CHAPTER II
GOOD-BYE TO GRANDMA
Mrs. Bunker, who was busy talking to Grandma Bell, looked up just intime to see Laddie, Violet, Margy and Mun Bun running off through thewoods.
"Children! Children!" she cried. "Where are you going?"
Faintly came back Laddie's answer:
"There's a little boy or girl lost in the woods, an' they're callin' tous and we're going to hunt for 'em!"
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mother Bunker. "Wait, children! Wait for me!" shecontinued. "Russ--Rose! Come off the raft! I don't want you on it whileI'm not near you!"
"Where are you going?" asked Grandma Bell, as she saw her daughtergetting up.
"I'm going to see what those children mean," was Mrs. Bunker's answer."I can't tell what mischief they may get into."
And while Rose and Russ poled the raft toward shore, as their mothertold them to, and got off, Mrs. Bunker started after the other children,who were going to find the strange voice that had called to them.
And while this is going on I shall have a chance to tell my new readerssomething about the little Bunkers. There were six of them, as, perhaps,you have counted. Russ, or Russell, to give him the whole of his name,was eight years old. He was the oldest, a great boy for making things toplay with, such as a steamboat out of some old boards, or an automobilefrom a chair and a sofa cushion. He was also very fond of whistling, andknew several real tunes.
Rose, who came next, was seven years old. She was a regular "mother'shelper," and often sang as she washed the dishes or did the dusting. Shehad light hair and blue eyes while Russ had a dark complexion.
Then there came Violet and Laddie, the twins, aged six. Laddie's realname was Fillmore Bunker, but he was seldom called that. His hair wascurly, and his eyes were gray, and whether that made him so fond ofmaking up riddles, or of asking those others made up, I can't say.Anyhow he did it. His twin sister loved to ask questions. She could askmore questions in a day than several persons could answer. No one evertried to answer all Vi asked. Her hair and eyes were just like Laddie's.
Next came Margy and Mun Bun. Margy was five, and her brother was a yearyounger. He had blue eyes and golden hair, and, you can easily imagine,was a pretty picture.
"Daddy" Bunker, whose name was Charles, had a real estate and lumberoffice in Pineville, which was in Pennsylvania, and was on the RainbowRiver. About twenty thousand people lived in Pineville, and it was avery nice place indeed. The home of the Bunkers was on the main streetof the town, and was less than a mile from Daddy Bunker's office.
Then there was Mother Bunker, whose hands were full keeping house andlooking after the six little Bunkers. Her name was Amy, and before shemarried Daddy Bunker her last name had been Bell.
Those of you who have read the first book of this series, called "SixLittle Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," remember that there were two othermembers of the "family"--Norah O'Grady, the good-natured Irish cook, andJerry Simms, the man who had once been a soldier and who was very kindto the children. Jerry did odd bits of work about the house, and oftenran the automobile for Mr. Bunker.
The Bunkers had many relatives. There was Grandma Bell, who was Mrs.Bunker's mother, and there was Grandpa Ford, who was Daddy Bunker'sstepfather. He was kind and good, and had loved Daddy Bunker when DaddyBunker was a little boy, and now loved the six little Bunkers as well.Grandma Bell lived in Maine, near Lake Sagatook, and Grandpa Ford livedat Tarrington, New York, his place being called Great Hedge Estate.
Then there was Miss Josephine Bunker (she was "Aunt Jo," you know), wholived in Boston; Uncle Frederick Bell, of Moon City, Montana; andCousin Tom Bunker, who lived at Seaview, on the New Jersey coast.
In the first book I told you about the six little Bunkers when on avisit to Grandma Bell, in Maine, and how they helped solve a mystery andfind some valuable real estate papers that an old tramp lumberman hadcarried off in a ragged coat.
I can't begin to tell you, here, all the fun the six little Bunkers hadat Grandma Bell's. They spent the last of July and the first part ofAugust there, and now, just before leaving, they were planning for therest of the summer vacation.
But, just at the present moment, something else was happening. Thechildren's play had been stopped by the voice in the woods; a voiceheard by Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun and Margy.
"Are you sure it was a little child you heard calling?" asked Mrs.Bunker, overtaking the four children.
"Oh, yes; sure!" answered Laddie. "It was a little boy."
"I think it was a little girl," said Violet.
"Hark!" exclaimed Grandma Bell, who had come with Mother Bunker. "Thereit goes once more!"
And, surely enough, the voice called again:
"Come and get me! I'm lost!"
"Poor thing!" said Grandma Bell. "I wonder whose little boy or girl itis."
"'Tisn't any of us," said Violet, "'cause we're all here!"
"Yes, I counted to make sure," said Mother Bunker. "But we must find outwho it is. Come on, children. Are we going too fast for you, Mother?"she asked Grandma Bell.
"Oh, no, indeed!"
"We must find the lost one," Mother Bunker continued, and so they kepton with the queer hunt. Every now and then they could hear the voicecalling. Pretty soon Mrs. Bell said:
"I can hear some one coming."
