_Six Little Bunkers at Farmer Joel’s_. _Page 160_] Higher and higher up went Russ, while Rose and the other little Bunkers on the ground below gazed at him in mingled fright and envy. “Will he fall and be killed?” asked Vi. “No, I guess not. Oh, no! Of course not!” exclaimed Rose. A moment later the fork load of hay with Russ clinging to it, one hand on the lifting rope, swung within reach of the man in the mow window. Russ was caught, pulled inside to safety, and as he sank down on the pile of hay within the barn the man said: “You’d better not do that again!” “I won’t!” promised Russ, with a little shiver of fear and excitement. Rose and the other children breathed more easily now, and Adam North, wiping the sweat from his forehead, murmured: “You never know what these youngsters are going to do next!” Back to the hay field went the empty wagon, the six little Bunkers riding on it. The trip back was not as comfortable as the one on the load of hay had been. For the wagon was rickety and the road was rough and jolty. But the six little Bunkers had a jolly time, just the same. The men were working fast now, and Daddy Bunker was helping them, for dark clouds in the west and distant muttering of thunder seemed to tell of a coming storm, and Farmer Joel did not want his hay to get wet. Another big load was taken to the barn, no upset happening this time. And you may be sure Adam made certain that Russ did not cling to the hay fork. After three loads had been put away most of the hay was in. Scattered about the field, however, were little piles and wisps of the fodder—perhaps half a load in all—and this must be raked up by the big horse rake. “Oh, may I have a ride?” cried Laddie, when he saw the machine being brought out from a corner of the rail fence where it had been standing. “Yes, I’ll give you each a ride in turn,” kindly offered Adam North, who was to drive the horse hitched to the big rake. And as Laddie had asked first he was given the first ride, sitting on the seat beside Adam. The curved iron teeth of the rake gathered up a mass of hay until they could hold no more. Then Adam “tripped” it, as the operation is called. The teeth rose in the air and passed over the mass of hay which was left on the ground. Working in this way, more hay was raked up until there were several windrows and cocks to be loaded upon the wagon. As a special favor Russ and Rose were allowed to pitch small forkfuls of the hay on the wagon. And when all the dried grass had been gathered up the children piled on and rode to the barn for the last time. “Hurray! Hurray! Hurray for the hay!” they sang most merrily. “And it’s a good thing we got it in to-day,” said Farmer Joel, with a chuckle, as the last forkful was raised to the mow. “For here comes the rain!” And down pelted the big drops. There was not much thunder and lightning, but the rain was very hard and the storm pelted and rumbled all night.