IN THE DITCH
Rose jumped out of bed, brushing aside the little River girl who had
stolen so silently into her room, and hurried out into the hall, where
a night light burned. As she hastened out, Rose gave a hasty glance at
Violet. Her little sister had not awakened.
There was a patter of bare feet behind Rose, and she knew that Bess was
following. As she went after Rose into the hall Bess exclaimed:
"Oh, there he goes! There he goes! He's gone and done it again!"
At the same time there was a confusion of voices in several rooms, and
some one called:
"Never mind, Jack. Mother's coming!"
This was just what Rose had often heard her mother say when there had
been some scare in the night among the six little Bunkers.
"He's gone and done it again!" cried Bess, and she now clung to Rose's
nightgown. Then from the room whence the thud of the fall had come,
sounded another voice crying:
"I didn't mean to!"
"Well, this is getting more and more queer all the while!" thought
Rose, rubbing her eyes to make herself more widely awake. "First it was
Laddie who was calling about being pulled out of bed, but that wasn't
Laddie who spoke last, nor Russ."
A moment later Russ appeared, coming from the room where he had been
sleeping with his small brother Laddie. There was a strange look on
Russ' face. As Rose looked at him she saw the little figure of Jack
come out of the room behind Russ, even as Bess had followed her out of
her room. And then came Laddie, making a procession of three little
pajama-clad small boys.
At the other end of the hall Daddy Bunker appeared in his dressing
gown, and then came Mrs. River and Mr. White.
"What's the matter?" asked Daddy Bunker.
"I don't know," Rose answered. "But this little girl--Bess--came into
my room and woke me up. I didn't know what to do, and then I heard
Laddie call about being pulled out of bed, and----"
"And I was pulled out of bed, too!" Laddie interrupted. "Somebody came
into my room in the night and pulled all the covers off me, and then he
pulled me, and it wasn't Russ, either!" he added.
"No, it was him!" and Bess pointed an accusing finger at her small
brother Jack. "He did it again, Uncle Ned," she added, looking toward
Mr. White.
"Dear me! what is it all about?" asked Captain Ben, now appearing. "I
don't quite understand."
"I think I can explain," said Mrs. River, who had slipped on a dressing
gown and slippers. "Jack walked in his sleep again, didn't he, Bess?"
"Yes, Mother, he did. He got awful scrambly when I was sleeping with
him, and I thought he was going to kick me out of bed, as he does lots
of times, so I got out first."
"You did?" exclaimed her mother. "And where did you go?"
"In with her," answered Bess, pointing to Rose.
"Then Jack must have got up a little later and pulled this little boy
out of bed," said Mrs. River. "I hope he didn't hurt you," and she
patted Laddie on the head.
"Oh, no'm. I fell on a pile of bedclothes," he answered. "But it felt
funny at first."
Jack, the innocent cause of all the trouble, stood scratching his back,
or rather, trying to reach an itchy place in the very center. But his
arms were not long enough.
"I'll scratch it for you," offered Laddie, and he did, amid the
laughter of the grown folk.
"Is that all that happened?" asked Daddy Bunker, when quiet was
restored.
"Yes," was the answer from Russ. "First I knew I heard Laddie yelling,
and then he rolled out of bed."
"I didn't roll--I was pulled. He pulled me!" said Laddie, pointing to
the poor little "brook" boy.
"I--I didn't mean to," said the poor little culprit. "I didn't know
what I was doing. I didn't even know I got out of my bed."
"I think, when you get back in, I'll have to tie you with a piece
of clothesline," his mother said. "He has often walked in his sleep
before," she explained; "but I never knew him to pull any one out of
bed until now."
The excitement was soon over, and the children went back to their beds
and to sleep. Mrs. River took Jack in with her, and Bess was allowed to
sleep with Rose and Violet, much to the delight of Bess. Violet never
awakened through all these happenings, nor did Tom, the oldest River
boy.
The sun was shining when the four little Bunkers came down to breakfast
the next morning, and they laughed with the little "brooks" at the
memory of what had happened in the night.
"As soon as I heard that big bang I knew what had happened," said Bess.
"I knew Jack had gone and done it again, but I didn't know who it was
he had pulled out of bed."
Breakfast over, the four little Bunkers, with Captain Ben and their
father, got ready to resume their trip to Grand View. They still had
many miles to go, but they thought they could make it by night, even
though the roads were bad.
"And they are pretty sure to be in poor condition," said Captain Ben,
as he brought the automobile around to the side porch. "We shall have
to drive slowly on account of so much slippery mud after the rain."
Mr. White would not accept any money for having taken care of the
travelers over night, and after thanking him and saying good-bye to
the little "brooks," promising to come and visit them some time, the
Bunkers started off once more.
"We'll have lots to tell mother when we see her," said Rose as she
settled herself in the rear seat of the car.
"I should say so!" exclaimed Russ. "It surely was funny to wake up and
hear Laddie yelling, and then to hear him fall out of bed!"
"And I didn't know what to think when I felt Bess touch me," remarked
Rose. "At first I thought it was Margy."
"I guess Margy and Mun Bun are playing near the ocean now," said Vi. "I
wish we were."
"You'll soon be with them," promised Captain Ben.
"And I'm going to try to think up a riddle about falling out of bed,"
said Laddie.
Though the sun shone and the weather was fine now, there were traces
of the night's storm on every side. In some places there were brooks
still running high with water, and in one or two sections the road
bed had been washed away, so that Captain Ben had to drive slowly and
carefully.
They had just left a small village, after a stop to get something to
eat and to let the children have soda water, when they passed a man
driving an empty farm wagon.
"You folks want to watch out just the other side of the white bridge,"
this man called to Captain Ben.
"What's the matter?" asked Daddy Bunker.
"There's a bad piece of road just after you cross the white bridge,"
was the answer. "It's clay, and clay is slippery when it's wet. Watch
out!"
"We will," promised Captain Ben, and he drove slowly along. They soon
came in sight of the white bridge. It went over a canal, and there was
a hill on either side of the bridge, which was raised high over the
canal to allow boats to pass under it.
"I should say it was a bad, slippery road!" said Captain Ben, as the
machine started down the slope after crossing the bridge. "I'll just
have to crawl."
He shut off all power and put on the brakes. For a little way the
car went down well, and it seemed as if nothing would happen. Then,
suddenly, the wheels slipped in the slimy clay and Daddy Bunker shouted:
"Look out!"
But, even as he spoke, the automobile slid to one side, and the
next moment there was a crash and the four little Bunkers and their
father and Captain Ben were almost standing on their heads inside the
automobile, which slid into a deep ditch partly filled with water at
the side of the road.