o go off by herself," said Mrs. Bunker.

"Do you mean some one took her--maybe a gypsy?" asked Russ.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose. "Are there gypsies here?"

"Nonsense! Of course not!" answered Mr. Bunker, seeing that what Russ
had said might frighten the children. "No one has taken Margy. Maybe she
is just playing hide-and-go-seek!"

Mr. Bunker didn't really believe Margy was doing this, but he said it to
make the children feel better.

"You take the children down to the stateroom," said Mr. Bunker to his
wife, "and I'll look for Margy. I'll find her in a jiffy, which is very
quick time, indeed," he told the children. "Run along now, Mun Bun, and
you too, Vi and Laddie. Rose, you go with your mother and help take care
of Mun Bun."

"Shall I come with you, Daddy?" asked Russ.

"Yes," answered Mr. Bunker, "you may come with me, Russ. You can run
faster than I can, and if we find Margy playing tag with some of the
other little boys and girls on the steamer you can catch her more easily
than I can."

Mr. Bunker said this for fun. He didn't really think Margy was playing
tag. But he had to say something so the others would not be frightened.
And, to tell the truth, Mr. Bunker was a little bit frightened himself,
and so was his wife.

"Where do you suppose Margy can be?" Mrs. Bunker asked her husband, as
she started down the stairs for the staterooms, or bedrooms, where they
were to spend the night.

"Oh, she's around somewhere," he answered. "She may be watching the men
load the steamer." Boxes and barrels were still being put into the hold,
or "cellar," of the steamer, which would soon start for Boston. Margy,
from the upper deck, might have seen this work going on, and have
stepped out of sight to watch.

"Come on, Russ, we'll find her," said Mr. Bunker.

Many people were now coming on board the steamer. There were some boys
and girls, and certainly a number of them were tired and sleepy. As Mrs.
Bunker went down the stairs with the four little Bunkers, she looked at
every other child she saw, hoping it might be Margy. But she did not see
her smallest daughter.

Russ and his father walked around the upper deck. They met several men
who worked on the steamer, and asked them if they had seen a little girl
about five years old, with dark hair and eyes, for that is how Margy
looked.

Each of the men Mr. Bunker asked said he had not seen the little lost
girl, and then Mr. Bunker said:

"Well, Russ, we'll go