d dig for gold here," suggested Rose. "There's nice sand
in one part of Aunt Jo's garden, and I guess she'd let us dig for gold.
We could give her some if we found any."

"I don't guess there's any gold here," said Sammie, looking the place
over. "This isn't a desert island."

"We could pretend it was," said Laddie. "Let's do that! I'll go for a
shovel."

He ran to where the garden tools were kept, but, on the way, he heard
the postman's whistle and stopped to get the mail. This he carried to
his mother, and, when she saw one letter, she cried:

"Oh, this is from Cousin Tom! I hope it has good news in it!"

Quickly she read it, while Laddie wondered what the good news was about.
Then Mrs. Bunker said:

"Oh, Laddie! We're going on another nice trip! Cousin Tom has invited us
all down to his seashore cottage! Won't that be fine? We must soon get
ready to leave Aunt Jo's and go to Cousin Tom's!"

CHAPTER II

TREASURE HOPES

Laddie Bunker looked up at his mother as she finished reading the
letter. Then he shook his head and said:

"We can't go to Cousin Tom's!"

"Can't go to Cousin Tom's!" repeated his mother. "Why not, Laddie, my
boy?"

"'Cause we're going to dig for gold here. Sammie Brown's father is a sea
captain, and he has divers. He knows a lot about digging gold on desert
islands, Sammie's father does, and we're going to make believe Aunt Jo's
back yard is a desert island, and we're going to dig for gold there."

"But there isn't any," replied Mrs. Bunker, wanting to laugh, but not
doing it, as she did not want to hurt Laddie's feelings.

"Well, we're going to dig, just the same," insisted Laddie. "We can go
to Cousin Tom's after we find the gold."

"Oh, I see," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "Well, don't you think it
would be nice to go to the seashore? There is plenty of sand there, and
perhaps there may be a desert island, or something like that, near
Cousin Tom's. Couldn't you dig for gold and treasure at the seashore?"

"Oh, maybe we could!" cried Laddie. "I guess that would be nice, Mother.
I'll go and tell the others. We're going to Cousin Tom's! We're going to
Cousin Tom's!" he sang joyously, as he raced back to where he had left
Sammie Brown telling his story, and the other little Bunkers who wanted
to dig for gold.

"I think it will be just lovely for the children at Cousin Tom's," said
Mrs. Bunker to her husband, who came out to see if there were any
letters for him. "They ca