Six Little Bunkers at Uncle Fred\'s

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SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S

by

LAURA LEE HOPE

Author of "Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's," "Six
Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's," "The Bobbsey
Twins Series," "The Bunny Brown Series,"
"The Outdoor Girls Series," Etc.

Illustrated

New York
Grosset & Dunlap
Publishers
Made in the United States of America

* * * * *

BOOKS

By LAURA LEE HOPE

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 50 cents per volume._

THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES

SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S

THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES

THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA

THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES

BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY

THE OUTDOOR GIRL SERIES

THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

* * * * *

Copyright, 1918, by
Grosset & Dunlap

_Six Little Bunkers at Uncle Fred's_

[Illustration: "OH, HERE COME THE COWBOYS!"

_Six Little Bunkers at Uncle Fred's._ _Frontispiece_--(_Page 64_)]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. A STRANGE RESCUE 1
II. UNCLE FRED 14
III. A QUEER STORY 23
IV. UNCLE FRED'S TALE 33
V. PACKING UP 43
VI. OFF FOR THE WEST 53
VII. AT THREE STAR RANCH 61
VIII. RUSS MAKES A LASSO 73
IX. THE QUEER SPRING 84
X. SOME BAD NEWS 94
XI. VIOLET TAKES A WALK 104
XII. LADDIE CATCHES A RIDDLE 113
XIII. ON THE PONIES 125
XIV. MUN BUN'S PIE 133
XV. THE WIND WAGON 144
XVI. "CAPTAIN RUSS" 152
XVII. A CATTLE STAMPEDE 164
XVIII. AN INDIAN 175
XIX. WHAT ROSE FOUND 182
XX. LADDIE IS MISSING 194
XXI. RUSS DIGS A HOLE 203
XXII. AT THE BRIDGE 211
XXIII. THE BOYS' WELL 220
XXIV. MORE CATTLE GONE 229
XXV. THE SECRET OF THE SPRING 238

SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S

CHAPTER I

A STRANGE RESCUE

"Can't I have a ride now, Russ? You said it would be my turn after Mun
Bun."

"Yes, but, Margy, I haven't had enough ride yet!" declared Mun Bun.

"But when can I get in and have my ride?"

The three little children, two girls and a boy, stood in front of their
older brother, Russ, watching him tying an old roller skate on the end
of a board.

"Can't I have any more rides?" asked the smallest boy.

"In a minute, Mun Bun. As soon as I get this skate fastened on,"
answered Russ. "You rode so hard last time that you busted the scooter,
and I've got to fix it. You broke the skate off!"

"I didn't mean to," and Mun Bun, who was called that because no one ever
had the time to call him by his whole name, Munroe Ford Bunker--Mun Bun
looked sorry for what had happened.

"I know you didn't," answered Russ.

"I didn't break anything, did I, Russ?" asked a little girl, with dark,
curling hair and dark eyes, as she leaned over in front of her older
brother, the better to see what he was doing. "I rided nice, didn't I,
and I didn't break anything?"

"No, Margy, you didn't break anything," answered Russ. "And I'll give
you a ride on the scooter pretty soon. Just wait till I get it fixed."

"And I want a ride, too!" exclaimed another girl, with curly hair of
light color, and gray eyes that opened very wide. "Don't I get a ride,
Russ? And what makes the wheels make such a funny sound when they go
'round? And what makes you call it a scooter? And can you make it go
backwards? And----"

"Oh, I can't answer all those questions, Vi!" exclaimed Russ. "You're
always asking questions, Daddy says. You wait and I'll give you a
ride."

The four Bunker children--there were six of them, and you will meet the
other two soon. The four Bunker children were playing up in the attic of
their home. The attic was not as large as the attic of Grandpa Ford's
house on Great Hedge Estate nor were there so many nice things in it.
But still it did very well on a rainy afternoon, and Russ, Margy, Violet
and Mun Bun were having a good time on the "scooter" Russ had made.

The way Russ made a "scooter" was this. He found a long board, one that
the carpenters had left after they had made a storeroom for Mrs. Bunker
in the attic, and to the board he fastened, on each end, part of an old
roller skate. This gave the scooter two wheels on either end. The wheels
were not very large, nor very wide, and unless you sat right in the
middle of the board of the scooter you might get tipped over. This had
happened several times, and when Mun Bun was on, having a ride, he not
only tipped over, but he ran into a trunk that stood in the attic, and
knocked off one of the skates.

