Six Little Bunkers at Uncle Freds | Page 7

hard."

"I know lots of riddles," said Laddie. "I have a good one about what
goes through----"
"Wait a minute!" cried Vi, elbowing her way to a place in the front
ranks of the six little Bunkers. "I want to ask Uncle Fred a question."
"You did ask him one," suggested Rose.
"Well, I want to ask him another," went on Vi. "You said you were
going to take us away," she told the visitor. "Are you? And where and
when are we all going? And can we have some fun?"
"Oh, hold on! Stop! Whoa! Back up!" exclaimed Uncle Fred. "I
thought you said you wanted to ask one question, not half a dozen."
"But you said you were going to take us away. Are you?"
"I am if your mother and father will let me," replied Uncle Fred. "You
know I wrote you," he went on to Mother Bunker, "that I'd like to have
you all come out to my ranch to stay all summer."
"What's a ranch?" asked Vi.
"I know," interrupted Russ. "It's a place where they have horses and
cows and----"
"Indians!" cried Laddie.
"And cowboys!" went on Russ. "That'll be great! We can have a Wild
West show!"
"Oh, let's go!" shouted Laddie.
"Children! Children!" murmured Mother Bunker. "Less noise, please!
What will Uncle Fred think of you?"
"Oh, I don't mind the noise," replied the Westerner. "I'm used to that.
Sometimes, when the cowboys are feeling pretty good, they whoop and
yell like Indians."

"Are there any Indians out there?" asked Russ eagerly. "I mean out at
your ranch?"
"Yes, a few," answered Uncle Fred.
"And where is your ranch?" Laddie inquired.
All interest in the scooter was lost in Uncle Fred's arrival. And if he
planned to take the six little Bunkers somewhere they wanted to hear
all about that. So they crowded close around him.
"My ranch," said Uncle Fred, "is out in Montana, near a place called
Moon City. The name of my place is Three Star, and----"
"Is there a moon, too?" asked Violet.
"Well, the name of the town, as I said, is Moon City, and I suppose it
was named that because the moon looks so beautiful over the
mountains. But I am down on the plains, and the reason I call my ranch
Three Star is because my cattle are marked with three stars, so I will
know them if they should happen to get mixed up with the cattle of
another ranch."
"When are we going?" asked Russ. "I have to make a lasso if we go out
on a ranch. Maybe I'll lasso an Indian."
"So'll I," put in Laddie. "When can we go, Mother?"
"Oh, not for some little time. Uncle Fred has come to pay us a visit.
Haven't you?" she went on to her brother.
"Oh, yes, I'm going to stay East a while," he said. "But I'm desirous of
getting back to Three Star," he added. "There's something queer been
going on there, and I want to find out what it is. That's one reason I
came on East--to try to find out what's wrong at my place. There
certainly is something queer there!"
"Is it a ghost?" asked Violet.

"No, hardly a ghost," answered Uncle Fred with a laugh. "What do you
know about ghosts, anyhow?"
"There was one at Grandpa Ford's," explained Rose.
"But we found out what it was," added Russ.
"But first it made terribly queer noises," said Laddie.
"Well, the only queer noises out at Three Star Ranch are made by the
cowboys, and sometimes by the Indians," said Uncle Fred. "No, this is
something different. But it might almost as well be a ghost for all I can
find out about it. It certainly is very queer," he went on to his sister. "I
have lost a great many cattle lately, and that and something strange
about a spring of water on my place, are two of the reasons why I came
on here. I want to talk with some men who know about springs and
streams of water, and get some books about it so I can solve this puzzle,
if it's possible.
"Another reason I came on," he added, "is to take you all back with me
to Moon City, and let the children have fun out on my ranch."
"Do you mean to take us all out West?" asked Rose.
"Yes, every one of you six little Bunkers, and your father and mother,
too," returned Uncle Fred.
"Can we go, Mother?" begged Russ.
"I'll see about it," was the answer. "But we'd all better go downstairs
now. Uncle Fred must be tired from his long trip, and I want to get him
a cup of tea. It is raining hard still, so you children