“Good for you!” exclaimed Russ, and then Laddie came back from down the stream where he had gone to fish.
“What’s the matter?” asked Laddie.
“Oh, that mean peddler boy was around again,” said Russ. “He hit me and knocked me down. He hit me before I had a chance to fight him.”
Laddie dropped his pole and line.
“Where is he?” cried the little fellow. “I’ll fix him!”
“Mun Bun fixed him,” chuckled Russ, telling what had happened.
“I wonder what’s the matter with that fellow, anyhow?” asked Laddie, when he had looked around among the bushes and made sure the ugly peddler chap was not to be seen. “What’s the matter with him, stealing things and knocking folks down?”
“I don’t know,” answered Russ, with a shake of his head. “That’s like one of your riddles, Laddie, only it isn’t so easy to answer. He didn’t have any good reason for hitting me.”
“We’ll tell Farmer Joel on him,” said Mun Bun.
And this was done when the boys went back to the house after each catching a few more fish. They really did very well, and Mrs. Bunker said they had enough for what Norah called a “mess,” meaning enough to cook so all would have some to eat.