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SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S

by

LAURA LEE HOPE

Author of "Six Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," "Six Little Bunkers at
Aunt Jo's," "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "The Bunny Brown Series," Etc.

Illustrated







[Illustration: THEY STEAMED ON DOWN PAST THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.
_Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's._ _Frontispiece_--(_Page_ 57)]




New York
Grosset & Dunlap
Publishers



* * * * *


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 Cousin Tom's





CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. SAMMIE'S STORY 1

II. TREASURE HOPES 13

III. ON THE BOAT 23

IV. A MIX-UP 33

V. MARGY'S CRAWL 41

VI. AT COUSIN TOM'S 51

VII. DIGGING FOR GOLD 62

VIII. ROSE'S LOCKET 72

IX. THE SAND HOUSE 82

X. THE PIRATE BUNGALOW 93

XI. GOING CRABBING 101

XII. "THEY'RE LOOSE!" 111

XIII. IN THE BOAT 123

XIV. VIOLET'S DOLL 132

XV. THE BOX ON THE BEACH 143

XVI. CAUGHT BY THE TIDE 153

XVII. MAROONED 162

XVIII. THE MARSHMALLOW ROAST 170

XIX. THE SALLIE GROWLER 181

XX. THE WALKING FISH 191

XXI. THE QUEER BOX AGAIN 200

XXII. THE UPSET BOAT 208

XXIII. THE SAND FORT 218

XXIV. A MYSTERIOUS ENEMY 227

XXV. THE TREASURE 236




SIX LITTLE BUNKERS

AT COUSIN TOM'S




CHAPTER I

SAMMIE'S STORY


They were playing on the lawn of Aunt Jo's house--the little Bunkers,
six of them. You could count them, if you wanted to, but it was rather
hard work, as they ran about so--like chickens, Mrs. Bunker was wont to
say--that it was hard to keep track of them. So you might take my word
for it, now, that there were six of them, and count them afterward, if
you care to.

"Come on!" cried the eldest Bunker--Russ, who was eight years old. "Come
on, Rose, let's have some fun."

"What'll we do?" asked Rose, Russ' sister, who was about a year younger.
"I'm not going to roll on the grass, 'cause I've got a clean dress on,
and mother said I wasn't to spoil it."

"Pooh! Clean grass like Aunt Jo's won't spoil any dress," said Russ.
"Anyhow, I'm not going to roll much more. Let's get the pipes and see
who can blow the biggest soap bubbles."

"Oh, I want to do that!" cried Vi, or Violet, who was, you might say,
the third little Bunker, being the third oldest, except Laddie, of
course. "What makes so many colors come in soap bubbles when you blow
them?" she asked.

"The soap," answered Russ, getting up after a roll on the grass, and
brushing his clothes. "It's the soap that does it."

"But soap isn't that color when we wash ourselves with it," went on Vi.
"And what makes bubbles burst when you blow 'em too big?"

"I don't know," answered Russ. Like many an older person, he did not try
to answer all Vi's questions. She asked too many of them.

"Let's blow the bubbles," suggested Rose. "Then maybe we can see what
makes 'em burst!"

"Come on, Margy and Mun Bun!" called Vi to two other and smaller
Bunkers, a little boy and girl who were digging little holes in a sandy
place in the yard of Aunt Jo's home. "Come on; we're going to blow
bubbles!"

These two little Bunkers left their play and hastened to join the
others. At the same time a boy with curly hair and gray eyes, who was
Violet's twin, dropped some pieces of wood, which he had been trying to
make into some sort of toy, and came running along the path.

"I want to blow some bubbles, too!" he said.

"We'll all blow them!" called Rose, who had a sort of "little mother"
air about her when the smaller children were with her. "We'll have a
soap-bubble party!"

"Shall we have things to eat?" asked Mun Bun.

"'Course we will," cried Margy, the little girl who had been playing
with him in the sand. "We always has good things to eat at parties;
don't we, Rose?"

"Well, maybe we can get some cookies from Aunt Jo," said Rose. "You can
run and ask her."

Off started Margy, eager to get the good things to eat. It would not
seem like a party, even with soap bubbles, unless there were things to
eat! All the six little Bunkers felt this.

While Margy was running along the walk that led to the kitchen, where
Aunt Jo's good-natured cook might be expected to hand out cookies and
cakes, another little Bunker, who was walking beside Violet, the one who
had been trying to make something out of pieces of wood, called out:

"Nobody can guess what I have in my mouth!"