"Now I have to tie it on again!" Russ had exclaimed, and this had caused
a stop in the fun.

"Can you fix it?" asked Margy, as she watched her brother. She wanted
another ride, for the one she had had was a short one. Mun Bun was the
youngest of the six little Bunkers, and they generally let him have more
turns than any one else.

"Oh, yes, I can fix it," said Russ, who now began to whistle. And when
Russ whistled, when he was making anything, you could generally tell
that everything was coming out right.

Russ very often made things, but he did not always whistle over them.
Often the things he made were such a puzzle that he could not think how
to make them come out right and also think of a whistle-tune at the same
time. But now he was all right, and so he whistled merrily as he put
more string on the roller skate that he was fastening to the board of
the scooter.

"Is it almost done?" asked Mun Bun, leaning over eagerly.

"Almost," answered Russ. "I want to look at the back wheels to see if
they're all right, and then you can have a ride."

Russ gave the string a last turn, tied several knots in it, and then
turned the board around. As he did so Margy uttered a cry.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed.

"What's the matter?" asked Russ.

"You banged me with the scooter," answered the little girl.

"Oh, I didn't mean to," said Russ. "I'm sorry! You can have an extra
ride for that." Russ was very kind to his little brothers and sisters.

"It doesn't hurt very much," said Margy, rubbing the elbow that had been
hit when Russ swung the board around.

Russ now bent over the other wheels on the end of the scooter. He found
them a bit loose, as string will stretch and really isn't very good with
which to fasten wheels on. But it was the best Russ could do.

Outside an early spring rain beat against the windows of the attic. It
was cold outside, too, for the last winter snow had, only a week before,
melted from the ground, which was still frozen in places. But it was
nice and warm up in the attic, and there the Bunker children were
having a fine time. The attic, as I have said, was not as big as Grandpa
Ford's, but the children were having a good time, and even a smaller
attic would have answered as well in the rain.

"Now I guess it's all ready for more rides," said Russ, as he put the
scooter down on the floor.

"I'm going to get on!" cried Mun Bun.

"Wait until I put it straight," called Russ. "Then you can have a longer
ride."

He took the board, with the roller skate wheels on either end, to a far
corner of the attic. From there it could be pushed all the way across to
the other wall.

Just as Mun Bun was about to take his place, so that Russ could push him
across the attic floor, footsteps were heard coming up the stairs that
led to the third story of the Bunker house.

Then a boy's voice called:

"What are you doing?"

"Riding on a scooter Russ made," answered Violet. "Oh, it's lots of fun!
Come on, Laddie!"

Laddie was Violet's twin brother, and he had the same kind of curly hair
and gray eyes as had his sister.

"Did you make that?" asked Laddie of Russ.

"Sure."

"Will it hold me?"

"Sure. It'll hold me. I had a ride on it."

"Say, that's great!" cried Laddie. "We can have lots of fun on that! I'm
glad I came up."

"Well, come all the way up, and stand out of the way!" ordered Russ.
"The train's going to start. Toot! Toot! All aboard!"

Laddie hurried up the last few steps and took his place in a corner, out
of the way of the scooter with Mun Bun on it. A girl with light, fluffy
hair, and bright, smiling eyes, followed him. She was a year younger
than Russ, who was eight years old.

"Oh, Rose!" cried Violet, as she saw her older sister. "We're having
such fun!"

"You can have a ride, too, Rose! Can't she?" asked Mun Bun of Russ. "Go
on, push me!"

"Yes, we'll all take turns having rides," said Russ. "If I could find
another roller skate I'd make another scooter, and then we could have
races."

"If we had two we could make believe they were two trains, and have 'em
bump into each other and have collisions and all that!" cried Laddie.
"That'll be fun! Come on, let's do it!"

"We'll have to get another board and another skate," said Russ. "We'll
look after a while. Now I'm going to give Mun Bun a ride."

He shoved the scooter across the floor of the attic. Mun Bun kept tight
hold with his chubby hands of the edges of the board, in the middle of
which he sat, between the two pieces of roller skate that made wheels
for the scooter.

