CHAPTER VII
LADDIE'S NEW RIDDLE
Norah O'Grady, the cheerful cook for the six little Bunkers, saw theirmother hurrying out of the house with Rose.
"What's the matter, Mrs. Bunker?" asked Norah. "Is there a fire, and areye goin' for a policeman?"
Firemen and policemen, aside from Jerry Simms, were Norah's two chiefheroes.
"No, there isn't a fire, Norah" answered Mrs. Bunker. "But Rose just toldme that Mun Bun is caught up in a tree with a balloon, and I've got to goand get him down. Maybe you'd better come, too."
"Better come! I should say I _had_!" cried Norah, quickly taking off herapron. "The poor little lad caught up in a balloon! The saints preserveus! 'Tis probably one of them circus balloons, or maybe a German airshipcame along and caught him up! The poor darlin'!"
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Rose, as she trotted along with her mother and Norah,"Mun isn't in a balloon. His balloon is caught in a big tree and thelittle darlin' won't come away and----"
"It couldn't be much worse!" gasped Norah. "We'll have to get a firemanwith a long ladder, 'tis probable, to get him down."
"I don't see how it could have happened," said Mrs. Bunker. "He was in theyard playing, a little while ago. The next time I looked he was gone.Where did the balloon come from, Rose?"
"Mun Bun bought the balloon!" said the little girl.
"He _bought_ it?" cried Norah and Mrs. Bunker.
"Yes, it's a five-cent one. He had five cents that Jerry Simms gave him,Mun had, and he bought the balloon, and it had a long string to it, and itgot caught up in a tree--the balloon did--and Mun Bun's got hold of thestring and he won't come away, 'cause if he does he'll maybe break thestring and the balloon and----"
Rose had to stop, she was so out of breath, but she had told all there wasneed to tell.
Mrs. Bunker and Norah, who had reached the street and could look down andsee Mun Bun standing under a tree not far away, came to a sudden stop.
"And then the little darlin' isn't caught up by a German airship?" askedthe cook.
"No. It's just a balloon he bought with the five cents Jerry gave him,"explained Rose, "and it's caught in a tree, and----"
"I see how it is," said Mrs. Bunker, and she laughed. "Mun Bun doesn'twant to come away without his toy balloon. We must get it for him, Norah!"
"Sure, that we will! The saints be praised he isn't flyin' above theclouds this blessed minute!" and with Norah, now laughing also, the threeof them went to where Mun stood under the tree. Caught on one of thebranches overhead was a big red balloon. It was fast to a string, and thelittle boy held the other end of the cord.
"I can't get it down!" he exclaimed.
"Well, it's a good thing you didn't climb up after it," said his mother."We'll get it down for you, Mun."
She took hold of the string, and Norah, finding a long stick, carefullypoked it up among the tree branches until she had loosed the toy balloon.Then it floated free, and Mun Bun could walk along with it floating on theend of the string above his head.
"It's a awful nice balloon," he said. "If it was bigger I could have aride in it like Jerry did in the one when he was in the army."
"Well, I'm glad it isn't any bigger," said Mrs. Bunker. "Small as it is,you gave us enough trouble with it, Mun."
"But Mun Bun's all right! Norah was scared about him," said the girl,hugging the little boy close to her as they all walked back toward thehouse.
"Where did you get the balloon?" asked Mrs. Bunker.
"Down at Mrs. Kane's store," answered Mun, mentioning a little toy andcandy shop on the block on which the six little Bunkers lived. They spentall their spare pennies there.
And it was in bringing his toy balloon home, on the end of a long string,letting it float in the air over his head that Mun Bun had had theaccident at the tree when the blown-up rubber bag got caught in thebranch. He wouldn't leave it, of course, and Rose ran to tell her mother.That's how it all happened.
