Daddy, and--and--anyhow, Mun Bun has lost himself
and we don't any of us know what has become of him."

CHAPTER VI

THE SEA-EAGLE

Mun Bun was not a very disobedient little boy; but as Daddy Bunker said,
he had a better "forgetery" than he had memory. Mun Bun quite forgot
that Mother Bunker had told him not to leave the bigger stateroom where
she was setting things to rights in her usual careful way. For, as they
were to be several days on the steamship, she must have a place for
things and everything in its place, or she could not comfortably take
care of Daddy and six children.

Then, Mun Bun was so quick! Just as Laddie said: one minute he was
there, and the next minute he wasn't. He seemed to glide right out of
sight. Cowboy Jack had called Mun Bun a blob of quicksilver; and you
know you cannot put your finger on a blob of quicksilver, it runs so
fast.

That is what Mun Bun had done. Mother Bunker's back was turned; Russ and
Rose were on deck; the other three children, the twins and Margy, were
busy prying into every corner of the stateroom to "see what it was meant
for," when Mun Bun just stepped out.

How long he had been gone when their mother discovered the little boy's
absence, of course she did not know. She sent Laddie and Vi flying for
help--the one for Russ and Rose and the other for their father. She
dared not leave the staterooms herself for fear Mun Bun would reappear
and be frightened if he did not find her.

She called loudly for him, without getting any answer. Other passengers
began to take an interest in the loss of the little boy. Stewards began
to hurry about, looking for a lost boy in the most unlikely places. Some
of these cubbyholes were so tiny that a canary bird could scarcely have
hidden in them, while other places where the stewards looked would have
hidden a giant.

When Mr. Bunker appeared in haste from the smoking cabin, having been
found by Vi, Mrs. Bunker fairly cast herself into his arms.

"Oh, Charles!" she cried. "He's fallen overboard!"

"You would never think of such a thing, Amy," returned her husband, "if
the ship wasn't entirely surrounded by water."

"How can you joke, Charles?" she cried.

"I don't joke. Do you know how high the bulwarks are? A little boy like
Mun Bun could not have fallen overboard. He could not climb the
bulwarks."

"I never thought of that," agreed Mother Bunker more cheerfully.

"He might have fallen into one of the holds; but I