THE BUNKERS GET TOGETHER
Russ Bunker quickly drew back away from the end of the log after he had
stooped down and had seen "something with shoes," as he said.
"Maybe it's a bear!" said Vi.
"Pooh! How could a bear wear shoes?" asked Laddie.
"Well, I don't care!" exclaimed Vi. "I saw a bear in a circus once, and
he wore roller skates. And if a bear can wear roller skates I guess a
bear can wear shoes."
"There aren't any bears around here," said the farm boy. "Let me take a
look."
He stooped down as Russ had done, and looked within the log for some
little time, the dog, meanwhile, leaping around and barking.
"Do you see anything?" asked Russ.
"Yes, I do," answered the farm boy. "I see something with shoes on,
and I see two legs and I see----"
Just then there was a movement inside the log, the dog barked louder
than ever, and then, from the other end of the fallen, hollow tree
came--the missing boy Tad!
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Russ, Rose, and Laddie in turn. As for Vi, she
had just opened her mouth to ask a question and she was so surprised
that she forgot what it was, and she had no time to cry "Oh!" as did
the others.
As for Tad, he brushed off some of the dry, rotten wood that clung to
his clothes, and then he stood looking at the four little Bunkers, at
the farm boy, and at the dog. The dog went up, smelled of Tad's legs,
and, seeming to count him as a friend, stopped barking.
"How'd you get in there?" asked Russ.
"I crawled in to rest and sleep," was the answer. "I'd been walking
nearly all night, except I got a ride on a milk wagon part of the way."
"What made you run away from Mr. Brown's?" asked Rose.
"Oh, I was in a hurry to get--I just wanted to get away, and I didn't
want to wait all night till you folks started in the morning," was the
hesitating answer. "I was afraid maybe your auto wouldn't work, and I
was in a hurry. So I started off by myself."
"Didn't you go to bed?" asked Rose.
"No," answered Tad.
Just then Daddy Bunker, who had finished his talk with the farmer,
while Captain Ben was oiling the automobile spring, called:
"Come, children! We must be moving!"
"Look! We found Tad!" cried Laddie.
"In a hollow log!" added Vi.
Mr. Bunker and Captain Ben, looking up and seeing the missing boy,
hurried to the children.
"So you thought you'd rather travel on by yourself, did you?" asked
Daddy Bunker.
"Yes, sir. I was in a hurry," was the answer. "I went up to the room
where I was to sleep, but I got to thinking I could travel all night,
on account of having so many good things to eat. So I sneaked out when
nobody was looking, and I walked along. I got a ride part of the way on
a milk wagon, and walked the rest. It was almost daylight when I got
here, and I saw this hollow log, so I crawled in and went to sleep."
Daddy Bunker walked closer to the tramp boy, for that is what he really
seemed now.
"Tad," said the children's father kindly, "I am going to ask you a
question, but I don't want you to feel bad about it. This morning, when
we awoke and found you gone, there was also something else missing from
Mr. Brown's house. It was his wife's box of jewelry. Now, Tad----"
"I didn't take it! I didn't take a thing!" cried Tad earnestly. "I
just went away by myself because I was in a hurry to get to Avalon,
and I was afraid maybe your auto would break down. I didn't take Mrs.
Brown's jewelry! I never even saw it! I've been a bad boy in some
ways," he went on, "but the only thing I took was some apples, and you
saw me have them. And I wouldn't have taken them only I was so terribly
hungry! I never stole any jewelry--honest I didn't!"
He looked at Mr. Bunker with clear, bright eyes, and tears began to
come into them.
"Tad, I believe you," said Mr. Bunker.
"So do I!" exclaimed Captain Ben. "I presume it was those tramps, or
one of them, who reached in the window and took the jewelry box. I'm
glad it was not you, Tad. And, now that we have found you and the auto
is all right again, don't you want to ride with us the rest of the way?"
"Yes, thank you, I'd like to," was the answer.
"Did you have any breakfast?" asked Vi. "We had some lovely pancakes at
Mrs. Brown's."
"No, I didn't have any," Tad answered.
