BUMPS AND HIS BUDDIES MARIE HELENE GULBRANSEN [Illustration: _He Never Had Heard of a Bridge of Fish_] Bumps And His Buddies BY MARIE HELENE GULBRANSEN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES W. BURBANK [Illustration] DORRANCE & COMPANY PHILADELPHIA Copyright 1924 Dorrance & Company Inc Manufactured in the United States of America CONTENTS PAGE BUMPS AND THE MAGIC PURSE 11 THE VOYAGE TO NO-SUCH LAND 23 SQUEEDINKS AND THE COD LIVER OIL 35 TOM NOW-YOU-SEE-HIM-NOW-YOU-DON’T 45 COLETTE, THE LITTLE DANCING GIRL 55 JERRY AND THE WISHING-RING 65 PATSY ANN IN BIRDLAND 75 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _Facing Page_ He Had Never Heard of a Bridge of Fish _Frontispiece_ Our Island Is Swimming Away With Us 24 I Never Did Think This Tree Was Big Enough 36 All They Could See Was the Skates 48 Only a Tiny Bunch of Whiskers Remained 56 The Savages Ran in Terror 68 A Queer Bird Flew Close to Patsy Ann 76 BUMPS AND THE MAGIC PURSE BUMPS AND HIS BUDDIES BUMPS AND THE MAGIC PURSE Once there was a little boy named Bumps, a name he was given because of the many times he fell down, bumping his little legs and head. He was a roly-poly little chap, a bit too heavy for his height, and when he started off to work or play he was usually in such a hurry that he tumbled over. Now Bumps lived in a wee hut ’way off in the country, with his mother, who was quite poor. In the mornings he would hustle out to chop wood and gather wild berries for their breakfast, always wishing that he could find a pot of gold to make his mother rich and happy. Finally he decided to start out into the big world to seek his fortune, and while his mother hated to have her little son leave her, she felt sure he would be successful because he had always been such a good boy.