"So we went there, and Zip chased his cat," explained Russ. "And we upset, but he was nice and he showed us the ragged coat, only the pockets were full of holes and there weren't any papers."
"Well, that's too bad!" said Daddy Bunker. "You two little boys were very kind to do as much as you did, though."
"Do you suppose, by any chance, this tramp lumberman might know something of your papers, Charles?" asked Grandma Bell.
"I'll go over and see him in the morning," said Mr. Bunker.
"May we go along?" asked Rose. "I'd like to see the cat that scratched Zip."
"He won't scratch him again," Laddie said. "They're good friends now."
"I don't want to see Zip scratched," returned Rose. "I just want to see Green Pond and the red-haired man and the cat."
"I'll tell you what we can do," said Grandma Bell. "We can all go on a picnic to Green Pond to-morrow. We'll go in the carry-all and take our lunch. I know Mr. Barker, and he'll let us eat our lunch in his woods. Then you can ask the red-haired man about the lost papers, Charles."
Mr. Bunker said this would be a good plan, and the next morning, bright and early, after the lunch had been put up, the six little Bunkers, with their father and mother and grandmother, started for Green Pond.
In a little while they were traveling along through the woods, down the same hill on which Zip had chased the rabbit. This time Zip had been left in the barn with Tom Hardy. Daddy Bunker was driving the horse.