"Is that a riddle, Laddie?" asked Russ. For Laddie was the name of the
gray-eyed and curly-haired boy, and he was very fond of asking
puzzle-questions. "Is it a riddle?" Russ repeated.

"Sort of," admitted Laddie. "Who can guess what I have in my mouth?"

"Oh, it's candy!" cried Violet, as she saw one of her brother's cheeks
puffed out. "It's candy! Give me some, Laddie!"

"Nope. 'Tisn't candy!" he cried. "You must guess again!"

Nothing pleased Laddie more than to make his brothers and sisters guess
his riddles.

"Is it a piece of cake?" asked Mun Bun.

"Nope!"

"Then 'tis so candy!" insisted Violet. And then, seeing her mother
coming down the side porch, she cried: "Mother, make Laddie give me some
of his candy! He's got a big piece in his mouth, and he won't give me
any!"

"I haven't any candy!" declared Laddie. "I only asked her if she could
guess what I had."

"'Tis so candy!" insisted Violet again.

"No, 'tisn't!" disputed Laddie.

"Children! Children!" said Mrs. Bunker softly. "I don't like my six
little toadikins to talk this way. Where's Margy?" she asked as she
"counted noses," which she called looking about to see if all six of the
children were present.

"Margy's gone to get some cakes, 'cause we're going to have a
soap-bubble party," explained Russ.

"What makes so many pretty colors come in the bubbles, Mother?" asked
Violet.

"It is the light shining through, just as the sun shines through the
water in the sky after the rain, making the rainbow."

"Oh," said Violet. She didn't understand very well about it, but her
question had been answered, anyhow. "And now what's Laddie got in his
mouth?" she went on. "Make him give me some, Mother!"

"I can't, 'cause it's only my tongue, and I can't take it out!" laughed
Laddie, and he showed how he had thrust his tongue to one side, bulging
out his cheek, so it really did look as though he had a piece of candy
in his mouth.

"That's the time I fooled you with a riddle!" he said to Violet. "It was
only my tongue!"

"I don't care! When I get some real candy I won't give you any!" cried
Violet.

"Here comes Margy with the cakes!" exclaimed Rose. "Now we'll have the
soap-bubble party."

"But don't get any soap on your cake, or it won't taste nice," warned
Mother Bunker. "Now play nicely. Has the postman been past yet?"

"Not yet, Mother," answered Russ. "Do you think he is going to bring you
a letter?"

"He may, yes."

"Will it be a letter asking us to come some other place to have a good
time for the rest of the summer?" Rose wanted to know. For the six
little Bunkers were paying a visit to Aunt Jo in Boston, and expected to
leave shortly.

"I don't know just what kind of letter I shall get," said Mrs. Bunker
with a smile, "but I hope it will be a nice one. Now have your party,
and see who can blow the largest bubbles."

"Let's eat our cake and cookies first," said Russ. "Then we can't get
any soap on 'em."

"Why not?" asked Violet, who seemed especially fond of asking questions
this day.

"'Cause they'll be inside us--I mean the cookies will," explained Russ.

"Oh, that would make a good riddle!" exclaimed Laddie. "I'm going to
make up one about that."

The children went out to the garage, where there was a room in which
they often played. There they ate their cookies and cakes, and then
Russ and Rose made some bowls of soapy water, and with clay pipes, which
the little Bunkers had bought for their play, they began to blow
bubbles. They made large and small ones, and nearly all of them had the
pretty colors that Violet had asked about.

They took one of the robes from Aunt Jo's automobile, and, spreading
this out on the grass, they blew bubbles and let them fall on the cloth.
The bubbles bounced up, sometimes making several bounds before they
burst.

"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Laddie. "It's more fun than making
riddles."

"I wondered why you hadn't asked one," said Russ with a laugh. "Oh!" he
suddenly exclaimed, for he had happened to laugh just as he was blowing
a big bubble, and it burst, scattering a little fine spray of soapy
water in his face.

Margy giggled delightedly.

"I like this!" said Mun Bun, as he put his pipe down into the bowl of
water and blew a big string of little bubbles.

Just then a voice called:

"Hey, Russ! Where are you?"

"Back here! Come on!" answered Russ, laying aside his pipe.

