“How did you know about a ghost?” asked Mother Bunker.

“We—­we heard you and Grandpa Ford talking about it—­the time he came to our house,” confessed Russ.  He felt that he, being the oldest, must speak first.

“We listened under the window,” added Rose.  She wanted to do her share of the telling.

“That was very wrong to do,” said her mother.  “But, of course, I know you didn’t mean to do wrong.  Still, as it happened, no great harm was done, but you should have told me about it at the time.  It was not right to be so mysterious about it, nor to have it as a secret.  You two children are too small to have secrets away from Father and Mother, unless they are little ones, like birthday surprises and the like.  Now, don’t listen under windows again.”

“We won’t,” promised Russ and Rose, who then told the whole story.

“But is there a ghost?” asked Russ, as the strange noise sounded again.

“No, of course not,” said Daddy Bunker.  “But, since you have heard part of the story, you may as well hear all of it.”

Seeing that the four smaller children were busy at their play, and would not listen to what he said, Daddy Bunker drew Russ and Rose up on his lap and began: 

“You remember when Grandpa Ford came to see us, he said he wanted to take us back with him, and, if we could, have us help him find out something queer about Great Hedge, which he had bought from Mr. Ripley.  The ‘something queer’ was that, every now and then, noises, such as you heard just now, sound through the house.  Grandpa Ford and Grandma Ford couldn’t find out where they came from, and neither Mr. Ripley nor his daughter knew what made them.

“Of course,” went on Daddy Bunker, “some people, when they hear a strange sound or see a strange sight, think it is a ghost.  But there is no such thing.”

“We thought it was a ghost made Mun Bun’s hair stick out and be pulled,” confessed Rose, “but it was only the spinning wheel.”

“Now, to go on with my story.  As the queer noises kept up, Grandpa Ford came to get me, to see if I could help him.  I am in the real estate business, you know—­I buy and sell houses—­and he thought I might know something about the queer noise in his house.  I have bought and sold houses that people said were haunted—­that is, which were supposed to have ghosts in,” laughed Daddy Bunker.  “But I never saw nor heard of any spirits.”

“Did you find out what made this noise?” asked Russ.

“No, we haven’t yet, but we take a look every time we hear it,” said his father.  “That is what we are going to do now.  So, after this, don’t be afraid when you hear it.  It is something in the house that makes it—­not a ghost or anything like that.  We’ll find it sooner or later, Grandpa Ford and I.”

“May we help?” asked Russ.

“Please, Daddy?” cried Rose.

“Well, yes, I guess so, if you want to,” answered his father slowly.  “If you hear the noise, and it sounds anywhere near you, look around and see if you can find out what makes it.  Don’t cry ‘ghost!’ and scare the others.”