tely.

Only nobody had ever tied a tin can to the tail of Alexis. He wasn't the
kind of dog one could do that to. You might have dared try when he was a
little puppy, but not after he grew up to be almost as big as a small
Shetland pony.

"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Rose, when it was her turn to have a
ride. "I wish my doll Lily was here to like it."

"She had a good ride in the airship," remarked Russ.

"Oh! Oh!" suddenly cried Laddie.

"What's the matter?" asked Russ. "Did a bee sting you?"

"No. I just thought of a nice riddle. It's about the balloon airship
Rose made and the dumbwaiter Margy had a ride in."

"What's the riddle?" asked Vi.

"It's like this," went on Laddie, thinking hard to get it just right.
"What's the difference between Rose's airship and the dumbwaiter Margy
rode in? What's the difference?"

"A whole lot!" said Rose. "They're not alike at all."

"Well, that's the riddle--what makes 'em different!" asked Laddie.

"Because they both have a basket," said Russ. "Rose tied the balloons to
a basket, and the clothes basket rides on the dumbwaiter."

"Nope! That isn't it," said Laddie, shaking his head. "You see Rose's
airship went up, and wouldn't come down, and the dumbwaiter, with Margy
in it, went down and wouldn't come up."

"Huh! That's pretty good," said Russ. "But I guess those balloons are
down by this time."

"And my doll, too," added Rose. "I wish I could find her."

"Well, part of the riddle is right, anyhow," said Laddie.

"Yes, it's pretty good," agreed Russ. "And now we'll have some more
rides."

Around Aunt Jo's house, up and down the lawn and on the paths Alexis
pulled the six little Bunkers in the express wagon, with the string
harness, and they had lots of fun. Even the big dog seemed to enjoy it,
and he didn't get tired.

It was two days after this, during which time the children had lots of
fun, that something else happened. Mun Bun was the unlucky one; or
lucky, whichever way you look at it.

Sometimes, even in the fashionable Back Bay section of Boston, rag
peddlers came to buy odds and ends from the homes of the people. The
chauffeurs or the furnace men usually attended to the selling of this,
being allowed to keep whatever money they got for themselves.

One of the wagons, with bags and all sorts of things in it, stopped, one
day, in front of Aunt Jo's house. The ragman knew William, who often
sold him old newspapers or junk, and this time he had qui