CHAPTER IV
FOURTH OF JULY
Daddy Bunker looked at his little boy and girl. And, on their part, Russand Rose looked at daddy. They were thinking of two things--the letterfrom Grandma Bell and Mr. Bunker's real estate papers that the tramplumberman had carried off in the old coat. Russ and Rose didn't know muchabout real estate--except that it meant houses and barns and fields andcity lots. And they didn't know much about valuable real estate papers,but they did know their father was worried about something, and this madethem feel sad.
"Has grandma got your papers?" asked Russ again.
"Oh, no, little Whistler," answered Mr. Bunker with a laugh. "She doesn'teven know I have lost them."
"But what's the letter about?" asked Rose.
"It's a letter from Grandma Bell inviting us all up to her home at LakeSagatook, in Maine, to spend part of the summer," answered Mr. Bunker."Grandma Bell wants us to come up to Maine, and have a good time."
"Oh, can we go?" cried Russ, and, for the moment, he forgot all about hisfather's lost papers.
"Oh, won't it be fun!" cried Rose. "I love Grandma Bell!"
"Yes, I guess every one who knows her does," said Mr. Bunker, for he wasas fond of his wife's mother as he was of his own, who was the children'sGrandma Ford.
"When can we go?" asked Russ.
"Oh, it's too soon to settle that part," answered his father. "We'll haveto take this letter home and talk it over with mother. Then I must see ifI can't get the police to find this red-haired tramp lumberman who iscarrying those valuable papers around in my old coat. It's queer I neverthought that I put them in the pocket. Very queer!"
"Maybe the tramp will bring them back," said Rose after a bit. "Lots oftimes, when people find things, they bring them back."
"Yes, that's so, he might do it, if he is honest," said Mr. Bunker. "Butperhaps he isn't, and maybe he has not yet looked in the pockets of thecoat. But I'll just telephone to the police, and see if any of them haveseen the tramp that came to my office."
There were not many policemen in Pineville, and most of them knew Mr.Bunker. He telephoned from his office to the chief, or head policeman, andasked him to be on the watch for a red-haired tramp lumberman wearing anold coat.
"Get me back the papers. I don't care about the coat--he may have that,"said Mr. Bunker.
The chief promised that he and his men would do what they could, and someof the policemen at once began looking about Pineville for the tramp.
"But I guess maybe he has traveled on from here," said Mr. Bunker, as hecame away from the telephone. "I'm afraid I'll never see my valuablepapers again."
"Will you be so poor we can't go to Grandma Bell's?" asked Russ. Thatwould be very dreadful, he thought.
"Oh, no, I won't be as poor as that," answered Daddy Bunker with a smile."We'll go to see Grandma Bell all right. But I would like to get thosepapers."
He told the clerks in his office and some friends of his about his loss,and they promised to be on the lookout for the tramp. Then Daddy Bunkertook Rose and Russ back home with him, along Main Street, in Pineville.
"Did you find them?" asked Mrs. Bunker anxiously, as she saw her husbandcoming up the walk toward the house. "Did you get your papers?"
"No," he answered. "I forgot that I had given the old coat to a tramp, andthe papers were in one of the pockets," and he told his wife what hadhappened at the real estate office.
"And we got a letter from Grandma Bell!" exclaimed Rose as soon as she hada chance to speak.
"And we're going to see her--up to Lake Sagatook, in Maine," added Russ.
"No? Really?" cried Mrs. Bunker in delight. "Did you get a letter frommother?" she asked her husband.
"Yes, it came to me at the office," he answered, giving it to his wife.
"Do you think we can go?" she asked, when she had read the letter.
"Why, yes, I guess so," slowly answered Mr. Bunker. "It will do you goodand the children good, too. We'll go to Grandma Bell's!"
"Oh, goody!" cried Russ, and he began to whistle a merry tune. Rosestarted to sing a little song, and then she said:
"Oh, but I must go in and help set the table!" for she often did that, asNorah had so much else to do at meal-time.
"All right, Little Helper!" said Mother Bunker with a smile. "We can talkabout the trip to grandma's when we are eating supper."
Some of the other children heard the good news--the loss of the realestate papers did not bother them, for they were too little to worry; butthey loved to hear about Grandma Bell.
"And I'm going to take some fire-to'pedos!" exclaimed Laddie. "I'm goingto shoot 'em off for Fourth of July at grandma's."
