Six little Bunkers at Grandma Bell'sHope, Laura Lee
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Six little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's
Hope, Laura Lee
Detective and mystery stories; Siblings -- Juvenile fiction
"Well, I--I didn't know," said Laddie slowly. "Nobody seems to know the
answer to that riddle. But, you see, I thought you were my father when I
took hold of your hand."
"Oh, you did!" and the man laughed and gave Laddie's hand a gentle
squeeze. "Well, I thought you were my little boy, for a moment. But then I
happened to think that he is away down in New York City, so, you see, it
couldn't be my little boy. But are you lost?"
"Oh, no," answered Laddie. "That is, I'm not very much lost. You see,
we're going to my Grandma Bell's, and we changed cars here."
"How many of you are going to Grandma Bell's?" asked the man as he stopped
in the crowed and began looking around.
"My father and my mother and six of us little Bunkers," answered Laddie.
"Six little Bunkers!" repeated the man. "Is that another riddle?"
"Oh, no. But you see there _are_ six of us. There's Russ and Rose, and Vi
and Margy, and then there's me--I'm Laddie--and Mun Bun."
"Mun Bun!" cried the jolly man. "Is that some pet?"
"No, he's my little brother," explained Laddie. "His real name is Munroe
Bunker, but we call him Mun Bun for fun."
"Oh, I see," and the man laughed again. "Six little Bunkers, on a train
arrive, one gets lost and then there are five," he chanted.
"Oh, that's like ten little Injuns!" laughed Laddie, and though he had
picked the wrong daddy out of the crowd of railroad passengers, he didn't
feel at all lost now.
"Yes, it is a little like 'ten little Injuns, standing in a line, one fell
out and then there were nine,'" the man went on. "But are you sure you are
not lost?"
"Oh, no. Only a little," answered Laddie. "My real daddy must be around
here somewhere."
"With the rest of the little Bunkers?" asked the man.
"Yes, I--I guess so," said Laddie, looking around for his father and
mother, as well as brothers and sisters. "We came on the train from
Pineville," he went on, "and we're going to Grandma Bell's. I stopped to
look at some pictures by the news stand and then I----"
"And then you picked me out of the crowd for your daddy," finished the
man, as Laddie stopped, not knowing what else to say. "Well, there is no
harm done. And, unless I'm much mistaken, here comes your daddy now,
looking for you."
"Oh, yes! That is my daddy!" cried Laddie, as he saw his father pushing
his way through the crowd, looking on all sides, as if hunting for
something--or for somebody. Why, to be sure, for Laddie himself!
"Better call to him," suggested the man. "I don't believe he sees you."
"Here I am, Daddy!" shouted Laddie, and, letting go of the man's hand, he
ran straight into Mr. Bunker's arms.
"Why, Laddie! where have you been?" asked his father. "Your mother thought
maybe you might have been left on the express train, but I was sure I saw
you get off."
"I did," Laddie said. "I walked along but I picked out the wrong daddy."
"The wrong daddy?" asked Mr. Bunker, not knowing just what to think. "Is
this another riddle, Laddie?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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