CHAPTER XX
THE DOG-CART
Mrs. Bunker saw Grandma Bell hurrying down toward the barn, halfwaybetween which and the house, was the well, and at once the children'smother began to fear that something was wrong.
"Has anything happened?" asked Mrs. Bunker.
"I'm afraid there has," answered Grandma Bell. "Russ came running up tothe house, and said something about a doll having fallen into the well.Then he grabbed up the rake and ran back before I could ask him what hemeant."
"Oh, I do hope none of the children will try to get it out!" cried Mrs.Bunker.
Then Grandma Bell and Mother Bunker ran down to the well. There they sawMr. Bunker with the long-handled rake fishing down in the round hole, atthe bottom of which was deep water.
"What has happened?" demanded Mrs. Bunker.
"It's all right--don't be frightened," her husband told her, as he lookedaround. "It's only a doll that has fallen into the well. I'm trying to getit out with the rake."
"Only a doll--that isn't so bad," said Mrs. Bunker. "Whose doll is it?"
"Mine," answered Rose. She and the other children now stood about the wellhouse. "Margy took it, Russ says, and dropped it into the water."
"I was givin' the dollie a bath," Margy explained. "The other dolls had aride on Laddie's boat, and they felled in the water and had a nice swim,but this doll didn't have any and I was givin' her one."
"Oh, but you shouldn't have done that without asking mother," said Mrs.Bunker. "And besides, I've told you to keep away from the well. You mightfall in."
"Oh, I didn't go very near," said Margy. "I--I just throwed the dollie in.I stood 'way back and I throwed her in 'cause I wanted her to have a swimlike the other dolls."
"Can you get it out?" asked Mrs. Bunker.
"I think so," answered her husband. "The doll is caught on one of thebuckets, halfway down the well. I sent Russ up to get the rake, for I'mafraid If I pull up the bucket the doll will drop off and fall to thebottom of the well."
All watched Daddy fishing for the doll. The rake was not quite longenough, but by fastening a stick onto the handle it could be reached downfar enough so the iron teeth caught in the doll's dress, and up she came.
"Why--why!" exclaimed Margy, "she isn't wet at all."
"No," said Daddy Bunker, "she didn't get down to the water. If she had Idon't believe I could have gotten her up, as the well is very deep. Butdon't do it again, Margy."
Rose took the doll, whose dress had been torn a little by the rake.
"I'll make believe she's had a terrible time and been sick," said thelittle girl, "and I'll give her bread pills."
The rake was carried back to the kitchen garden, Daddy Bunker put on hiscoat, which he had taken off to get the doll up from the well, and thenGrandma Bell brought some pails and baskets from the kitchen.
"What are we going to do?" asked Russ.
"We are going after berries," his mother told him.
"Strawberries?" cried Laddie.
"Not this time," said Grandma Bell. "This time we are going to gatherhuckleberries."
"Then you must be going to bake huckleberry pies!" exclaimed Daddy Bunker.
"Well, I'll bake some if the children don't eat more berries than they putin the pails and baskets," said Grandma Bell, with a funny twinkle in hereyes.
"We won't eat very many," promised Russ. "We'll pick a lot of berries forthe pies, won't we, Laddie?"
"Sure we will!"
Off to the place where the huckleberries grew went the six little Bunkers,with their mother and their grandmother.
"And I'm coming, too," said Daddy Bunker. "I'm too fond of huckleberry pieto risk having all the berries go into the children's mouths. I'll goalong and pick some myself, then I'll be sure of one pie at least."
But the six little Bunkers were really very good. Of course, I'm notsaying they didn't eat _some_ berries. You'd do that yourself, when theygrew on bushes all around you. But the children put into the pails andbaskets so many that Grandma Bell said there would be a big pie for daddy,and several smaller ones for the children.
As the little party of berry pickers came back from the fields late thatafternoon, Russ and Laddie, walking ahead, saw Zip, the dog, draggingalong a piece of rope, fastened to a heavy bit of log.
"He's terrible strong, Zip is," said Laddie. "Look at him pull that log."
"Yes, he is strong," agreed Russ. And then he suddenly cried: "Oh, I knowwhat we can do!"
"What?" asked Laddie, always ready for anything.
"We can make a cart and have Zip pull us in it. If grandma had a pony Iguess she'd have a pony-cart, but she hasn't, so we can make a dog-cart."
"How can we do it?" asked Laddie.
"Well, you just take an old box--we saw some of the kind I want down atthe grocery store--and you put wheels on it."
"Where are you going to get the wheels?" asked Laddie.
Russ had to stop and think about that part. Then he happened to rememberthat he had seen two wheels from an old baby carriage out in the barn.Grandma Bell had once had a woman working for her who had a little baby,and this woman had kept the carriage at the Bell farmhouse. But after awhile it broke, or wore out, and when the woman and her baby went awaythere were only two wheels of the carriage left.
"We can take them," said Russ, "and maybe we can find two more somewhere.We'll ask daddy or grandma."
"Say, it'll be lots of fun if we can make a dog-cart!" cried Laddie."Could we really ride in it, do you s'pose?"
"Why, yes!" answered Russ. "Zip is strong enough to pull us both. Look athim pull that log. Feel how hard he pulls on the rope!"
The boys took hold of the rope and tried to hold back on it. But Zip wasso strong that he dragged them along a little way, as well as the log. AndZip growled and snarled, pretending he was very angry.
"Look out!" cried Mother Bunker. "He might bite you!"
"Zip is only playing," said Grandma Bell. "He never bites. But what areyou doing?" she asked Russ and Laddie.
"We're trying how hard Zip can pull, to see if he can pull us when we makea dog-cart," explained Russ.
"Please, Grandma, may we?" asked Laddie. "And may we have the two old babycarriage wheels out in the barn?"
"Yes, certainly," his grandmother said. "But I don't know where there areany more wheels. You'll have to get along with two."
"Well, we could do that," Russ said. "But four would be better. Oh,Laddie! We'll have a lot of fun making the dog-cart!"
"That's what we will!" said the smaller boy.