"May we come with you?" asked Russ.

"Please let us," begged Rose.

Mr. Bunker, who did not seem quite so worried now, looked at his wife.

"Take the children, if you have time," she said. "At least Rose and Russ.
The others are playing in the sand," for that's what they were doing. Vi,
Laddie, Margy and Mun Bun were digging in a pile of sand at one end of the
yard.

"All right, come along, Little Flower, and you, too, Whistler," said Mr.
Bunker, giving Russ a pet name he used occasionally.

The two children, delighted to be out after the rain, went down the street
with their father, leaving their smaller brothers and sisters playing in
the sand. Russ and Rose felt they were too old for this--especially just
now.

"Did you hear what happened to us?" asked Russ, as he walked along,
holding one of his father's hands, while Rose took the other.

"What happened when?" asked Mr. Bunker.

"When I made a steamboat partly out of a barrel," went on Russ. "It got
broken when Laddie was inside it and I was outside. But we didn't any of
us get hurt."

"Well, I'm glad of that," said Mr. Bunker with a smile.