Six Little Bunkers at Uncle Freds | Page 8

ask you that riddle now?" inquired Laddie, as Uncle Fred started downstairs, carrying Margy and Mun Bun.
"Yes," was the answer of the children's uncle. "Go ahead."
"What is it that goes through----"
"Oh, don't ask him that one about what goes through a door but doesn't come into the room!" exclaimed Russ.
"I wasn't!" asserted Laddie. "That's an old one, and the answer is a keyhole. I was going to ask him a new one."
"Well, go ahead," said Uncle Fred.
"What is it goes through---- No, that isn't it. Let me see. I almost forgot. Oh, I know! What can you drive without a whip or reins? That's it. What can you drive without a whip or reins?"
"Do you mean an ox?" asked Uncle Fred. "I've seen oxen driven, and the man who drove them didn't use reins as they do on horses, though he did have a goad, which is like a whip."
"No, oxen isn't the answer," said Laddie. "Do you give up?"
"Well, I will, just to see what the answer is," replied Uncle Fred.
"What is it you can drive without a whip or reins?" asked Laddie again. "The answer is a nail. You can drive that with a hammer."
"Ha! Ha! That's a pretty good riddle!" laughed Uncle Fred. "I must try that on some of the cowboys when I get back to Three Star Ranch."
"And now don't you children bother Uncle Fred too much while I'm making him a cup of tea," said Mrs. Bunker, as they reached the first floor.
"Oh, they don't bother me," declared Uncle Fred.
"Tell us about the something queer on your ranch," begged Russ, as his uncle sat down, holding Margy and Mun Bun in his lap.
"All right, I will," promised Mr. Bell. "First I'll tell you about the ranch, and then about the queer things that happened. Now Three Star Ranch is----"
Just then the doorbell rang loudly, and Uncle Fred stopped speaking.
"I wonder who it is," said Rose.
CHAPTER IV
UNCLE FRED'S TALE
The ringing of the Bunker doorbell was not unusual. It often rang during the day, but just now, when Uncle Fred was about to tell his story, it rather surprised the children to hear the tinkle.
"I'll go and see who it is," offered Russ. "And please don't tell any of the story until I come back," he begged.
"I won't," promised Uncle Fred.
Russ hurried to the door, and, as he opened it, the other children heard him cry:
"Oh, Daddy! What made you ring?"
"I forgot my key," answered Mr. Bunker. "I couldn't open the door."
"Oh, it's Daddy!" cried Mun Bun and Margy, and, slipping down from Uncle Fred's knee, they raced to the hall to get their usual kisses.
"Guess who's here!" cried Russ, for his father could not see into the room where his wife's brother sat. "Guess!"
"Grandma Bell?"
"Nope!"
"Aunt Jo?"
"Nope!"
"It's Uncle Fred!" cried Rose, hurrying out into the hall. "And he's got a secret out at his ranch like Grandpa Ford had at Great Hedge, and he's going to take us all out there and--and----"
"My! better stop and catch your breath before it runs away from you," laughed Daddy Bunker, as he lifted Rose in his arms and kissed her. "So Uncle Fred is here, is he? He came a little ahead of time."
"And he s'prised us all up in the attic," added Laddie, who had also come into the hall. "Russ and I rode down on the scooter, and we bumped, and had a mix-up, and Uncle Fred came up, and----"
"And we thought he was a burglar!" finished Violet.
"You must have had quite a time," laughed Daddy Bunker. "Well, now, after I get my wet things off, I'll go in and see Uncle Fred and hear all about it," and soon Daddy Bunker and his wife's brother were shaking hands and talking, while the children sat about them, eager and listening.
"We'll have an early supper," said Mother Bunker, when she had given Uncle Fred a cup of tea, "and then we can hear all about Three Star Ranch."
Norah O'Grady soon had a nice supper on the table, and after Rose had helped with it, as she often did, for her mother was teaching her little daughter to be a housekeeper, the children took their places and began to eat. And, at the same time, they listened to the talk that went on among the grown folk. Mother and Father Bunker had many questions to ask Uncle Fred, and he also asked them a great many, for he wanted to know all about Grandma Bell, and Aunt Jo and Grandpa Ford and all the rest of the Bunkers' relatives.
"And now will you tell us about Three Star Ranch?" asked Russ eagerly, as the chairs were pushed back.
"Yes, I will," promised Uncle Fred.
"And don't leave out the Indians," begged Laddie.
"Nor the cowboys," added Russ.
"Can you tell about some ponies?" asked