Mr. Sparks,
as the wireless operator was called, had exchanged messages with the
Government vessel and he told the little Bunkers that the lumber
schooner would be towed into Hampton Roads, from which the cutter had
come.
All this time Russ Bunker stayed away from the covered boat on the
hurricane deck. Daddy Bunker, as well as Rose, began to wonder at the
boy's odd behavior. When dinner time came, Mr. Bunker watched his oldest
son sharply.
"Can I go out on deck again for a while?" asked Russ politely, as he
moved back his chair at the end of the meal.
"I don't see why you can't. And Rose too," said their mother. "It is not
yet dark. But you other children must come with me."
They had all played so hard that it was no cross for the little ones to
prepare for bed. Mun Bun and Margy were already nodding.
When Rose looked about for Russ, he had disappeared again. So had Daddy.
They had both slipped out of the saloon cabin without a word.
Russ was hurrying along the runway between the house and the bulwarks,
and going forward, when Daddy Bunker came around a corner suddenly and
confronted him. Russ was so startled that he almost cried out.
"Let's see what you have in your pockets, Russ," said Mr. Bunker
seriously, yet with twinkling eyes. "I noticed that you feared there was
going to be a famine aboard this steamer, and that you believe in
preparing for it.
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