"Well, as long as you don't eat him for short I guess it will be all right," said the gate-man with a laugh. "Is that a riddle--about eating Mun Bun?" asked Laddie. "No. That's supposed to be a joke," explained the gate-man. "Your brother's nickname is Bun, you say. Well, a bun is something good to eat, but I hope you don't eat your little brother--joke, you see." Russ and Laddie laughed. They didn't exactly understand the joke, but they thought the gate-man was jolly and they wanted to be jolly too. "So you six little Bunkers--at least two of you--came to see Mr. Barker, did you?" asked the man at the entrance. "No, we didn't zactly come to see _him_," answered Russ. "We want to see the lumberman that took daddy's ragged coat with the papers in the pocket--only he didn't know they were there and he didn't take the coat. That was given to him." "You want to see a lumberman?" repeated the guard at the gate, for he was a sort of guard. "But we haven't any lumbermen here." "He's red-haired," Russ reminded him. "Oh, I guess I know whom you mean!" said the gate-man. "There is a red-haired man cutting trees over in the woods. Mr. Barker is going to build a new dock for his boats in Green Pond, and there is a red-haired man chopping down trees for the work. He is a lumberman, I s'pose." "And is he red-haired?" asked Laddie eagerly. "Yes, his hair is red. I remember now. He came here one day and asked if there was any work on the place. I was going to tell him there wasn't, when one of the gardeners said the foreman was looking for a man to chop trees. So this red-haired man was hired." "And is he a tramp?" asked Russ. "Well, he did look sort of like that, ragged and dusty." "And did he have a ragged coat?" Russ went on. "I didn't notice particularly," answered the gate-man. "He was pretty much ragged all over, I guess, but I didn't pay much attention to him, as I was busy. But he certainly was red-haired." "Oh, I do hope he's got daddy's papers!" went on Russ. "Mr. Hurd told us about the lumberman," he went on, "and we came to see him." "Well, you can do that," said the guard at the gate. "Just follow this road until you come to the lake. This lumberman--I think his name is Mike Gannon--lives by himself in a little cabin near the place where the new dock is to be built. He said he was used to living by himself, so the foreman told him he could camp out there. And there you'll find him, if he isn't chopping down trees in the woods. Just follow this road to the lake. Will your dog pull you there?" "Oh, yes, Zip is a good puller," said Russ. "He gave us this ride from Lake Sagatook." "And he ran after a rabbit!" added Laddie. "And he might 'a' got it, only the bunny went down a hole."