"Who is it?" asked Rose.

"It's Sammie Brown, the boy we met the other day when we went to
Nantasket Beach," Russ explained. "He lives about two blocks from here,
and I told him to come over and see us. Here he is now!" and he pointed
to a boy, about his own age, who was coming up the walk.

"Hello, Sammie!" greeted Russ. "Want to blow bubbles?"

"Yes," was the answer, and a pipe was found for Sammie. He seemed to
know how to use it, for he blew bubbles bigger than any one else.

"What's inside the bubbles?" asked Violet, who simply had to ask another
question. "Is it water?"

"No, it's air," said Sammie. "If you could blow a bubble big enough to
get inside of you could breathe the air, just like outside. Only when it
was all breathed up you'd have to get more."

"Would you, really?" asked Rose.

"Sure," Sammie answered.

"How do you know?" Violet questioned.

"'Cause my father's a sea captain, and he takes divers out on his boat
and they go down after things that sink. The divers have air pumped to
them, and they wear a big thing on their heads like a soap bubble, only
it's called a helmet. This is pumped full of air for the diver to
breathe."

"Oh, tell us about it!" begged Laddie, laying aside his pipe.

"Did your father ever go down like a diver?" asked Russ.

"Yes, once or twice. But now he just helps the other men go down. He's
been a sea captain all his life, and once he was shipwrecked."

"What's shipwrecked?" asked Margy.

"It's when your ship hits a rock, or runs on a desert island and sinks,"
said Sammie. "Then you have to get off if you don't want to be drowned.
And once my father was shipwrecked on a desert island that way, and they
found a lot of gold."

"They did?" cried Russ.

"Sure! I've heard him tell about it lots of times."

"Oh, is it a story?" asked Rose.

"No, it's real," said Sammie.

"Tell us about it," demanded Laddie.

"Well, I don't 'member much about it," Sammie said. "But if you come
over to my house, my father'll tell you about it. Only he isn't home now
'cause he's got some divers down in the harbor and they're going to
raise up a ship that's sunk."

"Couldn't you tell us a little about it?" asked Russ. "Did your father
dig gold on the desert island?"

"Yes, he dug a lot of it," said Sammie. "He's got one piece at home now.
It's yellow, just like a five-dollar gold piece."

"Where was the island?" asked Violet.

"Maybe we can go there," suggested Laddie. "That is, if it isn't too
far."

"Oh, it's terrible far," said Sammie. "It's half-way around the world."

"That's too far," said Russ with a sigh.

"Maybe we could dig for gold here," suggested Rose. "There's nice sand
in one part of Aunt Jo's garden, and I guess she'd let us dig for gold.
We could give her some if we found any."

"I don't guess there's any gold here," said Sammie, looking the place
over. "This isn't a desert island."

"We could pretend it was," said Laddie. "Let's do that! I'll go for a
shovel."

He ran to where the garden tools were kept, but, on the way, he heard
the postman's whistle and stopped to get the mail. This he carried to
his mother, and, when she saw one letter, she cried:

"Oh, this is from Cousin Tom! I hope it has good news in it!"

Quickly she read it, while Laddie wondered what the good news was about.
Then Mrs. Bunker said:

"Oh, Laddie! We're going on another nice trip! Cousin Tom has invited us
all down to his seashore cottage! Won't that be fine? We must soon get
ready to leave Aunt Jo's and go to Cousin Tom's!"




CHAPTER II

TREASURE HOPES


Laddie Bunker looked up at his mother as she finished reading the
letter. Then he shook his head and said:

"We can't go to Cousin Tom's!"

"Can't go to Cousin Tom's!" repeated his mother. "Why not, Laddie, my
boy?"

"'Cause we're going to dig for gold here. Sammie Brown's father is a sea
captain, and he has divers. He knows a lot about digging gold on desert
islands, Sammie's father does, and we're going to make believe Aunt Jo's
back yard is a desert island, and we're going to dig for gold there."

"But there isn't any," replied Mrs. Bunker, wanting to laugh, but not
doing it, as she did not want to hurt Laddie's feelings.

"Well, we're going to dig, just the same," insisted Laddie. "We can go
to Cousin Tom's after we find the gold."

"Oh, I see," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "Well, don't you think it
would be nice to go to the seashore? There is plenty of sand there, and
perhaps there may be a desert island, or something like that, near
Cousin Tom's. Couldn't you dig for gold and treasure at the seashore?"

