n her nose and splashed to
the ground. "I just knew Russ would be mean and tease me, and he did,
and now my doll is drowned and----"

"Well, it might better be a doll that is drowned and not one of my six
little Bunkers," said the mother. "Though, of course, _I_ am sorry if
any of your playthings are lost. Russ, did you drown Vi's doll?" she
called to her oldest son.

"I didn't mean to, Mother," was the answer. "I was giving the doll a
ride in a boat I made, and the boat got blown by the wind, and the wind
upset the boat, and the boat went under water, 'cause I had a cargo of
stones on it, and----"

"What happened to Vi's doll?" asked Mother Bunker. "Why don't you get to
that part of it, Russ?"

"I was going to," he said. "The doll fell off when the boat upset and
sank, and the doll sank, too, I guess."

"Is my doll really, really, drowned?" cried Violet.

"I--I'm afraid I guess so," stammered Russ. "But maybe I can fish her up
again when the tide is low," he added hopefully.

"Do it now," sobbed the little girl.

"The water's too deep now."

"Where did she get drowned?" asked Violet, gazing through her tears at
the waters of the inlet.

"The boat upset out there in the middle," said Russ, pointing.

"Oh, dear!" sighed Violet. "If she was my rubber doll maybe she wouldn't
be drowned. But she's my china doll, and they won't float, will they,
Mother?"

"No, my dear, I'm afraid not. How did it happen, Russ? Why did you take
Violet's doll?"

"'Cause I wanted to give her a ride, and I didn't think she would
care--I mean Vi. Course the doll didn't care."

"She did so!" exclaimed the little girl, stamping her foot on the sand.
"My dolls have got feelings, same as you have, Russ Bunker, so there!"

"Now children, don't get excited," said Mrs. Bunker gently. "Russ, you
shouldn't have taken Vi's doll."

"Well, I wanted to see how much my boat would hold, and I was playing
the doll was a passenger. I'll get it back for her. Cousin Tom will take
me out in his boat to the middle, and I can scoop the doll up with a
crab net."

Mrs. Bunker went with Russ and Violet to find Cousin Tom, leaving
Laddie, Rose, Margy and Mun Bun playing with pebbles and shells in the
sand.

Russ told Cousin Tom what had happened. The little boy had made a boat
out of a piece of board, with a mast and a bit of cloth for a sail. He
had loaded his boat with stones he had picked up on the beach of the
inlet, and had started his craft o