"But I'm not," he said, smiling at the children. "Don't you know who I am?"
Russ shook his head.
"How did you get in here?" asked Violet. As usual, she was first with a question.
"I just walked in," said the man in answer. "I was coming here anyhow, and when I got here I saw the door wide open, so I just walked in."
"Did you come to sell something?" asked Rose. "'Cause if you did I don't believe my mother wants anything. She's got everything she wants."
"Well, she's got a nice lot of children, anyhow," said the man, smiling on each and ever one of the six little Bunkers in turn. "I'll say that. She has a nice lot of children, and I'm very glad none of you is hurt.
"As I said, I was coming here anyhow, and when I got on the porch and saw the door open, I walked right in. Then I heard a terrible racket up here in the attic, and up I rushed. I thought maybe the house was falling down."
"No," said Russ as he pulled his scooter out from between two trunks, "it was this. We slid down the ironing-board hill, Laddie and I, and it went off crooked—the scooter did."
"And it knocked into us," said Violet. "But if you didn't come to sell anything, what did you come for?"
"Well," said the strange man, and he smiled again, "you might say I came to get you children."