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"They get their mouth closed tight, and don't like to open their jaws," said Uncle Fred, as the turtle disappeared under the water with a splash. "But I guess this one will open his mouth and let go the hook when he gets off by himself. This is the largest snapper I've seen around here. The Indians say they're good to ...
"Well, I did catch something like a riddle, didn't I?" asked Laddie.
"Yes. And Uncle Fred guessed the riddle," answered Russ. "Now we'll fish some more."
"And I don't want to catch any more snappers," said Laddie, when Uncle Fred had fastened a new hook on his line.
The grown folk went back to the ranch house, leaving the boys to fish, and, somewhat to their own surprise, Laddie and Russ each caught two good-sized fish.
With shouts of delight, about an hour after having captured the snapping turtle, they ran to the house, holding up on strings the prizes they had caught.
"We'll have 'em cooked!" cried Laddie. "They're good to eat! One of the cowboys told us they were."
"Yes, those fish are good to eat," said Uncle Fred. "I'll have Bill Johnson clean and cook them for you."
"This is better than riddles!" laughed Russ. "I'm going fishing every day and catch fish."
"And I'm going, too," declared Violet.
"Good!" cried her father. "Then Uncle Fred won't have to buy so many things at the store."
The fish were cooked, and very good they were, too, though Mun Bun said they had too many bones in them, and this, perhaps, was true. But all fish have bones.
As the days went on Uncle Fred and his men, as well as Daddy Bunker, tried to find the lost cattle, or the men who, it was thought, had taken them. But they could not. The cattle seemed to have vanished, leaving no trace.
Every day some of the six little Bunkers, and, sometimes, all of them, went to the mysterious spring, to see if any of the water had run out, but it seemed to be all right, and behaving just as a spring should.
"Though there's no telling when it will go dry again," said Uncle Fred. "We'll have to keep watch of it. For nearly every time the spring goes dry I lose some cattle."
"May we go for a ride on our ponies to-day?" asked Russ of his mother one morning. "Laddie and I want a ride."
"Will you be very careful," asked his mother, "not to go outside the big field?"
"Oh, yes, we'll just stay in the big field," promised Laddie. "Come on, Russ! We'll have some fun!"
The four older Bunker children had learned to ride the little Shetland ponies very well. Uncle Fred had let them take, for their own use, four of the best animals, which were kind and gentle. He had also set aside for them a big fenced-in field, where they might ride.
Over to the corral Russ and Laddie ran, and soon they were leading out their own two special ponies. A little later they were riding them around the big fenced-in meadow, playing they were cowboys and Indians, though Russ was not allowed to have a lasso. Uncle Fred had said that if a little boy, like Russ, played with ...
"This is lots of fun!" cried Laddie, as he trotted about.
"Most fun we ever had!" agreed Russ.
But as the six little Bunkers said this every place they went, you can take it for what it is worth. Certainly they were having good times at Uncle Fred's.
When Russ and Laddie were giving their ponies a rest in the shade of a tree that grew at one side of the field, they heard a voice calling to them:
"Give me a ride! Oh, please give me a ride!"
"It's Margy!" cried Russ, looking around. "How'd you get here, Margy?" he asked.
"I walked," stated the little girl. "Mother and Daddy have gone to the store with Violet to get her a new dress, and Mun Bun has gone, too. I stayed at home with Rose."
"Where is Rose now?" asked Laddie.
"She is out in the kitchen, making a pie. Bill Johnson said she could. So I took a walk to come over to see you, and I want a ride."
"Shall we give her a ride?" asked Laddie.
"I'd like to," Russ answered. "But how can we? Mother said we couldn't take any one on the same pony with us, 'cause we couldn't hold 'em on tight enough."
"If we only had a little cart we could give her a ride," said Laddie. "We could sit on our pony's back and one of us could pull her in the cart. But we haven't got a cart."
"Please, I want a ride!" repeated Margy.
Russ didn't say anything for a moment. Then he suddenly exclaimed:
"I know how we can give her a ride!"
"How?" asked Laddie. "Can you make a cart?"
"No, but I can make something just as good!" exclaimed Russ, and he began whistling. "You wait, Margy! I'll give you a ride!"
Russ tied his pony to the fence and hurried over toward the barn, telling Margy to crawl in under the fence and wait until he came back.
Margy was going to have a ride, and there was to be a queer ending to it.
Chapter XIV
Mun Bun's Pie
Russ Bunker came back from the barn, dragging with him some long bean poles, an old bag that had held oats for the horses, and some pieces of rope.
"Are you going to make a swing?" asked Margy.
"I'm going to make something for you to ride in," answered Russ.
"A carriage?" asked Laddie.
"An Indian carriage," Russ answered. "One of the cowboys was telling me about 'em. The Indians fasten two poles, one on each side of a horse. Then they tie the ends of the poles that drag on the ground together with some ropes, and they stick a bag or a piece of cloth between the poles, and tie it there.
"That makes a place where you can sit or lie down, or put something you want to carry. And that's where we'll put Margy."
"Oh, I'll like a ride like that!" exclaimed the little girl. "I was in the kitchen with Rose, but I came out 'cause she's making a pie. I'll go back when the pie is done, and get a piece."
"So'll I," added Laddie with a laugh. "I like pie!"