Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Fords | Page 5

had married a gentleman named Munroe Ford.
So, of course, after that her name was Mrs. Ford, though Daddy Bunker kept his own name and called his step-parent "Father."
Grandpa Ford was as kind as any real father could be; and he also loved the six little Bunkers as much as if he had been their real grandfather, which they really thought him to be.
Now to go back to the beginning. There were six little Bunkers, as I have told you, Russ, Rose, Laddie, Vi, Margy, and Mun Bun. I have told you their ages and how they looked.
They lived in the town of Pineville on Rainbow River, and Daddy Bunker's real estate office was about a mile from his home. Besides the family of the six little Bunkers and their father and mother, there was Norah O'Grady, the cook, and there was also Jerry Simms, the man who cut the grass, cleaned the automobile, and sprinkled the lawn in summer and took ashes out of the furnace in winter.
The first book of this series is called "Six Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's." In that I told of the visit of the children to Lake Sagatook, in Maine, where Mrs. Bunker's mother, Grandma Bell, lived. There the whole family had fine times, and they also solved a real mystery.
After that the children were taken to visit another relative, and in the second book, "Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's," you may find out all that happened when they reached Boston--how Rose found a pocketbook, and how, after many weeks, it was learned to whom it belonged.
Next comes the book just ahead of this one, "Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's." The children came from there to find Grandpa Ford on their porch.
Cousin Tom Bunker was Daddy Bunker's nephew, being the son of a dead brother, Ralph. Cousin Tom had not been married very long, and soon after he and his wife, Ruth, started housekeeping in a bungalow at Seaview, on the New Jersey coast, he invited the Bunkers to visit him.
They went there from Aunt Jo's, and many wonderful things happened at the seashore. Rose lost her gold locket and chain, a queer box was washed up on the beach, Mun Bun and Margy were marooned on an island, and there were many more adventures.
"Did you know Grandpa Ford was coming to visit us when we got home?" asked Rose of her mother, as she helped set the table.
"Yes, that was what he told us in the letter that came the day Mun Bun fell off the pier. It was Grandpa Ford's letter that made us hurry home, for he said he would meet us here. But he came on sooner than we expected, and got here ahead of us," said Mrs. Bunker.
By this time the house had been opened and aired, Norah had come from where she had been staying all summer, and so had Jerry Simms, so the Bunkers were really at home again. Grandpa Ford had been shown to his room, and was getting washed and brushed up ready for tea. The six little Bunkers, having changed into their old clothes, were running about the yard, getting acquainted with the premises all over again.
"Now I guess we're all ready to sit down," said Mother Bunker, for, with the help of Rose and Norah, the table had been set, tea made and a meal gotten ready in quick time. Norah and Jerry had been told, by telegraph, to come back to help get the house in order.
"I'm terrible glad you came, Grandpa Ford," said Mun Bun, as he sat opposite the old gentleman at the table.
"So'm I," said Margy. "Are you going to live with us always?"
"Oh, no, little Toddlekins," laughed Grandpa Ford. "I wish I were. But I shall soon have to go back to Great Hedge. Though I may not go back alone."
"Is that a riddle?" asked Laddie eagerly.
"No, not exactly," said Grandpa Ford with a laugh.
"I know another riddle," went on Laddie. "It's about how do the tickets feel when the conductor punches them. But I never could find an answer."
"I don't believe there is any," said Grandpa Ford.
"Don't you know any riddles?" asked Laddie.
"Well, I might think of one, if I tried real hard," said the old gentleman. "Let me think, now. Here is one we used to ask one another when I was a boy. See if you can guess it. 'A house full and a hole full, but you can't catch a bowlful.' What is that, Laddie?"
"'A house full and a hole full, but you can't catch a bowlful,'" repeated Laddie.
"Is it crabs?" asked Mun Bun. "I helped catch a basketful of crabs, once."
"No, it isn't crabs," laughed Grandpa Ford.
"I give up. What is it?" asked Laddie, anxious to hear the answer.
"It's smoke!" said