E

Mrs. Bunker was startled when she did not see Violet with the other
little Bunkers.

"Where's Vi?" she asked the other children. "Where did she go?"

"Oh, she just took her doll for a walk," said Russ. "She went away a
little while ago, over there," and he pointed to the rolling plains
behind the willow trees.

The plain was not flat, like a board. It was rolling land, with hills
and hollows here and there. Some of the hills were high enough to hide a
man behind them.

"Where did she go?" asked Mrs. Bunker, and now her voice was anxious.

"Just to give her doll a walk," explained Russ. "She got tired of
playing sail-a-boat, she said, and she went for a walk, and took her
doll."

"Violet! Violet! Where are you?" loudly called Mrs. Bunker.

There was no answer.

Mrs. Bunker ran to the top of the nearest little hill, or knoll, and
looked across the plain. The five little Bunkers followed her. There
were only five with her, as Violet had gone for a walk with her doll.

"But where can she have gone?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she did not see her
little girl, nor hear her answer the call.

"Maybe she went home," said Russ.

"Oh, yes," agreed Rose, not wanting to think that anything had happened
to her sister. "Maybe her doll got tired, and she took her home."

Sometimes the little Bunker girls were so real in their make-believe
play that they did things a grown person would have done.

"Would she know the way home alone?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"It's right over there," said Russ, pointing. "You can see the ranch
houses from here."

This was true enough. When they were up on the little hill they could
see the buildings on Three Star Ranch.

"If she only went that way she will be all right," said Mother Bunker.
"But if she walked the other way----"

"Come on! We'll find her!" called Russ to Laddie.

"All right. Wait till I go back and anchor my ship and I'll come."

"No, you mustn't go!" exclaimed Mother Bunker. "We must all keep
together. I don't want any more of you getting lost."

"Is Vi lost, Mother?" asked Rose, and she moved over closer to Mrs.
Bunker.

"Well, I don't know that she is lost," was the answer. "Probably not.
But she isn't here with us. She has wandered away. I'll call again.

"Vi! Violet, where are you?" called Mrs. Bunker, as loudly as she could.
But there was no answer. Only the wind rustled the branches of the
willow tree and the tall grass near the creek.

"Maybe she fell asl