“And one of my men will be at the depot to meet us with a carriage,” said Grandpa Ford.  “We’ll drive over with horses, though I have an auto on my place.  But I like horses better.”

“Will there be room enough for all of us in the carriage?” asked Russ.

“Oh, yes.  I sent word to bring the biggest carriage I have.  It has four seats, and I guess I can pack you all in.”

Having found out this much Russ was satisfied.  He looked at Rose and nodded, as they sat together in the railroad train.  Russ had feared that, as there were so many of them, some might be left behind after Tarrington was reached.  And he wanted to get to Great Hedge as soon as he could, to begin to find out why there was something strange in or about the big house.

“Well, now we can settle down for a long ride,” said Mrs. Bunker, as she “counted noses,” to make sure all her children were with her and her husband.

It was quite cold, but the car was warm and the six little Bunkers looked out of the windows, and enjoyed the trip.  They always liked to travel.

“It looks like snow,” said Grandpa Ford to the conductor, when it was time to collect the tickets.

“Yes, I came down from New York State the other night,” said the railroad man, “and we were having quite a flurry then.  Shouldn’t be surprised if we ran into a big blizzard before we reached Tarrington.”

“Oh, I hope not,” said Grandpa Ford.  “I don’t want any big blizzard until I get the six little Bunkers safely home at Great Hedge.  Then it can snow as much as it likes.”

“I hope it snows a lot,” said Mun Bun.  “I like snow.”

“So do I, when I’m at home in my warm house,” said Grandpa Ford.  “But too much snow isn’t any fun.  Can you make a snow man, Mun Bun?”

“A little one,” he answered.  “If you helped me I could make a big one.”

“I will!” promised his grandfather with a laugh.  “We’ll make a big snow man and a snow house and have all sorts of good times.”

“What’s snow made of?” asked Violet, who had been pressing her nose against the car window, looking out at the telegraph poles that seemed to whiz past so quickly.

“It’s frozen rain,” said Daddy Bunker.

“Who freezes it?” went on Violet.  “Does the ice-cream man freeze the rain to make snow?”

“No, it freezes up in the air—­in the clouds,” her father explained.

“Well, what makes it come down?” went on Violet.  “Rain comes down ’cause it’s heavy.  Once a raindrop splashed in my eye and it felt terrible heavy.  But snow isn’t heavy at all.  It’s light like a feather.  What makes snow and feathers fall when they aren’t heavy, Daddy?”

“Oh, now, my little girl is asking too many questions,” said Daddy Bunker with a laugh.  “Some time, when you are a little older, I’ll tell you why it is that things fall, whether they are heavy or light.  Things even lighter than snowflakes fall as easily as a chunk of lead, but, as you say, a snowflake is like a feather.  It falls from side to side, like a leaf, and not as fast as a drop of rain.  But I do believe we shall have snow soon,” he went on.  “The storm clouds are beginning to gather,” and he looked up at the sky.