"I don't know! I don't know!" sighed the old woman. "I reckon dat won't
be much use."

"Why not?" demanded Russ anxiously. "If he comes back he'll see and read
'em."

"No. No, sir! He may see 'em," said Mammy June, shaking her head on the
pillow. "But he won't read 'em."

"Why won't he?" Russ demanded in some heat. "I wrote them just as plain
as plain!"

"But," said Mammy June, still sadly, "you see, my Sneezer never learnt
to read hand-writin'!"




CHAPTER XX

GOOSEY-GOOSEY-GANDER


The Bunker children, especially Russ and Rose, felt truly anxious
because of Mammy June's unhappiness about her absent son. The boy they
all called Sneezer should have been home now when his mother was
crippled with rheumatism and had lost her home and all her little
possessions.