e dock to meet her brother and the children when
the boat came in was that she did not know at just what hour they would
arrive.

Working around the garage was William, the chauffeur, who also helped
about the house, taking out the ashes in winter and cutting the grass in
summer.

"We've a man named Jerry Simms who does that at our house," said Russ,
when he learned what William did for Aunt Jo. "Jerry is a soldier, or he
was. Are you a soldier, Mr. William?"

"No, but I may be, some day," he answered.

"Have you got any corn shuckers here?" asked Laddie.

"A corn shucker? No. What's that?"

"Well, it's a thing, and you put ears of corn in a spout and turn a
wheel and the kernels of corn come out of one end, and the empty cob
comes out of the other end. Grandma Bell's got one."

"And we put Rose's doll in and shucked off all her buttons," added Russ.

"That's what they did," said Daddy Bunker. "I'm glad you haven't one
here, William. Rose didn't like it when all the buttons came off her
doll."

"But it was lots of fun," added Laddie. "Maybe I could think up a riddle
about a corn shucker, if I tried real hard."

"Oh, look! Here's a hose!" cried Russ, as he saw one with which William
had been washing the automobile. "May we squirt it?"

"I'm afraid you'll get wet," said the chauffeur, with a look at Mr.
Bunker.

"A little water won't hurt them," said the children's father. "They have
on their old clothes. But perhaps you don't want them to take it."

"Oh, I was going to water the lawn, anyhow," said William; "and I'd just
as soon they would do it if you don't mind."

"Hurray!" cried Laddie.

"I'm going to have first turn at squirting!" insisted Russ.

Their father settled this little dispute by saying that Vi and the two
older boys might have the hose for five minutes at a time, and he would
stay near by to see that everything was fair. So Laddie and Russ and Vi
began to sprinkle the lawn, while Margy and Mun Bun found a pile of
clean sand near the garage, where they could play.

And now I must tell you something that happened to Rose and her mother.
They were walking down one of the Boston streets, after having bought
some things in one of the stores, when Rose, who was walking a little
ahead of her mother, suddenly called:

"Look! Look, Mother!"

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"It's a pocketbook," went on Rose, pointing to one on the sidewalk. "And
it looks as if it had money in it. Shall I