ed as
they were on the boat going to Nantasket Beach. The day was a fine,
sunny one, and they had started early in the morning to have as long a
time as possible at the playground, for that is what Nantasket Beach
really is.

Russ and Rose, Violet and Laddie, and Margy and Mun Bun ran here and
there on the boat, finding different things to look at and wonder over
on the vessel itself, or in the waters across which they were steaming.

Mother and Daddy Bunker sat with Aunt Jo in a shady place on deck, and
watched the children at their play.

Russ and Laddie and the two older girls were standing near the rail,
toward the front, or bow, of the boat, and they had to hold their hats
on to keep them from being blown away.

"I would like a kite here," Laddie said. Then he watched some boats
moving back and forth in the water, big ones and little ones, and,
suddenly turning to his brother, said:

"I've got a new riddle."

"What is it?" Russ asked. "I can guess it."

"Nope! You can't!" Laddie went on. "And it's an easy one, too."

"Go on and tell it!" exclaimed Russ. "I know I can guess it."

"Why is this boat like a duck?" asked Laddie. "Now, you can't answer
that."

"I can so!" cried Russ, as he thought for a moment. "That's easy. This
boat is like a duck 'cause it goes in water."

"Nope!" said Laddie, shaking his head with vigor.

"It is so!" cried Russ. "I'm going to ask Mother."

The two boys went in search of their mother, leaving Rose and Vi up in
front.

"What is it now?" Mrs. Bunker wanted to know, as the two boys ran up to
her.

"Laddie made up a riddle about 'why this boat is like a duck,' and when
I told him 'cause it goes in water like a duck, he says that isn't the
answer. It is, isn't it?"

"That isn't the answer I mean!" exclaimed Laddie, before his mother had
a chance to speak.

"Well, I suppose Laddie can pick out the one answer he wants to his own
riddles, if he makes them up," said Mrs. Bunker to the two boys.

"I have an answer," said Laddie, "and Russ didn't guess it right."

"Give me another chance," pleaded the older boy. "I know why the boat is
like a duck--'cause it _swims_ in water! That's it!"

"Nope!" said Laddie again, shaking his head harder than before.

"Then there isn't any answer!" declared Russ.

"Yes, there is, too," insisted Laddie. "I'll tell you. This boat is like
a duck because it _paddles_! See? A duck paddles its feet in water and
this boat paddles its wheel