Six Little Bunkers at Uncle Freds | Page 6

anyhow," said the man, smiling
on each and ever one of the six little Bunkers in turn. "I'll say that. She
has a nice lot of children, and I'm very glad none of you is hurt.
"As I said, I was coming here anyhow, and when I got on the porch and
saw the door open, I walked right in. Then I heard a terrible racket up
here in the attic, and up I rushed. I thought maybe the house was falling
down."
"No," said Russ as he pulled his scooter out from between two trunks,
"it was this. We slid down the ironing-board hill, Laddie and I, and it
went off crooked--the scooter did."
"And it knocked into us," said Violet. "But if you didn't come to sell
anything, what did you come for?"
"Well," said the strange man, and he smiled again, "you might say I
came to get you children."
"You--you came to get us?" gasped Rose.
"Yes. I'm going to take you away with me."
"Take--take us away with you!" cried Russ. "We won't go! We want to
stay with our daddy and mother."
"I'll take them, too," said the man. "I have room for all you six little
Bunkers and more too, out on my ranch. I've come to take you all away
with me."
What could it mean? Russ and Rose, the oldest, could not understand it.
They looked at the man again. They were sure they had never seen him
before.

"Yes," the stranger went on, "I saw the door open, so I walked in. I was
glad to get out of the rain. It's a cold storm. I hope summer will soon
come. And, as I say, I've come to take you away."
If the man had not smiled so nicely the children might have been
frightened. But, as it was, they knew everything would be all right.
"And now, as long as none of you is hurt, I think I'd better go
downstairs and tell your mother I have come to take you away," went
on the man. "I think I hear her coming up."
And, just then, footsteps were heard on the stairs leading to the attic,
and Mrs. Bunker appeared.
"Oh, Mother," gasped out Rose, "there's a man here and he says he's
going to take us away and----"
Before she finished Mrs. Bunker had run up to the attic. She looked at
the strange man, who smiled at her. Then she hurried over to him and
kissed him and said:
"Oh, Fred, I'm glad to see you! I didn't expect you until to-morrow, and
I was going to surprise the children with you. Oh, but I'm glad to see
you! Children," she said, laughing, "this is my brother, your Uncle
Fred."
CHAPTER III
A QUEER STORY
The six little Bunkers, who had been untangled from the mix-up caused
when the scooter ran sideways off the ironing-board hill, stood in a half
circle and looked at the strange man. He did not seem quite so strange
now, and he certainly smiled in a way the children liked.
[Illustration: THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS STOOD IN A HALF
CIRCLE AND LOOKED UP AT THE STRANGE MAN.]

"Is he our real uncle?" asked Violet.
"Yes, he is your very own uncle. He is my brother. Frederic is his
name--Frederic Bell," went on Mother Bunker. "But you are to call him
Uncle Fred."
"Then he isn't a burglar!" stated Rose.
"Of course not!" laughed her mother.
"No, I'm not a burglar," said the visitor, laughing too. "Though I don't
blame you for feeling a bit alarmed when I rushed in. I thought some of
you might know me, though some of you I've never seen, and Russ and
Rose were smaller than they are now the last time I saw them."
"I didn't tell them you were coming," said Mrs. Bunker. "I hardly
thought you would get here so soon, and I was planning a surprise, as I
say. But we're very glad to see you. How did you get into the house and
up here?"
"I walked in. The front door was open and----"
"I left it open to air the house."
"And as soon as I got in I heard a great racket up where I knew the attic
must be, so up I rushed. I found the children all in a heap, and I pulled
them apart as best I could."
"We were riding on a scooter I made from an older roller skate,"
explained Russ, "and it went off the ironing-board sideways and it
bumped into everybody."
"I should say it did bump!" laughed Uncle Fred.
"But we're not hurt," added Laddie. "We're all right now. Can you
answer riddles, Uncle Fred?"
"Well, yes, I think so, if they're not too