ust then, footsteps were heard on the stairs leading to the attic,
and Mrs. Bunker appeared.

"Oh, Mother," gasped out Rose, "there's a man here and he says he's
going to take us away and----"

Before she finished Mrs. Bunker had run up to the attic. She looked at
the strange man, who smiled at her. Then she hurried over to him and
kissed him and said:

"Oh, Fred, I'm glad to see you! I didn't expect you until to-morrow, and
I was going to surprise the children with you. Oh, but I'm glad to see
you! Children," she said, laughing, "this is my brother, your Uncle
Fred."

CHAPTER III

A QUEER STORY

The six little Bunkers, who had been untangled from the mix-up caused
when the scooter ran sideways off the ironing-board hill, stood in a
half circle and looked at the strange man. He did not seem quite so
strange now, and he certainly smiled in a way the children liked.

[Illustration: THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS STOOD IN A HALF CIRCLE AND LOOKED
UP AT THE STRANGE MAN.]

"Is he our real uncle?" asked Violet.

"Yes, he is your very own uncle. He is my brother. Frederic is his
name--Frederic Bell," went on Mother Bunker. "But you are to call him
Uncle Fred."

"Then he _isn't_ a burglar!" stated Rose.

"Of course not!" laughed her mother.

"No, I'm not a burglar," said the visitor, laughing too. "Though I don't
blame you for feeling a bit alarmed when I rushed in. I thought some of
you might know me, though some of you I've never seen, and Russ and
Rose were smaller than they are now the last time I saw them."

"I didn't tell them you were coming," said Mrs. Bunker. "I hardly
thought you would get here so soon, and I was planning a surprise, as I
say. But we're very glad to see you. How did you get into the house and
up here?"

"I walked in. The front door was open and----"

"I left it open to air the house."

"And as soon as I got in I heard a great racket up where I knew the
attic must be, so up I rushed. I found the children all in a heap, and I
pulled them apart as best I could."

"We were riding on a scooter I made from an older roller skate,"
explained Russ, "and it went off the ironing-board sideways and it
bumped into everybody."

"I should say it did bump!" laughed Uncle Fred.

"But we're not hurt," added Laddie. "We're all right now. Can you answer
riddles, Uncle Fred?"

"Well, yes, I think so, if they're not too hard."

"I know lots of riddles," said Laddie. "I have a good one about wha