"Hi! Yi!" yelled Mun Bun. "This is fun!"

"Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Margy. "Get off, Mun Bun."

"I have to have a ride back! I've got to have a ride back!" he cried.
"Russ said he'd ride me across the attic and back again! Didn't you,
Russ?"

"Yes, that's what I did. Well, here we go back."

He had pushed Mun Bun to the far side of the attic, and was pushing the
little fellow back again, when Laddie cried:

"Oh, I know a better way than that."

"For what?" asked Russ.

"For having rides," went on Laddie. "We can make a hill and let the
scooter slide downhill. Then you won't have to push anybody."

"How can you make a hill?" asked Russ.

"Out of mother's ironing-board," was the answer. "It's down in the
kitchen. I'll get it. Don't you know how we used to put it up on a chair
and then slide down on the ironing-board?"

"Oh, I remember!" cried Rose.

"Then we can do that," went on Laddie. "It'll be packs of fun!"

"Well, you get the ironing-board," said Russ.

"I'll help," offered Violet. "I'll help you get the board, Laddie."

"All right, come on," he called, and the two children started down the
attic stairs.

While he was waiting for them to come back Russ gave Margy and Rose each
a ride on the scooter. It really went very well over the smooth floor of
the attic, for the roller-skate wheels turned very easily, even if they
did get crooked now and then because the strings with which they were
tied on, slipped.

Up the stairs, bumpity bump, came Laddie and Vi with the ironing-board.

"Mother wasn't there, and I didn't see Norah, so I just took the board,"
said Laddie. "Now we'll put one end on a box and the other end on the
floor, and we'll have a hill. Then we can ride the scooter downhill just
like we rode our sleds at Grandpa Ford's."

"Yes, I guess we can," said Russ.

There were several boxes in the attic, and some of these were dragged to
one end. On them one end of the ironing-board was raised, so that it
sloped down like a hill. Of course it was not a very big one, but then
the Bunkers were not very large children, nor was the scooter Russ had
made very long. By squeezing them on, it would hold two children.

"Who's going down first?" asked Russ, as he and Laddie fixed the
ironing-board hill in place, and wheeled the scooter over to it.

"I will!" exclaimed Mun Bun. "I like to ride."

"You'd better let us try first," said Laddie. "It might go so fast it
would knock into something."

"I'll go down!" decided Russ. "It's my scooter, because I made it; and
so I'll go down first."

"But I made the hill!" objected Laddie. "It's my hill."

"Then why don't both of you go down together?" asked Rose. "If it will
hold you two boys it will be all right for us girls. You go three times,
then Vi and I will take three turns."

"All right--that's what we will," said Russ. "Come on, Laddie."

Some boxes had been piled back of the one on which the ironing-board
rested in a slanting position, and these boxes made a level place on
which to get a start. Russ and Laddie lifted the scooter up there, and
got up themselves. Then they carefully sat down on the board to which
were fastened the roller-skate wheels.

"All ready?" asked Russ, who was in front, holding to a rope, like a
sled rope, by which he hoped to guide the scooter. "All ready, Laddie?"

"All ready," was the answer.

"Here we go!" cried Russ.

He gave a little shove with his feet, and down the ironing-board hill
ran the scooter, carrying Russ and Laddie with it. The first time it ran
beautifully.

"This is great!" cried Laddie.

"Fine!" exclaimed his brother.

And then, all of a sudden, something happened. The scooter ran off the
hill sideways, and started over the attic floor toward Rose, Vi, Mun Bun
and Margy. They squealed and screamed and tried to get out of the way.
But Mun Bun fell down, and Margy fell over him, and Vi fell over Margy,
and Rose fell over Violet. So there the four little Bunkers were, all in
a heap, and the scooter, with Russ and Laddie on it, running toward the
brother and sisters.

"Stop! Stop it!" cried Laddie.

"I can't!" shouted Russ, pulling on the guide rope. But that did no
good.

"Oh, we're going to knock into 'em!" yelled Laddie.

And right into the other children ran the scooter. Russ and Laddie were
thrown off, and, for a moment, there was a bumping, thumping, yelling,
crying and screaming noise.

Mun Bun, trying to roll out of the way, knocked a box down off a trunk,
and the box had some croquet balls in it, which rumbled over the attic
floor almost like thunder.

