THE WIND WAGON
For a moment Mrs. Bunker did not know whether Margy was fooling or not.
She could not imagine how Mun Bun could be stuck in a "mud pie," and yet
that was what Margy had said.
"Is he hurt?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she laid aside her sewing and got
ready to follow Margy to the creek.
"No. He's only just stuck in the middle of his big pie, and he can't get
out. And he's all mud and he looks awful funny."
"I should think he would!" exclaimed the mother of the six little
Bunkers. "Hurry along, Margy, and show me where he is."
"What's the matter now?" asked Daddy Bunker, who came along just then,
in time to hear what his wife said. "What has happened to Mun Bun now?"
"He is stuck in a mud pie, so Margy says," answered Mrs. Bunker.
"Perhaps you had better come with me and see what it's all about."
Together Mr. and Mrs. Bunker hurried after Margy. As they came within
sight of the pond they could not see Mun Bun at all.
"Where is he?" asked the little chap's mother. "Where did you leave him,
Margy?"
"There he is--right over there!" answered the little girl. She pointed
to something that, at first, did not look at all like Mun Bun. But as
Mr. Bunker took a second glance he saw that it was his little boy, and
Mun Bun was, indeed, "stuck in a mud pie."
"Why he's in a regular bog-hole!" cried Mr. Bunker. "He must have waded
out into the water for something or other, and he got stuck in the mud."
"And he has sunk down!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "Get him out right away,
Daddy! He may be smothered in the mud!"
"I'll get him!" cried Mun Bun's father.
Mr. Bunker took off his shoes and socks and, rolling up his trousers so
they would not get muddy, waded out to where his little boy was. Truly
Mun Bun was stuck in the middle of a big mud pie--at least that was what
Margy called it. It was, however, the muddy bottom of the pond itself,
which, at one end, was a regular bog, being fenced off so no cattle or
horses could get in.
But Mun Bun had climbed in under the fence, and at once he found himself
in soft mud. He had begun to sink down; so he called for help, and Margy
ran to tell her mother.
"My, but you are a sight, Mun Bun!" cried his father, as he came to the
side of the little boy and began pulling him out. And Mun Bun was stuck
so fast in the mud that Mr. Bunker had to pull quite hard to loosen him.
And when Mun Bun came up, his legs and feet making a funny, sucking
sound as they were pulled out, he was covered with mud and water from
his toes to his waist. Mud was splashed up on his face, too, and his
hands--well, they didn't look like hands at all! They were just "gobs of
mud," Margy said.
"How did it happen? What made you go in the mud?" asked the little boy's
mother, as Daddy Bunker waded to shore with Mun Bun.
"Well, I made some mud pies in the sand," Mun Bun explained, "and then I
thought maybe if I could find a mud turkle he'd eat the pies. So I
crawled under the fence and went in the deep mud to look for a mud
turkle."
Mun Bun meant a "turtle," of course.
"But I didn't find any," he went on, "and I went down deeper and deeper,
and then I hollered like anything."
"And I heard him," said Margy. "I was going to wade in and get him, but
my feet went down deep in the mud, so I ran for you."
"It's a good thing you did," said her mother. "You mustn't come here
again. You might get stuck and never get out. Never come here again!"
"Can't we make mud pies in the sand?" asked Mun Bun.
"Yes, but you mustn't hunt for mud turtles. Stay outside the bog fence."
The children promised that they would, and then came the work of washing
Mun Bun and Margy. Margy was the easiest to clean, as she only had mud
on her up to her knees. She waded in the creek where there was a clean,
sandy bottom, and where the water was clear, and soon the mud was washed
off her.
"But as for Mun Bun," said his father, "I guess I'll have to put him in
the creek, clothes and all, up to his neck, and let the water wash the
mud away."
"I guess you'd better," said Mrs. Bunker. "That's the only way to get
off the mud."
The day was warm, and so was the water, so Mun Bun was set down in the
creek at a clean place, and he and his clothes were washed at the same
time. The mud was rinsed from his hands and face and, in time, it came
off his feet, legs and clothes.
"It's just like I been in swimming with all my things on!" laughed Mun
Bun, as his father lifted him out of the pond.
"Well, don't make any more mud pies right away," his mother told him,
and Mun Bun promised not to.
The other little Bunkers laughed when they heard what had happened to
Mun Bun.
"Maybe I could make up a riddle about Mun Bun in a mud pie," said
Laddie.
"I don't want you to!" the little boy exclaimed. "I don't want to be in
a riddle."
"All right. Then I'll make up one about something else," went on Laddie.
"This is it. What is it you cannot take from the top of a house to the
bottom?"
"Pooh! that isn't a riddle," said Russ.
"Say it again," begged Rose.
"What is it you can't take from the top of a house and put it on the
bottom--I mean like down cellar?" asked Laddie.
"There isn't anything," declared Violet. "If you got anything in the top
of your house you can take it down cellar, if you want to; can't you,
Daddy?"
"Well, I should think so, yes," answered Mr. Bunker.
"No, you can't!" declared Laddie. "Do you all give up? What is it in the
top of the house that you can't take down cellar with you?"
"The chimney," answered Russ.
"Nope," said Laddie. "'Cause the chimney starts down cellar, anyhow, and
goes up to the top. I mean what's in the top of a house you can't take
down cellar?"
"We'll give up," said his mother. "What is it?"
"A hole in the roof!" answered Laddie with a laugh. "You can't take a
hole in the roof down cellar, can you?"
"No, I guess you can't," admitted Uncle Fred. "That's a pretty good
riddle, Laddie."
It was two or three days after Mun Bun had become stuck in the mud pie
that the children awakened one morning to find a high wind blowing
outside.
"Oh, is this a cyclone?" asked Violet, for she had heard they had such
winds in the West.
"Oh, no, this wind is nothing like as strong as a cyclone," answered
Uncle Fred. "It's just one of our summer winds. They're strong, but they
do no damage. Look out for your hair if you go outdoors; it might blow
off."
"My hair can't blow off 'cause it's fast to me--it's growed fast!"
explained Violet.
"Well, then be careful it doesn't blow you away, hair and all!" said
Uncle Fred, but by the way he laughed Violet knew he was only joking.
The children went out to play, and they had to hold their hats on most
of the time, as the wind blew across the plain so strongly. But the six
little Bunkers did not mind.
"If we only had a boat, and the pond was big enough, we could have a
fine sail!" cried Laddie, as he looked at the wind making little waves
on the place where Mun Bun had been stuck in the mud.
"Oh, I know what we could make!" suddenly exclaimed Russ.
"What?" his brother wanted to know.
"A wind wagon."
"A wind wagon?"
"Yes, you know, a wagon that the wind will blow. Come on, we'll do it.
Mother read me a story once about a boy who lived in the West, and he
made himself a wind wagon and he had a nice ride. Come on, we'll make
one!"