Six Little Bunkers at Grandpa Ford's Part 17

The grown folks listened, but the noise did not sound again, and then, as it was getting late, they all went to bed. Nothing disturbed them until morning.

"Hurray! It's stopped snowing!" cried Russ as he ran to the window and looked out. "Now we can make a snow man."

"And a snow fort!" added Laddie.

"And slide downhill, I hope," said Rose. "I wonder if Grandpa Ford has any sleds we can take?"

"He said there were some," declared Vi. "I asked him last night. And there are skates, too. I asked him that."

One might depend on Vi to ask the questions.

"Then we'll have lots of fun!" said Russ. "Come on, now, we'll get our breakfast and then we can go out and have fun."

"I want to go out and see where the horses slept," remarked Mun Bun.

"Did any of them fall out of bed, I wonder?"

"No," said Grandma Ford with a laugh. "Horses have beds that are right on the floor. They are made of straw, and the horses can't fall out. But you shall see for yourself. Come, now, while the cakes are hot. And we have maple syrup to eat on them."

"Oh, hurray!" cried Russ. "I love buckwheat cakes!"

And you should have seen the breakfast the six little Bunkers ate! No, on second thought, perhaps it is just as well you didn't see it, for it might have made you hungry. But I'll tell you this much: It was a very good one.

"Now we'll go out and have some fun!" cried Russ, as they left the table. "Shall we make a snow man first, or a fort?"

"A man!" cried Mun Bun.

"A fort!" called Laddie.

"Wait just a minute, all of you," said Mother Bunker. "I don't want any of you to go out just yet."

"Oh!"

"Oh, dear!"

"Oh, Mother!"

"Why?"

Thus, one after another, cried some of the six little Bunkers. They were all much disappointed.

"Oh, I'm going to let you go out and play in the snow all you like,"

said Mother Bunker quickly, "only I want you to wait until I can unpack your rubber boots and leggings. Then you won't get wet. So just wait an hour or two. That won't hurt you."

"And while you are waiting you can play up in the attic," said Grandma Ford with a smile. "I think you will like it there. Our attic is very large and there are a number of old-fas.h.i.+oned things in it with which you may play. The Ripleys left a lot of things behind. There are old trunks, and they are filled with old clothes that you can dress up in.

There is a spinning wheel and candle-moulds, there are strings of old sleigh bells. And there are some things that I used to have when I was a girl. I moved them here from our old home. Don't you think you would like to play up there?"

"Oh, of course we would!" cried Rose. "We can take up our dolls!"

"And have a play-party!" added Violet.

"And dress up and play go visiting," added Margy.

"I'm going to make something!" cried Russ, with a jolly whistle.

"I'll think up some new riddles!" declared Laddie.

"What are you going to do, Mun Bun?" asked his grandmother, for the little chap had said nothing as yet, just listening to the others.

"I--I'm not going to fall out of bed!" he answered, and then he wondered why all the others laughed.

"Well, trot up to the attic," said Grandma Ford, "and have all the fun you want. Don't be afraid of playing with things, for I don't believe you can hurt them. Then your mother and I will be getting out your rubber boots, and you may play in the snow this afternoon."

With whoops and shouts of delight the six little Bunkers trooped up to the attic. As Grandma Ford had said, it was a large one. It was over about half the house of Great Hedge Estate, and the house Grandpa Ford had bought from Mr. Ripley was a big one.

There were many rooms on the first floor, more on the second and some on the third. Then came the attic, highest of all, and in this attic were stored the things thought to be of no use any more.

As Great Hedge was in the country, though not many miles outside the city of Tarrington, there were country things in the attic, such as a spinning wheel, two of them, in fact, candlesticks, candle-moulds and so on. You all know that a candlestick is something in which to stick a candle so one may carry it around. In the olden days, before we had electric lights, gas or even kerosene lamps, the people used to read and work by means of candles.

A candle is a stick of tallow, wax or something like that, with a string, or wick, in the middle, just as rock candy has a string in the middle. Only you light the string in a candle, and you throw away the string in a stick of rock candy.

Candle-moulds are tin tubes, just the shape of candles, and into these tubes was poured the melted wax or tallow to make the light-givers.

Up into the attic tramped the six little Bunkers. From the windows, high up, they could look across the snow-covered fields. They could see the trees, now bare of leaves, and the great black hedge around Grandpa Ford's house. The big chimney of the house was hot and that kept the attic fairly warm.

"You wouldn't think a ghost could get in, would you?" asked Rose of Russ in a low voice.

"Maybe it was here already," suggested Russ. "An attic is a good place for ghosts. Let's look for one here."

"But don't let the others know," cautioned Rose, motioning to Mun Bun and Margy, Laddie and Vi.

"No," agreed Russ.

He and his sister began to look about the big attic. As Grandma Ford had said, there were many things with which to play and have fun.

"Oh, Russ!" cried Laddie. "Here are two spinning wheels. Couldn't you make something of them--a steamboat or an auto or something?"

"Yes, I guess I could," agreed Russ. "Let's see if they turn around easy."

He and Laddie were trying the spinning wheels, whirling them around, when there came a sudden cry from Margy. They turned to see her standing in one corner of the big attic, and, the next moment, she seemed to vanish from sight, as if she had fallen down some big hole.

"Oh, Margy! Margy!" cried Rose. "Where are you?"

CHAPTER XIII

THE OLD SPINNING WHEEL