"My mother'll give you something," offered the farm boy.
"I think we might all stop for lunch if your mother will sell us a
meal," said Daddy Bunker.
"Yes, she sometimes gets a meal for autoists," the boy answered.
Soon the Bunker children, with the newly-found Tad, Daddy, and Captain
Ben were sitting down to a nice lunch.
"We've had a terrible lot of adventures since we started," said Rose,
as she took a second piece of cake which the farmer's wife offered.
"Yes," agreed Russ. "It's been a lot of fun--a heap sight more fun
than going to school."
"But you'll have to go to school when we get back from Captain Ben's,"
said Daddy Bunker.
"That'll be a long while, and we'll have a lot of fun before we go,"
laughed Russ.
"Did you think of any riddles when you slept out in that log all
night?" asked Laddie of Tad, when it was time to start again.
"No, I can't say I did," was the answer. "All I thought of was getting
back to--back to Avalon, and I wondered where I'd get my breakfast. I
didn't think I'd sleep until nearly noon. Now I've had my breakfast and
dinner all in one," and he looked at his emptied plate.
A little later the four little Bunkers, with Tad, Captain Ben and Daddy
were on the road once more. All went well and they arrived at the
seashore bungalow in Grand View without any more accidents.
"Oh, Mother, I'm so glad to see you!" cried Rose, as the car came to
a stop in front of Captain Ben's pretty summer home not far from the
beach.
"And I'm glad to see you, my darlings!" cried Mother Bunker. "It seems
a week since I've had you. My, what a lot of things must have happened!"
"They did--lots!" said Russ. "And, Mother, this is Tad, and he lives in
Avalon."
"And Mr. Brown thought he was a pesky apple boy but he wasn't," said
Vi. "He only took a few 'cause he was hungry."
"I wants an apple!" said Mun Bun, as he scampered around his brothers
and sisters.
"And I want two apples!" said Margy.
Mrs. Bunker wanted Tad to stay to supper, but he said he had some
relatives in Avalon, the next town, which could soon be reached by a
trolley car. So he left, after thanking the Bunkers, and saying he
would come over to see them soon.
"There's something queer about that boy," said Mr. Bunker, when Tad had
gone to the trolley station. "I believe he has run away from home and
is anxious to get back."
"Do you think he had anything to do with taking the jewelry?" asked his
wife.
"No," was the answer, "I do not. I believe the tramps took it."
"You didn't find my wrist watch in any of the things you unpacked, did
you?" asked Captain Ben of Mrs. Bunker.
"No," was the answer, "I did not. It's too bad you had to lose it."
There was a happy time when all the Bunkers were united again.
"We'll all be bunked together to-night--the Bunkers will bunk
together," said the children's mother, as she made up the beds, or
"bunks," as Captain Ben called them. Before going to bed the children
who had made the automobile trip told most of what had happened during
their journey from the time they were caught in the storm and were
awakened by the sleep-walking Jack until they left Mr. Brown's.
"What kind of a time did you have?" asked Daddy Bunker of his wife.
"You didn't lose Mun Bun or Margy on the way down here, that's sure."
"No, we hadn't a bit of trouble," she said. "We got here in good time,
though of course I missed you and the children."
So the Bunkers were put in their bunks, and soon they were all asleep.
It was some time past midnight, as they learned later, when Mr. Bunker
and Captain Ben heard a knock at the bungalow front door.
"Hello, who's there?" called the captain, turning on the electric
light, for his bungalow was almost like a city home in some respects.
"Who's there and what do you want?" asked the marine.
"Maybe it's tramps," said Laddie to Russ, with whom he was sleeping.
The two boys had been awakened by the knock.
"Tramps wouldn't knock," Russ said. "Maybe it's a telegram, or maybe
somebody is lost and wants to know the way."
Russ heard Captain Ben get up and go to the door.
"Who's there?" asked the marine again.
"Have you seen anything of a boy named Tad Munson?" was the question
asked. "I heard he came on with you in an auto, and I'm looking for
him. Have you seen Tad Munson?"