He pointed the rail he held downward and pushed it into
the mire just beyond the far end of the platform he had built. The calf
bawled again, and struggled some more; but Russ knew he was not
hurting the creature, although he could feel the end of the rail scraping
down along the calf's side.
He pushed down with all his might until at least half the length of the
rail was out of sight. It was poked down right behind the calf's forelegs.
Russ thought that if he could pry up the fore-end of the calf, the animal
could not drown in the mud.
This is what he tried to do, anyway. And although the calf began to
struggle again, being evidently very much frightened, Russ was able to
force the end of the rail up, and lifted the calf's head and shoulders.
"Oh, Russ, you're doing it!" cried Rose.
The other children jumped up and down in their delight, and praised
him too. All but Mun Bun. He didn't say anything, for the very good
reason that he was no longer there to say it!
Nobody had noticed the little boy for the last few minutes. Mun Bun
always liked to help, and he had first followed Rose to try to pull a rail

off the fence. This was too heavy for Mun Bun, so he had wandered
along the road to find a rail or a stick or something that he could drag
back to help make Russ Bunker's platform.
None of the others had noticed his absence, and Mun Bun was out of
sight when Russ, with the help of Rose, bore down on the end of the
fence rail far enough to hoist the calf half way out of the mire.
"Where's Mun Bun?" demanded Rose, looking around.
"Can you save the calf, Russ?" asked Vi.
Russ, however, like Rose, was instantly alarmed by the absence of Mun
Bun. A dozen things might happen to the littlest Bunker here in the
swamp.
"Where is he?" rejoined Russ. He jumped up and the rail began to tip
again, dousing the poor calf into the mire.
"Don't, Russ!" screamed Rose. "He's going down again!"
Russ sat down on the fence rail, and the calf came up, bawling pitifully.
It was a very serious problem to decide. If they ran to find Mun Bun,
the calf would be lost. What could Russ Bunker do?
CHAPTER V
GOOD-BYE TO GRAND VIEW
"Didn't you--any of you--see which way he went?" Rose demanded of
the other children. "Oh! if Mun Bun gets into the swamp----"
"Of course he won't," said Margy. "He isn't a bossy-calf."
"Of course he won't," added Laddie. "Mother told us not to, and Mun
Bun will mind mother."
"Shout for him!" commanded Russ, and raised his own voice to the
very top note in calling Mun Bun's name.

The chorus of calls brought no response from Mun Bun. Only an old
crow cawed in reply, and of course he knew nothing about Mun Bun or
where he had gone.
Russ got off the rail again in his excitement, and down went the calf!
"Oh, you mustn't!" gasped Rose. "You'll drown him."
"But I guess we've got to find Mun Bun," said Vi.
Russ, however, had another idea. He was frightened because of the
little boy's disappearance, but he did not want to lose the calf, having
already partly saved him from the mud.
"You and Laddie, Vi, come here and help Rose hold down the rail,"
said Russ.
"But I must go look for Mun Bun, too!" cried Rose.
"Wait a minute," said Russ, "and we'll all go and hunt for him."
Russ had noticed a post of the old fence that had rotted off close to the
ground. It was quite a heavy post, but Russ was strong enough to drag
it to the side