"You—you came to get us?" gasped Rose.
"Yes. I'm going to take you away with me."
"Take—take us away with you!" cried Russ. "We won't go! We want to stay with our daddy and mother."
"I'll take them, too," said the man. "I have room for all you six little Bunkers and more too, out on my ranch. I've come to take you all away with me."
What could it mean? Russ and Rose, the oldest, could not understand it. They looked at the man again. They were sure they had never seen him before.
"Yes," the stranger went on, "I saw the door open, so I walked in. I was glad to get out of the rain. It's a cold storm. I hope summer will soon come. And, as I say, I've come to take you away."
If the man had not smiled so nicely the children might have been frightened. But, as it was, they knew everything would be all right.
"And now, as long as none of you is hurt, I think I'd better go downstairs and tell your mother I have come to take you away," went on the man. "I think I hear her coming up."
And, just then, footsteps were heard on the stairs leading to the attic, and Mrs. Bunker appeared.
"Oh, Mother," gasped out Rose, "there's a man here and he says he's going to take us away and——"