"Oh, maybe we could!" cried Laddie. "I guess that would be nice, Mother.
I'll go and tell the others. We're going to Cousin Tom's! We're going to
Cousin Tom's!" he sang joyously, as he raced back to where he had left
Sammie Brown telling his story, and the other little Bunkers who wanted
to dig for gold.

"I think it will be just lovely for the children at Cousin Tom's," said
Mrs. Bunker to her husband, who came out to see if there were any
letters for him. "They can play in the sand and never get a bit dirty."

"Yes, they can do that," said Mr. Bunker. "So Cousin Tom wrote, did he?
Well, I suppose that means we will soon be leaving Aunt Jo's."

"I shall be sorry to see you go," said Aunt Jo herself--Miss Josephine
Bunker, to give her complete name and title. She was Daddy Bunker's
sister, and had never married, but she had a fine home in the Back Bay
section of Boston, and the six little Bunkers, with their father and
mother, had been spending some weeks there.

While Mr. and Mrs. Bunker are talking about the coming trip to the
seashore, and while Laddie is hurrying back to tell his brothers and
sisters the good news, there will be a chance for me to let my new
readers hear something about the children who are to have the largest
part in this story.

This book is complete in itself, but it forms one of a series about the
six children, and the first volume is called "Six Little Bunkers at
Grandma Bell's." In that I introduced the boys and girls.

First there was Russ, aged eight years. He had dark hair and eyes, and
was very fond of whistling and making things to play with, such as an
automobile out of a soap box or a steamboat out of a broken chair. Rose,
who was next in size, was seven years old. She often helped her mother
about the house and looked after the younger children. And that she was
happy when she worked you could tell because she nearly always sang.
Rose had light hair and blue eyes.

Vi, or Violet, was six years old. As you have noticed, she was very fond
of asking questions, and she looked at you with her gray eyes until you
answered. Laddie, her twin brother, was as persistent in making up queer
little riddles as Vi was with her questions, and between the two they
kept their father and mother busy.

Margy, or Margaret, was five years old, and almost as dark as a little
Gypsy girl. Margy and Mun Bun usually played together, and they had a
great deal of fun. Lest you might think "Mun Bun" was some kind of
candy, I will say that it was the pet name of Munroe Ford Bunker, and it
was shortened to Mun Bun as the other was too long to say. Mun Bun was
rather small, even for his age of four years. He had blue eyes and
golden hair and looked almost as I have an idea fairies look, if there
are any real ones.

So there you have the six little Bunkers. When they were at home, they
lived in the town of Pineville, on the Rainbow River. Mr. Bunker was a
real estate dealer, whose office was about a mile from his home.

In the first book of the series I told you of a trip the Bunkers took to
Grandma Bell's at Lake Sagatook, in Maine. Grandma Bell was Mrs.
Bunker's mother, and in the Maine woods the children had so many good
times that it was years before they forgot them. They had quite an
adventure, too, with a tramp lumberman, who had a ragged coat, but I
will not spoil that story by telling it to you here.

Before the Bunkers left Grandma Bell's they received an invitation to
visit Aunt Jo in Boston, and they were at her Back Bay home when the
present story opens.

There had been adventures in Boston, too, and the pocketbook which Rose
found, with sixty-five dollars in it, was quite a mystery for a time.
But, finally, the real owner was discovered, and very glad she was to
get the money back.

"Well, we have had good times here at Aunt Jo's," said Mrs. Bunker to
her husband, when they had read all the letters that had come in the
mail. "And now it is time for us to go. I think we shall enjoy our stay
at Cousin Tom's."

"It will be fine for the children," said their father.

"Yes, they are already counting on digging gold out of the sand," said
Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Sammie Brown has been telling them some story
about buried treasure his father found."

"Well, I believe that is a true story," said Mr. Bunker. "I heard my
sister say something about Mr. Brown having been shipwrecked on an
island once, and coming back with gold. But if we go to Cousin Tom's we
shall have to begin packing soon, shall we not?" he went on.

"Yes," agreed his wife. "We are to leave about the middle of next week."

"We have been doing a great deal of traveling so far this summer," went
on Mr. Bunker. "Here it is about the middle of August, and we have been
at Grandma Bell's, at Aunt Jo's and we are now going to Cousin Tom's. I
had a letter from Grandpa Ford, saying that he wished we'd come there."

