where the dolls
came from. But most likely they had fallen off some ship and the oiled
silk and other wrappings kept them in good shape until the box was
washed up on the beach the second time.

"Well, if the seashore is a bad place to lose things on account of so
much sand it is also a good place to find things," said Mother Bunker
that night when the six little Bunkers had been put to bed and the dolls
were also "asleep."

"I'm glad you like it here," said Cousin Ruth. "But I am sorry that Rose
lost her locket."

"Well, it couldn't be helped," said the little girl's mother. "I did
have hopes that we would find it soon after she lost it. But now I have
given up."

"Yes," agreed her husband. "The locket is gone forever."

But I have still a secret to tell you about that.

A few days after the finding of the dolls all six of the little Bunkers
were playing down on the beach. Four of them had the Japanese dolls, but
Russ and Laddie did not.

Laddie was digging a hole in the sand and trying to think of a new
riddle, and Violet had just finished asking Russ a lot of questions
when, all of a sudden, George Carr, the little boy whose dog had been
bitten by the Sallie Growler, came running around a group of sand dunes,
crying:

"Oh, the boat's upset! The boat's upset, and all the men are spilled
out! And the fish, too! Come and see the upset boat!"

CHAPTER XXIII

THE SAND FORT

"What do you mean--the boat upset?" asked Russ, looking up from the sand
fort he was making on the beach. "Do you mean one of your toy boats and
is it make-believe men that are spilled out?"

"No, I mean real ones!" exclaimed George. "It's one of the fishing
boats, and it was just coming in from having been out to the nets. It
was full of fish and they're all over, and you can pick up a lot of 'em
and they're good to eat. And maybe one of the men is drowned. Anyhow,
there's a lot of 'em in the water. Come on and look!"

"Where is it?" asked Laddie.

"Right down the beach!" and George pointed. "'Tisn't far."

"Come on, Mun Bun and Margy!" called Rose as she saw Russ and Laddie
start down the beach with George and his dog. "We'll go and see what it
is. Vi, you take Mun Bun's hand and I'll look after Margy."

"Shall we leave our dolls here?" asked Vi.

"Yes. There's nobody here now and we can go faster if we don't carry
them," answered Rose. "Here, Mun Bun and Margy, leave your dolls with
Vi's and mine. They'll be all right