“I’m glad it wasn’t,” said Rose.
“If it had ‘a’ been I’d ‘a’ hit it with a club,” boasted Russ.
“An’ I could throw a stone!” declared Mun Bun.
“Mother, did you notice how funny the whistle was?” asked Rose. “First we saw the smoke puff up, and then we heard the sound. Why was that?”
“Because light, or sight, travels faster than sound,” said Mrs. Bunker. “You can see something much quicker than you can hear it. If you should ever stand far off and see a gun shot off, you would first see the flash and the smoke, and, some seconds later, you would hear the report. Sight and sound travel in what are called waves, almost like the waves of the ocean, except that the sound waves are made of air instead of water. Light waves are different from air or water waves, and travel much faster—almost as fast as electricity.”
“And electricity is terribly fast,” said Russ. “Once I took hold of a battery and as soon as I touched the handles I felt a shock.”
After this the picking of strawberries went on until enough had been gathered. Then they all ate some and went home, and Rose made the shortcake, Norah helping her.
“I’ll set the shortcake in the back pantry to cool for supper,” said Norah, when Rose had finished making it, and very proud the little girl was.
The shortcake was put away and the little Bunkers were wondering how next they could have some fun when there came a knock on the kitchen door.
“I wonder who that can be?” said Norah.