"You told us that!" interrupted Russ.

"Well, then I can make up another," Laddie went on. He was always ready to
do that. "This one is going to be about a barrel. When does a barrel feel
hungry?"

"Pooh! There can't be any answer to that!" declared Russ. "A barrel can't
ever be hungry."

"Yes it can, too!" cried Laddie. "When a barrel takes a roll, isn't it
hungry? A roll is what you eat," he explained, "I didn't think that
riddle up," he added, for Laddie was quite honest. "Jerry Simms told me.
When is a barrel hungry? When it takes a roll before breakfast--that's the
whole answer."

"That's a very good riddle," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "But I haven't
yet heard what happened."

"Didn't you hear the noise?" asked Rose with a laugh. "It made a terrible
bang."

"Oh, yes, I heard _that_," answered Mrs. Bunker. "But what caused it?" she
asked anxiously.

Five little Bunkers looked at Russ, as the one best fitted to tell about
the upset.

"We had a make-believe steamboat," explained the oldest boy. "Laddie was
inside the flour barrel you let me take. He was the fireman. I sat outside
the barrel to steer. But Laddie jiggled and wiggled and joggled inside the