"Yes, my dear, I did."
"Oh, my lovely doll is drowned!" cried the little girl, and there were real tears in her eyes, and some even ran down her nose and splashed to the ground. "I just knew Russ would be mean and tease me, and he did, and now my doll is drowned and——"
"Well, it might better be a doll that is drowned and not one of my six little Bunkers," said the mother. "Though, of course, I am sorry if any of your playthings are lost. Russ, did you drown Vi's doll?" she called to her oldest son.
"I didn't mean to, Mother," was the answer. "I was giving the doll a ride in a boat I made, and the boat got blown by the wind, and the wind upset the boat, and the boat went under water, 'cause I had a cargo of stones on it, and——"
"What happened to Vi's doll?" asked Mother Bunker. "Why don't you get to that part of it, Russ?"
"I was going to," he said. "The doll fell off when the boat upset and sank, and the doll sank, too, I guess."
"Is my doll really, really, drowned?" cried Violet.
"I—I'm afraid I guess so," stammered Russ. "But maybe I can fish her up again when the tide is low," he added hopefully.
"Do it now," sobbed the little girl.
"The water's too deep now."