"Well, come in to lunch now!" called Mrs. Bunker to the other children,who were, playing in the yard. "And don't go away from the house thisafternoon. It's quite warm, and I don't want any of you to go off in theblazing sun. If you do we can't go to Grandma Bell's."
This was enough to make them all promise they would spend the afternoon inthe shade near the house, while Mrs. Bunker and Norah went on with thepacking of the trunks. A great many things must be taken along on thevisit to Maine, when so many children have to be looked after. They usedup much clothing.
"How long're we going to stay at Grandma Bell's?" asked Russ, as he leftthe dining-room after lunch.
"Oh, perhaps a month," his mother answered. "She told us to come and stayas long as we liked, but I hardly think we shall be there all summer."
"Shall we come back home?" asked Rose.
"I hardly know," said Mrs. Bunker. "We may go to visit some of yourcousins or aunts--land knows you have enough!"
"Oh, wouldn't it be fun if we could go out West to Uncle Fred's ranch?"cried Russ.
"I'd like to go see Cousin Tom at the seashore," put in Rose. "I love theseashore."
"I like cowboys and Indians!" exclaimed Russ.
"Could we go see Aunt Jo, in Boston?" asked Laddie. "I'd like to go to abig city like Boston."
"Maybe we could go there, some day," said Mrs. Bunker. "But why would youlike to go there, Laddie?"
"'Cause then maybe I could hear some new riddles. I didn't think up a newone--not in two whole days!"
"My! That's too bad!" said Mr. Bunker, who had come home to lunch, andwho had heard all about Mun's balloon. "I'll give you a riddle, Laddie.Why does our horse eat oats?"
"Wait a minute! Don't tell me!" cried the little boy. "Let me guess!"
He thought hard for a few seconds, and then gave as his answer:
"Because he can't get hay."
"No, that isn't it," said Mr. Bunker. And when Laddie had made some otherguesses, and when Russ, Rose and the remaining little Bunkers had tried togive a reason, Daddy Bunker said:
"Our horse eats oats because he is hungry, the same as any other horse!You mustn't always try to guess the hardest answers to riddles, Laddie.Try the easy ones first!"
And then, amid laughter, Mr. Bunker started back to the office.
"Have you found that red-haired tramp yet, Daddy?" asked Russ. "And didyou get back your papers?"
"No, Russ, not yet. And I don't believe I ever shall."
"Maybe I could find him if you'd let me come down to your office," wenton the little boy.
"Well, thank you, but I don't believe you could," said Mr. Bunker. "You'dbetter stay here and help your mother pack, ready to go to GrandmaBell's."
Out in the shady side yard some of the little Bunkers were playingdifferent games. Mun and Margy were making sand pies, turning them out ofclam shells on to a shingle, and letting them dry in the sun. Mun's redballoon floated in the air over the heads of the children, the string tiedfast to a peg Russ had driven into the ground.
Russ, after having done this kindness for his little brother, began towhistle a merry tune and at the same time started to nail together a boxin which he said he was going to take some of his toys to Grandma Bell's.Rose had taken her doll and was sitting under a tree, making a new dressfor her toy, and Laddie and Vi had gone down to the little brook whichbubbled along at the bottom of the green meadow, which was not far fromthe house. This brook was not very deep or wide. It flowed into RainbowRiver, and was a safe place for the children to play.
Laddie and Vi had taken off their shoes and stockings before going down topaddle in the water, and after a while Russ, stopping in his work ofhammering the box to look for more nails, heard Laddie calling out in aloud voice:
"Oh, Vi! what made the boat sink? What made the boat sink?"
At the same time Vi gave a loud shriek.
Russ dropped his hammer and started to run toward the brook.
"What's the matter?" called his mother, who saw him running.
"I don't just kn
ow," answered Russ, over his shoulder, "but I guess Laddiehas a new riddle. He's hollering about why does a boat sink. But Vi'scrying, I think."
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker, again stopping in her work of packing atrunk. "I hope those children haven't fallen into the brook!"