Then the voice called again:
"Come and get me! I'm lost!"
"Oh, there it is! Over in that direction!" exclaimed Grandma Bell.
They hurried toward a thick clump of trees, from which the voice seemedto come. Then, all at once, another voice called:
"Oh, there you are! I see you! Now come right here to me, and don't goaway again!"
"Why, I know who _that_ is!" exclaimed Grandma Bell.
Before the children could ask they heard a funny voice say:
"Oh, hello! Pretty Poll! Pretty Poll! Polly wants a cracker!"
"Well, you'll get one, and it won't be a sweet cracker, either, if youfly out of your cage again," said a man's voice. "You'll get afire-cracker! Now you flutter right down to me and be good!"
"Hello! Hello!" said the funny voice, and then came a strange laugh."Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Why--why! It's a _parrot_!" shouted Laddie. "I can see his greenfeathers!"
"Yes, and there is Mr. Hixon after him," said Grandma Bell. "You havebeen fooled by Bill Hixon's parrot, children, just as you were teasedonce before. It wasn't a little boy or girl lost in the woods at all. Itwas just the parrot."
"That's just what it was, Mrs. Bell," said Mr. Hixon, and a man steppedout from behind a tree. "Were you after him, too?" he asked, as he heldout his hand the parrot flew down out of the tree and alighted on hisfinger.
"The children, playing in the woods, heard your parrot calling, andthought it was a lost child," said Mrs. Bunker. "Did he get out of hiscage?"
"That's what he did," said Mr. William Hixon, or "Bill," as hisneighbors called him. "He got out early this morning, and I've beenlooking for him ever since. I followed along through these woods,because a man said he had seen a green bird flying about in here, and,surely enough, I heard my Polly singing out about being lost, andwanting some one to come and get her. She always begs that way when shegets lost."
"We heard her," said Laddie. "But I thought it was a little boy."
"And I thought it was a little girl," added Violet.
Mun Bun and Margy didn't say anything. They just stood and looked at thegreen parrot on Mr. Hixon's finger. The bird seemed happy now, and bentits head over toward its owner.
"She wants it scratched," said Mr. Hixon. "Well, I'll be nice to younow, but I won't like you if you get out of your cage again," he said."She can open the door herself," he explained to Grandma Bell and Mrs.Bunker.
"She talks very plainly for a parrot," said Grandma Bell. "I rememberthe day the six little Bunkers first came, and Polly was in the back ofthe auto. We thought it was a child then."
"Yes, Polly is a good talker," said Mr. Hixon, who lived not far fromGrandma Bell's.
"But I think I'll have to get her a new cage so shecan't get out. It keeps me busy chasing after her."
"Polly wants a cracker! Polly wants a sweet cracker!" chanted theparrot.
"Well, you'll get a sour one if you aren't good!" said Mr. Hixon, with alaugh. "I'm sorry my parrot fooled you, and made you think a child waslost in the woods," he went on.
"Oh, that's all right," said Mother Bunker. "We didn't mind hunting, andwe're glad no one was lost."
"How are all the six little Bunkers?" asked the owner of the greenparrot, as he started for his home.
"Well, these four, as you see, are fine," said Grandma Bell. "The othertwo, Russ and Rose, are playing steamboat on the lake. But I am going tolose them all."
"Lose them all!" cried Mr. Hixon. "How's that?"
"We are going to pay a visit to Mr. Bunker's sister, who lives inBoston," explained Mrs. Bunker. "She wrote and asked us to come, andthis is our last week at Grandma Bell's."
"Well, I'm sure we'll miss the six little Bunkers when they go," saidMr. Hixon.
"Indeed we shall!" said Grandma Bell. "But they are coming to see meagain."
"We love it here," put in Vi.
"And we've had lots of fun," added Margy.
"Maybe we'll have fun at Aunt Jo's," said Laddie.
"I'm sure you will. I guess you could have fun anywhere, you six," saidMr. Hixon with a laugh. "Well, good-bye, if I don't see you again!"
"Good-bye!" said the others.
"Good-bye," echoed the parrot.
Grandma Bell, Mother Bunker and the four children went back to the shadycove of the lake.
"Where'd you go?" asked Russ and Rose, who were walking along to meetthem.
"Oh, we thought somebody was lost in the woods," answered Laddie.
"But it was Mr. Hixon's parrot," added Vi.
The children went back to their play.
A day or so later they helped pack the things they had brought with themto Grandma Bell's.
"We're going to Aunt Jo's! We're going to Aunt Jo's!" shouted Rose,dancing about.
"In Boston! In Boston!" added Russ. "And we'll have Boston baked beans!"
The next day the children said good-bye to Grandma Bell and, with Daddyand Mother Bunker, started for Aunt Jo's. They hardly even dreamed ofall the good times they were to have there, nor of the strange thingsthat were to happen.