In the midst of all this noise and confusion some one came running up
the stairs. A man entered the attic, and took one look at the mass of
struggling children on the floor.

"My good land!" he cried. "I wonder if I can save any of 'em! Oh, what a
mix-up!"

Then the stranger started in to rescue the six little Bunkers, for they
were all tangled up.

CHAPTER II

UNCLE FRED

"Are you hurt? Are any of you hurt? What happened, anyhow? Did part of
the house fall on you?"

The man who had run up the attic stairs went on picking up first one and
then another of the six little Bunkers. For a time they were so excited
over what had happened that they paid no attention to him.

But when the stranger picked Rose up and set her on her feet, the little
girl took a good look at him, and, seeing a strange man in the attic,
she cried:

"Oh, it's a burglar! It's a burglar! Oh, Mother! Norah! Jerry Simms!
It's a burglar!"

"Hush, child! Don't shout like that or you'll have all the neighbors
in!" said the man. "Be quiet, and I'll tell you who I am! Don't yell any
more!"

Rose stopped yelling, her mouth still wide open, ready for another
shout, and looked at the man. He smiled at her and picked up Mun Bun out
from under the box from which the croquet balls had fallen.

"Who is you?" asked Mun Bun.

"I'll tell you in just a moment, if you don't make such a racket," said
the stranger, smiling kindly.

The six little Bunkers became quiet at once, but before I tell you who
the strange man is I want to say just a few words about the children in
this story, and relate to you something about the other books in this
series.

To begin at the beginning, there were six little Bunkers, as I have told
you. There was Russ, aged eight, a great whistler and a boy very fond of
making toys, such as scooters and other things.

Next to him was Rose, a year younger.

Then came Violet and Laddie. They both had curly hair and gray eyes, and
were six years old each, which makes twelve in all, you see. They were
twins, and each one had a funny habit. Vi asked a great many questions,
some of which could be answered, some of which could not be answered,
and to some of which she didn't wait for an answer.

Laddie was very fond of asking queer little riddles. Some were good, and
it took quite a while to think of the answer he wanted. Others didn't
seem to have any answer. And some were not really riddles at all. But he
had fun asking them.

Next in order was Margy, whose real name was Margaret, just as Laddie's
real name was Fillmore Bunker. But he was seldom called that. Margy was
aged five. She had dark hair and eyes.

Then there was Mun Bun, or Munroe Ford Bunker, her little brother, who
was four years old, and had blue eyes and golden hair.

Now you have met the six little Bunkers. Of course there was Daddy
Bunker, whose name was Charles. He was in the real estate business in
Pineville, Pennsylvania, and his office was almost a mile from his home,
on the main street. Mother Bunker's name was Amy, and before her
marriage she had been Miss Amy Bell.

Besides this there were in the Bunker family two others: Norah O'Grady,
the cook, and Jerry Simms, an old soldier, who could tell fine stories
of the time he was in the army. Now Jerry ran the Bunker automobile, cut
the grass, sprinkled the lawn and attended to the furnace in winter.

But the Bunker family had relatives, and it was on visits to some of
these that the children had had many adventures. First you may read "Six
Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's." This is the book that begins the
series, and tells of the visit the family made at Grandma Bell's at Lake
Sagatook in Maine. There they found an old lumberman and he had some
papers which Daddy Bunker wanted to get back. And, oh, yes! Grandma Bell
was Mrs. Bunker's mother.

After that the children went to visit their father's sister in Boston,
and the book which tells all about that, and the strange pocketbook Rose
found, is called "Six Little Bunkers at Aunt Jo's."

On leaving Aunt Jo's the family paid a visit to another relative. This
was Mr. Thomas Bunker, who was the son of Mr. Ralph Bunker, and Ralph
was Daddy Bunker's brother, who had died.

In "Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's" I told you the story of the fun
the children had at the seashore, and how a gold locket was lost and
strangely found again.

The book just before this one is called "Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa
Ford's," and there was quite a mystery about a ghost at Great Hedge
Estate, in New York State, where Mr. Ford lived.

Grandpa Ford was Daddy Bunker's step-father, but no real father could
have been more kind, nor have loved the six little Bunkers any more than
he did. The children spent the winter at Great Hedge Estate, and helped
find out what made the queer noises. And if you want to find out I
suggest that you read the book.