"And my brother Fred is anxious to have us come out to his western
ranch," said Mrs. Bunker. "If we accept all the invitations we shall be
very busy."

So Mr. and Mrs. Bunker talked over the time of leaving, what they would
need to take, and the best way of going. Meanwhile Laddie had run back
to tell his brothers and sisters the good news.

"We're going to the real seashore!" he exclaimed. "It's down to Seaview
where Cousin Tom lives, and we can dig for treasure there!"

"Can we really?" asked Violet. "What's treasure, Russ? Is any of it good
to eat? And look at that robin! What makes him waggle his tail that way?
And look at the cat! What's she lashing her tail so for?"

"Wait a minute, Vi!" cried Russ with a laugh. "You mustn't ask so many
questions all to once."

"Treasure isn't good to eat!" said Laddie. "But if you find a lot of
gold you can buy ice-cream sodas with it."

"Maybe the robin is flitting its tail to scare the cat," suggested Rose,
who remembered Violet's second question.

"Well, I know why the cat is lashing her tail," said Russ. "Cats always
do that when they think they're going to catch a bird. This cat thinks
she's going to catch the robin. But she won't!"

"Why not?" asked Rose.

"'Cause I'm going to throw a stone at it--at the cat, I mean," explained
Russ. He tossed a pebble at the cat, not hitting it, and the furry
creature slunk away. The robin flew off, also, so it was not caught, at
least not just then.

"I know a riddle about a robin!" said Laddie. "Only I can't think of it
now," he added. "Maybe I shall after a while. Then I'll tell it to you.
Go on, Sammie. Tell us more about how your father got the gold on the
desert island."

"He dug for it," Sammie answered. "He and the other sailors just dug in
the sand for it."

"With shovels?"

"No, they used big shells. It's easy to dig in the sand."

"Is sand the best place to dig for gold?" Rose wanted to know.

"I guess so," answered Sammie. "Anyhow there's always sand on a desert
island, like that one where my father was."

"There's sand down at Cousin Tom's," put in Laddie. "I heard my mother
say so. I'm going to dig for gold, and if I get a lot, Sammie, I'll send
you some."

"I hope you find a big lot!" exclaimed the visiting boy with a laugh.

They talked over their hopes of finding treasure in the seashore sand,
forgetting all about the soap bubbles they had been blowing.

"I'll be lonesome when you go away," said Sammie to Russ. "I like you
Bunkers."

"And we like you," said Russ. "Maybe if we dig for gold down at Cousin
Tom's, and can't find any, you'll come down and help us."

"Sure I will!" exclaimed Sammie, as if that would be the easiest thing
in the world. "I'll ask my father the best way, and then I'll come
down."

"Could you bring a diving suit?" asked Laddie. "Maybe the gold would be
down on the bottom of the ocean, and we'd have to dive for it. Would
your father let you take a diving suit?"

"No, I don't guess he would," said Sammie, shaking his head. "They are
only for big men, and you have to have air pumped down to you all the
while. It makes bubbles come up, and as long as the bubbles come up the
diver is all right."

"Did a shark ever bite your father?" asked Rose.

"No, I guess not," Sammie answered. "Anyhow he never told me about it.
But I must go now, 'cause it's time for my lunch. I'll come over after
lunch and we can have some more fun."

Sammie said good-bye to the six little Bunkers and started down the side
path toward the front gate of Aunt Jo's home. Hardly had he reached the
sidewalk when Russ and the others heard him yelling:

"Oh, come here! Come here quick, and look! Hurry!"




CHAPTER III

ON THE BOAT


"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Rose, as she hurried after her
brother, who started to run toward Sammie Brown.

"I don't know," Russ answered. "But something has happened!"

"Maybe Sammie found the treasure," suggested Laddie. "Oh, wouldn't that
be great? Then we wouldn't have to dig for it down in the sand at Cousin
Tom's!"

"Pooh! there couldn't be no treasure out in front of Aunt Jo's house,"
exclaimed Violet, not being quite so careful of her words as she should
have been.

By this time Russ and Rose were in the front yard, but they could not
see Sammie, because between the yard and the street were some high
bushes, and the shrubbery hid Sammie from sight.

"What's the matter?" asked Rose.

"What happened?" Russ wanted to know.

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