“Me, neither,” added Russ.  “Want to help catch crabs?” he asked George.  “I have two lines and you can have one.”

“Thanks, I will.  I was out walking with my dog and I saw you two down on this pier.  I came to see if you were the same boys that gave my dog marshmallows last night.”

“Yes, we’re the same,” answered Russ.  “Did he like the candy we fed him?”

“Oh, sure!  He always eats candy, but he doesn’t get too much at our house.  Teddy’s always smelling things.  That’s how he came to go up to the Sallie Growler.  I guess he’ll let the next one alone.”

“I hope I don’t catch any more,” said Laddie.  “I don’t like ’em.”

“Nobody else does,” said George.  “We come to the seashore every year, and I never saw anybody yet that liked a Sallie Growler.”

Laddie, Russ and their new chum stayed on the pier for some time.  Russ and George caught quite a number of crabs, and Laddie had fine luck with his fish-pole and line, landing three good-sized fish on the pier.  He caught no more Sallie Growlers, for which he was thankful.  I guess Teddy was, too, for his nose was quite sore.

For several days after that George came over each morning to play with the two older Bunker boys.  He brought his dog with him and Teddy made friends over again with Rose and Violet and Margy and Mun Bun, as well as with Russ and Laddie.

“I guess he ’members we gave him candy,” said Margy, as she patted the dog’s shaggy head.

There were many happy days at Seaview.  The six little Bunkers played in the sand, they went wading and bathing and had picnics, more marshmallow roasts and even popcorn parties on the beach.

“I don’t ever want to go home,” said Laddie one night after a day of fun on the beach.  “This is such a nice place.  It’s so good to think up riddles.”

“Have you a new one?” asked his father.  “Have you thought up an answer yet to where the fire goes when it goes out?”

“Not yet,” Laddie answered.  “But I have one about what is the sleepiest letter of the alphabet.”

“What is the sleepiest letter of the alphabet?” repeated Russ.  “Do you mean the letter I?  That ought to be sleepy ’cause it’s got an eye to shut.”

“No, I don’t mean I,” said Laddie.  “But that’s a good riddle, too, isn’t it?  What’s the sleepiest letter of the alphabet?”

“Do you know the answer?” Rose wanted to know.  “This isn’t like the fire riddle, is it?”

“No, I know an answer to this,” Laddie said.  “Can anybody else answer it?”

They all made different guesses, and Vi, as usual, asked all sort of questions, but finally no one could guess, or, if Mother and Daddy Bunker could, they didn’t say so, and Laddie exclaimed: 

“The sleepiest letter of the alphabet is E ’cause it’s always in bed; B-E-D, bed!” and he laughed at his riddle.

“That is a pretty good one,” said his mother.