Six Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's

by Laura Lee Hope

  CHAPTER III

  GRANDMA'S LETTER

  While the other children, being too young to understand much about DaddyBunker's worry, ran down to play in the yard, Russ and Rose stayed on theporch with their father and mother. They heard Mrs. Bunker ask:

  "What sort of papers were they you lost?

  "Well, I don't know that I have exactly lost them," said Mr. Bunkerslowly, as though trying to think what really had happened, "I had somereal estate papers in my desk at the office. They were about some propertyI was going to sell for a man, and the papers were valuable. But a littlewhile ago, when I went to look for them, I couldn't find them. It meansthe loss of considerable money."

  "Perhaps they are in your desk here," said Mrs. Bunker, for her husbandsometimes did business at his home in the evening, and had a desk in thesitting-room.

  "Perhaps they are," said the father of the six little Bunkers. "That iswhy I came home so early--to look."

  He went into the house, followed by his wife and Russ and Rose. Mr. Bunkerstepped over to his desk, and began looking through it. He took out quitea bundle of books and papers, but those he wanted did not seem to bethere.

  "Did you find them?" asked his wife, after a while.

  "No," he answered with a shake of his head, "I did not. They aren't here.I'm sorry. I need those papers very much. I may lose a large sum of moneyif I don't find them. I can't see what could have happened to them. I hadthem on my desk in the office yesterday, and I was looking at them whenMr. Johnson came along to see about buying some lumber from the pile inthe yard next to my office."

  "Perhaps Mr. Johnson might know something about the papers," suggestedMrs. Bunker.

  Her husband did not answer her for a moment. Then he suddenly clapped hishands together as a new thought came to him, and he said:

  "Oh, now I remember! I left those papers in my old coat."

  "Your old coat!" repeated Mrs. Bunker with interest.

  "Yes. That old ragged one I sometimes wear at the office when I have toget things down from the dusty shelves. I had on that coat when I washolding the papers in my hand, and then Mr. Johnson came along. I wantedto go out in the lumberyard with him, to look at the boards he wanted tobuy, so I stuck the papers in the pocket of the old coat."

  "Then that's where they must be yet," said Mrs. Bunker. "Where is thecoat?"

  "Oh, I always keep it hanging up behind the office door. Yes, that's it. Iremember now. When Mr. Johnson came in and I went out to look at thelumber with him, I stuck the papers in the inside pocket of the old,ragged coat. And then I forgot all about them until just now, when I hadto have them. I'll hurry back to the office and get the papers out of thepocket of the coat."

  "May we come with you?" asked Russ.

  "Please let us," begged Rose.

  Mr. Bunker, who did not seem quite so worried now, looked at his wife.

  "Take the children, if you have time," she said. "At least Rose and Russ.The others are playing in the sand," for that's what they were doing. Vi,Laddie, Margy and Mun Bun were digging in a pile of sand at one end of theyard.

  "All right, come along, Little Flower, and you, too, Whistler," said Mr.Bunker, giving Russ a pet name he used occasionally.

  The two children, delighted to be out after the rain, went down the streetwith their father, leaving their smaller brothers and sisters playing inthe sand. Russ and Rose felt they were too old for this--especially justnow.

  "Did you hear what happened to us?" asked Russ, as he walked along,holding one of his father's hands, while Rose took the other.

  "What happened when?" asked Mr. Bunker.

  "When I made a steamboat partly out of a barrel," went on Russ. "It gotbroken when Laddie was inside it and I was outside. But we didn't any ofus get hurt."

  "Well, I'm glad of that," said Mr. Bunker with a smile.

  "And Laddie made up a funny riddle about the barrel" went on Rose. "Jerrytold it to him, though. It's like this--'Why does a barrel eat a roll forbreakfast?'"

  "Why does a barrel eat a roll for breakfast?" repeated Mr. Bunker. "Ididn't know barrels ate rolls. I thought they always took crackers oroatmeal or something like that."

  "Oh, she hasn't got it right!" said Russ, with a laugh at his sister. "Theriddle is, 'When is a barrel hungry?' and Laddie says Jerry told him itwas when the barrel takes a roll before breakfast."

  "Oh, I see!" laughed Mr. Bunker. "Well, that's pretty good. Now I have ariddle for you. 'How many lollypops can you buy for two pennies?'" and hestopped in front of a little store with the two children--one on each sideof him.

  Russ looked at Rose and Rose looked at Russ. Then they smiled and lookedat their father.

