CHAPTER XVII
THE SKATE WAGON
While Rose and her mother were looking at the little girl's brokenroller skate, Russ came along. He had been in the yard, playing withAlexis, and his clothes were covered with grass, some of it green andsome of it dried.
"But I had lots of fun," said Russ, as he whistled a merry tune. "Andgrass doesn't hurt my old clothes."
"Alexis always has on his old clothes. He doesn't have to change his toplay," said Laddie, who was with Russ.
Just then the two boys saw their mother and Rose looking at the brokenskate.
"What's the matter?" Russ wanted to know.
"Oh, I bumped my foot on the curbstone," answered Rose. "And now look!"
She held out the skate that was broken in two parts.
"Perhaps Russ can fix it," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "He makes somany things that he might mend this."
Russ took the pieces of the skate in his hand. Rose still had the other,the unbroken one, on her foot.
"I could push myself along on one skate," said the little girl, "but itisn't much fun. Can you fix it, Russ?"
Her brother shook his head.
"I don't guess anybody could fix that broken skate," he said.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose.
"But," went on Russ, "I know how to make something that you can havelots of fun with; and so can I!"
"Can I, too?" asked Laddie.
"We all can," said Russ. "We can take turns."
"On what?" asked Rose.
"A skate wagon," answered Russ. "I saw a boy downtown have one--the daywe went to the movies. You take a good roller skate, and pull it apart.Then you put two of the wheels on the front end of a board, and the twoother wheels on the back end."
"Well, then what do you do?" asked Laddie, for Russ had come to a pause.
"Well, then you nail a stick up on the front end of the board, for ahandle, and you stand on it--you stand on the board, I mean--and youride downhill on the sidewalk on the skate wagon. It's fun!"
"Say, let's do it!" cried Laddie. "I'll help you, Russ! Give us that oneskate that isn't busted, Rose, and we'll make a skate wagon."
Laddie knelt down and began to unfasten the strap of the one good skate,which was still on Rose's left foot.
"Stop! Stop it!" cried the little girl, pulling back her leg.
"Hold still!" exclaimed Laddie. "I can't get your skate off if youwiggle so much."
"I don't want my skate off!" insisted Rose.
"Then how am I going to make a skate wagon?" asked Russ in somesurprise.
"I can push myself along on one foot, and skate that way," went on Rose."If I let you boys take my skate to make a wagon of, you'll be ridingall the time and I won't have any fun. I'm going to keep my own skate.So there!"
"We'll give you some rides; won't we, Russ?" asked Laddie.
"'Course we will! Lots of 'em!" added the older boy.
"I'd let them take my skate, if I were you," said Mrs. Bunker. "Oneskate is not of much use to you, Rose, and if Russ can make a sort ofwagon, or skatemobile, as I have heard them called, it will be fun forall of you."
"All right," said Rose, after thinking over what her mother said. "But Igot to have my turns."
"Yes, you may all have turns," said Mother Bunker, who usually settleddisputes in this gentle way. "Now, Russ and Laddie, let us see you makethe funny coaster wagon."
Rose let Laddie take the roller skate off her foot, and then Russ tookthe two front wheels from the two back ones. He had looked at a"skatemobile" a few days before, and, being a clever little chap, heremembered how it was made.
"I can get the pieces of board out in the garage," said Russ. "I sawWilliam have some, and he said I could take them."
Russ did not find it quite so easy to make the coaster wagon as he hadthought. To fasten the wheels of the skate to the board he used manynails, and bent most of them. Then William, who had been doing somethingto Aunt Jo's automobile, came out and watched Russ at work.
"Ouch!" Russ suddenly exclaimed.
"What's the matter?" asked the chauffeur.
"I pounded my finger!" said the little boy, as he popped it into hismouth. "It hurts!" But he did not cry.
"Yes, it generally does hurt when you hit your finger or thumb with ahammer," said William. "Better let me finish that for you. I can put thewheels on so they won't come off."
"I wish you would then," said Russ. "We want to see how it works."
William did not take long to fasten the four wheels to the long, narrowboard, two wheels on each end, so that it could easily coast down thesidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Then, to the front of thenarrow board, just as Russ had explained, William nailed a handle,making it stick straight up, so it could be grasped by whoever wastaking a ride.
"Now your skate wagon is done," he said.
"Let's go out and try it!" cried Laddie.
"But I've got to have a turn," insisted Rose. "It's my skate."
"You shall all have turns," put in Mother Bunker, who had come out tothe garage to see how matters were going. "That is, all except Mun Bunand Margy. I'm afraid they're too little to coast. They might fall off."
"I'll hold 'em on and give 'em a ride," offered Russ, who was very kindto his little brother and sister.
"You can have the first ride," said Laddie to Rose, "'cause it's yourroller skate."
"I can't go first," answered the little girl. "I don't know how you doit. You go first, Russ."
Russ was very willing to do this. So he took the skate wagon to the topof the sidewalk "hill," as the little Bunkers called it, and then he putone foot on the flat board, to which were fastened the roller-skatewheels.
"You have to push yourself along with one foot, just the same as whenyou're skating on one skate," explained Russ. "Then when you get togoing fast you put the other foot on the board and stand there, and youhold on tight and down you go."
"Show me!" begged Rose, jumping up and down because she was so excitedand pleased.
And then Russ went riding downhill, almost as nicely as he coasted onthe snow in winter.
"Is it fun?" shouted Laddie, from where he stood with Rose at the top ofthe hill--only almost no one would have called such a slight grade a"hill."
"Lots of fun!" answered Russ.
Down to the bottom of the hill he rode, and then he walked up.
"Now it's your turn, Rose," he said, as he handed her the skatemobile.But the little girl shook her head.
"I'll watch a little more," she said. "Let Laddie go."
So Laddie coasted down. Then Rose took her turn. Down the sidewalk hillshe coasted on the skate wagon, and she was just turning around to waveto her mother and her brothers, who were watching her, when all of asudden out from a gate ran a little dog. Right in front of Rose, and alittle ahead of her he ran, and then he stood on the sidewalk and barkedat her.
"Look out, Rose! Look out!" cried her mother.
"Steer to one side! Turn out for him!" yelled Russ.
"Stick out your foot and stop the skate wagon, same as you stop yourselfon roller skates," cried Laddie.
But Rose, it seemed, could do none of these things. Straight for thelittle dog she coasted.
What was going to happen?