A few mornings after this Russ was suddenly awakened by hearing a loud
noise under his window.

"What's that?" he cried. "Thunder?"

"It's Fourth of July!" answered his father. "Some boy must have shot off a
big early fire-cracker! Get up, children! It's Fourth of July, and we are
going to have some fun! Get up!"

"Hurray!" cried Russ. "Hurray for the Fourth of July!"




CHAPTER V

THE TRAMP


Such fun as the six little Bunkers had! Daddy Bunker was up before any of
them, to see that little fingers were not burned by pieces of punk or
stray ends of fire-crackers, and before breakfast Russ and Laddie had made
enough noise, their mother said, to last all day.

"It's a good thing we decided not to go to Grandma Bell's until after the
Fourth;" she said. "Dear mother never could have stood this racket."

"We like it," said Russ.