Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's Part 24

By this time they had reached the little island. Just like the islands in your geography, it was "entirely surrounded by water," and it made a nice place to play, except that it was rather sunny. But Mun Bun and Margy did not mind the sun very much.

They were used to playing out in it, and they were now as brown as berries, or Indians, or nuts, whichever you like best. They were well tanned, and did not get sunburned as many little boys and girls do when they go to the seash.o.r.e for the first time.

"We can take the clams to Cousin Ruth and she can make chowder and she'll give us some cookies, maybe," said Mun Bun.

"I like clams better than cookies," remarked Margy. "I mean I like to eat cookies, but I like to dig clams."

"You can't dig cookies," said Mun Bun.

"You could dig one if you dropped yours in the sand," returned his sister.

"Yes, you could do that," agreed the little boy. "But it would be all sand, and it wouldn't be good to eat."

"I don't guess it would. We'll just dig clams. Anyhow, we hasn't any cookies to dig or to eat."

This was very true. And now the two little children began to hunt for clam sh.e.l.ls to use for shovels in digging. They wanted the large sh.e.l.ls of the hard clam, and soon each had one. Then they began to dig, as they had seen their father and Cousin Tom do. For Daddy Bunker had once taken Margy and Mun Bun with him and the other Mr. Bunker, when they went to dig soft clams.

Whether Margy and Mun Bun did not know how to dig, or whether there were no clams in the sand of the island I do not know. But I do know that the two little Bunkers did not find any, though they dug holes until their backs ached.

Then Margy said:

"Let's don't play this any more."

"What shall we play?" asked Mun Bun.

"Oh, let's see if we can find some wood and make little boats."

So they walked about the island looking for bits of wood. But none was to be found. For wood floats; that is, unless it is so soaked with water as to be too heavy, and all the pieces of wood that had ever been on the island had floated away.

"I don't guess we can build any boats," said Margy. "Let's go back to sh.o.r.e and get some wood, and then we can come back and sail boats."

"That'll be fun," said Mun Bun. "We'll go."

But when he and his sister started to wade back, they had not gone very far before Margy cried:

"Oh, the water's terrible deep! Look how deep down my foot goes!"

Mun Bun looked. Indeed the water was almost up to Margy's knees now, and she had gone only a few steps away from the sh.o.r.e of the island.

"Let me try it," said her brother. "I'm bigger than you."

He wasn't, though he liked to think so, for Margy was a year older. But I guess Mun Bun was like most boys; he liked to think himself larger than he was.

However, when he stepped out from the island, ahead of Margy, he, too, found that the water was deeper than it had been when they started to wade from the sh.o.r.e near Cousin Tom's pier.

"What makes it?" asked Margy.

"I--I don't know," answered Mun Bun. "I guess somebody must have poured more water in the river."

"Lessen maybe it rained," suggested Margy. "Don't you know how Rainbow River gets bigger when it rains?"

"It didn't rain," said Mun Bun, "or we'd be wet on our backs."

"No, I guess it didn't rain," agreed Margy. Then she cried: "Oh, look, Mun Bun! Our island's getting awful little! It only sticks out of the water hardly any now! Look!"

Mun Bun turned and looked behind him. As his sister had said, the island was very much smaller.

"What--what makes it?" asked Margy.

"I--I don't know," answered Mun Bun. "But it is getting littler, just like when you keep on sucking a lollypop."

And that is just what the island was doing. What Margy and Mun Bun did not know was that the tide had turned, that it was rising, and that it would soon not only make their island much smaller, but would cover it from sight, leaving no island at all!

"Oh, the water's getting deeper," said Margy, as she took another step and found it coming over her little knees. "What are we going to do, Mun Bun?"

"I--I guess we must go back to the middle of the island and stay there,"

said her brother.

"Oh, shall we ever get off?" Margy asked, and her voice sounded as though she might cry before long. "I can't ever wade to sh.o.r.e when the water is so deep. What are we going to do?"

"We'll call for Daddy!" said Mun Bun.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE MARSHMALLOW ROAST

When anything happened to Mun Bun or his sister Margy they always called for Daddy or Mother Bunker. The other children did the same thing, though of course Margy and Mun Bun, being the youngest, naturally called the most, just as they were the ones who were most often in trouble that needed a father or a mother to straighten out.

"Our island's getting terrible small," said Margy; "and the water's gettin' deeper all around us."

"Yes," agreed Mun Bun, as he got in the middle of what was left of the circle of sand and looked about. "The water is deep. I guess I'd better call!"

"I'll help you," said Margy.

The two children stood in the center of the sandy island that was all the while getting smaller because the tide was rising and covering it, and they called:

"Daddy! Mother! Daddy Bunker! Come and get us!"

They called this way several times, and then waited for some one to come and get them.

If you want to imagine how Margy and Mun Bun looked, marooned as they were on an island in the middle of Clam River, with the tide rising, just get a big, clean stone and put it down in the middle of your bathtub. If you try this you had better put a piece of paper under the stone, so it will not scratch the clean, white tub.

Then on the stone put two other little stones to stand for Margy and Mun Bun. Now put the stopper in the tub and turn on the water. You will see it begin to rise around the stone, and soon only a little of it will be left sticking out of the water.

"Daddy! Mother! Daddy Bunker! Come and get us!"