Daddy Bunker shook his head.
"I think we'd better have our Fourth of July at home here, before we go,"he said. "That will be next week, and we can go to Maine soon afterward.Grandma Bell doesn't like fire-crackers, anyhow. We'll shoot them offbefore we go."
"Goody!" cried Laddie again. Anything suited him as long as he could havefun. "We'll shoot sky-rockets, too. What makes 'em be called sky-rockets?"he asked, "Do they go up to the sky?"
"You go and ask Jerry Simms about that," suggested Mr. Bunker. "Jerry cantell you how they shot signaling rockets in the army. Trot along!"
Laddie was glad to do this. He liked to hear Jerry talk.
"Maybe he'll tell me a riddle about sky-rockets," said the little fellow.
Russ sat down on the porch and began whittling some bits of wood with hisknife.
"What are you making now, Russ?" asked his father, while Mrs. Bunker wentin to see that Rose was setting the table right, and that Norah hadstarted to get the meal.
"I'm making a wooden cannon to shoot fire-crackers," the boy answered."You can put a fire-cracker in it and light it, and then it can't hurtanybody."
"That's a good idea," said Mr. Bunker, "You can't be too careful aboutFourth of July things. I'll be at home with you and the other children onthat day, to see that you don't get hurt."
"Are you sure Grandma Bell wouldn't like to have us bring some shootingthings down to her?" asked Russ.
"Oh, yes, I am very sure," answered his father with a laugh. "Grandma Belldoesn't like much noise. We'll have our Fourth before we go."
"That'll be fun!" said Russ, and he went on whittling at his cannon. Hisfather did not really believe the little boy could make one, but Russ wasalways doing something; either whistling or making some toy.
At supper they talked about the fun they would have at Grandma Bell's. Itwas quite a long trip in the train, and they would be all night in thecars.
"And that'll be fun!" cried Russ. "We can all of us sleep when the trainis going along."
"Can we, Daddy?" asked Laddie. "Really?"
"Oh, yes, they have sleeping-cars," said Mr. Bunker.
"Do the cars sleep?" asked Laddie, his eyes opening wide in surprise. "Oh,that's funny--a sleeping-car. And--and----Say! maybe I can think up ariddle about a sleeping-car," he added.
"You'd better think about drinking your milk, and getting good and fat,with rosy cheeks, so Grandma Bell will like to kiss them," said MotherBunker with a laugh. "Don't think so much about riddles or sleeping-cars."
"Maybe I can think of a riddle with a sleeping-car in it and some milk,too," said Laddie.
"Perhaps you can!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "A cow in a sleeping-car would dofor that."
After the children had gone to bed--each one eager to dream about GrandmaBell--Mr. and Mrs. Bunker sat up and talked about what was to be done.
"It's too bad about those papers the tramp took in the old coat," saidMrs. Bunker.
"Yes, I am sorry to lose them," said her husband. "But perhaps the trampmay be found, and I may get them back."
Russ, Rose, and all the rest of the six little Bunkers got up early nextmorning.
"Is It Fourth of July yet?" asked Munroe.
"No, not yet, Mun Bun," answered Rose with a laugh. "But it soon willbe--in a few days."
"I'm going to finish
my cannon," said Russ.
"Come on!" called Laddie to his twin sister Vi. "Let's go down and dig ahole in the sand pile."
"What for?" she asked. Violet hardly ever did anything without firstasking a question about it.
"Huh?"
"What for we dig a hole?"
"To put fire-crackers in," answered Laddie. "And when they shootoff--'Bang!'--they'll make the sand go up in the air."
"Like a sky-rocket?" asked Vi.
"Yes, I guess maybe like a sky-rocket," answered Laddie.
So down to the sand pile he and his sister went. Mun Bun and Margy playedin the grass in the side yard, Russ whittled away at his wooden cannon,whistling the while, and Rose, after she had done a little dusting, made anew dress for her doll.
"'Cause I want her to look nice for Grandma Bell," said the little girl.
And thus they played at these and other things, and had a good time.
A few mornings after this Russ was suddenly awakened by hearing a loudnoise under his window.
"What's that?" he cried. "Thunder?"
"It's Fourth of July!" answered his father. "Some boy must have shot off abig early fire-cracker! Get up, children! It's Fourth of July, and we aregoing to have some fun! Get up!"
"Hurray!" cried Russ. "Hurray for the Fourth of July!"