n,
and, having held his breath, as his father had taught him to do whenever
his head went under water, Mun Bun, after a gasp or two, was able to
cry:

"Oh, Daddy, Daddy, don't let him get me! Don't let the crab pinch me!"

Daddy Bunker did not answer for a moment. He was too busy to talk, for
he dropped the long-handled crab net, ran down to the pier and, jumping
off himself, grabbed Mun Bun.

Luckily the water was not deep--hardly over Mun Bun's head--and his
father soon lifted the little fellow up out of danger.

"There!" cried Daddy Bunker, laughing to show Mun Bun that there was no
more danger. "Now the crab can't get you!"

Mun Bun looked around to make sure, and then, seeing that he was sitting
on the pier, where his father had placed him, he looked around again.

"Did you--did you get the crab?" he asked, his voice was a little choky.

"No, indeed I didn't!" laughed Mr. Bunker. "I was only trying to get
you. I told you to be careful and not lean too far over."

"Well, I--I wanted to see my crab!"

"And the crab came near getting you. Well, it can't be helped now. You
are soaking wet. I'll take you up to the bungalow and your mother can
put dry clothes on you. Come along."

"But I want to get my crab, Daddy!"

"Oh, he's gone, Mun Bun. No crab _would_ stay near the pier after all
the splashing I made when I jumped in to get you out."

"Maybe he's on my string yet," insisted the little fellow. "I tied my
string to the pier. Please, Daddy, pull it up and see if it has a crab
on it."

"Well, I will," said Mun Bun's father, as he jumped up on the pier from
the water, after having lifted out his little boy. "I'll pull up the
string, but I'm sure the crab has swum back into the ocean."

Both Mun Bun and his father were soaking wet, but as it was a hot day in
October they did not mind. Mr. Bunker slowly pulled on the string, the
end of which, as Mun Bun had said, was tied to a post on the pier.
Slowly Mr. Bunker pulled in, not to scare away the crab, if there was
one, and a moment later he cried:

"Oh, there is a big one, Mun Bun! It didn't go away with all the
splashing! Run and get me the net and I'll catch it for you!"

Mun Bun ran up on shore and came back with the long-handled net Mr.
Bunker had dropped. Then, holding the string, with the chunk of meat on
it, in one hand, the meat being just under water, Mun Bun's father
carefully dipped the net into the water and thrust it under the bait and
the