  "I think we can find the answer to that riddle in here," went Mr. Bunker,as he led the way into the candy store, for it was that kind.

  And Russ and Rose soon found that they could each get a lollypop for apenny.

  "You used to get two for a cent," said Russ. "But I guess, on account ofeverything being so high, they only give you one."

  "Well, one at a time is enough, I should think," said Mr. Bunker, as theywent out of the store. "If you had two lollypops I'd be afraid youwouldn't know which one to taste first, and it would take so long to makesure that you might grow old before you found out, and then you wouldn'thave any fun eating them."

  "Oh, you're such a funny daddy!" laughed Rose.

  They walked down Main Street, and soon came to Mr. Bunker's real estateoffice. He hurried inside, followed by the children.

  Mr. Bunker looked behind the door in the little room where he had hisdesk. The office was made up of three rooms, and in the large, outer one,were several clerks, writing at desks. Some of them knew the two littleBunker children and nodded and smiled at them.

  "Where's that old coat of mine I sometimes wear?" asked Mr. Bunker of oneof his clerks, when the office door had been opened but no garment wasfound hanging behind it.

  "Do you mean that ragged one?" asked the clerk, whose name, by the way,was Donlin--Mr. Donlin.

  "That's the one I mean," said Mr. Bunker. "I stuck some real estate papersin the pocket of that coat yesterday when I went out to the lumber pilewith Mr. Johnson, and now I want them. I must have left them in the pocketof the old, ragged coat."

  "If you did they're gone, I'm afraid," said Mr. Donlin.

  "Gone? You mean those papers are gone?"

  "Yes, and the old coat, too. They're both gone. If there were any papersin the pocket of that old coat they're gone, Mr. Bunker."

  "But who took them?" asked the real estate man, much worried.

  "Why, it must have been that old tramp lumberman," answered the clerk."Don't you remember?"

  "What tramp lumberman?" asked Mr. Bunker.

  "It was this way," said Mr. Donlin. "After you went out to the lumber pilewith Mr. Johnson--and I saw you had on the old coat--you came back in hereand hung it up behind the door."

  "And the valuable papers were in the pocket," said Mr. Bunker. "I rememberthat."

  "Well, perhaps they were," admitted the clerk. "Anyhow, you hung theragged coat behind the door. And just before you went home for the nightan old tramp came in. Don't you remember? He was red-haired."

  "Yes, I remember that," said the children's father.

  "Well, this tramp said he used to be a lumberman, but he got sick and hadto go to the hospital, and since coming out he couldn't find any work todo. He said he was in need of a coat, and you called to me to give himyour old one, as you were going to get another. Do you remember that?"

  "Oh, yes! I certainly do!" cried Mr. Bunker. "I'd forgotten all about thetramp lumberman! And I did tell you to give him my old coat. I forgot allabout having left the papers in it. I was so busy talking to Mr. Johnsonthat I never thought about them. And did the tramp take the coat?"

  "He did, Mr. Bunker. And he said to thank you and that he was glad to getit. He went off wearing it."

  "And my papers--worth a large sum of money--were in the pocket!" exclaimedMr. Bunker. "
I never thought about them, for I was so busy about sellingMr. Johnson the lumber. It's too bad!"

  "I'm sorry," said the clerk. "If I had known the papers were in the oldcoat I'd have looked through the pockets before I gave it to the tramp."

  "Oh, it wasn't your fault," said Mr. Bunker quickly. "It was my own. Ishould have remembered about the papers being in the coat. But do you knowwho that tramp was, and where he went?"

  "I never saw him before," replied Mr. Donlin, "and I haven't seen himsince. Maybe the police could find him."

  "That's it! That's what we'll have to do!" cried Mr. Bunker. "I shall haveto send the police to find the old lumberman; not that he has doneanything wrong, but to get back my papers. He may keep the coat. Verylikely he hasn't even found the papers. Yes, I must tell the police!"

  But before Mr. Bunker could do this in came the postman with the mail.There were several letters for the real estate dealer, and when he saw onehe exclaimed:

  "Ah, this is from Grandma Bell! We must see what she has to say!"

  Daddy Bunker opened the letter, which was written to him by his wife'smother--the children's grandmother--and when he had read a few lines, heexclaimed:

  "Oh, ho! Here is news indeed! Good news!"

  "Oh, what is it?" asked Russ. "Did grandma tell you in the letter that thetramp lumberman left your papers at her house?"