Christmas and New Year's had been celebrated at Grandpa Ford's, and when
winter was about to break up the Bunkers had come back home to
Pineville. Daddy Bunker said he needed to look after the spring real
estate business, for that was the best time of the year for selling and
buying houses and lots, and renting places.

So they said good-bye to Grandpa Ford, and took the train back home.
The six little Bunkers had been in their own house about a month now,
and they were playing in the attic, as I have told you, with the scooter
Russ had made, when the accident happened.

Then, as I have told you, up the attic stairs rushed a strange man, who
pulled Mun Bun out of the tangle of arms and legs. And Rose thought the
strange man was a burglar.

"But I'm not," he said, smiling at the children. "Don't you know who I
am?"

Russ shook his head.

"How did you get in here?" asked Violet. As usual, she was first with a
question.

"I just walked in," said the man in answer. "I was coming here anyhow,
and when I got here I saw the door wide open, so I just walked in."

"Did you come to sell something?" asked Rose. "'Cause if you did I don't
believe my mother wants anything. She's got everything she wants."

"Well, she's got a nice lot of children, anyhow," said the man, smiling
on each and ever one of the six little Bunkers in turn. "I'll say that.
She has a nice lot of children, and I'm very glad none of you is hurt.

"As I said, I was coming here anyhow, and when I got on the porch and
saw the door open, I walked right in. Then I heard a terrible racket up
here in the attic, and up I rushed. I thought maybe the house was
falling down."

"No," said Russ as he pulled his scooter out from between two trunks,
"it was this. We slid down the ironing-board hill, Laddie and I, and it
went off crooked--the scooter did."

"And it knocked into us," said Violet. "But if you didn't come to sell
anything, what did you come for?"

"Well," said the strange man, and he smiled again, "you might say I came
to get you children."

"You--you came to get _us_?" gasped Rose.

"Yes. I'm going to take you away with me."

"Take--take us _away_ with you!" cried Russ. "We won't go! We want to
stay with our daddy and mother."

"I'll take them, too," said the man. "I have room for all you six little
Bunkers and more too, out on my ranch. I've come to take you all away
with me."

What could it mean? Russ and Rose, the oldest, could not understand it.
They looked at the man again. They were sure they had never seen him
before.

"Yes," the stranger went on, "I saw the door open, so I walked in. I was
glad to get out of the rain. It's a cold storm. I hope summer will soon
come. And, as I say, I've come to take you away."

If the man had not smiled so nicely the children might have been
frightened. But, as it was, they knew everything would be all right.

"And now, as long as none of you is hurt, I think I'd better go
downstairs and tell your mother I have come to take you away," went on
the man. "I think I hear her coming up."

And, just then, footsteps were heard on the stairs leading to the attic,
and Mrs. Bunker appeared.

"Oh, Mother," gasped out Rose, "there's a man here and he says he's
going to take us away and----"

Before she finished Mrs. Bunker had run up to the attic. She looked at
the strange man, who smiled at her. Then she hurried over to him and
kissed him and said:

"Oh, Fred, I'm glad to see you! I didn't expect you until to-morrow, and
I was going to surprise the children with you. Oh, but I'm glad to see
you! Children," she said, laughing, "this is my brother, your Uncle
Fred."

CHAPTER III

A QUEER STORY

The six little Bunkers, who had been untangled from the mix-up caused
when the scooter ran sideways off the ironing-board hill, stood in a
half circle and looked at the strange man. He did not seem quite so
strange now, and he certainly smiled in a way the children liked.

[Illustration: THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS STOOD IN A HALF CIRCLE AND LOOKED
UP AT THE STRANGE MAN.]

"Is he our real uncle?" asked Violet.

"Yes, he is your very own uncle. He is my brother. Frederic is his
name--Frederic Bell," went on Mother Bunker. "But you are to call him
Uncle Fred."

"Then he _isn't_ a burglar!" stated Rose.

"Of course not!" laughed her mother.

"No, I'm not a burglar," said the visitor, laughing too. "Though I don't
blame you for feeling a bit alarmed when I rushed in. I thought some of
you might know me, though some of you I've never seen, and Russ and
Rose were smaller than they are now the last time I saw them."

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